Car business:
I finally took the minivan in to have the rear door handle replaced. It’s been…a year? two? since the handle fell off. Long enough so I’m completely in the habit of using only one rear door, and may never go back. Still, nice to have it done. Except that they found $4500 worth of other stuff they recommend we have done, too. Our car may SEEM like it’s running perfectly, but it is CLEARLY ABOUT TO FALL INTO A HEAP OF RUSTED, MALFUNCTIONING PARTS!
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Cat business:
Benchley’s eye is healed. He can have his funny collar off, and he’s been bathing himself constantly ever since we removed it. He might have some lingering scar tissue on his eye, or he might not; we’ll have to see.
Mouse is sniffling in addition to peeing everywhere, so I took her to the vet too. Nothing seems to be wrong. Maybe cystitis. Maybe Benchley’s recent problems, which involved him being indoors all the time and available to menace her by existing. Maybe age. Maybe some as-yet-undiscovered thing.
It’s discouraging. I didn’t want to HOPE something was wrong, but our blankets and sheets are starting to fall apart from vigorous daily washing. I’m getting behind on other laundry because peed-on things are soaking in vinegar-water in the washer so much of the time. Yesterday she peed on Elizabeth’s bed, including the pink toile quilt.
And yet despite all this GROSSNESS I still think of Mouse as “poor old girl.” She’s gentle, and she sleeps on my pillow at night—getting up only to pee on Paul. During the day she sleeps in the linen closet, or on the couch. She’s just over 5 pounds now, when she used to be well over 11 pounds. She and Benchley were sharing a cat carrier for the vet appointment, and Benchley got aggressive after the appointment and started hissing and scrapping, so as I was loading the carrier into the car I took Mouse out and put her on the front passenger seat, which I realize it totally anti-recommended so no need to scold. And she just settled in on the seat and looked toward the front, purring, looking just like this:
I pictured myself as a little old lady, taking my little old lady cat everywhere I went in my little old lady car.
I am so sorry about your cat issues, but “She’s gentle, and she sleeps on my pillow at night—getting up only to pee on Paul” made me laugh and laugh and laugh.
I agree with Kate. Also, I’ve only put my cat in a carrier once or twice. He always hated it, and was quite content to sit on my shoulders or under the seat during a car ride.
I love you. You are simply wonderful.
I used to drive back and forth from college to my parents with my two young cats laying in the back window for the 3 hour drive. I know it was dangerous and if we had been in an accident, they would have died, but they loved it and it was better than listening to them yowl for hours on end.
I’m so sorry about Mouse. I love that picture of her. I can almost feel her little soft, furry, bony self.
I realize it’s hard to break old habits, especially affectionate ones, but couldn’t your blankets & sheets be saved from disintegration by simply closing the bedroom doors at night (to keep Mouse out)? It may seem cold & heartless, but you could still pay her plenty of attention during the day & save yourself hundreds in linen purchases. I guess.
I just lost my 19 1/2 year old cat and she had frequent accidents too. The vet said she had dementia and would get confused as to where to go. As long as Mouse doesn’t have a UTI, there isn’t much you can do. I ended up not letting ours sleep with us at night because that’s when the peeing happened. She could sleep on the bed during the day though (on a thick blanket).
Awww Mouse… My heart goes out to her. At least she’s weathering the old age with grace and good humor.
Glad that Benchley is collar free though! That must be a relief!
The car thing garnered a big sigh. Because I know it’s such a stereotype, but it DOES seem like car places are just out to drain your bank account.
I sympathize with the cat issues. It’s so hard to know the best thing to do with older animal problems. Good luck.
Aww, poor old girl.
Once in a great while I’ll let Bowie out of his carrier when we’re in the car and he LOVES it. He likes to ride under the passenger seat. I mean, he’s so huge that pretty much only his head can fit under there but it is pretty cute.
Oh Mouse. But this: “she sleeps on my pillow at night—getting up only to pee on Paul” HA!
I love the image of Mouse as a little old lady cat. I can totally see it. Her little face is squinched up because “her eyes aren’t so good anymore”.
We have one cat who prefers to pee on blankets, beds, clothes, etc. The only way we could stop him was to put him in “time-out” in a small room with his own litter box and food and water. He stayed there for about a week (we went in and petted him many times a day). After that we let him out into the nearby room with the door shut. He did that for about a week too. Basically we slowly reintroduced him to being in the house with the other cats. Now he runs to the small room when he wants to get away from the other cats and he has stopped peeing on our clothes.