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I want to hug Peaches and Pie so bad. I love that fat-cat turnaround move; my parents' tuxedo, who is a weird perma-kitten in frame but has gotten chunkier as he's aged, does it with a kitchen nook all the time and it's amazing to watch.
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Mar 8, 2017 22:42
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Maggie Fletcher posted:My foster was home alone most of yesterday due to some volunteer stuff I had to do after work. She was pretty chilled out when I got home so I fed her and went to bed. I got up in the middle of the night, peed, and went to wash my hands and was met with a pair of flattened ears. I didn't even notice she was in the sink. Her look said "not another step," so I washed my hands in the kitchen and went back to bed. Sorry you almost died. That's progress though, she's on the move and exploring! You have a cat tree or anything she can stake out for her territory?
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Mar 8, 2017 23:19
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Booger Presley posted:Sorry you almost died. That's progress though, she's on the move and exploring! You have a cat tree or anything she can stake out for her territory? Yep, and it's got a little box-cave thing about halfway up. I draped a little blanket over the side that's closest to the bed so she can get in but still be enclosed and watch me through the blanket (it's a really loose weave). She hasn't gone on the tree except to hide in the box. She's not as fearful as before, but still really hesitant about me. She'll come around eventually, but for now I'm just satisfied she's eating and drinking. AND she'll eat while I'm in the room (as long as she's under the furniture while she does it)!
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Mar 9, 2017 03:58
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Had a long day out of the house. I came back and Peaches and Pie were on opposite sides of the room giving no fucks whatsoever. But, it turns out that Pie despite being a 17 pound chubbers managed to make it higher on the tree than Butterscotch ever has.   
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Mar 9, 2017 21:59
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That defiant look is like the complete opposite of the Butterstare. Of course he would summon the fortitude to ascend.
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Mar 9, 2017 22:30
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Peaches, Pie, and Butterscotch sound like a good trio. Have they interacted yet?
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Mar 9, 2017 22:53
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My 16lb fatass likes to hang out on the 6ish foot high shelves. I have to be careful to get the shelves that are wide enough to hold him or he'll sit up there anyway with half his rear end hanging out into space.
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Mar 10, 2017 01:45
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...she's not...she's not stuck there, is she?
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Mar 10, 2017 02:25
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Tiny Deer posted:...she's not...she's not stuck there, is she? Nope! When I came home they were out and wandering about. We had fun grooming! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XDdhVK5Vl2Q The brush I'm using there is the Zampa brush by the way. I've recommended it to people before. It's easily the fastest way to convince a cat that you are important and the bringer of joy. Chili fucked around with this message at 04:28 on Mar 10, 2017 |
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Mar 10, 2017 04:25
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Ahhh what great cats.
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Mar 10, 2017 04:35
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My little guy hates my Furminator. He keeps trying to bite his own fur off of it after a good pass.
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Mar 10, 2017 05:01
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I've been trying to advocate for the volunteers at my shelter to brush more kitties with the flaky skin (well, the ones who tolerate it) for just that reason. Some of them are like "no it's bad for their skin" and I'm like "how hard are you brushing???" We do have one volunteer who walks around with a cat brush in his hand at all times, though. He gets it.
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Mar 10, 2017 14:47
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Geolicious posted:I've been trying to advocate for the volunteers at my shelter to brush more kitties with the flaky skin (well, the ones who tolerate it) for just that reason. Some of them are like "no it's bad for their skin" and I'm like "how hard are you brushing???" Hell yeah! And honestly, for hardy adult cats, like Peaches & Pie, there doesn't seem to be a limit to how hard I can brush. If I let up at all, they push against the brush hard. The pressure must feel really good to them and JEEEEZ it is satisfying when you hit a thick clump or a matte and you get through. It's a victory for all involved.
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Mar 10, 2017 18:13
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Chili posted:Hell yeah! And honestly, for hardy adult cats, like Peaches & Pie, there doesn't seem to be a limit to how hard I can brush. If I let up at all, they push against the brush hard. The pressure must feel really good to them and JEEEEZ it is satisfying when you hit a thick clump or a matte and you get through. It's a victory for all involved. My catte lets me know when she's done or I'm going too hard/wrong by just turning and nipping the hand. All other times she purrs the purr of a thousand eons.
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Mar 10, 2017 18:32
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My cat takes great pride in having luxurious fluff, and will not let me brush her. Thankfully it's never been an issue due to how fastidious she is about keeping herself well groomed, and I usually just have to pull a few gobs out of her mane come spring time shedding season. The only downside is spring is also hairball season 
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Mar 10, 2017 18:37
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out of all the animals in the house, the one who likes the cat brush the best is the old ugly pitbull with no fur 
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Mar 10, 2017 19:23
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Posted this over in the cute/uplifting thread also but it fits here: Patrick Stewart and his wife are fostering a pit bull and he seems extremely smitten. https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/839604439094710272 https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/839979016744390657 https://twitter.com/SirPatStew/status/840263223492325376
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Mar 10, 2017 21:57
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In fairness, that is a particularly adorable doggo, and I say that as a committed cat person
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Mar 10, 2017 22:07
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This is why I can't foster, as the moment that gorgeous dog had started licking my face and looking at me with those gorgeous eyes I would have told the women bringing her "I'll take her, just give me the papers."
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Mar 10, 2017 22:27
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Alteisen posted:This is why I can't foster, as the moment that gorgeous dog had started licking my face and looking at me with those gorgeous eyes I would have told the women bringing her "I'll take her, just give me the papers." That's okay, the shelter staff are expecting that to happen more often than not. I volunteered at a shelter for a few years and we took bets on whether anyone fostering an animal would end up adopting it.
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Mar 11, 2017 01:04
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The SPCA I volunteer at just created a facebook group for fosters to connect with each other and give advice/support and at two weeks in about 90% of the content is people posting pictures of their foster failures. It always happens, it's just a matter of when (mine was my second foster).
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Mar 11, 2017 04:11
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Other than the terminally ill animals, my own foster of a healthy cat ended in failure, so yea I can relate. Can't imagine the days without Luna.
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Mar 11, 2017 04:27
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my milkshake brings all the animals to the yard
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Mar 11, 2017 14:03
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Henry and Charlotte were my mom and dad's foster kittens. So quasi-foster failure? Foster failure once removed? Charlotte was my foster kitten. 100% failure.
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Mar 11, 2017 16:24
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We failed. No regrets. 
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Mar 12, 2017 15:21
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It's been two weeks and my foster still won't come out of hiding unless I'm asleep or gone. I got the smelliest treats I could find--literally individually wrapped chunks of fresh salmon--with the intention of sitting near her while she ate it. She hissed at me when I put it in her hiding place and waited until I scooted out of sight before she ate it. I think that's still progress? I know I'll wear her down; it's just taking a looooong time. She will eat the food I give her, just not while I'm around.
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Mar 14, 2017 00:30
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Maggie Fletcher posted:It's been two weeks and my foster still won't come out of hiding unless I'm asleep or gone. I got the smelliest treats I could find--literally individually wrapped chunks of fresh salmon--with the intention of sitting near her while she ate it. She hissed at me when I put it in her hiding place and waited until I scooted out of sight before she ate it. I had one take 6-8 months to properly warm up to me. and he still requires a greeting ritual of a fistbump to the forehead or he'll bite the poo poo out of me for startling him.. its a long game, animals dont get unfucked and socialized overnight. Dont lose heart over it and dont assume you are doing something wrong, just needs patience.
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Mar 14, 2017 12:25
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Maggie Fletcher posted:It's been two weeks and my foster still won't come out of hiding unless I'm asleep or gone. I got the smelliest treats I could find--literally individually wrapped chunks of fresh salmon--with the intention of sitting near her while she ate it. She hissed at me when I put it in her hiding place and waited until I scooted out of sight before she ate it. This is absolutely progress. Try doing it a few times per day, skittering away less or putting it farther away from her incrementally. You're essentially training her to trust you. And keep in mind that she's eating while you're there (even if you're asleep), which is a hell of a lot better than when you got her. You're doing great. In a week or so, you might consider sitting on the bed and playing with a dangly cat toy near where she's hiding before you feed her. (Don't stab it at her or anything). You might not know if she's actually paying attention, but ideally, a paw will poke out from her hiding place after a few days. If it does, keep playing and give her some food right afterwards. Play may help to relieve some of her stress, and the food will hopefully help with bonding as she starts to associate play with you and other happy things.
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Mar 14, 2017 15:10
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I used to be super allergic but still wanted a cat and thought about fostering just to test the waters but after a few several hour sessions at the shelter without symptoms I adopted instead. I've also thought about volunteering at the shelter but that has a bunch of schedule and minimum attendance requirements so I'll randomly go over for an hour or two and play with all of the cats and try not to adopt all of them. We're lucky to have an amazing spca here.
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Mar 14, 2017 18:14
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luloo123 posted:This is absolutely progress. Try doing it a few times per day, skittering away less or putting it farther away from her incrementally. You're essentially training her to trust you. And keep in mind that she's eating while you're there (even if you're asleep), which is a hell of a lot better than when you got her. You're doing great. Thank you so much for the advice! And thanks to you and Bud K for the encouragement. This is new territory for me since my previous cat and I were super bonded. I assume she's grooming herself under there when I'm not around, and I've noticed that even though she won't come out to eat if I'm there, she doesn't wait until I leave to eat when I stick the dish under the chest of drawers. So I'll try this advice and see if she comes around. It's encouraging to know that 2 weeks isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things!
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Mar 14, 2017 20:05
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Two weeks is a long time to not post a photo or video of a cat in this thread, though. Unless it would be traumatic.
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Mar 14, 2017 20:28
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Maggie Fletcher posted:It's encouraging to know that 2 weeks isn't a long time in the grand scheme of things! For the first month or two, I didn't have a cat, I had a little grey streak that I might see up to twice daily, when she'd run up or down the stairs to be on the level of the house I wasn't on. Three years on, she's much better, but still more fearful than the average cat. A big breakthrough was when she was calm enough to be interested in treats. After that, I was able to use treats to get her to try new things, and it got much easier. Weirdly, each part of the house seems to count as a new thing and requires giving her treats there to make her feel safe with me there. Cats. Every time she had a terrifying experience (guests coming over, trip to the vet, etc), once it was over, she seemed a little braver than before. The lady that fostered her when they pulled her out of some hoarder's place seemed to have much faster progress than I did, but with a ton of work, she's gone from fearful all the time to what looks like contentment all the time. It's been a lot of work, but seeing her come out of her shell has been worth it.
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Mar 14, 2017 20:39
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Jack Gladney posted:Two weeks is a long time to not post a photo or video of a cat in this thread, though. Unless it would be traumatic. true that.  here is a good catte
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Mar 14, 2017 21:06
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Boogalo posted:I used to be super allergic but still wanted a cat and thought about fostering just to test the waters but after a few several hour sessions at the shelter without symptoms I adopted instead. I've also thought about volunteering at the shelter but that has a bunch of schedule and minimum attendance requirements so I'll randomly go over for an hour or two and play with all of the cats and try not to adopt all of them. They've really tightened up the scheduling and stuff in the last few months. But we were having huge gaps uncovered, so I get it. My standard slot is Sunday afternoons. But plenty of people just pop in to pet and snuggle our kittypeople. My time there each week is the best part of my life right now.
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Mar 14, 2017 21:09
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Goodogs can be acceptable cattes.
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Mar 14, 2017 21:41
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Jack Gladney posted:Goodogs can be acceptable cattes.  It would have been named cat too if it werent for those pesky significant others *shakes fist * I guess i got a cat named dog so it kinda evens out the vet receptionist lady thinks im a bit crazy.
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Mar 14, 2017 21:46
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Jack Gladney posted:Two weeks is a long time to not post a photo or video of a cat in this thread, though. Unless it would be traumatic. What photo platform are we using for SA now? I haven't been able to get a clear picture of her since she's been hiding so much, and she seems stressed when she's out in the open, so I just haven't messed with her. Aside from her time in the sink, there haven't been a lot of photo ops, but I'll try as soon as I think it won't traumatize her.
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Mar 14, 2017 22:28
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Maggie Fletcher posted:What photo platform are we using for SA now? I haven't been able to get a clear picture of her since she's been hiding so much, and she seems stressed when she's out in the open, so I just haven't messed with her. Aside from her time in the sink, there haven't been a lot of photo ops, but I'll try as soon as I think it won't traumatize her. imgur is about as easy as it goes
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Mar 14, 2017 22:30
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Boogalo posted:I used to be super allergic but still wanted a cat and thought about fostering just to test the waters but after a few several hour sessions at the shelter without symptoms I adopted instead. Grats on your new cat! Please post pictures of this cat and tell us its name.
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Mar 14, 2017 23:39
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Ofecks posted:Grats on your new cat! Please post pictures of this cat and tell us its name. Milly has been here 6 months now but I'll always spam pictures on demand.     Chillest tortie ever.
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Mar 15, 2017 00:36
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