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Clanpot Shake posted:I'm guessing he scoops the poo poo out of it fairly regularly. I only have one cat, but I scoop every day and do a complete litter dump-and-replace and wash the box with vinegar once a week. I can't stand cat pee smell and I'm a little bit of a germophobe/clean freak, though. Hopefully this hasn't already been covered ITT but link me if it has, I'm moving from an apartment to a townhouse probably next month and bringing my indoor-only cat with me. Right now the apartment door opens to a hallway, but after the move the front door will open right to the front yard. Lillehammer the cat has only made an escape attempt when there have been stray cats stuck in the hallway (she hates other cats), but there are a few outdoor/stray cats in the neighborhood and I'm a little concerned about her bolting out into the street. Besides installing a storm door and being careful while coming and going, is there anything else I can do to help ensure that she stays inside? She is chipped but microchips aren't car-repelling force fields and traffic is my main concern.
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Nov 2, 2012 20:08
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Dr. Chaco posted:I can assure you that my cat spay incisions are far tinier than the skin flap they eventually get when their owner overfeeds them, despite my warnings that their metabolism will slow down, and that males who have never had abdominal surgery also store their fat in their sagging belly skin, and that dogs, who generally have a larger and more extensively undermined spay incision do not develop any sort of sagging belly. I'm not a vet, just watched lots of surgery in med school, which I really should have stated beforehand. I'm guessing the fat along the midline gets incorporated into the skin flap as HelloSailorSign says - that fat wouldn't get floppy, as it probably gets incorporated with the small amount of scar tissue on the incision itself. On either side you'd get regular fat development, so the flaps would be there, but the incision would be tighter to the abdominal wall. Again, conjecture. Alternatively: udders. edit: I didn't realize that HelloSailorSign was a vet before. I apologize for my uneducated guesswork. 
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Nov 2, 2012 20:42
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HelloSailorSign posted:Custom printed with same pattern, or using the same fur? I mean, enough people ask for their animal's hair back after we shave for surgery or ultrasound that you could have the specialty one be using the cat's hair... Printed with the same pattern as the cat. So you and your cat could be twins. I don't know. It would be kind of a neat way to create a unique item of clothing. Take photos of your cat from all sides including belly and you generate a print pattern based on that.
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Nov 2, 2012 23:25
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Corridor posted:Every 2-3 weeks? Uhm, yeah, I scoop out all excrement/urine on a daily basis. I think that's standard. I'm talking about dumping all the litter out, washing out the litter box, and replacing it with entirely fresh litter, which I indeed do about every 14-ish days. Which isn't that different from your ten days! I think that's pretty reasonable - I use clumping litter so it doesn't really get gross and reek of cat piss at all, overall it's quite a sanitary process. It doesn't seem any more gross after two weeks than it does after one week (as long as you scoop every day) as far as I can tell.
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Nov 2, 2012 23:44
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Holy balls, I empty the whole thing every ten days or so, any longer than that and it just gets nasty and I don't wanna go near it and the cat has tantrums. The stuff is like $5 a bag, one of those every fortnight isn't setting me back much.
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I have a cat question! I'm in the UK where people let their cats roam freely outside, usually, and there was a cat outside my front door today, miaowing loudly. I waited for a while then let her in, she dashed inside. I gave her a little tuna (in water, not brine) and some water, which she ate with gusto. After 20 minutes I decided to get her to leave, but when I did she stayed outside the front door miaowing loudly. For about an hour and a half. She doesn't look thin, but is wearing no collar. She doesn't seem to want to leave, every time we try to carry her outside she darts back inside, and if we do close the door she camps outside the front door for a while. I haven't given her any more food in case this encourages her, but is there anything else we can do? I admit we're struggling to be hard-hearted with her, as she is very happy and purrs a lot when she gets in here, but miaows constantly when we get her outside. She doesn't seem to be trying to get back home, if she has one. Also, she's adorable. We're worried about her, it's freezing out there.  
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Nov 3, 2012 00:37
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Noreaus posted:I have a cat question! I'm in the UK where people let their cats roam freely outside, usually, and there was a cat outside my front door today, miaowing loudly. I waited for a while then let her in, she dashed inside. I gave her a little tuna (in water, not brine) and some water, which she ate with gusto.
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Nov 3, 2012 01:32
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Dogen posted:That was the dealbreaker for swheat scoop and I, one of my cats is a notorious side-pisser and I had to deal with that constantly. Switched to world's best and never looked back. Is it flushable? Their site doesn't say
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Nov 3, 2012 02:07
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My little girl is going to the vet on Monday. Between the two of them, four vet visits in less than a month is pretty rough financially. I love them so much though, it's worth it. We got a HEPA filter system today since we are doing remodeling in the house and it tends to be dusty. Also picked up a few indoor plants. And yes, I did just have to put my other cat down on 10/31. I'm sure my girl is feeling sad, she has slept in my other cat's basket for many hours since he has passed. At this point I don't really care... whatever it takes to make her feel better is what I'm willing to do.
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Nov 3, 2012 05:47
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Any tips on cheaply/effectively enclosing my backyard so my cat can't jump over the fence etc.
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Nov 3, 2012 10:29
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EvilElmo posted:Any tips on cheaply/effectively enclosing my backyard so my cat can't jump over the fence etc. Otherwise, I think you'll have to put up some crazy baffles or something
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Nov 3, 2012 10:41
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EvilElmo posted:Any tips on cheaply/effectively enclosing my backyard so my cat can't jump over the fence etc. My cat can get from the ground floor to my second floor balcony, so I'm gonna say not really. You could get a harness and a zip line and put your cat outside that way if you have the space, but theres still a chance the cat may slip the harness.
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Nov 3, 2012 11:28
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EvilElmo posted:Any tips on cheaply/effectively enclosing my backyard so my cat can't jump over the fence etc. There's this: http://www.purrfectfence.com/ but it isn't cheap and I'm not aware of a similar option that is. There's also the downside that fences don't protect from things like hawks. That's about it unless you're handy and want to build a simple screened in enclosure yourself. Wood and screenstuff is pretty cheap.
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Nov 3, 2012 16:14
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I was thinking of enclosing my little apartment back porch too. i'm thinking 2x4's and screen will be the easiest to setup and tear down as needed.
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Nov 3, 2012 16:48
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Noreaus posted:I have a cat question! I'm in the UK where people let their cats roam freely outside, usually, and there was a cat outside my front door today, miaowing loudly. I waited for a while then let her in, she dashed inside. I gave her a little tuna (in water, not brine) and some water, which she ate with gusto. After this - We found out she belongs to one of the neighbours  Apparently she always enters other people's houses and eats their food. All fine, me and her are just chilling now. She's a lovely cat.
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Nov 3, 2012 18:27
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Back for a tiny update on my kitty introduction adventure: Mia is eating now which is great. Although she figured out how to open doors and the bathroom doesn't work to contain her anymore, and she's now a ghost cat. My old cat doesn't care as long as he can't see her, so there's that. I'll just leave her be for now.
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Nov 3, 2012 21:09
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Omg, we finally got a kitty today and while his health checks out fine they did note some gingivitis on his teeth. I see lots of animals at work with dental disease and I know it's not expensive or difficult depending on your pet to brush their teeth. When do you recommend I start brushing his teeth? I also noticed these weirdo bumps on his paw pads that almost look like claws but not. We initially thought it was a piece of litter, but I poked at it and he didn't seem to care. I'm going to take him to the vet soon for his first check-up, but meanwhile does this sound familiar to anyone?
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Nov 3, 2012 22:24
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Shnooks posted:
Murphy gets warty growths on his paw pads, is that what you mean? My vet says they're nothing to worry about and they don't bother him any. Your vet should be able to confirm during the checkup though.
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Nov 3, 2012 22:36
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Dandruff. My cat has dandruff. He's a black British long hair with a mega-fluffy tail, and he's distinctly dandruffy. This has come upon him in the last week or so, wasn't a problem before. I don't know if it could be that he's better fed now (he was a stray that we took in a months or so ago) or even about the stress of us leaving him at home for a week to go on holiday. He was fed of course, but the lodger doesn't like cats so didn't stroke him or anything. It's also got bloody cold recently. He's about 18 months, indoor/outdoor, fed normal dry and wet cat food, neutered, in good health. What if anything can I do about the dandruff? My son had bad eczema as a young child and though he's grown out of it, cat dander is a notorious irritant so I'd like to deal with it if I can. The internet says anything from 'take him to the vet he has feline AIDS' to 'more grooming will redistribute his natural oils' to 'use cat homeopathy'. I'm going for the grooming at the moment, but any advice appreciated.
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Nov 4, 2012 09:04
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Dandruff is absolutely a result of stress in cats, even stress that short. I used to foster cats and they'd get dandruffy just on a couple hours of being in the adoption center on Saturdays. It should let up as he gets more comfortable again. For now, look for "pet wipes" or just even use a damp washcloth or paper towel to wipe him down a couple of times a day. If it keeps going, consider changing his food. e: It's also possible there's another source of stress, maybe another cat nearby or outside wandering near the house?
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Nov 4, 2012 14:04
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It's pretty much gone in the 12 hours since I posted. Poor stressed cat. We're off on hols over Xmas as well, need to work out how to make it less stressy.
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Nov 4, 2012 21:16
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Read through the first page but couldn't find any sort of definite answer to my question. I have two cats. Males. Neutered. One is a senior (age estimated because he was inherited from an ex) and the other one is around 7 years now. Both very healthy and handsome. Both of my men like to use the litter just fine but when they are done, they get all antsy and like to go flying around the house for a while. This results in litter being found everywhere from the mattress to the kitchen to the bathroom. I'm not talking mountains of litter but little running trails. Maybe so they can find their way back? Who knows. Weird little friggers. Anyway, I've heard/seen these litter mats which supposedly take care of this issue. My question is.....does it matter which brand? I mean, is there some sort of 'awesome' litter mat that you guys can point me towards? I've seen them with carpet on them, some of them are texturized rubber..... Price isn't a huge deal because I don't mind spending the money if it actually works. Cat picture just to ward off explosions.  Poopie is unimpressed that I want to remove his litter lanes.
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Nov 5, 2012 18:48
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eternalbuffalo posted:Cat picture just to ward off explosions. Holy crap, your cat is like my cat in the future.
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Nov 5, 2012 19:17
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eternalbuffalo posted:Read through the first page but couldn't find any sort of definite answer to my question. What a refined gentleman. I like how the white splits his face. I also have two dudes like you, who are also fond of spreading litter around the house. What has worked best for me is World's Best Cat Litter and this mat: http://www.amazon.com/Petmate-Litter-Catcher-Extra-Large/dp/B000I1PJWA/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1352142102&sr=8-4&keywords=litter+mat I bought it at Petsmart based on the fact that it was the biggest mat. If you have options, I say always go for the biggest one you can fit around the litter area. My friends also swear by that no-skid stuff that you line cabinets with and that can be cut to size. Whatever you go with, pick something that can be rinsed off/chucked in the wash for easy cleaning. For whatever magical reason, my cats spread World's Best much less than traditional clay litter. If your cats are willing to go through a few brands of litter over the course of a few months, try a couple out and see which spreads less. Expect trades offs: while WBCL is a great brand for our household for many reasons, it still tracks a tiny bit and gives the cats yellow dust on their paws that they then track on my jeans when they jump into my lap.  You could also try a high-walled litter box, such as a tupperware/plastic storage container that would help keep the litter in. Good luck!
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Nov 5, 2012 20:07
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four lean hounds posted:I bought it at Petsmart based on the fact that it was the biggest mat. If you have options, I say always go for the biggest one you can fit around the litter area. My friends also swear by that no-skid stuff that you line cabinets with and that can be cut to size. Whatever you go with, pick something that can be rinsed off/chucked in the wash for easy cleaning. My cat likes to kick and track her litter everywhere, too. I use a large covered box with a flap door (this one) on top of a synthetic-fiber sisal rug. The synthetic sisals can be machine washed but I just vacuum it regularly and then wash it in the bathtub with vinegar and water every couple of months. I've tried a lot of different things (rubber litter mats, Astroturf, carpeted car mats) but nothing I've tried has caught and held litter quite so well. I found my synthetic sisal for around $10 at a dollar store but I've also seen them at Homegoods and similar stores. Mine likes to use it as a scratching post as well, but at that price point I don't care, and it still looks pretty good after a year of wear and tear.
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Nov 5, 2012 20:24
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That's what we call The Victory Lap!
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Nov 6, 2012 01:59
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The cat is doing fine, had a great first visit to the vet, but now I'm having a different problem. Because it's the only cat in the household, it's entered the rear end in a top hat stage mentioned in the FAQ. How do I convince the cat that biting and scratching me isn't acceptable without the cat thinking it's a game? Because this little guy loves to bite my hand. He's not strong enough to draw blood just yet but by the time he is I want him to be broken of the habit. (I'm not stoked on the yelping thing, just because a lot of the time he attacks my hands, I'm in bed and my roommates are asleep. But if it's the only way, well, I hope I'm not too late to do it.)
JohnnyC fucked around with this message at 06:42 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 06:38
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Ohhhh my god, I feel like *such* bad a pet owner  So, my cat Jackie is VERY polydctyl. I'm talkin' 7 fingers on each of her front paws instead of 4. So she's basically got these big, freaky thumbs, and 7 fingers means 7 claws, naturally. Now, normally this means that I try to keep up with trimming those claws, because they could become ingrown if I don't. This is always an unpleasant procedure, because Jackie is very protective of paws - she just does not usually like people touch them. I'm the only person who gets to touch them *at all* without grows and hisses and being attacked, but she still constantly squirms and struggles and tries to get away. So the point is, I tend to put off clipping her claws (especially since she never uses them on me anyway) just because it's so unpleasant. Anyway, I've been really stupidly pre-occupied the past couple months, and it just... slipped my mind. Last night I saw Jackie walking a bit more ginger than usually, and there was a moment when she was jumping down from the arm of the couch (where she sits to attentively lord over the apartment with a steely gaze) to the actual couch (where she often sprawls out and sleeps) and instead of confidently landing her front two paws like always, she did a bit of a ridiculous side face-plant. Now, Jackie is a *very* klutzy cat and she could easily do something like that just by accident with nothing wrong, but something about it still seemed weird. To cut a long story short, I am an awful and irresponsible pet owner and allowed her to get an ingrown claw in right front paw I'm hoping it's not infected yet, and if it is I hope it isn't too bad, because she doesn't seem to be in much pain and she can actually walk and run and do everything happily and like normal still. So these are all definitely good signs that things aren't too bad. I thought about trying to just clip the claw myself, and gave it a brief try, but the claw itself is actually really quite thick, and it would require a lot more pressure than force than I'm willing to safely apply on something that seemed to be buried in one of her paw-pads. Poor kitty. I think she might be in more pain than she's letting on because she's been a lot more restless than usual the past day or two.So I noticed all of this yesterday and kinda freaked out. Instead of making a PI thread I just called the vet and got a very fast appointment. The appointment, in fact, starts in 1 hour and 10 minutes, so I'm leaving pretty soon. I'm sort of apprehensive about going, because I really hope it's just easy and quick. I'll say this - I'm very relieved that I'm going to the vet and that this will all be fixed soon because I'm very prone to anxiety and quite worried about my precious cat  edit: she's in my lap and happily purring away so that's at least nice - I told her we're going to the vet soon though so maybe this is her ploy to keep me pinned down. kaworu fucked around with this message at 15:15 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 15:11
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Ok, well, people probably don't care but Jackie is OK! She did have an ingrown claw, it WAS infected, and she also had a fever of like 102 I think ( ) but they got it just fine. And the nail on the opposite paw in the same place was also at the very beginning of becoming ingrown, so we nipped that in the bud. Gonna be SO much more attentive about this stuff in the future. Jackie was a perfect little lady at the vet, though, very polite and friendly and the vet couldn't stop talking about what an incredibly soft and lovely coat she had. Other than the infection she's in 100% perfect health (they gave her a general examination because she was due). They gave her a shot of some antibiotics that supposedly disperse through her system over ten days, and work really for skin infections, but I guess not so good for UTIs or other common things. Anyway he said it would work better and I wouldn't have to pill her daily, so it sounded good to me. All in all, it cost $118, which struck me as reasonable.It sucks though, today is a CRAZY day for me, and right after the vet I had to run Jackie home and then leave immediately to go to my own appointment, following by going to vote before things got too busy again and the lines got insane. Anyway, when I was going down the stairs I could hear her yowling from my apartment. And she NEVER does that! I went back up and by the time I opened the door she had stopped and was acting all cool to me "Hmph whatever" then I left again, and she started crying again Broke my heart but I had to leave her there. We honestly do have a very strong bond and tend to be mindful when the other is having issues, so it honestly felt bad.Now she's on the other side of the room, refusing to cuddle or settle down, acting a bit pissed at me and a bit out of sorts. Not eating her food right away like normal. I figure this is normal, and she'll be herself again soon. The vet was very enthusiastic and said she was in magnificent health otherwise, so I'm okay with that. I just wish she'd settle down and chill out soon so I can take a breath and feel like things'll be okay 
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Nov 6, 2012 18:39
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She'll get over it! Cats are better than mothers at guilt tripping. If you find it happening again, you can consider declawing her mutant claws - would probably be easier in the long run if she's a stinker about trimming them and recovery is pretty quick.
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Nov 6, 2012 18:55
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^ It's easier and kinder to just trim them rather than cut off the end of the claw. Kaworu, we love hearing stories about Jackie-cat - don't think that no one cares! marshmallard fucked around with this message at 18:59 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 18:57
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marshmallard posted:^ It's easier and kinder to just trim them rather than cut off the end of the claw. That's extremely debatable and is different in every circumstance.
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Nov 6, 2012 19:12
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I'm going to throw this out here. Anyone starting a declaw argument will be banned, no questions asked. I'm really, really tired of it.
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Nov 6, 2012 19:35
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She'll come around. Cats always have to give you the business after coming home from the vet. Do you burrito her in a towel when you trim her claws? I adopted my boy Aiapaec from my front yard and slowly got him used to having his paws held and claws cut. It used to take two people and several courses to get all Ai's claws trimmed at home. After a year, I can now wrap him up and get front and back claws done by myself in 20 minutes. Aiapaec complains of course, but pair claw trimming with a tasty treat afterwards and hopefully Jackie will grudgingly accept a trim every few weeks.
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Nov 6, 2012 20:35
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I mentioned in the Questions thread that I'm watching a kitten for a couple days. Well, to stave off KES, I present the tiny fur thing. It's small, black, generally very noisy and I think it's a girl. Currently it's napping on the cat bed I gave it. 
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Nov 6, 2012 21:28
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Oh my god it's so cute and stumpy I want it.
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Nov 6, 2012 22:05
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My cats are less than impressed with the noises coming from the bathroom. I do believe I have offended them by bringing this total stranger in. For further KES prevention I have some video. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26juI43ntk8
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Nov 6, 2012 22:12
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Here in the UK, I haven't heard of anyone trimming their cats claws (and I used to date a vet nurse who's house was like a zoo). Can't you just give your kitties a scratching post? I don't understand why you need to trim them in the first place, can someone enlighten me? Arthur has never been trimmed and we have had him for 5 months. Anyway, you'll be pleased to know that Arthur improved from his cat cold and he gave me a cuddle while snuggling up to me. He used to nip me if I cuddled him before but since he was poorly he has become a lot more affectionate. Seems I am his pal because I looked after him.  And yes, I am in bed fully clothed in a shirt (minus the tie). Blinks fucked around with this message at 23:40 on Nov 6, 2012 |
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Nov 6, 2012 23:36
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Blinks posted:Here in the UK, I haven't heard of anyone trimming their cats claws (and I used to date a vet nurse who's house was like a zoo). Can't you just give your kitties a scratching post? I don't understand why you need to trim them in the first place, can someone enlighten me? Arthur has never been trimmed and we have had him for 5 months. We trim the claws of our cats every 2-3 weeks. It only takes about 15 min if my husband hold them and distracts them with scritches while I go about clipping claws. It keeps them from drawing blood when they slip climbing around on one of us and try to catch their balance by digging into our flesh. Their claws get wicked sharp and can do a good bit of damage. You may find that his claws get worse as he grows up, or perhaps you will be okay with them. We have plenty of friends who don't trim their cat's claws and they deal just fine. They have lots of cardboard scratching posts and a sisal cat tree, but those are more for getting rid of their nail sheaths, I think. Glad to hear Arthur is improving! I'm sure you'll know he's fully recovered when he's back to sassing your attempts at affection. 
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Nov 7, 2012 00:01
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marshmallard posted:Kaworu, we love hearing stories about Jackie-cat - don't think that no one cares! Aww thanks  Things are definitely better, Jack is already getting over the vet and associated trauma, thank god. I actually found out this was her first experience at a *real* vet, since my dad and step-mom had previously gotten a special house-call vet  And apparently Jackie has never even gotten a rabies vaccination because my step-mom is clinically insane (no, she really is) and is also a licensed acupuncturist and homeopathist. No poo poo. So needless to say, she believes that vaccines are evil and do some... weird mind-controlling poo poo, I don't even know I'm kinda offended by the whole thing on both an intellectual and ethical level so I never talk with her about this in the interest of family unity. The upshot is thar Jackie's gotta go back and get her vaccination to be legal, even though she's an indoor-only cat. They didn't give her one today because of her fever. Poor kitty And as to the above post, I try to clip my cat's claws because they'll get ingrown otherwise, of course! Which I clearly failed out. But part of that is because Jackie is very good about not scratching me with her claws ever, so I'm fine with most of hers being razor-sharp. I actually think what she's more annoyed about than anything else regarding this vet visit is that they trimmed down every one of her claws to a flat nub (without asking me, incidentally, but I'm not too too upset) and I think she's pissed that she's lost her scratching skills for the time being.
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Nov 7, 2012 00:17
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| # ? Jun 1, 2024 00:25 |
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Blinks posted:Here in the UK, I haven't heard of anyone trimming their cats claws (and I used to date a vet nurse who's house was like a zoo). Can't you just give your kitties a scratching post? I don't understand why you need to trim them in the first place, can someone enlighten me? Arthur has never been trimmed and we have had him for 5 months. I'm in the UK too and we definitely still have to trim cats' claws here. I do Grumples' and Hat's about every three weeks - more than that and they start growing into the pads. Hat's were all sticking in his pads when I got him They have lots of things to scratch - that doesn't entirely negate trimming. I think you should probably check Arthur's claws.
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Nov 7, 2012 00:55
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