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Writer's pictureSarah Ward

Litter Tray Problems

Updated: Feb 28, 2020

How to retrain cats to use their litter trays:


It is not uncommon for cats to inappropriately eliminate in the home - common places include baths, sinks or corners of a room, and when this behaviour becomes habitual it can become entrenched. If there is no medical reason for the behaviour and your cat has been fully checked over by a veterinarian the following plan should retrain most cats:


A kittening pen [small crate] should be placed in a small room; the kittening pen should only be large enough to contain your cat’s bed and litter tray. As cats do not want to soil their bed they will urinate and defecate as far away as possible from it – due to the size of the kittening pen this will have to take place in the litter tray. Each time your cat uses the litter tray the behaviour will be reinforced and within seven – fourteen days the link between litter tray and toileting should be established. Whenever you are unable to supervise your cat they should be kept in the pen.


After this period your cat should be allowed out into the same room as the kittening pen with the litter tray moved progressively further away from his bed. As training progresses your cat should be allowed access to the remainder of the house room by room – under supervision.


Handy hints to enable the re-training process to run more smoothly and prevent slippage:


All soiled areas should be cleaned with an enzymatic cleaner for cat urine, which is allowed to dry prior to your cat being allowed supervised access again. If your cat’s scent is allowed to remain on the area they may think it is the right place to go and as their own scent makes them feel comfortable they will choose that area if they ever feels uncomfortable or worried.


Some cats may feel more secure when using a covered litter tray – this may help the process if the cat is nervous or there are other pets in the household. However, for some cats covered litter trays concentrate the scent of the urine and prevent them from entering them.


The litter tray should be kept clean but not too clean so that your cat can recognise its toileting area by smell. Once or twice a day is enough for two cat households.


Some cats have a litter preference so if one type does not work another should be used. Identify your cat’s preferred litter substrate e.g. wood; clumping clay; non-clumping clay; recycled paper; silica gel crystals; natural whole-kernel corn; quartz sand and chalk mixtures; mineral crystals etc.


Never put the food next to the litter tray as this will deter your cat from using it – nobody likes to eat where they go to the toilet. Research shows that food, water and litter should all be at least 60 cm apart.


Make sure that your cat is able to express normal behaviour when using the litter tray that is they should be able to circle, sniff, dig and cover his faeces.




Ideally the litter tray should be placed so that when your cat is using it they can see what is going on around them and does not worry about being ambushed when in the vulnerable position of toileting. Even if there is no danger around cats may still have this inherent fear.


You could also put dry food – stuck in a bowl so that your cat can’t eat it - in the area where your cat is toileting as your cat will not soil their food.


Never, ever punish your cat for inappropriately urinating/house soiling. Instead you should calmly pick them up if you ever see them urinating/house soiling; place them in the litter tray and stroke them. To further reinforce the behaviour when your cat is observed using the litter tray they should be praised and possibly given a treat.


It is recommended that you have at least one litter tray per cat in a household.





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