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 Scratching the Litter Box?21 replies So when we got my cat his first closed litter box and we would always hear this digging sound coming from it! we were sure he was just covering after himself but turned out he was scratching the walls of the box! till this day he still does this and he can go on for 10 minutes until we call him out! Now I've been searching for info about this behavior and only found info about cats pawing\scratching the air in their litter box, but he actually uses the walls to file his nails, I must mention he does not scratch anything else in the house, in fact he does not use his claws to attack either (people have asked me if he was de- clawed before!  )... non of my cats ever did this and I've never seen a cat do this so I don't know why he does this, it may be that's just where he likes to do it but it just seem's really odd to me ! did any of you ever hear of this or have a cat that does this? I've just always wondered..Have you tried an open litter box to see if he wants to dig as much in there? I can't say exactly why he does it because I've never encountered this situation but maybe he is just uncomfortable in a roofed litter area. Another thing that occurs to me is the quality of the litter. Does it deal with the smell well enough? In the wild cats always bury their excrements so that other predators can't detect them so he may keep digging if he thinks there's still too much smell left... By the way, does he do it only when pooping or both when peeing and pooping?  Regular Participant116 its kind of a ritual he is VERY odd when it comes to his litter box, first he has one side for pee and one for poo, never mix them together and always in the same direction. I did try an open litter box the problem is he thinks every open box shape item in the house is a litter box, so I had him pee in the trash can lid while I was cleaning and just pee in a box that he found so I try to avoid open boxes, although he did have one for a bit (he actually even had two for sometimes because we moved to a much bigger house so we wanted him to find them, but he would just pee in one and poo in the other) and he would scratch the walls there too... he does not dig or even cover up anything he leaves it uncovered and just files his nails on the walls. I've never actually heard him digging in the sand it just sounded like that's what he was doing at first. as for the smell I did make a habit of peeking inside the box every time I visit the bathroom or just pass by and we have little diaper bags that are scented so we scoop after him every chance we get, and completely change the litter once every two weeks (we usually have to fill it up a bit before because its the clumping kind) and the actual plastic is clean because we use liners, so there's no smell absorbed in the plastic so I do keep it very clean for him. I wonder if he just likes vertical space I am building him a cat tree with plenty of scratching posts but I honestly don't know if he would even use them though lol   That's very common. Mine digs for as long as 10 to 15 mins but never covers his stool, not with a single granula! He digs the walls of the box and sometimes reaches objects outside the litter box. At the end of the process the stool is still open as if he has just done it. I guess he doesn't want to get dirty (he never approaches "it" closer than 15cm). If we don't remove his stool immediately it begins to smell. So every time we hear Randy digging we rush to the litter box to clean it. But Randy is darn smart. He has quickly understood that his intense digging makes us come. The stronger he digs, the sooner we come. Now, almost every morning I hear him dig, I get up and rush to the litter box; imagine my surprise when I see NOTHING in there! Just Randy who is sitting beside with a smirking look. I guess he finds it funny to wake us up before the alarm.  So probably yours wants to draw your attention too, or he just wants to show you what a good and clean boy he is. Regular Participant133 that is too funny what a smart little guy !!! I don't really rush to clean it for him but I do call him out because he can stay there for soooo long just scratching! I try not to associate this as a bad behavior (Because I don't think its bad It's just what he does plus I don't want him avoiding the box for any reason) so I don't scold him I just call him and invite him to come out when he over does it and he just steps out, but I usually don't clean it when he is next to me because he will jump in and pee when I'm trying to clean ! I know a lot of cats do this though they just love that fresh litter box hahaIt's good to hear that he's not the only one with that crazy habit !  he also has this real weird habit of dragging things to his litter box when something is bothering him or he just want's to make a statement, so when we moved to the new house he dragged all the bathroom carpets into his box (god knows how!!) and peed on them and when i went on vacation he took one of my little brothers socks placed it right in front of my bedroom door (it was closed) and pooped on it !  but I have heard of many cats doing this before, even with the carpets and towels so I know why he does that hahaJoleen CohenI just call him and invite him to come out when he over does itEven if you don't come to the box, I bet he has figured this link between his digging and your calling and now does it in order to get you call him. Cats love to train us.LoL girls! Barsik has another "ritual" to get our attention. He's toilet-trained, and every time he's finished his business he starts running around the rooms making as much noise as he can (this includes scratching the couch... he knows we won't stay calm when he's doing it, hehe). Now that he's older he's become less energetic but he had been doing that "Hey look at me, I peed!!" ritual for years. I didn't even think of this attention wanted possibility! What a shame! It at least makes more sense than what I was thinking about. Oh cats! You'll always find a key to your humans. Anonymous: Mine digs everything in and around the box be it litter, the walls, or the floor - everything that gets under his paw. He does it for 15-20 mins so thoroughly that I sometimes find the box in the middle of the bathroom!  Show more
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