It has been a year, two months, and eight days since I last wrote about my babies, and not a lot has happened in the course of that time in kitty news until recently. Zanzibar and Valentine seemingly get along. They fight occasionally, and it is usually instigated by Zanzibar, but Valentine can definitely hold her own. We theorize that the fighting occurs at night since they nap for the majority of their day, and we see new battle scars on their faces, but nothing that is of concern. Aside from that, they are well-loved, happy, healthy cats. However, earlier this week Valentine urinated on the couch. We removed the cushion covers to be sent to the dry cleaners and it is costly, but we were hoping that this was a one-time occurrence. Then, last night, after she used her litter, she proceeded to urinate on the couch again. Chris' initial and natural reaction was frustration, but doing our research on the reason behind why she was doing this, we read that she probably has a urinary tract infection. This is something that can be caused by multiple factors including stress and dental issues. We also read that to remove the stain and odor of urination, we must completely disinfect the area and use a citrus scent to deter her from relieving herself. Apparently, cats don't like the smell of oranges, lemon, and lime. So, I went to the store and found Nature's Miracle, an enzyme formula that supposedly removes stains and odors (e.g., urine, feces, drool, vomit and other pet messes). I also bought an orange-scented Lysol to disinfect and Febreze to eliminate the odor and replace it with something clean and fresh. The directions on Nature's Miracle says to "allow treated area to air dry completely before expecting complete odor elimination." It seemed to work with the cushion but not for the pillows, which is so weird because one would think it would work on a smaller surface. Again, it is costly, but I think our best bet of removing the odor is to have the pillows sent to the dry cleaners.
Our biggest concern, of course, is Valentine, so we took her to the veterinarian as soon as they opened this morning. The staff there is exceptional. They are kind and caring for both our pet and us and provide us with great information and services. After an exam, some blood work, and an ultrasound, the veterinarian did find crystals in Valentine's system. The good news is that we noticed the behavior and took her in and with the treatment of the antibiotics coupled with her new diet and drinking water additive, the crystals are at an early enough stage that they hopefully won't grow to become urinary stones. And though we still don't know the exact causes of her bladder health problems, we can guess that one of the reasons can be the tartar buildup in her mouth, so we went ahead and scheduled a dental cleaning for her first thing tomorrow morning.
It has been a very emotional morning and early afternoon for all of us, but we are glad that she is getting better and we are continuing to care for her and love her so that she can live a happy, long, and healthy life.
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