Hey folks,

Any ideas to help with this situation would be appreciated.

In mid June I trapped a cat as part of a TTVAR program in a large
colony on the campus of a state hospital.  The cat was fixed by
the vet, but was far too weak to be released.  (In fact, had I
known what kind of shape she was in before the surgery, I would
probably have asked that she be put to sleep).  She is quite boney
and apparently weighed just 3.5 pounds at the time of surgery,
despite being a full grown adult.

So, I stuck her in a cage in my garage, with the hope of (a) having
her recover from the surgery, and (b) gaining sufficient weight that
she has reasonable prospects for survival if and when I release her.
The cage is 3'x2'x2' (approx), and has a towel for her to sleep on,
a small litterbox, and an area for her food and water.

The problem is she has absolutely no interest in the litterbox,
despite it being literally right there.  She's strong enough to
get in, but consistently pees and poops on the towel she has to
sleep on.  In the first couple of weeks it was particularly bad
as she had diarrhea, and was just covered in the stuff.  (A good
thing she is not actually feral, as I've had to give her two
baths).  I've tried two different types of litter in the box -
she started off on Swheat Scoop, which I use for my own cats,
and this week I've replaced it with Dr. Elsey's Cat Attract
litter.  No interest at all in either of them.  The box has
been placed on either side of the cage, and she always uses
the OTHER side, so it doesn't seem like it's an issue of the
location of the box being objectionable to her.

Anyway, because this cat has a tame disposition, and because I
am concerned about her survival prospects if she is returned to
the colony, it would be nice to have someone adopt her.  There
is someone who works at the campus who might be interested in
adopting her, but obviously she needs to be litter trained
before I can expect anyone to take her.

Any ideas?

CC by email appreciated, it's been a while since I've been a
regular in these parts.

Followups set to rpc.h+b

Thanks,
Scott