Doggie Daycare Learn More... Country Tails Doggie Daycare - The perfect way to spend the day and play! Socialization and exercise is so important for your dog's well being. We have a certified dog trainer and caring staff to help give your dog  exercise and the social lessons they need.  We have an indoor/outdoor facility with constant supervision. Click here for more information. -Hide- Dog & Puppy Training Learn More... Learn about training and dog behaviour and become the Alpha in your family. New classes starting September 2009.  Click here for more information. -Hide- New Pudgy Pet Program Learn More... Is your pet overweight?  Any extra weight on your pet can affect their health.  We understand it can be very difficult to get your pet to lose weight so why not join this free program? We will work one on one with you and your pet's individual needs.  Achieving a healthy weight can add several quality years to your dog or cat's life. Contact us today! -Hide-	Download PDF File Do I need to train my new kitten to use a litter box? Most cats by nature use a soil type surface for elimination. By providing a litter box with an appropriate and appealing substrate (material), few cats will need to be trained to use it. At about 30-36 days of age kittens leave the nest to search out a loose substrate for elimination. The kitten learns specific areas and substrates to use by observation of the queen (mother). Although some cats, especially those on their own property will dig and bury their wastes, many cats only partly cover their feces especially if they are off of their home territory. Some cats do not bury urine or stools at all, even on their own property and, for obvious reasons these cats may prove harder to litter train. How can I help t train my new cat to use the litter box and area that I have selected? Initially it is best that the kitten be confined to a small area with an appropriate sized litter box. This allows you to take advantage of a cat s tendency to eliminate in a loose material. As long as the kitty litter is easily accessible and is the only loose substrate available, very little effort should be required to litter box train the kitten. About the only other indoor area that might be equally or more appealing to some cats is the soil around houseplants. Ensuring that the cat is prevented from getting into houseplants, except when you are around to supervise deals with this problem. Another option is to move the houseplants into a room where the cat does not have access, or to place decorative pebbles or rocks over top of the soil. Kittens may need to eliminate after they eat, after they wake up and after play. At those times, you might place the kitten in its litterbox and praise or give a treat for elimination. A kitten does not need to be confined continuously, but should be supervised to prevent accidents and frequently brought back to the appropriate elimination location. A little of the urine or stool odor from previous elimination should help to attract the cat back to the box. In fact, if the kitten soils in a location other than its box on the first attempt, clean up the area thoroughly using a product that is designed to neutralize cat urine odor (see our behavior resources handout for more details), and perhaps even move a small amount of the stool or a few drops of the urine to the box to attract the cat to that area. If there is more than one cat in the home, at least one more litter box should be added to the home. By confining the kitten to an area with its own box, the kitten can establish regular litter habits without competition or threats from the other cats. This also provides for a more gradual and cautious introduction of the kittens to the other cats. What type of litter material should I use? There are many types of litter materials available today. These include clay litter, fine clumping litter, plastic pearls, silica, recycled newspapers, wood shavings and many others. Some have materials added to control odor although scented litters may be aversive to some cats.