litter box training problems

[mmhoss13]

I have a 12 week old kitten who doesn't seem to want to use her litter box full time. She did ok when we first got her, but we've moved the box downstairs with the rest of them (we have 5 cats now). She tends to think she's supposed to poop (and hopefully not pee) up here in the corner of the living room. If we take her down and put her in the box, she'll go if she needs to, otherwise she'll hop right out and start playing around. I will admit that the spot where she is pooping seems to be the spot where other animals have decided to go in the past as well so maybe it's partially because she smells them? But, this has been going on and off for about 3 weeks now and it's getting frustrating because I've not had this much trouble in the past and I'm not sure how to resolve it. I can't follow her around all the time and I can't stay home all day to watch her. Suggestions please!

[sugarcatmom]

I'd actually suggest putting a litter box in that spot for now. You can slowly move it to where you'd prefer it to be over the course of a few weeks (a foot or two at a time), but part of the problem could be that by the time your kitty realizes she's gotta "go", she can't make it down to the basement. This should improve as she gets older.

Couple other things: what have you been using to clean the spots that she (and the others) have used? An enzymatic cleaner like Nature's Miracle or Anti-Icky Poo, or something like hydrogen peroxide, work quite well at eliminating odours that could be attracting her back. Also, how many litter boxes do you have and how often are they cleaned? There is a general rule (space permitting) of having 1 box per cat, plus an extra, preferably not all in one location. They should be scooped out at least once per day.

Some more info that might help:
http://www.catinfo.org/litterbox.htm
http://www.hdw-inc.com/litterbox.htm

[striple]

I completely agree. If you cant get her to go in it by putting it where she goes, she will eventually get used to it and then not want to go outside of a litter.

[catlover2]

You say you've got 5 cats, but maybe not enough litter boxes? I would definitely place, as SCM suggests, a box in the corner for a while plus an additional one upstairs somewhere else for a while until she's going downstairs more. I suggest you keep her confined to one room (with 1 or 2 of your other cats to keep her company) while you're at work all day and can't keep an eye on her. After cleaning the corner spot well, gradually move the box out of the corner toward the basement stairs (you might cover the corner with some aluminum foil in case there is still some odour there). Cats don't like to step on it. Do give her lots of praise when you do see her go in the box.