(no subject)

[the_siobhan]

Old Man's new bed has been purchased and installed. The bed frame is old enough that we couldn't find a manual online, so we'll have to reach out to the manufacturer. We figured it out - the person we bought it off helped us out enormously - but I would still like to have an instruction manual handy in case of future issues. I will say, those things are built to be solid.

I told approximately 28 people we were "swapping out the beds" but I guess because I didn't directly tell the manager and I didn't do it in writing, that means the residence "didn't know" and they turned away the company that owns the old bed when they showed up to pick it up. I had very much hoped that I wouldn't have to deal with moving the fucking thing because it is heavy and the frame is all sharp metal edges. Whatever. Very much my own fault, but between juggling the timing of bed, bank, xmas dinner, flu shots and everything else, i dropped that detail. I will sort it out Monday.

Honestly I'm dropping a lot these days. I have too many things to keep track of and I am legit failing to keep it all organized. I need to take a day off and just sit down and go through the pile of paper on my desk and sort through my emails and create a checklist. And then hope nothing pukes all over it.

***

<INSERT RANT>

SPEAKING of puke.

I am in an ongoing campaign to try and keep the cats off the fucking dining room table. I am losing this campaign. I make jokes that it's because I want to some day eat a meal that doesn't have a cat hair in it, but I kid, I know I will never in my life ever again eat a meal that doesn't have a cat hair in it.

The real problem is that we are wedged into a very small space and the table is the one and only place with the space to spread out things like bills and plans and anything else that is being sorted / looked at / organized. And if I turn my back on it for five trucking minutes the cat pukes on it. (Seriously. This cat is puking all the fucking time.)

I'm sure this shit is just as stressful for them as it is for us. The obvious solution is not to leave things on the table, but honestly... we have no space to put anything. I have boxes balanced on chairs balanced on tote boxes and I try to put things on top of other things to keep them out of the way.

But today I spread some shit out on the table to sort out what can be ebayed and what is going to be freecycled and in the time it took me to move laundry from washing machine to dryer, the cat threw up all over it.

<END RANT>

***

Having contractors in our house is so weird. Having random voices floating up from the basement or the back window is weird. Walking downstairs and seeing oh hey, this moved since the last time I was down here. Wonder what that massive electrical cable is attached to. Is weird.

I did laundry today. We have a table set up next to the machines and whenever I do laundry I wash down the table first so I can fold the clean clothes on it. I did that today, and then an hour later after the first load was done I dragged my finger across it and I came back covered in grit.

Apparently we had a footing inspection yesterday and it went well. The concrete for the foundation will be poured on Wednesday.

Comments

[china_shop]

So much sympathy about the feline puking! (I'm dealing with a lot of inappropriate feline peeing, including on the table, so I get it.)

Good luck getting rid of the old bed. It's haaaard when there's so much to organise.

*offers hugs*

[brainwane]

What a frustrating time! Let me know if you'd like a working-together-over-video session tonight?

[greylock]

Your cats jump up and piss?

[greylock]

iHonestly I'm dropping a lot these days.

You're doing amazing,

I am in an ongoing campaign to try and keep the cats off the fucking dining room table

Alfoil and or tape around the edges.
Clear the table and spray it, often with a vinegar-based spray (Lemon helps, chilli and pepper, and garlic too. And water for other times

[greylock]

Also, if kitty is puking that much, it needs a vet.

[the_siobhan]

We know why he's puking - it's an anxiety thing. Unfortunately there isn't much I can do about that either.

[china_shop]

Twice on the dining table and once on the kitchen counter, eww. I now keep the table clear of piles of paper and plastic bags that might look like an invitation to a old cat with arthritis and anxiety cystitis (and also, the cystitis is better now). Then he started using the litter tray in the downstairs (carpeted) hallway, where he stood in the tray but often missed (I assume because he can't crouch well enough). Sometimes he missed the plastic I spread out under the tray, too. /o\ I just got a new lidded litter tray and am keeping my fingers crossed.)

/more detail than you probably wanted :-)

[greylock]

I used to have a #catpoopwatch tag on Twitter when my kitty was in her last days.
There is not too much detail possible.

I am impressed at the jumping, as I am my kitty's ability to piss next to her litter, from within her high litter crate.

Cats are amazing.

[china_shop]

Oh man! Retrospective sympathy and fortitude!

Cats are so amazing! And yeah, Zeb is still surprisingly springy, especially in the week after his monthly arthritis medication injection...

[elusis]

My anxiety peeing kitty benefited from just a wee dram of Prozac, every other day - don't know if that's an option in your vet system?

[the_siobhan]

That's not a bad idea at all. I'm sure he'll be less anxious once the strange banging and surprise dog are no longer a problem, but it might help him deal with it in the short term.

[channonyarrow]

I’ve got a puking cat. He’s currently on half a tab of Cerenia (Zoetis) every other day. It works by stopping the chemical that makes them vomit from binding to neurons, and it works when the cause is anxiety. It’s also pricey, so my vet and I are continuing to dig for the why (not anxiety in his case) and try to get a tailored treatment, but it’s magical not having to look at every step to make sure the cat hasn’t puked there.

[the_siobhan]

In Lord Brock's the puking itself isn't directly from the anxiety - he over-grooms to the point of bald patches when his environment is disrupted so he has really bad hairballs. And then he will bolt his food if he feels food insecure which means he overstuffs and chucks it right back up again.

The house chaos is causing the over-grooming and I figure the dog is triggering a lot of the food insecurity. I suspect the reason he won't stay off the table is also because of the dog.

And here is a pic of the asshole in question:

[houseof9cats]

Omg this. The table was this huge issue in our cramped spaces in TO. We could either do homework, eat, play a game, do a puzzle, *or* lay out audio equipment or an art project. Normally, the homework sat there. Everyone ate standing up in the kitchen and did nothing else that required a table. The table was also in D's sleep space, which was the living room and also the dining room. But it was an upgrade from sleeping next to the dishwasher.

Good to hear the bed is mainly sorted and the construction is coming along!