Messy litter box behaviour

Hi,

I have a two-three year old adopted cat. He is mostly fine in behaviour, but, similar to his real owner (my brother, who lives with me and our parents), he is messy.

He doesn't tend to fully cover his poop in his litter box, and there tends to be a small pile of litter spray just outside the litter box, where the entry hole for the box is. 

The litter box itself is an open box, fairly large, with a lowered lip thing to allow easy access. To reiterate, this is where the pile of litter spray is.

The box is kept on a mat, for easy cleaning. 

Is this behaviour re-trainable?

Any suggestions are welcome, and thank you!

Hi, and welcome to TCS 

Your cat is exhibiting normal behaviour. Not all cats are good at burying their poop - its just something you learn to live with. I view it as a handy reminder to scoop the box for the nth time!  If there is regularly litter in front of the box, the only way to fix it is get a bigger box! Personally, I put up with it (both cats are very happy with their box, so why change what works), but keep a dustpan and brush by the litterbox and sweep up when I'm done scooping. It only takes a minute, and works well for me.