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Cat Forum / Cat Anecdotes / June 2004Rocky and the Litterbox
OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) Since I adopted Rocky last fall he's been spending more and more time inside (after being feral for a long time, I figured that was big progress). At first he was either eating or pacing in front of the glass door wanting back out. Over time he's gotten more comfortable being inside. He would just about freak if I went outside and left him in - guess he was afraid of being trapped inside. Now, though, if he sees me going out he just watches, and instead of finding him pacing in front of the door when I come back he's more apt to be napping. Though he's been staying in overnight most of the winter, he's still been doing all his "business" outside. Then, one evening he decided to go ahead and use the box. He really didn't know the ropes. The first few times he'd dig a BIG hole, throwing litter all over the place, do his business, and then leave without covering up. Guess he was just used to having to work alot harder digging outside. Now, he's much better (I suspect Little Bit decided to give him a talking to, since she's the self-appointed litterbox supervisor and always comes to tell me when it needs to be cleaned). He no longer flings litter all over the place, and does a reasonable job covering up. Today, and the reason for my writing this, he reached another milestone of sorts. He came to the door and asked to be let inside. I opened the door and he went straight to the box and did his business. Then he went back to the door and wanted outside. Now, to some folks this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face.  SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html Steve Touchstone <stouchst@junksirinet.net> had some very interesting things to say about Rocky and the Litterbox: >Today, and the reason for my writing this, he reached another >milestone of sorts. He came to the door and asked to be let inside. I >opened the door and he went straight to the box and did his business. >Then he went back to the door and wanted outside. Now, to some folks Felix does that. I always ask him why he can't just take care of that outside like a normal cat. :-) >this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of >this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. Sounds like Rocky's getting tamer. :-) Signature"Don't mess with major appliances unless you know what you are doing (or unless your life insurance policy is up-to-date)." - John, RCFL ---------------------<snip>---------------------- >Today, and the reason for my writing this, he reached another >milestone of sorts. He came to the door and asked to be let inside. I >opened the door and he went straight to the box and did his business. >Then he went back to the door and wanted outside. Now, to some folks >this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of >this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. Who'd want to dig in the cold ground in the winter when there's soft sand just waiting for a deposit? After all, that's one of the things hoomins are good for -- being a kitty doorman. Regards and Purrs, O J Steve, don't know if you have any children of the human kind. But this is the kind of thing that we who do have naked babies call a real milestone. When the little ones learn to go on the potty and not in their diaper. Congratulations! Rocky is growing up :) You done good! Jazz & his mama SignatureIrulan from the stars we came, to the stars we return from now until the end of time > OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I > figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of > this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. (snip) >Now, he's much >better (I suspect Little Bit decided to give him a talking to, since >she's the self-appointed litterbox supervisor and always comes to tell >me when it needs to be cleaned). The litterbox police! LOL! > He no longer flings litter all over >the place, and does a reasonable job covering up. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] >this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of >this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. It certainly does. ;) Theresa My Blog: http://www.humanitas.blogspot.com alt.tv.frasier FAQ: http://www.im-listening.net/FAQ/ Ha! Too cute :-) He's getting used to the finer things in life. Pretty soon you'll be feeding him Fancy Feast in a crystal goblet ;-) -- Britta Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered in fur! Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album > OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I > figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) [quoted text clipped - 32 lines] > Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html > Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html >Ha! Too cute :-) He's getting used to the finer things in life. Pretty >soon you'll be feeding him Fancy Feast in a crystal goblet ;-) Nope, no FF, not after all the trouble I had when I stopped buying it for the girls LOL. OTOH, he likes the Iams canned Ocean Fish which I give them morning and night. That's the only one the girls will eat right now. There's only one can left in the cupboard, so they'll probably decide to switch flavors when I bring more home this afternoon. He just sort of puts up with the Iams dry (I put out about half a cup when I go to bed). He still guards the Meow Mix I put out for the neighborhood cats, but I seldom see him eat any. Usually he just watches them come and eat, but every so often he goes over and pushes them away from the bowl to take a few bites, just to show that he's still top cat. He's always been good about letting the smaller ones eat whenever they want to, but whenever one of his old competitors comes he uses the food bowl to keep them in line. SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html > >Ha! Too cute :-) He's getting used to the finer things in life. Pretty > >soon you'll be feeding him Fancy Feast in a crystal goblet ;-) [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > afternoon. He just sort of puts up with the Iams dry (I put out about > half a cup when I go to bed). Oh yeah, ok, Iams then. Don't go back to FF when you've got them eating Iams. But the crystal goblet is a must!! ;-) Vino likes all the Iams canned flavours. Vino likes all flavours of all canned food, except some of the ones you can get here in Thailand that have big chunks of seafood in this jelly like substance. He doesn't like those. He was getting tired of the dry Iams original flavour but I've got him eating it again after a few weeks' layoff and I'm mixing it 50/50 with another flavour. -- Britta Sandpaper kisses, a cuddle and a purr. I have an alarm clock that's covered in fur! Check out pictures of Vino at: http://photos.yahoo.com/badwilson click on the Vino album > Today, and the reason for my writing this, he reached another > milestone of sorts. He came to the door and asked to be let inside. I > opened the door and he went straight to the box and did his business. > Then he went back to the door and wanted outside. Now, to some folks > this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of > this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. LOL! You've really managed to civilize him. ;o) This reminds me of another story that I've told before, but there may be some out there who haven't read it before. The cat of an ex co-worker of mine was a very urban cat. His family took him to the countryside to visit with their family. They let him outside, but whenever he needed the litterbox, he would go inside. His Paw got fed up with constantly opening the door for him to go in and out. They tried to convince him to use The Great Litterbox Outside, but he wouldn't. Finally, they took his litterbox and put it outside. That pleased the cat, and he would happily use it. Each time he did, on the other side of the fence, the neighbour's rural-born, never-seen-a-litterbox-before cat would make great eyes at him, obviously thinking, WTF is that fancy smancy city-cat doing now??? SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki >> Today, and the reason for my writing this, he reached another >> milestone of sorts. He came to the door and asked to be let inside. I [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > never-seen-a-litterbox-before cat would make great eyes at him, obviously > thinking, WTF is that fancy smancy city-cat doing now??? LOL!! >LOL! You've really managed to civilize him. ;o) I have a hard time thinking of things that show he used to be feral. Instead of ducking and running when I approach, he now lays there and ignores me while I step over him. He now plays, purrs, jumps up on furniture and in my lap, etc, all things he wouldn't do this time last year. He doesn't like to be picked up or cuddled, but neither does Sammy (she's been an inside cat since before her eyes opened up). About the only things I can think of that he does different than the girls is that he's never learned that hoomins have thin skin and don't appreciate claws during kneading or play, and when something scares them when we're all outside with the door open, the girls run inside while he runs around the building. But, heck, that's true for lots of cats who have never been so wild that no hoomins could get within many yards of them. >This reminds me of another story that I've told before, but there may be >some out there who haven't read it before. The cat of an ex co-worker of [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] >never-seen-a-litterbox-before cat would make great eyes at him, obviously >thinking, WTF is that fancy smancy city-cat doing now??? ROTFL I imagine the first litterbox Rocky saw was at TED where he stayed two days and nights when he was neutered. When I went to pick him up they were concerned that he hadn't used it (and only drank a very small about of water and refused to eat). Course, the first thing he did when I got him home was run and relieve himself, and then came inside to eat a BIG meal. SignatureSteve Touchstone, faithful servant of Sammy, Little Bit and Rocky stouchst@JUNKsirinet.net [remove Junk for email] Home Page: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/index.html Cat Pix: http://www.sirinet.net/~stouchst/animals.html > I have a hard time thinking of things that show he used to be feral. > Instead of ducking and running when I approach, he now lays there and > ignores me while I step over him. I don't know why, but this bit had me ROFLing. It's so familiar - stepping over a cat who ignores you completely. Nikki is usually the one sprawled over the floor around here. > He doesn't like to be picked up or cuddled, When Nikki was young, she didn't like being picked up either, but she has mellowed a lot these last couple of years. Can't believe my dirty little stable cat will be 16 in August. SignatureMarina, Frank and Nikki Email marina (dot) kurten (at) pp (dot) inet (dot) fi Pics at http://uk.f1.pg.photos.yahoo.com/frankiennikki "Marina" <frankiennikki@yahoo.co.uk> had some very interesting things to say about Re: Rocky and the Litterbox: >> I have a hard time thinking of things that show he used to be feral. >> Instead of ducking and running when I approach, he now lays there and >> ignores me while I step over him. >I don't know why, but this bit had me ROFLing. It's so familiar - stepping >over a cat who ignores you completely. Nikki is usually the one sprawled >over the floor around here. Felix loves to play furry speed bump. He seems to find it especially amusing to get into traffic lanes at night when I'm not likely to be wearing my glasses or turning on lights to stumble around. :-) Signature"Don't mess with major appliances unless you know what you are doing (or unless your life insurance policy is up-to-date)." - John, RCFL > "Marina" <frankiennikki@yahoo.co.uk> had some very interesting things > to say about Re: Rocky and the Litterbox: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > amusing to get into traffic lanes at night when I'm not likely to be > wearing my glasses or turning on lights to stumble around. :-) When I've been out of town on a trip, I spend the first couple of days trying to avoid Muddy who does a creditable impression of speed bump as well, I swear he'll break my kneck one these days :-) SignatureNik Simpson Hilarious! Best wishes, SignaturePolonca & Soncek <snip> Finally, they took his litterbox > and put it outside. That pleased the cat, and he would happily use it. Each > time he did, on the other side of the fence, the neighbour's rural-born, > never-seen-a-litterbox-before cat would make great eyes at him, obviously > thinking, WTF is that fancy smancy city-cat doing now??? >OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I >figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) > >Since I adopted Rocky last fall he's been spending more and more time >inside (after being feral for a long time, I figured that was big >progress). <<snip>> >Today, and the reason for my writing this, he reached another >milestone of sorts. He came to the door and asked to be let inside. I >opened the door and he went straight to the box and did his business. >Then he went back to the door and wanted outside. Now, to some folks >this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of >this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. Great progress! The wild boy has become civilized. I know i would much rather use a frequently cleaned toilet than go hunt down an unused spot in the great outdoors! I used to think that with the onset of warm weather for the cats to go outside would cut down on the amount of litter I have to buy. Not so. They will come in to potty and go back outside to play. -- CATherine > OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I > figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of > this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. Wow!! Good going Rocky! Definitely, Rocky is now an official "pet" cat!! Your description of his first efforts made me chuckle. Awww, Steve, I'm so happy for you and Rocky! This is indeed a milestone! Christine > OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I > figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of > this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. >OK, to most folks this would seem a stange thing to talk about, but I >figure in this group y'all would understand ;-) [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] >this might not seem like much to write about, but I figure readers of >this group will understand why it brought a smile to my face. Congrats! You now have him litterbox trained.It also makes it easier to notice if anything goes amiss. |
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