How do I get our cat to bury her poop?
August 9, 2013 12:12 PM   Subscribe

I am not a cat person, but my wife likes cats, so we have one. Our cat consistently uses the litter box (which is much more than I can say for the last cat we had). However, she almost never buries it, and the odor is, of course, offensive.

The cat uses the litter box exclusively (yay!) but almost never does anything to bury her poop (boo!). She tends to leave a big, stinky turd very shortly after I clean out the litter box in the morning, so I usually end up cleaning the box twice before I leave for work.

I'm beginning to suspect that the cat hates my wife and is doing this as a dominance display. Lots of evidence for this theory follows.

I can't stand cats. But this cat loves me. She walks all around me and my legs, and always tries to trip me, purring all the time, particularly in the morning between when I wake up and when I go to work. I can do absolutely no wrong in this cat's eyes. She's gotten in my way and I've accidentally stepped on her many times; she'll scream in pain but come back to me a few minutes later with an attitude that says "I'm sorry I got in your way, it's my fault you stepped on me."

A few days after my wife went out and adopted the cat (in spite of my repeated protests and objections), the cat broke into our hamster's cage, killed it, and left it for me on the table right where I always sit to eat breakfast in the morning. (I know cats leave "gifts" like this, but I'm still upset that she killed another family pet. Plus, it was at MY place at the table, so the cat was thanking ME and not both of us.)

My wife says the cat hides out all day when I'm gone. As soon as I get home from work, though, the cat will come out of wherever she's hiding to greet me and love on me, and follow me around the house most of the night.

The cat will let me pet her anytime I want, whenever I want, anywhere except her stomach (she'll roll over like the dogs, and at first I thought that meant "give me a belly rub" like it does when our dogs do that, but after being clawed and swatted enough times, I stopped that). By contrast, when my wife goes to love the cat and pet her, she'll run away and/or claw/swat at her.

We leave our shoes and flip-flops by the door. This cat has thus far chewed up and absolutely destroyed two pairs of my wife's flip-flops but has left my flip-flops alone.

We have two dogs, and the cat seems to merely tolerate them. Example, one or both dogs will walk up to the cat and try to love on her and lick her, and this will make her run away and/or swat/claw the "offending" dog.

Our cat is strictly an indoor cat. We have a few stray cats in the neighborhood. When our cat sees one of these other cats outside, she'll get very territorial and angry, making angry noises out the window or door at the "intruding" stray. So, at first, I thought the unburied poop was an attempt to establish dominance over the stray cats.

Now, however, I think she's trying to establish dominance over my wife. My wife recently traveled out of town on a business trip. During the four days my wife was gone, the cat buried every single one of her poops in the litter box, even the poop she tends to lay right after I clean the box. The offensive smell was thankfully absent. Less than an hour after I brought my wife home from the airport upon her return, the cat laid a stinky turd and didn't bury it.

What do we do? I don't know why the cat loves me (I can't stand cats) and hates my wife (she loves cats). I just want her to start burying her poops in the litter box so that we don't have to constantly smell them!

Bonus question: The cat has a giant, 5' tall scratching post with many hideouts and things to play with -- and she loves to use said scratching post. However, she still claws our couches, which we'd eventually like to sell in order get nicer ones (but, "this is why we can't have nice things"). How do I stop that behavior as well?
posted by tckma to Pets & Animals (41 answers total) 1 user marked this as a favorite
 
Best answer: I think you are overthinking your cat. The idea of dominance is an overblown concept in dog behavior, let alone with cats. Cats are weird and can be weird about their poop, but it doesn't mean they're trying to tell you something. They also behave differently toward different people, but who the hell knows why they form their little opinions. Cats are crazy.

That said, you have some options for the stinky poo thing. One is to just accept that you're going to be cleaning the litter box more than once a day. If you know that cleaning the box in the morning will induce your cat to take a crap in it (because hey, nobody likes to use a dirty toilet, amirite?) then you may have to resign yourself to cleaning up that crap right after it hits the sand if you want to avoid the stink. Or, since it seems like the cat was mostly your wife's idea, maybe she should have this responsibility. I dunno, I don't know how your marriage works on things like that.

Another option would be to get an automatic litter box, like this one for instance. Not endorsing it, that's just the first one that popped up when I googled "robotic litter box". I've heard good things but have no personal experience. Perhaps someone else here will chime in with some anecdotes.
posted by Scientist at 12:23 PM on August 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


I have this problem with one of my cats. I think it's just because he's a jerk. That said, as soon as I smell it I either go clean it up or I just take the litter scoop and use it to cover it for him myself. Not great, but better.
posted by anotheraccount at 12:25 PM on August 9, 2013


I just want her to start burying her poops in the litter box so that we don't have to constantly smell them!

That's not what it sounds like to me, since 80% of your question has nothing to do with poop. To me, it sounds like you want rid of this cat, like yesterday, and its very existence is a source of neverending resentment and anxiety for you.

You're attributing all sorts of attitudes and behaviors to this cat that cats aren't really even capable of. I don't this this is a calculated ploy on the cat's part. It's just a dumb, weird cat, doing dumb weird cat things that you hate.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:25 PM on August 9, 2013 [26 favorites]


You are giving this cat way too much credit. I've had a lot of cats and it's about half and half when it comes to covering the poop up. They're just weird little creatures with minds of their own, end of story. They are not actively nefarious.
posted by something something at 12:26 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


I think you're projecting way too much on her. Any problems between you and your wife (she adopted a new family pet without agreement from others in the family?) are not your cat's fault and your cat doesn't know or care about them.

It's sweet that she loves you even though you have mixed feelings about her.

I doubt her non-burying means anything. Some cats bury and others don't. I've had both kinds and I can't see any correlation with any personality thing.

What you really don't want is to mess with her in any way that makes her less likely to go in the catbox. When you smell cat poo you have the ultimate luxury of knowing it's in the box. The only way to deal with it, then, is to roll your eyes and go scoop a little bit of litter on top of it with the sandbox shovel. It will stop stinking right away. You don't have to take ten minutes and clean the box out right then - and whatever you do, don't yell at her or mess with her right after she's (yay!) gone in the box. Just bury it for her.
posted by fritley at 12:26 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: You are definitely WAY overthinking this on the "dominance" stuff. A cat who could pull something like that off ("Ha Ha! I will ruin her life with my cat turd stank! But I'll maintain plausible deniability by keeping it in the litter box") would be such an evil genius that you'd better be afraid it's not reading this thread.

Cats are FAMOUS for loving the people who shun them and vice versa. Sometimes this is because the people who love them come across as a little intimidating to cats. Cats don't much like direct eye contact, for example, and find it aggressive. If you tend not to look at the cat and your wife is constantly beseeching it attention, that might be part if the trouble. Your wife might try being a little more stand-offish and see if that helps. But for the turd problem, it's clean the box or get a robobox or put the box somewhere where the stank doesn't trouble you.
posted by yoink at 12:31 PM on August 9, 2013 [8 favorites]


One of our kitties - the wonderful, round, dumb one - doesn't always bury her poop. She's just not smart enough, and that's ok.

We've had great luck with an air purifier sucking out all the stink. I do scoop once a day, but unless it's a violent stink bomb, I don't have to scoop twice.
posted by Ms Vegetable at 12:31 PM on August 9, 2013


Not burying the poop is a way to signal that this is her territory, that's what a dominant cat does outside. Stopping the behavior when your wife was away is significant. Having your wife start feeding the cat, and she should start playing with the cat, give her treats etc so that the cat has some use of her. They have to become friends for the cat's behavior to change.
posted by Ferrari328 at 12:34 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Have you tried different types of litter? Not different brands but different materials. It could be that the type you're using now is uncomfortable for your cat to dig in.
posted by Jacqueline at 12:38 PM on August 9, 2013


I had a non-coverer once. She did tend to be a sort of swaggering, dominant type. Since she only did it once a day, the easiest solution ended up being pouring a cup of clean litter over it when she was done.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 12:39 PM on August 9, 2013


Best answer: Your cat isn't out to get you or your wife. Your cat is a weirdo.

That said, I recommend getting a Breeze system. It's the best ever for no stinky cat box stuff.

Now poops do stink, and Husbunny is not the best of cat box scoopers. So we got one of these. This contains all that's unpleasant about the cat toilet.

Also, you're going to want to look into a Litterlocker or a Litter Genie, this makes it easy to de-stank your habitat.

Seriously though, your kitty loves you. It's not a bad thing.
posted by Ruthless Bunny at 12:52 PM on August 9, 2013 [4 favorites]


Response by poster: My wife does try to play with the cat, give her treats, and so on. She's had cats her whole life so she does give the cat space, doesn't often make eye contact, and so on. The cat is funny about treats, regardless of who gives them, whether it's me or my wife -- the cat sniffs at them and then walks away. Then we have to watch that the dogs don't eat them in case the cat comes back to eat them, which happens less than half the time.

We have an automatic feeder, which both of us fill. Sometimes we'll manually put cat food in a bowl instead, like if the auto-feeder is empty and both of us are too lazy to clean it. If that's the case, I feed the cat in the morning, and my wife feeds her in the afternoon and the evening.

I don't resent the cat and I don't want her gone... I've grown attached to her, I guess. There's just behaviors I don't like or understand. The same ("behaviors I don't like or understand") can be said of our dogs, and I absolutely love them.
posted by tckma at 12:56 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


I don't think it's a dominance issue either, but it could be stress related. A lot of what you've said suggests that your wife stresses out the cat for some reason and you don't. A stressed cat can exhibit weird behaviors. Maybe there is something about the way your wife smells that disturbs the cat. A perfume, body soap, shampoo, etc?

I am not a cat whisperer, but I'd suggest having your wife completely ignore the cat. It worked for you, maybe it will work for her!
posted by sbutler at 1:00 PM on August 9, 2013


Best answer: Hahaha. This question just made my day. If you were talking about your co-worker I would think you were secretly into her and I'd wonder why your wife wasn't posting about her husband's "emotional affair." The cat is definitely into you.

So, for the box, try one of the automatic ones. I don't think you can train a cat to bury its poop. I don't think that you're so far off into thinking it's a dominance thing, but I suspect your cat is just a bit more relaxed when she doesn't have to compete for your affections. Maybe read your question to the cat so that she understands how much you think about her and her problems.

Regarding the couch ... now, I don't know why you would even consider upgrading your couches while you have a cat that likes to scratch on couches ... but I have had good luck preventing a cat from scratching the arms and back of a couch by placing throw blankets over those areas. It's not an elegant look but it's worked for me.
posted by stowaway at 1:01 PM on August 9, 2013 [4 favorites]


I don't resent the cat and I don't want her gone... I've grown attached to her, I guess.....
YEY!!! You love the cat!!

Have you tried wood pellet litter? (Like Feline Pine but a cheaper non-brand name wood pellet litter). I find that to be extremely good at covering poop and pee smells from the cat, whether or not the poop is buried.
posted by JenThePro at 1:01 PM on August 9, 2013


Best answer: Our cat sometimes buries his poop. Other times, he pretends to bury it, taking a couple of half-hearted swipes at the litter, barely moving a grain.

AskMeFi should have a button on the "New Post" page specifically for "Why does my cat..." questions. It would link to a page with only three words on it...It's a Cat.
posted by Thorzdad at 1:08 PM on August 9, 2013 [13 favorites]


I have a ScoopFree. The constant scooping into a covered area along with the crystal litter eliminates almost all odor. I've been very happy with the ScoopFree. I got mine from groupon so you can find deals on the occasionally.

If you didn't want to go all out for a robobox, you might consider switching to crystal litter, which has strong odor absorption properties.
posted by emkelley at 1:15 PM on August 9, 2013


Cat toilet-training is a thing, so it may be possible to do away with the box altogether. And I can confirm that pine pellet litter (Feline Pine or any of its analogues) seems to do a really good job of absorbing odors. The litter box is about 8 feet away from my desk and I don't notice much of a smell problem at all, though it reeks for a few minutes right after they go.
posted by jquinby at 1:15 PM on August 9, 2013


My older cat doesn't like to touch dirty litter, so instead of burying her poop she paws endlessly at the floor around the box in a sort of cargo-cult attempt to make the stank go away. She's... not very bright.

The only solution I found was to get another cat who is a poo-burying fanatic. She takes care of all stray uncovered poop, hers or otherwise.
posted by restless_nomad at 1:17 PM on August 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Best answer: Cats not burying their poop often has to do with the cat rushing their business b/c they feel threatened and are rushing. Be very glad the cat is still using its litter box.

Perhaps the cat feels safer with you and that's why your cat doesn't bury the poop when your wife is home, but does if she's away.

Try moving the litterbox somewhere really out of the way where your cat feels totally safe.

Try watching "My Cat From Hell" if you have Animal Planet. You'll learn a lot about cats from that show. But it's important to understand that cats don't do things to "punish" people, they do things in reaction to their environment because they're cats. Understanding how the cat views its environment is key to getting your cat to behave in a way you want it to behave.
posted by jzb at 1:18 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


This is a conspiracy between your cat, your dogs and your wife. They are plotting daily on how to annoy you. There is nothing you can do about that but worry about it so don't Act like you don't know they are conspiring and act like you don't care. Be the cat.

Even if cat was not conspiring, sometimes they don't dig. You will fail at trying to teach cat to dig every time so your alternative is on you. You could throw money at it or time. Get the auto scoop kind of box or scoop yourself.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 1:19 PM on August 9, 2013


One of our cats carefully buries anything the other 2 leave out otherwise we might have this problem. Why? No idea and he isn't saying...
posted by meepmeow at 1:26 PM on August 9, 2013


Best answer: Our old lady cat is sort of similar. The uncovered poop, the almost-religious adoration of my husband, plus pissing on my clothing preferentially. Soaking a load of my pissed-soaked laundry right now. Have gotten too good at this.

I do think you are way overthinking the cat's motivations here (possibly because of your pre-existing identity as a Cat Hater), but I'm convinced that cats can be spiteful. Like the time that our young cat took a dump, and Old Lady Cat immediately climbed in the box and draped a poo directly on top of Young Cat's turd. She wiggled her butt in just the right way to follow the curve of said turd. That's just malice, there.

Anyway, you say your wife adopted this cat. Was the cat already grown when you got her? Also, is it possible she had a rough time before she was adopted?

Because Old Lady Cat belonged to my grandmother for ten years, and Grandma made her permanently neurotic about everything, especially litterboxes. Mostly because Grandma filled the litterbox with about a centimeter of yard dirt, and almost never changed the dirt. Until my mother intervened. I don't think Old Lady cat is ever going to trust the cat shitter. Refusing to bury poop is just the tip of her iceberg of foul elimination habits.

All we've been able to do to combat the festering exposed feces issue, is get her a litterbox with a hood. And clean it out more than feels necessary. It doesn't hurt to dump baking soda in the litter, but it doesn't help enough to change your life, either.

I don't see any pictures of your horrible cat, though. I formally request pictures of your loathsome housemate.
posted by Coatlicue at 1:30 PM on August 9, 2013 [3 favorites]


I have found that the higher quality the food, the less stinky the cat poop. Expensive grain-free food (Natural Balance, Orijen, and others were recommended in this thread) might help with that aspect of the issue.
posted by jaguar at 1:30 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: I don't know the cat's history. The paperwork we got upon her adoption put her age at 9 months old, and the cat's rabies certificate was from a vet in Florida (we live in Maryland, which is, for obvious reasons, also where the cat was when adopted).

I'm not sure what happened to this cat before adoption, nor why an animal adoption agency would transport a cat from Florida to Maryland instead of trying to have it adopted in Florida. Seems like needless travel to me, but what do I know?
posted by tckma at 1:37 PM on August 9, 2013


Best answer: I love my Little Robot. It is pretty much the best thing I have ever bought and when I saw one for sale on Craigslist for less than 1/3 of retail I bought it as a backup even though ours is 4 years old and still works fine. The idea of not having one makes me anxious and I have space to store a spare.

The only thing that I don't love about it is that my oldest and smartest cat figured out what the Robot does and now he doesn't bury his poop either. BECAUSE HE IS LAZY. AND SMART.

But it doesn't matter that much because it will be taken care of in 7 minutes.
posted by elsietheeel at 1:58 PM on August 9, 2013


I've also seen the old Kitty-loves-the-human-who-doesn't-want-her-and-hates-the-human-who-does thing played out over and over. It's practically a cliché. I've been both humans in that soap opera. The only wisdom I can offer is that Kitty either adjusts with time and patience or the humans do. (So sorry about the hamster.)
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:00 PM on August 9, 2013


My 12-year-old male tabby gets so excited about taking a dump that he runs in ecstasy from the box all the way across the apartment.

Yes, and pictures, please!
posted by computech_apolloniajames at 2:09 PM on August 9, 2013


My 12-year-old male tabby gets so excited about taking a dump that he runs in ecstasy from the box all the way across the apartment.


Nellie has this special, crowing "WORLD, I HAVE POOPED!" meow that has me expecting to look over and see her standing like Captain Morgan, with her hands on her hips and her Superman cape fluttering in the breeze.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 2:28 PM on August 9, 2013 [6 favorites]


Best answer: Stick some double-sided tape to the couches in the areas where your cat scratches.

Also, if your cat scratches the couch horizontally, and the scratching post is vertical (or viceversa), that might be your problem. Cats have preferences. In that case, buy a scratching post in your cat's preferred orientation and stick double-sided tape to the couch to discourage her. Praise her when she uses her scratching post.
posted by clearlydemon at 4:31 PM on August 9, 2013


The common theme in this thread is adaptation - and I don't mean on the part of the cat. The cat simply doesn't give a damn that your olfactory sensibilities have been offended. You are a food dispenser, and a cat-shit-cleaner-upper. If your wife went out of town for 6 weeks, and you died the day after she left, the cat would feast on your entrails after a few days without food and would STILL not bury the resulting effluvia - upon the return of your wife, he would simply glance at your bones, say, "who's he?" and ask your wife to feed him. That's how cats roll.
posted by brownrd at 6:05 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: You might find the blog The Way of Cats helpful when it comes to understanding what your cat's doing and why. I've been reading it for a while and what she says about cat behavior seems very accurate to me. (Qualifications to opine: my parents had five Siamese when I was born and I seem to have imprinted on the wrong species. I've lived with cats for most of the 43 years since then. I currently live with two utterly adorable and quite well behaved cats whom I'm completely goofy about.)
posted by Lexica at 6:51 PM on August 9, 2013 [2 favorites]


Shake baking soda on top of the fresh poopy dump blasts to eliminate smells.
posted by oceanjesse at 7:47 PM on August 9, 2013


I once had a cat who sincerely and obviously wanted to bury her poop, but never figured it how. One of the other cats or humans in the house covered for her. Problem solved.

If she poops in the clean box a second time before you leave for work, don't clean the box again. Just pour a scoop of litter over the turd. That will be as effective as the cat burying it, even if a couple of minutes pass before you can get to it.
posted by maudlin at 7:52 PM on August 9, 2013


Best answer: Everyone's dismissing your notion that the cat is into you and hates your wife, but I will tell you that my husband's female cat was pissed I moved into his (excuse me, "their") place; would freak out when we were having sex; and once crapped on my pillow. Jealousy knows no species boundaries!

Good luck with the automatic litter box.
posted by fingersandtoes at 9:15 PM on August 9, 2013 [1 favorite]


Best answer: Cats bury their poop to be less noticable to predators. If they don't have to, a lot of them won't.

We had a burier and a non burier. The burier was generally more focussed and cleanly and would lick the non burier's butt for her. wearing a clearly grossed out face. Because he felt non burier had not done an adequate job of cleaning herself. He would try to teach her and bully her into burying her poop, like he did. Despite being the alpha, he eventually gave up and started burying her poop for her.

Non burying cat is a ditz and has never learnt to bury. None of this has anything to do with her general sweetness or preference of certain humans.
posted by Omnomnom at 1:02 AM on August 10, 2013


Frankly, I don't think you're beanplating your cat's behavior at all. They are crafty little bastards.

She tends to leave a big, stinky turd very shortly after I clean out the litter box in the morning, so I usually end up cleaning the box twice before I leave for work.

Ha! Classic annoying Things Cats Will Do To Drive You Crazy.

Here's a story:

Because I'm a softie about pets and Kinetic 1 works as a veterinary surgical tech, we've had the great good fortune to become a family of 4 people and yes, 4 cats.

I know how crazy-making this seems.

Because Kinetic 1 wants our cats to have the best of everything, we have 5 (FIVE! cinco! خمسة! senk!) litter boxes. They're the cheapest, bare-bones model and we use wood pellets. C'mon, $8 for 40 freakin' pounds, amirite??!

Every morning, I go into the basement where the boxes are kept with my handy scooper and my garbage bag. As I head down the stairs, all five cats, even if they're sleeping on the third floor (and I'm speaking in particular about Mikko 2), who is actually kind of my boyfriend but not in a crazy way; it's just that, well...he is my special little friend who likes to sit next to me and give me head butts and will completely smack Ava, Fat Tony or Bobo if they come within our protected Circle of Love), will tear ass down and plop on their fat asses to watch the Scooping Festivities! During the Scooping Festivities, their job is Try and Knock Kinetic Over With Frantic Head Butts, Arm Nibbles and Serpentining Between Her Legs.

So I bend and scoop and clean and head back upstairs.

And within 10 seconds, I hear happy scratching and wood pellets being shoved about and then all the cats haul butt upstairs and surround me, like they just aced the AP World History Exam or something. They're so damned smug and proud of themselves.

Because they pooped in a clean box.

tl;dr...cats are weird and they love to poop in clean boxes.

And despite your protestation to the contrary, dude, you're a cat person.
posted by kinetic at 4:13 AM on August 10, 2013 [6 favorites]


We have two dogs, and the cat seems to merely tolerate them.

And you were expecting – ?
posted by zadcat at 7:16 AM on August 10, 2013


We use an old coffee mug to fill the box with fresh litter when needed. Little missy often doesn't cover. If its a real stinker but I don't want to deal, I toss an extra cupful or two of fresh litter over the offending poo. Done.
posted by Occula at 10:53 AM on August 10, 2013


It strikes me that the cat doesn't need to bury her poop when you're home, because you take care of it so quickly. You might try experimenting with not cleaning up immediately, and seeing if she gets the hint that it's her job now.
posted by jaguar at 6:58 PM on August 10, 2013


This video from cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy might also be useful. His main point is that cats like to have some of their smell in the litter box, and that over-aggressive cleaning may be counterproductive. Since watching it, I've shifted my perspective about why my cats poop in the just-scooped box, from "OMG they're trying to make me crazy" to "They're just trying to keep their scent in the box." Which has made me much calmer about cleaning it.
posted by jaguar at 9:53 PM on August 11, 2013


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