Nyx the Montana Kitty: the Banana-Box House

Nyx's Notes, Vol. I, Chapter 2: the Banana-Box House

This is definitely not Barbie's Beach House.

When we picked up Nyx last weekend, we also grabbed a couple used banana crates from the grocery store.  The idea is a kitten box, a safe space for the little cat within a home, with food, water and a litter box easily accessible.

My son Edan had an excellent design in mind, a two-room floor plan with the food and water in one room and the litter box in the other.  The rooms are connected with a doorway and "carpeted" with old towels.  The lids on the boxes make sun-roofs.  As an added feature, the cut-out handles on the boxes allows easy lifting and moving.

I thought the design was brilliant.  The actual construction took only ten minutes, using a knife, scissors and tape.

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Nyx the Ninja

What we didn't know was how nimble, leg strong and determined Nyx is.

At 4-5 weeks old, she almost casually leapt through the sunroof and out into our living room.  Things everywhere to see, she must have thought.  Her new territory needed exploration and no time to waste.  Maybe the kitten box was too little space for her.  Nyx scampered under tables and chairs, hopped onto the sofa and easy chair, checked out the books on the lower shelf by climbing over them.  She investigated the clutter of paper and stuff on my desk and skittered over the kitchen floor.  We now have to use a spray bottle of water to stop her chewing on power cords.

We had returned her to the kitten box several times and she hopped right out each time.  The litter box inside was too strange for her, so she just missed it, twice.  Towels needed laundering by hand.

I doubt she spent five minutes total in the banana-box house.  Edan agreed that we seriously underestimated her capabilities.

As of this post date, over four days home, Nyx is free solo climbing the furniture.