Sorry for my subject line, but I couldn't resist.  All of the talk about
poop and litterbox training, and I had to jump in.
 
Why my friends think I'm crazy:
 
1. I not only don't mind picking up the occasional poop in the corner sans
litter box, but I examine it (ahem, not under the microscope or anything,
but you know) before tossing it.  Poop can tell you a lot about the health
of the pooper.
 
2. On a related note, one of my friends watched my fuzzy for a few weeks
last year when I was away and in my daily e-mails, I would always ask for
a poop report.  When I got back, my friend told me that he was going to
get me a Poop-o-Meter that measures volume, color, and consistency, for
Christmas.  Christmas was 8 months ago, but I still have a raincheck for
such a device.
 
3. My SO and I have SEPARATELY come to the same conclusion that the best
time to pick up the occasional accidental poop in the corner sans litter
box is about 20 minutes after it's been sitting there.  Too early, and it
leaves a squish mark on the carpet.  Too late, and it's dry and hard to
pick up.
 
Okay, I hope no one was eating breakfast while reading all that ... If so,
my deepest apologies.
 
Seriously though, 90% of the time, my fuzzie's cage door is open and she is
allowed to come and go from her cage as she pleases.  Sometimes she chooses
to take a nap in her hammock or curled up in her blankies on the floor of
her cage, and when this is the case, she has a 100% hit rate for the litter
box.  When she's out of her cage, she'll use the appropriate place for
pooping (i.e., with either a litterbox or paper) about 75 - 80% of the time
(actually, I don't know -- believe it or not, I don't keep track.  After
what I wrote above, you probably don't believe that :) ).  But those other
times, when she's playing so intently, and is far from her preferred
pooping place, and suddenly realizes that she has to poop and then does
so... she'll suddenly become a speed bump and stare up at me remorsefully.
 
So to whoever wrote that they have a "low tolerance for animals crapping in
(their) living quarters" and describes ferrets with a lower than 99-100%
hit rate as "an animal that craps all over your house with no hope of being
trained otherwise" : I'm not throwing flames, but why so extreme?  Would
you feel the same about a child that occasionally wet the bed?  Perhaps a
little more empathy is needed here.  I mean, I believe that (1) they do
know what their litterboxes are for, BUT that (2) they do have short little
legs and (3) they do play so intently.  So added all together, this means
that an "accident" is just that, an ACCIDENT.  I do NOT have crap all over
my house, but there IS the "accidental pooping" now and then (is that like
that movie, "The Accidental Tourist"?), and when there is such an ACCIDENT,
I see no point in getting upset about it.
 
Just pick up the poop and move on.
 
Just my 0.02.
Helen
[Posted in FML issue 2749]