Battling cat pee #cats #territory #notinmyhouse

I've been battling cat pee in the house for about a year now.  It all started when some ferals decided to show up outside the house.  Of course, it took a while to figure it out and until I did I was fighting a losing battle INSIDE the house.  Since what I'm doing now seems to be working (still figuring out all the issues), I thought I'd share some of my solutions.

1 - washing everything that gets sprayed that fits into the wash.  I add apple cider vinegar to the wash to get rid of the smell.

2 - steam cleaning the carpet.  I  included febreeze in the steam cleaner.

3 - Spraying anywhere else (and sometimes even on those things above) I treat with Angry Orange.  It's a product I found on Amazon.  Compared to a lot of other products, the smell doesn't bother me and they don't like going back over it.

4 - Outside I sprayed an essential oil cat repellent.  I don't want to chase off the birds or squirrels, I just wanted to keep the ferals/strays away from the house itself.  The one I used was premixed, but you can mix your own with a variety of combinations found online.  It does require respray fairly regularly, especially after rain, but it did just fine.

We're not totally fixed, the cats are having some issues inside that we're still working on.  But it has substantially decreased where it's happening.

My foster kittens @furkids #adorable #kittensontheinternet

I decided now was a good time to let my foster kittens take center stage. I've posted random photos of them on instagram, so now they've made the blog.

First up is Kiwi.  He's the runt of the litter at just 2 pounds.  He's what my daughter and I call a "pocket kitten".  He is Mr. Adventure.  The first to go explore if I'm not quick enough to close the door and he's convinced he needs to be wherever I am.  He also has a "silent meow" where just his mouth works.

In this picture with Kiwi is Peach.  An adorable torti/calico.  She's relatively quiet, but don't let that fool you.  She loves belly rubs, though she'll also wrestle your hand.  She's the "actual cat" of the group.  For those that have cats, you'll understand what I'm talking about.

Then there's Mango, aka Little Miss Trouble.  She likes to play with the humans in the room.  They're much more interesting than siblings.  A very pretty torti, she's a lovebug at heart and with the right introduction would do just fine with other cats.

Last but not least is Papaya.  This boy is the biggest of the litter at 3 lbs.  When it's nap time, he really likes for there to be a human around to curl up with.  He's all black and reminds me of Toothless the dragon.  He's going to be a big boy who loves laps.



These guys aren't available for adoption yet, they still have to be spayed/neutered.  But watch for them to hit the FurKids website.  They'll make someone very happy.

Meeting Victoria Stillwell

Thanks to P.A.L.S Atlanta, I had the opportunity to meet Victoria Stillwell.  Most people would recognize her from her Animal Planet show "It's Me or the Dog".  She's just as honest and straight forward in person as she is on the show.  When I arrived, I had the chance to get her newest book signed and to briefly chat with her.  After a while, though, she sat down and spoke to everyone about her experiences and show(s).

She talked some about how her show came about.  Apparently, she married and moved to Manhattan with her husband.  She realized that there was a serious problem in the area with pets being dumped at the shelter, abused, etc.  It made her mad, but she wasn't sure what to do.  At some point, they moved out toward Jersey and she had a little girl. She was watching a new show called "Super Nanny" when she came up with her answer.  She typed up her idea and sent it off to the producers of "Super Nanny".  A couple of days later she had a response wanting a preview.  She made a brief tape of herself working with a family training their dog and sent it back.  Not long after, she had her show.

While filming the pilot episode, she was sitting on the couch with a family.  The wife turned to the husband and stated "It's me or the dog.".  Ms. Stillwell knew that had to be the name of her show.

Now, she's working with PBS on a series of shows.  She has been taping in Gwinnett County with the K9 unit.  She has plans of going north and working with an arson dog unit as well.  She is updating her web site and is also filming webisodes that will be released there starting next month.

At the end, we were given a chance to ask our own questions.  Ms. Stillwell was quite candid with her answers.  When it came to training a dog for a sport, she made suggestions to help the trainer find the answer he needed.  Ms. Stillwell is quite outspoken in her thoughts about breed specific legislation as well, making it known in no uncertain terms that she is against it and why.

As a 20 year dog trainer, Ms. Stillwell then moved to talking about training itself and the science behind it.  She is very much into the research behind how a dog thinks and why it does what it does.  There is always a cause behind an action, the key is figuring it all out.  Whether it's working on getting a dog to behave on a leash to aggression issues, figuring out the trigger is the path to retraining the dog.  She cited various stories from both her show and her individual training sessions as examples.  Much of it is given in her new book as well as how to work with your dog.

I look forward to reading my copy of her book.  With 2 dogs that each have their own opinions and attitudes, there are a couple of things we need to work on. 

#WW Buddy Naps

#WW Bird feeders on a snowy day

On one of our snow days last week, I filled the bird feeders. Then I started watching the cats thinking they'd enjoy the show. Little did I realize, the dogs would too.  Every time I opened the door to take bird photos, they had to join me.  Given a little leeway, they took over the door.

#WW Pet Pillow

If I sit on the sofa for any period, the occupants may change but the activity doesn't.  Left to right - Aradia (not quite 6mo kitten), Dodger (17 yo grumpy boy), Mac (17 mo spastic wiggle).

#WW Faucet ON

As my 17 year old cat gets older, he has decided he has privileges that all humans must follow through on.  One is his new found fascination for the faucet.  I have a pet fountain for water, but that isn't good enough.  Instead, he wants THIS faucet on.

Monday's dose of awww...

This is Aradia.  She's the kitten my daughter has been fostering.  It looks like we're going to be keeping her.  For those of you that know us, you're hardly surprised.  She and Jack get along fabulously well.  This makes Dodger considerably happier.  So it works out well for all three.  The vet has been impressed with her.  Apparently, his experience with calicos has not shown them to be overly friendly.  This one, though, as soon as you pick her up starts purring.  We could almost call her Harley.

Friday Feline Fun

After being granted their own evil unicorn horn, we caught each of the felines trying to follow through with their evil plans. See if you can guess what their aim was.

My cat wanted water

My senior cat has a thing for drinking water out of cups. After sticking his head into the cup as far as it would go (sorry, I was too slow to get that one) and discovering no water, he decided to express himself.

This procedure was repeated several times until my husband finally got up and put away his cup. Poor Dodger had to share the water fountain with the rest of the furballs.

Playing with Cats

My daughter chose to play with cats for her science fair project. She wanted to know which they'd prefer, a string cat toy or a toy filled with catnip. What it allowed her to do is spend time playing with her cat (1 yo Jack, seen to the right, we adopted from FurKids) and my cat (15 yo Dodger adopted from Gwinnett AC years ago) and still be doing school work.

It wasn't quite the adventure as we had with Robert. Since she plays with the cats fairly regularly, though, it was an exercise in remembering to log what she did. She also had to remember to make sure she had her designated toys on hand when she did so. Simple enough in theory, but when you're doing most of the "real" experiments during the holiday and she's not very organized to begin with, a definite challenge too.

Her final day of experimenting happened at FurKids. I took her with her toys out to the shelter (we're already volunteers) and we spent time in the adult cat room.

She learned fairly quickly that you cannot get the cats riled up by playing with them and then take your attention off of them. They'll continue to play with the toy dangling in your hand whether you're playing or not. No harm done, just surprised her when one decided to make a leap for the string toy she'd had dangling in front of the cat's face. We always enjoy visiting and I usually get shots of some of the adoptables. The catch this time is the adoptables I was taking pictures of were busy playing with my daughter or the toys she brought. So they don't really show them off to their advantage. Maybe next time I'll be a bit more successful.

PSA: @FurkidsInc Open House & Adoptables

This weekend, FurKids is having an open house today and toorrow at their shelter off of Pleasantdale Rd. You can see some of the adoptable dogs and kitties when you visit and support a great cause at the same time. $5 pays for a bbq sandwich or veggie burger, homemade veggie baked beans, cole slaw, chips and a drink. $2 gets a bowl full of home made ice cream (Strawberry or pineapple). Not to mention the baked goods! YUM!

Some of the adoptable kitties that we saw today:

Yahoo, a wonderful big girl more interested in pets than play.

Confetti, a wonderful calico very sweet.

Ezra is a handsome boy, very friendly

Mango is one of my favorites. I love to visit her when we get to go visit.

These 4, plus lots of others, are available for adoption. Our Jack Sparrow came from FurKids last year.

#WW Not Quite Wordless Cat Fancy

My 17 yo cat has not been wanting to eat. To the point that he has distinctly lost weight. Doc put him on a special urgent care food which he'd sample enough of each day, but not eat a lot. I tried most of the expensive, all natural foods that I could find (since Doc is a holistic vet, I figured I could TRY to keep that route). Dodge on the other hand, had other ideas. Turns out he really prefers the cheap stuff. Fancy Feast all the way.. particularly beef with gravy (grilled). He's up to almost 2 cans of food a day and has gained weight. Doc is baffled, though, since his blood work shows extreme elevation in his liver enzymes. He's not yellow, though, and his appetite is improving. Go figure. I just think it's my cat.

This, however, is my daughter's cat. Jack Sparrow. A bit of a bully and attention hog. He's just over a year old. He's big. And Heavy. Guess where Dodger's leftovers have been going?

PSA - @FurKidsinc some available cats

My daughter and I visited the FurKids shelter Saturday for a bit. In the process, we took some pictures of some of those that are available.

Maddox - a big boy, very sweet. He liked my daughter's lap.

Mango has been there a while. A very sweet girl.

Fifi wanted to visit and had an odd sort of meow. Not much more than a squeak, she did voice her opinion.

Michael has been there a while too. A very sweet boy, definitely a lap cat with a very quiet meow.

He tucked his head under my arm to sleep while I was holding him.

Mini-PSA - FurKids

We stopped in at the FurKids shelter yesterday to pick up our little one from his neuter surgery. While waiting, we visited one room of kitties. My daughter and I took a definite liking to these two. The first one is 'Brandon'. A wonderful boy, very sweet. I LOVED the markings.

This is Grace. She was my daughter's favorite of the evening. Can't you tell?

Tomorrow is a big day in our house. Not only will I have 5 teen/tween boys in the house, but my son will have his 13th birthday. Oi.

PSA - FurKids

My daughter and I visited the kitties Sunday. We were inundated with kitties whenever we sat long enough for them to visit.

This is Mango (on my legs) and Tangerine (on my lap). They were sweet girls willing to share and purr. They were very disappointed when I stood up.

This is Peter, a very sweet boy.

Peter and his 'crew'. Diddy Kong is on the left with my shoelace, Donkey Kong on the right.

Jack Frost - a big boy with lots of love to give

Sassafras could easily be a Sassy. A sweet little girl that batted at my when I stopped paying attention to her. She wanted me focused on her.

Last, but certainly not least, was Gooseberry. She wasn't sure of us at first, but she happily settled nearby to be visited with. She's an oversize bundle of love.

There were lots of others that were total sweet hearts. BamBam adored my daughter. Betty Boop followed us around the room while we 'visited' the other cats. FurKids is a wonderful group to find a cat from, they're definitely worth checking out if you're looking for a friend.

PSA: FurKids Open House

My kids and I visited the FurKids' shelter Sunday. As usual we found several kitties that were adorable. We re-met up with Lucretia, an oversize sweetie who was happy to be petted.

And then we met Daisy, a newcomer to FurKids. An absolute doll of a cat.

We're starting the adoption process for kitties for my daughter. She's been earning the right to have a cat of her own by taking care of our current two. She's done well with that, so now she has to earn the adoption fee (or a majority of it).

In other news from FurKids, they're having an Open House this upcoming weekend (Sept. 24-25) at their shelter. It's from 11a-4p. There will be festivities featuring their cats, dogs, door prizes and a BAKE SALE too. For more information, check out their web site: http://www.furkids.org

World's Best Cat Litter Sweepstakes

Target stores will now not only be carrying their Clumping formula, but soon the Multiple Cat Clumping formula as well. I have to admit that I like their cat litter. I've tried the multi cat clumping, which works great. I have also tried their scented which I liked, my cats, though, not so much.

They're holding a sweepstakes for a $200 Target gift card & a year supply of cat litter on their web page. You can check it out by going to their blog at: http://www.worldsbestcatlitter.com/clearing-the-air/ or directly to the sweepstakes site.

Public Service Announcement Day

PSA part 1 - Special Committee Meeting

My brain is at the capitol today (or at least for the morning). The first meeting of a special committee to evaluate the Supreme Court ruling on the Georgia State Charter Commission being illegal. The principal of the Georgia Cyber Academy (and others) were invited to attend. The meeting itself is at 10a today. You can read the article by TalkGwinnett here.

PSA Part 2 - FurKids

More interesting PSA is for Furkids. We visited yesterday and got some great photos of some really sweet kitties.

Someone had Nintendo on the brain when they named these three cuddlers. This is Donkey Kong. This is Dixie Kong. This is Diddy Kong. All three are very sweet and LOVE to play with the 'red dot'.

This is Orchard. She and my daughter sat for a while just cuddling. She didn't want to share (hissed at cats passing too close) her lap. Though out of her lap, she did fine.

This is Foxy. She has a "twin" brother named Roxy. She's a cuddler, Roxy loved to play with the 'red dot'.

Another lap cat, this one is called Eclair. A sweet good sized girl.

Buffy snubbed my daughter's lap and came to mine instead. She was very happy there. She's rather petite in size.

On the opposite end size wise is Brownie. She's a tank of a cat. When she sits on your lap, you won't have a lap left.

I also wanted to note that Furkids now has their own thrift store. You can donate to it or purchase from it to help the shelter. The address for the Thrift is 4015 Holcomb Bridge Rd, Norcross.