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I have cat trees, beds, plenty of cushioned spots and windowsills and other options, but every time I come home they are here, smothering my plants: Any advice on how I can give them what they want from this without them murdering my plants in the process? What is the appeal?
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Jul 17, 2023 19:24
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 16:44 |
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I'll try giving them pots with just dirt in them then and see how they like that. If it's the dirt or cool that might work. Ive gotta admit it's adorable, I just don't want them killing all my already suffering plants
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Jul 17, 2023 19:51
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Oh man, speaking of leash training does anyone have any advice on getting started? I've mostly been trying to do some of the basic clicker training I started with with previous pets, but mine seem... Only grudgingly willing to eat any of the variety of treats I've gotten to offer them and certainly aren't excited about it. (The only food they do get excited about is their wet food and that's only one of them really) They are about three months old now and have been doing surprisingly well considering they've had to live in four different places over the last month including one with dogs (who they quickly learned are fun to torment) and are somehow incredibly tolerant of being manhandled by children (though I do my best to prevent it from happening). I think it was definitely the right choice to get two siblings (and one of the other siblings might be visiting somewhat regularly, not sure if that is a good or bad thing).But now that they and me are finally settled into the new house I want to make sure I'm working on correct next steps. I have finally gotten them to stop biting me at night (although one of them still prefers to sleep on my shoulder it at all possible) and am working on getting them to scratch their assigned scratching objects instead of literally everything, and starting the leash training seems like an obvious next step since they really REALLY want to be outside, but the extent of what they do the three times they escaped while folks were moving stuff in or visiting is just meandering around the yard sniffing stuff until I walk by and pick them up.
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Jul 19, 2023 16:52
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Command following would be ideal eventually but at this point I would be pretty happy with not immediately slipping out of the harness or trying to run off immediately if they do. I have been led to believe that staying in the harness is generally, for cats, a matter of them not trying very hard to get out of it, so I just want to avoid them ever normalizing that as an option I guess? Maybe I could just slap a leash and harness on them right now and it would be fine, I dunno, but the impression I've get is that with cats in particular not teaching them the wrong thing is more important than teaching them the right thing so I'm trying to be cautious moving forward. Current plan is to spend a few days this week letting them wear the harness around the house while being observed and occasionally giving treats/playing with them to ensure they don't try to escape it, and then if that goes well doing some walks around the porch and then going from there.
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Jul 19, 2023 18:15
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What are the current food brand/specific option recommendations?
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Jul 23, 2023 16:04
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My cats seem to be in a competition over which one gets to bite my lips/chin and I am not a fan.
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Jul 24, 2023 21:49
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One of my cats has rather suddenly become a door dasher. This is... Unfortunate. The other one loves to sit on the top step and watch or leisurely wander around a bit outside which I'm fine with, and this one used to be the same, but now (last day and a half) we are having to rush through the door because he wants to get out and just book it for the woods as fast as his feet can carry him. Any advice on what I can do about this to prevent it from becoming a long term problem? I assume addressing it ASAP is better than waiting!
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Jul 29, 2023 12:48
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Weird Pumpkin posted:Any other changes to behavior? There is another new change to behaviour, yes - him standing at the door and yowling for minutes at a time, taking a break, and then repeating. I think he just really wants to be outside.
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Jul 29, 2023 15:46
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Speaking of toys I've gotten a new buffalo hide cat toy and one of the cats goes absolutely CRAZY for it, to the point where he actively growls at the other cat if he's even in the same room as the toy. They seem to otherwise still get along, but every time this toy comes out it's immediate "get away this MINE" behaviour. Not sure if I should continue playing with the toy (it's clearly her favorite) or keep it put away with how it makes her behave.
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Aug 1, 2023 20:00
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Okay, so, I've finished moving and... how do I find an actual damned vet? I need to get the cats fixed soon, and I haven't had any luck. Every place is full and not taking new customers except the pet acupuncture and naturopathy place... which does do surgery, but that's definitely not my ideal choice. I might have to end up going with them regardless, though, for both this and as my regular event, because of the dozen or so places within an hours travel they are the only one I can find that hasn't explicitly told me they aren't taking new patients. Is there some sort of, like... Vetfinder service I can use to try and find someone?
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Aug 7, 2023 21:55
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Vets aside for the moment, my catfruit are growing well. I had to transplant them to a larger container, but they seem to be thriving. (it is my son's worm tank, and they love to alternate batting at and sleeping on the worms)
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Aug 12, 2023 06:27
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"flushable litter" sounds like as much of a real thing as "flushable wipes"
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Aug 19, 2023 11:36
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Taking the cats for walks has been... frustrating. One of them loves the walks, when she's by herself. Just a normal cat wandering around sniffing stuff, chasing bugs, a nice little walk to the end of the street and back. Doesn't want to go far, but its fine. When my family brings over their dogs, though, she changes completely - she wants to go wherever they go, we roam all over the neighbourhood, she checks out a bunch of stuff but comes when called, and she'll even run alongside me with my without any prompting at all, the only problem is that sometimes she gets distracted wanting to pounce on the dogs or something. The other cat desperately wants to be outside to the point where he begs to go out constantly, but as soon as we get out his preferred situation is to plop himself down and just sit there and he'll occasionally be willing to move a couple feet. If the dogs are around he will, grudgingly, sometimes trail along a ways behind them so long as the other cat isn't out. But the biggest problem is that if the cats are ever out together then they will do literally nothing except lay down so long as the leashes are held, even if the dogs are around, just refuse to go on the walk. If the boy notices the girl is out walking and the other cat is inside, he will meow until she stops walking and comes back, at which point she will lie in the yard watching him in the window and he will continue meowing at her. Which means the only way I can take her for walks is to sneak her out without him noticing, because if she notices he's noticed she'll refuse to go anywhere. Which isn't ideal! I don't know if I should try to take him out more often on his own, forget walking him and just focus on the one who actually enjoys it, or what.
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Aug 29, 2023 06:50
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I do have a catio planned as soon as some other projects are done, so maybe he'll be happier then. Probably won't be finished until it starts getting properly cold though, so it may not be heavily used for a while, hah. I am amused by the extent to which he is committed to "if I can't be happy no one can be happy!" though.
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Aug 29, 2023 15:31
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Welp, it happened. One of my cats is now in heat (the other is a boy) and neither of them are fixed. It's not that I havent been trying, I just can't for the life of me figure out how the gently caress to loving DO it. I accept that it's gonna be like $600 minimum, fine, whatever, but even being willing to pay the price everyone has been just been telling me for months their wait list is full and to call back later. I've called like fifteen different places, multiple times, and they ended up not getting in with the vet (the one that did cat acupuncture and cat homeopathy and was the only one who said they might have an opening soon ish) I thought they might get in with so, gently caress. Even if I COULD get on one of the wait lists I am told the wait can a few months before they do anything. What do I actually do here? Both short term and long term because gently caress if I know. It sucks that I moved while they were still too young - where I used to live I had an easy time getting them in. They have all their shots and everything and they are microchipped. I just couldn't get this done and I don't know how to get anyone to see them in this new state, ach. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Oct 4, 2023 |
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Oct 4, 2023 16:08
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Good news is that I called back one of the places from before, and apparently the magic words "she is in heat right now" followed by "I have no idea what happened last night and if they already did something but they are separated now" changed their opinion about whether I could get in and how many months I would have to be on the waitlist. They will give them a lookover tomorrow and have the surgery (at least one, both if they can manage it) scheduled to be on Tuesday. So that's at least being handled. This feels like my own experience with the human medical system, where its impossible to get anyone to see you for anything until/unless it's an emergency, no matter how obvious "this is going to be an emergency soon" might be, hah. I really miss my old vet, honestly I probably should have just scheduled it there and made the 3.5 hour drive to get it done, I just thought I had a bit more time and kept hoping someone, somewhere in this state would eventually be able to see them. -_-
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Oct 4, 2023 16:45
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What's a good way to discourage cats from breaking into stuff and stealing the contents? I've got several objects (a hat, some pieces of fabric, some small plastic bits from one of my son's toys) that my cats are absolutely obsessed with, to the point that they will do anything to get at them. I can't keep them in cardboard boxes (they destroy them) or drawers or cupboards (they can open them). If I put them up somewhere high they will start tearing things off the shelf trying to get up to them. I tried putting them in the top of my closet, but they figured out how to open the door and then climbed up my hanging shirts to get up to the shelf, which wasn't great for my shirts. I don't have the slightest idea how the cats even know where they are, forget why they are so obsessed - right now I'm just keep a weird assortment of objects in my locked display hutch, which is less than ideal but might be the best I can manage, but I was hoping folks had some other ideas for deterrents that might work.
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Jan 4, 2024 15:05
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Organza Quiz posted:Get child locks for your cupboards. ... that is actually a really obvious idea, and I don't know why I didn't think about it, hah. Thanks!
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Jan 4, 2024 16:13
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Having had them for about 9 months now, I absolutely love my cats. I love playing with them and cuddling them and building elaborate house wide wall pathways for them and taking them outside to hunt bugs and just being around them. I even enjoy when they break things or get places they aren't supposed to be, keeps life interesting. But I don't think purring will ever not be slightly aggravating to me. I just can't stand it. Even worse is when they try to lick me or my clothing. I know I'm probably distressing them or something by rejecting their attention but I really just want them to stop touching my so much with their unpleasant physical communication strategies. I know that's just how they do, I just wish they wouldn't... same way I wish dogs would stop trying to lick my face I guess, hah. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jan 10, 2024 |
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Jan 10, 2024 04:16
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xzzy posted:But the general advice is you can train them to play softer, when it gets too rough just do the disengage and walk away thing. It's hard and they probably will give you the saddest eyes in all of history but it does work. My strategy was to hiss at them and pull away and just sort of give them the side eye for a bit from a distance the moment they went even a little bit too far, which has resulted one of who loves playing but won't play with hands at all and one of whom will play with hands but only very gently. Even as kittens my hand never ended up looking like that, though, that looks like letting them play too aggressively for too long territory. (although for mine they were mostly foot cats, which I've made clear isn't acceptable at all) Now the only times they get me is when they misjudge an attempt to jump on my lap and catch me while slipping.
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Jan 12, 2024 07:33
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Aren't feral cats and cats in general generally pretty suspicious of environmental changes anyway? I would expect it to be a while before they're comfortable with it even if they know it's there, and they won't know its there until they stumble across it while exploring their range. And with the entrance hole being how it is, they might not even be aware they can push their way into it, right? And yeah, when you posted that picture my immediate first thought was "Congrats on your new raccoon shelter", hah.
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Jan 16, 2024 15:19
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I built a little cubby for my main litter box and it rolls out from under the booze shelf for cleaning. The secondary litter box is in a side closet and is just a normal litter box. The robot ones ive seen demand a lot more space and in a form factor that integrates with literally nothing else, all dead space. I dont like them much aesthetically as a result. My problem is that any litter box anywhere will make a massive mess, because my cats want it it to, and I dont know how to fix that part. Seriously right now they are dragging it out through miltiple flaps. GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 06:52 on Jan 28, 2024 |
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Jan 28, 2024 06:49
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Cat training question: I have been training mine for a bit now, and its going pretty well. They know some basics - they know their individual names, they know getting up onto and down off of things, spinning, and getting onto my shoulders - basically the commands that can easily by done as target commands. I still want to keep reinforcing those for a bit, but I'm also looking forward to moving on to some more complex commands and have a few questions, if anyone has pointers. When should I start reducing the frequency of food rewards, and should it only be for firmly known commands or should it be for all commands at the same time? The sooner I do it the longer they will stay motivated, I figure, since they are done with training after three or four full treats (I currently break them into quarters) How the hell do you actually teach a cat to "stay"? For target commands, you click as soon as they do it, but obviously for extended commands that wont work. How can I best encourage "promptness" even outside training sessions? Some of the commands, like the shoulder command, I really need them to do quickly since theres usually a pressing reason for it. So far my plan of "switch to training the other cat if one stops responding in a timely manner" has been working pretty well, and obviously there is going to be a cap on the speed and realiability here since they are cats, but advice on improvement in both areas would still be appreciated. Edit: I know the absolute best thing I could do is probably to switch to scheduled feedings instead of food always being out but I am absolutely never going to be able to do that, I cant even feed myself on a set schedule GlyphGryph fucked around with this message at 18:12 on Jan 28, 2024 |
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Jan 28, 2024 17:54
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mawarannahr posted:It's pretty neat, and there's space on top to hold accessories. It keeps the litter from getting out due to kicking, and it has a little bit of "runway" from where the box is at the back to the front door, which helps get the wood pellet litter off his paws. This looks really nice, I like it.
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Feb 8, 2024 22:57
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I'd probably take mine out for the day, but mine are also the type of cats that actually enjoy a day out (or at least one of them does, the other merely tolerates it) and we worked our way up to those sort of outings gradually over time. It would also be like a trip to the local library or playground or something where they could wander around outside exploring, not an extended time in a car carrier in the car which seems like it would be horrible for them compared a fire alarm in a place where they presumably already have a safety bolthole of some sort you've set up where they can feel comfortable.
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Feb 15, 2024 04:44
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One of my cats has decided to start depositing their toys into any open source of water they can find. It was bad enough when it was just cleaning out their drinking bowls, but now I find myself needing to watch my own drinks while I'm drinking them like a hawk or she'll drop something (sometimes a toy, but sometimes just some lint or a piece of paper she was playing with). Why, cat? I was sick this week and every time I stirred from my fevered rest to drink some water it had something gross in it, come on!
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Feb 15, 2024 22:19
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I need my cat to stop chewing on the ropes that are holding up her bed, no matter how adorable she looks doing it. Maybe its time to invest in chains.
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Feb 19, 2024 03:20
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Mine are fine in their carrier, but I also brought them home in it (with a blanket that smelled like mom) and used it as their safe space while they got used to the place, and then set it up as a nice comfortable area and semi permanent fixture. They just use them to nap in sometimes. I also make sure to bring them to places that aren't the vet as regularly as I can.
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Feb 24, 2024 04:34
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So, one of my cats has decided she desperately wants to climb any nearby tree or telephone pole, seemingly at random but with EXTREME dedication. I have no idea why. Shes not scare of anything, as far as I can tell, she moves with clear purpose and no obvious anxiety and will cross open spaces to get to her decided upon target, and often get about five feet up before I realize whats she done and have to pull her off. Obviously this is not ideal. She is otherwise very well behaved, but if she is committed to treeing herself I cant really lounge around with her outside anymore, and have to keep a shorter leash on her for walks. But she loves being outside, so I dont just want to keep her in. im not sure what to do.
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Mar 12, 2024 23:29
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Just leave your sink full?
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Mar 13, 2024 18:17
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Why is this cat knocking on my door in the middle of the night? This is not my cat.
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Mar 14, 2024 04:52
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How do I help it? It chatted with my cats for a bit but when I tried to put out some food it sauntered off and peesimably never returned sinxe the food is still there this morning. I am guessing its rhe same animal as the kitten I saw briefly on the aide of the road last fall, before it disappeared into aomeones backyard. Glad to know it survuved this long, at least.
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Mar 14, 2024 12:20
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I've seen no more sign of my previous nocturnal visitor. I've been putting out food, and it seems to get eaten by something every other night or so, but I'm guessing it might be getting eaten by this cat instead? Who knows.
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Mar 21, 2024 21:15
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I need to be more careful about making sure my cats dont have access to freshly painted rooms.
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Mar 25, 2024 02:08
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I am very glad I leash trained my cats. I can actually walk one of them pretty reliably now without even using the leash, and the other doesnt really walk anymore because he doesnt like going far from home, but as long as his harness is on I can basically let him roam and he will stay near me. Both of them beg to go out but also hate actually getting the harness put on them so will do a weird sort of approaching and running away thing until I just grab them and put it on, after which they wait at the door to be left out. I wish I took them out more frequently since they enjoy it (and I need to remember to take the one with me whenever we go to the library in the car because she looooves exploring their garden) but unfortunately a lot of the neighbours have dogs and I'm still iffy about those encounters, most of the dogs are fine but a few are definitely not.
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May 2, 2024 16:33
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| # ¿ May 8, 2024 16:44 |
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Oh man, had quite a scare the other day. Left the front door wide open for I don't know how long, at least two or three hours, and I only noticed because I saw one of the cats out the window. I'm super thankful I spend so much time with them in the yard and they've come to see it, I think, as the place they are supposed to stay, and both of them were just lounging/wandering around outside in the usual places they like to hang out. Was very worried they might have wandered off and I'd have to spend the afternoon looking for them. Called one in and gave them treats, and the other decided they wanted treats too and came back in on their own, and the situation was resolved.
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May 8, 2024 15:18
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