Cat Litter Training: Getting It Right First Time

Litter training is the easiest thing you will ever teach a cat, largely because you are not really teaching it anything. Cats bury waste by instinct. Your job is to provide something they are willing to use, and then stay out of the way.

Which is why, when it goes wrong, the problem is almost always the arrangement rather than the animal. That is worth holding on to if you are reading this while cleaning up somewhere you would rather not be.

Getting the setup right

How many trays

One per cat, plus one spare. Two cats need three trays. This sounds excessive and prevents a large share of problems, because cats are territorial about elimination and will not queue.

The tray

Large enough that the cat can turn around comfortably: roughly one and a half times its body length. Most trays sold are too small for an adult cat.

Low sides for kittens and elderly or arthritic cats, who may simply be unable to climb in. Covered trays feel safer to some cats and trap smell for others; if you use one, watch whether the cat hesitates at the entrance.

The litter

Most cats prefer a fine, sand-like, unscented clumping litter, which is closest to what they would choose outdoors. Scented litters are made for humans; many cats avoid them. Depth of about five centimetres allows proper digging.

Once you find a litter the cat accepts, stay with it. Changing brand is a common and avoidable cause of a cat going elsewhere.

Where to put it

• Quiet, low-traffic, and not a dead end where the cat could be cornered
• Away from food and water. Cats will not eat beside a toilet, and neither would you
• Away from noisy appliances, which can startle a cat mid-use and put it off the location entirely
• Accessible at all times, which means not behind a door that gets closed
• In multi-level homes, one per floor, particularly for kittens and older cats

Training a kitten

Usually a matter of days.

1. Confine the kitten to one room with the tray for the first days.
2. Place it in the tray after waking, after meals and after play.
3. If it starts to go elsewhere, lift it calmly into the tray.
4. Praise quietly when it uses it. Do not clap or make a fuss, which startles cats.
5. Expand its access to the house gradually.

Never punish, rub a cat's nose in anything, or shout. It does not teach location; it teaches the cat to eliminate where you cannot see, which is a far harder problem.

Cleaning

• Scoop at least once daily, twice if you can. This is the single most effective thing you can do
• Change the litter completely and wash the tray weekly, with unscented soap and water
• Never use bleach or strong disinfectant on the tray. Ammonia-based cleaners smell like urine to a cat and encourage repeat marking
• Replace plastic trays when they become scratched, since scratches hold odour permanently

When a trained cat stops

This is the most common feline behaviour complaint, and the order of investigation matters.

First, rule out medical

A cat that suddenly goes elsewhere is often in pain, and it has associated the tray with the pain. Urinary tract disease, crystals, cystitis, constipation and arthritis all present this way.

A male cat straining in the tray and producing little or nothing is an emergency. Urinary blockage kills within a day or two. Do not spend a week adjusting litter types while that is the cause.

Then look at the setup

• Too few trays, or all in one place, which counts as one location to a cat
• Not clean enough
• Recently changed litter or tray
• Moved to a busier spot
• Another cat guarding the route

Then stress

New pet, new baby, building work, a house move, a change in the household's hours. Cats respond to disruption through elimination more than through any other behaviour.

Cleaning up accidents

Use an enzymatic cleaner, which breaks down the compounds in urine. Ordinary detergents leave a scent marker the cat can still detect, and ammonia-based cleaners actively encourage a repeat. Getting this wrong is why accidents recur in exactly the same spot.

The reason litter problems drag on for months is usually the order they are approached in: owners try new litters, new trays and new placements first, because that costs nothing, and only reach a vet after weeks. That is precisely backwards, and it is the most expensive way to discover a bladder problem.

Consultations and diagnostics are covered on Skeepy Pet HMO plans at any vet clinic in Nigeria, which makes ruling out the medical cause first the cheap step rather than the last resort.