How to Crate Train Your Cat
How to Crate Train Your Cat
Many people think one of the great things about kittens is their natural instincts to use a litter box. While in some cases that instinct seems to be there, it’s usually learned behavior. You can give your kitten the best possible chance at developing good litter-training habits by taking a lesson from your dog-world counterpart – the new puppy owner.
Crate training is now accepted as just about the easiest way to housebreak a puppy. It provides other benefits, too such as keeping the puppy safe when unsupervised, reducing damage in the home and providing a comfortable resting area that promotes confidence. While it may not function for your kitten in the exact same way, crate training can provide many of the same benefits that puppies enjoy.
Why Crate Train Your Cat?
Crate training can make litter training your new cat or kitten so much easier. Limiting the area a kitten has access to is a matter of safety, but it is also good for helping kittens learn to use a litter box. Bringing home a new cat or kitten and releasing it to free access in your home or anything more than one room can greatly reduce the odds it will use a litter box. Kittens in particular might just not find the litter box. Adult cats might not feel comfortable using a litter box in new or unknown territories.
In addition to being able to find the litter box and feel comfortable using it, crate training will also help your cat get used to having its own smaller territory. Even with free access to your home down the road, your cat will be less inclined to consider your entire house its own. This will make it much easier when you try to introduce a new pet or even human guests into the home.
Cat Crate Training Methods
One of the main differences between crate training a cat or kitten and crate training a puppy is that cats should have free access to their crate, but be confined to it only when absolutely necessary. For example, you might keep your kitten in its crate at night or while it is very young when you leave the house for several hours. With a puppy, you definitely need to keep it in the crate whenever you’re not directly supervising it and at all times when you’re out of the house.
Unless a puppy is confined to an appropriately sized crate, this housebreaking method will not be effective. A cat on the other hand can have a much larger crate relatively speaking. A litter box should be placed inside it for use during confinement. The goal of crate training a puppy is to teach him not to eliminate inside his crate. The goal of crate training your kitten is just the opposite: you want to teach him to use the litter box that is provided inside the crate.
Setting Up a Cat Crate
Good sized pet carriers are ideal cat crates. Cats prefer the enclosed space and these are much safer for kittens than most wire style puppy crates. An added advantage is you can transport your cat to the veterinarian or the groomer’s without either of you suffering distress.
Keep a new cat or kitten’s crate in a small, secluded area of the home such as a good sized bathroom or a sectioned off part of your bedroom. Leave the crate door open and provide plenty of fresh water, bedding and toys in the crate along with a small litter box. Your cat should learn to like being in its crate and it should only be confined by a closed door when it is comfortable being in there.
Article By Andre DeLano
Odor And Stainologist
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