A Christmas Cat Rescue Story & A Litter Dilemma

So we have this cat. Her name is Snowbelle and she's one of my many rescues over the years, but is one of few that I actually kept. Trust me, if I could have, I would have kept each and every one of them, and some truly stole my heart, but most rescues were taken to the SPCA where I like to think they got good homes. 

It was just before Christmas of 2012 and I had been joking with my parents that I wanted a "Cotonelle" kitten for Christmas- fluffy, all white and total and utter cuteness! I knew, however, that I would not be getting one. For starters, we already had our dog Meika, a purebred Alaskan Makamute, who had been with us since she was just 8 weeks old....

......and our lack of house space left no room for more pets, and also an all white kitten isn't the easiest to find. 

A few days before Christmas my sister went to the local garage for a oil change. While her car was being serviced she walked to our house which is basically just across the street. She came bursting through the door telling me about the cat that was at the garage- a stray who was frost bitten, dirty, burnt and starving. 

Before I continue I have to explain that I am a rescuer of all things broken from worn out furniture to birds with broken wings to people with broken lives. I have an instinctive need to help and try to fix anything that is broken. 

It didn't take me long to fetch a blanket and Melissa and I were in my car and going back to the garage. Sure enough, hiding near a lamp for warmth was the saddest looking cat I had ever seen. Surprising to us, she was also one of the friendliest and was eager to be taken up and cuddled. So, I wrapped her in the blanket and took her home. A couple of hours later she was fed and cleaned up a little and lay in my Dad's arms contently. 

You can see the black, frost bitten tips of her ears. Pieces fell off over the next few days and we were expecting her ears to be permanently scarred, missing parts of their tips. Thankfully we were wrong and they healed wonderfully.  

Everyone came to meet her and she loved all of the attention. 

It took a few baths, including one that left me scarred, to get her clean, and many chunks of her burnt, dirty, and clumped fur had to be cut off. The frostbite on her paws and ears healed well and we treated the cold in her eyes. By Christmas Day she was looking like a different cat. It didn't take long for us to realize that she had made herself at home and was not going anywhere! She wasn't exactly the Cotonelle kitten I had been asking for. She was even better. 

She's been a great addition to our family, although she does bully her big sister Meika quite a bit! 

She even helped me study when I was in college last year, even if it was just holding my qcards...unknowingly...while she napped. 

Snowbelle was already litter trained when she entered our home and that, along with her friendliness, led me to believe that  had once been part of a family. Living in our small town if someone was missing a cat we would have heard about it. It appeared someone had just abandoned her. She has been using her litter box ever since and it had sat in our entry wall, in the corner, hidden by the bench that was there. 

Which brings me to my litter box dilemma. Now that our entry way has been made over there is no where to put the litter box without it standing out like a soar thumb! I want to move it to the bathroom. I mean we don't poo in the entryway, neither should she! But I want it hidden. 

So I set out in search of ideas in Pinterest land and found a few. 

Have any of you had a similar problem? What did you do? How did you hide your litter box? Do you have any ideas? Would love to see them! 

Until next time.....