# Orphaned kitten not cleaning properly



## Blizz (Apr 27, 2013)

Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and hoping for some advice please! Our 8 month old kitten was sadly orphaned at 2 days and hand raised by a wonderful woman from whom we adopted him. He is a beautiful guy, gorgeous friendly nature, lots of fun, gets along great with people, cats and dogs. We adore him!

Our only problem is that he hasn't learnt to clean himself properly (I assume because he never had his cat-mum) and he constantly gets poo stuck in his long haired tail and around his bottom. Which is, frankly, stinky and gross! He has no trouble with the litter tray, but I don't recall seeing him really grooming himself or cleaning after the toilet etc, which our other adopted 8 month old kitten (also rescued but had her mum the whole time) does regularly. 

Can anyone suggest methods I could help teach him how to do this? We bathe him every couple of weeks (which he hates) or clean him off with baby wipes, but I'd really like him to learn to take care of himself as well. Any ideas please?


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## catcoonz (Aug 4, 2012)

The only thing i can think of is to clip the fur around his bottom to toileting doesnt get stuck to his fur.


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## Calvine (Aug 20, 2012)

catcoonz said:


> The only thing i can think of is to clip the fur around his bottom to toileting doesnt get stuck to his fur.


Agree CC.. I have a long-haired boy and I regularly clip his butt-hair otherwise it's really grim. And if the hair is shorter and stays cleaner, he may be more inclined to learn to clean himself. Most cats are naturally quite fussy about keeping clean...being an orphan was obviously a hindrance.


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## Paddypaws (May 4, 2010)

While his start in life may not have helped, and clipping his pantaloons may improve the situation....I would also look at what he is eating. Dry food or offal, or just food that does not agree with an individual cat....can produce sloppy poop and this will inevitably get stuck in his fluff meaning you have to clean him up.
If mine do get messy, I normally find that if I remove most of the mess they are encouraged to carry on and properly clean the area. I use unscented baby wipes, or a soft cloth wet with warm water and a TEENY amount of baby shampoo.


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## Blizz (Apr 27, 2013)

Thanks for your replies everyone. I'll look into getting him clipped around that area (not game enough to do it myself!) and also look at his food, although we do feed them high quality stuff and I know anything of less quality definitely affects their stomachs which is why we changed a few months ago. Generally the poos in the litter box are pretty normal but they must be a bit soft when he does them or we wouldn't be having this problem.

Thanks again!


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## MisKas (May 5, 2013)

another thing to try is taking a damp cotton ball and wiping around that area, it gives him/her the feeling of mother cat cleaning him and stimulates his own cleaning habits, i have had to do this to a number of orphaned kittens, it does work just keep at it with the kitten


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## Mar234k (Jul 1, 2020)

@Blitz I'm in the same situation... although 7 years later. Did you find a solution to this? Mine is treading poop all over me. Do they grow out of it? Don't need to find a way to teach him without his mom here?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Mar234k said:


> @Blitz I'm in the same situation... although 7 years later. Did you find a solution to this? Mine is treading poop all over me. Do they grow out of it? Don't need to find a way to teach him without his mom here?


As you noticed the post from the OP (Blizz) was 7 years ago and they haven't been seen since on the forum, so I doubt you will get a reply from them.

How old is your kitten? If he keeps getting poo on his feet it suggests his poo is soft and sticky? This could be diet related, what do you feed him at present?


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## Mar234k (Jul 1, 2020)

Well I want to find out from @Blitz because they're in a similar situation and I'm trying to determine if it's a self-cleaning issue brought on my not being around the mother long enough.

Currently he's on a mix of wet and dry. Wet in the morning and at night. With dry to snack on during the day. The aim is to fully go over fully to dry one day.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

not me , it was an old member call Blizz


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## buffie (May 31, 2010)

Mar234k said:


> *Well I want to find out from @Blitz because they're in a similar situation* and I'm trying to determine if it's a self-cleaning issue brought on my not being around the mother long enough.
> 
> Currently he's on a mix of wet and dry. Wet in the morning and at night. With dry to snack on during the day. The aim is to fully go over fully to dry one day.


Different member .........different spelling.
The one you want has ,as @chillminx pointed out not been on the forum since May 2013


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Mar234k said:


> Well I want to find out from @Blitz because they're in a similar situation and I'm trying to determine if it's a self-cleaning issue brought on my not being around the mother long enough.
> 
> Currently he's on a mix of wet and dry. Wet in the morning and at night. With dry to snack on during the day. The aim is to fully go over fully to dry one day.


I am puzzled why you intend to transfer him to 100% dry food ? Wet food is so much healthier for him, especially for his bladder and kidneys. Cats are not designed to be big drinkers and he would have to drink a heck of a lot of water every day to hydrate a dry food diet, poor thing.

Research has shown that cats fed a dry food diet who drink water do not get as much fluid in their diets as cats fed a wet food diet. Cats do not need to snack or graze all day because they are carnivores not herbivores. It's much healthier for their digestions to have a gap between meals.

My suggestion is to remove the dry food from his diet, and feed him a good quality grain free wet food. A couple of his meals can be left in a timed autofeeder while you are out.

On a good quality wet food and no dry his poos should firm up and will not stick to his legs and feet so much.

He'll have got the hang of using the litter tray more adeptly by the time he is about 6 months old, or soon after. Kittens should not leave their mums until 9 or 10 weeks of age. Pedigree kittens are not homed until 13 weeks old. If you got him earlier than those ages then it is possibly why he is still a bit clumsy in the litter tray.


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## Mar234k (Jul 1, 2020)

Sorry my bad!


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Mar234k said:


> Sorry my bad!


No worries.  Let us know how things go OK.


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## Mar234k (Jul 1, 2020)

chillminx said:


> I am puzzled why you intend to transfer him to 100% dry food ? Wet food is so much healthier for him, especially for his bladder and kidneys. Cats are not designed to be big drinkers and he would have to drink a heck of a lot of water every day to hydrate a dry food diet, poor thing.
> 
> Research has shown that cats fed a dry food diet who drink water do not get as much fluid in their diets as cats fed a wet food diet. Cats do not need to snack or graze all day because they are carnivores not herbivores. It's much healthier for their digestions to have a gap between meals.
> 
> ...


Yes i got him at 8 weeks - so my concern is that he'll never know how to do it properly. I'm scared my life will be in constant fear of cleaning up poo that's been tred everywhere!

The dry food thing is mainly becuase of the auto-feeder as occasionally i won't be there overnight. But in hindsight of your comments, it's probably best to use that only for emergencies and use wet food the rest of the time.

It's so confusing. You'd think that wet food = dry + water drunk?

So I'll keep him on wet food only in that case see if that works. Any tips for training him to clean himself?


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## chillminx (Nov 22, 2010)

Mar234k said:


> Yes i got him at 8 weeks - so my concern is that he'll never know how to do it properly. I'm scared my life will be in constant fear of cleaning up poo that's been tred everywhere!
> 
> The dry food thing is mainly becuase of the auto-feeder as occasionally i won't be there overnight. But in hindsight of your comments, it's probably best to use that only for emergencies and use wet food the rest of the time.
> 
> ...


8 weeks is an age when lots of kittens leave their mums, still a bit young, and better if they can stay with mum to 9 or 10 weeks.

However I doubt it has anything to do with him not cleaning his bottom after a poo.

There is nothing you can do to train him, he will do it himself when he is ready. I have known hundreds of cats through the Shelter where I volunteer, plus my own many cats over the years, and I can promise you I have never known an adult cat who does not clean their own bottom. You just need to be patient and let him sort himself out when he is ready.

If his poo is firm and quite dry as it should be it would not stick to his paws and get trodden everywhere. Firm dry poo does not stick to the cat's bottom - at least not a short haired cat. (is he short haired?)

if his poo is soft, wet or loose then you need to sort out his diet .

Has he been treated for worms since you got him?


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