Cat training help!

Can't help with the peeing/pooing but the general principle is that it's entirely possible to train a cat out of bad behaviour - you just have to make it very unpleasant for them to do it. When we first got our cat (who wasn't a kitten) he used to go on the worktops all the time. Every time we caught him there we would just sweep him off with our arm (not hitting him, just taking his legs from under him). It sounds unkind but unless there's an obstacle in the way it's perfectly safe as they will fall on their feet - but they don't like it. An alternative is to fill a spray with water and spray him every time he is on the worktop - again, doesn't hurt them but they haaaaaate it. Another option is loud noises. You just need to find what works but at the end of the day if you don't want him to do it that's what you need to do.

It WILL feel mean as he'll probably run away from you etc but you can give him lots of love and cuddles anytime he isn't behaving badly. They learn pretty quickly, and at the end of the day it's SO unhygienic to have them on the worktop so stay strong!

Not sure if I can really advise, but just wanted to offer my sympathy FWIW as our cat sometimes likes to use the floor of our bedroom as a toilet and I appreciate how stressed and frustrated you must feel if your cat is doing it on a regular basis. Are there any apparent triggers to him doing it? I did a lot of gogling trying to solve our cat's problem and the consensus seemed to be that it could be a reaction to stress/change of litter/dislike of the position of the tray etc. I also read that even after you've cleaned up where they've been, they can still smell it, and this will make them more likely to do it again in the same place. Can you try changing the placement of the litter tray, or locking him out of the hallway or something? It may be a fluke, but our cat hasn't done it in our bedroom since I left a bowl of her biscuits in there one day by mistake - I think they don't like going to the loo near their food. Tbh though, I think sometimes she just does deliberately when she's in a bad mood because she knows it really annoys us!

Hey, thanks for the replies, we do try "punishing" him if he does it, the thing is its hard to catch him in the act, there is no point doing it after or he wont know what we are telling him off for. And it doesnt make any sense as his brother has adapted fine.

I thought it may have been cos he disliked using the samelitter tray as his brother which is why we bought a second one, but to be honest its still the same. we have quite limited space as its just a flat we live in and the trays are quite hefty as they are the covered kind. we empty the trays once or twice a day and its the clumping litter which is quite good. but it kind of seems like he just does it wherever he fancies as he will go on the floor and they in the litter tray after sometimes, its totallly random. and im just sick of cleaning the floor, and think the whole place is going to start stinking soon! i could understand it when they were new kittens, but ben has grown out of it months ago, its just jerry :-(

We had the same problem but with our puppy. He would poo and pee everywhere even though he had been out for a walk. Vet said he had insecurites and separation issues so we made sure he had lots of attention when we were back from work, also when he did it on the floor we didn't tell him off but when he did it outside or asked to go out, we gave him lots of praise. Anyway.....sorry, that probably didn't help, I'd suggest, whenever he does it on the floor pick him up immediately and put him actually in the litter tray and stand over him for a few minutes, he may do the tail end of pee in it and then praise, keep doing it consistently until he gets the message that he has to go to the tray everytime he needs a poo/pee. Other than that....go chat to your vet about it and see what he/she suggests.

Hope this helps.....although it probably won't and you'll think I'm a rambling bafoon!

x

Can't help with the toilet training but we use a plant water spray to discourage our cat from doing things he shouldn't and saying no at the same time. Mostly now he just stops when we say no

Not at all Mel B, very helpful, I think i will try praising and putting him in the litter tray, see how it goes, thanks everyone, hopefully these tips will work and i will have a poo free flat!lol

Another one who has used both the water spray and sweeping technique in the past, with success.

We also put some of the crinkley types of carrier bags flat on the surface we didn't want her on, so that we still had some discouragement even when we weren't there to witness her doing it. It works as they're not expecting the noise and don't like it, but I guess it depends on how tough your kittie is - ours is a total wuss!?

As someone earlier said, anti-social soiling can also be a sign of stress - have you tried Feliway? I found it to be a near miracle cure when our little female was seriously stressed out (major over-grooming, to the point of a hairball a day - nice!?)

It might also help to put biological washing powder in the water you use to wipe up after his mess. It will break down the fat cells, to remove the traces of the scent that we can't detect but they can, and stop him thinking of (smelling) that area as his toilet.

HTH