I thought I'd update any of you who were so kind as to care about whether my little kitty got to live for another day, and gave me some tips through comments.

The kitty powder room is again being used regularly and for that I'm grateful - seriously! When I told DH this, he rolled his eyes, just a bit, but I explained to him that the last thing in the world we need right now is to have to take dear kitty to the vet, have them administer the final shot while I'm weeping and moaning and in deep distress, and that if he realized the seriousness of the situation he'd be much more grateful for the news. 'If mama ain't happy.....'

He didn't make any more little comments at least. I do realize when the stock market is going nuts, and quarterly statements at his company are less than stellar whether the cat uses her box isn't of paramount importance to him, but that's the beauty of marriage. I care about what he cares about (like whether his football team wins because we all know that world peace depends on that!) - and he cares about my cat and catboxes that are used, or not.

So - here's what I did, and I don't know which steps turned the tide, so I'll continue them all:

I removed the hood on the catbox, after the website said they were for owners, not cats who don't care for the odors being held in. Who knew cats don't like stinky boxes?!

I removed the liners, again the websites said they annoy cats, are strictly for humans who have to empty catboxes.

I located and purchased the cat litter - Cat Attract - that is 100% guaranteed. At $14 a bag, it's a little bit pricey, but not overly so compared to the regular stuff at Walmart. Walmart does not carry it - the speciality pet store does and thankfully it's right here in my town.

I sprinkled the cat litter with catnip and she jumped right in and went nuts. I always feel like sprinkling cat nip is a little like giving my cat a marijuana brownie, but if it works, then I can live with an pothead cat. Pothead is better than poopy in my book.

I paid $50 for a plug in that emits pheremones, or whatever those vapors are, that make cats blissfully happy. It doesn't smell nearly as nice as the Glade Jasmine and White Ginger plug in I had, but it does smell better than what she was leaving on the my laundry room floor. The refill is $14 and lasts one month.

I switched her food up a bit, adding something a bit more fattening, because really I'd rather have a fat than dead cat. She was on diet food. What woman is happy for very long on a diet?

So I don't know if it was one step, or a few or all of them, but I have one very happy cat. She spends more time around the annoying dogs, up just high enough on a chair to observe them, but she's not skittering all over the place, trying to get away from them. She has not had one accident, if you can call using the laundry room floor an 'accident', and she sleeps with me the entire night, seeming very content. I think I've increased the cost to maintain the cat by about $19 a month, which is the same as about 5 Starbucks, or one movie and popcorn, or 1/4 of a tank of gas - so it seems a good bargain to me right now. In spite of DH rolling his eyes, just a bit. To each of you who left me comments that helped me find a solution, in case you end this day feeling like you didn't get much of anything done, you were a part of saving my little cat's life, and someday's that's about as good as it gets. I'm gone again this weekend, so let's hope the happy holds! xoxoxo

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