She is 7 mths. She has been been spayed. We were hoping this op would calm her 'cause she is very eratic and often not easily approached. We don't know why she cowers like this, we got her as a kitten, not from a rescue place. She is pretty scary according to our 4 yr old boy. Bless him, he does show a huge amount of patience towards her, considering.
She just runs from window sill to cupboard top, and back again. We run around with her in the garden (which is pretty big, would've thought ideal for a cat to play in) to run off some of her bounce, so to speak, but its boundless.
She seems to be slightly unhinged. Sometimes she reacts to us like shes only just met us. I get the impression she is quite blind, if you give her treats, she wont find them, she thinks its your fingers she should be going for... you have to really point out where the treats are on the floor.
When she uses the litter tray, she misses EVERY time. I am forever cleaning poo and wee off the floor. I can't stand the mess. Its totally unhygienic. Our house just smells of detol all the time. I must spent the best part of an hour, sometimes more, cleaning up her mess.
I know the couple down the road were looking to take on a rescue cat, considering she is 7 months, we're going to knock on their door and see what their position is.
Feeling a bit pants about it all.

Not sure what to do about the situation but didn't want to read and not warn you that Dettol is toxic to cats. Did the vet mention any sight issues when she was spayed?

have you seen a vet about the litter issues? missing every time at 7 months is not normal.

Sounds to me as if she's not been properly socialised. What was she like when you first got her? I would doubt very much she's totally blind considering her jumping habits but nonetheless she needs to be checked by the vet who can confirm whether or not she's partially-sighted or rule out a medical problem. She sounds scared to me and I think you need to spend some quality time with her to gain her trust. My cats are actually the most laid-back as you'll get but nonetheless they are really scared of small children!

Hi Clare, it sounds like your kitten could be displaying signs of anxiety. Do you know much about her background? Did you meet the mother cat?

It could be, as Ianthi suggests, your kitten is not properly socialised, which might mean she is not used to being handled, or maybe not even used to much close contact with people at all.

Or it could be that she has been handled badly, perhaps someone has been rough with her... this might explain the "cowering" you mention.

With regard to the toiletting mistakes, it is just possible she learnt her bad habits from her mother. If the mother cat had a litter tray that was not emptied regularly then she might have started toiletting next to it to avoid standing in mess. Then her kittens would have copied her example.

Alternatively the toiletting mistakes could be due to general anxiety.

I think I might try everything practical just in case it helps, like adding more litter trays in quiet corners, including perhaps a hooded one; changing the type of cat litter you are using (choose one as most like sand as possible, and one that is unscented). And also, to save mess on your floors, put a large sheet of polythene underneath the trays so that at least if your little kitty misses the tray she will most likely toilet on the plastic sheet, which is easy enough for you to wipe up with paper towels or loo paper. But don't wipe the plastic sheet with strong scented cleaning products, or the kitty will be put off using it, and use the floor again.

It might be the case that your kitten will need a lot of patient gentle handling to gain self-confidence with you. It sounds like she could be overwhelmed at the moment with all the new experiences she is undergoing, and her anxiety is making her hyper. The usual things like plug-in Feliway in the room where kitty spends most time, and possibly Zylkene tablets from the vet, might be worth a go.