Teaching Old Cats New Tricks
Part of Operation Get Ready for Baby is moving the cat boxes. You see, the nursery is currently the Cat Box Room. Not gonna work when LB (little boy) arrives.
About a week ago the modifications to our enclosed back stairwell were finished so we can start moving the boxes into our new laundry room. BUT to do this, the girls have to start using our newly installed Hefty Kat cat door. Heft Kat because one of our kitties is truly hefty. She's a big, very timid girl.
So far we've taped the cat door open with duct tape and at this point everyone has used it. Tonight was our first experiment with having them go through the CLOSED cat door. It's really funny because we actually have Family Time with the cats. M. and I sit on the floor and we get out the cat toys and it doesn't take long before all four are gathered 'round us.
The picture is from our adventures tonight. Want to see more of the girls? Here's their Flickr set.
Our youngest, Zoe (seen in the foreground) took to it like a fish in water. Jump in, jump out, jump in.... Our oldest, Tamu (background) is just not so sure about the whole thing. She's smart enough to know that if she whines, the door knob will be used and she won't have to deal with all this newfangled modern stuff.
So we're officially moving the first of the boxes out there tonight and keeping the door taped open. I'm crossing my fingers we don't end up with major behavioral issues.
posted by Sacha @ 6:27 PM
5 comments
5 Comments:
God, best of luck! I am currently working on a post about my three cats, a.k.a. "tres diablos", and how much things have changed since Mikaela arrived. Number one: The cats REBELLED when we brought Mikaela home...so BE PREPARED!!! Thus far, I have invested in an automatic cat litter box ($160) and a three hundred and fifty dollar carpet cleaning to deter my cats from "revealing" their honest emotions about the baby. Oh - I have blogged it all!!!! ;))
Oy, that's on the horizon for us, too. We have the cat door (found one at Goodwill, a major find!) but we need to get a new bi-fold door first because we're in an apartment and they wouldn't appreciate a big hole in their vintage 1970s textured hollow-core door. Right now we just keep the door cracked a bit, but when we finally get a w/d for the laundry room, and a kid who likes to crawl, that won't work any more. Keep us posted on how it goes!
Good luck! Cats are tricky to train. We also installed a cat door through the wall of our furnace room. We opted to leave the door off because I just didn't believe the cats would ever be okay with it. Let us know how it goes!
Your kitties are adorable!!! :)
Aww, I just love your kitties! I love my own kitties best (duh) but you guys' are seriously my second fave, even though I only met them for one afternoon. They each just have such great personalities!
We had the same idea last year-- I don't think half of our heard would think to go through a closed door, so I knid of propped the door open with one of those foam door wedges that prevent kids from slamming the door on their fingers. Worked like a charm and looks better than either duct tape, or string tied to the handle. good luck!
Post a Comment
<< Home