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Bobbles is funny. She's always crying at closed doors. It doesn't have to be a room where people are located. She just doesn't like not having complete access to every inch of the house. There is one door that has to remain closed for the sake of the Basset. It's the basement door off of the kitchen. We keep the trash can on the stairway landing, and the basement door prevents the Basset from eating the trash. It turns out the basement is Bobbles' most favorite place in the world. I have no idea what she does down there, but she wants in the basement repeatedly. Back and forth.
Anytime someone hears Bobbles crying or banging on the door, she is let in or out of the basement. She can't be ignored. She's very demanding. This has caused some problems for Bobbles because sometimes we forget she's there. As a result, a separate litter box needed to be placed in the basement. At her request. After she pooped down there once.
I made a house rule: Whoever lets Bobbles into the basement has to stick around to let Bobbles out of the basement. This rule doesn't go over well because sometimes she can be down there for hours. There's not hurrying Bobbles out of the basement. I tried last night when I wanted to go to bad. She's tricky and runs behind things. You have to play this game until she feels the need to run up the stairs to escape you and the basement.
She's a silly girl. My husband calls it Bobble's cleaning the basement. She always comes up covered in cobwebs. After all of these months, you'd think she would be done cleaning, that there would be no more cobwebs.
I would probably just adopt a schedule for the family such as after 7pm Bobbles is no longer allowed in the basement, no matter what she says. She can whine and moan all she wants, but she has all day to clean, dust, inspect, whatever she does down there all day. When you want to go to bed you should be able to go to bed. After a short while she'll get used to it - maybe you'll need to distract her - maybe play with her a bit with a laser pointer and direct her away from the door, or give her some 'nip, or a snack - something to get her mind off of the door. It's just not right that one little kitty manages the entire household, no matter how cute she is!!!
Perhaps you could divert her energy by providing some lovely new curtains in the kitchen that she could run up and down over and over again in a test to see how long it would take her to destroy them. Just kidding. Did you get or make those new curtains yet?
Just be glad that she's not outside, catching field mice, bringing them in to the house alive and then when she gets bored of playing with them, letting them go to run all over the house.
ps: It's very mean to starve the poor basset hound so that he is forced to try and scavenge whatever meager scrapes might be in the garbage.
Hopes, I always love your descriptions of Bobbles's escapades.
Are you sure there are no mice in the basement? My kitties LOVE the basement ... I suspect there might be a mouse or two down there, and two of mine are great hunters.
Is there any way to completely Basset-proof the trash can, so you don't have to keep the door closed?
Years ago my wife & I built a rather heavy duty plywood box to put our kitchen trash basket in. It has a two piece, double hinged lid and is heavy enough it can't be tipped over. It holds a normal 13 gal plastic kitchen waste basket & is quite easy to use. It was all painted & looking good at one time, but needs re-done now. If you had something like this, I doubt the Basset could get to the trash. Just a thought.
It's just not right that one little kitty manages the entire household, no matter how cute she is!!!
That's what she's doing! She has us wrapped around her little claw!
OMG, I saw her sibling at the neighbor's house yesterday. It's the kitten that was given away on Halloween and taken by the family with tons of children who may or may not have killed the previous kitten. He is so adorable and petite just like Bobbles. It's clear as day they are siblings. And he's so sweet. When I was leaving, a little four year old picked her up and had her cradled in her arms. He was an upside down furry donut just happy as could be.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zugor
Perhaps you could divert her energy by providing some lovely new curtains in the kitchen that she could run up and down over and over again in a test to see how long it would take her to destroy them. Just kidding. Did you get or make those new curtains yet?
No curtains yet. I'm focused on the tile for the kitchen floor at this point. I fully intend to teach Bobbles that curtains are scary via using spring rods. Fingers crossed it works.
Quote:
Originally Posted by zugor
ps: It's very mean to starve the poor basset hound so that he is forced to try and scavenge whatever meager scrapes might be in the garbage.
We're terrible Basset owners!
Quote:
Originally Posted by karen_in_nh_2012
Are you sure there are no mice in the basement? My kitties LOVE the basement ... I suspect there might be a mouse or two down there, and two of mine are great hunters.
I was starting to wonder one day when she was particularly interested in the basement. They're not down there. If they were, she would have gotten one by now. We had our house mouse and rat proofed years ago. (If anyone wants to know the details involved in doing such a thing, I'll gladly share.) I assure you that it would take a very special rodent to get into our basement. I think there's just a lot of spiders and bugs down there to keep her busy. The other thing is the lacrosse balls. The concrete floor is extremely uneven so they roll for eternity in multiple directions. They keep her attention much longer than any cat toy we would buy for her.
Quote:
Originally Posted by catdad7x
Is there any way to completely Basset-proof the trash can, so you don't have to keep the door closed?
Years ago my wife & I built a rather heavy duty plywood box to put our kitchen trash basket in. It has a two piece, double hinged lid and is heavy enough it can't be tipped over. It holds a normal 13 gal plastic kitchen waste basket & is quite easy to use. It was all painted & looking good at one time, but needs re-done now. If you had something like this, I doubt the Basset could get to the trash. Just a thought.
I doubt there is any contraption that Basset poofs rubbish. The trash can isn't the only problem. Our pantry is on the landing. Shelves going from the floor to ceiling. A week ago, my son had the brilliant idea of leaving the basement door open in the middle of the night so Bobbles could come back on her own. The Basset must have a sixth sense because he snuck out of our bedroom in the middle of the night and raided the pantry. He redecorated the first floor with the remains of various food cartons torn to shreds!
I feel Hopes' pain. Blaliko and Seteria also love visiting the basement, no more so than when it's laundry time. It defies logic because they've not once gotten a treat after accompanying me down there. But that didn't stop Weasie during her nineteen-year reign either. In our case it's not feasible to keep the stairwell door open because we live in a 3-unit building. Neighbors and their guests often use that stairway. Plus it's super drafty in the wintertime.
So what I've resorted to is the solution that usually works best - a compromise. The back door stays opened just wide enough for a cat to pass through once one or both have headed for the cellar. Better that than to hear those over-the-top dramatic meows, telling of being marooned for days, for half the street to hear. And when it's time to leave the house I've been trained to allow about 5-10 extra minutes to summon them and for them to choose to oblige. My thinking here is that there must be some way to keep the door to the basement propped open only to a certain width, resistant to the canine's efforts.
That's what she's doing! She has us wrapped around her little claw!
OMG, I saw her sibling at the neighbor's house yesterday. It's the kitten that was given away on Halloween and taken by the family with tons of children who may or may not have killed the previous kitten. He is so adorable and petite just like Bobbles. It's clear as day they are siblings. And he's so sweet. When I was leaving, a little four year old picked her up and had her cradled in her arms. He was an upside down furry donut just happy as could be.
No curtains yet. I'm focused on the tile for the kitchen floor at this point. I fully intend to teach Bobbles that curtains are scary via using spring rods. Fingers crossed it works.
We're terrible Basset owners!
I was starting to wonder one day when she was particularly interested in the basement. They're not down there. If they were, she would have gotten one by now. We had our house mouse and rat proofed years ago. (If anyone wants to know the details involved in doing such a thing, I'll gladly share.) I assure you that it would take a very special rodent to get into our basement. I think there's just a lot of spiders and bugs down there to keep her busy. The other thing is the lacrosse balls. The concrete floor is extremely uneven so they roll for eternity in multiple directions. They keep her attention much longer than any cat toy we would buy for her.
I doubt there is any contraption that Basset poofs rubbish. The trash can isn't the only problem. Our pantry is on the landing. Shelves going from the floor to ceiling. A week ago, my son had the brilliant idea of leaving the basement door open in the middle of the night so Bobbles could come back on her own. The Basset must have a sixth sense because he snuck out of our bedroom in the middle of the night and raided the pantry. He redecorated the first floor with the remains of various food cartons torn to shreds!
I know that probably wasn't funny, but that mental picture made me chuckle... sorry.
So here's another thought. You could put a small cat door in the door leading to the basement, but rig the flap so it only opens one way. You would still have to open the door to let Bobbles go down, but she would be able to come back up & through the cat door on her own. You wouldn't have to worry about being there to let her out. If done right, the Basset shouldn't be able to mess with it.
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If you had something like this, I doubt the Basset could get to the trash. Just a thought.
