Expert: Brandy - 1/14/2007

Question
Hi,
First I would like to say thank you so much for donating your time to this site! It's so great to have such a valuable resource on the internet that is free.  If it wasn't for thoughtful and caring people like you, this site would not be possible - so thank you! :)
My question - I "inherited" a cat from my daughter.  He's approx. 2-3 years old. He was always kept outside because he is not litter-boxed trained. It's been very cold in our area so I bring him in at night and put him in the bathroom with food, water and a litterbox. He will use the cat box and will also mess outside the box and other places in the bathroom!  He's a nice cat and gets along well with my other cats. I would like to keep him in the house more - he really likes being inside. But I can't have him messing all over my house! My daughter said he came from a litter that did have a mom cat that cared for the kittens until they were old enough to give away so evidentially the mama kitty didn't do to good of a job with her kittens and toliet behavior.  Is there any way I can litterbox train this cat at his age?  Thanks so much for your help! :)

Answer
Thanks for the thanks...

Now onto the cat - thank you for taking him in; I'm sure he also prefers to be indoors, too. The litterbox thing could be a few typical things. First, he just needs a little time to get used to using the litterbox. If the litterbox is covered, he might prefer an open box, and if it's open, he might prefer a bit of privacy.

Second, he might not prefer the type of litter you're using (mine hated the clumping, made of the mess of the typical clay type, and prefer the pine-pellet stuff). Get a few small bags of the other litters, and see if you notice a difference.

If he's not neutered or if it was done after he was already an adult, he might also be marking.

I doubt it's the latter; it's either the litterbox or the litter. You just need to be patient; he'll learn.

Good luck with him.