Some random bits

[dianec42]

The weather today: blue skies, sunny, in the 70s. You east coasters can keep your snow. (-:

Our landlady is impressed with what we've done with the place. Go, Ikea!

I've ceased suffering random boring insomnia. Unfortunately, there are now REASONS for sleep deprivation. One is that The Ferocious Nibbler is not house-trained, so he tends to wake us up around 5 AM to be let out to pee. (Which is better than the alternative, I freely admit.) The main reason, though, is that we have been playing rather a lot of World of Warcraft in our house. Not "a LOT a lot" by some sad gamer standards, but enough that things like housework and sleep have been let slide a bit.

If anyone has any good advice on litter training adult cats, do please let me know. I googled for it and got absolutely nothing useful.

Oh, and I have a job and it is good. I've been there a couple of weeks and the universe hasn't implded yet, so I can probably safely crow about that now.

Comments

[sharikkamur.livejournal.com]

That is most excellent news. About the job and the decor, that is, not the cat. Have you considered a catflap or, failing that, an open window?

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

We're considering the catflap option. Keeping an open window could get problematic - it actually is getting quite chilly at night this time of year, and it does chuck down rain from time to time. (We never seem to get a happy normal British drizzle here; so far it's been all or nothing.)

[flyingwolf.livejournal.com]

hmmm. I'm not sure how to litter train an adult cat. I have heard the following when moving a cat from one litter to the other or when trying to toilet train your cat. Try to go in steps. Do you know what the cat is going in now? if so, can you cat some of that material and put it in a box? if that works, start adding litter to the mix. That's all I can think of. Good luck!

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

So far he's been known to pee on rugs and blankets, which isn't all that helpful. Sigh. I keep thinking, if only we had houseplants, we wouldn't really want him to pee in those either but it would give us some place to start!

I have no idea where he likes to go when he's outside. You've seen the jungle that is our garden - we couldn't spy on him if we wanted to, he'd just disappear into the bushes.

So far we've tried putting torn-up strips of paper towel on top of the litter, and putting the litter box near the back door. I tried standing him in the box a couple of times but he's always just bolted.

[scruffycritter.livejournal.com]

Cats generally like to use cat litter. It's the consistency of surface that appeals to them.

The trick is to get them to associate the litter location with going toidy.

I once read about a cat owner who couldnt get her adopted stray to use the box, but putting litter in the bottom of a metal trash can worked perfectly.

In your case, I'm wondering what happens if, when Nibbler asks to go outside, you carry him to the litter box instead (and put him in it). I bet you he gets the clue once he scrapes around the material. Even if he doesn't like the idea and insists on going out (try this at your own risk), he might use it if he had to go and simply couldn't get outside.

Unfortunately the only proof is in the piddling...

[flyingwolf.livejournal.com]

my cat is a bit of a freak. I can go from the silicon stuff to the clumping stuff with no issues. NONE. And if he's out and has to go, he just goes in the flower bed. He has NEVER gone on anything he shouldn't go on. (I love my little bird killer)

Litter Box Training

[dmk.livejournal.com]

Caveat: I've never done this myself. Start with the old-fashioned clay litter (closer to what they use naturally). See if you can find one of The Ferocious Nibbler's turds from outside to prime the pump. Place the box (uncovered) near the cat's main entrance. You could also try lining the pan with a previously peed-upon towel or sheet. Good luck!

Re: Litter Box Training

[dianec42.livejournal.com]

It's a good theory. Couple of problems: there are two other outdoor cats sharing the territory, so we have no way of knowing whose turds are whose. And if ONLY the little bastard would pee on something portable or disposable! Sigh. We'll see what we can do... might try disposable houseplants instead though. (-: