Litter training a kitten

© susan402 (Flickr) kittens
© susan402 (Flickr)

Litter training for a kitten

When you first bring your kitten home:

When you first get a kitten, it is essential that you allow the kitten to explore your house in its own time. Cats can be very timid at first so it is important that you don’t rush them to explore. A kitten should not be allowed outside until it has had its flu and feline enteritis injections.

This is a two-stage course of injections and is often administered by your vet when the kitten is nine and thirteen weeks old.

Litter training:

As the kitten can’t go outside, you need to provide a litter tray for them so that they can go to the toilet. You need to show the kitten where the litter tray is in your house as they might not know where to find it.

Most kittens, when you bring them home, will already be familiar with a litter tray as its breeder should of already started the litter training. You can purchase a litter tray from any local pet store and it will need to be partly filled with commercial cat litter that you can get from the supermarket or pet store. You need to remove the soiled cat litter on a daily basis and completely empty and disinfect the litter tray at least twice a week.

You will need to pick up the kitten and place it in the tray so that it knows where it is. Your cat’s instinct to dig a hole will kick-in should it need to go to the toilet. Patience is needed when litter training as your cat may miss the tray or not quite make it in time. If you are experiencing severe difficulty in litter training your kitten then speak to your vet for further guidance.