Why can't cats aim their butts?

[thistlechaser]

Today's Ellie update was going to be all happy and upbeat: She's making such progress! She spent the evening with me in the living room instead of off on her own as she previously had been. She wants pats! She almost took treats directly from my hand!

But that was before the poop. Like my previous cat had done, she stands inside the box with her butt outside the opening and pooped. Unlike my previous cat, she decided ALL of the litter needed to be scooped out of the box to attempt to cover the offending poop. That failing, she attempted to cover it with the bathroom rug.

I don't have a too-small box, I bought the biggest one in the store. Why can't cats step in, turn around, then squat? What's this stepping in, squatting, then turning around and leaving?

I really, really hope this is a one-time thing. The box has a cover on it so there's only the one opening, so maybe odds will be this not happening again, but the odds didn't matter with my previous cat.

Does anyone else's cat do this? Am I flailing over something common?

Comments

[donnaimmaculata.livejournal.com]

I never knew any cat I lived with to do that, but none of them had a box with a cover. Perhaps your cats are scared to go in, because it's got a cover? Or they think, as soon as the head is inside, that this will do?

I've no idea what to do about it, sorry.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

If it happens again, I'm going to try taking the cover off and see if that helps. I'd rather not see the inside of the box, but I'd rather not clean the outside more. :P

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

I think you may have to leave the cover off for a bit until she gets used to it. Some litter boxes are just plastic tubs(like the sort the vet uses inside cages), so maybe she is used to that and is afraid of the cover.

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

It took Tiberius a few weeks to adjust to having a cover on his litterbox (my wife has a 60lbs pitbull...sweet dog, but she'll clean the litterbox out if she can get to it). He had a few accidents like that but eventually figured it out. He still has a slip-up every now and then and accidentally steps in his own poop on the way out.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ewwwww. I know cat food tastes a lot better than dog food (or, er, I assume, it has a lot higher fat content), but still! Eat it before it goes through the cat, silly dog!

But more seriously, good point. I have no idea if her previous box had a lid or not...

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

My wife did much research on why she just couldn't train the dog not to touch kitten poo.

To dogs, eating shit is its own reward. Poop == treat. You can't teach a dog not to eat treats.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ugh. I'd believe that. Blech.

[ani-mama.livejournal.com]

Aside from the gross factor, if it is the self-clumping type of cat litter, wouldn't that be really dangerous for a dog to eat? It binds with liquids, so I wonder what that would do to your insides...

[voidmagus.livejournal.com]

Oh, it isn't dangerous to the dog at all. If the dog is a messy eater (like ours), though, there is some bad shit immune-compromised humans can get (namely toxoplasmosis) from exposure to cat-shit-dog-breath.

[tersa.livejournal.com]

^^^ Agreed

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

You might be right! I hadn't thought of that at all...

[elo-sf.livejournal.com]

our cats periodically do this too, overall I think it is hard to be too mad about it because they are fundamentally using the litter box just not aiming all that well

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Exactly. I'd never get mad at the cat about it. They're still using the box as far as they understand it. I need to go out and get some kind of mat/plastic thing, just in case this same thing happens with urine. Poo is bad enough, but at least it stays put.

[veloxe.livejournal.com]

Personally I never understood the point of having a lid on a litter box, but that's just me.

Hell I'd be scared to go into the box with only 1 exit with the lightning fast cat eater probably just waiting for a chance to close me up in it! In the immortal works of Admiral Akbar: "It's a trap!"

[tersa.livejournal.com]

For me, personally, the lidded litter box keeps my cats from flinging litter all over the place like my first cat (who had a box sans lid) did.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

This is a good reason, too. She digs and covers things like a little mad cat -- I'm impressed just how much litter she got out of the box in an attempt to cover the escaped poo.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Used to be, I loved it for personal reasons.

1) It hides the stuff I don't want to see! My previous cat just pooped and walked away, never covered it.

2) More important: Table! Since it's right across from the toilet, I always put my book on top of the cover.

Now, since I read on the iPad, I won't put it there. I still like it for hiding stuff though.

[wow-hazmat.livejournal.com]

We tried a covered litter box with Video, but he's such a big cat that it wasn't a good fit, despite it being the biggest one the store had. Plus, whenever he came out of it he'd start sneezing up a storm, and finally we decided to go back to the uncovered box. Yeah, I don't like seeing cat turds and pee clumps, but I'm pretty sure Video prefers fresher air when he does his business.

He's good about keeping his business in the box, though often kicks litter out accidentally, so that eventually we get a gritty halo around the box. :)

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Ha! I hate stepping on litter when I step out of the shower. Sticks to the bottom of my wet feet, blech!

If she does it again I'm going to try taking the cover off and see if that helps.

[teaandfailure.livejournal.com]

I am sure you have noticed this inability to aim butts is suddenly totally healed when they want to stand in your lap and turn around to stick said butt RIGHT IN YOUR FACE.

MY BUTT: LET ME SHOW YOU IT, a favorite cat game.

Midge does that too, and I don't even have a cover on my litter box. She stands right in the doorway and poops directly next to the opening, sometimes hitting the lip of the opening instead of the litter, and sometimes pooping on the mat outside the box.

WHY CATS, WHY?

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

Lesson learned: Butts are for sharing socially; poop-related matters are a distant afterthought.

[spenceraloysius.livejournal.com]

I'm late to this party, but neither of my two cats missed the box when pooping. However, I did not have a cover and on the advice of my vet, I have a jumbo-sized pan with 4 full sides because Maine Coons have long legs.

[thistle-chaser.livejournal.com]

She hasn't repeated that yet, so hopefully she's learned and won't repeat it!