Dear Lora: If there were a Nobel Prize for Tolerance, you would be my nominee. But keep in mind that there are people who will, for whatever reason, abuse and take advantage of those they claim to love and some cats will do the same. If you watch Dr. Phil on TV, you will have seen more than one parent be told that indulging children and not setting limits and consequences for bad behavior has predictable results. Therein may lie Dartagnan's problem. Or, it is possible Dartagnan is trying to tell you he would rather be an outdoor kitty who can spray wherever he pleases without consequences.
I would have called an animal communicator LONG ago to have a talk with Dartagnan...long before replacing expensive carpeting and electrical shorts. Since humans don't speak Catese and most of us are not psychically endowed, through their behavior is the only way our cats can let us know what they are thinking. My take is that there is a reason when cats behave so badly and that usually they are trying to tell us something...they do realize that going outside the box is a way to get our attention in a hurry and it seems that Dartagnan has been screaming at you for a very long time. Bless you for loving him so much you have been willing to make a valiant effort and go to such great lengths to deal with the problem, but what you have done is "enabling" in a way...you just keep cleaning up after him and repair the damage from the havoc he wreaks...it would seem the reason for WHY he is spraying and continuing to do so with such abandon remains unaddressed. Since you've had Dartagnan evaluated medically, and that is not an issue, it would seem there must be an emotional basis for what he is doing. It is possible that Dartagnan is spraying just because he LIKES doing it and you have not made it clear to him what a fine line he is walking. And perhaps therein lies the problem...you have been TOO tolerant of such behavior and should not have exercised the patience of a saint. You need to make it clear to Dartagnan that if this behavior persists you are at the end of your patience and his spirit will be sent to the other side prematurely via the long sleep. If he is a healthy two year old, I doubt Dartagnan would welcome that eventuality. Before taking such a drastic step, please tell Dartagnan that and give him a chance to tell you his side of the story. Not all animal communicators are as expensive as Sonja Fitzpatrick, who appears on Animal Planet and is in vogue with the Hollywood stars for consulting with their pets. A consultation is usually no more expensive than a call to the vet and sometimes less. Nina gave you the name of a friend of hers who does animal communication. I can also give you the name of one I have worked with on a number of occasions, and knowing how desperate my financial siutation is, she has even helped me with furkids crossing the bridge at no charge. Her name is Jasmine Indra and she's now living in Maine, though as Nina mentioned the location of the AC or the pet is not an issue as telepathic consultations are usually done by phone. Jasmine's email is -- [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- and her home phone is (207) 443-1125, or if you need to reach her urgently, her cell phone is (510) 325-2062. Another possibility is a student of animal communication who recently helped me find my youngest furkid who managed to escape from the house and was missing for a day and part of the night...she is doing an internship with the Assisi Foundation and will lend her assistance at no charge in exchange for an evaluation to be submitted to her instructor. With your permission I will send her a message with your email address and if she has time and the inclination she could contact you. Basically what an AC needs to know is where the pet is located and a description of the animal so they can verify they have connected with the correct animal. Another listmember -- I think it was Lisa ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) also mentioned a while back that there is a Yahoo group of mostly amateur animal comunicators but a few pros also contribute and you may be able to get some help that way. The well known AC, Raphaela Pope, related in her book "Wisdom of the Animals" a case study about a cat who insisted on going outside her litter box despite her guardian's best efforts to cater to her whims with regard to numerous boxes in different places, various litter types, etc. After a conversation with the cat, Raphaela suggested to her guardian that she needed to get firm with her cat, who just wasn't taking the situation seriously and rather had the idea she could do as she pleased and was loved so much there would be no negative consequences. Raphaela told the cat that if she didn't mend her ways, her guardian was going to banish her to the garage, and the kitty's reply was "No way, my mom would NEVER do that to me." Raphaela advised the cat's guardian to exercise some "tough love" and if the cat went outside her litterbox again, she needed to put her in the garage. The woman protested, but did as Raphaela instructed and the diva kitty was put in the garage. It only took one day of that and the cat reformed her behavior. I don't think I could have been as anywhere near as patient with Dartagnan as you have been, not that I have any nice furniture to protect...but I certainly couId not have afforded to replace carpeting, etc. etc. etc. If I lived in a safe environment, I would have banished Dartagnan to being an outdoor kitty, if not I would have built an outdoor enclosure for him to inhabit. I do have one kitty, and indoor princess with a lot of cattitude, who insists on peeing one or two places in the house but I can't put her outside or my two alpa males will beat up on her so I have just put down plastic and then put a towel I can wash or a scrap of carpeting I can toss on top. I used to have one FEMALE cat who liked to spray but usually did it in places that weren't a problem to clean up, except one...the house had an old floor furnace in the living room with a metal grate and she would back up and spray the grate, but it drip down onto the furnace and didn't show, so I didn't realize what she was doing until cold weather came and I turned on the furnace and you can only imagine what a horrendous smell there was! After that I routinely cleaned the grate before turning the furnace on. I do hope you can find out the reason for Dartagnan's truly excessive spraying and are able to negotiate a solution that you can both live with. But, if worse comes to worse and you do decide the only solution is to have him euthanized, I would second Nina's motion -- PLEASE don't just turn him over to a shelter to be PTS. If you love him enough to have done all that you have done so far trying to cope, don't put him through the trauma of being sent to a strange place, surrounded by strangers who may not be gentle and caring to be PTS in a perhaps less than loving and humane manner. Sincerely, Sally in San Jose
