# Advice needed - litter training 7 week old kitten



## lizzyj (Jun 4, 2017)

Hi, I'm new here and hoping for some advice from the lovely helpful people here 

We got a kitten last month at 8 weeks old. He settled in immediately and is doing great. He's eating well and took to his litter tray immediately. He's been great fun, but we thought he could use some company. So we got a new kitten last week. We were told she was ready to go, but it turned out she was only 6 weeks when she was brought to us, and they weren't willing to keep her any longer. So she's been with us a week now. 

The two kittens are getting along so well, they're playing together and sleeping together, etc. My issue has been with getting her to consistently use the litter tray. On her first day here, I showed her the tray, put her in it and simulated digging with her. But she preferred to pee anywhere else but the tray. After continually putting her in the tray, on the third day she seemed to get it. She would get in the tray and dig a little, then pee. She never attempts to cover it up though, she just gets straight out. The older kitten then gets into the tray and covers up after her! 

This was all going well for a few days with no accidents, but just today she has had several accidents again. They've all been close to her tray, and in different spots. One time she even walked past her tray to pee on some plastic wrapping next to the bin. It really doesn't seem like it's an accident where she didn't make it to her tray on time, it's like she's just not bothered about where she goes.

Is there anything else I can do to get her using the tray all the time? I thought by now she'd pretty much have the hang of it, because as I said, the older guy came in at 8 weeks and took to it immediately.


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## Alexhannah (Apr 13, 2017)

It is awful that the person you got the kitten from let her leave her Mum so early! Some people are so selfish and don't care about the kittens, all they care about is money. I'm glad the kitten, what would the person have done if you hadn't taken the kitten (it's horrible to even think about). I am fairly new to this forum site and I am sure someone with a lot more experience will come along and give you some helpful advice but in my opinion I think the best thing to do would be just to continue to encourage her to use the litter tray and use her paw to imitate the covering up and if you manage to see her mid wee or poop put her in the litter tray quickly and hopefully she will learn. It may also help her to see your other cat using the litter tray. If i were in your situation i would also place several different litter trays in different rooms throughout the house and I would also buy litter that is very small (such as crystals) which are easy for little paws to move. I hope you find a solution to this soon, good luck


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## lizzyj (Jun 4, 2017)

Thanks for your help. I appreciate it. Yes it's terrible really, she's so tiny. We were told she was ready to go, so we assumed she was at least 8 weeks, and she even looked older in the photos we had seen. But as soon as I saw her in person I knew she wasn't old enough to leave her mum. But then I was worried that they'd get rid of her either way if I didn't take her, as they had no intention of keeping her for another few weeks 

Anyway, no accidents overnight (although I don't know if she held it overnight, or used the tray), but after breakfast she did make her own way into one of the trays and had a good dig! We have two at the moment, and when she does use one, she tends to go for the one we had for the first kitten. It's a hooded tray without the flap on the front. I'll keep popping her in there anyway and hope that she gets it soon.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hello @lizzyj and welcome 

If 6 weeks is the age the seller admitted to, it is possible the little mite is even younger than that. Are her eyes still blue? (They change at around 6 weeks). It certainly sounds as though her mum didn't have time to litter train her properly. So now this is your job and will need lots of patience and kindness. The little one will also learn from the older kitten to some extent.

Such a young kitten must be contained in one room - a safe room where there are not places for her to get stuck underneath cupboards or appliances, such as in a kitchen. A spare bedroom is best. Not a bathroom.

In her safe room she should have all she needs - firstly food. Feed her small meals about 6 to 8 times a day. Wet food is best. Dry food is not good for her, as it will be hard for her to drink enough fluids to hydrate the food and she could end up with low level chronic dehydration which will be bad for her kidneys and her bowel.

It is really important when training a young kitten to have plenty of litter trays for them, so there is always one near at hand where they are playing or sleeping. In her safe room I would give her at least two trays (one for pee and one for poo) spread about, not together. If the older kitty is using the room then you need two trays for him (4 trays in all).

Put puppy training pads (or human inco bed sheets which are bigger) under the trays in case younger kitty feels happier using those at present.

Use a litter which is fine granules, but not silica or clumping clay. Worlds Best is a good one to consider.

Not all cats cover their deposits in the litter tray, so don't worry about little one not doing so. The fact is that some cats _always _bury deposits, some cats _sometimes _bury, some cats _never _bury. It is an individual thing and is partly due to how their own mum taught them, and partly territorial.

At night time I recommend containing the tiny kitten in a folding dog crate with her food, water, litter tray, a cosy bed, and some toys. This helps the little mite feel secure and will help train her to use the tray. If the two kittens want to be together put them both in the crate at night with two bowls of food, etc.

Crates can be bought reasonably from amazon.

The 30 inch size crate is probably big enough for a tiny kitten for night use, as she should only need it for a few weeks until you have litter tray trained her.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Medium-Fol...1496662451&sr=1-10&keywords=folding+dog+crate

If you have the space I would leave the crate up all the time for the present, with the crate door open in the day time (but closed at night of course) so the kittens can sleep in it if they want, go in and out of it etc.


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## lizzyj (Jun 4, 2017)

Thanks for your reply! Yes, her eyes are blue. But based on photos I received of her some weeks back, at an absolute minimum, she is now (today) 6wks and 2-3 days. I do remember having cats in the past whose eyes didn't change colour until they were upwards of 10-11 weeks? She's a mostly white tortoise/white kitten, so I don't know if that means she's more likely to retain the blue eyes?

We have the two litter trays at the moment, and don't have room for more (and the kitchen she's in, she definitely wouldn't need more than two, as it's small). In fact the whole house is small! She seems fine with the litter itself, it's Catsan clay and it seems fine enough. She does try to cover her poo, so the litter does seem ok. I don't even mind if she never covers anything, as long as she uses the tray 

In terms of food, she arrived with a bag of dry food, and she eats it like a pro. I was quite surprised at this, as the other guy wasn't eating dry food when we got him at 8 weeks. It's only now at 12 weeks that he's eating a little. I have been giving her wet food once a day for the past few days, as I didn't want to change her diet all at once. Should I be aiming to move her completely to wet food, or a mix?

Thanks again for all the help.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Wet food is always better, healthier for their bladder, kidneys and bowel. They are not able to drink enough water to hydrate dry food. They are designed to get their fluids in their food (prey) and are not good at drinking. I would feed mostly wet with a few dry pieces as treats.

Two litter trays is not enough for 2 indoor cats. You must provide a minimum of 3. They need not all be on the floor. You can put one on a shelf, as long as there is a safe way up and down. Make sure the trays are open ones, or if covered that you take off the door flap permanently.

It is quite possible the dry food diet is causing her to wee away from the tray due to bladder irritation or cystitis. Inconsistent use of the tray can be due to cystitis. Switching her to a wet food diet may be all you need do to solve the problem. Getting enough fluids in her diet from wet food will enable her bladder to be flushed through more often and the urine will be more dilute so less chance of sludge developing in the bladder. 

I have never heard of a kitten's eyes changing from blue as late as 10 to 11 weeks!! I would be interested to read the website where you read that, if you could give me the link please?

Blue eyes are extremely rare in an adult moggy. So unless she is one of the blue eyed pedigree breeds ( with both parents blue eyed) then no her eyes won't stay blue.


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## lizzyj (Jun 4, 2017)

Thanks again for your help. In terms of her diet then, can I just switch all her meals, or do I continue to do it gradually? The other kitten is eating mostly wet food, so it's no big deal for me to change it either way, I just want to make sure I don't upset her little tummy by doing it all at once.

Unfortunately I definitely don't have room for extra litter trays. The cats are not allowed into the two bedrooms anyway, so the space they have access to is limited. They're both scooped out several times a day too, so I don't understand why two wouldn't be more than enough. They're both choosing to use the hooded tray at the moment anyway, and the other one hasn't been used in days, so I'll keep an eye on that.

About her eyes, sorry for the confusion. I didn't mean that I read somewhere about eyes changing colour at 10weeks, that was my own experience both in the past and with my 12 week old guy that I have now. He came to me with blue eyes at 8 weeks (and he was definitely 8 weeks as he was a rescue from the vets that they took in straight after they were born), and they changed after his first week here. I've also read other people's comments where they've said that the eyes changed at different stages. So I always thought it was just from (as opposed to immediately at) 6 weeks on that they change from blue? Anyway, I'm sure they'll change over the coming weeks 

Thanks for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate the advice.


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I would change her diet slowly to avoid tummy upsets. If she is reluctant to eat wet (may not recognise it as food if she has never had it) then you can grind up some dry food in a clean coffee grinder and sprinkle it over a little wet food to get her started. One she gets going you can reduce the dry food on the top. Or switch to using Thrive freeze dry treats crumbled on top. 

They may manage OK as kittens with two trays between them (may use only one as you say) but I would be surprised if they would cope as adults with only 2 between them. But as you say if you are at home to scoop all day that is not so bad.


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