Hi,

glad to hear another kitty found a home! :-)

Oscar has probably not had the benefit of a momcat to show him how
things are done. Butt cleaning might start to happen, when kittens are
very young they basically present their little pooper to their mother
who then takes care of everything. I also wouldn't know how to show
him how it's done... Personally I am not agile enough to make such a
movement ;-) 12 weeks is young though. I would give him at least
another month to 'develop a taste for it'.

You could show him how to cover up his droppings though, when you see
he is going wait for him to finish, /gently/ grab his front paw, and
proceed to cover it up using his paw as a rake. Tell him what a good
boy he is while you do it and give him a big cuddle afterwards. Then
give him a cuddle, before moving on to some cuddling. Finish off with
cuddling.

I wouldn't know how often he should go. Less than once a day would be
worrying.

One thing you /might/ consider is getting a second cat (I am not
saying you should). They do like each other's company, although
personalities /may/ clash. If you would have an adult cat around,
Oscar could learn a lot of cat stuff from him/her. Maybe one that's a
year old or so. Actually another cat might take care of the lil' guy's
bum for you... Also, with Oscar being so young, another cat would not
see him as a threat, and Oscar would not see an older cat as a threat,
so they would bond really well. When Oscar has grown up it may be a
bit harder to get hem to be friends with another cat, should you get
one.

JM

Had similar problems with a cat I am fostering... basically my cat (spayed,
female) showed her the ropes, and I also put cheap rugs (2 bucks from
meijer) underneath the litterboxes - they seem to like to scratch and play
with the cheap fibers, so while they do that, they inadvertantly do most of
their initial sitting on the rug. Provides for nasty rugs, but it worked for
me.
KR

Our little Chloe... when she was a kitten would run around the house
sometimes with the poop still hanging on to her hair (long hair cat).  I
would have to chase her down and clean her off.  So I relate to your
situation, but I would think that once his diarrhea goes away there won't be
such a problem with the smears (because it will be solid).  As far as
covering it; Chloe is almost 5 years old and still doesn't cover it in the
litter box.  I've seen similar questions about covering poop on other news
groups and other people said that some of their kitty's didn't do it either.
Now frequency is another issue.  My Chloe goes about once a day (never twice
a day) and I start to worry if she doesn't go in two days.  But every cat is
different.  I do however clean her litterbox once a day (that way I have a
good idea of her regularity).

By the way, Chloe would lie in the litterbox whenever we would clean it when
she was a litten.  Would get the dust all over her.  But she was just a
kitten having fun playing in the sand!!  :)  good luck!!

Paige