Help with dirty kitten

[brandis77]

I've had cats all my life, and I've never had the problems that I'm having now with my new kitten. Could someone PLEASE help me with any of these problems?

1) Cat litter seems to get stuck in her paws, causing little balls of dry pee and litter to end up all over the house. :( We use clumping litter, so this may not happen with non-clumping, but it's such a pain to clean I'd rather exhaust all other possibilities before switching.

2) She goes NUTS when burying her pee/poo, causing litter to end up all over the place, along with the odd kitty turd.

3) As a result of #2, the closet (which is carpeted) where we have the litter box smells really bad, even though I clean it out twice a week. I've tried air freshener, baking soda, and odour-busting cat litter, but nothing has worked so far.

4) After the kitty goes poo, wherever she sits (i.e. carpet, counter) gets a little kitty butt poo print. :barf: It's really gross and I have no idea what to do about it other than cleaning it up all the time!!

[Trina]

I know it's probably a pain in the butt, but I would probably start cleaning out their box once a day. I think that will help with Skyla's deal of going nuts while burying her poop (as long as she keeps smelling poop/pee, she'll continue to try to cover it up). You might also invest in a LitterMaid automatic cleaning litter box for them.

As far as her leaving little butt-prints everywhere, it sounds like she may be having a problem with diarrea? Keep a close eye on her whenever she goes poop... you don't want a kitten to have diarrea for too long (it could be a fatal problem). If it's just a problem with her not being very hygenic, I'm sure that will get better as she gets a little older (she's just a goofy little kitten right now, but she'll get more "prissy" as she grows up)... :)

Good luck!

[brandis77]

Yes, I guess cleaning out the box every day would take care of the flying poop problem. I didn't think of that! Hmm .. the automatic litter box sounds like a perfect idea! Do you have any idea how much one would cost?

I'll try to keep an eye on Skyla when she's using the litter box. I don't see how she could be making butt prints if she weren't having diarrhea .. Should I take her to the vet? How long is too long for diarrhea?

Thanks so much for the tips, Trina! Do you know what I can do about the smell?

[brandis77]

When I read my complaints over, they sound pretty funny. The wording I used seems much funnier than the situation actually is ..
"flying poop"
"butt prints"
"kitty turd"

:D

[Trina]

Originally posted by brandis77
... the automatic litter box sounds like a perfect idea! Do you have any idea how much one would cost?
I'm not sure, but last time I checked Target or Walmart had them for less than $100. I'm actually considering getting one because I won't be able to clean the litter box once I become preggo.
How long is too long for diarrhea?
You probably wouldn't want her having diarrea for any longer than one week... baby animals get dehydrated VERY easily. If you think she's had it for that long, I would probably take her to the vet (or at least call them to talk to one of the techs about the problem).
Do you know what I can do about the smell? There's a type of product that looks like blue crystals that you mix in with the litter (as long as it's the clumping kind). It's supposed to control wetness and odor in the litterbox for like a month or so... can't remember exactly how long. I think just cleaning it out daily is going to help with the smell TREMENDOUSLY though! You also might put one of those "Stick-up" air fresheners underneath the shelf in the closet--that might help a little with residual odors, as well.

Hope this helps ya'!

[Trina]

Originally posted by brandis77
When I read my complaints over, they sound pretty funny. The wording I used seems much funnier than the situation actually is ..
"flying poop"
"butt prints"
"kitty turd"

:D
I knooooowww..... those terms are hilarious!!! :biglaugh:

[Trina]

I just remembered that you had Skyla on some medication to clear up the respiratory infection she had when you adopted her. This medication may have resulted in causing some of the diarrea problems, but I'm not certain. I would definitely, at the very least, call your veterinarian to let them know what's going on.

[Rrricola]

Hey Brandis, Trina's tips are right on. I do have to tell you that the best litter I have tried is Fresh Step scoop, as far as the smell goes. I went through a few and the odor seemed to be controlled better by that particular brand.

[andrea]

hey brandis well i dont have any advice at all but all the others advice sounds good i am going to try it but you said it seems like they go crazy trying to bury there stuff in the litter box...

ours does to so my fi says they are trying to dig a hole to china i think that is just so funny

[SNUGELKIN]

We have 4 cats now, but at one time we had a total of 7 all living with one litter box. They always got the litter all over the floor so what I did was I got 2 of those outdoor rubber mats. The kind you use to get the mud off of your shoes and placed them around the outside of the box. That way when they do this you can just scoop up the mats and put the litter right back in the box with out haveing to scoop up any mess. Plus it saves the litter from being wasted also. The best litter we have used is the tidy cats for multipul cats. The one in the tubs not the big bags. I dont know why, but the bag kind has larger litter and the tub kind is more like sand. I can realy tell that my cats prefer the kind most like the sand and they dont make as much of a mess...
I hope this was some help. :)

[Csara]

I use Tidy Cat for multiple cats too (but I only have one)! The smell is really not bad at all, but I also try to scoop the litter daily or atleast every other day. You can put a little bit of baking soda into the litter and that might help with the smell, Brandis. So, how is Skyla doing? Have you noticed any difference?

[brandis77]

Trina - I bought some Arm & Hammer "litter deodorizer" baking soda, and sprinkled it in the box today. It smells really nice on its own, and it did a great job with the smell! Thanks for the tips! I also looked at the automatic scooping litter box when I was at Kmart (is it just me, or is that store really going downhill?!), and it was $99. I may just invest in one once I start working and don't have as much time ..

Nicola - I tried the Fresh Step litter, and it definitely took care of the smell. But, it was really bad for getting in Skyla's paws, causing her to track gross stuff all over the house. :(

Snuglekin & Csara - The Tidy Cats litter has been my most recent attempt at eliminating the litter problems. With the baking soda, it doesn't smell bad yet, and it has been the best for not sticking to the kitty's paws.

[brandis77]

I have been keeping an eye on Skyla's "litter activities" today, and it doesn't seem like she has diarrhea. But, every time I go to clean out the litter closet, there is CRAP sprayed all over the walls!! It is so gross, and extremely frustrating. The litter box has a cover on it, so I have no clue how this is happening.

Skyla is continuing to viciously attack my other cat, Ivy. I haven't had a kitten for a long time, and it's difficult for me to tell if she's just being playful or if she's being mean. When she attacks Ivy, I spray her with a squirt bottle and say "NO", and she stops .. but she attacks her again minutes later. She bites Ivy, making her squeal .. I feel really bad for Ivy. :( Is this normal?

To add to my list of problems .. about 2 weeks ago, I awoke to find that Skyla had peed on our $DOWN$ comforter. I didn't see her do it, but Ivy has never done anything like this before, so I'm presuming it was Skyla. I took the comforter to the dry cleaners, and 2 nights after having it back, the same thing happened again. I've heard that once a cat "marks" something, it will keep marking it over and over .. what can I do?

Jeremy and I have discussed getting the comforter dry cleaned again or just shutting the bedroom door so the cats can't get in at night. But both of these possibilites have their cons - if we pay to have the comforter dry cleaned again, the cat pay still pee on it. And, if we shut the bedroom door, at least one of the cats will claw at the carpet if we don't open it.

@!##!@@!# I am so frustrated!@# I'm trying to keep in mind that Skyla is just a kitten, and kittens can be a lot of work. But, I've never had to deal with such a crazy kitten before!!!

Thanks to everyone for the suggestions .. they have been very helpful.

[SNUGELKIN]

I had a kitten who used to attack my other cats alot but she eventualy quit on her own but you do have to keep on them now and then that its a no no. I think she was at her worst when she was in heat. Have you had her fixed? That may stop her sprayig stuff.

I had a cat that would instead of using the litter box would go under my bed! Yuck! :sick: But I stoped that, by taking the frame off of our bed so he cant get under there anymore!

ALos try showing her some extra attention. She may just be doing this for that. I know it seems crazy but my cat has totaly changed since I started the extra attention. :cat:

[andrea]

Originally posted by brandis77

Skyla is continuing to viciously attack my other cat, Ivy. I haven't had a kitten for a long time, and it's difficult for me to tell if she's just being playful or if she's being mean. When she attacks Ivy, I spray her with a squirt bottle and say "NO", and she stops .. but she attacks her again minutes later. She bites Ivy, making her squeal .. I feel really bad for Ivy. :( Is this normal?

My new kitten does this to the older cat..and the puppy so i guess it is normal :eek:







Jeremy and I have discussed getting the comforter dry cleaned again or just shutting the bedroom door so the cats can't get in at night. But both of these possibilites have their cons - if we pay to have the comforter dry cleaned again, the cat pay still pee on it. And, if we shut the bedroom door, at least one of the cats will claw at the carpet if we don't open it.
:

We did that once also and the older cat tore the carpet up, so maybe you can let the older cat in and keep the kitten out:dapimp:

[brandis77]

Originally posted by SNUGELKIN
I had a kitten who used to attack my other cats alot but she eventualy quit on her own but you do have to keep on them now and then that its a no no. I think she was at her worst when she was in heat. Have you had her fixed? That may stop her sprayig stuff.

Yes, Skyla is fixed. I'm hoping she will grow out of the attacking like your kitten did!

The extra attention idea is a good one. I'vy been trying to give Ivy extra attention since we got the kitten, but maybe Skyla is jealous or something. It's really hard to give her attention, though, since she won't let me pet her - she always attacks my hand instead. We bought her a stuffed toy to attack, and I redirect her whenever I can, but maybe she's too young to know that it's not okay to play like that with other people!

[brandis77]

Originally posted by Loveshack
:

We did that once also and the older cat tore the carpet up, so maybe you can let the older cat in and keep the kitten out:dapimp:

Yes, this is exactly what I thought would happen if we shut the bedroom door. Ivy is really strange when it comes to closed doors. No matter what door it is or whether she wants to get in or not, she obsesses over it until it is open. If we shut her in the bedroom and the kitten out, I'm sure Ivy would scratch the carpet anyways.

[Deana]

Hi Brandis! I feel your pain honey! My kitty, Peepers, is a piglet when it comes to the litter box. He would 'go' right next to his box (he wasn't 'missing' the box either - it was quite intentional). One thing I noticed is that when I took the 'hood' off of his box, he rarely would go potty outside his box.
Also, I took an old bathmat (made of carpet) to eliminate some of the litter tracking. He uses the mat to keep 'burrying' his business, but I think it also helps get his paws cleaned out.
We only have one cat, but I do use the 'mulitple cat' litter. Really helps on odor. Also, I started feeding him 'Iams' wet and dry catfood, which has helped (they say it helps reduce fecal odor).
If it was me, I'd consider taking your kitty to the vet. Sometimes their bathroom habits are behavioral, but sometimes they are a way to tell you that something physical is wrong.
And as far as your kitten playing so rough with Ivy, I think the kitten will grow out of it - my kitty still 'play bites' on my arm (but it hurts!!). Lots of toys, lots of attention, and possibly separate them for a while. The water bottle is a great idea, and works pretty well. I also filled a tin can (an altoids can!) with pennies, and shake it when he's up to no good (the sound distracts him... but you don't want to scare Ivy with it too...).
As far as removing odor from pee, vinegar does the trick. When Peepers was pooping outside of his box, I'd saturate the carpet in that spot with vinegar - seems to neutralize the scent (because they do 'mark' it).
Good luck! Kitten will grow out of a lot of this behavior, it's just a pain for you for a while :(

[andrea]

Originally posted by brandis77


Yes, this is exactly what I thought would happen if we shut the bedroom door. Ivy is really strange when it comes to closed doors. No matter what door it is or whether she wants to get in or not, she obsesses over it until it is open. If we shut her in the bedroom and the kitten out, I'm sure Ivy would scratch the carpet anyways.

Yeah.. that is what happend here to.. we tried to lock his cat in with us and leave the kitten out well his cat tore up the carpet to get out even though he didnt wont out.. i opened the door.. and his cat just got back on the bed!!

i was really suprised when we got our new kitten he is fully litter boxed tried and he was only 4 weeks when we got him!! he only goes in his litter box (thank goodness) sometimes i will catch him going into the other cats litter box but i dont want to whip him for it (if that makes sence) my on the other hand my white cat spencer he is an outside cat now, because he would not use the litter box he would use it once and then you had to clean it for him to use it again.. neitherless to say our house smelled bad of cat pee and the only thing we got to work and trust me we tried everything was to get all new carpet..

it sucked:flip:

[Csara]

I'm catching up with all of these old threads.....

Brandis, how is Skyla doing now??

[brandis77]

Skyla is doing very well! She has become much friendlier and hardly ever attacks us anymore. She plays better with Ivy, too! The litterbox is still a problem as far as odor goes, even though I've been cleaning it every or every other day. I think we will get an automatic cleaning litter box after Christmas. Has anyone used one of these before?

[Csara]

No, but I am going to look into getting one too. My cat makes such a mess with her box, it's getting ridiculous. She always folds the litter liner completely over, covering the litter, which gets her pee and poop all over the bag and litter all over the floor. Not to mention that it really smells.

[brandis77]

Eew, gross!! Luckily, Skyla has become less frantic in burying her business, so there isn't crapola all over the place anymore. Yuck.

I have looked into the automatic litter boxes, and they sell for around $99 everywhere I have looked. I really wonder if it will work well .. I'm afraid my cats will get freaked out by it and not use it or something.