Ask MetaFilter posts tagged with pee

HygieneFilter: should I always use soap when washing my hands?

XiBe — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 05:56:19 -0800

HygieneFilter: must I always use soap when washing my hands? My view is, I take a shower every day, hence my hands are cleaned everyday, because I use them to soap-up the rest of my body. Soap on hand = clean hands.

So, no need to wash my hands with soap before/after usual daily tasks, only if I get my hands dirty (before&after eating a burger, after fixing a pipe, before cuddling a baby, after cuddling a dog). For other daily tasks, I tend to rely on a rule of thumb of a good wash up with water and an inversion of the 42 seconds rule (ahem).

Case in point: the g/f saw me just washing my hand (w/o soap) after a quick pee, and insisted on my using soap (not just water) everytime from now on.

While I know it's more hygienic to soap-up rather than just water-up my post-loo hands, I always felt I was able to tell when my hands needed more than just watering, and thus was able to go about my duties faster

I know she's right about it, obviously, but am I that much wrong about my asumption?

Do cats pee on leather?

tristeza — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 12:45:51 -0800

Have you ever heard of, known, or had a cat who peed on leather furniture? That's really it, I guess. I need a couch that my cat won't ruin with pee (claws, I'm pretty OK knowing it'll get a few scratches), so am looking for your own experience/anecdotes with leather (not suede).

My little guy only does it once in a blue moon, but once is enough to ruin an entire couch.

Thanks.

BBQ pee loo

Anonymous — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 11:05:18 -0800

BBQ filter: some questions about BBQ and a loo inside... hi, so i'm in south-east asia right now and my friend wants to throw this BBQ on his roof.problem is, he stays with his folks, in this apartment building on the top floor, and there are other apartment biulding close by.
the biggest problem right now is, what do we do about a loo? we cant ask the parents to open up the house at 2 am for someone want to pee, also its not possible just to pee on the roof or ina bucket with rose-water as smeone suggested. also we cant just put a bucket with bedsheets around it and cordonn it off like someone else said, mean where will our girlfriends go? its not very nice.

so do you guys have some solution? someone also said hey just pass coconuts but no this wont work also.

we have: big roof, (terrace with concrete-like), sky, some stars sometimes, BBQ grille, food, nice people, but we dont have loo! what do we do?

i'm sorry english is not very good please xcuse, also please HELP!!!

Help me get my Jack Russell to quit peeing on everything.

veronicacorningstone — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 20:52:22 -0800

How do I get my 4 year old Jack Rusell to stop peeing on things? He IS potty trained, and neutered, but still seems to be "marking" furniture and corners all over my apartment, and I NEVER catch him in the act. I've heard this is an issue that is more common in Jack Russells. Is there anything I can do to deter this so he won't pee on my new couch? A few more details:

- He was not well potty trained when I got him, but he definitely knows to tell me whenever he wants/needs to go out.

- He also was not neutered until I got him, which was when he was 18 months old. Ideally he would have been neutered sooner.

- This seems to happen even after hes been out to relieve himself plenty of times

- This mostly occurs on corners of furniture that have been around oher dogs, or in places that other dogs have lived.

- I literally have only caught him in the act of doing this once & often don't notice it's even happened right away.

How can I train him / deter this behavior? He is a smart dog and I've been able to train him quite a few things given the fact that I am a novice at best in dog training. I have a new couch and the thought of him marking this too... Ugh!

*Bonus Points if you can just send Ceasar Milan (the Dog Whisperer) directly to my place. Otherwise, any suggestions are welcome, especially if you've cured this in a Jack Russell, because they certainly are a unique breed.

Oh no you didn't!

octomato — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:15:43 -0800

Why did my cat just pee on the bed? I was busy watching my reality tv, when all of a sudden my cat just starts peeing on the air mattress I have set up for my visitor. Right in front of the tv! I saw him squatting and yelled at him to move, cause I couldn't see what I was watching. Then, I noticed the glimmer or the pee coming down.

Also, he had been playing around his clean litter box before he peed on the bed.

He is almost 3 years old, spayed and frisky. Yet, this is the first time any sort of out of the litter box activity happens.

What's wrong? What can I do for this not to happen ever again.

Hi, nice to meet you... I need to pee.

lukeo05 — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 07:31:11 -0800

Is my weak bladder just a weak bladder, or a sign of something else? I pee a lot. I know a lot of people do need to pee regularly when they are well hydrated / beerdrated, but I really do seem to need it far more than anyone else I know by a lot. It is only especially noticable when I drink alcohol, mainly because I try and not drink too much water or tea during the day because the constant toilet going annoys me, but it does happen with all types of drinks.

It is often embarrassing for me, especially when I am drinking with a small number of people, and when they are new acquaintances. Generally I will go to the toilet 2 or 3 times in the space it takes most people to go once, and this is even when I wait for a fair while from when the feeling hits me. If I went as soon as I felt like I needed to, I would probably go every 5 minutes, which is annoying to me personally, and embarrassing when I'm not around close friends.

One thing I have noticed, is that usually in these situations, I will pee with barely anything in my bladder. Though there are times when I pee and there is a lot more, but I feel like I need the toilet a lot less.

Am I just cursed with a small, weak bladder? Or is there anything more sinister at work here (I have heard it could be a sign of diabetes, though of course, IANAD). Is there anything I can do to try and help myself with this annoying problem?

Is this an emergency?

arcticwoman — Sun, 15 Jun 2008 12:32:38 -0800

Is this an emergency? Not peeing or pooping, sitting funny, grunting, looking really uncomfortable: is my rabbit ok until tomorrow or should I pay the extra $200 for an emergency appointment? My rabbit, Iggy Pop, has chronic bum problems. We have to give him daily bum baths or else his pee scalds his genital area. He has had the beginnings of necrosis in the past. We've been doing this for a couple of months now, but a new problem has cropped up in the past couple of days and is really scaring us.

Iggy has not peed or pooped in his litter box or cage for about three days now. He peed on me once when we gave him his bum bath, but we've seen no signs that he's been going anywhere else in the house. Instead, he spends all day in his litter box, grunting and shifting restlessly. He lies down, only to get up and try to pee again after only a few minutes. To me it looks like he either has a UTI or crystals.

We want to take him to a vet, but since this is a Sunday, and we live in a small town, our only options are to 1) wait until tomorrow or 2) pay an extra $200 to get him an emergency visit. $200 is a lot of money for us, we will have to borrow it from a friend. Still, if it's what needs to be done, we'll do it. We just don't know if it needs to be done. Please help me decide if this is an emergency or not.

Oh my god it burns -- but not in the right place...

Anonymous — Thu, 01 May 2008 07:54:31 -0800

My tongue tingles when I have the urge to urinate. Is this normal? Really folks, this is a serious question. I'm a relatively healthy woman in my early 20's and I've been experiencing this phenomenon for as long as I can remember. I asked a doctor about this once many years ago and my concerns were more or less blown off. I haven't really wanted to bring it up again for fear of seeming like a hypochondriac. Is there something horribly wrong with my nervous system or is this within the range of normal?

Why does #1 make me cold and awake, but #2 makes me hot and sleepy?

Anonymous — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 20:51:43 -0800

This question has to do with number 1 and number 2. So if you're not interested in reading about bathroom things skip this question. Basically, I have noticed the following about myself:

When I have to pee, I feel colder than normal. I also have a hard time falling asleep, and will often wake up if I was sleeping.

When I have to poo, I feel hotter than normal. I also often feel a bit sleepy or lethargic.

I do know that lots of people wake up when they have to pee. Other than that I have no idea whether these are common symptoms or not.

My questions are:

Are these common symptoms?
Why would my (or any) body react in opposite fashion to these two somewhat related activities?

PeeFilter: Why can't I stop peeing in the middle of the night?

Elminster24 — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 07:34:27 -0800

I can't stop peeing in the middle of the night and its preventing my girlfriend from sleeping well. Is this normal? How do I stop this? For the record, I'm turning 25 later this month. I've been to my doctor about it who said nothing was wrong with me and that I just need to make sure I don't eat/drink anything several hours before I go to sleep.

I've tried this and I still can't stop getting up to pee in the middle of the night! Sometimes its more than once...like once at 4am or so and again at 6am.

My girlfriend is very understanding but at the same time its causing her to not get a full nights sleep and this has been taking its toll on her so I want to figure out how to put an end to this.

When I wake up with the urge to pee, its not like if I don't go I'll wet the bed, however it is uncomfortable enough that I can't continue sleeping. This only started happening after college when the real stresses of the world fell upon my shoulders so I've considered it being job stress, however I was recently let go from an extremely stressful job and it continued despite me not having much stress about being unemployed due to knowledge that my family would support me should my funds run out.

Any suggestions?

alarming cat

scottMontgomery — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 10:21:19 -0800

Why would a cat wake you up between 4 and 5 in the morning when it has water and food and an accessible litter box? My parent's cat has taken to coming in to their bedroom and "talking" to them between 4 and 5 every morning. My mom has gotten up on occasion and can't figure out what the cat wants as all doors are open to food, water and the litter pan. When they don't respond at all to the cat (when it does the 4 - 5 AM wake up thing) the cat pees in their fireplace or on a bathroom rug.
Does anyone know what this could be about?

I Hate The Yellow River

plinth — Thu, 29 Nov 2007 08:45:54 -0800

Inappropriate cat pee issue. I've read through this and other inappropriate peeing threads. I'm at my wit's end.

My 16 year old female cat has been peeing where she shouldn't. When her litter boxes were in the basement, it was not so much of an issue other than clean-up. She has a great deal of difficulty accessing the litter box there, so we moved one upstairs in a place that is more accessible, but it is a three season porch and we're on the fourth season.

She uses it, but it also pees on clothing, carrying bags, shoes, near where coats are hung up, and in the bathtub. Most likely the cause is a combination of age and jealousy as we have a 4 year old special needs child who just learned to walk and a 9 month old who is getting close to crawling.

We're really worried about the health issues of our kids and with two full-time working parents, it's getting really hard to keep up with cleaning up after her and trying to figure out where she's peed this time. In addition, the semi-isolated litter box on the three season porch is going to very soon burn a lot of fuel if we keep it accessible to her.

We've tried Feliway - did nothing but burn a hole in my monthly budget. We tried lavishing more praise on her. Upping the toy count. Introducing her to catnip (she was a catnip-free cat at that point). Vet checkup revealed no issues. If there were a better place for the litter boxes, believe me, they'd be there. I've only caught her once or twice and negative reinforcement clearly didn't help.

I feel like I have to choose between my kids health and the cat at this point, and the cost of failed solutions is mounting.

The vet as a final suggestion offered a behavioral consultation with Tufts and offered nothing else.

What do I do? From the other thread I'll try L-lysine and will investigate kitty prozac, but besides that?

I hear rainbow pee is in this season

davidstandaford — Sun, 25 Nov 2007 21:44:05 -0800

Best way to die my urine all of the ROY G. BIV rainbow colors? [Not all at once, one color at a time.] The brighter and more vibrant, the better. As part of an art project, I need to produce some colored urine (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet). Most of my googling has turned up results of people trying to avoid such a thing, or academic/medical articles that are hard to parse. I'm hoping that someone has some life experience or anecdotal evidence (or non-anecdotal evidence) that will help me produce a rainbow of pee.

These are my concerns, in order of importance:
Safety: Anything toxic, poisonous, carcinogenic, etc. is out. Even if 100 grams of aspartame gives me blue urine, I'm not interested.
Speed: I'm hoping to find stuff with near instantaneous results. A mouthful of food coloring and green pee that night would be awesome, eating carrots for a month for orange pee, not so much.
Body Side-Effects: I would prefer to do without discolored tongue and lips for days on end, or different skin tone or colored sweat or anything like that, but I'll do it if necessary.

Anyone know any foolproof, safe and easy ways to produce a clear, dramatic change in my urine from normal yellow to any of the colors of the rainbow?

P.S. I hear large quantities of blue curacao or creme de menthe work for blue and green... anyone know anything about that?

Why is the dog peeing in my roommate's room?

lalalana — Sun, 23 Sep 2007 17:55:06 -0800

My 4 year old dog, who hasn't had a peeing-in-the-house problem for at least 3 years, has been peeing my roommate's room. We all moved into this apartment about a month and half ago. We have hardwood floors, which were cleaned with enzyme cleaner after each incident. He's picked different spots to wizz on, but always in her room. We plan to keep her door closed, which will help. But, any ideas to prevent this habit from spreading? Or why it might be happening?

Why is my belly waking me up with soreness?

cadge — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 20:31:08 -0800

HealthFilter: Why do I wake up with a dull ache in my abdomen (diaphragm area)? When I sleep for longer than 5-6 hours, I'm often woken up by a kind of dull ache in my abdomen. I usually end up feeling the need to pee as well, but the sensation does not immediately go away after peeing. It is not a sharp pain - more of a soreness, like if I'd been working out.

I thought that it might be my muscles aching after holding in pee for a while, but the pain is more around my diaphragm and the part of my abs just below the ribcage. Also, it's not like I'm voiding out whole rivers of pee when I get up.

I also thought that it might be my belly feeling pressure from the waistband of my panties, but wearing lower-cut panties doesn't seem to help that much.

Does anyone else experience this, and do you have any advice about what might be causing it? I've put up with it for a while, but now I'm coming to realize that it makes me really uncomfortable when I wake up after trying to sleep in on weekends.

Cat pee, and how to deal with it.

griffey — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 18:04:04 -0800

How can I eliminate cat pee smell without damaging the fibers of a nylon rope? There's a bunch... So, our two cats decided to use my caving/climbing gear as a restroom. Probably for weeks, given the scope and amount...I had the gear stored in a canvas army backpack, inside was two other packs, 250 feet of climbing rope, aluminum and steel carabiners, two figure eight descenders, a Petzl descender, two mini-maglite flashlights....plus helmet,Petzl headlamp, and other random gear. It was all nearly completely soaked.

I've look around at other AskMeFi's on this sort of subject (get cat pee out of X), but the big question is: is the rope, especially, ever going to be safe to actually use again if I soak it in vinegar, or even one of the enzyme treatments?

Some of the carabiners are a lost cause...the urine ate the aluminum completely away. Can I expect the steel ones to be ok?

This is something upon which my life literally hangs....I'm concerned about getting rid of the smell (oh am I) but if it destroys the usefulness of the rope, I won't bother to clean it at all, and just toss it now. Same with the 'biners and descenders...any caving or climbing chemists out there want to take a guess at how to deal with this?

Gah

CoinOp — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:41:00 -0800

(PISS FILTER) A guest just relieved himself on my futon. Happened within the last hour, I'm so mad I can hardly contain myself. I stripped the bed and promptly threw the blankets in the wash. However the mattress has been soaked through. Besides burning the futon, what are my options?

How to keep my friend's cat from acting out?

thecaddy — Sun, 10 Jun 2007 15:25:59 -0800

I'm catsitting for a friend of mine. The cat has started peeing on furniture for the first time. How can I make this stop? Should I be worried enough to take him to the vet? Here's the thing: I've read a whole bunch of previous cat-pee questions, and figure that the most likely reason for this is the cat's anger that his owner has left him for a month. (The three places he's peed on so far have been on the owner's futon and his bed).

The cat is primarily an outdoor cat (let's not argue about this, please; it's obviously not my call), but has a litterbox inside the house. When I first came over, the box was extremely dirty; I've since been cleaning it out daily but found that the cat's barely using it. At first, I thought that simply getting to the house earlier in the day and letting him out would prevent the urination, but that hasn't worked--today, I got there earlier than ever, and still found a "present."

I was warned that he had numerous "indiscretions" around the house before taking over his care, so I don't think that it's a health problem. I've also been spending more time at his house, figuring that more attention will keep him from acting out. Is there anything else I can do to prevent him from continuing this behavior for the next few weeks that I'm taking care of him?

Is it cool to pee in prospective houses?

saladpants — Thu, 12 Apr 2007 23:36:00 -0800

Real estate pee etiquettefilter: Is it kosher to use the bathroom in a house that you're viewing for purposes of buying? Does it make a difference if the house is vacant or still occupied? My wife and I are looking at real estate. We've had a few marathon days where we see 6 or 7 houses in quick succession, with no real breaks in between. My wife occasionally needs to use the facilities, but is shy about using the bathroom in these houses, since she doesn't really own it and isn't really a guest. I don't really see the big deal, especially where the house is vacant, but I do understand where she's coming from.

Any definitive answers out there? Would you be cool with prospective buyers of your house using your toilet?

How can I stop cats from pissing on the outside of my house?

cmonkey — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 11:43:07 -0800

How can I stop cats from pissing on the outside of my house? My bedroom is a poorly built extension to an old house. Four single pane windows, no insulation, a drafty door to the backyard, all that. A week ago, two neighbourhood cats started having a pissing contest on the side of the house directly underneath two of my windows, making my room reek of cat urine. The smell goes away when it rains (which is often at this time of year, thankfully), but when it isn't raining, it's just about unbearable. Scented candles don't seem to fight it off, nor does circulating the air. There's only concrete surrounding the house, so they aren't using dirt as a litterbox, and that also means that I can't use plants as a deterrent.

I know about using Feliway to get cats to stop marking interiors of houses, but is there anything I do to stop them from doing it outside? I'm dreading a summer full of the odor of roasting cat urine wafting in through my drafty windows.

Sh1tty Kitties

k8t — Fri, 09 Feb 2007 07:38:53 -0800

Please help our kitties learn to use the litter box again. We have an 8-year-old dog and a 7-year-old cat. In November we got a 3-month-old kitten. The introduction into the house went pretty smoothly. The cats play fight a bit, but generally tolerate each other (share food bowls and toys.) The older cat has been a bit withdrawn but has been given lots of extra cuddles and treats. We also moved them to one litter box (getting rid of the tiny kitten one.) Kitten sort of annoying the older cat, but no one really dominates.

THEN: a month ago we had an ant outbreak. This caused us to change the cats' feeding schedule. We used to leave out 2 bowls of dry food all day long and give the kitten 1/2 a can of wet food in the AM and PM. Now we give them a can of wet food to share in the AM and PM with a bit of dry food. The cats share one plate pretty well.

Ever since though, the kitten has been pooping on the floor about 5 feet from the litter box on the carpeted landing of the steps. This happens almost every day. The older cat has chosen the same spot to pee every few days (used to be on top of a cat toy there that has now been removed.)

We went back to 2 litter boxes and now are up to 3 (all next to each other). No change! HELP! My guess is that the older cat is somehow "dominating" the litter and kitten thinks she's not allowed to use the box. Maybe??

Post-Weed Pee

wigu — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 20:35:31 -0800

So my friend told me that sometimes after he smokes weed, the first time he goes pee he pees for a REALLY long time. Does anybody know how come the peeing lasts so long after my "friend" smokes weed?

Feel the burn! Then play fireman in the urinal.

xiojason — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 19:32:51 -0800

Does "holding it in" burn extra calories? How much? I've found that when I have to urinate, but it is not convenient or feasible to do without delay, that my body temperature seems to go up and sometimes I even break a sweat. I'm not talking about holding it in so long that there's pain involved, just noting the urge and delaying for 15 minutes to an hour or so 'cause I'm in the middle of a meeting or whatever. As I've been tracking my calories in and calories out lately, I've become curious...

Is there an increase in caloric consumption due to this? If so, how many extra calories would a 200-pound 34-year-old male of average height be expending per hour of holding back the floodwaters?

Drunk sex = regret

Turd Ferguson — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 18:59:32 -0800

Why don't we get drunk and screw? Because it burns! Can anybody tell me why? (Some mildly graphic details inside.) Everybody likes drunk sex. But I've come to the point where I'll abstain from relations if I've had so much as a couple of alcoholic drinks. This is because there is a high likelihood that it will end up in pretty severe discomfort for me. Shortly after ejaculation, I will get a feeling that I have to urinate (whether I really do or not). When I do -- or eventually even if I don't -- I get a burning/stinging sensation towards the end of my penis. The best way I can describe it is that it feels like there is a small amount of urine stuck in my urethra. It doesn't hurt during urination, only afterwards. And the urge to pee remains after I am done. This is very uncomfortable, and tends to last a few hours.

I am a ~30 year old man, with no problems with sex as long as alcohol is not involved. The only thing I've found online that sounds similar was talking about prostatitis, but I don't think that's likely, since it's been happening since I've been sexually mature. I have no STDs. It has happened a few times without alcohol being involved, but very rarely. It seems worse with beer than with wine or liquor, to the point where I thought it might be an issue with the carbonation. But it has also happened with uncarbonated alcoholic drinks.

My question: does anybody have any idea what this is? Any advice, other than talking to a doctor or abstaining (from alcohol or sex)?

What Does Pee Have to Do With Meat?

ThePinkSuperhero — Sat, 30 Dec 2006 19:21:02 -0800

Strange TV show question: What does eating meat have to do with pee? I'm watching this episode of Sex and the City, in which Carrie's politico boyfriend asks her to pee on him. While discussing the topic at brunch, Samantha says she once peed on a guy during sex on accident and he didn't even notice. Charlotte then says, "I once had to stop eating meat for 6 months". What? I have no idea what that means, and there doesn't appear to be any other context for her comment in that conversation. Anyone have any idea? Is it some joke I'm not getting?