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Susan B. Antimony posted:Have a new question, and thought I'd put in an update: did indeed take the kitty to the vet on Friday, and he isn't sick. [relief] Since I have several small issues, maybe I should have started my own thread--ah, well, not this time. Spike is having some issues with territorial pissing, and I've gotten some excellent advice, and we're working on it. However, he is shut up in my room overnight as a result [that's when the local beasts are the most active, and when of course we cannot keep an eye on him]. I'm thinking that adding a cat tree to my room would be a good way to keep him entertained at night [he's a pretty good-natured puss]--what is that site that everyone here recommends for cat trees? Hunted a bit and can't find the link. Thanks!
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Oct 7, 2008 01:35
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Meow Cadet posted:http://www.armarkat.com/1/index.htm is the cheap cat tree website. They also sell on ebay, someone says it might be cheaper in some cases. Thank you, thank you, thank you. I was trying to guess--anarcat was the closest I got.
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Oct 7, 2008 01:41
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KilGrey posted:Is your cat long haired? Something I did with mine was trim around his butt and down his legs so there was less hair for it to get caught in. If it was bad he got a bath from the waste down. He still has diarhhea hopefully from making the adjustment to a premium food, the shelter just mixed up whatever has been donated. Hopefully this is all temporary or I'll have to rename him stinkbutt.
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Oct 7, 2008 01:59
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Has anyone had experience with growling kittens? I have two kittens both about 2 months old and they growl while eating. They have been doing this for a while, even when they were on the bottle. They growl at each other, stare each other down, growl if you walk past them (or god forbid pet them.) How can I stop this and why are they doing it? It's a really scary sound.
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Oct 7, 2008 19:55
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VikingKitten posted:synirc.net, #petisland Yay! Another IRC channel I can lurk in. 
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Oct 7, 2008 20:53
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tsuki posted:Has anyone had experience with growling kittens? Two of my kittens did it, and one or two of my Dad's cats do as well. The way I trained my pair out of it was to given them regular treats but *only* when I was holding them in my arms. I guess eventually they started to feel less threatened when they were eating, and the growling gradually stopped. The only time I hear growling from 1 of them now is when he has a new toy and expects the other cats are going to steal it from him. Unfortunately my Dad thinks its cute with his kitties (it is, kinda) and isn't discouraging it 
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Oct 8, 2008 09:42
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Just want to vent - My (ex) neighbor is about 3 months pregnant with her first child. They moved out of the apartments, and into a rental house with a nice yard. So, what is the first thing they do? They go out and get 2 Labrador puppies. Maybe it's my own fear of child raising, but doesn't it seem insane to get 2 puppies when you have a baby on the way? A question so I'm on topic - In a few short days, the cats have turned my pretty butterfly toy from this  to this  They still love it, but I'd like to spruce it up a bit. Can I glue on some more feathers? What type of glue safe/unsafe? I guess I need to get rid of the existing glue first before I add on..., I'm not much of a crafty person but it's crazy to spend another $8 on a $0.50 feather.
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Oct 9, 2008 19:33
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My friend just dropped off both her young cats for declawing. She's tried one or two things to stop them, but is too busy with her overdramatic life to really train them. She insists she told me about this before, but if she did I must have blocked it. She's mad that I'm mad. And it's too late to talk her out of it. 
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Oct 9, 2008 23:12
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^^ Argh, that sucks That would really bother me, too. I have a question about my kitten, Luke. Luke is about 5 months old - he was found basically at the dump near a friend's cottage about 1 month ago (...), but was given a clean bill of heatlh by my vet (including a fecal exam) and has never had any obvious health problems other than a single short bout of diarrhea. Luke's only problem is that the smell of his crap is absolutely ungodly. My older cat has never even come close to matching Luke's stench. He eats Blue Buffalo dry kitten food with about 1/4 can of wet food every day. Are some cats just smellier than others, or is this a potential problem that I should talk to my vet about?
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Oct 10, 2008 11:49
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My cats crap got less smelly when I stopped feeding him wet food.
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Oct 10, 2008 20:14
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How do I persuade a newly adopted young cat (~1 year old) not to dig so much in the litterbox? He digs for about 30 seconds prior to the act, then another 30 seconds afterwards. It's kicking up a ton of dust, and he's undoing all the work that the clumping litter is doing. It's also making a mess of the bathroom where I keep the litterboxes. He's very good about using the litterbox he just seems to have way too much fun digging for treasure and I don't want to make him afraid of or scared to use the litterbox. Things which might reduce the mess but not really change the root of the problem: - getting a covered litterbox (unknown if the cats would go for it, resident cat has used an uncovered one for the last year) - changing to a less dusty litter, but afraid cats might decide they don't like it and not use the litterbox As a result of all his digging, the litter gets all over the bathroom and on him, and when he's done digging around he leaps out of the litterbox, over all the tracking mats I have set out, and then runs full speed across the living room. This of course spreads litter all over the apartment and it's getting old vacuuming so much and still finding litter everywhere because of him. It was never a problem with the resident cat.
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Oct 11, 2008 09:10
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My kitten pees EVERYWHERE! She's a 4 month old kitten who was not litter trained before we got her at 6 weeks(yes too young but it was life or death). Her sister is the perfect litter box goer, but she insists on peeing in our clothes, or on the floor or anywhere she can get her little but near. She's BEEN vet checked theres nothing wrong with her but the PEEING. This is in addition to her annoying habit of pooping on the steps of the Boda Dome. All my previous cats WERE litterbox trained but this one is driving me mental. Advice? Do these 'cat attract' things work?
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Oct 12, 2008 17:48
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mr. nazi posted:How do I persuade a newly adopted young cat (~1 year old) not to dig so much in the litterbox? He digs for about 30 seconds prior to the act, then another 30 seconds afterwards. It's kicking up a ton of dust, and he's undoing all the work that the clumping litter is doing. It's also making a mess of the bathroom where I keep the litterboxes. He's very good about using the litterbox he just seems to have way too much fun digging for treasure and I don't want to make him afraid of or scared to use the litterbox. You could try a top entry box but I don't know how it would go considering you have doubts about them even using a covered one. But if the little one does take to it he can freak out in there all he wants and nothing will fly out.
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Oct 12, 2008 20:24
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Needing help with trimming my dog's nails. She's a 12-year-old german shepherd mix, and lately she's slowed down a lot due to old age and hip problems. Before, we never really had to worry about clipping her nails -- when they got too long between vet visits we'd have the occasional duel to the death but eventually the job would get done. She's always HATED the clippers. Now that she's not very active her nails are growing ridiculously fast, and because of her hip problems she's even more protective of her legs than before. Today I sat down with her to give it yet another try and she bit me. She can't struggle to get away without hurting herself, and when she feels trapped and worried she's going to get hurt she gets aggressive. I can take steps to prevent myself from being bitten again, but I don't want to just muzzle her, hold her down and get it overwith because of the risk of hurting her. This is also why I'm wary of taking her to the groomer. But this can't go on, it's obvious that having long toenails is compounding any pain she might have. I've considered investing in a dremel-type tool to file them down, but am worried they're too long by now. The dremel seems like it'd be more suited for basic upkeep. She needs the grooming equivalent of a weed whacker.
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Oct 13, 2008 01:32
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Take her to the vet. They deal with dogs that don't want their nails trimmed all the time (I know, I take them one myself) that want to duel to the death. It's only $12, they can do it safely and quickly while being conscious of her medical needs (stiff joints/arthritis). They deal with dogs all day everyday, aggressive ones, injured ones, fat ones, small ones and are pretty versed in how to do it with out harm.
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Oct 13, 2008 01:43
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Looking for advice/reassurance/etc. even though this may just be a judgment call...we are going out of town for 5 days on Wednesday and our usual house/dog sitter just canceled on us. We have two lab mixes (one 10 months old, one 3 years old). It's looking like we may only have two options, and one of them is boarding the dogs at the vet. I may be anthropomorphizing(?) Murphy somewhat, but I'm afraid he won't be able to handle being boarded. He doesn't mind going to the vet for a checkup, but he's a very skittish and sensitive dog. He mourns for days when I leave him, and I'm worried boarding him will make it worse...I feel like he'll think I've abandoned him or taken him back to the shelter or something, and I'm afraid we'll come back and he will never be the same. I want to cry every time I think about it. Am I being too sensitive myself?The other option would be for them to stay at my parents' house, which will be empty. They'll have a doggy door, a hall/laundry room area indoors and a large backyard to run in, and my brother will come by and feed them each day-but they will be alone for 23 hours a day and even though they spend tons of time there visiting, I worry that something might happen to them. I guess I am probably being an over-protective mom here, but I'm just unsure of what to do. Does anyone else here board their dogs when they go away? Have they ever had a bad experience? Did they forgive you for leaving them? I apologize for my silliness.
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Oct 13, 2008 03:14
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ThirstyGirl posted:Looking for advice/reassurance/etc. even though this may just be a judgment call...we are going out of town for 5 days on Wednesday and our usual house/dog sitter just canceled on us. We have two lab mixes (one 10 months old, one 3 years old). It's looking like we may only have two options, and one of them is boarding the dogs at the vet. 5 days is kinda long, if it were me I would board (if I could afford it) unless my brother was super duper responsible and would spend a few hours a day with the dogs. I don't have dogs now, but as a child we would board our dog for 2 weeks every other year or so for vacation. It was hard, but of course the dog would forgive us the moment we went to pick her up. Leave a blanket or doggie bed or something that smells like home with the boarder to help reassure your pooch when you are gone.
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Oct 13, 2008 05:46
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Sarah Barracuda posted:Needing help with trimming my dog's nails.
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Oct 13, 2008 15:15
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ThirstyGirl posted:Looking for advice/reassurance/etc. even though this may just be a judgment call...we are going out of town for 5 days on Wednesday and our usual house/dog sitter just canceled on us. We have two lab mixes (one 10 months old, one 3 years old). It's looking like we may only have two options, and one of them is boarding the dogs at the vet. I board my dogs a few times a year, and like you, I'm an over-protective worrier. Truly, we've never had a terrible experience. I usually pick places that let my dogs all stay in the same dog run, at least at night. Are there any doggy daycare style boarding facilities around you? My dogs also really benefit from places that have playgroups with other dogs. For dogs without dog aggression, I think its a great option. The dogs aren't as confined, they get plenty of stimulation and interaction, and the pricing is usually about the same as a normal boarding facility. My dogs make me feel guilty as poo poo when I'm leaving them, but they do fine and are healthy and happy when I pick them up.
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Oct 13, 2008 16:15
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I've not had freshwater fish since I was a little kid, so I'm a little unsure of what's normal fish behavior. I've had a little 10g tank that I've been meaning to do something with for awhile, and I finally got around to stocking it yesterday with 6 Long-Fin Zebra Danios. Now that I see the little guys in the tank, I'm wondering if the filter I have is too powerful for them. On the other hand, they're supposed to live in streams, so maybe I'm confusing enjoying the flow and struggling not to get sucked up by the filter (one of my guys has a gimpy fin). Its a 150 GPH (supposedly) biowheel that I used to use in my saltwater tank. Should I ditch the filter and go with a bubbler instead? I plan on keeping it very lightly stocked to reduce maintenance.
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Oct 13, 2008 21:01
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Sarah Barracuda posted:I've considered investing in a dremel-type tool to file them down, but am worried they're too long by now. The dremel seems like it'd be more suited for basic upkeep. She needs the grooming equivalent of a weed whacker. The good thing about the dremel is that it will cauterize any bleeding caused by getting the quick. In situations with really overgrown nails the dremel can actually be a blessing due to this. Unfortunately with really long nails it will have to go one of two ways, I think you will need to chose your method based on weighing out how much stress having her nails done really causes her, and if you want to get it all done in one shot, or if you think she can take multiple sessions. 1) You can clip her nails multiple times, close together. Each time the nail is cut the quick will "jump" back - allowing you to go a little shorter next time. 2) If multiple nail clipping is too stressful for her, this method although it might sound cruel, could be the least stressful way to go about things. If you do the nails all at once, her quicks will get cut, and it will bleed and cause some pain - but she will not have to keep going back to get clipped over and over until you get them to manageable point. If she gets upset to the point where say, you are considering having to sedate her to take her in to get her nails done, you might want to just get them done all at once. The good thing about the dremel comes into play here - instant cauterization.
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Oct 13, 2008 21:12
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Is it possible for a female cat to come into heat after being spayed? Mango is my first and only female cat, and I waited quite a long time to spay her (I mitsakenly thought it would be a good idea for me to breed her at some point). She's indoor only, and she never got pregnant or anything, but I learned to recognise what it was like when she came into heat. The thing is, I got her spayed a couple of months ago, and all was fine. No complications, no infection, all healed over and no sign of an incision anymore. However last week she peed on her cat bed; I took her straight to the vets with a suspected urinary tract infection. She of course gets prescribed antibiotics after the vet establishes that she's a bit swollen and has a temperature. But tonight she's started acting exactly like she's in heat. Howling, trilling, rolling, rubbing against me and the other cats, peddling her back legs and generally being very restless and loving. She doesn't seem to have a temperature, she hasn't been sick, she's eating fine and using the litter tray (otherwise she'd already be at the vet...) My usual vet is closed at night, so I can't call and ask her about this at the moment. I figure it isn't an emergency so I thought I'd ask Pet Island  Bonus images of the culprit:  
Helanna fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Oct 13, 2008 |
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Oct 13, 2008 22:14
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Update on this: since posting I discovered (though google!) that it could be caused by a urinary infection which is what she was diagnosed with last week. Tonight though, she's started obsessively attacking her own tail. It's a bit playful, and she doesn't seem to have injured herself yet, but she's really obsessed and cant be distracted, and it's really unlike her. It's like she's decided her tail isn't part of her anymore. Vet trip time I guess
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Oct 14, 2008 21:30
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Alright. Pukey cats. Ok, so it's not actually puke but hairballs and the related spitup. Two short hair cats (8 and 9 years old) that groom the hell out of each other, so the odd hairball isn't surprising... but every couple of days? It's starting to worry me, and get hard on the carpet. Yes, I have checked all solid matter, and it's just hair. They used to be on Royal Canin indoor formula, but I decided to try some better foods (Wellness, mainly) and that's when it got more frequent. Has anyone else seen richer food = more hairballs?
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Oct 15, 2008 06:52
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pie.rat posted:Luke's only problem is that the smell of his crap is absolutely ungodly. My older cat has never even come close to matching Luke's stench. He eats Blue Buffalo dry kitten food with about 1/4 can of wet food every day. Are some cats just smellier than others, or is this a potential problem that I should talk to my vet about? Did your vet do an actual fecal check or did they just deworm him? If they just dewormed him, he might have coccidia, which I've been told smells like rotten meat.
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Oct 15, 2008 07:09
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Is there any way for us to stop our cats catching lizards? They are skinks. It's the start of summer here in New Zealand, and the cats are catching up to half a dozen of these things every day, bringing them inside, and playing with them until they're dead (and no longer fun). We'd rather not use collars with bells on them, but we will if we have to (and if that's effective for lizards at all). Thanks
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Oct 15, 2008 10:35
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Helanna posted:Oh, Helanna, your cat is so beautiful.
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Oct 15, 2008 13:44
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Yeah she's a real cutie, I was so pleased with her when I bought her (I'd wanted a Bengal kitty for years). She's also incredibly devoted to me, unlike any other animal I've ever had. My other cats love me and snuggle and follow me around, but Mango howls when I leave home to go to work, and every moment I'm home she spends on my lap, sat beside me or curled up with me in bed. She literally doesn't leave my side. On the topic of her odd behaviour the last couple of days, I rang my vet this morning and she isn't too concerned unless it continues for longer, or if she actually bites her tail hard enough to injure herself. I've been told to just keep an eye on her, and bring her in on Friday night if it persists (or earlier if it gets worse or if she stops eating or something). She kept me up a lot of last night because while she tried to sleep curled up between my legs as normal, she kept noticing her tail and trying to kill it. This kept resulting in me getting clawed/bitten/jumped on in the process.
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Oct 15, 2008 15:12
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^there was an epic thread about a lady who wanted to remove her cats tail. she had the cat on Prozac and in a neck cone last I recall. it was a black cat IIRC, and there was either a neurological disorder or kitty nerves(unresolved). But the owner was "high strung" It was prior to June. I remember finding some links about cats being afraid of their own tail and dissociating with it. Maybe some one remembers better?
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Oct 15, 2008 15:52
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I remember reading it myself which is why I was rather alarmed when she started attacking her own tail. Rather strange behaviour, and I'm hoping it's just a temporary thing that doesnt develop into her getting REALLY vicious with her own body parts. At the moment she's just nipping and looking frustrated everytime her tail is waving around apparently of its own accord She's not a nervous cat at all, she's normally very calm, so I don't know what's got into her. I don't want to come home from work to find she's chewed off the end of her tail as I've heard some cats have done before  Finger's crossed and she'll stop being strange anyway. I'm wondering if it's some kind of reaction to the antibiotics she's on at the moment, possibly an allergy of some kind that's making her tail itch and hence she's started biting it. But then, I'm not a vet so what do I know! I'm happy at least that my vet isn't too concerned yet. Helanna fucked around with this message at 17:26 on Oct 15, 2008 |
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Oct 15, 2008 17:20
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well you did the right thing talking to the vet, but I know you worry in the in between, but some people are sensitive to antibiotics and get rashes, maybe it's a kitty version. best wishes
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Oct 15, 2008 17:29
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Oh for gently caress's sake. Dog appears to be finally housetrained. For three months dog is a model citizen, peeing on command whenever he's taken outside. I get lax in regards to watching him whenever he's out of his crate. After all, it's been three months, he seems to know when and where he's supposed to go and where he isn't. And then tonight he gets a wild hair and takes a great big smelly piss in the extra bedroom. Phenomenal. I'm just about at my loving wit's end here. I'm praying it's a testosterone thing, since his neutered status is ... weird. No visible testicles to speak of, but the Humane Society claimed he hadn't been fixed. Vet could find no balls, but vet also doesn't have xray vision and didn't do a hormone test. So. The only change in routine was the fact that I left the Hoover in the extra bedroom, near where he likes to sit at the window. Could it have been a 'gently caress off' territorial gesture at the Hoover? I've left it sitting out before and nothing like this happened ...
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Oct 16, 2008 07:32
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Citizen Insane posted:
Did your vet palpate his abdomen to see if his testicles just haven't dropped? If that's the case, he can still be neutered, it'll just be a bit more expensive and the surgery will be similar to a spay.
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Oct 16, 2008 08:20
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We got a new kitten yesterday, he's a little less than 4 weeks old. Today he started attacking the curtains! I know there are sprays to keep cats from places they shouldn't go to but I don't know what the best brand is. The most important thing is that it doesn't stain white cotton fabric and obviously that is effective. Any recommendations?
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Oct 16, 2008 09:16
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Evil Chick posted:We got a new kitten yesterday, he's a little less than 4 weeks old. Today he started attacking the curtains! I know there are sprays to keep cats from places they shouldn't go to but I don't know what the best brand is. The most important thing is that it doesn't stain white cotton fabric and obviously that is effective. Any recommendations? Why do you have such a young kitten? 8 weeks minimum by law in most states, and 10-12 weeks old is the ideal age for a kitten to leave mother and siblings. Sprays probably won't help climbing problems. Usually they are for chewing. Redirect the climbing to an appropriate place, like a cat tree. (trees must be tall, not those tiny little 12 inchers)
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Oct 16, 2008 09:55
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At "less than 4 weeks old" is he even weaned?
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Oct 16, 2008 10:24
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Evil Chick posted:We got a new kitten yesterday, he's a little less than 4 weeks old. Today he started attacking the curtains! I know there are sprays to keep cats from places they shouldn't go to but I don't know what the best brand is. The most important thing is that it doesn't stain white cotton fabric and obviously that is effective. Any recommendations? Chiming in with concern for the age of your kitten. If he's really that young, climbing the curtains could be the least of his (and your) problems.
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Oct 16, 2008 14:56
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Okay, I may be crazy, but my boyfriend saw this too, and was actually the one who pointed it out to me. But yeah, if I'm crazy feel free to let me know. I was at my friend's house and they have two wonderful dogs(or so I thought), both mutts mixed with some amount of german shepherd. We were hanging out in the back yard and everyone went inside but me. All of a sudden the hair stands up on the back of my neck and I start freaking out, I couldn't figure out why, and I started looking for the dogs. In the past, dogs have usually protected me, small girl, not very threatening and all that, they usually love me, especially big ones. Right then my boyfriend comes out and freezes in place, he looks at me and starts telling me to move towards him slowly, so I do. Well it turn out the one of the dogs was sneaking up behind me while the other was distracting me from the side. They were freaking stalking me! Now, these are pretty big dogs, so I of course went right inside and started asking the owners if they had ever done something like that before. No. They hadn't. So I just pushed it out of my mind as me being overly paranoid, until I went back again. Once again, I went outside alone (no smoking in the house) and I notice that one of them is slowly walking up to me in the front, so I turn around and sure enough, there's the other one sneaking up from behind me, so I freak the gently caress out and run into the house. My boyfriend thinks they may have been doing this because I am very sick all of the time, I have several chronic conditions and he thinks they can smell the sickness on me. So as pack animals I guess it would make sense for them to want to attack me, but nothing like that has every happened to me before, it was very frightening, and their movements were VERY threatening. So tell me, am I crazy? Were they just playing? Can they smell sickness? I'm just wondering if this is something I'll have to worry about in the future when I get my own dogs. Also, they are fine with me when other people are around, and during the day, they only do this at night when I'm alone, if that makes a difference.
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Oct 16, 2008 18:46
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I've never seen dogs behave like that I'd definitely be cautious around them since they sound like they were freaked out over something at least. It could be something as simple as your perfume maybe. On the topic of my kitty Mango, I made a little video on my phone to show the noises she's making. She's normally a silent cat, but she's almost non stop howling the last couple of nights. This was her being relatively quiet, rolling around on my lap: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIQirD0ARbY Video quality not great but audio is alright.
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Oct 16, 2008 20:13
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Helanna posted:I've never seen dogs behave like that Hmm, I don't know, I don't wear perfume but yeah, it just really freaked me out. I'm on the top of the food chain dammit, I don't like being hunted. But I refuse to be alone with those dogs anymore. There is always someone with me there now.
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Oct 16, 2008 22:30
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