Kitten Plays in her litter..

[OUpearlgirl]

I got a new kitten, Pearls, in March and she is such a doll.. But she loves to get into things she shouldn''t. Lately she has been playing in her litter box when she isn''t using it. Not only is the sound irritating when she goes at it for 20 minutes, she is starting to kick poop and litter onto the floor. It is gross! How do I get her to stop?

Oh, and here''s a funny picture of my little babe after she fell into the toilet. She can be quite a naughty girl!

 

[Octavia]

I don't have any advice, but that photo is so hilarious! We just got a kitty recently and he can be kind of bad, too -- he'd much rather drink from the toilet if we leave the seat up, or from dirty dishes if we leave them in the sink, than from his own dish -- so I'm just waiting to get a photo like yours! As far as his litterbox goes, he doesn't play in it for fun but I swear he sharpens his claws on the plastic. He refuses to use his scratching post (despite/because he knows we want him to) but he'll scratch around for 5 minutes in the litter box after he goes. Luckily everything stays inside. Cats are just really weird creatures, and if you can't break Pearls of her habit you might have to invest in one of the boxes with a swinging door, or one she enters from the top instead of the side. Do you have a mat in front to catch the bulk of the litter? Our kitty still tracks litter everywhere, but it's not nearly as bad as it was before I put one of those specially-designed mats under the box.

 

[VRBeauty]

What a cute cat! My Maya is also an all-black kittie, but she''s many times Pearls'' size by now.

Ditto Octavia''s suggestion re an enclosed litter box. Also -- I haven''t tried one of these, but I''m considering it for other reasons -- how about one an automatic, self-cleaning litter box? I think the cat playing in the box might trigger the cleaning action, which might be disruptive enough to discourage playing. If not, at least she''ll be cleaning with clean litter!

 

[VRBeauty]

Date: 5/3/2008 9:00:24 PM
Author: MINIMS
Also -- I haven''t tried one of these, but I''m considering it for other reasons -- how about one an automatic, self-cleaning litter box? I think the cat playing in the box might trigger the cleaning action, which might be disruptive enough to discourage playing. If not, at least she''ll be cleaning with clean litter!

You know what I meant!

 

[moremoremore]

Blllaaccckkk kittteeennnnnnnnnnn yyyyuuuummmmyyyyyyyy! My favorite! What a beautiful beastie! She probably just doesn''t "get it" quite yet that it''s for pooping, not playing...I think she''ll grow out of it. I might not clean it so frequently (not to the point that it''s cruel) so that she might start to understand it''s not a fun place....I catch mine playing in the litter she kicks out every now and then...it''s a natural instinct....I think I saw on TV that wild cats roll around in the dirt all the time like that to clean? cool off? dunno...But Head Bonks!

 

[allikatac]

What an adorable pic! We had this problem with our cat when we got her as well. She would take all of her toys in with her and bury them in the litter. It was so disgusting to me, but she sure did have a blast. I must have thrown away most of her toys at one point. Octavia mentioned the cat mat and the swinging door and we got both of those, which did help some. She ended up out growing the toy habit(thank goodness!), but I do catch her every so often playing in it when it has just been cleaned. Hopefully she will out grow the behavior soon. Good luck!

 

[brazen_irish_hussy]

One of our used to do that, we got a covered litterbox and that seems to fix the problem.
When we raised orphan kittens, they did it for a little while and then grew out of it, so while I recommend covered litter boxes because they smell better, you baby will probably grew out of it.

I love the pic. The kittens would have squirmed too much after their baths to get any pictures, but yours looks so even tempered.

 

[Lorelei]

Date: 5/3/2008 10:02:42 PM
Author: moremoremore
Blllaaccckkk kittteeennnnnnnnnnn yyyyuuuummmmyyyyyyyy! My favorite! What a beautiful beastie! She probably just doesn''t ''get it'' quite yet that it''s for pooping, not playing...I think she''ll grow out of it. I might not clean it so frequently (not to the point that it''s cruel) so that she might start to understand it''s not a fun place....I catch mine playing in the litter she kicks out every now and then...it''s a natural instinct....I think I saw on TV that wild cats roll around in the dirt all the time like that to clean? cool off? dunno...But Head Bonks!

LOL!!! Moresie hit the nail on the head, I have had kitties who have done this, and one that even used to nap in the litter when he was tiny!!!

I think in time, she will grow out of it!

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Thank you so much ladies! I will definitely try a covered litter box.. Silly me, I hadn''t thought of that yet!

And thank you for all the compliments.. I think she''s quite adorable myself. I''ll give you one more wet cat picture for giggles.

 

[Deelight]

OMG she is just so beautiful, I am giggling my socks off here I love fluffy kitties when they get wet they kinda look scrawny and pathetic.

One of our cats loves to dig to china each time he uses the litter box so what my BF did was make a custom kitty box for them . Essentially we have an oversized kitty litter box inside one of those lidded large plastic crate storage boxes you can buy at a cheappie shop (ours has wheels), all you need to do is cut open a hole up hear the top so the kitty can jump in and out of it and have a rubber mat on the outside to help with the tracking - this has been a saviour for us and heaps cheaper and better then a covered litter box .

They do grow out of the obsessive digging thing somewhat but they always do it

 

[Steel]

For our eldest cat (boy):

Kitty litter = for potty, get in and out as quickly as possible

For our Mitten (girl):

Kitty litter = potty (I suppose

), scratching in, digging in, an activity play centre and personal kitty challenge - how far can I treck my kitty litter & poo(

) outside the tray today!

I wonder, do boy cats want to get in and out, but girly cats like to spend time in the loo. Thank God litter trays do not come with a vanity mirror

.

PS. Re the travelling poop and kitty litter get a covered litter tray with cat flap for entry. It hides nasty whiffs too!

 

[CrookedRock]

Why don''t you just train her to use the toilet instead of swim in it? LOL It''s not as hard as it sounds... I''ve done it twice now~

 

[CrookedRock]

I''ve written about this before... This, a lil patience, and a spare bathroom is all you need!
How old is your kitty SDL? I think the younger they are the earies it tis, but it can be done with older cats, I think it just takes longer...

 

[CrookedRock]

Well, the young one would be easy but the problem is that if you can''t train the older one you will still have a litter box and Bailey would be tempted to use it... Do the think the older one can change her ways?

 

[OUpearlgirl]

Date: 5/5/2008 1:23:20 PM
Author: CrookedRock
Why don''t you just train her to use the toilet instead of swim in it? LOL It''s not as hard as it sounds... I''ve done it twice now~

Haha she only swam in it once.. and we made sure it didn''t happen again. Unfortunately, I''m in college and don''t know if I have the time to do that on top of everything else. I''m fine with litter, and there has been no poop on the laundry room floor since I got her a covered litter box! Yay!!

 

[moremoremore]

LMAO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! SOOOOO SWEEETTTT I just got a cavity!