Matilda

About one month ago, it was politely brought to my husbands attention that "our darling" Matilda had been seen "doing her business" in the garden of the president of our condo association. My husband passed this information along to me because Matilda is my cat.

Before I had any idea of what I was going to do, I wrote to the president and thanked her for making us aware that Matilda was pooping without scooping and that I would do what I could to dissuade her from this practice.

A week or so later still had no idea as to how I was going to keep Matilda from pooping in other people's gardens. Then one afternoon, I saw Matilda in a corner of our yard sniffing around. I happened to have a bag of top soil nearby so dumped that in the corner. "Here Matilda, this is for you." She immediately jumped in and "did her business." "Good girl Matilda!" Since then I've seen her visit that spot regularly when she's outside.

This afternoon, the condo lady was outside her yard doing some gardening in the common area. I went over and asked her if she'd seen Matilda in her yard lately. She said (with a big smile on her face) "NO! She walks on the fence but doesn't come into the yard."

Problem solved.

My husband isn't particularly thrilled about having this pile of dirt in the yard, so perhaps I'll put one under the pine tree located outside our fence on common ground. As we live in an adult community I wouldn't have to worry about children crawling around out there and getting into it.

Anyway, I really appreciated being let know that Matilda was doing this and that I was given the opportunity to do something about it.

This article is Copyright © Judy Greening, and printed with permission of the author.
July 9, 2002