My day starts out with cat poop. Right after my morning coffee and before I leave for work, I pooper scoop four cat litter boxes. And, once a week, I empty said boxes and re-fill with fresh litter. Needless to say, I go through quite a lot of kitty litter each month, probably close to 100 pounds, give or take.

Grace is the alpha female.

There is a place in my back yard at the edge of where my property becomes woods that I have been dumping the kitty litter. I call this place Kitty Poop Mountain. Brian recently suggested that I start alternately emptying the boxes at various other locales in the wooded areas of our property, so that we don’t end up with one huge pile of poop. Yes, good idea! Why have one huge mountain of poop when I can have numerous hills instead? So, every weekend, usually Sunday, I carry the litter boxes, two at a time, to the edge of our back deck. From there, I can load the four of them into the wheelbarrow for easy maneuvering through the back yard. (Clever, aren’t I?) After a wash at the outdoor water hose, I dry them and return them to the laundry room to be filled for another week. Now, any multiple cat owner can tell you that a pride of cats has a unique pecking order that allows its leader certain privileges, such as using the litter box first. Grace is our alpha female and until Charlie came into our lives, she was always first. But, Charlie, still a kitten and unschooled in the ways of cat society, likes to leap in each of the boxes, right as they are being filled, to do a little business, which, of course, pisses Grace off.

Can you see how much Tess loves Charlie licking on her?

Ideally, I should have five litter boxes in my house, according to what cat experts say –  one for each cat and one extra. If not for Grace’s litter box rule, I would probably need to buy that fifth box.  Grace’s rule is that two of the boxes are to be used for pooping and two are for peeing only. Three cats follow the rule, Charlie, of course, just doesn’t get it yet, which pisses Grace off.

The two boy kitties, Charlie and Tink.

Now, about the litter itself. With this many cats, I have tried to buy the super duper cheap litter, like Johnny Cat. Grace, of course, refuses to use it. So, although I cannot buy the really cheap stuff, I am lucky that I can buy two grocery store brands of litter, which are, at least moderately priced litters. I try to keep roughly 50 pounds of litter available for changes, but of course, the store is sometimes out and my stockpile gets low. Inevitably, the boxes need changed, I don’t have enough litter and I must make a special litter run to the grocery store. (Yes, normal people make beer runs, cat people make litter runs.)

Oh, and I haven’t mentioned that Grace will poop in my ficus tree if I forget to scoop the litter box. Or, that I sweep up several cups of kitty litter from my floors each day. Or, that Sam Dog will eat the poop when he can get into that room. (He normally cannot get in, we keep the door closed and have installed a kitty door.)

I figure I can talk poop with the best of the mommy bloggers! Or anyone, for that matter. Give it your best shot!

And let me leave you with this thought about poop: “Never kick a fresh turd on a hot day.” – Harry S. Truman