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2014, March: The story of Rearden, the problem cat

Meet Rearden. He's 9 years old, part Korat, declawed, and has issues. We adopted him in 2008. He is one of the most affectionate and pathetic cats you will ever meet. He always wants to be with people, and loves to cuddle and nuzzle hair. He was declawed when we got him (we would never, EVER declaw a cat) and unfortunately, we think it was done badly. He has problems using his litter. He'll use it some of the time, but if there's carpet (or a rug or a soft mat), he will pee on that instead. He also doesn't get along with the oldest cat in the house, Wagner, and altercations with him don't help the litter situation. Our solution in Baltimore, initially, was to give him his own room. He was secluded at night and whenever we weren't home. This definitely helped, but it didn't completely solve the problem. He'd pee on the carpet right next to the litter - as if he were really trying to do the right thing but just not quite making it. Eventually, we decided to rip up the carpet and put down laminate flooring - less of a temptation for him, and easier to clean for me. In the process, we had to re-paint and re-trim his entire room, and he ended up with the nicest room in the house.

This, in addition to a second litter tray with crystals (so that the poor, spoiled kitty has options), worked like a charm. He stopped peeing on the floor and I stopped having temper-tantrum-meltdowns every time I had to clean his room.

Then we moved to a new house in Idaho. He still has his own room with choice of litter, but the floor is carpeted. Initially, I thought he was behaving, but after a few weeks I started to find pee where there should be no pee. Then more pee. Pee everywhere. So, alas, the carpet had to go.

First, we pulled up the carpet and the underlay. We scraped all the remaining bits of glue and foam and removed the tack strips. We were quite happy to find a decent, flatish concrete floor underneath (this had not been the case in Baltimore).

Then, we read the instructions for the fancy luxury vinyl plank. This is something we should have done earlier, because we found out we needed to apply a latex sealant before gluing the tile. A sealant that needs 4 hours to cure, but that cannot sit for more than 24 hours. We spent ten minutes trying to justify not using the sealant (it was Sunday lunchtime at this point), but eventually decided to just do it. Christian ran to Lowes, we applied the sealant, then ate lunch and took a nap (we love naps).

Finally, it was tile time. We started at 5.30pm and finished at 10pm. Some of the fiddly bits were a pain in the butt, but for the most part it went down very smoothly. Christian cut and laid, I rolled and pressed.

We then put the room back together. Rearden came in to inspect, and immediately used his litter. I take that as a good sign.

If nothing else, I hope this story tells you NOT to declaw your cats. Just don't. If you are that concerned about your furniture - you shouldn't own cats. Get a hermit crab and leave the poor cats alone.

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