Hello,
This is my first post, sorry it isn't to say 'hi first, but we have a problem! My partner and I adopted two very sweet little Bengal kittens on Thursday, they are 12 weeks old. The are still unnamed, so for now we will call the kittens by their gender. They have had their 2 vaccinations and been dewormed.
Boy is much more friendly and adventurous than his sister who is a bit more reserved and skittish at the moment.
They are living in our room with their food and litter box in our ensuite. Not right next to each other, but in the same room nonetheless.
We are having issues with Boy kitten and his litter box goings. For the most part I think that Girl uses the box only. Boy does use the box, so he knows where it is and how to, but on Friday one of the kittens pooped next to the litter tray and on an item of clothing. Saturday there was nothing to report. Sunday Boy peed on the bed after a play session and today Boy peed and pooped on the bed. There is also a smelly stain on the carpet, the culprit is unknown. I should mention that on all the days that incidents took place we were either away for a good part of the day or some activity had taken place, like discovering a new part of the house or a bit of play. His poos are a bit runny, Girl's are less runny, but were slightly so on Friday and Saturday.
Please note that we clean the litter box daily and have put fresh litter every 2 days so far.
Granted a lot of this can be due to the rehoming process, I realise it is a lot of stress on the system. Should we move the litter box into the room again?
Could it be the diet? The breeder recommended half a pack of wet food twice a day and one portion dry food once a day for the two of them.
Could it be that Boy likes the feeling of our duvet more?
Should we move them into the spare room we have that has no bed, that way he can't poop on the duvet? Wouldn't this cause more stress?
Is this something that we need to be concerned about?
Otherwise the two siblings are very happy and healthy looking, they have been more sociable with each day and seem to be adapting to their new home well. We are just concerned that this develops into a nasty habit.
Any advice would be appreciated, as we are two new parents with kitty worries...
Thanks in advance!

Hi and welcome to the forum!

Sorry to hear you are having problems. From your post, I think you only have the one litter box? You should have one per kitten/cat and a spare ideally. He may not like sharing a litter box. Also, are you using the same litter as the breeder? A sudden change in the litter being used may have upset him and you should gradually change it by adding in the new litter slowly.

These are the more obvious things that spring to mind, and like you say some of it may be due to the stress of rehoming but it sounds like they are settling in nicely. It is still very early days for you all, but I'm sure you have many happy and fun days ahead of you.

Good luck!

I was just going to post the same thing that they should have a litter box each.

Also I know that with some cats beds (particularly unmade ones) , piles of clothing left about (not saying you are doing that by the way ) can look like a litter tray and will be used as such.

Also it's always a good idea to take kittens along for a health check at vets.

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Oscar and Jasper (or one ear and two ears as dh calls them) black rescue mogges

RIP my sweet baby Dexter, Snow Bengal 19/5/14 to 5/3/15 and my lovely dear old friend Muskey, Brown Burmese put to rest aged 15 on 14/11/15.

Debbie

Hi again,
The litter is the same as the breeder. I am adding another litter box now. Funnily enough, it is on newly made up beds, he is a fancy one!
Thanks for the advice,

A lot of people have this problem, I had one cat decide to poop on my bed after a good few months of being here the devil!

As others have said you need to introduce more litter trays, esp whilst they are young as they can't hold themselves in like adults, and if they are playing hard sometimes they might just need to go.

Also although you say the food is not next to the litter tray, being in the en suite with the trays is a little to close, ideally they would be a room width away.

A good tip I was told years ago is regarding any messes to blot in kitchen roll and then place in the base of the litter tray, just to encourage them a bit more.

I would also double check what litter box style your kittens had at the breeders ie open or hooded, often matching the style up helps also....good luck.

A cat pooping next to, but not in a litterbox, to me is a clear signal that "hey, I tried to put couldn't use the box". Couldn't meaning:

* the box was occupied when I needed to go
* it was claimed by another cat and I need my own
* the box was too smelly or I didn't like the litter or odor or location where the box was placed
* I'm feeling ill and everytime I use the litterbox it is unpleasant so I think I'll try somewhere else

The runny poo and not using the box could very well be related. If a cat is in pain or discomfort while going, they can form an aversion to the litterbox, and in that case you need to treat that condition before you can solve the litterbox problem. It could be a parasite or food allergy or something else, so you might want to get that checked out with the vet.

Also, given that your cat is having this problem, I would suggest moving a litterbox into whatever new room you are introducing him to.

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The little monsters 3

A couple other litterbox thoughts:

The style, and size of the boxes matter. For the past few years I've had two litterboxes downstairs. Identical boxes, except that one of the was closed (with a "roof") and the other was open. For years all three of my cats had a very strong preference for the open one. All three used it almost exclusively. I mostly attributed that to the location of the closed box, thinking that was the deciding factor, and that somehow that location was deemed less desirable. A couple months ago I threw out the closed one and got a second open one. The new box being also slighty bigger than the other open box (they are both quite large, but PetSmart started selling a larger box than I had seen previously). Immediately all three cats switched allegiances to the new box, and now use *that* box almost exclusively.

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The little monsters 3

Since you just got these kitties, they are indeed going through a lot of changes all at once! You probably should have put them in a "safe" room (not your room) from the beginning. Hopefully, adding a second litterbox will help. My Raiden prefers an open box. He has a closed one in his cat enclosure but never uses it. Kitten will also urinate after some heavy playing. They aren't used to holding it. All you can do is keep an eye on them both. If you see that one is heading over to the bed to go, pick the cat up and put it in the litterbox. This is totally frustrating, I know, but the sooner they are broken of the habit, the happier everyone will be.

And, since the poo appears to be runny ... did you change their food at all? If not, then it could be the stress of the new home. If it continues, take a sample to your vet to be tested. Bad bacteria in the digestive system can cause this. Hopefully, things will improve soon. Good luck.

Hello everyone,
Thanks for all the advice.
We added another litter box (open), but there has been no use of it. However, we did move the old litter box out of the bathroom (hooded) and that seems to make the world of difference. They are happy to share and even go together! There has been no incidents on the bed to report, yay!
We have been using the same food, except for one pouch of different wet food. I have been giving them less wet food and that is helping ease off the runny poos.
They have been adventuring out into the rest of the house and are a lot happier.
Thanks again
x

Just know that some cats do not like hooded litter boxes. I'm glad the situation has improved!