Litter tray condundrum

[Mollysmummy]

Hi all. We have quite recently got a kitten who is now 3 months old. We've had him a month and are slowly giving him more freedom in the downstairs of the house. All his stuff is in a huge dog crate which we put him in at night so he doesn't get out the catflap.

He's always been extremely well behaved toilet-wise and always uses the tray in his cage. However tonight he's started using the litter tray of our 1 1/2 year old cat which is in the kitchen! Tonight alone he's done 2 wees and a poo that we've seen but I'm guessing he's been weeing in it for a couple of days.

Our older cat doesn't actually use the tray as she goes outside to toilet but we obviously want to give her the option of going inside if she wants. She just sat and watched him use her tray and looked at me like 'mum do something!'

I suppose we should be glad he's done it in a tray and not just gone on the floor, but I don't want her to feel she doesn't have an inside option. As soon as he finished we took him and put him in his tray to try to show him this is where he should be going, but I'm not sure how to resolve this? We could get a third tray but he'd probably just go in that one too!!

[busydee]

most people recommend 3 trays for 2 cats. One each and one spare! hope your little new cat settles in quickly.

[Mollysmummy]

I don't mind getting a 3rd tray at all, the problem is if he then starts using the 3rd one as well will she use it if needed? She used to do a wee in the 2nd one if its raining or really cold, but she's just backed away from it this morning and gone out.

[meriad]

If you've got three and keep them as clean as you can then you'll be fine. And I do think the cats will adapt in time.

Of my lot; three will use a litter box as well as the outside and the other three only ever go outside. The three that use the litter tray do make me laugh because more than once Harry will go in, do what he has to and the moment he comes out Henry will go in and do his business (or the other way round depending on who went first). If Ava goes in first then the same thing can happen as well; either Henry or Harry will go in as well. I've even had Ava try and go in the same time Harry's been in there.

Some cats are really fussy but others - like my lot - don't seem to care.

[Mollysmummy]

That's great, I think she may have done a wee in her box overnight as the litter was disturbed this morning so hopefully she doesn't mind sharing; I just worry that he's taking over everything as he's allowed more freedom and as she's a fairly shy cat she doesn't stand her ground at all.

He's always at her food and water (we bought him a metal bowl like hers as we thought maybe he didn't like his plastic one but he still prefers her stuff!) and I just worry she feels pushed out.

[Themogfather]

I have 3 litter trays and my lot use them all especially after ive just filled them . My two kittens sometimes use them together, they are brother and sister and very close.
My four eat from each others bowl all the time in fact they will leave their full bowl to get the leftovers from another. as i have a mixture of a browser , a glutton and two ravenous kittens i do place there food in different places and tend to lock the kittens in my bedroom with their food for half an hour which works well.
My two older cats havs settled in with the kittens but it was slow work and theres still moments.
See how it goes im sure it will be fine

[Mollysmummy]

That's great about the trays, glad to hear lots of cats share. The only reason I have an issue with him eating her food is he's on kitten food to build him up as he's the runt and was underweight when we got him. I worry that adult cat food isn't suitable for him yet, he does tend to do very soft poos when he's been at her food!

They've been really good together the last few nights, they seem to want to be in the same room all the time

[Hazel]

We have two litter trays and two cats, both use one litter tray only and if one goes the other would rather we cleaned it immediately for him than him have to walk upstairs to the other tray. One of our cats always wees on the doorstep too. No idea how to stop this but we hate it! I think there is usually a race to get there first when the trays have been properly cleaned and fresh litter put in.

As for food, Jess will only ever lick off the gravy/jelly off the meat. Mika is always convinced Jess' food is better (it's the same) and I have to shut him out of the room while Jess licks his dry, he'll then dive in and eat Jess' dry meat in favour of his own! He's also started to just lick his too now...

[Mollysmummy]

Our older cat won't touch fish or poultry cat food or fresh!! She will only eat red meat or game cat food, tesco beef in gravy is her favourite and it's fair to say Kevin likes it too!

I think once we let Kevin have free reign of the house we'll put his tray upstairs as he seems to prefer hers. Molly's worked out how to open the living room door so I think that time will come sooner rather than later! He can be spayed in about 3-4 weeks but to us he's still tiny!