New kitten not using her litter tray all the time!

Selik

She's been with us for just over 2wks now and after an initial period where she hid in a cupboard for over a week she's settling in grand, apart from 4-5 times where she's pooed somewhere other than her litter. Her litter is in the kitchen area (the room beside) and the only rooms she's allowed in at present are there and the living room. She's used the beanbag twice and also behing the TV where we had some sheets and curtains, and once on somebody's bed when she got into that room one day. Always somewhere soft so thinking she's just genuinely mistaking these areas as the correct place to "go". I haven't actually caught her in the act yet but if I do I will pick her up straight away and plonk her in her litter and make her paw scratch in it a bit.

Is there anything we can do to stop this? Don't wanna keep her locked in the kitchen area at night and when we're out unnecessarily but at the moment we're gonna have to do this as my flatmate is sick of cleaning up her mess!

I should stress that she IS litter-trained and mostly uses it, just not on these few occasions. Other than this problem she is a delight. Very frisky and playful and always purring and snuggling up to people etc... Seems very happy and is eating and drinking normally.

Is there anything I can do to try and get her out of this habit permanently?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

Gordon Gekko

How frequently do you scoop her litter tray/change the litter/wash the tray? Some cats (especially girl cats :rolleyes: ) can be incredibly fussy in their litter tray habits, i.e. some will only use the litter tray once and will refuse to go again until it's been cleaned out. Others will insist on having one tray for 'number 1s' and another for 'number 2s'. A good rule of thumb is one tray per cat plus one extra - so if you only have the one cat, try getting a second tray.

Otherwise, it could be that she's still a bit unsure/scared - two weeks is still a very short time for her to adjust and feel safe - it normally takes about 6 weeks for a cat to become accustomed to change. You'll notice that the places you've listed where she's gone will all (to her) smell strongly of you/your flatmates. To her, they smell pretty much as though they're your litter trays, so she's going on sheets, beds etc. as a way of saying 'hey, look, I'm part of your gang, I'm going in your litter tray' (all this BTW is pretty much as described to us by Jan of Kitten Adoption when we had similar problems with a kitten once). Key thing is to keep the litter tray cleaned at least once per day and to bar access to bedrooms etc. when you're not around. Check out www.fabcats.org and www.kittenadoption.ie for lots of useful info on problems like yours. Good luck!

MsFifers

Hi - I'd agree with the advice above to ensure litter trays are totally clean and that you have at least two available to her at all times. And bear in mind that our idea of clean and a cat's can differ! Sometimes if there is a lingering scent of used litter (that a human wouldn't even notice) the cat won't like to step into the box.

It does sound like she is just a bit mixed up about where to go rather than any other problem. I'd limit her access to the beds and bean bag for the moment. She's small so it wouldn't be a hardship on her to be restricted to one or two rooms when you aren't there. Just leave her a few toys to keep her occupied and a couple of litter trays and she should be ok.

Also I've heard that you need to wash the places she has used before in white vinegar to remove the smell and to ensure that she doesn't keep the association with them as toilet places.