Kittens wiping paws on walls and other issues

moxiewild

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I have (at least) 3 out of 7 of our foster kittens who wipe their paws on the wall when in the litter box.

We use very tall, XL litterboxes, and they will stretch and climb over the edge to do this. They do it regardless of littler level, too.

Some of those same kittens also insist on using toys/blankets/bedding to bury their cat biz, food, and water bowls (they’ve done it since 8 weeks old, they’re about 6 months now).

I am fully aware of why they are doing what they’re doing, there’s never been a question about that.

But I am struggling for solutions and trying to find alternatives that I can offer their future families.

We could always use corrugated plastic sheeting for the paw wiping, and there are other options I can also think of, but all are major eyesores that most adopters are not going to be fans of.

Has anyone else had an issue with this? Is a covered litter box the only practical solution here?

For the second issue, I am just at a loss of what we can do. I can deal with constantly disinfecting toys and bedding that ends up in the litterbox (although adopters are likely to feel differently), but the food and water bowls are harder.

They often bury the food to where the other kittens can’t access it, or don’t realize they can.

And once a toy or blanket is in the water bowl, the dye nearly always bleeds into the water, and then cats drink out of it... I have tried and tried and tried to find toys where the dye won’t bleed but I swear it happens with nearly all of them.

I also try to put out a ton of different water bowls out so that if one bowl has a toy or blanket in it, the cats have others to choose from - but they often will still choose the “buried” bowl! I also try to check frequently so I can wash and refill these bowls, but I can’t do that every couple of hours, and I can’t ask an adopters to either.

I’m just kind of stuck about how to address these issues in a practical way.
 

Furballsmom

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They do it regardless of littler level, too.
Have you tried different litter?

the dye nearly always bleeds into the water,
Since the toys are getting dunked anyway, can you soak them until the dye doesn't bleed anymore?

they’re about 6 months now).
Can you separate the food, water litter and toys more?

I am fully aware of why they are doing what they’re doing
I'm not clear why they're dong this?
 

Jcatbird

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Typical behavior that is reminiscent of feral instincts. Extra attempt to cover up or clean paws.
Have you tried mutiple litter boxes? A lidded box would be a help. I assume a low sided box results in the same issues. Have you tried putting a scratching post near the box? Shredded paper or straw on top of the litter helped here. Might satisfy them. Mine finally stopped.
Dunking toys is like soaking or drowning prey or perhaps trying to add or remove scents. I’ve had a lot of dripping wet toy mice here. My part Bengals do that. I often wash their fur toys or give them plastic toys that won’t bleed. Balls mostly. Another solution is toys that are attached to things like scratching posts. Have you seen the mouse they chase that is under the edge of a mat and attached. A toy too large to dunk works too.
 
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moxiewild

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Have you tried different litter?


Since the toys are getting dunked anyway, can you soak them until the dye doesn't bleed anymore?


Can you separate the food, water litter and toys more?


I'm not clear why they're dong this?
We’ve tried about 5 different litters.

My initial thought was to dunk them until they stop bleeding, but it doesn’t seem to work well for toys with fabric, although some of it might be from catnip inside the toys too. Plus, I am still concerned about them ingesting any other chemicals I can’t see too. Maybe I’m just paranoid, though.

Food, water, and boxes are all very separated.

They’re doing it out of natural instinct, to bury anything that could lead a predator to them. Toys and bedding are all they have around them that they can maneuver in order to do that, since there’s no dirt around the bowls.

Mom was feral, so they may have picked it up from her too.
 
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moxiewild

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Typical behavior that is reminiscent of feral instincts. Extra attempt to cover up or clean paws.
Have you tried mutiple litter boxes? A lidded box would be a help. I assume a low sided box results in the same issues. Have you tried putting a scratching post near the box? Shredded paper or straw on top of the litter helped here. Might satisfy them. Mine finally stopped.
Dunking toys is like soaking or drowning prey or perhaps trying to add or remove scents. I’ve had a lot of dripping wet toy mice here. My part Bengals do that. I often wash their fur toys or give them plastic toys that won’t bleed. Balls mostly. Another solution is toys that are attached to things like scratching posts. Have you seen the mouse they chase that is under the edge of a mat and attached. A toy too large to dunk works too.
We have soooooo many litterboxes and scoop 2x/day. A covered litterbox works, but out main issue is that we have a very old, blind cat with dementia who finds himself stuck in covered boxes, so we avoid them entirely. This will work for an adopter though! I’m just wondering if there’s a way to sort of train it out of them or divert their attention.

They go crazy about burying in the box. They go nuts in the box digging litter, then wipe paws on the wall, then step out or half way out of the box to dig at the floor for another minute. For boxes with a puppy pad in front for our cats with litterbox issues, they’ll pull the pad inside the box too.

I haven’t tried a scratcher near the boxes, but I’ll see if that maybe helps to “scratch the itch” for them!

I feel like shredded paper or stray would end up pretty messy?

We’ve had plastic toys bleed too! They eventually stop but I’m just so afraid about other chemicals leeching into the water that I can’t see.

We’ve also given them larger dog toys. They have some automatic toys, and we have a toy attached to a scratching post too. But they’re kittens, they enjoy a lotttt of toys. We have other cats who enjoy those toys too :/

I’m really hoping they’ll grow out of it, but I’m not overly familiar with kittens and how much they change as they grow up.
 

Furballsmom

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I'm wondering if you could eliminate the ones that the dye is coming off of (because I think you're right to be concerned about chemicals) and try obtaining their toys from elsewhere? I've not had trouble with Poppycats toys' dye coming off.

Can you try things like pingpong balls, plastic bottle caps, mashed/rolled up aluminum balls, empty cardboard tubes from tp, --try odd things like a tent peg, that sort of thing or Ethical Spring coils? Supervise with things til you are comfortable they'll be ok with whatever...

Here's a selection of articles on her website;
http://www.kittenlady.org/search?q=Toys

Homemade Puzzles - Food Puzzles for Cats

Top 10 Fun DIY Cat Toys - Top Inspired

4 Do-It-Yourself Cat Toys You Can Make for Cheap | Catster

These are from @helenww
15 Easy DIY Cat Toys You Can Make for Your Kitty TODAY!

The 10 Best Homemade Cat Toys Your Cat Will Love
 
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susanm9006

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You could try purchasing a washer liner. They are about 30 x 30, cost around $20 with a small lip around and they do a great job of containing litter. Then if you move the box to the center and position it so they cat reach a wall to scratch it should both cleanliness and breaking the wall scratching habit.
 

kittenmittens84

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My cat dunks his toys in his water bowl and after a while I just put away any toys that couldn’t withstand getting soaked. He has springs, bottle caps and crinkle balls out and when we play with the fuzzy rabbit fur balls I put them away after so they don’t get soggy.
 
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