Litter box guide for kittens

A kitten can be given a tray from about three weeks old, while it is still with its mother. If you're bringing home a kitten at eight to twelve weeks, it will usually already know what a tray is for. Show it where the tray is as soon as it arrives, and again after it eats and wakes up.

Small kittens need a tray with a low side they can step over. A tall adult tray is a wall to a kitten, and a kitten that can't get in quickly will go somewhere else. Move up to a full-size tray once the kitten is climbing in easily. A grown cat's tray should be about one and a half times its length from nose to the base of the tail.

For a first tray, a simple open one like our Litter Tray or the Litter Tray with Scoop works well. Most cats prefer an open tray to a covered one, because a cover keeps the smell in.

Kittens explore with their mouths, and some will eat litter. That's why the cautious advice is to avoid clumping litter until a kitten is about four months old. If a kitten swallows clumping litter, it can swell in the gut. Silica crystal litter shouldn't be used under eight weeks either.

Start with a paper, wood or plain non-clumping litter, unscented and fairly fine. Most cats dislike strong perfume and coarse pellets. Once the kitten has stopped tasting the litter and is a few months old, you can switch to clumping litter if you prefer it. Do it gradually, mixing a little more of the new one into the old each day.

Put in about four to five centimetres, enough to dig in.

• One tray per cat, plus one. One kitten means two trays. It sounds like a lot until you've cleaned up the alternative.
• Somewhere quiet and private, away from food, water and the bed. Cats don't like to eat next to their toilet any more than we do.
• Not next to a washing machine, a noisy door or a busy corridor. A kitten that gets a fright in the tray may avoid it afterwards.
• If your house has more than one floor, put a tray on each.

Scoop at least once a day, more often with more than one cat. A litter scoop costs very little and makes this a thirty-second job. Wash the whole tray about once a week with mild, unscented soap and warm water. Avoid bleach and strong-smelling disinfectants, and don't use ammonia or vinegar on accidents, because to a cat they smell like urine and invite a repeat.

During the monsoon, trays start to smell faster and litter can go damp and cake. Scoop more often and keep the litter bag sealed.

Check the simple things first: is the tray dirty, too tall, too close to the food, or somewhere noisy? Has anything changed recently, like a new litter, a move, or a new pet or person in the house? Stress is a common reason.

But a kitten or cat that suddenly stops using its tray should see a vet, because the cause is often medical: a bladder infection, inflammation, stones, or pain that makes climbing into the tray hard. A cat in pain can start to link the tray with the pain and avoid it.

A cat straining in the tray and passing little or no urine, or crying while it tries, needs a vet the same day. Don't wait until the morning. In male cats this can be a blocked bladder, which can kill within a day or two. It is easy to mistake for constipation.