The Cat FAQ/Megathread: buying a second, clean broom just to use on him

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Cat FAQ/Megathread: buying a second, clean broom just to use on him

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gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Bollock Monkey posted:

Wednesday has trained me to scritch her (specifically the base of the tail spot) when I piss. I realised this when I woke up in the night recently and she was in the bathroom waiting before I had chance to really clock that I'd woken up to use the toilet.

The downside for her is that she refuses to leave when I am making GBS threads, so she gets shut in with me until I am done which she does. not. like.

My partner's two cats Merlin and Kali love to lounge in the bathroom and drink from an old teakettle that we keep on the floor for them in there*. When I stayed with her over the summer, at first I tried to close the door whenever I had to use the toilet, but they would moan and cry and paw incessantly until I opened it. Now I leave it cracked when I go in and they usually follow immediately and get up in my business. Staring up at me with soulful blue eyes when I'm trying to poop.

*They do each have their own water bowls in other rooms, but for some reason they love poking their heads into the top of this kettle to drink. Merlin sometimes also dips his paw and licks off the moisture, it's rather cute. We just change / top up the water any time one of us showers.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2021 00:12

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 03:30

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Iron Crowned posted:

My cat has a water bowl but insists on drinking from a mug on an end table. If the mug is missing or otherwise has too little water in it, she will just sit on the end of the couch and stare at you.

This literally started 6 years ago because one morning I was hungover and drinking water out of a mug, and I left it unattended for a minute or so. The next thing I see is my cat with her head as far in as possible.

Adorable

Merlin developed the habit when he stayed with my partner's parents for a few days over a winter holiday. They kept the full kettle near the hearth for humidity, and he started drinking from it, maybe because that way he could stay in the heat radius of the fireplace rather than go to his bowl in the kitchen. When we picked him up, we took the kettle too.

Rotten Red Rod posted:

Two of them are obsessed with watching me shower, and one will hop in the tub and drink my leftover shower water - and taught one of the others to do the same.

The transmission of cat knowledge makes this especially funny. After we adopted Kali this summer, she learned to drink from the kettle by copying Merlin. Now they take turns, each waiting politely for the other to finish.

# ¿ Nov 18, 2021 06:03

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Iron Crowned posted:

Believe it or not, in the first year or so, I did attempt to cut up a plastic storage container, but it was really hard to do and the edges were jagged, so I covered them with duct tape which got really gross fast.

Also in the process I slipped with the knife and had to drive myself to the hospital to get stitches in my leg.

Do not recommend.

Instead of cutting a hole in the side of a big plastic tub, how about creating a little step on the outside, and another one inside for her to get in? You could maybe use some kind of block, a plastic footstool, or some smaller containers turned upside down. Something easy to clean for the inside one. Would she still be spry enough to manage that? Actually, would cats in general be willing / able to deal with something like this to reach a litter box? I have no idea, just spitballing here.

# ¿ Nov 19, 2021 19:53

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

The oral syringe method hasn't worked well for our younger cat, even when we wrap her in a blanket. It's traumatizing for everyone. Luckily her current medicine is a thick paste so if it gets "around" her mouth she just licks it up reflexively anyway, although it's clear that she doesn't like the taste. It also makes her drool for a minute. She did better with a previous medication, a powder that we mixed in her wet food, but the food had to be really wet. Gravy was good, p�t� style not so much.

explosivo posted:

It is flavored, that's the thing.. we went from the pills with the powder inside which she didn't touch, to soft treats that were flavored which she didn't eat, to flavored liquid which I have been able to fool her into eating more consistently but she still knows something's off and will bolt away from her food dish the moment she notices. At that point she's not touching the food in the bowl and I need to get her a whole new thing for her to eat at all. It's fish flavored so I've been trying to find something fishy I could give her once a day that I could mask it with.

Does she otherwise like fish-flavored wet food? Neither of our cats will touch anything fishy, wet food or treats, and they're otherwise total scroungers. As far as they're concerned, it's chicken, turkey, or beef, or bust.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2021 00:44

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

BrainDance posted:

Lychee knows how to open doors, jump up and grab the handle, but the front door was always too heavy duty for her.

Until now, she loving figured it out and now I gotta keep all doors locked at all times :/

That is a loving smart cat right there, wow.

My partner has those style door handles in her apartment, but the doors are metal and heavy. Our cats can unlatch and push one open, but if they're on the wrong side and push it closed, they aren't strong enough to pull it open again with a paw, and can get trapped inside. We've taken to wedging the bedroom and study doors open when neither of us is around just in case so they don't cut themselves off from food / water / litter boxes in other rooms.

# ¿ Nov 30, 2021 06:03

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Elvis_Maximus posted:

Unfortunately, as a young boy cat I guess, Sage desperately wants to rough house with Socks. Socks wants absolutely nothing to do with this. Usually this just results in Sage sort of, slowly chasing Socks since she can't run as fast as he can, where he sorta swats at her back legs a little and jumps kinda on her but not really? Occasionally, however, he decides he really wants to wrestle and just like.. straight up tackles her, wraps his paws around her and starts nipping. She makes absolutely horrible yowl hissing noises, then Sage lets her go and chases her till she goes on top of something where the game ends. He also sometimes just sorta.. flops in front of her (I presume in hopes of her wrestling him)

I think this is pretty normal cat behavior for Sage. He's young and still wants to play basically constantly, and while we had multiple cats when I was a kid at my parent's place I don't really remember how the wrestling looked other than an occasional cat tangle, then one would back off, then it would start again. Obviously Socks hates it so I try and break up the chase a little bit, and Socks generally spends most of her days snuggling in bed upstairs where Sage doesn't really go so they sorta have their own spaces too. But does that sound pretty average for cat playing? He didn't have a kitten friend growing up so I don't know if he just doesn't know how to play nice.

Post holidays, my Wife and I decided that we are going to look for a third cat. Socks is.. well.. probably not going to be well for too much longer at least, and Sage really seems like he needs a cat around his own age that he can rough house with, which will hopefully give Socks a little break. Does that seem reasonable?

Sorry about Socks, both of your cats are lovely! The play pattern sounds pretty familiar to me.

Our two cats are much closer in age, Merlin is two and a bit, and Kali is about 10 months. Merlin does the flop in front of her to start a wrestling match pretty often. When she wants to provoke him, it's usually by batting or biting him rather than flopping, but I've noticed that she also flops occasionally now. They'll end up hugging one another with their front paws and rolling around, and then somebody breaks it off and the other one runs after them. Sometimes there's a yowl in there, most often from Merlin even if he's the one who started it. The one who flopped will also kick the other with their hind legs.

It did take a month or so for them to find this equilibrium. Merlin was a bit rough at first and Kali even ended up with an eye scratch that needed care. Since she's grown and gained confidence she antagonizes him more. I'd say that now that each of them stirs poo poo up about as often.

Before we got Kali, Merlin also spent some time with my partner's parents. They have an older cat, about 14-15, and he tried SO HARD to play with her but she just wouldn't have it. Any time he tried, she'd just leave the room and hide somewhere. We realized he would really like a friend and decided to adopt Kali last summer.

I bet Sage would love to have a cat of similar or slightly younger age around.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2021 16:52

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Very sorry, that orange lad was tremendous

When we got a friend for our 2-year-old male cat, we decided to adopt one that was female and younger but not too young. What we did for introductions was keep her in a separate room with box / bed / toys and food and water, and borrow a baby gate to block the door to the rest of the house. They could smell and see each other, and eventually they started just hanging out on opposite sides. For a couple of days we only let them mingle under supervision, because we didn�t want them scuffling when we weren�t around. It was about a week before we felt ok leaving them alone all day.

They get along great now, they play together throughout the day and do mutual grooming occasionally but prefer separate spots for sleeping. Under the bed is his space and the sofas in the living room are hers. The funniest is when they eat from the same bowl together even though they each have their own if they want, they take turns and wait for each other :3:

gloom fucked around with this message at 00:59 on Dec 12, 2021

# ¿ Dec 12, 2021 00:52

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Rabbit Hill posted:

Your cat was gorgeous and regal as hell -- he looks like a little lion with a fluffy mane in that first picture. I'm so sorry for your loss -- I'm in a very similar situation and know how you feel. My cat Raphael was diagnosed with metastatic cancer on Oct 28th and given weeks/months to live, and not even 48 hours later I had to have him put to sleep. (I posted about it a few pages ago in this thread.) He was the love of my life.

Now my other cat Tobias is showing signs of separation anxiety when I come home from work every day, and I want to get a second cat (older kitten) to keep him company, but I have three major issues:

I live in a studio apartment which is basically one big room. The only door is to a tiny bathroom, so small I couldn't keep a litterbox on the floor and still move around in the bathroom. The apartment has an unusual loft-style layout with an "upstairs" and "downstairs", and Tobias uses the litterboxes in the "downstairs," and eats and has his favorite hiding spots in the "upstairs." I also have a third litterbox in the upstairs extra closet, which Tobias also uses occasionally (a holdover from when I had two cats -- two litterboxes side by side downstairs, and an extra one upstairs).

Tobias is timid as gently caress -- hides from everyone who's not me, hides when I have zoom meetings, hides when there's a loud noise in the apartment hallway -- and incredibly docile. He would playfight with Raphael, but he's never shown any aggression toward him or me in his life. He's also huge as gently caress -- he's 25 lb, the size of a Maine Coon, and he's indeed fat but the vet says his ideal weight is around 18-20 pounds. (Size comparisons with Raphael, 11 lbs -- enormous walruscat.)

Tobias has a history of peeing outside the litterbox for behavioral/territorial reasons.

SO...all this to say, I think Tobias is definitely a cat who would do best if he had a slow introduction to a new cat, but I'm having a hard time figuring out how to logistically handle that due to the size/layout of my apartment. I feel uncomfortable with keeping the new cat shut up in the tiny bathroom all day for days/weeks (plus that would make showering, etc. difficult). But I also can't think of a way to carve out a space for the new cat that is not encroaching on Tobias' territory, and the last thing I want is Tobias to hide all day except for when he's not peeing everywhere. Or worse, suddenly develop a Fight Response to fear, and seriously injure the new cat due to his size. And of course, I also want the new cat to feel happy, safe, and comfortable in their new home.

Any suggestions/advice on how to handle the introduction? I was thinking of buying a medium-size dog crate for the new cat to stay in, and each day putting Tobias in the bathroom while the new cat roams around the apartment for a while. (I would just have to figure out where to place the dog crate.) Does this sound like a good idea?

Wouldn't the new cat also want some space and a hiding place of their own while getting used to their new situation? I would feel really sorry to keep a cat in a crate for any period of time, even if it's probably not harmful. If you have the floor space (or maybe on your bed?), what about a cat tent with a tunnel, something like this:

https://www.chewy.com/outback-jack-kitty-compound-cat/dp/138525

You would at least have the space to fold up some blankets or something in there for hiding, maybe even a litter box and food / water. The soft walls might not provide as much sense of safety as a rigid crate though.

Depending on the access way between the upstairs and downstairs sections, you might be able to block it off sufficiently with a baby gate or the like, and keep Tobias upstairs with temporary food and water and the box in the closet.

Another option if you travel with Tobias (like over the winter holidays) and stay somewhere with multiple rooms for a while might be to adopt a new cat and do introductions there, then bring them both back to your new place together in separate carriers. I don't know if it's viable, but my partner considered doing this at her parents' house when she lived in a studio apartment. As luck would have it she changed jobs and got a bigger place before it came up, so we didn't have to get too creative.

# ¿ Dec 14, 2021 07:15

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Fabulousity posted:

Adopted this little graphite beauty from the local Humane Society a few days ago:

Five month old male who was adopted twice and then returned because both homes said he started to go to the bathroom outside of the box after a month. First home had multiple animals, second home he was the only one, but no further details about either situation were available. The vet at the shelter said they can't find anything medically wrong with him. He's a ball of energy that is extremely extroverted with a strong drive to explore everything. So far he's been using the litter boxes provided to him without issue.

The first two days we kept the new kitten in a separate room, now we're up to this:

The kitten will ping pong back and forth at the gate and zoom around obviously wanting to play. The adult cat doesn't seem to know what to make of this and will cautiously watch but not approach the gate any closer than pictured here. Otherwise the adult hasn't shown any typical signs of cat hostility like hissing or raised hair. Should I just be patient and wait it out?

New kitten is extremely :3:

I wonder if his earlier problems could be partly age related? Five months seems a little young to already have two attempts at adoption.

When we introduced our new kitten, we waited until established cat got right up to the barrier and was sniffing her through the mesh. But he is naturally curious and maybe not every cat would go that far. I'd say if yours can get that close without visible hostility, it might be OK to cautiously remove the gate and see what happens. Just be ready to separate them if it doesn't go well, and limit / supervise their time together at first. We kept the new girl in her separate room for a few more days after the initial introduction, only letting the two mingle when one of us was home in the evenings.

# ¿ Dec 17, 2021 05:57

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

ANIME AKBAR posted:

Heard back from vet #4 (yeah, another one) today about some results for Casca's endoscopy and GI panel. The biopsy didn't come back yet, but based on the GI panel results and everything else, she's convinced the main culprit is IBD and not Lymphoma, which is a huge relief. She's also low on vitamin B12, so that's another daily pill she'll need for some time. And she'll probably be on steroid treatment for the rest of her life to manage the inflammation. But the vet said Casca also has a urinary infection which needs to be cleared up before steroid treatment can start, currently waiting on a culture to determine the best antibiotics.

So poo poo's confusing but at least nothing life threatening for now. Definitely glad I pushed for the diagnostics. My main job now is to just keep medicating her and trying to fatten her up. Still struggling to pill her, she completely figured out pill pockets after one dose (she loves pill pockets, but breaks them into tiny pieces in order to find and isolate the pills). Guess I should get a pill popper, her loss.

Anyways, I present to you.... Droolcula?

I've been following your saga with Casca (as I'm sure lots of people here are), and it's a relief to hear that whatever the problem is, it's likely to be less grave than it could have been.

For the B12 deficiency, one of our cats turned out to have a similar issue. My partner wasn't crazy about trying to give her pills every day for a month, she's indifferent to treats so pill pockets don't really work, and she's squirmy so just cramming the pill down her throat is also an ordeal. The vet mentioned that giving her a weekly shot was an alternative option. My partner got the instructions / training to do it at the vet's office last week, and will now be administering the injection at home for the next few weeks. She said it was pretty easy and the cat doesn't even seem to mind that much, compared to having a pill forced in her mouth. If Casca struggles with pills, this might be an option for you.

gloom fucked around with this message at 06:14 on Dec 24, 2021

# ¿ Dec 24, 2021 06:11

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Fabulousity posted:

Also any ideas as to what this guy is? He looks like a medium haired Russian Blue that got tabby spilled all over it:

That is one good looking cat! Glad introductions went well.

I�d love a blue or black cat in the future but my partner is all about the Siamese color ways.

# ¿ Jan 1, 2022 07:09

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Really sorry for you, Elvis. Socks was a beautiful cat and from the photos, kind as well. At least you got to send her off with snuggles

# ¿ Jan 9, 2022 05:03

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Raenir Salazar posted:

Emilia has been very obsessed with just hanging out on my computer desk when I'm working, so I gave her a throw blanket.

We had good luck paying attention to places where Kali liked to chill, and placing a throw blanket there. A little like that story about seeing where people trample the grass to figure out where to build a path. Back in the fall, she got really into this hammered metal bowl:

Later it was the bottom basket in this little tower we keep in the washroom. For a while it was on one of the bookshelves in the living room. Each time she took to a new spot, we moved the blanket for her. But then, once my partner started using it to wrap her up for administering medication, she began to avoid any place we put it. Now lately she's been back to sleeping in the bowl during the day, just on the bare metal:

I thought she would outgrow it (she's almost a year old, and her hind legs have gotten super long) but so far not :3:

# ¿ Jan 18, 2022 01:29

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Elvis_Maximus posted:

Ughh.. our youngest cat Sage apparently has worms.. AGAIN

He doesn't go outside, and the new cat Pavarotti tested negative in his stool sample, so I have no idea where he'd have gotten it. Or maybe Pav does have them and it just didn't show up (that actually happened with Sage the first time, and he ended up so wormy he actually threw one up the poor guy). Edit: they haven't shared litterboxes or anything until yesterday, at least to my knowledge, when we got the all clear for Pavarotti

Starting treatment on both today, but man I really need to figure out how to stop the reinfections. Gonna pop open all the litter boxes and give them a big ole scrubbing I guess, hopefully that helps.

The introductions between them are going pretty well at least! Sage still hisses a little at his new big brother when Pavarotti decides he wants to chase Sage around which is pretty understandable. Sage has never had a cat that would play back, since Socks was always too old to really be interested in rough housing, so it's a bit of a new experience for him

In a situation like this, is there any reason not to just treat both cats / all the cats in the house, just in case? Assuming the meds aren't exorbitant and the potential side effects aren't too serious.

# ¿ Jan 24, 2022 19:18

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Bobstar posted:

Ah intruder, that was the magic word! Thanks. Yeah I think they keep it secret because the intruder can end up doing a DoS attack on the other cat, but I'll keep an eye on things.

We also have a load of wet food I want Maple to get through without Gaia snaffling it, as it disagrees with her tummy. Plan A: clever use of chip bowls. Plan B: donate it to the shelter and put them both on sensitive digestion food

We put both of our cats on sensitive stomach food when one of them was having weird poop problems and it worked out great. Luckily our other one is the least picky cat I have ever known, he is just so happy to eat whatever is available. He was born to a working cat in a grain mill. The rest of the litter stayed around as they grew, but the mill owners noticed he was "failing to thrive" so they took him to the rescue where my partner eventually adopted him. He doesn't overeat and he's always been a healthy weight, if on the small side overall, he's about 9 lbs. now. He's very polite and doesn't beg actively, although he knows when it's treat time and appears right on schedule. And it's both heartwarming and a little heartbreaking how excited he is to have his kibble topped up or get a portion of wet food, every time, every kind.

# ¿ Mar 7, 2022 22:14

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Crocobile posted:

I could not feel more lucky that Sinjin has never gone outside of his litterbox (intentionally at least. His fluffy cat pants have betrayed us both).

My best / worst experience with our younger cat was when she shat herself in the carrier on the way home from a vet visit about her diarrhea :shrek:

as soon as we brought her in and opened the carrier door she took off howling across the room. Directly onto the cream-colored, custom-made, absurdly expensive MCM sofa I had just inherited from my sister a few weeks before. I've never seen my partner move so fast, it was like she teleported to the couch to scoop up our poo poo-covered little goblin in a lap blanket. I ran to the kitchen to grab some paper towels. In my partner's arms the cat was having an absolute meltdown, while I frantically tried to wipe the poop smears off her cat pants. She was thrashing around with claws out and my partner finally had to let her go, but luckily her little cat butt was mostly clean by then and the front door was closed so she couldn't escape. She darted under that sofa instead and hid for probably an hour. Just zero dignity on the part of everyone involved.

The story is funnier to me now because she's otherwise been pretty good about using the box. When she had a growth spurt and her hind legs got super long she did accidentally hang over the edge and poop on the floor a couple of times, but we got a box with higher walls and it ended up fine. Usually when it happened, our other cat who likes to dig would follow her and fastidiously scoop litter out of the box to cover the turd on the floor. He always looked so disappointed, it was heartbreaking but also hilarious.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2022 08:02

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Tiny Myers posted:

Anybody have suggestions for cat treats that are kind of like plastic? This sounds super weird but my cat is obsessed with plastic, particularly anything that's kind of thin and crinkles easily like, for example, a Little Debbie snack cake wrapper (loses her mind over these, will ferret them out of the trash if allowed, I have a lid on my trash can now) or packing tape. Not so much ziploc, but she has nibbled on those before too.

Obviously I don't let her eat those, but I feel bad because it's like her absolute favorite thing that she magnetizes to, so it'd be cool if something like that existed that is somehow edible and safe for cats, or at least in really durable toy form.

She also likes to tear her way through bags into any delicious edible contents she smells inside, even if the contents are not so delicious, like the times she has literally torn a hole into a bag of (clean!) cat litter and started eating it. So edible bags would be cool too? Does anything like that exist?

I know pictures are important so here are a few of my sweetheart. Her name is Hubris, Hubie for short. Featuring her amazing accordion powers where she goes from looking like a blob to a scrawny thing because of all her winter fur (those last two were taken a couple weeks apart).

Honestly, anything that's like, as un-foodlike as possible that seems like something she's not supposed to have would probably work. Like if there's some weird papery vegetable out there that's safe for cats. Edible rice paper, maybe???

Hubris is a cutie, and has a great name for a cat! One of ours loves batting around cough drop wrappers, which are paper with some kind of coating. As far as I can tell he doesn't eat them, although he will carry them in his mouth. Mostly he just wants to dribble them like a soccer ball. Maybe some kind of crinkly paper might be a close enough substitute to catch her attention? Otherwise edible rice paper with a plasticky feel seems like it might work. I've had some on Taiwanese candy that was indistinguishable from plastic, I actually tried to unwrap it before a friend told me it would just dissolve in my mouth.

I'll wait for others to chime in about the rice paper, but if it's safe I would love to try it with our cats too.

# ¿ Mar 18, 2022 19:40

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Silver point solidarity on this page! Here's Merlin being a floof:

He's a healthy 9.6 lbs, exactly the same as six months ago. But he hits the ground like a much heavier cat. Could it be because his legs are relatively short? He's super agile on the floor, but he doesn't seem to like heights. He doesn't jump up on the sofa or chairs very often, and he only goes on the bed to nap next to my partner or me.

# ¿ Mar 24, 2022 06:10

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

I think it's like the legends about tigers who develop a taste for human flesh. Once a house cat gets into human food they like, you're done, that's it, you will never enjoy this thing in peace again. My partner had to feed her old cat yogurt for a bit to deal with some digestive issues when he was a kitten. For the next 19 years, every morning when she was eating yogurt, he was right there trying to stick his head into the bowl or container. He'd climb all over anybody who had it, mewing and meowing and giving little head butts until the yogurt was brought in range for a lick, or the person got up / pushed him off onto the floor. His insistence was endearing but also annoying at the time. Now that he's gone I kind of miss it, but not enough to get our current cats used to that sort of thing

# ¿ Apr 1, 2022 18:41

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

xzzy posted:

It is cute to watch them go apeshit for stuff and we will give our one cat that enjoys human food a small bite once a week or so, but anything with salt (and probably lots of other additives humans love) in it is pretty bad for kitties. If the vet does a blood test there's a value (who's name I've completely forgotten) that they infer is caused by eating human food, and if the value is over 30 or so they start to scold you.

It happens, and most cats live long healthy life stealing snacks but it makes me think twice (or thrice) every single time.

Nah nah, we don't feed ours any human food, and even Shiva only got yogurt initially because it was suggested by the vet. After that, breakfast every day became a fun game of "keep the cup away from the increasingly insistent, loud cat who doesn't mind using his claws to climb up your body and arm to reach the sweet sweet cultured dairy".

Fortunately we don't eat lunchmeat or any meat really so that's one fewer thing to distract our cats now. It's enough of a hassle keeping them off the kitchen counters when their canned food is brought out.

# ¿ Apr 1, 2022 18:56

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

eating only apples posted:

Hello. I'm about 4 days out from welcoming a 9-week-old kitten into my second floor flat (third floor apartment in the US). To justify: outdoor cats are the norm here in the UK, and shelters and rescues will absolutely refuse to rehome to indoor homes. We absolutely didn't want to adopt a cat who has previously had free access to outside and would suffer from being permanently inside. I wanted to go for two kittens, but was shut down by landlord. Fortunately, I'm in a situation where someone will be home with cat pretty much all the time. That said:

What have I possibly missed in preparing for incoming baby? All cables are covered with protectors and not dangling. We have a tall cat tree, several scratch posts, and multiple covered beds as hiding spots. Many toys that will be rotated in and out. Two litter boxes. Windows have restrictors. No dangerous plants. No ropes or bag handles he could catch on. Everything fragile is on a high shelf or removed. If you can think of anything else that might be an issue in a standard living room with a dining table area, please let me know. He'll be in this one large room until he's a bit older.

Also trying to go for a varied diet - if anyone in the UK has input? Blink and Cool Cat Club for wet food, Lily's Kitchen for dry? He's currently on Whiskas kitten for everything which will not continue

Sounds like you're all good in the initial room! When your kitten gets a little older and has free rein of the house, look out for climbing on the stove. It might be OK most of the time but you don't want them up there after it's been used and burners are still hot. I also learned from this thread that a cat can step on a dial and turn on a burner by accident :eek:

xzzy posted:

Sorry, wasn't being accusatory. Just spouting general advice that no one asked for.

Your post just happened to be the one above it.

Late but it's all good, I'm enjoying these stories about cats being food bandits

# ¿ Apr 5, 2022 07:46

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Lord Zedd-Repulsa posted:

We had to say goodbye to a living sunbeam on Sunday night. In his memory, can I get pictures of cats enjoying the sun?

I'm so sorry, sunshine cats (in all senses of the word) are just the best. I hope his memory becomes a blessing for you one day. Meanwhile, here is Kali enjoying the sun on her favorite window ledge last fall. She's gotten much bigger and chonkier since then, but remains a sunbeam herself

gloom fucked around with this message at 09:45 on Apr 15, 2022

# ¿ Apr 15, 2022 09:04

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Facebook Aunt posted:

Kittens are adorable little hellions full of chaotic energy. With or without being fixed it takes a year or two for that stage to pass.

If you can handle 3 it might help to get another young cat who would want to play with him the way he wants. But then you're a crazy cat lady.

Or try to get him to play more with you, there are some good ideas here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SMPjoNg3nv8

Thanks for posting this, I learned a lot to help our more reserved cat play

he takes a bit longer to get into it and prefers ground-based activities, so our younger high-flying cat tends to overshadow him.

# ¿ May 7, 2022 21:29

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

kaworu posted:

The other extreme would be my other cat, Mini-Scratcher. Maybe because he�s formerly feral (or maybe for no reason at all) but after pooping he will scratch at the litter burying it until there is absolutely no litter left in one corner of the box! Sometimes he messes up and just dumps like half a pound of litter onto the floor next to the box, leaving his poop totally unburied.

Some cats just seem to enjoy digging, Merlin goes in the box and digs around sometimes without even pooping. When Kali was having accidents near the box during some stomach problems last winter, he would scoop litter out of the box to cover her poop. I think he's also learned that if he kicks a bunch of litter onto the floor, one of the humans will eventually come sweep it up, and then he will have an opportunity to throw himself under the broom to be swept too. I've never heard him purr louder than when he flops down to be brushed out with the gross kitchen floor broom :3:

We are thinking of buying a second, clean broom just to use on him, but it feels ridiculous.

# ¿ May 10, 2022 04:49

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

kaworu posted:

On the other hand I�ve also got Mini-Scratcher, the 2-year-old semi-feral male we trapped over a year ago last winter. Despite being born in the wild and having spent his whole life up to that point living outdoors and only meeting humans on the occasion that they neutered him and clipped off a third of his ear, Mini has shown ZERO interest in even stepping foot outdoors again, let alone escaping to go far. In the 16 months since we adopted him, he has only stepped foot outside once - and that was at our urging, and he immediately ran right back inside. He likes fresh air and sitting in front of open windows, but that�s it! I�d love to hear some explanation for this, or whether it�s some sort of established behavior pattern for adopted feral cats.

Here�s a pic of Jackie and Mini that more or less sums up their relationship and personalities:

Every time I read one of your posts about Mini-Scratcher, the name cracks me up

it�s so good. Is there a story behind it?

# ¿ May 12, 2022 06:46

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

kaworu posted:

Heh, thanks! It�s one of my favorite cat names, too, though coming up with it was a somewhat collaborative process - and there is a bit of a story behind it, of course! I�ll try to be as brief as possible.

My roommate has this amazing cat named Murfy, who is an F5 Savannah Cat and just massive - 15 pounds or so of pure dense muscle. He�s got a ton of personality and is very handsome with white fur and blue eyes. Murfy�s got a lot of nicknames, but my roommate would occasionally call him �Scratcher� when he�d get in this phase of swiping his claws at anything coming in his direction, even hands.

Mini-Scratcher first turned up as this tiny, scrawny half-grown feral kitten wandering around our yard in the winter, and when we trapped him and brought him in initially he scratched and hissed at absolutely everything, even food. As he was also a slender white-furred blue-eyed male, he pretty much looked exactly like Murfy�s little brother, or something.

So before we had officially decided on what to name him, we were all calling him �the mini-scratcher� because he was, quite literally, like a miniature version of Murfy if he were permanently stuck in Scratcher mode. There was some effort to name him Romeo or Lil Romeo by my roommate�s (now ex) girlfriend, but I pushed for �Mini-Scratcher� because it�s what we had been calling him anyway, and I seriously thought it was just a totally awesome and unique name. And so it is, and I�m very glad we stuck with it.

Thank you for sharing, that's a great story! I didn't know Savannah Cats could be that color. From the blue eyes and white fur as a kitten, it sounds like Mini might have a little Siamese heritage. Both of our cats do, they have cornflower eyes and they started out super white and turned gray with darker patterns as they got older. He sounds like an awesome cat who lives up to his awesome name.

# ¿ May 13, 2022 05:57

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

I can�t imagine introducing a new cat to an established one in a studio apartment. I�m sure other people can make it work with the bathroom, but it would break my heart, I don�t think I could do it.

Something I�ve wondered, hypothetically, if you visit a larger house regularly with the established cat (like taking them to your parents� home over weekends), could you introduce a new cat there, with separate rooms and more space, and then bring them back to the studio apartment together?

# ¿ May 21, 2022 06:42

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

InvisibleMonkey posted:

Sorry but this is so much worse, lol. Cats are territorial creatures and taking them out of their home usually stresses them out, that's why you confine the new cat to small safe room so they can settle. Taking the resident cat out of their home too sounds like a recipe for disaster.

That makes sense, thanks. I was imagining my partner�s previous cat, who normally lived in a large studio but spent a ton of time at her parents� house over the years for various reasons and seemed to like it a lot. Maybe I overestimated how much hah. Anyway our current place was big enough to add one the normal way. It worked great with a baby gate.

# ¿ May 21, 2022 14:07

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

I wouldn't count on this for adopting a cat, but in my experience cat allergies can also go away with exposure. I used to get itchy eyes and a runny nose any time I spent more than 10 minutes around cats. It was actually a problem for me socially because most of my nerdy friends were cat people and I couldn't do game sessions at their houses so I had to host them. But I powered through with loratadine, first to be around my sister's cats on holiday visits, and later to be comfortable with my partner's previous cat. Now we have two cats together and it's no problem at all. I still get a little sniffly if we go too long without sweeping and vacuuming but it's hardly a problem to keep up. It's nice, it feels like a balance for worsening allergies to tree pollen as I get older.

gloom fucked around with this message at 06:53 on May 28, 2022

# ¿ May 28, 2022 06:51

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

SkyeAuroline posted:

Good news: had three of my guys go home today. The lady was a previous adopter from our shelter, and has set aside an entire floor of her home for dedicated space for them (along with the rest of the house, of course). It's looking like it'll be really good for them, especially for three that all seemed like they weren't going to find homes soon.

Jasper was suspicious of everything going on in the room, though.

These three appear to be absolute characters, I'm glad they're getting a nice landing

# ¿ May 29, 2022 06:00

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

NotNut posted:

My cat seems to really love gravy. She prefers meat in gravy wet food, and if we get her pate she just licks the gravy off and leaves the rest. Sometimes this causes her to not eat if she can't get enough gravy with her dry food. Is this a sign of a health problem? Is there anything we can get her with extra gravy?

It's not that weird at all, neither of our cats will touch pate but they go into a frenzy for any kind of wet food with gravy. It kind of sucked to find this out after buying a case of sensitive digestion prescription pate food for one of them. It's also ironic because they've cycled through several varieties of dry food in the past year, because of product shortages and maturing (switching from kitten to adult food) and eaten all of them enthusiastically. It's like they have a special grudge against pate or something.

# ¿ Jun 22, 2022 22:30

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Something I�ve wondered about, is it possible to habituate cats to a carrier and car transport? Ours melt the gently caress down any time we have to take them somewhere (either the vet or my partner�s parents� house) even though like others in this thread they are instantly fine as soon as they are let out at the destination. Hypothetically if we were to load them up for a drive around town every couple of weeks, would they eventually become used to it? I would guess they will always hate it and it would just be a bunch of needless trauma for all parties, but I�m curious if anybody has related experiences or stories.

# ¿ Jul 11, 2022 22:27

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

I appreciate the stories and advice so far.

To add detail, we have both a couple of single-cat hard carriers and also a bigger, soft-sided, two-cat one from Amazon Basics. Both cats are ok exploring or sleeping in any of the carriers if we leave them out. Kali especially likes using them as her base to ambush toys when we are playing. It�s just once they�re in the car and it�s moving that they start complaining. And they seem to wind each other up, traveling with both is somehow more than twice as bad as traveling with just one.

I may try the blanket trick for the vet trip later this month. Depending on how it goes we might also try some short rides around town in the future.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2022 04:11

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

xzzy posted:

When it's cat discipline time when either me or my wife are scolding a cat, the cat gives no poo poo no matter what we say or do.. just get that defiant "what the gently caress you gonna do about it" cat gaze. But when the second human shows up and starts scolding then it's OH NO time and suddenly they gotta get out of there because poo poo just got real.

This exact thing happened at our house today. Kali came shooting out of the kitchen litter box, squatted in the hallway, and wiped a couple of dingleberries on the carpet. I saw first and yelled at her, and she gave me the smuggest look over her shoulder. I was fuming. Partner came out of the bathroom to see what the commotion was about, noticed the damage, and also raised her voice. Kali took off running for the bedroom and hid under the bed for a bit. She was recovered enough to come out and play 15 minutes later though

not much keeps her down.

gloom fucked around with this message at 22:24 on Jul 18, 2022

# ¿ Jul 18, 2022 21:02

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Discovered a new game, making a small paper airplane out of origami paper to throw for Kali and Merlin to chase. I try to land it on furniture so they have to leap up to catch it, or drop it in front of Kali�s cat tent so she can jump out and pounce on it. Now they lose their poo poo when they hear that paper crinkling. The size is perfect for them to carry in their mouths. I also tried folding a crane for them and they enjoyed batting it around for a while, but the paper airplane was the bigger hit because they can track it through the air.

# ¿ Jul 23, 2022 15:16

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Tekopo posted:

We've had Affie for about two months now, some updates: she apparently had gengivitis, so we tried to brush her teeth, to little success. At the vet's suggestion, we are now using some dental kibble and we'll see how it goes and if the inflamation gets better.

We are learning what she likes in terms of games: she will chase stuff when thrown but only one or two times, and then she will ignore it. She absolutely loves hidden toy games though: we have been using carpets, towels, box lids, furniture, anything we can hide the toy behind will get her going pretty quickly. She also loves to play with (and tear apart) feather teasers. She has been destroying toys at a remarkable pace: when I had a dog, our toys seemed to last much longer: Affie seems to be on a mission from god to make sure that all her toys are ripped apart as soon as she possibly can.

I think she's doing well in getting accustomed to us. She likes to sleep next to us (either me or my SO depending on who is home), and she'll come and meow at me and jump on my desk if she thinks it's dinner time. She is also becoming quite chatty: in the first few weeks she only meowed as a "please don't do that" response to us picking her up/making her do things she didn't want to do, but now she'll meow for food or just to say hello to us: she has small, very shy meows which are just the cutest.

She sounds adorable and similar to our younger cat Kali, from play preferences down to the gingivitis

based on this similarity, another game that might work for you is to get a length of twine or cord and pull it around / under sofa cushions for her to chase. I use a length of nylon paracord that makes a nice rustling sound when it runs between soft objects. During play time I throw a couple of them on the floor and maybe add a lap blanket to make a little obstacle course. It's easy to mix it up a bit for variety and cheaper than buying new teasers. Seeing Kali dive at the cushions and dig under them frantically with her paw to catch the cord cracks me up every time.

# ¿ Jul 27, 2022 21:36

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Trebuchet King posted:

Got a hot new recipe for a mixed bean salad:

Love those smiles :kimchi:

# ¿ Aug 5, 2022 22:01

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Some cats also bat or scoop chunks of kibble out of the bowl onto the floor and eat them. When we noticed Merlin doing this we thought it might be whisker stress but we tried feeding him from several different bowls, trays, and mats and he always had to knock the food around a bit first. He also sometimes dips his paw in the water bowl and licks it to drink and other times lowers his head to the water directly. My conclusion is it�s fine but I wish I had some kind of story to explain how this all started.

# ¿ Aug 21, 2022 15:18

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Is it weird for a cat to just chill in the litter box without using it? Last night Merlin hopped in one of ours and hunkered down like he was incubating a clutch of eggs. No straining or anything, just hanging out like a loaf. After a few minutes (I kept an eye on him while cleaning up after dinner) he jumped out and went on his way. He has otherwise been eating, drinking, playing, and using the box normally. He does also really enjoy digging and I think he�s gone in there to root around just for fun before. I�ve seen this happen a couple of times since last spring and am more curious than concerned for now.

# ¿ Sep 12, 2022 20:40

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# ¿ May 9, 2024 03:30

gloom: Feb 1, 2003; distracted from distraction by distraction

Busy Bee posted:

Later this year, I have to live in a house with a cat for about a month. I've always been allergic to this cat, nothing serious, but just the usual symptoms like sneezing, itchy eyes etc.

I've tried Benadryl in the past but only before I went to sleep since it would knock me out. I would always wake up the next day feeling "cloudy" so I stopped taking it.

In terms of non drowsy allergy medication, would you recommend Claritin (Loratadine), Clarinex (Desloratadine), Zyrtec (Cetirizine), or another brand for someone who experiences cat allergies?

Loratidine seemed to work the best for my itchy eyes, until my cat allergies mysteriously disappeared a few years ago. The other factor was environmental. On long stays with my partner who had a cat before we lived together full time, she or I would dust / vacuum / sweep / mop more proactively and that made a big difference. Nothing too crazy, going from full cleaning twice a month to weekly or so. We alternated weeks.

# ¿ Sep 14, 2022 13:43

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Cat FAQ/Megathread: buying a second, clean broom just to use on him

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