How to train a little kitten to the toilet

The appearance of a small kitten in the house is always associated with new troubles. An important task, among other concerns, will be litter training. Do not assume that a cat can learn everything on his own, he definitely needs help and show him exactly where to go to the toilet. We learn from the article how to train a cat to the toilet.

tools for training a kitten to a litter box — Kittens born at home, at the age of 3-4 weeks, learn to use the toilet using their mother's example.

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At what age do you need to potty train
Tray selection
- With filler
- No filler
Step-by-step instructions for training a kitten to the litter box
Features of training an adult cat
Common mistakes
Kitten care
VIDEO: How to train a kitten to the litter box.

At what age do you need to potty train

Having reached the age of 4-5 weeks, the kitten itself does not want to relieve itself where necessary. If he is not trained, he will independently choose a suitable place for himself. Speaking of training, from 6 weeks old kittens can master toilet wisdom, and at the age of two months they can cope with it almost perfectly.

kitten in the tray — If the animal was taken from the street, or came to you at a fairly early age, then you will have to teach it to the toilet yourself.

The older the pet, the more difficult it will be to train it to the litter box, so you should not delay training.

cat in the tray — Many kittens purchased from conscientious breeders are already litter-trained.

Tray selection

The choice of a tray is a responsible matter, today in stores there is a wide selection of containers of different shapes and sizes. Since kittens grow very quickly, it is worth buying a large tray right away so that in the future the pet will not have any difficulties with going to the toilet. The quality of the product itself largely depends on the strength of the plastic used.

how to choose a tray for a kitten — The modern market offers several types of cat trays. They vary in size, functionality and design.

The height of the tray also matters; the sides should not be too low. Otherwise, all the filler may end up on the floor. Too high sides will cause a lot of inconvenience to the pet and make it difficult to train it to the litter box.

cat tray how to choose — By type, toilets are divided into open and closed. In the first case, the product is a square or rectangular tray with sides along the perimeter.

Important! Kittens don't like cramped containers. If the pet realizes that the tray is inconvenient for him, he will find another place.

With filler

Having decided on the tray, you should take care of the filler. If earlier for these cases they used ordinary sand from a sandbox or torn newspapers, today there are many fillers with different functions on sale. The main types are:

Absorbent filler. The most budgetary option, the filler absorbs liquid well and prevents the appearance of an unpleasant odor. In appearance, these are large pebbles (in fact, it is clay), which resemble small sea pebbles. Due to its size, the filler does not stick to the kitten's paws and does not spread around the apartment.

absorbent filler — The only drawback is the high consumption of the filler.

Clumping filler. In appearance it resembles sand or small granules, although in fact it is still the same clay. When urine enters, it wraps around the moisture source, forming a lump. This type of filler is quite convenient, since it is enough to simply remove the lump from the tray.

granular filler — Minus - it remains on the paws of the cat due to its stickiness and is carried around the apartment.

Wood filler. It is worth saying that the smell of such a filler does not lock very well, but it does not remain on the pet's paws and is the most natural of all.

wood filler — Wood litter for cat litter is a handy invention that pleases pets and their owners.

Silica gel fillers. They hide the smell well and change it once a month. However, its cost is quite high, and cats make a lot of noise during its use.

silica gel filler — Silica gel filler is considered to be one of the most convenient and high quality fillers.

No filler

Some owners prefer trays without filler, in which case the container will have a grid. This type of tray has several advantages:

you can always see when, how and how the cat went to the toilet, which makes it possible to monitor the health of the pet;
you can clean the tray in a timely manner, so the kitten will always go to a clean container;
saving money because no filler purchase costs are required.

tray without filler — Some models have a removable mesh that prevents the pet from scattering the litter across the floor.

The difficulty arises due to the fact that you have to constantly monitor the filling of the tray, because the kitten may refuse to go into a dirty container.

kitten tray — The tray needs to be cleaned after the cat has gone into it, as the unpleasant smell is disliked by such clean animals.

Important! It is better to put a tray for a small kitten in the room where he spends the most time.

Step-by-step instructions for training a kitten to the litter box

Let's take a look at step-by-step instructions on how to toilet train your cat. First of all, the pet needs to be given time to get used to it a little, after which you can start acting.

Stages of litter training:

Acquaintance. The kitten should become familiar with the "place" where it will go to the toilet. To do this, he is carefully planted in a tray so that he can sniff it. You can perform the following action: raise the kitten's paw and let it dig so that, at the level of instinct, the animal has a connection with this place.

kitten in the tray photo — When choosing a place for a tray, be sure to consider that it should be easily accessible and secluded.

Observation. Of course, from the first time the animal may not understand where to defecate, but by its behavior it is not difficult to see when it is going to do it. As soon as you notice that your pet has begun to fuss, whirl, meow or dig, it should immediately be put in the tray and left there until it does its job. You should not show aggression and shout at the kitten, especially pushing it and trying to keep it in the container by force. This will provoke the appearance of fear and the kitten simply will not approach him anymore. If everything worked out, you can pet the animal and say affectionate words. You don't need to throw out the stool right away, because next time the kitten will find the tray by smell.

litter training — While the kitten is small, the litter box must be positioned so that it is visible and can be quickly and easily reached.

Consolidation of the result. For some time, the animal can leave "surprises" in different places, so the "heap" that appears is transferred to the tray. The puddle should be blotted with a napkin and sent to the tray as well. To prevent this from happening again, the place should be well washed and disinfected.

how to train a kitten to a litter box — If all actions are performed correctly, then after 2-3 days the kitten will get accustomed to the tray.

Attention! Like small children, kittens want to potty after waking up, eating or playing. After eating, your pet will definitely want to empty, so you need to take it to the tray immediately.

Features of training an adult cat

It is a little more difficult to train an adult cat than a kitten, since it already has an established character. Therefore, during the training period, it is important to take into account its features. Basically, the problem arises with those individuals that have lived on the street for a long time.

how to train an adult cat to the litter box — To make your cat happy to go to the litter box, you need to choose a good litter for it.

So, the necessary steps for training an adult cat to the litter box:

During the training period, the pet is limited in movement, it must be within the same room, where the tray is placed. Bowls of food and water are required.
Observe the animal, as soon as you see that the cat is looking for a toilet, bring her to the litter box.
The choice of a place for a container is very important, because it should be convenient not only for the owner of the apartment, but also for the pet itself. Obviously, the middle of the room will not be a good option; it is better to choose the corner of the room for this.
If you see your cat ignoring the litter box and stool constantly elsewhere, move the litter box to that spot. Once the animal gets used to it, it can be moved to a more suitable one.

we train an adult cat to the litter box — The owners should show attentiveness and patience to the pet, because it is not easy for him either.

Advice! If the cat has lived with other owners for a long time, it is worth finding out which toilet they used for the cat or cat. It is important to clarify the type of pot and the filler used.

Common mistakes

How to toilet train a kitten at home or in an apartment is not an easy task. It is very important not to make mistakes that will only exacerbate the situation.

how to train a kitten to the litter box — You need to constantly monitor the kitten, periodically put him in the tray, especially if he began to behave strangely, as if he was looking for something or rushing about.

Many people mistakenly believe that if a kitten shits in the wrong places, then he does it on purpose and he should be punished for it. This is a big mistake that can lead to the fact that the kitten begins to hide in secluded places and shit under a sofa, table or bed. You need to be patient, because it will take time to get used to the tray.

Not allowed:

beat an animal;
leave one unattended in the room;
do not give food and water.

kitten with a bowl — After each successful visit to the litter box, the kitten needs to be praised, but you shouldn't scold for “mistakes”.

Important! A cruel attitude can make your pet fearful and distrustful.

Kitten care

To keep your pet healthy, it is important to clean the litter box regularly. First of all, this is necessary in order to get rid of the unpleasant smell, because when changing the filler, it does not go anywhere.

cleaning the tray — To simplify the task of the owners will help a special tool for training a kitten to the tray called "Smart Spray".

In addition, if hygiene measures are not followed, other problems may arise:

Formation of urinary stones. This is the main reason for bad smell in the room. The plaque is washed off easily; for this, different detergents are used. The tray should be thoroughly rinsed under water to avoid chemical odor.
Toxoplasmosis. This disease is caused by unicellular parasites that are found in cat feces (if the animal is infected). If you do not clean the feces tray in a timely manner, a person can also suffer from this disease. For a pregnant woman, the disease is especially dangerous.

cat near the tray — By nature, cats are very clean animals.

To avoid these problems, it is recommended to clean the tray after the kitten has gone into it, and change the litter every 3 days.

cleaning the cat litter box — Your kitten will grow up quickly, and if one day the litter box is too small for him, the pet can go around the house to look for a more spacious toilet.

To keep the tray in good condition at all times, you need to adhere to the following rules:

cleaning of faeces should be done immediately;
choose trays from quality material;
use high-quality filler;
regular washing of the tray.

Not every pet owner has the opportunity to wash the tray after each bowel movement, so you can use special products in the form of sprays and special balls.

silica gel filler for tray — Silica gel cat litter should not be flushed down the drain like wood, but can only be disposed of with household waste.

Love and patience are the main points that will help in such a difficult question, how to teach a little kitten to go to the toilet. Do not forget that in the first days of a kitten's stay in the house, it must be surrounded with attention and care.