behavior problems and creative solutions

kitten peeing outside the litterbox
I adopted a 7 week old kitten about 2 weeks ago who refuses to use a litterbox. She will defecate in it, but won't urinate in it. I isolated her in a small room 6 feet by 8 feet with her bed and litterbox and yet she still urinates right by the box instead of in it. Now I've resorted to putting her in a cage just large enough for the litterbox, food, and a bed. I just bought the cage today. Is this the right thing to do? Do you have any recommendations? I would appreciate any input. Thank you.

This is a tough issue because the kitten is so young. I don't think the cage is a bad idea, but one thing you might want to try instead is a second litterbox either with the same litter or a different litter. Some cats like to urinate in a different box than the one they defecate in. Other cats like to defecate in entirely different rooms than the rooms they urinate in. Although this is a pain, it sure beats cleaning up after accidents!

If you can get into contact with her previous owner (I know that's not always possible with adoptions), maybe you can find out what kind of litter was used in her box, how many litter boxes she had access to, and whether or not she had any litter problems. As you probably know, seven weeks of age is too young for a cat to be taken away from her home--her litter box habits might not be fully settled yet. My kittens had accidents until they were nine weeks old or so, but they've been perfect since then. I didn't do anything special to resolve the problem; I guess they decided on their own that going in the litterbox was a Good Idea (to my great relief).

Is the litter box on carpeting? If so, I recommend moving it off of there. If that's not possible, you could try going to an office supply store and buying a big thick plastic floor mat--the kind you put under office chairs to protect floors--and putting that under the litter box. It has to be thick plastic, thin stuff like garbage bags makes kitties want to pee on it. Another alternative is a rubber mat--kitties don't usually like peeing on those.

Another thing that is good is to have the kitten checked by a vet. It's possible that the kitten may have some health problem, but more likely, the vet will have some good advice for litterbox training.

I know this is frustrating, especially with a new kitten, but at least they are young and therefore easy to train.