Cat litter tray

HydeRoad

I have two kittens, 10 months old, one male, one female.

Both cats go to the litter tray, and scrabble and scrabble till they have the entire contents all over the floor. Then they climb in, do the business, and then try to scrabble the litter back into the tray, which of course it won't go!

They won't leave the litter tray alone. They will spend three or four minutes pawing and scraping and scrabbling unless I physically remove them. By which time not only is all the litter on the floor, but their own bodily products as well!

They throw the litter out fiercely. It flies everywhere. I caught the male kitten just once, empty the litter tray as usual, and then squat on the carpet beside the litter tray! I was too slow to stop it happen.

I probably need a larger litter tray, but I wonder is there any way to encourage them to be a little gentler when pawing themselves a hole in the litter, that there's no need to send it flying across the room???

carwash_2006

Get yourself a covered litter tray. They won't be able to throw the litter out of that. Also have a think about the type of litter you are using, perhaps they are not entirely liking it. Some types of litter are not very comfortable for the cats paws and if the cats are particularly sensitive to this they may not like standing on it in the tray.

Alfasudcrazy

On a related point can I get my cat to use a litter. She is about 1 year old now but has always wanted to go outside to do the business so I am not sure if she would use one if I bought it and don't fancy wasting my money.

I am afraid nobody will be around to let her out someday so would like to have another option for her if that happened.

6th

carwash_2006 wrote: »

Get yourself a covered litter tray.

I got one back in the day and it was great.

+1

Rancid

Alfasudcrazy wrote: »

On a related point can I get my cat to use a litter. She is about 1 year old now but has always wanted to go outside to do the business so I am not sure if she would use one if I bought it and don't fancy wasting my money.

I am afraid nobody will be around to let her out someday so would like to have another option for her if that happened.

Any suitably sized plastic tub will do, your cat won't notice that it doesn't say "Litter Tray" on the side of it!

If she's used to using the garden, then fill her litter box with garden clay, that should make the transition easier.
And then place the litter box exactly inside the door she queues up at to go out.

Good luck!

MsFifers

Alfasudcrazy wrote: »

On a related point can I get my cat to use a litter. She is about 1 year old now but has always wanted to go outside to do the business so I am not sure if she would use one if I bought it and don't fancy wasting my money. /QUOTE]

I would guess its worth a try - cats tend to go in sand anyway so she should find a litter tray appealing. They are only 3 or 4 euro anyway for the non-covered ones so it won't break the bank.



To OP - are you using a kitten sized litter tray? They might have outgrown it. You can get larger sizes with higher sides. If that doesn't work I agree with others who recommend trying a covered tray and trying a different type of litter.

Rancid

HydeRoad wrote: »

I have two kittens, 10 months old, one male, one female.

Both cats go to the litter tray, and scrabble and scrabble till they have the entire contents all over the floor. Then they climb in, do the business, and then try to scrabble the litter back into the tray, which of course it won't go!

They won't leave the litter tray alone. They will spend three or four minutes pawing and scraping and scrabbling unless I physically remove them. By which time not only is all the litter on the floor, but their own bodily products as well!

They throw the litter out fiercely. It flies everywhere. I caught the male kitten just once, empty the litter tray as usual, and then squat on the carpet beside the litter tray! I was too slow to stop it happen.

I probably need a larger litter tray, but I wonder is there any way to encourage them to be a little gentler when pawing themselves a hole in the litter, that there's no need to send it flying across the room???

Just get a deeper box, the higher sides will almost surely prevent the scattering of litter.
Woodies and other diy places do those plastic storage boxes in lots of sizes, cheaper than the covered litter trays, too.

Worth a try, anyway.

AntiVirus

Rancid wrote: »

Any suitably sized plastic tub will do, your cat won't notice that it doesn't say "Litter Tray" on the side of it!

If your cat does happen to notice it doesn't say "Litter Tray" on the side you could always buy a Mark pen and write it there.

ValerieR

@HydeRoad
My kitten (at a younger age than yours) was taking pleasure in jumping in, hunting from and throwing everything out of the litter tray. I placed the litter tray in a carton box (like the carton crates in which supermarkets get their fruit/meat delivered) which contained the litter being scattered out of the tray. Within a couple of weeks, the kitten started using the litter tray in a 'normal' fashion ! ;-)

@ Alfasudcrazy
As far as the cat is concerned, if she is locked in when she has to go, she will find a place where to go and will use the litter tray if she comes across one (otherwise, she is likely to go in the shower tray, plant container...) The advice of placing a tray by the door is a good one. IMO

My two cents!
ValerieR