Hi everyone, my cat is constantly going to his litter tray and about three-quarters of the time he’s just going in there to 'scratch around' (if you can even call it that). It’s so annoying because he gets litter everywhere, all the time! We can hear him all night long and we have to keep getting up to move him out of there, otherwise we just can't get any sleep! Is there any way to get him to only use the litter tray when he actually needs to do his business? – any advice would be great!
Cheers!
Translated from French
The forum content is sometimes translated from another language, and posts may concern countries with different animal laws. Do your research before making any decisions.
Since the forum is translated by AI, the translations may contain errors.
I don't think so! We’re always fussing over him, giving him loads of kisses and everything! But it’s true that sometimes when he wants his wet food in the morning (even if there are still biscuits in his bowl), he’ll "scratch" with one paw inside it just to wake us up.
The thing is, he doesn’t actually get inside the litter tray. He stays outside and just puts one paw in to ‘scratch’ about, and as soon as he hears us coming, he’s off. It’s strange because usually, if he really wants to do something, he just gets on with it even if he hears us coming!
I think I’ll post a video so you can see for yourselves. He really does it just to wind us up; for example, when he’s playing with Lou and gets really hyper, he starts ‘scratching’ to de-stress, but he doesn’t always do it for that reason.
I’m with Nath on this. At first glance, and without knowing the full ins and outs, I’d say a cat that keeps scratching around in its litter tray but not doing anything is a cat in trouble. It’s usually either a UTI (where they feel like they need to go constantly but nothing comes out, and it’s incredibly painful) or a bowel issue.
The bottom line is: see a vet. Maybe even try a new one and explain the situation clearly. Animals can’t talk, so if we don’t tell the vet exactly what we’ve spotted, it’s not easy for them to guess or know where to look.
In a previous post I mentioned that during a trip to the vet (about 12 days ago), he told us he was doing well. He checked him over completely, he even checked for any kidney problems and nothing – he was all clear! (thankfully)
