Cat Will Not Stop Digging In Litter Box

[DaisyDaylights]

Hi, I have a 1-year-old cat who was taken off of the streets. Currently, we live with 1 other cat. He has asthma which he has an inhaler for now. He also has this problem with digging in the litter box, even when he doesn't need to use the litter box. He'll just go in and dig and scratch for a good 5 minutes at a time, and often. It's hard to deter this behavior, considering that I don't think you can just stop a cat from digging and I also don't want to scare him so that he stops using the litter box, but the sound is awful. I grabbed a calming defuser and am waiting for that to help him calm down enough to stop going in there and digging when he doesn't need to use the box, and I also kind of just hiss at him if he's in there for too long. I say "yes" when he goes in and doesn't stay too long, but... again, it's hard to deter the lengthy digs- I wonder if he's even understanding that the excessive digging is unwanted. He usually only goes in for large lengths at night, too.

If I could, I would just put the litter box farther away so the sound wasn't a bother to anyone. However, I currently live in a 1 bedroom with 2 other people (yeah, it sucks). I will have my own apartment soon, but I would still like to know if there are any solutions for this behavior at all? When I went to the vet with him, the assistant just said "yeah, my cat does that, too! So annoying!" And I didn't really get the chance to talk to the doctor about it in length.

 

[Norachan]

Has he been checked for a UTI? Is he ever constipated? When any of my cats spend a lot of time digging in the litter it sometimes mean they're having trouble peeing or pooping.

I wouldn't try to discourage him from going into the litter box at all, no matter how annoying it is. If you scare him off using it you'll have a much bigger problem on your hands when he looks for other places to pee.

Could you try switching to shredded newspaper for cat litter, or maybe try just using puppy pee pads in his litter box? It will be much quieter, but you'll have to clean the box more regularly as paper won't absorb odour the way cat litter does

 

[Alldara]

My cat loves digging too.

We gave him a box of torn up craft paper to dig in.

As well, since he has athsma, if you arent already using clay-free litter i would recommend moving to a non-clumping pellet litter. It helped so much with Nobel's athsma.

 

[DaisyDaylights]

My cat loves digging too.

We gave him a box of torn up craft paper to dig in.

As well, since he has athsma, if you arent already using clay-free litter i would recommend moving to a non-clumping pellet litter. It helped so much with Nobel's athsma.

I think I'll try the craft paper idea! He really might just want something to dig, thank you for the suggestion!

I use corn litter, but my roommate uses clay even after I've tried talking to them about the health risks. And, my cat (Mocha) decides to use my roommate's litter box more than any other. Once we've moved out, it will be back to corn, though!

 

[Alldara]

I think I'll try the craft paper idea! He really might just want something to dig, thank you for the suggestion!

I use corn litter, but my roommate uses clay even after I've tried talking to them about the health risks. And, my cat (Mocha) decides to use my roommate's litter box more than any other. Once we've moved out, it will be back to corn, though!

It happens. My mum insists she none of her cats would ever use any alternative litters because she tried one non clay litter once and our main cat didn't like it.

Even though when I would visit with Nobel, two of the other cats would use his non clay box. Nobel would use clay if it was clean ans available.