House Train a Cat

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm here with my new friends, Atlanta and Savanna. They've just come home and we are going to set up their litter box and talk a little bit about how to litter train a cat. Which maybe one of the easiest things you ever attempted. We're in a bathroom because it's a nice small space so the cats can get familiar with it. And be very clear about where their litter box is. Cats have a natural instinct for burying their feces and their urine which works really well for humans because they also don't like to urinate and defecate in the places where they sleep and their active and they play. So we are trying to train these kittens to understand what the appropriate places to go the the bathroom and what the appropriate places to have fun. This is a kitten sized litter box. Do not mistake this for the right size for a grown up cat. A grown up cat will find this way too small They'll poop over the edge, they'll poop on the side, they'll find some place in the living room to poop. So you really want to make sure that as your cat grows, your litter box size grows. This box is just about the right size for the two cats that, the two kittens that we got here today. But they're really on the verge of out growing it. The product I'm using today is a litter that's specifically for kittens. You don't have to use something this specific, however I like to, I always like to err on the side of caution. This is a scoopable litter that has very fine grains. So it's very small, it's very easy on the kittens paws. And it also has an herbal additive that's suppose to attract the kittens to the litter box. Again you don't have to use this product. A regular clay litter, nay scoopable litter. The only one that I would recommend against is the pine litter, the bigger chunkier litters. Those are fine for a grownup cat, but they are not very effective for a small cat. Cause they really like to be able to play and dig and really get engaged with the litter box. We're going to fill this up, you really never want to put more then two inches of litter in the litter box.You are really wasting litter when you are doing that. And you are just going to end up with a lot of litter on the floor.But about two inches is nice, in there, there you go. What I've done is when I was at the shelter collecting the kittens, I took a little piece of their poop out of the litter box at the shelter and I'm going to put that in this litter box. So that the cats can recognize the smell and recognize where it is they are supposed to go to the bathroom. Now with a cat, a younger kitten that has never used a litter box, if they poop on the newspaper or on the floor you never want to discipline them, you never want to rub their face in it. You simple want to clean it up with a little bit of bleach or enzymatic cleaner and scoop up the poop and put it in the litter box and then show the kitten where the poop is so that they know that that's where they are supposed to use. So we got their litter box all set up, we've got their food and water set up at a good distance away from the litter box. You never want to create a kitty corner. Kitty corner being you know where the kitty can poop, and eat and drink because just like people, cats do not like eating near where they go to the bathroom. And you are inviting disaster that way. They won't recognize that it's a place they are suppose to go to the bathroom. Ohh yeah now she knows where it is. Right about you. What do you think of that. That's where you should go potty. Yup."