litter box issues

by Kayla
(San Antonio, Tx)

I know this may sound a little bit silly but after my cat uses the litter box she takes a really long time to cover it up. And even after that she will continue to go back over a span of 10-20 minutes and cover it again and again even though it is already covered. I just hate the idea of her spending that much time in the litter box and it gets to be a bit frustrating. What can i do? or should I just leave it alone?


Answer by Kate
Hi
well i must admit I have not come across a cat that does this. it sounds to me like your cat is very anxious about this issue.

i can only assume that she can still smell her urine etc and is distressed by this.

You could try a different type of litter which may cover the smell better for her. Also make sure that her litter tray is somewhere safe and secure sometimes the placement of the litter try can be a source of worry for a cat.
I have a web page about different litters and tray etc which you may find of interest.
https://www.our-happy-cat.com/cat-litter.html

Other wise I would not worry too much about it. She may just be a very fastidious cat. You should be grateful that she is so careful at covering it up. little Mo our cat doesn't very well and we have to do it for her most of the time to stop the smell.

Best wishes Kate

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Litter Box Issues
by: Mary

Hi Kayla
Youe post sure sounds familiar to me.
I have 2 cats with similar weird actions.

My male cat "TommySnow" is a cat who has ALWAYS been one that stays in his box and constantly covers his elimination for about 5 minutes and THEN he spends another 3 minutes wiping his paws on the sides of his box to make sure they are clean. The noise of him "constantly scratching the litter and cleaning his paws" use to drive me wild so I took him to the vet.
The vet said some cats are VERY particular about their hygeine and will do this and it is nothing to be concerned about.
It is just their individual preference and nature.
So...I have learned to accept that he is just a cat that wants to make sure he is VERY clean.

NOTE: I scoop my boxes MANY times a day so I know they are clean and I use baking soda in the litter to eliminate odor and it is safe for the cats.

I have a female Calico cat named "Paige" who has another weird thing she does in this area.
If a "lazy " cat uses one of the boxes and does not cover it...she goes to the box and covers it for them! Talk about a cat who likes clean conditions!!!! She's my lil kitty box supervisor (ha ha ha). I always call out to her and say " Thank you Paige" when I see her cleaning up after a lazy kitty.
I guess we could have worse problems, huh?
Good luck to you and your kitty.

Mary

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