# Kitten not always using litter tray to pee



## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Hello. I'm afraid I'm going to be "one of those", i.e. asking for help with regards to my kitten's peeing habits!!

I have recently got a maine coon kitten to join my ragdoll. The ragdoll is almost 1 year old and the kitten is now about 4 months. We've had the kitten for about 4 weeks or so. Ever since day one the kitten has been peeing in random places. This is now limited to 3 spots - by the front door, under my rats cage (and right next to one of his litter trays!!) and under the bed (specifically on my shoe storage - something made out of material and covered with a plastic top). 

He does use his litter trays (i have 4 at the moment to try and manage the situation and would ideally like to reduce...), but every now and then he will go in one of the above mentioned 3 spots. I have kept him limited to one room (along with his friend) - the spare room during the night (i would sleep there on the sofa bed) and when I'm at work, and in the living room when I'm home. He behaves fine in the living room- he had 2 spots he used to pee on in that room, but with one he randomly stopped and with the other i put a litter tray over it. In the spare room however he pees under the rats cage.

I don't think it's a case of not having enough trays or not having the time to get to them (like i said, one of the spots is right next to a tray). I'm really not sure why he does this. I've been cleaning the carpeted areas with [email protected] stain and odour remover, i have then covered the with a plastic bag and put newspaper on top, and he still pees there! So I'm thinking perhaps he likes the locations? Please help, I'm pretty much at my wits end :Banghead


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Any ideas or suggestions? So far he has not peed on the shoe storage, but he continues to pee under the rat cage (despite a litter tray being centimeters away), and in front of the front door (despite my putting a tray in that area). I'm at loss of what else I could do or what could be causing this...


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Hi @Eriya,

I am concerned to hear that your MC kitten has had a soiling issue since he first came to live with you. This does not sound like a kitten who has been properly litter tray trained. Have you let the breeder know about this problem?

If the breeder says the kitten was using his litter tray 100% of the time when he was in her home, then the fact he has not been reliable in his tray use in your home could be to do with e.g. the trays themselves, their location, the type of litter, or perhaps his diet.

Or it could be due perhaps to stress-related cystitis as a result of the big upheaval in his life moving to a new home. A cat/kitten with cystitis will avoid the tray because they associate it with pain, and will often seek out a soft surface to pee on.

I would be inclined to go back to square one with this little fellow's training. Confine him to one room all the time (the same room) with his litter trays, food, water, toys and scratch posts/pads. He can have your other kitten in there too for company, if they get along well, but your older kitten should be allowed more freedom to move around the house for some of the day.

Give him open trays (take the lids off if they are covered trays) as some cats prefer that. Provide a litter that is unscented fine granules and clumping. (but not a clay clumping litter as it is dangerous for a kitten if licked off paws and swallowed). A granular litter like Cats Best Oko Plus is well like by most cats. It is a little more expensive to buy than some litters but is very economical in use and excellent at odour control.

Place the trays in tucked away locations in his room and separate from each other, not grouped together.

If the kitten pees on the floor do not react, but mop up the pee with paper towel and place the wet paper towel in the nearest litter tray for a while. The kitten will see and smell it there, and it will reinforce the fact he needs to use the trays. The fact he uses the trays sometimes for pee (and poo) means that he does know what the trays are for, but he may need reminding.

Any cat or kitten with a bladder problem should be fed a wet food diet only, no dry food at all. With a wet food diet he will be getting the fluids he needs as part of his food as nature intends for cats. Very few if any cats are able to drink enough water to hydrate a dry food diet. On a wet food diet his urine will increase in volume and be more dilute, more comfortable to pass and this will encourage him to pee more often. Being more comfortable when he pees will encourage him to use the trays.

Can I ask if his poo is normal? i.e. firm, formed like sausages? If not, then that could have a bearing on his tray avoidance.

There is just a possibility that your ragdoll could be subtly blocking the kitten from using the trays sometimes. If so that would also be a possible reason why your kitten is peeing on the floor. Litter trays are valued resources to cats and some do not like sharing them with other cats, especially cats who are strangers to them. Has your ragdoll been neutered ?


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Thanks for your reply! I've plucked up the courage to speak to the breeder and they said the kitten had no problems prior to leaving them. They did suggest it could be a dominance thing, seeing as he pees at the front door and they suggested seeing if the vets will neuter him early. My vets don't neuter till the cats are 2kg, so he's still about 0.5kg away from that but I will phone them and ask.

We've had some improvement (touch wood!!!!!) - he hasn't peed at the front door in the last 24 hours and uses the litter tray i put there. Unfortunately he still has to be locked in the spare room when I'm away as my front door opens inwards, so there's no way of putting a tray when you leave! He still pees under the rat cage, but that is the one area I can't clean as i don't have an enzyme cleaner for hard floors - I'm planning to get that this weekend. Hopefully that helps!

I already use Oko and I love it  I never thought about mopping up the pee and putting it in the litter tray - that's a great idea and I've been trying that!  I have also transitioned him on a wet diet. He mainly had dry and felix pouches before he came to me, so he's now on feringa duo. I think that may have helped quite a bit as that's roughly when the peeing all over the place reduced. He also used to drink heaps but is now not as thirsty! His poops are on the softer side. He did have some diarrhoea when he first came but it's been slowly firming up. Still not there 100% and still pooing 2-3 times a day, so I may take him to the vet if this continues. My ragdoll has been neutered


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## davidc (Dec 15, 2010)

My mum's cat is very fussy and won't use the litter tray if there is one poo/wee in it till she removes that bit of litter with the scoop. So worth a try.


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## Babyshoes (Jul 1, 2016)

Hmm, i wonder if pooing under the cage may be a way of him showing his dominance over your rat. My kitten often pees and/or poos in my ferrets' litter boxes when they're out & the cage is open. This is despite having his own box right next to the cage. He often doesn't cover his poo in their box either, so I figure he is trying to cover their smell with his own. Not sure what to suggest for your situation, but it may give you some ideas!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

I agree @Babyshoes, inasmuch as I think the kitten is peeing under the rat cage as a way of claiming resources and territory.. Cats and rats do not normally compete for territory or for the same resources, rats being a prey animal for cats, so it has crossed my mind to wonder if the kitten is scent-marking under the rat cage as a way of claiming the rats as his prey. Who knows ?! 

However I think it's more likely that kitty feels upset/threatened by the scent of strange animals in the home, and is peeing to cover up their scent with his own scent.

I believe I have already advised @Eriya in another thread, to keep the cats out of the room where the rats are kept and to keep the door closed 24/7. This may be all that is needed to stop the kitten soiling in the home. It could be the scent of the rats has been the trigger for all the soiling/scent marking. A cat will smell the scent of the rats throughout the home unless they are kept behind a closed door all the time..

As the kitten is now 4 months old it will be a good plan to have him neutered in the next few weeks, to reduce the risk of him starting to spray.


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

@davidc - thanks, I did wonder if that could be the case, and I've been doing my best to keep all 4 trays as clean as possible, but I don't think that's what it is, as he'll still pee next to the tray even when it's clear of any clumps!

@Babyshoes - very possibly! He does pee on the exact spot where the rats used to pee. So I wondered if it's something about that "spot" or whether he's trying to cover their smell, etc.!

@chillminx - thanks for that advice - I am trying it out today! He did pee in front of the front door again last night (my celebrations were premature!!), but it could be because I didn't put the tray right up into the corner. He was doing fine with the tray in the corner today, but just in the last few minutes he peed in the opposite corner... The main issue with keeping him out of the spare room (where the rats and gerbils are) is that when I go out I can't keep the tray at the front door as my door opens inwards! And the spare room is the only place equipped to keep the cats in for longer as my ragdoll has a nasty habit of scratching the floor when he wants to come out - not a problem in the spare room as the floor is laminate, but definitely an issue in other rooms where there are carpets! What a catch-22!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

@Eriya, can you move the rats and the gerbils to another room instead? I think it must be very stressful for them to be in a room with two feline predators who would kill them and eat them, given half a chance. 

I also think the scent marking from your kitten is likely to continue as long as he can smell the scent of the rats and gerbils. 

Or if you put your cats in another room you can fit a protector to your carpet, such as Carpet Buddy, to stop the cats damaging the area by the door:

http://www.carpetbuddy.co.uk/index.php?about=stop-cat-scratching-carpet-furniture&p=1

Or there is the CarPET Scratch Stopper 30 that you fit in the doorway of the room. But it seems no longer available in the UK and you would need to order it from Amazon in the USA. Might be worth it though:

https://www.amazon.com/KittySmart-LLC-CarPET-Scratch-Stopper/dp/B00D00MXZ2

Perhaps you could copy it using a similar type of see through plastic protector like this, cut to fit in the doorway:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/William-Ar...sr=8-1&keywords=clear+plastic+floor+protector

You could stick it to the carpet with double sided carpet tape, to stop kitty getting underneath and scratching.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/d/1b3/DOUB...4435&sr=1-5&keywords=double+sided+carpet+tape


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## Eriya (May 10, 2012)

Thanks again @chillminx ! I think I may give the last 2 links a go - they don't seem too expensive and I think they would work better than the Carpet Buddy (the cat tends to scratch a larger area than what it seems to cover!).


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