Family room - 2nd week...

Friday - 6:16 a.m. - Day 15 - Sassy was out on the 2nd floor of the house all day while we went to lunch and saw a movie (Lincoln).  We arrived home about 6:18 p.m. (in time for Jon Stewart) and when we went to bed we didn't lock her up in the bathroom (first time she's been out all night since we started the 'reconditioning').  We had both solid and liquid in the litter box this morning.  Could it be that when we brought her home after she lived in a cage for so long there was just too much room in our large house?  We have four levels.  Her litter box had been in my husband's work room - and she used it, but then she used other spots, too.  When we went to Wisconsin, we lived in a cottage that had less square footage than our second level - and NO accidents.  Her litter box was just a few steps away from anywhere she was.  We tried the litter boxes here on different levels but she always used the same one or right next to the same one.  We certainly are not ready to give her the run of the house but I don't feel so bad about keeping her locked up with the family room, laundry room and spare bedroom to run in.  She also has two windows to sit in so she can see the birds.  Tuesday she completely disappeared.  I called her and looked everywhere she could hide (not many hiding places and the spare bedroom had not been accessible on Tuesday).  Just when I was starting to get really worried, she popped her head out of the bookcase that holds towels.  It had been in the laundry room but we moved it to the hall so she had more room for her litter box and bed.  I'm more encouraged by her progress every day.

Thursday - 7:43 a.m. -Day 14 - We seem to be on the way to regularity.  We had regular bowel movements both Tuesday and Wednesday and pee this morning.  We played with the feathers for a while this morning and I'm going to open the spare bedroom for her to roam in - at least until we leave to meet friends for lunch (that gives her one whole floor to run in).  The PetGuard Premium Feast arrived last night so we dished some out for supper.  She wasn't interested at all, and she followed me out of the laundry room crying.  So, I fixed her one half of a can of Fancy Feast which she ate with relish and gave her one half of a cup of her dry Iams.  She also had one half of a can of Fancy Feast for breakfast.  Still, the real test is going to be the living room - we have that hurdle to get over.  Will she still feel the need to use the living room as a litter box?  Only time will tell.

Tuesday - 5:57 a.m. - Day 12 - After discontinuing the Prozac on Saturday, Sassy has been much more active, playing and chasing us like she used to do.  She's awake more during the day but she's still in kitty prison when we go to bed.  She's been on her own in the family room for two days with no accidents but we do check on her periodically and play with her.  The only thing that worries us is her inconsistent elimination.  Before being locked up, she was peeing several times a day and pooping at least once.  She's now peeing just once a day (on rare occasions, twice) and pooping once every other day or sometimes every third day.

Sunday - 6:05 a.m. - Day 10 - This morning there was poop in the cat box but not nearly enough to account for the food she's eaten in the last three days.  Twenty minutes later - another elimination and this one was as much food as she's eaten in three days - a whopper.  I'm sure it isn't good for her to hold it as long as she has.

Yesterday I took away her dry food which is down all the time and fed her 3 small meals of canned food which contains water.  I also ordered a few cans of PetGuard Premium Feast Dinner to see if that would regulate her.  This morning I gave her a third of a can of Fancy Feast and 1/4 cup of dry food.  She's eating much better since we stopped giving her the medication and she's much less paranoid.

With the exception of keeping her locked up, we have our lives back, neither of us is spending all day in the family room.  If this keeps up, we will open the spare bedroom to her next week.  It's on the same level as the family room and will give her more running room, but we will continue to lock her up at night.  Carl did put away the cage yesterday, I doubt we will need that again, she's so distressed by being in it that I don't have the heart to put her back until we go to Wisconsin next September.