4 month Kitten dugs out his poop from litter box and plays with it

[macyaji]

I tried to clean his litter box at least 3 times a day and tried to spray him with water but it does not stop him. He would go into his litter box 5 minutes after he poop to dug out his poop and play with it. I am going crazy since I have to constantly clean after his mess and there are no sign of him stopping, this has been going on for 3 weeks now. All advice is appreciated.

 

[susanm9006]

A stage that some kittens go through. I would make sure he has graduated to an adult size litter box with at least three inches of litter, just so it’s a little harder for him to dig it out. And of course, scooping his poop just as soon as you have noticed him going. I would also keep a supply of toys near his litterbox so that they will hopefully distract him from his poop.

No water spraying, he is clueless why that is happening. If you catch him with poop, just take it away from him.

 

[neely]

No water spraying, he is clueless why that is happening.

I completely agree!

TCS has a specific Article about why you should not spray water on a cat:
5 Reasons To Never Spray Water On Your Cat [Or otherwise punish them] – TheCatSite Articles

How many litter boxes do you have for the kitten? He may not like to pee and poop in the same box. Technically you should have one more litter box than the number of cats in your household, e.g. if you have 1 cat you should have 2 litter boxes, 2 cats = 3 litter boxes, and so on. Here's an Article with some helpful information on this subject:
How Many Litterboxes Should You Have? – TheCatSite Articles

 

[Mamanyt1953]

And kittens will play with ANYTHING! Make sure he has plenty of appropriate toys, take the poop away from him, and toss a jingle ball across the room. You will always get farther with cats if you follow a "NOT THIS!" with a "THIS INSTEAD!"

 

[Ardina]

Saipha used to do the same as a kitten! Thankfully she outgrew that habit. In the meantime you can try to outsmart him by putting the litterbox inside a box that's just a little bit bigger so you have a 1-2 inch gap all around the perimeter. Hopefully when he tries to scoop out a piece of poop, it'll fall into that gap between the litterbox and the cardboard box so he can't get it out and play. Worked beautifully for Saipha