Atomic Kitty Waste
We have a really smart cat. I know everyone thinks their pets are amazing mostly due to an unhealthy level of attention some owners pay to some pets. You won’t catch me spouting off any superlatives to describe our cat, but I can tell you one story that proves that our cat Pixie really has her shit together. Literally.
When Jen and I left Cleveland to get married in Indy, we had a couple of very nice people who were willing to stop in and check on the cat while we were gone for the wedding and the honeymoon. In order to decrease the level of torture on our willing and gracious kitty caretakers, I decided that it would be a good idea to set up a second box of kitty litter in the exercise room/Pixie’s room. That way, whoever was watching Pixie wouldn’t have to change the litter while we were gone.
An interesting but not-so-important side part of this story is that I have kind of a weak stomach. I especially have a weak stomach when we are talking about clumped up balls of sandy cat waste. The overwhelming smell of amonia that emanates from kitty tinkle is enough to make me throw up in my mouth, which I have done on more than one occasion when I had the cat (and her awful litter) before Jen and I moved into our house. I know most people clean out kitty litter with that scoop that picks up clumps and lets the “good” sand fall back through the little holes so that it can be re-used.
Not I. My process looked like this.
- Carry atomic litter outside into the garage, holding nose the whole way
- Set atomic litter on one side of garage
- Walk to other side of garage to catch breath and grab garbage bag
- Hold breath as if you are a life guard diving into a pool after a drowning kid
- Put entire litter box inside large garbage bag
- Run back to other side of garage to catch breath (hopefully not puke in mouth)
- Hold breath and tip litter over in garbage bag, pull litter box out and place on ground
- Run across garage to catch breath again
- Tie up garbage bag so that the smell is tightly sealed away (This step can be tricky because you need to grab the bag, and squeeze some of the putrid air out of it in order to have enough slack to tie it. Putrid Air = Throwing Up)
- Pour a whole new instance of kitty litter into the litter box and carry litter box back inside
As a result of this process and the fact that I used to use about three times as much kitty litter as your average cat owner, Jen was gracious enough to take over this task when we moved into our new house.
So, back to the story. We had two kitty litter boxes set up when we got back from our honeymoon. For whatever reason, we didn’t get around to taking one away. And then last week Jen noticed something. Pixie has changed her habits using the litters. She uses both of them, but she doesn’t fill one and then move to the next one. She separates her usage depending on whether she needs to go Number 1 or Number 2.
That’s right. According to Jen, she uses one litter exclusively for pooping and one exclusively for peeing.
I am guessing that this isn’t a normal thing, but I could be wrong. Trust me I don’t have this identified as a clear jump in evolutionary status for cats or anything, but it does seem particularly smart for a creature that is willing to do their business in a pile of sand.
So, what do I do with this information? Do I set up experiments? For example, I was wondering, if we move one of the litter boxes to another part of the house, will she still use them based on what she has to do, or will it become a convenience thing based on not having to go up stairs? Do I risk taking one of the litter boxes away, or is it too big of a risk that she will continue to only do one thing in one box and then do the other anywhere else in the house?
By the way, I think I just crossed over into the territory of paying an unhealthy amount of attention to my pet.
Comments
5 Responses to “Atomic Kitty Waste”
Leave a Reply
Sideblog 
- FreeTheAirwaves.org Tuesday, 19 August 2008, 7:51 am
Google has a vested business interest in this project, but I am rooting for them anyway. Google wants to take that unused fuzzy space between TV channels and broadcast internet signals all over the. […] - Browns vs. Giants - Preseason Game 2 Live Blog at WFNY Monday, 18 August 2008, 4:19 pm
The nice guys over at Waiting for Next Year are going to be live-blogging their event in a chat room over at their site. I am a geek, and will be joining them. Come on over. - Dan Gilbert is My Hero Sunday, 10 August 2008, 5:46 am
Cleveland Cavaliers owner on all the LeBron James rumors, ”The reason this thing is where it’s at,” Gilbert said, ”is that we’ve got a bunch of bored, East Coast sports writers who have noth. […] - LeBron to Europe? I Don’t Think So Thursday, 7 August 2008, 4:22 am
So, while the major media continues to plot LeBron’s departure from Cleveland, there is a sane voice out there letting everyone know how unlikely the most outlandish scenarios truly are. - Top Gun 2???!?!?!??!?!? Wednesday, 23 July 2008, 5:50 am
According to reports, the plot outline is, (wait for it) “The idea is Maverick is at the Top Gun school as an instructor — and this time it is he who has to deal with a cocky new female pilot.” - Be Afraid Utah Tuesday, 22 July 2008, 7:26 am
Carlos Boozer is a snake and one of the most dishonorable people in professional sports history. I guess I am not over this just yet. - How much you wanna bet… Thursday, 3 July 2008, 9:18 pm
That this 4-day work week will actually increase the amount of gasoline that these employees will be using? Instead of commuting to work, they will now be going to the grocery store, going to do som. […] - In-Car DVD Players are Stupid Thursday, 26 June 2008, 10:15 am
At least they will be when we get a load of in-car wifi!!!!! (I am such a geek.) - George Carlin is Gone Monday, 23 June 2008, 4:34 am
I once bet a guy in college that I could watch a George Carlin special on HBO without laughing. I did it, but it wasn’t at all easy. There is going to be a void left by Carlin dying. - Accepted Behaviors Tend to Increase Thursday, 19 June 2008, 12:15 pm
If you become too accepting of a condition that you really don’t want to encourage, you might just end up with unintended consequences.
what’s wrong with doing your business in the sand?
side note: don’t go to Mentor Headlands beach.
Yeah… I read that whole thing and was wondering what kind of publication we could get out of one of your experiments. I’ve been working in Higher Ed for four months now. Can you tell?
As a long time cat owner, I can say that there have been times when our cat(s) seemed to be developing the habit you observed, but they never quite perfected it.
Actually, I love the smell of amonia and must say I enjoy that part of the clean up. Since we hava a half bath in our basement, right next to the litter boxes, I just scoop it out and flush it down the toilet.
Hope you aren’t too grossed out by this. Please don’t think badly of me.
Is this cat still alive?
If so and that smell of amonia is still there, get him to the vet ASAP - amoinia on breath can = kidney problems.
REALLY GROSS !!!!