Training my 7month old kitten to go to the toilet outside...

[Miloandmonkey]

Hi Everyone

I am having a little bit of trouble with my new kitten. Her name is monkey and she is approaching 8 months old. I recently had her spayed and have begun trying to train her to say goodbye to the litter box and hello to the outside world!

I have another cat (Milo- hes 3) who was an absolute breeze to train. He was so ready to go outside (around the 7 month mark also) and i went from backdoor open with litterbox by the back step, to taking the litter box away completely with no accidents at night etc within about a fortnight!

Monkey however is a different story. Since we got her (about 3 months ago) shes always been so curious about outside- we would often have to stop her from running out the door if werent careful. I was so sure that as soon as she was spayed she would be as easy as milo to train as she seemed so eager to be out there. Weirdly- she is now really scared of being outside. She runs when i open the door and i have to physically pick her up and put her out there. She stays very close to the house and always seems to be in "survival" mode- slinking around with wide eyes.

I am putting the litter box at the back door and leaving her out there for a few hours at a time (on my vets advice- and yes, i initially would spend time out there with her to reassure her). I used to leave the backdoor open but that defeats the object as she only runs back inside. After about 30 mins she cries at the back door to be let in. I feel awful but i know if i come running everytime and let her back in the house, she will never learn that outside is where you go to use the toilet! We have had awful problems with her peeing on furniture (on the whole she has been good with her litter box- she just randomly decides to "go" on things! its so frustrating and im fed up of the cleaning up!)

I am so desperate for her to use the outside as her toilet- im not wanting her to be a total outdoor car- im quite happy for her just to pop out now and again, do her business and come back- shes our pet after all and i love her and milo being in the house (milo is great in that respect- does what hes gotta do and comes back and keeps me company while i work!).

Does anyone have any advice how i can help her to understand that outside is not so bad and to make that connection between outdoors and going to the toilet!

Thanks guys.

[Netty]

Oliver loves outside, hes never in! But he does come running in to use his tray, squeaking, as tho hes saying " am bursting, need a pee pee"! Then hes off outside again. I did bury some of his 'doings' outside and thought if he smelled them he would do it there, but no chance.Well not yet anyway, but he is still young.

[dandysmom]

Some cats are just scared of outside; a friend's Persian would never go out; if he put her out trying to get her used to it she'd pracically get frantic trying to get back inside where she felt safe. My Leia is the same; the one time she pushed the door open in pursuit of a cat she hated she also panicked at finding herself outside and hid under the porch where I had a terrible time getting hold of her to carry her back in. My Siamese boy would go outside but rush to the house when he needed the litter box, then go back out; apparently his mum taught him that was the proper place to go. Some cats are just odd ...

Sorry, I know this probably isn't what you wanted to hear. Just saying.

[Mak_incuck]

Hi if you put the litter tray in the same position in the new hutch as the old hutch your existing bunny should hopefully use it. It would probably take a few weeks for them to settle. Just see where your new bunny does her toilet and put a litter tray there. Good luck.

[wilbar]

I understand that you are frustrated by what you see as a simple toilet training problem, but, unfortunately, this is not how monkey views it!

For cats, peeing & pooing are huge forms of communication. Cats communicate with each other primarily by scent, from urine, faeces & the the secretions from scent glands on their body that they rub on (usually) head height objects & from the scent glands in their paws left by scratching both vertically & horizontally. By trying to force monkey to toilet outside, you are, effectively, expecting her to announce her presence to the world, in territory that may be "owned" by another cat, or which she doesn't feel ready to claim as her territory. Obviously she's neither old enough, hard enough or confident enough to do this yet. So you can shut her out for as long as you want, but the chances are that she'll hold it until she can get back to her litter tray. And if you remove the litter tray, she'll find somewhere else in the house to go!

You've also said that she has wee'd on the furniture as well. For a cat to toilet in its "core territory", i.e. your house, she must be thinking that her house is vulnerable & she's desperately trying to claim "ownership" by spreading her scent around.

Also cats are very vulnerable when toiletting so it's understandable that she's reluctant to go somewhere where she feels unsafe & open to attack.

I would suggest that you perhaps put the toilet training on hold for a bit. At the moment all you are doing is shaking her confidence & making her feel vulnerable ~ in that scenario, the problem is likely to get worse, rather than better.

Far better to wait until the days & evenings are warmer & lighter, so that you can go outside for longer periods with her. Then restart the toilet training by putting the litter tray, firstly, near to the door you want her to use, then just outside. But be aware that by putting the litter tray outside, you may well find that other neighbourhood cats will use it. They will be motivated to do so because monkey's smell is there & they will be trying to communicate to her that this is their territory. Then monkey may be reluctant to even use the tray outdoors.

The safer monkey feels in your garden, the more you can encourage her to spread her scent around the garden by rubbing her facial scent glands around, the more likely she will be prepared to toilet outdoors. But in the meantime, I wouldn't push her because you could be opening up worse problems with the indoor weeing.

If you want to know more about cat behaviour, could I suggest that you try reading books/articles by reputable feline behaviourists? They can probably explain things better than I have ~ John Bradshaw, Sarah Heath & Vicky Halls have all written some good books on cat behaviour & are well worth a read.

[dandysmom]

Very valuable information, Wilbar; now I understand why one of my shyer cats would never toilet outside!!

[niki71uk]

Originally Posted by Mak_incuck

Hi if you put the litter tray in the same position in the new hutch as the old hutch your existing bunny should hopefully use it. It would probably take a few weeks for them to settle. Just see where your new bunny does her toilet and put a litter tray there. Good luck.

RABBIT???????? I THOUGHT IT WAS A KITTEN THEY WERE TALKING ABOUT!!!!!!!!!