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kitten litter box training failures....out of ideas!

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colby - 02 Jun 2004 01:19 GMT
We have tried all the tricks that have been suggested to train a kitten to
pee in litter box and he is still peeing on carpet.  Here is the background
and what we have done:

He is 3 months old. (had him since he was 8 wks......a loving purring
kitten...great personallity except litter box issue).  He has a litter mate
sister who used the box always.
When they are closed in the kitchen area, he will use the litter box always.
When we let him out to explore the house.......(limited to living room for
now)
He will sometimes pee in a certain spot on the carpet.
We will pick him up every time as soon as we see and put him in the litter
box.
We clean w/ enzymatic cleaner to remove smell each time.
He still pees on the spot on the carpet.
We then covered area so he does not have access and he finds a new spot to
pee in another part of the room on the carpet.
Again we cleaned and deorderized and put a 2nd litter box on the spot on the
carpet in the living room.
He will approach the 2nd litter box box and pee just outside of the litter
box on the carpet.
We cleaned again.   This repeats for a few times.
We then started to spritz him with a water spray when he start to pee.
He will run and then immediately pee on a new spot against the wall on the
carpet.
We have seen him use the 2nd litter box to poop in.
He has a litter mate sister who uses the primary litter box always in the
kitchen.
Again, never accidents in the kitchen.

Any new suggestions?  At this point we hate to let him out of the kitchen
area until see some inclination to pee in the litter box.

Thank you for the advise:)
Nina S. - 02 Jun 2004 02:30 GMT
> We have tried all the tricks that have been suggested to train a kitten to
> pee in litter box and he is still peeing on carpet.  Here is the background
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> Thank you for the advise:)

A few things come to mind. First, has he been vet checked to rule out any
illness? Second, has he been neutered yet? Also, (no offense), are the boxes
clean enough for him? Most cats are extremely particular about the
cleanliness of the box. Have you tried different litters? There is a litter
called Cat Attract that works well for cats with a litter box aversion.

You can try these links....they might contain some helpful info you haven't
tried yet.

http://www.catcaresociety.org/litter.htm

http://www.priory.com/vet/catlit01.htm

http://www.preciouscat.com/WebPages/catattract.html

Hope you can resolve this soon.

Nina
Dana - 03 Jun 2004 05:54 GMT
Marking
Cats in the wild use marking as a way to communicate with one another. The
actual process of marking can take a few different forms from scratching to
spraying. A common marking behavior is spraying. Spray is actually created
when the cat mixes a small amount of urine with glandular secretions called
pheromones. These are the components that make cat spray have its
distinctive and potent odor. Other common marking behaviors are leaving
pheromone and/or visual markers through scratching and rubbing against
objects. Marking with feces can also occur, although this is seen less
frequently.
Pheromones play a very large role in a marking and a feline's life. Cats use
these pheromones to mark their territory in many ways. Cats have glands that
produce pheromones on their mouths, chin, face, cheeks, ears, paw pads, anal
area, and upper surface of the tail. When your cat rubs up against you, or
rubs up against your furniture he is actually leaving a little trace of
pheromones that say, 'this is mine', in a friendly way. When a cat scratches
he is not only leaving a mark through pheromones, but he is also leaving a
visual marker that says, 'this is mine!'. Spraying is another way for cats
to release pheromone, however, this way usually meant to say, 'stay out', in
a more defensive tone.

Cats of both sexes (although males tend to mark more than females) mark as a
sign to other cats that a certain territory is theirs and/or that they are
the dominant cat in the area. Cats in heat and males responding to a cat in
heat will do a lot of marking as they go on their quest to find a mate.

It is fairly simple to break a cat of bad scratching habits (see scratching
area for specifics), and urine or fecal marking behavior (both however do
require time and patience). In most cases spaying or neutering the cat will
be enough to stop him/her from marking. If that doesn't fix the situation
try to reduce your cat's need to mark by making sure your cat feels his/her
territory is sound and that his/her dominant position (or position in the
hierarchy) is safe. This means you will need to figure out why he/she is
marking (is there a new cat in the home, can he see another cat from a
window, did you just get a new pet, are you favoring another cat who isn't
the 'dominant' one) and then try to combat the problem from that route.

If your cat has marked quite a bit in the past you will need to remove all
signs of the mark using a special odor controlling solution. Although you
may feel you have cleaned the area thoroughly and that it smells fine, cats
have a keen sense of smell and will most likely still designate the area as
being marked unless you have used an odor neutralizing solution designed for
cat urine and spray. Until the area is truly clean your cat will continue to
go back to it and re-mark. You can purchase such products at your local pet
store. You can also help your cat stay away from the spot by spraying it
with a vet-approved cat repellant which can also be found at your local pet
store. For specific information on dealing with problem spraying behaviors
click here.

Note: Cats can mark due to illness. So before you start trying to correct
marking from a behavioral standpoint take your cat to the vet to rule out
any sort of health problem that could be the culprit.

> We have tried all the tricks that have been suggested to train a kitten to
> pee in litter box and he is still peeing on carpet.  Here is the background
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> Thank you for the advise:)
Dicky - 04 Jun 2004 10:10 GMT
Hallo Colby,

Alittle cat needs more then 1 litterbox.
When he has to pee, he must find very quick a litter box . When there is no
box near him, he uses the karpet.
Give the first  months a few litterboxes.
You shall see that its soon over.

Good luck

Dicky
http://www.geocities.com/turbo502002/index-en.html
> We have tried all the tricks that have been suggested to train a kitten to
> pee in litter box and he is still peeing on carpet.  Here is the background
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
> Thank you for the advise:)
 
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