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We have a six month old male Siberian kitten who has ...

Sent to Cat Experts March 12 2008 at 7:02 AM
   

We have a six month old male Siberian kitten who has long hair. He is constantly getting his fur soiled when he uses the litter box. He gets stool and litter granules stuck in his tail and on his feet. We have tried a few different litters and we clean out the box every day. He has soft stools but not diarrhea. He smells terrible and we have to keep bathing him which he hates. What can we do? What do you think about trying to train him to use the toilet instead of a litter box? He is on Innova Evo dry and canned cat food, which is what he has been fed all his life. ( a high quality, high protein cat food) He has dry food out all the time and a little bit of canned morning and evening.   Thanks!

Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Status:  Closed   Value: $9
Answer
March 12 2008 at 7:23 AM (21 minutes and 3 seconds later)
         
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You might want to try a litter such as Yesterday's News or another pellet type litter rather than the granules.
You can trim the fur around the anal opening and up the tail an inch or two to try and limit chances of stool getting stuck on the fur there by giving it a 'free passage' to be completely elimintated without hitting the fur.
Innova Evo is an excellent food but you might want to consider something else if your vet can find no reason for the soft stools. Its a very rich and high calorie food so you might want to look for one that is less calorie dense to see if it gets handled a little better by his digestive tract.
You can try adding some fiber to his canned food. Plain canned pumpkin or cooked winter squash, just a spoon or two mixed in the canned food, may provide enough fiber to absorb extra moisture and firm up the stools.
A food you could look at would be Blue Buffalo Cat to compare calories and fiber or Felidae or Wellness. Sometimes you can tone down the calories in the canned food with good results.
Also as this is usually a pretty big cat consider using a bigger than average cat box so he has options on where to step.
And if the vet has not found any other reason for soft stool and calorie or fiber changes don't help ask about the possibility of bartonella causing this as in some cats that is a cause of digestive issues.
Hope this helps you!

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NancyH -- Cat Health, Behavior, Care Expert -- 100% Positive Feedback on 2187 Cat Accepts
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Reply
March 12 2008 at 1:56 PM (6 hours and 32 minutes and 49 seconds later)
         
Reply to NancyH's Post: Thanks for the idea about a bigger litter box. He already has a jumbo size but maybe some extra room would help. One of the litters we tried was feline pine. It did not stick to his coat but it also didn't clump at all so the smell from the litter box was really strong. What do you think about trying to train a cat to use the toilet instead of a litter box? Reading online, it seems some people have been very successful with that.
Customer (name blocked for privacy)
Answer
March 12 2008 at 2:05 PM (9 minutes and 22 seconds later)
         
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It can work if you have the patience and a spare bathroom to do it.
http://www.yesterdaysnews.com/?D=656537&T=4311061
I think works differently from the feline pine.
You might try one of those big plastic storage containers instead of an official litter box.
and this site has training help
http://www.karawynn.net/mishacat/toilet.html

Please press Accept if you find my answer helpful. Want more info? Just reply on your question!
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NancyH -- Cat Health, Behavior, Care Expert -- 100% Positive Feedback on 2187 Cat Accepts
30+ years cat owner, rescue, breeding, study of behavior & health care
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