Doesn't cover his business

I was curious if anyone else has a cat that refuses to cover his potty in the litterbox?

Ever since we have had Sam, he does his business (at precisely 7am every morning) and will sit in the box scratching forever at the lid. He never digs in the litter to cover it up. Needless to say, the chosen box is in my bedroom so if the sound doesnt wake me, the smell gets me going every time. Since we have gotten Sally, she does what I call poop patrol and will go in the same box and dig, meow, dig, meow almost like shes saying shes tired of cleaning up after him lol. I keep their boxes clean--at least 2 times a day if not more and change the litter weekly, but he has done this since his first day in our house. Its not something that I am concerned about, but more I wonder why he doesnt cover when hes done? His mother was not litter box trained because they were all outside cats before I took him home so could it be he was never taught to cover?

I wonder if hes not covering because hes doing a form of marking ?

hmmmm...never thought of that, would he still mark after being fixed?

PS. I love the picture of your kitty. I smile everytime I see it

This is not an uncommon problem. It appears that some cats just don't feel the need to cover their output.

Originally posted by Abby7625
hmmmm...never thought of that, would he still mark after being fixed?

PS. I love the picture of your kitty. I smile everytime I see it

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Thank You Sometimes when I look at it I think she is smiling

Not all of the time, but most of the time improper litter box manners are a result of kittens being taken from mom to early. If mom has also been yanked from her mom before she was taught litter pan manners, she will not be able to pass on the manners to her kittens. Kittens ideally should stay with mom for 12 weeks before going to new homes.

Thanks Hissy.

I know the mom and the rest of her litter were dropped off when they were pretty small and found their way to my parents garage so maybe thats it.

It's funny, because we have a 9 year old female spayed cat and she just started this behavior recently. She likes to scratch the floor all around the litter box after she goes, but most certainly does not cover it up!

Well, I am glad that I dont have the only cat that doesnt mind sharing his work with everyone else that lives in the house!!lol. I have never had a cat that has done this before and it seemed a bit odd, but then again, nothing in my house is normal. Makes it more interesting that way I suppose.

Also, a lot of older cats (or the oldest one in your house) won't cover up their business because of a seniority thing. Someone told me this at the Humane Society and my 8 year old cat doesn't cover up his and he is the oldest in my house. So that could be it too.

Kuce also doesn't cover her business up either but she isn't the elder of the two. She'll scratch the floor and everything around it but not the .........

I'm also not sure it is a dominance issue either since she defers to Sphinx but who knows.....

Zoey doesnt cover up her poop but she'll scratch and scratch lol. She covers her pee fine though

Ever since we have had Sam, he does his business (at precisely 7am every morning) and will sit in the box scratching forever at the lid. He never digs in the litter to cover it up. Needless to say, the chosen box is in my bedroom so if the sound doesnt wake me, the smell gets me going every time. Since we have gotten Sally, she does what I call poop patrol and will go in the same box and dig, meow, dig, meow almost like shes saying shes tired of cleaning up after him lol.

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Sounds like the scenario we had with our old Siamese, Nibs. He never covered. Dropped his load and skedaddled as quickly as possible. When Suzy came on the scene (at about 7 weeks of age, and he was then getting on for 14), she would follow him and do his covering for him, and the disgusted look on her face always made me think it was the feline equivalent of "Men! Can't they learn to put the seat down??"

One of my cats doesn't cover up their poop as well, I'm not sure which one tho.

Sounds like the scenario we had with our old Siamese, Nibs. He never covered. Dropped his load and skedaddled as quickly as possible. When Suzy came on the scene (at about 7 weeks of age, and he was then getting on for 14), she would follow him and do his covering for him, and the disgusted look on her face always made me think it was the feline equivalent of "Men! Can't they learn to put the seat down??"

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I told my mom about it and she said he was doing the typical male thing--displaying for all to admire

I asked my vet about this the last time I was there. Her advise was to change litter to a smaller grain. If the cat isn't digging into the litter afterwards, but scratching on the floor or pan, its because he doesn't like the feel of the coarser grains against his paws. (Or vice-versa...try a coarser grain if you're using a finer grain) I gradually changed litters, and now have no problems.

what kind of litter do you use? I use Scoop Away, Multicats..

Zeus covers his pee, but not his poop! Peppurr has to go into the litter box to cover it for him!

I use scoop away for multi cats too. I've tried different variations of litter and Rein is a very picky cat. Once I had to use the wood chips because the youngest had stiches in her belly and she refused to use the litter box. I think that it might just be one of those quirky things that she has started to do as she gets a little older and stubborn!

Originally posted by Sweets
I asked my vet about this the last time I was there. Her advise was to change litter to a smaller grain. If the cat isn't digging into the litter afterwards, but scratching on the floor or pan, its because he doesn't like the feel of the coarser grains against his paws. (Or vice-versa...try a coarser grain if you're using a finer grain) I gradually changed litters, and now have no problems.

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That is actually very interesting. I use crystals and they are pretty large. She usually scratches the pan and not the litter lol. Although I love the crystals.. and would hate to change. I could look for some smaller crystals I suppose.