I have one of those enclosed litter boxes to give my cat privacy. He uses the box fine, but instead of covering his excrement, he scratches the sides of the box-basically, he scratches everything except where he should. Even when it's just been changed. What's the deal? Does anyone else's cat do this, or is mine just peculiar?
2007-01-31 18:16:01 · 14 answers · asked by nunya 3 in Pets ➔ Cats
my cat has an open litter box, and does the same thing. she's not very good at covering up. maybe just bad aim
2007-01-31 18:18:47 · answer #1 · answered by Sweet n Sour 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
What is going on is that the cat was taken away from his/her mother too soon. A kitten shouldn't be taken from its mother until it's at least 8 weeks old. The reason for this is that during those first eight weeks the kitten is learning how to use the litter box from its mother, among other tasks important to its socialization. My cat sometimes scratches the floor around the litter box, in addition to covering up her business in the box. She was taken too soon from the mother, so she didn't get the knowledge she needed to complete the litter box task without a lot of fuss.
2007-02-01 02:30:49 · answer #2 · answered by Chatelaine 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes mine are unable to cover their excrement. They scratch everywhere but the litter. I am uncertain as to why they do this, but as they get older they are getting a bit better at it. I keep the excrement scooped and flushed because my female tends to be more particular. I also have a litter box for each cat, because of her propensity to be 'upset' after he has used the litter before her.
P.S. I read another comment/answer of a person thinking it was because the cat left its Mom too young...not the case. Mine weaned themselves and I let them stay with their Mom till they were over three months old, and they STILL do this...
2007-02-04 22:09:36 · answer #3 · answered by La_Liona 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cats really do this things.After they poo or pissed, they cover it as much as they could.But if they still smell their "wastes" then they'll go on covering scratching everywhere even from the outside of the litter box or on the floor until the cat is satisfied.I suggest that you better give your cat a bigger and deeper litterbox so your cat can dig deeper to cover his/her poo/pee.As you know that 70% of cats time is cleaning themselves, so your cat just trying to keep it clean as much as he can but he's only a cat so he cannot do it 100%:)
2007-02-02 02:02:23 · answer #4 · answered by janjan t 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have 4 cats & they all do that, not one of them ever actually covers anything. They scratch outside of the box more than they do inside of it.
2007-02-01 02:23:56 · answer #5 · answered by Sherrie L 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Cats don't care about privacy. Those boxes were invented so you don't have to see whats inside. He's just doing instinctual scratching.
2007-02-01 07:21:58 · answer #6 · answered by KathyS 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mine does that too. I was told its because my litter box is in a dark place, and cats cant see in PITCH black. They have to have at least a tiny bit of light for the night vision to work. If your box is in a dark place, maybe that is the case for you too.
2007-02-01 02:19:25 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have the same problem my box is the enclosed one also by van ness I like it because its not exposed for people to see but yeah I just throw litter over it with the scoop myself
2007-02-01 02:19:22 · answer #8 · answered by shana 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My cat does it too. I think it might be due to the fact that he left his mother too young. So she didn't get to teach him the reason he has the instinct to scratch at something after going.
2007-02-01 02:51:38 · answer #9 · answered by crenauro 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
my cat does that too!also she want crap on the litter if shes done a small pee on there she will go in a corner
2007-02-01 03:40:44 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋