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Dr. Marci Koski is a certified Feline behavior and training professional who received specialized and advanced certificates in Feline training and behavior from the Animal behavior Institute. While Marci has been passionate about all animals and their welfare, cats have always had a special place in her heart. In fact, Marci can’t remember a time when she’s been without at least one cat in her life. She currently relies on her five-member support staff to maintain the feline duties of her household.
Marci’s own company, Feline behavior Solutions, focuses on keeping cats in homes, and from being abandoned to streets or shelters as the result of treatable behavior issues. Marci believes that the number of cats who are abandoned and/or euthanized in shelters can be greatly reduced if guardians better understand what drives their cats to certain behaviors, and learn how to work with their cats to encourage appropriate behaviors instead of unwanted ones.
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Cat not covering urine or stool deposits
Hi Dr. Marci!
Thank you for taking the time to help us! My cat Lily is 10 months old and she doesn’t cover her pee or poop :/ she will make a hole a do her business, but afterwards she’ll “scratch” the side of the litterbox very briefly. Today, for example, she also scratched the leg of a table next to the litter box (???). She’s not declawed, she’s neutered and healthy. I checked her paws and joints and everything is fine! We use normal, clumping litter.
Another weird thing she does is that after she’s done eating, many times she will also scratch at the floor or at the sides of wherever she’s eating. I wish she put that much effort into covering her stuff, I guess she’s grossed out!
I hope you can help us because it’s not so nice to see/smell it hahaha. I’m also not proud to admit that I’ve tried to demonstrate a few times, but she’s not interested in paying attention.
Thank you again! — Lucia
Hi Lucia,
Ahhh, yes – the dreaded unburied litterbox gifts! Cats typically bury their urine and feces to cover up their scent, which helps keep predators from figuring out where they are, or alert their own potential prey to their presence. most cats learn to bury waste products from their mom, but if kittens are removed from the litter or separated from their mom at a young age, they may not have gotten the chance to learn that lesson. Or, their mom might not have taught them, or they may simply not have learned the lesson very well. At any rate, it isn’t all that pleasant when you get a nice whiff of fresh – gifts – from the litterbox!
At this point, I’m not sure you’ll be able to train Lily to actually bury her waste. However, she is going through the motions, albeit in the wrong place, and that’s a good sign that you may be able to get her to bury her waste under the right circumstances. One thing you might think about changing is the size of her litterbox. If it’s too small (as most commercial litterboxes are), she’s not going to have enough room to turn around, scratch, dig, and bury. I highly recommend using simple shallow storage bins (5 or 6 inches deep) that you can purchase at any Target or Walmart store for $10 or less. If your cat urinates while standing up (some do!), you can buy a large high-sided storage tote and cut a U-shaped door in the side (and throw away the lid) as an alternative. get a storage bin that is at least 1.5x the length of your cat (not including the tail), keeping in mind that bigger is better! She should have enough room to turn around all the way without touching the sides of the box. That way, she can actually scratch while she’s in the box and cover her waste.
Another thing to think about is the type of litter you’re using. If she perches on the edge of the box and tries to avoid touching the litter (perching can also happen if the box is too small), she may not like the scent or texture of the litter itself. A cat who loves her litter will usually spend some time in the box before and after “depositing” just scratching and digging. I recommend fine-grained clumping litter that is completely unscented. My clients have had very good success with clumping clay litters, but there are other types of clumping litter out there as well, if you’re concerned about environmental impacts or other factors.
Regarding scratching to cover up her food after she’s done, that’s pretty typical of carnivorous beasties. Cats are predators who may not finish their meal in one sitting; cats in the wild have learned to “cache” their kills, and will cover them up to hide the scent from other predators looking to steal their meal, or to alert other prey animals of their presence.
I hope this helps – I know it’s not fun to smell fresh littenullnull