I haven't gotten to the point where I can pick him up yet. It's taken
me two months to get to the level of trust where he wants to be
petted.

He's not incontinent. I think he may have some gastric problems, but
not real incontinence. The problem is that it doesn't seem to occur to
him that indoors is not appropriate. Even when I see him poop outdoors
he just stands up and does it, then walks a few feet away and lies
back down again. He doesn't ever cover it.

I have discovered something else, though. Today I was driving home and
I came around the corner where the lady who was feeding him before
lives. Sure enough, there was Old George, by her side door. I knew he
was still going down there. It's like he spends half his time at my
house and half at hers.

I proceeded up the street to my house, pulled in the driveway and
immediately walked down the street. When I walked around the corner he
was eating something. I walked over to see and he was eating spaghetti
out of a dish. The lady was sweeping her porch at the time. She said
she had given him the spaghetti, but it was the first time she had
given him anything in weeks. I suspect that is not completely true. I
bet that is where he got whatever it was that had the onion in it the
other day. It remains a mystery to me why he eats that kind of food at
her house when his food dish at my house has real cat food in it. The
only thing I can think of is that he has lived on stuff like that all
his life, so maybe that is what he thinks food is supposed to taste
like.

The lady is really nice. She is old, but not at all forgetful or
feeble-minded. I can't really be cross with her, since she did really
save him from starvation. She said she wasn't going to give him
anything more to eat, and I hope she sticks to it. It's that kind of
garbage food (for a cat) that is giving him intestinal upsets and
perhaps making it harder for him to get outdoors in time. At this
point I think the problem is half from the trash he is eating and half
from his failure to feel shame about going indoors. Remember, when I
started with him a few months ago he was mostly feral and had spent
most of his life outdoors, living on handouts and whatever he could
scrounge. He may never have lived indoors before. I think he will be
more reliable about going outdoors if he doesn't feel the urgency
because he has the runs. (The three incidents in the past 24 hours
were a bit loose, although not completely runny.)

As for putting dirt on top of the litter box, I already did that, but
he still has never used it. So far he has pooped indoors five times
(three in the last 24 hours and the previous two several days
earlier), and has peed twice, also several days earlier. All incidents
have been in the walkway area where I go through the living room to
the computer room, about four meters long.

I'm going to get a different litter. The kind I bought originally was
just whatever was cheap at the store, and later I added the dirt on
top of it. I read about a kind of litter that supposedly attracts cats
in another post recently, but I can't find the post now. Does anyone
know what the brand name is? When I purchase it I'll fill the
litterbox with it and place it in the middle of that area.

In the meantime, the carpet in the living room is old and will be
replaced sometime next year, so it's not a total catastrophe. And I
have the carpet shampooer out now, filled with water and ready to go.
I'm prepared for the next accident.

--
Bogus e-mail address, but I read this newsgroup regularly, so reply here.