Arriving at a corner and hoping to turn

Garrett had a thought about the whole Sam situation yesterday. One that I had for a moment recently and rejected immediately. When cats are having litter box issues they can often be traced to a change in their environment. Garrett asked, when did I switch to the litter boxes with the higher walls on three sides? It's been a while, but I thought there was no way that bothered Sam enough to make him use the rest of the house as the litter box instead. We took the clip-on high sides off, and sure enough, the next time I walked by the litter closet, I saw Sam in there using a litter box, perched on the edges of the box instead of standing in the litter. I had no idea he ever did that, and now I know the high walls aren't an option. That's a bummer because they really helped. The boys really kick a lot of litter over the sides, and today I saw a pee spot on the wall, right above the top of the linoleum I lined the closet with.

Garrett had another great idea, though. When we have our bathroom remodeled next month, we can have the contractor tile the closet!

Obviously it's too soon to say Sam will quit defiling the rest of the house, but I'm hopeful. I had to sleep in my office last night because the carpet powder we used after steaming twice smelled so strong, and this morning the smell was still there. I dumped an entire bottle of resolve in the smelly area and steamed it again a while later. Hopefully it's better now.

( Walks, new hair, etc. )

Arriving at a corner and hoping to turn

Garrett had a thought about the whole Sam situation yesterday. One that I had for a moment recently and rejected immediately. When cats are having litter box issues they can often be traced to a change in their environment. Garrett asked, when did I switch to the litter boxes with the higher walls on three sides? It's been a while, but I thought there was no way that bothered Sam enough to make him use the rest of the house as the litter box instead. We took the clip-on high sides off, and sure enough, the next time I walked by the litter closet, I saw Sam in there using a litter box, perched on the edges of the box instead of standing in the litter. I had no idea he ever did that, and now I know the high walls aren't an option. That's a bummer because they really helped. The boys really kick a lot of litter over the sides, and today I saw a pee spot on the wall, right above the top of the linoleum I lined the closet with.

Garrett had another great idea, though. When we have our bathroom remodeled next month, we can have the contractor tile the closet!

Obviously it's too soon to say Sam will quit defiling the rest of the house, but I'm hopeful. I had to sleep in my office last night because the carpet powder we used after steaming twice smelled so strong, and this morning the smell was still there. I dumped an entire bottle of resolve in the smelly area and steamed it again a while later. Hopefully it's better now.

( Walks, new hair, etc. )