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mcmagic posted:Do you think if I adopt the bitey kitten and another one who doesn't bite that the calmer one could teach the other one to behave? Or is that more with adult cats? The calmer one will probably get fed up and smack the bitey cat, which would be a pretty good way of teaching bitey cat to chill the gently caress out.
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Jun 5, 2012 19:58
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HPL posted:The calmer one will probably get fed up and smack the bitey cat, which would be a pretty good way of teaching bitey cat to chill the gently caress out.  Thats the bitey guy. He's very energetic and adorable, I'm just a little worried about being back to train him with myself not being experienced with cats... ugh
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Jun 5, 2012 20:02
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US Foreign Policy posted:I really just want them to be able to co-exist. The cat wont even eat if the dog is in the room, choosing instead to growl and glare. If they were able to just leave each other alone in a peace based on indifference, I'd be ever so happy with the situation. It sounds like the cat is just freezing, growling, and running away (not bringing the fight to the dog). Fix the dog chasing the cat first if you want to break the cycle. The cat is scared, makes a big stink about being scared, then gets that fear reinforced when the dog chases him. I'd give the cat a dog-free space with food and litterbox, separated with a baby gate or something else he can get over but the dog can't. If he gets too wound up, take him to his room before the dog can chase him. He'll either decide to live permanently in his safe space or acclimate at his own rate. How long have you had the dog, and how did you do dog-cat introductions?
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Jun 5, 2012 22:16
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mcmagic posted:Do you think if I adopt the bitey kitten and another one who doesn't bite that the calmer one could teach the other one to behave? Or is that more with adult cats? I adopted a kitten last month and he ended up liking to bite and scratch me an my girlfriend's hands. We tried the whole "pull back your hand, high pitch noise, ignore" routine, but we weren't consistent in doing this. Couldn't help it because he was so darn cute and fun to play with. We adopted his sister last week, and so far the biting has toned down to where it is nonexistant. They play with each other, biting, scratching, and other cat things, so I guess having another kitten to play with really helped us out.
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Jun 6, 2012 01:52
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Arkham Angel posted:Her foster actually ended up having fading kitten syndrome, unfortunately. We know she was on eye medication at the shelter when we picked her out and there is a bacterial URI spreading around there (our foster kittens just got off antibiotics for it). Plus, being it spread from one eye to the other, it's probably not a scratched cornea. A corneal ulcer can coexist with certain bacterial infections, fyi. The problem with you just putting some antibiotic in the eyes for an indiscriminate length of time (usually until the eyes look better) is that depending on the organism involved and usual treatment for the organism, you might want to use a different antibiotic or extend the use of the antibiotic past when you might think you need to, in order to avoid your cat's eyes becoming little tiny incubators for resistant bacteria and shedding and such.
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Jun 6, 2012 02:55
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So I figured I'd better ask here instead of making a new thread. For the past few days I heard a loud meowing outside my home. Just today I found this cat standing on my door.  She has no collar and is meowing a lot and loudly. I have some left over cat food from when my ex-roommate lived with me, so I fed her. She ate a lot. I'm letting her wander around my apartment while I make this post. I already left a message with the Humane Society to see if anyone is missing a cat. Is there anything else I can do, guys?
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Jun 6, 2012 03:59
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If you can, take her in to a vet to see if she's microchipped, I guess. Other than that, enjoy your new cat! 
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Jun 6, 2012 04:13
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How do we stop cats from fighting? I've had my DSH Trogdor for about 5 years, been with me through 3 moves. Wife and I adopt another rescue kitty, Magellan (She is about 8-9 months old, black, and smaller than he is). We followed normal protocol for introducing them, she had her own room with food/water/litter for 2 days, swapped their bedding, etc. Introduced them supervised and get the usual hissing/swatting/yowling, separated and tried again... It's been 4 weeks and they are still fighting. Not constantly, just whenever one gets near the other. Sometimes Maggellan will attack Trogdor for no reason, its never the other way around. They are separated when we are gone during the day or sleeping. We've tried the Feliway collars on both of them, hasn't helped much, if at all. Is it worth investing in a Feliway diffuser? Does anyone have any ideas? We're tired of separating them all the time and I'd like to move the litter boxes around so they're out of the way... can't do that if they have to be locked up. Reward for advice is cat pictures 
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Jun 6, 2012 04:37
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quote:We followed normal protocol for introducing them, she had her own room with food/water/litter for 2 days, swapped their bedding, etc. Introduced them supervised and get the usual hissing/swatting/yowling, separated and tried again... I'm not clear in how long the introduction period actually was. It would appear that two days is not enough time for them. Every time you have a failed introduction think of it as "resetting" the clock on that time period, also. quote:It's been 4 weeks and they are still fighting. Not constantly, just whenever one gets near the other. Sometimes Maggellan will attack Trogdor for no reason, its never the other way around. Cat body language can be subtle to us, so I wouldn't pin it all on Magellan just yet. quote:Is it worth investing in a Feliway diffuser? Does anyone have any ideas? We're tired of separating them all the time and I'd like to move the litter boxes around so they're out of the way... can't do that if they have to be locked up. Unfortunately the cats don't play by our rules or whether or not we're tired of introducing them properly. Fact of the matter is, the introduction was rushed and they're not comfortable with each other. You could get a Feliway diffuser, but I'm not sure it will make much difference right now until you do a proper gradual introduction and take as long as they both need to come to terms with the idea of sharing a space without quarrel. Some cats can deal with this in a matter of days, some need weeks or longer.
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Jun 6, 2012 04:46
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Does the Feliway eventually become ineffective if you were to run it all day for a long period of time (like a month)? What would happen if you stopped using it after prolonged use?
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Jun 6, 2012 07:11
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The thing to remember when teaching kitten not to bite is: Hands are not toys. Never use your hand as a toy. Toys are something kitten is allowed to maul, and if you use your hand like a toy, it's teaching kitten it's perfectly cool to maul your hand. Which is not good when kitten becomes cat and can start drawing blood. You should be able to tell when your cat is about to go t-rex by watching the ears, eyes, and tail. Rapid tail swish means psycho cat imminent. So don't pet right then, or distract her with something to get her out of that mood before petting. Never go for a belly rub on an excited cat. They don't have to be angry or upset, but the high-alert cat is going to happily chomp on anything that gets too close to its mouth. I learned, when teaching my shelter cat not to bite, that there's a spot in the mouth behind the fangs where your finger is actually safe (all gums) and it confused the hell out of the cat. It took a couple months but she did learn, and she's never been bitey to people since. I would warn that if you think another kitten would help be sure to get one that isn't timid. Max really beat up on her poor first housemate, because she wouldn't defend herself and ended up with some pretty bad bites we had to see the vet over.  When we went to get our second cat (ms. timid was a roommate's, who moved out) we made sure to get one who could handle living with Max's agressiveness. Sam's worked out perfectly because 1) he's bigger, by half and 2) he doesn't just let her beat him up. He never instigates anything, but he doesn't just take it.They DO learn from each other though. It's very funny when you notice little things one picks up from the other. Feliway varies from cat to cat. I noticed a big drop in my agressive cat's behavior when we started using it, but after it ran out we didn't replace it and the good behavior stuck. It's basically a scent marker that says "Cat feels safe." so how much your cat responds to that marker is kind of up to it. I think it's very good for getting over humps like introductions, but after the cat feels safe on its own the need lessens. Or your cat could just be a high strung little thing and always benefit from it.
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Jun 6, 2012 14:10
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That right there about biting is actually really interesting, because my fiance and I used our hands as toys on Batman for a long time, and sometimes still do. But somehow, he's learned to adapt the way he plays - if he's fighting with my fiance's hand, he's a lot rougher then if he's playing with me. It's like he knows I don't deal with pain very well, and adapts so we can still play with our hands but he doesn't hurt us. He also doesn't maul our hands at any time, we have certain ways of "triggering" that kind of playing and unless we do that, he doesn't bite our hands. My cat is weird! ^ ^
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Jun 6, 2012 20:04
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Topoisomerase posted:A corneal ulcer can coexist with certain bacterial infections, fyi. The problem with you just putting some antibiotic in the eyes for an indiscriminate length of time (usually until the eyes look better) is that depending on the organism involved and usual treatment for the organism, you might want to use a different antibiotic or extend the use of the antibiotic past when you might think you need to, in order to avoid your cat's eyes becoming little tiny incubators for resistant bacteria and shedding and such. Yeah, we were planning on treating her a few days after it cleared up. I've got a micro background so I'm not completely clueless, but I'm less familiar with animal pathogens than human ones.
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Jun 7, 2012 02:37
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I'm really worried right now and I'm stressed because I have A) a kitten that has uncontrollable diarhea, she just sprayed crap all over my girlfriend and B) I have a project due for class in 5 hours. Its already midnight and I'm dead tired. I'm not sure what to do. I've done a little research but I need to take her to the vet tomorrow afternoon. We've had her for a week, but we officially adopted her yesterday. She's been eating Innovo kitten food both hard and soft and she was fine all week until yesterday where I first started noticing her poop started to look soft and wet. Today, its nothing but a pool of poo and when she goes it comes out in an explosion. Its loud. Right now, I'm only giving her a little soft food (Innovo Kitten) and some water. Thankfully, the carrier I put her in is large enough to fit a litter box and have some room for her to lay down and have food and water for the night and throughout school tomorrow. Her brother hasn't had any problems, but we've had him a month longer than we have had her. Any help or advice? Also, any help or advice on how to COMPLETELY get cat diarhea out of a carpet? Thanks in advance for listening to my cat troubles.
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Jun 7, 2012 05:27
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When I got home today there was a black and white tabby cat sitting at the bottom of the steps. It followed me up and into the house so I fed it some cheese, and it went around exploring and rubbing on everything. Now it's sprawled on my chest, purring the loudest purr I've ever heard. It's wonderful but also clearly someone's pet due to being well fed with a very healthy coat and no fleas, so I'm wondering what the etiquette is in this situation. I love it but I don't want to steal it away from its owners.
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Jun 7, 2012 06:20
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Haha never mind, it slipped out at around 6pm when I went to the bathroom. It's a particularly cold winter's day here; I bet it was just looking for some warmth until its owners got home.
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Jun 7, 2012 06:52
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Yaaaay Mad Pinto Rage you have the same problem I do! Except that I know what's up with my kitten in that he's having a bad reaction to a vaccination (verified by vet). I can't do much except commiserate with you on the disgustingness of it all - my kitten is not only possessing a squirty rear end but is actually dribbling pure liquid brown nightmares when he's casually walking around like some kind of incontinental horror show. The vet said it should just go away but if there are any ways to firm up his guts I would love to know about them before he puts a brown polkadot on something I can't clean.
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Jun 7, 2012 06:54
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Tamarillo posted:Yaaaay Mad Pinto Rage you have the same problem I do! Except that I know what's up with my kitten in that he's having a bad reaction to a vaccination (verified by vet). I can't do much except commiserate with you on the disgustingness of it all - my kitten is not only possessing a squirty rear end but is actually dribbling pure liquid brown nightmares when he's casually walking around like some kind of incontinental horror show. Canned pure pumpkin is supposed to help: it's mostly fiber so it can firm up dribbly kitties.
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Jun 7, 2012 13:21
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Tamarillo posted:Yaaaay Mad Pinto Rage you have the same problem I do! Except that I know what's up with my kitten in that he's having a bad reaction to a vaccination (verified by vet). I can't do much except commiserate with you on the disgustingness of it all - my kitten is not only possessing a squirty rear end but is actually dribbling pure liquid brown nightmares when he's casually walking around like some kind of incontinental horror show. vonnegutt posted:Canned pure pumpkin is supposed to help: it's mostly fiber so it can firm up dribbly kitties. Yeah, I think I might get some of that. She left me a puddle of poo last night behind the 60 inch TV and heavy wooden TV stand right as I was about to get ready for bed. I put her in the pet carrier with some fresh water, some dry food, a small litterbox, and a lot of cushioning for her to lay down on. She was crying so much last night but I didn't know what to do at the risk of her not using the litterbox again and spraying and dropping puddles of poo all over the bedroom. This morning though, she used the litterbox and her poo was in form but visibly wet and soft. I'm letting her run around the bedroom with her brother hoping that I won't come home to brown polkadots. Can anyone tell me about using Banfield pet hospitals in Petsmarts? I'm thinking about doing their annual membership where I pay $38 for membership fee and a $28 monthly fee. EDIT (PHOTOS!) I grew up with no pets, to adopting one, having the girlfriend bring her cat, and adoption a third all within the span of a month hand a half. Here's some photos. Note: the adult bicolor cat is Miku, the bicolor kitten is a Whiskey, and the mackerel tabby is Willow. Miku comes from the same mom as Whiskey and Willow, but she's a 4 y.o. and Whiskey and Willow are 3 to 4 m.o. Willow is the sick kitty right now          
DoggesAndCattes fucked around with this message at 16:54 on Jun 7, 2012 |
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Jun 7, 2012 16:22
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Sink water. Better than catbowl water? Yes.
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Jun 7, 2012 18:16
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Mad Pino Rage posted:Yeah, I think I might get some of that. I have only ever heard bad things. I would ask around for a recommendation. Ask the rescue you adopted from, for example. They'll know who's poo poo and who's crooked and who's amazing. Yo, anyone's cat ever have gunk in its lungs? Toby's had a cough for a while and I have been checking on it. Thought it was asthma but it didn't respond to steroids, so he got chest x-rays and a tracheal wash. The vet said there was a whole lot of mucus and stuff in his lungs and also said his lungs were definitely not in normal condition. What are they even looking for? Bacteria? Fungus? Alien eggs? Toby has been feeling fine and acting normal as long as he has had the cough. I think the worst he's felt because of this cough is right now when he's woozy from anesthesia. He came home, drunk-walked to the food and ate a little, barfed, slept a lot in a weirdly slumped position, and I think he's the one who dribbled pee down the hallway into the bathroom. Or out of the bathroom. Don't know. Pee  Has anyone's doped up cat had bathroom problems before? He's seriously uncoordinated so I would not be surprised.
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Jun 8, 2012 01:26
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Trans-tracheal washes (TTW) are looking for a few things - bacteria are one, but also abnormal cells. If they find bacteria in white blood cells, it's a pretty good indication there's an active infection going on. Eosinophils usually indicate either an allergic or parasitic condition. Large numbers of neutrophils would suggest an active infectious process. Theoretically, they might find fungus or yeast or something, but that would be weird.
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Jun 8, 2012 02:20
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I adopted a stray kitty about a year ago and now I am considering getting a second because I think he gets pretty bored and lonely when I'm at work. However, my apartment is only ~800 square feet and hes lived alone with me so I have no idea if this is a good idea or not. He is ludicrously friendly with people and was curious yet nervous when my friend brought his pug over. How often do normal cats just refuse to get along when they're introduced past the kitten stage? Can I reasonably assume getting a 2nd cat will help or is there a high chance for tears and bloodshed? Everything I read says its a pretty good idea to adopt 2 at a time but I can't pin down if adding a 2nd cat is likely to be OK. Would a shelter be willing to let me adopt a cat on a trial basis for like a month to see if its going to work? Also, I have a litter robot for poop and would prefer the cats use the same box, at least eventually. Will they reliably do that or do I need to assume I'd have to have two poop places setup? As payment, here is my cat:  his name is King. He is enormous. Xguard86 fucked around with this message at 04:23 on Jun 8, 2012 |
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Jun 8, 2012 04:15
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Xguard86 posted:As payment, here is my cat: 
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Jun 8, 2012 04:53
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Xguard86 posted:I adopted a stray kitty about a year ago and now I am considering getting a second because I think he gets pretty bored and lonely when I'm at work. For the trial basis, ask. You'll still want to keep the new cat separate first, partly so it can get used to the place, partly so your other cat can slowly being introductions, and partly because the new cat may be carrying new wonderful stuff like worms. You'll probably want a separate litterbox at least for the acclimatization and intro period, but you'll probably be able to phase to using the litter robot for the both of them provided that they work it out after the intro period.
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Jun 8, 2012 04:57
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I still am having difficulty figuring out my pet situation, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting a cat until I have a real bed, or at least a foam top on the airbed. Do cats normally acclimate fine to new furniture, or should I try and have my home fully furnished before I adopt them? Here is payment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bjZqZWbmXK4
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Jun 8, 2012 16:02
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toplitzin posted:I still am having difficulty figuring out my pet situation, I'm pretty sure I'm not getting a cat until I have a real bed, or at least a foam top on the airbed. Cats are weird, but I've never known them to have super big problems with new furniture. They might be skittish because it smells funny but that usually just results in them not sitting on it. You won't mentally scar a cat by buying a new mattress.
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Jun 8, 2012 16:30
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vonnegutt posted:Cats are weird, but I've never known them to have super big problems with new furniture. They might be skittish because it smells funny but that usually just results in them not sitting on it. You won't mentally scar a cat by buying a new mattress. It's not scarring the cat with the mattress I'm concerned with, its more of cat claws + airbed = funny for everyone but me.
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Jun 8, 2012 16:49
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Newcat Tom has now progressed to washing incumbent cat Rexy's head. Sometimes these sessions conclude with a sharp right hook to Rexy's skull. I'm not sure how to interpret this behaviour, and neither is Rexy.
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Jun 8, 2012 17:06
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The process for new furniture with my cat usually goes as following: 1. Sniff. 2. Bat paw at it. 3. Can I sit on it? 4. If so, sit on furniture and commence bathing.
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Jun 8, 2012 18:06
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Ye Worse User-name posted:Newcat Tom has now progressed to washing incumbent cat Rexy's head. Sometimes these sessions conclude with a sharp right hook to Rexy's skull. I'm not sure how to interpret this behaviour, and neither is Rexy.
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Jun 8, 2012 18:22
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Some cats can be weird about changes in their house like new furniture. When my parents bought a set of new living room stuff and moved the old loveseat/sofa into the family room, both cats were so bothered by it that they sat on/clung to the old couch while it was being carried from one side of the house to the other. Then they realized the new couch was very comfy and proceeded to shed as much as possible all over it.
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Jun 8, 2012 20:23
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Is there a clumping style litter that is regarded as the least likely to track?
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Jun 8, 2012 21:20
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Yudo posted:Is there a clumping style litter that is regarded as the least likely to track?
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Jun 9, 2012 05:11
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So... I might have asked this before, but I wanted to inquire as to what the general sentiments were about BFF brand cat food. Apparently it's a sub-section of Weruva. It seems well-regarded based on some preliminary googling, but I'm unsure. I was skeptical at first because the packaging was SO incredibly adorable and seemed marketed directly towards someone like me (and I'm always a little wary about stuff that feels specifically marketed towards me). I just experimented with it before and Jackie seemed to like it alright, but she was still happy eating her Wellness CORE wet food so I kept her on that. But she can be picky, and is known to go through phases where she just gets bored of a particular brand of food, and that happened with the Wellness CORE. So I recently switched her to BFF, and she absolutely LOVES it more than any other brand of wet food we've tried. Which is interesting because she'd only eaten pate before, and this is the first wet food with texture that she's ever taken to. As far as I can tell it seems well-regarded, and like good quality food. Grain-free, of course. All of the flavors are tuna-based, though, and I wonder if that's a good thing or not. For instance the flavors Jackie eats are tuna/chicken tuna/pumpkin, tuna/salmon... And just *tuna*... So yeah, lots of fish and lots of tuna. Is it bad for a cat to eat that much fish? Jackie seems fine health-wise and everything, so it seems alright from my point of view. Oh, and here's a picture of the can for reference:  See what I mean about it being like... almost absurdly cutesy, with the anime-ish girl and kitty ? It's even kinda... goony. Another flavor name is "tuna and chicken 4eva". Seriously. The marketing worries me in a way, but like I said it *seems* okay, and Jackie REALLY adores it. kaworu fucked around with this message at 07:32 on Jun 9, 2012 |
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Jun 9, 2012 07:03
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Those people need an actual artist good god that is awful.
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Jun 9, 2012 07:27
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Yeah, that is just suspiciously cutesy. But the ingredients look fine...I think Wellness also came out with some new CORE flavors recently.
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Jun 9, 2012 07:48
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We've been feeding our cats the super-cutesy bff foods for months now because one of them will only eat seafood-y cat foods. (I think a chicken must have frightened his mother when she was pregnant.) Both cats just loooooove the stuff, and they've been doing really well on them, to boot. They poop just fine, they don't throw up nearly as often as they used to--we have two cats and we find a puddle of barf about every two weeks, which is a nice change from 'every couple of days'--and they both have super shiny, soft fur. Their energy levels are good and the one with occasional urinary issues is doing fine. FYI: the kind in the blue cans is packed in water, unlike the other kinds, which are packed in aspic. If your monster has texture issues, avoid the blue stuff.
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Jun 9, 2012 10:20
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Esmerelda posted:It's establishing dominance most likely. The bathing isn't cleaning so much as "here, smell like me!" The jab to the head is probably part of that, my cats do that to each other too. They sound like they're getting along great Well I wish him the best of luck with that since Rexy's reaction is pretty much 'derrrrrrrp' to the entire thing. As it is to most things. This morning I have Cat Calibur: Fight! going on in my living room and it is hilarious.
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Jun 9, 2012 12:14
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Picayune posted:We've been feeding our cats the super-cutesy bff foods for months now because one of them will only eat seafood-y cat foods. (I think a chicken must have frightened his mother when she was pregnant.) Yep, overall my experience is the same - glad to hear it from someone else, actually And the coat thing is really true - I don't think Jackie's coat has ever been softer or shinier or prettier. My little sister and dad stopped by to see her last week and they both commented extensively on that, how it felt much nicer than it ever had before. And switching her to the cutesy BFF food is the only real change I've made in the months since they saw her last. But I do agree that it is suspiciously cutesy. I sort of imagine that it's thought up by some cynical mostly out-of-touch ad execs trying to aim straight at the acronym-using, internet-addicted, lolcat/anime/whatever cat-lovers in the 14-30 age range, approximately. And on one level I actually sorta like it, but on another level I feel manipulated. But! At the same time it's a legitimately good product, my cat loves it, the ingredients used are fairly high quality (especially compared to mainstream canned cat food) and it's even reasonably priced. So maybe that means they think we're smart consumers, and I like that part of it.
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Jun 9, 2012 14:09
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