Kitten peeing outside litter.

Hi everyone!

I'm a new co-owner of a lovely-looking 9 week old Maine coon who came into my house a week ago. Teemo is his name, and he's already brought much joy to our lives in the short span he's been in the family.

Just yesterday evening however, I made the fatal error of closing my room door with Teemo in my room. Even though it was a few minutes, he started to pee on my bag. 5 hours later at about 0010 hours or 12 am, he peed on my brother's banket when he and the GF took him in to play. This has not been an issue, as he has slept on our beds for a few nights and occasionally in the day too.

Background: As all of us work in the day, we caged it while no one's at home. The caging only took place on day 3 and 4 before we decided to let him have the kitchen and hall for himself to explore. We felt confident that although Teemo was abit shy, he didn't seem intimidated at all while he was exploring the rest of the house in day 1 and 2.

Teemo was uncaged during day 5 and 6, which included the nights as well, he actually slept in my room as well my brother's without much hassle. Throughout, we left the doors slightly open.

Facts & Questions:

1. I've done some reflections and realized that during Teemo's initial few days, every hour or so, I would bring him to his litter box to trigger the peeing. So I haven't actually seen him make a run from my room to the litter box, although in his normal playtime, he has explored the rooms and hall. So far, he has always used his litterbox when he's home alone. As he's alone for a good 6-9 hours during the week, could his peeing be a sign of him trying to get our attention?

2. Diet: Teemo's feeding times are 0700, 1900 and 2200. Current meal make-up consists of a mixture of chicken, eggs, carrots and brocolli. We also feed him normal, wet cat food. It was a recommended diet for growing kittens by the guy we got Teemo from. After some reading, it would seemed that diet would be where Teemo gets most of his water from. So I'm wondering if it could be a cause of excessive peeing?

3. Teemo peed on my bag at 1930 hours. Immediately, I caged him for 15 mins while i went to clean the bag. At about 2030 hours, brother and GF fed him 2 large table spoons of the chicken mixture. Is there a chance that Teemo could have associated the peeing behaviour with the reward of being fed?

4: This is him in his cage. After reading up, I have a nagging suspicion his box is getting too small for him, and that we need another litter box around.

Attachment 7592

5: Is caging and playing the "ignoring game" a recommended way to discourage his behaviour? Currently we don't have any rewards for his "good" actions per say, and I'm starting to implement this step now, each time he uses the litter. I'm generally worried that caging might really confuse him and cause him to develop a weird personality. The last thing I want is also for Teemo to hate the cage area, as that is where his food and litterbox are.


I'm open to more suggestions and please let me know what I can do to make things better. I'm determined to make Teemo a part of the family and any advice would help :). Oh, if anyone needs more details, I will be more than willing to provide.

Thank you for reading!

My first thought I am afraid on reading this is "Oh help what the heck is a nine week old MC doing being away from mum & siblings",any good MC breeder wouldn't let the babes go until they were at least 12 to 13 weeks old & fully vaccinated, in those next few weeks mum would have taught babe the niceties of life chances are it wasn't really fully litter trained before you had him althugh the nature of a feline is to be clean,also a lone MC kitten being left alone all that while not a good idea either I know for a fact that my breeder friend wouldn't let a single babe go to be left alone all day they are a breed that crave companionship be it human {which they love & are happy with if you can be around more} or they need another furry to play with & give the companionship.....
I think you are on a double wammy here because obviously to begin with you gave babe what he would be getting from mum taking him to his tray being there with him etc & suddenly he is expected to be able to do it all himself it is a bit like taking a toddler from nursery school after a couple of days putting him into junior & expecting the same response,what to do if he is a happy boy out of cage I would let him have the run of whatever area he is going to be allowed in have a couple of "large trays" in different areas {sorry started this before looking at your attatchment} at this young age I don't think it is right to punish him for doing a mistake so tell him a firm no & take to tray if he does slip up tell him good boy when you see him go to tray & use remember at this point you are taking the place of his mum, at 9 weeks he really needs four meals a day still so really think you should leave more down during the day it is a hell of a long gap if not then he is getting two meals really close together,MC babes eat a lot in the first few months it is when they do one hell of a lot of their growing so make sure if you are making up his food he is also getting all the required vitamins that he will need during this very important time bless him I think you have a lonely little fella there & would strongly think of getting him a mate even if it is a moggy if you can't afford another MC.... as to using cage as a punishment area when he is older & should know better than fine when we had a problem girl she was given time out in the cats room & in the end you knew if she had done something she shouldn't as she would take herself off & just peer round the door at you with a "so what I am here mum" but she is the only one who has needed that & we didn't have her as a babe so had some horrible habits to try & get on top of but I don't think that is the case with your babe I think he has just been took away from his family far too early...sorry does this seem a bit of a ramble....post some photos of Teemo & good luck I am sure he will improve pretty quickly but you just might have to put up with a few blips along the way......xxx

Hi sketchbook87

Have to say that I 100% agree with everything that jckkerrison has said - she is an expert too. 9 weeks is very early to leave Mum and that's an awfully long time to leave a baby alone during day, and without food too. Does he always have a fresh water dish available? He should have a set meal place so that he knows where to go for his food ... and whilst you're out leave him some kitten biscuits or similar - not having any food from 0700 to 1900 is an awful long time for a little tum ... can you imagine a human baby going that long?

Please do seriously consider jckkerrison's advice and get the little lad a companion / playmate - I'm sure that it would reap dividends and you would have a couple of very happy kits bouncing around providing you with loads of entertainment!

Pics please and please do keep us posted :nod:

hi there - congratulations on the addition to your family :-) I am sorry, you may find that this little tike might be a bit more work than you bargained for, at least at first. You probably thought you were getting a nice fluffy cuddle monster to curl up with in the evening after a hard day's work, but indeed as per above, I'm afraid you might have got him rather early and his education is not complete. If you are not careful it might become rather unpleasant.

First just a note for guidance on the food - I can give you an approximate measure of how much mine ate - when she was little, as an indication, she ate about 7 pouches (100g each) per day + water-a-gogo. I did not give her any dry kibble (lots of posts on the reason why on this forum, but bottom line: It's a personal choice I think it's not good for her kidneys) - if you give him enough then I don't think the times should be really an issue - I only fed her kitten food in JELLY - gravy is too rich for little tummies and you run the risk of having some very liquid poo on top of the wee on your blanket. From 12 months, I switched her to normal cat food progressively, added some dry kibble - she now only eats 3 pouches and finishes up with the dry kibble - oh and always have water available of course.
I think he's just a little young - it did happen a couple of times with mine too when she was little - it's OK. if he peed at 19:30 and was fed again at 20:30 it is certainly not related - it's far enough apart...

another note, from experience I think you might possibly run into the same problem as I did - seeing as you got your little Teemo a bit (lot) young, hopefully you might have been told: I did get mine very young too, her dam got an infection at birth and could not raise her, so she was raised by hand anyway, so as soon as she was on solid food we were able to bring her home on the promise that we would complete her vaccination and spay her.
Well, with a little one separated that young from his mother, there is always the danger than he might not socialize properly, if raised by humans. Mine for example is... troublesome.
My sister had the same issue, she got her cat very young (found her in a bin!!!), she was at work for long hours, then partied a lot, the cat grew extremely antisocial and fearful of everyone (except her and her husband).
Possibly because I was at home and was able to correct some bad behavior with mine, mine is less antisocial than hers, but it has been a journey - believe me, you do NOT want an antisocial maine coon at home! They are BIG! My MC's behaviour took 2 painful years to be corrected...
This being said, my other sister's cat was also young when she got her (just a bad breeder) and grew up to be the softest mellowest kitteh in the world, even gets on with her 2 and 4 years old children without a hiss. So you might be that lucky with Teemo too.... And also, my Neevie's 2 brothers are reportedly good as gold.... so it's not a rule that "a kitten separated from his mother too young will become antisocial" but more a possibility
An additional cat would help socialize Teemo. It can be a grown cat, or a kitten, it doesn't matter. Just get it early.

Hoping to help, here is another note, this one might be unpleasant, and I hope you do not take it the wrong way: one thing you NEVER do with cats - you NEVER punish them. Doesn't work. You reward them CONSISTENTLY (the key is consistently) for good behaviour, you do not punish them. They are not dogs, they just don't get it the same way dogs do, all you might do is actually hurt them, perhaps irreparably. Teemo might come to hate the caging area and therefore the litter area, and develop weird behaviour - that's one danger indeed - but overall the reason for not doing it is that it really really doesn't work. Don't feel bad for doing it, I've done it - I don't want to scare you with my cat's antisocialness, but it started getting better when I stopped trying to punish her (I would shout at her :curse: ... and just lock her in time out, slamming the door behind her :bricks: - ahemmm :duh:).

So - my final (set of) advise:
really really if you can't be at home with him, see if you can get Teemo a companion to grow up with - it does help a lot - MCs are social and sensitive animals.... I really regret not doing that with Neevie...
alternatively, see if you can bring him back to the breeder to complete his education for a few weeks? untill 12 or 13 weeks when you take him back again? (I don't know, others might chip in, here, tell me if that would be an idea?)
have a LOT of cuddles with him when you're home - talk to him (I know it feels daft, but Neevie started getting better when I did that) -
and play with him always, but especially when he's been good - it's a nice reward for a kitten.
Don't punish him, just say NO (don't go all "WAAAAAAAA NOOOOOOOOO!" like I did at first - actually turns out mine seems to think it's encouragement - just a firm no should do) he will get it eventually.
He's only little, give him time.
Work on the carrot rather than the stick - don't let frustration get to you when he slips up - oh and by the way cats are fragile, (sorry if it seems obvious, it is not obvious for everyone) don't hit him (not even on the nose with a newspaper - doesn't work, once again he's not a dog, does more potentially irreparable harm than good)

POST PICTURES OF YOUR TEEMO PLEASE!! :-) I'm dying to see him! Which part of the world are you in? (roughly)
PS: (edit) I hope I didn't scare you with my alarmism - antisocial MCs are rare, really - I happen to have one and am talking more from my negative experience... In the unlikely event that Teemo turns out to be "a difficult teen" you know where to find me - in the meantime, what the others said ;-)

I had a pregnant rescue that gave birth to seven kittens. She was a good mom but had less than stellar litter habits and was not training her kittens to use the box. I took over and used a small shoe box for them. Like you, I would simply bring them to the box several times a day. I would also move their paws for them and show them how to cover properly. However! It was our male Siamese/Himalayan that truly taught the kittens. He was a fabulous "cat dad" and bathed them, played with them, and eventually they were following him everywhere. Mom did not wean the kittens until 13 weeks and I had many people waiting for their babies because this part was too important. My MC's are very different from the usual cat. Both are very sensitive and close to me, both still enjoy kneading and nuzzling, even though they are adults. It is a complete myth that cats are solitary animals!! We adopted our big ginger tabby two years ago and were leaving for vacation a few weeks after he came home. My mom looked after the cats while we were away and called me, saying that Sampson really loved people and would cry when she left. He was very upset to be alone, even with our two females. So, I will also add my vote here for a buddy for Teemo. He is so young and he will benefit from the education and friendship of another cat, ideally an adult who gets on well with kittens.

Ive not logged on here in ages and when I logged on I was horrified to see this post. I take it you have never owned a cat?

Never punish a cat its not a dog their not programmed the same although mc's are compared to dogs in their character.

You feed him broccoli and you think that's why he is peeing in your bag?ha sorry that me smile. No mention of drinking water anywhere? The poor probably peeing in your bag in protest of being locked up and left alone.

Ive never heard of caging up a cat either unless a trip to the vet. 15 mins while you clean......oh dear. Your in for a treat when he gets bigger and drags litter all over your house.

I feed my boys science plan and their food is there all the time I never remove it. Cats again are not like dogs they wont just keep eating.

Wow I just feel like I totally ranted at you but sorry I am gobsmacked at what youve written.