I overslept this morning. I stumble out of bed, grab clothes, head off to work. Note: I always drive with my windows open. I work 25 miles from home. This will matter in a second.
So I’m sitting at my desk, listening to my voicemail and planning my day, when I realize something smells funny. I check the floor, my desk, my shoes, my trash can. What is that?
My bosses trickle in. It’s going to be a hectic day. I still can’t figure out what died under my desk. Then I realize what I’m smelling.
Yes, it’s fucking cat piss. And it’s me. It turns out not to be my shirt, but my BRA. My damn cats peed on my lingere! And I didn’t notice it until I was in the confines of my office and it permeated my shirt.
So thank you, whichever bugger did this. Thanks for peeing on my laundry! If I figure out who it was, I’m going to skin you alive. I’m going to broil you in the oven and serve you to guests. When you get stuck under the couch or on the roof, I’m going to leave you there to rot. I’ll throw you in the shower in the morning. I’ll start putting you out at night so you can fend for yourself without me to defend you from the neighbor’s poodle. You heard me. This war.
How many cats do you have? Any idea on the likely suspect?
I went through a stretch of that out-of-box pissing with my eight. Turned out to be the semi-feral, Serena, who had some issues about certain other cats and her fear of me (and everyone else in the world). As a last resort I put her in a cage (about three by four by four feet) in a room by herself, with bedding, food and water, and litter box, and kept her imprisoned for two or three weeks. Unless I let the other cats in, she was dependent on me for company. I was with her a fair amount since it’s the room where I work and have the computer.
Serena got a lot friendlier and more trusting. She also made it clear which cats she had a problem with when I let visitors in. She started getting more and more out-of-cage time where she was free in the room.
Finally Serena was released to the general population. She’s still shy but more comfortable with me; she has more confidence with the other cats; and she’s retrained to the litter box.
OTOH, a previous pisser had to be rehomed as a barn cat. That one is quite happy in her new life.
Happened to my slippers which were on the floor beside the bed. Where do you keep your lingerie, Obsidian?
We have 6, going on 7. (One is lurking by the side of the house as we speak/type.) All our cats are feral, i.e., came to us from who knows where. We try to keep everything ‘up’ out of the way, but a couple of the cats, (2 males that I know of) keep wetting out of the box. Thinking of putting in a cat door, but that might invite unwanted visitors. :eek:
Another thought: How many litterboxes do you have? In a multi-cat household, it’s best if there’s one per cat. Sure, they’ll each use all or most of the boxes, but some cats simply refuse to use a “used” box. I have seven, for my eight cats, at least one on each of the four levels in my home.
Same thing happened to me … but dare I say: worse. I worked at a casino. We had uniforms, therefore lockers. We had a quick “fire safety” meeting after work. The lockers were far from the room the meeting would be held in; most dealers got changed after their shifts and went to the meeting in their street clothes. Because it was the middle of winter, my “street clothes” also consisted of a suede coat. Everyone showed up in their winter clothing, as we expected the meeting would only take a few minutes. And then this STENCH. What the fuck IS that smell? I’m looking around, thinking “Who smells this BAD?” I asked my friend next to me, “Do you smell that stench?” She said, “Yeah smells of cat piss.”
Just the mention of “cat” and everything made everything clear… It was me. It was my coat. The body heat in the room made the released the smell even more. I took the coat off and contemplated sniffing it, but that would make it obvious. So I folded it neatly and put it on top of my purse, between my feet.
Once I got home, I did the sniff check. The cat pissed on the ARMPIT of that coat. Since it was suede, I couldn’t spritz it with special products specifically for this. I took it to the cleaners and hoped for the best. It smelled ok, but every time I wore it, my body heat would release the stench like a ghost from the past. The coat was a loss. Worse yet, how many people in that staff meeting thought, “She smells of cat piss!!!”
Then there was the time my cat pissed on my ex’s leather jacket, the FIRST night he slept over… Then there’s the time my cat pissed on my bed 'cause he was jealous that a man had come to see me… (all different cats, all different men…) And most recently, my cat was very obviously upset because he senses that we’re moving. Boxes, me nervous, vet trips. And we’re moving far (Australia); I swear they all know it. I have four cats. So what was the latest pissy episode? Pissed on my comforter, through that to my down duvet, through that to my electric blanket, through that to my sheets, through that to my mattress pad, through that to my mattress. Well thank you very fucking much.
In retaliation for being left for 8 days (there was a funeral, we had a neighbour come over and feed/water/change litter), Jake peed on the stove. All over the burners. It took a damn month to cook off.
To the OP: Just curious, are you making sure their litter box is clean? Have you made sure that your cat is feeling okay? Because cats don’t generally just piss anywhere. When they do, they’re usually trying to tell you something.
Usually it means they’re sick, or uncomfortable, or oppressed or somehow unhappy with something. I’m not sure about the revenge theory, because that’s really more of a human motivation. Behaviour that we might ascribe to revenge in a cat, can usually be found to be caused by something that actually matters to a cat.
Anyhow, it’s up to us to figure out why they’re pissing where it goes against their nature to piss, and then deal with it.
Just sayin’, is all.
Oy, I haven’t been able to log in since yesterday. I think I know the culprit.
I also think I know why. The bra was in a laundry basket in the hall. Said basket is of a similar size & shape to thier litter box (which resides in the same hall). My fault for leaving the basket in the hallway. One of my cats is from the shelter, where he lived for a while with newspaper as his litter. This has caused him some confusion about apropriate places to go. He’ll pee on any digable surface inside a box-- especially if spmeone has already used the nearest litter tray. Once he peed in an open suitcase that was in the livingroom. Thankfully he won’t go in anything (not even an actual litterbox) that’s located in my bedroom, where he sleeps. I just have to keep the laundry in my room.
He licked my nose this morning, so I’ve forgiven him.
CheekyMonkey, good luck with your move. Are the cats going with you? Are they going to need quarantine? (I miss the location bar, btw. It saved me from such questions)
Thanks Obsidian. In fact, it’s a big move. I’m in Montreal Canada, moving to Melbourne Australia. If you took a model globe and stuck a knitting needle in Montreal, it would almost come out in Melbourne and spin on axis.
There will be quarantine, unfortunately. Aside from putting the cats on the plane, it’s my most horrific nightmare of the whole process (including immigration). I just pray that everything goes well. I’ve seen too many stories of cats being accidentally set free in airports, because an airline employee opened the cage to pet/feed them. Aside from that, we have to pray that the plane’s cargo section doesn’t lose air pressure. I’m truly concerned, though my quite experienced vet says she’s never seen anything happen yet. If my “stuff” doesn’t make it there, on the ship, I don’t care. Just as long as my cats do.
The quarantine from Canada is a minimum of 30 days. They stay the minimum if it’s been 150 days from a clear Rabies Series Blood Test. So, I got the blood tests on January 6th. These tests are extremely expensive [$330 per cat ($250US)~ I have four]. I was suprised to find out that the ONLY approved lab for these tests, in North America, is at the University of Kansas. (Imagine my cats’ blood flying from Montreal to Kansas, JUST for this). This makes me clear to move (and them stay the minimum) for June 4th. I’m allowed to come see them every day. I hope they don’t hate me.
I was actually thinking of the “piss factor” in moving. Since it costs me $16.50 ($12.50US) per cubic foot to ship anything, it would cost me about $1700 ($1300US) to move my king sized bed. But I only paid $1300 ($990) for it, five years ago. So it makes sense to sell it here and get a new one there. Same goes for my sofas etc. All of the places they sleep. I’m wondering if they’ll want to “baptize” my new stuff, seeing that their scent is nowhere and they’re pissed off. I hope not, because it will all be brand new (new bed, leather couches, etc).
I weighed my decision to move heavily. I’m marrying an Australian. It was either he comes here (to Canada), but we both move out of province (I’m in Quebec), since he doesn’t speak French (which is essential to make a living). Or I move there. He has a better job than I do; and he’s close to his family (I’m not close to mine). So I decided it was better to go there. But along with me, came my “family”. Four wonderful cats in for the trip of a lifetime. No cats, no me. Wish us luck!
My cats have never baptized new furniture, nor did they baptize the new house when we moved. They did roll and rub and mark quite a bit. However, we didn’t have both new house & new furniture at the same time.
Friends of mine flew a cat from Australia to Utah, and it handled the flight just fine. Of course, there’s no quarrantine coming this way, but she was no worse for the wear after 18 hours on an airplane.
I’ve flown with my cats before. I prefer in-cabin, but I know you can’t do that on international flights. One of the best tips I got-- from proffesional breeders who fly animals a lot-- is to put a sign on your cats’ crates saying something like, “My name is Muffin, this is my first plane ride.” It helps personalize your animal to the people handling it, encouraging them to be extra gentle and carefull with the crate.
Every time we leave for more than one night, they go crazy. Something on the floor in stead of in the laundry hamper? Bingo! Didn’t hang up your coat (left it on a chair)? Trip to the drycleaners! Or, Stacy just pees on the floor instead of in the box (hers is in the basement). Makes the whole house smell wonderful, dontchaknow?
Thankfully, they’ve never peed on shoes or bedding. Just our personal stuff.
So you’re saying take all of my bedcovers off the bed, put them in a burlap bag, and swish them around a deep well?
Is it the burlap or the well water that gets rid of the smell of cat piss? Or it’s the combo? Maybe I’ll have to ask that in GQ.
Interesting technique though. But I don’t have a well very close… So I guess I’ll stick to the biological-really-expensive-spritz stuff they sell for this purpose.
My cats started peeing all over the bathroom floor. I guess their litterbox wasn’t clean. I kept telling my husband to clean it (his cats, his responsibility) and he kept not. So finally I made the announcement that if anybody peed on the floor again all of them (husband and two cats) would pay and pay dearly and I didn’t care who the actual culprit was.
Step 1. Find C K Dexter Haven.
Step 2. Lure to well.
Step 3. Place bag over C.K’s head.
Step 4. Push C.K. into well.
Step 5. Cap well with large round stone.
I’m kidding, but I’m kidding on the square. I can’t think of anything that pisses me off more than needless, wanton killing or torturing of animals. I remember reading somewhere about some waste of carbon who tortured a kitten on a grill. I wanted to track him down, shove his face into a lit Weber, slam down the lid, and hold it down until the twitching stopped.
Okay, now that that’s somewhat out of my system…
Those cats are in for a ride of a lifetime. Have they met your fiance’? I suggest finding a place that sells catnip mice in bulk, 'cos just about any life-form is going to be pissed after that much plane-time. Especially caged plane-time.
There are various reasons why your cat is peeing on things.
Is he/she neutered? If they are fixed, it cuts down on the spraying considerably (if the cat is spraying, that is).
Did you do something to make the cat mad? It sounds weird, but if you piss off a cat, they do have a tendency, at least some do, to show it in the ways of urine. My sister’s cat does this - she moved a mound of old clothes from her closet that Zoe liked to sleep on, and ever since then, she has been pissing in the closet. They had to get new carpet and floor board.
It could be that the cat is just getting old. Our old Cat, Whoopie, starting peeing all over the place as she was reaching the end of her days, which was something she never use to do.
