Both my cats are female, almost 4 years old. I also agree that they can be extremely finicky about their litter AND the size of their box. I had to get one of them declawed when we moved...she was clawing everything, especially ME whenever she wanted to knead me. The vet insisted that I use "Yesterday's News" litter (one made out of newspaper) instead of their regular scoopable clay type. NEITHER cat would use the box until I switched back. And if I try to use too small a box (like the one I used when we moved and had to confine them to a huge kennel for the day), the BMs didn't make it into the box. I've also had female cats in the past with bladder issues that would spray, especially in the spring...It is not just males that spray. And they were spayed. Char

Joanie, while I've read that several times before I still laugh at it - so true! As someone who has a dog and is owned by 3 cats I can totally relate. We really did buy a king size bed several years ago when our little dog slept sideways on it and I was crowded in our queen size. Hard to believe a 17 lb. dog can stretch out 36" long! We've now banished them all from our new queen size bed! But I still have company in the powder room. One of our cats will scratch on the door, just like a dog, if the door is closed! *rolleyes*

Wow! Thanks to everybody for all of the your creative suggestions!!! I am still debating on the better location. It's either going to be in the garage or the basement bathtub (that no one EVER uses). For what it's worth, we use Tidy Cats clumping litter and it seems to do the best job for us. I also installed one of those intermittent spray air fresheners (runs on batteries and hangs on a simple nail) just over the tub where their box is. That has made a great deal of difference...but It's not enough to make me want a litter box off my foyer anymore! Natal, thanks for asking about the basement. It really got me rethinking my position on that. My reasons for avoiding using it as a litter spot is that since our renovation, the basement is just soooo nice now...I just hate to have that durn box, the scattered litter, the smells, etc. down there! The only place it can go is the tub though. My concern with that is that the tub is acrylic, and I am afraid of getting too many scratches. But, I'm thinking that if I get a couple of throw rugs to line the tub and lay over the edge, it might not be a problem. Now I'll just have to find a way of keeping them from clawing up the leather furniture that's down there...(maybe we'll have to re-try Soft Paws...hmmmm...) Sujafr, Thanks for the warning about losing the fire-rating on the door to the garage. I would not have thought of that in a zillion years. Hmmmmm...now that option does not seem so great. My DH will certainly hate the idea knowing that little tidbit. I'm glad I did not do my usual thing and just impulsively hack a hole in the door! Jeanne gallo--wow!!! That little cut-out for the kitties is awesome! I so want that in my next house!!!! Do you mind if I save a copy of the photos?? Thanks again, everybody! You guys are THE BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Once she got past the kitten stage, she wasn't very lovable. She was my sister's cat. Sue would buy a Cadbury chocolate bar and leave it in her room for a later date and Ellison would find it and nibble on it. She'd get into Doritos and would lick off the spices and leave the chips. She got cat hair all over the house and it tickled my nose and I hated to visit and sleep on cat-hairy beds. She would not let Sue touch her for YEARS, except when she would crawl onto the bed in the middle of the night and suck on Sue's blanket and get it sopping wet while kneading at Sue and waking her up. I always figured she had an oral fixation from losing her mommy so young. You would never predict that I would end up with three dogs who shed all year and not only leave hair on my bed, but muddy paw-prints sometimes! Ellison died several years ago. Sue decided it was time and took her in to be euthanized without telling anyone. She just could not talk about it beforehand. She had Ellison for her entire adult life. Ellison had Diabetes for several years, thyroid problems, and then had either kidney or liver failure at the end. Sue had become allergic to her and needed two or three meds just to be able to live with Ellison. Since she got the courage together to let Ellison go, her asthma steadily improved and she is no longer on meds. She misses having a cat, though. No matter how ornery, furbabies do burrow deep into our hearts. Our cute filmmaker had other clips about Sparta. Go to his site, they have one with a witch doctor, and one or two more.