Cat owners know well about the fact that they sometimes scatter litter without any reason. The owner can say about the reason for such behavior. This is an annoying habit as it needs extra time for cleaning. New owners could be worried about if cat kicking litter everywhere. But it is a simple behavior that a cat does.
Cats are of different sizes, shapes and colors. Wild cats usually hide their wastes under the soil. On the other hand, domestic cats need not to do that as their owner gets the job done. That is why they sometimes get lazy and do not move around much like wild cats.
For cleaning purposes, you have to stop cat from kicking litter everywhere. Today we are going to discuss cats behavior about scattering litter all around.
Why do Cats Kick Litter from the Litter Box?
Natural instinct of cats
According to scientific research, Animals get their genes from their ancestors. For staying with people they get used to living with humans and change some of their habits. People taught them how to manage their wastes and teach them good behaviors. But some of their core habits need much more time to change.
In nature, they are used to hide urine and solid waste under soil or some dead leaves. They dig the soil with claws and it became a habit for them. Such things they sometimes do with their litters and thus scatter them fall around.
Urge to learn new things
Every animal wants to learn about its own environment. This helps them to survive in nature so that predators don’t kill them. They want to know all the portions they live in. Wild cats used to live in the jungle and to survive they have to learn about where they are. In the case of domestic cats, they need to use a litter box for poop and pee.
They want to feel the texture of the litter whether they are going to like it or not. They want to know if the environment is right for it. Cats of small age do that a lot. After getting old they become calm and usually don’t scatter a lot.
Following family tree
Sometimes they saw their mother do that and learn it. Mother cats want to teach their kittens how to survive in the wild. They don’t know where they are going to end up. Probably they need to live in the jungle and do everything of their own.
All cats are not lucky enough to end up in an owner’s home to be taken care of. There could be some other issues involved in it. Cats are very clean animals. They get that just after their birth. They saw that their mothers used to clean their own fur with tongue all the time. Mothers also lick their kittens to get rid of dirt.
How to Stop Cat from Kicking Litter
In general cats like soft stuff to play with or sit on. After changing to a new litter cat wants to feel it and wants to get to know what it is. In that case, try to use the same brand that you used earlier.
There are some other things to be considered to stop cat from kicking litter. Observe the behavior and consult with a veteran.
Get a bigger box for your cat
You may have adopted your cat many years ago. It gets bigger and bigger day by day but you may not have changed its box. That is why it feels uncomfortable and does unusual activities like kicking litter with paws. If it doesn’t get sufficient space to do its business then it can scatter litter from the box.
The space of the box should be such that the cat can spread its arms all around and move easily. Observe carefully what is the root cause of it. If the size of the litter box is an issue, then changing the litter box would be the best solution.
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Provide more litter in your cats litter box
There is a specific amount of litter to be used in a litter box. You can get that when buying a new litter box. If a busy owner misses measuring the amount of litter that should be poured in the litter box then the environment is not suitable for the cat to live in.
After doing its business it wants to hide it by scattering litter over wastes. If it fails to hide the total amount of waste then it will try to hide the existing litter with its paws. Therefore, always use a proper amount of litter so that it can hide its urine and solid waste accurately and avoid unnecessary scattering of litter.
Avoid excess litter from litter box
As with little litter, an excess amount of litter is also not recommended. It is one of the major issues of scattering litter over litter boxes. Although you may have bought a high-walled box but pouring an excess amount of litter may not handle the complete amount of it with accuracy.
Having to litter more than 5 inches in depth is called an excess amount of litter. This will treat it as a playground for the cat and it will have fun by scattering the litter. It is recommended to pour three inches deep litter for pouring. This amount is easier to clean for indoor use.
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Try a box with higher sides and a cover
You can try various procedures to avoid cats not scattering litter all around. Many types of cat litter boxes are available in the market. Some of them have lower walls and some of them have higher. It is wise to have a cat litter box with higher walls. This will help not to scatter litter.
Keep in mind that cats want to get into the box easily. So have a box such that the entrance and exit part of it is easy for the cat. You can also think of a litter box with a cover to avoid scattering.
Clean the litter box more frequently
As we know that, cat is a very clean animal. It always licks its fur to get rid of dirt. It wants its sitting place to be neat and clean. To make sure that the place is clean, the cat scatter litters with its paws. It thinks that cleaner liters are in the deep portion of the box.
That is why it sometimes digs the place to make sure cleanliness. While digging it has no idea when to stop and thus some amount of clean litter also comes out of the box and makes the floor dirty. So clean frequently cats poop from litter using a litter scooper.
Adopt kittens in their early age
It is always good to adopt a pet at an early age. They learn their behavior from their surroundings. They saw their parents and siblings and learned it from there. The habit will be strong enough as it grows up.
In that case, it is a good habit to get a cat at a small age. It won’t learn any bad habits from the environment. Bring it at home and slowly it will learn good habits that you like. There is a misconception that a mother cat will give birth to a kitten whose behavior will be exactly like its trained mother. But it is not accurate. You also need to teach the kitten just like its mother.
Give your pet time to teach them
Animals won’t behave as you want. They need proper training to learn good behavior. There are some books written about this. You can also learn about how to teach a cat from the internet. Wise old cat owners can help you in this as they are facing many issues regarding cat training.
You need to learn first before teaching an animal. Take time and go for it regularly. Irregular training is not helpful in many ways. If all fails then consult with your vet about this issue. Take in mind that different breeds of cats learn in different duration of time.
Final Thoughts
We need to understand that it is their natural habit to scatter litter from litter boxes. Should follow those points we described to stop cat from kicking litter. It will not change habits overnight.
It needs much more time to change a habit specially for animals. Dogs learn faster than cats. That is why you need to have patience regarding this issue. Give some time to teach it so that it won’t scatter it.
His professional interests include humane education, ethics, small animal behavior, and veterinary. As a pet lover from school life, having grown up with two cats and a dog. If he isn’t spending time with his friends and family, Justin enjoys traveling. Learn more about Justin here.
