# Little Kitten...Big House....will she find the litter box?



## gotabuk (Sep 11, 2008)

Squirrel is now 6 weeks old and I will probably let her out of her "room" to have the run of the house with my other 2 kids this weekend.

Our house really only has one suitable spot for the litter box; we have an extra room off of our kitchen for storage, etc. and that is where I have two litter boxes.

When I turn Squirrel loose ( :lol: ) I'm planning on putting her in the litter a few times, but when she's at the far end of the house (our house is an 1850 square foot rancher, I know, not 'big' but big compared to lil Squirrel!) will she remember that the litter is in the room at the complete other end of the house?


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## Immortal (Mar 28, 2006)

may i suggest keeping her in till she is 8 weeks? shes a little young to be running around with children. After that, yes pop her in the litter box a few times and she will know where it is.... but dont get mad at those little accidents, all kitties have them.


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## doodlebug (May 13, 2006)

No, she won't get it for a while. My house is the same size but on two floors, the litter boxes are in a spare bedroom. Brought Holly home at 12 weeks and had to have a box on the downstairs level for a month before she really got it and I left it there for a couple more weeks just to make sure. 

I would recommend a box in whatever room she's in for at least another 3-4 weeks, then put it further and further away until she gets it. 

I found Holly would be playing, all of a sudden realize she had to go and find the nearest throw rug.


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## gotabuk (Sep 11, 2008)

Immortal said:


> may i suggest keeping her in till she is 8 weeks? shes a little young to be running around with children.


Oops...my fault...by "kids" I meant my other two cats! sorry!


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## Smirkitty (Apr 19, 2008)

If she has already shown that she knows what the litter box is for, I would suggest getting a few small boxes and placing them around the house, and slowly moving them closer to your actually litter box location.


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## OctoberinMaine (Sep 12, 2006)

I know with Murphy, I showed him where the box was a few times, and he found it easily after that point. He wasn't a kitten, but I was pretty amazed that he navigated his way back to the box by himself so quickly.


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## gunterkat (Aug 19, 2006)

When Arianwen first arrived, she found the litter box in the kitchen by herself, but seemed a little confused by the fact that it had a hood. I don't think she ever had an enclosed 'bathroom' before living here. 
No worries, though. With a few kind words of encouragement, she went in and used it.

Kitties have an instinct to cover their waste, and will seek out a place which allows that. Like a litter box. :wink:


edit to fix spelling


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## Loving_My_Cats (May 26, 2004)

My Eva is one who took a while. I keep 2 boxes in the basement and though she KNEW where they were she wouldn't go down there, she prefered going in the room she was kept in. Even after I removed it, she kept going on the floor. I suggest slowly moving it closer and closer to the other boxes until she gets it that way.


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## Mom of 4 (Jul 29, 2006)

When we brought Talley and Harper home, we set them up in my daughter's bathroom. When we let them out into the rest of the house, we kept their litterbox in my daughter's room and the one upstairs that Zoey has always used. Over the period of a month, they started using the one upstairs, which is what we wanted. We still closed them up in my daughter's bathroom at night, so they had thier litterbox there.


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

I think the kitten should only be allowed into the rest of the house for short _supervised_ play times until she is older. At 6wks, she is very young and will get distracted by whatever activity she is doing, putting off going to the bathroom until it is urgent...and being a 6wk old kitten...urgent will have her going wherever she happens to be so she can be finished and re-join whatever activity she was doing when her bathroom urgency interrupted her.

My foster kittens were always kept in the Master bath and allowed into the Master bedroom during the day to play. I had several instances of peeing on the bed or pooping under the furniture because they couldn't interrupt their play long enough to walk less than 15' to the litterbox in the bathroom. If my baby-kitties couldn't do it in a bathroom/bedroom, I doubt your baby-kitty will be able to do it with an entire house to cross.

As the kittens grew older, these accidents occured less and less. I'd say it took to about 8-10wks. I'm sure some were reliable earlier and a few took a little longer.
Good luck with your little one!
heidi


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