My Cat Won't Use the Litter Tray or Cage for Training

If you think you can just place your cat's litter tray or cage anywhere in the house and expect her to use it, you might be in for an unpleasant surprise. Sure, cats are clean freaks by nature and prefer to bury their waste, but they're also finicky and sometimes hard to train, especially when outside factors trigger them to do their business elsewhere.

  1. Rule Out Medical Conditions

    • Before getting upset and frustrated about your hard-to-train furry friend, rule out medical conditions by taking her to a veterinarian. Sometimes lower urinary tract disease, constipation, diarrhea, renal failure or other medical conditions can keep her from using the litter box. She might associate the discomfort she's experiencing with using the litter box. A veterinarian can examine your cat, make a diagnosis and recommend treatment, which might help correct her behavior

    Reasons for Inappropriate Elimination

    • Aside from medical conditions, other factors might keep your cat from using the litter tray or cage. Maybe she dislikes the type of litter or the amount of litter that you're using. If the box is dirty or too small, or placed in a hard-to-access, unappealing location, she might prefer to do her business elsewhere. In a multiple-cat household, not having enough litter boxes or dealing with a conflicting other cat might result in stress and inappropriate elimination.

    Proper Training

    • Proper training is essential to teach your cat to eliminate in the litter tray or cage. Confine your cat to a small room with an uncovered litter tray on one end, and her food and water on the other. If she refuses to use the tray, and does her business on the floor, place the waste in the litter tray to motivate her to use it. Wait two days, and if this is unsuccessful, place her in the tray after she eats, and lightly dig through the litter to motivate her to do her business.

    Things to Consider

    • When training your cat to use the litter box, never punish her for mistakes or force her to stay in the box, because this can make her associate it with unpleasant consequences. Place 1 to 2 inches of litter in the box and experiment with different types of litter to find out her preference. Most cats like unscented, scoopable litter. Always clean accidents with an enzymatic cleanser, and provide each cat in the household with their own litter box, and have one extra box accessible, just in case.