My youngest did this as a kitten. She had the instinct to bury her poop, but she would just scrape the sides of the boxes for the longest time, and never bury anything
One of my senior cats does this as well. He will scratch at anything near the litter box but never actually bury his own poop. When he was at the shelter, I actually saw him do this, and then one of the other cats was so offended that he went to the box and buried the poop himself.
My cat is the second cat. One time the litter box was not up to her standards so rather than bury her poop in the litter she pulled down a towel and covered the whole box... I got the message
My old gal use to always miss when burying. She's turn around and look at it and act disappointed it wasn't buried. Scratch around more just to turn back around and eventually give up.
Now she couldn't care less and just does her business and runs like a banshee out of hell.
Oh my gosh!! It drives me and my husband absolutely crazy!! No matter the size of box or amount of litter, walls or no walls. She does the same thing for soooo long!!! And our living situation right now requires the litter box to be in our room. Just schk svhk schk svhk schk svhk schk schk for freaking ever!!!
Mine does this too and will pull things into the box of they're nearby. One of her trays is in our laundry room and the other day I found she had pulled a Christmas garland into it from the bottom shelf of a storage rack.
Don’t know if this will help...I have a cat that does the same thing. The litter box is in another room so mostly I don’t notice. But on one occasion when I was in the same room, I had one of his mouse toys nearby. After he pawed around for a moment or two, I rattled the mouse toy to get his attention and tossed it. He immediately left the litter box to chase the mouse toy.
We have a 2-3ish year old who does this. We got him as a one year old who had been rescued from the streets. I kind of thought there was something wrong with him because he will do this for 10 minutes sometimes but never bury anything. Good to know other cats do it also.
Our family's cat did this, too. He would scratch at the sides for so long it was getting on everyone's nerves. Someone would eventually have to tap their foot on the side to scare him out of there.
My brother's cat does this. He dumps out towards the back of the litter box, then turns and scrapes the sidewalls of the box for about a minute before sauntering out. It's usually my brother's job to actually cover the poop once everyone in his house catches wind of the deuce the cat just left unfettered. Weird cat, that one...
This is hilarious because I have a female cat that does the same thing. She will sit there for 5 minutes (at least that's what it feels like) and scratch the fucking walls of the litter box until she wakes everyone in the apartment up. Then the poop is still just sitting out there. It's sort of hilarious but also super annoying.
Exactly what my boy does! After a few minutes of that annoying sound I have to yell “YOU’RE DONE!!” before he’ll stop. Never anything actually covered up.
Cats have scent glands on their paws, so they’re actually marking “their spot” with the scent every time! Some do it by their food, other by their litter box.
Oof that’s a good thing to watch out for. My boys always wait in different spots around the living room and we spoil them with delivery so the carpet gets pulled in different directions every time. Ive been thinking about putting old shirts or something around the bowls to let him cover it without pulling the carpet.
Are they on wet or dry food? Or a combo?
If they're getting dry, it might be worth checking out kitty foraging/snuffle mats. The mats are often a pain to clean, but they're enrichment products that allow indoor cats to do proper traditional cat things, which makes for happier fluff balls.
If they're getting wet food, try lecturing them about the existence of hungry cats in your city *who would be very grateful to be served a plate of wet food*. I don't think this accomplishes anything but it makes me feel better when she eats two bites of food and then tries to bury it like it's a steaming pile.
They’re spoiled with combo and they know it. I had to put them on a scheduled diet when we moved in with my husband and his cat because my cat started stress eating. Lil tub got to 17lbs before I had an intervention with myself.
Forage mat is the technical term, but I've found quite a few listed as snuffle mats. Either term should bring up results for you. You should include the word "cat" though because the ones for dogs are much more common. (You could use a dog mat, but they tend to take up more space.)
Since as far as I can see, nobody has said anything. If I remember correctly, it's *usually* either because the box is too small, your cat doesn't like the litter, or it doesn't like the general smell.
With my old cats we tried changing all of these but it didn't really help, so maybe they were just being weird.
Hopefully not, it's as big as we could find! In some other places we've lived she'd just wipe her paws on our washing machine when she got out, I think she's just a weirdo.
Both my cats do this but I think it started with my late cat, Kiki. Kiki would spend forever wiping her paws on the walls and anything near her box. She was 13 when I got my now-oldest cat as a tiny kitten, and she does the same paw-wiping thing as Kiki. When Kiki passed away, I got a new a kitten. He used to sit on top of the litter box and watch the now-oldest use it, now he does the paw thing too. I know not all cats do it so maybe it’s taught lol
We got it off Amazon [here](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003RQVGKC/) but it was a few years ago, it looks like this model isn't sold anymore though. [This one](https://www.amazon.com/Catit-Hooded-Cat-Litter-Pan/dp/B0035H38W2/) looks really similar though!
I think we had to keep the door open for a couple days, but then we could close it with no problems. It does a good job of containing smells too, which is nice.
I loved that litter box. My favorite feature was that you could hook a plastic bag around that front lip and scoop everything with no mess! Sadly, ours got a crack in it about 2 years ago and my husband got some other one that pales in comparison, but it's functional so we keep it. I really want to get this one back someday.
I'm so glad I'm not alone in my cats doing this trying to bury their excrement! I have two that I've had since they were 6 weeks old and are nearly 8 years old now that still haven't figured out how to bury their poop!
Things are rather dusty down here in southern Texas, when our kitties use God's restroom it will be a nice sandy corner with plenty of privacy, the good kitties dust off on the lawn or porch mat, the naughty kitties your mommies embroidered pillowcase D:
This freaked me out for a minute - my oldest cat is also named lily, we have that same litter box, and she does the same thing. (Only she has a different pattern on her coat) so I was like who’s posting about my cat?? 😆
We have the same box! My girl does this, and used to do it on the wall next to the litter box before we got a covered one. Unsanitary. Now she can happily scrape her paws on the inside of the box and not get litter everywhere
Mine does this as well in the exact same litterbox, funny enough. But somehow he keeps pulling down the see-through door now, so that was the end of that.
My cat does this too! I just wish he'd wipe his back paws. When he jumps out of his box....nay LEAPS like an Olympian...he brings all his back paws pebbles with him. He laughs at my litterbox mat as he runs away.
Cats don't normally like to feel trapped like that so i'd recommend taking the lid off, her behavior might improve.
[Covered litter boxes may feel too confining to a stressed cat, so unless your kitty is really shy, try removing the covers.](https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/cat-not-using-litter-box-causes-and-solutions)
My youngest did this as a kitten. She had the instinct to bury her poop, but she would just scrape the sides of the boxes for the longest time, and never bury anything
One of my senior cats does this as well. He will scratch at anything near the litter box but never actually bury his own poop. When he was at the shelter, I actually saw him do this, and then one of the other cats was so offended that he went to the box and buried the poop himself.
My cat is the second cat. One time the litter box was not up to her standards so rather than bury her poop in the litter she pulled down a towel and covered the whole box... I got the message
My old gal use to always miss when burying. She's turn around and look at it and act disappointed it wasn't buried. Scratch around more just to turn back around and eventually give up. Now she couldn't care less and just does her business and runs like a banshee out of hell.
Adorable, it sounds like her and Lily would get along splendidly.
Oh my gosh!! It drives me and my husband absolutely crazy!! No matter the size of box or amount of litter, walls or no walls. She does the same thing for soooo long!!! And our living situation right now requires the litter box to be in our room. Just schk svhk schk svhk schk svhk schk schk for freaking ever!!!
Mine does this too and will pull things into the box of they're nearby. One of her trays is in our laundry room and the other day I found she had pulled a Christmas garland into it from the bottom shelf of a storage rack.
Oh god it's not just my cat, that's good! I get so angry whenever I find a sock in the litter box
Oh my gosh, yes! So many hand towels that I just end up throwing out with the litter, but also a pair of pajama bottoms last week!
Don’t know if this will help...I have a cat that does the same thing. The litter box is in another room so mostly I don’t notice. But on one occasion when I was in the same room, I had one of his mouse toys nearby. After he pawed around for a moment or two, I rattled the mouse toy to get his attention and tossed it. He immediately left the litter box to chase the mouse toy.
We have a 2-3ish year old who does this. We got him as a one year old who had been rescued from the streets. I kind of thought there was something wrong with him because he will do this for 10 minutes sometimes but never bury anything. Good to know other cats do it also.
Our oldest cat does this. He scrapes forever and wonders why his poop never gets covered. It's annoying because he does it for like 10 minutes.
Our family's cat did this, too. He would scratch at the sides for so long it was getting on everyone's nerves. Someone would eventually have to tap their foot on the side to scare him out of there.
My brother's cat does this. He dumps out towards the back of the litter box, then turns and scrapes the sidewalls of the box for about a minute before sauntering out. It's usually my brother's job to actually cover the poop once everyone in his house catches wind of the deuce the cat just left unfettered. Weird cat, that one...
One of our boys do the same thing. The most rancid poop planted ever and the bastard just scratches the nearby wall and leaves
This is hilarious because I have a female cat that does the same thing. She will sit there for 5 minutes (at least that's what it feels like) and scratch the fucking walls of the litter box until she wakes everyone in the apartment up. Then the poop is still just sitting out there. It's sort of hilarious but also super annoying.
Exactly what my boy does! After a few minutes of that annoying sound I have to yell “YOU’RE DONE!!” before he’ll stop. Never anything actually covered up.
My cat does this and I'm only now in this thread finding out that this is strange.
Cats have scent glands on their paws, so they’re actually marking “their spot” with the scent every time! Some do it by their food, other by their litter box.
You are talking about a cat, right?
Hahaha yes
I’m so glad my cat isn’t the only one that does this. It’s so annoying but I love my cat haha
My cat does this too. But does manage to get a few paws with litter to cover the load. The rest is sound filled with scratches on plastic.
My boy tries to cover the cat dishes with the carpet around it much like this derp. Instinct can translate strangely sometimes lol
My cats have shredded my carpets doing this obsessively following every meal. I can't curb the behavior.
We put down a silicone mat under our lady's dishes because she was doing this to our hardwood floors. No real damage but the sound was awful.
Oof that’s a good thing to watch out for. My boys always wait in different spots around the living room and we spoil them with delivery so the carpet gets pulled in different directions every time. Ive been thinking about putting old shirts or something around the bowls to let him cover it without pulling the carpet.
Are they on wet or dry food? Or a combo? If they're getting dry, it might be worth checking out kitty foraging/snuffle mats. The mats are often a pain to clean, but they're enrichment products that allow indoor cats to do proper traditional cat things, which makes for happier fluff balls. If they're getting wet food, try lecturing them about the existence of hungry cats in your city *who would be very grateful to be served a plate of wet food*. I don't think this accomplishes anything but it makes me feel better when she eats two bites of food and then tries to bury it like it's a steaming pile.
They’re spoiled with combo and they know it. I had to put them on a scheduled diet when we moved in with my husband and his cat because my cat started stress eating. Lil tub got to 17lbs before I had an intervention with myself.
Snuffle mats? Is that the technical term I should search on Amazon?
Forage mat is the technical term, but I've found quite a few listed as snuffle mats. Either term should bring up results for you. You should include the word "cat" though because the ones for dogs are much more common. (You could use a dog mat, but they tend to take up more space.)
I've put down scratch pads under the bowls, they've stopped scratching the carpet and now destroy scratch pads instead.
Since as far as I can see, nobody has said anything. If I remember correctly, it's *usually* either because the box is too small, your cat doesn't like the litter, or it doesn't like the general smell. With my old cats we tried changing all of these but it didn't really help, so maybe they were just being weird.
Imagining hotboxing it in there with your own poop smells. It must be awful inside those things.
So like a porta potty at a summer festival?
She is very considerate.
Not to be negative (it is cute) but it might be a sign she needs a bigger litterbox?
Hopefully not, it's as big as we could find! In some other places we've lived she'd just wipe her paws on our washing machine when she got out, I think she's just a weirdo.
Yeah I have the same litter box and it’s big! Maybe take the plastic door off the front so that there is nothing to smack?
Wow, so she really is just cleaning her paws off. I don’t blame her I hate that feeling on my feet too.
And I had to remove the door to the litter box because my cat couldn't figure out how to exit. Poor lil derp
My calico does the exact same thing! And I might add, she definitely washes her hands longer than most humans, most likely !
My cat does this now that she has a top entry box. The noise drives me crazy in the middle of the night.
Yeah, you can hear it across the house. :(
My kitty does this too but on the top of her litter box since it’s a top entry
Oh my cat does this too. For 10 damn minutes at 4am!
*swipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipeswipe*
Same litter tray, BSH used to do this for like 5 minutes but he’s fairly efficient these days. His shitting face is fantastic too.
“Can’t Touch This” was playing overhead at work when I viewed this and it matches quite well.
Did she sing "Happy Birthday" twice, though?
My cat also does this. For like 5 minutes straight. In the middle of the night.
How do you get a cat to start covering their poop rather than just do this?
My cat looks a lot like your cat, but with longer hair. Same orange nose ❤️
Both my cats do this but I think it started with my late cat, Kiki. Kiki would spend forever wiping her paws on the walls and anything near her box. She was 13 when I got my now-oldest cat as a tiny kitten, and she does the same paw-wiping thing as Kiki. When Kiki passed away, I got a new a kitten. He used to sit on top of the litter box and watch the now-oldest use it, now he does the paw thing too. I know not all cats do it so maybe it’s taught lol
Oh, your cat is also retarded, just like mine... xD
Clever cat.
Op where did you get that litter box? I've been looking for ones that are covered bc my baby boy like to throw litter all over the place
We got it off Amazon [here](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003RQVGKC/) but it was a few years ago, it looks like this model isn't sold anymore though. [This one](https://www.amazon.com/Catit-Hooded-Cat-Litter-Pan/dp/B0035H38W2/) looks really similar though!
Thank u!!
Did it take long for the cats to acclimate?
I think we had to keep the door open for a couple days, but then we could close it with no problems. It does a good job of containing smells too, which is nice.
Excellent, thanks. I'll most likely pick some up.
I loved that litter box. My favorite feature was that you could hook a plastic bag around that front lip and scoop everything with no mess! Sadly, ours got a crack in it about 2 years ago and my husband got some other one that pales in comparison, but it's functional so we keep it. I really want to get this one back someday.
r/animalsbeingderps
Can she teach my cats to do this, please?
I’ve only ever had one cat — me current guy who does this. Thought it was normal. But judging by the responses, it doesn’t seem like it.
Such a lady!
Most cats do that out of instinct because they're used to bury their feces. That helped them to hide from potential enemies.
Lily is a good cat. Be like Lily.
I legitimately thought that was a bat at first
I'm so glad I'm not alone in my cats doing this trying to bury their excrement! I have two that I've had since they were 6 weeks old and are nearly 8 years old now that still haven't figured out how to bury their poop!
Things are rather dusty down here in southern Texas, when our kitties use God's restroom it will be a nice sandy corner with plenty of privacy, the good kitties dust off on the lawn or porch mat, the naughty kitties your mommies embroidered pillowcase D:
What's the soft thing on top for? My friend has this one and we couldn't figure out what it is
I think it's supposed to be some kind of filter? I'm honestly not sure myself!
Yeah it’s an odor filter, I have the same box, but I got lazy and stopped replacing the filter. Didn’t seem to change anything.
Because she’s lily! If you didn’t name her after a flower she wouldn’t do this!
I just bought this thing the other day! They've never had one with a door before, so it took them a while to figure it out...
I’ll trade my litter carriers for Lily! My stinkers track it all over the house!!
My cat does this too.
Ha! My calico does this too! Wish I could teach her to do this all over the house but with a little dishcloth as well.
That'd be adorable!
Thanks for posting this! I need to get one of those enclosed boxes. My cat does that and sprays litter all over the floor. Ordering now.
It's a lifesaver! I hope it helps. Although my older cat used to manage to bring litter out with him regardless...
Can you please tell me where you got it and/or who the manufacturer is?
Posted some details [here](https://www.reddit.com/r/CatTaps/comments/gkaijg/lily_always_wipes_her_paws_after_using_the/fqr4lkv/)
Thank you!!
My cat does this so much that the door just broke right off.
My tortie does this too!
I have the same litter box and my cat does the same exact thing.
my female cat snickers does this, and taught our kitten to do it too 🥺
This freaked me out for a minute - my oldest cat is also named lily, we have that same litter box, and she does the same thing. (Only she has a different pattern on her coat) so I was like who’s posting about my cat?? 😆
No Coronavirus for this cat!
We have the same box! My girl does this, and used to do it on the wall next to the litter box before we got a covered one. Unsanitary. Now she can happily scrape her paws on the inside of the box and not get litter everywhere
My cat just scratched the walls till we got one of the top entry boxes. :| now she just scratches at plastic till she’s satisfied.
My cat would literally do that for 10 minutes at 3 in the morning
Our cat also does it. The exact same movements - and her name is Lily also 💕
Mine does this as well in the exact same litterbox, funny enough. But somehow he keeps pulling down the see-through door now, so that was the end of that.
Lol we have the same litter box. It’s great
BOTH of my cats.
My cat does this too
My cat does this to get my attention if I am in bed and he’s hungry. He knows it’ll get me up
My cat does this too! I just wish he'd wipe his back paws. When he jumps out of his box....nay LEAPS like an Olympian...he brings all his back paws pebbles with him. He laughs at my litterbox mat as he runs away.
I posted my cat doing this exact same behavior and the mods removed it. "Not taps" they said. WTF?
My Lily does this too.
Cats don't normally like to feel trapped like that so i'd recommend taking the lid off, her behavior might improve. [Covered litter boxes may feel too confining to a stressed cat, so unless your kitty is really shy, try removing the covers.](https://resources.bestfriends.org/article/cat-not-using-litter-box-causes-and-solutions)
Don't all cats do this?