Sometime during the first year we were married, Carol took a trip to visit friends and left me alone for a week. While she was gone, I used some birch plywood left over from other projects to make a three drawer wide cabinet. I sized it to exactly fit in her closet to provide a place to store her shoes.

Carol was always trying to organize things better, so this was one of the gifts she really liked.

When we built the new house, this set of drawers fit in the guest closet. We use it to hold house-slippers and such.

Last week, I detected the odor of cat coming from that closet. I'd already removed stuff from the floor and cleaned the closet walls once, so I wasn't thrilled.

The cats had marked the top of the cabinet. The cabinet I designed and made specifically for Carol. I almost cried. It was just a scrap-wood project, but it was one I made just for her-a gift that she used and enjoyed.

Urine soaks into wood and the birch ply is a veneer that can't be sanded much without completely removing it.

Two cats came very close to be re-homed to Forest Lawn.

Luckily, I'd finished the cabinet with a penetrating oil that seals the wood. The urine soaked in a little, but it wasn't deep enough that a strong dose of Nature's Miracle and a little sanding (and a fresh treatment of penetrating oil) couldn't remove the odor.

The cabinet is back in the closet, but now it's covered with a sheet of non-porous plastic. Hopefully that will protect it in the future.