We were off island when the CoVid virus started to worsen in the US. We thought it wise to return home quickly, so made a call to our house sitters to let them know they were going to have company – us.
They made a call as well, and it was arranged that they would be taking a departing flight just a few hours before we returned.
We had left our animals, a dog and two cats, in good hands for the two weeks we were away. The house sitters were more dog people than cat people, but our cats tend to disappear when strangers enter the house, so it was no problem.
It was no problem until we got home. The morning of the first day, we awoke to an odor coming from under the bed. Our youngest, Sophie, was clearly not pleased that we had left her with strangers who were not cat people. To punish us (which she has done before), she left a deposit under our bed.
Being a clever girl, she didn’t leave it at the edge of the bed, but right in the middle. Since I have longer arms than my husband, I was assigned the task of laying on my stomach, reaching as far as I possibly could, and gathering up the poop. The degree of difficulty was enhanced, as I had to do this with just one square of toilet paper since there is a current shortage. And, I had to do this without getting anything foul on my fingers.
I was hoping that was the end of it. I was wrong. The next day I came across an even worse odor in the guest bathroom. This deposit was clearly not solid. That meant this came from our eldest, Oscar. It must have been his turn to punish us, as he has done this before.
I was certain I smelled and spotted dried urine in the shower. I sprayed, scrubbed and rinsed, and the odor remained. Perhaps it was closer to the toilet. I sprayed, scrubbed and rinsed, and…it was still there. That’s when I thought to check the bath mat.
The bath mat is now outside in the garbage bin far away from the house. The cats are also both outside. The pandemic drove us home. The petdemic is helping to keep us staying at home. There is a lot of cleaning to do!
