HELP!!! My 2 year old is ruining an expensive leather couch

On 2004-12-28, Coyote Jack penned:

[snip]

But evidently, no one has read the question I was asking. Instead, certain
posters have decided that I am just some sort of piece of **** who values
property over life.....and you folkss couldnt be farther from the truth

You come here as a complete stranger, imply that you will get rid of your cat
if she doesn't stop peeing on your couch, and expect us to come to some other
conclusion? Please explain the extraordinarily convoluted logic you used to
arrive at your expectations.

Here, let me write a template for your future use:

Hi, all! I have a [] year old cat that I've owned for [] years. [She/He] has
recently developed a problem and I don't know what to do.

[Concise but complete description of problem]

[Concise but complete description of attempts to fix/isolate problem,
including vet trips if any]

Thanks! I'm looking forward to any insight you might be able to give me!

Note that nowhere in my template do you suggest that you will get rid of your
cat because its behavior annoys you, your spouse, or your furniture.

--
monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey^H^H^H^Hblue-cream DLH
with an attitude!

On 2004-12-28, Mary penned:
This is clearly a behavioral problem, and the problem DID NOT START until we
bought the couch.

Leather is cow skin. Perhaps it smells like an animal smell to her so she
must cover it up with her own smell? Even though I have a leather couch I
hate the smell of new leather. It makes me nauseus. Perhaps you can just get
a few cans of "no mark" and spray it all over the couch where she could
possibly pee. "no mark" smells like cat phermones. They will smell it and
think their scent is already on the item so no need to pee on it. Cat urine
over time will rot out the leather and leave a hole.

Funny. I adore the smell of fresh leather.

I had an ex-boyfriend whose roommates' cat peed on his leather jacket. Of
course, he'd left it on the floor, and given the circumstances of our breakup,
I wasn't inclined to feel too sorry for him.

Maybe there's something about leather, at least to some cats ...

Oh, didn't someone link to "cat paper" in this NG a while ago? It's
super-absorbent. Maybe you can put some in the spot when no one's sitting on
the couch.

--
monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey^H^H^H^Hblue-cream DLH
with an attitude!

If it were one of your children peeing in bed every night , would you
get rid of it. It makes me sick to think that you would even consider
getting rid of your cat. A pet should be a lifetime responsibilty for
every pet owner, but unfortunately this is not the case. People get
rid of the pet in old age, and get a kitten. They get rid of a pet when
the pet gets sick. And MY personal favorite excuse, someone in the
household is allergic. I say that person should take medication, or
move to a cat free household, and let the cat stay.

Get used to the flames. I have come to realize ( through experience) that
you can't even say things in jest in here. Having said all that, the pepper
should work and the Feliway ( I think I mentioned that too) supposedly it
has something in it to stop scratching, peeing and general craziness. It's
expensive to shell out to begin with but it works miracles. We aren't the
richest people in the world but it helps the cats so what the hell. Kind of
aromatherapy for cats.



--
..oO rach Oo.


"Coyote Jack" wrote in message
...
Well, thanks for all the NON Help and flames

I have been a cat lover for over 40 years, and I am NOT the one who
wants to get rid of Scooter... and neither does my wife...but we need
some help here. NOT FLAMES.

But evidently, no one has read the question I was asking. Instead,
certain posters have decided that I am just some sort of piece of ****
who values property over life.....and you folkss couldnt be farther
from the truth

Now, for even more background, IF you read this far. Scooter has been
to the vet, she was checked for a UTI, results negative. This is
clearly a behavioral problem, and the problem DID NOT START until we
bought the couch.

And the couch was an anniversary gift for my wife, who had wanted one.

Scooter did NOT pee on our old couch, which was cloth. None of the
other cats pee on the couch.

She was an abandoned kitten when we found her almost 2 years ago. I
nursed her to health, and made sure she survived...which was real
touch and go for the first couple of weeks, but survive she did.


When I said I kinda love the little brat, PRISCILLA, it was
tongue-in-cheek. I am trying to keep peace in my household with my
wife, at the same time as loving Scooter, and keeping her

So i am going to try pepper on the couch, in little sachets. I am also
looking at ordering an ultrasonic device called a Cat Scram, and I
would really appreciate it, if anyone who has had experience with it,
could post their views.


We have 3 litter boxes inside, and one on our enclosed patio, that I
clean twice daily, sometimes more.. we have even considered buying
Littermaids, but do not know of any pros or cons to them.

Also, the couch has been thoroughly cleaned with Enzymatic Cleaners

So if anyone has some helpful suggestions, it would be appreciated....
but if you just want to flame, please don't bother


Coyote Jack

On 2004-12-29, Toni&Nate penned:
If it were one of your children peeing in bed every night , would you get
rid of it. It makes me sick to think that you would even consider getting
rid of your cat. A pet should be a lifetime responsibilty for every pet
owner, but unfortunately this is not the case. People get rid of the pet
in old age, and get a kitten. They get rid of a pet when the pet gets sick.
And MY personal favorite excuse, someone in the household is allergic. I
say that person should take medication, or move to a cat free household, and
let the cat stay.

Well, here we reach a sensitive topic. I happen to know that someone on the
cat NGs has a 4yo who's being made miserable by allergies. This sort of
constant trauma can cause life-long health issues. And I had to give up a cat
I'd just gotten, Eros, because my cat hated him and my husband was allergic.

It's easy to say "take medication" and wave away the consequences of being on
drugs all of your life. My husband *has* tried those medications, and they
make him fall asleep constantly. His quality of life on meds is awful. Off
of meds, for the entire month Eros was in our house, my husband was ill, slept
poorly, and eventually had to go to the hospital. Were they all directly
attributable to allergies? I don't know. But you know, I love my husband,
and as much as I love Eros, I also know that Eros is an adorable, wonderful
cat who will adjust easily to any home. It tears me up to leave him at a
(carefully chosen) shelter. But the marriage vows come first.

On the other hand, I had my cat Oscar before I ever married Eric, and I made
it clear to him that if they couldn't get along, I wouldn't stay with Eric.
I'd made a commitment to her. Now I've made a commitment to Eric, too, and
unfortunately neither Oscar nor Eric could tolerate Eros, for different
reasons.

Prioritizing furniture over cats is pretty lame, but so is the suggestion that
for every allergy situation, the solution is to keep the cat. Or to get rid
of the person. I can only theorize that you've never cared deeply for a
human.

--
monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey^H^H^H^Hblue-cream DLH
with an attitude!

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2004-12-29, Toni&Nate penned:
If it were one of your children peeing in bed every night , would you
get
rid of it. It makes me sick to think that you would even consider
getting
rid of your cat. A pet should be a lifetime responsibilty for every pet
owner, but unfortunately this is not the case. People get rid of the
pet
in old age, and get a kitten. They get rid of a pet when the pet gets
sick.
And MY personal favorite excuse, someone in the household is allergic.
I
say that person should take medication, or move to a cat free household,
and
let the cat stay.

Well, here we reach a sensitive topic. I happen to know that someone on
the
cat NGs has a 4yo who's being made miserable by allergies. This sort of
constant trauma can cause life-long health issues. And I had to give up a
cat
I'd just gotten, Eros, because my cat hated him and my husband was
allergic.

It's easy to say "take medication" and wave away the consequences of being
on
drugs all of your life. My husband *has* tried those medications, and
they
make him fall asleep constantly. His quality of life on meds is awful.
Off
of meds, for the entire month Eros was in our house, my husband was ill,
slept
poorly, and eventually had to go to the hospital. Were they all directly
attributable to allergies? I don't know. But you know, I love my
husband,
and as much as I love Eros, I also know that Eros is an adorable,
wonderful
cat who will adjust easily to any home. It tears me up to leave him at a
(carefully chosen) shelter. But the marriage vows come first.


And you have cats now?

"Luvskats00" wrote in message
...
Mary" writes
It tears me up to leave him at a
(carefully chosen) shelter.

No sympathy from this group, I hope. Take an extra bit of time AND FIND
THE
CAT A HOME INSTEAD OF DUMPING HIM AT A "CAREFULLY CHOSEN SHELTER".

I didn't write that, **** for brains. Up your meds! And brush up on your
reading comprehension
ya twit.


lol


low five, lowwwww five

On 2004-12-29, Luvskats00 penned:
Mary" writes
It tears me up to leave him at a (carefully chosen) shelter.

No sympathy from this group, I hope. Take an extra bit of time AND FIND THE
CAT A HOME INSTEAD OF DUMPING HIM AT A "CAREFULLY CHOSEN SHELTER".

If you're going to yell at someone, at least quote the right person. Mary
didn't say that.

--
monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey^H^H^H^Hblue-cream DLH
with an attitude!

On 2004-12-29, Mary penned:

And you have cats now?

No, I have cat. I described the whole ordeal in great detail on the anecdotes
NG, if you really care to find out.

Eric isn't allergic to Oscar. He is to Eros. *shrug*

Short story, I tried to find a home for Eros. I kept him in a kennel for a
week, but they were booked for Thanksgiving, so I brought him to an extremely
wonderful local shelter. The local shelter has "cat condos," so instead of
being stuck by himself in a tiny cage, he is in a condo with ledges, toys, and
other cats. Much better than being stuck in a kennel, and arguably better
than being locked in a room of our house. The shelter does not euthanize
adoptable animals, and their definition of adoptable is extremely broad. If
for some reason they decided Eros wasn't adoptable, they would call me to let
me pick him up. I visit Eros every few days and we snuggle, and I give
skritches and snuggles to his condo-mates, too.

You know, I cried for weeks. I felt guilty as hell. I still do. But I
spilled my guts to the folks over at the cat anecdotes NG, and all of them
were extremely supportive when they heard the whole story. I never thought
I'd give up a pet, but then this situation came along and it was just a mess.
Eric sick and in the hospital. Oscar living under the bed, terrified to come
out even to eat or use the litterbox, even though Eros just wanted to play.
Well, if Eric hadn't been allergic, I would have tried every trick in the book
with the cats. Even though ears were torn, and there was no sign of progress,
only escalation. If the cats had gotten along, well, Eric's health still has to
come first. When you watch a loved one go from healthy and robust to constant
illness, and then you see that when the cat is out of the house, these
symptoms stop immediately ... well, I love Eros, always will, but he is a
wonderful cat and *will* find a good home. He has many more opportunities to
find that home at the shelter than he does here in my house.

--
monique, who is sometimes allowed to pet Oscar, a grey^H^H^H^Hblue-cream DLH
with an attitude!

"Monique Y. Mudama" wrote in message
...
On 2004-12-29, Mary penned:

And you have cats now?

No, I have cat. I described the whole ordeal in great detail on the
anecdotes
NG, if you really care to find out.

Eric isn't allergic to Oscar. He is to Eros. *shrug*

[snip story]

I see. Eric had better turn out to be PERMANENTLY
worth it.