Litter box problems?

[talidox]

 So, I have this cat, he uses the litter box correctly but, he doesn't cover it. It wouldn't be such a big deal, if it didn't smell so bad. He tries to cover it I think, he will step out with his front paws and he will scrape the ground with his paws. (my floors are tile) I would understand why he does that if his litter box was too small. But the litter box is huge. It's be nice to know if there was a way to teach him how to use it correctly, because he somehow gets litter everywhere when I am asleep. I just don't understand really. 

 

[mservant]

Are you sure his digging and scraping is to cover and not to make sure what he has produced will be as prominent as possible?  It's worth trying to observe discretely.  The boss between my two girls would do this:  she never covered her poop but made a huge mess kicking it out of the tray.  When older she took to not using the tray (though that was more about her pain from bladder inflammation and associating the tray with pain) yet she would still dig around her poop like it was a ritual she had to do.

 

[vball91]

Well, I hate to tell you this, but some cats just don't cover their poop. They somehow didn't get that memo. LOL. I am not sure if you can train them.

On another note, you could try to address the stinky poop. Cats who are raw fed have zero to little odor, so it makes me think that the fillers and other unnecessary ingredients are responsible for the smell.

 

[talidox]

I'm not sure about the predominant thing, it could be possible, he used to be the youngest with two older females in the house, then he had to be moved for a short while into a house with five older male cats. But now it's just him and I. Maybe he just got used to it I suppose. Anyway, thank you for the input and advise. But, any advise on what kind of food would be best for him? Right now I'm just feeding him meow mix with hairball control, (He gets terrible hairballs that get stuck in his throat) 

 

[mservant]

These litter behaviours are learned, and often from first training with the mother unfortunately.  It did train me to clean up my girl's litter very promptly!!!

For the feeding, there are some good articles on TCS in the articles section:  http://www.thecatsite.com/atype/46/Cat_Health

If you need more specific information you would be best to post your question as a new thread in the Cat Nutrition forum.  Those with most knowledge and experience in cat food are more likely to see your question there.  I hope this helps.

 

[lamiatron]

cat not covering up poop

1) could be that your cat is lazy

2) could be a territorial thing, he's leaving his "scent" exposed

3) he's used to doing this

i say territorial because you mention he used to live with a lot of cats. now its just you and him....he could have been leaving his waste uncovered while living with other cats to let them know, that's his litter box, that's his territory. now that its just the two of you, he still feels the need to do it, or he's used to it from before

can cats be trained to train their waste? sure. by humans? i'm not so sure. by another cat? most definitely. My Charlie taught my girl Jet how to use the litter box, and then later, how to bury her waste. she really was a useless kitty..

i'm not suggesting you run out and get another cat to teach ur cat how to bury waste...because at this point in time, he might never bury or cover it. 

You might want to delve into the world of Raw Feeding, and as @vball91  said, there are threads and forums on this. you can try that to try and lessen the stink of kitty poop?? LOL

 

[stewball]

It may not make him cover his business up but I'm very much in favour of closed litter boxes with swing door.
My cats eat dry food and I've never noticed a smell.
My 2 share the box and wee at one end and do their business at the other end :-)

 

[talidox]

I got him a litter box like that a couple of weeks ago but he didn't want to go in because of the door, he thought it was a cage and wouldn't go in unfortunately.  

 

[jcat]

We use covered boxes, but always remove the swinging door and the filter in the top. That way the cat can stick his head out the entry, and it's not too dark in the box. The door and filter probably trap odors. Have you tried making the litter deeper? That might encourage him to bury his feces.

 

[cass]

My kitten does that in her tray all the time! I've never had it before and its very frustrating.

 

[talidox]

Yeah his litter is pretty deep. 

 

[cass]

The more litter I put in for Lola (kitten among3 big cats) the longer it takes her to kick it into the corner of the tray and still poop and not cover it. I have even gone in there with her and tried to make her brush the litter towards the poop by grabbing her hands and making the motion..she just screams and wants to run off! My other inside 2 are SUPER clean so its annoying :/

 

[sweetthangtx]

It seems that whenever we have young cats and kittens they are overly concerned with inspecting every other cats leavings. The kids go into the litter box and "landscape" for a long time before they take care of their business.

I expect that they get a lot of Intel from the smells from the other cats. Cats don't seem to be as bad as dogs but there is quite a lot of heiney sniffing that goes on as well.

I'm just thankful that cats are so adaptable and clean naturally.