Cats, which spend certain minutes of the day licking themselves, are among the animals that stand out with their cleanliness. In fact, this feature of cats makes them one of the most suitable creatures to keep at home. However, when it comes to hiding their feces, completely different reasons arise other than cleaning.
Without further ado, let’s look at the reasons why these cute animals bury their feces.
There is an interesting detail about cat feces.
Namely, these feces generally smell the same to us, but cats can distinguish their waste from other cats thanks to the unique scent molecules called pheromones found in their urine and feces.
Cats’ meticulous litter burying is also based on their long history of using urine and feces to mark their territory. Smaller, vulnerable and obedient, domesticated house cats belong to the frail cat group in lineage.
For this reason, they bury their feces even though there are no predators where they are. This movement of theirs stems from their instinct to secure themselves just in case, even if there is no creature that poses a threat to them in the area they are in.
Again, every domestic cat sees its owner as strong and dominant and therefore feels weak and threatened.
Famous zoologist and behavioral science expert Desmond Morris expresses this situation with the following sentences: “In an undisturbed home, every domestic cat feels like a creature under the pressure of its owners. Therefore, under normal circumstances, many cats protect themselves from the ‘predator’ at home by burying their own feces in the cat litter or in the garden of the house.”
Additionally, predators can detect their prey by the smell and location of their droppings. For this reason, burying feces is a tendency shown by the weak and frail cat group. Because cats that do this hide more easily and the possibility of being preyed upon by foreign cats is largely eliminated.
However, not every cat hides its feces.
In the wild; Dominant cat species that compete for territory, such as lions, tigers, jaguars, and leopards, do not bury their feces as a way of signaling that they want to take over a particular area.
But feral cats may sometimes tend to hide their feces to avoid attracting unwanted attention from predators to themselves or their young’s nests.
Let’s get back to domestic cats. So, what could be the reasons why pet cats do not bury their feces?
Although burying feces is an instinctive behavior for domestic cats, these cats can sometimes defecate in unusual places other than their litter. One of the biggest reasons behind this behavior is that the cat was not shown or taught this behavior by its mother when it was a kitten.
If this is the problem, you can teach the cat to defecate in the litter with the right commands and directions. Especially if it is a puppy, your job is much easier.
Apart from this, cats generally like clean litter.
If their litter hasn’t been cleaned for a long time, they may not want to defecate there again. It is also recommended that the toilet bowl be approximately 1.5 times the size of the cat. If this area is small for the cat, it may avoid using it for defecation.
At the same time, a change of home or the arrival of a new animal in the house can stress cats, and such situations may cause cats not to defecate in the toilet bowl. If all conditions are met and your cat still refuses to go to the litter box, there may be a health problem behind it. At this point, consulting a veterinarian will bring the healthiest result.
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