Firstly, as I mentioned in a previous post Darwin trilled instead of meowing. So it sounded like he was always asking me a question. I found this to be very endearing.
Second, he is a very intelligent cat and almost dog like in the way he attached himself to me and followed me from room to room. Not to say that Shadow didn't love me or follow me, but Darwin was different. That's kind of why I named him that moniker.
Third, I found out quite by accident that Darwin is a fetch cat. Apparently the carrier I brought him home in had a small catnip toy in it. He found it and was having a ball playing with it. He brought it into my bedroom and onto my bed and left it for me while I was writing. I took one look at the ratty thing and tossed it out of the open door. To my surprise he flew off the bed, chased it down and brought it back for me to toss again. This continued for nearly 45 minutes untill he became bored. Meanwhile, Shadow just lay there and watched as if to say, "Don't expect ME to do that."
Again, I went to the Internet and found a page which told me that there are 10 breeds of cats who have dog like charactoristics. One of the ones mentioned is a Chartreux which is a breed of BLUE cats that happen to look like Darwin. So there was a distinct possibility I have a purebreed cat!
Check out the following link, and pay special attention to number 5.
http://www.marthastewart.com/356633/cat-breeds-dog-people/@center/852601/cat-breeds#351390
On the bad side. Darwin is a year younger than Shadow but was ferrel/wilder longer than him. So he does not have the social graces most hand raised cats have. Number one on the list, either he didn't know how to or just plain refused to use the litter box. This meant coming home from work and finding a poo pile in the middle of my living room.
This was dispite the fact I had a large communal litter box in the bathroom which Shadow was happily using.
This problem continued for weeks and I did a plethora of things to break him out that nasty habit. On the advise of a friend I put down contact paper sticky side up. Reportedly cats don't the sticky feel on their paws. So I covered the entire living room floor, to the extent that I couldn't use the roomfor weeks. The result was a giant fail. One day, I watched Darwin skip across the contact paper and poop on the very edge of the paper. Apparently the stickiness didn't bother him. I told you he was named appropriately ......
I ripped up all the contact paper and put down news paper. I figured if hes going to poop on the floor, at least wanted him to do it on paper that I could pick up easily and dispose of his waste. No dice, that didn't work either.
Next I went to K-Mart and bought those puppy wee-wee pads. I thought that perhaps this would work in conjunction with another litter box I'd set up in the living room. He didn't use any of them.
Desparate, I again consulted the Internet about the problem. One suggestion was to change the litter to sand or potting soil. Apparently ferral cats prefer to use either or both of those elements to relieve themselves. So I went to the local hardware store and bought a 50 pound bag of sand. Shadow hated it but used it. With Darwin it was a no go.
The next product recommended by the Internet was "Cat Attract Litter". So again I went off on a quest and hauled home a 30 pound bag of of what I consider the most expensive litter I've ever bought in my life. According to the Internet specs it was invented by Doctor Elsey and was guaranteed to work. Supposedly special ingredients in it attracted your kitten or cat to the litter box........
What another big FAIL! I still have three thirds of the bag sitting in my hallway! I'm not denigrating the product but, perhaps Cat Attract is only affective with only certain cats. It did not help attract Darwin.
I was seriously wondering if I should invest in a pooper scooper. Do they still make those things?
TO BE CONTINUED
Dawn Skyy
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