Litter box habit question

My little kitty Zekie is a 10 month old kitty. She NEVER covers her poop after using the litter box. She's one of my two kittens. The other one is just over a year old, and plays in the litter box and covers her poop like no other.

I understand how she could have picked up the habit. My husband was in charge of the litter box cleaning, and would be laxed about cleaning it daily, and there wouldn't be much clean litter left to cover by the time he cleaned it. Yuck. I now have the litter boxes scheduled. Hubby doesn't eat dinner until the litter boxes are cleaned....

but this hasn't solved the problem. Her poop stinks, and she never covers it at all. Is there any way to re-train her into covering her junk?

Give her a different box - an additional one, not just a change, and use unscented soft litter that won't irritate her paws when she scratches, and introduce her by just putting her on the litter. She'll leave, but understand, and if she uses it, great, if not, sorry!

We have 3 boxes already for the 2 cats....Using the N+1 rule.

I guess we can try a different litter in the second box

Some cats just don't cover their poop. It is just a behavior they didn't learn. It is unsitely for us, but it doesn't bother the cat.

You could put them in the litter box and use their paw to scratch at the litter to see if the cat picks up the habit.

I don't think adding more litter boxes would solve the problem.

Best Wishes

Some cats just don't cover - it's not 'wrong' exactly - we just prefer it when they do! They cover to control the amount of smell left for other cats as much as anything else and some just don't cover. You can try to encourage her by covering it yourself and leaving it in the tray but you might just have to accept that she's not a 'coverer'! If her poop is really smelly you might want to change her food to something that produces less smell.

I'll send my Sophie over and she'll cover it up for little Zekie because she covers Rosie's up for her

I would certainly try changing her food as someones already mentioned because if she's on a cheaper brand they really do smell compared to a good quality food

Scooping doesn't bother me, infact i'd gladly scoop 20 litterboxes to 1 babies nappy anyday!!

Are you sure you're not talking about my two??? Callie will NOT cover anything in the box, but she does a nice job of fixing the litter before she does her business and a nice job of scratching on the carpet outside the box when she's finished! I think it's because at one point in time we used an automatic litter box with her and she just got out of the habit. Also, we're now using a coarser litter and that may hurt her little paws a bit, but I'm not sure. Hannah on the other hand, digs to China and will spend all day covering for herself and Callie! Usually all the litter is moved to one side or end of the box after she's finished.

I've also read that it's a dominance thing. They're trying to let everyone know that they are king/queen of this area.

Stephanie