My 10 week old british shorthair doesn’t feel like going to the litter box. The litter box is in the toilet area separate from where he eats and have always put his feces in it and let it “smell” too. But still failed. What can I do? That’s my first cat.
ps: I also tried the bleach method, but it didn’t work.
Answer
Dear Bart,
Kittens normally go potty trained on their own from 4 to 5 weeks old. If there is a litter box near them, they will automatically use it. Cats are normally very house trained, if they are house trained it indicates that something is wrong. This can be both medical and behavioral.
In this case, there are a number of things that can contribute to the uncleanness:
1) your kitten is still very young. Just like with a child, such young kittens suddenly have to go to the toilet ‘now’ and that can sometimes be too far, so that the kitten no longer reaches the litter box in time. Several litter boxes spread around the house can then bring solace. In any case, you need at least 2 litter boxes for one cat. Cats often like to do their pee and poop separately.
2) your kitten is actually too young to be away from the mother (best age is 16 weeks (http://www.felinewelfarefoundation.org/welfare/gedrag/divorce/), most breeders keep their kittens for at least 13 weeks , until after the second vaccination). This makes me suspect that your kitten does not come from a good breeder, but rather from a bread breeder or a pet store. The socialization a kitten receives there is often insufficient. For example, your kitten may have been kept in a hutch filled with sawdust and learned to relieve itself anywhere. Or is your kitten medically not completely okay. This would certainly not be abnormal: the antibodies that a kitten receives through the first mother’s milk slowly disappear and it must then start to build up resistance itself. As a result, there is a period in which a kitten is very poorly protected against disease, the critical period. This period is roughly between week 4 and week 12. Your kitten has therefore moved to you during the period when he is most susceptible to illness. The stress of a move makes the resistance drop even more, so the chance that something is wrong with your kitten’s health is quite high. A visit to the vet is definitely recommended!
Since this is your first cat, you will probably want to educate yourself on what a cat needs. For that I can highly recommend the website of the Feline Welfare Foundation: www.FWF.nu. Under ‘Information for cat owners’ (http://www.felinewelfarefoundation.org/informatie-voor-kattenowners/) you will find several short texts that provide an introduction to keeping cats. More extensive texts on specific topics can be found under ‘Welfare’, such as about the domestic environment (http://www.felinewelfarefoundation.org/welfare/environment/house/ ).
A book that I can definitely recommend is Elles Nijssen’s Little Cat Guide. It is available in most bookshops (including Standaard Boekhandel, bol.com) for €14.95. This is a scientifically correct, nicely written and very informative book for both people who have had cats for years and for new owners. http://www.bol.com/nl/p/nederlandse-boeken/kleine-kattengids/1001004007514720/index.html
There is also the cat behavior forum, where people who are professionally involved with cats give free advice and answers to all your questions about cat behavior: http://kattengedrag.forumup.nl/?mforum=kattengedrag
Of course you can always email me personally for advice.
If I may give you one last piece of advice: get your kitten a friend. Cats are essentially social animals and need contact with others of their own kind. Cats kept indoors only often exhibit problem behaviors. With a British Shorthair (also my favorite breed by the way, I have 4 myself) quite a lot of other breeds fit in character, as long as they are not too busy (so no Siamese, Bengal or other oriental breeds). Purebred cats are also fine. I don’t know if that’s the case with your current kitten, but if you were going for a second pedigree kitten, make sure the parents have been tested for common hereditary conditions. With the British, the parents must certainly have been tested for PKD (a hereditary kidney disease) and HCM (a hereditary heart disease), in addition, of course, to the standard tests for FIV (feline AIDS) and FELV (leucosis), both deadly viral diseases that can also be passed on to the kittens. become.
Good luck,
Sincerely,
Els Peters
Biologist specializing in cats
e.peeters@felinewelfarefoundation.org
Answered by
Els Peters
Biology: cat behavior
Prinsstraat 13 2000 Antwerp
http://www.uantwerpen.be
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