Do you have a new kitten? If you also own mama cat, and she is litter trained, then you are in luck. She will litter train her kittens. All you need to do is clean up the litter box afterwards. On the other hand, if she has not been litter trained, then your first step is to litter train mama cat. Otherwise, no amount of kitten litter training you do will help.
The first step of kitten litter training is to prepare to clean up any "accidents", and there will be a lot of "accidents". Once your kitten has peed or pooped in a particular spot, it will try to return there to do all of its future business. Partly, this is because it can smell its urine there. So, an important part of litter training your kitten is to get rid of all cat urine smells. To do this, you will need two items: a good blacklight (ultraviolet lamp) and an enzymatic cleaner for cat urine like Nature's Miracle. When you turn on the blacklight in the dark, it will cause all the spots where your kitten did its business to glow. The next step is to use the enzymatic cleaner to remove cat urine stains.
Step two is to prepare the litter box and cat litter for your kitten. The litter box needs to be the right size, not too high and not too low. Your kitten should be able to comfortably climb or jump into it. You also need to get a suitable cat litter, either sand or clay cat litter. Do not use clumping cat litter or biodegradable litter. If your kitten swallows clumping cat litter, she could get very sick. Some biodegradable litter is made of material which could cause an allergic reaction in cats. This reaction could be very severe in a little kitten. You may also want to use something which can attract your kitten to use the litter box - something like Dr Elsey's "Cat Attract" formula is known to help with litter training some cats. Who knows, it may help with your kitten litter training as well. Remember to place the litter box away from your kitten's food bowl. Far, far away. Your kitten, like you, does not like to eat its food right next to the toilet.
For step three, you need to prepare preventative measures. In step one, you got rid of all cat urine smell so that your kitten is not attracted back to the same spots by smell. But it might still go back because the place is a familiar landmark. You want to keep your kitten away. One way is to place some foil there - many cats do not like the way it feels on their paws. Another way is to use some form of cat repellent spray. These sprays are usually based on some pheromones which cats avoid.
In step four, set up a fixed feeding and litter box cleaning schedule. Many cats like to pee and poop before eating or after eating, so having a fixed feeding time makes it easier for you to litter train your kitten. Cats are also naturally clean and fussy creatures. Like you, they do not like to do their business in a dirty toilet. If you clean the litter box on a regular, fixed schedule, your kitten is more likely to learn to use it.
Step five involves the actually litter training your kitten. You need to learn to recognize the signs of your kitten preparing to pee or poop. You will probably miss the first few times and have to clean up accidents. But once you learn the signs, you should immediately move your kitten to the litter box. This will associate the litter box as a place to do its business. If you are lucky, your kitten will learn quickly. If not, you just need to be patient. Remember to reward your kitten every time it uses the litter box. This positive reinforcement will speed up the kitten litter training process.
Kitten litter training is not particularly difficult, especially because kittens have not yet learned many bad habits. Remember to be patient, and consistent in dealing with your kitten. Never physically punish your kitten. This will only make it fear you and damage your relationship. Positive reinforcement works much better.
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