Expert: Norman Auspitz - 3/20/2010

Question
I got a new kitten last week.  She is a 7 week old siamese.  At first she went in her box, but now she keeps going on my bed.  It began after she had diahrea.  When I see her scratching my comforter I take her directly to the litter box and she scratches but then jumps back on my bed to go.  In addition, when she goes she meows.  It is only when I sit and watch her that she goes in the box.   I clean her box daily and keep it away from her food.  I have kept her basically confined to my bedroom since she is so young, so she is not too far away from it at any time.  I have no ther cats.   I have an doctor appt for her Thursday and will make sure he checks her for an UTI.   I have thoroughly cleaned my bedding.  Is there anything else I can do?  Should I be concerned?

Answer
Jamie,

In truth, 7 weeks is too young to be going to a new home.  This kitten appears to be confused, which is no surprise.  So, I would confine the kitten to one room with a litter pan with (if you can find out) the same kind of litter it was used to where it came from.  I would keep the kitten in a room other than your bedroom since the kitten has already made "mistakes" in that room.  The room your kitten needs to be confined to should be easily cleanable.

There is also a type of litter called "Cat Attract".  I would add some of that to the kitten's litter pan.  Also, make sure the kitten can easily get in and out of the litter pan.  When you feed the kitten, put it in its litter pan right after it is finished eating.  If it messes where it should not, put some of the mess in the litter pan so the kitten can associate the smell of mess with the litter pan.  Finally, you will need to clean any area the kitten messed with an enzyme based cleaner specifically for pet stains and pet odors (available at most pet supermarkets or farm stores).  

Once the kitten is using the litter pan regularly, you can let it out to see what happens.  If the one room thing does not work, you may have to confine the kitten to a crate where it has almost no choice but to go in its litter pan.

Please let me know how the kitten does.

Best regards... Norm.