Litter Boxes
There are not many things in this world that are cuter than a kitten, but it is not so cute when your new kitten does not know how to use litter boxes. Training a kitten to use a litter box is usually a pretty easy thing, but of course it is a lot easier if the kitten is already trained before you even bring it home. Litter training is not something that you should force on a kitten. After all, if you do anything that may traumatize the kitten, it may never use the litter box out of fear. This is something that you may have to ease into, although it should not take very long before your kitten is going in the box regularly, and nowhere else.
Mama Knows Best
Do you know why it is so important that kittens be with their mothers until they are eight weeks old? It is not just because they need to nurse, because after a few weeks they are eating solid kitten food and are not nursing at all, unless mama is still letting them. In those first eight weeks of life, kittens learn a lot of skills from their mothers, including how to use a litter box. They watch their mothers using them, and they mimic those actions. If you wait until a kitten is at least six to eight weeks old before you bring it home, there should be no reason why you would have to do any litter training at all.
Let Her Do It On Her Own
When you first bring a kitten into the house, it is probably going to be very nervous. Don’t try to force her to use the litter box right away. If you let her do it on her own, she will use it when she is ready. She will more than likely spend the first few hours in her new home hiding under the couch or bed, or if she is curious, she may do some exploring. Leave the litter box in a place that is easy for her to find, and she will use it when she needs to.
Don’t Get a Litter Box That Is Too Big
Most litter boxes are large enough to accommodate full grown cats, and they may be a little bit too large for a little kitten. For instance, if the walls are too high, your kitten may not be able to get in it easily, which will deter her from using it. For the first few weeks, at least until she is a bit bigger, you should use something smaller. If you have to, take a plastic cake container and use it as a litter box (just remember not to use it for cake ever again). This will contain the litter, but the walls are short enough for even the smallest kitten to be able to get over. Once she is bigger, than you can switch to one of the regular sized litter boxes.
