Worries and woes, and things that go Splash in the night.

Well, it's been a stressful two days. My three are doing bee-yootifully, and even Meera only hissed once this morning (Wicket snuck up on her as she tracked water beads on the shower curtain). It occurred to me (again) this morning that three is such a nicer number than two...

But.

Wicket sneezed all day yesterday.

And for two days now Kai has been sitting in his litter box for long moments, then coming out without having...left...anything, and then going back in a few moments later to sit, and sit, and sit. I let the kitchen faucet drip last night in case he was dehydrated and preferred the drip to his water bowl. I think he really liked that, but I feel guilty about wasting the water and I have yet to see if this is what's causing his problem. Maybe he just wants more privacy in the litter box area? But this never stopped him from going before... When there was a litter box behind the door of Wicket's temporary holding-room, I notice Kai liked to use that one. It did seem a little more private than the one in the pantry off the kitchen...

As for the sneezing, I'm hoping it's due to the very dusty litter I use, and not anything more serious. I stopped by the store yesterday morning to get some tasty treats, and took a look at
other litter brands. I talked to a woman whose daughter uses an organic litter that wasn't tooooo expensive, made of wheat, very absorbent and clumping, and flushable (tho frankly, I don't plan on flushing anything). Best of all, the bag says "97% dust-free." Last night I mixed some in with their usual stuff, and I'll transition completely to the new stuff over the next day or two. Here's hoping....

On top of all that, last night I left the little window above the litter boxes open, and of course it rained, and rained IN. This morning the litter box area was a soggy, crunchy, muddy mess. I was so discouraged when I saw it, and of course the cats were totally disgruntled, but there was nothing to do but close the window to a mere crack, wipe up the mess, and change out the litter. Sigh.

AND Wicket has these rough little pads that just collect litter like mad. He tracks it all over the apartment, into my bed and onto the carpet. I can't walk across my kitchen floor without picking up a million pieces with my bare feet. Annoying...I wonder if in time his pads will smooth out?? If not, though, his sweetness is OF COURSE more than enough to make up for this, and if all this other stuff wasn't going on, it wouldn't even be an issue. I just have to vent.