Of Cat Pee and Snow

[Haligren]

I just felt like ranting a little;

So I live with my in-laws and we share a kitchen. My husband and I live downstairs. My in-laws have an old cat named Jade. She's very sweet and extremely annoying as she is extremely needy. More needy than any elderly cat I've ever met. I had an 18 year old that didn't follow me around 24/7 and didn't yeowl CONSTANTLY when she is alone. On top of this, Jadey, in all her insecurity, has taken to urinating on the large rug in front of the backdoor (in the kitchen). She will also specifically pee on, in, or around shoes. So we can no longer keep our shoes next to the back door. My husband and I leave our shoes on the steps going down into the basement. This hasn't really stopped her from going downstairs and barfing on our carpet, peeing on our dirty laundry or plastic bags - if left on the floor - and every once in a while leaving surprises outside the laundry room door. (The cats' litter boxes are in the laundry room.)

Now, even though Jadey annoys the hell out of me, I still feel sorry for her. She is very sweet, loves to be petted, held, you could stand her on her head and she would love every minute of it. But my in-laws are doing nothing to try and fix her problems. They don't take her to the vet, (in fact when I mentioned that they take her to the vet to get her bladder and such looked at, my father-in-law said that he would, but that she wouldn't be coming back.) They don't think she even really has a problem, BUT our kitchen smells strongly of cat urine. So much so that I find it difficult to eat a meal in it. My father-in-law continues to leave his shoes on the rug, so every few days or so Jadey pees on them to refresh the scent. I believe she does this out of insecurity and is trying to make herself feel better by marking her territory. It could also be that she is very old (has arthritis in her hind legs and a limp) and her bladder simply isn't as strong as it used to be, so when she has to go, SHE GOES. The accidents outside the laundry room and litter boxes (that are usually cleaned daily) prove this.

I have tried putting a litter box upstairs in the bathroom on the main floor, but my in-laws think it's unsanitary or something. I guess they think that it offends company or whatever because they don't want to clean it. My husband and I have a cat, Sana, whom we look after, but even though Jadey is my in-laws' cat, they expect us to take care of her while we're taking care of Sana. Pretty much comes down to me taking care of all the animals. I clean out the litter boxes, feed them, clean their water and food bowls. Actually give them water, as no one else will. I've come back from a week's trip to find the water bowl completely empty and growing algae. And they wonder why the cats want to drink out of the toilet.

I've tried repeatedly to tell them in not so subtle ways, and in more subtle ways, that Jade HAS A FREAKIN' PROBLEM. I'm sick of it. I want to yell at them TAKE CARE OF YOUR FREAKIN' CAT. I'm tired of cleaning up after her. I'm tried of the abhorrent cat urine smell in the kitchen. I feel sorry for her that her owners don't care enough about her to help her. I think it's because she's so old that my in-laws' are just waiting for her to drop dead. And I'm afraid that if I complain any more, my father-in-law will take her to the vet - and not for a check up because he's just like that. My father-in-law is the most unsympathetic character you could ever meet. My husband and I both suffer from depression and anxiety and his response is often 'So?'.

ALSO, it's SNOWING. It's MARCH. WINTER HAS MY PERMISSION TO LEAVE NOW.

Okay, I'm done. Sorry for the wall o' text.

 

[sunshinegeckofarm]

thats sad that they do not take care of their cat. some people are like that though luckily the only animals my inlaws have are birds. is there a way to lock her out of where you guys are in the house? or maybe you could call a vet and explain what she does and see if they have any suggestions and how much it would cost to get it taken care of and then tell his parents about it. I don't have cats but i have been to peoples houses with cats that sometimes didn't use the litterbox and boy does it smell, i can't handle a heavy cat urine smell it makes me sick. also try to keep your clothes and stuff like that away from her i know that smell is a hard one to get rid of on clothes i stayed nights over at friends houses and my clothes reaked of cat even though they did not potty on it i had to wash it several times to get it to smell fresh. i had ferrets and their odor was hard to get rid of too. i have dogs only things with their odor is their dog beds that smell like dirty dogs lol. i like cats but i ain't into cleaning litterboxes, though my ferrets had a litter box but i cleaned it every 3 days just dumping it all since they pooped so much, scooping it was just a waste of time and i used that baking soda stuff that helped very lil for their odor. also i think there may be some sort of stuff you can put in the litter to make her attracted to it more, and see if you can get a few more litterboxes in the house there, maybe try the Littermaid ones that clean them selves i dont know if they have them in canada though all you have to do is take out the plastic tub thing when its full. i know how being depressed is and all that stuff i am depressed and i am sure my husband is too. we are trying our damnest to get out of here, i just hope we succeed. i hope you get this all figured out and fixed

Danielle