pisse de chat

Pisse de chat (cat piss) is a French slang term for weak alcohol, usually wine. In my case, however, pisse de chat was literally pisse de chat today.

Our family has been busy for various reasons, and tardy in setting up Christmas decorations. This afternoon and evening, we've been dragging out boxes from the basement storage area-- ornaments, lights, the works. One box, however, refused to budge when I tried to pull it off the metal shelving. At first I thought the box had somehow gotten glued into place, but then I noticed a rank smell that seemed to emanate from the box itself. The smell worsened the more I wrestled with the box, and took on the distinctive character of urine.

It would appear that our cat, probably while angry about something, decided to take a piss on our Christmas stash. The piss crept under one of the boxes on a metal shelf, pooled under the box, soaked the cardboard, and then dried-- fusing the cardboard to the metal like Stephen King's idea of glue.

I'm assuming this happened sometime during the past year. It couldn't have been done by our dog: he's been dead for seven or eight years, and the box in question contains a recent purchase.

Dad ripped the box off the shelf, leaving a nasty strip of cardboard stuck to the shelf's surface. I followed this up with scrub brushes, cleaning spray, warm water, and lots of paper towels. The odor still lingers (Christ, kitty!), but the shelf is more or less usable again. The box, needless to say, has been chucked.


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