Whether you are bringing your kitten home for the first time or if your cat has had a litter of kittens it is important to train a kitten to use a litter box from the beginning. By doing this your new little addition will see the use of a litter box for its toilet as the normal place to go and will continue to use it throughout its life.

If your kitten has just come from a cat that is itself litter box trained then the likely hood is that the kittens’ mother will do the litter box training for you. If however, your kitten has come from a wild cat then you will have to show him where he needs to go to the toilet.

A cats’ natural instinct is to dig into some soft earth do their business and then bury it so that any predators cannot pick up their scent. Your new kitten will also have this inbuilt instinct and will actively search out the most natural area to use, which should be the litter box that you have provided for him. This is why it is actually very easy to train a kitten to use a litter box. Cats also like their toilet area to be clean so make sure that you regularly scoop the litter. When buying your litter box be certain to get a box big enough for your cat. Although he is a fluffy little kitten now, he wont be for long so be sure to get a box that will be big enough when he is older too otherwise you will be buying another box later on. Be sure to put enough litter into the box so that your kitten can dig in it and then bury what they have done.

Before you bring your kitten home, decide where you are going to put the litter box. Make sure that it is in a location that is not too noisy and doesn't get too much passing traffic from family members. Cats like a little privacy when going to the toilet and if they cannot get it in their litter box then they will hunt out an alternative place instead.

As soon as you bring your kitten home make sure that you show him where his water, food and litter box are. Put him in the litter so that he can feel that he can dig into it so that he will remember this later on when he needs to go.

Although it is usually easy to train a kitten to use a litter box, Sometimes it can seem like your kitten decided from the start that he was not going to use it. If your kitten simply refuses to use the litter box then there are a couple of things that you can try. Firstly keep on putting your kitten into its litter box. If you can spot the imminent signs that your kitten is about to go to the toilet then pick him up and put him in his litter box. Put one of your kittens’ stools into its litter box so that he realises what it is for.

It is usually very easy to train a kitten to use a litter box and if you do it very early on then your cat will find it natural to use a litter box for life. Whatever you do, do not shout, hit or rub your kittens nose in it mess and then plonk him into his litter box. He will not make the connection that urinating on your carpet is wrong and that he should have used the litter box instead. He will interpret it as the litter box being a punishment and a bad place and will avoid it in the future. Good luck with training your kitten.