Almost 6wk old still not going potty on her own

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  • #812944
    Alyssa
    Participant

    Some of you may remember a few posts I made about Lucy. She will be 6 weeks old at the beginning of next week and I am still stimulating her to go potty and she has zero interest if I put her in the litter. Any suggestions?

    #812951
    Buttons
    Moderator

    Hey Alyssa πŸ™‚ well sounds like she well over her last scare πŸ™‚

    Yes at 6 weeks you shouldn’t really have to stimulate her anymore , you may need to wipe after pooping but not really before.. It could be one of a few things..

    What’s the longest you’ve left her with out stimulating? I would leave her 2 days and see if she will eventually go herself .. Most kittens will only produce stool once every 2-3 days up until they are about 5-7 week mark and they’ve adjusted to their solid food when they are adjusted their stool should be the consistency of tooth paste.. You could be inadvertently creating the problem by still stimulating her she finds comfort in it and will there for wait until she gets that attention to poop..

    Other thing could be diet .. Do you have her on wet or dry solids ? Dry food can suck up lots of moisture for a kitten system and then you have harder stool which kittens find hard to pass.. If your giving her wet food add a little water to the food and some veg oil maybe 5 mls to help everything move along ..hydration is the main preventative measure again constipation so make sure there is fresh water everyday and like I said add more water to the wet food.

    But don’t stimulate for at least 24 hours to see if she will go on her own you maybe enabling a bad habit πŸ™‚

    #812952
    Alyssa
    Participant

    I am feeding a mixture of KMR and Wellness wet kitten food. She is a little behind on weaning because of her ER ordeal. What about peeing? She hasn’t (to my knowledge, who knows when she’s under my bed!) been peeing on her own either. I’m afraid to leave her for days without going in case she doesn’t go and dies of being full of pee/poop lol.

    #812954
    Buttons
    Moderator

    I understand your concerns .. So maybe just tray to it stimulate for 24 hours .. And block off under your bed .. You need to known exactly when and if she is going so you need to block all area she could pee -poop in so you know for sure..

    If she is peeing – producing normally looking stool samples then everything is working as it should down there.. I you have to express urine or poop that would be a whole different scenario but that’s not the case.. I think she has become overy reliant on you and you stimulating her is almost like a safety blanket to her..

    What you could do instead of stimulating her is let her see the wipes -tissue you normally use place it near her or in the litter tray if she expects she is going to be stimulated when she sees -smells the wipes the. By association she just might go.. It may mean leaving one or two fresh wipes in the litter tray through the day so when she goes in the association might make her go and the. Just reduce the wipes she sees until you can take them away altogether..

    It does feel like a behavioral issue not so much a medical one at the moment.. But you’ll never have the need accurate information for the vets unless you block off ALL hiding areas or confine her to one room where she can’t hide for the 24 hours..

    #812955
    Buttons
    Moderator

    I understand your concerns .. So maybe just tray to it stimulate for 24 hours .. And block off under your bed .. You need to known exactly when and if she is going so you need to block all area she could pee -poop in so you know for sure..

    If she is peeing – producing normally looking stool samples then everything is working as it should down there.. I you have to express urine or poop that would be a whole different scenario but that’s not the case.. I think she has become overy reliant on you and you stimulating her is almost like a safety blanket to her..

    What you could do instead of stimulating her is let her see the wipes -tissue you normally use place it near her or in the litter tray if she expects she is going to be stimulated when she sees -smells the wipes the. By association she just might go.. It may mean leaving one or two fresh wipes in the litter tray through the day so when she goes in the association might make her go and the. Just reduce the wipes she sees until you can take them away altogether..

    It does feel like a behavioral issue not so much a medical one at the moment.. But you’ll never have the need accurate information for the vets unless you block off ALL hiding areas or confine her to one room where she can’t hide for the 24 hours..

    #812957
    Alyssa
    Participant

    Another question at her age she no longer needs the heat support correct?

    #812976
    Buttons
    Moderator

    Sorry about all those bloody typos πŸ™‚

    She doesn’t need the heat pads if your home is a nice moderate temperature.. But technically it’s when they reach 8-12 weeks old is when they can start to regulate their own body temperature so there’s is no harm in maybe having the heating pad for maybe nighttime use.. Or on a lower setting.. After a scare like she had she may well have been left physiologically effected and will be very clingy so just be awear of that cause you want her to be a confident cat and up to 12 weeks is an extremely important development stage and it’s where most bad habits start.. So make sure she is being exposed to all sorts of stimulus and new people ,children .. Bring her I little car rides with treats so you won’t have the scaredy cat situation with carry cages and vets visits .. It’s all about exposure and correcting behaviour at this stage πŸ™‚ you deffinately don’t want to have to be stimulating an adult cat πŸ˜†

    #813026
    Alyssa
    Participant

    aaaaand…..she pooped on my floor. Lol.

    #813027
    Buttons
    Moderator

    There ya go πŸ™‚ πŸ˜†

    She just needed to do it on her own.. You’ll soon see the tell tales signs of peeing the squatting position so when you see her sniffing around or scraping with her front paws then place her in the litter tray..

    It will take a week or two to fully train but every kitten prefers to bury their business πŸ™‚

    #813028
    Kittyzee
    Participant

    Congratulations! Next time place the poop in the tray and she will sniff it and get the hang of it easier. πŸ™‚

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