Cat lying in litter box

I have started my cat on new food which has caused her to have diarrhea however for the last couple of days she goes to her litterbox and lies down in it. I take her out each time but then about 10-15mins later she goes in to go the bathroom. Does anyone know why she would lie in her litter box, could it be because she has the diarrhea?
Thanks,
E

Imagine this were a toddler of yours, having diarrhea, and beginning to go the bathroom and lying down on the bathroom floor for minutes at a time before getting sick again.

What would you do?

Vet or at least call and ask about a medication you can pick up to help with the diarrhea. Your cat may be getting dehydrated for one, from fluid loss with this.

I second Pat. Dehydration can be extremely dangerous for a kitty. Please contact your Vet.

I'll third that.
Another way to tell if they are dehydrated is to grab the scruff of the neck - if they are properly hydrated the skin will go right down when you let go - if they are dehyrated, it will either move back very slowly, or stay up.

Thanks for the advice, I'll give the vet a call. She's never done that before and the first time she went in there was the other day after I cleaned the litter box. She went in and started flinging the litter around and then curled up. I noticed in a prev. post that other owners mentioned that their cats also went in once in a while and would just lie in the litter box. Hopefully it's just a phase she's going through since she's only 6months
Thanks,
E

Don't "grab" the neck. The cat is on the floor, so just gently scruff the neck without lifting the cat up. In a few seconds release, and watch the scruff. If it stays tented up, then grab your kitty and rush her to the vet, for she needs fluids badly. If the skin goes back down in seconds she is okay. I would give your kitty pedialyte to help replace the fluids she has lost- just mix a little in with her regular water-

She could be lying in the litterpan because she is feverish and the litter is cool against her skin. She could find comfort in lying in something where the sides are pressed against her. Have you taken her temperature recently?

When you start a kitty on new food, you do so gradually, mixing the new with the old food little bits at a time, so they don't get diarrhea.

I know a lady down the way who takes care of a cat, and this poor kitty, this woman switches food on this cat every other week. She is an elderly woman and no matter who tries to help her by telling her gently that this is a bad idea, she just keeps feeding Marsh whatever is cheapest at the store. She is drowning in vet bills because the cat is constantly dehydrated, but she loves Marsh so much- it's just misguided love, and the fact that she has so little money. I finally started buying her food for her and every week now for the past few months, Marsh is getting the same food. He is looking much better-

you definitely need to take her to the vet, no questions.

I do want to address sudden food changes for cats, they're not tolerant to this as people are. If you do decide to switch, do it gradually, mixing in new food with the old for at least 1-2 weeks.

Actually, I wasn't aware that you should introduce new food for your cat slowly. I have just changed Guin's food (as the brand he normally eats has not been in my local supermarket for a while)... I best check that he is okay going to the toilet... He also went off his last brand of food and would only eat the dry stuff and not the wet stuff...

Thanks, I've had her on the same food since she came home but another family member who lives here gave her a different type of kitten food plus new dry food, so here we are poor thing has a little bit of diarrhea because of it. For now I'm only giving her the same food she was on before and in the future I will gradually switch her over.

When CJ was about that age, she got a sneezing virus that caused diarrhea, but she had a SLIGHTLY runny nose. It was just a kitty virus, so the vet didn't prescribe medicine, but he gave her a shot and some pills, to help the diarrhea, and to harden the stool a little. He also recommended Pedialyte, if the diarrhea still persisted. Perhaps you could try some of that?