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SunknLiner posted:So PIers, help me out here: As for the canned food, some cats are crunchy food addicts and won't accept canned food, but the health benefits of extra moisture are worth trying a few other foods. Some cats prefer the "pate" style foods like canned Wellness/EVO, some prefer chunkier stuff with gravy like the stuff in pouches, etc. You didn't do anything wrong mixing in a spoonful of Wellness. Some foods don't agree with some cats, but since you've already bought a whole bag of it, I'd try it out again before you give up on that brand. Maybe add an even smaller amount and make sure you mix it up thoroughly. SunknLiner posted:As an aside, why the hell does every vet plug SD as being the ultimate food?? The first three ingredients are friggin' Chicken By-Product Meal, Whole Grain Corn, Brewers Rice Corn Gluten Meal. Ugh.
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Oct 8, 2010 15:54
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Crooked Booty posted:This is a really stupid question, but are you using an actual measuring cup? Are you measuring it "heaping" or level?
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Oct 8, 2010 16:24
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You might want to try other brands and flavors too. My cat didn't seem to like wellness at first but has liked it better on subsequent attempts. As a general rule my cat doesn't like anything fish flavored. Awesome pet stores will give out small sample bags so you can try some of those to see if your cat likes something else better. If you cant find an awesome pet store some of the bigger ones will sell sample sized bags. I know Petco sells Natural Balance samples. My vet actually recommends an all canned food diet so they have a few PDFs about switching and link to a few others here is one that talks about switching a cat that isn't interested in canned food over http://www.catinfo.org/docs/TipsforTransitioningPDF12-18-09.pdf You might try two smaller feedings, just in case the cat isn't eating that last bit because it's worried that might be all it gets and to help it transition to the wet food part. You also might want to try mixing a small amount of the wet food in with some of the cat's dry food to help it get the idea.
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Oct 8, 2010 16:33
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Some cats are definitely pickier than others. If you have any tack and feed or tractor supply or any stores like that around you, they often carry surprisingly good pet foods. Most cats I know of really like Taste of the Wild dry, even the pickier ones, so that's one to to try. For canned food, most cats think Solid Gold blended tuna (it's chunkier, not smooth pate like Wellness canned) is crack.
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Oct 8, 2010 18:24
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On my lunch break I went and picked up a small bag of Solid Gold: Katz-N-Flocken. I'll mix a little in this weekend and see how it goes. My original plan was to go with an all canned food diet too, but my vet shot it down saying that the dry food was better for cleaning tartar off a cat's teeth. Personally I don't agree based on my own research, but I'm not a vet so what do I know. Dry food works a little easier with my schedule too. As Chloe is a grazer she tends to stretch out a meal over the course of an entire day, taking a piece or two at a time. I'd like to try mixing wet and dry together, but I work during the day so I can't really leave her wet food out. I'm afraid it will spoil while I'm out and make her sick, so I've been saving my wet food attempts (failures) for after I get home for the day. That way I can pick it up and toss it after an hour or so. I will say that her appetite has been getting a little better. She doesn't eat much as it is, but she ate even less when we first brought her home. Maybe it's part of her transitioning to a new home? Let's hope not. We're moving in a little over a month and I don't want to have a stressed kitty starving herself all over again.  Click here for the full 960x1280 image.
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Oct 8, 2010 18:51
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I found this little 5-6 week old girl all alone outside for 10+ hours with mom hanging out down the street and in the neighbors yard, but never swinging by to pick her up and bring her back to the rest of the litter. She was covered in fleas, but totally chill after a couple minutes of playing, and an offering of egg, canned cat food, and some water. Took her home and kept her in the bathroom separate from our other two cats for about 4 days until she was able to see the vet. Negative for immunodeficiency, negative for Leukemia, got one half pill for worms even though her fecal was clean, and an inhalant vaccine that I can't remember what it was for. She was great through the whole visit and we were finally able to introduce her to the other two cats after applying Advantage to all three. Headed back in a few weeks for her spay and rabies shots. Our black and white (Oreo My fiance's) avoids her, but that's because she's not social with other kitties, but our whole black one (Col. Tigh-Raptorsaurus Rex) adores her. She cleans her, plays with her, shares sleeping spots and recently, the food bowl. I'm so happy that they're getting along. I've never raised a kitten from this young before, and I've never had more than one cat at a time, with the exception of my Fiance's cat who doesn't interact with the other one at all so all this watching her grow up stuff is way exciting. We just realized last night that we can no longer fit her into one hand.  Here's a ton of more pictures and videos! http://picasaweb.google.com/117580286720123358859/NewKitten?authkey=Gv1sRgCKvQpbjOttPMwQE&feat=directlink ColumnarPad fucked around with this message at 19:15 on Oct 8, 2010 |
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Oct 8, 2010 19:10
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ColumnarPad posted:...and an inhalant vaccine that I can't remember what it was for. That's the distemper vaccine I'm pretty sure.
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Oct 8, 2010 19:15
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SunknLiner posted:My original plan was to go with an all canned food diet too, but my vet shot it down saying that the dry food was better for cleaning tartar off a cat's teeth. You are right, this is an old myth among vets. My feline only vet recommends all canned food in a major way. Lots of cats don't actually chew their dry food, and the pieces are too small to really make much of a difference. The advantages to an all canned food diet far out weigh the dry. Wet or dry, cats need regular dental cleanings every 2 years or so.
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Oct 9, 2010 14:20
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My cat has been having these massive sneezing attacks, is it just some kind of kitty allergy or something more serious? - Age: 1.5 years - Sex: M - How long have you had your cat? Almost a year - Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes - What food do you use? Wellness Salmon - When was your last vet visit? About six months ago. - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Indoors. - How many pets in your household? One. - How many litter boxes do you have? One.
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Oct 9, 2010 19:42
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threefourths posted:My cat has been having these massive sneezing attacks, is it just some kind of kitty allergy or something more serious?
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Oct 9, 2010 20:05
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Hello PI. Just a quick question: I'm in the process of beginning the process of adoption of a female Bengal kitten. The breeder I am in contact with requires that either she be spayed before I adopt her (at around 12 weeks), or microchipped and spayed later with proof of spay by her microchip number. The other sites I've read about an early spay say that there are no adverse effects, but I'm wondering if anybody here has had any positive / negative thoughts on early spaying?
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Oct 9, 2010 22:12
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ryan_woody posted:Hello PI. Just a quick question: I'm in the process of beginning the process of adoption of a female Bengal kitten. The breeder I am in contact with requires that either she be spayed before I adopt her (at around 12 weeks), or microchipped and spayed later with proof of spay by her microchip number. The other sites I've read about an early spay say that there are no adverse effects, but I'm wondering if anybody here has had any positive / negative thoughts on early spaying? Also you're buying a cat, not adopting one.
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Oct 9, 2010 23:26
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Crooked Booty posted:With cats, early spaying/neutering is fine in my opinion. Must have been a Freudian slip. This is my first time buying a cat, I've always adopted in the past.
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Oct 10, 2010 00:38
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From what I've read, early spaying/neutering is fine. A long time ago they just did it without thinking about it and then some people questioned it and there's been doubts about it ever since. What little research has been done shows that it doesn't really seem to have any dramatic effects, ill or not. It can slightly effect how your cat looks as an adult though but not in any major way. Male cats won't develop jowls, for example, so they have more kitten-y faces as adults.
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Oct 10, 2010 00:52
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We got a kitty.  I just had to brag about it somewhere. My family has a long and illustrious catloving (in the good way) history, but this is the first one for me, and she is completely mental. Are they meant to be insane? Because she is. The SPCA says she's ten weeks old but she seems smaller than that, it doesn't show but her ribcage is like a xylophone beneath all the fur. We're working on it, but this crazy freaking furwad only accepts pedialyte, smoked sardines, and the sauce from those Wellness meal packets as treats. She sleeps on me all night and smacks me with her paws if I try to escape, and she plays fetch like a dog with my kids. Cats are weird. Do they make like a cat gravy thing I could feed her, because I'm getting tired of having to throw away all the solid bits in the Wellness packets... Edit: Crap, there was a list to answer? - Age: ten weeks - Sex: f - How long have you had your cat? nearly a whole week now! - Is your cat spayed or neutered? yup - What food do you use? Nutro Max Kitten, free feeding, because it's what the shelter had her on and she's neurotic. - When was your last vet visit? Next week. And then her last shots are on the 13th. - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? indoors, there are coyotes out there - How many pets in your household? just the cat and the human children - How many litter boxes do you have? one, but she's perfectly trained, we're using this corn-based clumping litter stuff and she doesn't eat it. Dang thing is so picky that she demands a fresh dish of cold water every time she wants a drink, and she'll bitch at me if she feels she might have accidentally tracked a fragment of litter into her food dish. This is an awesome cat, though. She's crate-trained during the day, because my kids bug her; she goes into this large dog kennel I have when she wants a nap, then she just sleeps happily until she's ready to face my offspring again. I moved her dishes and her litterbox and her bed in there for convenience. Good kitty! spitcloth fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Oct 10, 2010 |
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Oct 10, 2010 02:00
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ryan_woody posted:Hello PI. Just a quick question: I'm in the process of beginning the process of adoption of a female Bengal kitten. The breeder I am in contact with requires that either she be spayed before I adopt her (at around 12 weeks), or microchipped and spayed later with proof of spay by her microchip number. The other sites I've read about an early spay say that there are no adverse effects, but I'm wondering if anybody here has had any positive / negative thoughts on early spaying? I tried to get my cats neutered at 12 weeks, but the vet made me wait until 16 weeks due to their weight. (I'm still not quite sure why, I know most shelters will do it before 12 weeks.) I kind of wish I had found someone to do it earlier, because one of them, a male, started to exhibit bad behaviours (trying to gently caress the other cat eep!) He stopped trying to hump everything a few weeks after the op, but if I had it done earlier I could have prevented the whole thing. Very occasionally if I bring home something new (furniture, luggage) he will try to mark it. My experience is will male cats, so I don't know about females, but just keep in mind they can mature much earlier than you think. If I were to do it again I would ring around and find someone to it at 12 weeks. Get the spay and chip done at the same time, some vets offer a discount! Mine did!
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Oct 10, 2010 03:19
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ryan_woody posted:Hello PI. Just a quick question: I'm in the process of beginning the process of adoption of a female Bengal kitten. The breeder I am in contact with requires that either she be spayed before I adopt her (at around 12 weeks), or microchipped and spayed later with proof of spay by her microchip number. The other sites I've read about an early spay say that there are no adverse effects, but I'm wondering if anybody here has had any positive / negative thoughts on early spaying? I have a selfish reason for liking early spays. I know it's not common, but in case something does go wrong with the spay and kitty dies or has complications, it happens before I'm in love and I don't have to deal with it. 2 of my females were spayed at 8 weeks, and 1 at 1+ year. I see no difference developmentally in them.
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Oct 10, 2010 21:26
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Meow Cadet posted:I have a selfish reason for liking early spays. I know it's not common, but in case something does go wrong with the spay and kitty dies or has complications, it happens before I'm in love and I don't have to deal with it. That reminds me--younger kittens recover from surgery a lot faster than adults so complications are less likely from an early spay. 
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Oct 11, 2010 04:01
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What if me and my roommates like it when our kitten is in the biting & scratching mood? Is it necessary to teach her not to do it? She's sooooo cute when she curls up into a ball and just mauls away at a hand
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Oct 12, 2010 00:01
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waar posted:What if me and my roommates like it when our kitten is in the biting & scratching mood? Is it necessary to teach her not to do it? She's sooooo cute when she curls up into a ball and just mauls away at a hand Is it still going to be cute when she's a big fat stodgy cat ripping the poo poo out of you because she thinks you love to bleed and scream a lot?
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Oct 12, 2010 00:15
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waar posted:What if me and my roommates like it when our kitten is in the biting & scratching mood? Is it necessary to teach her not to do it? She's sooooo cute when she curls up into a ball and just mauls away at a hand Not really, it'll just be much more painful when she's big and it'll be even harder to break the habit than it is now. You especially don't want her to get to the point where she's stalking your hands when she wants to play.
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Oct 12, 2010 05:59
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- Age - 1 1/2 years - Sex - Male - How long have you had your cat? - month and some change - Is your cat spayed or neutered? - yes - What food do you use? - 5.5 oz Trader Joes canned + 1/8 cup solid gold dry at night - When was your last vet visit? - a month ago - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? - indoors - How many pets in your household? - 1 cat, 1 snake - How many litter boxes do you have? - 1 I'm seeing the vet soon for a checkup but I thought I'd consult you all first. Just in case you didn't know, my cat had serious hip surgery to replace a broken ball joint on his hip a week or two before I adopted him. well, at this point, he's supposed to be completely recovered, but once a day or so he limps away to the bedroom and goes in there to cry, hiss, and growl by himself. Then, 5 minutes later, happy kitty wants pets? The last time I took him to the vet, it was because of similar behavior, and the doctor get me pain meds that I administered for 2 weeks that made his hissing and growling go away. He told me the cat was just sore and unhappy about it. Those meds are gone now, so do you think this is a similar thing or a symptom of something else? Mandatory cat pic: 
manekineko fucked around with this message at 12:46 on Oct 12, 2010 |
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Oct 12, 2010 12:44
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spitcloth posted:We got a kitty. Your cat looks just like mine, and mine had kittens before I adopted her. She has the same medium hair with a little white spot on her chest and everything! I doubt it's one of her kittens, since I think I've had her about two months or so and she's been spayed since June I think, but it's cute to see what she would have looked like as a kitten 
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Oct 12, 2010 16:37
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manekineko posted:I'm seeing the vet soon for a checkup but I thought I'd consult you all first. Just in case you didn't know, my cat had serious hip surgery to replace a broken ball joint on his hip a week or two before I adopted him. well, at this point, he's supposed to be completely recovered, but once a day or so he limps away to the bedroom and goes in there to cry, hiss, and growl by himself. Then, 5 minutes later, happy kitty wants pets? 
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Oct 12, 2010 16:57
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manekineko posted:I'm kind of confused by the "angry because of pain" switching to "I'm happy and want attention" shift. I'm used to cats being mopey if they're in pain, and notsomuch going social after that. In any case, ask your vet(especially because of the hip thing). My cat had goopy poo a few days ago, where it didn't fully fall off of her butt and I had to clean it off. She still has it a little bit I think, as I noticed there was a little dried bit of dook on her still after I got home. She's been on the same food for a while now(Chicken Soup, dry); did she just get the runs randomly? I don't think it's because she ate anything else, because my cats never touch anything else. Other than that, she's been acting same as always.
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Oct 12, 2010 17:33
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Shebrew posted:Your cat looks just like mine, and mine had kittens before I adopted her. She has the same medium hair with a little white spot on her chest and everything! I doubt it's one of her kittens, since I think I've had her about two months or so and she's been spayed since June I think, but it's cute to see what she would have looked like as a kitten I was just about to make a similar post. My boyfriends cat Mowgli had the same black (red in the sun) hair with the lame little white spot on the chest and angled eyes as a kitten. He was found on the side of the road in the middle of Texas as a newborn back in January. He grew up to be a gigantic fluffball with a humungous fluffy tail. And a huge jerk
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Oct 12, 2010 19:19
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Litter box question! My 2 year old Cosette is, as her name would imply, a small cat. You would not know this of course by the vast amounts of POO she creates. I'm hyper-vigilant about scooping/replacing litter, but when it came to actually cleaning the actual *box* I was always able to take it out back at my folks place and hose it down. Now that I'm in a rather small apartment with no place outside for that kind of thing, I ended up cleaning it out and tossing it to soak in the shower with some diluted bleach and a thorough rinsing. Then I had to clean the hell out of the shower, for sanity's sake. Apartment dwellers: is there an easier/better way to do this?? How do you keep sanitary? She's the only pet and it's the only litterbox but oh god she CRAPS SO MUCH. Since everyone likes pictures, here are some random iPhone shots since I don't have a legit camera.   She has this funny habit where, when she's totally relaxed, she just forgets to stick her tongue back in her mouth.  FEETS. You know you're becoming a cat lady when the photos on your camera phone evolve from random, unrelated shots into 99% of the exact same picture of your cat with only slight variations.
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Oct 13, 2010 05:37
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That's about what I do. There's no real harm in it if you rinse the tub/shower out well afterwards. You could maybe take the tub to one of those non-automatic car washes too? What does she eat? You might be able to reduce the poopage if you put her on a higher-quality food.
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Oct 13, 2010 05:50
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Why not use a box liner and just replace it when you change out the litter?
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Oct 13, 2010 13:26
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Because liners get WRECKED when your cat covers and covers and covers--it's not even worth the trouble. Kitty Pinup!  You're such a harlot, Baxter!
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Oct 13, 2010 13:28
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manekineko posted:Because liners get WRECKED when your cat covers and covers and covers--it's not even worth the trouble.  Click here for the full 960x1280 image.
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Oct 13, 2010 14:24
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Sarah Barracuda posted:Apartment dwellers: is there an easier/better way to do this?? How do you keep sanitary? She's the only pet and it's the only litterbox but oh god she CRAPS SO MUCH. I usually fill up my mop bucket with a bleach solution and just have at it with a "litter box cleaning only" rag. Afterward, I keep things closed off in the laundry room until they're dry (or dry them out if I'm in a hurry) and dump out the bucket in the toilet or a sink (less cleaning than the tub).
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Oct 13, 2010 18:16
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(I'm still reading through the thread--I'm on page 12 or thereabouts--so if this has been answered, just ignore it and I'll get to it eventually ) Got a few questions about new-cat-introduction. For backstory: I have 2 cats, neutered males, about 2 1/2 years old. They and another brother were barn kitties; we found them shortly after buying our first house (barn came with the house). Carlin and Blackfoot took to indoor life right away. Their brother hated us, our house, and everything we stood for, so we sadly stopped bringing him inside. (Still see him around now and again...he looks healthy and happy.) The two we kept have been darling. Carlin is the brains of the operation; Blackfoot is a little dense, but super-cuddly so you don't mind so much They are mostly indoor cats, but we had been letting them go outside at least once a day because they are cold-blooded mouse killers and they enjoy rolling around in the dirt. Blackfoot has been trying to stay out too much, though, sometimes going one or two nights without coming home, so we've started keeping them in fulltime.Last Tuesday, as I drove to work, I started hearing a loud, scared MEOWWWing noise. It didn't sound like either of the boys, so I got terrified that I'd run over one of them and they were hung up under the car  When I pulled over and inspected the car, I found a tiny kitten sitting on my battery! (Unhurt!) No neighbors were missing a kitten, no one else could take her, and our local shelters are not no-kill (not to mention she totally wrapped my husband around her little paw) so we didn't have much choice but to keep her. We estimate her to be around 7-8 weeks old and she will soon be getting a vet visit to verify that and get shots and all.Now obviously it is early days in the kitten introduction. Of course both the boys hate her. Carlin, though, is making progress...he watches her in a way I don't like, but he is beginning to come up to her with less fear, and last night even went to my husband's lap for petting even though he was holding the kitten. However, Blackfoot will not be in the same room with her. Worse, he has decided that he will just not be using his litter for poop anymore. We are keeping the kitten closed up in the guest bedroom during the day and the boys' litterbox, food, and water are in the guest bathroom right next door. Blackfoot will go there to eat, drink, and apparently pee since we haven't found any pee spots anywhere else, but for pooping it seems he now prefers the kitchen floor (thankfully still covered in paper since we haven't gotten the floors stained yet). I guess I just want to know if it gets better I love my boys and I hate to make them uncomfortable. Will Blackfoot have to be re-potty-trained, or is he just showing out? Will Carlin eat the baby?
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Oct 13, 2010 18:47
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Chicken McNobody posted:Now obviously it is early days in the kitten introduction. Of course both the boys hate her. Carlin, though, is making progress...he watches her in a way I don't like, but he is beginning to come up to her with less fear, and last night even went to my husband's lap for petting even though he was holding the kitten. However, Blackfoot will not be in the same room with her. Worse, he has decided that he will just not be using his litter for poop anymore. We are keeping the kitten closed up in the guest bedroom during the day and the boys' litterbox, food, and water are in the guest bathroom right next door. Blackfoot will go there to eat, drink, and apparently pee since we haven't found any pee spots anywhere else, but for pooping it seems he now prefers the kitchen floor (thankfully still covered in paper since we haven't gotten the floors stained yet).
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Oct 14, 2010 03:06
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There's still a good introduction tutorial in the second post in this thread, did you look at that? A lot of the time, you can't just throw cats together and have them get along right away. They're very territorial. Don't worry though, it just about always starts off bad and gets better although it can take a long time to get "good."
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Oct 14, 2010 03:22
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Shebrew posted:Your cat looks just like mine, and mine had kittens before I adopted her. She has the same medium hair with a little white spot on her chest and everything! Knockknees posted:I was just about to make a similar post. My boyfriends cat Mowgli had the same black (red in the sun) hair with the lame little white spot on the chest and angled eyes as a kitten. Yeah, that's Alice too. She looks reddish in the sun and has some white hairs scattered around, more on her chest and belly. Kind of your average blackish muttcat but she is soooo sweeeeet it's amazing. She got shot and dewormed today, and she's clearly miserable, and she's just clinging to my feet looking distraught if I try to walk away.
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Oct 14, 2010 04:11
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HondaCivet posted:There's still a good introduction tutorial in the second post in this thread, did you look at that? I did...It seems like most of the older-cat-excrement problems have been with urine though, I hadn't seen anything to suggest "your cat may poo in your kitchen" I'll try an additional litterbox, thanks duckfarts! All 3 cats did much better last night...still a lot of tension but with the help of ham we managed to get all 3 into the same 10-foot area without incident. If it's still awful in a couple of weeks I may try that Feliway stuff.
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Oct 14, 2010 14:55
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Thanks for the answers to my litterbox question, guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing. As for what she eats, right now I'm trying to transition her from the Fancy Feast my folks were giving her to Newman's Own. Which is hard when all she wants to do is lick up the gravy and leave the actual food  I'm holding off on putting her on a new dry food until she's used to the new wet stuff, so till then it's Meow Mix.
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Oct 14, 2010 16:30
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Sarah Barracuda posted:Thanks for the answers to my litterbox question, guess I'll keep doing what I'm doing. To be honest, if I were you I'd prioritize switching her dry food before her wet food. Meow Mix is bad poo poo and is probably why she poops so drat much (assuming that it's a big part of her diet). If you haven't already please check out the Pet Nutrition Megathread for some dry food recommendations.
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Oct 14, 2010 16:34
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HondaCivet posted:To be honest, if I were you I'd prioritize switching her dry food before her wet food. Meow Mix is bad poo poo and is probably why she poops so drat much (assuming that it's a big part of her diet). If you haven't already please check out the Pet Nutrition Megathread for some dry food recommendations. I realize now that you're probably right. I decided to switch the wet first because she would eat more of it than the dry, which she usually would just pick at. Of course now she's changed it all up. I know both Meow Mix and Fancy Feast are terrible, it's just what my folks have been using for >20 years so they naturally gave her that too. Need to figure out which dry food to put her on now -- I read the nutrition thread and know what to look for, it's just a matter of finding something readily available and reasonably priced. As an aside, thanks to showing them some of the things in this forum, they've decided to quit feeding their dogs Alpo and put them on Newman's Own as well. They (the dogs) love it. They're also actually crate-training their new puppies, which is awesome. Of course, nothing on this green earth will make those loving puppies less annoying.
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Oct 14, 2010 17:41
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