Want to kill the f$*&ing cat.

[boingo82]

We have great cat - at least we did. She's gone into heat and yowls all the fucking time which drives us just nuts.
Worse - I came home and the house smelled "off"...I walked into the kitchen to put away the groceries but couldn't really pinpoint the smell.
As I was putting them away I noticed a stain on the page of the open cookbook...a stain that wasn't from my cooking. I smelled it...yep. Cat pee.

But here's the worst of it...the small stain on the cookbook was just a splash from the cat peeing on what she was aiming for...




The TOASTER. The fucking TOASTER.
How do you even fucking CLEAN cat pee out of a TOASTER? I spent the night wiping dried piss off the counter and toaster exterior...I guess I might have to throw it out b/c the inside smells. Damn thing's antique.



The cat spent the night locked in the bathroom with her litterbox and a bowl of water. (And yes, the toothbrushes were in a drawer. Not taking any chances.)



This morning, I'm sitting on the couch and remember a week or two ago when the living room didn't smell "right"...wonder what she peed on. I look around the room and notice the box of 0-3 month baby clothes has bleachy-looking streaks running down the side...lots of them. As the cat walks by she sniffs the streaks...so I sniff them.
Yep, she peed on the fucking baby clothes...the ones I just spent the weekend washing and folding, which is no small feat for someone in my condition.

Mac is calling around today to see about an emergency "fix"...looks like at least $100. Yippee. Fucking cat. I am hoping her personality gets back to 'normal' after this...if not I don't know WHAT I'll do.

[Steel]

Get a dog.

[boingo82]

Originally Posted by Steel

Get a dog.

No thanks, 2 small incontinent animals at once is enough.

Taking her in tomorrow morning though. Thank heavens, for my health and hers.

[TexasF355F1]

Yea get her fixed asap! What a crappy day you had. Hopefully things will get better once she's in 'fixed' mode.

[YogsVR4]

Once my cat was six months old, I got her fixed and declawed (the fronts). Best move I ever made. No freak out in heat moments. Her clawings don't shred the furniture. Both of which prevent her from serious clobbering. All in all a damn good cat.

She should return to normal once she's no longer in heat. They react more bizzarly then most women do when the hormones go into overdrive. Which is not nearly as strange as men are most of the time.

[Oz]

Em - try giving the cat it's own space with a scratching post, favourite toys, water etc. Hopefully the cat will catch on and spend the majority of it's time there. Why didn't you have the cat fixed before now? I would further suggest if it gets any worse to just put the cat in a boarding place (most vets do it) for a few months until you and bub are settled in.

[boingo82]

Originally Posted by Oz

Em - try giving the cat it's own space with a scratching post, favourite toys, water etc. Hopefully the cat will catch on and spend the majority of it's time there. Why didn't you have the cat fixed before now? I would further suggest if it gets any worse to just put the cat in a boarding place (most vets do it) for a few months until you and bub are settled in.

Well, she's not fixed because my parents always fixed their (outdoor) cats right away, and I didn't realize that it would be such a dire situation with an indoor cat. I know you have MALE cats spayed for behaviour reasons, but did not realize females were like that too. Thought it was just birth control and keeping her indoors was good in the meantime. Boy was I wrong.

The good news is that she went out of heat for about a week and was back to her good ol' self - if Mac stuck a foot in her belly she'd attack it instead of trying to make out with it - so we're hoping that post-spay she will be "normal" again.

I will try giving her more of her own area but that is hard. Our house is 840 sq. ft. 2bd 1 ba - really small. The "spare" bedroom is full of all the stuff that doesn't fit anywhere else and I just found out today she nailed my CDs in there also. Of all things. So I had to wedge that door shut (no doorknob) to keep her out.

I've been trying to clean up everything with bleach to kill the smell and discourage her from marking anywhere after the fix...although I've read that she may start again once the baby's born for territorial reasons. At least by then we can let her outside w/out worrying about kittens.

Yogs - we thought about declawing but she might become more of an 'outside' cat soon...and frankly it wouldn't make her any less vicious unless we got her de-teethed too. That's why we picked the cat though, she has a great personality and is VERY playful when not in heat.

[Jay!]

I had to cope with this recently, too.

We took a female cat from a friend who was moving and couldn't keep it, but we agreed to take it on the condition that he have her neutered before we got her. Well, that didn't happen, and the good animal-loving folks that we are, we took her anyway. Our friend agreed to pay a portion of the neutering cost when he had cash available.

About a month after we got her, she went into heat. Being an indoor-only cat, this was terribly annoying, and she drove our other cat (spayed male outdoor cat) absolutely nuts. He just stayed away. But other neighborhood cats tended to hangout on the porch more...

I think her heat lasted about two weeks, and as soon as it waned, my wife found an animal hospital near us that offered low-cost "fixings" that were subsidized by a local humane organization. IIRC, it cost $15 to get the cat fixed, and another $20 for antibiotics. It would have cost more if she'd still been in heat at the time of the procedure. She had it done on a Saturday morning and the hospital had her for about three hours. She pretty much slept in the carrier for the rest of that day. She had no stitiches, and she didn't lick the would, so it healed in good time; about nine days or so.

Since she's been fixed, her attitude has changed for the better, too, though you might not guess it from all the scratches on my hands.

[dayna240sx]

I wouldnt get your cat declawed. One of mine is and one isnt. The one that is will not let you touch her feet and she becamed extremely bitchy after we got her declawed so i think the vet screwed something up during the procedure. I've also read alot of stuff about not doing it because it changes their personalities.

[Jay!]

I don't think I'd ever declaw a cat. Isn't it illegal in some countries (UK comes to mind...) as they consider it cruelty?

[boingo82]

Originally Posted by jay@af

I don't think I'd ever declaw a cat. Isn't it illegal in some countries (UK comes to mind...) as they consider it cruelty?

Actually I wouldn't either, as a matter of principle.
It's just a joke we have since she's (normally) SO playful -
"Why bother getting her de-clawed unless we can also get her de-teethed?" Might as well remove ALL the poky parts if you're going to remove any, KWIM? I just try to keep the claws trimmed shortish and blunt since she's indoors.

And yes I believe it's illegal some places as is tail and ear docking. The methods they use are actually pretty gross, some removing the entire end joint of each toe.

[MagicRat]

Don't consider having her declawed until you know she's ripping up the furniture. Lots of cats do not scratch things and are fine if left intact.

[craigcully]

$100? I'd rather go to the pound to try and find another cat that has been fixed. I'm sorry if I offend anybody with this suggestion but to me a cat is a cat. If it was a car... a whole other story.

[dayna240sx]

What are you talking about? Cars are replaceable. Cats are like some peoples children. You cant replace that.

[Amish_kid]

Originally Posted by jay@af

I don't think I'd ever declaw a cat. Isn't it illegal in some countries (UK comes to mind...) as they consider it cruelty?

Isn't there some alternative procedure available now that you can put plastic caps over the claws or something like that?