Not covering Poop

For the past 6+ months my cat (about 8-10 years old) has not been covering her poop up in her litter box. I keep it very clean for her and nothing has changed in the house..just the smell now. Has anyone ever had this problem. Please help.

Sometimes Billy does that. It's usually when I need to put more litter in the box. A cat needs at least 3 in. of litter to scoop around. Maybe try adding more litter to the pan?

Rosies 3 years old and she sometimes doesn't cover her poop either, but Sophie who's one year old will wait until Rosie comes of her tray then go on and cover it for her

She doesn't smell too bad though, unlike Sophie!, and how i just don't know because they both eat the same?!

When I first adopted my cat he overly covered his poop. He was a stray and I hear they learn to do that out of fear preditors will find them. NOW he doens't cover it, I suspect cause he is calm and knows he is safe (not only safe but pretty darned spoiled!)

sometimes its a dominace thing. they feel they are 'topcat' and therfore dont need to mask their odor.

let them see you bury their waste a few times and they should get the hang of it

Is he acting normally otherwise? Have you noticed any stray cats outside recently?Is it possible he sees other cats outside the home and believes he is now threatened. If so then shut your drapes and put something in the way of the window so he can't see outside. Oh and you covering his waste will be ineffective in teaching him again.If you have another cat, that would help more.

Originally Posted by hissy

Is he acting normally otherwise? Have you noticed any stray cats outside recently?Is it possible he sees other cats outside the home and believes he is now threatened. If so then shut your drapes and put something in the way of the window so he can't see outside. Oh and you covering his waste will be ineffective in teaching him again.If you have another cat, that would help more.

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This is true. And if it is a dominance thing, you need to be careful. When my tomcat saw an outside cat, and then smelt her on me, he attacked me. And that was after all his spraying started. Then, he attacked my mom, too. If it is a dominiance thing, you need to handle it right away before things get out of hand, as I learned the hard way. If she is unaltered, I would recommend this, as well, because once she's spayed, there's no reason to be territorial. You will definitely know it's a dominance problem if she starts spraying (though I'm not sure if this is too common in females... not sure, someone help me here? ) , or puffs up when she sees an outside cat or smells it. I hope all goes well! Good luck!

Originally Posted by Marge

When I first adopted my cat he overly covered his poop. He was a stray and I hear they learn to do that out of fear preditors will find them. NOW he doens't cover it, I suspect cause he is calm and knows he is safe (not only safe but pretty darned spoiled!)

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Agreed. Sasha was mauled by a coyote about a year ago last May and even though he poops outside and inside, since he fully recovered and has shown no more recurring PTSD affects, he doesn't cover it anymore.