Patches brought some serious drama into the house Thursday morning, but I think everything's finally getting under control. First, on Wednesday, I discovered a bald spot on her, thanks to her collar. Apparently the kitties have very sensitive skin, unbeknownst to me. Who knew a regular fabric collar could cause baldness? I made an appointment with the vet Thursday morning, just to make sure that she looked okay and didn't need ointment or anything.

Guess what else happened Thursday morning? Patches climbed onto the bed while Joe and I were relaxing, watching t.v., and PEED on our comforter! It was utterly horrifying, as Patches has never exhibited this kind of behavior in her life. I cleaned it up, feeling frustrated and annoyed. After Joe got ready for work, I went back to sleep in the other room on the couch. When I woke up, I saw something else on the bed. More pee!! It didn't look like pee at first, because it was so dark. That's when I realized there was blood in her urine, and commenced totally freaking out.

I felt better once Joe and I arrived at the animal hospital later that afternoon. The vet didn't seem to think it was a huge worry. She kept Patches for a couple hours, gave her subcutaneous fluids, and did a urinalysis on her. I felt like we'd made progress.

Today, however, was another story. I got home, checked the bed, and no pee spots. (Cue sigh of relief.) The answering machine blinked at me, and I knew the vet tech had called. She said Patches has normal levels in her urinalysis, but there is blood in the urine. "Just keep giving her the medicine, and it should clear up in about a week. If not, call us back!" A little while later, Patches peed on the comforter already on the floor. And I almost had a nervous breakdown. Just kidding. Sort of.

Here's the thing -- my thoughts sometimes hitchhike on a runaway train, and that's what happened tonight. Little black demons crept across the outermost borders of my brain, whispering scary, scary thoughts. What if this isn't temporary? What if this is kidney failure? What if she's incontinent for life? What if she doesn't live the twenty years I'd always planned for her to? In the mean time, the forefront of my brain screamed, "WHY are you peeing all over the blankets?! For the love of god, STOP DOING THAT, just get better ASAPNOWPLEASE!!!" In the background, a broken record kept skipping... I can't handle this. I can't handle this. I can't handle this...

I emailed my beloved Bobbi, who sent back a very smart and level headed reply. She said to treat her like an un-housetrained puppy. Thank god she put it all back on a level I can understand - dog care! If I did that for pay, I can certainly do it in my home!

So I've given Patches a room of her own - the bathroom. She's got a temporary litterbox courtesy of a late night run to Ralph's (hooray for 24 hour grocery stores!), her food and water bowl set a comfortable distance from said litterbox, towels to lie on, and a fuzzy mouse to play with. I've taken away everything I don't want her to pee on. Anything else is very cleanable, which is not true of the rest of our carpeted abode. This should allow for easier monitoring of her, I think. Now the trick is to keep her from escaping whenever we need to go in there. These are the times I miss having two bathrooms. Oh, well. We'll make do. I, for one, am already feeling much more optimistic about this approach. The problem was just too big for me before -- there are just too many places a cat can pee in this apartment, and that was cause for MAJOR anxiety. But now things are better, and I think we'll get through this okay. Now, Patches just has to get over her urinary tract infection and get those kidney crystals out of her system. My poor baby. Anyone who's ever had a UTI knows the hell she's in right now. And the girl still instantly purrs the moment I touch her. What a sweetheart.

(Think good thoughts for Patches, please.)