DEAR ABBY: My mother-in-law, “Irma,” is a peach – she’s the sweetest person on the earth. She will do something for anybody to lend a serving to hand. Two weeks in the past, she fell and broke her femur, which resulted in a major hospital keep and wanted rehabilitation. My spouse and I’ve been taking good care of her home and managing all of her different day by day duties whereas she recovers, however certainly one of these has grow to be a difficulty.
Irma has an old, needy, unfriendly cat (“Mehitabelle”) now we have taken into our home throughout all of this. She hisses and growls at me continuously and gained’t permit me to present her medicine, which is required twice day by day. Irma loves her kitty and asks about her usually.
We have two cats of our personal, so we created a home for Mehitabelle in an upstairs bed room in an effort to maintain all the cats in the home amicable. (She doesn’t get together with certainly one of ours.) My spouse and I’ve managed this up to now, however issues have grown dramatically worse.
In addition to her poor habits, Mehitabelle refuses to make use of her litter field. We have set pads across the litter field and all through the room, but it surely’s nonetheless a horrible mess to wash up every single day and takes greater than an hour. That cat has single-handedly ruined this part of our home by urinating everywhere in the flooring and furnishings.
We have a good looking home we’ve labored onerous on, and it actually hurts to see the animal smash issues. She has to go, as I see it, however Mom loves her cat. What can we do? – “Feline” Bad in Missouri
DEAR “FELINE” BAD: Mehitabelle doesn’t seem to love residing with you any greater than you want having her as a houseguest. If your mother-in-law’s home is shut sufficient to yours that you would go there as soon as a day, you may all be happier if the kitty was returned to her personal territory reasonably than staying at your place. If you or your spouse may organize to present Mehitabelle her meds as soon as a day and discover another person keen to see that she will get her second dose, the state of affairs may be workable till your mother-in-law is launched. Please take into account it. It could save your sanity.
DEAR ABBY: I stay with my finest pal and his younger son. We get alongside nicely, however my pal’s older son is a meth and heroin addict. He has stolen from all of us, however his father refuses to ban him from the home, saying he refuses to surrender on his boy. This is tearing their household aside, and I’m at my wits’ finish emotionally. Please advise. – Losing My Mind in Ohio
DEAR LOSING: I’m sorry, however should you worth the possessions you have got labored onerous to amass, you’ll have to transfer out to be able to defend them. Tell your pal you don’t anticipate him to decide on you over his drug-addicted son. Make clear that he and his younger son are welcome to go to you anytime, however you can’t ignore that his older boy is so caught up in his dependancy that he can’t be trusted. Then observe by.
Dear Abby is written by Abigail Van Buren, often known as Jeanne Phillips, and was based by her mom, Pauline Phillips. Contact Dear Abby at www.DearAbby.com or P.O. Box 69440, Los Angeles, CA 90069.
