Bathtime for Bowie

Bowie always turns heads with his brilliant white coat and striking odd-coloured eyes but there is a downside to owning a white Devon Rex kitten. As any Devon owner knows, these guys are into everything you do and always want to get involved. The other day, while I was cleaning out the fireplace, I turned my head for just a moment and... Bowie was straight in there to investigate.

The result? One grey kitten with black splodges. Pushka, my moggie had a big white bib and four white stockings and seemed to always manage to keep them snow white so I figured Bowie would get himself sorted. Two days later and he was still looking pretty manky so down the pet shop I went to buy a bottle of neutral cat shampoo.

I have never bathed a cat before so I heated the bathroom up for a good hour first and decided to run enough gently warm water to come up to the top of his legs. He was pretty okay about it... he escaped a few times but I let him as I didn't want to force him in the water and put him off bathtime forever more. I just placed him gently back in the water each time, giving him lots of fuss and talking to him gently.

My arm has been pretty badly scratched but I can't really blame him for that, poor boy. I did find that holding him gently by the scruff of the neck seemed to help him calm down a little. I figured getting him gently used to the bath will be better in the long run rather than getting him brilliantly clean now and having a cat so traumatised he'd never go near water again so not much shampooing or scrubbing went on and he's still pretty grubby but I reckon overall the first bath was a success and my baby is currently wrapped up warmly in a towel and snoozing away on my lap.

I love Devon Rexes!

Devon Rex Love...

Devon Rexes just have something about them that makes you melt...

My boys aren't exactly backward about coming forward when we're talking about affection. It doesn't take much from them to turn me into a pathetic, cooing mumma... when they wag their tails at me, do that special Devon Rex chirrup or jump into my lap I almost always forget what I was meant to be doing and smother them with kisses and love.

Sometimes I've got other things I have to do... (get dressed to go out, make dinner, try and have a pee in private) and can't devote myself to them 100%. That's when they bring out the big guns. Both my boys can climb my legs and jump into my arms in seconds if they feel like they're being ignored. They've been with me a month now and I've already lost count of the number of times I've been late to meet friends because of them. I lie of course... there's no way you can tell a non-Devon owner that you're 20 minutes late because while you were applying your makeup your cats just had to have a cuddle.

But the thing that really makes me melt every time is the way they look at me. I've owned dogs, horses and regular cats for most of my life and have always been very aware that for an animal direct eye contact is an act of aggression or domination. Apparantly nobody told my boys...

If I have one (or both) of them in my lap while I'm watching the TV, on the computer or reading they'll sit there, purring for ages. Then I feel like I'm being watched, look down and see a kitty staring straight into my eyes. The second I make eye contact with them, they go nuts, purring even harder than before, headbutting my face and generally telling me they love me and want me to love them in the most irresistible way possible,

I love my Devon Rexes. And they love me. What more can a girl ask for?

Teaching a Devon Rex to Come When Called

I specifically wanted Devon Rexes as they're known for their intelligence and love of people. I'd trained my gorgeous Irish Setter, Lola, as a pup to do a whole range of tricks and she can sit, bow, beg, shake hands, play dead and growl or bark on command. Having a dog that can do all this is pretty cool and always a hit with friends, but the best thing about training her was the effect it had on our relationship.

Bowie and Blue playing in the kitchen

Lola LOVED our training sessions and it was a great way to burn off her extra puppyish energy. I also found it helped us to bond more and we have a stronger relationship because of it. So I wanted to do the same with my cats.

Apart from toilet training them (read more here) and training them to walk on the lead (read more here) we've been working on getting them to sit on command and come when called. Bowie is also learning to fetch but Blue doesn't seem to get that one yet!

It's still early days and they're still young but our training sessions are going so well!  Most people are pretty cynical about training cats and think it can't be done, but think about it for a moment. Every cat I've ever known has been able to recognise the sound of his food bowl being filled in the kitchen from 50 paces and comes flying in to find out what's for dinner. They hear a noise, associate it with something nice and run over to investigate. All you need to do is harness that natural instinct and get them to do it on a given prompt.

First pick your command. I've settled on whistling to get my boys to come to me. When I start letting them outside to play they'll be able to hear it from a distance and it's easily distinguished from all the other voice commands I'll be teaching them.

I started by standing a few metres away from them and giving the command. Both of them are naturally inquisitive and came right over to see what was going on. I gave them both a treat and a fuss and walked away. A few metres away again, I repeated the command and they both came running so got another treat.

After this, it got a bit tricky... I couldn't get them to stop following me! After a while of them running all over the house after me, they finally gave up and sat down. I repeated the command. Bowie came straight over but Blue hung back. When Blue saw Bowie getting his reward, he also came over to demand his but I didn't give him one. After all, I'm trying to teach them to come on command, not to come whenever they feel like it!

Beautiful Blue and his wrinkly forehead

So we've been repeating this for the past few days with me gradually making things harder each time. I'll started by increasing the distance from them when I asked them to come ,then to call them from another room or whistle for them without warning when they're doing something else. It doesn't always work and sometimes I only get one come on command or find that they both ignore me. However, they have gone from coming 50% of the time to about 90% of the time now and get better every day. I'm confident in a week or so we'll have that up to 99% which I'll be more than happy with.

I have found that training always goes better when they're in "play mode" as they treat it all like a big game and respond far better. You do have to know when to stop. My boys are still young and sleep about 20 hours a day and when they get tired or bored it makes things a lot harder, so I limit our training sessions to 10 minutes two or three times a day. It's far nicer for all three of us if we're all motivated and enjoying ourselves after all. Sometimes when I've decided it's time to call it quits, they disagree and climb my legs or jump all over me until I start "playing" with them again.

They love their training sessions and I've found that they are definitely much more responsive and affectionate towards me since we started, so everyone is happy!

My Adorable Devon Rexes

I took this photo of my boys today and think it's the cutest thing I've ever seen... what do you think?

My Devon Rex kittens, Bowie and Blue

Devon Rex Boys and Their Toys

It's just happened again. I came back home with another little present I'd bought for my boys and they were completely uninterested.

Today's offering was a set of three neon coloured foam balls I'd found in the discount shop. The boys hadn't liked a very similar set of three neon coloured spiky rubber balls I'd bought the week before from the pet shop so I figured I'd give these a go. I got home, made a fuss of my twins and quickly got the toys out of my bag. I rolled the yellow ball towards them. They ignored it. I tried again with the green one. They ignored it. Bet you can't guess what happened with the red one? Yep, they ignored it.

The one expensive toy they do love, the Catit Speed Senses Circuit

So I sat beside my cats and rolled the balls away from them one by one . Blue carried on playing with the Q-tip I'd just used to clean his ears. Bowie looked bored. I rolled the balls around 3 at a time. Nothing. I rolled the foam balls around with the rubber ones from last week. Nada.

Finally, success! Blue took off across the living room after a ball... and got distracted by the coffee cup I'd put on the floor a minute before. Bowie then found a piece of dry dog kibble and the two went nuts playing with it for the next half hour, totally unfazed by the balls I kept chucking towards them.

They have a load of cutesy little furry toys stuffed with catnip. That they have never touched. A giant rat I lovingly handmade for them out of an old cashmere cardigan I never wore. Couldn't care less. They liked the toy mice. All eight of them. For the ten minutes it took for them to lose them somewhere, never to be seen again. I've checked under the bed, the sofas, behind all the doors and I have NO idea where those mice are.

They loved the laser toy I bought. Until Bowie knocked it off my bedside table and it broke open on the floor. He then hid the batteries in the same place the mice presumably are.

The packaging from the toys is a different story. They love packaging. And scrunched up bits of paper or tinfoil. Plastic bottle tops are also a huge hit. Dog kibble is by far their favourite toy and they'll chase a piece round the floor for ages. They also love my hair scrunchies. I am down to one (I had about 30 before the cats turned up 3 weeks ago). Presumably the missing 29 hair scrunchies are cosied up with the mice and laser batteries. I am guarding my last one with my life. If it's not on my head, it's hidden in a drawer to keep it safe.

My boys love to play. Just not with anything I have ever spent money on. Go figure.

My Devon Rexes - The Bits I Missed

My boy's breeder, Patrizia of the Rarex Cattery in Italy just sent me these photos of my Devon Rex twins growing up before they came to live with me. They're just so adorable I had to share them!

Blue, my Blue Smoke Devon Rex as a baby 

140 grammes... Awww!

My cute little Devon Rex alien, Bowie

Bowie's first words on film

All three brothers together

This is the first photo I saw of Blue... how could I resist this face?

Mealtimes were a family affair

I just wish I'd been able to take all three!

One of the first pics I saw of Bowie. Cute here, DELICIOUS in real life!

Getting into trouble as only Devon Rexes can

So this is where the bad habits came from. I did have to train my boys that Mummy doesn't like sharing her dinner

Ski Kitty

Where do you keep the biscuits?

Growing up and looking more like the beautiful boys I know and love

Blue loves to snuggle under the duvet... and always has!

Seeing this photo I just knew I had to have both of them

Cats and Dogs - Introducing my Devon Rexes to my Irish Setter

Lola, my gorgeous Irish Setter girl is 11 years old now and as chilled out as a dog can be. My moggie Pushka was brought up with her and adored her, always snuggling up in bed with her or grooming her face. The feeling wasn't entirely mutual and Lola never really returned his affection, she just put up with it but if she ever saw him fight with another cat or get chased by a dog she was there in seconds to protect her baby brother.

One big, happy family

Blue as a baby snuggling a dog at his old home

My Devon Rex kittens had also grown up around dogs as the breeder has some and when I saw the photos above of Blue and Bowie with one of her dogs and then met my chilled out boys I was sure introducing cats and dog would be a breeze. I was wrong. The breeder had small dogs, not much bigger than the cats themselves. Lola is a big girl and I'm pretty sure the cats never even connected her to the tiny dogs they had met previously.

As the kittens had had such a long day full of new experiences, I decided I would sleep with them in the living room on their first night home with me and Lola would go in with my boyfriend in the bedroom. That way I'd give the kittens time to get used to their new home overnight and introduce them to the dog in the morning.

The second the boys spotted her, they ran and hid. Any attempt to bring them closer to the dog or vice versa was met with lots of growling, hissing and flattened ears. Lola is as soft as a dog can be, but she's still a dog and although she's absolutely fine when the cats are holding their ground or in my arms, the sight of a furball fleeing is too much for her canine brain to resist and she will chase them when they run away. Not because she wants to catch them and she wouldn't dream of hurting them, she just thinks it's a game. That wouldn't help the canine-feline peace talk process at all so Lola was kept on a lead by me whenever the cats were around for the first few days.

After about a week of hiding/hissing/growling whenever Lola came near, the boys suddenly started to relax. I've tried to stay out of the whole process as much as I can and just let them all get on with it. No forced introductions, just making sure I have Lola under control either on a lead or stayed in her bed while the cats are nearby.

Now, nearly three weeks on, they pretty much ignore each other. Blue was definitely the ringleader when it came to hissing at Lola. When Bowie was on his own near her, he'd hiss and growl but two seconds later be washing himself or playing with a toy. It was like he was just pretending to be scared of her because his brother was watching. I'm pretty sure that if I had only had Bowie to deal with and no Blue in the house he would be snuggling up to Lola every night by now. As it is, they aren't scared of her but, aside from the odd sniffs at her by Bowie they really aren't very interested in her at all.

Lola and Pushka. Guess who's the boss?

I'm hoping that as time goes on they might become friends... I'd love to see them all snuggled up in bed together and loving each other but for the meantime I'm just glad the Irish Setter-Devon Rex war is over and I'll end the post with a picture of Lola and Pushka proving who was the boss.

Kitty Kisses

I've never, ever known a cat that likes to be kissed on the nose, but my Devon Rex boys love it. They'll stand on my lap with their paws on my shoulders for ages looking for kisses and if I go over to them when they're in their bed both of them turn their faces up to me expecting a smooch.

So what if I've had a bad day, a load of bills have come in or I'm having work worries. I take a break from the computer, snuggle with my boys and get a tonne of kisses to remind me that all the important stuff in the world is taken care of and the bad stuff will pass. How did I ever get along without these guys in my life?

Blue looking for a smooch

Why I Decided to Toilet Train my Devon Rex Cats

I'm talking toilet training, not house training here. My Devon Rex kittens were already 100% litter box trained when I got them. As I've mentioned before, my previous moggie was an indoor-outdoor cat so litter boxes weren't part of the deal and I hate the damn things. Before I even chose my Devon Rex kittens I already knew that they were going to be indoor only cats and that I wanted to train them to use the human toilet or "big boy potty" (yes, this is what I call it when talking to them... attempting to toilet train kittens will make you lose your mind a little).

There's several reasons I've decided to train my cats to use the toilet:

1. It's better for the Environment 
2.54 million tonnes of clay are strip mined in the USA every year, 85% of which goes into kitty litter. That's a mind boggling amount of resources and environmental damage just going into sopping up cat pee. Add processing and transport and the effect on Mother Earth is significant. In the USA alone an estimated 2 million tonnes of cat litter ends up in landfill every year and as it's not biodegradable that's where it stays for all eternity. Silica gel litter is slightly better as it lasts longer meaning a lower volume heading for landfill but as it's made from sand there's a mining component to it too and sand (unlike clay) seems to be mainly mined abroad so there's a lot more transport miles involved than with clay. It's also not biodegradable. I was shocked to find out the supposedly eco-friendly plant-based or "biodegradable" cat litters are only actually biodegradable in home compost heaps... if it goes to landfill (as most of it does) the conditions there actually prevent it from biodegrading. You can't recycle it in your organic waste either as most councils refuse to collect cat litter so it's not the eco-friendly option the manufacturers would have you believe.

2. It's much cheaper in the long run 
Citi Kitty claims you save an average of $2,000 over a cat's lifetime. Double that for two cats. If someone handed you $4,000 tomorrow I'm sure you could think of a million things you'd rather spend it on than cat litter and so can I.

3. Your house won't smell of cat pee
Unfortunately, no matter how anal (pun intended) you are about cleaning litter boxes, you can tell when there's a cat in the house the second you walk in and much as I love my boys, it's not the nicest smell in the world

4. It's more hygenic
My other half was dead against toilet training the cats as he thought it would be unhygenic to have them use our toilet. This is the argument that finally won him over to the great Toilet Training Experiment. Think about it, even the cleanest cat is going to end up with tiny bits of cat pee and poop on their paws after digging through a litter box. Sometimes they get it wrong too and I've had a couple of poopy paw prints on the floor round the box. Then they jump on your bed and kitchen counters. Yuck.

5. Cat litters are carcinogenic
But they don't tell you that on the box do they? Both silica gel and clumping clay litters (the two most popular types) contain silica dust which is a known carcinogen. If I'm having to pick between cancer and a toilet trained cat it's kind of a no-brainer

6. Dogs like litter trays too
Thankfully this isn't an issue with my dog, but I remember pet sitting for a friend whose dog ate cat poop from the litter box. Revolting and not great for the dog either I'd imagine...

7. Novelty value
I'm little ashamed to admit it but a part of me also thinks it's pretty damn cool to have a cat that pees in the toilet.

So toilet training it is... you can find out how we're getting on my reading our "Poop Diaries" here.

Learning to Speak Devon Rex

As I'd bottle-fed him and raised him from a baby I knew my "regular" cat Pushka pretty well. Like any good mum I could easily differentiate between his angry miaow, his upset miaow, his "where are you mum" miaow (this also doubled as his "where's my dinner" miaow). He also had the cutest little squeak for when I woke him up by stroking him.

Blue my Black Smoke Devon Rex at 5 months

Devon Rexes speak a whole different language though. They do have miaows but also chirrups, chatters, squeaks and... something I can't really explain but it sounds kind of like a chirrup with a stutter. Just over two weeks in and I'm still struggling to work out what they all mean.

They're not particularly vocal cats but seem to enjoy talking a lot more than Pushka ever did. He only ever talked to me if he had something urgent to tell me. My Rex twins seem to just talk for the pleasure of it.

Maybe it's because they are twins and always together, and because I'm pretty much always at home but it seems like the second one of my boys finds himself in a room alone, he starts chatting. I'm not sure yet if it's a "where are you", an "I'm bored" or just a "look at me" but I'm sure I'll get there. So far I just call back "I know" or "Tell me what's gone wrong in your life" and that seems to work... I'm invariably rewarded by a cat landing in my lap within seconds every time.

There's also the tail wagging thing... anyone used to "regular cats" knows that a wagging tail means you had better back off sharpish if you don't want a set of fangs sinking into your wrist or ankle. Devon Rexes, like dogs, wag their tails when they're happy which is insanely cute once you're used to it but can lead to a few errors in translation at the beginning. I love the sight of those super-long, elegant tails wafting back and forth every time I talk to my boys.

The difference between "catese" and "Devon Rexese" is like learning to speak fluent French and then finding yourself in a room full of Japanese people with someone asking you to translate. Yet another cute quirk of the breed that I just wasn't expecting...

Is One Devon Rex Better Than Two?

So I find myself the proud mumma of two beautiful Devon Rex boys... which is a little unexpected as I was only really looking for one kitten originally.

My Devon Rex kittens 

I work from home and have a house dog so none of the "your cat will suffer if left alone for long periods" arguments applied to me. I've also always been a dog person and the golden rule with puppies is never to get two at the same time as they'll bond far more with each other than with you so I kind of assumed the same applied to kittens. Other reasons for wanting just one cat were that animals already outnumber humans in my small household and I was pretty sure my boyfriend would kill me if I got any more pets.

However, when I found an ad online for two Devon kittens needing rehoming together I started researching how viable it is to have two kitties together. A Google search and a chat with a vet friend convinced me that actually two kitties ARE better than one, especially when we're talking about a sociable, loving, playful breed like the Devon Rex. It turned out the ad was a scam but by then the damage had been done and my heart was set on two cats rather than one.

Here's a few reasons why, two weeks into owning my twins I think it's the best decision I could have made

1. They adore each other
My boys sleep on top of each other, eat from the same bowl and spend hours playing together every day. I've filled the house with toys and gizmos to make sure they have plenty to keep them amused but by far the best toy for a Devon is another Devon. I'm sure their quality of life is much, much better than it would have been as an "only cat" and my heart breaks to even imagine seperating them now

2. Two cats are less work than one cat
They keep each other amused with chasing and wrestling games for hours meaning I can actually get some work done occasionally without the guilt factor of abandoning my kitty. I've had a "normal" cat before and I've been amazed at just how much more intense a Devon's affections are. They do need huge amounts of love and interaction and just aren't as independent as moggies. Having two is like having a live-in babysitter at times.

3. Quality playtime

We might look like we're killing each other but we're just playing, honest!

No matter how many toys you buy or how much playtime you dedicate to your cat it's impossible for a human to replicate play with another cat. Having watched my boys wrestle, chase and pounce on each other for hours on end I'm convinced that having cat-on-cat playtimes is a definite bonus for both of them. When they decide that 2am is a GREAT time to play, although they do wake me up at least I don't have to get out of bed and play with them... I just let them get on with it.

4. Training is easier
I was worried that I'd find training a nightmare with two Devons. The phrase "herding cats" came to mind. However, one of them is always a wee bit quicker to catch on to a new trick than the other and when that happens it seems to me that his brother watches him, copies him and voilá... he gets the lesson much quicker. It's been a bit trickier with toilet training them as mine is a one bathroom house and we have to go at the speed of the slowest member of "Team Citi Kitty" but that's certainly not the end of the world.

5. They reassure each other
I'm convinced that the process of picking them up, transporting them by air and introducing them to a new home was made much easier for both by having a littermate there for reassurance (read more here) and as I'm in the process of exposing them to all sorts of new experiences and meeting loads of new people it's wonderful that they both have that added security and confidence from their brother

6. They keep each other company
When I do have to leave them alone at home I know they're not going to get anxious, lonely or bored with somebody still around to play with and cuddle

7. I'm not constantly worrying if they're warm enough
It being winter, me being an overprotective Mum and my boys being too young to have their full coats it's great to know I don't have to constantly faff about with jumpers and hot water bottles as they cuddle up together and keep each other snuggly and warm. Their little house feels like a furnace with the two of them sleeping away in there together

8. It saves wear and tear on your furnishings!
Let's face it if they're having a ball beating each other up and wearing each other out, they're less likely to take out that extra energy on my sofas, curtains and anything else that takes their fancy... at least that's how it seems to be working for me

9. Entertainment value
It's hysterical watching my two boys thunder past me down the hall like a miniature herd of elephants... and then thunder right back a second later coming the other way. And again. And again. Watching kittens play is the best recipe for guaranteed laughter I know. It's also really cool to watch them develop their own individual personalities and compare how they're developing

10. They will still bond with their humans
This was the big worry for me about getting two kittens... would they be so involved with each other they would end up ignoring me? Obviously I've only had two together so can't compare how they would interact with me as an "only child" but my boys are so affectionate, interested and responsive to me I really couldn't imagine them being any better. This might be an issue with other breeds but doesn't seem to be with a people-orientated breed like Devon Rexes. There will just be two of them in your bed, on your lap, gazing at you adoringly and riding on your shoulder rather than one.

11. Littermates are best
My twins have never been seperated so have a fabulous bond. Being the same age and the same lively breed they have similar energy levels and temperament which helps them get along as best buddies. I also haven't had the stress and worry of introducing them to each other or having one get jealous about sharing their home and people with a newcomer

So for me, two cats ARE better than one... maybe not with all breeds but definitely with Devons and I adore both of my naughty little imps!

I Love My Devon Boys

Okay, so anyone following the toilet training experiment on my blog will know that today is a bad, bad day and I'm feeling demoralised and sleep deprived.

Blue and Bowie, my lovable little elves

But one thing I am very quickly learning about Devon Rexes is that whatever happens they will find a way to make you smile, to make you feel loved and to make you wonder how you ever got by without them.

They've been super cute today, wrestling a huge roll of kitchen towel to death (messy but hilarious), following me as I do my chores, sitting on the dish rack as I wash up, jumping in the washing machine as I try to get my clothes in around them and getting into even more pickles than usual. They've been chasing each other all over the house sounding like a mini herd of elephants and on one zoom round the kitchen they managed to upend the fruit bowl and then chased the oranges round the kitchen floor. Blue is now draped around my neck nuzzling my face and nibbling my ear and Bowie is curled up under my jumper in my lap.

A little Devon love will chase those first world problem blues away in an instant every time and it's impossible to go for more than 5 minutes without grinning from ear to ear with these guys in my life!

Devon Rexes - Indoor or Outdoor Cats?

I've always thought keeping an indoor only cat was unnatural at best and downright cruel at worst and my previous moggie Pushka was an indoor-outdoor cat meaning he could come and go as he pleased. I live in a hot country so I just left the door open whenever I was in the house so he was free to roam or chill out on the sofa, whichever he wanted to do.

He was a happy kitty who never strayed far and was always waiting at the door to greet me when I got home. The only downside was his penchant for catching rats bigger than he was and depositing them on my bedroom floor on a regular basis. They weren't always entirely dead either.

So I never even considered keeping cats any other way... until I started researching Devon Rexes. It seems there's a growing movement towards keeping cats as indoor only pets. I was surprised to find out that the average life expectancy of an indoor-outdoor cat was just 3 years compared to the 15 of an indoor only cat with cars, dogs and poisons as the most common cat killers out there. There's also a tonne of horror stories about cats being stolen and used as bait in dog fights although I'm guessing that depends on where you live and surely can't be all that common? My Pushka also became seriously ill once with an abscess from an infected bite, presumably from fight with another cat.

With pedigree cats you can add theft to the list. Some people will recognise your cat as the expensive, pedigree animal it is and pinch it either to keep themselves or to sell on. Or, in the case of the slightly odd-looking Devon Rex they may think it's a normal moggie that's been so badly treated by their owner that it needs re-homing or taking to the pound.

As I currently live in an area with a busy road nearby, gardens filled with unfriendly dogs and... (how can I put this nicely?) not the best class of neighbours I've made the decision to keep my Devons as indoor only cats for now. I'm currently renovating a house in the countryside with no neighbours and miles from the nearest road so once we're there I'll reevaluate the situation.

I do believe that access to the great outdoors does add an extra dimension to a cats life and would love nothing more than to let my babies run free. The cons outweigh the pros for now though, and my "kids" have always been kept as indoor only cats so don't necessarily know what they're missing. I have attached mosquito screens to several of my doors and windows so they're free to look outside and listen to what's going on, I'm training them to walk on the lead with me and I've done my best to make sure they have everything they need for a happy, fulfilling indoor life.

I'm happy with my decision considering the current situation but can't wait to get into my new house and watch my kitties run free through the fields

Blue getting some fresh air and watching the world through the mosquito screens. I call this "Cat TV"

Meeting My Devon Rexes - Love at First Sight

It's always pretty amazing meeting your new furbaby for the first time, but I was terrified going to pick up my Devon Rexes. I had to get a flight over to Milan where the breeder had kindly agreed to drive 2 hours out of their way to drop them off for me.

My chilled out boys safely in their new home

The problem was that the only flights from my home to Milan departed at 7:30 am and returned at 9pm. That's a long time to spend in an airport... and even longer with two scared kittens away from home for the first time. I'd already had a couple of hours to scout around the airport before the kittens arrived and had worked out that the only place that was going to be secure and quiet enough to meet them was in the disabled toilet so as soon as I'd said goodbye to the breeder, that's where I headed. Once inside, I covered the floor with absorbent puppy training pads then opened the cat carrier nervously. I'd never actually met a Devon Rex in real life before and even though I'd seen hundreds of photos and videos, I was wondering what these two new creatures who will share my life for up to 15 years would look like. Even more importantly, how would they react to a new place, new person and new smells after a 2 hour car journey. This was the first time they'd ever been out of the apartment they were born in.

Just 10 days later I look back now and smile. In spite of my obsessive internet research I really didn't know ANYTHING about Devon Rexes that first day. These guys popped out of the carrier, took a slightly nervous look around the bathroom, hopped onto my lap and fell asleep. And stayed asleep. For 5 hours. I was ready for terrified balls of fluff flying around the room with their claws out, or hiding behind the toilet and refusing to come out or refusing to come anywhere near me. In short, I was ready for anything except two totally chilled out kitties taking everything in their stride.

I was still in "normal" cat mode and hadn't yet plugged into the world of Devon Rexes. I was so taken aback I actually called the breeder after an hour to find out if they had been sedated. I think she thought I was a bit crazy at that point. Have you seen the film "The Pursuit of Happyness"? The one where Will Smith and his son spend the night sleeping in a subway toilet? That's kind of how the next 5 hours went that day. There were a few interruptions... the last one from a cleaner who took one look at my boys, promptly fell in love with them and hung an "out of order" sign on the door for me. What a lovely lady!

I'd brought a book along with me to pass the time but didn't even get it out of my bag. I couldn't get over these two sleeping babies. They were so much smaller than the pictures made them seem, so delicate with beautiful little elfin faces. I'd been prepared for odd-looking animals that you love because they're ugly ducklings but these guys have an elegance and beauty all of their own. In an unconventional way compared to moggies, yes, but these were the most beautiful cats I'd ever seen. I also wasn't prepared for the elegant way they curl their long tails whenever they sit down. Everything about them was just beautiful and with them seeming to trust me and to have chosen me as their new Mum, I was well on my way to being head over heels. Yes, the disabled bogs in an airport aren't the ideal setting, but love stories have begun in odder places I'm sure.

Bowie and Blue playing on their second day in their new home

Even though they had been so relaxed up to this point, the thought of venturing out of the toilet for check-in was more than a little daunting. Again, I was treating them as I would a "normal" cat so back in the cat carrier they went and we stepped into the noisy, busy, bustling departures hall of Milan Linate airport. To say my old moggie Pushka wasn't a fan of the cat carrier is an understatement. He'd alternate between mournful yowling and psycho fits of razor sharp claws slicing at anything he could reach through the cage door. My Devon Rexes took it all in their stride. Blue curled up and asleep in the back, Bowie just watching everything through the door. It took forever to walk through the airport with people stopping me every two seconds to say hello to my pretty boys and I beamed at them all like the proud new Mum I was. It took us forever to get through the metal detector section... it turns out the woman working on it has a Devon Rex too so there was a good 15 minutes of cooing over them from her, as well as every passenger in the queue behind me who wanted a peek at my boys.

Once we got to the gate, I decided to take a risk and have the cats in my arms rather than the carrier. I wouldn't even have attempted this if they hadn't been so chilled out up to this point but they again just curled up in my arms to watch the world go by. The bustle and noise of an international airport didn't worry them one bit. Everyone noticed them and so many people came over to say hello and ask about them. They were a particularly big hit with a gaggle of little girls... I was a little worried that my boys needed peace and quiet and not enthusiastic petting but the lapped the attention up. Amazingly, the flight was just the same with my boys curled up and sleeping in my arms with all the passengers nearby asking me questions about them and paying me compliments and people further away standing up in their seats to get a better look.

Finally we arrived home and I had my babies to myself. To have them curl up close with me under the duvet was just magical and even though it had been a long, hard day I spent most of that night just stroking my new boys, gazing at them with a silly grin plastered all over my face. They were here, they were mine and they were absolutely perfect!

What should have been a nightmare of a day, terrifying for the cats and nerve-wracking for me was a total pleasure. Thanks to the chilled out, trusting and friendly nature of my Devon Rex babies I was able to relax, enjoy meeting them and receive compliments from literally hundreds of people on not only the beauty but also the impeccable behaviour of my boys. What a fabulous introduction to life as a Devon Rex owner!

Toilet Training Devon Rexes with Citi Kitty- "The Poop Diaries"

I have decided to toilet train my cats for a number of reasons I've covered in another post on the blog. Click here to find out more. This section is a diary of our progress which I hope you'll find either useful or amusing.

I figured if normal cats can do it, it should be a breeze with Devon Rexes so I ordered the CitiKitty toilet training system on Ebay which arrived a week after my kitties did. It's basically a flimsy plastic cover for the toilet bowl with perforated rings that can be popped out at intervals to make a progressively bigger hole until the kitties get used to peeing with all four paws on the seat straight into the bowl. Then the device comes off completely and voilá... you have a toilet trained cat. Sounds so easy doesn't it?

So what do you get for your money (I paid 10€ on Ebay plus delivery for it)? Not a whole lot other than a flimsy bit of plastic that probably cost about 20 cents to manufacture and an instruction leaflet. It's a great idea but it's the owner and the cats that really need to put the work in to get a toilet-trained cat out of the process. It's not a miracle product and my "Poop Diary" below will give you a pretty good idea of the blood, sweat and tears (and other bodily fluids of course) that it takes to make this work.

Although it's a lot of money to pay for a rubbishy bit of plastic, for the sake of 10€ I wasn't about to go faffing about with taping aluminium roasting pans to the toilet or any of the other DIY solutions the internet comes up with. I mean seriously, you've just paid 700€ for a cat and you're going to scrimp on a 10€ toilet seat? I think not.

I also decided against the rival product the Litter Kwitter (they love their cutesy misspellings in this industry don't they?) as it's only a 3 stage process which means if your cats need to take things slowly... they can't. The CitiKitty on the other hand is a 5-6 stage process with the option of cutting smaller bits of the rings off if you need things to go even more gradually.

Personally I think it was good to use standard litter trays for the first week  while they settled in rather than blow their tiny minds with too many changes at once.

By the time the kit arrived the litter boxes were already next to the toilet so phase 1 of training was already complete.

I want to make it very clear here that I train my cats (and my dog) on the basis that good behaviour is to be rewarded, and there is no such thing as bad behaviour. If an animal gets something "wrong", I believe it's the fault of the trainer who has failed to find a way for the animal to understand the goal or who has made the process too difficult for even a willing animal to succeed. After all, in asking my cats to use the toilet I'm asking them to do something that doesn't come naturally to them and that undermines all their previous training to use a litter box so punishing them in ANY way for accidents is unfair, cruel and idiotic.

Day 1
When the CitiKitty got here I was a bit surprised at how flimsy the plastic was and when I lifted them onto it they seemed a bit freaked out by it after their nice, sturdy litter trays. Apparantly this is intentional to get the cats used to the balancing act they're going to have to do later on when they have to stand on the seat to pee which actually makes sense. No problem, I used a little lateral thinking and stuck the CitiKitty filled with litter on the floor where the litter tray had been. They weren't immediately convinced but within 24 hours were just fine on it. You won't find this tip in any of the CitiKitty literature but to me it seemed like common sense and a vital step in starting the training. Blue did get a pretty ferocious bout of diarrheah that day which was godawful timing and probably related to the missing muffin mixture from the kitchen incident that happened when I turned my back for two minutes (these guys will eat anything!). However, I was determined that once the CK was out there was no going back. The kit does come with catnip which you're meant to sprinkle in the litter but I skipped this for two reasons. One is that catnip seems to have no effect whatsoever on my Devon Rexes and secondly even if it did, I'm not sure the addition of mildly hallucinogenic substances would have a positive effect on any activity involving excrement. I might be wrong, but I'm not risking it.

Day 2
The CK is now on the toilet bowl and the cats ain't keen. The pet shop has also run out of the silica gel litter my boys are used to and I gather the litter has to be pure as the driven snow for CK training to work. Bummer. Bowie tends to be quicker to catch on to training and more laid back about new things and he was peeing in it (albeit hesitantly) pretty quickly. Blue was having none of it and hung around the bathroom shouting for me to sort things out sharpish. He even started scratching the floor where the litter box used to be as if he was going to pee there but thankfully I caught him in time and put him on the CK where he proceeded to do... absolutely nothing. Then, in one of the happiest coincidences of my life so far (toilet training cats will make you lose your sense of proportion as well as your mind), I discovered my secret weapon... prosciutto. These cats are pretty food-orientated anyway but prosciutto crudo (parma ham) sends them out of their minds. They'll do just about anything to get it and when it's gone will obsessively lick every last molecule off my fingers. Cue me crouched on the floor by the toilet luring the cats onto the CK and rewarding them with prosciutto every time. They LOVED this new game and now every time I go anywhere near the bathroom they're running ahead of me, jumping onto the toilet and looking at me expectantly. You're fresh out of luck kiddies. The freebies have ended and from now on you're going to have to give up the goods before you get even a whiff of ham... but in the space of an hour we've gone from them seeing the CK as the root of all evil in the world to a pretty cool place to hang out. Even Blue managed to pee in it shortly afterwards.

Day 2 is also when I realised that even if my kitties were the awesome little bundles of fluff I know they can be and trained relatively quickly with no accidents, this is not going to be a fun process. For starters, it's messy as hell. When cats scratch in the litter in a CitiKitty it gets everywhere and I mean everywhere. And when you're using silica gel cat litter and need a barefoot, lights-out trip to the bathroom at night you WILL step on the crystals and they WILL make you use lots of rude words very loudly. Do not even attempt using a CK if you have a carpeted bathroom. Just the thought makes me shudder.

Being a Brit I'm slightly more chilled out about hygene and animals. I'll clean the CK after every use and sweep and wash the bathroom floor at least once a day. I think that's plenty. My Italian boyfriend is a little less relaxed about these things. Thank God he's away for a month for now but I'm pretty sure he isn't going to be staying at mine until the process is complete and my bathroom is restored to its usual hygenic state. I also think I'll hold off inviting Italian friends round for dinner for now.

If (like me) you live in a one bathroom house you'll need to lift the CitiKitty off before you can use the toilet. Thankfully, being in Italy, I do have a bidet I can pop it onto when I need to use the facilities but you'll still find yourself peeing like a racehorse just in case one of the cats needs to go at that exact moment and you don't want ANY interruptions in their training process. You also end up with paw prints all over the seat so a packet of antibacterial wipes by the loo is an essential. It's also a lot more labour intensive than a litter box. Cat's prefer to do their business in squeaky clean litter so you'll find yourself obsessively washing and refilling the CK several times a day so that nothing puts them off using it.

Still, I'm keeping my eye on the prize and imagining a litter-free, odour-free home. That and having all my friends tell me how awesome it is that my cat pees in the toilet. That'll be really cool too.

Day 3

Blue doing the do. He's shy though...

Bowie is peeing in the CK like a superstar and by late afternoon we'd struck gold... a number two. I never in my wildest dreams thought I'd ever get excited at the sight of a fresh, steaming cat turd on a plastic tray but Devons, like babies, tend to change their parent's perspective on certain things. Bowie also seems to be peeing WAY more often than he did in the litter box, probably because he knows he'll get a treat when he does. Sometimes with him I wonder who's training who. Still no poop action from Blue but he does pee in it although he seems pretty unhappy about it still. Not to worry, he loves the prosciutto afterwards and as long as he's peeing I'm not worried about him holding the poop for now.

Day 4
So far I've been at home 24/7 since the start of the CK experiment but today I have a long overdue appointment at the hairdressers that will see me out of the house for a few hours. Up til now I've been tiptoeing down the hall every time I hear kitty litter type noises in the bathroom ready to either reward or reposition my babies. Even though they are both now peeing like superstars, I'm pathetically worried about what will happen in my absence. I'm worried that just one accident on the floor will set us back a long way, but I'm just as worried about my grey roots and figure my life can't be entirely controlled by kitty pee so off I go, making sure I shut the bedroom door behind me (the CitiKitty forum is full of stories about disgruntled cats pooping on the bed to tell "Mum" what they think about the new bathroom arrangements). I get back to find... somebody has peed in the CK while I was out! Woohoo! They were obviously waiting on the prosciutto lady to get home though and within 5 minutes of me walking in the door, Blue hops in and pees. So I clean it out and replace the litter and as soon as I've finished, Bowie's in there peeing too. Then Blue gets back in and... poops for the first time in three days. Two hours later and both head back to pee and Bowie poops too. Both looking like pros as if they've been doing all their lives. Celebrate? The Olympic opening ceremony had nothing on what was going on in my bathroom tonight.

Interestingly (if you're interested in this kind of thing) Bowie no longer bothers trying to cover his mess up like normal cats. Instead he hops to the edge of the bowl and looks at me expectantly waiting for his treats as soon as he's delivered the goods. I guess if I ever went back to litter boxes this would cause a whole load of issues (cat poop stinks if not immediately covered by litter). However, I'm not planning on EVER going back to stinky litter trays and I'm looking at this as a positive thing. Firstly because the less scratching about the cats do, the less dirty litter I have to clean up off the floor. Secondly because he won't have any litter to scratch in once training's complete so he may as well get used to it now.

It's so, so tempting to take the first ring out and see how things go but I'll be patient for once in my life and wait just a little longer. Although it would be cool to be one of those smug cat owners posting in the "My Cat's a Genius" and trained in days section of the CitiKitty forum...

Day 5
Both are using the CK with no problems at all. Bowie seems to have developed a habit of shouting for me every time he needs to use it just to make sure I'm there to witness the act and provide the appropriate prosciutto rewards. This cat really does train me rather than the other way round. If he carries on like this for the rest of his life I'm sure I'll get a bit tired of it but for now any usage of the CK is a little miracle so I'm finding it very cute.

I went out for a bit in the evening and when I came back popped the CK onto the bidet next to the toilet so I could pee. Blue hopped in and peed in it while it was there. I wasn't sure whether to stop him because I don't want them using bidet and toilet interchangeably but decided against it as I don't want to do anything to discourage him from using the CK.

My other half is due back at the end of the month and, although I know it would be a miracle I'd love, love, love for training to be done by then (it's the 9th of February now). With that in mind, I think ring one will be coming out tomorrow... wish me luck!

Day 6

The CK on Ring One

And the first ring is out! Both cats but especially Blue were fascinated by the hole and spent a while peering through it and fishing around it with their paws. I cooked up some beef mince, making sure the cats smelt it and saw me put it in the bathroom cabinet where they know the CK treats are stored. I was expecting Blue to be a bit hesitant about this step but as soon as he saw the mince being put away he connected it to the CK, knew what was expected of him and peed right through the hole! I made a huge fuss of him and 10 minutes later he also pooped, again right through the hole. This is amazing, not only because he's progressed seamlessly to the next stage but also because keeping the CK clean looks like it just got a whole lot easier.

I've been getting through so much litter since we started this experiment in an effort to keep it as clean as possible. As the CK is much smaller than the litter box, holds less litter and gives the cats less scope to scratch and cover pee up themselves the silica gel crystals just don't seem to be coping that well. Fingers crossed if it carries on like this it's looking like all I need to do from here on in is press the flush. I'm not counting my chickens though and know we're still a long way away from the finish line...

I spoke too soon. The first ring came out at 2pm, it's now 10pm and I'd noticed Bowie holding his pee all day so I've been keeping my beady eye on him. He started to scratch at the bathtub so I put him on the CK and filled the tub with a few inches of water. 10 minutes later and after scratching several other places (with me repositioning him each time) he started to pee on the floor behind the toilet. I grabbed him immediately and he finished the job on the CK but DAMN, he was doing so, so well. I thought if either was going to have an issue it would be Blue not my clever Bowie. Still, I'm determined not to go back a step unless we have another accident so will be keeping my fingers firmly crossed...

Day 7
Having a black day today. Spent a horrible night last night... I didn't sleep at all and headed into the bathroom what feels like a hundred times to check Bowie wasn't doing anything he shouldn't. This morning Blue hopped up and peed perfectly. Bowie spent 40 minutes looking all round the bathroom for somewhere else to pee with me grabbing and repositioning him each time. Finally after having been grabbed from under the loo in mid-pee for the 4th time he finished the job in the CK. Well, I thought... that's not totally an accident and unless he poops somewhere he shouldn't we're not going back a step. 10 minutes later he poops on the floor by the toilet. The training insert is back on and we are officially back to stage one :(. Blue doesn't seem to happy about it, he loved having the hole in the CK and when he pooped he seemed to be trying to scratch a hole back in the insert, but we have to go at the speed of the slowest team member (Bowie) for now. Blue also decided to poop while I was in the shower so I had to race out with a head full of shampoo to make sure I got him his treat as soon as he'd finished :(

It's entirely my fault for trying to rush the process, but I am hating life with the CK. Loads of mess, pee, tonnes of kitty litter, a revolting bathroom, sleepless nights and days where catt butts rule your world making it hard for you to think about anything else. I shouldn't have rushed things and shouldn't be expecting super-kitty feats from my little boys but right now I would give anything to just have both on ring one, even if we have to stay at that stage for a couple of weeks. It's so much easier having the majority of the waste going straight down the toilet rather than into the litter!

I WILL see this process through and I WILL have two toilet trained cats and things WILL get better from here. Just please, please, please god let it happen sooner rather than later???

Day 8
Both boys being absolutely brilliant and totally happy with the CK. I was worried that the unsuccessful attempt to remove a ring might have freaked Bowie out and we'd have trouble but if anything they both seem even more secure and happy with it now. I won't rush things this time and we're staying on this level for a little longer. A lot of the criticisms of the CK system you'll find (eg on Amazon) saying that once you progress a level there's no going back seem to be aimed at an earlier version of the product. They now provide an extra insert just for this purpose and in my case it's been mighty useful. Thanks for listening to your customers Citi Kitty and improving your product... I for one am very grateful!

Blue's treating it all like a big game. I heard scraping in the litter box, grabbed the box of treats (raw mince today, I've run out of prosciutto) and headed for the bathroom. The second he saw me, he flew off the CK towards me ready for his reward. I gave it to him, then checked the CK... empty. I'd obviously got there too early. Two minutes later, he was back up and peeing and this time when I came in he jumped around me like a playful lunatic ready for another treat and obviously very pleased with himself!

Day 9
Okay, this is trickier with two cats than one. Both cats were scratching around in the CK this morning, then Bowie got down and Blue peed. I turn around and Bowie's peeing in the sink. There's no space for both at the same time on the CK so what could I do? I either had to shout at Bowie and scare him, get him off the sink to finish on the CK (not an option with Blue on there) or just ignore it. I went for option #3. I just hope this doesn't become a habit...

Day 10
All going well and I'm getting impatient to try removing a ring again... but this time I WILL take things slowly! I lied. I wrote that in the morning, by the afternoon I'd realised the insert has a hole a little smaller than ring one on the main device so I took that out to see what would happen. Bowie still hates it, Blue loves it. The solution? Plug the hole up with toilet paper for Bowie, leave it open for Blue. Both are happy and Mum only has to clear up 50% of the pee in the CK. Yay for compromise!

I was getting a little worried about the huge quantities of salty prosciutto we were getting through as rewards and the effect it might be having on two baby Devon Rexes. I tried raw mince which they got bored of after a day, cooked chicken which Blue liked but Bowie wasn't interested in and have finally found a great alternative. Cheap KiteKat pouches of wet food. My premium-brand only boys think the cheap crap is amazing and although I'm sure that nutritionally it's not a patch on the Royal Canin they have at meal times, it must be better for them than salty ham.

Day 11
All going well... Bowie's aim was off and he managed to poop all over the toilet seat but it's better than the floor at least!He made up for it this afternoon by peeing in the CK before I had time to plug the hole up with toilet paper which is brilliant. If I just had Blue on his own I would have tried removing another ring by now as I think he's ready so if Bowie's catching up I'm really pleased!

Day 12
Bowie pooped on the seat again, but I can deal with that for now... as the rings come out he'll be forced to reposition himself anyway so I'm HOPING this is a temporary thing. I also just found out I'm going to have to move house in a month and I'm praying that's not going to cause us a huge setback. Ah well, I'll keep plugging on for now and deal with that when it happens... For now we have NAILED stage one (well, 0.5 actually, the hole in the insert is a little smaller than the one on the main CK)

Day 13
Blue loves sweetcorn. I fed him some. I won't be doing that again until he's pooping through the hole and I don't have to see it.

Day 14

Ring one on the insert (also known as ring 0.5) compared to ring one on the main CK. Doesn't look like a big difference but trust me, it is!

Okay, back to ring one on the main CK which is bigger than the first hole on the insert (which both boys are now just fine on). Both have used it today with no problems... YAY!

I can just imagine what is going on in my cat's heads...
Blue: "Guess what Bowie, Mum wants to buy our poo!"
Bowie: "What the hell are you talking about?"
Blue: "Watch this... you see, I poo, Mum gives me a treat and hides the poo somewhere"
Bowie: "OMG you're right... Mum, Mum, Mum, I've got something for you.... Wow, this really works!"
Blue: "See, I told you she was crazy. Poor thing, guess we should humor her, look how happy it makes her"

Day 15
All going well. I've decided that I'm going to ignore the CittiKitty instructions. This may sound foolish but bear with me. The CittiKitty has five rings in it and the instructions say to pop one out a week (well actually every two weeks if you have two cats but never mind). The size difference between holes is fairly significant so I've decided to go off-piste and shave a few millimetres off the hole every other day.

I reckon this will help in two ways. One, my cats will hopefully not even notice the difference and I won't have to go through the whole "wow, a huge hole just appeared in my litter tray and I'm going to poop on the floor" thing that happened last time we followed the CK preformed holes. Secondly, I get to feel like we're making steady progress rather than wait a week at each step then have a huge readjustment and subsequent backtracking when the cats freak out.

So I have a new battle plan, I've armed myself with a cheap stanley knife and I shaved a few millimetres off the CK today . As far as the cats are concerned, there's no problem and they barely noticed the difference. Both of them used the CK just fine. Both of them managed to put a leg through the hole which hasn't happened before and just goes to show the difference even a small change can make. Luckily it didn't seem to put either of them off.

One problem is that the little bit I shaved off is the raised lip which previously helped stop litter falling into the toilet so we're getting a lot more litter in the loo. Not the end of the world though, and hopefully this process won't last long enough to cause any damage to the plumbing. On the bright side the very slightly bigger hole means both boys have used the CK without dirtying the litter and I've just had to flush to get rid of the pee/poop. My first taste of what life will be like when we're completely toilet trained and I'm loving it!

Day 16
All going well!

Day 17
A few more millimetres shaved off the CK and no problems

Day 18
A little more taken off and looking good. My boys barely seem to notice!

Day 19
A little more off again and no problems. So what if according to the Citti Kitty guidelines we should be on ring 3 by this stage. My boys are happy and not in any way stressed out by the process, I'm happy because the hole is big enough for the majority of their pee and poop to fall straight into the toilet rather than messing up the litter, we're making slow but steady process and we haven't had any accidents. I'd much rather do it slowly with no problems than rush things and have problems!

Day 20, 21 & 22
Still sticking to the plan and making the hole a teensy bit bigger each day, still no problems, still all going brilliantly!

Day 23
And we've made it to the next ring, no issues at all :) I'm a very proud mum today.

Day 24
Still no problems. This makes for a very boring blog but I make no apologies for that and am just loving my boy's progress

Day 25
Still plodding along, still no problems. Both my boys have developed very different ways to use the Citi Kitty. Blue prefers the feet-in-the-litter-and-pee-through-the-hole approach while Bowie prefers to put his front feet on the toilet seat and pee in the litter. I obviously prefer Blue's approach as it means all I have to do is flush whereas thanks to Bowie I am still needing to clean the tray out completely at least twice a day.

It will be interesting to see how they both adapt as the hole gets bigger and the tray smaller. Blue is going to have to start balancing on the toilet seat which he might find tricky although he's obviously completely relaxed about the hole... every time I flush the loo, he's up there and sticking his head through it to watch the water swirling round the bowl. Bowie probably won't have any trouble at all with balancing on the seat but he's clearly not as comfortable with the hole. Only one way to find out...

Days 26 & 27
Still making baby steps and the hole is getting bigger every day. It looks huge now! I'm slightly worried about the impending house move in just under a week and the effect it could have on training. Before I started this experiment I read a load of forum posts and discussions on the experiences others have had. Every time I came across someone who had had a setback in training due to a house move or holiday I rolled my eyes and thought "how dumb can you be?"  It's obvious that if you're already making one stressful change in a cat's life (ie toilet training) the rest of their life has to be as consistent and stress-free as possible to make it work. To me, people who started training and planned a move or time away before the end of the process were just asking for trouble. But now I find myself unexpectedly forced to move halfway through toilet training my cats. Just goes to show you shouldn't judge others... life has a funny way of making you pay for it when you do!

Days 27 & 28
Still making progress, still no problems. At this rate we'll be on the next ring by tomorrow which will leave just two rings to go. I think I'll stop there until we've moved house and I've seen how my kitties are coping with the big upheaval.

Only two rings to go!

Blue has been managing to pee and poop straight into the toilet every time for weeks now, but Bowie has been using the Citi Kitty tray... until today! He has finally nailed the "four paws on the toilet seat and poop down the hole" trick and I couldn't be happier!

Day 29
On the next hole and all going well!

Day 30
Ooooops... poop on the floor next to the toilet this morning. Naughty Bowie! To be fair though, this is the very first accident we've had in weeks and it happened after both kitties had had their morning pee and I hadn't had time to clean the CK out so I'm hoping it's just because the CK was wet and dirty. There were, ahem, skid marks down the outside of the toilet so he had obviously been on the CK when he did it, just facing the wrong way. Anyway, I'm hoping it's a one-off and won't happen again!
Afternoon update: Yup, looks like this morning's mistake was a one-off. Normal service has been resumed :)

Day 31 & 32
Got a video of Blue peeing up on Youtube now too if you want to check it out 
Note the bidet full of cat litter packages and poop scoops... I told you this wasn't a tidy process. Also check out the way he jumps straight off when he's done looking for his reward :)

Day 33
It's now Saturday and the house move will be happening Tuesday/Wednesday so no matter how tempting it is to keep removing a little of the CK every day I'm trying to control myself and leave it as it is!

Day 34
Bowie has pooped on the floor next to the toilet again, and this time it is too far away for him too have been sitting in the CK when he did it. I have no idea why he has suddenly started doing this as I haven't altered the size of the hole in days now. When Blue uses the CK he goes nuts for a good minute beforehand, scratching away at the litter like his life depends on it, flinging it around the bathroom and making tonnes of noise so I always hear him and can be ready to give him his reward when he's finished. Bowie on the other hand has become a CK ninja and doesn't scratch the litter at all either before or after so I've missed it a few times and he hasn't got a treat. Maybe that's why he's started pooping on the floor?

I'm going to try putting some things around the toilet to block off the space either side and see if that gets him back on the CK. With only a couple of days left to the house move this is really bad news :(

Day 35
So I blocked up the floor space on either side of the toilet with whatever I could lay my hands on (a bag of kitty litter, the cat carrier and a mop bucket full of water) and Bowie wasn't happy. He spent a good 20 minutes in the bathroom climbing over all these things, miaowing and jumping on and off the CK but in the end he did give in and poop in the Citi Kitty! I'll leave everything as is for the next few days and just see how it goes when we move to the new house.

Day 36
No accidents today either!

Day 37
Bowie pooped on the floor again... my fault, I moved the mop bucket.

Day 38
Moving day... Bowie pooped on the floor AGAIN because I was in and out ferrying boxes between the two houses. However, once we got into the new apartment (and the Citi Kitty was the first thing I set up of course) both of them were up there using in within half an hour with no problems at all. This is totally brilliant because I was worried we would have to go right back to the beginning.

The CK literature states that the tray will fit all toilets. This may well be true, but it fits the new seat far better. At the old house, the toilet seat wouldn't go right the way down over the CK so stuck at an angle and tended to wobble. Here it fits perfectly with no wobbles and as the toilet seat is wider both cats seem to prefer it.

Day 39
Both cats are using the CK again like superstars. The one problem is we won't have mains water here for 5 days. As my boys use the CK up to 8 times a day between them we're getting through huge amounts of bottled water to flush every time. I've also stopped using kitty litter... not being able to flush properly, I'm terrified we'll end up with a blockage if I do but both cats seem to have taken it in their stride and since they're being so good about it, I won't be using it again. Hopefully this means we've seen the end of litter for good!

Day 40
Bowie pooped on the floor again. Back to surrounding the toilet with heavy things and I'll see if that works...

Days 41-51
I've stayed away from the blog because the last 10 days have been absolute hell. It's not the cat's fault, they've been amazing, using the CK like superstars. The problem is that where we live, there's only one water company and as they have no competition, their attention to customer service is appalling. To cut a long story short, we've been without mains water for two weeks, and although we STILL haven't been connected by the water company (Abbanoa... I'm in the mood for some naming and shaming) a neighbour has taken pity and allowed us to pirate his water supply.

Two weeks of carrying buckets of water up to the apartment, not being able to wash properly and having to recycle the same bucket of water to wash my hair, then my clothes and lastly to flush the toilet is unbearable at the best of times... with two cats part way through toilet training it's hell on wheels. Every time I've heard the cats using the CK recently my heart sinks and it's been next to impossible to give them the fuss and enthusiasm they deserve. I've had to clean the CK itself with antibacterial wipes and haven't been able to give it a proper clean in two weeks. I haven't made the hole any bigger for 22 days now thanks to the move and the lack of water... under normal circumstances I'm sure we would have finished training by now but never mind... WHAT a difference to wake up this morning and hear first one cat, then the other poop directly through the hole and be able to flush immediately (and properly!).

Going back to where I left off, adding extra litter to the CK seemed to do the trick for Bowie and he never pooped on the floor again. It added an extra element of danger to the whole process as each time I poured a bucket of water down the loo to "flush" it, I was convinced the extra litter would cause a blockage but we managed to get away from it and this afternoon I'll start removing a little more of the CK liner every day again.

We're back on track with the training and I'm loving it!!!

Days 51-58
Whizzing through training and on the last ring now... easy peasy!

Days 58-75
We're still on the last ring. Every time I try to shave a little off one or the other of the boys has an accident so I have to pop the insert back on. It's amazing what a difference a few millimetres makes. I'm not worried though and happy for the boys to take as long as they need. The hole is so big now that I can use the loo easily myself without removing it and we haven't used any litter in ages and ages. To all intents and purposes this has been a success. I have two happily toilet trained cats, I don't have to faff around with litter being tracked round the house or stinky litter boxes that need constant attention. So there's still a plastic insert on my toilet seat... I couldn't care less quite honestly. If the boys need another year before I can remove it completely then so be it, I'm delighted we got this far!

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That's as far as the Great Devon Rex vs Citti Kitty Toilet Training Adventure has got for now but if anyone is actually even remotely interested in my cat's toilet habits (and by the number of hits the blog has had so far I'm guessing there's more of you wierdos out there than I would have guessed) I'll be keeping this updated...