The Longest Pee

My poor cat!

So, following the surgery, Saraki is not supposed to use traditional cat litter while she still has her stitches in because of the dust factor. We were instructed to use shredded paper instead, and told that she would be able to make the adjustment.

On day one after her last return from the clinic (Sunday night), she peed on an old dog bed we had placed under the couch, where she had immediately retired, in an effort to be alone for awhile after all the stress. We attributed that somewhat to grogginess and confusion, and a little to the discomfort of trying to make her way all the way over to one of the shredded paper stations we had put out for her. The vet had also told us that there was a chance she might protest the change in litter in a couple of instances, but assured us that she would get with the program shortly thereafter.

From that point on, though, things became, "The Great Squeaky Pee Hunt." We could find no further evidence of pee in the house. There was nothing in the shredded paper litters. Ditto on the floor mats in the entryways. There was no way she could get upstairs or downstairs; those cat-holes were sealed off, tight. There were really only three rooms we left accessible to her, and we just couldn't find a thing. I was certain she had found some nook or cranny we were overlooking, but Sharon was convinced that we would have been able to smell something after two days stretched into three days and then finally on to a fourth day.

Finally, yesterday on the way home from work, Sharon picked up a new kind of litter made of recycled newspaper processed into little pebble-sized balls, called "Yesterday's News." Fresh, clean, and much like The Squeak's traditional litter, except completely dust-free and safe for her use. We got out the old litter pan, cleaned it up good, and poured in a luxurious four-inch carpet of the new stuff. Sharon set Sqeaker right in the center, where she proceeded to pee for at least 45 seconds. It was immediately followed by a crap of the size that would have made a golden retriever proud. Good Lord, but that's a stubborn cat.