Problem: Kittens poo in box but pee everywhere

by Nicole
(Warwick, RI, US)

I got two new kittens from my aunt and uncle a few weeks ago. They let us have them at 7 or 8 weeks, and we have had them for about two maybe three weeks now. They started going in the kittie boxes when we brought them home, but we noticed that they weren't going pee as much as they probably should.

Now we are noticing that they pee where they want to, including on my brothers water bed, and on top of a paint tray from my mothers room. This morning I woke to my mother who was extremely angry. Apparently, the kittens had pooed on my brothers bed while he was sleeping, and when she moved her dresser to paint the walls behind it, she found kitten boo back there.

We called my aunt and uncle, and got nothing but sarcasm, and "if you don't want them I will take them back", so I can't ask them for help. I don't know what to do about these kittens.

I have an older cat who is almost a year old now. It is their brother. And another cat who is almost thirteen. We never had any problems like that with them. Help?

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My Thoughts:

Assuming the vet has cleared them for good health, I have an idea that you may have some territorial and relocation issues going on.

Here are some main points:

1. For cats, first introductions are extremely important. They not only set the tone for the relationship, but they allow the territorial hierarchy to be worked out among the cats involved.

2. Any move from one home to another is stressful for a cat, and any new cat or kittens introduced into a home is stressful for the cats already in the house.

3. The kittens may be marking, or they may be intimidated by the resident cats, or just freaked out about the relocation.

OK, so, my recommendation would be to get back to basics. When you first introduce cats to a new home, you do it slowly. This is especially important when there are resident cats there so that everyone can get to know each other.

I mentioned how important it is to introduce new cats properly here.

So, what I would suggest is to quarantine the new kittens together in a room and retrain them to use the litter box. Then, I would do a slow introduction (or re-introduction rather) to the other cats and the rest of the house. If there are any setbacks, go back to quarantine mode and litter box retraining again.

You absolutely must clean the areas that have been soiled, preferably with an enzymatic cleaner so that you remove all evidence of the odor.

I hope that helps.

-Kurt

P.S. How fast did you introduce them? Did you keep them separated for a while?