My 9-month-old cat scratches the side of his litter tray for ages after he's done his business.
The thing is, he doesn't actually cover his poo; he just scratches all around the sides, then sniffs what he’s just done and carries on scratching the plastic. It’s usually at night, so it makes a right racket...
- I thought it might be the type of litter, so I’ve tried loads of different brands, but he still does the same thing.
- Then I thought he might just be really fussy, so I cleaned it out immediately every time he went.
- Trying to show him how to scratch the litter properly hasn't worked either.
- I even wondered if he was trying to get the bits of litter off his paws, so I tried wiping his paws for him.
But now I'm completely out of ideas... Is this normal? Any advice on how to stop it? Thanks in advance for your help!
Translated from French
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Hi everyone,
Cats scratch their litter to bury their waste because, in the wild, the smell could attract predators or a hostile, territorial tom cat. Unfortunately for us poor humans, some indoor cats keep this instinct for their entire lives. Out of my three cats—all of whom were properly weaned by their mother and have never even seen a predator—only one scratches like a maniac until I shout his name and threaten to get up... then he stops dead in his tracks.
My cat is exactly the same; I can tell you, she sometimes does her business at 4 or 5 in the morning and I still can't wrap my head around the racket she makes with her litter tray.
I think the noise is more down to the plastic of the tray than anything else, as she also scratches for several minutes at a time. Sometimes I honestly think she’s going to end up breaking the tray one of these days.
Never shout or lose your temper with a pet! It only stresses them out more and makes the whole situation worse.
Instead, try to get down to their level... find a distraction so they move on to something else... and try using mimicry, just like their mum would have done...
Of course, you have to keep your cool, because while having a shout might be a relief for us, it has the complete opposite effect on our cat or dog.
It all takes a lot of love... and heaps of patience... but it really works!
So yes, my cat wasn't properly weaned either; I found him in my courtyard, which is enclosed on all sides.
I’m a huge cat lover and plenty of people know it...
It must have been someone who wanted to get rid of him and just chucked him into my yard.
He was only a month old, so very tiny.
I don't think there's a way around it lol.
I'll have to wait until I have a bigger house so I can move his litter tray as far away from the bedrooms as possible.
Being in a flat here, even if it’s at the opposite end from my bedroom, it’s still not very far away.
Thanks for getting back to me.
PS: To litter train him, whenever he did a poo outside the tray, I’d put the droppings into the litter and then put him in there too; he’d sniff it and then start using it automatically. As for the wee, since he always went in the same spot, I put down a thick layer of pepper and he’s been perfectly clean since.
So much so that when the little guy is outside, he actually comes back in just to use his tray lol.
Well, there we go. It sounds like we’re in the same boat.
Listen, want to hear another good one? The other night, I was crashing at my sister-in-law's place. One thing I hadn’t really considered is that my puppy is still at the stage where she'll chew just about anything. I didn't think it'd be too bad, though; she usually settles down around 9:30 pm and sleeps right through the night.
But of course, being in a new place, she was dead hyper. 11 pm and she was still going strong!
I looked around me and saw all sorts of tempting little bits and bobs, a bearskin rug on the floor, and so on. I thought to myself, I really don't want to be making grovelling excuses to my hosts first thing in the morning!
So, I did the same thing. I lay down on the floor, right next to a lovely big dog bed. To be honest, after 15 minutes I’d had enough, but I stretched out on the sofa in plain sight. She finally got the hint and copied me, so I managed to head upstairs and finally get some shut-eye. The next morning, no problems at all.
I think that’s a good way of looking at it :) A mate of mine had a bit of an extreme solution for litter training his kitten: he actually weed in the litter tray right in front of the cat, and ever since then, the kitten's understood that’s where he’s supposed to do his business and not all over the house :D
YESSSS, we’re definitely on the same wavelength. You can look at the whole thing as a right pain (no pun intended lol) or as an interesting experience.
When my cat takes over my computer screen or starts nibbling my leads (keyboard, USB cables), I never tell her off. I don't think a mother cat scolds them, does she? Am I wrong, Mamie?
So, I just pick her up and move her a few inches away. She comes back, I move her again. She comes back, I move her. After a while, she stops. Just like a mother cat, I don't count how many times it takes, and it doesn't get me worked up at all.
My cat gets that. It’s the only 'safe' way I know (as in, it doesn't damage our bond). I give a very soft "No" at the same time. Maybe one day, just the "No" will be enough. You don’t shout at a cat.
Actually, I’ve experimented with this too: if you want the equivalent of screaming at a cat, you can hiss. My kitten understood that instantly. But it felt so harsh that I’ve never done it again. A mother doesn’t hiss at her baby. She hisses at an enemy to protect them.
Of course, you can definitely try to step in for the mum and train the kitten yourself... it’s a really interesting test of patience, and such a joy when you see the little thing copying the movements you’re trying to teach them. Personally, I’ve taught kittens how to bury their poo... by taking their front paw and showing them how to cover it up... it can even be quite a laugh, as kittens can be so clumsy!
I adopted a kitten when he was just three weeks old. Because of that, I had to put quite a bit of effort into teaching him how to actually be a cat. For example, showing him how to rub his little paw along his mouth and then behind his ears, and teaching him how to be agile.
If I were in your situation, I would have taught her how to go to the toilet properly by spending time right by her side while she's doing her business, and putting her back in the tray as soon as she tries to hop out. You can even scratch the litter in front of her to show her how to cover up her mess, and so on.
Anyway, I’ve been criticised on here before for my way of looking at things, but I really believe we can try our best to stand in for the mother. I always just try to imagine how a mum cat would handle any given situation.
I know it’s a bit gross, spending so much time hanging around the litter tray with a kitten, but that’s just how it is!
