advice.....and update!!!

iVillage Member
Registered: 07-28-2004
advice.....and update!!!
5
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 10:07am
Good morning, well, it's been about 10 days since Emily had her babies, they are just starting to open their eyes now. I have to say, they are beautiful little babies, we have fallen in love with them all!! We love to watch them as they are trying to walk and wobbling and falling down, its hilarious!! As you may, or may not know our story, Emily was "put out" by a neighbor, and she had been outside for about 2 months until I coaxed her into my home. When we brought her to the vet we found she was pregnant. We also have two boy cats, Sam and Qunuk, who have become very close- they love to snuggle together and groom each other....anyway, we have successfully kept them away from the kittens, and Emily has limited contact with them- we can keep them in the upstairs part of the house and the boys down. My problem is this....Im not sure that I can keep all three cats...God, I hate to even say that because I truly love all of them...Emily has become so trusting and she is such a sweet and graceful girl...while one of my boys is a rotten brat but sooo loving and my oldest is just a fat cat....they all have such great personalities but I find myself doing nothing but cleaning litter boxes and feeding cats....mainly its the litter boxes...between the two boys I clean their box out daily, sometimes twice a day and completely wash with soap and water twice a week, and Emily's box upstairs isnt so bad but still gets cleaned often. If anyone has any help in this area to alleviate some of this chore then I can maybe consider keeping all three but right now Im overwhelmed with poop duty and feel like the only way I can handle it is to give one away.....but who? HELP!!! Thanks, Stephanie
iVillage Member
Registered: 12-01-2003
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 10:36am
Do you not use a liner. I would take out any poop I would see when waliking by ete and then twice a week I would pull up the litter in the liner and throw and put in new. If you use a liner you would not have all that washing and stuff to do all the time! Please keep them. I wish I could come see the babies as I am looking for kittys!!

Avatar for cl_lcni
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 11:06am

Hi Stephanie.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 07-28-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 1:49pm
Thank you so much for your help.....Ya know, I used to use a liner all the time in the litter box, and then when I got a new litter box I got an extra large one (actually it's just a large plastice under the bed box) and had a hard time finding a liner that was large enough but I can always go to the pet store instead of just like Walmart or such. My husband is now wanting to keep one of the new babies that he is particularly fond of...so we would have 4!!! This is insane!!! If I let my cats outside I would have a million, but they are strictly indoor cats, although they would LOVE to be outdoors. Something about having my cats out all day and then coming in and climbing into my bed or on the couches really creeps me out. Feeding my cats a really good quality cat food had not entered my mind, they get 1/2 can of Whiskas in the morning and other 1/2 at night plus all the "crunchies" they can eat during the day. Maybe if I switch over to just dry all day, which I've been considering just for convenience.....do you think that might help? All in all, it doesnt take much more than 10-15 minutes to completely clean out their areas, I guess Im just complaining because IM THE ONLY ONE WHO DOES IT!!!! Nobody wants to give the kitties away, but very hard to get help from them....oh well! As soon as I can I will get some pics of the babies...one is white with a black tail and around his eyes, nose and mouth is white with a halo of black around the edges and his ears...he is so incredibly beautiful..but the bully of the bunch!!! Thank you again, Stephanie
Avatar for cl_lcni
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-19-2003
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 5:24pm

I've never been a big fan of liners. It seems that the cats just tear through them and it makes cleaning the litter box harder.


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iVillage Member
Registered: 05-06-2004
Mon, 09-06-2004 - 9:56pm
I have 5 inside-only cats and 10 more that come inside and outside. I have 3 large litter boxes. Scoop them out couple of times a day unless I see it needs more. Change them all out once a week. Use the sand/clumping litter. Its more expensive but worth it. If I were you, I'd keep a good quality (I use Purina One-chicken first ingred)(I can't afford the more expensive)dry cat food out 24/7 and give a couple of cans cat food for them to share once or twice a day. I don't like the liners and the litter boxes came from Pets Plus for $12. each because they have a separate ridge type lid around the top edges, keeps the litter in. Four kitties will be great!!! donna