house training kittens

[donna]

I recently brought home 2 new kittens (male & female) that are 3 months old. From the day I brought them home, they have been peeing and pooping all over the house. They will ocassionally use the kitty litter but only when they feel like it. They have peed on clothes, bags, beds, (and pooped) their kitty bed, backpacks and floors. I also have 4 children from age 3-10. The kittens are pure bred persians and are siblings. They came from a house of 13 cats and I am not sure how well trained they were. One kitten had little poop balls fall from his bum occasionally, but I have since had them dewormed and that seems to have stopped. The vet said to put them in a room and leave them there (with playtime and visits from us, and special visits to only one floor of the home) until they learn to properly use the kitty litter. Since 3 days ago, I have found the male pee on a bag I used for cleaning the litter which is immaculate by the way and also on his bed which is a carrier case they use to play in, but last night when I checked on them they were sleeping in it. I also bought cat attract litter for them as well. I have a very large home 4,500 sq. feet and used to let them roam the house, but it is a new home and they were peeing and pooping everywhere so now they are in one room. I also saw them pee and poop nearly 2 feet away from the litter. They do not cover their droppings in the litter, but they do scratch the litter. I also noticed that there was a bright yellow spot on the rug which I thought was throw up, but now I think is from the pee as it was mixed with the pee spot on the carpet last night(they escaped and made their way downstairs) I can say that it is not one cat, as I have seen both of them go on the floor. Please help and send suggestions as I am about to lose my mind and give them back. I thought cats were automatically trained to use the litter. My mom and sister also have their siblings and they are not having this trouble. Please help. thanks,

[KOPsarah]

Hi Donna and thanks for your post,
Unfortunately kittens are only taught by their mothers not to toilet in sleeping areas they are not taught to toilet in litter trays specifically. Some kittens pick this up faster than others but there are several things you can do to help your kittens get used to using the litter tray.

-As your vet said keeping the kittens in a small place is really important because it means they are always near a litter tray and they can easily find one when they need it.
-Have several trays in the room, at least one per cat so that one is always available to each cat and if one is unattractive to the cat for some reason there are others to use.
-Put your kittens on the litter tray at times they may need to go such as first thing in the morning, after meals and before and after play sessions. Praise your kittens excitedly for using the tray and treat them to a game or tasty morsel.
-Make sure the trays are in private safe areas, you could try using a lidded one or putting a normal tray inside a large box or carry cage.
-If you catch your cat toileting outside the tray do not punish it as this may lead to toileting in secret areas such as under beds where you may not find the mess for quite a while. Instead when you catch your kittens in the act lift them quickly to a litter tray. If they continue to toilet in the tray praise them warmly as you would if they had used the tray from the start.
-Make sure you clean up any accidents with an odor neutralizer. You can also try covering any particular favorite accident spots with the cats food bowls as cats do not normally like toileting near their food.

Also in regards to covering poop with litter, many kittens will have scratch around in the litter box without effectively covering the poop. Cats often get better at covering it properly as they get older.

I hope this helps. Please don't hesitate to ask if you have any further questions.
All the best.

[donna]

Hi Sarah,

Thanks for your reply. I have done everything you said in your post. The male kitten has now even in the small area, peed on his bed, the play tunnel and practically so close to his food, I wasn't sure if it got into it. I know this is not normal behaviour for any cats let alone kittens, and the female still will pee on carpet if given the chance. However, she seems to pee very very little where it is barely noticeable. There is also some bright flourescent yellow markings in the females pee and the males which I am not sure what that is either. The vet said we could try antibiotics to rule out any urinary tract infection, other than that he said that because they are purebreds that they see a lot of kidney trouble in them from in breeding and that could cause the cats to not have control over their pee/poop. Whatever the vet said to do I have done and they do use the litter and seem to poop in it, but the pee is the problem. Are they too young to mark their territory??? They are 12 weeks. I am not sure what is going on with them but my husband is ready to get rid of them or me!!! And it is really quite stressful. I thought that maybe the kittens were stressed, but they always want to come out of the room and constantly follow us around. Any other suggestions?????? Anyone ever had this situation before and what did you do????

thanks,
donna

[KOPsarah]

Hi donna,
I would say that at 12 weeks old it is unlikely that the kittens are purposefully marking, furthermore if your cats are pooping in the tray reliably but dribbling small amounts of urine all over the place then a kidney or bladder problem could definitely be a cause. There are many different diagnostic tests you may want to consider in order to diagnose a problem and a urine sample or a course of antibiotics are probably the cheapest ones to start with. If your vet did not already palpate your kittens kidneys this should be tried too. It is also helpful to keep track of the amount your kittens are drinking and report this to your vet.

It is still also possible that your cats have just not come to terms with litter training yet. Your kittens are still quite young and if they are still having both urine and poop accidents then it is quite possible they just haven't got litter training sorted yet. You did describe in your first post that the kittens had had a poop accident and were sleeping right next to it. This is unusual behavior for a cat with urinary or rectal incontinence because even incontinent animals will usually not sleep near their accidents if given the choice.

In summary it is difficult to tell at this age whether the kittens do have a medical problem or are just a little slow with litter training especially as they are showing a few signs of each problem! Your options at this point are to pursue veterinary diagnostic tests or to persist with training for a few weeks more and see what happens. I would also suggest talking to the breeder. They may have experienced medical problems in their cats or may be aware that some of the offspring can be very difficult to toilet train. Either way they should be able to offer advice.

In the mean time you may want to consider moving the kittens into a room with more wipeable surfaces such as the laundry or a bathroom to reduce the damage that is done to your house and property. Also try to explain to your husband that the kittens are not misbehaving on purpose but rather have a medical problem or simply do not understand that toileting should be done in a particular place. Explain to him how you feel about the situation and decide between you what steps you are or are not willing to take before considering rehoming. It may be that an already trained and healthy adult animal suits your busy lifestyle better and will be less stressful.

I hope this help, please keep me posted on your situation and let me know how you get on.