# Do you watch your kitty doing their biz?



## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

I am just wondering if any of you do watch while your kitties doing their business. I never did. Whenever I was going into ET's room and realised he was in the litter box, I backed off and waited till he finished before entering. I have always read that kitties like their privacy when doing their business, that is why I gave him his privacy.

But once, I was already in his room when he just walked right into the litter box and peed. I thought he didn't looked embarrassed or shy about me watching him. It was also then, I discovered something new. He cleaned his paw after peeing by rubbing or rather scratching at the sides and top of the litter box, just like we human washing our hands after using the toilet.

Last night was the 2nd time I watched him poo-ing. I was sitting with him while he eats and immediately after eating, he went on to do his big business. He peed 1st, cleaned his paw, turned around, then poo-d, digged (probably to cover up poo) then finally cleaning his paw again for a very long time by rubbing/scratching against the side of the box.

Does your kitties clean their paws? I know they licked off whatever there is in their paw, but does yours clean by rubbing against the litter box?


----------



## carbonxxkidd (Oct 19, 2012)

I notice Callisto shaking her paws off has she exits the litterbox - she is such a lady. Ganymede just throws litter everywhere. I don't make a habit of really watching them unless they go while I'm cleaning the box. Ganymede has told me in the past that he's been having urinary problems by doing that.


----------



## Jakiepoo (Jan 5, 2013)

Jake would never let us, his box is very secluded, in the basement bathroom people rarely go in, we're usually upstairs. If he needs to go, he sits at the top of the stairs, eyes everyone to see who's watching, if the coast is clear and he doesn't think anyone is paying attention he'll book it downstairs, and if you follow after him, he will not enter that bathroom until you are upstairs again.

He may like his privacy a little bit...


----------



## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

I never used to, but ever since Maisie had his UTI I haven't been able to help watching to make sure everything came out okay. 

Since both cats use both boxes, I can't just check the contents to gauge their health, so watching helps me make sure they're not having any trouble in that area.

They don't seem to care if I'm watching or not.


----------



## pllamah (Jul 5, 2012)

me and my cat sometimes lock eyes awkwardly when he's using the litter box and then we just keep staring at eachother. xD 
But he too wipes his paws off on stuff after he's done. I once accidentally had a roll of paper towel on the floor by his litterbox and he started using that to wipe his paws off when he was done.


----------



## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

One of my cats is very private, and if you walk in while he's in there, he will leave and wait until you leave the room. He prefers the litter box that is in a private area. The other two could care less, they will come in and drop a deuce right in front of whoever wants to see....they have no shame!


----------



## Peppop (Mar 26, 2013)

Both my cats are not private at all when it comes to doing their business. They don't care whether I am or am not in there. Their litters are in both bathrooms and quite often they'll come in when one of us are using the bathroom and do their business too. My girl tries to clean her feet but my boy doesn't care at all and just bounds out.


----------



## CatMonkeys (Sep 27, 2012)

My cats don't seem to care if I'm in the room while they're doing their business. The litter box is in the bathroom and both cats usually use it while I'm in and out getting ready in the morning. My boy cat also loves to go when the box is freshly scooped and will hop in and dig himself a hole before I've even lifted the last clump of dirty litter out. Who cares about privacy if you get first dibs on the clean box?


----------



## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

Yup, my older male will turn his back, meow loudly, or just come back later when the crazy human isn't watching. My other two just keep using it. They're used to me watching them  I used to be able to see them more when their box was in the living room. Now they have their own room so the box is in there and I can't watch them as easily. I've still caught them using the box a couple times.


----------



## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

I actually think mine likes to do it when I'm there. When I go to clean the box, they come and both tries to use it with me right here, waiting with scooper and bag in hand. They seem a bit proud of producing their stuff.

The look on their faces are hilarious though when they do their stuff, especially #2. They have this distant, serious look on their face. 

Billi seems to scratch the walls of the box after he is done, but I don't think it's cleaning his paws. It's just part of the burying ritual.


----------



## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I rarely SEE Book go in there. He's pretty sneaky.

I became obsessed with MowMow's litterbox use when he had a few blockaged back when I first go him so I tend to notice when he goes in and I praise him like crazy when he pees. If I'm up and about I'll take notice of the size of the clump to be sure things are flowing freely.

MowMow gets this far away look in his eyes and if you talk to him he won't make eye contact. Then he goes crazy scratching. Unfortunately he doesn't scratch at the litter, just at the side of the box, the wall next to it, the floor around it, and anything near the box. When MowMow is done and walks away, Book comes through and covers everything up.


----------



## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Charlee cleans her paws *obsessively* after doing her business. I actually got up the other morning to distract her so she'd stop (she woke me up!).

One day I reached inside their washroom to pull the litterbox out to scoop, and Cali was in there. I actually said, "Oh, sorrysorrysorry!!!!!"


----------



## cinderflower (Apr 22, 2012)

JungliBillis said:


> The look on their faces are hilarious though when they do their stuff, especially #2. They have this distant, serious look on their face.






 
2:15


----------



## 3gatos (Nov 28, 2012)

Love Simons cat!


----------



## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

MowMow said:


> MowMow gets this far away look in his eyes and if you talk to him he won't make eye contact. Then he goes crazy scratching. Unfortunately he doesn't scratch at the litter, just at the side of the box, the wall next to it, the floor around it, and anything near the box. When MowMow is done and walks away, Book comes through and covers everything up.


I had to laugh MowMow, because that is exactly how my Sadie and Belle act. Sadie is the hypnotized scratch-er. She'll scratch everything, including air, but somehow, after all of her efforts, she never even so much as gets one spec of litter over her business. LOL It's amazing! Belle will go in and cover it up.


----------



## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

Yes, I watch as much as they permit. Knowing litter box habits is a good way to catch problems early.

One cat actually tells me when she has to pee, and waits for me to follow her to the litter boxes. This is because she has a history of FLUTD and knows that it is important to me to see her pee, and to stick little testing strips under her when she pees, but she is very private about pooping and doesn't like to be watched. I have to wait until she is in mid-poop then kind of peek, to see if everything is coming out all right.

The other two are a bit sneaky and private about it all and I have to be on the alert if I want to observe them, more often I go straight to the boxes after either one is done to scoop and check and make sure size and odor of pee are normal, and size, odor, and texture of poop is normal.

I, too, have an uber-scratcher. She scratch scratch scratches, digs a big pile, but doesn't use it. Then she digs another pile for burying, but doens't bury anything. Then more digging and scratching before she finally decides to jump out. Hilarious.


----------



## Marcia (Dec 26, 2010)

If it's Zipper and #2, I will wait nearby and cover it for her as she never does.
My Sam used to do his business, then walk over to the water bowl and dip his paws in the water to clean them. It was cute the first time I saw him do it, then really annoying when I realized he tracked wet clay paw prints all over my freshly cleaned floors!....not to mention the nasty water.


----------



## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

Awww Simon's Cat video is so cute! They do make the funniest faces when they poo, don't they?


----------



## Straysmommy (Dec 23, 2010)

My cats don't mind one way or the other. It had never occurred to me to watch till I posted a couple years ago on here about how to know if they have diarrhea / are lactose intolerant, and it was taken for granted by the posters that I watched, so I started watching. Not always, only when I happen to be around.


----------



## Comet (Dec 8, 2012)

My cat's litter box is in our extra room where we dont go. When we had our computer in there, and when the litter box was in the bathroom and we would be in the room when my girl cat needed to go, she would meow at us. Only when she needed to poop. I think she was giving us a warning. She has stinky poo and when she was done she would quickly cover and bolt out of the room to avoid the smell.


----------



## Mylita (Jan 23, 2013)

My two don't seem to care either way. But, if I am cleaning the boxes, then they are right there trying to get in and use them. Since this happens twice a day, I can count on knowing where they are at that point. LOLOLOL

Mylita


----------



## Blakeney Green (Jan 15, 2013)

Zephyr almost always vocalizes before and after doing his business. It's like, "Just so you know, I will be using the litterbox." Then, "Just so you know, I'm done."


----------



## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

lovetimesfour said:


> to scoop and check and make sure size and odor of pee are normal, and size, odor, and texture of poop is normal.


Oh..my ignorance, what is it about the size, odor and texture that needed looking out for?




Marcia said:


> I
> My Sam used to do his business, then walk over to the water bowl and dip his paws in the water to clean them. It was cute the first time I saw him do it, then really annoying when I realized he tracked wet clay paw prints all over my freshly cleaned floors!....not to mention the nasty water.


haha...this is funny too, Sam does know he need to wash his paw after he finishes his business.



Blakeney Green said:


> Zephyr almost always vocalizes before and after doing his business. It's like, "Just so you know, I will be using the litterbox." Then, "Just so you know, I'm done."


ET used to vocalize too, but he has suddenly stopped doing that now, don't understand why.


----------



## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

snowy said:


> Oh..my ignorance, what is it about the size, odor and texture that needed looking out for?
> 
> .


Any changes. I know what is normal for each cat. If suddenly something changes about any of the above, including frequency(more often, less often) I am alerted that something may be wrong.

I keep a written record of both intake and output. So if there is something a bit odd, I make a note of it. If it never happens again, yay. If it continues or worsens, and I need to consider a trip to the vet, thanks to my cat journal, I know exactly when the problem started.


----------



## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

I thought the occasional change in the stool is pretty normal, sometimes small, sometimes larger. The only thing I thought to look out for is constipation (hard small ones) and diarrhea (watery), of course any visible blood. As for the frequency, ET poop mostly once a day, very rarely twice a day, but does timing matters? Sorry, I am still pretty ignorant about such matter.

I have only kept record of vomitting frequency and weight, never pee/poo size, frequency, color etc.


----------



## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

Based on my own experience, poop should be consistent in size, shape and texture. A grain free canned fed cat should have firm, but not hard and dry, sectioned, stools, 3-4 little tootsie roll (elongated rather than round) pieces. The stool should be able to be flattened with a little pressure.

Raw fed cats, of course, have very little stool, basically just a shell around hair. 

Timing may vary a bit, my cats poop on average every 24 to 36 hours, but their meal times vary also, because I have a variable work schedule.

My cats are fed both raw and canned, and their poop reflects that.

I recently cat-sat for a friend. Her cat is on a very poor diet, some extremely cheap kibble, not even sure it has any meat in it at all. I was quite shocked at his litter box out-put. Only one pee every 24 hours, and his stools are HUGE.

Two of my cats pee three times a day, each, and the third, who is a very small cat, has 4 little pees a day, and they poop every 24-36 hours. Unless I see something odd, I only record pee info when I do a pH reading, and I only use the test strips on the one cat who has had trouble with struvite crystals in the past. I do make a note of every poop though. Constipation issues can sneak up on you, I learned the hard way.

This is a very interesting useful thread. I don't know why someone would rate it down.


----------



## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

Just side track a little, what's this about the rating? Anybody can rate up or down? Occasionally I see star on the right of the title.

Anyway, thanks lovefourtimes, I'll start watching out for the size. 

Looks like some cats didn't mind us human watching them while doing their business and there certainly are some that do prefer that privacy.


----------



## marie73 (Jul 12, 2006)

Just ignore the rating stars. Some people are idiots. I wish we could do away with them.


----------



## lovetimesfour (Dec 1, 2010)

Me, too Marie. I should remember not to even use them, since someone apparently follows me around and votes terrible with every thread I rate excellent.

Sorry for the thread drift.


----------



## hemiram (Feb 14, 2013)

Timmy does his business, then spends at least a couple of minutes covering it up. He always misses at first, then he finally hits the target. After that, he takes his right foot and paws the top of the litter box, over and over again, with a strange look on his face. When he finally leaves, he usually makes one of his "Urrrrrr!" sounds, and takes off in a hurry. Wink can't resist going in as soon as I empty the box out, sometimes trying to get in before I'm even done. If I keep cleaning the box, she will finally make a sad kind of cry, and watch me intently until I'm done. It's a rare thing for her to make any sound unless she's playing.


----------



## Manue (Jan 3, 2013)

I do try to pay attention when she uses the box. Not necessarily watching every time but being mindful of how long she stays in there or if she seems to be straining. I also keep track of her output because she will only pee about twice a day, and poo once a day sometimes skipping a day. The other day my boyfriend did the litter and I started panicking as I thought she hand't peed or pooped all day


----------



## snowy (Aug 23, 2012)

haha...this is interesting. Sometimes, a simple and innocent question leads to other things which I am totally ignorant about. Over here, its keeping track and watching out for the pee and poo. Over at the nutrition section, its cat nutrition indepth for home cooked meals. Look like there are alot more that I need to know.

Thank you so much for all the input.


----------



## catloverami (Jul 5, 2010)

Neither one of mine care whether I'm watching or not, and sometimes will get in the box as I'm cleaning it. But they always come to watch me clean it, and they most always come into the bathroom with me to check out what I'm doing unless they're napping. If I close the bathroom door, then they scratch at it and meow to get in. Why it's a big fascination for them, and other cats I've had is a mystery to me!


----------



## carbonxxkidd (Oct 19, 2012)

catloverami, my cats hate closed doors too! Ganymede insists on sitting on my lap half the time I'm on the toilet too...haha!


----------

