Cat Pee

Yeah, someone has to write about this, don't they? It might as well be yours truly.

The cat population in my home changes all the time. I used to be of the mind that 2 cats were all anyone ever needed (one for each hand to pet) until I started doing animal rescue a few years ago. I promised myself and everyone who knows me that I would NEVER let it get out of control and certainly NEVER become a "cat lady." You know the type I'm talking about.

The most cats I've had here is 9. Currently, I have 5 cats and 3 "foster" cats. My house is large enough so everyone has a place they can call their own. Of course, having so many cats does have it's share of problems. It's time consuming to feed and clean litter pans. I have to vacuum all the time! Sharing a Queen-sized bed with my boyfriend gets difficult when 4 or more of the cats want to sleep with us. I can't count the backaches I've gotten from sleeping in weird positions so as to not roll over onto them. But..it is nice to wake up and see them all knocked out and happy, some even laying on their back with their paws up in the air.

Fortunately, I work from home so that gives me time to play with them and groom them daily. That said, just how much time can one devote to a cat when there IS work to be done? What happens if one of them doesn't get enough attention or one of them doesn't LIKE the other?

Fighting! Screaming! Breaking stuff...PEEING!!!!

There are times when I feel like I have a house full of 2-year olds who refuse to get along or behave for even a short period of time. I do my best not to play favorites, but my patience is challenged when it always seems to be the same few cats misbehaving.

Things have been relatively fine here until about a month ago when I started to discover cat piss in a few areas around the house. Bad sign. Once it starts it's tough to get it to stop. I know this since it happened a few years ago and it was a nightmare. This is even worse..now I have no sure idea as to who it is or if it is more than one of the cats.

Some fun places I've discovered the pee:
• In the soil of some of my houseplants
• On a SURGE protector for my stereo!!!
• On two shirts that fell onto the floor (somehow!)
• On my cute stuffed Chococat toy
• On a folder full of my tax receipts from 2003!
• Against my 1940's floorstanding radio
...and the winner...
• on the edge of a guitar case...the pee travelled INTO the case and ONTO a 10-string guitar!!!!

Yes, I do know that peeing/spraying can be a sign of illness and one of the cats WAS sick. He was treated and is doing fine now. This just can't be a sick kitty since none of them are crying or showing other symptoms of illness. This is a, literally, PISSED OFF cat.

Honestly, I thought I had a BRAIN TUMOR for awhile. I had "this smell" stuck in my nose everywhere I went. My boyfriend has bad allergies so he can't smell anything. Whatever I did, I kept noticing this odor. It was driving me crazy!!!! I didn't think it was cat pee because I thought I had found all of it! I even bought a black light so I could locate the pee more easily. Did you know black light makes the pee luminess?

I got really awesome enzyme neutralizer for the piss...that seems to help..but the cats are not going to stop. Every day something else gets ruined. So today I spent a huge amount of cash on an order of The Comfort Zone Plug-In for Cats and I'm starting to give the cats Rescue Remedy.

If I was really smart, I would also get my butt on the cushion and do some Shamata Meditation. Yes, I'm a Buddhist, too and this irritation is supposed to be joyful as this situation reminds me I'm on a path here and nothing is perfect nor will it last (ahh..impermanance again) forever.

Yeah, right.

Wish me luck.

Back to piss patrol.

Over and out.