Krista B

4 year old female calico, spayed and declawed since 1 year of age. Lives with an older male and younger male cats, both fixed. 3 covered litterboxes (all the same kind) in the house, one that none of them uses anymore (despite moving it.) I've long been convinced it's a behavioral issue because she refuses to get along with the younger cat, but to cover all my bases, I arranged a vet visit to check for a bladder infection while treating tapeworms. The vet said she had a "mild" infection and put her on a 2-week regimen of what I can only describe as Amoxicillin for cats. She's been off the treatment for almost 4 weeks now and went back for a checkup at the vet and had a clean urinalysis.

Now I witnessed her approach one of the boxes, stuck her head inside for about 10 seconds, then walked away. On a hunch, I carefully watched as she slipped behind our recliner, where I found her crouched and peeing. I've had no other choice but to kick her outside. I have an infant in my house who is sticking everything she can get her hands on into her mouth, and the thought of her crawling through an otherwise-unknown pile of cat piss and then putting her hands in her mouth disgusts me to the point of vomiting. My husband has been swearing she was still peeing, but I can't tell a difference between carpet pee and general litter box smell, unless the pee is fresh and I'm close to it.

But she poops in the litter box. The only time I find THAT on the floor is if we haven't cleaned them lately. So what the hell gives? She KNOWS where she's SUPPOSED to go. Unfortunately I don't know how long it's been since this started. I am the only owner this cat has ever known, besides the one that dumped her and the rest of her litter in bushes in the parking lot of the apartment I used to live. Besides wondering if she would be able to bond with anyone else, the thought of getting rid of her breaks my heart; even leaving her outside is awful enough, but obviously I can't put this cat's needs over my baby's. I've tried taking the cover off one of the boxes and going back to Fresh Step litter, that we used until it got unreasonably expensive vs. Tidy Cat that was the exact same kind, and my living room remains her piss ground.

Tomatoes, celery sticks and baby carrots are what I have on the menu now; platter has 10 spaces. I'm interested in keeping the platter pretty simple with food items that everyone will like. Plus, ideas for a good dip that will complement ALL the food--anyone got a good homemade recipe for one? Ranch is what I have in mind as it's pretty standard, but honestly I can't think of any other that would go good with all the food choices.

Thank you!

I am about to go on maternity leave. By law I am allowed to take up to 12 weeks off. However, I only have about 6 weeks worth of sick and vacation time accrued and my employer has informed that if I go on unpaid leave, whether it be because I choose to or because I have to (if I'm not well enough to come back after those 6 weeks) that I will have to reimburse them for insurance benefits they pay while I am on leave without pay. It sounds fair enough and I've tried looking up any laws regarding this but can't find any, and many folks I've explained this to find it suspicious. Thanks for your help.

I hate getting live flowers, only having them die within a week or two. I'd like to try everything to keep them alive for a lot longer.

I put this on a home workout routine I made from some moves in Fitness magazine, but I haven't worked out in over 2 years and threw out the magazine with which I got the move from, and cannot remember what it is.