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At work last week, I just happened to walk by a co-worker who was talking to someone about looking for a cat. I chimed in that we had been thinking about trying to find a new home for Chip, since we’ve been having some trouble with him not staying out of the crib, and not thinking he’d be a good match when the baby comes. Janet (my co-worker) and I spent a lot of time talking, and tonight, she and her kids came to pick him up. They are very excited to have a cat, and live in a nice area where he can look out at the woods and even hunt a mouse that they’ve been trying to catch in their garage! It’s sad, but we’ve had a lot of trouble bonding with Chip over the last year, and were really determined that if we were to give him away, that we would want a good home, not a pound, to go to.

We told Janet that we’d give her a 2 week return policy, just in case it didn’t work out, but she said that there’s no way we’re getting him back!

We hope that Chip loves his new home; they have a pug that he can play with, two little kids, and 2 teenagers. We were skeptical that he’d get along with the little kids, being that he’s never been around them before, but he sat and let them pet him right away and even nuzzled them!

Good luck Chipper! We love you!

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Yesterday, Emily and I went to Best Buy and bought a new gadget. Four our anniversary (Aug 9th, so just a little early), we bought a Nikon D40x Digital SLR camera. I have friends who have the D50, D80, D40 and D200 and love them. I went with Nikon instead of my favorite brand, Olympus, because the lense options and after market support for the Nikon seemed to be stronger. Guess I need to start brushing up on those skills I learned during my two photography courses back at Murray State! This is the camera:

Emily has started playing with it and taking photos of the cat, dog, and some other things. The image quality is flat out amazing. The detail it pics up in Macro, zoom, and normal range is pretty amazing.
Now what extras should I buy? I think we are going to get a lense hood/shade and a filter. I found an article on Digital -Photography-School.com that lists the 10 most popular lenses for Nikon DSLR cameras, so I can use that as a reference.

Click here to see some pictures we’ve taken so far.

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So I know it’s wierd, but ever since I wrote that post about Chip being declawed, he’s been Mr. Nice Cat.  He’s all purry and lovey and rubby all over you.  He’s even cuddled with me in the morning!  Hmm…suspicious.  We’ll see how long it lasts.  Guess I’ll give him one more chance.

Also, I bought something today that should help with my aversion to litter boxes (hence why I tried toilet training in the first place).  It’s the Litter Locker, and it’s a special cat litter trash can that seals up the ‘stuff’ in a bag so it has no smell.   Kind of similar to those special trash cans for baby diapers.  Instead of me trying to explain, check it out below:

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I’m at my wits end with Chip lately.  My arms and legs have scars on them from his nails, and we can’t even walk through our house without getting attacked.  Lately, Chip sits in the corners and waits with his ears back and eyes squinted waiting for the slightest movement of your toes or legs and then attacks, wrapping himself around your legs, biting and clawing ferociously. 

I can’t stand it any longer, and Megabyte is starting to really get annoyed and bite him hard when he plays too rough.  I called my vet and asked about declawing.  I know there are a lot of animal rights issues surrounding declawing, but I’ve tried to live with him since November, and it’s just getting worse.  Sorry Chip, either the claws have to go, or you do.  We’ll try the claws first.

 

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Well, after months of training, Chip has finally won the battle of the toilet.  Last week out of nowhere he decided to refuse to use it.  He began to “go” in the bathroom sinks and showers.  Luckily those were easily cleanable spots (as opposed to carpet), but equally, if not more disgusting.  Even after severe coaxing and generous treat giving, he still refused. 

So, to my complete and utter disappointment, we are back to square one with a litter box.  I hate it.  It also brings up another problem of where to put it.  We had it in the laundry room before, but we had to have a baby gate up so Megabyte wouldn’t eat the “crunchy kitty treats,”  but I don’t want to have to have baby gates up in the house forever. 

We’re thinking about maybe putting in a kitty door in the basement door or something.  We’re not sure yet.  Oh well.  Win some, lose some.  Chip won this time.

-ec

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Chip has almost completed his training!!  He had the final removable ring taken out of the trainer, leaving a small ring to hold a tiny bit of litter.  I bought him one of those squishy/soft toilet seats because his feet slipped right off of the regular one.  The toilet seat is down now, over the trainer.  He is now standing on the actual toilet seat and going!  He does like to still be able to see that little thin strip of litter in there though.  That’ll be the final step, removing the trainer from underneath the toilet seat.   He seems to be doing well though, and hasn’t had any accidents since the new toilet seat got put on.  I assume that by next weekend, we’ll take the trainer out from underneath and he’ll be set free and completely trained!!  Wow.  This is has a long process, but so worth it. 

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Put up a couple sets of pictures from the last few days…

First, the bunny hole. As described in the post below, here are some pictures of it after mowing and fur removal. There are a couple of cute pictures of Megabyte in there too The lat picture is one of her tonight (5/7/07) sitting in the dark in the yard about 5 feet from the empty nest/hole, staring at it…just waiting for the bunnies to come back. Cute stuff.

Next, are pictures of Chip, just doing his thing. There are two pictures of him in his new favorite sleeping spot; in the recycling basket in the kitchen, and a few of him in a very dainty relaxation posture. Wierd cat.

And last but not least, some pictures of the day lilies that we transplanted from New York (at Emily’s dad’s) last summer and planted along the side of our house. We were worried that they wouldn’t take, with the differences in climate and soil, but they are up and growing strong. They haven’t bloomed yet, but it’s still early in the season. We can’t wait until then!

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Haven’t updated on Chip’s pottying adventure in awhile.  He’s doing really well; 3 of the rings are completely gone, with only 2 remaining.  He’s balancing perfectly on the sides now, and getting all his “stuff” in the hole.  It’s really quite funny when he does go, it sounds like a human in there

I’ll have to get a video sometime of him.  Our cameras are both out of whack right now, the screen is broken on one and we’re missing the adapter to pull off pictures for the other, so it may be awhile.

I’d say by the end of April Chip should be completely trained.  Yay Chip!

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It’s hard to believe, but Chip is 6 months old now. He’s getting really fluffy and his hair is really long and thick. He’s become a Mama’s boy; always wanting to snuggle with me. Paul’s not jealous though, because Megabyte is a Daddy’s girl.

Check out new pictures of Chip:

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I removed 1/3 of the second ring today. The rings get bigger as they go, so I’m going to be taking only 1/3 at a time because I don’t want him to get freaked out by the ever increasing size of the hole.

He’s going on the toilet with the bigger hole with no problem! It’s really funny to watch him make the transition to the larger hole though. I was in the bathroom getting ready today and he jumped up and peed. He was standing right over the hole, so he actually went right into the hole into the water! Since it all went down into the hole, there was nothing to cover up. He turned around, and sniffed around confused as if to say “uhh….where’d it go?” hehe. I gave him a treat for his good work!

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