Stimulation

Kittens do not have fine motor skills until a few weeks of age, which means they cannot urinate or defecate on their own. If a mother cat is present she will stimulate the kittens. By nature, mother cats groom and lick their babies to stimulate the bowels and bladder on a regular basis.

Kittens should be stimulated before and after every feeding. Gently rub the kitten’s genitalia and rectum with a moist towel or a cotton ball or cotton pad (dampen with warm water), using a front-to-back motion or circular motion and very gentle pressure. As the tissue is soiled, replace and continue with a new piece until the kitten is done eliminating. You can hold the kitten either face up or face down while you stimulate, see what is most comfortable for both you and the kitten. Don’t be alarmed, most kittens will cry while you are stimulating them. Clean off any excess urine or fecal material from the kitten. If left it could cause irritation and burn their delicate skin, or urinary tract infections.

Kittens will almost always urinate during stimulation, it should be highly dilute and a light yellow in color. They should defecate about once every 1–2 days. A constipated kitten will not want to eat, so make sure they are completely empty. Sometimes it takes patience for the kitten to poop. At this stage the appropriate consistency for kitten poop is similar to toothpaste and a mustard yellow. Record the kitten’s elimination in your care sheet, note anything abnormal, reach out to a Community Pet Coordinator.

Possible abnormalities include:

Blood in the urine or feces
Hard pellets of poop or watery diarrhea
Dark yellow or brownish yellow urine
Straining to defecate, or if the kitten has not
defecated for 2–3 days and its belly is bloated

Urine & Fecal Scald

Use of baby wipes is acceptable for elimination and especially helpful for those messy poopers, but be sure they are gentle and unscented. If a kitten's skin is inflamed or raw avoid wipes and soaps, just use warm water and something soft like a cotton ball or gauze sponge. Wipe them dry with a piece of tissue or toilet paper. Severe cases of urine or fecal scald can be treated with a small amount of Destin nipple cream or Aquaphor applied in a thin layer to the affected area.

Litter Box Training

At about the same time kittens start walking around off their belly, kittens should begin urinating & defecating on their own. You may notice them defecating on their own or even moving away from their living area to defecate. These are a good indication that your kittens can start on litter box training! Kittens with queens will usually catch-on quickly by following their mom’s example. Even orphaned kittens instinctively want to cover their eliminations so using a litter box comes pretty naturally to them. They will likely need some assistance at first, but they basically teach themselves!

When introducing litter box training use a shallow litter pan that the kittens can easily move in and out of. We often use the cardboard trays that wet food comes in for very small kittens, plastic food trays, tubber ware, or disposable aluminum casserole trays. It also may help to take a towel and roll it up against the litter try to make a kind of ramp. If you give a kitten a litter box that is too tall for them, they won’t use it since it’s not easily accessible. Once kittens are 6-8 weeks old, they can move to a plastic litter box. However, it still needs to be quite shallow in order for them to get in and out comfortably It is also a good idea to have pee pads underneath the boxes just in case the kittens have accidents. It is important to only use kitten safe, non-fragranced, and natural litters. Tiny kittens may try to eat litter and ingesting litter that clumps when wet is potentially harmful because the dust from the litter can solidify in their respiratory or digestive tracts. We recommend using pine pellet litter. Other kitten safe alternatives include wheat or corn litter or a paper-based pellet litter like Yesterday’s News. If kittens are having a particularly hard time learning, talk to a community Pet Coordinator about other options like Dr. Elsey’s Kitten Attract litter. Only a thin layer of litter is necessary to cover kitten waste.

When first introducing a kitten to the litter box, pick up the kitten and put them in a clean litter box. Move their little paws around so they can get used to the sensation of digging as well as the feel of the litter. Place the kitten in the pan frequently to encourage them to use it. If they are used to stimulation, you can hold and stimulate them over the litter box to associate the smell with the location. Or take either the tissue used to stimulate the kitten or a paper towel used to clean up an accident and bury it inside the litter box to entice them to go in there. Place the kitten in the litter box at any transitional moment: after waking up, after eating, after playtime, etc. Or you can encourage the kittens to use the litter box by gently returning them to their litter box every 15–20 minutes while they’re playing. Similarly, if you see them squatting somewhere besides the litter box, pick them up and place them inside the box. Give lots of praise when they are successful! Making it a positive experience will increase the likelihood of the behavior sticking!

Outta Sight, Outta Mind

When kittens are first learning to use the litter box, it’s a good idea to keep them in small spaces. When the litter box is out of sight, it's out of mind for young kittens. A playpen or a bathroom is the perfect environment for litter training since they have enough space to live comfortably without forgetting where the box is located. Its recommended to have at least one litter box per 9 square feet of access for kittens.
Always make sure the litter box is clean. If the box is dirty, they will not want to use it! The box needs to be cleaned at least twice daily. You will also need to dump the contents of the litter box entirely every few days and clean it with dish soap. You can also use aluminum baking pans or small cardboard boxes - particularly if the kittens have diarrhea- as they can just be disposed.
Never scold a kitten for accidents or missing the litter box. They won’t understand and they didn’t do it on purpose. This could cause them to hide their accidents and not want to use the litter box.
Kittens tend to have accidents outside of the litter box if they have medical issues like diarrhea. When they aren’t feeling well, they may be unable to make it to the box in time. If you notice your kitten was using the litter box regularly and then stopped, the kitten may not be feeling well and you should contact us for further assistance.

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