This is Little Sister. Sister is one of our two cats and she's been a bit of a troublemaker lately. Beginning a couple weeks before our trip to Europe, she started peeing outside her litter box. On the couch. On our bed. In the plant. It happened just a few times, it wasn't a regular thing. It didn't seem like she couldn't help herself, like there was a physical reason she was doing this, so we figured she was trying to tell us something, but we couldn't figure out what that something was. She needed more love? We gave her more love. Maybe she's decided that after 8 years of sharing with her brother, Bear, she wants her own space? We got a second litter box. Things got better and she seemed just fine in the days before we left.
While we were gone - nothing. For two weeks. Our friends stopped by twice a day to feed the cats and give them a little petting and love and there was never anything amiss.
Neither kitty gave us too much of the cold shoulder upon our return. We got back, things went right back to normal. The pre-peeing normal. At first. And then it began. In the kitchen. On the couch. In the kitchen. On the bed. On my husband in the bed. In the kitchen. On me on the bed. On our favorite armchair. In all other respects, she was acting normally, her disposition hadn't changed. We were giving her a bit of extra time and love, assuming she wanted or needed more attention. But it didn't stop.
Forgetting for a moment the fact that she had done this well before we went on vacation, we assumed she was telling us she was peeved about our leaving. That made sense. But it went on for more than a week. I woke up every morning, afraid of what I'd find. I had a bottle of special cleaner at the ready. It seemed to be related to when she wanted to eat. If I didn't get up fast enough and feed her, well, she let me know how she felt about it. One time she didn't even let me get out of bed, just started to tell me how she was feeling in this new special way of hers while I was still lying there!
We took her to the vet last week. She is as healthy as she can be. No infections, perfect little bladder. There is absolutely nothing physically wrong with her. Brought her home from the vet and -poof- just like that, it stopped. We brought her in on a Tuesday. Starting Wednesday, everything was magically back to normal - hurrah! Maybe she just needed the extra attention. Maybe we scared it out of her by taking her to the vet. Who knows why, but we were once again a happy, pee-free family.
The honeymoon was short-lived. It has started again! After a week in the pee-free zone, she's done it again. Just once that I can tell (and, really, you can't hide cat pee anywhere), yesterday. On the favorite armchair again. AAARGH!
What is she trying to tell us? Does anyone out there speak kitty? I could use a translator. Ah, I need the Kitty Whisperer, that's what I need.
P.S. I just had an image of my husband and I trying to piece together enough German to explain the situation to a vet in Vienna, should we ever have to. It's a funny visual - single words, hand gestures. We may have to resort to drawing pictures if our vocabulary isn't up to the task. Should be fun.
