TheBanyanTree: The Case of the Constipated Cat

[B Drummond]

This is a true story.  (although the names have been changed to protect the 
dignity of the those involved)


Jessica moved in with her two friends, Danielle and Trudy.   They shared a 
house that Trudy purchased a year before.  Jessica and Danielle paid rent to 
Trudy.

Until Jessica moved in there were no pets in Trudy's house.  Jessica brought 
her dog Max, a half-grown German Shephard and Buffy, a tabby cat with a mean 
disposition.  Jessica worked all day.  Trudy worked the night shift at the 
hospital and Danielle worked part-time as a waitress.

Jessica had recently gotten Max and she was still getting used to him.  But 
she had had Buffy for several years and was as close to her as anything she 
had ever known. She really loved that cat, even though it was meaner than, 
well, a constipated snake.

After several weeks had gone by Jessica came out of the small unused pantry 
room where she kept Buffy's litter box with a worried look on her face.  When 
she located Buffy she took her up into her arms and carried her to the table 
where Trudy and Danielle sat chatting.

"Why the worried look?"  Trudy asked her.

"I'm really worried about my "Buffykins"," Jessica told them, cuddling the cat 
and talking baby talk to it.  "She hasn't gone to the bathroom in weeks.  She 
must be really constipated.  I'm gonna have to take her to the vet?"

Trudy asked, "How do you know she's constipated? Is she acting strangely?"

"Well, not exactly.  Except for the fact that she hasn't pooped at all for the 
last three weeks,"  Jessica responded.

"Huh?" Danielle asked.

"I outta' know.  I clean her litter box," Jessica said.

"Let me see her," Trudy motioned.  Jessica handed her the cat and she checked 
it over, feeling its stomach carefully.  The cat growled and hissed at Trudy 
and she dropped it suddenly.  Buffy ran off into a corner and continued to 
glare, hiss and snarling at the girls.

"Well, her stomach feels normal to me but she sure seems sensitive about it," 
she said.

"No, you can't go by that," Jessica said.  "She's always hated for someone to 
squeeze her stomach."

"Are you SURE she's been eating?"  Danielle asked.

"Sure as shootin', Jessica said.  "I've been feeding her everyday and she's 
eating normally - the same amount of Cat Chow that I've always given her."

"Well, could the dog be getting her food?" Trudy asked.

"No way," Jessica answered.  "I'm sure of that."

The next day Danielle rounded the corner of small room that Jessica kept 
Buffy's litter box and saw the cat coming out.  Shortly thereafter she 
noticed a powerfully strong odor.  She stepped over the plastic "fence"  and 
checked out the litter box.   Jessica's gonna' be happy to know this, she 
thought and then left the room.

A few minutes later she passed the same corner again and saw Max hunkered 
down, squeezing himself under the small space below the "fence" made for the 
cat to go under to gain access to the room.  Max painstakenly scooted out from 
under the fence and took off like a bullet.  Danielle went into the room and 
upon looking into the litterbox gasped. "Well, I'll be doggonned," she said.

When Jessica got home that night Danielle sat Jessica and Trudy down at the 
table and gave them the news.

"Buffy isn't constipated, Jessica.  She's just got a new litter box cleaner, 
that's all," she told her.

"What?" Trudy asked.

"Huh?" Jessica said.

Danielle related the story of how Buffy had gone to the litter box and then 
later how she had seen Max hunkering down and squeezing himself through the 
space under the fence that appeared to be only large enough for a cat to go 
under.  And Danielle told Jessica how the contents of the litter box had gone 
missing Max's visit.

"Eeeeeeeeewwwww!"  said Trudy.

"I think I'm gonna' puke!" said Jessica.

Jessica grabbed Buffy who was passing by and hugged her tight.  "Oh, 
Buffykins, you're OK afterall!" she said gleefully.  Buffy jumped out of her 
arms hissing.

"Bad dog, Max!  Bad, bad dog! "they all said in unison.



   bd
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