Hi, I am new to the newsgroups,(So please forgive me if my protocol is
not proper), but I read up here a bit before posting this, and I did see
similar problems to what I am having - but not the same.

The issue is my 3 1/2 year mixed breed, spayed female cat (we also have
a 14 year old spayed female cat at home). We live in a very small 5-room
apt. The litter box is always kept clean (it HAS to be, there is only
one small bathroom, so it is right out there). We never had problems
with Galaxy in the past.

About 10 days ago she suddenly started peeing in all different spots in
the living room. She still uses the litter box, but we have actually
caught her on 6 or 7 different occasions, and in different locations.
Sometimes on the carperting alone, once on a jacket my daughter left on
the floor, once on an empty laundry bag Galaxy pulled down, and tonight
she climbed into my gym bag that I left on the floor for all of 5
minutes, open, as I was getting ready to take it and leave.

I have not discounted illness as a possible problem, but this is not a
case of "oh-my-gawd-I-have-to-go-RIGHT-NOW", wherever she is, because we
have watched her carefully pick her spot and set it up just right... the
first few times we watched because we simply could not believe she was
actually going to pee right there! We have scolded her the times we
caught her in the act.

Now I guess I am going to have to take her to the vet, but I really am
loathe to do that... I have heard too many horror stories to not be
cxoncerned. I also had to be there for both my sister and a very close
friend when their pets (1 a dog who suddenly started having seizures,
the other a cat that developed diabetes) got ill, and went through
months of very painful and expensive surgery and treatment. In the end,
in both cases, the animals lives were only extended a matter of months,
the animals looked like they were in pain more times than not, and their
owners left having to deal with many thousands of dollars worth of vet
bills while grieving over a lost loved pet. (They not only went to
different vets, they were even in different states) Now I know there are
very many good vets out there, but I have also read enough to know that
there are quite a few who only care about their wallets. And that there
are others who have actually done much more harm than good (I read
something about a very outdated drug used during surgery, for instance,
and that some vets will use this because it is very cheap even though it
could have up to a 20% incidence of seizures as a side effect
afterwards). And I have no idea how to know one from the other.

The only thing that we can think of that has "happened" was that about 2
weeks ago Galaxy ripped open one of her catnip toys and was going
bonkers over it when we found her. I am sure she must have ingested some
before we took it away and cleaned up all the spilled catnip. She acted
a lot more than her usual "drunkeness" when she played with catnip toys
in the past, but we were not concerned at that point, other than to
check all the other toys to make sure that the rest were fully intact.
Is it possible she got a "bad batch" of catnip? Could this be the cause
of her problems? Or was the timing simply coincidental?

Any help would be appreciated, especially if it turns out to be a
solution in which I can avoid the Veterinarian Roulette Game.

Thanks