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Cat won't cover or bury - help?

post #1 of 11
12/17/10 at 6:19am
Thread Starter 
So, fingers crossed, I think Allen may now be over his parasite caused diarhhea. Initially a different vet thought he could be allergic to his food, but a failed attempt to transition him over to Natural Balance duck and green pea left him with a massive reoccurence of loose stools. I put him back on his PurinaOne health kitten dry food, which he had been going back and forth between health stools and diarhhea, and now for just under two weeks we have had great poops every day

However, Allen does not cover his poops anymore in the litterbox. Right when I first got him, before he deteriorated into diarhhea, he covered just fine. But when the diarhhea started and was chronic for those 2-3 months, he neglected to cover, which I completely understand.

But now, even with healthy poops, he will not cover them. I will hear him digging in the litter, but he just digs down with his front paws, doesn't turn around to the hole, and then poops leaving it resting on top and makes no effort to spray some litter on it. Since he doesn’t bury or at least cover, sometimes he ends up stepping in his poop and tracking it around the apartment, especially on my bed. Now that drive me NUTS.

But, this isn't really THAT big of a deal for me, though, when I think about it. I clean his litterbox once a day, sometimes twice a day, and I'll just cover it myself sometimes. I'm just so glad he seems to finally be healthy.

But, if anyone's got any ideas about how to get a cat to start covering or burying, I'd be all ears!
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post #2 of 11
12/17/10 at 6:32am
See a couple of mine won't cover their poo, but then a few of the others will go in and do it FOR then!
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post #3 of 11
12/17/10 at 7:12am
What litter are you using?

What I suggest you try is a different litter and adding another large uncovered litter box. At the very least this can help his stepping in it as he'll have more room to move around and avoid it.

Now before you say you don't have room for another box, remember - there's poop being track onto your bed.

If box and litter changes don't help, then there's nothing you can do. I too have cats that never bothered. They were off set by the cats that covered everything.
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post #4 of 11
12/17/10 at 7:13am
He may as life goes on, but, my boy simply doesn't cover anything - although he likes to paw and paw around the evidence - but, often my girl will come buy and cover everything up.

I've given up on it myself...I so wish he would, but, I'm happy the poos and pees are pretty normal (he had some issues in the past).
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post #5 of 11
12/17/10 at 10:54am
It could be a mental block from when he had diarrhea. Those poops were probably painful, and he associated the litterbox with the pain of having to run to the box or poop himself, especially since the incident lasted months. When he had diarrhea, he didn't want to lolligag after pooping because the litterbox was a bad place for him. He's probably completely retaught himself how to poop then get the heck out of there because of it.
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post #6 of 11
12/17/10 at 11:18am
I have 1 that won't cover #2 either. Luna goes and just jumps right out. The first time Lynxx jumped in and covered it for her, to show her how. She didn't bother learning sometimes Midnight will jump in and cover it for her, most of the time it's our job
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post #7 of 11
12/17/10 at 11:22am
My suggestion to help him avoid stepping in his own mess, is to get one of those really long wide litter pans that Petsmart is now selling. They run about $25. They are also nice and deep. No hood to get in the way of him turning around to exit the pan.

Just so you don't feel you're alone with this problem, our Savannah poops and runs and also pees and runs. No covering anything for him.

I'm cool with that though, because he's faithful to his litterbox and that can be a problem with early generation hybrids.
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post #8 of 11
12/17/10 at 11:29am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kai Bengals View Post
I'm cool with that though, because he's faithful to his litterbox and that can be a problem with early generation hybrids.
None of my cats is a hybrid, but I can relate. One of them doesn't cover, but hey, with all the posts I see here in the behavior forum, I'm just grateful he uses the box!

I do think your suggestion about a larger pan might help the OP, though. Glad to hear the poor guy has recovered from his recent bout with parasites.
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post #9 of 11
12/17/10 at 11:49am
Quote:
Originally Posted by motoko9 View Post
None of my cats is a hybrid, but I can relate. One of them doesn't cover, but hey, with all the posts I see here in the behavior forum, I'm just grateful he uses the box!
I hear that! My cats will sometimes not cover their pee, but every time I see it I'm just happy it's in the box, even if it is usually in the very corner, prfectly placed to break apart before being scooped well.
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post #10 of 11
12/17/10 at 4:40pm
Callie NEVER covers anything, but I think it's because she is front declawed (adopted me that way) and it hurts her paws to dig. However, she very faithfully has used to box for YEARS so I'm thankful. Makes scooping easier for me, too! My others dig like they're trying to build a secret tunnel to the outer world and cover everything well.
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post #11 of 11
12/18/10 at 4:53pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kailie View Post
See a couple of mine won't cover their poo, but then a few of the others will go in and do it FOR then!
Same here - I have one that rarely covers her stuff, but why should she ? ... her meticulous big brother takes care of that chore!
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