Orange shag saga begins

The results are in:  it's not a bladder infection.  I'm relieved because I certainly don't want my cat to have a bladder infection, yet a teeny tiny part of me is a little disappointed because at least that would have been a clear-cut reason for the sudden flood of urine, with a simple treatment.

No such luck . . . .

The vet did have one thing for us to try.  My vet assured me that it's a very common treatment, and I've since done some reading up and the Internet agrees with him, but to say I was shocked yesterday at this proposition would have been an understatement.

We're putting my cat on an antidepressant.

I have no idea if The Real William Blake ("TRWB") (who my cat is named after) was depressed in his lifetime.  I know TRWB was not appreciated as an artist while he was alive; it was only after his death that he became an icon of the Romantics.  Whereas, and only on the merit of the fact that he was unappreciated in his time and I need to perpetuate the stereotype of depressed/starving artists to make this work, I am going to theorize that perhaps TRWB was depressed and putting his namesake on an antidepressant is the mother of all ironies.

All jokes aside, it is pretty common.  The pharmacist didn't bat an eyelash when I brought in his prescription.  She even allowed me to put it under Blake's full name.  So when I get refills, I can just call in and ask for a refill for William Blake (FELINE).

I've been doing some research on inappropriate elimination (nice way of saying they pee or poop outside the litterbox) and guess what?  Anti-anxiety or antidepressants are frequently mentioned as a form of treatment (not sure if it is correct--and PS I don't really care if I'm wrong--but FYI, I use anti-anxiety and antidepressant interchangeably).

One more tidbit:  if you start typing in the Google search box antidepressants then you will discover antidepressants for cats appears as one of the first suggestions.  Are Google's suggestions alphabetical?  I have no idea but I didn't think so (I thought they were listed by frequency of use).  At any rate, if they are alphabetical, then I suppose this has no significance (oh well):  antidepressants for cats appeared on the list before antidepressants for children.

The peeing has been continuing daily, and the work will begin this weekend of ripping up carpet and laying down laminate instead.  We're going to cut out the subfloor in the worst areas, and seal the entire floor just in case there are any sneaky spots from Blake or any other pets from the past thirty years that we can't see.  Between that and the Prozac, we should be good to go.

Wish us luck!

Here's Blake sleeping on the orange shag carpet.  He's saying goodbye . . . the shag only has a few days left to live.  Isn't he cute?

Good bye, Orange Shag!  It's been thirty years.

We're not going to miss you.

Okay, okay, okay.  I was kidding up there.  Here he is:

It is shocking how well he blends in though.