Delilah, bless her heart loves these new kittens. She grooms them, scolds them and plays with them gently- allows them to steal her food. She is so even-tempered it is amazing.
Because of her previous injuries, she can’t quite make it in the litter pan all of the time. I have eight litter pans stacked so close to each other that Mike calls it the path of waste! But it doesn’t matter, she will step into a box, firmly plant her front feet in the center of the box and poop on the floor.
Well, because she is surrogate mom- the kittens are now following her example. I woke up this morning to various small piles of cat poop all over the floor or the outside of the pans and I know they are watching carefully their “teacher.” I don’t want to split them up, so I will just deal with the waste and go on. I think it’s funny though and quite sweet how they try to be just like their “mom.”
Delilah’s mom skills will be put to the test tomorrow when two barn bottle babies arrive. I am only kitty sitting until Saturday- the wee ones need to be fed every two hours around the clock and their real mom has abandoned them. If I could strap on a milk bar to Delilah’s belly- that would be great, but I know she will love these babies as if they were her own.
Luna used to do that, too. Finally I started putting newspaper or pee pads around the edges of the litter boxes. Kind a a hassle, but easier to clear up.
I ended up just taking apart a few of the dog cages and using the sliding tray at the bottom to hold the litter pans. I just pick up the pans (carefully) LOL and take the trays outside spray them off and bring them back in.
I go to the fabric department at walmart and buy yards of plastic “fabric” it cost about $1 to 1.50 a yard and I put it under my boxes, I even put it under the food for my messy eaters. I can spray it with a hose or just wipe it down. It is cheap enough to toss in the trash if it gets to funky. Delilah sounds like the perfect mom, such a shame she has gone through so much.
It sounds like this is exactly what the kittens and Delilah both needed. I am happy for everyone. Great ideas on the litter boxes. I can put those ideas to use as well.
I love it! Sounds as if the lady Deliah has things well in hand, uh, paw.
My Harry is a big boy and when he uses the smaller litter box he can’t turn around so from the waste up he’s in the box but the waste down is out so he goes on the floor. I keep a doggie training pad in front of the box for just such a time.
Or you could try offering her a larger litter box… or perhaps one with shallower sides (because maybe she can’t lift her back feet high enough to get them into the box).
I haven’t used a regular litter pan in I don’t know how long. I use large rubbermaid containers (the kind the slide under your bed that you store sweaters in) inside the house and large kiddy pools in the cat enclosure. Regular litter pans IMO are a waste of money once the kitten grows up to be an adult.