Whaddaya say -- 20 litter boxes?

My 14-week-old kitten just doesn't get it. She has to be in either a
cage, or a very small room with litterbox, toys, and food, in order to
understand that we USE THE BOX and not the corner for pooping. Her
health is fine and there are no introduction problems with other cats
(she's loving my playful neutered male, who is something like a giant
motorized teddy bear to her).

Every time I experimentally expand her domain a wee tad -- opening the
door to her happy kitty prison (the small room with the food, toys,
bed, and litterbox) and letting her go down the hall into the office --
she poops in the corner of the office. It's like out of sight, out of
mind with litter boxes. If there's a box within clear sight, she uses
it, but if not, she uses the corner.

So now I'm thinking I put about 20 boxes around the house to see if she
uses them, and if she does I start gradually removing them. And I do
mean 20 boxes. Let no man say I failed for lack of thoroughness. My
house isn't that big; I simply mean to see to it that there's a box
within her line of sight no matter where she is.

N.B. Coyotes prevent the outdoor solution.

Has anyone ever tried this 20-box idea successfully? Or heard of it?

Thanks.

"arhooley" wrote in message
ps.com...
My 14-week-old kitten just doesn't get it. She has to be in either a
cage, or a very small room with litterbox, toys, and food, in order to
understand that we USE THE BOX and not the corner for pooping. Her
health is fine and there are no introduction problems with other cats
(she's loving my playful neutered male, who is something like a giant
motorized teddy bear to her).

Every time I experimentally expand her domain a wee tad -- opening the
door to her happy kitty prison (the small room with the food, toys,
bed, and litterbox) and letting her go down the hall into the office --
she poops in the corner of the office. It's like out of sight, out of
mind with litter boxes. If there's a box within clear sight, she uses
it, but if not, she uses the corner.


Why not put the box in the corner and then gradually move it to where you
want it to be. Inconvenient for a while but better than having 20 boxes all
over the house?
--

Niel H

You should have at least two boxes for her. Use unhooded boxes and use
unscented scooping litter.
Gail
"arhooley" wrote in message
ps.com...
My 14-week-old kitten just doesn't get it. She has to be in either a
cage, or a very small room with litterbox, toys, and food, in order to
understand that we USE THE BOX and not the corner for pooping. Her
health is fine and there are no introduction problems with other cats
(she's loving my playful neutered male, who is something like a giant
motorized teddy bear to her).

Every time I experimentally expand her domain a wee tad -- opening the
door to her happy kitty prison (the small room with the food, toys,
bed, and litterbox) and letting her go down the hall into the office --
she poops in the corner of the office. It's like out of sight, out of
mind with litter boxes. If there's a box within clear sight, she uses
it, but if not, she uses the corner.

So now I'm thinking I put about 20 boxes around the house to see if she
uses them, and if she does I start gradually removing them. And I do
mean 20 boxes. Let no man say I failed for lack of thoroughness. My
house isn't that big; I simply mean to see to it that there's a box
within her line of sight no matter where she is.

N.B. Coyotes prevent the outdoor solution.

Has anyone ever tried this 20-box idea successfully? Or heard of it?

Thanks.

Thanks, Niel and Gail

I should have mentioned, there is a box downstairs as well. Problem is,
she just lets go in whatever room she happens to be in. Can't be
bothered to get herself to a box unless it's a hop away.

I'll certainly add a box to the office at a minimum, and I'll use the
unscented scooping litter.

--arh

another way to do it is to put her in a cage with a litter box, and
whenever she poops in the box, let her out. you probably know well
about her frequency/timing of the litter box use, so when you think
she'll do her next one, put her back in the cage, wait until she uses
the litter box, then let her out.
continue this for a while and she'll learn to use the box. at least it
worked with my cat :
arhooley wrote:
Thanks, Niel and Gail

I should have mentioned, there is a box downstairs as well. Problem is,
she just lets go in whatever room she happens to be in. Can't be
bothered to get herself to a box unless it's a hop away.

I'll certainly add a box to the office at a minimum, and I'll use the
unscented scooping litter.

--arh

On Sun, 29 Oct 2006, Niel Humphreys wrote:

"arhooley" wrote in message
ps.com...
My 14-week-old kitten just doesn't get it. She has to be in either a
cage, or a very small room with litterbox, toys, and food, in order to
understand that we USE THE BOX and not the corner for pooping. Her
health is fine and there are no introduction problems with other cats
(she's loving my playful neutered male, who is something like a giant
motorized teddy bear to her).

Every time I experimentally expand her domain a wee tad -- opening the
door to her happy kitty prison (the small room with the food, toys,
bed, and litterbox) and letting her go down the hall into the office --
she poops in the corner of the office. It's like out of sight, out of
mind with litter boxes. If there's a box within clear sight, she uses
it, but if not, she uses the corner.


Why not put the box in the corner and then gradually move it to where you
want it to be. Inconvenient for a while but better than having 20 boxes all
over the house?
--

Niel H

This sounds like a good idea to me. Also, you might think about putting
her *very gently* into the box after she's eaten or played. Sometimes
kittens are like little kids on the playground. They wait until the last
second when they have to go. Then they just go wherever. You might think
about using something like Nature's Miracle on the spot to get the scent
out. Once they've picked an inappropriate place, they'll keep going back
there because of the smell. Good luck!

Eva

On Sun 29 Oct 2006 11:48:33a, arhooley wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
ups.com):

So now I'm thinking I put about 20 boxes around the house to see
if she uses them, and if she does I start gradually removing
them. And I do mean 20 boxes. Let no man say I failed for lack
of thoroughness. My house isn't that big; I simply mean to see
to it that there's a box within her line of sight no matter
where she is.

20 is probably over-kill, but more boxes, particularly where she
spends the most time out of her room is a good idea. With my last
two, I had to put a litter box in the bathroom because someone
liked to poop on the rug in there. A couple of weeks with a litter
box in there solved the problem, and I removed it when it wasn't
used in favor of the other boxes.

There's also specialized litter or additives that can be helpful. I
haven't had to try them, but others have, and with great results.

The additive:
http://www.healthypets.com/catattract.html

The special litter:
http://www.preciouscat.com/precious-attract-p-5.html


--
Cheryl

i forgot to mention in my previous post...
you can also put some sliced orange or lemon on the spots that you
don't want her to use. in general, i heard that cats (don't know about
other animals) don't like citrus type smell. i also tried this with my
own cat (e.g., when i was cooking and didn't want him to jump onto the
counter), and it worked pretty well.
for the spots she's already used (like the corner of your office?), you
can spray orange scented solution (or something like that...if you
don't want to use real sliced orange/lemon) to keep her away from the
spot.

also, keeping a little bit of her previous litter in the litter boxes
that you're about to lay out is a good idea because they come back for
the smell.

good luck, and let us know how the training goes!


Cheryl wrote:
On Sun 29 Oct 2006 11:48:33a, arhooley wrote in
rec.pets.cats.health+behav
ups.com):

So now I'm thinking I put about 20 boxes around the house to see
if she uses them, and if she does I start gradually removing
them. And I do mean 20 boxes. Let no man say I failed for lack
of thoroughness. My house isn't that big; I simply mean to see
to it that there's a box within her line of sight no matter
where she is.

20 is probably over-kill, but more boxes, particularly where she
spends the most time out of her room is a good idea. With my last
two, I had to put a litter box in the bathroom because someone
liked to poop on the rug in there. A couple of weeks with a litter
box in there solved the problem, and I removed it when it wasn't
used in favor of the other boxes.

There's also specialized litter or additives that can be helpful. I
haven't had to try them, but others have, and with great results.

The additive:
http://www.healthypets.com/catattract.html

The special litter:
http://www.preciouscat.com/precious-attract-p-5.html


--
Cheryl

on Mon, 30 Oct 2006 20:22:51 GMT, "KPizzle" wrote:

in general, i heard that cats (don't know about
other animals) don't like citrus type smell.

my cats both drink out of my orange juice glass, no matter how I try to
stop them, so YMMV.

--
Lynne