Help with my cat's litter box.

[pegasus1200]

My cat is almost two, I rescued him at 8 weeks. He cannot use the litter box right. He has always never covered anything up in the litter box, the only thing he does is miss the litter but lifts his paw at the sides of the box. Even when I didn't have a top he would hit the litter once and stop. He was supposedly litter trained and I thought he would grow out of it but since he hasn't I have tried to train him but he runs away. I really do not know how to fix this.

[momPaws]

Hi- I know what you mean about how you cat paws at the sides. I have a covered box and my cat doesn't always cover everything completely. Sometimes the tootsie rolls stick out. But thank goodness for clumping litter that absorbs the liquid. I don't think this is a problem for me as I empty it everyday and don't notice any smells, etc. And with the cover on there is nothing to see.

[pegasus1200]

yea I clean it everyday also but it get annoying cleaning it constantly because of the smell. The litter isn't the problem, sadly either, we have another cat and it works fine on him. I'm glad my cat isn't too odd that he's the only one that does that.

[Traci]

I'm confused, is your kitty actually going inside the litterbox and just not covering it up, or is he going outside of or near the box?

If he isn't actually going inside the litterbox, it could be that his paws are sensitive or that it is a litter type he simply doesn't like, or that it is heavily scented, etc and therefore will avoid it most of the time. In that event, change the litter. What type exactly are you using? What size is the litterbox, is it too small for him to move around in comfortably?

It is not unusual for some cats not to bury their waste. That's why we have to be dligent when keeping the box scooped and clean.

[pegasus1200]

He goes inside it and just doesn't cover it up. I use fresh step but I'm not the one who buys it. I have a smallish round litter box with a top but with our other cat, we have a bigger litter box and he still does the same thing.

[Traci]

There's not much you can do if kitty isn't going to bury his waste, lots of cats don't. Just keep it scooped.

[Tambrey]

I remember reading somewhere that the cat that does not bury his poo is asserting his dominance over the other household cats...a way of marking his territory, so to speak...
Not sure how much truth there is to this...but in a multi cat household, it makes sense

[Victoria]

I'm having the same issues with our new cat. We have an open plan apartment so the litter box has to either be in my study (no thanks), a bedroom (no way) or the open plan living room/kitchen and Basil sure knows how to stink up the place! He's never buried his waste, even when we gave him his own litter box in a separate room.