Why Do Cats Bury Their Poop?

The sound of your cat digging in the litter box is unmistakable. It may even be annoying if your cat tends to dig and scratch around for minutes at a time after doing their business.  

But your cat isn’t trying to be obnoxious with his litter box habits. In fact, he’s just expressing a normal behavior that’s ingrained in his DNA and that serves multiple purposes. 

Why Do Cats Bury Their Poop?

There are a few reasons why cats cover their poop. 

Natural Instincts

Cats in the wild, especially cats living in a social group with a more dominant member, will bury their poop in dirt or sand.

Because domestic cats are descended from these wild cats, your cat still retains that urge to cover his poop with litter—this shows respect to you as the most dominant member of the social group.  

Cleanliness 

Cats are generally tidy creatures, and smell is one of their strongest senses. As such, when cats poop, they tend to cover it well with litter to hide the smell.  

This allows them to carry out other behaviors around the home, such as eating, drinking, and playing, without the offending scent of feces in the air. Covering poop also ensures that it doesn’t contaminate a cat’s food or water sources.  

Safety 

Because the scent of feces is strong, nearby predators and other threats to a cat’s safety may notice it—and be able to locate the cat. As such, cats use litter to conceal their poop and disguise its smell in order to escape detection from predators.  

Are Cats the Only Animals Who Bury Their Poop?

Other species, such as some armadillos, woodchucks, and mink, also cover their poop. These animals display poop-covering behaviors for similar reasons (such as hiding from predators and concealing their scent from more dominant individuals). 

Most dogs, however, don’t cover their poop. With dogs, the scent of their poop is used as a message to others. This form of communication reveals information about a dog’s gender, whether they are spayed or neutered, and their health status.  

Most dogs won’t try to cover their poop because they want to mark their territory with this information. In a domestic setting, dogs also don’t typically feel the same level of threat from predators as cats do.  

But in the rare cases when they do feel threatened, some dogs will bury their poop by kicking grass or leaves over it. It can also look like a dog is burying his poop, but this behavior may actually be done to spread his scent over a wider area, rather than conceal it.  

Why Does My Cat Not Cover Their Poop?

While most cats will consistently cover their poop each time they use the litter box, some cats may not. This is often for medical or behavioral reasons, but sometimes it can be normal behavior. 

Marking Territory

In cases where a cat wants to express dominance and claim territory, he may choose not to cover his poop as a signal to other individuals that he doesn’t feel threatened, and that the territory belongs to him. This might happen when you’re introducing a new cat to the household. 

Illness

Cats may also stop burying their poop if they aren’t feeling well. This can happen during a variety of illnesses, from digestive diseases that cause diarrhea and vomiting to upper respiratory infections that may make your cat feel too tired to bother with the task.

Cats in pain may also be too uncomfortable to bury their poop well.  

Stress and Anxiety

When cats are experiencing a stressful situation, they may stop performing normal behaviors, including covering their poop. Cats could become stressed by new family members, loud noises, or moving.  

Cats may stop covering their poop because they are seeking the comfort of their own scent to help them manage their anxiety. Or it could be because they don’t want to linger in the litter box to cover their poop when they feel threatened, so they can return to hiding as soon as possible.  

Litter Box Setup

Your cat may also refuse to bury his poop due to something about the litter box setup, such as the type of litter used or the size or location of the box.  

If your cat doesn’t like stepping on the litter, they won’t want to dig around in it to bury their poop. If the litter box is too small, your cat may also have a hard time finding room to dig and scratch properly to cover the poop. 

If the litter box is in a busy area or is in another cat’s territory, your cat might not feel comfortable staying in the litter box long enough to bury his poop. 

Individual Factors

Sometimes cats have a personal reason for not covering their poop. For example, if a cat’s mother never buried her poop, then the cat won’t learn to cover his poop and will carry this behavior into adulthood.  

Elderly cats may also stop covering their poop due to discomfort from arthritis or due to the cognitive decline that can happen with geriatric kitties (those older than 12 years).   

How To Get a Cat To Cover Their Poop

Depending on the underlying cause, it may be possible to encourage your cat to cover his poop. For example, if your cat stops covering his poop due to an illness, treating the underlying disease can help him feel better enough to cover his poop again.  

If your cat is experiencing stress and anxiety, address that with calming medications or supplements like Zylkene, increased playtime and mental stimulation (such as watching birds from a window perch or working on puzzle toys like the Nina Ottosson Buggin’ Out toy), or setting up calming spaces for him where he can decompress. This can all help your cat cover his poop more consistently. 

If the problem is with the litter or litter box itself, experiment with different types of litter or change the box size or location to see if your cat might be more inclined to cover his poop after adjustments are made.  

Provide a low-sided litter box and address any discomfort or cognitive issues in older cats. Joint supplements like GlycoFlex, pain medications, or brain-boosting supplements like Nordic Naturals Omega-3 can help senior cats or those with limited mobility express normal litter box habits.  

In some instances, it may not be possible to get your cat to cover his poop, especially if he’s a mature cat who never learned to do so.  

In these instances, don’t try to force your cat to cover his poop, such as moving his front legs through the litter in a burying motion. This could potentially cause your cat stress and create fear around using the litter box. 

However, if your cat is a kitten or young adult cat (under 2 years old), he might be able to learn from other cats in the household how to cover his poop properly.