The Giving Up/ Cutting Down alcohol support thread - number 13

scatterbrain109 wrote: »

Off topic, can I have some advice?
I have a cat, think she's around 13 (not 100% certain as we got her from RSPCA aged around 9.
She has taken to peeing indoors over recent months.
If any door is left open she's on the soft furnishings having a Wiss.
The house is starting to smell and we have the washing machine on 2-3 times a day.
Any suggestions? Otherwise it's the final trip to the vet. We can't take much more.
Thank you
Jo x

So sorry to hear your little cat is peeing everywhere, Scatterbrain. I'd second the suggestion of a trip to the vet asap, not because the cat's needs are urgent, but because yours are. There is a limit to how long we can go on clearing up after them, as I know from experience. Also, any major behavioural change in an animal is usually a sign of distress, either physical or emotional.

If you can take a urine sample to the vet that would help him/her enormously and they may very well ask for one anyway, so forewarned is forearmed and here we go. I've only ever found one way of doing this relatively cheaply and painlessly, especially if you have more than one cat.

The incontinent cat has to be confined to a room without soft furnishings - I use the bathroom or shower room. They must have a clean, sterilised or new litter tray (usually about £1.50 from places like £stretcher or poundshops) and a bag of the fine aquarium gravel that's about the same size as normal cat litter. The gravel can be a bit dusty, so it might need a rinse and then being left to dry outside if you can before the cat uses it. If you can't get hold of a cheap new cat litter tray, I'd suggest a very large (disposable) tin foil roasting pan. When the cat has used the litter tray, you'll need to decant the pee into a clean, steralized glass jar with a lid and keep it upright when you transport it - you don't need to ask why I know that, do you?

You can wash and dry the litter tray for future use, but the gravel seems to hold the stench of cat urine no matter how many times you wash it, so it'll have to be chucked away when this is all over. In the meantime, wash it, dry it and keep it in case this particular cat needs another sample taken.

If you can't get a sample the vet may need to admit the cat and confine it so that they can get the sample and that's usually quite expensive in comparison to my DIY method.

It may be that the cat isn't unwell at all, but the problem is behavioural. You mentioned that you'd adopted this cat's son, so I'm assuming you have at least one other cat in the house. There can be behavioural issues that develop between cats that have previously lived together perfectly peaceably, and one of the ways that can manifest is one cat not letting the other cat use the litter tray if you have one. The vet will want to rule that out, as well, and only you can work out how best to seperate them.

I once had to keep a newly adopted stray apart from our two existing cats because the stray kept trying to kill the elderly diabetic male cat. and the female who had cancer. It's not something I'd chose to go through again but I did it for 18 months because I had to. The ex-stray is still with us, 10 years later, and just on the verge of costing us a fortune as he too has developed a major health problem, the prognosis for which could be very grim. He's off to a specialist vet on Tuesday having seen our regular vet who's referred him for a difinitive diagnosis and decisions about the best way forward.

Good luck with it.

16/30 please, Shaggy.

Good morning everyone, lovely sunny day.

Hope your cat gets sorted out Scatterbrain. Well done with your supermarket trip urge. I had just one beer while out Saturday, had a fantastic day so not af but fine. Yesterday however I woke up feeling upset, so had 3/4 of a bottle of wine, then finished with cider. Not proud of it, I just didn't want to feel anything at all.
Today I'm struggling with myself as woke up feeling bad inside again, but it's such a beautiful sunny day. Going to make a tea in a minute, and try to get back up. I need to get over this.

Hi All,

Just discovered this thread whilst looking for something else entirely, just what I need to be honest!
I drink to cope with stress these days, never used to be like that, and about 5 years ago I gave up alcohol for 7 months, then only used to drink occasionally.
The last two years have been one nightmare after another, a serious shoulder injury in 2015, ongoing business and serious money problems, still ongoing, surgery for suspected breast cancer last summer (thankfully successful) then two weeks after the all clear from that, my mother became very ill and that situation is still ongoing after over 9 months, very stressful. Yes, you guessed it, the drinking is back, most nights, just to relax and escape the stress for a few hours, stupid but there it is.

Just wondered how this thread works, I really could do with some moral support, and of course in turn offer the same to others trying to cut down or give up.

My aim for this week is to not drink until next weekend, then decide how I want to go forward. Hoping that posting here will help keep me accountable....any advice welcome x

Afternoon everyone, very close shave today but I managed to avoid catastrophe. Alcohol wouldn't have resolved the situation, it would have just made me feel worse.

Hope Easter Monday is going well for everyone

15/28 please Shaggydoo

Jo x