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Cow Bell posted:So when shopping for my kitten's food, I went to PetSmart and tried to pick out the best type of food by what minimal amount of knowledge I knew, since none of the "Good" foods from the FAQ, I got this: http://bynaturepetfoods.com/ for the little bastard. (Ugh I typed up a whole post and then realized you said "kitten" when I was about to submit. Now I'll go back and compare cat foods instead of dog foods because I'm an idiot who can't read.) Take this with a grain of salt, because I know a bit about what ingredients should look like, but not why v:)v The first ingredient is a specifically named meat source - that's good. I don't like all of the grains, though. It's unnecessary filler. I don't really like it in dog food, but since cats are obligate carnivores, I think it's entirely unneeded. It goes on to list chicken, chicken livers and fish meal, all which I would personally find acceptable. I pulled up ingredient lists for some of the other "good" brands, and it seems similar to Eagle Pack. IMO it's better than Royal Canin and Pet Promise, but not quite as good as Diamond Naturals. I'd classify it as "Good", if the lists were mine.  I think it looks much better than Science Diet, Purina One and Diamond, to pull a few off of the "Acceptable" list.
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Oct 21, 2008 06:53
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Noumena posted:Two quick questions about my 6mo Maltese, Poe! Jax was altered when he was really young (~6 weeks old) and he also squatted for a long time. We always used to make fun of him, but when he turned one or so, he started lifting his leg like a real dog. As far as coaxing your dog to poop, physical activity is probably the easiest way to "get things moving." A jog around the block is usually enough to get my dogs to go, but an active playtime will also stimulate them to poop, usually. Its a good idea to pair the actual pooing with a cue word, with winter coming up you'll want some tools to help speed along outings in bad weather.
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Oct 21, 2008 06:54
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Cow Bell posted:So when shopping for my kitten's food, I went to PetSmart and tried to pick out the best type of food by what minimal amount of knowledge I knew, since none of the "Good" foods from the FAQ, I got this: http://bynaturepetfoods.com/ for the little bastard. Looks pretty good. It'd be better if the first ingredient was a whole meat, rather than a meal, but otherwise, it looks like a premium food. There's no by-products, wheat, soy or corn. As Umilele said, there's no need for so much grain in a cat food, but on the other hand, the worst offenders I listed above aren't present.
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Oct 21, 2008 07:03
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One of our cats is a two year old female moggy. She was spayed at about 9 months. Recently, in like the last month to six weeks, she's started to get really whiny. She'll sit by the front door and meow (she's an indoor cat), and just walk around the house giving this troubled sounding meow until you give her attention. She tends to do this at night quite a lot, which is really annoying because she'll come and do it at the end of our bed and wake us up. My question is, is it possible for a cat to still go into heat if they've been fixed? Her behaviour is quite similar to how it was when she got frisky before she was fixed (except she used to stick her arse in the air too, which she no longer does). She was at the vet recently and was given a clean bill of health. She's a healthy cat....eats well...and doesn't display any other distressing symptoms. She gets absolutely loads of attention during the day (my wife is at home a lot of the time) and is otherwise a very happy cat. I'm hoping that I can put this dow nto her being 'in season' and it'll wear off asap, because it's really annoying. I've just ordered a Feliway refill off the net and hopefully that'll help matters, but I'd be interested in hearing anyone elses opinion.... Thanks!
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Oct 21, 2008 08:22
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Noumena posted:This may sound a little silly, but I was curious if anybody here knows why he squats to pee, like a female dog, instead of doing the whole iconic lifting one leg stance. Obviously I'm not concerned that there's something wrong with him, but it's something I've been wondering about. Does lifting the leg have anything to do with a dog swinging his testicles out of the way? I had Poe fixed when his testes were only partially descended, so would that have anything to do with it? My childhood dog, a rough coat collie, always squatted to pee after an incident in his puppyhood when he peed directly on an electric fence. I'm not sure if it was lasting physical damage or just psychological, as I was pretty young at the time.
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Oct 21, 2008 08:53
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I have a question as a new kitty owner. Our cat is 15 weeks old and he will NOT let us sleep past 4:30 in the morning. I am normally up at 6am anyway, but I am really starting to miss that extra hour and a half of sleep. If we shut the bedroom door, he cries all night. Is there anyway we can teach him that 4:30am isn't playtime?
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Oct 21, 2008 16:05
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Ambellina posted:I have a question as a new kitty owner. Our cat is 15 weeks old and he will NOT let us sleep past 4:30 in the morning. I am normally up at 6am anyway, but I am really starting to miss that extra hour and a half of sleep. Welcome to having a kitten. They are little shits. Our kitten was about the same age as yours when we got her, and she was terrible about this. Part of the problem is that cats are nocturnal, so it's hard for them to sleep through the night. What's his feeding schedule like? He could be waking you up because he thinks he just can't wait anymore for tasty, tasty food. If that's the case, don't give in when he wakes you up too early otherwise he will only keep waking you earlier and earlier for food. (NB: at his age he should be free-fed dry food anyway, but if you give him wet food or treats in the morning then he's probably begging for that). One thing that's worked well for us is to play with our girl pretty intensely for 20-30 minutes before bedtime. If you wear the little buggers out, they will usually sleep longer. Another thing you can do is keep a spray bottle by the bed and shoot him with it when he wakes you up too early. The one problem I can see with this method is that you might inadvertently train him to think he's not allowed on the bed with you at all. Good luck!
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Oct 21, 2008 16:21
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Thanks for the advice porkchoppie! Right now he is free-fed dry food. I don't think it is that he is hungry, I think he is just bored because no one is playing with him, and he thinks it is time for us to wake up! We are going to try the intense play session tonight and see if that works. Hopefully it does. I will try the spraying if the playing doesn't work. But, like you said, I don't want him to think that he's not allowed to be on the bed.
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Oct 21, 2008 18:24
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Fire In The Disco posted:Looks pretty good. It'd be better if the first ingredient was a whole meat, rather than a meal, but otherwise, it looks like a premium food. There's no by-products, wheat, soy or corn. As Umilele said, there's no need for so much grain in a cat food, but on the other hand, the worst offenders I listed above aren't present. This is good news. I had spent a while standing around PetSmart reading all the labels, and a lot of the more expensive "premium" brands kicked off with wheat or soy or corn and whatever, so I kept looking. This one was pretty well priced and, seemed to me, like the best they had available at the time. I'll check around next time to see if there's anything decent that's not too expensive, but I think this is the best stuff I have available at the moment.
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Oct 21, 2008 21:37
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Someone explain to me why animal meals are a problem when it comes to cat food? (or dog food for that matter) When looking at prey model RAW diets that mimic what a cat would normally eat, one gives the cat raw meaty bones to add in necessary nutrients which are good for the cat (not to mention teeth, though this doesn't really apply in kibble), so grinding it all up in kibble is better than not having those nutrients, right? It seems kind of like there's a lot of reactionary freakout about animal meals and that we should just give them straight meat that would be fit for a human, but that lacks the nutrition benefits, or so I would think. Kuja fucked around with this message at 21:50 on Oct 21, 2008 |
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Oct 21, 2008 21:46
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Kuja posted:Someone explain to me why animal meals are a problem when it comes to cat food? (or dog food for that matter) I may be wrong but I always thought the issue was not that there are bones and stuff like you were talking about, but that the meal might be a great mix of chicken meat and parts, or it might consist of nothing except skin and chicken anuses and feet. You just never really know what you're getting with it. MockTurtle fucked around with this message at 23:18 on Oct 21, 2008 |
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Oct 21, 2008 23:14
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Chicken (or whatever animal) meal tends to contain the crappier parts of the chicken, with a lower proportion of good meat and a higher proportion of connective tissue and whatnot than you'd get if you just tossed a whole chicken into a grinder. On the other hand, chicken meal has some of the water cooked out of it... so a food with an ingredients list that says, say, "chicken meal, rice, [other stuff]" may have considerably more chicken than one whose ingredients list says "chicken, rice, [other stuff]" because the order of foods on the ingredient list is determined by weight. My favourite cat food's ingredients list goes "deboned chicken, chicken meal, turkey meal, [other ingredients]" - best of both worlds!
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Oct 21, 2008 23:58
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My roommate is allergic to cats, but likes them well enough. The rest of us would like to get a cat, but with his allergy, it'd be a dick move to pick one up. I've heard of ways for folks to live with pet allergies, and for a while there I heard rumors of some sort of treatment to combat pet allergies - does anyone have anymore info on this? I miss my cats back home 
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Oct 22, 2008 02:07
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Falcon2001 posted:My roommate is allergic to cats, but likes them well enough. The rest of us would like to get a cat, but with his allergy, it'd be a dick move to pick one up. A cat is a 10+ year commitment, not something you and your "roomies" go in on for a semester. If you aren't completely willing and able to take this cat as your own and take it with you and take care of it in any circumstances, then don't get it. If you currently are or will ever end up somewhere where cats aren't allowed, don't get one. In addition to that, is he willing to get treatment so that you can have a cat? I am mildly allergic to cats -- but I have two. My allergy symptoms greatly reduced when i was around them all the time, and only flare up if i pet a cat then put my hands in my eyes. As far as i know though this only works with mild allergies
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Oct 22, 2008 03:34
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Ms. Fabulosity! posted:A cat is a 10+ year commitment, not something you and your "roomies" go in on for a semester. If you aren't completely willing and able to take this cat as your own and take it with you and take care of it in any circumstances, then don't get it. If you currently are or will ever end up somewhere where cats aren't allowed, don't get one. Sorry, I guess I was unclear - I live in a house, not a dorm, and I'm not at a university. I'm not mindlessly purchasing an animal because I think they're cool, and every apartment or house I've lived in has had fairly good animal policies. We've talked about it before, and he's willing to get treatment as long as we compensate him for it. Edit: Not a frathouse. I simply have roommates. We all have jobs. Edit2: It'd be my cat, not some weirdass multiple person committment. However, it's rude not to ask their okay on stuff like animals in the house. I'd expect the same from them.
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Oct 22, 2008 06:28
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Kuja posted:Someone explain to me why animal meals are a problem when it comes to cat food? (or dog food for that matter) Meals aren't inherently bad, though they're really only as good as what goes into them. I believe that there's probably a big nutritional difference between the meat meals that go into bargain basement foods, and the ones that go into the higher-quality foods, but that's conjecture. The AAFCO description of what meat meals are is actually pretty broad. One of the meals that you really don't want to see in any ingredient list is "beef and bone meal"; its loving disgusting stuff.
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Oct 22, 2008 15:52
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Is there a way to stop my year old Guinea Pig from going all killdozer on his cage? Basically he'll sneak behind his igloo/house and push it across the cage and/or dump it. If he still wants to wreck stuff he'll dump his toilet box over and send it flying too. He's got a decent amount of room (upgrading it soon), is in a room with people around all the time, and gets fed + cleaned more than enough. It's cute as hell but is annoying when it's happening every 5 minutes at 3:00 A.M., haha.
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Oct 23, 2008 12:11
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I just got a new kitty yesterday. She's 3 and is in good health, as per her last vet visit earlier this month. She WILL NOT SHUT UP. I'm not upset about this if she is just talking. I don't mind talking. But, if this could be an indicator of a problem, I should worry. How can I tell? She's an orange tabby, not a siamese.
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Oct 23, 2008 19:27
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aunt moneybags posted:I just got a new kitty yesterday. She's 3 and is in good health, as per her last vet visit earlier this month. Unless she's screaming bloody murder, or if her meow's conjure up some primal fear in you, she's probably just a talker. You'll just have to tune it out, or learn to speak it back. Both my cats are talkers, but in different ways. One is really whiny, and the other is very demanding. They are both adorable when they talk, except when I am really tired, or sleeping.
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Oct 23, 2008 19:33
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Meow Cadet posted:Unless she's screaming bloody murder, or if her meow's conjure up some primal fear in you, she's probably just a talker. You'll just have to tune it out, or learn to speak it back. Oh I've been speaking it back. She's pretty good at conversation. I won't worry. She seems really happy. Thanks!
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Oct 23, 2008 19:46
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Meow Cadet posted:Unless she's screaming bloody murder, or if her meow's conjure up some primal fear in you, she's probably just a talker. You'll just have to tune it out, or learn to speak it back. Seconding this; I've got an orange tabby myself, and I've always talked back to him. I know it makes me sound like a crazy cat lady, but I really think it's paid off--he has different meows for different demands, and I can tell them apart and keep us both satisfied. Our conversation is even sophisticated enough to allow him to lie; he woke me up at 6 am yesterday with his 'omg, omg, omg! Emerjancy!!1!one!' meows. The emergency: 'Maybe I can sucker mom into feeding me wet food at the crack of dawn!' 
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Oct 23, 2008 21:56
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Susan B. Antimony posted:Our conversation is even sophisticated enough to allow him to lie; he woke me up at 6 am yesterday with his 'omg, omg, omg! Emerjancy!!1!one!' meows. The emergency: 'Maybe I can sucker mom into feeding me wet food at the crack of dawn!' Mine do that too. They typically use the OH MY GOD SOMETHING HUUUUURTS OOOOWWWW OMG meows. I only know those meows due to a URI and an asskicking, so they know I'll react. Luckily they know that I sleep like a rock and the boyfriend is the one who has to feed them  There's also the "I'm watching you pee" meow, "Hey you left when I was sleeping what the gently caress", "gimmie gimmie gimmie".... And they're not even a particularly talkative pair, either.
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Oct 24, 2008 00:48
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I'm sure this has been covered many times before, but what's the recommended flea medication for dogs nowadays? I'm reading conflicting reviews of Frontline, Advantage, and Revolution.
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Oct 24, 2008 01:29
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tsc posted:Mine do that too. They typically use the OH MY GOD SOMETHING HUUUUURTS OOOOWWWW OMG meows. I only know those meows due to a URI and an asskicking, so they know I'll react. Luckily they know that I sleep like a rock and the boyfriend is the one who has to feed them One day I will learn this. Right now I only recognize the "PLEASE let me go on the (screened in) porch with you" meow, which is always followed shortly by the "PLEASE let me back inside" meow.
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Oct 24, 2008 03:29
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Our kitten lies like a rug too. Whenever my boyfriend and I do bedroom type things we have to lock her out of the room, otherwise she jumps on us and/or tries to attack in the most inopportune places. So she has developed a habit of doing those heart-wrenching "OMG I AM BEING MURDERED PLEASE SOMEONE COME SAVE ME" meows on the other side of the door. It used to break my heart because I thought she really felt like she was being abandoned, but then I realized it's all kitten lies. drat their cuteness. 
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Oct 24, 2008 05:00
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dphi posted:I'm sure this has been covered many times before, but what's the recommended flea medication for dogs nowadays? I'm reading conflicting reviews of Frontline, Advantage, and Revolution. There's a handy little chart here that shows you the differences. It doesn't include Revolution, because you need a prescription to get it (because of the heartworm meds).
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Oct 24, 2008 13:02
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aunt moneybags posted:One day I will learn this. Right now I only recognize the "PLEASE let me go on the (screened in) porch with you" meow, which is always followed shortly by the "PLEASE let me back inside" meow. Charlie has the "You just turned out the lights to go to bed so I have to go stand in the middle of the house and scream" meow. We call it "making announcements." He stands at the most central part of the house and hollers. Maaaaaaaahw. Maaaaaahw. Mrrraaaaahw. Then he stops, comes upstairs, and curls up in bed with us. It is so weird.
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Oct 24, 2008 23:16
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I've had cats all my life and I've never been able to figure this out. Every once in a while when one of my cats has gone outside they pull a disappearing act for anywhere from 2-7 days. I'm sure this is something many other cat owners have experienced. I had a female cat, Baby, for 15 years...and about every 3 years or so she would just not come home for at least a period of 3-4 days, one time being gone an entire week. Other cat's I've owned have done this, including one I have now, who has been gone since last night. Usually on average my cats go outside for about 20-45 minutes, pee, sniff around, maybe attempt to catch a mole or bird and than come back in, especially in the winter when it gets cold. So what the hell are they doing that they dont feel the need to come home and get fed or just sleep in a warm house. I would be very interested to put a small camera on a cats collar to see exactly what the hell they do for this period of time. I have scoured my backyard and nearby neighborhood for my current M.I.A. and I cant locate him at all...granted I live in a neighborhood where everyone has about 2 acres of property and its very wooded, so there are plenty of hiding places. Still...what the hell can be so fascinating to a cat they want to skip meals?
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Oct 25, 2008 01:36
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Dog Question: My Shih Tzu has started leaving our bedroom, going out through the dog-door in the middle of the night and then sitting at the window of our bedroom (which is actually right next to his bed) and whining and barking until we let him back in. He won't come back in through the dog-door though, we have to actually open the front door and get him in. He's weird! Any ideas on what's causing this? Do dogs sleepwalk? He's been doing it every night for about a week.
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Oct 25, 2008 23:41
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It's certainly an odd thing to have started on the dog's part, but at this point you're conditioning your dog that going outside and barking/whining outside of your window at night will get you to wake up and pay attention to him. Is there a way to lock the dog door at night?
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Oct 26, 2008 07:50
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In addendum to my previous post about my MIA cat...does anyone think a fox would go after a fully grown male cat? We have hawks in the area too but I feel like a cat would be too big for them to go after.
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Oct 27, 2008 02:23
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McKracken posted:In addendum to my previous post about my MIA cat...does anyone think a fox would go after a fully grown male cat? We have hawks in the area too but I feel like a cat would be too big for them to go after. I'm afraid fox, hawks, owls, and coyotes could all go after a cat. It might not be their first choice, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. I hope your cat returns safe and sound soon.
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Oct 27, 2008 02:36
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Meow Cadet posted:I'm afraid fox, hawks, owls, and coyotes could all go after a cat. It might not be their first choice, but it's not outside the realm of possibility. I hope your cat returns safe and sound soon. There are no coyote or any large owls in the area. We do have the random red fox from time to time, however I've been living here for 10 years and with 5 cats that do go outside I've yet to have a problem with wildlife. If we had badger or wolverine I'd be worried. I'm just really wondering what a cat could do to occupy himself for such a time without feeling it necessary to come home for at least food.
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Oct 27, 2008 03:33
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Lioness posted:It's certainly an odd thing to have started on the dog's part, but at this point you're conditioning your dog that going outside and barking/whining outside of your window at night will get you to wake up and pay attention to him. Is there a way to lock the dog door at night? Thanks for that. Yea we've started to lock the door. I hope that we can get him back to normal just by not letting him out for a while, and then start to open the door again (so he can go out early mornings to do his business).
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Oct 27, 2008 07:24
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One of my cats has suddenly decided that she wants to beg for food when I'm eating. I don't know why it started out of nowhere - Rin never really pestered me before and I never feed the cats table scraps or let them be in the kitchen while I'm cooking or anything. The most people food they get is the rare moments when I cook myself a steak, and even then they only get the little fatty bits cut up into tiny pieces and placed in the food bowls. Never off of my plate and never from my hand. But Rin has suddenly decided that whatever I'm eating she wants to eat and has begun crawling all over me, the table, and my plate while I'm eating. Just pushing her off and saying "NO" loudly isn't discouraging her enough, and I don't want to keep a ssscat can near me while I'm eating. What can I do to further discourage this behavior?
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Oct 27, 2008 14:39
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^^ Have you tried the water bottle to the face yet? I agree that a ssscat is a little extreme/gross while eating so maybe try spraying her.
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Oct 27, 2008 17:02
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I havent' tried the spray bottle, as I've been reluctant to because I thought the point of the spray bottle was to keep it semi-hidden so they don't associate it with you and instead with the activity. Kind of hard to hide it when she's in my lap trying to squirm between me and the table to get to my food. I'm willing to give it a shot though.
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Oct 27, 2008 17:58
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My missing cat returned this morning. Sitting at the back door very matter of factly to be let in. Besides a bit of dirt on his nose he was totally fine. He was pretty hungry so I dont think he did much eating while he was gone...I just really wanna know what it is he was doing.
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Oct 27, 2008 18:41
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Will cats generally react terribly to a automatic litter station? I'm seeing some pretty advanced looking ones, and I just don't have the time to change them as much as I used too. I've been doing the old school changing the litter every other week and scooping it every third day or so, and so far that has worked fine (2 cats), but I would like to explore other options.
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Oct 27, 2008 18:49
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Women's Rights? posted:I havent' tried the spray bottle, as I've been reluctant to because I thought the point of the spray bottle was to keep it semi-hidden so they don't associate it with you and instead with the activity. Kind of hard to hide it when she's in my lap trying to squirm between me and the table to get to my food. I'm willing to give it a shot though. My cat did something similar to your situation a couple years ago. She was really good about not begging for food while she was a kitten, when they seem to be the worst about it. When she hit about 2 years old, she was ALL ABOUT people food, to the point where I couldn't even turn my head or she would grab and run off with food! Sneaky Weasel.... I ended up having to put her in a separate room when eating. We went through this routine for about 2 months. The only time I put her away was when she started to jump up onto the table or into my lap. I did the stern "No!" and if she kept at it, she went into the other room until we were finished eating and cleaning up the kitchen. Finally, she learned that it was okay to sit on the floor, be patient, and just give the "I am sooooo hungry, Mommy!" eyes. Every once and a while, she will paw at my leg, but a firm "No!" usually makes her give up now.
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Oct 27, 2008 19:49
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