Kitten raised in litter box - it wasn't over

[u/hyoguu]

I posted a week ago about my kitten most likely being raised in a litter box. I don't think he had a present mom to copy behaviors from either.

- First, he'd use his litter as both his bed and pee/potty station.

- Second, I took some advice and placed more boxes around with cushioning and placed treats inside. He started to do his business in those beds, still using his litter as his bed.

- After taking away those beds, we were back to square 1. But at least I didn't have to replace those cushions every time he ate food and drank water anymore.

- A few days later, he opened up a lot more and started to become much more comfortable navigating the safe spaces that I made him, so I got him a cat cave bed and placed his big, upgraded litter box (enclosed) near it. I also have scratchers, toys, and a cat tree. Side note: He uses anything but the scratchers to dig his nails into!! >:(

- Now, he uses his cave bed to pee, poop, and sleep in. Sometimes--rarely--he'll use his litter box to pee, poop, and sleep in. But it just depends on how he feels I guess.

I've never met a kitten that didn't know how to use the litter box (didn't learn from mother)/struggles this hard to learn. What should I do to fix this?

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[u/No-Statistician3633]

he’s totally finding his way, give it time. maybe go for smaller spaces at first so it’s clear what goes where

[u/BunniFruFru]

We had a cat like that. We needed our slightly more mature cat to teach the kitten where it was OK to pee and poop and where not to go.

[u/camarhyn → u/BunniFruFru]

Yep you need a teacher cat! They learn from adults besides their mom too OP. If you don’t have an adult cat do you have a friend who has one and is willing to help out for a few days?