Anybody who is a pet owner (I mean a real pet here -- not something that lives in a fishbowl or a small wire cage) knows there is the chance the animal will get into mischief.
For the most part, we accept this as part of the deal. When Pete, the happy dog, decided to rip up half the kitchen floor as a form of protest for being penned in there, we took it as a hint he would like to have the run of the house. And, yes, it also meant we needed a new kitchen floor. My wife was annoyed but understanding when, in his puppy days, Pete ripped up one of her bathing suits and later did a number on a pair of her flipflops.
Polar Bear, a big white cat whose residency predates Pete, recently committed crimes that are being considered differently. For many years, he was reasonably well-behaved. With a rare exception when he first arrived, he went in his litter. In his dotage, he has been having some kidney issues and started the nasty habit of barfing in various spots. It's annoying but he is an elderly and this can be cleaned up. It has been a little puzzling to discover we might have the first known case of bulimia in a cat after watching him devour breakfast and then bring it back up minutes later. But some Petromalt and another syrupy type drug has proved helpful.
There have been other medications, including a trip to the kitty dentist that ran into the several hundred dollars.
We don't exactly know Polar Bear's age but the vet thinks he is around 15. After his actions yesterday, he will be very lucky to see 16.
Last Friday, we had new carpet installed in the basement. It is part of a lengthy project and everything seemed to go quite well. Two days later, we were down admiring our carpet when Polar Bear wandered in, did some sniffing around and dropped off a liquid deposit. At that point, I showed speed I hadn't used in years, grabbing by the scruff of his neck and escorting him to his litter box. He jumped out quickly only to be returned with vigor. We were hoping he would get the idea this was not acceptable behavior. This morning, we awoke to discover he had upchucked on the carpet.
Suffice it to say that Polar Bear is now on Double Secret Probation.
A quick phone call to the vet wasn't very helpful. Oh, we could have his urine tested (again). But even the vet didn't sound like he was expecting to learn much.
Simply put, the cat is getting old, his kidneys aren't what they used to be and he is probably ticked off there is a carpet over what used to be a floor he could walk on. For all I know, he is also annoyed over the Twins getting hammered by the Rangers, 10-0, the other day and is sick of all the political coverage on TV.
The reasons don't matter. When you have spent nearly two grand on new carpet, you are generally not in the mood to be understanding when it is soiled. In this regard, I am in total agreement with the Lady Of the House. (I know. How Republican of us. Sorry.)
Thus an edict has been issued to Polar Bear: He needs to clean up his act pronto or he will be returned to sender. I'm not very happy about this solution but I can live with it.
If it was me doing the same acts, I suspect I would be on my way, too.
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