Cat owners!

[The_OG_Nelta]

2 questions.

Does of any of have self cleaning litterbox?

and also how do you potty train kittens.

[Xiona]

how old is the kitten? i have to manually make the one i have go right now but right before i feed her i make sure she is really warm, put her in a litter box and manually move her paws to rake litter as well as use an old pen to scrape it near her feet. she usually starts to rake it and then does the potty thing naturally.

only thing is that she is only 2 1/2 weeks old so its not like she completely finishes peeing. i do plan to buy a self cleaning litter box that hooks up to a toilet and has a built in septic tank though

[The_OG_Nelta]

the kittens were born on July 27th

Just started trying to teach them now, but they are still shitting around my room.

[kuronosan]

I have an auto litter box. I recommend potty training them in a conventional one. The automatic ones make a lot of noise after a while and you could scare the kittens.

The best way I've found to potty train a cat is time and patience. Just keep putting them in the litterbox.

Here's a good resource:

Potty Training a Kitten

Also, don't ever wait too long to introduce them to the litterbox. One month is a long time to develop bad habits in a cat's world.

[Xiona]

the instinct to bury their dood and pee is pretty natural. are you putting them in a litter box? is the lip too high for them to get in? is there already urine in it (this lets them know its a toilet)? when youre out if you can enclose them in a small area with a pan of litter and place to sleep they might get the idea.

its hard to say as i dont know what youve tried

[The_OG_Nelta]

yeah i'm just putting them in the box when i think they are about to pee.

[Elesirdur]

Cats are pretty much pre-programmed to use litter boxes, but if they were separated from their mother at a very early age (which sounds like your case) they may not have had the reinforcement from the mother to use a box. Doing the paw scraping litter thing is a good thing to repeat, it teaches the kitten that they can dig in the litter and cover their waste.

From personal experience, and the experiences of friends of mine, self-cleaning (ie. automated) litter boxes are a waste of money. Start training your cat with scoopable, clumping, and preferably flushable litter and skip that horrible clay stuff. This company makes great litter than you can flush right down your toilet, and I think it's even safe for some septic systems: Find the best clumping cat litter for you and your cat While it is more expensive than the clumping sand stuff, you throw less away. With one adult cat, my girlfriend and I go through a 34 lb bag every 3 or 4 months, so we save money over clay and sand scoopable litters. Plus no baggies of shit to throw out.

Re: Xiona, I read an article on Gizmodo a few months ago about a similar type of self-cleaning, self-flushing via a toilet litter box. They found that it used a stupid amount of water and electricity (like plasma TV levels, seriously) because the cleaning cycles were so long and so frequent. Including the cost of the special litter pellets and cleanser it just got ridiculous. Their verdict was roughly (and I'm paraphrasing from memory) "if you're that lazy and hate scooping cat poop so much to justify the extravagant expense, then you probably shouldn't have a cat in the first place."

Keep the box clean at all times. Keeping a box in the bathroom is a good idea since you'll be reminded to clean it every time you use the bathroom yourself and see the box is dirty. Once you get in the routine of scooping any waste in the box whenever you see it (once or twice a day) it's a really trivial thing to do and the frequent scoopings will keep your home/apartment free of that nasty cat shit smell that comes from keeping a dirty litter box.

If you are observing that your cat will only piss or crap in the box, but do the other outside of the box, consider getting two litter boxes. Some cats are just extra fussy and need to piss and shit in different boxes. Don't ask me why, but if you've got that kind of cat you can either accommodate their personality or be continually cleaning up messes. I took care of a friend's cat that was like this and it was kind of frustrating since the cat only liked to poop in the litter box I left in the living room, not the regular one in the bathroom >_>

Keep the litter box in a separate room from where the cat's food and water are. You wouldn't want to eat next to your toilet, neither does a cat haha.

Oh, and if you plan to have your cat as an indoor-outdoor cat their toileting habits will probably change. A lot of indoor-outdoor cats will hardly ever use a box inside when they can go anywhere they please outside. However, if stuck inside, they may shun boxes left for them or no longer cover their waste, depending on how their outside habits develop.

[The_OG_Nelta]

The kittens were born in my room, and live in my room >_> 4 of them.

http://i40.photobucket.com/albums/e2...9-01135541.jpg

evil buggers.

[Cesaria]

Not much to say but awwww they're seriously cute! Most cats will figure out the litter thing if you just keep putting them in there (like someone mentioned - make sure it's a box they can actually climb over the side into - otherwise you get endless hours of amusement as they try to climb over and end up going head first into their litter.

[Tsakiki]

My first experience with litterbox training was with a 5 week old feral kitten. The first time she peed, it was on a pair of jeans on my floor, and I was worried it was going to be a long struggle. I had been placing her in the box right after she ate, as had been suggested, but she'd leap out pretty fast. Second time she peed, it was on some newspaper. I put the newspaper in the box, showed it to her, and here we are 19.5 years later and she has never gone outside the box since then.

Second kitten experience, also feral, was a little more challenging, but what we learned from her is that we had to really clean thoroughly every where she'd gone that was not in the box. We wiped the (tile) floor down with vinegar as well to neutralize the ammonia from the urine. Within a week, she was using the box only, and had good habits throughout her short 8 year life.

Some cats will not use a box that has anything in it, but will leap in the second you've cleaned it to do their business.

Good luck with your little hellions. They're too cute!

[noblemountain]

We just picked up our kitty at 5 months old and haven't had a problem yet. We watched and every time she ate, we put her in the box. They will get the idea really quickly.

Those automated boxes are mostly garbage. I had bought one for my grandmother when she was going through chemo and the cat hated it because of the noise it made after it got out. It wasn't much less effort than a regular litter box in the end because of it getting stuck or minor breaks. I spent 150 bucks on it and it is sitting in the attic now while my 25 dollar litter "dome" is being used by our kitten. I like this one because it has steps that go up to the litter box so they don't kick litter out while scraping and then the excess litter comes off on the steps on their way out. We don't get any litter on the floor anymore because of it.

[Cesaria]

Some cats will not use a box that has anything in it, but will leap in the second you've cleaned it to do their business.

Good luck with your little hellions. They're too cute!

Oh this is only too true - I swear every cat I've ever owned has sat in wait for you to clean the litter box out with the shit of the century stored up.

[MrW]

With my cat, every time she went I would put her in the box immediately after. It took roughly 2 days for her to get the idea. Haven't had a problem since. On the topic of self cleaning litter boxes ... I'd say they are a waste of money. It takes 30 seconds to clean the box and only a few bucks for decent litter. Teaching the little shits to not make a mess of the box is another story.

[Electro]

My cat will not use one of the self cleaning ones. It scares the hell out of him. When it makes a noise to clean he slaps it and hisses at it. We had to go back to the old one. As for potty training him, whenever he looked like he had to go to the bathroom, we would put him inside the box. When he started to do a little squat for #2 we would pick him up and put him in the box. Only took him a few tries. We have no issues now. Well he is rather odd, we have a litter box with a closed lid/door on it where he can have his privacy, but he insists on having his head out of it so he can see everything going on. Btw Takuun, your cats are cute and adorable <3. I want one!

[wipers]

If you want an automatic cat litter box why even bother having a cat? It would be like yea I have a cat but I don't look at it pet it etc. It just lives in my house / apartment. I understand that cat litter is gross but that is laziness that takes years to get to that level. I find that cats enjoy living outside more than they enjoy inside.

[zoobernut]

If you want an automatic cat litter box why even bother having a cat? It would be like yea I have a cat but I don't look at it pet it etc. It just lives in my house / apartment. I understand that cat litter is gross but that is laziness that takes years to get to that level. I find that cats enjoy living outside more than they enjoy inside.

It doesn't look like you put any thought into your posts before you hit the post button... Using an automatic litter has nothing to do with not wanting to pet your cat or enjoy its company. And using an automatic cat litter isn't always about laziness either. Way to jump to conclusions and make yourself look like an ass. Also shows your lack of knowledge of how the automatic litters work. They just strain out the litter in the area where the cats go but they don't clean themselves. You still need to empty out their container and clean the box and take care of it. They are not for a lazy person they just simply are better for some cats who are picky. When the litter box runs the rake through the litter it picks up the clumps and pushes them off to the side so the cat can go in fresh litter every time. The cat owner still has to be pro-active in keeping the box clean.


We use an automatic litter in our house. We have two cats. One of them is a Siamese mix and she will not go in the litter box if there is anything in it at all. It must be fresh for her every time or she goes on the floor next to the box. So we had to get the automatic one so it would clean the box every time for her after she went. That way she will go back and use it again later.

[Uzor]

I'm guessing since you said "them", it is your cat's kittens? Kittens, unlike dogs, are extremely easy to potty train. We haven't actually had to potty train our kittens for roughly 10 years now, as all our kittens have learned themselves by watching their mother.

It really depends on the breed and attitude of your cat though. If they don't get it after watching their mother, put them in the litter box after eating and they'll get the hang of it within a few days, unlike dogs that can go months without learning to hold it for outside...

[Akucaen]

Mine pretty much got the hang of it day one. One of the first things I did was show them where the food & milk was, and then I physically put them in their litterbox. They pawed at it a few times and hopped out; never had a since accident.

Like the other posters said, they pretty much 'know' to use a litterbox anyway, but you do need to show them and place them in it. [Also make sure they can physically enter it too.]

[Sera]

adorable!

Honestly, I've never had to put much effort into training a kitten. Every kitten I've ever seen, owned or come in contact with has been basically a three step process:

Place kitten in box, do not let the kitten leave the box til it pees/poops. Show it how to scratch, once. Profit.

I've always been told (and witnessed) that it basically only takes one time to teach them, then they always go back.

[The_OG_Nelta]

Update I suppose

3 out of 4 trained, one I think is scared of the box and still poops and pee's everywhere. Putting them in a room tonight, see how it goes.