Banishment

In an earlier post, I wrote that my cat is stinkin’ cute and often makes me smile. Yes, Rechina has brought me so much joy over the last 11 years, and I’ve often thanked God for her, as crazy as that might sound. She’s been with me through many ups and downs and I really can’t imagine not having her in my life.

Whenever I walk through the house and see her in one of her many favorite spots, I often have to just stop and look at her for a minute with a big smile on my face. For example:


She is also quick to take advantage of new and interesting locations as they present themselves:


But really, she just likes to be wherever I am. Being a cat, she sleeps most of the day, but she does wake up and come into the office or wherever I am every few hours for a little lovin’:


Which is why I feel so guilty for having to banish her…

See, Rechina is not always the perfect little princess she appears to be in these photos. No, years ago, she started peeing places she shouldn’t. At first it was on the rug next to her litter box in the bathroom, which was easily solved by removing the rug. Then she started actually going on my bed, so I would just lock her out of the bedroom whenever I wasn’t in there. Recently, she’s decided that the dining room carpet makes a good toilet. I rented a carpet cleaner, but she could still smell the pee and picked right back up again. Racking my brain, I concluded that I couldn’t make her an outdoor cat since she’s never been outside in all her 12 long years, and I doubt I could find a new home for an old pet with such an offensive habit. Hopeless, in tears, I started to accept the fact that I might have no other option than to have her put to sleep. I knew the day would come when she would pass away, and as sad as they day would be, it pales in comparison to the pain I feel simply at the thought of having to be the one to kill her in effect. Yet, I didn’t know what else to do.

Still, I had to try everything. I took her to the vet and they first tested her urine for bacteria. There were trace amounts, though probably not enough to be causing this problem. Still, an antibiotic was the first course of action. If that didn’t make a difference, she was to be put on Prozac. Supposedly, the Prozac helps calm animals down enough so that they abandon these bad habits, and it has a 75% success rate according to the vet. During all of this, she was also to be isolated, to hopefully retrain her to go only in her litter box. And so began the chapter of Rechina’s life banished to my garage. It’s quite a lot of space, actually, and I tried to make it as comfortable as possible, though I’m sure she’s still unhappy being secluded like that. I mean, I assume that most of the time she just sleeps the day away as usual, only in the garage instead of the house, but whenever I walk past the garage door I can hear her crying loudly inside, and of course she tries to sneak out whenever I open the door to go in. I feel bad for her out there all alone, and I miss her presence in the house, but I figure it’s better than the alternative.

So, we’ll see. I rented the carpet cleaner again and also drenched the carpet and pad with a odor eliminator to hopefully get rid of the remaining smell. And when I get back from my trip to Yosemite for my brother’s wedding, I’ll start her on the kitty Prozac. This whole thing is so frustrating, and I just can’t understand WHY she’s doing it. This most recent increase in the frequency began shortly after I started dating Derek, and while she seems to like him just fine, I wonder if she’s jealous because she’s receiving less of my attention since he’s come into my life. I don’t know. In the garage, I put a blanket down for her to sleep on, the only soft place in there for her lie down, and still she peed on it. I replaced the blanket with a suitcase, but she went on that too. Why would she pee where she sleeps? I just don’t get it! I get so angry with her, and yet I still love her…

Anyway, I’ll keep you posted. But in the meantime, thanks for allowing me to vent.