It seems that's what we've got going on over here.
About two weeks ago we decided we'd had enough of BatCat peeing in inappropriate places and we put her out. That is, she is now an outside cat.
For a very long time, we did not know which cat was the culprit of the random peeing, but we long suspected that it was BatCat. She just has that streak of vengefulness in her personality that Stubby doesn't. But the evidence was building against her as well: she was often seen scoping out the places that had recently been targeted, my parents suitcase was peed in when they visited (she had recently been seen in their room, whereas Stubby was afraid), at times she would be found in other unhit places, sniffing about with her mouth open, and then when she escaped outside, twice, for long stretches, there were no further hits. This was not done without a lot of thought, procrastination, and multiple, multiple attempts at trying to find her another home. But we had no luck. And the list of items that we had to throw away was growing exponentially.*
When it first started happening we took both cats to the vet to make sure there wasn't a medical issue. Nope. He said it was clearly behavioral. We did all kinds of things the vet suggested, and friends who are good with this kind of thing, but the problem continues. We looked into sending her to a "no kill" shelter, but it turns out that they do have to put down cats with this kind of behavior because they just can't rehome them either. We nearly got a commitment to take her from a friend who has a barn and a lot of land so that she could be a barn cat, but it turns out there is a fox den on her land and that would be just as certain of a death sentence.
We tried to put her out and let her back in at night, but that really just seemed to make the problem worse. So out she went. For good this time. We feed her twice a day as we did before, but we take the food in after a period of time so as not to attract animals or ants. She finds her own place to pee and poo. She sleeps under the porch or in a small cat hut I put on the back porch.
BatCat seems to be holding her own outside. She is hanging around and coming like clockwork for mealtime. At first she hid under the porch most of the time, but now she can mostly be found on the step or lounging in the backyard. She has not given up about wanting back in though, and nearly every time we open the door she makes an attempt at installing herself as a house cat once again.
Since the change, Stubby has seemed much happier and more relaxed. They never did get along all that well. Let's face it, she terrorized him. We are also much more relaxed with out the constant threat of something else being ruined.
Then, yesterday, she got in. It was for less than a minute. TW was leaving, she snuck in, TW called out, and I went to find her. I thought she'd have gone upstairs right away, but I found her next to the stroller, and put her straight out again. That was that. Or so I thought.
This morning, when preparing to go to the Farmers Market, I found that the stroller had been peed on, so add to the list below one reusable grocery bag, an umbrella, a blanket, and several brochures of things I'd wanted to check out. I doused the stroller with
Nature's Miracle, and we have yet to find out if that needs to be on the list of lost items.
So one of two things happened. Either BatCat is extremely vengeful AND extremely quick about it. Or it was Stubby. If it was Stubby, though, was this coincidence? Was it because BatCat got in and threatened what is now his territory? Or do we have a second problem on our hands? I have scoured the house to see if there have been any other hits. I have not found any new spots. In one of the old spots I found what, most likely (?), is a small drop of missed grossness, but not a full hit.
I am trying not to be paranoid. I am trying not to think about what we will do with Stubby if he has also acquired this very bad habit. He is afraid of the outdoors. He is a Scaredy Cat. I am more scared about his survival out of doors... So now I guess we wait.
*
List of Casualties (may not be inclusive due to being forgotten, not disclosed by TW, or not yet found)
- Booster Seat
- Foam Play Mat
- Play room rug
- Two shelves full of video cassettes (including classics such as Fried Green Tomatoes)
- Three Pairs of shoes
- Over-the-door shoe holder thingamajig
- Two bathrobes
- Skirt
- A bra
- My favorite satchel
- Our entire stash of tea
- File cabinet
- And multiple cardboard boxes protecting other items in the vicinity of target areas
- Other things listed in above post and possibly a wool rug, which we can't bear to admit.
