tobermory's Diaryland Diary ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Whiz kid I am living with an anonymous pee-er. Said pee-er has fur and four feet � thus eliminating Steve and I from suspicion. About four weeks ago I finished all my nightly bathroom duties and hopped into bed. I started reading and then I felt something kinda wet near my left under boobal region. I figured I either hadn�t been vigilant enough with the post-shower toweling or else I had leaned up against the sink area and gotten myself wet. Then I started to think about it and investigate further and I realized that it was not I that was damp, but the comforter. And the blanket. I was puzzled, but only for a second because then the smell hit me. Cat pee. It was so late there wasn�t much I could do. I Febreezed the shit out of everything, thanked god that it wasn�t a big spot, and turned the blankets around so the pee area was at the bottom. The next morning I tore off the top blanket (which absorbed the majority of the pee) and put it in the washer and figured that this was a one off deal. My cats DO NOT pee outside the box. Ever. Then, blissfully, there were no more incidents of inappropriate pee. I figured it was a one-off kind of deal where one of the cats �leaked� or something. Then, a week ago Thursday I came home from the shelter and went into the bedroom to change before heading out to the bar with Steve and our friend John - I spotted the tell-tale wet spot (sadly not THAT kind of wet spot). I went into full freak-out mode � I mean we were leaving the next day for our Milwaukee weekend and I didn�t want to return to La Casa del Piss. I hustled Steve and John out the door and immediately called Megan for advice. She asked me when the last time was that I had totally dumped the litterboxes and scrubbed out the pans and hoods. She figured it was a bad sign that I couldn�t remember having totally cleaned them out since we moved in � which was almost two years ago. So that became the game plan. I dumped and scrubbed the main box and I could concede that it needed a wee bit of cleaning, but it wasn�t completely gross. Then I moved on to Box Deux. This box is in the bedroom and sits on a small bathmat to help keep litter tracking to a minimum. I picked up the box and immediately noticed that the rug was damp and there was pee behind the box. Ivy is what we refer to at the shelter as a �high-pee-er� meaning she doesn�t squat when she pees and basically a stream of whiz squirts directly out the back end. That�s why I have hoods on the boxes. Anyway, I must not have put on the hood straight and pee must have leaked out over the edge for a couple of days, and then it got hot, and then it got stinky. I not only dumped and scrubbed the box and hood, but I washed the bathmat with bleach and I cleaned the floor area where the pee puddle was. And since I was in full-on cleaning mode I also: did the laundry (including all cat bedding that had become, over time, very hairy and a bit whiffy), actually put away my clean clothes, vacuumed, straightened up, and packed. When Steve finally came home he was very impressed by my Mad Domestic Skillz. So, I had eradicated the leakage from the bed and cleaned up the mess that I assumed was causing the revenge peeing, but because you can never really comprehend how the teeny little brains of cats work I wanted to be safe over the weekend and I kept the door to the bedroom closed. Steve and I came home to a pee free home, but I was not totally convinced. All last week we put a shower curtain under the top blanket of the bed each morning JUST IN CASE. But, no pee. The, this morning I go into the bathroom to pee, and there is a pee puddle on the toilet at the back behind the seat and the pee has also leaked down the side. I cleaned it up, but now I�m wondering � did Steve have a mis-aim in the middle of the night, or did the Anonymous Pee-er strike again in a different place? I was all set to leave the shower curtain off the bed today (because nothing says Crazy Cat Lady like having a shower curtain on your bed) but JUST IN CASE I left it on. I did ask Steve is he might have, oh, I don�t know, PEED ALL OVER THE TIOLET? But he said he couldn�t be sure. So, I�m taking the safe route and I�ll cover the bed for awhile longer. The last thing I need is to have to buy a new tiny mattress. I�m saving up the bux for either a Tempurpedic or a Sleep Number � but whatever I buy, it�ll be a queen for sure. That�s all for now. I have an uber-busy weekend on tap so there will be lots to update about later. 2:49 p.m. - 2004-05-21 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
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