Caturday: A List of Goals

A little over a week ago, Chris and I took Melody and Sybil to the vet together for their annual exam and vaccinations. As expected, we were told that Melody's teeth were in need of a dental. The vet also suggested a dental for Rosie when we took her in late June for her appointment. If you have a cat, then you know how much dentals are...and it's quite a lot for us right now, especially with two cats needing them soon. (I don't think that the prices are too high, because I'm fully aware of what dentals entail and how much things cost. I have a friend in vet school right now and they earn every penny they make--and it's not as much as you think!)

Anyway, with that in mind, I made a short list of cat-related goals. I don't have a set timeline for them, but it would be great to get going on them sooner rather than later!

1. Brush their teeth

We want to put off dentals for as long as possible, so we were told to brush their teeth! A couple of years ago, I got a small cat toothbrush and toothpaste from my former vet for Rosie, but she hated getting her teeth brushed, so I've since put it off. We were told to try first with a finger. We start by dipping a finger in tuna juice or other food juice, then touching their mouth, and once they're good with that, we can start trying to go inside their mouth. Once they're good with that, we'll get some sort of gauze or something abrasive to wrap around our finger and use that as the "brush" (or try and find an actual cat toothbrush!). I've been trying to get Rosie comfortable with it but it's taking some time. It probably doesn't help that I try it right before I feed her, and she's antsy from being hungry!

2. Calm the nail trims

Our cats are kind of like Goldilocks when it comes to nail trims in the sense that one cat is pretty good with them (Melody), one cat doesn't like them and voices her thoughts about it the whole time (Rosie), and the third cat howls and bites and scratches when she gets her nails done (Sybil). We've been trimming their nails at home without too much hassle, but it would be amazing to get Rosie and Sybil to realize that nail trims are not as bad as they think they are. We'll have to take our time pressing their paws and giving lots of praise when they are good.

3. Toilet train

Yep, you read that right! I would love to toilet train our cats. I've seen a few systems on Amazon and I'm hoping to give one a shot, though we have to be sure to be in town for at least a couple of months to keep the training consistent, so we might not get to it until after the new year. Wouldn't that be amazing to not have litter boxes around (or at least only have one in case of emergency)?! I think I could get used to sharing the toilet with my cats, haha. I feel as though Rosie would pick up on it quicker than the other two. I'm really interested to try and see! (Chris thinks I'm super weird for wanting to toilet train them...)