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1. Larry was my cat from the day he was born. He crawled into my hand at two weeks of age, opened his little eyes, and thus was born unconditional love. Oh, sure, he nursed his mom for a while, but after that he was my Little Boy. He was with me through my first newspaper job, stayed at my feet during graduate school, and cheerfully helped with my thesis research. He even braved the bowels of a big airplane in order to move to our new home, thousands of miles from his birth place.
   I’ll never forget his face when he spotted me at the airline hangar where he was waiting for me after emerging from the belly of the beast — he was, as they say, all over me like a cheap suit!
   Three years ago, Larry (at age 18) developed a wasting disease that robbed him of his dignity (and ability to make it to the box on time). We did everything we could for him, including special diet, drugs, and much loving and petting.
   Finally the day came when we knew that we had to do for him what was required. When we took him into our home and lives, we (perhaps unknowingly) agreed that we would responsible for all aspects of his life. And that meant returning him to the cosmos when he was too old to go on any further.
   It was one of the hardest things we ever did. On the vet’s table (which was covered with a snuggly blanket) he snuggled up to my waist, butting his head against my hand for support. At that moment, the memory of all the messes he made lost importance in view of this larger step we were all taking together.
   As he went to sleep a final time, we wept for our loss and said goodbye. We soothed our pain with music after that — listening to “The Swan of Tuonela” as we drove through the countryside on a warm, colorful October afternoon.
   Larry is always with us, and it never mattered to me what he did because he loved us and we loved him as a member of our family.

2. The rabbits’ hygiene, that is. (;

3. Poor Wil. My cat peed on my ex-boyfriend’s coat, so in that case it wasn’t a tragedy, but…
   Hey, you’re a great guy and an amazingly progressive thinker and civil liberties advocate, so what’s with the use of the word “gay” as synonym for “undesirable”? Gay kids (and adults) read you too.
   /off soapbox Keep up the awesome blog. It’s my favorite daily read.

4. hey wil – sorry about detouring from the pet peeing stories but,
   “boy, that description really makes it sound gay, doesn’t it? Trust me it was fairly cool.”
   does gay equal uncool?
   say it ain’t so.

5. Sorry to hear about the cat pee on the table. My cat used to leave little turd presents on my bed, and I’d find them just as I was about to go sleep. There’s nothing worse than having to change your sheets at 2 in the morning when you’re dead tired. Well, of course, there are worse things, but you know what I mean.
   Great story about the polyester shirt!

6. I assume your friend gagging from the smell of the black cat pee shirt made at least a few members of the audience laugh more. So it cpuldn’t been too bad. Although I am. 😉

7. I think Wil’s using the term “gay” in the same way my 30something siblings do. It’s an 80’s thing.
   I don’t quite get it, but I think Uncle Willy gets to use it.
   Wil wouldn’t be derogatory.
   Wellllll….
   Maybe. But I can’t say for sure.
   🙂
   Snootchies

8. Rabbit pee story:
   My husband’s family used to own a bunch of rabbits which they kept in cages in the garage.
   There was one very territorial male who did not like the scent of another male of ANY species in “his” area.
   So one day my father in law who is a goalie in a old timer league hung up his equipment to dry in the garage.
   The darned rabbit somehow managed to pee out of his cage, right across the room and onto the goalie pads.
   Yuck, like the old-guy sweat didn’t make them smell bad enough.
   Oh and I have a show must go on story (well actually a few, but only one for now). During the final performance of one of the plays our youth theatre group put on the sets were so unstable that any actors who were not on stage were holding some piece up so that it did not collapse. I’m just glad it was the last night.
   Sigh, I really miss doing theatre stuff.

9. Sounds like a security thing to me. Cats do that when they’re feeling insecure. Whatever you do, don’t use any ammonia-based cleaners, cause that’s the main component of cat pee. Simple Solution is good (enzyme based).
   I will never have a boy cat again. My girl cats never pee on anything (unless the catbox is due for a change, and then, hey, I’d do that too if I were them).
   I’m sure Wil wouldn’t intentionally dis… though I *could* honestly see a shirt like that in the SF Pride Parade…

10. your shirt story makes me wonder if you blame it on your dog every time you fart.

11. Re: Cats vs. Dogs,
    A dog thinks, “Hey, this lady brings me food, water, toys, and gives me a place to sleep. She must be a god!”
    A cat thinks, “Hey, this lady brings me food, water, toys, and gives me a place to sleep. *I* must be a god!”

12. There are few things worse than cat pee. Ick.
    ♥Brandee~

13. Wil, you mentioned Anne’s post, and even though I haven’t been here in a dog’s age, I come back on ocassion to poke around, so I went over to read a few of the comments (including yours).
    Anne’s experience with “the web” and computers in general sounds similar to my own wife’s trepidation. About four years ago I introduced Cris (my wife) to the computer (prior to that time it was known as the square-headed girlfriend in my house). It didn’t take right away. She wasn’t impressed with word processing (she has perfect spelling and grammer – unlike your’s truely – and doesn’t need more than a typewritter to produce a great looking document). But, over time, I won her over to the dark side.
    What really got her hooked were chat rooms and artist’s personal web sites (she has a master degree in Fine Art (Painting)). She is now more internet savvy than I am (she has several web pages, while the best I can do is a crappy “geobuilder” or similar web page).
    How did I solve the problem of the monster I had created? Well, in order to get any play time for myself after I had hooked her up, I made a second computer (hey, I may not know any programming language other than Pascal, but I know hardware).
    It’s a slipperly slope my friend. One short year after I first introduced her (and subsequently had to furnish her with her own PC), she was coming to me asking why we didn’t have a high-speed connection. So yes, for the past three years I have been maintaining his and her computers, a LAN for them to share and a high speed cable/DSL router with DNS capabilities so we can both get on-line at once.
    I guess what I’m saying is, be careful what you wish for…
    Roy G

14. acks! someone else who shops at hot topic? dare I hope it’s true. course all the stuff I buy there I can’t wear to school. for some reason I don’t see my principal liking my pleather pants too much. alothough last year he didn’t seam to mind the maroon hair… what can I say I am trying to be hip at 23 lol
    amellia

15. Two things you should know about cat pee…
    1: They don’t like perfumed litter. It is as offensive to their noses as cat pee is to yours. You might have more catbox luck if you go to a natural litter. A friend of mine just compromised with a natural litter made out of 100% pressed pine, and she no longer spends half the week washing the rug.
    2: Peeing obnoxiously can be a warning of ill health in your cat – the two most common maladies are a urinary tract infection and diabetes. Pay attention to your cat’s drinking habits – does it seem like that’s an awful lot of water for such a little critter? Did it used to have good clean kitty habits that have changed? Has the cat gained weight lately? Is there “oh my god let me out RIGHT NOW!” behavior? Has the shinyness or texture of the kitty’s coat changed? If so, take it to the vet. You know diabetes is serious, but remember, a cat’s urinary tract is very short, and that sort of infection can scar your kitty’s kidneys quickly.
    As for my cat pee story – one night I was sleeping on my sister’s couch after a long night of martinis and girltalk. I’m four sheets to the wind, man, out cold, and I sort of vaguely feel the cat climb onto the couch beside me. “cool”, I think, “kitty still likes me when I’m drunk” And kitty is very warm. And large, too. Seems like kitty has climbed up on top of me while I’m drunk and melted, or something. Wait, what’s that smell? WTF? Nono, man, DID YOUR F**KING CAT JUST PISS ON ME!???!
    Someday, when that cat is old and decrepit and can’t move I’m going to squat on her basket in the middle of the night and return the favor.

16. Roy G:
    That’s a really funny story. My husband also made the mistake of introducing me to computers and more frighteningly the net. This was back in 93 with a 2400 baud modem, but it didn’t matter, I was hooked and I still am. Now I make web pages for a living and can find a ridiculous amount of (usually accurate) information very quickly online. I still think he’s more geeky because he can spend all day programming without stopping to eat or anything, but I certainly spend more time on the web and I think it’s the one techie thing I know more about than he does.

17. See, cats just smell. IMHO. I like other peoples’ cats, so I’m sure I would like all of your feline mates. What I like about them is that I can play with it all I want, then walk out of your house and the cat stays there.
    I’ve had two cats in my lifetime. The one, named Igor, I loved. I don’t remember it smelling, but eventually it got super old and sick, just like animals do, and we took it and had it put down. I think I was 5 at the time.
    The other cat’s name was Cat. I lie not. It was great for a while, went outside to go to the bathroom, came inside to chill out. Nice cat, yet smelly. We had a cat box for him to use as he got older (about 2 years ago), but he insisted on peeing on top of the washing machine instead. Cat eventually disappeared, we haven’t seen him in a year. He was old though, prolly went away to die, poor thing. But after much scrubbing, bleaching, vinegaring, more scrubbing, the washing machine still smells like cat pee. It’s disgusting. Thank God it’s only on the top.
    Point? I’m a dog person, but I still find the cat pee story amusing on pure “I understand” principle.

18. Whoops! Thanks Mandy, I didn’t even notice my error. Jeez, I hope Dave Eggers doesn’t read these boards….

19. For some reason, my cats are doing the same thing right now. I’ve had Pixel and Vector for four and a half months now (they’re roughly 8 months old now) and last night was the first night I’ve ever heard that hacking/coughing late at night which signifies that you should look down when walking around and never have bare feet in the apartment.
    Sorry to hear about the hat, though. I’ve been reading the site occasionally for a while, and never knew you were involved with them until going through the archives. I guess I just have selective reading. I’ve followed Scot Rubin & crew (Josh Krane and Jim Downs are also a part of it) over from the All Games Network. I heard you’re working with Jim.
    The stinky polyester rings a bell…Being in college marching band for 5 years will allow you to experience some of the great smells that wool polyester can make if you don’t dryclean it after every football game…(And what college student can afford to dryclean every week? There’s beer to be had!)

20. I can’t believe it took roughly 65 posts before someone mentioned a urinary tract infection (UTI) in cats.
    My friend has a cat that was peeing everywhere but in the litterbox. They were very mad at it. I told them “you know, my sister’s cat had the same problem. And, just like her cat, I bet yours has a UTI.” “No no!” She told me. “It’s just a BAD kitty, now.” Of course, it turns out the cat DID have a UTI and had they just taken it to the vet sooner they would have saved themselves a lot of stink and anger. As for my sister, she waited so long they had to put it down because it was THAT sick and she never knew until the end.
    The lesson, take your cat to the vet. It may cost more in money than sitting around cleaning, getting mad, and bitching… but it COULD save both you and the kitty a lot of discomfort and anger. And if it’s not a UTI (or anything else medical) then the only thing you’ve lost is a little cash.

21. Can cats get yeast infections, too?
    ewwwwww…

22. *bwahahaha* That’s a pretty funny story. Cats rock.

23. Sometimes the show should just go on sans one black, sparkle, feline urine soaked shirt.

24. Ijust remembered a old bumper sticker:
    “DOGS HAVE OWNERS.CATS HAVE “STAFF”.”

25. Cat pee is definitely no fun. Ever take a black light and wave it over your carpet and upholstery to find cat pee spots? It’s amazing how far that crap gets.
    Anyhoo, anyone try that Tidy Cat Crystal stuff? My co-worked got ’em, and since I often cat-sit for her, I got to see ’em in action. Pretty cool stuff, no stink.
    Luckily, my cat now only pees outdoors. At least I think so.
    What’s worse? When a hamster (or gerbil or chinchilla…) pees in your hands.
    Bleh!

26. Thanks for the laughs! I really needed them today. Seems like the day has been one computer problem after another and suddenly I’m the office tech.
    You know, it’s very hard to stiffle a hardy burst out loud laugh when the office manager happens to working on the other computer in my office with her back to me. I’ve got to start reading these posts on my lunch hour. (wait…didn’t someone mention something about lunch coming out of their nose already?) Well, I’m sure I’ll figure something out.
    I love cats but I’m allergic to them. When it comes to the cats or dogs issue, I’m definitely a dog person all the way.
    Lenna

27. Yo, thanks for the traffic map. I had no idea it existed. This will help tremendously…I no longer have anticipation fear of the 405!

28. Since the topic of cat piss was brought up.
    A alter boy was given a job to do. He was supposed to come out once the church choir started so sing and light the candles. That was it. Easy enough.
    The boy is ready in the back playing with Figero, the pastor’s cat, and the choir started to sing. “Light The Candles. Light the candles.”
    The choir waits for him to come out but nothing happens.
    The sing louder “LIGHT THE CANDLES. LIGHT THE CANDLES”
    Nothing happens the boy doesn’t come out.
    They sing louder “LIGHT THE CANDLES. LIGHT THE CANDLES”
    But this time somethign happens. They hear the boy begin to sing. “THE CAT PISSED ON THE MATCHES. THE CAT PISSED ON MATCHES”

29. I meant to put FutureWonder under name. Dang it.

30. First of all, I am not a cat person.
    Wil or any of you, have you tried or thought about wiring/networking your house to make it “internet/computer ready” with network jacks instead of the usual telephone and/or cable jacks in most rooms? My hubby is totally planning to do it in our new house and I’m really excited! This way if he needs to work at home, he can hook up his laptop wherever I happen to be, instead of sitting in our home office. Working long hours, we really appreciate the time we can spend together.
    And Wil, as a wife of a fellow “computer geek” I so appreciate my own computer, networked to my hubby’s.

31. Brandee-
    “There are few things worse than cat pee. Ick.”
    I was trying not to remember the smell in the hotel bathroom in PA the morning after one of the opening acts for SC used our tub as a toliet and didn’t “flush”.
    Ah those Bronx rockers…. oy.
    -K
    http://www.soulcracker.com
    only the cool lose on VH1

32. Can only say I can relate man. Went to work one rainy day and thought my only problem was a wet sock, as did not know fave shoes had sprung a leak. So I get to work thinking hey it’s not so bad, can buy new socks at lunch or it will dry. But then I notice – well – that same kinda smell you noticed…on my lovely black (tight) sweater. (I have to lay it out to dry as it can’t go in the dryer, and I guess one of my darling mewmews – er – rubbed herself on it.) So there I am, wet sock and cat pee shirt, thinking oh yeah where is Bridget Jones when you feel just like her? Good luck with getting your cat to use the box, by the way! Cheers.

33. When my cat did then the vet told me to move his litter box as it meant he didn’t like where it was. So I moved it to another room and haven’t had a problem since.

34. Cat smell can be avoided if you find the spot before it dries. Soak up as much as you can with a towel first(was right away), then pour baking soda over the spot and let that soak up whats left for atleast an hour. After letting it set, just vacuum up the baking soda. I do have a cat that liked to mark her scent before I got her fixed. There is a smell worse than cat pee; human pee. When my son switched schools, because we moved, he had a hard time adjusting. For some reason he decided to cope by peeing in odd places. One time he decided to pee in a bucket of legos and hid it in the back of his closet. That is the most rancid smell ever!! That smell took a s***load of bleach to get rid of.

35. Be kind to cats, for they are subtle and will piss on your computer.

36. Hmm i haven’t been here in awhile. I wonder if anyone actually reads this thing.
    Anyways, this is just a test to see how many people will click my link, although i bet I would get more clicks if i was one of the first to post a comment.

37. ….And what exactly is wrong with a “gay” shirt?? 😉

38. Dude…. That’s just wrong.
    funny, but wrong.

39. ACK.
    I have several cat pee stories, most of them involve some cats that were dumped on myself and my roommates at the time. The owner was in the process of breaking up with her partner, so she needed someone to “take care” of her pets. I don’t think we ever saw her again.
    3 cats, 3 troublemaking cats. The one cat we initially had in the house was well behaved. The 3 newcomers were HELLIONS, execpt for one, I actually liked him… for a while.
    It was tight quarters in that place, most of my stuff was in a small closet downstairs. Well, I reach into my closet one day to pull something out, and that distinct “aroma” hit me full in the face. After a bit of diggin around i found several articles of clothing, and MY FAVORITE AD&D character had been desecrated by this evil imp in feline guise. This character was written out in full detail. I had kept notes on everything, including personal spells, write-ups on magic items, etc. It took me over a week to copy everything to fresh, clean sheets, all the while having to suffer the olfactory assault from demonkitty’s bowels.
    I Hate that cat.

40. Just a quick suggestion to those of you with wayward kitties; if a cat is de-clawed it will often reject it’s litter box throughout it’s life. Something about the litter hurting their paws. If your cat is de-clawed try using sand or shredded newspaper in the box instead of litter. It’s more paw friendly. I’ve seen and heard of more good cats being put down because their owners thought the cat was deliberately refusing to use the box when it fact it was the act of the owners de-clawing the animal that caused the problem in the first place. Of course the vet is ALWAYS a good option for cats with box problems. Check it all out before you assume they are hopeless or Wil, in your case, before you lose any more articles of clothing.

41. Ugh, Wil your so ignorant. How can a shirt look “gay”? Is it homosexual towards other shirts? Stop trying to purpotrate like some open-minded activist meanwhile offending others. Can a shirt look Spanish? What about Heterosexual? I’m not gay but I have friends who are (and don’t wear outragous clothes or act stereotypically feminine) and its people like you who make people like them have a suicide rate three times that of other kids. Forget you dude….
    -Cardonia Natal-Pretorian

42. ok, hold it.
    Don’t get your panties in such a knot over wording like that. The fact is there is some clothing that heterosexual people tend not to wear. So what if a person says it looks “gay?” I have seen clothing that looks ethinic, and I sure as hell see clothing that I consider to be NOT what a heterosexual person would normally choose to wear. Oh, and before you get upset about what I’m saying, I will tell you that I myself am Bi, and I see it from both sides.
    Some of my best friends are gay, and even THEY will describe certain clothes as looking “gay.” It’s not a bad thing, it’s just a personal observation.

43. Look, it isn’t Wil’s place to say whats gay and whats not yo. Shit he ain’t gonna tell me, your ass should be offended. He needs to either shut the fuck up with the self-ritiousness or lay it on the table and say the dude hates anyone who’s not a white, straight, agnostic, actor…straight up. Im sorry but I’m offended as shit for my friends so I’m not trying to sound ghetto/loud but that set me off and I feel betrayed from what I thought of him.
    -Cardonia

44. Okay.
    Apparently we have:
    A. Not so clever trolls
    or
    B. Insanely sensitive crybabies
    or
    C. Ignorant people who don’t bother to read the whole website.
    Let me spell this out for you, children:
    I am the most progressive, sensitive, pro-equal-rights person I know. I meant nothing “anti-gay” by my remarks, and if you’d taken the time to read more of my writings, you’d get that.
    Look beyond your own reactionary world-view, and think for a second: “Maybe Wil didn’t mean anything by that, and maybe I could seek some clarification before I hide behind my keyboard and judge people.”
    I realize it takes more work to think things through, but we’d all be better off if we did.
    And if you’re going to post your assumption-based rantings, have the courage to sign an email address or website, you champion of equal-rights.

45. Cardonia:
    If you have been here awhile or read the soapbox/archives you have to know Wil is not at all like you describe him. If you have a problem with the term he used talk about that, don’t diss him. I have heard ‘gay’ used in that way all over the place. I don’t know where it comes from or the history of it’s use, so I can’t comment on whether it’s good or bad. Wil has always been very inclusive on his site if you look around you will see that. I can’t imagine him hating anyone much, if you feel offended and want an apology then write to him personally. He really cares about other people’s feelings. BTW I am bi too and I have gay friends and I did not take offense to the comment. Wil did not just make up that use of that word, it has become a common slang term over the last few years.

46. And of course Wil responded himself while I was typing so just ignore me…:)

47. That’s exactly what I was going to say on your behalf. It took me so long mulling over it in my head that you beat me to it. hehehe sometimes I wish (not really) I was “Garfield” there are just so many people that need a proverbial punting 😉

48. Yeah. Cardonia is just one of those uptight political correctness nuts. Ever notice it’s never the people supposedly being offended that get upset?

49. You know, I hate stupid people. I don’t care what you believe, anyone who can’t articulate their ideas without attacking anyone they disagree with needs to just shut their mouth until they can rationally state their opinion. There are idiots of every race, color, gender, sexual orientation, religion, and any other method you choose to artificially divides God’s children. And Wil ain’t one of them.

50. Dake, you’re attacking stupid people! Why that’s stupidism! You ignorant monster! Not all stupid people are the same!

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