First, I should make it clear that I love my cat dearly. I've had him for seven years and we've been through a lot together. I'd NEVER re-home him. He's "stuck" with me for the rest of his furry life
BUT, over the course of seven years, he's destroyed almost all of my furniture and I'm slowly losing my mind. Most of the time we identified a cause and rectified things so that it would never happen again. Even though most of the times it wasn't entirely his fault, it's still extremely frustrating. I'm honestly just looking for support from other cat owners that have experienced something similar! Someone else who can commiserate!
Here's the running list of all the damage he's caused (and I'm sure there are some things I've forgotten):
1. Peed on my son's mattress, requiring me to replace both the mattress and bedding (I just couldn't get the smell out). I think his litter box wasn't as clean as he liked it (typically we scoop it out every other day - I think a cleaning session or two had been skipped, hence using the bed as a litter box).
2. Peed on two recliner chairs in my family room. We were gone on vacation for about a week. His litter box was scooped out daily by my mom (and I trust that she did it!). Maybe he was just angry we were gone? Never figured that one out
3. Vomited on a coffee table, destroying the finishing. It must have happened in the morning because when I got home from work, it was practically glued onto the wood veneer (and since it was a wood veneer and not solid wood, we couldn't refinish it)
4. Over time, he's gradually shredded the arm rests/back of my sectional couch. He has numerous scratching posts which he uses about 90% of the time... the other 5% he scratches my couch... the final 5% is my bathroom shower curtain... Over 5 years of scratching and some serious damage has been done (and I've tried all the deterrents - double sided tape, aluminum foil, strategically placed blankets - he just finds a way around them)
5. He peed on my almost brand-new king-sized mattress. Despite having a "waterproof" mattress pad (which I placed on all the mattresses after the first incident), urine somehow soaked through. Took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with a UTI. Poor kitty. Poor mattress. Poor bank account...
6. Knocked over a bottle of bleach on my dining room table. The lid apparently wasn't fully secured on (no idea why I even it placed it there - running around doing chores and just wasn't paying attention, I guess). I'm very happy my kitty was ok. My dining table... not so much. I think the bleach sat there for about an hour before I realized it (I was downstairs doing laundry).
7. Peed on my wicker rocking chair. No idea why. Perfectly clean litter box. Took him to the vet - no UTI. Still remains a mystery.
8. Shredded a rug in my living room. One day he decided he wanted to be a horizontal scratcher instead of a vertical one... After years of never scratching a horizontal surface, he one day decided to change that. I've since purchased some horizontal scratching surfaces - all of which he's ignored (but he also hasn't scratched any more rugs/carpets).
And last, but not least, he jumped onto a shelf hung above our TV... the shelf came crashing down, damaging our 55inch TV in the process. We've had that shelf in the same position for 2 years. I think he got to it from our fireplace mantle (it's fairly low). No idea why he suddenly found it so interesting. Ughhh.
Can anyone else commiserate?! Some days I feel like a civil war is taking place in my household. Cat vs. Furniture. Cat 9. Furniture 0.
BUT, over the course of seven years, he's destroyed almost all of my furniture and I'm slowly losing my mind. Most of the time we identified a cause and rectified things so that it would never happen again. Even though most of the times it wasn't entirely his fault, it's still extremely frustrating. I'm honestly just looking for support from other cat owners that have experienced something similar! Someone else who can commiserate!
Here's the running list of all the damage he's caused (and I'm sure there are some things I've forgotten):
1. Peed on my son's mattress, requiring me to replace both the mattress and bedding (I just couldn't get the smell out). I think his litter box wasn't as clean as he liked it (typically we scoop it out every other day - I think a cleaning session or two had been skipped, hence using the bed as a litter box).
2. Peed on two recliner chairs in my family room. We were gone on vacation for about a week. His litter box was scooped out daily by my mom (and I trust that she did it!). Maybe he was just angry we were gone? Never figured that one out
3. Vomited on a coffee table, destroying the finishing. It must have happened in the morning because when I got home from work, it was practically glued onto the wood veneer (and since it was a wood veneer and not solid wood, we couldn't refinish it)
4. Over time, he's gradually shredded the arm rests/back of my sectional couch. He has numerous scratching posts which he uses about 90% of the time... the other 5% he scratches my couch... the final 5% is my bathroom shower curtain... Over 5 years of scratching and some serious damage has been done (and I've tried all the deterrents - double sided tape, aluminum foil, strategically placed blankets - he just finds a way around them)
5. He peed on my almost brand-new king-sized mattress. Despite having a "waterproof" mattress pad (which I placed on all the mattresses after the first incident), urine somehow soaked through. Took him to the vet and he was diagnosed with a UTI. Poor kitty. Poor mattress. Poor bank account...
6. Knocked over a bottle of bleach on my dining room table. The lid apparently wasn't fully secured on (no idea why I even it placed it there - running around doing chores and just wasn't paying attention, I guess). I'm very happy my kitty was ok. My dining table... not so much. I think the bleach sat there for about an hour before I realized it (I was downstairs doing laundry).
7. Peed on my wicker rocking chair. No idea why. Perfectly clean litter box. Took him to the vet - no UTI. Still remains a mystery.
8. Shredded a rug in my living room. One day he decided he wanted to be a horizontal scratcher instead of a vertical one... After years of never scratching a horizontal surface, he one day decided to change that. I've since purchased some horizontal scratching surfaces - all of which he's ignored (but he also hasn't scratched any more rugs/carpets).
And last, but not least, he jumped onto a shelf hung above our TV... the shelf came crashing down, damaging our 55inch TV in the process. We've had that shelf in the same position for 2 years. I think he got to it from our fireplace mantle (it's fairly low). No idea why he suddenly found it so interesting. Ughhh.
Can anyone else commiserate?! Some days I feel like a civil war is taking place in my household. Cat vs. Furniture. Cat 9. Furniture 0.
