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Hi cat thread! I haven't read all 300 pages so it's possible my question has come up before, but I'm in the process of adopting a pair of kittens. We've been to meet them at the fosterer's house already and I just had our home visit/interview with an RSPCA volunteer to make sure we'll be good owners which went great, so now I'm at the 'buy a bunch of stuff in preparation for bringing them home' stage. I've been making loads of notes and researching what food/litter/toys to get them and how to look after them(I've had cats before when I was younger, but I've never been the Responsible Adult for them before so I'm making sure I'm on top of everything possible) but one question I have doesn't seem to have been addressed. The pair we're adopting are already litter-trained which is great, but I'm prepared for the eventuality that they will likely pee/poop somewhere they shouldn't at some point. I've read about cleaners for cloth and carpets which is grand, but 90% of our house is wooden floors(actual wood, not laminate) and I'm not sure what type of cleaner for cat-accidents would work best on that. I'm about to pop out to our local pet supply shop and will ask them if they have any ideas, but I figured this would be a good place to ask too. I'm in the UK so products available here would be preferable!
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Oct 19, 2013 12:27
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My kitten has wonky teeth! We adopted a pair of kittens from the RSPCA last month - this day last month actually, they've been home exactly four weeks. They're now sixteen weeks old and alternating between most adorable balls of fluff in existence and hyperactive little jerkfaces. They've settled in incredibly well, eat and poop like champs(I have never been so glad to watch a kitten poo poo in a box as I was that first night) and mostly scratch the correct things, et cetera. That's all great. What my partner noticed a few days ago is that one kitten(Loki, the black one) has some wonky teeth. His right canines on the top and bottom are at odd angles - the lower one juts outwards(this is how we noticed; he has persistent snaggletooth) and the upper one is angled inwards a bit. His upper lip has what looks like a teeny callus where the lower tooth has been rubbing against it - it doesn't look sore or inflamed, just... like a callus - and the lower lip is pulled back a bit, Two-Face style(but tinier and cuter). He doesn't seem in pain or bothered by it at all, he's been eating fine and is the most remarkably tolerant cat I've ever met with how patient he is about me examining his mouth, but I'm just concerned that it might cause him some issues. We're taking them to the vet tomorrow for their vaccinations and I'll ask the vet to take a look at it then, so I guess I'm just looking for reassurance that my little kitty is okay  lovely photo of the pair attached. Cinnamon is the torbie girl kitten and Loki is the black boy kitten. I am so in love with these two, even if their poops do smell like they came straight from hell.
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Nov 22, 2013 22:57
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Quick question - I've been thinking about getting an essential oil burner, the type you stick a tea light and some diluted oil in and it smells up the room. Obviously I'd make sure it's nowhere the kittens can get at and I wouldn't leave them unsupervised in the room with it, but I've seen some things online suggesting that various essential oils are bad for cats - I know tea tree is toxic if you apply it to the cat's skin, but is it also dangerous for them to inhale the scent? Are there cat-friendly methods of making my house smell fancy?
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Jan 3, 2014 15:19
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Mulloy posted:One of my cats has exhibited a new behavior in the last month or so which I was wondering if anyone had any thoughts on. Specifically one of my boy cats will now run to the bathroom door whenever the shower goes on and as soon as someone leaves, he will run into the bathroom and jump into the tub... and then just kind of hang around. There haven't been any significant changes in the household and none in the cat arrangement at all. I have never witnessed this behavior, and it seems innocent enough, but I have no idea what's caused the sudden development after a year or so of living with us. Both of my kittens do this, they hang around the bathroom door whenever anyone's in there and as soon as the door is opened even a bit they rush in and then just... sniff things and hop into the bath and hang out. I think they are just incredibly curious about whatever lies behind closed doors as they do it with the kitchen and bedrooms(rooms they are not allowed in unsupervised) as well.
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Jan 11, 2014 15:47
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Dangly things are usually a good bet. My kittens are good at entertaining each other but they eventually get bored of chasing/wrestling and meow at us for attention. They go nuts for anything string-shaped(including hoodie strings, which gets annoying) but that's not something they can play with unsupervised. Their cat tree used to have a dangly fluffy thing until they tore it off and eviscerated the fluffy ball, and we recently bought a spring-mounted mousey toy that wobbles around at cat-head height and seems pretty popular. It's not the sturdiest toy though as they remove it from its base quite regularly. Small toys that they can pick up and toss around the place are good too, the Skinneeez mouse I got has been well-loved. I also got a little birdie toy that chirps when you poke it, but that gets annoying quite fast.
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Jan 16, 2014 16:28
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The point of safety collars is that they come off if they snag on something. My kittens used to pull theirs off when we first collared them but they've gotten used to them now and the catch is sturdy enough that they don't just fall off. Cats do all sorts of silly things, squeeze into small spaces and jump off tall cat trees or furniture, so I'd be really wary of non-safety collars. Even if it's unlikely that they'd get caught on anything, with a non-safety collar that unlikely scenario could injure or even kill your cat. Elasticated collars are almost worse as cats can get themselves tangled up in the silly things. Speaking of collars, can anyone recommend me a good place(an Etsy store maybe?) that sells pretty, sturdy safety collars with nice tags? Our local petstores mostly seem to sell cheapy-looking things and the ones we have are okay I guess but they've gotten a bit battered from being scratched at during the wtf-is-this-on-my-neck phase. I'd like to get something with a flat tag that goes along the collar instaed of dangling off it, but I feel like that's too much to hope for with a cat collar as they're so small already. My kittens are indoor-only and chipped, but I want to accessorise - and I feel like if they did get out, people are more likely to notice a cat with a collar - especially if said collar says 'I AM AN INDOOR CAT - I AM LOST!'. My area is full of outdoor cats(this is the UK, it's the norm) and only one of them I've seen wears a collar. floofyscorp fucked around with this message at 23:51 on Mar 14, 2014 |
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Mar 14, 2014 23:43
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Sods Law posted:Had our two kittens for nearly a week now, they've been eating and settling in nicely. Today however I've noticed them wrestling and making a lot more noise than usual. The male is flattening his ears against his head and bearing his fangs whilst the female seems to be trying to groom him before being wrestled with. We've separated them and the female has gone to sleep whilst the male has been sitting and purring with my gf. Is this normal behaviour at this age? Is there anything that we should/shouldn't be doing? I've seen them playing before but this is the first time I've been concerned about them hurting one another. This is how cats learn the difference between 'playing' and 'hurting'. They wrestle, bite, claw etc and when one squeaks to say 'hey, that hurt!' the other one learns they've gone too far. My two do the aggressive grooming>wrestling thing as well and it's just how they play. If they're making a lot of noise, particularly hissing and growling or yowling, there's blood drawn or one seems to be really bullying the other then I'd separate them but otherwise it sounds like regular kitten behaviour.
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May 30, 2014 17:54
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Fortis posted:Yeah, I realized that I should have closed the bedroom door. I didn't think I'd need to because it was so easy to give her the stuff last night, so I thought she was over being a stupid dick about this. My hubris was my downfall, or maybe I'm just an idiot. Don't feel too bad about it. Cats are, after all, assholes. Adorable fluffy assholes.
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Jun 19, 2014 15:39
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Have you tried some sort of deterrent that doesn't require getting at him physically? I have a tin can with some pennies in that I rattle when my cats are being assholes, and it seems to work pretty well - they hate the noise enough that they quit whatever they're doing sharpish and seem disinclined to keep doing it after a few goes with the penny tin. I think I've even managed to convince Cinnamon to stop climbing and tearing up my drat curtains, the little jerk. Since we moved house and leave the bedroom door open at night now, my two have taken to waking me up about 6am pretty consistently by scrabbling about or meowing in the bedroon. I'd try the penny tin but my partner somehow manages to sleep through most of their night-time antics and I don't want to wake him  I think they are slowly realising that if they wake me up that early I'm still just going to roll over and ignore them though, so hopefully they'll quit bugging me soon.
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Aug 4, 2014 12:55
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You bit your cat?
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Aug 6, 2014 09:27
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My cats do not give a single poo poo about human food unless I shove an almost-empty tin of tuna under their noses. They were a bit curious about our food when they were little but they seem to have grown out of it. So... yes?
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Aug 6, 2014 15:22
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Ciaphas posted:I want to get a kitten or two for the apartment, management and fees permitting. However, I work four days a week, twelve hours a day or thereabouts, so Tuesday through Friday I wouldn't be seeing a whole hell of a lot of them except going from bed to the shower to the door, and from the door back to bed that night. Plenty of time on the weekends, of course, but... is that gonna be okay for them, or is that just gonna be pretty screwed up? If you're getting kittens, get two and they'll keep each other company while you're out.
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Aug 14, 2014 08:55
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Is my cat an aspiring archaeologist, or is there a more serious reason she likes to spend her time scratching around in the litter box? She's acting like her usual bright-eyed, creaky-meowed self and is peeing and pooping like normal, but she has been spending quite a lot of time in the box scratching around in the litter and pawing at the sides. I swear she was in there for at least half an hour last night, but that might be because I was trying to get to sleep at the time and the *scratch scratch* *paw paw paw paw* *scraaaatch paw paw paw paw paw* was keeping me awake. I scoop out the litter every morning and the boxes are reasonably fresh, what gives? Is she just being a cat? Is she deliberately keeping me awake because I was away all last week and she knows I enjoyed a few nights of peace and quiet?
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Sep 1, 2014 08:53
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My cats meow at me like they're starving to death and try to hop up on the counter while I'm filling their bowls, nearly fall over themselves in their hurry to run to the spot where I put them down... then sniff the food and walk off. Jerks.
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Sep 2, 2014 23:18
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When I had a home visit from the RSPCA before they'd let us adopt our cats, it consisted of a lady coming to our house to see how much space we had and how secure the house/garden was. She asked us some questions about the house, about our work patterns and what our plans for vet care/health insurance were. She didn't actually see anything but the living room, took a glance out at the garden at most. YMMV of course, but it wasn't exactly a thorough inspection.
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Sep 5, 2014 23:10
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Mine spent the first couple weeks popping off their collars, but they got used to them eventually. I think the rule of thumb for tightness is, if you can slip two fingers between the collar and their neck it's about right.
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Oct 4, 2014 23:30
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WorkGroupDynamics posted:A cat recently set up shop in my backyard, looks healthy enough and is really friendly. Comes up and rubs herself next me, I feed her regularly and generally take care of her. How long ago did you set up the igloo? Cats are extremely suspicious of new things in their environment and it can take them a while to warm up to stuff. Whenever I get my cats new beds or furniture(scratching posts etc) it takes them a few days of sniffing and eyeing it before they'll feel comfortable with the new item. I guess you could try something like spraying Feliway in the igloo if you want to speed up the acclimation process, that's supposed to help.
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Oct 10, 2014 17:34
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Triple Helix posted:I'm moving this weekend with my cats, are there any general tips to make the transition go well? Should we segregate them to a room or two in the new place for a while? They were a bit nervous and skittery for about a day or so, but by the end of day 2 Cinnamon was charging around like she'd been here forever and Loki didn't take much longer to relax.
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Oct 18, 2014 09:34
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fozzie dunlop posted:After living with an insane woman who refused to neuter her intact cat, I never want to go through that hell again. I'd like to get the procedure done with as soon as possible. Is there any reason I shouldn't do this? FWIW, I got my two neutered as soon as they hit about 1kg in weight(basically, as soon as they were big enough for my girl kitten to undergo the surgery safely), on the recommendation of both the vet and the RSPCA who I adopted them through. They were about 4 or 5 months old at the time and they bounced back very quickly afterwards. They're a little over a year old now, and just as I was thinking it's time to book a checkup we noticed that Cinnamon has been straining to pee She tried to have a go on top of our drawers this morning, which is very unusual since it's a very exposed spot and she's never had an out-of-box incident before, but she only managed a little dribble, the poor thing. Booked into the vet next weekend, I just hope she's not in too much discomfort in the meantime. Luckily, her brother is still pissing like a champ.
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Oct 19, 2014 15:52
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Kidney Stone posted:Next weekend? You got to get her to the vet as soon as possible, Monday would be best! Really? The receptionist didn't seem to think it was that urgent. She said for male cats it's an emergency, but for female cats, not so much. We'd have difficulty getting to the vet on Monday cause I don't drive and my partner works too late to get to the vet before they close :/
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Oct 19, 2014 19:23
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Organza Quiz posted:Have you tried yelping loudly at her as you remove her? Some cats don't seem to react to a yelp, but a sharp, loud hiss will scare them off. Worth a try.
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Oct 23, 2014 10:11
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Phaeoacremonium posted:What's the best way to teach a kitten how to chill the gently caress out at night? My girlfriend didn't sleep last night because she's a light sleeper and kept on waking up from the kitty using her butt as a trampoline to launch himself into the curtains. Either try to wear him out with playtime before bedtime, or just shut him out of the room at night. I am also a light sleeper and since one of my cats has recently decided that scratching the silicone sealant out of the bedroom windowsill is addictively entertaining I barely slept all last night. I should have shut him out, but then I would have had to disturb his sister who was the most serene little ball of fluff at the foot of the bed...
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Nov 11, 2014 12:24
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Not a Children posted:My roommate's cat seems to be grooming every other second if we let it. They took it to the vet, who said it wasn't really an issue unless you see irritation or balding spots. I'm just wondering if it's because the cat is itchy, or bored, or what? There's no one place he grooms in particular, and he doesn't react in any particular way if we scratch the areas he grooms. Is it just a normal cat thing? Overgrooming can be a sign that the cat is stressed. AFAIK grooming is a calming thing for cats and they often do it when they're confused or anxious as a way to chill out. I mean, they do spend a lot of time cleaning themselves but if it seems excessive to you then it's worth trying to figure out what might be causing it. If there's been any changes in the cat's environment(moved house, new furniture) or company(new housemates, new pets) then he might just be quietly freaking out about it. My Cinnamon has now recovered from her bout of pee-problems(one of the accompanying symptoms was overgrooming), which the vet diagnosed as cystitis brought on by the stress of recently moving house and buying some new furniture. Besides the painkillers that let her recover in peace, we made some changes around the house to help her relax - more hidey-holes, more space under the bed where she likes to chill out, a new water dish upstairs to keep hydrated - and that really seemed to help.
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Nov 12, 2014 17:59
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Night Danger Moose posted:I take a 37.5mg Effexor twice per day for migraine prevention. My cat (about 11lbs, stupid tuxedo) finally managed to get one while I was in the bathroom. I was able to get about half of it away from her but she ate the rest. After a quick Google I found out that this can be very toxic to cats. How worried should I be about her ingesting half of the pill? Is this an emergency vet call or a sit and wait it out kind of deal? After taking a quick Google around on the subject, I think you should be calling the emergency vet right now.
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Nov 21, 2014 14:42
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CompactFanny posted:Leaving the carrier to sit out where they can see it or get in it makes it less "new and terrifying" of a thing that only comes out during bad stuff happening. My cats do not care at all about getting put in the carrier and I don't even leave it out anymore. My cats like using their carriers as cosy caves, but they have a sixth sense for occasions when I actually need them to be in the carriers(they can probably sense me stressing out) and get very skittery. Going butt-first into a top-loading carrier certainly helps; I have a lovely long scar on one of my fingers from panickedly trying to force Loki into his carrier when we were moving house almost two months ago - I tried dropping him in paws-first which was a horrible, horrible idea. Nowadays we roll him into a little ball(he likes being held like a big fluffy baby) and pop him in with a minimum of stress and injury.
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Nov 21, 2014 18:58
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Torties are objectively the Prettiest Cats When I was a kid we had a cat who was an absolute terror about taking pills. If we crushed it up in his food, he wouldn't eat anything. Hide it in some tuna? He'd eat around it and leave a perfectly clean dish with the pill in the middle. Forcing it into his mouth and holding his jaw closed til he swallowed it was the only solution, and he hated it and would scratch and bite(well, gum: he was a rescue and had very few teeth left when we got him) and howl but really, cat, what alternative did you leave us? I really miss that grumpy old bastard cat.
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Nov 24, 2014 18:36
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ilysespieces posted:Anyone else get upset when their kitty is at the vet and cries/yelps? She was fine getting her temperature taken but when the vet started actually rubbing her belly/butt area she made the most upsetting noise I've ever heard, I almost cried in the office.
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Jan 7, 2015 22:55
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Seaside Loafer posted:Are there any over the counter basic pain killer type stuff for cats that might make his life easier? There are not. If you're worried that your cat might be in pain and you want to figure out what's wrong with him, take him to the vet. Cats are very good at hiding discomfort, injuries and illnesses and the only person who's going to be able to diagnose what's wrong and prescribe safe painkillers if he needs them is a trained professional.
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Feb 9, 2015 15:20
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Seaside Loafer posted:Alright sorry, I'm a bit cranky, mostly because that mostly lovable animal was crying its arse off all night so none of us got any sleep again. If you are too poor to afford the regular price of a checkup at the vet, the BVA has some links to charities who might be able to help with the cost since it looks like you're in the UK.
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Feb 9, 2015 16:00
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Protocol7 posted:Out of the 5 cats I've had throughout my life, I have never once seen this. This is on my youngest of two kittens, age 5 months. Normal? He's eating just fine (like a little food vacuum) and doesn't seem to be bothered by it. It looks like his milk teeth haven't fallen out like they should? I think it's something you should talk to your vet about, because milk teeth aren't designed to be permanent and if they refuse to fall out on their own, they probably want removing.
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Apr 15, 2015 15:27
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RedTonic posted:The foxes are going to eat her unless she becomes an indoor cat. It's not a territory issue; she's a prey creature from the foxes' perspective. I don't think foxes eat cats, even when they do kill them. I've heard of plenty of gory stories of urban foxes attacking and sometimes killing cats, which is one of the many reasons I keep my cats indoors, but not of the cats actually being eaten. They're rival predators, not prey. There's little you can do to rid your neighbourhood of foxes(they are a protected species in the UK), so if there's an aggressive group in the area really the best thing you can do for a cat is keep her inside. floofyscorp fucked around with this message at 20:14 on Apr 19, 2015 |
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Apr 19, 2015 20:11
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Funkysauce posted:I'm sorry to keep going on about this but I am just really concerned. Should I just keep them separated and restart the process? I don't feel like that really solved anything. Do I let them settle it (although everywhere says not to)? The standard advice in this thread is generally pretty much 'as long as they're not drawing blood or screaming in pain, leave them to it'. Hissing and growling, yowling and swatting at each other is just how cats sort out their social hierarchy, such as it is. If you keep trying to intervene or separate them, you're just making the process take longer. Keep an eye on them, but don't rush in every time they raise a paw to the other.
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May 15, 2015 19:32
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Deviant posted:Why would my cat drag laundry across the floor and deposit it into the drinkwell? Cats like wet carpet. Or, so I assume, since one of mine seems endlessly determined to flip over the water bowl every time I refill it.
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May 19, 2015 15:09
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painted bird posted:"Semi-feral" means "bites when you try to pet him" and "does not come when called" and "only tolerates humans for the sake of food". Well, two of those are fairly standard cat behaviour. Biting suggests he maybe hasn't been very well socialised or treated though.
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Jun 22, 2015 12:03
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Arriviste posted:Only my female cats have done that. I just assumed it was some latent mommy urges to transport kittens or bring them food but the wires are crossed with a spay. Only one of my girls who did that was also a fetch-player, but late-night/lonely pack-and-yowl was a different behavior for her altogether. That's interesting, because my girl cat also does this(usually after midnight, drat her adorable little eyes) while her brother never has. Maybe she imagines she's bringing me a fresh kill.
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Jun 25, 2015 16:12
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Blimpkin posted:Does anybody else's cat immediately use the box after you clean it? It's like he waits until I'm done clearing it that he darts into it and watches me while he pisses all over the clean space. Dick. One of the first times I emptied out my kittens' litterbox to change the litter, I emptied it out and turned away to tie up the binbag I'd poured the dirty litter into. When I turned back, Cinnamon was sitting in the empty box looking very confused, peeing onto the bare plastic and subsequently her paws. Then she skittered away and left a little trail of pee-prints across the floor. Since then she's always waited for me to finish loving around with the box before she uses it.
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Jul 1, 2015 23:05
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Angrymog posted:I can't imagine a cat letting anyone pluck whiskers without mauling them to shreds. Back when I was a small and extremely stupid child I trimmed one of my cats whiskers right down to the fur with some blunt child-safe scissors, which did involve accidentally yanking a couple out. For such a crotchety old cat he took it remarkably calmly. In retrospect, he really should have mauled me. Don't gently caress with your cats whiskers, y'all.
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Aug 13, 2015 21:12
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Dogfish posted:The carrier itself is clearly not the issue, since when we first got it he used to go in no problem. It's soft-sided and comfy and he at one time would contentedly take naps in it. Then he learned to associate it with going to the vet and here we are. My cats came to hate their carriers after we moved house - they spent several hours in the car in the carriers and hated every second of it. Now what we do to get them in is pick them up and roll them into a lil ball/like a baby with their back facing the ground and lower them into the carrier from above so they can't splay their paws out. As long as they're relatively calm and you pop them in quick enough to avoid them twisting around to get their paws in play, it works pretty well. Obviously though, it only works if your cat will tolerate being held like that(mine will, but Cinnamon has a generally very low tolerance for being held if she's not in the mood so you have to be quick) and it's much easier with a top-loading carrier. Whatever you do, don't just try and force them in without somehow keeping their legs out of action. I have a long white scar on one of my fingers from impatiently trying to squash a very agitated cat into his carrier paws-first. Once they plant their feet around the carrier door: you're done, start over and try again. floofyscorp fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Aug 19, 2015 |
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Aug 19, 2015 16:06
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Puppy Galaxy posted:I should clarify, my cat is a stupid idiot and would die in there if I left him to his own devices. It's interesting how some cats have very different reactions to being 'trapped'. Some, like my Cinnamon, will scrabble at boxes and push open doors and will not tolerate having anything draped over her. Others, like her brother, will just lie down and wait for the end. I sometimes drape a bedsheet over him for fun and he just... sits there. He accepts his lot in life very quickly, that one. Not the smartest.
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Aug 19, 2015 17:08
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 18:24 |
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What is it about torties that makes them such adorable, demanding little princesses?
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Aug 24, 2015 09:57
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