litter box antics

one of my cats scratches for what seems like hours (especially in the middle of the night!) on the side of the litter box ...scratches like normal cats scratch at the litter when they're covering their achievement up. she sometimes goes so far as to stand on the side of the litter box and reach up and paw at the wall! she does cover her stuff up for the most part, but it takes her a good minute or so before she starts actually pawing at the litter.

my ex-boyfriend's cat used to do that too, but she wouldn't cover her stuff up. she would just paw furiously at the side of the box for about 5 minutes and then hop out.

has anyone else experienced this? it doesn't really bother me...rather, it intrigues me! could it be that i don't have enough litter in there? i have about 2 inches in the box.

steph, on behalf of josie, who's confused in her litter box, and delph, who can't understand what the heck josie's doing!

Hi,
yes I have experienced this same problem with a number of cats...I can't figure it out either. I've have seen Casey (my himmy) do this. It's kinda comical to watch them. Casey usually covers up his deposits first, then continues to paw at the litter box, the wall and sometimes the floor. I do wish someone could explain this. It's always been a mystery to me.......I wonder what they think they are doing??????Any one out there have an answer to this phenomon??????
pr66

Ophelia does this all the time. She scratched the heck out of the side of the covered litterbox! Trent doesn't do the walls thing, but generally does get in at least a few paws on the floor in front of either litter box before he leaves.

It's not scientific at all, but my theory is that even though they covered it, they can still smell it and try to cover it more. (With both of them, I have seen them cover, turn and smell it, scratch the wall/floor, turn and smell, etc.)

Heidi,
I think you may be right about them thinking its not covered up. I happened to notice Cassey (my himmy)seemingly covering something on the floor. On more direct observation, he had dropped a deposit there and of course was trying to cover up the evidence...cats are so clean huh????

My kitten, Cosmo, likes to play in the litter box. We have a covered box and I think he likes the noises the litter makes.

It is weird to watch, but interesting nonetheless.

I love the name cosmo. where did you find such a unique name. tell me more about him.
pr66

Thankyou, I'm flattered. We named him after Cosmo Kramer, a character from the tv show "Seinfeld". The name suits him very well because Cosmo has a couple of screws missing... but that also makes him very entertaining.

I also have a dog named Ethyl and a cat named Lucy.