Won't bury the poop

stephenq

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I have a friend who has 3 cats. One of them rufuses to bury his poop. Its a huge litter box (they have 2 boxes actually) and have tried different litters, plain clay, etc, and he refuses to bury. He does scratch the sides of the box after burying.

Is he a chronic non-bury cat?
. Should she try even more litters? Because of the smell, they are considering a switch to one of those machines that auto-bury the poop if she can't come up with a better solution. As always, your replies are very appreciated.

Stephen
 

hissy

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Stephen,

Usually these are the cats that as kittens were taken from mom too quickly and did not learn proper litterbox manners. Most cats it is instinctive to bury the waste. Some cats need a really deep litter box with a lot of litter, others just need some.

A self cleaning box might be the ticket for your friend, though sometimes the noise and movement will scare a cat and they stop using the box altogether.
 
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stephenq

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Thx hissy. I just talked to the woman (who I recently adopted a new kitten to) and it seems the older cat is taking a lesson from the younger one (who is burying) and now the older cat is burying too! Yay!
 

rang_27

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Just wanted to throw my 2 cents in. My cat Smokey who lived to be 17 almost never burried. She was more likely to bury if the litter was very finly grained. After all her little dainty paws were so sensitive that she wouldn't even sit in the windowsill with out a towel down firs (OK, maybe it's that I spoiled her). I have two kittens now about 4 & 5 months. One of them doesn't seem to get the whole concept of burying & he will scratch at the sides of the box & the wall, but not in the litter. The good news is the other one is obsesive compulsive about burying so he will follow his "Brother" in the box & bury it for him.
 

jenniferojenni

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lol. my cat Geogie does the same thing....although he springs out of the box like a bat out of hell...like he cant stand his own smell or something, i find it quite amusing. Now he prefers going outside. He'll stand and paw at the door just to 'go' and then come right back in....he's so considerate :-)

At first, we resorted to cleaning the box out every time they go, for our own noses' sake.

-J
 

suzy

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Simba won't bury his, either. He scratches like crazy at the side of the box and all around on the floor, but not in the actual box to cover anything up.

I will say, it motivates me to keep that litterbox scooped!!
 

greycat2

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Kuce doesn't bury her poop either but she bury's her pee??
*shrugs*.

 

rapunzel47

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Nibs NEVER buried his poop (stinky poop too
) I gather he WAS taken from his mom earlier than appropriate, so perhaps that explains it. It really was funny though: Suzy was usually not far behind and would follow him into the litter box after he left, and cover for him -- with a look on her face, that really looked like the feline equivalent of "MEN!! Can't they learn to put the seat down????"
 

jasminecat

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When Alfie and Rosie were kittens they never buried their poop either. It was like do the business, have a quick smell and jump out quickly!


It wasn't till i was looking after my friends 5 month old male kitten, who did bury his poop, did they finally cotton on to what they were supposed to do.


However, it seems they only understood the scratching part, dont quite think they know the whole purpose is to cover their business up!


Anyway i've lately switched to the silicone type litter, which is absolutely EXCELLENT at removing odours. Maybe you could try that?
 
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