Young female kitten likes to sniff/eat from the litterbox

Hey all,

I have 2 cats. Moo is about 7 years old fixed-male persian, and Lesha is about 1-2 years old not-fixed female tabby.

I notice Lesha pays extra attention to Moo especially when Moo is in the litterbox. I somehow got her to stop running to sniff his but at least when I am looking but now I catch her in the litterbox digging around and smelling Moo's deposits. Sometimes I go to shoo her out and she looks up at me chewing as if she was chewing on gum. I think she is eating the litter/feces and am concerned of this behavior. She has plenty of treats and food, so this puzzles me.

1) How do I stop Lesha from sniffing Moo's butt? She seems to be stuck on sniffing his butt.

2) How do I stop Lesha from going into the litterbox right after Moo has used it to eat/sniff feces?

3) How do I stop her chasing/stalking Moo around and annoying Moo?

I usually hear Moo when he gets aggravated he will meow and hiss, but he never swats her... If he would just swat her every time she did that she probably would leave him alone... How do I tell Moo to start defending himself?

As I mentioned I have been chasing her out making noises and hand gestures, but she just keeps doing it... It does not stop...

I suspect one thing that might help slow down this disgusting behavior is maybe I could get Lesha fixed, maybe that will calm her down, and remove all interest in mating with Moo, who quite frankly just sits there and looks at her like he is bored and she is stoopid haha

You need to take Leisha to a vet and ask him or her to run some blood tests to make sure your cat is ok.

You are right, some of her butt sniffing and hissing and stalking behaviour may be helped if she were to be fixed.

[Article] Why You Should Spay and Neuter  Your Cats

Moo needs places he can get away from Leisha when she's harassing him, cat shelves, particularly in front of windows, places up high if he likes that,

It seems you may have misunderstood what I was saying/asking...

All she is doing is sniffing/eating the litterbox. This is a behavioural issue, not a sickness. If anything this behavior will make her sick and then she will need to see a vet...

Moo is the one that will meow/hiss but he will not swat at her. He needs to swat at her so she knows to screw off and go elsewhere.

moorspede said:

 
You need to take Leisha to a vet and ask him or her to run some blood tests to make sure your cat is ok.

You are right, some of her butt sniffing and hissing and stalking behaviour may be helped if she were to be fixed.

[Article] Why You Should Spay and Neuter  Your Cats

Moo needs places he can get away from Leisha when she's harassing him, cat shelves, particularly in front of windows, places up high if he likes that,

Click to expand...

Sorry I did not completely understand your post either haha...

There is nothing wrong with Lesha, as I mentioned above it is just behavioral issues.

I figured fixing would probably help... I will give that a try when I get money. I put it off because I didn't want to scare my kitten, then couldn't afford it for a while.

Moo has plenty of places to go and hide, Lesha being a natural predator/stalker is simply just following him everywhere he goes. Doesn't matter if he climbs the 7 Ft cat tree, Lesha climbs right up after him... I had to screw it to the wall so wouldn't tip over... She is dominating him and not letting him up there by bugging him to chase him down and off it every time he goes up there...

Simply I think Lesha is just being a female cat, interested in mating with Moo who does not wan't to because hes been fixed.

I think she just needs a fixin' lol...

I didn't misunderstand. There are medical reasons for cats eating feces. 

Medical causes of coprophagia include:

• Parasites
• Diabetes
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Anemia
• Vitamin deficiency
• Malnutrition
• Thyroid disease
• Neurological disease

Unless you get blood work done you have no idea whether this issue is medical or behavioural. 

Also, it is unhealthy, eating feces or litter can cause stomach upsets, worms, etc.

If you are American there are places that can help you with vet bills and spaying. 

No Money For Vet Care?

I'm happy you feel that Leila needs to be spayed, meanwhile you could do Moo a favour keeping her away from him or intervening before she lashes out at him by throwing something soft at her (you don't have to hit her), clapping your hands or something similar.  

moorspede said:

 
I didn't misunderstand. There are medical reasons for cats eating feces. 

Medical causes of coprophagia include:

• Parasites
• Diabetes
• Inflammatory bowel disease
• Anemia
• Vitamin deficiency
• Malnutrition
• Thyroid disease
• Neurological disease

Unless you get blood work done you have no idea whether this issue is medical or behavioural. 

Also, it is unhealthy, eating feces or litter can cause stomach upsets, worms, etc.

If you are American there are places that can help you with vet bills and spaying. 

No Money For Vet Care?

I'm happy you feel that Leila needs to be spayed, meanwhile you could do Moo a favour keeping her away from him or intervening before she lashes out at him by throwing something soft at her (you don't have to hit her), clapping your hands or something similar.  

Click to expand...

Maybe I should have been more clear... I was saying you must have misunderstood me because you said back to me something about Lesha hissing... Well she was not the one hissing... Moo is doing the meowing and hissing sometimes, because of Lesha constantly following him, biting him, and sometimes even mounting him... Lesha does not hiss. She only makes playful sounds and actions when she chases him.

I am aware that eating fece's is not good, thus why I posted here lol...

I am not American, I am Canadian. We have low cost spay/neuter too, but you cant afford even low cost when you have literally $0.

I have been intervening every time, which is why it got so annoying that I had to post here looking for help. I notice she does not like the sound of plastic bags crinkling and she runs and hides... Ill probably use that along with a can full of change to scare her. Clapping hands simply does not work with her. Even if I scare her away, within 10 minutes she is back to annoy the crap out of Moo even more.

Actually, I would just like to add in, that I disagree that "you must do blood work to determine if it is behavioral issue"...

In my humble opinion, the process of elimination works as well:

Say Cat X has same issues, you treat Cat X for the behavioral problems, they go away. This indicates a behavioral problem (positive response to treatment)

If the problem does not go away, it is not a behavioral problem, and then you may need blood work as you suggested.

That is the best way (as long as not an emergency) to go about it, because blood work costs money and time.

I will try blood work if all else fails, but at this moment it does not seem like an emergency, so I will try fixing the behavior first.

I will keep everyone updated on the solution

I'm on my mobile, I can't give you the urls but if you google "spaying" and "canada" a bunch of urls will come up for discount or free vet assistance. The Humane Society does it.

Oops you mentioned that you knew about these. I apologise, I haven't been well the last couple of days but looking back I didn't realise I was this bad.

I finally got some pay so I have my spay + vaccines booked, I will let everyone know what happens... Figured I should get it done and over with now while I have the money.

So far they both went to the Groomers. Moo got all his matty hair gone, and a nice clean lion cut - IMO persians look good with lion cuts. Since then, I have seen Moo defend himself from the top of the Cat tree, and for the first time ever swatted back at her. Leisha is starting to get afraid of him. I think the puffy head and lean looking body makes a bit of intimidation, giving Moo some added confidence.

Thank you to everyone for all your suggestions

I think so far just grooming has done well, we will see what changes after Leisha's spay

That's great news. I remember my cat feeling sore for several days after the operation and she had to be kept quiet for two weeks. We were told to watch that she wasn't licking her stitches. Have something she loves to eat after the op, the anesthetic can make her nauseated and she may not wish to eat that day.

Thanks to all for your replies and advice.

Well she has gone to the vet and it turns out she is a he, so it saved me around $200 He has been lazy for the most part since the surgery, but I am sure will be up and better in no time.

I wonder if he noticed maybe Moo had a different butt smell (from being neutered?) and maybe now he will understand. It's either that or I have a gay cat loool.

moorspede said:

Oops you mentioned that you knew about these. I apologise, I haven't been well the last couple of days but looking back I didn't realise I was this bad.

Click to expand...

Lol admittantly I've been a bit hard-headed sometimes... Not sure about here, but I'm sorry if I was I'm bad at transmitting/receiving social/communicative cues doesn't help when you speak your own cryptic version of English bahaha

I'll have you know that's the official language of an Australian with a bad head cold

It will take about six to eight weeks for the hormones to completely leave his body. Hopefully, he will lose interest in eating poo and sniffing poor Lesha's butt.

Thanks for the advice It looks like HE (still getting used to that haha) is a little more docile. I won't know for sure until a few weeks has passed but right now, it looks like the haircut for Moo and fixing for Leisha (now known as Drizzy) has worked!

I will post again in a month or so.

Thanks Moorspede

No problem, I wish you all well.