Cats are naturally a remarkably clean and fastidious animal and will usually learn quite quickly how to use a litter tray. Some kittens can be put in the litter tray and they instinctively go back there but others simply refuse to use the litter tray and will always find a nice corner of the room. The other problem here is that once one of the kittens starts using a corner of the room, the other may think that they should be using it too.

You really need to spend a fair amount of time with the kittens continually picking them up after eating or drinking and putting them in the litter tray. You can also buy a spray that attracts them to the litter tray. Cat urine does not do the carpets any good and if you allow the cat to continually use the corner of a room, you will soon find that the carpet discolors and you can never really get rid of that awful smell.

You could use a "pet behave spray" which is basically a spray that can be applied to any soft furnishing – carpets, stairs, settees etc and will deter the cat from going near as they hate the smell. You will also need to clean the litter tray daily if you have more than one cat. The only solution is perseverance and a willingness to clean up a lot of cat waste before they finally learn where they are supposed to go! You should never scold a young cat for fouling in the wrong place and certainly never rub its nose in it.