Bet you haven't tried.

Suddenly, without warning, William Hamblen exclaimed (29-Oct-06 1:16 AM):

I successfully taught my cat to cover when she was a kitten, and
sometimes wish I hadn't.  She went from never covering to being and
obsessive digger - and often we'd end up with this huge mountain of
litter, with her poo sitting unburied on top.

Now she's smarter and more practiced.  If we're home, she doesn't cover.
 When we're not home, she covers.  It's only been in the last year that
she's actually figured out to properly cover - she's 10 now.

jmc

HAR-!

I tried the Teaching by Example Method. She knew something was up when I
gently plucked her from her spot under the crepe myrtle, and she began
contorting in my arms as I approached the Litter Box Site indoors.
Suddenly, I was holding a bundle of prickly pear cactus. I let her go.
Disappointed, I scooped the poop for a minute.

I guess I'll wait until she's hungry and associate a food treat with
some litter excavation & cover practice. I know I am getting very good
at it.

What is it about cats-?? She's completely useless (never caught a
rodent) and has hairballed the good couch countless times. But--when I'm
stretched out watching the tube, she'll hop up there and nest on my
stomach, purring, giving me the happy eye. If I pet her just right,
Wanda will crawl towards my face and give me a "muzzle kiss."

At that moment, the smelly crap is forgotten. Nearly.

I had no idea there were so many non-poop coverers among the cats out
there. Interesting.

I have to tell a story. Our long-gone (and sorely missed) B+W tabby,
Luckee, was a smart critter who spent 5, 10 minutes or more concealing
every molecule of her crap. She would pause, examine it, keep at it.
Very thorough. She was a rescued cat whose tail got broken & skinned
about halfway when she climbed under the hood of my mom's car. Lost a
couple of teeth, too. Millions of dollars later, she was our pet, and
she seemed grateful. Luckee had 50% of her tail, which got attention.

Anyway, once we had a family emergency--had to leave town fast for about
four days--no time to board her. I fixed up a habitat in our utility
room, leaving plenty of water, food, toys, etc. Lastly, I filled a giant
cardboard litter box.

Upon returning, we opened the door to find Luckee contentedly sleeping
on her pad. Of course, the box odor was sharp, and it seemed to emanate
from someplace high. To my amazement, I discovered that I had
[apparently] placed the box on a shelf around four feet high, with about
3-4 inches of overhang, in my haste to get the habitat ready.

Incredibly, the cat had made her way up there every time Nature called,
and carefully shat. What a cat-! A damned rottweiler killed her about
six years ago, and I have had my 8mm Mauser in the hall closet since
then in case he returns.

I have told this [true!] story to Wanda repeatedly, but she hasn't
gotten the point. She just slowly blinks.

That's a good question, my little Princess will burry her poop, but for some
apparent reason she likes to scratch the dirt so much, she continues to get
about as much dirt outside the box as there is still inside, why? The there
has been some times, I've seen her scratching in the dirt she has kicked out
of the box, as if there wasn't enough inside, why did she rake it out?

Troll.

Don't take this poor advice.