House Training Your Kitty

Cats are relatively easy to housebreak - most of the time. However, there is always the exception to the rule, the little kitty rebel who refuses to conform to the structure of society, albeit it is a severely limited society consisting of you, the rest of the family, other pets and the house that you share with your cat. Still, this is his society and if he gets it into his little kitty mind to rebel, it will be a challenge to convince him to conform. Let's face it, when you go head to head with a cat you have some serious work on your hands.

The upside of the hard headed, independent nature, though, it that cats are also fastidious and are driven by nature to eliminate their wastes in a particular area. This instinct is what makes a litter box so appealing to cat owners. The litter box is where the cat learns to go to eliminate his or her waste an then it is up to the owner to keep it clean and fresh. What you may not realize is that if the litter box becomes too full of waste then the cat will begin to look elsewhere to eliminate his or her wastes. And that could be trouble. Cats can be very creative. They may turn your couch into a litter box, your dirty laundry or even your basket of clean laundry. Once that bad habit starts it is very difficult to undo it and train the cat to go back to using his or her own litter box.

Ideally, you should house train your cat when it is a kitten. You can keep it in a kennel at night and, upon taking it out of the kennel each morning, you should place it in its litter box. Other times to place it in its litter box should be just after eating, after a nap and anytime that you notice it sniffing around as if searching for a place to go. Once Kitty uses the litter box once, it will be drawn to the scent and realize that it has a purpose.

If you leave your cat alone for many hours while you are at work or school, you should keep her confined to a specific area or room, and be sure to keep the litter box in that area. Scoop up any accidents and place it into the litter box. Show your cat the litter box again so they will get the idea. Cats are not the same as dogs, praise alone will mean nothing to a cat, and isn't a very effective training method for them. They simply don't care much about your approval.

There are a number of excellent house training aids available on the market, but consistency must be maintained or nothing will be effective. You must take a hands-on approach to house training your feline, and use house training aids as secondary to your own loving guidance. You can be successful in house training your kitty with patience and love.