Adult cat playing in litter box

angela638x

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My 11 yo female tuxedo has recently taken to playing in her litter box. She will use the litter box (large front-entry, covered, lined) as normal, then a few minutes stick her head in and scratch around, then get all the way back in and scratch around, then get back out. When actually using the litter box she seems to like to scratch the sides/liner a lot (it's the Modkat tarp-y like liner) and has shredded the edges quite a bit (I think to her satisfaction).

This is a recent behavior. She eats, drinks and plays normally. Nothing about her pee/poop looks abnormal and she isn't crying or meowing while using it.

Any thoughts? Is she just playing? She has always been a rambunctious cat that loves to roll around, go out on the patio to look at birds and squirrels and scratch at every nice fabric (of course).
 

Beholder

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My cat Po started doing this in the past year. He'll jump in and out of litter boxes around the house, running back and forth between them. Many times he'll scratch around in there as well, but not actually use them. He has many ways of showing me that he wants to be played with more, and I think this is one of them. My kitten Goose does this same behavior, but it's relatively common in kittens. If your cat has no urine/stool issues and you don't witness things like laying in the litter box for periods of time I wouldn't worry much. Especially with an older female there will always be the possibility of a UTI, but what she's doing doesn't really sound like UTI behavior to me. If you have a vet that will take phone consultations it might not hurt to ask though.
 

susanm9006

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At her age I would probably want a vet check to make sure she doesn’t have a urinary tract infection or nothing else on the medical side. Some times cats with a mild one or even diabetes will hang around or in their litter box.
 

crouton

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Does she have gas? See my thread for my cat who rolls around in litter boxes for a good time haha she’s a tuxie too.

Anyway one of my other cats hops around the house in every box when he has gas, doesn’t use the boxes but just spins around and hops back and forth sometimes digging a hole. Then we see him turn around and sniff the air and make a face 🤭
 
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