My cats have a death wish...

Wo, that cat potty training had been a success, because I'm getting really tired of sweeping up cat litter every day. The little bastards are clearly building sandcastles in it. I'm considering building a Katt Bank (check it out at http://www.kattbank.com/ and notice that I'm building my own instead of paying out the nose for one). If they weren't so darn cute, I would have punted them a long time ago. ;) Check out Franklin lounging in the bathroom sink! I put up a birdfeeder right outside one of the windows in my house so they can watch some kitty TV. They've now figured out that they can jump up in all of the window sills, not just that one.

Exciting news--I got accepted into the FNP program at IUPUI. I know it's going to be a lot of hard work, but it will all be worth it when my dream of becoming a Nurse Practitioner is realized. Summer classes start on the 13th and boy am I going to be busy! I'm trying to take advantage of having a couple of weeks off to enjoy reading for leisure and get my garden totally under control by that time. I've also been busy studying for the CCRN certification exam. Yikes!

I had a scare the other day when I came home from work and found Caddie limping pretty badly. Fortunately, it cleared up in a couple of days and she's back to her spry self. It's so awful when our pets aren't feeling well. I wish I could talk to them Dr. Doolittle-style, but alas, without illicit drugs, it's just not possible. It's hard to believe that Caddie is six years old this month! Happy Birthday to you, my canine BFF. Thanks for always being ready with a snuggle for me.

Puppies!

Last week our zoo had a new visitor. We dogsat our friend Jaci's toy fox terrier while she was out of town. Roxy is a very special dog. She was rescued from the New Albany, IN puppy mill bust of last spring. Her very short life has been filled with pain and fear. She was forced to give birth to a dangerous number of puppies. She was locked in a small cage, never seeing the sunlight or running around. The only human touch she experienced was painful. Subsequently, she is a very skittish, frightened little girl. Jaci and her husband have hearts of gold for taking care of her!

Puppy mills are a an awful phenomenon to be sure. But the people who run them often don't think they're doing anything wrong. Often, they are running a family business in a town where other job options are limited. If there wasn't a demand for popular puppy breeds, their mills wouldn't be lucrative. The best way to combat puppy mills is to stop buying dogs in pet stores. There are many dogs available at your local animal shelter or rescue. If you have your heart set on a particular breed, check the paper. Many people are selling or giving away dogs because they're moving or can't handle the responsibility of pets. Finally, make sure if you do bring a pet home, you're ready to make your house their "forever home!"

Apparently, it's monsoon season in Indiana. We've been getting a lot of rain, which has kept me inside. I'm starting to go stir crazy! Fortunately, we had some sunshine today. The rain has my garden looking great, but means lots of lawn mowing.

More adventures in gardening

I can't believe how awesome my yard is looking! There's greenery and beauty everywhere. I wish I had before and after pictures so I could show you what a hole it was three years ago when I moved in. Weeds everywhere, no flowers, broken fence...now, it's a backyard oasis! I love spending time out there, watching the birds, listening to the sounds, and smelling the roses.

My vegetable garden is coming along swimmingly. I'm already stalking the Cabbage Moth in order to protect my brassicas. I've had one broccoli plant bite the dust! The seeds I started inside are doing so-so. Some look great, some need some TLC. I've been able to put them out in the sun on these nice warm days, which seems to be helping somewhat. We shall see...

I enjoy gardening for several reasons. I get a tremendous sense of accomplishment from working outside in my yard, even if I've only spent a few minutes pulling weeks. Being outside is also a great way to get to know my neighbors. We're never too busy to give at least a friendly wave! Gardening is also a great way to bridge generations. My grandparents and I can always trade tips when we're visiting and many of my elderly patients love to tell me about what they've got growing! They are a wealth of knowledge. Children can also get in on the act! Kids can pull weeds, plant seeds, water, play with worms, and learn about the life cycles of plants from spending time outside with you.

One of the ways we can be good stewards of the Earth is to teach children (and learn ourselves!) where our food comes from. We need to realize that tomatoes that show up in our grocery stores in November aren't the norm and come at a very high environmental price! Those tomatoes were grown with a lot of chemicals and had to trucked thousands of miles from a warmer climate. The farmers who grew them make just pennies per pound because distributors won't pay a fair price for them Waiting to eat them when they are in season is a special treat, and it's even sweeter if you grow them yourself. Don't get me wrong--I love to splurge on bananas and pineapples--things that will never grow in Indiana--but if we can reduce the amount of "out of season" and non-native produce we buy just a little bit, it can make a huge difference. Take a look at the label on those fruits and veggies next time you're at the store. Where were they grown? How many miles did it take to get them to your local supermarket, and at what cost to the farmers who grew them and the environment?

Want to get in on the local produce buying scene? You're in luck! It's easier than ever these days. Farmer's markets are very popular these days. Many communities have them on days other than Saturdays now, so you can sleep in on the weekend and still hit one up during the week. Consider joining a Community Supported Agriculture program, which brings amazing local produce right to your door! Participants subscribe to the program, which guarantees the farmers a fair price for their produce and other goods, and in turn we get the best of the best of their harvest. When my Basic Roots (look Kay and Sue up on Facebook for more info) delivery comes in the middle of each month, it's like Christmas! Even the Marsh supermarket closest to my house carries some local produce. Choosing this over something trucked in from Mexico guarantees that I get the very best produce for the smallest carbon impact.

Two green thumbs up!

It's gardening season at the 1543 and we couldn't be happier! Getting my hands dirty, growing tasty, healthy food, and making my yard beautiful puts a smile on my face. The garden is full of broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kale, beets, rhubarb, lettuce, asparagus, leeks, and onions right now. I can't wait to eat them! I've also expanded my blueberry patch from one bush to three this year. I won't get any berries from the two new bushes this year, but my efforts will pay off soon! Inside, I'm starting strawberries, tomatoes, peppers, herbs, watermelon, and sqaush. I don't usually have a lot of luck starting seeds inside, but I got a great idea from a friend and I'm hoping it works out--I planted the seeds in one of those little plastic "greenhouses" and placed a heating pad on the lowest setting underneath it. This keeps the seeds nice and toasty and they are off to a rockin' start already.

The yard is looking beautiful too! I have tulips coming up all over the place--a sure sign of spring. I also re-did some flower beds around the yard and they look very nice. My next big project is to re-do the hill in my front yard. I'd like to till up the grass and put down a bed of rocks and creeping phlox. It's one of my favorite flowers. Not to mention that it would really cut down on how much I have to mow...

Check out Caddie, cheesin' by the tulips. She wants to spend all of her time outside these days. The cats have even gotten to explore the great outdoors recently, although they're a little more apprehensive. The backyard is our little oasis!

Abandon ship...

I've officially given up cat potty training. This was prompted by a couple of things. For starters, the cats just weren't cooperating consistently. They would pick and choose when to use the toilet, so I couldn't get a good read on whether or not they were having accidents because they were being obnoxious or because they couldn't figure things out. Several times I caught them getting ready to have an accident and tried to pick them up and quickly put them on the toilet and then praise them, much like you would a puppy. They were pretty uninterested in my efforts and it ultimately left me covered in cat urine. I also tried to break them of their instinct to bury by removing them from the pan after they used it and before they could dig, but cats are sneaky bastards and I just couldn't be there when they were toileting. I considered the commercially made litter pan I talked about in my last post, but since I have to be able to remove whatever is lining the toilet to use it myself, this wasn't going to work. So I'm back to scooping litter...for now.

The other reason I'm giving up at this time is that I'm experiencing a mysterious plumbing problem at my house. I did a DIY fix yesterday and so far haven't seen any more leaks, but I'm having a plumber out today to check it out just in case. I can't have the cats trying to use the toilet in the midst of a day-long plumbing session. So the litter box is back in the office and the boys seem pleased.

The weather is getting warmer and our thoughts are turning to spring at the 1543. Caddie wants to spend most of her time outdoors and the boys enjoy lounging in the sun. Check out Franklin keeping an eye on the backyard from his perch on my stairway. Caddie is a terrible guard dog, so maybe I'll have a guard cat. Two of my friends had dogs escape from their backyards this week--one for an hour and the other for 2 days! Thankfully they both returned home safely. It reminds me that our pets truly are part of our family and how devastating it would be to lose them. They provide us with companionship, laughter, distraction, and affection. They lower our blood pressure and lift our spirits. Love your babies today and keep them safe!

Things fall apart...

We took a step back last week, removing the water from the pan and replacing it with litter. After as week of once again slowly reducing the litter in the pan, we're back to no litter in the pan and a small amount of water. Unfortunately, this also means the cats are back to making messes elsewhere in the bathroom. Sometimes it's right next to the toilet, sometimes it's on the shelf, and today it was in the wastebasket. I'm not sure what to do next here, because they use the toilet sometimes, but not others. I hate to keep backing up a step if they're just being obstinate and could really figure this out. I don't know. I continue to try to keep every possible place the cats might want to go to the bathroom blocked off or covered up, but it's starting to prove difficult. Pet stores sell a pre-made liner that allows you to make an increasingly larger hole in it, and I'm considering moving to this method if the makeshift liner doesn't work. Other than that, I'm kind of at a loss. I'm becoming discouraged.

In other news, all the pets got a bath today. Caddie puts up with it, but the cats, understandably, hated it. Maybe that's why they're not cooperating with their toilet training today! Check Franklin out in all his post-bath glory.

One step forward, two steps back

It was beautiful outside today! Caddie and I got out for a run on the Monon Trail, which is truly our happy place. After taking a lot of time off from outdoor running this winter due to illness and a bitterly cold winter with lots of snow, she and I both have some work to do! Here's a picture of her rockin' the trail!

Yesterday's success with Franklin and Linus was bittersweet. Not long after I updated, I found a couple of washcloths that I thought had been placed out of reach of a certain pair of four-legged critters, pulled down on the floor with a mess inside! It seems that the boys have no problem peeing in the toilet, but their instinct to bury their other business is still there. I'm not going to get discouraged though. Per the advice of fellow cat trainers, I've backed up a step and I'm proceeding cautiously. I poured all of the water out of the pan and replaced it with a small amount of litter. I'll try this for a couple of days and see if they're ready to advance this weekend.

I've also read that it may help to provide a way for your cats to "scratch" after they've used the potty, thus easing them into the whole no burying thing. I'm contemplating taping a small piece of sandpaper on the front of the toilet seat so they have something to paw at. I know this seems like a lot of thought and work, but never having to scoop a litter box again would be well worth it!

Emma is with us for two more days. The poor baby is still nervous and having trouble eating. At my mom's, she likes to eat in a confined space, away from everyone else. I've tried isolating her in the laundry room and in her kennel box, but neither of these seem to be working. I was starting to worry since she hadn't eaten since Saturday, so I put out some extra cat food before going to bed last night. Lo and behold, I found an empty bowl this morning. Perhaps she just prefers Meow Mix to dog food.