You know how your own job, family, relationship, car, children, etc., can seem really annoying until you get a big ol' taste of your friend's job/family/relationship/car/children, and yours suddenly seems exponentially better, even fantastic?
It's like that with cats, too.
I mentioned yesterday that I'm checking in on my neighbor's two humongously hairy cats while said neighbor is at the Cape this week. I alluded to the tumbleweeds formed in her home as a result of the shedding of the aforementioned hairy kitties. What I didn't mention is that one of the cats has a penchant for pooping in the tub. Daily, as it turns out. My neighbor had mentioned that Cat Number One sometimes does #2 in the tub, and asked that I check there regularly. She also mentioned, very casually, that Cat Number Two occasionally does #1 outside of the litter box, on the tile floor in the bathroom. And naturally, them being hairy, I understood that there would be a hairball or two to clean up from time to time. What I didn't expect, when I stopped in this morning to feed, water, and clean up after them, was for one or both of them to have left four (yes, 4) pools of vomitty vomit in various places around the living room and kitchen areas, PLUS a huge hairball surrounded by more dried vomit right. in. the. dry food. bowl, thereby ruining the dry food for everyone. Not to mention ruining any thought I had of consuming any meals today.
Oh, and yeah, there was a big warm pile of poop in the tub, and a nice pool of pee right next to the litter box.
And there they were, trying to love me up while I cleaned up after them and set out fresh food and water, and they looked at me when I opened the door to leave as if to say, "But wait! You didn't snuggle with us! Or brush us! Or scratch us!" You bet your hairy tuches I didn't, girlfriends, 'cause I was gonna be late for work after having to scrape up your dried poop and vomit off of half the surfaces in the house.
Olivia is officially The Best Cat in the Entire World today, and that's despite the tiny bit of undigested food she left me on the dining area carpet this morning. It's the first time in over a week that she's done it and, besides, it was a one-paper-towel job.
Posted by cynical at June 23, 2008 01:13 PMI'm cat sitting this week too...and I feel your pain! There are three cats, three cat boxes, two water dishes and three different types of food. Of course, the law is that the cats cannot share each other's food, so they must be segregated while they eat. Now, as you know, cats will not do anything on a human's time schedule...so, of course, they are not going to eat when you want them to. So this means I have to go over there several times a day, separate them, and hope they eat! Argh. On top of that, I have to give a pill to one of the cats.
I always thought cat sitting would be a fun job. But no, no it is not! (And I *love* cats!)
Posted by: DogsDontPurr on June 23, 2008 03:01 PMYou are a better woman than I. I had to cat sit an giant Maine Coon cat named Hazel who was pure evil. She attacked me every time I went in to feed her....well not really attacked but laid in wait for me to walk by before she jumped out to bite my ankles...wait that counts as an attack.
Anyway, I got to the point where I'd open the door wide enough to shove her food and water inside, take the day before bowls and leap out the door before she figured out I wasn't going to walk through the house. I have no idea if there was mislaid piss, poop or vomit nor did I care.
Hazel still scares me.
Posted by: Karan on June 23, 2008 06:29 PMIn the last years of both Calvin's and Miles's lives, they both shunned the litter box. We gave up and kept a supply of paper towels for the poop. The cement floor was mopped daily with a diluted bleach solution.
Though. neither cat used the bathtub for their daily eliminations.
Oh, yeah. And there were the insulin injections. (I'm just sayin'.)
Posted by: tomorrow on June 23, 2008 09:59 PMI wonder if the cats are showing that their miss their owners?
Posted by: aithne on June 24, 2008 05:29 PMMy ex girlfriend's cat Chase used to love to crap in the guest room bathtub.
Yes, the same bathtub I had to shower in.
And to think the ex used to wonder how her hand towels got so soaking wet everytime I showered in there...