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I have 5-week-old kittens that I am trying to litter train. So far, I have a garbage-bag-lined shoebox to serve as a litterbox. My problem is that, instead of peeing on the litter, they eat it.
Help me.
I have fostered over 25 kittens for our local SPCA over the last three years. Having said that, you might find your kitten will learn very quickly if you keep to a schedule for using the litter box.
As Yeradvicegirl stated, try taking your little fluff ball to the litter box every couple of hours and especially after he/she has eaten. At 5 weeks old the kitten should be with it's mother and nursing, but I have had younger fosters from the SPCA and it does take a while for them to get the hang of it.
Do you have older cats? We do and it seems that the kittens always learned their "cat" behavior from our cats throught the six or seven weeks we had them.
Hope this helps, your kitten WILL get used to the litter box, it just might take a little time and patience.
Good Luck.
The best thing to do, is say "no" in a stern way. Make a time that every 3 hours take them to the bathroom, and sit there until they use it. W has the SAME problem, and doing this for a week or 2 really got them into doing the right thing. Sometimes you have to move the paws to show them how to dig for there spot, and then show them how to cover it up. Just every time they try to eat the litter, say "no", and they will start to understand the more you do it. We had to do the same to our kittens too. I hope this helps! - Advice Girl, (:
At 5 weeks, your kitten is a baby in the extreme (box training is one advanage to letting them stay with mom for a while longer...SHE trains them).
Try putting him in the box, and watching...if he has to go potty, he'll start scratching, if he doesn't he'll start playing and chewing the litter).
This is going to take a while...talking sternly to a baby that young is pretty useless.
p
Trying ordinary fine sand, the litter may be too artificial for them
Try a different kitty-litter. The one you have might taste nice :/