Reptile & Amphibian Forums

I have 3 cats...one is almost 1.5 yrs, one is almost 1 and one is 7 weeks (yeah im crazy i know). The two older ones have developed this bad habit (and i think the big one taught the middle one these things) of digging forever in the kitty litter box and scratching at the sides. i dont know if its because they like the sound, or that they just like to play in the mess, but it is very frustrating and annoying. the big one actually ends up getting litter EVERYWHERE in the process of his treasure hunt. Any suggestions on why they do this, and how to stop it if possible? i just got the baby 2 days ago and i dont want him to start learning his big brothers bad behavior. HELP!

Hi There,

I know this can be annoying, but I don't think it's something that you can change. Some cats just enjoy scratching in and/or near the litterboxes. It's not necessarily a problem, but a habit that your cats have. I have 10 cats here and I'm just glad they are all good at using the litterboxes.

Litter on the floor is just something that you might have to live with. It's not that bad to clean up if you do it daily.

PHKitkat

I have a "scratcher". He's 15 now, it has lessened some as he's gotten older, but he was a scratcher for years.

One thing that really helped is an enclosed box. I put the "fake grass"/astroturf welcome mats outside the entrance. They are pretty cheap and you can get at WalMart. Same with the enclosed box.

If he gets into a scratch frenzy, most stays in the box because it is enclosed and if any escapes out the entrance, it is caught in the "fingers" in the welcome mat and the welcome mat holds a lot of litter out of sight before you have to shake it out. You probably only have to shake it every 2-3 weeks and you can just roll it up like a tube and tap it into a trash can.
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Tammy
Stanley and Pookey