My kitten is playing in her litter tray

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Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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Hi everyone, I've got a bit of a problem with my kitten. She's a little girl, somewhere between 2 and 3 months old (I'm not exactly sure). During the day, she often goes and plays in her litter tray; she isn't just 'digging', she's actually playing. She acts as if she's hunting something, and this afternoon she actually batted a bit of poo right out of the tray.

I'd really like to know why she's doing this and how I can get her to stop. (She does this with both 'sandy' and 'gravel-style' litter).

Thanks in advance for your help.

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Thanks for the advice, I’ll give all of that a go. But as for the litter, I’ve already tried changing it and it hasn't made any difference.

    I’m well aware that you shouldn't take in a kitten before they’re weaned, but considering she’d been abandoned near a farm, without her mum, and with two dogs that had already injured her... what would you have done? Would you have just said, "Oh well, she isn't weaned yet, just leave her out there to fend for herself"?

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Some kittens go through a phase like this, where they treat their litter tray like a sandpit. It’s quite tricky to stop them because if you pull them out with a firm “No!”, you risk putting them off using it altogether. For one of my lot who went through this, I just used to distract him with a feather wand or a fishing rod toy, or by tossing a toy for him.

    He grew out of it in about two or three weeks.

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    My problem is my boy... whenever one of the girls doesn't bury her business and he thinks it pongs, instead of scratching the litter to cover it up, he scratches the floor, the plastic tub of clean litter, the cupboard, the wall... and because it still stinks when he has another sniff, he starts scratching everywhere again except the right place! GRRRRR lol, it’s not for nothing his nickname is "Scratchy"...
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    My kitten did the same thing when I first got him. As soon as he starts doing it, take him out of the litter tray, tell him 'no' firmly, and give him a toy instead. Mine stopped after about a week.
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    @ P'titefleur : TWO months. It takes 8 weeks for a kitten to be fully weaned. Of course, if you notice a kitten is a bit "behind" and needs to stay with its mum a little longer, you have to respect that, but the vast majority of the time you can bring a kitten home at 2 months. I know this because we had several litters where I used to live... however, you must NEVER take one before then, even if they seem weaned. I was given a kitten at six weeks old and she suffers from attachment issues; she won't leave me alone. To keep her happy, I’d practically have to hold her 25 hours a day...

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    A friend asked if I’d like to take her on (knowing I’ve been wanting one); she was found abandoned near a farm. She’s already got some toys and a scratching post. She’s house-trained, but the only thing is she keeps playing in her litter tray as well. I’m thinking of checking with the vet, but I don't reckon it’s a health issue.
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    I rescued a three-week-old kitten from the woods and he’s never messed about in his litter tray. Cats are instinctively clean and will use their tray regardless of their age.
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    P'titefleur
    P'titefleur Icon representing the flag French
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    You shouldn't get a kitten before they're twelve weeks old... I think yours missed out on being socialised by its mum...

    Where did you get it from?

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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Get her some toys and she’ll forget all about the litter tray.
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    Anonymous user Icon representing the flag French
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    Since it’s impossible to tell just by looking whether it’s physical or psychological, I’d suggest giving a vet a ring. They usually have the answers to those sorts of questions.

    Translated from French

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