Interesting litter box behavior

[burkey]

A few weeks ago, my husband and I adopted two teenage kittens, George & Dory. Dory absolutely adores their litter boxes! She supervises whenever we scoop, and has even done her business on a couple occasions while we're scooping. She happily sings and chirps while she's using the box, every time, without fail. And she has buried toys a few times. All that is fine & dandy (and extremely amusing!), but there is one behavior I'm on the fence about...

Dory follows George and eagerly watches him while he's using the box. Sometimes she'll stand outside the box and peer in, other times she sticks her head & shoulders through the doorway for a closer look, and she's even jumped in and used the box with him on occasion.

So far, George has been completely indifferent about her behavior. He doesn't appear upset or mad, nor does he get silly & playful. He just does his thing, and simply goes on his way without any fanfare on his part.

I have read about cats who can be possessive, even becoming a litter box bully. And that the other cat being bullied will often stop using the box as a result.  I don't think that is what we are seeing, right now. However, I do worry that down the road Dory's behavior could intensify, &/or George may start to resent her always being in his face at that particular time.

Any thoughts? Normal behavior, or something I should discourage? If I should intervene, any suggestions on the proper way to do that? The last thing I want is to create other issues with my involvement. I'm quite content to leave things be, if there's nothing to worry about.

A little background, in case it's pertinent:  
Dory is 6 months old, spayed. George is 7 months old, neutered. We adopted them from a cage-free rescue center where they had several dozen other friends, both kittens & adult cats. Both were found abandoned by themselves when only several weeks old (not at the same time), and have been at the center ever since. So, while not siblings, they've grown up together. They happily play, wrestle, and groom each other, enjoying each others company. But they are not attached at the hip. They don't often sleep/cuddle together, and are just as content to play or explore solo, as they are with each other.  We have two very large litter boxes (high-sided storage bins with a doorway cut out, no lid), in different rooms of the house. Dory adores both boxes/locations.

Thanks in advance for all comments!

 

[smartyfoj]

I have 3 cats and while none of them have ever used a single litter box together all of the cats at one point or another attempt to watch/investigate the other cat using the litter box.  Sometimes after one cat finishes another goes in. As a general rule I try to keep the cat that is watching from bothering the one in the litter box because as you said the last thing anyone wants is litter box avoidance.  If the cat that is watching is getting too close I'll move them away from the box while the cat using the box finishes up. But of course sometimes the cats are left alone and  I trust that having enough litter boxes means that if they feel pressured it'll be okay.  As a general rule many people say to have more than 1 litter box per cat but two is probably fine, for our 3 we have 4 boxes but only two get used on a regular basis.   

However, if Dory jumps into the box with George I would not take her out because I think that would disturb both of them. 

It seems like your cats are doing well!

 

[mservant]

I have heard of other young cats doing this and if you don't feel there is a bullying, harassing overtone I would be inclined to let them be and see how it develops.  Cats are nosy critters and like to know what's going on all the time.  It is most likely Dory will stop the behaviour quite naturally on her own or with a prompt from George if he needs to.  Apart from anything else they will probably get too large to fit in at the same time!

If George doesn't seem to like going to one or both of the trays though, or she starts watching over him when he is heading there then going in right before or after and the atmosphere is a bit tense I would try to put the boxes further apart so they can't both be watched over or prevented access to at the same time and see what happens.

I wouldn't go reaching in, or trying to physically get in their way block one of them getting access to a box though.

 

[burkey]

Thank you both for the replies! For now I'll just keep an eye on things, and intervene only if George starts to show he's getting bothered by her behavior.

 

[betsygee]

We adopted two sibling kittens, age 3 months.  They were inseparable.  They had pretty normal litter box behavior, but sometimes one would be in the litter box and the other would jump in (can't remember which one it was jumping in now).  We'd only had a single cat before that so I'd never seen anything like it and thought it was adorable.  It didn't seem to bother either one and they grew out of the habit fairly quickly.

 

[allenkm]

Having multiple boxes offs the way to go, that way of she does become territorial she can't guard multiple boxes at once. The cats are very cute, thanks for taking them in.