Moving a Poopster

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Enfilade - 02 Apr 2005 23:16 GMT

Smokey's habit of crapping his carrier made the prospect of moving
1000 miles by car into a horror.

We decided to buy a dog carrier and a small litter box for the move.
The litter box occupied the back half of the carrier, with a space for
Smokey at the front.

(Smokey's old, small carrier ended up being used to transport the
bitties in DP's car. we kind of never counted on finding orphan
kittens just before the move...)

So, about a week after DP and the bits moved out to start medical
school, I finished up military service, and my father and I took the
last of our stuff, Smokey, and Nox. Dad had sedatives for the cats
but we didnt' want to drug them unless we had to.

well, an hour into the drive Smokey started talking, and my dad
gritted his teeth, pondering use of sedatives, imagining a crying
Smokey yelling for the next 21 hours in the car (plus, possibly, an
overnight stay in a motel) The cries moved into wails and then....

...then...

tentative digging, pause, more digging, and Smokey stepped out of the
litter box, meatloafed, and started to poke.

Problem solved!

(We briefly put Nocturne in the big cage, but she would NOT do
something so undignified as pee/poo in a car. And Smokey got nervous.
Nox did her business in the litter box in the motel at night, and we
kept Smokey in the big cage near his security box.)

--Fil

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CATherine - 03 Apr 2005 03:22 GMT

>Smokey's habit of crapping his carrier made the prospect of moving
>1000 miles by car into a horror.
[quoted text clipped - 30 lines]
>
>--Fil

I have enjoyed reading about Smokey. He sounds like a delightful cat.
But what does "poke" mean?

--
CATherine

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Enfilade - 03 Apr 2005 04:15 GMT

> tentative digging, pause, more digging, and Smokey stepped out of the
> litter box, meatloafed, and started to poke.

Smokey is a pokey boy.

DP asked me what exactly a "pokey boy" was and I said, "Well, it means
he doesn't move much. Y'know, like slowpoke."

We have since refined "poking" to be "the art of working very hard at
doing nothing."

Unlike sleeping, where the cat is at rest, a poking cat is fully
awake, and just chooses to stare into nothingness and not move for
hours on end. Minor blinks are permitted, and small movements are
acceptable if they result in an even more slothful position (ie,
rolling over to put all 4 legs in air), but overall, motion is
discouraged. Sharp movements, flicks of tail, perks of ears, etc ruin
a poke.

The bitties are too active to be good at it, and Nox is too alert and
nosy. Smokey will zone out for half a day on the other hand...

--Fil

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