circa 15 Jun 2004 00:59:08 -0700, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Eden
(sassafras1227@yahoo.com) said,

She's too young to be away from her mother, let alone know how to use
the litterbox. What caused her to be taken from her mother so early?

As far as the litter training:

http://utut.essortment.com/cathowdolitte_rqwp.htm
http://cats.about.com/library/howto/htlitter.htm
http://www.mismatch.co.uk/catlitter.htm
http://www.healthypet.com/Library/pet_behavior-5.html
http://www.healthypet.com/Library/pet_behavior-6.html

And as a side note:
http://www.showcatsonline.com/at_what_age_should_a_kitten_go_to_a_new
_home.htm

Laura

She's a baby. Way too tiny to be without her mother. Laura's given some great
links; I just wanted to add, that when I've raised orphans, I used a small pan
with 1" sides The sides are too tall on commercial litterboxes. Good luck with
your new baby.

Laura is right, she is way too young. I had always heard that kittens should
be at least six weeks old, and now I think the recommendation is that they
be older than that before separated from their mothers. If her mother is not
dead or otherwise unavailable, someone has made a bad decision.

You might trying some hospital pads or baby diapers. As you know, she
is much too young to be away from her mother.  She won't learn any
"cat" things.  The woman just wanted to get rid of the
responsibility.. (IMHO)    MLB

Like everyonbe else has said, your kitten is too young to be box trained at
4 weeks.  Depending on whether or not the kitten's mother was box trained,
any training at all about where to pee might be meaningless or even
detrimental to your attempts at box training.  You will win the battle if
you are persistant and consistant.  I have know people that have trained
their cats to use a toilet, and then they would gripe because they would not
flush it.

I got one once whose mother had been killed by a rotary mower.  The mother
was a farm cat and was never trained to use a box.  The kitten was about
eight weeks old when we got him but my wife worked with him until he was box
trained.  He never really got the concept that the new deposites were to be
covered up, but instead he would kick the liter around usually making a big
mess.

Off the subject, but we had to put him down at age eithteen due to failing
health and autheritis.  He never did learn hot to cover up his poop!

At 4 weeks you basically have to finish doing the job their Mom should have
been given the opportunity to do. My Boots' litter was just starting to be
ready to use the box at 4 wks. Others might be more precocious.

Wait until about 10-15 minutes after she eats and put her in the box and
help her scratch. You may want to try taking a damp cotton ball or paper
towel and gently stimulate her butt to get her to go. OTOH she might have
gotten to the point where this will offend the heck out of her - depends on
how far her mom got with litter training (if at all) before they were
separated. If she goes, praise the heck out of her and help her scratch
again so she learns to cover up. Continue to plunk her in the litter box
after meals until you see her reliably using the box herself.

Get the towel the heck out of the litter box. You might be confusing her.

You might want to consider getting one of those really big and deep plastic
storage bins and setting her up in there when she's napping and overnight.
Put a towel in there for her to sleep on, her litter box (at the far end)
and some food and water. This way she doesn't have to go far to find the
box. Once she starts consistently using the box you can gradually expand her
horizons and give her a larger area that she's free to roam.

She might just be too far from the box when she has to go and doesn't
remember how to get back to it. I think Boots was almost 9 -10 weeks old
before he got the run of the house (and we have a small house)

W