Chaplin generally gets cranky with me when I go back to work after a long layoff. Usually this manifests itself in a couple weeks of him mistaking my arms, legs, and occasionally hair for dinner. The biting is annoying, but I would have preferred it to the stunt he pulled this time.
I should preface this by saying that I have a massive cold and can’t smell anything, otherwise I think I would have noticed this sooner, but: Chaplin spent the last week pissing in my laundry basket.
I realized something was off when I’d gone to clean out his litterbox and found it suspiciously devoid of clumps, but because I couldn’t smell anything, I couldn’t figure out where he actually was pissing instead.
Well, I figured it out this morning when I reached in the hamper to try and find an acceptably clean collared shirt to wear to brunch with my step-uncle (oh come on, I only have a limited selection of nice clothes that actually fit me at the moment).
Even through my clogged sinuses, the smell on the shirt I fished out was unmistakable. After brunching in a different shirt, it took me three hours, three loads of laundry, and most of a giant jug of Nature’s Miracle to get the smell out of…most stuff.
The casualties were a blanket and sheet that were probably in need of replacement anyway, as well as the hamper itself. $60 at Bed Bath and Beyond and an unbelievable amount of annoyance with Chaplin later, I’m back in business. And the new hamper has a lid to prevent future recurrences of this delightful incident.
It certainly could have been worse, but I’d also much rather be used as a chew toy. It’s less irritating and significantly less expensive than today’s debacle.