How to litter train a kitten

To begin with, be observant and place your cat in the litter tray if you notice they want to go. You can also place them on the tray at certain times during the day, perhaps when they’ve eaten or when they’ve woken up in the morning and before they go to sleep at night.

It’s important not to pressurise your cat into going to the toilet. Give them the opportunity to go in the right place at the right time.

It’s always a good idea to reinforce good behaviour with a reward. To show your kitten that using the litter tray is what you want them to do, reward them with a little cat treat after they’ve used it. This will help your kitten associate the litter tray and going to the toilet with a positive experience.

You can also encourage or reward your cat with a reassuring and enthusiastic voice, keeping the tone soft and gentle.

Let’s face it, until your kitten is completely used to using their litter tray, accidents will happen!

But don’t panic. If your kitten seems to be missing the litter tray, it could be down to some of these reasons:

• Check if the litter tray is dirty. Cats are very clean animals and won’t use a litter tray if it’s dirty, so it’s vital that you keep the litter tray clean at all times to ensure toilet training success.
• Your kitten might not like where the litter tray is located. If this is the case, try moving it to another, quieter part of the house.
• Your kitten might have reached sexual maturity.
• Your kitten might simply want attention.