Outvoted again!

It's really hard to win disputes in my house when I'm surrounded by three guys with absolute determination written all over their furry faces and whose argument for every situation is "meow." I just can't win.

Ever since we moved into the house, I've had this fantasy of never having to clean another litter box in my lifetime. Short of getting rid of my furry roommates, I decided to encourage them to use the great outdoors as their toilet, since they do have 24-hour access to the backyard. Saturday afternoon I moved the box from the spare bathroom out onto the patio and closed off all the doors leading to the bathrooms and bedrooms. The plan had a chance to work. I saw Turtle using the box a few hours later. Tommy had an issue, though. I caught him circling in the house, so took him outside and set him down in front of the litter box. He wasn't real happy, and he wandered off into the yard.

The first few days I was happy that the new situation seemed to be working. Then the rains came. Can't really blame them for not wanting to go outside in the weather, but there still didn't seem to be any problems, and I looked every day when I got home from work for signs of rebellion. This morning the peace was broken when Tommy showed his disagreement by peeing in the living room. Thankfully it was on some newspapers I had spread out as dropcloths, but still. (And let's face it, newspapers aren't that quick at absorbing anything, so some did end up on the carpet.) I fussed at him while I was cleaning up, but all I got was a view of his raised tail as he walked away, victorious at making his point.

So, the litterbox is now back in the house, although it is currently beside the cat door. Maybe I will leave it there for a bit and then try to move it onto the patio again.