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OH GOD he already has so much energy, I thought he was gonna be asleep! ahhh I am so scared he's gonna lick the incision glue off his balls. He's already tried to like 5 times and i've been home for 10 minutes. ahgshghasgiuher
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Dec 17, 2009 23:53
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Hady posted:One of my cats has a 24PetWatch chip and the other has a HomeAgain chip. Both were chipped by the shelters I got them from. HomeAgain has a yearly fee of around $18 while 24PetWatch has no fees. After my first free year with HomeAgain I transferred my registration to 24PetWatch (which was free). I believe both use the same frequency. I still get emails and junk mail from HomeAgain asking for renewal money, which is very annoying. Of course after I post this I get mail from 24PetWatch saying my free year is over. I'm going to check with the vet to see if my info comes up when the cat is scanned since I suspect the "fee" is for a bunch of extra stuff and not continued registration.
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Dec 18, 2009 00:39
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I adopted two cats from a small rescue organization. The woman that runs the place came by my house this morning and dropped them off. As of right now it's been about 12 hours and they are still hiding under my bed. Does it usually take a while for the cats to warm up to a new environment?
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Dec 18, 2009 02:40
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Has anyone had any success with retrieval with their chipped pet? My three year old cat mysteriously disappeared last night and I haven't seen him since. I'm pretty sure one of my irresponsible roommates left the back door open and he wandered out. He's never been outside before though. He doesn't have a collar, but he's chipped, registered to the local humane society. It just seems that with the number of random-rear end cats that wander around my apartment complex, he might just get passed up by a potentially concerned person for another stray. Kitty come home 
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Dec 18, 2009 02:45
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GILF Hunter, have you tried putting fliers up or asking around your apartment complex? If people know you're looking for a missing cat and you give them details on what he looks like, they might be able to tell you if they've seen him or even scoop him up and hold onto him for you. Otherwise, like you said, he's just another cat wandering around the place.
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Dec 18, 2009 03:04
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I have completely and totally covered my apartment complex in fliers. One of the maintenance guys came by earlier with a random cat that was similar to my Wheezy, but not him. And then someone called earlier saying that they "saw a cat this morning under a car". I ran over to the area he mentioned, but found nothing. I put him on tabbytracker.com, but there wasn't a single lost or found cat in my zip code, so I'm not too optimistic about that. Put it on craigslist too. I put a bowl of food, a litterbox, and a shoe that would definitely smell like me at each of my front and rear doors of my apartment. I go check on both about every 15-20 minutes. The food at the front door was eaten, twice, but I don't know by what. I don't really know what else to do. GILF Hunter fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Dec 18, 2009 |
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Dec 18, 2009 03:16
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constant gulping posted:Does it usually take a while for the cats to warm up to a new environment? Yeah.  We should probably write up something in the FAQ about this (and about introducing cats). Cats are averse to change, so it's a process. Keep food and water and their litterbox nearby to wherever they are hiding, and it's probably a good idea to keep them confined to just one room for a day or even a few. Go in the room sometimes for a few hours, bring something stinky and delicious to eat, and sit down and play cards for a while. If the cats come out, be calm. It might even be a good idea to make no move to touch them if they look super scared. Since we don't have anything in the FAQ for this yet, google "bringing new cat home" and read a few guides to get a feel for the different, and slow, steps in introducing them to a new environment.Good luck, take it slow. GILF Hunter posted:I don't really know what else to do. Firequirks fucked around with this message at 03:53 on Dec 18, 2009 |
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Dec 18, 2009 03:50
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Firequirks posted:You mentioned tabbytracker, but how about findtoto.com? I haven't ever used it but I just read about someone using it in another PI thread within the past couple days. I believe they used the service and then went to neighbours' houses and then the neighbours were able to ask "Oh, that was the phone call, wasn't it?" The problem with findtoto.com is that I live in a rental apartment complex that's housed primarily by students. No one here has landlines (maybe very small handful of people), and this place clears out after finals week, so there isn't even anyone to go talk to. Meh. I'm going to put some fliers in the surrounding complexes too, just in case he decided to go on a two mile hike or something. Maybe somehow or another, he'll get scooped up by someone. Maybe I'll be lucky and be able to tell one of those stories where my cat magically showed up three weeks after it disappeared.
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Dec 18, 2009 04:14
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Put up fliers at all the vet offices, and petfood stores in town too. Students like to study together, so there is a fair chance that someone may have be visiting to study, picked him up as a 'stray,' then took him across town to whereever they live. Also, make sure your microchip company has up to date records on you. It's surprising how many people don't think to update phone numbers and stuff. And leave out some dirty laundry and/or used litter box so your cat can smell its way home.
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Dec 18, 2009 06:29
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spatula posted:So my kitten Dwight is getting neutered right now. I pick him up in just a couple hours. We just got our female spayed two weeks ago and I wondered the same thing; however, despite running around like a spastic moron and fighting with her adopted brother for two weeks, she's healed up nicely despite spaying being a much more invasive procedure. You shouldn't have much to worry about unless he licks the stitches where his phantom balls way, way too much. Crooked Booty posted:He'll probably be a crazy kitten by tomorrow, and it will be fine. Neuters are so minor that he most likely won't have stitches, so there's nothing to rip out. Cats are pretty smart and generally won't do stuff if it hurts. Neuters are apparently minor enough that a friend of mine, when he was about to graduate vet school, would actually do it as a party trick. Rev. Bleech_ fucked around with this message at 06:31 on Dec 18, 2009 |
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Dec 18, 2009 06:29
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Firequirks posted:Yeah. If anyone wants to take it on, I'll be happy to add it to the OP.
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Dec 18, 2009 06:55
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Meow Cadet posted:Also, make sure your microchip company has up to date records on you. It's surprising how many people don't think to update phone numbers and stuff. And leave out some dirty laundry and/or used litter box so your cat can smell its way home. I actually went to check on that. I'm registered with 24petwatch.com, but they have the worst loving site on the whole internet. If I try to change my password from the "I forgot my password" default, I can't log in with the new one or the old one. And when I tried to update the information for the pet, the "Where was your pet microchipped?" box is greyed out/not selectable, but it's a required field. ffffffffffffff Otherwise, my address and phone number are correct. It just has some outdated info (like the cat's name and whether it's spayed or not). I have a litter box outside at each door. The strays have used the front twice and eaten all the food a few times. 
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Dec 18, 2009 07:08
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I would be tempted to see if you couldn't borrow a mess of traps from the spca and start trapping the strays and taking them in. They might make coming home tough for your kitty if they are tough toms  If you have a trap spay neuter and release program or a no kill that has room you could be helping every one out.
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Dec 18, 2009 07:34
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Firequirks posted:
Thanks, I searched around and did some reading. I guess I'll have to wait for them to come around on their terms. The woman that runs the rescue said that she trapped them from feral when they were younger, so they may be a little more skittish than usual. I did set some food and water out for them and put in a fresh litter box in the room. The waiting game continues...
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Dec 18, 2009 14:01
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I'm 24, and have not had a pet since a kid. I'm about to start a job and so I think I'll be able to afford pets, and I'd really love a cat (or two?). Some questions: 1) I plan to adopt some shelter or rescue cats, and I know two (especially if they are already bonded) are better than one. As a basically first time pet owner, would I find myself overwhelmed by adopting two? 2) What should I plan on budgeting every month money wise? Is two cats less than twice that of one? 3) Similar to 2, what sort of emergency fund should I keep on hand? I want make sure I'd be covered for any reasonable sort of vet expenses. Thanks for the help!
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Dec 18, 2009 18:57
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time for some  and bells. Thanks guys.
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Dec 18, 2009 20:11
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Chin Strap posted:I'm 24, and have not had a pet since a kid. I'm about to start a job and so I think I'll be able to afford pets, and I'd really love a cat (or two?). Some questions: 1) Yes, thanks for wanting two cats! Once you witness your first cat pile, you'll know you made the right choice. I would think you wouldn't find two to be too much. Let's face it, most cats are pretty "ambient" most of the time and not generally terribly demanding of attention. If you want to make sure you can provide them with the attention they need, you might want at least one of the cats to be a little more low-key and independent. You'd probably want to get adult cats too, kittens can be a bit overwhelming for anyone, let alone a first-time cat owner. But really, two cats can be easier since the cats can hang out together instead of always having to bother you for attention. But other than that, it's two food dishes instead of one, maybe one more litter box if they don't want to share. Not really much more as far as care goes. And twice the vet checkups of course. 2) It sort of depends on what you feed them, use for litter, etc. I feed a very good quality wet/dry food pair and that costs about $50 a month for both of my cats. Litter sort of depends. We probably get a 25-lb bag of litter once a month or so, and they are like $25 if I remember correctly. You'll also have some one-time costs when they come home for things like cat beds/trees, toys, litter boxes, bowls, etc. But really, to a non-student with a good steady job, most of these costs probably aren't going to any real burden. I'd say that two cats is probably a bit less than one since they'll hopefully be sharing things like the litter box, toys, etc. 3) I'd say at least $1000 per cat, even more if you find yourself low on cash or credit quite frequently. I've never had a medical emergency with my cats though so someone else may want to provide some input here.
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Dec 18, 2009 21:59
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Rev. Bleech_ posted:We just got our female spayed two weeks ago and I wondered the same thing; however, despite running around like a spastic moron and fighting with her adopted brother for two weeks, she's healed up nicely despite spaying being a much more invasive procedure. You shouldn't have much to worry about unless he licks the stitches where his phantom balls way, way too much. Riddick was running around and back to normal within 12 hours of getting neutered. His poor sister Ripley was stuck wearing a cone for weeks because she'd lick at her stitches. It was really sad watching him torment her and bat at her cone head. She also barely ate for days (my boyfriend and I took turns hand-feeding her super smelly food). Boy kitties just have it easy!
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Dec 19, 2009 11:24
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Ok, I read the whole FAQ, but didn't see this addressed: I'm allergic to cats. My dad is allergic to cats. Not sure about my two brothers, but it's more than likely. My mom isn't, and she loves cats. She always adopted kittens born in litters left to die in Boston as a kid. When I was little, they found a litter in the woods, and adopted a cat that they left outside (to keep it away from my dad and I), and left little tins of food and water under the deck. It was a nice arrangement until Buddy was hit by a car, and we've been catless ever since. She's gotten more or less used to it by now, but sometimes she does wistfully talk about how much she'd like one, or misses having one. My youngest brother is finally going off to college, and my (very nurturing) mother is having a difficult time contemplating the empty nest. So my brothers and I have been thinking about getting her one for her birthday next summer. Now, I'm aware of everything in the FAQ. We'd never get my mom a cat without consulting her first. I know we'd have to make sure they'd really one want for 15 years, etc. And she'd have a lot of learning to do to catch up on taking care of one. But the first hurdle to clear is finding a cat that won't kill my dad and I, because if we can't do that, it's not even worth investigating the other things. Wikipedia (and the first page of posts) says there's no such thing as a truly hypoallergenic cat. Makes sense, but there's no thing as a truly hypoallergenic dog either, and my dad and I can handle poodles etc OK despite being allergic to dogs as well (although I am more allergic to cats than to dogs, at least according to the allergy test I took). What I'm looking for are comparatively hypoallergenic cats, i.e. a subset of the larger cat population that we could then get tested for allergies against or something, or some sort of idea of what might possibly be tolerable. About the only rule is no sphynx/hairless cat because (I'm sorry) they are creepy as balls. Wikipedia led me to these: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LaPerm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siberian_%28cat%29 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russian_Blue Can anyone tell me anything about them from something approaching an objective point of view? Suggest any other breeds I might look at? Thanks!
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Dec 19, 2009 20:37
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How bad are your allergies? I am pretty allergic to cats but I have 2. There is a bit of an adjustment period, but most people tend to build up a tolerance to specific cats. A good vacuum helps. Once I went to a friend's house and he had an air purifier because his girlfriend was allergic to his cat, and that seemed to work really well.
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Dec 19, 2009 21:12
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Hairless cats don't guarantee anything allergy wise, anyway, because it's typically something in the cat's saliva that makes you allergic to them or their dander, or both. Russian Blue cats and Himalayan cats are often considered the most "hypoallergenic" of cat breeds, but with all cats, you really can't tell until you're around them. I would see if your dad can stomach the idea of going to a shelter with you. If you take out cats and play with them one by one, you should be able to find one who doesn't make you react strongly. Or, like my husband, he might just get used to it once the cat's around 24/7. And please, convince your parents that the cat needs to be indoors, not outdoors. It's just all around better that way.
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Dec 19, 2009 21:36
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I was horribly allergic to cats until around 22, 23, when it started going away. I got my kittens a couple years later and haven't really had problems from them. I also tend to do well around my girlfriend's cats and other friends cats as long as they are short to medium hair.
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Dec 19, 2009 21:37
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Petey posted:But the first hurdle to clear is finding a cat that won't kill my dad and I, because if we can't do that, it's not even worth investigating the other things. I just brought a Russian Blue mix home today, actually - I have cat allergies and she doesn't bother them one bit so far. (I even ran my hands over her fur and then immediately wiped them over my eyes before filling out the adoption paperwork - any other cat would've turned them blood red within like 15 minutes, it's awesome.) My allergist ran me through a course of immunotherapy designed to cut down on the reaction to dogs and cats - make an appointment and ask. Immunotherapy took one scratch test at the allergist's to determine my allergies, then one injection a month of altered allergen for six months to a year - it works like a vaccination, sort of, to teach your system how to deal with the allergen. It's helped my food allergies as well as my animal and pollen ones. (This cat is awesome by the way, she's a 1y/o Russian Blue cross from the Standish Humane Society in Duxbury, MA, and she weighs about 5lbs. Lots of purring so far. She needs a  name, though, she's already patrolling the mouse holes in the apartment!) 
demozthenes fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Dec 19, 2009 |
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Dec 19, 2009 21:57
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Holy poo poo, I got my cat back. The police were in my apartment complex responding to a burglary call, and happened to find him in a bush near the building they were investigating. He was hungry and smelled absolutely terrible, but I'm happy to have him back. He has a bit of a limp on his right front paw though. He seems to be jumping with relative ease and is still eating though. His leg seems okay, so I'm think maybe something is up with his pad? He won't let me touch him at the moment (he's hiding in the bowels of my closet) so I figure I'll just let him be for the moment. Also, his brother keeps hissing at him. Maybe because of all the new smells that came back home? GILF Hunter fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Dec 19, 2009 |
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Dec 19, 2009 22:06
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GILF Hunter posted:Holy poo poo, I got my cat back.  If he's limping around, I'd definitely get him a vet appointment if you haven't already. The vet might find other problems too. Yeah, it's probably just because your cat smells so different now. I'm sure they're both stressed from the whole incident as well. It should clear up. demozthenes posted:(This cat is awesome by the way, she's a 1y/o Russian Blue cross from the Standish Humane Society in Duxbury, MA, and she weighs about 5lbs. Lots of purring so far. She needs a name, though, she's already patrolling the mouse holes in the apartment!) Viking names are always pretty . Freya? Skadi? Idunn?
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Dec 19, 2009 23:44
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We've been using ARM & HAMMER Super Scoop Cat Litter (fragrance free) for our two cats for about a year now (ever since we've had them) but I was having problems with lingering smells even after cleaning and poor clumping. I'll admit that some of the lingering smell issue was probably because we have gotten lazy, and instead of every day, it became every other or every third day we cleaned the box. WE decided to try the ARM & HAMMER Odor Alert Clumping Cat Litter to see if it was a better product (same price) but it is CRAZY dusty. Like if I clean the box, dust gets everywhere. And it's obviously affecting the cats because they SMELL like the litter (fresh dusty litter smell) I'd like to try something else. What does PI recommend? We typically go to Petsmart in Canada for our products.
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Dec 20, 2009 01:31
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GILF Hunter posted:Holy poo poo, I got my cat back. HOORAY!!!  Congratulations!It's vet time! The short version is this: cats make an effort to hide any sort of pain, illness or discomfort in order to make themselves not appear weak in a predatory environment. If your cat is actually showing discomfort, it is certainly vet time, and in some cases when your cat seems completely fine after an incident (like being outside) it is still vet time. v  v welp cats
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Dec 20, 2009 02:46
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I agree. Glad you have your kitty back, definitely vet time. You don't want to wait and have him suddenly take a turn for the worse during the holidays when it will be a bitch to take him in and probably cost you twice as much.
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Dec 20, 2009 03:33
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GILF Hunter posted:Holy poo poo, I got my cat back. So glad you got your kitty back; no one deserves that kind of a blow during the holidays. Did you mention if your cat had all its vaccinations or not? Might be something to bring up with the vet if you haven't. Good luck with the paw, hopefully its just tender.
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Dec 20, 2009 05:15
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My kitty has diarrhea and keeps getting poop all over his fur. Is this a reason for alarm or are kittens supposed to have diarrhea? I'm feeding him a mixture of sold gold and evo, fyi. And it cant be parasites because he doesn't go outdoors and he's been dewormed..
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Dec 20, 2009 08:38
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I'm definitely bringing him to the vet tomorrow. I let him go through today, figuring maybe he would sleep it off and maybe try to clean his paw in his own privacy, but he's still the same as he was last night. My usual vet is closed, so I guess I'm going to go to the Banfield at Petsmart (ugh). He's definitely not feeling too great with his paw. There's something hard by his "palm", but he cried a little when I tried to see what was up. In the interest of not stressing him out, I've just been letting him sleep all day, and I'm going to take him in tomorrow.
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Dec 20, 2009 10:04
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demozthenes posted:
Russian, eh? I would call her either Kalinka or Nikita.
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Dec 20, 2009 11:23
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madlilnerd posted:Russian, eh? I would call her either Kalinka or Nikita. 
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Dec 20, 2009 12:04
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Kerfuffle posted:Natasha is the only acceptable name. Natasha Fatale.
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Dec 20, 2009 16:49
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DeathFlame posted:We've been using ARM & HAMMER Super Scoop Cat Litter (fragrance free) for our two cats for about a year now (ever since we've had them) but I was having problems with lingering smells even after cleaning and poor clumping. I'll admit that some of the lingering smell issue was probably because we have gotten lazy, and instead of every day, it became every other or every third day we cleaned the box. We like Tidy Cats Premium Power Blend. It's not dusty, which is a big deal for my husband's allergies. Maximusi posted:My kitty has diarrhea and keeps getting poop all over his fur. Is this a reason for alarm or are kittens supposed to have diarrhea? I'm feeding him a mixture of sold gold and evo, fyi. And it cant be parasites because he doesn't go outdoors and he's been dewormed.. Is this a recent diet change? Have there been any other food changes or other changes recently? In the meantime, mix some canned pumpkin (regular, not pie filling) in with his wet food, it should help to bind his poops. But it's a good idea to try to figure out why it's happening in the first place.
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Dec 20, 2009 19:12
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yeah two weeks ago we got him and started him on solid gold. We have no idea what his shelter was giving him, the shelter gives them whatever they have on hand. It seems to have gotten worse, but I'll try the pumpkin idea.
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Dec 20, 2009 19:24
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It can definitely take more than a couple of weeks for digestive issues to clear up, especially since he wasn't transitioned slowly to his new food. Try the pumpkin for a bit, then after you've gotten good solid poos, you can try weaning him off the pumpkin.
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Dec 20, 2009 19:46
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 Her name is Lille. Short for Lillehammer.
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Dec 20, 2009 20:55
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gently caress our kitten has started peeing in the corner of the lounge. Why is this happening? Her litter box is kept clean, we change the litter every day and give it a rinse and a scrub in the shower (just with a scrub brush, no detergent). The other cat doesn't use the litter box, she goes outside. We're tackling it with a strong carpet cleaner. My mum saw her crouching in the corner again and started shouting at her, literally "No! No! Pee in your box!" over and over really loud and then wondered why the hell the cat didn't want to pee in her box (hmm mum, anything to do with the fact you've just screamed at her for 5 minutes even when she was near her box?) This whole getting a new kitten thing is causing a lot of friction in our house, actually . Everyone seems to disagree on what's best for her. They keep shouting at her for climbing on the worktops and the sofa and everything and then I pointed out that she didn't have anything to climb and got the response "yeah, well we took her out in the garden yesterday and she didn't seem very interested in climbing trees!" Whenever Zero bites me it's always "oh well you shouldn't pick her up so much" but when she bites or scratches my mum or dad it's never their fault she's just a bad cat.
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Dec 20, 2009 23:06
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Went to the vet today with my injured cat. Basically, he has some sort of burn or abrasion on the bottom of his foot. It's weird how it's only on one foot. They weren't sure just exactly what it was since cats don't talk. They said the biggest pad and maybe some of the digits might fall off (like a fingernail) in the next few days, and would heal in a few weeks time. They cleaned up the would real good, gave him some sort of antibiotic injection that lasts two weeks (as opposed to force-feeding him pills), and I have a few days worth of painkillers as well. They said his temperature was "on the high side of normal", but his lymph nodes were okay, so he probably didn't have a fever or anything, especially since he's been eating just fine. Other than that, he's in tip-top shape, aside from being a little stressed out. I'm so glad he's okay. I love my kitty.That said, I wandered into Petsmart today, since it's attached to the Banfield, and they had a bunch of different local pet adoption organizations there. There was a grey cat there who looked *identical* to my Wheezy. The striping as exactly the same, even down to the markings on his face and the color of his eyes and nose. Seriously, like a long lost sibling or something If it wasn't for that fact that I already have two cats and a dog, and I'm a student, I probably would have scooped him up right there. Poor little guy didn't even have a nametag on his cage or anything, so no one was even looking at him. I would give him a home in an instant. Sigh.
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Dec 21, 2009 02:34
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