New Mother Cat problems!

Question
Hi, I hope you can provide some insight into my problem. I live with my boyfriend and our 2 cats, and they are both about a year old. We've lived in our current location since before we were given the cats. (they were about 7 weeks old) so they are very comfortable here and have never had any problems with their litterbox. however, our female cat just had kittens (which we are very excited about! :)) on june 29, but ever since, she refuses to use her litterbox and instead, waits until we go outside and runs out and uses a sandy spot in the yard! its very bizarre, since she has never done this before, and annoying because we dont want her using our frontyard as a litterbox! we've tried "forcing" her to use it, by being extra careful about keeping her inside, and putting her in the litterbox to encourage her, but she just holds it in and meows at the door for hours! its so weird, and i'm not sure what to do, and i would appreciate any advice you could give! thank you! ~Mattie

Answer
Hi Mattie,

She is doing that to try to protect the kittens. If her scent is far away from the kittens then predators won't find them is her way of reasoning. Try moving the litter box to a far point in the house. See if that works. And take some of the sand she has been using and put it in the box. These two things should work. Good luck.

Ciao, Karen