Coupons in the Cat Litter Box and Other Stuff

We've been using this cat litter that's made out of wheat, mainly because the commercial cat litters kind of stink what with all the chemicals and whatever else they put in them so that you won't smell the cat pee. The added scents are supposed to cover up cat pee smell but when your cats fur smells like highly scented cat litter you kind of wonder if this stuff is good for them, what with them spending so much time sitting and scratching in it. Anyway, the stuff is called Swheat Scoop, and while it may cost a little more than clay based litters, it's made out of wheat so you could probably even make a loaf of bread out of it. And, anyway, the last few boxes we've gotten had a coupon inside where if you save 12 of them you send them in for a coupon for a free box of litter. Is it worth saving up 12 coupons to get a free box of litter? I was a little hesitant to even bother with it because it would take us at the very least 6 months to save up enough coupons, but what the heck, we'll save them and maybe some day get a free box of litter.

Well, today I open up a new box of Swheat Scoop- I always want to pronounce the name as sweat like body sweat not sweet like candy, which a full litter box definitely doesn't resemble in the least and there is nothing sweet about it at all, more like stinky sweat if you ask me, but anyway, I open up the box and it is crammed full of coupons like the coupon machine went a little crazy. There ended up being 7 coupons falling out of the box, so...it's the little things that brighten your day, right?

Free cat litter coming soon.

Keith may be taking a little trip to Vegas here soon, not for fun in the sun as you might think, but to check on his mom. His son James, who lives in a little garage apartment at her house, supposedly to help take care of her, called us yesterday with the news that she had thought she was having a heart attack and was being taken by ambulance to the hospital. She is a worrying sort of person and hasn't been sleeping well because she worries so much, and started feeling dizzy and having chest pains and pushed her life alert button that called the paramedics and then called James, who was out walking his dog or something. Anyway, her EKG looked fine so the paramedics thought maybe it was an anxiety attack, but it turns out that it may have been a mini stroke. So...she was going to spend the night at the hospital and then probably come home today. Keith is a little worried now, too, and thinks it might be best if he gets in the car and drives out there. I agree, and even though we can't afford the gas for the 5 hour trip, it's something that he really needs to do, so good thing we still have credit available on the credit card to pay for that gas with. We're just waiting to see if they actually release her today and if so he'll probably drive out there tonight or tomorrow morning.

And, last night I made a dinner that turned out good! Surprise surprise! I had chicken enchiladas on the menu, kind of a staple around here since even though it is a little labor intensive, what with frying tortillas and shredding chicken, and grating cheese, and rolling those little suckers up, it's fairly economical and only has a few ingredients, so...chicken enchiladas. I have always used La Victoria enchilada sauce which is okay but a little too bitey spicy for me and usually gives me a little indigestion and why I kept using it I don't know, but I got a can of Old El Paso sauce this time, I think because it was cheaper maybe. Anyway, it was REALLY GOOD! Not spicy, but kind of sweet. So now it will be Old El Paso in my enchiladas, which did I say tasted REALLY GOOD?

I finally cleaned the bathrooms this morning, a job that for some reason I procrastinate quite badly about, each day saying tomorrow I'll clean the bathroom. I don't know why I hate it so much because it only took me all of 15 minutes to clean and if I just did that every few days instead of putting it off and putting it off I'd have a continually clean bathroom. Maybe I should make it a rule that I can't have my coffee until I clean the dang bathroom or something. Snort. Like that would actually work, I'd just hate cleaning the bathroom even more because I hadn't had my coffee yet.

Freaked Out Lucy

Last night I went to Target for a new box of cat litter. We're trying out this brand called Swheatscoop that's made out of wheat instead of the usual perfumed dusty litter that we've been using, thinking that we all don't need to be breathing in the dust that the old litter made, no matter how well it worked. This stuff just smells a little like a piece of bread, that kind of yeasty baking smell when you pour it in the box, and actually seems to work a little better and last a little longer than the old litter.

Anyway, Keith takes the box into the workroom to put it in the litter box and Lucy totally freaked out, hackles raised and just staring at the box of litter. What the heck? Oh, there is a life sized picture of a CAT on the box of litter. She thinks there is a strange cat in her house.


So, she stares and stares at this box of litter, while Mimi nonchalantly walks by, sniffs the box and checks it all out, then wanders away.


Those are Keith's legs in the background, he's waiting to clean out the old litter and add the new.

Lucy is still staring.


Pepper comes in to check out the box as Lucy starts slinking closer.


Lucy kept inching forward and was finally brave enough to confront the box.


This was a first for us, none of the cats have ever gotten freaked out like this before, and most of the cat litter boxes and food bags we've brought into the house have cat pictures on them. Lucy finally figured out that this new cat was not a threat, and the litter boxes got cleaned and filled.

That Not So Fresh Feeling

When you have six cats and two huge cat boxes (we use the big plastic oil change pans for cat boxes, not those tiny things you find at the pet store) you deal with a lot of poop and pee. Similar to what people with multiple small children deal with on a daily basis. At least we don't have to wash diapers or wipe butts, though.

Anyway, lots of stinkiness every day. We had been using Scoop Away litter, which comes in a big plastic tub with a snap on lid. It smells good, works pretty well, and the tubs make great all purpose bins to store things in. All of the guys at Keith's work have cat litter tubs for storing their tools and junk now. It probably looks a little strange to see guys in uniforms carrying around cat litter tubs while they're doing their burly man work, but hey, cheap tool bins and recycling to boot!

The only thing bad about this brand of litter is that it creates a fine dust that gets all over everything. Good smelling dust, though. So, we decided to give a different less dusty brand a try and went with Tidy Cats, which comes in an even bigger all purpose plastic tub with a snap on lid. All is well, right?

Does anyone remember that cat litter commercial where the woman comes into a house, her nose wrinkles up, and she says (in a rather snotty tone) oh, you have cats...
Well, that's what our house was smelling like. Cat box. I'd be sitting doing something and my nose would wrinkle and I'd say oh, we have cats...stinky cats.

So, back to the dusty Scoop Away, and now our house smells better. It even makes the never ending job of cat box scooping not so bad, because now when I scoop, tiny scent crystals are released into the air, making everything smell not quite as stinky.