Litter box behaviour--is this normal?

[profdanglais]

Hester (11 weeks) has always used her litter tray, ever since we brought her home 2.5 weeks ago. However recently I have noticed that she does a lot of digging in the box, kicking a lot of litter out in the process. She seems to like to dig herself a hole to go in, and after she poos, she scatters it around the box and tries to bury it as deeply as she can. I don't really mind her doing any of this, the issues are really 1) she plays with the bits of litter outside the box and I suspect her of eating them, and 2) whenever I approach the box, either to clean it or to sweep up the scattered litter, she hovers around, poking her nose into the box. She almost seems upset that I'm taking her poo away. Is this normal behaviour, and if not, what should I do about it? 

We use Catsan litter, because that was what Hester's mother's owner used, and we have a kitten-size box, uncovered. 

 

[jcat]

It's very normal behavior for an11-week-old kitten. Most of the young kittens at our shelter play in and around the litter box, and many of them climb in and "help" you scoop. She'll become neater once she's a bit older.

What's concerning is that you think she might be eating litter. Is it the Catsan clumping or non-clumping? The former could cause major problems in her digestive tract. If she's sampling litter, it would be best to use non-clumping till she's older.

 

[kittensncoffee]

My kittens do the exact same thing. Kittens are crazy, that's just their repertoire. I use my hard floor setting on my vacuum and clean it up every day. We use blue buffalo walnut litter-the multi cat type. It's working for us plus I feel ok about it just in case the kitties are licking it or whatever.

 

[tabbytom]

My seven month old kitten does exactly the same thing when he was younger around 2-4 months old. When he is in the box, he'll eat some litter and when he gets out, litter will follow him out and they scatter all over the floor and he'll chase the rolling litter. He's using clumping litter.
Every time I clean out his litter box, he'll follow the scoop from outside the box as he is using a transparent box and after a few scoop, he'll jump in and chase the scoop.
After he was neutered some 3 weeks ago, he seems to be not interested when i'm scooping the box now. Although he still chases the litter when they roll on the floor but he Nvr eats them anymore.
My boy is a digger. Every time he used the litter box, he'll dig his way to China, lol

 

[profdanglais]

Thanks for the replies! Maybe she's "helping" me clean, rather than getting upset about it. The Catsan that we use is the Hygiene Litter, it's non-clumping, made of sand and chalk. If she does eat it, it's no more than one small piece a day, and I'm not sure she is eating it, she may just be playing. I just don't want it to damage her throat or her bowels. She seems normal though, poos regularly with no blood in the stool. I guess I'll just keep sweeping up the litter and wait for her to grow out of it. Thanks again!