I have been adopting Old George, a longtime stray in the neighborhood.
When I first met him he wouldn't let anyone near him, was almost
feral. He has spent all his life living on handouts. I'm guessing he's
about ten years old.

He was a wreck at first. Clumps of matted hair on his back so thick it
had to be cut off. Runny eyes, body just skin and bones. Well, hair
also. Come to think of it, way more hair than cat. It has taken me
about three months, but he now loves to be petted, likes to come
inside, and really appreciates having a home.

But having lived all his life outdoors as a stray, it does not occur
to him that he can't just go wherever he happens to be when nature
calls. He spends most of his time outdoors (he's learned about his
kitty door), so the accidents in the house are not constant. Still,
I've had to clean up an average of once a day. Unfortunately, I've
never been able to catch him in the act, which makes disciplining him
pretty hard.

I got some Cat Attract litter about ten days ago. He has ignored it,
just as he has ignored all the previous litterboxes. But I formed a
new plan that may be starting to work. My computer room is in the
front of the house, and the kitchen is in the back. There is a natural
walkway through the living room and dining room between the two. This
walkway (mostly the living room part)  is the area he always poops and
pees in, never anyplace else in the house. So I made up four
litterboxes out of lids from cartons that paper came in (11 by 17 inch
lids). I filled each with Cat Attract and used them to block the
doorway from the dining room into the living room. He either has to
leap over them or walk through them to get into the living room. For
the past several days I have been watching him leap over them. But
tonight there was a big wet clump in one of the boxes. He actually
peed in one of them!

Well, I praised him and petted him and all that stuff, but I'm sure he
has no idea what all the fuss was about -- it was too long since he
did it. He's pretty smart about things like figuring out where his
dinner is, but I don't think his furry little brain can stretch to
abstract thoughts about elimination.

I can't believe I'm actually excited about cat pee.

--
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