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Most of the time, when cats don’t want to use the litterbox, it’s due to a physical problem. Either the cat is sick, or the condition of her litter is. More rarely, another cat may be bullying her and making her afraid to use the box. More rare still is the cat who expresses displeasure by making deposits in fun locations.

The rarest reason of all for a cat to not use her litterbox is because she was simply never trained to do so. Perhaps she was an outdoor cat, or she was neglected or abandoned as a kitten. Kittens are taught by their mothers where the appropriate potty location is.

So how DO you litter train a cat?

You do not teach a cat to use a litterbox. You condition it to. It’s all about the habit.

Kittens are brought to the box by their mothers, and it is merely conditioning and habit that keep them going there. It’s simply where that business is done. It never occurs to them to do it elsewhere. If you neuter them prior to puberty, they never get the urge to spray and all is well.

If a cat was raised outside, to them, the appropriate location is soil or grass. This is actually the easiest issue to address. Simply go outside and get some soil, and place it in a litterbox in the home. Habit will have her potty where the soil is. Gradually, over the course of the next few months, you mix in standard litter. Eventually, the box is all litter and no soil, and her habit is to go in the box (with litter).

The more difficult issue to fix is a cat who has, for whatever reason, developed the habit of going potty anywhere except her litterbox. This cat needs complete re-conditioning. She needs a new habit — relieving herself in the box. In order to accomplish this, you need to make it impossible for her to NOT do that. You need to confine her in a way that makes her choose to use the box. Over time, using the box becomes habit.

The easiest way to condition the new habit is to start small. Literally. Buy or borrow a large dog crate or cat enclosure, and keep her in it (an alternative is a very small room, such as the spare bathroom). The floor area should be just big enough for a small cat bed, food and water bowls, and a small litterbox. The cat will relieve herself in the litterbox simply because she doesn’t have much choice.

While she’s learning her new habit, she should not be outside her crate or pen unless she is being directly supervised and played with. This is just like crate training a puppy. You don’t want to give her a chance to sneak off and pee in the corner, or all your efforts are worthless. You do want to take her out and play with her often; just don’t let her wander away from you.

After a month or so, you can graduate her to a larger room. Don’t give her the whole house right away or she may fall back into her old habit. Make sure she is still using her litterbox, and only her box, for another month before trying to let her have her freedom back. You can check the room using a blacklight (fluorescent, not incandescent) that will make urine glow yellow/green if you have trouble noticing accidents. If she relapses even once, you have to back to caging her for awhile. Some cats take much longer to re-condition than others, so be patient.

Only once she’s left her room clean for at least a month with no accidents should you consider letting her roam the whole home unsupervised.

You’re likely saving her life by training her to use a litterbox. Don’t think that’s it cruel to confine her when the alternative is death. Few people want a cat that won’t use a box. Unwanted cats end up dead cats at most shelters.

Remember — take it slow! Think about how long it takes you to form a habit, or break an existing one. Be patient, and don’t give her a chance to screw up. Each time she goes somewhere besides her box, her newly forming habit is broken. A few months of training is well-worth the lifetime of love you get back.

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