Pittore

Pittore:  My family is mad at me because of the carpet, and
that makes me sad, and my body hurts too.

Bridget: Why are you going on the carpet?

Pittore:  I don’t like how the carpet smells (Pittore sends me feelings of nausea).

Bridget: Is it something in the carpet? Or is it the carpet?

Pittore:  I don’t understand.

Bridget:  Did something spill on the carpet? Or does the
carpet always smell bad? Or is it the cleaning soap?

Pittore:  I think something spilled.

(The smell he’s sending me is faint but it seems like a
cooking smell. Like maybe bacon grease? It doesn’t smell bad to me. Pittore has a very keen sense of
smell. )

Bridget:  Do you want to stay where you are living?

Pittore:  Yes, but they have to get rid of this carpet.

Bridget:  Okay, here’s your choice- Do you want to stay
with your family and the carpet or do you want to go live somewhere else?

Pittore:  I want to stay with my family and the carpet. I
like my family.

Bridget:  You need to stop peeing on the carpet.

Pittore:  Can they do something about the smell of it?

Bridget: I think your mom would be willing to try.  She loves you dearly and wants you to be happy. But
she can’t have her house smelling like pee.

Pittore: I don’t think it smells so bad.

Bridget:  Well, to people, it is a very bad smell. (I
can tell his feelings are hurt by this). Don’t feel bad about it. It’s not that
you’re a bad cat, but it’s just, we don’t notice some smells, and then we
notice others. It’s not a judgment of you. It’s just the way we humans are.

Pittore: So, you don’t notice the smell in the carpet, but you
notice and don’t like my smell.

Bridget: Yes.

Pittore: That’s just weird.

I agreed with him that it was just weird. Smell is a personal thing. 

Pittore agreed to stop. Pittore told me that he felt good knowing that his mom cares about him. 

Here’s an email that I received from Pittore’s mom today:

“Just wanted to share with you quickly the changes in Pittore since your chat with him. He’s nearly a different cat! He has become MUCH more affectionate and cuddly. He’s stopped getting onto the kitchen counters & into the garbage. He plays a bit more with the dogs…chasing their tails when they’re feeling waggy!
And no more toileting on the carpet, of course. (Still trying to find a good natural cleaner for that.)”

Ah, Pittore! Thank you! Glad you feel better!

His mom went on to say that she was taking him to the vet to get his kidneys looked at, and that she was going to change his food and try some floral essences to help get his urinary tract back on track.

Update! Not 10 minutes after I posted about Pittore’s success, his mom took the dogs for a walk and came home to find a new Pittore puddle. Sigh. He went nearly a week without incident. Going to have a few more words with the boy.