Not covering poo

[kuhio98]

Any idea why both of my kitties "dig to China" in their cat boxes, but don't cover their poo? Both Halo and Cammie dig and dig and dig and then poo on top of the mound they just created and leave it there. They do the same thing outside except sometimes Halo (grey & white kitty) digs in the dirt and poos somewhere else.

[Craftlady]

Thumper at her previous home was the only cat. When she came to live with us, I noticed she would poop and run so to speak out of the litter box and leave her stuff on covered. Watching Butterscotch bury his stuff she caught on and now covers it.

Not sure when both animals won't bury what you would do. They got the digging part right. Maybe there isn't enough litter in box to cover? or too much litter? This is a stumper .

[catcrazylady]

Of my nine furballs I can tell you that none of them use the litter box the same way. I have one that will dig almost to the floor boards and cover his completely. Then Sammy walks around the top edge like some kind of circus performer, finally gets in and does his business, then back up on the edge to cover it. Of the three females two of them get in, do their thing, and run like heck! They don't cover anything! Poor silly Leroy gets in does his business and scratches and scratches and scratches and scratches some more on the side of the box! He has never covered anything. He will get out and look inside and see that it isn't covered and start scratching some more. Finally Sammy can't take it anymore and he jumps in and covers it for him if I don't get there first!! Then we have Lucky...he will get in and pee, jump out and poo on the floor right beside the box!!! They all have their own bathroom quirks! I don't think I will ever get that figured out. It's just one more cat mystery!!

[krazyaboutkatz]

I've never understood this either. Storm is my best litterbox user because he always covers up his stuff and any of the other cats that leave theirs uncovered. Sunny and Cirrus will usually cover up their stuff but sometimes they're in such a hurry that they just leave it uncovered. Sky will usually cover up his stuff but will dig and dig on the door opening of the litterbox. He's the noisest litterbox user I've ever had.

It may also have something to do with the type of litter that you're using. I've tried many kinds of litter and mine have always preferred the clumping type of litter and will usually cover up if I use this kind. Good luck. I hope you're able to solve the problem soon.

[kuhio98]

I'll try adding more litter to the pans and see if that works. But, since they do the same thing outside, I don't know if it will make a difference. We use a combination of clay litter and feline pine. The clay gives them plenty of stuff to scratch around in and the feline pine keeps the smell down. We clean out the clumps every day.

They are both so silly. They seem to understand that you need to scratch around, but are totally clueless to the fact that the idea is to cover the stuff. They both stay in the litter box after doing their business and continue to scratch around (Halo scratches the side of the pan -- yeah, that'll help). Oh well -- just another kitty mystery.

[slick]

Speckles is "anal" about covering her poo. Max, on the other hand, is afraid of his poo and as soon as he is done he looks around at it and runs and runs and runs circles around the apt. He doesn't even try to cover up.

[Lorraine]

Sammy will only cover his poop up, but when he pees, he NEVER covers it. Romeo gets frustrated, so he will go into the box, and cover up Sammy's puddle. Romeo wants to keep the facilities nice and tidy, Sammy on the other hand, would much rather have Romeo keep it neat! Sammy tosses the litter all around, Romeo is so funny, he puts one of his back feet up on top of the litter box rim, and squats high, so he won't get dirty. It is so funny to see!
Of course, Romeo doesn't think it's funny, he looks at me as if to say" Mom, do you mind? Privacy PLEASE!!"

[auggie]

LOL! Max!
Schatzie always covers her poop.
Auggie scratches around the top of the litter box instead.
The princess must be afraid to get her paws dirty.
Phoenix does it only if he feels like it.
Oh well, I usally scoop right after they use the litter box anyway and if I'm not home Schatzie covers up everyone's.

[AvaJoy]

I keep my boxes filled very deeply with the clumping variety.

My two boys have excellent toilet coverings, although cleaning that area on their bodies is not very high on their agenda. It is OK, because Meowmy has plenty of baby wipes just for the guys.

Debra (blk/wht) refuses to cover her eliminations, although she scratches like crazy at the sides of (covered) box, of course to no avail. Sometimes she will SPRAY/pee so that it runs down the side of the box . . . how lady-like . . .

[stacwase]

I read in a cat book that the scratching is not necessarily to cover the poo but to release the scent from between the pads of their feet, as part of marking their territory????? I don't know. Not everything you read is true, but maybe?

[PJ's Mom]

Neither of our cats cover their poo either. I'm glad to see we're not the only ones with this problem.

What's really fun is when they poo outside the box. I don't see how their little, tiny butts miss the big box.

[CatDad]

Originally posted by stacwase
I read in a cat book that the scratching is not necessarily to cover the poo but to release the scent from between the pads of their feet, as part of marking their territory????? I don't know. Not everything you read is true, but maybe?

This may be true, Bob gets in and scratches a couple of times. Then he does his business, and then he scratches agian fir a long time, sometimes for as long as 5 minutes and then gets out. After he has done all that scratching his poo still is not covered up.

So there is probably at least some truth behind it.

[mruffruff]

The 15-year old lady cat that I'm babysitting scratches like crazy and stands up to spray way over the top of the litter box. Then tries to cover what's dripping down the wall (of a large cardboard box)

[shais_mom]

Kylie is a pooper and runner also. She didn't cover it with the clay litter I used nor does she do it with the Feline Pine I use.
I can usually Smell the evidence!!! bleckkky
So I have started scooping the poo.

[Kirsten]

I have read somewhere that it's sort of a territorial thing. When they don't cover their poo, they're making clear it's THEIR territory.

However, Luna never does that and as soon as she's finished, Lily runs to the box and covers the poo for her.


Kirsten