Yesterday boasted a nifty experience: I got to be on the radio! As I was driving into the office, I was listening to NPR as per usual. They were promoting the topics for the 9 and 10 o'clock hours for "Weekday." When Steve Scher announced that Steve Duno was going to be the guest my ears immediately perked up! Steve Duno, aka The Cat Whisperer, is an animal behaviorist and appears on Weekday from time to time. Last time he was on, I tried calling too late and didn't get the chance to ask my question. But THIS time I was determined to get on the air! :) I parked the car, ran up to my desk and tuned in via the internet. As soon as Steve Scher announced the call-in number, my fingers were a-dialin'!
You can probably imagine my surprise when I got thru on the first try and wound up being the 2nd caller on the air!! (I've had YEARS of experience calling in and winning radio contests and was 100% prepared for busy signals and repeat dialing galore.)
My question was mostly about the orange and white ball of fluff who has been known to go by Fatty Fatty Bang Bang when I'm feeling particularly creative. See, FFBB has started engaging in a rather unfortunate behavior. In February of last year, he started spontaneously peeing in the front hall entryway. On our friends' shoes. Yes, I know. Gross. We've tried all manner of things to discourage the behavior including removing all pee on-able items, feline pheromone, enzyme cleaner and restricting him from being down there. He has *mostly* stopped, but I still haven't 100% eradicated the odor which not only drives me insane but also means he can still smell it too. Again, gross. He has also picked up the disgusting habit of not covering his number 2s, which without fail has either B or me diving for the incense the moment we hear the nefarious "scratch scratch scratch" emanating from one of the litter boxes.
Sadly, the Cat Whisperer didn't have to terribly much to recommend. He did suggest introducing some new scents like lavender or an evergreen bough in another room to see how FFBB responds. He also indicated that this was likely territorial behavior - both the pee sprees and evasion of doodie duty. Sadly, there isn't too much we can do with that short of making this a single kitty household, and THAT just isn't gonna happen. What I've been meaning to do is follow a 30-day intensive plan for cleaning and treating the front hall that was outlined in another book I read on cat behavior. Sadly, in my world, "meaning to do" and "actually doing" are two concepts that live in vastly different worlds. You can prolly guess just how far I've gotten on that particular project. :P
Anywho, if you are interested and want to hear my ultra sexy radio voice (HA!), surf on over to NPR to listen to the show I was on.
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