Winifred

Name changed to protect the innocent (cat).

Winifred is a ten year old cat. Her owner brought her in at 5:57 PM (3 minutes before close of business) yesterday night to be euthanized.

Fred likes to pee on the bed. "Likes" may be assigning more emotion to it than is reasonable, but she's made it obvious over the past 4 years that her preferred urination spot is on her "owner's" bed. Her "owner" is a teenager, probably 13-15 years old. She accompanied her mother to have "her" cat put down.

They've tried everything. Numerous visits to Banfield and other vets over the years have revealed no medical issues. Fred is not declawed. She does not have a UTI or other urinary issue. Everything seems normal. But she keeps peeing on the bed. And sometimes in the dirty laundry hamper. And sometimes next to the litterbox. And sometimes in the litterbox. But usually on the bed.

They've put down pee pads. They've put waterproof lining on the bed and cleaned it with different cleaners to discourage re-soiling. Fred just won't stop peeing on the bed.

So she's at the shelter. Her "owner's" mother is talking about having her cremated. So I go through the whole process with her, while looking over the medical records and mulling it over. Yes, I can submit a request for euthanasia, but it's just that, a request. Given that there is medically nothing wrong with the cat, our intake team may opt to have the vet team check her out on Monday and see if they think there may be other options for her, such as behavioral retraining through foster, rescue, or even just being in a smaller (shelter) environment. What I can do is wait to see what their decision is and inform the owner. If the decision is to euthanize immediately, we can hold Fred's body while the owner consults the cremation service. If not, I can make a note to inform them if she is euthanized in the future so that she can reclaim the body for cremation. Otherwise, she is welcome to call us and get a status update. The owner agrees to wait to see what the Receiving Team decides.

Of course they're not going to euthanize the cat. That's ridiculous. What they are going to do is ask more questions to find out to what extent the owner tried to correct the behavior, since it seems to be a behavioral issue and not a medical issue. I tell them what I know so far: Vet visits, not a UTI, not declawed, 10 years old, been urinating outside the litterbox for 4 years.

I return to the lobby to find out what else I can learn. The litterbox is in the daughter's room. The bed in the room with the litterbox is the one that Fred is peeing on. They can't move the litterbox (restrict access to the place where she has decided to urinate). The cat has free roam of the house. They have not tried Cat Attract litter.

They took Fred to Banfield to be euthanized, and Banfield refused. For once, I'm in agreeance with Banfield. They offered to start her on Fluoxetine (Prozac), but the owner did not think it was right to pill a ten year old cat for the rest of her life, and I also agree with that.

So, again, I told them what was going to happen. Our vet team would look at Fred and her medical records. If there was anything else medically that we could do, we would. If we thought it was more appropriate for a rescue group, we would make her available for rescue. If they decided it was likely a behavioral thing (which is what I think), they may just see how she does in a shelter environment or see if a foster home would be willing to take her in. If we could not find a long-term solution for her and it was decided that it would be more humane to euthanize her, then we would do that. And yes, we could notify the owner, as I already told them.

If the decision was made to not euthanize her, could I inform them so that they could come get her?

...What? No.

They were not happy. First off, the adult said that she didn't sign over rights to the cat, she signed the cat over to be euthanized. I gave her a look, and she said, "Is that on the sheet that I signed?" and I said yes. I also told them before I took the cat that she may not be euthanized. That was the whole reason they were still waiting.

Second, the daughter did not want the cat rehomed. She said that due to the cat's age and temperament ("She doesn't even like me very much," the mom said -- sounds like the cat is a pretty good judge of character), it was not fair to expect her to adjust to another environment. If she was not going to be euthanized, they would rather take her back.

They were told that, at any time, they could reclaim the cat as long as she was still in our care. However, if they left the cat with us, we would treat her as we would any other cat. We would do our best to find a good solution for her.

"Everyone here cares about animals." If she is distressed or miserable, we will not force her to do anything. Our goal is not to just keep her alive; our goal is to help her. If the only way we can help her is to euthanize her, we will. But first, we're going to try other things.

They decided to leave her with us.

I could go on all day about what they should have done (moved the litterbox, closed the g*d*m door). Here's a very accessible article about inappropriate cat urination: Feline Behavior Problems: House Soiling