Actually, it was still a kitten, but it was house-trained already.

Because the owners live in a complex, they didn’t want the kitten wandering off on it’s own. They don’t have their own garden, and they’re worried that it would get lost, considering they’d only had it a week. So they had trained it so that it would not leave the patio.

They also mentioned that the cat NEVER had any “accidents” on the carpet. They feed the kitten pellets every day, and the one day they decided to try soft food, it didn’t agree with the cat. And even though the kitten JUST made to the litterbox, that’s where he did his business.

How did they train their kitten?

What you will need to train your cat is simply a spray water bottle.

Whenever the kitten did anything wrong, like scratching anything other than his scratching post, they would spray him with a little water. It was more a mist than anything, but it gave him enough of a fright without hurting him. It definitely seems that it stops the cat scratching the furniture and curtains.

They did the same thing whenever he tried to go off the patio. They would just give him a short squirt with the water spray, and he knew he had to get back on the patio.

Personally, I thought it was amazing. And he really looked like a happy little kitten. And BOY was he active!!!

Training cats to use their litterbox

Obviously, owning a domestic cat means that the cat will live inside. Though, as we all know, cats live where they want to, and tend to come home for food and a quick petting.

But as I said earlier, since the owners had bought their kitten, it had NEVER done it’s business on the floor. It has always gone to the litter box.

I asked them how they had done this, and they said that as soon as they brought the kitten into the house when they first got it, they took it straight to the litterbox. Then, they would show it a room in the house, and take it to the litterbox again.

They did this for every room in their house, always going back to the litterbox afterwards.

So, THAT is how you domesticate a domestic cat.

Do you have any other tips you’d like to share? Please leave a comment at the bottom of this page…

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2008. | How to train a cat | Only one comment. Click here to add yours... |

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Valentines Day Gift Ideas for Women
Valentines Day Gift Ideas for Men
Decorating The Home With Valentines Day Decor

Well, in the spirit of my “Gifts for my Mother In Law” post, I’d like to tell you about 3 things that I did for Valentines Day over the years, which I think were big hits, and HOPEFULLY they will inspire you this year.

All I ask in return is a little help from you. Below you will see that you can leave a comment. Please could you leave a comment saying what you did for Valentines Day sometime in the past. This way, there will be a nice little list of ideas for Valentines Day that will benefit everyone (especially me ).

So, here goes.

Valentines Idea #1:

Send Roses to the office. Obviously this is only really going to work if you’re a guy sending roses to your wife or girlfriend’s office. But believe me, this may sound corny, but it is a DEFINITE good thing to do. Other ladies in the office are jealous because she received roses, AND she feels good because she received her Red Roses for Valentines Day. (A sidenote, if you’re South African, I actually used NetFlorist for this and they were quite good, so the ad below is no coincidence…).

Valentines Idea #2:

Take the Day off work and go for a picnic. This is quite a cheap thing to do really, because you only need to buy a few sandwiches or some finger food, drinks, and a couple of deserts, and find a park or botanical garden to go and have your picnic. And, I think picnics are always quite high on the Romantic Scale.

Valentines Idea #3:

Similar to Valentines Idea #2, but the one year we took the day off to go horse-riding. Not necessarily everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s something fun to do. And then, there’s the picnic or lunch out afterwards.

So, thanks for stopping by, and feel free to leave your ideas in the comments below…

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2007. | Some Valentines Day ideas | 3 comments. Click here to add yours... |

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I know my mother enjoys mixing tonic water with orange juice, but I’m not really into that one…

Do you have any other combinations for cold drinks that people might like?

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Great Cooldrink Idea | Only one comment. Click here to add yours... |

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In South Africa, we don’t say barbeque, we say braai, (pronounced like “guy”, but with a “br” instead of a “g” ), and a popular thing to do when having a lot of people around is to have a bring and braai. This is when people bring their own meat and drinks, and the host supplies the salads, deserts, and the utensils, and everybody has a great time…

Well, if you want to do something like this but for Christmas (assuming you’re in the tropics or southern hemisphere), then have a bring and braai, but get everybody to bring 1 unisex present that costs a certain amount (or less). It mustn’t cost too much, and having a limit prevents people from over-spending. Then, at the end of your evening, you can hand out presents, and EVERYBODY gets one.

Don’t you think that’s GENIUS! Best Christmas party you’ll have without breaking the bank… And, of course, you don’t have to have a braai/barbeque, you could just have a normal meal. As long as people bring presents, the idea is the same.

Have any better ideas? I’d love it if you left a comment to share it with the world…

© James for Make a good house a GREAT home, 2006. | Best Christmas Party Idea Ever | 4 comments. Click here to add yours... |

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