Kitty Litter Nuggets

At the rate we are going, we'll have one seriously sick puppy and no
further need for cat litter.

Why is it that dogs like to eat kitty litter nuggets? I don't get it.
It's bad enough that Buddy would eat his own puke but I suppose I can
get past the grossness to understand it. I don't understand what the
attraction is for this particular type of cat treats. Now there is so
much heaving-up in the crate there is no way Buddy could keep up with
himself.

You think you're sick to your stomach? Try getting near Buddy's crate!
We need to take him to the vet because he's overdosed on litter tootsie
rolls.

It's not like we haven't tried to stop him.

When he discovered this 'delectable' hors deourve, my husband Tom and I
decided the easy thing to do would be to put a half door to the mud
room, which is where the cats have been toileting. Tom made a really
cool door complete with a shelf and a draw-across bolt. It worked
great! Except ?

The cats are not used to the door! Tom didn't have the right size
staples to lay down a piece of carpet on the door-shelf. I showed them
how they could get in and out of the mudroom with the door closed.
Mouse caught on pretty quickly. I think Amber understood, too, but she
was highly offended.

Why should I have to accommodate that carpetbagging puppy? She seemed
to wonder. I didn't ever see her try to vault the half door. She'd wait
and wait until she looked like she was going to pop and as soon as
someone unlatched the door to go in, she'd make a mad dash for the
litterbox.

I remember one time I was trying to change the litter box. I'd just put
down a new lining and was about to pour litter into the box when Amber
leaped right over my arm and into the litterbox. "Hey!" I exclaimed.
Usually cats want privacy when they pee but Amber just let go with a
deep purr of relief. About a quart went all over the liner before I
could pour the litter in to absorb it.

Then there was the day when Buddy chased Amber into our bedroom and she
jumped on the bed. Apparently she'd been holding it all morning again
and was waiting for the second I unlatched the door to the mudroom.
Buddy got to her first. The chase and the holding her water was too
much for her. All of it went onto our bed, through the sheets, through
the mattress pads and into the mattress! Ugh!!!

Okay, so now we had to do something. Meantime, we'd decided to get a
washer/dryer and we had it installed in the mudroom. Tom took the door
off so that the men could get in and he didn't bother to put it up
again. Everyone was happy, except for Tom and me. We were back to
guarding the kitty droppings.

The last couple of mornings, we've been sick with flu related stuff and
neither of us can chase an agile puppy down so well. We helped each
other, trying to trap Buddy between us. We'd listen for the tell tale
scritch scritch sound of an animal digging in litter and go on alert,
already jumping up. One of us would rush the mud room and Buddy would
leap out with puppy glee and take off.

I always had to pause a moment when I saw him. Usually there was
something (and here I feel my stomach heaving again) dangling from his
mouth. He'd wiggle his rear end like he was taunting nyah nyah you
can't catch me! And off he'd run. Sometimes he'd circle the house once
or twice before we finally got him between us. And just as we'd reach
him, we'd hear a big loud gulp! The sweet treat was headed down his
throat.

Ewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww?.

But now he is sick from it. He began to puke yesterday. Tom got him
cleaned up, cleaned up the crate, and we gave him water.

You'd think he would know better. But ohhhhhhh noooooo, he was right
back at it again!

This morning, he is utterly and totally miserable. He doesn't want to
get up, not even to eat. He's curled up in a little ball and when he
looks up, he has the saddest expression. Why did you let me do this to
myself, Mommy and Daddy?

Tom is buying longer, wider staples. We are reintroducing the half
door.

Why do dogs like to eat kitty litter droppings? It's not just Buddy.
All of the dogs I ever owned have done it. Is there some kind of
super-vitaminated protein in it? Ugh...

Maybe this is why dogs drool and cats rule?*

*from the Disney movie, "Homeward Bound"