>We have had Thor (pronounced Tor) for three weeks now and have been
>absolutely unsuccessful in trying to get him to use the litter box,
 
Some at our house refuse the litterbox but are 100% paper trained.  Besides
using newspaper (which in my opinion is easier to clean than a litterbox
just putting down fresh paper in the morning and night and throwing out
soiled ones) you can also use Depends chair or mattress pads (available at
KMart, Target, WalMart and the like) which are deoderant and absorbant or
also there are puppy training pads (I've seen at Pet Food warehouse and
PETsMART) that work and also a kitty litterbox diaper I've tried w/no litter
but still in a box (I've seen at Walmart and Pet Food Warehouse).
 
>Exterminating:
Okay, this is probably really stupid of me to bring up because I am not an
extermination expert.  But, I think the pyrethrums that are usually sprayed
in regular insect exterminations are not harmful when dry.  They are
extremely harmful if wet and absorbed or if vapor and inhaled as I
understand it.  The reason, as I understand it, you are to leave the
premises when being sprayed is not to wait for the stuff to disburse or blow
away or whatever but rather to wait for the stuff to *dry* when it is not
harmful anymore because it is not absorbable or inhalable.  I believe that
pyrethrums are actually extracts from a flower (really I think this is true,
a chrysanthemum or something).  The stuff doesn't work if it is washed up.
It is a contact poison & kills bugs when the bugs walk over it.  It is
harmful when dry to bugs but not harmful when dry to humans/animals.  And
the stuff loses effectiveness over time.  It usually only works 60 or 90
days and then is inert.  The other major thing I think they use is a
rotenone which is made from legume roots - it breaks down in a couple week.
Now, don't get me wrong.  When we were exterminated they recommended we
leave for 3 hours, we left for a whole day.  When we returned we washed the
counters and sinks and places we would have food and we also washed and
cleaned the place where the beasts eat & sleep.  We put down a mat under the
beasts food and water dishes, etc.  We took precautions - but to wash the
stuff up completely makes it worthless.  And if you are in an apt bldg,
after you washed all the stuff up I would think all the bugs would come live
at your place instead of your neighbors.  Bombs are little bit different of
a story but have relatively low toxicity - they, as it was explained to me,
are not really for killing bugs en masse but mainly for driving them out of
walls and clothes etc in order to be poisoned on contact by the dried spray.
For bombs - you are waiting for the stuff to disburse before returning.
Okay everybody, feel free to lambaste me for my ignorance... but with
reputable exterminators (we've used Bradley Exterminating and they told us
all about the contents of their products) and common sense we've never had a
problem.
[Posted in FML issue 1588]