Allie and the Litter Box
I have a funny story about my cat, Allie.
She's 12 now. My 91 year-old mom found her when she was only a couple of weeks old. Allie was a terror. She was feral and NOT friendly. She was a fierce hunter and loved to roam. Because my mother was getting older and I was afraid of what would happen to Allie if anything happened to my mom, I contacted the TV show, "My Cat From Hell," and pleaded my case. The show was interested and in 2013 Allie appeared in her own episode of the show. Allie improved about 110%. Not that she became sweet and docile, but she became a LITTLE sweeter. In fact, she's actually affectionate now, although she still has a temper.
Shortly after the episode aired, my mother passed away and I inherited Allie, which was always my intent. She's been living with me for the past seven years.
Now the part that's the story. For her entire life, Allie pooped on the floor. She used her litter box to pee in but was stubborn about the other. My poor mom. Allie's favorite place was the kitchen floor, and my mom had to duck under the kitchen table to clean up the mess, crawling around on the floor when she was in her 90s!
When Allie came to live with me, she continued her habit of foregoing the litter box. I talked to a cat psychic who said she wanted another, bigger litter box, so I bought one of those sweater boxes that you hide under your bed and used that for the second litter box. Unfortunately, that didn't work. After about five years I moved to a new condo with wood floors and no carpet. From the first day, Allie was perfect and used her litter box like a little trooper.
Until about five months ago, when I started to see little piles on the floor in the dining room. I was horrified. I thought Allie had turned the corner! I tried everything. I yelled at her when I found her mistakes. I watched her like a hawk and stopped her when it was obvious what she was about to do and redirected her to her litter box. I'd get up every few minutes at night to see if I could catch her in the act and stop her before she erred.
She knew it wasn't right and she worried over it. When it was time to go, she'd start doing this plaintive meow (which was a benefit to me because I could jump right on the problem). If I heard her, I'd rush to the dining room and she'd be at her favorite poop place and I'd tell her to go use her litter box. She'd slink around meowing but would finally head off to her box. If I was watching TV or something and heard her meowing, sometimes it wouldn't register and I'd go find a little pile on the dining room floor.
She'd be good for a few days or a week, and I'd imagine things had gone back to normal, but then she'd mess up again. Somewhere along the line, I had a brilliant idea. I would grab a kitty treat and show it to her and lead her to her box and tell her that if she used her litter box I'd give her the treat. Then I'd sit down and watch her and wait until she did her thing, and give her the treat. After a couple of times, she made the connection. She was still reluctant sometimes, but she would meow to let me know she was anxious about what she was supposed to do, so I'd get a treat and entice her to her litter box and all would be well.
Things have been great for about a month. She only messed up once. The funny thing is that now she comes and tells me when she's used her litter box so that I can give her a treat. I adore the little monster.
She's 12 now. My 91 year-old mom found her when she was only a couple of weeks old. Allie was a terror. She was feral and NOT friendly. She was a fierce hunter and loved to roam. Because my mother was getting older and I was afraid of what would happen to Allie if anything happened to my mom, I contacted the TV show, "My Cat From Hell," and pleaded my case. The show was interested and in 2013 Allie appeared in her own episode of the show. Allie improved about 110%. Not that she became sweet and docile, but she became a LITTLE sweeter. In fact, she's actually affectionate now, although she still has a temper.
Shortly after the episode aired, my mother passed away and I inherited Allie, which was always my intent. She's been living with me for the past seven years.
Now the part that's the story. For her entire life, Allie pooped on the floor. She used her litter box to pee in but was stubborn about the other. My poor mom. Allie's favorite place was the kitchen floor, and my mom had to duck under the kitchen table to clean up the mess, crawling around on the floor when she was in her 90s!
When Allie came to live with me, she continued her habit of foregoing the litter box. I talked to a cat psychic who said she wanted another, bigger litter box, so I bought one of those sweater boxes that you hide under your bed and used that for the second litter box. Unfortunately, that didn't work. After about five years I moved to a new condo with wood floors and no carpet. From the first day, Allie was perfect and used her litter box like a little trooper.
Until about five months ago, when I started to see little piles on the floor in the dining room. I was horrified. I thought Allie had turned the corner! I tried everything. I yelled at her when I found her mistakes. I watched her like a hawk and stopped her when it was obvious what she was about to do and redirected her to her litter box. I'd get up every few minutes at night to see if I could catch her in the act and stop her before she erred.
She knew it wasn't right and she worried over it. When it was time to go, she'd start doing this plaintive meow (which was a benefit to me because I could jump right on the problem). If I heard her, I'd rush to the dining room and she'd be at her favorite poop place and I'd tell her to go use her litter box. She'd slink around meowing but would finally head off to her box. If I was watching TV or something and heard her meowing, sometimes it wouldn't register and I'd go find a little pile on the dining room floor.
She'd be good for a few days or a week, and I'd imagine things had gone back to normal, but then she'd mess up again. Somewhere along the line, I had a brilliant idea. I would grab a kitty treat and show it to her and lead her to her box and tell her that if she used her litter box I'd give her the treat. Then I'd sit down and watch her and wait until she did her thing, and give her the treat. After a couple of times, she made the connection. She was still reluctant sometimes, but she would meow to let me know she was anxious about what she was supposed to do, so I'd get a treat and entice her to her litter box and all would be well.
Things have been great for about a month. She only messed up once. The funny thing is that now she comes and tells me when she's used her litter box so that I can give her a treat. I adore the little monster.
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