Does your cat use the litter box when you clean it?

[cat.ling]

Beau follows me around in general, and he's always there trying to see what I'm doing when I clean his litter box. I clean it at least once a day at night, and without fail he will use the litter box when he sees me messing with it. Is this something most cats do? Sometimes I get tired of waiting for him to use it first so I take him to the box at night and let him use it first.

He has 2 boxes, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs, and sometimes, he'll pee in the first one I go to clean and then poop in the other when I get there to clean that one.

But he poops and pees in both any other time of day.

 

[lunalover]

Luna does this! When she sees I'm cleaning the litter box she starts hovering around me, and then once I've put the new litter in, she jumps in and starts digging around (even if I haven't got it all in yet and I'm still pouring it in) and will do some business.

Without fail, every single time she'll use it right after I change it - even if she's used it just before I change it.

 

[lil maggie]

Maggie will sit ring side and watch to make sure I'm scooping ALL the poopies out but when I change the litter completely, she has to christen it immediately

 

[labyrinth]

Our kitten usually jumps in and uses it either as he sees me heading towards it to clean it, or AS I'm cleaning it

Last time I did a full litter swap, I guess he didn't want to wait on me to finish... So he peed on the bag of dirty litter sitting on the floor that I'd just taken out of the box

 

[GoldyCat]

I always have at least one supervisor on the kitty litter patrol. Then at least one or two of them have to christen it as soon as I finish scooping. Tonight they were actually waiting in line.

The last time I changed out the litter, Shareena hopped into the tub of clean litter and used it before I ever got it into the litter box.

 

[cheylink]

Oh yeah, it's a kitty thing! An oxymoron in a way, they don't like dirty litter boxes, but as soon as you clean it they have to reestablish their territory and mark it

silly kitties!

 

[tara g]

We have 2 litter boxes as well (although Katina stopped using it once we got Nero, then he used both, now he shares with Hoshi).

Nero totally follows Rob around when he's cleaning the box. He'll hear the litter being scooped, and he flies in the room like a rocket, waits til Rob moves and has the box clean, then poops or pees (I think he segregates which box he does what in most of the time

) Then give it 5 minutes, til Rob gets the other one clean, and he's in there pooping too.

 

[trouts mom]

If I overhaul it... in clean it all out and wash and re fill with fresh litter...Trout will jump in asap.

 

[cat.ling]

Originally Posted by Labyrinth

Our kitten usually jumps in and uses it either as he sees me heading towards it to clean it, or AS I'm cleaning it

This is pretty much what Beau does. I guess I'm lucky that he goes before I have the litter completely clean.

 

[ckblv]

Originally Posted by Labyrinth

Our kitten usually jumps in and uses it either as he sees me heading towards it to clean it, or AS I'm cleaning it

Last time I did a full litter swap, I guess he didn't want to wait on me to finish... So he peed on the bag of dirty litter sitting on the floor that I'd just taken out of the box

That is hilarious, he didn't want to let go of his dirty litter.

 

[grogs]

My Thufir likes to jump in one of the boxes and pee when I take the lids off to scoop out the boxes. I'm really glad that he does because it made it much easier to diagnose the problem when he got crystals in his urine. I knew he had been feeling bad that day, but it wasn't until he jumped in the box and couldn't pee despite a lot of straining that I realized what the problem was.

 

[jennyr]

It can be infuriating for us, but it is normal behaviour. Often it is the alpha cat who marks the litter first, to claim ownership. And after all, don't YOU like to use a clean toilet rather than an unflushed one! Cats are very fussy and clean animals.

 

[kittieshasme]

Anna will pee in a box as soon as I finish scooping. Both her and Eli will use the boxes right after I scrub out the boxes and put in new litter. It doesn't bother me, that's what the boxes are for afterall.

 

[valanhb]

Oh yes, one of them always has to use it right after it's scooped. It varies day to day who it is, though Mojo does get the honors more often than the others. That's because she is obsessed with the litterbox. If she could keep the other out of her litterboxes (that's all of them) she probably would.

And she also thinks that the pouring of new litter = playtime in the sandbox. She doesn't play with the litter once it's dirty, but when it's being poured it's fair game!

I also found out the hard way that I have to keep her out of the room when the litter is being completely changed. The first time I did this, she got mad that I was messing with HER litterbox and peed on the floor where the box was supposed to be.

Never before or after did she pee on the floor, and it was just a little bit, so I'm sure it was to show her displeasure with my messing with her litter.

 

[binkyhoo]

Allways. Ask any cat there is nothing better than a clean litter box....for 4 minutes.

 

[ilovemyhades]

Yes Hades does this whenever I clean out his litter box! Whenever my husband cleans it he waits a while and then goes in, lol.

 

[majormom]

LOL..Both of my cats do this also..as i am cleaning they both get in at the same time and do their business..i have two litters also and they do the same thing when i move to he next one to clean it. It's like they only go half way in the first one and then finish off in the second one..they are too funny.

 

[sakura]

Henry always jumps in and uses it while I scoop.

Chloe frequently goes after, but she waits a few seconds at least.

 

[merindah]

Libby uses the box after I scoop it as well. Guess it's in their blood.

 

[cruisermaiden]

With my boys, it seems one of them always wants to go right when I decide to change it, and the other will use it immediately once it is cleaned.

I even have to be careful setting down the empty box to add the new litter or one of them will pee on the bottom of the box!