I was a first time listener to your show last week! I have searched your Q&A and other sites online and books for help on my situation.
Let me start by saying that I have owned a cat in the past, our family cat who we got when I was 12 and passed away last summer at 18 years young. He was from a shelter and I believe was 8 weeks when we adopted him. This cat, Dylan never had any accident outside his litter box, we even on had one box and he always went to it from day one.
I am a new Mommy to a sweet adorable Bengal kitten named Khan! He came home with us a few weeks ago at age 10.5 weeks. Tomorrow (Wednesday 10.29) he will be 14 weeks old. He has been to the vet and is active and pretty healthy (he had some diahrrea which is now cleared up) He is only on wet food, currently it is prescription ID but we are slowly adding in wellness to transition him off the ID. He is playful and purry at times, and likes to be with us wherever we are in the house.
The issues we are having have been occurring since he came home. We are using the type of litter that the breeder was using and have been very very slowly adding a little of a different litter (he was on crystal there and we are adding a little bit of clumping) He has 2 litter boxes in our small one bedroom one level apartment. He uses his box 98% of the time. When we are NOT home is is perfectly fine, he has never (knock on wood) had an accident when we weren’t there. When we are not home he has access to the bathroom (litter box one), bedroom and kitchen/hall (litter box two).
The first week he was home he went pee on the couch pillows, the lazy-boy chair and in the kitchen, on the floor and the mat by the sink. Also at night he was sleeping with us in the bed and we’d shut the bedroom door, he wakes up anytime between 3 – 4:30 am and pees on the bed! This happened a few nights so he went to sleep in the bathroom with his toys, bed, water and litter box. He had a few more accidents on the mat in the kitchen also. He also has peed on me, Mommy, 3 times. Last night he was napping on my legs, I woke up and moved him so I could move a little. He got comfortable, laid down, a few minutes later got up and walked to my shoulder and popped a squat like he was ready to pee, I ran with him to the litter box, put him in and he went. He also, which I found odd, once walked over to and went on the mat where we put his food dish! I thought that was very strange since cats are notorious for cleanliness and not going where they eat. This morning I was still in bed and Daddy fed him and let him out, he jumped on the bed, with me in it and wanted to play, he seemed fine, got down and back up on the bed and then went to pee!
These are the changes we have made so far and what we have tried. We got rid of the mat in the kitchen and got a new rough feeling mat, he has since gone on that once also. We do not use fabric softener in the washing of the bedding, we put away the feather down comforter and put a regular cotton blanket in the duvet on the bed. He is sleeping at night in the bathroom. I purchased Feliway spray and have been following the directions spraying on the bed and kitchen mat once a day. We also give him hugs, rubs, kisses and praise every time he uses the box.
I am not sure what to do since he is fine when we are out, I feel like it has something to do with me since I am always there when it happens (his Daddy is sometimes there but I do not believe it has happened when I am not home). I do not want him to have to sleep in the bathroom forever. He has no trouble getting off the bed to get to his box. Many of the remaining issues are when he wakes up, is he lazy? He goes to see the vet this Friday for his distemper shot.
I apologize for the long email but I wanted to make sure you had all the information in case you read this and were able to offer any kind of advise to our situation. I don’t know what I am doing wrong.
Thank you for taking the time to read this. I have attached some pictures of my baby boy Khan.
All the best,
Jennifer, Daddy & Khan
Here are some thoughts from Marilyn Krieger, who is the Coordinator for the Bengal Cat Rescue and also a certified cat behaviorist. She wrote:
First thing… it’s very important that this kitten is checked out for any medical problems. he could have a UTI.
If it isn’t a UTI, there are lots of possible triggers; the litter boxes need to be uncovered and there needs to be a lot of them. The locations are very important. They shouldn’t be located in areas where a cat can feel trapped or cornered and they have to be scooped at least once a day. if the house has multiple levels, the boxes need to be located throughout the house on the different levels. Also, we don’t know if there are other animals in the household that could be triggering the problem. Another thing that can trigger cats to urinate on clothing and bedding is the use of dryer sheets. There seems to be something in dryer sheets that trigger some cats to urinate on clothes and bedding that has been laundered with them. Oh… and what are they cleaning the targeted areas with? All enzyme cleaners are not created equal. I recommend Anti-Icky Poo.
Another possibility, without doing a consultation, is that the kitten may have a painful association with the litter box, since he had had diarrhea. I kind of doubt that, but don’t know for sure.
I always counsel breeders to keep the kittens (all kittens, no matter what the breed) with their mom and siblings until they are 12 weeks old, because they learn social skills and boundaries. Kittens, in normal circumstances, typically know how to use the litter box by at least 6-8 weeks old. If they are pulled from their mom at a very young age and bottle fed, then they usually need some lessons from us humans.
I hope this helps.
Marilyn Krieger, CCBC
Certified Cat Behavior Consultant
