My 9-month-old cats make messes. How do I litter train them?

It can be stressful for cats to move into a new home. There are a few simple things you can do to help them litter train in your house. First, have at least 1 litter box per cat plus one; therefore, if you just have the two kittens, I would recommend 3 litter boxes. Second, make sure the litter box is large. The kittens will keep growing, and if it becomes too small, they won't use it. Third, some cats don't like covered litter boxes and some like them. You can try to boxes covered and uncovered, and see what they like best. I would recommend using the same litter that was used at their old home because they are used to the smell and texture. Make sure their litter boxes aren't close to their food and water, cats don't like to use the bathroom near their food source. While you are litter training them in your house, don't let them have free rein of the house when you are gone. Place them in a small room with their litter boxes while you are away from the house, and provide them with water and a place to sleep at the opposite end of the room from the boxes. Make sure you clean the litter box daily. If they continue to have problems going to the bathroom outside the litter box, it may be a health issue, and I'd recommend bringing them into your vet for a health check.

I recommend first to have the kittens examined by the vet to make sure they are healthy and free of infections or parasites. If they are healthy, I recommend to start littler box training. Here is a link which may help: https://www.petcoach.co/article/litter-box-training-for-your-kitten/ Similar to crate training a puppy, I recommend to keep the kittens in a small room with their litter box. They can come out for breaks while being supervised but otherwise, they should be in their room. This includes sleeping there since you are having trouble with them urinating on your bed. Also make sure you are using a large, uncovered litter box with a clay-based clumping litter that is easy for the kittens to climb into. The box should be scoped at least twice a day for right now. I hope this helps and please feel free to post any additional questions.

You will need 5 boxes for 4 cats. You can also try to get the see through plastic storage boxes from a department store and use those (with foot-high walls). You can gently put each cat into the litter box and gently take a front leg and scratch the litter with it. It will take effort. The self-cleaning ones may be scary, so turn them off for a while so the cats get used to those boxes first, and then after they start pooping in them and peeing , you can manually turn them on as needed. However cats are very clean and they may not be happy to have old poop near ...

I love that you have already switched to the unscented litter as that can be a big problem for many cats. Putting the litter box in the shower is a great idea. I would also make sure to clean up the spots he went outside the litterbox using an enzymatic pet stain cleaner to ensure he does not keep smelling urine/feces there and think that it is akin to a litterbox. Other things, like cleaning the litter box often, having multiple litterboxes which are different types of boxes, and trying different types of litter (such as fine-grain litter) may also help you figure out what type of litter Mittens likes. While it certainly sounds like Mittens is having trouble getting used to his new litterbox, it is important to remember that internal diseases (like organ, hormonal, or orthopedic diseases, among other possible causes) can cause Mittens to have a hard time making it into the litterbox so it is important to take Mittens to your vet for evaluation to make sure we are not missing something else that is making it hard for Mittens to make it to the litterbox. I have attached a link to an article with more great suggestions below. Good luck! https://www.petcoach.co/article/how-to-train-your-cat-to-use-a-litter-box/

He may not like the type of litter you are using. In all the studies done on cats they have found that most prefer plain old sand as opposed to any type of cat litter. My suggestion would be to put a few boxes out in various locations in the house and put a different type/style of litter in each one to see which one he likes best. Remember that most cats don't like to use the box if it is in a noisy, high-traffic area so put at least one box somewhere quiet. Being that he is so young/small still the sides of the box may be too high for him to comfortably get in/out of the box so try to find some with lower sides or make one with lower sides yourself. You can use shallow foil baking pans, tupperware containers, etc. Finally, you can make one box covered. Some cats preferred a covered box. Cats are usually very easy to litter train so if none of the above works then you should get him to your vet for an exam. He may have a urinary tract infection or some other issue that is making him not want to use the box. Hope this helps. Best wishes.

If you don't have money to purchase several litter boxes, you can use things like lasagna pans or even like small, shallow cardboard boxes that cans of cat food come in. Either of these are suitable containers for holding cat litter. The best way to train cats to use the litter box is to confine them to smaller areas with litter boxes until they are using them with regularity. Once they are, consider expanding the area of freedom slowly day by day until you are confident in their ability to go to the bathroom in the appropriate location.

There can be a couple of reasons why Tiger will not use the litter box. There may not be enough litter boxes in the home. You should have one litter box for each cat, plus one extra. Cats like a very clean box, and the litter should be scooped every day with the litter itself being changed once a week. If the box isn't clean enough for him, he won't use it. Cats can also be very picky about the type of litter used. If you changed litter recently, he may not like it and won't want to use it. Don't use scented litters, cats typically don't like the scent and will not use the box if it smells funny to them. I would use an unscented litter only. The litter box itself may be a problem. It could be too small for him to turn around in, or if it has a cover, he may not like using the box under a cover. Conversely, if it doesn't have a cover, he may not like going to the bathroom in the open. Cats also won't use a litter box that is too close to their food and water sources, so if the litter box is close to those, he won't use it. Finally, there could be a medical issue behind him not using the litter box, such as feline idiopathic cystitis or bladder stones. If none of the above scenarios apply to Tiger, I would take him into your vet for a health check to see if there is a medical cause behind him refusing to use the litter box. I hope this helps!