Help re kitten with bad eye sight and how to get him to toilet outside

[Shorsey12]

I have two rescue kittens both were feral and brought in at 8 and 10 weeks. The girl has spots on her eyes and uses the tray and goes in the garden then comes in and uses the trays. The boy now both around 6/7 months has problems with his eye sight. I moved his tray outside and he still went to it inside where it used to be and peed on the floor. Until I put the tray back in exactly the same place he kept doing it. When he goes in the garden he stalks round the fence and runs back to the door like he’s locked out. We have a cat flap which the girl uses but the boy has no clue. How do we stop the litter trays and get them both to go outside

[Lilith]

Hi and welcome

Please don't take this amiss, but personally I feel that it's better for cats to use a tray inside. You can monitor their 'products' and be alerted to anything amiss; they don't foul your or (possibly hostile) neighbours' gardens, and in bad weather they're not reluctant to relieve themselves (dashing in from the rain and making a mess in a corner of the house.)

Also, your cats are to some extent disabled and, especially with sight problems, it's essential to keep things just the same in the house - as you've seen with your boy's behaviour.

I know it's a bore, litter trays. I've yet to meet anyone, including myself, who loves doing litter trays. I sigh every morning, going downstairs, oh, the damn trays ... and I have two reasonably well-behaved mature cats. It's one of those jobs. But I do feel that a tray can't be used as 'training wheels' for a kitten who becomes accustomed to relieving itself in the house and is then confused by being expected to go outside. It's also the wrong time of the year ... you never know, when the weather gets warmer, if you really don't mind holes being dug in your borders and toxic waste deposited, the little darlings might get interested in the fun stuff garden earth can be ...

But, especially with their sight problems, I'd be inclined to give them permanent trays rather than risk mess in the house and the wear and tear on your nerves and theirs.

All the best with them.

[Shorsey12]

Thank you for your suggestions, We have 2 older cats and 2x 6 month old kittens, and 5 acres behind the house which is where the two older cats go, we are very lucky. Which is why we have never had cat litter trays except when I'm doing cat rescue doing kitten season then of course I have to have them, so I'm on overload at the moment with my two trays and the two rescues trays. This is a first having a special needs kitten. The one with dots on her eyes gets about easily and uses the cat flap its just the boy whose eye sight is worse, he seems to see colours and shapes. I think I may need to wait until Spring. As then it will all be a lot easier. But yes it def poses more challenges having special needs animals. My two dogs use the garden but we've had cats for the 20+ years we have lived here and never had kittens at this time of the year, the weather in the uk means they are being born much later and I think I will need to wait until I can lead him. We will see.

[Ruth B]

I think Lilith has pretty much said all I was going to.

I would say that instead of focusing on the litter tray usage focus on encouraging them to enjoy the garden and hopefully the lad will learn how to use the cat flap to let himself in and out. Hopefully when the weather improves and he wants to be outside more he will start using the garden rather than coming back inside to use the tray, although one of my youngsters, now 4 years old, will still happily be playing in the garden and then come in to use the tray before going back out, she is being good and going where she is meant to so I can't be upset with her.

To help encourage them make sure there is an area of the garden set aside for them to use, they will use any lose soil, sand etc, but if you have an area for them it can help, the worst option is a garden that is all lawn, and then people wonder why their neighbour's get upset as the cats use their borders as litter trays. Things like micro bark chipping mulches can be a wonderful help, they are small enough to dig in and you just need to keep topping them up to keep the area fresh. If you are using a natural litter, such as wood or clay based, you might want to consider digging some of that into the area so it smells right to them.

As Lilith said, remember they are both partly disabled with their eyesight, as someone with a visual impairment I know how difficult going to strange areas is. They need to get used to your garden and feel safe there, squatting over a hole is an incredibly vulnerable position to be in, the need to be happy that nothing is going to happen to them while they do it, at the moment the safest place in their mind is in the house on the litter tray

Assuming you are in the UK with the weather at the moment i can't blame any cat for not wanting to go outside, personally I am really happy to have an indoor toilet to use rather than a privy at the bottom of the garden, I think my cats feel the same.

[Shorsey12]

Thank you Ruth, yes the cats have a cat flap and their own gated garden right outside or they can venture further out to the fields behind but with their eyesight I would rather they just go in the cats garden. They would be close to the house and safe. Thanks for your help. Yes we are in England and its much warmer today but towels ready by the doors as so wet.