Litter tray problem - help needed before I go crazy!

dsg · 24-02-2009 11:41am #1

I've 2 cats, both male, both go in the litter tray no problem, but only one actually covers up his "business" afterwards, the other guy just poops and jumps out of the tray, then the first guy (if he's around) climbs in and scratches the litter over the poop. So the cat that jumps out, without scratching at the litter , proceeds to scratch at the floor, at the wall, at the bath panel (tray is in the bathroom, only place for it, living in teeny tiny bungalow)

I've tried moving the tray away from the wall etc but it's made no difference. I'm at my wits end with tiredness right now because he does it in the middle of the night a few times and it's waking me up! The scratching and banging goes on for about ten minutes each time. He's actually in there doing it now and I can hear it from the living room!!! Both cats are over a year old, both have been checked by the vet, no problems with UTI's or anything like that. He couldn't offer me any advice, he thought it was funny....

Please, if anyone has any advice on this matter let me know. I can't handle interrupted sleep any more and i don't want to get annoyed with him, he's a cat after all! I understand anything I try probably won't give an overnight result but I'm willing to put in the time to resolve this situation. As I said the litter tray is in the only place it can go in the house so moving it elsewhere isn't an option ok.

Thanks in advance.

galah · 24-02-2009 1:14pm

you won't like to hear this - but get at least one other litter tray - that should hopefully change the dynamics, and make cat number 2 stop...

I think leaving faeces uncovered is a hierarchy thing in cats, so giving eahc cat their own tray *should* work.

Good luck!

MsFifers · 24-02-2009 1:24pm

Thats funny - I thought that was just a mad thing between my cats. My bossy female cat used to push her brother out of the way so that she could bury his poo for him.

I think Galah's suggestion is the right. Try getting another tray - or else rig up something that he can scratch that won't wake you up. Its a behaviour he has to do, so the only solution is to provide him with an outlet to do it.

dsg · 24-02-2009 1:38pm

Well we have 2 trays for them, I thought they'd pee in one and poop in the other but no, everything done in both!

They also have a scratching post in there too. I've put it next to trays, away from the trays....nothing is working.

I'm at my wits end. How do people cope with lack of sleep when there's a baby in the house??? That's what it's like. At least you know a baby will eventually stop, but this scratching/banging at all hours of the day and night is incessant.

Back to the drawing board I think!

hadook · 24-02-2009 1:45pm

Are you using a covered litter tray or an open little tray?

dsg · 24-02-2009 1:48pm

hadook wrote: »

Are you using a covered litter tray or an open little tray?

Open, they won't use the other kind. Do you think that has something to do with it? I'm at a complete loss as to what to do.

MsFifers · 24-02-2009 2:19pm

ear plugs?

dsg · 24-02-2009 2:24pm

MsFifers wrote: »

ear plugs?

Been there, done that, bought the ear plugs

Oh I was really convinced some highly intelligent person on here would come up with the answer to all my problems!

I think I'll just have to accept that one of my cats is a bit thick

galah · 24-02-2009 2:31pm

if you like your sleep, don't get an unspayed female cat...:o

we were supposed to spay our little one two weeks ago (she's only 6 months), but had to postpone due to personal stuff - and she decided that that would be the perfect time to go into 'heat' for the very first time...now THAT'S annoying, I can tell ya.

A bit of scratching in the night is nothing against the constant howling of a queen in heat - it sounds like babies being slaughtered...

Actually, maybe a long shot - but could you try not to feed your cats too late in the evening - following the input/output principle ;-), the earlier the time of the last feed, the earlier they will need to poo - which might leave ya with a night's sleep after all?

dsg · 24-02-2009 2:48pm

galah wrote: »

if you like your sleep, don't get an unspayed female cat...:o

we were supposed to spay our little one two weeks ago (she's only 6 months), but had to postpone due to personal stuff - and she decided that that would be the perfect time to go into 'heat' for the very first time...now THAT'S annoying, I can tell ya.

A bit of scratching in the night is nothing against the constant howling of a queen in heat - it sounds like babies being slaughtered...

Actually, maybe a long shot - but could you try not to feed your cats too late in the evening - following the input/output principle ;-), the earlier the time of the last feed, the earlier they will need to poo - which might leave ya with a night's sleep after all?

Babies being slaughtered....lovely! Actually that's the sound my two make when they're hungry. They get a pouch of food in the morning and there's dry food and water down for them all day. I tried removing the dry food at night thinking that might make a difference with the amount of pooing going on but scratchy lad nearly had a conniption! Hence the screaming like a baby being slaughtered

They're not underfed or overfed so i don't know what to do

PS. the scratching and banging happen even after he does a wee, it's not just after a poo

PPS. I can't believe I'm discussing my cat's toilet habits online :-)

galah · 24-02-2009 3:42pm

hm, one more thing before I give up - maybe you can put some sort of 'cushioning' around the tray, so that the scratching isn't as noisy? Like newspaper on the bottom of the tray, and maybe a towel or something draped/fixed around the area where the scratching occurs? Acting as some sort of muffler?

I think it really is a territory/dominance/hierarchy type of thing, so there might not be much you can actually do about it apart from muffling the sound...

Or train them to go outside...:cool:

hadook · 24-02-2009 3:45pm

Have you tried a covered litter tray with the door taken off? We started all of ours like that and over time started to replace the doors slowly. Now they use the covered litters with no problems (and one of my cats is blind so if she can figure it out any cat should be able to).

I find that the mad scratching around the trays doesn't happen near as much with the covered tray as they can be inside scratching at the walls and ceiling of it which seems to satisfy that mad urge. A couple of mine are known to spend 20 seconds using the tray and a further 20 minutes attempting to scratch the lid into the tray

anniehoo · 24-02-2009 4:03pm

Would letting them outside be an option? Would reduce/eliminate the need for the litter tray in the house!

DaddyOSphynx · 24-02-2009 4:25pm

I would be very reluctant to try and retrain a tray using cat to go outside. cat poo in gardens is a big source of friction between neighbours and to be fair why should someone else have to check over their garden before letting their kids out? It is so easy just to scoop and flush at home!

Not covering poo is a sign of a confident cat. Personally so long as a cat is pooing in a tray I don't care what they do in terms of covering it but I know a family who I home visited for a welfare group later had huge issues with a kitten not burying it's poo and really hated the uncovered poo.

Scratching around the tray is territorial marking. My top cat always busts a gut to be the first to use a clean litter tray and then goes mad pawing the area around it. He is laying down scent posts for all the other cats. We let him have a bit of a scrabble then we just say his name and he stops now. I think he goes into a bit of a trance and initially we would have to get up and move him or distract him but because he has made the link between his excessive pawing and our intervention, he stops usually by name alone.

We use deep underbed storage boxes for litter trays. Like hooded trays this means the scratching is confined to the plastic sides of the box rather than the walls and floor(these boxes are way cheaper than hooded trays too!) but it isn't as enclosed for the more suspicious or space loving cat.

If your cats are indoor only or only go out under supervision, snipping claw tips off cuts down on the noise of scratching. You can buy Feliway spray/plug ins - cat pheremones- and that can help reduce territorial markings (is cheaper by far to buy online than through the vet).

Trying to retrain the bowels is a good idea. I see a 'poo queue' with mine around 30-60 mins after eating so you can try jiggling meal times or going from free feeding to meals.

Your dominant cat is always going to do a certain amount of scent marking around the trays so it is a case of working out how to minimise this. Increasing things like scratching posts elsewhere,esp. those ones with a fold in that can go around a wall corner will give him more chances to scent mark elsewhere. The more secure he is that the house is full of his top cat status and scent, the less he needs to re-mark. Try playing vigourous games with him to help divert him and tire him out.

Let us know if you find anything that helps!

sorella · 25-02-2009 5:30pm

For the laughter, thank you..

Boy, am I glad we live where my cats can and do use the outdoors. No neighbours to worry...Although nights when it is too cold to leave the window open can be disrupted by then scraping their claws on the window to come in; like chalk on a blackboard.

"PPS. I can't believe I'm discussing my cat's toilet habits online :-)[/quote]"

comongethappy · 25-02-2009 11:47pm

galah wrote: »

hm, one more thing before I give up - maybe you can put some sort of 'cushioning' around the tray, so that the scratching isn't as noisy? Like newspaper on the bottom of the tray, and maybe a towel or something draped/fixed around the area where the scratching occurs? Acting as some sort of muffler?

I think it really is a territory/dominance/hierarchy type of thing, so there might not be much you can actually do about it apart from muffling the sound...

Or train them to go outside...:cool:

I agree with Galagh about putting something under the litter box. If you put vet / dry bedding underneath (available from http://www.ccpdogs.ie/index.php?cPath=39_82&osCsid=65393ac39e0f707be4a5389e4fb6bf26 or usually from vets as well), it should encourage them to scratch on that due to it's texture. It as a rubber underside so that it won't slip around, and can easily be thrown in the washing machine when dirty.

Litter tray problem - help needed before I go crazy!

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