George is my big, cuddly, long-haired Ginger Tom. I love him to be bits. He's a real in-your-face character cat. But oh dear oh dear...
George has taken up digging. Not just occasionally when he needs to clean up after himself, but every time he goes out. He's in the flower beds, the bark weed suppressant, window boxes and even a couple of seed trays in which I'm attempting to grow some giant onions.
Now I don't really care much that he's causing some chaos amongst the horticulture. Come spring and that will sort itself out. No, the problem is that when a long-haired animal takes up digging for a pastime, said long-haired animal become a very dirty, wet and muddy cat. I mean, absolutely filthy. He then tramps throughout the house leaving a trail of muddy footprints on the carpets, on the beds and on our new, white 2 piece suite!!!
He's 7 years old and we've never had this problem before. Now, he's even taken to sitting in muddy puddles! I don't want to lock him out of the house, but we're nearly at our wits end trying to cope with his unusual behaviour and the apalling mess he's leaving behind him. I've even tried washing his paws under the tap but he does get a bit pissy when I do that...strange.
So..anyone got any ideas about how to get our beloved puss back on the straight and narrow?
Englishman.