Ain't That a Pisser, or The Truth About Cats.

See how innocent I am??

I have been home for over a week now. At the end of my time in NC my husband had called me to tell me that the kitten we have had for 2 months now had peed on the counter and the kitchen table, and also the curtain that I had just installed from a nerve-wracking trip to Walmart a week before.

"We have one curtain that is shorter than the other one." he told me when I asked if he had washed it.

Ok, fine. I can deal with that. I can always get a new curtain, right? But when he told me about the table and the counter I had had enough. I really like this kitten as he is quirky and sweet and curls up at my feet wherever I plant my fat butt. Even the bathroom. Ok so you didn't need to know that. ANYWHOOO...

I immediately went online from my sister's house and put him in the paper. I had gotten rid of the cat before him (Fluffy #1) after dealing with him pissing all over my house for the better part of three years, spending tons of money and time and anguish on trying to make it stop. I couldn't believe my bad luck was continuing with this little guy.

When I got home I also listed him on Craigslist and Facebook. I assumed that because of my older male cat that the younger one was getting territorial and that as I had had him tested for UTI's that he would be fine somewhere else, even outSIDE!! Thoughts of how I could remove him from my house intensified when the next day there was pee on my counter that ruined several pieces of mail and narrowly missed Kris' camera (just ruined the strap).

Perhaps you have been in my house (poor you) and know that my counter top is a landing space for anything, everything, and whatever is in between. There are cameras, sunglasses, mail, endless amounts of children's artwork, toys, photos, frames, sculptures, books, Bibles, pens, pencils, ETC I COULD GO ON FOR DAYS.

Well on Monday my Dad came over to visit. He's always giving me a hard time about the counter and associated areas, and I try my best but when no one helps I just give up. I'm not a go-getter when it comes to trying to clean up after everyone else. He wanted to use my nice camera to take a photo of something. It was sitting on the counter (of course) and when I picked it up I noticed something dripping from it.

NO.

My heart stopped briefly. I really couldn't believe it. I was speechless. Well, for a minute.

Then I was not so speechless.

"STUPID EFFING CAT I AM GOING TO KILL HIM OH MY $*&($*% WHY THE EFF WOULD HE DO THAT AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH" I said. My Dad ducked.

If that wasn't bad enough I had also chosen that particular piece of counter to set Autumn's precious blankie on while I was feeding her.

I stormed across the street and went into the Show Me The Biscuit store to get some Nature's Miracle. That crap is expensive. I asked the lady if she knew of anything I could do and she just kind of looked at me and went "I-uh-no" and I burst into tears. I paid, and stormed back home. I cleaned my camera as best as I could and it still stank. I soaked Autumn's blankie in a pail with Nature's Miracle and some hot water. Thank GOD that took it out.

But my camera, not so much. On the bottom of this camera is where the battery compartment is located. Also there are several tiny screws and of course the cavernous screw mount with all of its little ridges and gaps to hide the dreaded pee crystals. And there is a bit of rubber that stops up the ports for the coax cables and USB cable. Nothing gets piss out of rubber. Nothing. I cleaned it all several times, and even sat it gently in a tray of baking soda for a couple of hourse.

It still smells. Now every time I hold my camera up to my face I gag.

What about the kitten? Did I make a delicious Chinese Pot Roast that evening for dinner?

WELL LET ME TELL YA SOMETHIN.

He spent the rest of the day in the garage (comfortably of course. I'm not an abuser.) and that night I locked him in the basement with a litter box that I had thoroughly cleaned, some food, and some water. Fluffy 2 remained upstairs. The next morning I came downstairs and went towards the bathroom. I got a whiff of cat pee as I walked past the kitchen table but assumed it was from the litterbox which was nearby.

Then Alicia came downstairs. She went to put her bowl down on the table but I wanted to clear the crap off it first. I picked up a book she had just gotten at the book fair and it was soaked. I took one sniff and came to the horrible realization that it was FLUFFY who had been peeing on those surfaces, not the kitten!!!! No way am I getting rid of him!

Can't hate on this face.

I opened the basement door and let him out. Then I decided to take drastic measures: I CLEANED.

I removed everything from the table and all surfaces of the kitchen. I also had cleaned both litter boxes with Nature's Miracle to make them odorless (it really does work on some surfaces just not my camera). We kept one in the basement and leave the door open a bit. I bleached every surface and have been extremely strict about not letting junk accumulate there. So far we have been pee-free for almost a week!!!

So the kitten can stay. See, we have never actually SEEN him pee on anything (or Fluffy for that matter) we just assumed it was him because it had stopped when Fluffy 1 left. I felt bad for a minute because a few people had answered my ads and I had to tell them sorry he was staying but oh well. I hope that they all find a kitten somewhere else. Lord knows the Humane Society has plenty of cats.

Home Improvement

New

Old

Piggybacking on my pissing cat post.

Since one of the little b-tard's favorite places to pee was on/in/around the washer/dryer we had in our laundry room we used our state tax return to purchase a new set of front loaders! Its insane the difference in how the house now smells. I can't believe that we had to wash and dry our clothing in a pissed on set of appliances. I hope that all this time we haven't been smelling like cat pee when we go out with our clothes on!!! No one ever mentioned it...maybe they were too polite?

I did one load of laundry in the new set and dumped it out on the bed with intentions to fold (yeah...that didn't happen). I walked out, then came back in the bedroom about 20 minutes later (still didn't fold them though hehehe) and inhaled. WOW. It smelled so fresh and delightful. I didn't know laundry could smell like that for real. I don't even use dryer sheets anymore*! I'm in love.

The only bad part is that we can't have a door to the laundry room anymore because the new set are so deep you can't open it all the way. That ties in to the cat because we were keeping the litter box in the 1/2 bathroom that leads to the laundry room (an awkward, smelly, dirty option) for lack of other space to keep it. Fluffy #1 was repeatedly pissing in front of the vanity which was destroying the wood that it would seep under so we took the litter box out and its in the dining area near the sliding door (fine for summer when we can keep the door open most of the time...).

Now that we have these new awesome appliances I want to use them!! But our dining room is too small for our table and the table mostly collects crap at all times. SO as an experiment we took it apart and put it in the basement, and brought up a tiny table that my sister left behind when she moved that really is a 2 seater but we could all sit at it if necessary. We will need room for the highchair soon also.

Now I am able to easily walk around the little table to get to the laundry room with baskets in arm without gouging myself on the corner of the table or crushing my fingers into the molding of the garage door!! We won't be able to have people over for dinner at a table though...good thing we have a big couch!

*I now use these dryer balls I bought at Christmas Tree Shops for $2.99 that are blue, spiky, and work just as good as the sheets did!! No chemicals or having to keep buying them and throwing them away!!!!!

Take Your Pet to the Vet

Number 1

Number 2

For the past year or so I have not been a good cat Mommy. I had left if up to Kris to change the litter box and feed them while I was pregnant, and when Autumn was born I definitely put them on the back burner as far as grooming. I also have a favorite, Fluffy #2.

As some people may know, Fluffy #1 has had a spraying/peeing problem for the past couple of years on and off. We have made 3 (now 4) appointments with the shelter for him and each time we have backed down and just couldn't imagine relinquishing him to a place where he would probably spend his last days. Other than the peeing he is a sweet cat, loves to sit on laps and cuddle, and is freakishly intelligent. We tried everything, from drugging him to switching litter and adding litter boxes, moving dishes around, etc.

Everything, that is, but taking him to the vet. Why? Because of my "Scotch" cheapness. All of us in that side of the family are like this to some extent.

The vet here in Milton is ridiculously expensive for a town with a median income of $49,000. A visit just for examination is over $60. Then each test is anywhere from $20-$100 depending what you get. AND they also want to treat your pet as if it is a small child, guilting you into test after test, and products you may not need. I am not saying that they don't know what they are doing. They are extremely professional and excellent veterinarians. But for Milton???? I could see this in Burlington maybe.

What I am looking for in a vet is someone who will look at the cat for a reasonable price, tell me what is wrong, and give me my options. Much like a mechanic. Tell me that if I need to put the cat under, its not necessary to do a complete blood workup to make sure the cat is going to make it through the anesthesia. If he doesn't make it, I'll be sad. I'll even cry. But you know I can't afford a $90 blood workup and then a $125 anesthesia administration, on top of the $150 dental cleaning/tooth removal you may end up needing to do.

OK that was my rant on high veterinary prices.

I called the shelter for a fourth time on Monday for this cat. I just couldn't take it anymore and I'm no longer hormonal from pregnancy so I was ready to throw in the towel and let them do what they would with him. She gave me an appointment in three weeks to bring him and relinquish.

I told her how old he is (11) and she said, "Oh. Well he's going to have a hard time here, and it will be next to impossible to place him in a home at that advanced age. I'm not trying to make you feel guilty though." Ugh.

She mentioned it may be a Urinary Tract Infection at his age. I said, "No it can't be. I had him looked at a couple of years ago." Yeah, because things don't change when you are a cat, right? Looking back now I realize how stupid I must have sounded to her.

"Well, that was a long time ago. You may want to get him to the vet." She said.

So I kept his shelter appointment, but I also called the Arrowhead Veterinary Clinic in Fairfax. Wow they are so much cheaper. The vet is an older man who has obviously been doing this for a long time and sadly will probably retire sooner than my cats will. I took him in and they manually extracted some pee. No, I do not know how they did it, and I don't want to!!! He had his back turned and the cat didn't seem too upset by whatever he was doing......

As soon as they got it in a vial they said, "Oh yeah this is bad." His assistant, a friendly blond with a killer body, listed off the different things wrong with his urine. Ok. So for the past two years this poor cat probably has had a raging UTI and that is why he has been pissing rampantly all over the house.

The vet gave him an antibiotic shot and I also have to give him liquid amoxicillin (smells like the children's kind!) twice a day. Just that one shot and 1 dose of antibiotic and Fluffy is a totally different cat. He has been relaxed, hasn't peed 1 time outside the litter box, and his face and fur even look better!!!! And the entire experience cost me $80 which sounds like a lot but is miniscule compared to what we have spent trying to remedy the problem by not going to the vet. Not to mention the furniture he has destroyed, the rugs he has ruined, etc. All that could have been avoided!

Next, while I was there, I made an appointment for that afternoon to bring in Fluffy #2. He had ripped a bloody patch on his neck open somehow and it had been a few days and wasn't getting better. I had put peroxide on it, Bactine, etc. but it wasn't healing. I brought him in and they shaved a big patch of fur off the side of his head (not as pretty as the lion cut, but it will help ha ha). He cleaned it, put some salve on it, gave him an antibiotic shot, and then checked his ears.

"Pretty dirty aren't they." He said to his assistant.

"Oh yeah wow he has ear mites pretty bad." She said.

WHAT??? How can my indoor cat get ear mites??? I still do not know. Maybe one of the other cats I have basically fostered had brought them in...perhaps one of the orange ones. So that means he has had them brewing for a while. Great.

So Fluffy 2 has to be on antibiotics for the neck wound (a pill for him...that should be interesting) and I have to give him ear mite drops twice a day!! Freaking animals!!! I barely can remember to eat and now I have to nurse these two animals for 10 days. Good thing they are so cute.

Life Lessons for the Mentally Slow: Don't be a cheapass when it comes to your pet's basic health and your household's basic sanity.

Eeeeeeeeee!! I got a new camera!!!

Wow I have not posted a blog in a while. Much has happened. To sum it up:

I got me a Canon Rebel XSi!!!!!!

And I totally love it. Not that my point and shoot Canon PowerShot wasn't fantastic. But this camera takes me to a whole new level!

Powershot^

And below is the Rebel:

So you can see the difference in the mood and feel of the pictures! I have been taking pictures like crazy. The difference is that I never enjoyed taking pictures of people before because I never felt they really did anyone any justice. But this kind of camera has a faster shutter speed and truer coloring and can capture a moment unlike your standard point and shoot. I'm really excited for summer now!! I hope that it does as well on landscapes.

We have had such a cold wind the past couple of days that even though its been beautiful I haven't been able to take the baby out. We finally have recovered from this last bout of illness I hope. I'm going to go for a short walk to the cemetery with Alex and see if I can spot anything interesting over there...

#2 says "Meow."