He Is Such A Good Kitty, But...

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At the beginning of February, the lady across the way from me moved to an assisted living facility. She had 3 cats but could take only one of them with her. I was most familiar with the black and white cat and he had even let me pet him a time or two over the past few years. When the former tenant moved, she did take one cat with her and left the other two behind. Outside. In the cold and snow. I caught up with her daughter-in-law and asked about the remaining cats. She told me that she had been asking around if anyone wanted either one and that whenever she asked humane society and rescues if they could take them in, she was told that they were full. Then I told her that I would take in Sinbad, the black and white cat. I'm guessing that he had been out in the cold and snow for 3 to 5 days. I kept an eye out for him. One day, I saw him napping on a chair that was outside the lady's apartment. I waited until he woke up before luring him with a bowl of food. I didn't want to just go over to him while he was sleeping and startle him. When he came to the food dish, I moved it closer to my door and then to just inside the door. He's been here ever since! When he first got here, his breath was stinky and he was kind of sneezy. Both of those have calmed down considerably. I call him Buddy Boy or Buddy. For some reason, he seems to respond to that better than Sinbad. After being an indoor/outdoor cat for all his life (he's 10), he has not even offered to go outside. He has not scratched nor bit me. He has pulled over the kitchen waste basket a few times. He's such a good kitty, but his toilet habits are not good. He knows what a litter box is for but does not like it. At all. Whenever I would him take an interest in a place to poo, I would pick him up and take him to the litter box. Those were mostly the times when he would use it. He still didn't like it though. I started watching for the spots where he took an interest to poo and I placed puppy pee pads there. Yes, a cat uses puppy pee pads. At first, it was 50/50 success. This past week, though, it's been not quite 100% success but it's been much, much better. In the accompanying photo, Buddy is a bookend.