Training your cat to use a litter box
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A litter box is a brilliant invention, and one which has saved many a cat owner an unpleasant task. If your cat is not yet allowed to go out of the house, you’ll need to provide them with somewhere to relieve themselves – and even if they are, a litter box can prove a useful tool. But while many cats will instinctively intuit the purpose of a litter box, one cannot always take that for granted. Often, a little patience and strategy is called for in persuading your cat to make use of their litter tray. In this article, we’ll take a look at how to do just that.
In the beginning When you first introduce your cat to your house, you should not give them a free run of it. Given this freedom, a cat will defecate and urinate wherever seems natural to them – and you might not know where they’ve chosen until it’s too late. Leave it too long, and you’ll end up with a bad habit which is almost impossible to break. Instead, it’s best to confine your cat to a single room to begin with. Make sure that this room is clean, with the litter tray at one end and the food and sleeping area at the other. If possible, make sure that the floor of this room is hard – kitchens, bathrooms and utility rooms are preferable. If this isn’t possible, then try to lay down some old newspapers or binliners to protect the carpet.
Encouraging your cat to use the litter tray When you first introduce your cat to the litter tray, you’ll need to incentivise its use. This incentive might come in the form of a treat after they’ve successfully used the tray, or it might come in the form of simple praise and attention. Of course, to do this you’ll need to be around when they first start using it. Fortunately, it’s relatively easy to predict when your cat will need the toilet – particularly when they’re very young. Typical times are shortly after eating, just after they’ve woken up, or just after exercising. Feeding your cat at regular, fixed intervals will help to make things more predictable. During training, it’s often helpful to indulge in a short play session before and after feeding. This will help to get your cat relaxed and positive. Then call your cat to the litter tray. If they’ve already taken to soiling the carpet in some area of the house, you might want to first bring the litter tray there before slowly moving it toward your location of choice. Once you’ve brought the cat to the tray, try to get them to walk inside it. Don’t worry if they don’t relieve themselves straight away; at this point the object of the exercise is to get the cat comfortable with the tray rather than anything beyond that.
Where should I put the litter box? It’s important to place your cat’s litter tray somewhere sensible. Cats have a strong sense of hygiene, and will be unwilling to go to the toilet anywhere near where they eat and sleep.
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You’ll therefore want to put it somewhere out of the way – but not so out of the way that they can’t access it when they want. Be aware of potential obstacles, like doors that might swing shut. If your cat is unable to reach their litter tray, they’ll go to the toilet elsewhere – and their choice of venue might not be one you’d appreciate. If your cat is new to your house, then there’s a chance they’ll be very shy. If this is the case, then find out where they like to hide out, and place the litter tray nearby. This way the cat won’t have to overcome their nerves in order to go to the toilet. There’s always a chance that you might overlook something when placing the litter tray, and so it’s often a good idea to put more than one down in different occasions. If your cat prefers one over the other, then you can dispense with the second litter tray – or place it elsewhere.
How often should I clean the litter tray? Cats, like humans, are averse to disgusting smells and sights. Given the choice between going to the toilet in a clean place and dirty one, they will naturally choose the cleaner. If you’ve ever stopped off at a service station toilet and found that one cubicle has been befouled and another is sparkling clean, then it’s likely you’ll have made a similar decision.
For this reason, it’s important that a cat’s litter tray be cleaned regularly – daily is a minimum, twice daily is recommended. When cleaning, remove the old litter and replace it with fresh stuff – between one and two inches should suffice. Before you put the new litter in, though, be sure to give the tray a rinse with warm water. You might notice a dreadful smell during this process – this is perfectly normal and unavoidable, but it can be counteracted by adding a drop or two of lemon juice or vinegar to the box.
What not to do It’s worth clarifying a common mistake that pet owners make when trying to correct unwanted soiling (and, indeed, other bad behaviours like destructiveness). Cats and dogs are unable to recognise their past errors. If you shout at your cat, or make them look at the mess they’ve made, they won’t understand what it is you’re talking about – nor will they feel guilty about their mistake. They might appear to be guilty, but that’s simply them looking distressed, because they’re being shouted at. This mistake is often compounded by the owner lead the cat to the litter tray, in an attempt to illustrate what good behaviour looks like. This will have the opposite effect to the one intended – the cat will come to associate the litter tray with negativity, and will be less inclined to use it.
If your cat should find that when they go to the toilet on the carpet it is cleaned swiftly, and when they go to the toilet in the litter box, it is left dirty for days on end, they’ll come to view the carpet as a much better place to go to the toilet.
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Beeston Animal Health Ltd., Whitchurch Road, Beeston Castle, Tarporley, Cheshire, CW6 9NJ
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