Ostomy Memories the Zen of Cat Puke

IF YOU HAVE AN OSTOMY, you have belly burps. If you have cats, you have cat puke. These are unavoidable truisms. Many felines have upchuck reflexes about which one can do nothing but reach for the paper towels and spray cleaner. I have four cats, and so I have grown used to that familiar sound – AAAAK, AAAAK, BURRK, BLAHHHH – but there is one disturbingly common aspect to this repetitive regurgitation: if there are floor spaces with carpeting, and floor spaces without carpeting, the cat will choose to puke on the carpeting nine times out of ten. It is very annoying. Often, I have found, the puke will spurt out onto an area rug just inches from the hardwood floor, as if the cat was trying its best to make it to the rug and just barely got there before the burst exploded. Cats seem to have an aversion to halfway measures. If they’re going to make you clean up their puke, they’re bound and determined to make you utilize every tool at your disposal. Get out the cleanser; grab the stain remover; don’t forget the scrub brush. AAAAK, AAAK, BURRK, BLAHHHH.

Henry, for a moment, I thought perhaps you had a camera in my house. It's been a month since I had the creeping Covid crap, yet I've still had a fur ball type cough. Last night, a dog that is at my house visiting scared me, and I coughed up my fur ball and it flew across the room! Yuck, I know, but at least I have tile and not carpet!

True story, Ritz

Hey Henry...posted a pic for your viewing pleasure in the photo section. I cannot figure out why I can't post right here in "reply". It could be because I am using an iPad or, quite possibly and more likely, because I am "Meet an Ostomate website" illiterate...JB

Hi Henry, I'm sure it makes perfect sense (or purrfect sense) to your cat to puke on the carpet. In his or her cat brain, the carpet has the closest resemblance to the earth, or dirt, he or she would most feel comfortable using for this purpose. Just instinct, probably. I may have mentioned this in a long past previous post, but we had an interesting experience with the cat I grew up with as a kid. He got trapped in our basement one time. He was in an unfinished area that had a drain in the floor that went directly into the sewer system. He was down there for at least a couple of days before we discovered him. The poor guy had to go and couldn't get out to do his business (he was an outside cat, no litter boxes in those days), so he went right on top of the drain in the floor. We were pretty impressed. I think he was one smart kitty.

Terry

My cats are outside cats, but they leave me presents everywhere. Recently, one of them puked on my car hood. I didn't see it until I was driving down the road. They also leave presents outside our front door.

Words of Encouragement from Ostomy Advocates I Hollister

When I lived in rural Utah, my cats were inside/outside according to their whim.  They often donated food to our larder:  rabbits, chipmunks, birds, and such.  Usually dead; sometimes still alive.  But tho' they may have puked outside on occasion, they still blessed us with inside upchuck, usually on a rug.

Our cat would bring home his trophies to show off his hunting skills. He often left squirrel's tails on our front porch, right outside the door.

I do get an occasional mouse.

Henry,

I find our cats prefer to barf on the electrical cords of our lamps or very near a heat register.

Perhaps they were electricians in a prior life...