Cat Scratch Fever

BEAST!

I come to you with a very serious problem Cat Help/Pictures Forum. I apologize in advance for the terrible quality of my phone.

My kitten is a roughly 4.5 MONTH (previously i said year) old male who is not neutered.

he's a bit of a mischievous cat

but overall seems pretty happy and content

i leave him home alone during the day and he's pretty good about that, seems to sleep most of the time and play with his toys, doesn't really get into any trouble, until recently i started coming home to this.......

i thought maybe he was getting bored during the day and playing in his litter, he never messed with it except for poop/pee while i'm home...but mid last week he started digging in it while i'm here...he just walks up and either stands outside it and scrapes across the outside edge, seemingly trying to dig to the bottom, then switches to another corner....sometimes he'll be inside it and get the litter all over himself, leg deep in it, other times he'll stand outside not even looking at what he's doing while he swings his paw around

my question for you, Cat Help/Pictures Forum, is a) why would he be doing this? and b) what can i do to stop it?? the litter has been the same kind since i got him at 5 weeks old, he does it whether it's old or new litter, clean of all waste or not.....i don't really want to scold him for fear that he'll just not want to use his litter box anymore

flapjack begs for your help

tl;dr; kitteh digs in his litter, always around the edge though...maek it stopz

Lawndart

Aw, cute kitteh.

Not sure about why your cat is doing what he's doing, but one possible solution would be to buy a covered litter box. He may still try and knock the cover off, but it could minimize the splash damage from him digging around in it.

AlyceInWonderland

Some cats just do that. Mine does sometimes, and I worked in a cat shelter for a while (300 cats. uhg) and a lot of them did that as well.

I suggest getting one of these:

It'll prevent the litter from going everywhere.

Siska

Watch him and make sure he is able to pee, at all. He could be digging because he feels the need to pee but is unable to squeeze much out. Kidney stones and other urinary problems in not uncommon in cats, especially males.

BEAST!

awww, they "just do that"?? boo...jerk cats! ha

alright, well i guess i buy the covered one as you suggest...

has anyone used the ones that are a hole in the TOP to keep dogs out? maybe that would work good here? this way he wouldn't still knock stuff out the entrance? do they mind those at all?

AlyceInWonderland

I've never seen ones with the holes at the top but they do carry these:

Since the litter isn't right at the entrance, the litter should stay in the pan. and unless your dog is tiny, I don't think the dog would be able to fit in there or be able to fit it's head in and over the ledge.

BEAST!

oh i don't actually have a dog, but i was thinking like this



but yeah, your suggestion looks like it would work

Handkor

I have one cat that throws it out the front even with a covered litter. The problem was with the other cat thinking hey there is litter on the ground it must be ok for me to go here. The problem on did die of kidney failure so you might want to have his urinary tact health checked out.

But yes do not punish them for it or they will stop using the litter and go in a hidden spot around the house (depends on the cat though).

Orogogus

AlyceInWonderland wrote: »

I've never seen ones with the holes at the top but they do carry these:



Since the litter isn't right at the entrance, the litter should stay in the pan. and unless your dog is tiny, I don't think the dog would be able to fit in there or be able to fit it's head in and over the ledge.

I have this litter box, and find it to be kind of annoying. Its shape and size make it more difficult to transport than a rectangular box would be, and when my cat pees towards the edges (always) it's hard to scoop away the clumped litter without breaking it into pieces instead since the edges are round. It does reduce the kitty litter around the box, especially if you put a mat by the entrance, but if your cat is digging enthusiastically for fun it's going to be a pain to clean the litter out of the stair area.

Aside from the litter box, maybe you could also try different kinds of kitty litter. My cousin uses some kind of fancy litter that I remember looking like pretzel sticks, but a quick Google Image Search doesn't seem to suggest what kind it is.

You can also try potty training your cat. My brother is doing this, but his cat doesn't like to use the toilet a second time if there's already waste in the toilet, leading to stray messes. So results may vary.

Side note: Is Flapjack really 4+ years old? It kind of looks more like 4.5 months in the pictures.

Crashtard

BEAST! wrote: »

I'm definitely making one of those this weekend for my troublemaker cats.

Orogogus wrote: »

Side note: Is Flapjack really 4+ years old? It kind of looks more like 4.5 months in the pictures.

Yeah he does. If I hadn't read his age I would said he was under 6 months at the most.

UncleSporky

I'm sorry if this isn't very constructive but that litter box with a hole on top gives me horrible mental pictures.

Trying to carefully jump into a smelly hole I know contains a lot of my own waste and then climbing back out.

But I guess it would be fine as long as you clean it often.

BEAST!

holy crap, i just now noticed that i said year...yes he is indeed 4.5 MONTHS..i will change that....does that change any of this advice in here? specifically the urinary tract thing

AlyceInWonderland

You can also buy "yesterdays News" which is basically tightly packed pellets made out of recycled newspaper. It's a LOT less messy, it's cleaner, and if your cat gets fixed, or has an open wound it won't get in the stitches or cut. So, ontop of getting the covered box, I also suggest that type of litter. It's a little more expensive, but it should help out.

phoxphyre

AlyceInWonderland wrote: »

You can also buy "yesterdays News" which is basically tightly packed pellets made out of recycled newspaper. It's a LOT less messy, it's cleaner, and if your cat gets fixed, or has an open wound it won't get in the stitches or cut. So, ontop of getting the covered box, I also suggest that type of litter. It's a little more expensive, but it should help out.

I have a similar litter for my beasts. It's great! Like any litter it tracks a little -- I swear that cats have great cavernous toes! We keep a small brush and shovel in our toilet for this reason.

Apparently it can be recycled once it's "full" (but I always feel bad for the recycling guys, and paper is biodegradable ... I'm a horrible person!)

zilo

You might just have too much litter in the box. One of our two cats hates having to stand in deep litter and he'll dig a bunch of it out of the box to show his displeasure. I'd try using less litter before buying a closed litterbox, some cats hate them and you won't know if your cat is one of those until he poops on your pillow.

BEAST!

i thought it was that there was maybe too much, but i took a bunch out and he still hated it...

i may try those pellets though, i use the Worlds Best which is corn based but it's still like clay litter size

it's comforting to know that others have this problem with their cats...haha

AlyceInWonderland

Cats are basically assholes.

Bionic Monkey

If you don't want to get one with a full lid, you might try one of these.


It's what we ended up getting for my cat, and while it's not perfect, it helps a lot.

MetroidZoid

(Number)'d the regular cat box with-a-lid. They're not much more expensive, and usually have handles and such. Also, putting a small bath-mat (washable) in front of the box helps our kitten from tracking litter into the hallway.

DVG

If you go with a covered litterbox, be sure when replacing it after changing the litter to always put the hole facing outwards.

My parents poor cat had her litter box blocked from entry for a week, and her reminder poops in Dad's office kept getting blamed on the dog until she was caught in the act and they investigated the litter box more closely.

Selner

I have this litter box, and find it to be kind of annoying. Its shape and size make it more difficult to transport than a rectangular box would be, and when my cat pees towards the edges (always) ...

I have a booda dome as well, but have taken the lid off. One of my cats would routinely pee on the side and the liquid would seep out the edges and generally be very gross.

You would think taking the lid off would make things more smelly, but it was amazing how much better it smelled when there wasn't stale urine clinging to it .

The other oddity with the dome is the area for the litter is shaped funny. Your average litter bag doesn't fit very well, so I've always bought oversized bags to fit it. The booda dome bags themselves have not fit at all (in my experience).

As for litter itself, I use Feline Pine. It's fantastic stuff in my opinion. It basically breaks down into saw dust when used and kills odor very well. It does track all over the place though.

There's a clumping version that I have considered using, but with the new house I didn't want to upset the cats any more than they already are.

Entriech

Whatever solution you do choose to go with, do not get one of the litter boxes which has its access as a hole in the top. Not only would it be extremely unpleasant to have to jump down into a pit of filth to use the washroom, constantly having to jump up off an unstable surface like cat litter will eventually damage your cat.

Also get your cat neutered.

How often do you clean the litter box? Is your cat getting enough water? What do you usually feed him? Does he cry at all when he's in the litter box?

One of the best solutions I've seen to litter spray issues is not a box with a lid, but an enclosing box that goes around the entire litter box. You can then ensure that there's enough distance between the entrance to the box and the litter box that tracking and kicked litter outside the box is reduced to a minimum. For some examples of this, check out these ikea hacker articles.

BEAST!

I'm having trouble finding someone who will neuter him this young, despite it being possible to neuter him at 2 months nobody seems to want to do it until 5 or 6

I usually clean it nightly or failing that I'll do it the next morning.

I'm sure he's getting enough water, I see him drinking from it all the time and it needs to be filled each day.

He does not cry when in the litter box, half the time when he's doing this he's not even IN it, he's standing outside with just the one paw in there scratching, looking off into the distance pretty often.

I was wondering about the jumping down into it thing, it's a nice solution but i wasn't sure how cats liked it. Those ikea hacker articles look interesting though, failing that i'll at least go with a covered one and mat in front......hmmmm

JaysonFour

Sounds to me like he's just having fun. He's young and doesn't really have an older cat/mama cat around to show him what the litter box is for, and that it's something not to play in. On the other hand, he could be doing it for attention. Cats are attention hogs, and they'll knock stuff over just to get you to pay attention to them.

Asiina

Use less litter, as well. For one cat you don't need nearly that much litter in the box.

Crowleston

BEAST! wrote: »

oh i don't actually have a dog, but i was thinking like this



but yeah, your suggestion looks like it would work

I own this product it is a miracle, though put a "litter trap" rug in front of it and put it in the corner of the room so when he jumps out theres only one place for him to go.

mts

i have the booda dome and actually find it way easier to scoop than the standard type ones, though it could be the liter i use. i like that the curved bottom makes it so things don't stick to the bottom as easily.

that newspaper stuff sucks. we used to use it for very itty bitty orphaned kittens and I hated it. doesn't absorb anything. blech.

i think the easiest solution is to get some sort of cover whether like the lid or half lid. that or stick the entire box into a giant tub with a hole cut in it. but that is essentially acting like a lid.

or get him a cat tree. maybe he is bored and wants to play with something.

as far as neutering goes. you can get them neutered as small as 800g if you have a good doctor. saying he is too young at 4.5 months is a load of tripe.

Bionic Monkey

Why the need to get him neutered so damn young though? Six months is what I've always heard, it's when we got my cat neutered, and coincidentally enough, I just took my six-month-old kitten in this morning to get her spayed.

mts

well they can't be adopted out until they were spayed/neutered so the sooner we could get them done the faster we could adopt them out and make room for more little guys.

it doesn't really affect them either way.

BEAST!

Well for males so they don't start spraying is what I understand. I also read some study recently that showed younger cats recovering much more quickly than older.

Eh....I mainly want to get him neutered for the spraying thing though, I'm gonna be gone around Christmas time so I don't want him to start that while I'm gone since I hear it starts around the 6 month mark.