I have the flu. Fever, aches, all of it.
But I did get the chance to read Candy Girl (Amazon link to right) by Diablo Cody, the writer of Juno. I adored Juno (who didn’t?), and I loved this book. She really IS a good girl who chose to walk on the dark side. For fun. While being a copy-editor. Strong writing (if a bit self-conscious), funny as hell.
And I discovered the source of The Smell in the living room — Willie has taken to peeing on Clara’s couch. Good goddamn. While I’m washing everything right now (just what you want to do while you have a fever), I hold little hope for a cure. Once you’re marked, you’re marked. I see that couch out on the street, in the Big Trash Pick Up. Which is fine, because it really was ridiculous that Clara had her own couch. We won’t go into that. And we can make it into a nice little spot, two wingback chairs maybe? A nice reading/knitting spot?
But the irritation. The worry that this is the start of something worse. He uses the litterbox, yes. Loves the litterbox. There are three of them in the house, and they’re all clean, and he uses them all regularly. He just likes to piddle on fabric things, for fun, it appears. I will NOT have my house smell like cat piss (yes, using Nature’s Miracle, and it’s never been THAT much of a miracle).
Only I’m too sick to REALLY care. Just wait till tomorrow.
But because you’ve been so nice to listen to whinge, a photo or two from a better day:
At Hearst Castle last week, in the library. The doors reminded me of spinning wheels.
And us, in front of the GORGEOUS water. I’ve lived along the coast all my life, and I’ve rarely seen it look like this:
And we saw baby elephant seals.
And I’m vacuuming right now (thanks, Roomba!).
Try Feliway, it can really keep them from spraying. And Nature’s Miracle can get the smell out, if anything can.
1. I want to borrow that book.
2. Those spinning wheels were designed by Julia Morgan.
3. I can’t really see that water cause of your HEEEAAAAAD is in the way.
feel better!
My cat was peeing in an inappropriate place recently and I asked in a Ravelry cat lovers forum if anyone knew what to do. A number of people said that vodka would get the smell out. I haven’t tried it yet, but thought I’d pass along the tip anyhow. 🙂
Oh, and you two look so happy it makes me happy, too. Hope you’re feeling better soon!
Once again welcome to my world…oxyclean removes the cat urine completely. it has to be all gone or else it gets “decorated” again.
One of my cats is a Oriental cross and cannot tolerate high amounts of magnesium in her food or else she get cystitis. You could check a food issue. That being said she sill pees on stuff out of spite…fabric stuff if “her” space is invaded by one of the other cats she doesn’t like. Sometimes there is no reason, but you have to check out health stuff first because inappropriate peeing can be a sign of disease. Good luck hope you feel better very soon 🙂
Argh! I feel for you sick and having to deal with cat pee! We have one cat that when she’s mad at you (because her box hasn’t been scooped right after she’s used it,the dog licked her head, she didn’t get dinner at exactly 7pm, the other handicapped cat looked at her oddly etc etc) she will come and bark out a particular meow and look you in the eye and piss on something right in front of you! One time she crawled under the bed covers, onto my chest and pissed all over me. I still can’t fathom how I let her live after that!
Uh, we just attend to her every whim and she’s fine.
Good Luck! Feel better!
Aw, feel better soon, girlie. You may feel like crap, but you look fantastic with those bangs! Very glam.
And I love the Hearst Castle picture. One of my favorite photos that I’ve ever taken (and which currently hangs on our living room wall as a 20×30 print) was of a similar architectural detail at the castle. What a fabulous place.
Feel better soon! The flu is the worst….
That wate is the exact blue I love!
I feel for ya on the cat pee thing. He doesn’t have a bladder infection, does he?
A peeing boy cat. You know it may never end, right? Good thing he’s cute! 😉 However, Feliway MIGHT help. There’s also this stuff called Odorzout that works really well on carpet. I haven’t had to try it on upholstery, so I don’t know about that. And I don’t think anything works on wood…
Boo for the flu! And cat pee!
Have you tried BioKleen’s Bac Out? It’s made of lime enzymes. Seems to work for me. Not a commercial, just a thought.
Hope you feel better soon!
Cats, kids- They all do the same damn things. Especially when you’re sick and ‘things’ absolutely must be cleaned up immediately. (I seem to be having a flashback!)
So Sorry!
I love the grays and greens of our bay. That blue is astonishing, in a good way.
Health to you.
If you haven’t had luck with Nature’s Miracle (I never have, either. Way overrated), you can send it back for a refund. I’ve done this when the 2 gallons I bought did NOTHING when my cats started spraying.
The behavior service at UCD recommends Anti-Icky-Poo. I’ve used it with better results than Nature’s Miracle. It’s pricey, though.
Feliway can be helpful, as someone said before. It makes one of my cats really sleepy, which is why I stopped using it.
Hope you feel better soon. Good luck with the pee issue. It really is very frustrating.
Sorry you’re sick – sucks!
About the cat pee (sigh, gotta love them) – we use Urine Erase. Yup, that’s the name – got it at the vet.
It really, really works. Our older one (she’s 17) has taken to peeing on her own feet (!) while in the litterbox and then, of course, coming into our bed for cuddles.
We keep the Urine Erase under the sink in the downstairs powder room. Makes for interesting conversation during parties…
Did you know that an elephant seal pup is exactly the size of a kindergartener? And how do I know this?
When the kids were little (and when you could foolishly still climb down onto the beach), we road tripped over and I had my DAUGHTER lie down on the beach with a brand new pup.
How irresponsible was that? (Not the most irresponsible thing I’ve done. That would be taking a 2 and 5 year old on a car trip for three months into all over Mexico and into Central America. We turned around when we got to a border manned with machine guns.)
Feel better soon and the cat thing? Have you tried one of the enzyme cleaners along with a steam cleaner–like a shark from Home Depot? Just a thought. I have a 19 year old schnauzer who has recently lost his mind to Dogheimers and is having some piddle problems, too.
Cat pee smell – nothing removes it like half a bucket of water with a bottle of vanilla essence(the type you use in cooking) in it. Wash the affected area/object with the vanilla water and rinse it with vanilla water.
Ugh – I’m sorry to hear about the flu and the marking. Is he just peeing on Clara’s couch, or by “fabric things” do you mean there are other fabric things in the house he likes to pee on? I had a cat that would pee in our dirty laundry if you didn’t keep her litter box PRISTINE. Sigh…
I do have a question for you, though – I know you and Lala took your dogs with you to San Simeon – what are your tips for travelling with dogs? What do you look for in a potential vacation spot when you decide to go out of town? I’ve spent a good deal of time on dogfriendly.com, looking at hotels and restaurants that are pet friendly, but for instance, what did you do with the dogs when you went to Hearst Castle?
Feel better soon!!!
I can relate to the cat pee issue- I foster cats/kittens many with issues! Everyone seems to know about the over the counter cleaners- I’ve had good luck with them. My problem was finding the offending order. A couple of months ago I noticed a “Stink Finder” at Petsmart. Basically it’s a black light flashlight, when it’s dark you can use it and the area the cat peed will glow. Maybe a regular black light will work as well- it’s now the best tool I have to find the offending area. Mine have used the obvious couch, but also the microwave, husbands shoe, window shade and lamp shade. I got to the point where I had to remove all dog and cat beds because they were being used as the favorite litter box! Yuck!!!
1. Please feel better.
2. Thank you for outing your peeing animals, I feel so much better about all my “pissed” off animals. Its not just my life!
3. Please quit your full time job to keep me entertained via the blog, with knitting, wit, pictures,travel and animal stories.
Oh, yes. Been there.
Is Digit peeing on other things – or is it just Clara’s couch?
Just wondered because it may also be a jealousy thing – I know you love all the kids, but those two are your _pals_.
So, getting rid of ‘her special place’ might help – as long as she doesn’t take to invading the bed or something!
I’ve just caught up with the current posts after reading through the archives. Nice to know you!
I’m blogless, alas, but I found a lot to relate to in knitting, pets, travel, etc. Thanks for all your efforts.
Get better soon!
Sorry you’re sick, I hope you feel better soon!
We had one cat who decided to pee on the Nain rug in the dining room. I solved it by using Nature’s Miracle and Febreeze, which helped some, but I also put aluminum foil over the spot she peed on. She hated the feeling of the aluminum foil under her paws and the noise it made, and it stopped her from peeing there again, even after the foil was gone.
I hate it when the cats start peeing on things 🙁
We have a “casbah room” that is all pillows and rugs and fabric drapes, which used to be our main living room. Then somebody got in a snit and started peeing there.
To break the habit, we had to abolish the smells (I use white vinegar to get the urine smell out, then febreze and lots of airing to get rid of the vinegar smell), and just cut off access to soft, fabric things for a while. It was kind of odd for a while having all our cushy things shut away (or the cats shut away from them) when we weren’t using them, but it seems to have worked. We still keep the casbah in a room with closed doors now, though.
Yeah, it’s funny how vindictive kitties can get with their poop and pee. Mine like to poop on oriental rugs, and sometimes they poop in front of my guitar case when they’re pissed off at me.
I know you’ve got TONS of suggestions already, but I thought I’d add a recommendation for “Out Spot”. We’ve tried Nature’s Miracle and an orange+enzyme cleaner to little to no effect, but Out Spot has been awesome. And in our case, separating the cat from the favorite pee spots and cleaning them thoroughly worked as a long term deterrent.
Good Luck and Feel Better!
When my cat did this, my vet recommended:
1. uncovered litter box
2. no litter box liner
3. clumping litter
It worked.
I’m so glad you posted about the kitty pee problem! Now I don’t feel like such a weirdo. 🙂 We’re having this exact problem right now and can’t figure out how to stop it. We’ve tried Feliway (no discernible difference), my husband cleans the 3 boxes like mad, and I’ve lately been trying a vinegar/water solution. All to no avail. I’m going to try everything suggested here till we find the magic (cleaning) bullet to end this!
No cat advice, sorry.
But San Simeon…I was almost killed there…ah the memories…We anchored off the coast and the plan was to visit Hearst Castle…
You know those cartoons where someone’s leg gets wrapped in a line and thrown overboard? (and knocked senseless as a 120lb dinghy with motor running smacks the back of your head?) It can happen in real life.
What does not kill you…makes for great “no shit, there I was” stories :).
My sure-fire pet stain/smell remover came from a professional carpet cleaner, and has worked on everything from cat pee & puke, to spaghetti sauce & chocolate. Mix 1 cup of Hydrogen peroxide with 1 tablespoon of ammonia. Using a sponge, saturate the area. Then place towels on top of the wet spot to help it dry. You should test it in an inconspicuous spot, as HP can have a bleaching effect. If I’m using this in a place that I can’t pile towels on, I just sop up as much liquid as I can and let it air dry. You may need to do this several times on the same area, depending on the size, smell and stain.
Good luck!
Hope you feel better soon!
Watch out with the cat pee thing, other cats will definitely start if they figure it’s ok…I have a cat that has not stopped peeing in my homes (two apartments and our house) for NINE YEARS. I should have booted her out right after I found out about it the first time, but hubby talked me into keeping her (“we adopted her, she’s our responsibility, no one else will want her” blah blah blah). Because of her, two of my other cats are now prone to peeing on the floor from time to time. Luckily (luckily?!?!) she only pees on the ceramic tile in my basement, but I’ve had enough. She’s going, especially since we’ve found out we’re expecting baby #2, and I just don’t have the damned time to mop cat piss up every single day!