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What makes pee so bad that I have to get rid of it? – Jeff, 14, Michigan

Dear Jeff,

The worst thing about being an anthropomorphic cat is that I have to scoop my own litter box. It’s a real drag.

I asked my friend Henry Mroch why we need to pee in the first place. He’s a doctor at Washington State University. He teaches medical students about the organs that make urine—called kidneys.

He told me that most people have two kidneys. Each one is about the size of your fist. They sit near your back, right under your ribcage.

Each kidney attaches to a tube called a ureter. Those tubes take urine to a storage pouch—called the bladder. When you pee, another tube called the urethra moves the urine from the bladder out of your body.

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