Monday, July 22, 2013

How I Conquered the World, aka Toilet-Trained My Cat

I have jumped out of airplanes and off bridges, lived in a remote African village, created 30+ft tall flaming metal sculptures, was valedictorian of my high school and summa cum laude in college, and sailed across the Pacific. I am proud of these and many more achievements, but perhaps my most significant accomplishment, one that I will boast of until my dying day, is the fact that I have trained my cat to use a human toilet. Yes, you read that right. My cat goes pee and poo in my toilet. (No she does not flush yet.)



I adopted a rescue cat about 4 months ago, named (by her foster mom) Tuxie. She is a tuxedo Manx (born without a tail), and is roughly a year and a half old. Tuxie is quite clever, social and affectionate, and very vocal. Even before I brought her home, I had decided I would attempt toilet training. I like cats, especially the “cool” ones that are actually cuddly, but I hate litter. Hate it. I hate the smell, I hate stepping on the little granules that eventually get all over the house, I hate scooping litter, asking my friends to scoop litter, and buying litter only to throw it out in a foul, revolting state.

I began researching the methods (religions?) of cat toilet training. There are a number of products on the market, including actual toilet “accessories” to aid in training, in addition to books, videos, and YouTube clips. Amazon reviewers have a fair amount to say on the subject, as they usually do, and those also led me to a long-standing Yahoo Group for “Cat T-Training”. In the end, I went with a multi-pronged solution: DIY (do it yourself) for the toilet accessories, a paid book/dvd combo, and the free yahoo group.

The general idea is pretty simple:
1.       get already litter-trained cat using a litter container positioned inside the toilet
2.       cut small hole in litter container
3.       slowly enlarge hole over time
4.       help cat learn “proper paw positioning” (more on this later – I know you have questions)
5.       eventually there is no container left to stand in or hold litter
6.       cat is weaned off litter altogether and stands on toilet seat while going IN THE TOILET
7.       lots and lots of ongoing praise, support, and positive reinforcement

As you might suspect, in practice the process had some ups, downs, and in-betweens.

The Not-So-Bad: Keeping the toilet open all the time (bungee cord), litter dropping in the toilet (flushable litter), having to share the toilet with my cat (my litter container was easy to move, quickly, and then the hole was so large I didn’t need to move it)

The Tough: Choosing and then finding a suitable litter container, cutting through thick plastic on a regular basis, making a new “litter dam” every few days, paw positioning, stressing my cat out, stressing myself out, 5.5 accidents to date (2 incidents on the bathroom floor, 2 on the living room carpet, 1 in the sink = .5 accident), the “stand-offs” (her not going when I know damn well she needs to)

The Awesome: The ever decreasing amount of litter in use, the kitty bonding experience, the sheer delight every single time my cat uses the toilet (this is likely to continue for a very long time)

Now, what’s this “Paw Positioning” business? The end goal, of course, is that the cat balances on the toilet seat while going pee and poo. Tuxie very naturally put her front two paws on the seat as litter container got smaller and she got “herded” toward the seat. Her back paws, however, were firmly rooted in the container. All of my advisory materials suggested I catch my cat in the act and physically move her paws onto the seat. Think about it – go up to your peeing cat and move their paws into a precarious position. Mmmhmm.

Actually, it worked out reasonably well. In the early days you and kitty learn to be together in the bathroom. And, it turns out that cats are pretty committed to finishing their business once they start, so as long as you don’t scare the s#$t out of kitty when they’re going, they actually let you move their paws mid-stream (hehe). The 4th and final paw on the seat was challenging, but I tried to be patient and let her get there on her own.

Other challenges all boiled down to stress, especially toward the end of the process. I had already invested 2 months in training and we were almost there with very little litter and very little container left. It was exciting – we were winning! Then the “stand-offs” began. She stopped going to the bathroom. 24 hours would pass…36…I started sniffing around corners and plants in the apartment…48…I started staying home from work to put her on the toilet every chance I got while squeezing her bladder on the way (she looovvved that)…I started googling how long cats can/should hold it (don’t do that)……. Eventually, she would go, much to our mutual relief. Then another 24/36/48 hour period would pass. After 3 go-rounds of this, I started relaxing a bit – she was using the toilet when she needed to go, she just didn't need to go that often. 

About 6 weeks ago I installed an Automatic Flusher in preparation for a short business trip I was taking. It comes with a sensor that is supposed to trigger a flush when “the object leaves the area”. Well, again thanks to Amazon Reviews, I was advised NOT to use the sensor – kitties just move around too much when they go, and the sensor is apt to flush when they’re still up there. DISASTER-POSSIBILITY! My sensor is now safely stashed away, and the auto-flusher flushes once every 24 hours. The jury is still out on this one. Tuxie likes to go pee and poo pretty much one right after the other, and she seems less keen on going in a dirty bowl (she’s done so successfully multiple times, but we have had 1 accident of this manner). We’ll have to wait and see on this one. I may try playing with the sensor settings some more.

Where We Stand As of Writing
She is going consistently every 48 hours, #1 and #2 in quick succession. We have about 1.5 inches of litter container left. She’s always got 4 paws on the seat when peeing, and almost always 4 paws while pooing. Up until about a week or two ago, #1 always seemed to stress her out the most. Now she just waltzes into the bathroom and pees without any fuss whatsoever. For #2 she still feels the need to call me into the bathroom (meow a lot) and there’s some hopping back and forth between the floor and the toilet before she finally gets the gumption to go. Yet she goes, every time. So I’m assuming she’ll eventually settle down with #2 too.

I am cautiously optimistic about it all, but in general feeling pretty good. Truth be told I had this whole post written out a month ago, then 2 accidents happened in a row (I take responsibility for both though). We had to start over essentially, but with a new litter container. THIS TIME has gone much more smoothly – we’re both just more chill about it all….

With cautious optimism I can still say: 

OH MY GOSH THIS ABSOLUTELY ROCKS!! MY CAT USES THE TOILET!! THE SOUND OF HER TINKLES IS MUSIC TO MY EARS! 

Update as of July 2014
Tuxie and I moved onboard my boat in February of this year. She had fully mastered the toilet in my apartment for several months, including my being gone for holiday and having a friend cat-sit (who got quite the kick out of that!)
I was terrified about moving her to a different toilet, as I'd heard that can ruin everything. 

On my boat I had a newly installed composting head (the "Airhead"). It's waterless, and has a different shaped seat than what she was used to. 

We went through the expected first ~2 days of no going, with me regularly putting her up on the seat. When she finally went there was no drama whatsoever. She hopped up there, seemed happy that she could paw around the inside of the toilet, positioned herself and went. BAM.




Some Details that Cat People Will Care About but the rest of you won’t:

The paid products vs. DIY
It’s easy enough to do Amazon review research on the various paid products. The cheaper of the two is flimsy. The more expensive seems fine, but apparently you have to buy the additional rings to see success – ie, even more money. The DIY options are super cheap (plastic bowls, roasting pans…whatever fits your toilet). BUT, there’s no “going back” (ie once cut, it’s gone), and if you use plastic bowls, the cutting process can be challenging. I would still recommend DIY though…and see below on litter container selection.

The paid book/video vs. Yahoo Group
I liked both. The paid book/video seems to get some flak from the interwebs for stealing content, but I have to say he does a nice job of compiling the process into an easy-to-digest book and dvd. I liked being able to see the whole thing from start to finish.
The Yahoo Group is good for user-generated content and advice/moral support throughout the process. I found the raw instructions to be too abbreviated and/or spread out in different spots in the group.

 Litter container selection
HUGE point of contention here. Your choices are: aluminum roasting pan, sitzbath (google it), random other plastic container/bowl. I tried all three.

AL Roasting Pan: the critics say cats don’t like the sound it makes when they walk on it, and cutting them leaves sharp edges to cut kitty on. I say Tuxie didn’t seem to mind the sound at all, and when I cut the pan away, I made sure to fold over any sharp edges, or cover them with duct tape.
The Pros: super cheap, very easy to cut away + built in litter dam, shallow one available which made for an easier transition to paws on seat vs. in pan, when we had to back up, I just got a new $2 pan.
The Cons: none (but again, Tux didn’t mind the sound)

SitzBath: the critics say this is the best option because they’re so sturdy and fit the toilet so well (designed for toilets). I say…I didn’t even end up trying it – see below.
The Pros: fits toilet very well. GREAT option for going out of town and using in toilet full of litter rather than going back to a litter box on the floor.
The Cons: plastic is so thick I’d have to cut it with a soldering iron, making a litter dam would require cardboard and tape and construction, expensive comparatively ($15), pretty deep bottom which means a big transition for paw placement.

Random other container/bowl
The Pros: cheap, sturdy (depending on what you get)
The Cons: took time to run around to random stores and find, my bowl was too deep, plastic was hard to cut, litter dam required cardboard fabrication, we couldn’t go backwards when we needed to

Toilet paper roll loading
Make sure you load it so when kitty spins the roll, the paper doesn't unroll.

Picking up bathmats, blocking off sink and shower, no clothes on floor EVER, blocking off bedroom when unoccupied
You don’t want to give kitty ANY opportunity to go somewhere other than the toilet. For months I have gone without bathmats, and for the first few months I had to block off the sink. In general I don’t leave piles of clothes around or let her in the bedroom when I’m not in there. (no opportunity to pee in the bed.)



 xoxo, Jen and Tuxie

ps - in case you're wondering, I'll take her sailing with me when I go.




Sunday, April 8, 2012

Cambodia: Pictures!

General Cambodia Album

Temple Time

Cambodian Pajama Fashion

Cambodian Metal Work

Khmernglish

Cambodia: A Love (or Lack Thereof) Story

Inquiring minds want to know...what lies ahead for James and I? It's likely quite clear by now... James either wasn't interested in beginning a relationship at all, or he wasn't interested in beginning one with me. We talked a couple of times about what was going on between us. I had trouble knowing if he even liked me or not, let alone if he had any interest in me as a potential partner.

He said he liked me, thought I was great/amazing, etc. but just "wasn't into public displays of affection." Mind you, I wasn't looking to make out in public - I'm not into that either. I would have liked to make out more in private though. And in public, I'd like my someone to reach for my hand, to take my picture without me looking when it was a good or cute one, to put an arm around me, to look me in the eye and say, "Happy Birthday Baby", to prefer my company over a Facebook group on the iPhone, to tell me I look pretty, to rub my shoulders, and have me know - for sure - that I'm liked, loved, wanted, needed, and cared for. I deserve that, all of that, and more.

Now I'm not saying I was hoping James was the one. I was just hoping for a good time together and if more developed between us, fabulous. In the end, much fun was had, and I did fall in love......with Cambodia :-)

Floating Village & Saying Goodbye

After visiting the overgrown temple, Beng Mealea, we decided to continue on for the afternoon to visit a fishing village, then a floating village. It was extra time in the heat and extra money, but I'm so glad we went to see a bit of life outside the cities.

The heat and humidity is stifling, and it seemed everywhere people were working through it. We seemed to be welcomed as most smiled at us. I got more opportunities to bond with folks as they pointed at my leg, and I simply said: "Moto". "Ahhhhhh" was always the response.
Putting poisonous fish on sticks: all-day-long-every-day. We practiced her smile first.
I took a few pictures with the kids, and always showed them the screen for endless giggling.

Lakehouse!
Authentic Vietnamese Coffee, delivered.
We made our way to a boat, and started down the river toward the floating village - a community of mostly Vietnamese who simply live on the lake. Presumably they came during the war and never went back. The government just overlooks it. I can't imagine what day-to-day life would be like out there. Sheesh, with the heat and the murky water, I don't know how they stand it.  

As always, people are very enterprising and industrious. We saw a boat delivering groceries, and another, a mobile coffee shop of sorts. She paddled over and served up several *delicious* iced Vietnamese coffees. We tried not to fuss over where the ice came from, and just enjoyed our sweet condensed milk and coffee goodness.

After a very long day of touring, James and I headed back for the evening. In the morning we'd be boarding a bus to Phnom Penh and our last night together.

Back in the big city, we checked in to a lovely hotel as a special treat. We took care of some essentials....hair cut on the side of the street for James, mani/pedis for us both, and some last minute shopping. I was definitely starting to get mopey. I wasn't ready to leave! Thought it felt like I'd been there for a while already, it also seemed like I was just settling in.

We had a pleasant dinner and made a quick stop at the famed bar, "Heart of Darkness". Sadly, there was no salaciousness to report.

The morning brought a sweetness from James I had been looking for all along. But alas, it was time to say goodbye.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

On Ruins and History

Looking up at the main temple.
I cannot claim to be a Ruins fanatic; I’ve only run around Tikal in Guatemala and Tulum near Playa Del Carmen, Mexico. I am glad that I have some perspective, however, as to what other cultures were up to around the time that Angkor Wat and the surrounding temples were being built. I did a quick Wikipedia search. Tikal was coming up between the 2nd and 9th centuries, and Tulum sometime in the 12th century. Across the ocean, Khmer Architecture was being erected also in the 12th century in the greater Angkor Wat area. Where it seems scale was mostly the goal in Central America, a combination of scale and ornate detail seems to be the standard in SE Asia.

Look at how 3D it is!
First, the sheer size of the COMPLEX is mind boggling. For Angkor Wat alone (not counting surrounding complexes and structures), the outer wall is 1024 x 802 meters. That's roughly 3072 x 2406 ft.! The levels within the walls are terraced, and the central temple rises 65 meters above the ground (195 ft.). They say the stones for the complex came from some 30 km away. That's a lot of stone carrying. Each stone has holes in it so people could put presumably bamboo poles through it to be carried. Then you start looking closer and you see all the detail that is seemingly every flat surface. Everywhere is painstakingly chiseled with deep and ornate designs, often telling stories about life then, or legends, or honoring Buddha. I couldn't help but think about the people making everything. Imagine, you're **soo** close to finishing one little bit, and oh shit, you just accidentally knocked Buddha's hand off or something, so you have to start again. AHH!! When there wasn't the deep carvings, there would be these long panels of polished and chiseled stone telling of some epic battle. It's all just unfathomable. AND, this is only ONE temple complex. Angkor Wat kind of gets all the glory.....the picturesque sunrise/sunset, ease of access being basically in Siem Reap city, etc. There are loads of these temples all over the place. One of the most interesting bits of information, I thought, was that the temples went back and forth between being Buddhist and Hindu, based on whoever was in charge at that time. I had to laugh....thinking of the Hindi people coming along saying, "Heeyyy, wow, look at this temple....looks great! Let's move in!" rather than being fussy about having their own. Hell, that's what I woulda done.
There were tons of these crazy long hallways.

Probably my favorite temple was the Bayon temple - the one with all the faces. Roughly 216 if you're countin.

But to get your Indiana Jones on, you have to visit Beng Mealea - a temple 77k from Siem Reap. It is overgrown with jungle and toppled over in places as it was used as stronghold in a war (Vietnam?) If you're daring you can hop around the boulders and amuse the Japanese tourists who are taking your picture. :-)

Our guide was great - telling us all about the history of the structures, the stories depicted on the walls, pointing out good photo ops, and being ever concerned with my wounded leg.

My disgust with the human race was hard to ignore, though, as most of the statues we saw were either headless, or fakes in an attempt to dissuade people from taking the heads. One was removed even a week before, as our guide had seen it the last time he was there! "Is there not security at night?" I asked. "Oh yes, there is security. But it was probably one of them." Bleh. Other damage was inflicted by the good ole U S of A during the Vietnam war, as we littered Cambodia with bombs from the sky. Why? Why? Why????
Bayon Temple - 4 of ~216 faces Indiana, this is Beng Mealea.
If you're curious about the history, here are a few Wikipedia links for your convenience:
Angkor Wat
Beng Mealea
Bayon

Friday, March 30, 2012

Into the Belly of the Beast

With a few doses of antibiotics in me, some proper ointment and bandaging, I was starting to feel better. The woman at the pharmacy warned, "you must not swim; it is very bad for you to go into the ocean." "um, OK...too late." Tylenol with codeine was also starting to help the matter considerably.

Brilliant Business Model!
We had a couple of hours to kill before our flight to Siem Reap, so I suggested pizza and a movie. There is a brilliant establishment (of questionable legality I realize) where you choose a movie or TV series from a selection of thousands, snuggle up in a private room with AC, and have pizza and beer delivered! Perfect...just what the doctor ordered.

Then we were off by tuk-tuk to the airport, opting to fly instead of wasting a whole day on a bus back through Phnom Penh and North to Siem Reap. Siem Reap is the home of Angkor Wat, the world famous Buddhist Temple ruins in phenomenal condition. Hundreds of thousands if not millions flock here every year, and it's growing exponentially as Cambodia creeps onto "Top Destinations" lists and into travel magazines. The result is a city near solely dedicated to tourists and all the cliches that go along with one.

We had booked a room for the week at the Seven Candles guesthouse, a family owned establishment supporting education and youth development. We liked it immediately.

In the morning at 0630, we were to be picked up by a tuk tuk driver and tour guide, for a private two-day tour of many of the temple ruins. I was VERY worried about my leg. While walking for at least a few hours was relatively pain-free, stopping and standing was torturous. Know what you do on guided tours? You walk all day, and stand still to listen to your guide and take pictures. Shit.

The first two Tylenol with Codeine didn't do much, so I took another two, really wanting to be as functional as possible for all our sakes. Sadly, with the heat of the day coming on in full force, my stomach VETOED that idea. Lunch only seemed to make it worse, and I finally had to admit that I couldn't go on. I insisted James continue the tour, and I returned to the room to rest and recuperate. Later, I went to another pharmacy and asked for pain killers without all the acetaminophen. What a blessed place to be able to ask for whatever you need. :-)

Angkor Wat at Sunrise
The next morning, our pickup was at 0500, in an effort to make Angkor Wat for the sunrise. We joined the throngs of tourists, primarily Chinese and Japanese, and paid $2 each for awful coffee for the privilege of sitting on a mat. In my opinion, sunrises are usually never much to write home about, so we took the required pictures and set off to explore the temple. With my new medicine, I was thankfully doing MUCH better, so I was able to be a proper tourist listening to our guide and snapping photos.

Around 9am, we ducked out of the approaching heat of the day and avoided the THRONGS of tourists arriving at the temple complex. If I had to guess I'd say somewhere between 50-100 full size buses - and it's a shoulder season!
Later, around 3pm, we resumed our tour of Preah Khan, Angkor Thom, and Bayon Temple - all in the Angkor Wat vicinity.

The following day we would inch off the beaten path to Beng Lealea, about 75k from Angkor Wat with a visit to a Floating Village.

Temple post to follow...stay tuned.

Monday, March 26, 2012

Dirty Diving and Dirty Beats

Sunday we had booked a day trip out to the closer island group with a different dive company. My wounds at this point were looking pretty bad, but I figured another few hours wouldn't kill me.

Moto Ouwie: Day 3 Dog Ouwie

The Koh Rong group is now protected from fishing, so the sea life there is recovering. Sadly, the visibility was horrible - 2-3m (6-9ft) - ick! There was a fair bit of current too, so we had to pay a lot more attention than the previous 2 days. There was more active life though...including 3 massive barracudas - perhaps 5-6ft long. Wow!

I really appreciated the dive company's ethic - encouraging reef cleanup and sustainable living (ie: no water bottles distributed; bring your own). The staff was all very nice and let me raid their first aid kit before the trip home. 

Later, back in Sihanoukville, James and I turned up at the big backpacker club in town where he was booked to DJ for the night. The young crowd was all fairly spent from the previous Saturday Night St. Paddy's Day bash, so folks were just chillin. James is a great DJ, and spins music I really like (dirty electro), so in an effort to encourage more dancing I spent some time on the dance floor...with a long dress I was able to mask the fact that I was mostly shuffling on one foot.

By 1am, we were both spent, and despite pleas to stay from the hyper kids who rolled in at 12, we headed back to our hotel. James was asleep in minutes.
 

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San Francisco, CA, United States

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