Sorry guys - just need to whinge a bit.

Absolutely adore the two kittens we got last weekend (Basil and Sybil) but my god, this weeing everywhere thing is starting to get to me! Since a week ago, Basil has wee'd on our bed three times, once in the bag where we keep toilet roll and once in the recycling bin and caught him before he was about to go in our laundry basket. Sybil (who is now starting to come out, so at least that's something!) has shat in my boyfriend's gym bag and today wee'd on our couch.

They only do it when one of us is in the house and always in front of us. Why???

I've plugged in Feliway (on Friday), I've tried the water spray method, putting Basil straight in the litter box (still can't get anywhere near Sybil), spraying cat repellent on stuff, citrus, etc. arrrggghh, not even considering taking them back, not even an option, but aaaarrrgghh

I found Feliway wasn't so great for my kitten (she started pooing on the bed at one point for no reason) and got a 'Pet Remedy' diffuser instead. Cheaper and so much better. Since I got those I have had no problems with either of my two kittens at all.

Might be worth a try? P@H sell them, they are not in the locked glass cabinet like the Feliway though but usually with the herbal remedies. Its £20 for the diffuser and one bottle and then £20 for two refills.

Good luck!

x

Have they used the litter box at all? Is it near a draught, food or just too far away?

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They use the litter boxes all the time! And they've never (that I know of) done anything anywhere they shouldn't while we're out - haven't noticed any 'smells' anyway. It's always while one of us is in the room (apart from the gym bag incident, we were downstairs at the time and there is a box upstairs as well). I scoop at least twice a day and have totally replaced the litter once this week, no harsh detergents used on them to put them off, but they are definitely clean!

Maybe they're still a little insecure and don't want to leave you to go off to find their litter tray. Is their one close by if they're with you?

Yep, there's one close to me which they use all the time - it's a mystery! Running v low on laundry detergent...

Ok, a few things for you to do.

First of all, is there more than one box? If not, add another. There should be 1 box per cat plus 1 in the house, so that's 3 boxes for you.

Secondly, goe to Pets at Home and buy some of their Kitten Attract litter. this is excellent for encouraging kits to use the tray all the time, and worked wonders with my litter. It's expensive, but you won't need to use it for more than a few weeks, and when you're weaning them off it, it can be sprinkled on top of their normal litter to keep them going in the tray.

Thirdly, when you wipe up their wee, put the wipes you use in the tray. When mine were tiny, I'd wipe up the wee, let them smell it on the kitchen roll or baby wipe, take them to the tray, put them in, put the wipe in in front of them, let them smell it once more, then dig with their paws until the wipe is buried. Then it was oodles of praise and play time to show them that every time you wee'd in the tray, amazing things would happen.

Fourthly, stop scooping so often! Scooping twice a day doesn't give time for their smell to build up in the trays. While some cats demand you scoop this often, if you ask me, it's never a good idea to do this with kittens as they use the smell to be drawn back to the trays. I know they use them fine when you're not there, but bearing in mind they aren't using them consistently, you need to try everything you can.

If all of this fails, put the pair of them in a small room (it has to be small) with a litter tray, a bed, food and water. Cats do not like to wee or poo near to where they eat, so by putting everything in a small space, it will force them to use the tray. It will also give you a better chance of bonding with your little girl as she will feel more secure in a small space. Did you do this when you got them? If not, they may be weeing like this to put their mark on the place to help them feel more settled. When they're using the trays consistently, open up the house to them one room at a time, returning to the single room set up each and every time one of them toilets inappropriately. This takes time and is hard, but it usually works.

Hope this helps.

Thanks so much Carly - will try all of that!