Toilet Training update

"Hopitus2" wrote:

Years
ago I swore off public "salad bars" - so popular with the ubiquitous "senior
citizens" of our area ( usually all-you-can-eat, cheap) and have never been
sorry I did. If you sat near one while you dined, and kept a close watch at
what goes on in the line helping themselves to it, you might rethink salad
bars yourself.

Darn it! I love salad bars! I guess I'll just have to stick to the
all you can eat sushi bars.

Takayuki wrote:

Darn it! I love salad bars! I guess I'll just have to stick to the
all you can eat sushi bars.

LOL - I'm sure that's *much* safer, Tak!

Joyce

Kristi wrote:

Whoaaaaaaaa girl! That's your opinion,
sweeheart. But you don't even have the
whole story.

I don't need the whole story to know it's wrong to force a cat to
eliminate in a human way. As far as that being my opinion, it just
happens to be backed up with facts and common sense:
http://community.webtv.net/zuzu22/toilettraining

First of all, I'm a little tired of
having to clean up litter the bathroom
every day.

Then either rehome your cats so there isn't litterbox to contend with,
or move the box. There are other places, such as a closet, you could
move the box to.

My cats go overkill when it
comes to burying their stuff,

This is a natural, instinctive behavior and taking away the ability to
dig and bury can lead to frustration which in turn can lead to behavior
issues. Cleaning up some litter is certainly preferable to cleaning up
uine on carpet, furniture, and clothing. Your cats have already shown
you they are not happy with using the toilet. Why you haven't figured
this out yet is a mystery.

so
everytime they use the box there's about
a cupful of litter on the floor, even
with a litter box with a lid around the
edges. =A0

You can try a covered box, or buy a storage bin with high sides, cut a
hole in one end and use that. Either one will help to eliminate a lot of
the excess litter on the floor.

Litter that I end up stepping
on every time i go into the bathroom. Do
you know what's it like to get out of
the shower and step on cat litter?

No, because I don't keep any litterboxes in the bathroom for exactly
that reason. It's common sense.

No
matter how much I clean it up, it's
always there. And that happens every
time, no matter where the litter box is.

If you intend to keep the litterbox in the bathroom, you can get a
little Dustbuster or a little broom and dustpan and clean the litter up
just before you take a shower.


You probably would say to put the box in
the garage. What you don't know is, I
don't make enough money to be able to
live in a place that has a garage.

I would never recommend putting the litterbox in the garage.

I
have a tiny outdoor patio, but I live on
the first floor and these are indoor
cats. I don't want a stinky litter box
out when I have guests over,

If the litterbox is "stinky" then you're not doing your job and keeping
it clean.

and I don't
want litter all over my carpet. So what
does that leave? The bathroom.

A vacuum will solve the problem of litter on the carpet as will my
previous suggestion of a different type of litterbox.

Second, I'm a full time student and I
also work. Expenses are tight and 30
bucks a month on cat litter is a bit
much. I can't use those pearl/crystal
types cause it doens't really lock in
the odors. Since I'm in the bathroom, I
need flushable litter.

If you scoop the box twice a day and wash it regularly, odor shouldn't
be an issue. You also don't need to have the box in the bathroom in
order to flush litter. I have a small bucket that I use to put the waste
in when I scoop the boxes. I carry it into the bathroom and flush (I use
World's Best Cat Litter). Easy.

Thirdly, you say it's completely
unnatural for a cat to do this. Oh, is
it natural for my cat to use my
roommate's bed for a litterbox while
she's out of town? Is it natural for
them to pee on carpet or piles of clean
clothes?

When you don't keep the boxes clean, which you admitted in your other
post, you don't give them much choice. The problem is entirely your
fault and to blame the cats for your failing to keep the box clean is
wrong. I have 24 cats and 12 litterboxes and they are scooped twice
daily, washed, and changed regularly.

Imagine if you go into a public restroom and the only stall available
has a toilet filled with urine and feces and it won't flush. The sight
of that would turn your stomach, you would not use it and would go
somewhere else. Now think about how your cats feel when faced with
basically the same scenario. The effort to clean a litterbox is minimal.
There is NO excuse for not taking one or two minutes twice a day to
scoop.

Finally, you say I'm a cruel person to
do this. Wow, guess you have joined all
the people in this world that hate me.
Guess I'm going to stay up late and
think long and hard about how I offended
you. Better refill my anti-depressants.

Your time would be much better spent actually keeping the litterbox
clean, learning about cat behavior, understanding your cats and
respecting them. Trying to force them to exhibit human behavior is wrong
and most often an exercise in futility.

That's your opinion and I don't agree
with it, but when it comes down to it, I
really don't give a care what you think.

It's clear that you do, as evidenced by the previous defensive
paragraph.


=A0=A0If it works, cool. If not, I'll try to
figure out other solutions.

The solution is not to force the cats to use a toilet, but to make the
effort to keep the box clean and put it in a different location. It's
not rocket science.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Some day we may be building dwellings from cat poo and clay, forming solid
structures.
Did you ever think that Schmogg may be biting you at night because he
doesn't care for the tabloid reading matter you provide in his litterbox?
Maybe, like the rest of us, he's grown weary of Brad & Jen's 500 watt
nonstop smiles, or Bennifer's on/off romance, or Whitney's still another
trip to rehab city. The headline I saw tonight on one, "COOKED" over Ms.
Stewart's haggard face closeup, was worth a couple good toe nips for Schmogg
to give you.



"Yowie" wrote in message
...
: "Seanette Blaylock" wrote in
: message ...
: "Hopitus2" had some very interesting things to
: say about Toilet Training update:
:
: Our litterboxes are very large, oval, rounded (no corners) and "giant"
: liners fit well, with much side overlap. Broom & pan are cheap,
: short-handled, and stay right there nearby. I gave up on that crystal
: silicone litter simply because since it hurt *my* feet (you talk
"sharp"
: and
: "pointy"! - that stuff is like shaved diamonds) little cat pads walking
: on
: it would also be hurting. Besides, I agree with her statement that odor
: control is poor with the silicone, at least it was here.
:
: Felix doesn't seem to mind it [and his little paws are fine], and as I
: said elsewhere in this discussion, I've found odor control much
: *better* with the crystal litter. Box liners, OTOH, are rather less
: than useless with him, as intensely as he digs :-).
:
: Shmogg shreds the liners too, but I have discovered if I put newspaper
both
: under and over the liner and *then* pour in the litter, he can't easily
: puncture the plastic liner. And even if he does, the litter pretty much
: stays put and you just get soggy newspaper at the bottom. Far easier to
: clean than that strange cat-litter concrete that seems to form in the
: corners fo the box that takes *ages* to get rid of (who knew cat poo and
: clay made such a solid structure?) . Shmogg's favouritelitterbox is pretty
: much exactly the same size as a tabloid newspaper, and we get two tabloid
: newspapers delivered free each week. Cleaning out the box has been so much
: easier since I started using the newspaper and the liners together.
:
: Yowie
:

"Hopitus2" wrote in message
...
Some day we may be building dwellings from cat poo and clay, forming solid
structures.
Did you ever think that Schmogg may be biting you at night because he
doesn't care for the tabloid reading matter you provide in his litterbox?
Maybe, like the rest of us, he's grown weary of Brad & Jen's 500 watt
nonstop smiles, or Bennifer's on/off romance, or Whitney's still another
trip to rehab city. The headline I saw tonight on one, "COOKED" over Ms.
Stewart's haggard face closeup, was worth a couple good toe nips for
Schmogg
to give you.

LOL! Think we can get a building contract on our new "100% recycled"
extra-strong building material?

As for tabloids, I thought that the litterbox would be about the right place
for such trash! They certainly promote excrement.

(Actually I was using "tabloid" only as a size - ie, approxiamtely A2 size
when closed, rather than "broadsheet" size - double tabloid, rather than any
comment on the content of said free newsppaers, which are really local
advertising with just enough local-interest stories not to qualify as pure
advertising material)

Yowie

Kristi wrote:

The peeing in my roommate's bed
happened when we were first trying out
litters and Imp doesn't do that anymore. If
they don't like the status of the litter box,
they'll pee on my clothes to give me the
message. Fresh Step does sound like a
good idea, so it would just be a matter of
weaning them off the wheat litter.

Since your cat is obviously picky about litter it would be a mistake to
switch from one that he likes to a heavily scented, non clumping litter
like Fresh Step where you won't be able to completely remove the urine
from the box. Cats for the most part prefer unscented litter and the
perfume in some litters (Tidy Cat is especially bad in that regard) can
be very aversive. Cats have a highly developed sense of smell and what
may seem ok to us is overpowering to them. If you've ever had to put up
with being in an elevator with someone that soaked themselves in perfume
or aftershave this will give you an idea of what scented litter can be
like to cats. The real issue here is the way you take care of the
litterbox.

Being conscientious about scooping and keeping the box clean is the
simple answer here. Inflicting another change on the cats could make
things worse.

Megan



"The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do
nothing."

-Edmund Burke

Learn The TRUTH About Declawing
http://www.stopdeclaw.com

Zuzu's Cats Photo Album:
http://www.PictureTrail.com/zuzu22

"Concerning all acts of initiative (and creation), there is one
elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and
splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then
providence moves too. A whole stream of events issues from the decision,
raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and
material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his
way."

- W.H. Murray

Sorry, I don't eat bait.

Takayuki wrote:
"Hopitus2" wrote:


Years
ago I swore off public "salad bars" - so popular with the ubiquitous "senior
citizens" of our area ( usually all-you-can-eat, cheap) and have never been
sorry I did. If you sat near one while you dined, and kept a close watch at
what goes on in the line helping themselves to it, you might rethink salad
bars yourself.


Darn it! I love salad bars! I guess I'll just have to stick to the
all you can eat sushi bars.

Our local newspaper comes with a supplement titled American Profile. This
week it features Library Cats:

Dewey Readmore Books of the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa,
Molli of the Azle Public Library in Azle, Texas,
Trixie or the Ocean Shores Library in Ocean Shores, Washington,
Emily of the Mystic & Noank Library, Mystic, Conn.,
Page of the Gladstone Public Library in Gladstone, Ore.

Dewey was found in the Book Return.
Page used to set off the alarm sliding down the bannister until she was
caught.
Molli was catnapped and return by a lady who accidently said she and my dog
didn't get along anyway.
Trixie has her own checkbook to pay for yummies and the vet.

For a guide to Americs's library cats:
http://ironfrog.com

Charleen

On Thu, 18 Mar 2004 16:47:49 GMT, "Charleen Welton"
yodeled:

Our local newspaper comes with a supplement titled American Profile. This
week it features Library Cats:

Dewey Readmore Books of the Spencer Public Library in Spencer, Iowa,
Molli of the Azle Public Library in Azle, Texas,
Trixie or the Ocean Shores Library in Ocean Shores, Washington,
Emily of the Mystic & Noank Library, Mystic, Conn.,
Page of the Gladstone Public Library in Gladstone, Ore.

Dewey was found in the Book Return.
Page used to set off the alarm sliding down the bannister until she was
caught.
Molli was catnapped and return by a lady who accidently said she and my dog
didn't get along anyway.
Trixie has her own checkbook to pay for yummies and the vet.

For a guide to Americs's library cats:
http://ironfrog.com

Charleen

AFAIC there is no place that could not be improved by cats.




Theresa
alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/

Single-mindedness is all very well in cows or baboons; in an animal
claiming to belong to the same species as Shakespeare it is simply disgraceful.
(Aldous Huxley)

wrote in message
...
Since your cat is obviously picky about litter it would be a mistake to
switch from one that he likes to a heavily scented, non clumping litter
like Fresh Step where you won't be able to completely remove the urine
from the box. ... Being conscientious about scooping and keeping the box
clean is the
simple answer here. Inflicting another change on the cats could make
things worse.

Megan

The Fresh Step Scoopable litter that I use is a clumping litter. The urine
is removed in clumps. I do not use the scented version. I don't like heavy
perfume odors and would not inflict them on my cats.
I agree that scooping and keeping the box clean will help prevent and solve
inappropriate urination and that changing litters can pose some risk of
rejection. However, the O.P. was concerned about the cost of her present
litter. I suggested a more economical brand that works well for our cats.
If she decides to change, she can do it gradually by mixing the old and new
brands together at first.
Annie