The State Of The Mews

Trying new things to fix "fuss&upset"...

Marley still has kidney problems and alway will.  But the kidney care Hill's Science diet (and some portion control for weight) has helped.  And he will be 14 in August.  Elderly cats usually develop some problem.  I can't do anything about that.  

Lori is still upset about Loki and Binq.  I can't do much about that either.  But things are slowly getting better.  Lori and Loki sniff noses and butts sometimes.  They walk past each other calmly sometimes.  They eat near each other sometimes.  

There are still hisses and raised paws, but not like at first.  I have seen them sitting calmly a foot apart a couple of times.

Lori is still having stress-diarrhea issues.  I say "stress" only because the Vet says it has gone on too long and meds should have solved any physical issues by now.  There could be something more serious physically and if Lori and Loki resolve their psychological issues and Lori still has diarrhea, we will try more serious tests (disease, blockage, whatever).  I want her around for a long long time.

But I can say the diarrhea problems are less frequent.  There are now several clean days to each bad one.  Which (to me) seems to fit the "stress" idea.  And to be fair to Loki, Lori initiates about half the "fusses".

Loki is still a problem.  He arrived with "eye-goop" and abdominal muscle spasms.  Those have both gone away.  Meds cleared the head infection and I have no idea why the abdominal spasms occurred or why they stopped.  Some problems stop and you know why (meds) and some stop and you never do know why.    

One day he just stopped having those abdominal spasms.  I didn't even notice at first.  It's like when an itch stops.  All of a sudden, you just realize it ended...

Loki's biggest problem is that he suddenly started peeing on my bed a month ago.  I didn't know which cat it was, but every few days, the sheets/blankets were wet.  First once a week, then every few days, then every day.  

I finally caught him "in the act".  I yelled (wish I hadn't; he must have had a reason).  Well, I was frustrated!  I don't know how many of you have ever had a waterbed.  I've been sleeping on waterbeds for about 40 years.  I love the "give" as my body settles onto it.  Some people hate them.  But because water absorbs warmth from the body, you need layers of sheets and blankets beneath you even with a heated one.

So I have 3 sheets and 3 blankets below me and 1 of each above.  Well, I was getting tired of laundering sheets and blankets every couple of days.  I put a plastic tarp over the bed, so that if he peed there his own pee would pool around his paws.  I thought that would discourage him.  Not at all...

THAT didn't even stop him.  And a few days ago, while I was right there next to him, he was sitting on the bed and I recognized the "litter box blank stare"!  And the pee rolled to the edge of the bed and wet the bedcovers.  I had to wash everything again.  And my washer/dryer can only handle 1 blanket and one sheet each cycle.  Took all day!

I decided that Loki was "too much trouble" and needed to be returned to the Shelter in hopes he would find a new home that didn't cause him stress.  I've thought that several times in the past month.  

I go between "Loki is never going to be quite domesticated" and "I need to find some way to keep him here".  I am angry one day and trying to be tolerant the next.  Loki loves me personally.  He seeks (and gets) all the attention I can give divided among 4 cats.  He seeks me out and follws me everywhere.  He is definitely happy around me.  And he is happy around Marley and Binq.

It isn't a litter box problem.  Loki happily poops in them.  And I know the "1 box per cat" guidance (so I have 4) and I clean them every day before I make my own dinner (makes it easy to remember to do).

So I've changed tactics.  The tarp stays on the bed as pee-proofing of the blankets and sheets below.  And that works because I put an old sheet on top of the tarp.  That way, any pee is soaked up by the old sheet.  I will launder an old sheet every day for his life if I have to.  

Because it isn't his fault that he is having a peeing problem.  It is mine to help solve (OK maybe the Vet too).  

I have occasionally mentioned that I am constantly amazed that some animals can share our human artificial spaces.   Dogs need to be walked, rabbits poop anywhere, I don't even know what ferrets do.  Cats usually just need a litterbox.  

That's part of the human/cat bargain.  We provide shelter/food/attention and they use the clean litterboxes.  But they have to use the litterboxes.

The old sheet on the tarp covering the bed has stayed dry for 4 days.  That is great news.  

Maybe, a few months from now, all The Mews will snuggle together, Loki will stop peeing on the bed, etc.  

Meanwhile, I will go about planting the garden and cleaning the house...  *Sigh*