train my kittens to think outside the box :o)

The kittens are completely adjusted, as far as I can tell, both to their freedom and to their new home. They’re becoming rather teenager-ish, alternating between bursts of ecstatic affection and bouts of “don’t you dare touch me” standoffishness. But they’re happy and healthy, with their little personalities becoming more distinct every day, and they still love their mommy :o)

It feels so strange to be home without the kittens. I hate the thought of them all on their own in a strange place – though they seemed to settle down alright once they’d explored every corner of the room. As I let myself in, back at the old place, I almost called out to them before remembering they weren’t there. The place feels very empty without them. How did I ever live all on my own?

Since the first abortive attempt, I’ve been gradually leaving the kittens out for longer and longer, and they seem to be getting more used to life in the big wide world. They’re remembering where their food and water is, and they’re using the litter tray successfully almost all the time.

A few days ago, Princess finally managed to get out of the box on her own. She’s so cute – she makes a gargantuan leap and catches the edge with her forepaws, then pulls one hind paw up, digs her claws in and dangles there resting for a moment, before heaving herself over the edge and flopping to the floor. The two boys watch her enviously, but until yesterday weren’t able to jump high enough to catch the edge. I think that because of her damaged front paw, Princess’ hind legs are stronger cos they take more of her weight.

I didn’t mind too much that she was out, because she’s less destructive than Muffin and more sensible than Ludo – she’s probably the tamest of the three. Last night, though, Muffin made the giant leap too, hauling himself gracelessly over the edge and thudding to the floor. I couldn’t possibly leave poor little Ludo in the box on his own, so I lifted him out too, and went to bed with the three of them curled up peacefully beside me.

By two a.m., my peaceful purring little furballs had been unaccountably replaced with snarling, mock-fighting, running-jumping-pouncing little tornadoes. Their particular delight seemed to be attacking my hair and getting their claws tangled up in it. The second time they woke me up, I threw them out of the bedroom and shut the door. In my sleepiness I put them in the box, but of course Princess and Muffin were straight back out again, and I could hear poor Ludo mewling unhappily at being left alone, so I had to get up again and let him out.

By the time I get home this evening, they’ll have been free for longer than they ever were before. Goodness only knows what kind of destruction and mayhem I’m going home to :-p However, this evening I’m moving them to the new place, where they’ll have the run of the kitchen from the start, and of the whole apartment once I get settled in a bit. Assuming they don’t develop any major bad habits in the new place, I think I’ll be able to call this done soon.

When I cleaned out the litter tray yesterday, I realised it wasn’t nearly dirty enough to account for three kittens, so I went hunting and sure enough, found several unwelcome little presents in hidden corners of the floor. I think they were just using the tray when they happened to be near it, and not if they were at the other end of the room. The final straw was when Ludo peed on my duvet cover yesterday evening, so I put them back into the hated box for the night, with many apologies on my side and furious protest on theirs.

So now what? I think the next step is to get more litter trays; maybe if there were one at each end of the room they’d be more likely to find it. I’m going to have to leave them in the box while I’m at work during the day – I don’t want to have to clean up kitten poop every evening, and I don’t want them to get any further into the habit of not using the tray. Maybe in the evenings I’ll take them out one at a time and give them some individual attention and training. I think I’m going to be very unpopular for a while, now that they’ve got a taste for freedom :-p

The kittens were fine while I was out, and all three seem to be using the litter tray as normal. Don’t want to speak too soon, but this may be even easier than I thought!

I have to go out for an hour or two to run errands. This is the first time I’ll have left the kittens at large while I’m out for more than a few minutes. Here’s hoping I don’t come back and find they’ve messed on the floor or knocked everything off the shelves or anything like that…

I felt I wanted it to be a bit of a special occasion this morning when I let the kittens out of the box for the last time, so instead of lifting them out as I normally do, I cut right down two corners of the box and opened out the side so they could walk out on their own. They were a little unsure what was happening, but they soon realised they were free and began running around and playing as normal.

As I gave them breakfast, I realised I’d inadvertently done one piece of training already – they recognised the sound of the fork on the bowl as I tapped it to get the food off it, and came running from the far end of the room. For some reason, though, they didn’t polish off the food as they normally do – they just had a few mouthfuls and then ran off to play again. They’re always starving at breakfast time, so I guess being out was more important to them than being fed! They stop for a nibble every time they pass the bowl, though, so I don’t think that’ll be a problem.

More worrying to me was the litter tray – I have no desire to spend the next few days finding and cleaning kitten-messes! I left it in the box where it’s always been, hoping that as they go in and out of the box in their play that they’ll recognise it. I’ve also been picking each of them up every fifteen minutes or so and placing them on the litter tray, both to try and teach them where it is and in the hope that if they need to go they’ll do it then. Sure enough, a few minutes ago Muffin found his way to the tray on his own and used it. I think he was terribly confused that I made such a fuss of him for it :o)

As I was writing the above, I suddenly realised I hadn’t seen or heard them running around for several minutes. With kittens, like with children, that usually means they’re up to mischief :o) I went looking for them, and discovered all three had made their way back to the opening of their box for a snooze; but I don’t know if they went there for familiarity or because there happens to be a patch of sunlight shining on the floor right there. I picked up their food bowl, and all three were instantly around me, miaowing and rubbing against my ankles. They certainly know where their food comes from!

to be left cooped up in their box all day. I let them out to play in the evenings, and for a few minutes in the mornings if I have time, but they need more space. The poor little things sit in the box and look up at me with big imploring eyes and piteous meows to be let out, and I hate thinking of how cramped and bored they must be all day while I’m at work.

This weekend, I’ll be trying to get them used to finding their litter tray and their food bowl on their own if I leave them out. It’s a tiny apartment, but the kittens are still so small that the floor space must seem huge to them, and they don’t seem to remember where things are – sometimes they’ll come across their water bowl when they’re playing, and lap the water frantically as if they were really thirsty, when they could have had a drink anytime if they’d remembered it was there. It’ll probably be easier for them when the place is a bit tidier, too – although in its current state it’s a perfect kitten playground, full of things to hide behind and clothes-piles to explore and stacks of books to climb :o)