pooping outside the box...

[yomav]

Okay, have two girl kittens, both 6 months old. They get along like good friends. So on to my problem. Peanut uses the box just fine and is good at covering her duty. Sophie uses the box just fine for urinating, but doesn't seem to "get it" when it comes to the pooping thing. Both have seen the vet recently and passed all tests with flying colors. They are both trained great in other areas -- they don't scratch the couch or us. They both play a ton and eat normally. Sophie was weaned to early and still suckles on my neck or my boyfriend's arm. Don't know if this plays a part in the litter box learning, but I thought I'd share just in case.

When Sophie goes towards the box for number 2, she puts her front paws in, digs a bit, but the back paws don't go in at all. She then proceeds to do her duty on the floor. (Sometimes she makes it in all the way just fine, but there is no rhyme or reason as to when.) I've tried guiding her in when she does this -- once she gets in a "trance" like stance doing her duty, I'm able to move her so the poop lands where it is supposed to. I know it really bothers her when it lands on the floor where she can't cover it up easily. She always poops in the proper location -- always almost in the box. No issues with poop or pee in the rest of the apartment.

When I try to put her in the box (I can kind of tell when she needs to go), she treats it like it has the plague. I've tried several different kinds of litter, and behavior is all the same.

We do only have one box, but the behavior was exactly the same when we had two boxes. I clean the box twice daily. We are currently using litter pearls.

Any ideas on how to get her to poop inside the box? [/img]

[jason]

is Sophie overwieght?

[yomav]

Sophie has a little "pouch", but the vet said she is not overweight. She weighs about 6.75 pounds. (She is a bit heavier than Peanut who weighs the same but is lean.)

[jason]

well, aside from health concerns (sounds like you may have ruled that out) my guess would be she is uncomforatable stepping into the box in part to this pouch of hers.

might want to try a near flat pan for her and see if she prefers it. a quick and dirty test might be something with sides just slightly higher than a cookie sheet and simply place a blanket/towel under it to catch litter that gets tossed out.