Cat update

 The cat had settled well, but there still were some tweaks to make. One thing I wanted to change was her toilet habits. She had a shallow litter tray, and she is the sort of cat to quite energetically bury her products. And that results in her throwing a lot of grit out of the tray, which I have to then clean up again. And I wasn't keen on that! So I wanted her to have a litter tray box with a roof. So when I had to go to Bangor anyway for my physiotherapy appointment, I popped into the pet shop nearby. And I saw they had litter boxes made of recycled plastic! So I immediately bought one. And I figured the cat would be smart enough to recognise this as her new toilet. I just put it in the same place and put the same sort of granules in it. And indeed, she didn't miss a beat and used it. I suppose she will not be using it very much, as when the weather is nice she prefers to pee and poo outside, but we're in North Wales here and I'm sure there will be plenty of days where she will want to use her indoor toilet. I have no reason to believe she minds this change, and I most certainly like it.

I also a catnip toy when I was in the shop anyway. She likes it! Finally something that can rival the laser pointer. Maybe catnip is cheating, but I think that is allowed.

A last change I've made is that I have started to close the catflap into my bedroom close to bedtime. If she brings a creature in I feel the need to deal with it. If it is dead I want to prevent her from disembowelling it in the middle of my bedroom. And if they are alive, well, I suppose I still want to prevent her from disembowelling them in the middle of my bedroom. She managed two nights in a row to bring a live creature into the house just when I wanted to go to bed. And I know she hunts, and I can't object to that, but if she brings live creatures into the house then I will compete with her to get hold of them. And I will plonk them back outside. So two nights in a row I couldn't go to bed because I wasn't comfortable with sleeping in the bedroom that either head a bat frantically flying around in it, or a mouse scurrying around and doing whatever it might do. Chew through cables. Walk on my face. Things like that! So I had to go on a wild goose chase to capture and release them.

So now I close the catflap, and if she wants to come in she has to meow to me. If I see she doesn't have a creature with her, either alive or dead, then I'll let her in. So far it has worked fine! And given that she still only spends short periods outside, I haven't further pursued my initial plans of making her stay outside all night. I think she is happier being inside all night then outside all night!

The catnip toy gets a tough time

The new litter box