The kitty chronicles, chapter 5: The human is away
Certainly, regular readers have been sleepless wondering how things have progressed with my new cat. I was hesitant to write to much too soon because I wasn’t certain he would stick around.
Soon after we shared the first “big night” it was time to head out of town for Christmas holiday. My first visit was north to visit Mom, and just for one night.
I left ample wet food on a plate in the middle of the living room.
It has been six years since my former Feline Unit disappeared, but I’m such a good hoarder I still had the self-feeding water and dry food containers on the top shelf of the laundry room.
I filled the feeder to the brim with dry food, confident the new-to-me orange cat would have plenty to eat if I remained out of town until the New Year..
By this point, I had invested at least $100 on wet food, flea medicine, a kitty litter box and a huge bag of the best cat food I could find at Costco.
That first night away from home went just fine. The cat was happy to see me when I came home, demanded wet food and raced out the front door.
Next test: Three nights for a visit with my stepmom, aunt and sister.
Bigger mound of wet food.
Full self-feeder.
Clean litter box.
I don’t know how he did it, but the cat ate ALL of the food from the cat feeder in three nights. Every last nibble was gone. My theories include that he has food insecurity after sleeping outdoors for the early part of the winter. His coat is long and luxurious. Do hairy cats need more food to sustain a glorious winter coat?
Almost more realistic was a theory that my house is infested by rodents of unusual size that crawl up from the floorboards when I am out of town.
However, I soon learned that it was indeed the cat that consumed the kibble.
The litter box was well used.
Most cat owners know that a cat will find any excuse not to use a dirty litter box. Orange kitty was no exception.
I could smell that something was not as it should be and it took me very little time to find where he had disposed of his holiday meals.
Kindly, he chose a thick plastic grocery bag near my stereo to leave the giant mound, but not before leaving a permanent stink mark on a small area rug. The rug has been around
for a long time and is somewhat important. Now my living room smells like vinegar.
I’m accustomed to mounds of pet poo in my yard from the happy dog next door. The hideous thing I found on the plastic bag wasn’t quite as large — but almost.
I’d say his load matched
a medium-sized dog. If I wasn’t so disgusted I would have been fairly impressed.
No wonder he always wants to go outside to do what he needs to do. If I was him, I would want to deposit that mess miles from where I sleep.
Soon after the holidays, we learned to use the cat door.
Conclusion: The cat is a glutton and needs a cat box the size of a birthday
party bouncy house.
Garden enthusiast Heather Hacking loves when you share what’s growing on. Reach out at sowtheregardencolumn@ gmail.com, and snail mail, P.O. Box 5166, Chico CA 95927.