Sunday, October 14, 2007

George's Adventures at the Vet


Not to be left out, George decided it was time for him to see the magical place Andrew gets to go to every two weeks or so. But, since he didn't want to be a copy cat (hee hee), he needed to find a different ailment, so after racking his brains, he went with the tried and true for all orange male cats - peeing in undesirable places (i.e. anywhere outside his box). And having gotten mad at another orange male cat for something that turned out to not be his fault, and actually was a precursor for something horrible, I thought "better to get him checked out and then, if there's nothing wrong, I can get furious without the guilt." So Friday night, off we went.


Unlike Andrew, George is one step removed from feral cats and can get MEAN so we warned the vet ahead of time, and, in true cat fashion, he was a doll. He let her poke him, squeeze him, look in his ears, eyes and mouth, without a murmur. After describing the symptoms, she is pretty sure he is reacting to a stray cat outside, and to him, he is not doing anything wrong but is actually marking his territory. A male tomcat's turf covers the area of 10 football fields. While I would love to say that my house had sufficient room so George wouldn't feel cheated (since he's not allowed outside), it doesn't even come close to one football field, let alone 10. So, George, poor boy, is trying to mark his tiny turf anyway he can. And since I very cruelly removed the glands necessary to actually "spray" and mark his turf before he was 5 months old, he can't even do that properly.


What it comes down to is we have to get rid of the outside cat. Now, I would like to point out that I have gone against every instinct in me, and NOT fed or done anything that can even remotely be looked at as encouraging the outside cat. I wish I could put up a sign that said "No Thanks, we have 4 already" or "We gave at the Humane Society" or the like. But this cat obviously never went to school and is also very ill mannered in that he insists on coming around where he is definitely not wanted. (Can't get more obvious than a huge orange blur throwing himself at the glass door whenever you enter the yard.)


It was suggested that we contact animal control, whom I'm sure are going to be overjoyed to get the call at 11:30 at night, since this cat is a night owl. Or maybe get a Have a Heart trap from the Humane Society. But what happens if we trap the resident opossum? or worse, if we trap our overly comfortable squirrels? But we do need to do something. George needs to go back to his comfort zone of being King George, Despot of the house. To be sure there is no underlying problem, the vet drew blood and urine for horrifically expensive tests that hopefully will tell us that there is nothing wrong. And then, I can yell and scream at him to my heart's content, until we either get past this or he sends me to the loony bin!

13 comments:

Beck said...

ALL orange male cats pee where they're not supposed to?
That explains so much - I thought mine was just sort of dumb. He's a sweetie, though.

Jen said...

Sigh. This makes me want another cat. Bad blog!

Such a cute tomcat!

painted maypole said...

it makes me sad that there are feral cats at all. they should all be inside and loved and pampered. unless they are mousing in a barn or whatever. but not just roaming the neighborhood.

(and look! I found your personal blog! finally. sigh. call me slow...)

Mars Crafters said...

Hi, love the blog! It kind of reminds me of my house, except we've got 5 females and a male. He's not the dominant one by far! My cat Tia and my mum's cat Misty are the two dominant ones. Smudge (the male) used to be an alley cat before we...I was was going to say "took him in" but we didn't take him in, he just walked in! I agree with Painted Maypole, I've fostered a fair few feral cats and kittens who eventually turn out to be very sweet and loyal. It's a shame that some people get cats, don't get them neutered/spayed and they have kittens, then the owners don't want them and they are left to be feral through no fault of their own and the cycle continues. But it's people like you who are the responsible ones and will do anything to make cats as comfortable, happy and healthy as they could possibly be. Good on ya!
Best Wishes, from the kittens' mother

Unknown said...

Hi Mary Beth, I was tagged by Alicia Padron and now I'm tagging you. Could you list 5 random things about yourself on yur blog?

Jen said...

10 football fields????

Melissa said...

Even after heard pee stories I still wish I could have a cat, but my husband and I are both BADLY allergic

Small City Scenes said...

Cat tales!! I have a kitten climbing all over me as I try to keyboard. ufff. Another MaryBeth!

Kat said...

I wish I could have a cat, but I'm allergic. :(

Thank you for your comment on my post. I appreciate it. :)

the mother of this lot said...

Just came to say thanks for visiting....oh....and I'm scared of cats!

The Lee County Clowder said...

Hi. We just found your blog, and are wondering if you are still updating it.

If you are still updating, at least occasionally, or are just interested in cats & cat blogging, go to the Cat Blogosphere and introduce yourselves. Andrew and the rest will thank you.

ppuurrrrrrrrrr

imbeingheldhostage said...

Never, in a hundred years, would I have thought to get a cat tested for ruining my belongings... Now I'm re-thinking my childhood pets. Yikes, the guilt!

Jen Kershner said...

Oh no, not the peeing thing! I didn't know this was an orange cat thing. I'll be on the lookout for sure.