Naturally, cats are amazingly clean animals. When you learn how to littler train a cat, you are in fact simply encouraging their inherent instinct. For the most part, it is easy to teach a cat to use a litter box. Unless you fail to properly maintain the litter box and allow it to become excessively unclean, your cat will continue to use the litter box to do his or her business.
If you have a mother cat, she will most likely train her young kittens how to use the litter box. However, if you get a new kitten that is not trained, not all is lost.
Kittens are a little more wild and crazy with a lot more energy than a full-grown cat. However, a young kitten will not be set in their ways as an older cat might be; therefore, they may be much easier to teach to use a litter box.
Follow these simple techniques for litter-training your cat, and your problems should be solved in short time.
Steps For Litter Training Your Cat
Here are a few tips to follow as you are learning how to litter train a cat:
- First, you need a properly sized litter pan. If you have a kitten, a smaller litter pan is best, but a regular-sized litter pan will work in most cases. If your cat is a larger breed, or you have multiple cats, a larger litter pan will help keep things neat and tidy. When you are first teaching your cat to use the litter pan, avoid hooded pans and fancy automatic pans. These are better after your cat has been using the litter pan for a while. The pan should be easy for the cat to get in and out of with the entrance at an optimal level for your cat to use.
- The litter box should be placed in a quiet, clean and easily accessible area. Cats do not like to do their business in high traffic areas. Also, make sure that children and other animals will not be able to get to the litter pan.
- Show your cat where the pan is and allow them ample time to sniff it out properly. You may even want to rake the litter in the pan around a little with your fingers to show the cat what to do.
- Scoop soiled litter out of the pan every day, twice a day if possible. Each week, change the entire litter pan and add fresh litter. Wash the litter box with vinegar and water to eliminate odor. You can also add a little baking soda to the fresh litter for extra odor protection.
- If your cat fails to use the litter pan, and instead chooses your rug or furniture, simply tell your cat “no”. Then take the cat to the litter box where you can praise them.
Overall, learning how to litter train a cat is not a difficult task. In fact, most cats would prefer to use their litter box, just as long as you keep it clean.
This is a hard training for cat.