8 month kitten refuses to cover poop

[nala19]

Hi forum,

I have only just joined so I'm very sorry if I'm not using this right! We got a beautiful kitten who we named Nala about 7 months ago, when we bought her from the seller we were told she was 8 weeks , had been litter-trained, flead and wormed. As she was bought during lockdown we arranged to see her virtually via a video call and the couple we bought her from told us that they had bought the kitten for themselves and as a result of an ill family member abroad who they had to go and look after, they could no longer keep her, hence we were unable to see the kitten with her mother or siblings as effectively, she had already been bought and taken away from them.

However, when we picked up the kitten she was much tinier than we had thought, she was not litter trained as she failed to cover her poop, as well as the fact that she had diarrhoea! We took her to the vets who told us that unfortunately she had worms and was only 5 weeks old and we realised we had been lied to. As Nala had not been raised by her mother and was taken away at an early age it meant she hadn't actually been taught the correct social skills nor to cover her poop. We tried to teach Nala by taking her paw and covering her poop once she had finished and it seemed she picked this up for a short time. However, she quickly stopped covering it and when we tried to resume teaching her with the same method (as well as a reward of treats) she gets very angry and growls, scratches and bites when we try to put her in the litterbox and gently use her paws to cover it. We have tried multiple types of litterboxes and multiple types of litter - both at the suggestion of our vet. We are considering contacting an animal behaviourist to see if we can get advice on how to effectively train her with her clear attitude of refusing to cover it.

In finding this website, I wanted to post on here to see if anyone could please give any advice before we have to pay to get a consultation from an animal behaviourist! Any advice is greatly appreciated, thank you!

 

[pipperoo]

My cat has never covered her poop. Some cats just don't--it could be a territorial scent-marking behaviour. Many outdoor cats and wild cats don't cover their poop. I think my cat doesn't cover her poop because she is using it as a reminder that she is queen of the castle.

If your cat is otherwise using the litter box appropriately, I would leave her be. You don't want to cause additional anxiety or behavioural problems by trying to teach her something she just isn't into. sure, maybe its because she wasn't around her mom long enough to learn, but at the end of the day, can you live with it? sure.

The only problem with uncovered poop is probably the smell, right? I tend to scoop as soon as I catch a whiff (or I check the litter box when I see my cat do the fast getaway run from the bathroom).

 

[Whenallhellbreakslose]

I have owned a cat who refused to cover his poop. It turned out it was a dominant thing as he was the Alpha male. There are other reason's a cat won't cover there poop. I will attach an article to this post that will hopefully help. Please note that one of the other issues listed is medical, so it is alway good to rule that out first

There is a product called Cat Attract that attracts cats to to go in the litter boxes, perhaps it will get your kitty to dig and bury her poop. There are probably other products on the market that may entice your kitty to dig and bury her poop. I would look into these things as well as other solutions, rather than take your kitty to an Animal Behaviorist which can be expensive.

Since you mention that your kitty was not with her Mom as long as she should have been (shame on the people who adopted her out to you for doing this), please watch out for other behaviors that may stem from this early separation. Suckling on blankets or eating inedible objects which is what kittens/cats suffer from a condition known as Pica do. I rescued a very young kitten from the streets whose mother abandoned her and she developed Pica because of being abandoned so young. My kitty however didn't have any bad bathroom habits.

Well, as promised here is the article. I hope it gives you a better understanding to why your kitten is not covering her poop. Best of luck.

Why Is Your Cat Not Covering His Poop?

Cats may not cover their poop for a few different reasons, including being territorial, sending a message to their owner, and not liking the litter.

www.thesprucepets.com

 

[Talien]

Not covering poop isn't really a big deal unless it's being caused by a medical condition. Some Cats just use the litterbox and walk away without covering anything, one of mine doesn't and it's never been a problem.

If the smell is the issue you could try changing her diet, as the odor mostly comes from junk ingredients in commercial food. Carb heavy foods especially will cause bad odor, while a Cat fed a species appropriate diet will have almost no litterbox odor.

 

[rubysmama]

Hello and welcome to TCS. I'll add to the comments that not covering their poop, unless there's medical reason, isn't something to worry about.

My Ruby girl also doesn't cover her poop. Though to be fair, her instinct is there to try, but all she usually manages to do is scratch at the top of the litter box.

If not being able to immediately scoop after she poops is an issue, you could always look into getting an automatic litter box. Here's a TCS article on How To Choose The Best Automatic Litter Box For Your Cat – TheCatSite Articles

 

[susanm9006]

i Would not force her back in the box but just quietly cover it for her. If you do it enough times she may get the hang of it but maybe never will. Option 2 is just to let it sit there uncovered. Maybe that way the next time she uses It she will cover the first. I would give her at least a month or so before giving up and going with option 3, just scooping it out as soon as you can.

 

[Caspers Human]

i Would not force her back in the box but just quietly cover it for her. If you do it enough times she may get the hang of it but maybe never will.

That’s what I was thinking. Just use your litter scoop to cover her deposit but don’t scoop it out right away. Hopefully, she will get the idea that her deposits are supposed to get covered.

Cats often learn by imitation. If she was taken away from her mother too soon, maybe she didn’t have any other cats to imitate.

If that’s the case, you’ll have to stand in for her mother until she learns.

 

[waddle]

Unfortunately she may never do it. My Sophie is about 12 yrs old. I have to assume she was taught to do it, as she will scratch at the side of the box, the wall, the floor, and everything else except the actual litter. I was hoping she’d learn from my other cats but to this day she still does the same thing and never actually covers it. Thankfully it’s much less smelly now that I’ve switched to better quality food!