Mom and I have had an ongoing problem with the cats peeing on the carpeting in the apartment. We’ve theorized as to why, ranging from her allowing neighborhood cats to come in and visit, to the fact that we used to keep the litterbox on the balcony and one of them simply didn’t want to get his delicate little paws wet, to maybe the former tenants had a cat or three that they didn’t clean up after and the smell of urine had gotten into the flooring. We’ve tried everything from enzyme deodorizers to Feliway to pouring black pepper in the areas where we’ve found pee. Nothing worked. Mom has wanted to get rid of the cats for a while, but I wouldn’t have it. Last week, mom was at a pet store getting some cat food and supplies, and the owner told her that whenever you have more than one animal in a house, there are going to be territorial pissing contests. After that, we began to discuss the possibility of giving up one of the cats, which seemed cruel because they have been best buddies since they were kittens
We also suspected that one of the cats, Conan, was the primary culprit. Proved wrong last night while I was at work when mom caught Schrodinger in the act. We started comparing notes. Since we got two indoor litterboxes, we have observed Conan on many occasions going to the litterbox to pee, but we’ve only seen Schro use them to poop. Also, when we clean the litterboxes, Conan immediately “marks” the newly cleaned/changed box, often before we even push it back into its corner. Schrodinger was also the one we caught pooping in the apartment when the weather was rainy- Conan would still go outside. And, well, Schro seems to be a little retarded. Once he got into a habit, there really would be no retraining him. If Conan was contributing to the marking, we would stand a chance of training him not to, once we get the odor out of the carpet- fortunately, there are enzyme cleaners that do this quite well, they’ll even get cat spray out.
Finally, we decided Schrodinger had to go. This morning, I hugged and kissed my Baby Cat goodbye and Mom put him in the cat carrier and took him to a no-kill shelter. The lady there told Mom that she would try to get him adopted out to a new home with a fenced- in yard.
Mom and I are both heartbroken. She was sick all day, and I’ve been snifflling off and on. We were really more worried about Conan than we are about Schrodinger. Schro is a very gregarious cat, and would be happy with anyone who would give him hugs and cuddles. Conan adored him, though, and we’re worried about how he’ll deal with life without his little buddy. So far, he seems to be doing better than we are.
Mom allowed me to console myself by getting a parakeet. I’ve been wanting a bird for a while, so it seemed to be a “fair trade”. Not so much. I’m still sitting here crying as I type this. O’Brien is a sweet little bird, but I strongly suspect that he’s deaf. He doesn’t chirp at all, and doesn’t flinch when he hears a loud noise. I like my new little feathered pal, and so does Conan, but dammit, I miss Schrodinger.
I hope he finds a new home where he’s happy and maybe the only cat in the house so he won’t feel the need to mark his territory.
