kitten trouble/advice

Lolabear

Thought I would start a thread and get some advice from you cat owners out there.... My other half recently rescued two little kittens which were very sick, we brought them to the vet got them wormed and stuff but the vet didn't hold out much hope for the smallest one.

long story short we brought them back to life with a little TLC and are two playful and boisterous kittens...

I myself am not a cat person, I love dogs, but i just couldn't say no to these poor little things... but now that they are better i find it very hard to stay on top of cleaning up after them, they are generally good with a litter box... its just the times that they are not, my boyfriend doesn't want to give them up, but i am feeling very overwhelmed by them... I suppose I'm just having a rant but please tell me it will get easier!!

Lucyn

Aw don't give up on them now! They're only little. They'll get the hang of it. My fluffball is so good, visitors can't believe how clean she is. Do you have a little step for them up into the litter tray? I put an argos catalogue beside the tray as a step and it worked. Only thought of it after I walked in to see her little back legs waving in the air as she tried to get in!

Lolabear

Thanks Lucyn, I don't want to, they are awful cute... they can get into the litter box no problem now but i might try get on of those litter boxes that has a lip at the top to stop them scraping litter all over the place, its the pooing in the corners i cant stand, i have tried putting cut up lemons in the corners, because they are suppose to not like that, but unfortunately no one told them that haha.. i hear tinfoil can work as well??

Lucyn

I heard about the tinfoil thing and tried it to stop her jumping up on the counter. I used a whole roll of it one day to cover the entire counter in the hope that once she was out of the habit, she wouldn't do it again. She looked at me as if to say "Ya mad thing, what are you doing!" and promptly jumped up and walked straight across it!

The only thing mine doesn't like is orange - runs a mile if I'm peeling one.

One other thing I could suggest for you is that perhaps you should put down more than one tray. I've read somewhere that it should be one each and one spare (but that seems a bit much to me). Also where do you have the tray located? Is it in a nice quiet corner or a high traffic area? They like a bit of peace and quiet when going (hence the little accidents in the corners).

Lucyn

I have one of those hooded litter trays. It has a cat flap at the front. She loves it and she likes her privacy and I love it as it keeps the litter inside. She spends ages after she's finished actually wiping the sides of it with her paw. If only I could tie a j-cloth to her paw and get her to go over the whole house!:D

lubie76

Yep, kittens while cute can be very boisterous but from about 6 months they do grow up and get better behaved and lazy. Give them a second litter tray. Have you used the tray liners, saves on the cleaning somewhat as long as they don't scrape their way through them.
Also get a pole type toy like 'da bird' and tire them out playing as they use so much energy jumping and running they will sleep for ages after. Nothing cuter than 2 sleeping kittens!

lubie76

Also get them neutered asap. It calms them down and also cats can go into heat before they are even 6 months. Then you will see crazy!

areyawell

There cats for crying out loud! Not bloody babys

Lucyn

areyawell wrote: »

There cats for crying out loud! Not bloody babys

There's no need for that. Each to their own. If you've nothing helpful to contribute then don't bother commenting. :mad:

Also it's 'They're' not 'there' and 'babies' not 'babys'.:P

planetX

It will get easier very quickly. Sounds like you need more litter boxes, at least 2 - if they're going elsewhere, even temporarily increase the litter trays. And clean them out a lot, cats will try not to use a dirty tray. If they're scraping litter out you can put the tray inside a cardboard box with high sides, cut down a doorway so they can get in. Kittens go through these toilet problems, but once they've grown up a bit they're usually impeccably clean.

fatmammycat

I'd go with two litter boxes as well; I"ve two cats here, and they use their own box and never share, so I'd try that. Best of luck, they can be rambunctious as kittens but they will calm down pretty soon, and well done on rescuing them!

él statutorio

fatmammycat wrote: »

I'd go with two litter boxes as well; I"ve two cats here, and they use their own box and never share, so I'd try that. Best of luck, they can be rambunctious as kittens but they will calm down pretty soon, and well done on rescuing them!

This is your best bet, a 2nd litter box will make a huge difference. I've read in other places that they advise 3 litterboxes for 2 cats.

I have 2 cats and 2 boxes and it works fine. Maybe try a different brand of litter as well that can make a big difference too.

Heroditas

Lolabear wrote: »

Thanks Lucyn, I don't want to, they are awful cute... they can get into the litter box no problem now but i might try get on of those litter boxes that has a lip at the top to stop them scraping litter all over the place, its the pooing in the corners i cant stand, i have tried putting cut up lemons in the corners, because they are suppose to not like that, but unfortunately no one told them that haha.. i hear tinfoil can work as well??

It'll take a week or two but it'll definitely get easier after time.
Our two monsters had a bit of a habit of doing the occasional poo in a corner when they were little but they grew out of it very quickly.
You can get cat repellent sprays in the pet shops that will stop them using the corner as the loo!

kylith

Use a solution of biological clothes detergent to clean up when they have an accident; this will get rid of any smell of ammonia which would mark an area as a toilet. DON'T use bleach; bleach contains ammonia and will only exacerbate the problem.

Keep your chin up, they'll stop having accidents soon. At least they're not like human babies that take years to stop having accidents!

Lolabear

Thanks so much for all your advice... i bought another litter box and some toys for the little monsters... and the whole pooing in the corner situation is over!! Thank god! so i have a bit more patience with them... i look forward to them growing up and becoming LAZY cats!!! hahaha thanks again everyone!!

fatmammycat

Brilliant! I wish you long life and happiness witih them.