Raising the blast shield
Apr. 1st, 2013 12:11 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bunsen_hStupid cat is stupid.
Take that as a starting point. "Paris" is dim-witted, even by feline standards.
Lately, a couple of times a week, she has been standing in the litter box and crapping outside it, at the back. She then claws at everything in its immediate vicinity, in what is (I assume) an instinctive pattern which would, in a less-dim animal, result in the scat being covered. I don't think it's an attempt to claim it as hers, as when she scratches around her food bowl.
I have not been able to persuade her to change this habit. I have shown her that the scat should be in the litter box, by grabbing her as quickly as possible afterwards and transferring it, then covering it with the litter scoop. With more or less growling at her. I've tried grabbing her and rubbing her nose in it, then moving it... the sort of teaching method that would generally work for house-training a puppy. But stupid cat is stupid.
She does understand that I'm mad at her about something. She now seems to be anxious about defecating, and is much more strenuous about clawing around the area. I absolutely don't want her to start crapping somewhere else.
I favour the direct approach, though not always in ways that I've written about. (I cheerfully admit that my "direct approach" is often orthogonal to what others might consider obvious.) I could buy a new litter box, an enclosed one, but I'm not sure if a large-enough enclosed box would fit into that niche in the washroom. I was thinking about trying to set up a rigid wire thing to poke her in the butt if she got too close to the back of the litter box; that would be minimally obtrusive to people using the washroom. I can see potential risk of her getting poked in the face/eye.
What I've done for now is to tape a sheet of white plastic hanging from the wall, down to the inside of the litter box. A poop chute, if you must, though you probably shouldn't.
Well, it's a workable temporary solution, at least. Not the kind of April 1st creativity I usually go for.
Take that as a starting point. "Paris" is dim-witted, even by feline standards.
Lately, a couple of times a week, she has been standing in the litter box and crapping outside it, at the back. She then claws at everything in its immediate vicinity, in what is (I assume) an instinctive pattern which would, in a less-dim animal, result in the scat being covered. I don't think it's an attempt to claim it as hers, as when she scratches around her food bowl.
I have not been able to persuade her to change this habit. I have shown her that the scat should be in the litter box, by grabbing her as quickly as possible afterwards and transferring it, then covering it with the litter scoop. With more or less growling at her. I've tried grabbing her and rubbing her nose in it, then moving it... the sort of teaching method that would generally work for house-training a puppy. But stupid cat is stupid.
She does understand that I'm mad at her about something. She now seems to be anxious about defecating, and is much more strenuous about clawing around the area. I absolutely don't want her to start crapping somewhere else.
I favour the direct approach, though not always in ways that I've written about. (I cheerfully admit that my "direct approach" is often orthogonal to what others might consider obvious.) I could buy a new litter box, an enclosed one, but I'm not sure if a large-enough enclosed box would fit into that niche in the washroom. I was thinking about trying to set up a rigid wire thing to poke her in the butt if she got too close to the back of the litter box; that would be minimally obtrusive to people using the washroom. I can see potential risk of her getting poked in the face/eye.
What I've done for now is to tape a sheet of white plastic hanging from the wall, down to the inside of the litter box. A poop chute, if you must, though you probably shouldn't.
Well, it's a workable temporary solution, at least. Not the kind of April 1st creativity I usually go for.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2013-04-01 04:20 pm (UTC)Trying to train her as you would a puppy will only result in your worst fears being realized, if she gets anxious about the box, she won't use it at all.
You may also wish to consider setting up a second box with a different kind of litter and see if she uses that any better. In their last few years, our cats refused to use anything that wasn't a particular type, and wouldn't use it unless we scooped it every day.