Litter tray or not?

[Sheli_80]

Hey Mrtinks mum, just thought I'd share Henry's story. Like you we adopted him after he had been in rescue for about 18 months (he's an oldie as well). We didn't have any issues with tray useage, once he plonked himself on the couch we put the tray close to him and moved it gradually to where we wanted it. Out of the 2 we thought Charley would have been easier to settle in as he had only been in rescue for 4 weeks but he spent 3 days under the bed, whereas Henry who we expected to be set in his ways wandered in and immediately put his paws under the table. We did get woken up every morning at 6am on the button as that's when he got fed but that was more interesting than annoying as I never knew cats could tell time!

Hope all goes well, good on you for adopting an oldie!

Can't resist an opportunity to show my old man so he here he is

[ccmacey]

Yes mine have access to a garden and come in to used the tray, so its what suits the cat. Also Im sure you wouldnt want to step in one 

[Kirst]

The kittens have been brilliant with the litter tray , we have not had one accident in a week.......in fact Gizzy is a bit obsessed and does a tour of ALL the litter trays , which Beavis then refuses to use!


We have always kep any new cats in for AT LEAST four weeks , and in the case of Jerry and Gizzy they wont be allowed into the great outdoors until they have been neutered!

[Tiggy's Mum]

If this is the case what do you think to using a hooded tray even if he has used the general square one at the rescue?

If he's not used to a hooded one then I'd definitely give him a normal tray to begin with (if you've bought a hooded one just leave the lid off), when he's using it happily try with the lid on but flap off, when he gets used to that you can pop the flap on.  If he's not used a catflap or hooded tray before he might need a bit of help with the flap to begin with though.

[rachael1981]

Wow your cats are stunning - you must be over the moon 

Thank you for the advice........i like the idea of bringing his litter tray home from the rescue - although i do think various cats share the same one!!

If this is the case what do you think to using a hooded tray even if he has used the general square one at the rescue?

[JadesMum]

I got a rescue cat and I brought home the litter tray he was using at the rescue.
He was fine. He used it no problems.
Just make sure when you get him home and settled, pop them on the tray and let them walk away from it - then they know where to find it.
We have not had one accident yet and we have had Tibby for nearly 5 weeks.
Good luck - Cats are very clean and rarely do anything on the floor in my experience.

He has just started going out - and comes home no problems - through the cat door when he can be bothered - lol.  He loves been out - stayed out all night the other day - I was out at 2.30am shouting him - I could see him, but he had made some new friends lol.

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[rachael1981]

Ah good points! thank you all so much.

You wont believe i had a cat for 18 years when i lived at home - but we'd had him from a kitten and he was the only pet.

George is our first dog, and Mr Tinks our first older rescue cat (and its my first bungalow!! lol!) so its all a bit scary and new!

If George takes to Mr Tinks straight away i'll be absolutely made up!

[Millys Mum]

As he has been at the rescue that long it could effect how quickly he settles with you so you really need to bond before letting him out. 4 weeks the minimum IMO.

[blackcat]

definitely give him a litter tray, preferably where the puppy can not get to. Use the same brand of litter as the rescue, and ideally bring a scoop of it home with you to put into the clean litter. There may be toileting accidents, but not often. You should keep a new cat indoors for at least six weeks when it is coming to a new home where it does not know the humans either. Especially with a puppy in the house, if he has not bonded to you he might decide he can do better elsewhere and do a runner if you let him out any sooner ...

[Dawn F]

he will need a tray, mine have 24 hour outside access to a catproof garden but I still have three trays for days when its raining or they can't be bothered to go outside!  its useful to have one because you can pick up on problems with health

he will probably need to stay in for at least 4 weeks, I know some say 6, I'm sure the rescue will give you guidelines on that

[rachael1981]

Guys i'm so sorry for the barrage of questions! I'm starting to get really nervous now and theres so many things i dont know what to do about! 

Mr Tinks uses his littertray at the rescue and he also 'goes' outside when he's let out (they dont have a cat flap there so he's mostly an indoor cat) He's been at the rescue for over a year now and he has been great in using his tray but is this likely to change when he comes to us?

Should it be the same process with a kitten where you keep the cat in for a week or so to get it used to its new surroundings? Or can we start letting him out straight away? (the catflap at ours isnt fitted as yet)
Should we set a littertray up for Mr Tinks and just hope he uses it as normal? Is there anything different we need to do?

Thank you again!