Litter Boxes and Kitten Instincts

A common question I get is, 'How do you litter train your foster kittens?'  The answer is very simple: I give them a litter box.  Yep, you heard me!  Cats' and kittens' instinct is to bury their poo, so if they are provided with a place to do that, they'll gravitate towards it.  Of course, kittens also learn from watching their mom, so for this litter of kittens the fact that M was such a good mom helped!

Some of my past fosters haven't had their mom around, though, but even then they've been quick learners.  For kittens who are old enough to use a litter box, it usually only takes a couple days for them to figure out that litter boxes are just perfect for pooing in, and the rest is history.  I did have one pair of boy kitties who, for whatever reason, liked to poo in the bathtub... but they definitely could've picked a worse spot, so I wasn't too mad!

For kittens who are just learning to use a litter box, I like to use something like Yesterday's News for litter.  Young kittens are curious little things, and they inevitably try to eat the litter.  The newspaper litter is usually in big enough pieces that the kittens can't actually eat it, although they do like to bat it around on the floor.  As they get older and more sure of their litter box skills, I transition them to something that's nicer for me to scoop and a better for clumping, such as World's Best Cat Litter.  I like this litter because it smells nice and is less dusty than traditional clay litters.  For cats or kittens who are having trouble with picking up good litter box habits, giving them clay-based litters can help.  This seems to be more true for kittens who lived outdoors at one point; the clay litter must be more like soil, so using that (at least at first) helps them learn what the litter box is for.

M didn't understand the litter box at first, but she quickly caught on when I provided a clay-based litter.  By the time the kittens were old enough to start using a litter box she was a pro, which helped as they learned!

Here's Randy, showing off his skills.  He was also the main culprit for picking up pieces of the newspaper litter and batting them across the floor, silly boy!  To kittens, everything is a toy!