Pets – Love `em or hate `em?
My morning kicked off around 4am when Michelle woke me. My first thought was Bailey was caterwauling too loud again and heaven forbid one of us should be sleeping through it. But then, Michelle wouldn’t wake me unless something was really wrong. I’m not very coherent in the AM hours, but I did my best to wrestle my brain from slumber and tried to listened intently as she explained,
“Does it smell like pee on the bed?”
“Huh?”
“It’s wet right here.”
“What?”
“Smell this spot. The BED. It’s wet.”
“Oh.”
I’m sure the conversation was little more graphic, but like I said mornings aren’t my thing. I smelled the sheets and sure enough they were stained. I got up and turned on the lights while Michelle started to pull back the covers. Yup, she was right, one of the cats had peed on the bed while we were sleeping.
Perfect.
I love animals. I have been a pet owner since I was a small child and when I was born my father bought a Norwegian Elkhound that same month. I have always had a furry companion whether it was a dog or a cat. At present I have a multitude of cats. Cats don’t get the same respect that dogs do. Anyone who is not a pet owner usually tolerates a dog person, but cats get dissed quite a bit. Oops, I’m starting to ramble off topic.
Odds are it’s Julia who peed on the bed. Julia has had on ongoing problem which is more likely behavioral than a urinary tract infection (there Katie, I said it). I have been trying VERY hard to correct the problem, but this morning crosses into new territory. Now my friend Ron would simply tell me “You’ve got to get rid of the cat”, but it’s not that easy. Regardless of what arguments you might make, I have an emotional attachment to ALL my pets. And while this is a BIG problem, Julia has many other qualities that make her absolutely adorable. There’s also the fact that she was initially a temperamental feline and I spent six months turning her behavior around until she became the personable cuddly cat she is today. I don’t want that effort to have been wasted.
That being said I have to make a decision whether to tolerate this behavior, keep making attempts to correct it or find Julia a new home. Has anyone out there ever had to give up a pet? Would any other cat person work this hard to keep a pet?
I’m also inclined to think the moment I give her away, Michelle will discover that one of the other cats peeing… ugh.
There is a television show here in Australia called Dr. Harry’s Practice (http://www.harrys-practice.com.au/). It’s one of the most watched shows during prime time…. anyways, Dr. Harry is a country vet who deals with these kinds of issues all the time (pet pyschology). He flys all over Australia surprising the pet owners with house calls. Try posting a question on his message board….. maybe you’ll get an answer…. or even a spot on the “Dr Harry goes to America tour.” Don’t worry, he’s not a Steve Eirwin type (Crocidile Hunter).
Do you think it’s a jealousy thing, or perhaps a territorial marking?
Okay, first off, I really thought the urinary tract infection comment was a joke. Now I realize I shouldn’t be taking these things so lightly. I apologize. Whatever. Let’s move on and away from my own stupidity.
You can’t give Julia away; that’s a non-option. When I got Oreo from the humane society, there were countless cats there who had been abandoned because of potty problems. Nobody wants them, and I’m sure you can imagine why (kind of gives a whole new feel to any future “had to sleep on the wet spot” comments).
Assuming both you and Michelle can deal with the problem if it’s only a temporary one, I say work with Julia. It’s likely the problem is fixable. I still don’t know any adults who wet the bed, but if you gathered all the mothers of the world together, you’d see there were a lot of bed wetters.
Katie,
Looking at what I wrote I can see how it appeared that I was calling you out. My bad, my statement was meant in jest as in “Katie avoids posts about UI and here I go posting on the topic *chuckle*”.
That being said, Michelle & I are doing what we can to correct this problem.
um, i don’t have much to say regarding the whole cat issue, but below you mention you want comments from new people coming through here, and um, i’m new, and um, i’m commenting, and um, yes i’m quite erudite and estupido. seriously though good stuff, main, keep it comin. eacepay.
No offense taken, just doing my part to keep UI discussions from ever occuring. Heh.
aww! what a cute, cute kitty! i *heart* pussy…
xoxo, jared