Thursday, May 7, 2009

Ch-Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

There's been a whirlwind of things happening in the Pascha likes/dislikes the toilet realm. Let's just assume Rex is trained already, cause he is. For instance, I took a sample of his pee to the vet today, and all I had to do was place little cup under his stream and got, like, 40 mL. The nurses were pleased.

So as we discussed before, Pascha just doesn't know what to do with herself on that toilet when she pees, and has sometimes turned to the sink for her gratification. *Sigh* Yeah, OK, she really really likes to pee in the sink. Better the sink than the floor! But still, it's not the toilet.

For the record, she has pooped repeatedly in the toilet like a perfectly toilet trained cat. This is all about the pee. Yeah, I don't get it either.

So I got to thinking, "OK, I should make her more comfortable. Perhaps I should let her pee in the sink."

Blaspheme!!!

Well, I did, because it's still sanitary and easy to clean up. And she likes it. So I did and things went smoothly for a few days.

But then.

I walked into the bathroom one day and saw her pawing furiously in the sink (as she always does pre-pee) and I found her start to do something horrid. She started to get in position to poop in the sink!!!!

No Way! No! Not in my sink!

So, instinctively I picked her up and put her on the toilet and she was upset and her foot fell in the toilet and it was bad. She finally positioned herself on the toilet and did her thing, but that got me thinking that his sink allowance would not fly.


I came to the conclusion that this whole setup was bad for her, and maybe she needed to start over entirely.



I bought a Litter Kwitter with the additional intermediate rings (for stubborn cats). It hasn't arrived yet, and since I'm moving to Dallas in June I will begin to use it for her as soon as we move. New bathroom. Clean slate.

I like the fact that the Litter Quitter keeps it close to the rim. Right now the turkey roaster pan is so low down into the toilet it must be hard for her to know what to do. Hopefully this whole new approach will be easier, especially since she's already got half of it down. She just needs to know how to place her feet when she pees. Nothing else has worked. I'm hoping this will.

In the meantime I bought a new turkey roaster litter pan and have started placing it on the ground like a regular litter pan for when she needs to pee. Then I take it up, clean it, and place it in a cabinet so it won't always be there to use (cause, you know, I have nothing better to do!). I'd rather take it this many steps back than for her to go sideways thinking the sink is OK. When she hops in the sink or the bathtub I now turn the water on quickly and that usually keeps her out.

So that's what's been going on. I'll fill you in when we get the Litter Quitter or if anything traumatic/miraculous happens.




Oh yes - just one more thought: if, for some reason, I find her already pooping in the sink, I think I'm just going to let it sit there for a long time. Cats hate that. That's one reason why they like to poop in the toilet - the smell goes away really fast. If she poops in the sink shes going to have to endure that smell for a long, long time (cat time). That's my backup plan.