Sick? Kitten ****es herself, doesn't clean self

She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

The kitten should be checked by a vet if she hasn't been already.
Gail
"John Ross Mc Master" wrote in message
...
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

On 29 May, 02:18, John Ross Mc Master wrote:
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

whatever you do do, please reemember this is not her fault and she is
not dong it to be naughty, she just does not know any better.

whenever she is abuot to 'go' onthe floor you coudl always catch her
in time, and transfer her swiftly, but gently, to the nearest litter
box, how many boxes do you have aroudn the house? many have more than
one so she is always close by one as she may not be abel to get to oen
in time.

what are the general domestic circumstances? are there other cats
there with you? if so is she scared of them or do they get along?

to help teach her to clean herself you could use a small amount of
cotton wool dipped in WARM water (not hot or just cold) and wipe her
with it aruond her bottom area, gently of course, this may go some way
to replicate the feelgin of her mothers tongue cleaning her which
woudl have been the case had she had her mummy around.

poor little thing, she must be very confused without her mummy there
to look after her adn show her what is what, PLEASE do not get cross
at her or shout or get angry, this poor little scrap does not know
what to do as no one has shown her and if she is shouted at or senses
that you are angry with her she will just get stressed and probably
pee and poo herself more out of fear, so please be very patient with
this poor helpless little mite, she needs you to take good care of her
right now.

a trip to the vet for advice might also be a good idea,

please keep us posted, bookie

On 28 May 2007 18:34:40 -0700, bookie
wrote:

On 29 May, 02:18, John Ross Mc Master wrote:
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

whatever you do do, please reemember this is not her fault and she is
not dong it to be naughty, she just does not know any better.

whenever she is abuot to 'go' onthe floor you coudl always catch her
in time, and transfer her swiftly, but gently, to the nearest litter
box, how many boxes do you have aroudn the house? many have more than
one so she is always close by one as she may not be abel to get to oen
in time.

what are the general domestic circumstances? are there other cats
there with you? if so is she scared of them or do they get along?

to help teach her to clean herself you could use a small amount of
cotton wool dipped in WARM water (not hot or just cold) and wipe her
with it aruond her bottom area, gently of course, this may go some way
to replicate the feelgin of her mothers tongue cleaning her which
woudl have been the case had she had her mummy around.

poor little thing, she must be very confused without her mummy there
to look after her adn show her what is what, PLEASE do not get cross
at her or shout or get angry, this poor little scrap does not know
what to do as no one has shown her and if she is shouted at or senses
that you are angry with her she will just get stressed and probably
pee and poo herself more out of fear, so please be very patient with
this poor helpless little mite, she needs you to take good care of her
right now.

a trip to the vet for advice might also be a good idea,

please keep us posted, bookie

I foster cats for the local Humane Society. I never get angry at them,
but this is new to me. EVery other kitten cleaned herself or himself.
I tried the cotton wool. I'm trying to arrange a trip to the vets.
Goliath and Barbie are the 6 week olds. They are alone in a small room
and have 2 litter boxes.
I posted their pictures a couple of weeks back in a.b.pictures.animals

On Tue, 29 May 2007 01:25:45 GMT, "Gail" wrote:

The kitten should be checked by a vet if she hasn't been already.
Gail

I'm trying to arrange that.

"John Ross Mc Master" wrote in message
.. .
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

On May 28, 9:18 pm, John Ross Mc Master
wrote:
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

Others have given you good specifics. In addition to washing her as
her mother would have, with the cotton wool, and watching for when
she's about to go and taking her to the litter box then, it's also
important to take her to the litter box about 10-15 minutes after she
eats. Her mother would have done that, and will help her to get the
idea.

I have a cat who is just shy of fourteen now, who although four months
old when I got her was for a variety of reasons developmentally
delayed. Her health problems had effectively prevented her from
learning to clean herself properly. Once the main causes of her health
problems were identified and dealt with, daily gentle bathing helped
her get the idea. When I subsequently had a kitten who was younger
than the rest of her litter and weaned by mama too young, Retsina
adopted her, and in addition to nursing her, taught her to clean
herself and use the litter box. None of this is exactly parallel to
your kitty's situation, but I think it shows that, if you're patient
and persistent, being separated from mama too young doesn't mean she
can't learn these basic cat skills.

Lis

John Ross Mc Master wrote:
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

I'm certainly no expert, but aren't these things instinctive?

I got my cat about this same age. The extent of her cat litter training
with me was to pick her up after she had ****ed on a plastic grocery bag
and place her in the litter box - she had only been with me a couple of
hours at that point and apparently all she needed to know that there was
a more appropriate place to go.

As for cleaning, she never needed any help from me.

I just assumed all this was natural behavior in most cats.

"Fred G. Mackey" wrote in message
. ..
John Ross Mc Master wrote:
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

I'm certainly no expert, but aren't these things instinctive?

I got my cat about this same age. The extent of her cat litter training
with me was to pick her up after she had ****ed on a plastic grocery bag
and place her in the litter box - she had only been with me a couple of
hours at that point and apparently all she needed to know that there was a
more appropriate place to go.

As for cleaning, she never needed any help from me.

I just assumed all this was natural behavior in most cats.

Just like I assumed it might be natural behavior for fullgrown men to use a
verb other than "****ed" to describe a cat with inappropriate elimination
issues.

Your mothers are rolling over in their graves and I am disgusted.

Reminds me of when my MIL said, about a cat, "she **** on the bed."

She, and you, might as well have spent a morning making yourselves banners
saying "Ignorant Dickheads" and strapping them on.

And I am no Grammar Pussy.

"She ****es herself" etc is just unnecessary crudeness and makes me think
neither one of you assholes should have a cat.

Just my 2 cents.

"John Ross Mc Master" wrote

I foster cats for the local Humane Society.

Then what the **** are you doing here instead of making
a goddamned appointment for the kitten at a vet?

I have read your posts for years, and thought better
of you.

Do you have some sort of dementia or something?

On Mon, 28 May 2007 22:23:09 -0700, "Fred G. Mackey"
wrote:

John Ross Mc Master wrote:
She was separated from her mother at a very young age and never
learned to clean herself. How can I teach her this? She is maybe 6
weeks old now. She sometimes uses the litter box, most often the
floor.

I'm certainly no expert, but aren't these things instinctive?

I got my cat about this same age. The extent of her cat litter training
with me was to pick her up after she had ****ed on a plastic grocery bag
and place her in the litter box - she had only been with me a couple of
hours at that point and apparently all she needed to know that there was
a more appropriate place to go.

As for cleaning, she never needed any help from me.

I just assumed all this was natural behavior in most cats.

I also assumed it was instinctive until I learned it was taught.