Why she scratches everywhere except the litter
In a normal litter, kittens watch their mother step into the tray, dig, eliminate, then rake litter back over the spot, and they begin copying the whole sequence as soon as they can climb in themselves. A kitten rehomed very early, or raised without a mother who used a tray, often knows only half the script: she feels the urge to scratch after toileting but aims it at the tray sides, the floor, or thin air. That is not stubbornness and it is rarely a litter dislike — it is an unfinished lesson. Some kittens also leave waste uncovered as they grow more confident, but in a young kitten who scratches earnestly in the wrong place, missing tuition is the likeliest explanation and the easiest to fix.
Set the tray up so the right move is obvious
Choose a low-sided tray she can enter without climbing, filled a couple of inches deep with fine, unscented litter that moves easily under a small paw — coarse or strongly scented litter gives weak feedback and can put her off digging altogether. Put the tray in a quiet corner she already favours, away from her food, and keep just one tray style while she learns so the lesson is always the same. If she currently toilets on the floor beside the tray, place the tray exactly there for now; location habits form faster than covering habits, and you can inch the tray toward its permanent spot later.
Show the raking motion at the moment it matters
Timing does the teaching. Lift her gently into the tray when she is most likely to go — straight after a meal, after a nap, and after a play session — and wait nearby without hovering over her. As soon as she finishes, and before she starts scratching the wall, softly rake the litter over the waste with your own fingertip where she can see it, or very gently guide one front paw in a single short scraping motion if she tolerates it calmly. Never press her paw down, scold her, or hold her in the tray. Praise quietly and let her hop out. Repeated at the right moment, most kittens connect the visible raking with the job within days.
Clean in a way that does not erase the lesson
Scoop promptly but leave the tray itself smelling faintly familiar between deeper cleans, because a tray scrubbed to sterility each time gives her no scent cue that this is the toileting place. Wash it with mild, unscented cleaning and rinse well. If she covers reliably in one tray, resist changing litter brands mid-lesson. Mention persistent changes to your veterinarian if covering problems arrive alongside runny stools, straining, crying in the tray, or toileting far from the tray, since discomfort can undo tidy habits quickly. Noting each after-meal tray session and who handled it in KinsLe Care Teams means every family member uses the same fingertip-raking demonstration instead of inventing their own correction, and the kitten learns from repetition rather than confusion.