October 3, 2008

What a Pisser

My cat is a very high maintenance, very self involved, very emotionally needy cat. Whenever the fridge door opens, she's there thinking it's time to eat. Whenever I'm at the bathroom sink, she's there thinking it's time to drink. Whenever I'm walking to bed, she's there thinking it's her pillow. She used to puke a lot because she's allergic to turkey and fish and cat food is full of it. That was a serious process of elimination to find the few flavors of cat food she can eat. And she loves attention so much she'll stare at a complete stranger until they give her room on his or her lap. My cat is special.

I didn't realize how special she was until Mike and I were out of town for 36 hours back in September. We got home and I was looking forward to bed after a long day. I said goodnight and headed down the hall, cat in tow. Not until I put my hand under my pillow did I find the big puddle of cat piss. The cat had peed where my pillow meets the comforter. Where I put my face. WHERE I PUT MY FACE. She soaked through to the foam mattress cover. What a little shit.

She'd peed in places other than the litter box before but that was when we were trying a new litter and the urine puddled at the bottom unbeknown to the fellow in charge of cleaning the litter. So it was never cleaned properly. Fluffy let her disapproval known by peeing on the bath mat. Three times. So the cat doesn't like a full litter box. Okay. But this was the litter she likes... We cleaned the litter and closed the bedroom door for a few days. All was well until a week or so later. I was going to bed after a particularly shitty day only to find the cat had done it again! This time was personal. She didn't pee where Mike slept. NooOOooo. Where I slept. I thought we were friends. Jerk.

Thanks to the process of elimination it's all about the litter box. She's acting normal, she's not peeing anywhere else- only places where sanitation is IMPERATIVE, and she hasn't done it since I've been cleaning her litter every day or two. I guess the princess needs a pristine litter box. Whatever, I don't blame her. I wouldn't want to step in day old pee and poo so why should she? Some of the sheets are still in the laundry covered in urine because I haven't had the time or quarters to wash them. I know, I know- the sooner they're washed the better. But they've also been soaking in an elixir known to eliminate the smell of cat pee. We'll see how this goes.

One question- I can't tell if my down pillow smelled of wet down or of cat pee. It's now fully dried and doesn't really smell any more but I can't be sure. Do I need to wash the pillow for a third time?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

If you used one of the new enzyme based cleaners that chemically changed the urine to something else you should be OK. Cat pee smells so bad it is hard to mistake it for something else, so not being sure probably means you are OK.