How to litter train a kitten

Just like their big cat cousins, your little kitten prefers to go to the toilet in privacy. That's why it's important to keep their litter tray in a quiet, safe, place where they can get to it easily and use it without anybody watching.

Noticing when they want to go

You’ll need to train your kitten in how to use their tray. This is simple: just lift them into the tray as soon as you see that they want to go. You can also help by placing them in the tray early in the morning, last thing at night and after every meal. Keep doing this until your kitten can find the litter tray for themselves by smell and location. After that, just leave them to it. To make sure they're comfortable, use a cat litter that absorbs odours and doesn’t form clumps, like Catsan®.

Keeping it clean

In the wild, big cats are very particular about cleanliness and health, making sure that they eat and drink in a different place than where they go to the toilet. Your little kitten is just the same, so put their litter tray some distance from where they eat or drink. It’s also important to clean out the litter tray daily.

Accidents may happen

Has your kitten suddenly started to have little accidents? There may be a number of reasons:

• Their litter tray may be dirty
• They may be seeking attention
• They may feel something has invaded their territory
• They may have reached sexual maturity

If the accidents continue, ask your vet for advice about how to get your kitten back on track.

How to clean up

Rinse the area with clean water, then use a 10% solution of biological washing powder to get rid of the smell. It’s best not to use anything else, as many cleaning products actually smell a bit like a cat's urine. So if you clean with these, you may actually be leaving a feline signal that encourages more unwanted behaviour, not less!

Rewarding success

When your kitten successfully uses their litter tray, make sure you give them lots of praise – a small treat might help too. This way, they'll soon learn to associate the litter tray with good feelings. All you need to do is show your kitten a little patience, and lots of encouragement, and they'll quickly adjust to using it.