Effective Litter Box Training: Ensuring Success for Kittens and Cats

Most kittens and adult cats are clean and litter training usually comes easily but sometimes, after acquiring a new kitten or adult cat, they may need some help.

Benefits

• To set the cat up for successful litter box training.
• To prevent a breakdown in the cat-caregiver relationship.
• To avoid relinquishment.

Stages of Training

1. Set the cat up to succeed by optimising the litter box setup.
2. Cats show a preference for larger litter boxes so seek out the largest one available.
3. It’s advisable that each cat should have their own litter box plus one extra.
4. Place the litter boxes in private locations, but make sure the cat knows where they are.
5. For cats that have been house soiling, place them in the locations where they have been eliminating.
6. Observe the cat for signs that it is looking for somewhere to toilet but don’t over crowd them as this might put them off.
7. Kittens can be gently placed in the litter box – sometimes raking the substrate with your hand can encourage them to investigate and begin scratching it with their paws.
8. Cats are very reserved about toileting and privacy is important. Therefore, using positive reinforcement training just before or during toileting isn’t a good idea. The act of voiding the bladder and bowels is actually intrinsically rewarding (we all know that feeling of sweet relief when we have been waiting to go!). However, during the training phase, it won’t harm to give them something they find rewarding just after they’ve left the latrine site.
9. If at any point during the training the cat has a house soiling incident, use an appropriate cleaning method to eliminate the odour completely (https://petcourses.co.uk/free-resources/eliminate-the-scent-of-urine-faeces). Never punish them as this could lead to toileting aversions.

Training cats that have already learned to toilet elsewhere:

Sometimes adaptations may be required to the training if a cat has never been taught to use a litter box and has established its toileting habits elsewhere. For example:

• Some cats may have had an impoverished start and only had an inappropriate substrate to toilet on, e.g. newspaper.
• An outdoor cat may need to be confined in the house following surgery or illness.
• An elderly cat may be spending more time in the home and requires training.

Stages of Training

1. For outdoor cats that have only toileted in soil, use commercially prepared bagged peat free soils (to prevent introducing parasites and infectious agents) and add some playground quality sand to the mix – not builder’s ‘sharp’ sand.
2. For cats that have been trained to use newspaper – line out the litter box with a few sheets to soak up the urine in the base and shred some pieces on top.
3. After the cat first urinates in the box – rather than cleaning it all out immediately, leave a small amount behind as the scent might encourage them to use it again. Do remove faeces.
4. After the cat has used the litter box a couple of times, a small amount of the new, cat-friendly substrate can be added although peat free soils and sand make a perfectly acceptable substrate.
5. Gradually, if required, the new substrate can be replaced and the old can be phased out.