... and the weekend before that, on the Friday, I jokingly pointed out to Kosh that "Hey, it's BBQ Beef Ribs day!" (for those not in the know, we used to live in Urbana-Champaign, and there was this bbq place that has the most awesome bbq sauce, and daily specials, the Friday one being the most totally addictive and delicious half-slab of beef ribs I've ever found!)... and whaddaya know, he managed to escape from work really early, and off we went for an overnight trip to Urbana, buying FOUR order of ribs, two consumed there and then, and the other two transported back to Chicago to be eaten sparingly over the next three days... yummmmmm!!!
so yeah, any healthy eating plan has been totally disrupted over the last week or so. Back on the wagon... tomorrow? :-)
... ... but, with all these trips out of town, we've been forced to leave the cat alone for long periods of time. Prior to August 2007, it wouldn't have been a problem. But, ever since Kosh left the kitty cat alone in the apartment for 5 days (with ample food, water and toilet facilities!) to join me in Switzerland, I think she's developed separation anxiety or something. Remember the pee-saturated rug I'd mentioned that greeted us? Well, we threw out that rug, cleaned the spot well, making sure the best we could that there was no pee aroma to encourage a repeat offense, and all seemed okay... but then, ,, we'd leave her alone for 10 minutes and whaddaya know, she'd peed there again. Kosh would be showering in the morning and whaddaya know, she'd pee in that same spot. She'd get antsy in the middle of the afternoon for daddy to get back while I'd be at home but not paying her much attention (I was in the Sim City fever at that time), and whaddaya know, Kosh would get back to pee by the front door.
Cleaning up liquid pee from your entranceway is NOT a fun thing to do at any time, let alone getting to do it so often! There was no way we were gong to be able to leave her alone anymore,,,, but what about my classes??? My French, Spanish, pottery...??!!!
Kosh came up with a solution. So, now, whenever she is to be left alone during the day, we put her in her little carrier, what is usually used to transport her to the vet and back. Very small and cramped quarters, but, I can't find pity for her anymore,,, I decided to not crate her that one time and, hey, whaddaya know, I came back to pee by the front door. Ugh!! By now, she seems to have surrendered herself to the trial of being locked up almost every day, for hours at a time. So far so good, she hasn't "gone" in the carrier, and she's not peed by the front door, or anywhere other than her litter box, in retaliation for being locked up.
BUT.. crating is not an option for long/overnight absences.
So, on the past two weekends, the cat was confined to the bathroom. To avoid cleaning up kitty pee, we instead clear out the contents of our (tiny) bathroom, and install her litter box, her carrier, food & water, and some toys, and shut her in for the duration of our absence. So far so good, no non-box peeing! Of course, the cleaning up of the bathroom takes up lots of time too, what with the litter sand scattered all over,,, but hey, it's SO much better to clean up than pee! Besides, it provides an opportunity/excuse/impetus to actually clean the bathroom properly once in a while (not that the bathroom *never* gets cleaned, it just probably isn't cleaned as often as it should!)
... and today? Today she has a puking incident, then runs into the bedroom, and seeks refuge in, of all places, the laundry basket.
UPDATE @ 1:40pm... the cat toppled the basket to the floor as she finally decided to leave the laundry for a spot on the couch instead.
No, she's not trapped underneath. But thanks for having me clean up another of your messes, cat!!
silly kitty indeed!
Hey, your kitty pee problem sounds just like what we are going through with Max and his toilet training now. He can't tell when he needs to pee yet, so he will just yell and get small puddles cleaned up, but he is doing quite well in letting us know when he needs to go for no.2.
ReplyDeletePoor kitty. It seems like problems like these are hard to solve. We just have to love our kitties as they are.
ReplyDelete