I've had this adorable tuxedo cat for nearly 16 years. She is the sweetest cutest cat you'd ever want to have but she has one very very BAD habit: when she urinates or defecates in the litter box she will not cover it up as most cats do. I clean the litter box at least twice a day and routinely either add new litter or change it out completely. When I change it out completely I have to save a little used litter from the previous batch to sprinkle on top because unless she smells her scent in the new litter she'll crap on the carpet next to the litter box. This litter box is located in the bedroom and is one of three in the house (she doesn't care to use the other two). Unfortunately I have to have this box in the bedroom there is no alternative.

She seems to time her bowel movements in the middle of the night when I'm asleep sometimes she wakes me with her initial scratching and sometime she doesn't.

On at least two occasions the odor in the bedroom is so foul it has infiltrated my dreams.

The first time my dream ended when I found myself at some sort of charity banquet and I turned to see Wanda Sykes sitting next to me. She looked at me and said, "Do you smell that? What's that nasty smell?". Then I said I smelled it, too. "It smells like...a cat shit in here!" then I snapped awake took a conscious breath and about hurled.

Segue to several months later (last night). I'm in a dream where I'm pulling my car into a parking spot at a strip mall and as I'm walking from my car into a store I start smelling this odor and it gets worse and worse and then I snap awake and that first conscious breath nearly knocks me out of bed at 3am. After cleaning the box I had to open both bedroom windows, run the ceiling fan, and spray the room with Febreeze room deoderizer that I keep at bedside for such events. And it was COLD outside and I had to leave the windows open for at least an hour to air out the room.

The things we do for our little furry "chirren".

Too late now. She successfully trained you to do her business.

Dreams just how obsessed you are with it.

At least its not another Virginia thread?

Time for it to be an outside cat or SSS.

Litter box? My cat always went out with the dogs. She even taught the dogs to bury their crap.

How much does she dig before going? Maybe her feet hurt when she digs.

ETA Maybe try easing her into a different food.

Deleted - JR

Amazon search "self cleaning cat box". Lots of results.

Sadly this will be a self-correcting issue as she's getting quite old. She's on prescription food as commercial food has triggered pancreatitis (or at least symptoms mimicking pancreatitis).

As for excessive digging, I don't think so.

BTW she's was also feral or "semi-feral" when I got her as a kitten at around 8 weeks. She's always been something of an oddball.

Did I also mention we have a labrador that will eat the poop if it's left in the box? No, that's not a solution.

I have a lab and took care of a cat for about 3 months. I dont think I had to clean the litter box once.

Run an air purifier - not a filter - in the room with the litter box.

Lighting a match helps cover the smell. Maybe try different cat litter? Close the bedroom door and keep her out of there at night?

Came here to say strike a few matches and blow them out.

but beat like a rented mule..

I've had a few that were that way. Only thing I ever found that would work (sometimes) was trying different pans, different litters, and placing them in the oddest places. Generally if it's left out, that's a sign of disdain for ... something. You can't tell what.

Here's a strange idea - they actually make litter ... 'boxes' (they aren't boxes, they're ovalish) that you hang over the toilet seat, cat perches up there and does it's business, as they get used to perching you remove one ring from the center, than another, and after a while, they just go do their business in the toilet. Some even learn to flush it. Some people don't care for it because you can't tell if something is wonky with their stool.

FYI, stop the dog from eating that, pronto! kitty litter, especially the tight clumping type, can make what is effectively a CEMENT plug in your dog's GI tract. VERY BAD.

I love cats (and dogs) but the biggest reason for not getting another cat is the poo.  Bleh.  I just can do the poo.   I cat-sit my mothers cat when she goes out of town and all the memories come rushing back; liter getting kicked everywhere and waking up in the middle of the night to the smell of giant cat turd.  Nope.

Lmao. My old black labrador (RIP Lucky) also ate our cat's poop. She would literally solve tetris puzzles of furniture just to grab a cat log.

Turnabout is fair play...
YOU take a shit in the litter box and don't cover it up.  See how the cat likes that.

We had a dust problem and solved it with a covered litter box. It looks like a dog house.  We left the door off for a month to let them get used to it and they use it just fine.

Several options:

A) Automatic cat box - there are several brands that all mostly suck.  Some of them work for awhile and then get nasty.
B) Vent fan to exhaust the poo particles - when I had an old cat I kept his box in the bathroom and installed a high end quiet vent fan that I left running all the time.
C) Try different litter and different box designs

I think it's gross to keep a cat litter box in your bedroom.

Unfortunately there is no alternative given we have multiple animals some need to be sequestered in certain parts of the house esp. at night. The labrador will eat cat poop at every opportunity.

My wife's cat stopped covering her poop when she got old.  I think she was about 15 years old at the time.  Wife just acted like it was normal for old cats to do that.  Luckily, when the old lady got pregnant, she couldnt handle the smell of the shit anymore so the cat became an outside pet.  Didnt take long for her to disappear.  Not really sure exactly what happened to her but I didnt lose any sleep over it.

Id be more concerned that your dreaming of wanda sykes

Probably adopted by a well to do family and lived happily ever after