I just got an 11 week old kitten a few days ago - she is the only animal I have. When I first got her, she would both pee and poo in the litter tray. Now, she still poos in the litter tray every time, but has not peed in it for a couple of days. She peed on the desk two days ago, in her bed which was on the bathroom floor yesterday, and in MY bed this morning! The only time she has gone in the litter tray was when I caught her about to go on the floor and moved her there!

There are two or three things that I think I could have done wrong:
When I first got her, I had the litter tray in the living room, but I moved it to the bathroom within one day. However, she doesn't go where the litter tray used to be.

Her first day here, she stepped in a little poop then stepped in the bed I bought for her. I wiped off the bed with a wet cloth, then put the bed on my desk until I could wash it properly. The next day, she peed on my desk near her bed. I then thought it was maybe because the bed smelled, so I put the bed near her litter tray so she would go in the litter tray, and that is when she went in the bed (it was right beside the litter tray)! Is the bed smelling a possible reason as to why she isn't peeing in the litter tray?

I don't think it's that she can't find the litter tray either, because I have a tiny one bedroom flat - everything is close together. I clean the litter tray out right away after she uses it.

So, my question - are any of the above reasons possible? If so, what should I do about them? Getting rid of her is not an option, but going outside of the litter tray is the worst habit she could have!

Also - how often is an 11 week old kitten supposed to go? As far as I can tell, she only pees and poos about once a day each.

Usually people suggest two trays, one for wee and one for poo, as it sometimes helps. Also, I think I would leave the litter tray in the living room for a bit longer, where it's comfy and she's happy using it, and worry about moving it somewhere more hygienic a bit later.

I agree that two litter boxes may be the answer. Some cats are very particular and prefer to do poop and pee in different places.

On the other hand she could possible have a urinary tract infection, so if adding a box doesn't solve the problem a trip to the vet should be the next step. UTIs hurt, and kitty will blame the box for the pain, and try going other places in an effort to avoid the pain.

Pooping once a day is normal, but she should be peeing at least twice a day.

If she is holding it, that is another indication that she may have a UTI. She knows it will hurt to pee, so she holds it as long as possible.

On second thought, I would bring her to the vet right away. Do add the second box too, but get her checked out at the vet too.

Should I leave one in the living room and one in the bathroom? My biggest worry is that if I start one in the living room again I will never get it out! I am also confused because she did go both in the tray before... why did she change now?

Also, how big should the trays be? I am using the smallest one with short sides because she is so small, but I have heard that bigger trays are better?

Thank you for your help!

Lorilu - I adopted her from the vet three days ago, so I thought that if there was something wrong they would have noticed then? Is that not something they check for?

I definitely have no problem taking her to the vet if something is wrong, I just discounted an infection as possible because I thought the vets would have noticed something wrong.

Small trays are a lot easier for the owner but it wouldn't do any harm to try her with a big tray as well. You could always go back to the smaller one once she's being clean. Maybe she's just a bit stressed out with everything being so new to her and being away from her mum and litter mates. I'd try not to worry too much because I'm sure she'll be clean soon. I remember one of my cats once peed on top of my husband through the duvet when he was a tiny kitty (my husband was asleep at the time) but even Squeaky became housetrained eventually. We did have to confine him to the kitchen a bit though, with his tray, for a few weeks. I think that's another tip for housetraining a difficult cat, don't let it have the run of the house until it can be trusted not to pee or poo. Maybe confine her to the kitchen just until she's clean at times you can't be watching her (with a lovely cosy bed of course).

The only way to diagnose a UTI is by urinalysis. It is not a routine test, so would not be done prior to adoption.

Stress can bring on UTIs, including the stress of a new home.

Put both boxes in the bathroom either side by side, or if there is room, a few feet away from each other.

Cats change up on us all the time. Just because she was fine with one box for a day or two, does not mean she will always be. She's decided she doesn't want to pee where she poops. It's quite common in cats.

Get a full sized box for the new box, she's almost three months old, right? So should be able to manage a larger box.


Oh, one more thing. You will need a special enzyme cleaner to remove all traces of odor in the spots she has gone in. the best way to do this is to get a black light. Shine it every where, ad anywhere you see urine spots, soak the spot in Nature's Miracle or some other cleaner specifically designed for pet odors.

I'm wondering if a previous tenant in your home had a cat who had accidents. This, also, could cause your kitten to want to pee over those spots, so ALL urine stains must be removed. Even if you can't smell it, she can, and that is why she thinks it's okay to go there again, or she is marking over old scents.

Let us know what happens!

Lorilu - I am off to the store to get her a bigger box! I am also going to call the vet and make an appointment to come in so she can get seen. My only worry with a bigger box is that she really is tiny (1.5 lbs) so she might not be able to get in, but if she likes the bigger size I can always build stairs up to the box, or cut a hole in the side!

Lulu's owner - I had that kind of experience today! When I woke up this morning, I discovered a giant spot of pee down by my feet under the cover - not a nice wake up call, to say the least! Will Nature's Miracle work on a mattress?

Also - should I be using those sprays that attract a cat to the litterbox? Or do those not really work?

Thank you!

I reckon she'll manage to get in the litter tray all right. After all, they can climb up the curtains and get into all sorts of mischief so a tray won't cause many problems! I don't know much about attractants - I've used Feliway spray with no success whatsoever for other problems, though other people swear by the stuff, but I'm not sure if that's what you mean. Both cats I tried it on just studiously avoided the places I sprayed, which is the opposite of what it's meant to do. I'm not sure how to clean cat wee off mattresses either, I'm afraid, I remember the duvet was completely soaked (Squeaky was a big kitten at the time) and we had to throw it away, luckily my husband was between the cat and the mattress so he got sodden too but the mattress stayed dry. We had a nightmare time with Squeaky, it reached the point where we thought he might have to be an outdoor cat because we just couldn't cope with his dirtiness, but then we hit on the idea of keeping him closed in the kitchen with a tray overnight and it worked fairly quickly. He was a clean cat for the next sixteen years, till we lost him to cancer.

I have never used the feliway spray, but I believe it is used by spraying over where a cat has peed, to make the cat not want to pee there again, it prevents "marking".

The feliway plug in diffusers are great, for many issues.

However there are "cat attract" litters available, again I ahve never used them but people in another forum I visit swear by them

Precious Cat Litters - Quality Cat Litter

As for the enzyme cleaner, the area that has been soiled has to be absolutely saturated. the enzyme cleaner works by breaking down the bacteria in the urine. so all urine must be reached by the cleaner.

I'm glad you're bringing her to the vet anyway. Better to know for sure. Let us know how it goes!