Check this out: So uplifting! (No pun intended, lol.) Here's the video:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=704_1350489947 This is the news story:
http://news.yahoo.com/rescue-baby-elephant-rope-land-rover-145411591.html.
Sienne, As for arthritis, he seems to be doing okay in the jumping department. He jumps up lithely on our bed which is pretty high. The bed he pooped on is unusually low.
The poop was formed just fine both times; not hard either. I watch him go in and out of the box. He hops out quickly, and he never covers his poo or pee any longer. He tries, of course, but he puts his paw outside the box and scratches at the floor -- LOL, he's not going to cover anything that way! He looks back at the box afterward, and I swear I see him shrug his shoulders then turn and walk away!!!! I can practically hear him say "Eh, screw it."
I keep the box clean, and it was pretty clean when he did this -- only one pee in there; he hasn't ever seemed to dislike the litter. I've been using it for at least 6 months. However, I DID MOVE THE BOX! Gasp! And the last time he did this I had moved the box. Bad bean! While our guests were here I didn't want it in the foyer. So, I put it in our bedroom.
I left it there after the guests left, and he did this about 4 or 5 days after they left. Maybe he expected me to move it back?
Who knows? It was probably a combination of everything being different for so many days in a row, and he said ENOUGH! I'm pooping on the bed! Interesting that he chose the bed we hadn't been sleeping on for about a week. We moved downstairs when the guests were here, and we have stayed down here since then.
We'll be going in for a check up soon, and I'll see if we can do some tests for GI issues.
GREG, Don't worry about the blue numbers! Max had some; and most cats who are in their trial period have a few. I don't think they mean anything as long as the cat isn't getting higher than normal numbers consistently. I know how you feel though!!! It is so hard to wait the whole 14 days and not worry about a blue number! It'll be fine!