Expert: Jessica - 11/6/2009

Question
My cat "Holly", had four kittens 10 days ago and everything is running smoothly except that she wont use the litter tray that we have for her in the laundry. During the day is fine because im there to let her in and out, but night time is very challenging and ends up with me mopping the laundry every morning! We got her when she was 16wks and discovered she wasnt trained to the litter so has always been outside of a night for obvious reasons. This wouldnt bother me so much as it is only until the kittens find homes, but we are going for a two day trip and im wondering what to do! We cant get a sitter but we have family to check on her everyday, but i dont think the smell of cat urine and faeces on the floor would be a nice surprise! Or we were thinking of putting her and her kittens in a safe place outside but have the fear she will move them or even worse we are heading into summer and the heat may hurt them OR me just staying home and missing out for now. LOL, im willing to do that but thought id ask for some advise on other possibilities. Even on how to train her or is she too old to learn now? The litter tray is right there and funnier still, i cut a hole in our gauze on the window in the laundry yrs ago that our other cat uses to geet in and out but she just cant work it out????

Answer
Hi Katrina.  This is a difficult situation for sure.  Probably the best thing you can do is to limit Holly and the babies to a small area while you are away.  Ideally, see if you can rent a dog crate that is large enough to fit a litter box in, along with a bed for her and the babies, and a food and water bowl and a little room to stretch out in.  Many times, animal shelters will have dog crates people can rent for puppy training purposes.  Holly will be less likely to have accidents in her bed or around her eating area, so if she's confined to a crate, this will leave only her litter box to go to the bathroom in.  You may want to consider keeping her in the dog crate even after you return in order to strengthen her litter habits.  I often use this method when bringing cats who have only lived outdoors inside, in order to get them accustomed to litter box usage.  Once they are using the box 100% of the time, I see how they do with the rest of the house.  If you can't get your hands on a dog crate, if you have a small bathroom, that tends to work almost as well.

Best luck!

Jessica