Vinegar and Cat Urine

A few months ago I was having a real problem with one of my cats urinating all over the place. Me being me, I put all the blame on my female cat because she is the fickle one of the two, and almost went as far as taking her to the vet. Luckily, Chris discovered that it wasn't her at all, but that it was actually my male cat, Ender, who likes to mark everything with an ocean of pee.

He's fixed, so I knew that wasn't the problem. Fearing a health issue, I took Ender to the vet to make sure that he wasn't ill.

And what did I pay $70 for?

Well, in short, to say that there was nothing wrong with the damn cat. She told me that he's stressed.

Yeah, stressed.

I'll show you stress!

Throwing out a $400 futon because it was drenched in cat urine... losing piles of important papers because the cat had an "accident"... Having nowhere to put the cat during fumigations because I just know that he'll urinate somewhere that he isn't supposed to (the perfect examples being my brother's pull out couch and his big comfy chair). Stress is being chased around with a stick to cover upholstery expenses that I don't have the money for, not to mention all the vinegar to cover the urine smell when there are no other options.

What the hell does Ender have to be stressed about, anyway? He gets cuddled, fed, brushed, played with, left alone when he's irritable; what could he possible be freaking out about? I don't have a lot of furniture, so there's not much to rearrange, and he's got a little friend to spend his days with. Gr.

Many who read this will say, "Why don't you just get rid of the stupid cat?"

Believe me, the thought has crossed my mind; however, Ender is a special case. I got him as a kitten and he'd been abused. He was at the point where no one was allowed to touch him and he was very skittish. I have had him for about two and a half years, and in that time I can touch him, pick him up, and even squish his face. He purrs, which is a pretty new development. I'm terribly afraid that if he goes to another home, he'll be abused again, or neglected. Ender has severe separation anxiety issues, and I'm not interested in putting him through all of that again.

I suppose I'll just have to keep my existing furniture covered with plastic for the next eleven years until he croaks.