My 4-week-old kitten pees on self, skin irritated. Litter box help?

I would recommend soaking the area in a warm solution of kitten/puppy shampoo diluted 1:5 with water for 3-4 minutes and then gently towel drying to remove the crusts. Applying a small amount of zinc-free bepanthen diaper ointment can help if the underlying skin is become irritated but this can be very difficult to wash out of the coat later!

This could be urine scalding. At her age, she needs to be stimulated to urinate and defecate after each feeding. This is done by gently wiping a warm, moist cotton ball or washcloth around the genitalia until elimination occurs. Clean her up and dry her thoroughly afterwards. The mother will typically do this, but if she isn't, the job will fall toyou. .

Poor kitty. Chances are it was probably malnourished out in the wild so a stool can't be expected to come right away fi there was no food to form a proper stool. Peeing is a good sign and I would try to feed the kitten canned or solid kitten food. If it is 5 weeks old then it should be able to urinate and defecate on its own. The skin irritation can be caused by flea allergy dermatitis, a bacterial or fungal infection, so it is really best to get your vet to take a look at the skin and do some testing to determine the underlying cause. If you see fleas on kitty then that is most likely the cause. Apply a good flea preventative (Revolution, Advantage) to kitty after a good dish dawn detergent bath (wait 2 days after bath before applying topicals in order to be effective).

Since Squirt is only 4 weeks old, my theory is that he may be urinating and defecating on the bed because he has trouble getting down from it. If it is too high for him (or even if he can get down but it might just be a little scary), he is very likely to just use the bed for his business. If you are going to let him on the bed, I would only allow this for short periods of time until he is a little bit larger. The more times you permit him on the bed now and he continues this behavior, the more likely he may begin to thing it is acceptable. I would limit his bed time to no more than 30 minute intervals under direct supervision. After those periods of time have elapsed, place Squirt back into the area closest to the litter pan and see if things work out as they should. Hope this helps. Let me know if there is anything else I can do.

I am sorry to hear about your kitten! Unfortunately blankets and towels left on the floor are often a favorite place for cats to pee! Since your kitten is young he may be more prone to this as he may not have completely established litter box habits. I would try to be sure no cloth items like this are left on the floor, and if your kitten continues to have accidents then a visit to the vet is needed to ensure he doesn't have a bladder infection or other cause for urinary accidents.

St four weeks old she might be ready for solids. You could mix some canned kitten food with milk replacer and put it on a flat plate to see if she'll eat it. If not you may need to talk to your veterinarian about bottle feeding or tube feeding. I would recommend keeping a very shallow litterbox close by and putting her in it periodically. Depending on how severely affected she is she may need some additional help, and your vet might be able to give some other pointers.

It is possible that the kittens just need a little bit more time to figure out the litter box. Three weeks is still quite young and they may not fully understand what the litter boxes for. I would recommend enclosing both kittens in a small area with one to two litter boxes that are cleaned daily. In most situations kittens will figure this out relatively quickly. There is also a litter additive called Cat Attract that may be helpful in enticing Laila to use the litter box for pooping. I would also ensure that Laila is able to get in and out of the litter box provided with minimal difficulty. Using a litter box with low sides may be beneficial. If this continues to be a problem I would recommend consulting with your veterinarian as she may have an underlying medical condition such as parasites exacerbating this issue.