TRUBRIT, my heart goes out to you and your daughter. I do know where she is coming from. Over the last couple weeks, I've been facing just the POSSIBILITY of having to put my 14 year old kitty down. Not because of illness, but because I've had to relocate my private music studio into the tiny little house I share with the cat. Some of my students are allergic to her, and there's simply no longer a suitable place for an indoor litterbox. I've had to leave it in the back porch, where she does not always have access to it. I cannot make her stay in the porch with it when its 30 below - the porch has no heat, electricity or insulation. And as I tried to figure out how to overcome these snags, the poor cat has soiled and ruined about $500 worth of furniture and blankets since Christmas.

:-(

Much as I love her, I just lost it. I figured she had to go -- but I knew no-one who could take her.   Not even the SCPA -- she is so old she has slim to NO chances for adoption. THey couldn't turn me away, they told me, but in compassion for the cat -- who would absolutely HATE being held in a compound with other animals (she is NOT used to other animals at all), I would be better off to put her down.

That was one of the hardest days of my life, standing at the SPCA while they told me the news, offering me Kleenex and much sympathy. I cried off and on for the rest of the day, holding onto her.

And I am 48 -- a far cry from 21.

I just can't do it. I cannot put down a healthy animal that I love because of housekeeping difficulties. So I decided -- I will put up with the litter box in my kitchen during the night. I will run a cord from the garage so I can plug in a heating pad for her when she has to stay out on the porch while I'm teaching. I will clean the carpets EVERY DAY to make sure her hair doesn't bother anyone. I will make sure the litter box is IN the house every time I leave, even if only for a few minutes. Its a lot of extra work and stress, I know, but hey.

She is worth it.

ANd I am too.

Again, all the best TRUBRIT. ANd don't worry. Your daughter's behaviour is very normal and very human, at least in my book!