Pardoned!

Last week I noticed Brent the kitten was brazenly urinating on our dogs beds.  He had no care if someone was watching him, if the dog was sleeping on the bed, whenever the mood hit him he would pop a squat and pee.  I called our veterinarian, explained the situation, and she advised a product called Cat Attract (A litter additive that makes cats want to return to the litter box...) and an examination.  

I took him to visit her, she obtained a urine sample and determined there was nothing wrong with Brent.  I asked her if there was anything else to be done for my boy, and she mentioned we could do the surgery to reroute Brent's urethra in the next month and that possibly that would fix the problem.  She did also warn me there was a possibility that since his urine didn't show any signs of infection or sediment, there was nothing medically wrong with him and there was a good chance he would continue to urinate outside the litter box.  

I was deflated.  Here was a life that I had nursed back to health, loved with my whole heart, and I didn't want to give up on yet.  I knew in my heart though, I could not have a cat urinating in  my house.  That is disgusting....  I thought about making Brent an outside cat, but the possibility he wouldn't have someone keep an eye on him, and that he still was in danger of having a urinary blockage, made me question if that was the right thing to do for him.  (I am not someone who would ever want to put an aniaml's life in jeopardy just to make myself feel better.)  It was eventually decided that I would take Brent in to be euthanized sometime this week.  

Flash forward to this evening.....

I got home, was gathering a load of laundry to put into the washing machine and noticed it was wet.  I smelled it, immediately knew it was cat urine, and quickly realized the entire pile of laundry was soaked.  I could take no more.  I loaded Brent up in the car and with huge tears rolling down my cheeks, prepared to say goodbye to my little buddy.  

I got to the veterinary office, and the staff was so kind to me.  (They have come to love this little nut as much as I do, and no one wanted to see him die.)  Dr. Kalo came in, talked with me about my decision, and then offered to take Brent on as a barn cat if I was interested.  You could tell she was nervous about broaching the subject of Brent living outdoors, I however was relieved!  Yes, there are risks such as predators, weather and traffic, but is death and death and if he stayed on the exam room table, death would have been imminent.  In fact, I love the idea of a Brent living as a barn cat, and think this will be the perfect opportunity for him.  He can run around like a crazy, eat a lot of food, urinate wherever his heart desires, and his new mom is a veterinarian!  We couldn't have gotten any luckier then that!