Not finishing in the tray...........?

Hi we've had our Maine coon boys for a few weeks now and was wondering if anyone could offer some advice....... One of the boys seems to start in the tray, assume he hasn't gone and then get out with a 'cling-on'. This happens maybe 40-50% of the time. He has recently started to wipe his bottom on the carpet to get it off if I don't notice quickly enough. The rest of the time he goes as normal and buries it etc. Do you think this may be constipation- I wasn't sure if he was struggling to go sometimes...... Or maybe he just gets impatient. Both kitties have been wormed regularly, last time a week ago. They eat royal canin kitten dry plus bits of chkn/ tuna as a small topping on some days. This is what the breeder gave them and have got some applaws in the.cupboard to try in a few weeks. Any tips/ideas? Oh he did tend to be lazy when he was litter trained according to the breeder. Would it be a good idea to trim his fur in that area do you think?xx

Sounds like he is constipated.

Is the tray placed in a low traffic / private area for them? Is it big enough for him? Does it have a lid?

How old is he? Maybe the varied diet is too complex for him to get used to? Maybe he'd do better just with one kind of dry food and access to plenty of water? Maybe he'd be better just on a wet food? So many variables and imponderables.

If you can't keep him clean with a simple wipe and a comb through then I'd trim his butt and breaches.

Agree with Caternity Leave, it’s worth altering his food and see if it helps.

I guess the best way to tell if he is constipated is to see if he takes longer to do his business than his brother. Also maybe watch him to see if he appears to be straining?

Could anything be distracting him so that he leaves the job half done? As in, if he thinks there is something interesting going around the house he might well be in a rush to get out of his tray/box.

I’ve heard that MC boys can be lazy with their toileting when they are little. My MC used to constantly be stepping in his poo and trailing it through the house (nightmare), but he grew out of it. Maybe your lad is still learning the ropes.

Thankyou both for your advice, he does sometimes seem to be straining/ taking slightly longer to go but also gets distracted very very easily. He doesn't like to be away from his brother and people at the same time so unless his brother is in the litter tray room I think he rushes to get back to everyone. The tray is covered and in their room so no issues with distractions- other than knowing we are downstairs I guess.

We will trim him a little and stick with wipes and comb through as I am at home for the next few weeks anyway. I didn't know whether to change food yet from what the breeder gave them as thought it might be too soon? Plus it does seem to suit his brother well.I have also noticed though that he doesn't seem to drink as much as his brother............ Should I try giving them some wet food do you think? Or stick with the biscuits they have but not give any fresh chicken etc at all for a while? Decisions decisions.............. Thankyou again!

I wouldn't have thought it's too soon to introduce a little bit of wet food.

I don’t know if you have a water fountain, but Casco drank more water when we got ours – compared to when we had a bowl down.

Do you always put the same amount of litter in the tray? If it’s deeper on some days than others, it may be that his arse is closer to the litter so it might be that he’s kinda sitting in it and then it’s gets stuck to his fur– if that makes sense.

I think your right to trim his britches, it could well be the answer.

Best of luck :smile:

Hi just thought I'd update- we got the second tray set up first which didn't seem to make any difference so went back to taking him to the tray every 30mins- hour. Luckily I have been off work for a few weeks so have been able to do this. Well he has either grown up a bit or the re-training paid off because he is sorted now- no accidents anywhere else and even recovers his brothers mess lol. We have also put the catflaps onto the covered trays and still no problems so thankyou for your advice everyone :-) He also got used to lots of half baths in the meantime so is now not bothered at al. In fact his new favourite game is playing chase in a slightly wet bath with his brother..........