Kitten Won’t Stop Playing In Litter Box!

Hi all, we have a 5 month old adorable little kitty named Pepper. We adopted him at 8 weeks old and from day 1 he’s been completely obsessed with the litter box! He plays in it, digs in it, tosses the litter out on the floor in excessive amounts, rolls in it, and will even lay down in the litter box for a nap unless I shoo him out!

I assumed this was just a phase he would grow out of and I’ve tried to wait it out, but it’s been happening since the day we brought him home, and it’s only gotten worse 3 months later. I got a litter mat to put under the litter box to reduce the litter being tracked all through the house and it has helped some, but he still makes a huge mess. Even if I change the litter box and vacuum up all the spilled litter in the evening, by the next morning there are usually huge piles of litter all over the floor again (and sometimes other things get tossed out on the floor along with the litter - yuck!). We love Pepper to pieces, but I’m getting frustrated with this behavior and my husband is getting really fed up as well.

Any thoughts on how I can stop Pepper’s litter box obsession? Is it still possible this is something he’ll grow out of, even though it’s been going on for some time? Any ideas for temporary solutions to avoid the constant mess? Some articles I’ve read have suggested getting a closed litter box, but others say closed litter boxes are bad. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for any advice/insight!

Hi! can you try a different litter? pellet litter may help.
One of the problems with closed litter boxes is that the ammonia from the urine can build up, so if you did this you'd probably want to clean it frequently. It might work, but it seems like he may just sleep in there anyway so I'm thinking a litter change might be the thing to try. Best of luck - let us know how things go

Also, a possibility might be to try a second or even third box - it might help re-wire his little brain to have choices

I have one that even now at 3 will do this if there is ever clay litter in my boxes. I normally always use a grass based litter, crystals, or littermaid walnut. He will not do it with any of those, only if there is a clay litter. So that would be my first suggestion, try some other litters?

Obviously you don't want to do anything that might cause him to fear the litter box, which could start litter box avoidance issues. So I'm not sure what to suggest. Maybe instead of a covered litter box, get one with higher sides?

The topic has come up before at TCS. Here are a couple older threads that might have some suggestions for you:

3-5 month old cat "plays" in litter box how to stop it!
Kitten playing in litter box