Cats, I'm trying to make this work out, but ...

[fireman_dcb]

Mosey,

Forget about trying to train your cats where to go outside. We have 2 indoor cats and 8 outdoor cats. The indoor cats will use the litter box 95% of the time... the other 5% is a mystery. The box hasn't moved, the dogs haven't bothered them. My theory is their just vindictive little bxxxxrds.

Our 8 outdoor cats have two barns to live in, both with litter boxes. They will use the litter boxes 60% of the time, the other 40% they will use my wife's flower beds. No amount of scolding has changed this behavior. I think they're ticked off because their not allowed inside.

Good luck, Doug

[Mosey]

I'll see how it works out in the long run, but it's going pretty well right now. When Tiger went in his house that one time, I put him back in there and didn't clean it out right away so he had to smell it all morning! He was not a happy cat that morning! I put a partition in their house so they each have their own room now, but so far neither has pooped in their house again. They have learned that if they poop in the sand, they get treats and get to stay out and play, but if they don't poop they don't get treats and have to go back in their house. The last few days have been very good. I lock them in their house at night and give them each a few treats in order to get them to like going into their house at night. The next morning I let them out and we all go for a walk to the sand pile. They have each pooped in the sand and got treats for 3 days in a row now. I put the treats on the metal cover that I put over the litter box full of kitty litter to keep it dry (but they haven't used the litter box for a week, they prefer the sand now). They try to trick me by just digging around in the sand and then coming to get their treats, but they are finding out that there are no treats there if they don't actually poop. Tiger is funny, he thought that if he helped Tiny cover her poop up, then he would get a treat - didn't work though!

Keeping them locked in their house at night has been the key to this success. That way I know where they are at night and know they aren't pooping in the flower bed. I'm not being cruel either by making them hold it. If they were suffering because of that then they would poop immediately after getting let out, but they don't. They both play around for about 5 minutes first. I also don't feed them a lot at night, I feed them the most in the morning. Another good thing about keeping them locked in their house at night is that I know they aren't out in the woods while the coyotes are running around.

[AndyF]

If they are outside cats, why do you have a litter box? We've kept our cat outside for the past few years, ever since he brought a half dead rabbit into the kitchen, and other than having to cover up the kid's sandbox have never had any problems worth talking about. He can come and go as he pleases and while he generally sticks around the house there are times when he goes hunting out in the field.

If your cats are male, get them fixed, otherwise they'll start spraying soon and that will be a real stinky problem.

Cats can be vindictive, so they might be getting back at you for locking them up at night. Night is prime time for them to hunt and do all of the other things cats do, so you might want to let them wander at night.

One thing you might also want to do though is to keep their food inside except when they are eating. We used to keep a food bowl out all the time, but after having several cats try to adopt us, we had to go to a more restricted feeding program.

[Mosey]

AndyF - "If they are outside cats, why do you have a litter box?".

They had already been trained to use kitty litter. We are trying to retrain them to use a pile of sand near the edge of the woods. It finally seems to be working. They haven't used the litter box in a week and prefer the sand now.

Your luckier than I am with not having problems. We've had all kinds of problems with them. Even though they have a nice sand pile and litter box to use, they insisted on using the flower bed (even after we covered it with chicken wire and screen so they couldn't dig) and yard, even though they couldn't cover it up. We have moth balls in the flower bed now, so they have been leaving it alone. They have quit using the yard due to the "training" I've been putting them through (see the earlier post on 09/19/02 08:01 AM
in this thread). Every morning I let them out of their house and the 3 of us take a walk to the sand pile and for 4 days straight now, they have crapped in the sand pile.

One is a male and one is a female. They will both get fixed when they get old enough in a couple more months.

Yes, they can hunt at night, but they can also be hunted!

[Mosey]

Here's an update for anyone who's interested. Every morning I let them out of their house and the 3 of us take a walk to the sand pile and for 9 days straight now, they have pooped in the sand pile. Until this morning. Tiger pooped in his house. I know it was him this time, because I have the partition in there and it was on his side. He pushed his padding and blanket all to one corner and then went on the floor. He wasn't in there as long as he was the previous 2 nights, so I don't know why he picked this morning to do it. He'll be left in there to smell it for a few hours again like last time. Tiny went in the sand like she has been for the 10th straight time and she got treats and got to stay out.

[Hank]

Thanks for the update; I was just thinking of this thread last night.

And, after a year's worth of consecutive success, they'll turn independent on you again and go in the flower beds [img]/forums/images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

[Mosey]

You're probably right Hank! I will admit one thing - getting the kids cats for pets was a mistake. They don't make good pets for kids (or for adults as far as I'm concerned). They are not very playful, don't come when called, etc. All they want to do is lay around and sleep all day. They are independent, belligerent, not very smart, and seem to have very short memories. They also haven't caught a mouse yet. I've taken them back to where there is a wood pile and some stuff I have stored that are covered with tarps. I've seen mice there many times, but they never catch one. These are certainly the last cats I will ever have around!

[pbenven]

If you've got a barn with animals and feed, they are certainly worth keeping - but as permanent residents of said building. I agree, though about keeping them as pets - never in my house.

[rocky2]

"not very playful, don't come when called, etc. All they want to do is lay around...independent, belligerent, not very smart, and seem to have very short memories. "
Geez, sounds like what my ex-wife told her attorney.

[Mosey]

OK, I rank cats below cows on the intelligence scale now. Yesterday when Tiger had to stay in there with it in the morning he managed to get it all over him and made a complete mess of himself and the inside of his house. My wife had the honors of cleaning it all out and giving him a bath, which he did not like at all. Any animal with any intelligence would have learned its lesson. But, this morning Tiger pooped in his house again! I took him to the sand pile last night and put them in their house an hour later than normal. I got them out a half hour earlier than normal this morning. So, they weren't in there as long at night as they were all last week when everything was going great. Tiny had no trouble extending her record to 11 straight days of going in the sand pile. I rinsed the inside of the house out and he will spend the rest of the morning in there again and not be fed as punishment, while Tiny already got fed and gets to stay out and play.

So, we have one cat, Tiny, that is very boring, hardly plays at all and just lays around all day, but at least she can figure out not to crap in her house. And, we have another cat, Tiger, who is more playful, but can't figure out not to crap in his house. Neither has ever caught a mouse and I know there are mice around. When I first got these cats someone suggested I should not have, and they were right!