Expert: Dear Tabbi - 11/7/2008

Question
I have two kittens of 5 months (sisters). The mother had apparently disappeared to have her kittens in a neighbours garden and the kittens were finally found and socialised at 6 weeks of age. One kitten unfortunately had hidden and wasn't found until 3 weeks later. As a result she was very scared and quite wild. I bought the kittens at around 12 weeks and have spent lots of time socialising the wilder of the two. She is a little dear. Still very timid but gradually becoming more sociable and trusting. My only problem is that she has taken to peeing in my laundry basket on top of my clean wet washing while its waiting to go in the dryer! I still have a litter tray for them as they haven't been outside yet. They both use the tray and are otherwise very clean. 'Nala' however, seems to feel its ok to pee in the washing. It may be because she got caught short and pee'd on her bedding as a smaller kitten and when she was contained in her training cage. I think at first she was too scared to walk to the litter tray to do a wee so wee'd where she was laying! Although I removed all the offending bedding and made sure she has a litter tray, its as though she is now conditioned to thinking its normal to wee on cloth! Although I try very hard to keep the laundry basket out of her reach, its not always possible. How can I break this habit without scaring her now that she's beginning to like human company!

Answer
Simone,

Have you taken her to the vet? Her behavior is common for a cat with a urinary tract infection or urinary crystals. Both are painful when they urinate and the cat will associate that pain with the litterbox and go elsewhere. I would check for a medical problem with her before dealing with it as a behavioral one.

Tabbi