Many are the days when I make the comparison between having a human child and having three squawking, demanding, needy, inscrutable cats. I’m sure the real parents out there will set me straight in no time but before the voice of true parental authority comes down upon me, let me just say that at least you can train a human child to use the toilet. Cats? Not so much.
But wait, you say. Cats have a natural instinct when it comes to using a litter box. They are neat, clean creatures who take pains to cover their waste, unlike dogs, who are allowed and even encouraged to walk away from their mess without even a pang of responsibility. To you I say, meet Scully.
The reasons that I love Scully are numerous and deep. I have lugged her furriness around the country with me. She is my constant companion and we have been through a lot together. But when I got her from the MSPCA, she was depressed and that depression must have interfered with her natural litter box training, because in none of the places we have lived has she adhered to proper litter box etiquette.
In addition to her other quirks, Scully can’t stand sharing a box with other cats. This is a major problem, as we live with two other cats, one of whom insists on using Scully’s box because it’s THERE. To combat the inevitable accidents, I’ve bought every non-ammonia based cleaner I can find. Last month I finally bought a pack of those puppy training pads to try and keep the accidents under control. But after several weeks of repeated incidents, I finally broke out the big guns and declared a War on Cat Pee.
My strategy entails the following:
1. a clear vinyl shower curtain, doubled over and duct taped to the floor and the wall
2. a layer of absorbent Arm & Hammer dog training pads
3. an easy to clean jute rug to keep the boxes in place and prevent scratching of the other layers
4. two cat boxes, cleaned and liberally dosed with Arm & Hammer cat litter deodorizer
We’ll see how the opposing forces react to my tactics.
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2 comments:
I'm still finding residual cat evidence even two months after I adopted Bluebell away. Although I'm sorry to say I lost the tainted luggage and had to throw away the tainted sheets of blank CD labels, I was able to save the suit pants. How, you ask? Well, I drowned them in a bottle of pet-specific stain remover and washed them in the regular laundry, and now there's nary a trace of the odor. However, I should say, my suit pants do seem to have suffered ever so slightly from going through the regular wash ...
Poor Scully. Some very strongly ingrained problem there.
Good luck!
Wombat
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