Cat putting toy in litter box?! wth

[brandy-neka]

So last month Neka had a kong misfits toy that essentially has cat nip in it and is very soft but study so she treats it like prey. Of course over several weeks of that the toy got very worn and so i took that one away from her and got her a new one that was the same brand but a different shape...

With the new one the very first night she got it - she put it in her litter box

... since it still looked clean i took it out and more or less just left it on the floor. That was a couple of weeks ago and she's been playing with it fairly often treating it like prey again...

Then tonight I go in there and she has it in her litter box again?!

Now thankfully as far as i could tell it still wasn't around poo and I just changed her litter completely yesterday (she's just about done with antibiotics for giardia so really don't want her around her poo!) I was thinking of throwing it away but I looked at it all over and smelled it and it seemed fine so i gave it back to her.. She played with it a bit and then when I went back into that room she had one of the legs in her water bowl... I took it out of the bowl and shook it out and put it near her food dish... Later i went back in there and she was playing with it in her cat tree again...

What I want to know is why is she doing this? I'm confused..

 

[minka]

Sounds like she wants it to smell like herself. It currently smells funky, like shelf and pet store and who knows what else and she'd rather it smell like cat.

 

[cat person]

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

So last month Neka had a kong misfits toy that essentially has cat nip in it and is very soft but study so she treats it like prey. Of course over several weeks of that the toy got very worn and so i took that one away from her and got her a new one that was the same brand but a different shape...

That is a very wise decision. Since Savannah cats are VERY hard on toys. Plus any small pieces could be ingested at any point. Like I have said before, this breed is prone to having pica issues.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

With the new one the very first night she got it - she put it in her litter box

...

My F3 Savannah does that constantly. He only does that with items (his toys or my "stuff") that he really likes. He has not outgrown this habit. It also has not improved with age. In fact, anything I own and he likes that goes missing, is found in the litter box

.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

since it still looked clean i took it out and more or less just left it on the floor. That was a couple of weeks ago and she's been playing with it fairly often treating it like prey again...

This breed of cat gets "bored" easily with toys. So I have found rotating different toys helps with that a lot. So your cat likely "decided" to play with the toy again.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

Then tonight I go in there and she has it in her litter box again?!

In my experience this is completely normal behavior for this type of cat, sorry to say.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

She played with it a bit and then when I went back into that room she had one of the legs in her water bowl... I took it out of the bowl and shook it out and put it near her food dish... Later i went back in there and she was playing with it in her cat tree again...

My Savannah is always putting things into his water dish. His favorite toys are always put either in the litter box or water dish

. I

why, but they seem to do that

.

Originally Posted by Brandy-Neka

What I want to know is why is she doing this? I'm confused..

Part of the wild cat in them causes them to do that. Pure Servals often hide toys, food, and anything else they want in there in litter boxes or dirt. So I am guessing that is where it comes from with the Savannah. Servals also LOVE to play in water

, so that is where the toys and water in the Savannah came from as well.

I am sorry to say, I am not sure much can be done for it. It seems to be a quirk of the breed.

Originally Posted by Minka

Sounds like she wants it to smell like herself. It currently smells funky, like shelf and pet store and who knows what else and she'd rather it smell like cat.

Maybe who knows

.