# Will Arwen use the litter box eventually?



## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

I've been lucky enough to get Arwen to sleep in my garage for about 5 nights now, which last night was the first really cold night. I'm in FL, (so don't laugh at my idea of cold) but it was in the 30's last night, and it's really windy, and it feels even colder. So usually I let her out in the morning, to eat and do her business. This morning, it was so cold, she was shivering while she ate, and she ran back in the garage as soon as she ate. So I have a litter box in here, with regular litter and I even put some dirt over it, from the yard near where she normally goes. She has not touched it, hardly even looked at it. I even set her in it once, and she just walked out. She has not gone this morning, I know she must need to go. I'm going to crack the garage here in a minute, when the sun comes out, and hopefully she will come back after she has gone. I'm just wondering if she really, really had to go, would she likely use it? Or just continue to hold it? 

These silly cats have NO idea how much they worry people about the slightest details!


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

that is a tough one to answer!
I have a B.B. that pulled off a miracle the other year. We still can't believe it happened, but it surely did!
As I have said before, on here, B.B. hates using a litter box. period. Just hates it.
I have tried many things but no success. In fact, had one set out for her once when we had to go out of town overnight. She DID a poo on the loft floor, grabbed a roll of paper towels and tried to cover it... or clean it up, not sure lol But that was all... a poo, ...no pee anywhere.
Ok, I thought it was impressive, but I guessed cats were capable. I had no idea.
Now, as impressive as that was, this next story knocks it out of the park!

A couple years ago we had a lot of snow (about 2 -3 feet). We're coastal so any snow is an event, this was a lot to us. Obviously the flower beds were covered, and there was no where to go to the bathroom for B.B.!!
Several times I tried to take her outside and she would just go back in. This went on a few times the first day. She went no where, she was holding. The next day there was more snow, enough to replenish what had melted. Again, the same routine, she continued to hold. I looked EVERYWHERE in the house. She HAD to be going somewhere... nothing. As for her meals, I noticed that she only worried about her kibble and only ate small amounts of that and spent the rest of the time sleeping. By the THIRD morning, I couldn't take it any more I was hurting for her!!
I went outside and started tramping down the snow to try and get to a flower bed!!
While I was out there a neighbor a few houses down had a shovel and was working in his back garden! Oh man! I got his attention and asked if I could please borrow it for a half hour.. that was all I needed to get a path and turn up some ground for B.B.!
That was exactly what I did! I returned the shovel, ran upstairs grabbed the cat and carried her to the flower bed! She must have been soooooooo relieved!! I know I was!
We searched every single corner, nook and cranny of this house and nothing!! To this day I find it hard to believe but it truly happened!

So, to answer your question, it's very hard to know. I would say don't look for it to happen any time soon... if it ever does!


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

She did it!!!! As soon a I posted this I went to check on her, and she peed in the box!! I guess that answers my question. I did just open the garage now, since the sun is out, but it's still cold, and she ran across the street and is sitting in my neighbors driveway. Looking mad at me. I left the garage cracked, hopefully she will come back and not be too angry with me.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Cat face - that was some major holding going on there for B.B. I love her name btw, if Arwen were a girl, I would have named him Black Betty. 

So yeah, as I just posted, she finally did it! I was amazed, I really thought she would continue to hold it. She did not poop, but I know that is probably easier for a cat to hold. 

I hope she comes back in the garage. It says it's still 34 outside  This is really cold for Florida. We do get some weather like this, but you can usually count on one hand how many days we will have of weather this cold. My poor girl


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## cat face (Apr 4, 2013)

Ah, GREAT!! she did it! 
Hopefully Arwen's feathers won't stay ruffled too long and, he'll decide that warm is FAR better than cold!! Arwen being a native Floridian, I'm banking he'll be back 

The continuation to the litterbox bit with B.B. is now, a couple years later and older, she has decided that creature comforts aren't such a bad thing after all and has decided in favour of, instead of haggling with driving rain and gale winds we've been having relentlessly over the past week.
I was in the kitchen, and she had snuck by me and veeeery quietly took a wee poo in the utility room. lol I saw her go back through the kitchen and did one of those "hmm" faces. I hadn't heard the cat flap so I checked what she would have been doing in the utility room lol HARK! there was a light scatter of litter on the litter mat!! I peeked in the door of the box and much to my surprise, 4 tiny poos! I almost thought I hallucinating!! But, she had done it again later in the week!

By no means is she loving the box and still opts for the great outdoors whenever it stops raining and blowing around here!! But WOW, just wow! <sighs> I USE to be able to say I had 3 cats and one litter box, but now, with this NEW trend of B.B.'s, I've tucked another box upstairs. The girls are like, YAY no more going allllll the way back downstairs in the middle of the night (they are just over ONE year old lol lazy little sods). Beebz will only use the downstairs one. LOL (deep sigh with laugh) CATZ, what we do for the little princesses!!


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## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

That's great progress!! Have you tried that Elsey's cat attract litter? That's supposed to be really good to encourage them to use the litter box, though I've never used it.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Cat face - my sisters cat is one of those cats that REFUSES to use a litter box, but they have been trying to keep him in at night, and he has reluctantly used it, with a mad face, and of course, when no one is watching him. 

Emily - I have not tried the Dr. Elsy's, but I've wanted to with my inside cats. I have feline pine in the one in the garage now, I figure she spends enough time sitting in mulch that it seemed closer to nature than clumping or clay litter. She went back outside this morning for about 45 min, so I'm assuming she did business, and she is now back in the garage curled up on the warming mat. But I maybe leave her in here for a while since all she does is go across the street and sleep in my neighbors flower beds all day until she comes right back here. We think she may be older than we think she is, she sure acts like a senior cat. She does hunt some though, but lately, with her in my garage all night, she has definitely not been hunting because she is scarfing down her two meals I give her, which she does not do sometimes. 

I'm sitting in my garage now, not as cold as yesterday, but still pretty cold. I'm just glad she's here.


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## pkbshrew (Feb 13, 2013)

I'm loving reading about your garage adventures with Arwen. I've had experience with a cat's ability to 'hold' with Miss Effie. When she was crated after being attacked by a dog she held for FOUR DAYS!!!! When she did finally go I swear she peed for 1/2 an hour! I did take her back to the vet to ensure there was nothing wrong. She happily uses the litter boxes inside when she feels like it but objected to being crated! She did it again when she was crated for a flare up of Tf. She must have a bladder of concrete!


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## cat owner again (Dec 14, 2012)

I have two indoor/outdoor cats but I have a litter box set up anyway per suggested here. My cats get locked in for the night sometimes 6PM and at 7AM the next day the box is not used. Sometimes there is poo and pee so I know they will use it if they have to. And I am in CA and 30's would be very cold to me and I think my cats too.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Pkbshrew - I'm glad you enjoy hearing about our garage adventures, LOL. Yes, cats do have bladders of iron. I'm sure this is probably one reason why they get frequent urinary issues also. We have her in there already tonight. She is getting quite comfortable in there. It's not even that cold tonight and I think it's going to be in the mid 70's, but I sure sleep better knowing she is safe from predators in my garage at night, so I hope she will make this something we can do every day. 

She has not used the new box of feline pine I have put in her litter box yet, I think she is seeing how long that iron bladder of hers can hold out


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## Carmel (Nov 23, 2010)

This is great news! Getting them in one room is the first step to a indoor kitty.  Jasper never had a problem with the litterbox from day one despite not being neutered for the first few weeks. I admit I was constantly looking for signs of pee/spraying for the first while but he's done well with regular clay litter from the very start. Cats naturally want to dig so maybe I shouldn't be so surprised.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

I've been using feline pine now, and she is totally fine with it. In fact.....she even pooped in the box yesterday! I was so happy! Because I knew she had used it a few times to pee, but I wasn't sure if she was just holding the other or she wasn't going to use it for poop, but then she did it! I'm just so happy that my little wild animal is really picking up such good habits. She comes right back into the garage in the morning, especially if it's chilly (I'm in Florida and the weather is a roller coaster ride right now). She is back in this morning though, sitting on her warming mat, curled up by my feet.


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## Heather72754 (Nov 1, 2013)

She obviously is a very smart cat who knows the good life when she sees it lol. :smile:


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## 10cats2dogs (Jun 16, 2013)

YAY! Way to go Arwen!!


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## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

That's great that she's using it regularly now! Have you tried introducing her to the "indoors" yet?


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Emily, no, I have not introduced her to indoors yet. Actually, all day long I was pondering this. My husband goes out of town in a few weeks, and I was thinking that during this time, I would TRY to trap her in a crate and take her to the vet, get her some shots, she is a TNR, but I have no idea how old she is, so clearly, she could stand to get some current shots. I want to have her checked for feline leukemia and any other cat disease that they can check for. I have been de-worming her myself, but I think the tapeworms are a constant battle, even though I keep revolution on her, so I think they would need to give her a better medication for those. I thought that once I had her checked out, I might TRY to see how she does indoors. Taffy and Stephano have already seen her many times through the cracked door, although I don't let them get close enough to touch, and Arwen doesn't try to get too close. STeph tries to stick his paw out there and lay on the ground, he seems like he wants to play with her, and I've seen Arwen outside with other cats on occasion and she is not aggressive at all to them, so I think SHE would be good, although I kind of feel like Stephano would be a bully to her. 

So yeah, I'm thinking this all day, thinking, I'll do this when my hubby is out of town, and I have time alone to see how it goes, and then tonight, Arwen doesn't want to come into the garage for the first time in 2 weeks. So I was just going to let her stay outside tonight, but then I hear we are supposed to have a severe thunderstorm in the middle of the night, and she is terrified of storms. So I trick her into going into the garage with a can of food, and now she's in there. But she was mewing loudly, but I stayed with her and she settled. Then about a half an hour ago, I hear her softly mewing, and I almost just let her out. No rain in sight yet. But instead I just went out there, petted her, talked to her, she started making biscuits on her bed and calmed down and laid down again, so I decided to keep her inside, but I'm feeling guilty. She clearly wants to be outside tonight. But I figure if the storm hits in the early wee hours, she will be out in it and won't come back, so I'm keeping her inside for her own good, but I feel awful  

I think WAY too much about this cat stuff. She has been silent again for the last 15 minutes, so maybe we'll be ok. Stupid Florida weather.....usually if they say "it is definitely going to rain", it is most definitely going to be the opposite. They NEVER get it right. I'm going to be really mad if I keep her in all night and it doesn't rain. Of course, Murphy's Law, if I let her out, you know it will storm badly. I hope she isn't too mad at me for keeping her in tonight. It was 79 here today, and it's going to be 35 Thursday, so hopefully I can keep her convinced that the garage is a good solution for her. 

Yes, thinking of this WAY too much!!!!


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## emilyatl (Sep 9, 2013)

LOL, I've been there. I swear, I've spent more time worrying about mine over the past couple of weeks than I've spent on myself. She will be fine in the garage! If you woke up to pouring rain after letting her out, you'd be just as worried about her. You really can't win. I think they know they're making us feel bad and do it just to get more treats.


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## NOLAKitties (May 30, 2013)

I love the name Arwen! Really nice to have a garage, you can make sure she is a least safe and it is warmer than outside. And you can give her time to adjust indoor before the vet visit and more intro to the other cats.


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

Thank you NOLAkitties. My daughter named her after the Liv Tyler character in Lord of the Rings. I have never met another cat named Arwen, so I like it.


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