Dumb cat question (the cat's not the dumb one LOL)

[Cara]

I'm collecting our new cat tomorrow morning, that we've adopted from a shelter. I'm wondering how he will know where his litter box is though. Do I take him over to it and hope he remembers?

 

[Scrambled Egg]

LOL!!! Cat's have radar for that litter box, even the itty bittiest ones, lol!!! If you are worried about something that small, that will be one lucky kitty!!!

 

[Kaneke]

make sure it's clean (no other cat odors in it)

you might want to keep him confined to just one room, preferable a room where you can clean surfaces off

this assuming he IS a tomcat, assuming also he's been neutered

then yes, stick him in the litter box .. and make sure he has food and water on the other side of the room

keep things as quiet as you can ... and give him a towel or something like that to curl up on

he will make sure most everything has his own scent on it, to begin with ... if you are lucky he will never have "sprayed"

good luck ...

Candy

(you probably know all this already, it just bears repeating)

 

[apbgv]

Is he the only cat in the house? If not I would set him up with everything for a few weeks until everyone is use to each others scent then show him where the litter box is usually. A older adult cat seems to be able to find the litter box after being shown a couple times where it is located. Remember a cat going to a new home is generally nervous and may hide for a couple days. Kittens and younger cats seem to adjust a little quicker. If it is a kitten when they gotta go they gotta go so you need to keep an eye on them and run them to the box if they look like they are interested in going, just like house training a dog but cats usually catch on to the litterbox quicker

 

[gritsar]

Kitten or not, I would always show a new cat where the litter box is and not expect them to find it on their own. I brought Killer in for a few days after she was spayed and I showed her the box and took her paw and scratched in the litter. She got the idea.

 

[Cara]

He's neutered, but I don't know when it was done other than not very recently. He's 2 yrs old. We have another cat but she is a barn cat and won't come near the house. He's not going to go outside. I put his feeder and waterer in a corner under the kitchen table so that he won't have to come out into the open if he gets hungry or thirsty. I thought i'd put his carrier under there too with the bedding I bring him home on, and leave the door open for him so he can hide in there if he likes. I doubt we'll see much of him for the first week, but hopefully the change won't be too traumatic. Just my luck it started snowing heavily this evening, i'm crossing my fingers that the weather won't be too bad to go and get him.

 

[Wildsky]

I got both my cats as kittens, and I kept them in one room for a few days, with their food, water and cat box, just so they could get used to all the smells and strange place and people....

The second one was kept in a room so he could get used to the smell of the other cat, and they played WAR under the door with each other for those few days!

 

[GwenFarms]

I've always just showed a new cat the box and they went. I have never had a cat to want to use anything other the littler box. Could be I'm just lucky though

Leave it to me to be lucky at such a thing instead of things really important like the lottery

 

[patandchickens]

It might be good to give him a dog-free room for the first few weeks, if there is a way that you could put a sturdy gate up or block a door mostly-closed so it had a cat-sized but not dog-sized opening. His food, water and box should be in that room. That way he can decide for himself whether he wants to deal with dogs at any given moment in time, without having to lurk under furniture or be chased and snuffled at by new "friends"

So, congrats on the new cat. Name, we want to know his name!

Pat

 

[Must Be Losing It]

I've also always shown the cat where the box is by putting the cat in the box and scratching one of their front paws in the sand. I only had a problem once but it turns out the cat I had adopted from the shelter has known problems and preferred carpet to tidy cat. Needless to say, that did not go over too well.