Is this normal litter box behaviour?

[my-boy-jasper]

My kitten, Jasper, is 4 - 5 months old and I've had him for almost two months. When he uses the litter, he spends a while scratching around after he has done his business. I would say he spends up to one minute scratching around. At first I put it down to playing and then I stopped noticing. Anyway, today after he used the litter to do a poo I also realised that he has an odour immediately afterwards (he walked across my lap). And then I realised that he usually smells like that straight after using the litter. It only hangs around him briefly - few minutes.  I have two questions - 1) Is it normal for a kitten this age to spend that long scratching around the litter after using it. I thought it was playing but am now wondering if he's being overly fussy about burying it. and 2) Is it normal for him to have a definite poo smell immediately (but not for long) after using his litter?

I must be pretty absent minded for this to have only really grabbed my attention now. In the first couple of weeks I had him, he generally had a bit of a stink to him (like a cross between vet clinic and litter box) but that went away as he seemed to groom himself more thoroughly. So I think that's why I hadn't really noticed, as his smell has improved relatively speaking. But I started thinking about it today and wondered if by scratching around for so long, he is getting poo on his paws (can't see any), and then walking it around the house. I know that is bound to happen to some degree and it's best not to really think about it

 Or maybe the smell is coming straight from his bum. Yep, sounds gross but there is no way around it sorry!

I clean out the solid waste every day. I have tried three different types of litter which might have confused him a bit. First I used the silica beads which was ok but he kicked it out of the box and I thought it was a bit unhygienic only getting replaced every few weeks. Then I bought a much finer grained litter, not realising it was clumping. Well he really flung that everywhere! And for about a week now I have had a pine pellet litter that crumbles when it gets wet. The new litter is to be changed at least weekly (the crumbled stuff falls through a sieve tray, bottom tray changed twice weekly). I got a new litter box with a hood and now it all stays in the box. I'm happy with the new litter. Not sure if Jasper is. He has had no accidents at any time. He has settled in really well with me, although I would describe him as being on the anxious/shy side by nature.

Have I confused him with changing type of litter too often? Is there a more likely explanation? Or am I just being overly worried? Bit of a long post, sorry.

 

[mani]

I've told you that your boy Jasper reminds me so much of my boy.. and it seems they have similar personalities (and smelliness!).

Sundar spends forever scrabbling around in the box... only when he poos though.  (it's a good idea to have two boxes, as a lot of cats like one for each 'function' .)  I really wouldn't worry about that at all. 

My theory on the smell thing is that there is quite an odour to poo

and it 'sticks' to the fur etc, just for a short time, as you say.

You could check his feet, or even lightly wipe his feet after he poos to see if it makes a difference (I'm sure you'd notice if it was his bottom)...

But I think this could well be a case of 'hangover smell'

 

[my-boy-jasper]

Haha

'hangover smell', we can live with that. Don't tell Jasper (or anyone for that matter) but since he stank a bit to start with he often gets a quick visual bottom inspection - all clean.

I'll have a look/sniff of his paws over the next week or so.  If that's obviously the stink source I'll wipe them, and with any luck he'll start cleaning them himself. But I suspect you're right about it just being a bit of lingering smell. And the scratching around is probably a quirk, albeit not my favourite one. I suppose I was worried it's a sign of stress. I think I should stop researching every little thing on the internet and stressing myself out!

 

[mani]

Haha

'hangover smell', we can live with that. Don't tell Jasper (or anyone for that matter) but since he stank a bit to start with he often gets a quick visual bottom inspection - all clean.

I'll have a look/sniff of his paws over the next week or so.  If that's obviously the stink source I'll wipe them, and with any luck he'll start cleaning them himself. But I suspect you're right about it just being a bit of lingering smell. And the scratching around is probably a quirk, albeit not my favourite one. I suppose I was worried it's a sign of stress. I think I should stop researching every little thing on the internet and stressing myself out!

He's your baby.  You worry. You'll settle down in time, but it shows you care

 

[my-boy-jasper]

Thanks. We have grown quite fond of each other. It has surprised me a bit, but it's a nice surprise 

 

[msbedelia]

When he uses the litter, he spends a while scratching around after he has done his business. I would say he spends up to one minute scratching around.

I think you should maybe send him to therapy, MyBoy. : / That way he can talk out any issues he's having! ^^

Kidding, obviously! Gracie spends about that amount of time too. When I hear it, I'm like, "I that really necessary? Really?" Apparently, yes. ^^

It may be helpful to remember that cats do that to mask their scent so predators don't find them. Probably pays off to be, ahem, fastidious about it. ^^

 

[my-boy-jasper]

Hey, leave us alone!! We're working on his mother issues ok 

 I know one minute doesn't sound like long, but you should see how much litter can end up outside the tray in that time. Thankfully, that's been solved with the new tray. I'll just let him do his thing.  

 

[tulosai]

Yeah some cats are just prolific diggers.  One of mine digs for like a whole minute before he does a number 2, as well as covering it for a whole minute after.   At first it concerned me slightly, but I've come to find it to be kind of funny.