http://www.care2.com/greenliving/literally-litter.html
Literally Litter
Summer 2009 has brought countless miracles to the Garey gang.
My daughter Amanda fell in love, I fell over the dog and cats only a few times and broke only a couple of bones, and all of the tumbles my three-year-old grandchild “Horrible Childe” Lexie took resulted in random boo-boos quickly resolved with kisses and colorful bandages lavishly supplied by Mommy and Nana. All of our rescued animals were made healthy, neutered and adopted by loving families. Even our “foster” pets were reunited with their families. Yes, life this summer has been good.
But this is not to say that we haven’t encountered any significant hurdles, not the least of which has been the challenge of potty-training a reluctant Lexie. Simultaneously, a course in proper litter box usage has been directed toward Betsy and Smudge, two ten-week-old rescued kittens. For awhile there, I felt genuinely concerned about my grandchild - was she going to be out of diapers before I was into them? Expert advice was sought and every suggestion tried, all to no avail…begging, offers of tiny tangible rewards, an ornately decorated potty chair; heck, I even learned to do a personalized version of the ”Potty Dance” that would garner me a perfect 10 in a “So You Think You Can Dance” contest! No success.
Resigned to the fact that Lexie would accept the inevitable at her own pace, I decided to let her run around naked and turned my attention to the kittens and their hygiene habits. A new container was purchased, filled with the soft, scoopable litter and placed in a convenient location. To ensure they understood that a number of boxes was available, each containing a different type of litter, both Betsy and Smudge were hand-carried to each site and encouraged to sniff and sift through the contents. They sniffed. They sifted. They scampered off leaving fantastic designs worthy of crop circles, headed to the kitchen and promptly pooped in a tray of cat crunchies.
“No, kitties,” Amanda laughingly scolded. “That’s bad kitties.” The other cats spoke volumes, meowing frantically at the desecration of their snack. Molly, true to her maternal nature, loudly expressed her displeasure and gave each of her foster babies a quick whack on the bottom, washed the duo thoroughly, then curled around them for a quick catnap.
Lexie was disturbed by the behavior of her feline counterparts. “Kitties not go potty, Nana?” she queried. “No,” I replied. “The kitties were naughty. Do you want to go potty, Lexie?”
“No” was her immediate response, bare bottom bouncing as she toddled away, anxious to resume tickling Elmo. With patience worthy of Job, I disposed of the mess left by Betsy and Smudge, washed and refilled the tray, then went about my daily routine.
The afternoon was uneventful; I continued carrying Smudge and Betsy to one litter box or the other, Lexie in tow, and lost count of how many times I urged all of my babies to become civilized. After dinner, a small victory - with complete nonchalance, the kittens ambled to their own box, relieved themselves…. and the crowd went wild! “I’m so proud of you,” I praised into their tiny ears. “What good kitties you are.” Amidst cheers, loving strokes and tuna treats, they ambled back to Molly for a congratulatory romp.
But there was even more rejoicing when next I invited Lexie to go potty. She grinned, wrinkled her nose and announced, “I go potty, Nana!” Bemused I checked her bottom and noticed that she had indeed pooped, but there was no evidence in her toilet. “But, Lexie, where did you…” Before the question was posed, the tot took my hand and led me down the hallway. “See,” she directed me, tiny finger pointing proudly toward her accomplishment. In the very center of Betsy and Smudge’s litter box was a little-girl-sized mound of feces. “I go potty,” she repeated.
The accolades and celebrations were no less subdued, although a cookie was awarded for her accomplishment instead of tuna. Between peals of laughter, Amanda and I explained the differences between litter boxes and potties for big girls. Lexie nodded, all the wisdom of the world reflected in her silvery blue eyes. And the next day, all three babies had achieved sanitary success.
Who says that miracles don’t happen every day?
Born in NYC, NY and raised in Miami, Fla, Janet now lives in Nashville, TN. A professional journalist and environmental educator, Janet is an”AARParrothead” devoted to a variety of community-based projects, which she either developed or supports. Janet, her daughter Amanda, and her granddaughter Alexandra - aka “Horrible Childe Lexie” - rescue and find homes for hundreds of stray or abandoned cats simply for the joy and love they give and get from their feline family.
related stories
-
(72 comments)
-
(29 comments)
-
(24 comments)
Robyn
Melissa
Deepak
Eric
Dave
Dr. Brent
Isha
Susan
Delia
Michelle
Wendy
Megan
Hilary
Ann
Judi
Ronnie
Kelly
Lily
Terri
Betsy
Cait
Andrew
Jana
Annie B.
Veronica
20 comments
add your comment »Well, bless your little pea-pickin' heart, Miz Annie - you just diagnosed my dang computer; it doesn't realize that I'm a "recovering Yankee" and interprets my words into southern dialect. And I DO have a little dawg, but all y'all will have to wait for a future story about him. xxxooo Janet
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
dear ms janet -- i didn't know ya'll owned 'dahgs' especially dahg computers. i'll be hornswaggled. :::::smile:::::
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Hello there, I will promote maybe a strange idea - but why start at 3 yrs? I say start at birth, then the babies do not think that they should do bellow them, and instead that there is a proper place for eliminating. I refer to Natural Infant Hygiene or Elimination Communication. I tried that with the first one from 4 months (that's when i found out about it) and with the second I tried a bit from birth, but it was painful at the start for him to pee, so we just started at about three months. I catch so far about a third, but hopefully we'll be better :)
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
'ello! Daughter Amanda here. I must say that while I was moderately mortified to discover this toilet training tidbit had made its way to a public and oft-visited forum, I am nonetheless amused and tickled to know that, although the Lovely Lexie technically missed her mark, she is still a Good Girl in having finally grasped the concept of waste elimination and am charmed to see the responses to the aforementioned event. I eagerly await the written follow-up which will, no doubt, chronicle the aftermath of the incident wherein the kitties, every bit as willing to please as is my daughter, do their bits of business in her potty chair. Or did I just give away the punchline? LOL
We love you, Nana-the-Prolific-Penner-of-All-Things-Pet!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
I surrender! I'm going to get my computer fixed, dig out the dictionary and quit posting comments after 11 p.m. and/or by candlelight. So sorry about the unintentional errors in the previous note; but the ones I did mean were pretty funny - even to me because "many a true word is spoken in jest"!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
What a cat-astrophe - my most recent commentary was filled with typos and I must admit witout spellcheck. Please forgive the mistakes.Despite being the product of Tennessee higher education,I uzally rire reel gude.Plus the dahg computer and OS (Vista) is not jelping a bit. So sorry!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Great story!
Annie Flanders- I had a longhaired black cat named Harold. He arrived at the door Jan. 1, 2000, and rubbed and purred. After a week of waiting for the animal shelter to report a missing animal, I adopted him. He was a wonderful animal for 8 years, in spite of his enlarged heart. He was intelligent and kind, except that he loved to harass my skittish female cat by lying in wait around a corner, to jump out and scream at her and then walk away. I had to have him put down last Sept. I still miss him.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
o i can so see this happening! funny!
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
this is sooo adorable!!!! thank you janet for another treasure.
in 2007 i fostered a group of 5 kittens. naturally i fell in love with all of them, but couldn't keep them [except i DID manage to keep 2! - ONLY 2].
the long-haired black male, that i named harry, was very clever. after they ate, i did the usual routine of taking the 5 to the litter box and rubbing their bottoms.
the first time, harry gave me this look which could only be read as disgust -- disgust that i was inflicting this indignity upon him [MY stimulating his bottom so he could go in the litter box].
the next day after feeding them, i once again picked up harry. as i got to the litter box, he squirmed out of my arms, marched to the box, hopped in it and did his business all by himself with no help from me. then he gave me this look like -- ok mom. see i'm a big boy. i can do it myself.
of course i praised him, then helped his less knowledgeable siblings.
by that afternoon, harry had taught his other 4 siblings how to use the litter box.
such a smart boy he was. i cried when his new mommy came to get him.
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
hey, Heather, My math skills are decrepit (Liberal Arts mmajor), but the way I figure it, somebody owes me 37,148 lobsters. When can I oick uo my reard for mastering personal hygiene> LOL - Janet
send green star | flag as inappropriate
why is this inappropriate?
Facebook account: