The plan now is to start decreasing the amount of litter in the popcorn bowl until Kratos gets used to pooping into a bowl without any litter. But if you saw any of the videos I've posted, you can see that Kratos loves his litter, always scratching at it attentively as part of his pooping ritual (unfortunately, before pooping, not after).
Which is probably why, when I ambitiously left so little litter in the bowl that you could see the bottom, he freaked.
I was stationed outside the bathroom door at the time, where I often am nowadays, doing homework on the floor with one hand clutching the camera. Kratos was not on the toilet -- and didn't even particularly show any interest in the toilet -- when that sound of streaming water caught me by surprise. I jumped and rushed in, but obviously I was too late -- Kratos had peed in the bathroom corner where the litter box used to be.
Saddened, I added a tiny bit more litter into the bowl, but Kratos had no more scatalogical needs for the evening. When I woke the next morning, I had hoped to see some comforting poop in the bowl, but alas, there was none.
I knew Kratos was due for pooping, and I was nervous all day about where he would do the deed. Will he go on the bathroom floor again? Or will he hide and poop in some secret location where the poop can only be smelled, but never be found? I rushed home after work with dread, swung open the front door, and took a deep breath -- nope, it didn't smell. I quickened my pace and walked towards the bathroom, hoping that he started using the litter bowl again.
He didn't.
I found a pile of poop on the bathroom rug. I won't show you a picture of it because, well, it pretty much looks exactly how it sounds. I cleaned up the poop, threw out the rug, and filled up the bowl with even more litter -- enough that Kratos has finally decided to go back to using the bowl again.
I had always thought that the hardest part was to get Kratos to start pooping on the toilet -- after he got used to it, it seemed clear that he would simply continue using it out of habit. I was wrong. Weening Kratos off of the litter, by far, is going to be the most difficult part of the process.
Well, at least I know that it's possible. Kratos did poop on the rug after all -- with no litter in sight. And that's progress, right?
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which part of the rug looks like litter? why wouldn't kratos just use the empty bowl? It is not any worse than anything else in the bathroom. Cats don't make any sense.
ReplyDeleteYou are mean...must be horrible not to have the same pee/poop place every day :(
ReplyDeletemaybe kratos just needs more room to move around in his litter box to properly dig. but perhaps my cat just has a giant litterbox =P
ReplyDeleteThat doesn't sound like progress. That sounds like a desperation poop to me.
ReplyDelete@Wei: he has only one place to pee/poop. THE TOILET. I can't help it if he keeps changing location :'(
ReplyDelete@Belinda: but Kratos can dig just fine before he poops...
@Dave: if you want to stand in the way of progress, you should join the Republican Party.