sorry for neglecting this blog.  mimmy is permanently living with me and hello.  i just couldn't give her back to my aunt - what can i say?  i fell in love.  mimmy and hello actually get along for the most part now.  mimmy is a lot less active than hello.  she sleeps all day, it's amazing.  i find her in my bedroom for the most part.  she likes sleeping on her back which is really cute.  at night, she cuddles up to my legs and is always still there when i wake up in the morning.  hello still follows me around the house and is almost always in the same room with me, but she has been less affectionate since mimmy moved in.  i just love seeing the 2 of them together.  they are so adorable!

so the reason i have been MIA is i can't decide if i want to re-toilet train the two of them.  i really don't know if i can handle all that commitment, anxiety, and responsibility.   maybe i just need some motivation.  what do you guys think?

mimmy goes back to my aunt's house on wednesday after spending 2 weeks with me & hello.  they actually started getting along most of the time and mimmy became more social with us coming down the stairs to the kitchen when hello followed me down there.  they would also spend a few hours playing in the living room in the kitty tent or tunnel or just lounge on the couch with me while i watched tv.

i have to say that cleaning the litter box over the last month or so has been disgusting.  i can smell the clumping litter on the kitties after they have made a potty trip.  while i'm not ecstatic about resuming toilet training, i am anxious to get rid of the litter box and it's smell on the first floor.  it will be interesting to see how quickly hello picks up t-training after her ~6 week vacation from it.  i'll start her over on the litter kwitter red disc on thursday for a day or two and slowly progress her through to amber where we will stop for awhile so i can teach her correct positioning.  i'm taking this tip from tanya and chanel's mom.  we won't move to the inter-green disc until she is sitting in the proper position on amber.

for my thursday thirteen, today i'm going to list all the things i like about my sister mimmy.

1. she is a solid white kitty like me.  when i shed, mommy can't tell whose fur it is now, but it is probably hers because she sheddeds a lot.
2. she is pretty.  i like her little ears.  it is really cute when they move.
3. she rattles her tail when she gets excited.  i never saw another kitty do that.
4. she leaves my food alone although she lets me eat some of hers.  she likes the dry crunchy kind.  she doesn't like my mushy kind.
5. she growls like a woofie.  i think it's very funny.  i never did nuffin bad or mean to her, but she still growls anyways.
6. when she's not growling she really quiet.  that is very considerate of her so i can have a good kitteh nap.  getting good rest is important!
7. she can stand up like a meercat!  now that is super cute.
8. she is petite.  i wish i were petite, but then i would have to eat less food and that does not seem like a good idea.
9. when she swipes at me, she doesn't stick her claws out.  mommy cut them down short (mine too) so we can't hurt each other. 
10. she doesn't bite.  that's good because it bet her teefs would hurt.
11. i don't have to go to the potty on the human toilet when she is here.  we get the pretty pink booda dome litter box back.  this has to be one of my favorites.
12. she doesn't know too many tricks yet, so i get more temptations than she does.
13. it is nice to have a sister to hang out with under mommy's bed.  we hang out there and take naps there for hours and hours every day.  mommy can't fit down there, so it's like our own little kitty place.

anyway, my aunt left for a 2.5 week trip last week so mimmy came back home.  i have not resumed hello's toilet training since i knew mimmy would be here for awhile.  i can not keep hello away from the litter box and give mimmy access without locking one of them inside the kitty room.  i decided to make my life easier by waiting until after may 7th when mimmy goes home to resume training.  yesterday when i was cleaning out the litterbox in the bathroom, hello came in.  i wasn't sure if she needed to "go" but i put the Litter Kwitter back on the toilet with some litter.  she seemed stressed to see it there.  when the litterbox was put back into place, she jumped in right away and peed. 

the good news is the kitties are really starting to get along.  mimmy is due for her second FIV test in a couple weeks and i know i'm taking a small risk, but i don't have the heart to keep her locked up and away from hello.  i think hello loves having a big sister.  she is always interested in seeing what mimmy is doing.  they sleep under my bed together.  hello is even showing more interest in mimmy's dry food now than her own canned food (both innova EVO brand).  i am really happy mimmy is acting like she can tolerate hello most of the time now.  there is still some growling involved when hello starts acting playful or frisky.  i'll post some photos of them together when i get a chance.

for those kittehs and beans who were upset that i have been neglecting my blog, i come bearing gifts.  petsmart coupon gifts!  here is a coupon for $5 off $25.  no expiration date, so print out a bunch of them!

mimmy is very happy at my aunt's.  my aunt says she is social when hello & i aren't around.  she actually walks up to my aunt to see what she is doing and to invite petting.  mimmy has never approached me, ever.  it makes me very happy to hear that she is becoming more comfortable and opening up.

there were baby chicks...        even some dyed for easter...

there were lots of chickens too...  even one that was all white like me.  (it looked a little funny)

uncle dimitre liked playing with the little puppies.  they were king charles cavalier spaniels.  there were also 2 tiny kittens.  they were sleeping.  we also saw bunnies, parakeets, pigeons, doves, ducks, ducklings, and turkeys.  there were 2 other dogs visiting too and one of them said he never sawed a kitty on a leash before.  after that, we had to go to petsmart to pick up some stuff for mimmy.  i got some temptations.  mimmy got a pink litterbox just like mine (which i never see anymore).  we had a pretty long drive back to great auntie's house and i had a long day so i took a nap in the car!

well, hello got her lunch not long ago.  when she walked out of her room, she didn't even glance in the direction of her bathroom.  i picked her up and set her down in the bathroom and made her put her 2 front paws up on the white seat so she could see the LK was back.  she showed no interest and has not peed.  she has decided to hold it in and take a nap under my bed instead.  we'll see how the next few days go.  but she gets the litterbox back on sunday anyway for a couple days when we're back at my aunt's.  then next thursday i'm going snowboarding in tahoe for 5 nights.  my brother will be taking care of her so she will get the litterbox back again! 

mommy and i are home right now for a little whiles.  our backyard is getting landscaped today so we have to be home to be supervisers.  mimmy stayed at great auntie's house but we will be back later tonight.  she must be having fun over there b/c she gets the whole house to herself!  mommy splained to me today that mimmy will be staying at great auntie's house for a few weeks.  she won't have to be locked in a bathroom over there to keep us separated so she will be happier.  great auntie needs some companies too so she won't be so lonely.  great auntie likes mimmy a lot.  she likes me too, but i only go wherever my mommy goes.

okay, veronica tagged me and mimmy for meme.  hehe.  that was fun to say!

last night mommy taked us to our great auntie's house.  we didn't knows if she would have internets at her house, but she does!  mommy had to set up her wireless router this morning.  her house is big and she has lots of bathrooms.  i spent the first hour running around her house b/c everything was so exciting and auntie thought i was a crazy kitty.  mommy said she never seen me get so much exercise!  mommy tried to set up the LK in the kitchen bathroom, but it didn't fit on the toilet right.  so i got my litterbox back, yay!  i like vacations from the toilets.  mimmy's litter box isn't in the toilet either.  mommy set her room up in the laundry room which has a big window in it.  mimmy slept in there last night.  i got to sleep with mommy in the big bed.

mimmy and i have been both running around the house today.  mommy thinks it is okay b/c she and auntie can supervise.  mimmy likes to hide from me, i like to go look for her and try to play with her.  mimmy is still growling at me a little but she's being a lot nicer.  it is fun at this house! 

so i heard great auntie talking to mommy about having mimmy come live with her b/c she is all alone.  i don't know what mommy will do, but that makes me very sad.  i know i makes fun of mimmy sometimes, but i don't mean it.  i really don't think she has an egg head -- she is pretty cute, actually!  i think i will miss her if she stays here.

mimmy growls a lot.  maybe she is mad at her toilets trainings.  but, she is on an easy stage, i told her the red disc is a piece of cakes.  i'm on the easy green one which is not so easy!  i bet mimmy couldn't do it.  mimmy can't drink out of the toilets anymore, maybe she is mad about that.  or maybe mimmy is upsets that we are going to mommy's auntie's house tonight for a few days.  i think it will be fun!  mommy said there is a swimming pool and golf course and lake in the backyard and probably lots of squirrels and birds and stuffs.  she said it will be fun for me to look out the window.  poor mimmy will probably be locked in another bathroom, oh maybe that's why she is mad...  mommy said she's not sure what the internet situation will be like over there, but i will make sure to be onlines on tuesday for my BFF's berfday party.  i'm so excited!  oh yeah!  time for hello kitty stuff i want this week...

hello kitty merchandise pick of the week: 

that's me in the car sitting in momma's lap while she's driving.  i could smell treats in her pocket.

that's me sunbathing in her lap.  see what a good kitty i ams?  i don't need no kitty carrier.

that's me at petsmart wondering why there are still no birdies.  don't they know that is my favorite part of shopping?

that's me playing in the kitty trees.  that's my second favorite part about shopping.

now i'm looking for a petsmart ployee.  where are da birds?  i want some explanations!

fishes ain't so fun to watch so i'm walking by pretty fast.

let's go to the kitty toy section and get veronica's present!

now we're picking up momma's lunch.  the nice man said he never seen kitties in his drive thru.  he said he only has woof treats.  nothin for me.  maybe he'll know better next time.

yes, it was a good field trip day AND a good toilet training day....

i actually feel like we're making some headway, no pun intended.  hello has figured out how to place one of her back paws forward next to her front paw.  her left front paw goes up on the white seat most of the time.  i've been so busy taking photos and videos of her on the loo, that i've been pretty hands-off.  she's actually going through the hole sometimes which makes me ecstatic!  here is a video of her yesterday morning on the intermediate green disc.  her left front paw is on the white seat (hard to tell).  her back right paw slips off the back ledge and she decides to place it forward for the first time! 

mimmy is using the red LK disc in the toilet.  she is actually very tidy up there.  i'll leave her at this point for awhile until she gets better settled in.

1. lick mommy's face until she wakes up to feed me brekfasts
2. take a nap in my kitty tree
3. catch a peek at my lil sis, mimmy
4. sunbathe under the window in the ceiling
5. take a nap on the couch
6. remind momma it's lunch time 
7. check to see if frank's door is open, if so do some bizness on his bed
8. meow for some ear scritches
9. take another nap, whereever is fine
10. sit outside mimmy's door and try to get a sniff of her
11. sit on my mat and wait for mommy to get the clicker so i can have some treats
12. remind momma it's dinner time
13. take a nap on mommy's bed

btw, mimmy's is easy.  her #1-13 would all be the same thing:  sleep in the sink.   mommy's turn.  -- pees out, hello

i moved hello to the main green disc yesterday hoping it would force both front paws onto the white seat like everyone has been promising.  she went #1 on it twice like she didn't even notice the difference with 1 paw up.  her back feet were way on the other side of the disc, but i was still hopeful it could all be corrected.  then after dinner, i had to lock her in the bathroom b/c she kept hopping onto the toilet, scraping litter down the toilet, circling around and then jumping down.  at this point i would add more litter, leave the bathroom, watch her on the baby monitor and come back in when she jumped back onto the toilet.  we repeated this 5-6 times and then i finally gave her the inter-green disc back.  i thought she needed to poo and couldn't figure out how to balance herself for it,  but as soon as i gave her the inter-green disc back, she hopped up and peed.  i cleaned it and then she hopped up for a poo.  it all dropped in the toilet!  it's nice to get a flush and go moment every now and then.  i'll keep her on the inter-green disc for awhile and keep working with her on positioning.

photos:  (left) intermediate green and green discs side by side -- that tiny ledge gives hello a little more paw room and confidence, (right) hello using the green disc, notice 1 paw up and her back feet on the other side of the disc

on the mimmy front, i moved her litter container (LC) which is the stack of 2 roasting pans into the toilet last night with the red LK disc in it.  i probably should have gradually raised the LC like i did for hello, but i'm finding it difficult to muster up patience these days.  i just figured she is still getting adjusted here and everything is still new.  also, she lives in my bathroom sink so she jumps up there to lounge, eat, and drink.  i don't see why she can't hop down to the toilet to do her business.  she was making a mess everywhere with the LC on the floor.

(1)  if you are just getting started with t-training, come and ask your questions.  we will not tell you to go read a million files that haven't been updated in ages and make you feel bad about not doing that to begin with.  (well, we don't have a million files to begin with, but we can point you to where they are)

(2)  i also think it would be extremely helpful for those trainers who do not have blogs to be able to post their progress.  in the forum, go to "what's your progress" and start a thread of your own.  post your progress and keep updating the same thread as your t-training progresses.

(3)  let's discuss cat clicker training as it pertains to t-training.  we will not direct all clicker training questions to a clicker training group, only to have them direct your question back to the cat t-training group.  a lot of us actually have quite a bit of experience with this. 

(4) we will have open dialogue about any and all t-training products w/o the fear of promoting any product too much.  if you have an opinion, voice it!  that's what we want.

please stop by and post a hello.  also, if you have a blog related to t-training, please post a link to it in the "share t-training resources" section.  i am so excited about this.  i hope it becomes a fun and useful tool for everyone!

there is a link to the discussion forum now on the left side of the website under the photo of hello kitty.

i think mimmy won the white fur(minator) wednesday contest by a landslide.  her hairball is almost the size of her head!  btw, i fully endorse this deshedding tool, the furminator.  it's a little pricey, but as you can see, it really works.  (and i furminated mimmy twice already last week).  i heard that kitties like being furminated, but mine do not.  mimmy punched me (seriously, i laughed, but no claws extended) and hello growled at me which she never does.  i also cut the tufts of fur between hello's toes which she didn't mind.

onto potty training news...  hello has now used the inter-green disc for both a poo and four pees.  in preparation for her first poo, she shoved all the litter into the toilet and then jumped down.  i was there to refill the disc with litter and coax her into trying again.  she put 1 paw up for her first 2 pees, but now she has figured out how to straddle the hole with all four paws on this disc too.  i'm losing hope.  i'll even put the padded seat down in a few days to see if that will work now.  look how the little girl figured out how to use the disc for #2.  she looks very similar to this when peeing too with a lower stance as she goes sideways on the disc.  i almost think we should just move directly to the main green disc.

i had a new idea today.  if hello insists on setting her paws down in litter then maybe i should put litter on the white seat of the LK.  i'll make a litter dam for the outer rim of the white seat to prevent all the litter from falling onto the floor.  does anyone else think this might work?

we have been on the amber disc for a month now.  my last hope is to just move to the intermediate green disc and coach her how to use it.  she won't be able to straddle the hole anymore b/c it will be too big and the disc itself won't have enough room to stand on it with all 4 paws.  i'm just afraid that she will get frustrated with my interference and will avoid the toilet all together after a couple bad experiences. 

please, give me your 2 cents.  what should i do?

btw, mimmy is doing fine.  she still looks at me suspiciously, but she is getting friendlier.  she is eating, peeing twice a day, and pooping once a day in the aluminum pans.  she is a digger and makes a mess of the litter, which is all over my bathroom.  i'd like to start thinking about gradually raising the pans to toilet seat height.  i'd like to get her eliminating in the actual toilet so she doesn't make such a mess of my whole bathroom.  i may start on that this week. 

okay, so let's talk about what mommy did to the toilet last night...  she is nuts!  i don't know why but she put a big, clunky toilet seat on top of my litter kwitter.  it gets in my way, but i figured out how to keep going to the potty just like before.  i used it twice already.  she keeps trying to move my 2 front paws on the big seat, i don't know why.  but she is very happy after i do my businesses.  i think that's enough potty talk.  it's kinda embarrassing. 

hk merchandise pick of the week:  everyone knows i'm a really famous kitty and there's lots of stuff to buy with my picture on it.  really i want all of it, but mama tells me that greedy kitties get nothin' so i'm just gonna pick one thing a week, then cross my paws real tight and hope she gets it for me.  this week i want this hello kitty collar made by sanrio.  mommy says it's not a safety collar but i dunno, it looks pretty safe to me.  you can buy it on ebay here from this seller.

okay, i think i'm pretty good at blogging.  until next week, like veronica says, "pees out" -- hello

this morning she is happier.  we played a little with her new toy.  she is back in the sink again instead of hiding in her crate.  her appetite is healthy and i phased out the purina one kibble and now she is just eating innova EVO dry.  i'm hoping the higher quality food will help the shedding and improve her coat which feels course.  at some point i'd like to get her started on an all wet food diet.  her fosters said she won't even touch the stuff.

nothing new with hello.  i have a friend coming over to help me install the padded toilet seats later today.  i'm looking forward to that.  i've started positioning hello again, but now i'm just gently placing her 2 front paws on the white seat.  everything is still falling into the litter.

i did want to mention that a good fellow t-training blogger friend shelly decided to quit training eleanor & sunshine this past week.  one of the reasons that contributed to her giving up was due to harrassment she got from the yahoo cat t-training group moderator(s) about her blog.  she got to the point where she was afraid of blogging and she felt like her blog was an essential tool in her t-training process.  i'm very sad that sometimes it comes to this and i will miss our daily rantings and her support dearly.  take a look at her farewell entry and please leave her a comment wishing her well.

btw, my email is still down... can you believe my luck?  you can email me in the interim at jwang018@gmail.com.

i

now, for some reason, i can't login to check my email.  i've had some really bad luck with the internet this week.  it's just one thing after another....

so it's been a rollercoaster ride with mimmy until recently.  mimmy barely ate anything monday and tuesday.  then wednesday she didn't eat a thing.  she also started growling at me and retreated into her crate in the bathroom and wanted nothing to do with me.  she had me so worried.  i couldn't get her into the vet on wed, i settled for a thurs appt.  i had a buffet of food laid out for her:  2 kinds of wet food and 3 kinds of dry food (including purina one which she ate at her foster's).  by wednesday afternoon i was going through my refrigerator and pantry looking for ANYTHING she might eat.  i gave her some canned tuna and i found some bacon.  who can turn down bacon?  well apparently she could.  i had heated both of them up to bring out the aroma.  hello was so jealous watching me bring the yummy smelling food into mimmy's bathroom.  mimmy ignored me and the food.  

the vet told me to find the stinkiest cat food i could find so hello and i took a trip to petsmart.  it wasn't a very fun trip for her b/c as soon as we walked in, there were about 12 big dogs in dog obedience class and walking around the front of the store.  she was not impressed.  well, i bought some feliway, some urine remover, a litter scoop, a plush toy for mimmy (i figured she needed some toys that didn't smell like hello), some freeze-dried salmon for hello, and 2 kinds of cat food.  one was salmon and the other was mackeral and sardines.  doesn't that sound stinky?  i went home, plugged in the feliway, and crossed my fingers.  i came in after an hour to check on mimmy and she started purring when i touched her.  wow, she's friendly again.  the feliway does work.  i brought her some of the mackeral/sardine wet kitty food that was warmed up.  i put a little on her nose so she would have to lick it off.  she still didn't want to eat.  she also didn't use the litter box all day.

thursday morning brought good news.  i woke up to hearing mimmy eat on the other side of the door.  she still seemed frightened though.  i cancelled my vet appt at anya's suggestion.  she said that mimmy needed to stay home and didn't need the stress of going to the kitty doc.  mimmy continued to eat all day yesterday and used the LB for a big pee last night.  (still no poop since she has been here, but surely something has to come out soon!)  this morning she actually seems a tiny bit cheerful and actually came out of her crate for me when i walked in.

hello seems to be fine with mimmy and not at all jealous, which was what i worried about the most.  mimmy seems to be more of an agressor and is doing all the hissing and growling lately.  everytime hello comes into my room, i see her looking around for mimmy.  when we hear mimmy moving around in the bathroom, sometimes hello jumps off my bed and sits in front of the bathroom door to listen.  hello shows interest and tries to get peeks of mimmy when i open the door. 

the padded toilet seats will hopefully be going in today.  let me see if i can figure out how to put them in.  regarding hello's t-training, she has been doing well.  well, except for an incident wednesday night when she peed in my brother's bed again.  he left his door open.  it seems she will pee in there any chance she can get.  i am ready for the padded seat experiment to see if it will change her positioning.

how is mimmy?  oh, she's still in the sink.  it’s hard to believe that i have a new cat and instead of bragging about her, i am blogging about her bathroom habits already!  sorry another long blog today, but keep reading… this one is good!  monday morning, mimmy used the roasting pan next to the toilet (see photo posted yesterday) when i filled it with clean clay clumping litter only.  after she used it, i added a tiny bit of the clay + flushable litter mix that was gently used by hello.  she didn’t use it again monday night or all day yesterday (and i saw her drink all that toilet water too) and i started getting worried that it would be harmful to her holding it in for so long.  i was trying to figure out if mimmy didn’t like (1) the small, flimsy roasting pan (which crackles), (2) using litter with hello’s scent on it, or (3) the addition of the flushable litter.  so last night i put hello’s old booda dome litter box out w/o the cover.  it was filled with the gently used clay and flushable mix.  after a few hours i saw that she didn’t use that either.

earlier today, alikat on the LK forum suggested that i get mimmy started on the red disc (no white seat) on the floor.  it seemed too light, shallow and easily tipped over or moved.  i was looking for a shallow box that the red disc would fit in to keep it in place and to prevent litter from flying everywhere.  i realized that the disc fit inside the roasting pan perfectly.  

so i put out a third litter tray--  the roasting pan with the LK red disc in it filled with 100% fresh clay clumping litter and set mimmy down in it.  she sniffed but jumped out, then walked over to the first RP and took a nice long pee.  some of it leaked onto the floor (the RP is small).  it was a mess cleaning up.  i had to go down 2 flights of stairs to hello’s bathroom to get the urine cleaner and the litter locker (wonderful invention, btw).  the handheld vacuum cleaner is on the first floor too!  it hit me that i will be cleaning 2 bathrooms for the next 2 months.  also, i remembered how much i hate clay clumping litter dust and tomorrow, i need to buy another bottle of urine enzymatic cleaner, one for each bathroom and maybe another litter scoop.

and then another revelation!  this time a good one.  i put the roasting pan w/ red disc into the toilet bowl and put the seat down.  oh my gosh!  i made myself a second LK!  just earlier today i was contemplating buying a second LK for mimmy and her upstairs toilet.  i was remarking how expensive this toilet training project was getting buying the LK ($67), baby video monitor ($200), and 2 padded toilet seats ($40).  this is so wonderful -- look at the photos!  it will be perfect once i get the padded t-seat installed!

photos:  (1) 3 litter boxes (rearranged for the photo), see the RP with red disc in it on the floor, (2) RP + red disc in toilet, (3) RP + red disc w/ toilet seat down

i found mimmy’s favorite website.  it’s called cats in sinks.  they display only photos of, you guessed it, cats in sinks.  since i have so many of mimmy in her favorite place, i uploaded a few.  hopefully one of her photos will be picked!