Kitten has never used litter consistently

by Melissa
(Baltimore, MD)

We had two cats already when we fostered a mother cat and her four kittens. The kittens were 3 weeks old at the time, and the mother and 3 of the kittens used the litter.

One seemed to be having trouble learning and would pee and poop on the floor along the baseboard. We ended up adopting her and one other kitten, so we have four altogether plus two dogs.

We had Chloe checked out, and there's nothing physically wrong with her. We have six litter boxes spread throughout the house, some open, some lidded, with different types of litter to choose from. One has Cat Attract litter.

We got her a calming pheromone collar. There are no cats outside our home, and she wouldn't have known that at 3 weeks anyway.

The vet says anti-depressants or anti-anxiety meds probably wouldn't help, since she's been doing this all along. We started letting her outside some, but that hasn't helped.

She still likes to pee and poop along the baseboard. We've torn carpet out now because of her and she still goes there but on the subflooring. We are at a complete loss.

We can't crate her... that's no life. We can't refuse to let her inside. We don't want to give her up. She's not weird acting in any other way... she plays, lets us pet her, etc.

She makes our house stink... any novel ideas out there???

My thoughts: I'm sorry to hear that your kitty has been having problems. Thanks for hanging in there with her. Some people would have given up.

This is a tough one. It sounds like you've done the right things along the way, but it's just not working.

I'm not a fan of letting her outside as a solution, but maybe you could bring some of the outside in?

In some cases, adding some dirt and grass to the litter box has encouraged some cats to use the box. These are often cats that are used to going outside but are now indoor, but I think it's worth a shot.

So here is what I would try:

My usual "go to" litter is one that resembles the sandy texture that most cats seem to prefer... non-scented, clumping clay litter.

I would add Cat Attract, along with some dirt and grass in an open (non-hooded) box with that clumping clay litter.

Place that box right on top of an area where she likes to go, and see if she uses it.

If that fails, I would also consider confinement retraining, not in a crate, but in a safe room, to see if I could get her on track.

I would also make very certain that the areas of the house that she has used as her bathroom are scrubbed, and all traces of odor removed so that it doesn't trigger a response from her.

Lastly (in addition to her pheromone collar), I'd try Rescue Remedy in her water, a Feliway diffuser, and Jackson Galaxy's herbal products.

Beyond that, I would look to a cat behaviorist to come in and evaluate the situation.

Hopefully, the wisdom of the masses will kick in and someone will come along with some other ideas.

I hope that helps and please keep us updated on her progress.

-Kurt