Scrambled for Sand

I forgot to ask Chewie's humans about their litter box practices. So I simply went according to mine- scooping daily, and topping up sand, changing out to totally fresh litter every 8-10 days. That included scrubbing down the litter box and the floor. Chewie seems fine with what I’ve been doing.

This is the first time I’m playing nanny to Chewie. So I’m a little nervous about her litter box habits. I do not want to return her with new toilet habits to her humans. Litter box habits will tell me if she’s ill. That day I merrily swopped out fresh litter, and to my horror, there wasn’t a new pack in the storeroom (I forgot to check), and the regular shop was closed on Tuesdays! I had to mix in some of the old. But it didn’t hit the 2.5 inches depth I wanted. It evened out at 1.5 inches. It was sufficient, but Chewie’s a shoveler. Arrrrrgh.

Thought it wasn’t a big deal, and I could head out to buy sand. After calling eight stores, I realized that no one had stock of this particular brand. And if any store has it, it would be tiny ones that have no online presence. Yup, in this day and age, like this regular store for Chewie, it has zero results on Google. Even called two good friends who live nearby and have cats- in an attempt to get two pounds of sand if they use the same brand. No, unfortunately. Chewie’s litter box would have to wait 12 hours then.

Was worried that the cat wouldn’t like the depth of the sand and therefore pee elsewhere. Although my optimistic voice said 'no worries' to that because it was of minimally sufficient depth and the litter consisted of mainly clean new sand. When I returned the next day with fresh packs of sand, to my great relief, all was fine. But yes, more sand was necessary. Chewie needs a depth of 2.5 inches.

Gonna hand over care of the cat back to her humans soon. Byeeee cutie. I can only do this for good friends and familiar pets, and even then, it’s selective. These would obviously have to be friends I see on a fairly regular basis, and faeriefolk whom I love. There’re too many trust issues at stake. Burning the house down is the least of your problems. Imagine being accused of theft or mischief, or making the pet ill. Pets won't know any better. It's all those horror stories of having an enterprising dog slip the leash and run away, or forgetting to close a window in the apartment and the curious cat jumps to a certain death. 😱