Cat Cleaning Behaviours

Hello,

I have a 1.5 year old cat who is showing a few cleaning issues.
When she pees and poops in the litter tray she will scratch the side of the plastic and even the floor outisde the tray but does not seem to be covering over her mess. If there a reason for this or can you suggest a way i can get her to?

Also, usually when i have had cats in the past after they poop and if there is any residual they will clean themselves. Mine has the unusual tendency to scoot on the carpet to wipe her bum. She only does this after going to the toilet and has been treated for parasites etc. so i do not think it is that, is there any way to discourage such behaviour?

Lastly, when a cat has finished eating they usually start to groom straightaway to clean themselves up. Again, my cat just starts playing almost immediately and only really cleans just before she wants to go to bed.

I am just wondering if anyone has advice as to what may be going on and ways to try and teach her better cleaning behaviours?

Many thanks.

"Scooting" is more common in dogs I think, but it happens in cats too. I had one cat that did it long ago when he had worms (tapeworm if I remember). At any rate, anything that irritates his bum can potentially cause the behavior. I'd have him checked by a vet to rule out any issues with the anal glands and discuss what's going on.

As far as not covering, my current cat covers everything. May last cat would cover most of the time and other times he would scratch at the sides of the box and leave his poop uncovered, like yours does. If he left something up top, I would just cover it or scoop it when I noticed it in his box. If memory serves, I've also had a cat long ago that did the same thing only I think he rarely covered. Especially with stinky poop, it would be nice if they regularly covered but honestly, I never thought much about it and just dealt with it. So, I can't really offer any advice on how to remedy it other than making sure the litter is deep enough or trying a different litter. Also making sure the box is large enough and kept scooped. I try and keep at least 4" of litter depth in my cats box even though my current cat isn't at all picky about his box.

My last cat, Oliver was like this. He never covered his poo. He would scratch at the sides of the box and anything close outside the box but never in the box. He also would scoot if he had a cling-on (Oh, I hated this because he would grind it into his fur as well as on the floor). Thankfully this did not happen often.

Theodore digs to China and even with a deep box, he manages to push litter over the side. I use pine pellets and yesterday he got a pellet stuck in his paw. He was working on it and then gave his paw a violent shake which sent it flying like a bullet! It bounced off the wall with quite the speed!

Some cats just don't cover their droppings. Perfectly normal. I have two right now that do exactly what your little one is doing. Scooting is usually a anal gland problem. She may be irritated after eliminating, maybe give her some fiber, like pumpkin puree, (no spices) a tablespoon in her food, or a little of one of those hairball laxatives to help things along. She isn't trying to clean, she has an irritation. Cats are like any other living thing, they are all different and have their own personalities and ways. Most cats clean themselves after eating. I have never had one that cleans after going the bathroom. Maybe a little while later, but not right after. Yours is just too excited to clean, she has too many things to get to! I would just accept her for who she is, and the next time you bring her to the vet, have him check those anal glands! PS I am always glad they use the litter box at all, whether the cover it or not.