that pets always get injured just as you’re leaving town?
Since we moved into the house we’ve had an off and on problem with Sterling, my million dollar cat, peeing on the carpet in the house. I thought we had it under control until he started up again this week even though there were no other signs of the bladder infection being back. Since I didn’t trust him not to pee in the house I was going to have him stay in the barn while we’re on vacation next week (it’s warm and comfy – I’d be happy to stay there).
Then last night I discovered that he had a large stinky abscess on his right temple when he came to sleep on my chest while I was reading in bed. It was still a bit soft and oozy (sorry) and I was able to squeeze most of the nastiness out. But based on how bad it smelled I realized it wasn’t going to be that simple.
So this morning, on my way to my last day of work, I dropped him off at the vet for them to take a look at it. It was so deep that they had to knock him out and lance it to get rid of the infection. Gross. And expensive. And to top it all off he has to board at the vet while we’re gone on vacation next week because we don’t have anyone to come give him his meds twice a day and check on him.
Sterling and I have been together for 11 years this month. That’s a pretty long time and we’ve got a lot of stories together. Good thing too since we go through something like this, and pay a few hundred dollars, at least once a year. I’m relieved that he’s going to be okay – I’d hate to lose him because I wasn’t paying close enough attention. I’m stopping by tomorrow to see him on my way to drop the dogs off with friends and I’m going to take him one of my t-shirts to sleep on while we’re gone.
Hopefully we can resolve the peeing in the house thing again, perhaps it was his way of trying to let me know that there was a problem (vet says no bladder issues). If not he’ s going to have to adjust to being a barn cat. We’ll set him up with a nice warm spot to sleep and maybe even get him a kitten to torment, but we can’t have him in the house full time if he’s going to keep peeing in the closest corner…
You should check out handicappedpets.com. They have a really good set of forums there, and one deals with incontinent pets. There are wiki entries linked on how to diaper a cat and keep the diaper on.
We’ve been going there for help since one of our little dogs ruptured a disc and is paralyzed. People are wonderfully helpful. I highly recommend the site.
Good idea except he isn’t incontinent, he’s just refusing to use the litter box and peeing on the carpet instead. He’s already destroyed the closest in my office and is now working on the upstairs hallway. This has been an issue his whole life anywhere we’ve lived with carpet. It’s like he just prefers the texture of carpet to litter (and yes, we’ve tried every brand out there).
At the last house he didn’t even have a litter box, he just went outside all the time. That hasn’t worked here because he’s been less willing to ask to go outside in a bigger house. When we took the box away hoping he would start asking he started peeing somewhere new.
Yeah, I’m a little bent about it right now.
I have a girl cat that has been peeing on the carpet off and on for years. She does it mostly behind the couch. I have no idea what started it but now she spends most of her time outside. We’re really worried about what she is going to do after we move. We don’t want her destroying the carpet at a new house. Interestingly, we have another cat that always uses the litter box. They say if the carpet smells like pee the cats will go there, but the other cat never has.