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Our kattan*or kuppy** Butterscotch has been moderately successful at learning to use the toilet.  We have now removed the 'training' bowl and he is just using the toilet, but we've run in to the challenge of getting him to poop consistently in the toilet.  From what I've ready he is likely having 'squat stability' issues when he tried to go poop on the toilet because the pooping position necessitates a higher stance that likely feels unstable to Butter when he's on the slippery seat of the toilet.  We're going to get a padded toilet seat this week to see if that helps with his 'squat stability', as it will give him something to grip.

We've also come upon another issue with getting Butter to use the toilet....we need to flush for him.  Much like a cat not wanting to use a dirty litterbox, a cat doesn't want to use the 'soiled' water in the toilet so he will pee on the floor if the toilet hasn't been flushed.  Basically every time Butter goes upstairs to do his business we need to go up and flush after he comes down...this new issue makes me wish we had trained him to use the toilet downstairs :).

This weekend we plan to 'stalk' Butterscotch and follow him upstairs to get him to use the toilet when he poops.  We are supposed to 'position' him after he starts to go, which I'm sure he is just going to love considering he doesn't like us to watch him go let alone touch him.  I'm also going to try and take some pictures of his progress and post them, since the toilet squatting is quite cute.

* kattan - a cat who looks like a big kitten  **kuppy - a cat who thinks he/she's a puppy

Little Butter(scotch) the cat can in fact use the toilet.  We learned that the bowl must fit the toilet well so the seat is flat.  We were kinda cheap initially and used a bowl someone gave us that was a little too large and tilted the seat up slightly, and Butter did not like it so he pee'd and pooped on the floor but hey the bathroom floor has never been so clean :).

We bought Butter a bowl this weekend that fits the toilet bowl perfectly, so he's using it again.  His pooping is still inconsistent, but he has actually pooped in the bowl.  Hopefully Butter will be ready for the final step - using only the toilet in the next week or so.

Over all the toilet training of Butterscotch the cat has been fairly easy, but he is VERY adaptable for a cat.  We've had some mishaps like falling into the bowl and thinking it is a dish to drink out of (ewww) and getting his tail wet and the squatting is just too cute.

We'll be back and let everyone know if we are fully successful at getting Butter to use the toilet.  Not more litter box yay!

We have embarked on the odyssey to teach our kuppy (part kitten part puppy) to use the toilet.  My lovely wife Kerry hated our kattan Butter's litterbox, so we decided to potty train him.  Yes dear sacpaws peeps and animals we're trying to teach the cat how to use the toilet.

So far so good.  I have to preface anything else I write here with the note that our cat Butterscotch is probably the most adaptable cat I have ever had in my life, since he can travel with no problem and adapts to each new situation without any fuss.

We found some relatively simple but effective instructions on how to teach you cat to use the toilet online.  We have progressed through the steps list below.  The one's in italics we're still working on.

1. Move the cat's litterbox next to the toilet.
2. Raise your cat's litterbox to the same height as the toilet.
3. Place a metal bowl in the toilet filled with litter.
4. Use less and less litter until there is none in the bowl.
5. Fill the bowl with water. This has been a challenging stage because Butter does not like to go with an audience, so helping him with 'positioning' while he goes has been challenging so he has pooped on the floor a couple of times, but we're keeping at it remembering that we won't ever have to empty the litter box again!
6. Remove the bowl*.
7. Your cat is now toilet trained.

*If you have a small cat balancing on the edge of the seat may be difficult, so after they learn to do that you can get them one of those snap on toddler size seats to use at home.  Most of the suggestions I've read said to not get the toddler seat until the cat gets the hang of using the regular toilet seat so as not to confuse them if they must go somewhere else while being boarded or visiting a different house.

You can find more detailed instructions at http://www.karawynn.net/mis... or by googling cat toilet training.

We'll keep a running update on Butter's progress.  Now if only we could teach the dogs :).

My wife and I just recently returned from a two week trip/cruise to Alaska.  The trip was wonderful and the scenery more beautiful than I could have imagined, but we still missed 'our girls' Forrest and Shasta and the kitty Butter(scotch).  As we took in the sights of all the lovely cities we got to stop at along the way Astoria (OR), Seattle, Ketchican (AK), Juneau, Sagway, Vancouver (BC) we got our puppy/doggie fix wherever we could.  In Ketchican we met an adorable standard poodle pup, and in Juneau and the amazing Mendenhall Glacier (the world's only 'drive up' glacier) we met a golden retriever puppy named Chloe, then at our last stop in Vancouver we met a sweet dog named Bo who much like our Forrest was sweet if a little dense.

We picked up the girls from my parents' house an hour after we got back to Sacramento from Vancouver, and if it sounds like we missed our dogs you should have seen them.  The moment we pulled in and opened the car door Shasta and Forrest jumped into the car.  They were as glad to be going home as we were to be home (vacation is fun but it is always nice to come home).  We are all trying to setting back in to our regular routines this week...man are we all tired because I know we don't sleep great when we're away and it seems the ladies and Butter don't either.

We're glad to be back in Sacramento, and we getting married again on June 20th yay!

I had a conference in Las Vegas this last week and my wife came because it was her birthday on Wednesday (her 30th so we had to celebrate!).  Unfortunately my folks couldn't take care of the girls for the week we were gone, so we decided to board them at Elite Dogs in West Sacramento.  The staff at Elite Dogs were nice and professional, though it would have been nice to be able to tour the place before leaving 'the girls' there.  We were able to call and check on them and they did well there because they were able to stay in the same large kennel together.

Unfortunately when we came home we found out that Forrest had a reaction to the Bortadella (kennel cough) vaccine she had the week before we left, so she was coughing and not eating or drinking enough.  Thankfully she is on the mend after a trip to the vet (we LOVE midtown animal hospital) and some antibiotics, though I must make a note to self to just get her children's cough suppressent since it is the same as the stuff the vet charged us A LOT more for (even the same nasty bubble gum flavor).

We're happy that my folks are able to watch Shasta and Forrest when we go on a birthday cruise for two weeks for my wife's birthday in a couple of weeks.

It was nice not having to lint brush myself every morning for a week...I swear we should buy stock in the lint brush companies.

I know I've posted before about certain local dog parks my wife, me, and our dogs do not frequent because of aggressive dogs and their distracted owners.  I have to tell you all about an unfortunate event that occurred at our favorite dog park, Partner Park in the South Land Park area.  First on a happier note we had a wonderful surprise birthday party for my wife Kerry at Partner Park on Saturday, and she truly was surprise as she didn't know I had invited 20 of her friends along with our families to have a picnic.  The dogs loved the party too because of course we were at the dog park so they could run around and play and play and play.  We of course didn't have any food within the fenced confines of the dog park proper but kept that outside on the grass :).

 A lovely woman I had seen at the park before came up to us during the party and wondered aloud" what we were doing, and that we looked like we were having a lot of fun", which we were of course.  She continued into the park and her dog frolicked with all the others that were there.  Right after we were done cleaning up after the party this same friendly woman came up and asked us about dog park etiquette regarding waiting for someone to leash their dog prior to coming into the 'air-lock' area (that's what we like to call it anyway).  Apparently this woman had asked a man who had just arrived to wait until she could get the leash on her dog before he came in with his dog, and he responded rudely 'saying that he didn't see any sign saying that', and she responded 'that it was just common courtesy she was asking for for the safety of their dogs', which he ignored and stormed in.  As she was telling us this story the man started yelling and making threats from inside the dog park that he was going to come and 'take care of her', to which we told him we would call the police if he didn't knock it off.  She looked frightened so we waited for her to get into her vehicle and leave, and then we left while calling the police (non-emergency number since this guy fortunately didn't try and follow her or us) and they said they would go and check it out.

We are wondering what is wrong with people?  Isn't the dog park supposed to be a fun place to take our pets and families, so the dogs and frolic and the families can relax?  Our moral here is to just treat others as you wish to be treated.  We hope the police or at least the other regular dog park folks made this seemingly 'crazy' and aggressive person think twice before behaving in such a rude and scary way at the dog park again.  I must say he seemed to have a lovely and sweet lab, so thankfully dogs aren't always a reflection of their owners.

There are the obvious things that we really shouldn't bring to the dogs parks like our cats, or raw bacon, but there are other things like bottled water.  Check out the article below.  It made my conviction to never purchase bottled water again even stronger.

http://green.yahoo.com/blog...

Yes I know this post isn't really completely pet related, but we have to do our part in the choices we make to protect the earth because our pets can't do it for themselves.

PS - I know there polycarbonate (nalgene style and baby bottles) bottles have been in the news lately as 'gassing' off chemicals that are nasty for us and our furry friends, but there are other options out there such as stainless steel and 'regular' plastics #'s 2, 4, 5 and 7 [non-polycarbonate] (ref: www.lifewithoutplastic.com).

On the same track as our other blog post we also try to help the environment while caring for our indoor cat Butterscotch.  We use natural pine (as in tree) based litter.  They even make a clumping variety that clumps quite well and it is flushable too!  The little also smells wonderful and keeps the litterbox area from smelling bad even when Butter has filled his box.  It is a little more expensive than the clay based litter but so much better for the environment on many fronts.  It is made from fast growing pine trees, a renewable resource, and is totally compostable, biodegradable and flushable.  It also lasts significantly longer than other litters with the whole box needing to be 'changed' only about twice a month.  Check out the company's website that make Feline Pine for more info and coupons.

http://www.naturesearth.com...

There are many other natural alternative to clay and silica based cat litters out there, so for the health of your cat and the planet check them out.

This website http://en.wikipedia.org/wik... has more information on how just making clay based cat little harms the environments, let alone using it and throwing it away.

I saw the note encouraging us SacPaws members regarding our commitment to the environment.  My wife and I are environmentalists and don't drive unless we have to and reuse and recycle everything we can, and try not to buy into the consumerist culture or always needing something new...sort of the 'if it ain't broke don't fix it' lifestyle.

In that vein of being conscious of the harm we humans and our furry friends can do to the environment we use biodegradable dog waste bags, as well as biodegradable trash bags for our human non-recyclable wast, made by a company called 'biobags'.  The bags work just as well as plastic bags but are made from organically certified non-GMO corn.  The bags are fully compostable as well as biodegradable.  They don't cost significantly more than the plastic bags and can be found at a lot of local pet supply retailers, as well as our local food co-ops (Sacramento and Davis).  Check out the reviews on the website below

http://www.ecoanimal.com/po...

& check out the biobags website for more information on their products

http://biobagusa.com/index.... .

If you have more than one dog or a large dog they are now make xtra large dog poop bags as well that hold more of our furry friend's poo.

Kerry and I took the Basic (Motorcycle) Rider Course this weekend.  We learned a lot and we really believe it made us better and safer motorcycle riders.  We also bought me an older motorcycle yesterday afternoon/evening & we brought the girls along because they we home alone much of the weekend because we were learning to be safe on our motorcycles.  It turns out Forrest learned something too this weekend....how to drive!   And people wonder how all that dog hair gets all over our car interior!  Check out the attached picture that one of the neighbors of the man who sold us the bike took while we were checking out the motorcycle...don't miss Shasta peeking out from the back seat.



Kerry and I are pretty gregarious people so we have 'random' conversations with strangers at the dog park and when we're out and about a lot, but this one was truly funny.  The gentleman who shot Forrest driving the PT Cruiser is a part-time wedding photographer and was just trying out a new digital camera.  You have to love Forrest's 'glowing' eyes.

Wait until you see the pictures of the pups trying out some of the lovely products we were tasked to test...some of the testing made us laugh so hard we cried.