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RheaConfused posted:Hair ties are really the bane of my existence at work. I am being truly serious when I say that I have a cat come in at least once a week on suspicion of having eaten them, and we do enterotomies at least once a month on cats that are blocked with them. They usually aren't even broken, a cat just loves to play with them, gets obsessed, and then will eat like 3 or 4 or 10 at a time. We have (clients) a cat named Major and one named Colby that have had this same surgery 4 times to remove the hair ties. Can I ask if q-tips are OK? My cats love them. They haven't tried to eat them yet but they have eaten other stupid things. Thankfully the only consequences of those inappropriate snacks were kitty puke cleanups, and we've gotten better at hiding that stuff.
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Apr 25, 2010 03:34
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I wouldn't think so, but I've never seen a cat that has eaten one and I've been at the clinic a few years. My general rule is that they only get actual toys and balled up paper to play with. Even with the actual toys I avoid things with string. It has to be too big to fit in their mouth.
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Apr 25, 2010 03:53
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HondaCivet posted:Can I ask if q-tips are OK? My cats love them. They haven't tried to eat them yet but they have eaten other stupid things. Thankfully the only consequences of those inappropriate snacks were kitty puke cleanups, and we've gotten better at hiding that stuff.
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Apr 25, 2010 04:35
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To update people on my epic new cat introductions, we currently have the new cat in a crate with the older one walking around. They coexist to a point, but going into hissing fits when they run into each other. My older cat is so sad and even walks away from us when we give him attention. Here's hoping they at least get along, cuz i'll prob be really sad otherwise.
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Apr 25, 2010 05:14
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Slate Slabrock posted:She's back! Yay! I was worried about your kitty... Our cat has been sneezing the last few days. She started on Wednesday with many sneezing fits. Since then she hasn't been sneezing as much, but she is still sneezing. I made an appointment on Thursday with the vet for next Tuesday (earliest spot available) to be safe. Then today I noticed a very small amount of red on her anus, looked like blood but she wouldn't stand still long enough for me to really check. I didn't see any blood in her stool and the next time I was able to check (30 minutes or so later) she looked normal back there. Is this something I need to be particularly worried about? I'll definitely tell the vet on Tuesday to be safe.
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Apr 25, 2010 11:39
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Duckman2008 posted:To update people on my epic new cat introductions, we currently have the new cat in a crate with the older one walking around. They coexist to a point, but going into hissing fits when they run into each other. If they are just hissing, they are probably going to end up getting along fine unless you traumatize them both and ruin everything.  You have to give them time to adjust without a stranger hissing in their face.
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Apr 25, 2010 14:34
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Duckman2008 posted:we currently have the new cat in a crate with the older one walking around. You are not following the advice of the FAQ. It can sometimes take a few months for cats to get used to each other. Don't give up early.
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Apr 25, 2010 14:34
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We just adopted two new cats, and the boy seems like he has a cold. He gets dry brown crud around both of his nostrils, and greenish mucus in the corners of his eyes sometimes. He coughs, sneezes, or clears his throat occasionally, and three times now he's coughed up some white mucus. (Or vomited, I guess, but it doesn't look like vomit...?) He's still eating, drinking, and using the litter box. How serious is this? The only pets I've had before are rats, and they both eventually died of chronic respiratory infections, so I might be a little paranoid.  Are cat colds more dangerous than human colds?We've got a vet appointment for him tomorrow, so we can start whatever the treatment is right away. I just want to know if his life is in danger, or if this is a fairly minor thing. The snuffly cat in question: 
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Apr 25, 2010 14:41
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He's eating and that's the main thing. Most shelter cats come with a URI. You can ease his snuffling by putting him in a bathroom with a steamy shower for a while. The big risk is that they'll be too congested to smell their food and stop eating, which can cause all kinds of issues quick. You can heat up some smelly wet food if he's having trouble, and also elevate his food bowel so he doesn't have to lean down and have all that congestion moving forward when he's trying to eat. Unfortunately the other cat WILL get it. Congrats! He's pretty 
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Apr 25, 2010 14:50
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Crooked Booty posted:Stop rushing things. Didn't you just get the new cat yesterday? If you read the cat intro post, you'd know that the introduction typically takes a few days to a few weeks, and until the cats are curious about each other, they should be in seperate rooms. Putting your cat in a crate while a strange cat wanders around it sounds like it would be extremely stressful for both cats. Put the new cat in a bathroom and leave it there all day (at least). Gotcha. My g/f got advice from her friend saying to do that, so obviously that isn't working well. I'll be trying the seperate rooms for a few days.
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Apr 25, 2010 15:03
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So, I have a kitten that is new, but he's not exactly mine. We have a couple of stray cats in the area, and the humane society doesn't like to come all the way out to our farm and then try to catch cats, so we've just been feeding them and trying to get them a little more social. We literally cannot catch these two cats--a male and a female. They are way too fast and skittish, though they've started to get a little more friendly since we're their main source of food. A problem emerges. Momma cat just brought us a kitten. He looks to be about 6-8 weeks old, maybe a little more. He's fuzzy still, a very pretty orange, and I will post pics as soon as I get close enough. He's a very, very skittish fellow, and will not let you within 5 feet of him. Though, he enjoys the kitten food we leave out, and will meow at the door until you come out to bring him food. She also is pregnant again. =( What is the best way to try and catch the kitten/win his friendship so we can take him to the humane society? I don't want him to get lost or hurt, as there are a lot of neighborhood dogs and some foxes in the area. We can't have another cat--we already have a territorial female and a stupid, but loveable male--so the no-kill local shelter seems to be the best option, if only they would chase around the cats.
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Apr 25, 2010 16:40
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HondaCivet posted:Can I ask if q-tips are OK? My cats love them. They haven't tried to eat them yet but they have eaten other stupid things. Thankfully the only consequences of those inappropriate snacks were kitty puke cleanups, and we've gotten better at hiding that stuff. Someone posted a story about qtips that has haunted me. It was something like, "My cat used to love playing with qtips and would carry them around and I thought it was cute so I let her. Then I came home to find her lying dead with a qtip in a pile of puke next to her." So no, they can choke on those. My rule of thumb is that they shouldn't play with anything except cat toys and easily digestible things like important papers and my furniture.
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Apr 25, 2010 16:58
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RheaConfused posted:He's eating and that's the main thing. Most shelter cats come with a URI. You can ease his snuffling by putting him in a bathroom with a steamy shower for a while. The big risk is that they'll be too congested to smell their food and stop eating, which can cause all kinds of issues quick. Thanks! I just steamed him in the bathroom for about 20 minutes, so hopefully that'll clear him out (and remove wrinkles!). But he sniffed at the food bowl a little and didn't seem interested. My poor kitty. I'll pick up some wet food this afternoon.Feel better, Matins! 
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Apr 25, 2010 17:25
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Someone posted a story about qtips that has haunted me. It was something like, "My cat used to love playing with qtips and would carry them around and I thought it was cute so I let her. Then I came home to find her lying dead with a qtip in a pile of puke next to her."
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Apr 25, 2010 17:37
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Someone posted a story about qtips that has haunted me. It was something like, "My cat used to love playing with qtips and would carry them around and I thought it was cute so I let her. Then I came home to find her lying dead with a qtip in a pile of puke next to her." I remember that cause I am ultra paranoid about q tips. I still let them play with milk jug rings though 
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Apr 25, 2010 19:30
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Adult cat has arrived (called Tess for now, but awaiting renaming)! We adopted her from Battersea knowing she was a 'problem cat': very nervous and aggressive, and been in there for the longest out of all the cats, as she was given up for biting and peeing everywhere. We took a copy of her medical and socialisation notes for info, and we're both confident that we can 'cure' her of the peeing (turns out the last owners weren't cleaning the litterbox properly, and were using ammonia bleach to clean up messes. Surprise surprise she's peed there again!). Pics to come in the PYP thread! She's hiding under the bed atm in the bedroom (door closed, litterbox and food etc), and growls at us when we poke our head in. We love her
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Apr 25, 2010 19:37
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LargeHadronColada posted:Adult cat has arrived (called Tess for now, but awaiting renaming)! It makes me sad that people sometimes give up so easily on their pets, especially when some of it is simply ignorance on how to resolve the problem. It's awesome you're taking a chance on a "problem" cat. I bet once she settles in, and realizes you're trustworthy, she will turn into a ridiculously awesome kitty.
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Apr 25, 2010 19:56
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Kerfuffle posted:I think the moral of all the cats eating things stories is "Don't let your cat play with anything unsupervised." My cats can't play with them unsupervised because they lose them under furniture instantly.
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Apr 25, 2010 21:39
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Now my stuffed-up cat isn't eating anything.  He hasn't eaten any dry food at all today. We heated him up some tuna and put it on an elevated plate, and he sniffed at it, licked up some of the juice, and then ignored it. Also he did this weird thing where he kept scraping the floor around the plate with his paw-- I have no idea what he was trying to do.How quickly is this going to be a problem? Do we need to get him to the emergency vet today, or is an appointment tomorrow morning soon enough?
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Apr 25, 2010 22:40
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HondaCivet posted:My cats can't play with them unsupervised because they lose them under furniture instantly. Same here. I opened the basement door once to find several hairties, a few milk jug rings, and a couple other odds and ends that apparently got kicked under the door. They lose their "toys" as quickly as they find them.
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Apr 25, 2010 22:41
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Seven for a Secret posted:Now my stuffed-up cat isn't eating anything. Is he overweight? Is tomorrow's appointment in the morning? How many kinds of wet food did you try? He ate yesterday, right?
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Apr 25, 2010 22:48
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Seven for a Secret posted:Also he did this weird thing where he kept scraping the floor around the plate with his paw-- I have no idea what he was trying to do. My new kittens do this all the time. They're eating just fine, but whenever I hear their paws slide across linoleum it gives me goosebumps. I'd like to know the story behind this because it's definitely unsettling.
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Apr 25, 2010 23:24
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RheaConfused posted:Is he overweight? Is tomorrow's appointment in the morning? How many kinds of wet food did you try? He ate yesterday, right? Thanks for your help. I don't think he's particularly overweight or underweight-- he weighs about 11.5 lbs, and is sort of medium-sized. He's certainly not gaunt or anything; I felt his belly and there's some fat there. I only tried the tuna-- do you think he might be more likely to eat another kind of wet food? I don't know what he's been exposed to before; we only got him two days ago. He did eat yesterday, but not a whole lot. The day before he ate a lot. Tomorrow's appointment is at 10:30 in the morning... not super early.
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Apr 25, 2010 23:34
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Seven for a Secret posted:Thanks for your help. I don't think he's particularly overweight or underweight-- he weighs about 11.5 lbs, and is sort of medium-sized. He's certainly not gaunt or anything; I felt his belly and there's some fat there. Most cats will die for meat baby food, maybe get some of that and warm it up a bit to make it extra-stinky? Other than that just try warming up some other nice stinky wet food or whatever. As long as he ate yesterday and can get something into him today he should be OK for the vet tomorrow. Oh, did you try the steamed-up shower again? If not then give that a shot. As for the scratching, I've heard that they are trying to bury the food to finish it later. My cat does this occasionally too.
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Apr 26, 2010 00:47
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Seven for a Secret posted:Thanks for your help. I don't think he's particularly overweight or underweight-- he weighs about 11.5 lbs, and is sort of medium-sized. He's certainly not gaunt or anything; I felt his belly and there's some fat there. I would definitely try some other kinds of food. Some cats don't like fish, shocking I know, but true. I think he'll be ok for in the morning if you can get him to eat a bit tonight, he's a good normal weight so it's not as dire as it would be for a fat cat. My cats love meat stick baby food too.
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Apr 26, 2010 01:00
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Success! Even after we steamed him in the shower again, he was totally uninterested in both some weird fancy feast thing in "delicate broth" and chicken baby food, but then I smeared the baby food on his paws and face and he licked it off (while giving me long-suffering looks)... and then I guess he figured out it was food, because after that he let me feed it to him off my finger. He only licked up about 1/4 of the little jar before he gave up, but hopefully that'll be enough to get him through to the vet appointment tomorrow. I hope the vet can fix him.
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Apr 26, 2010 02:17
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Seven for a Secret posted:Success! Even after we steamed him in the shower again, he was totally uninterested in both some weird fancy feast thing in "delicate broth" and chicken baby food, but then I smeared the baby food on his paws and face and he licked it off (while giving me long-suffering looks)... and then I guess he figured out it was food, because after that he let me feed it to him off my finger. He only licked up about 1/4 of the little jar before he gave up, but hopefully that'll be enough to get him through to the vet appointment tomorrow. Great! You're doing a great job and I'm positive the vet can fix him. He just needs some antibiotics. Keep up the good work. Keep a close eye on his sister.
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Apr 26, 2010 02:40
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This is my new cat (with my g/f). Dude is a serious lap cat.
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Apr 26, 2010 06:17
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Super cute markings, congrats!
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Apr 26, 2010 06:19
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HondaCivet posted:As for the scratching, I've heard that they are trying to bury the food to finish it later. My cat does this occasionally too. Yep. The sick kitty was just thinking, "I'm not that hungry now but I know I'm going to want this later, so I'll bury it." They're not actually as bright as we give them credit for, I think. Seven, even if he hates it, you could probably get a needle-less syringe and squirt baby food/watered down wet food into his mouth. You have to be careful about him choking, but it would get food into him. I know it's scary, but a kitty cold is definitely curable! Just do whatever you can to keep him fed, and once he's seen the vet & gotten some antibiotics (which he will hate, btw), he'll be right as rain.
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Apr 26, 2010 13:41
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Seven for a Secret posted:then I smeared the baby food on his paws and face and he licked it off (while giving me long-suffering looks)... This is what I do any time they get picky with sniffing my finger too long. It's all "ohh, give me some of your tuna sandwich! I will love you long time!" and then they sit there sniffing for ten minutes. Well they used to until they learned I would smear it all over their whiskers if they took too long. How to take a picky cat and make a ham beast! I hope your kitty feels better soon!!!
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Apr 26, 2010 14:47
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Thank you guys for the good wishes and advice! We got Matins to the vet this morning, and it looks like he's going to live.  He has a URI and conjunctivitis, and we've got an oral antibiotic for the one and an ointment for the other. The vet also gave us a syringe for squirting food in his mouth, like Eggplant Wizard suggested. She said he'd probably be eating normally again by Thursday!I'm so relieved. In the mean time, he's getting a lot of rest. 
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Apr 26, 2010 20:45
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Seven for a Secret posted:I'm so relieved. In the mean time, he's getting a lot of rest. As opposed to the extremely active lifestyle of a healthy house cat, haha . . . great to hear, I wish his grayness a speedy recovery.
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Apr 27, 2010 05:35
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So, just coming up on a year after I picked up my little kitty (and I wish I'd been reading this sub forum back then, so I'd have known to grab one of her siblings as well) and I'm running into a little bit of a problem. I live in a second floor apartment and last summer Pickles was to small and puny to move the wooden slat blinds out of the way to get at the open windows, but now just barges them out the way with her head. With the window open now I actually caught her sitting out on the outer windowsill, which I'm sure she loved, but is a flat painted metal shelf, so she's probably gonna slip and fall, and I'm pretty sure cats don't land well on concrete. So, anyone got any ideas on the best way of restricting cat-access through an open window? I assumed that I'd just be able to pick up some window screens or something, but none of the hardware/home improvement stores I checked out had anything like that. My next idea is a garden centre for some netting which I can affix over the open window, but that's a bit cludgy. Any help would be appreciated. Bonus then-and-now pics. Babby Pickles, tired out from a hard days playing, but still wanting to be the centre of attention.  1 year old Pickles, doing a credible impression of a draft excluder.  :3
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Apr 28, 2010 13:42
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Yikes. Could you ask your landlord to put screens in? It ought to be his responsibility anyway. Failing that, keep calling around. In the meantime, yeah, staple some netting or something to keep him from getting out there. That's seriously dangerous, and you should never underestimate the ability of cats to get in trouble.
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Apr 28, 2010 14:36
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My cat ate a bunch of my rabbit's hay and puked it all over my stairway this morning. Is the hay bad for him, or is he just eating it to force himself to puke (like a cat will eat grass if let outside)? Should I put the hay away and make a point to clean up the rabbit's mess more often? e: Came home to more puke on the floor after class. Took Trevor to the E-vet, and $300 worth of radiology later, we have no conclusions. Vet ordered him off of food and water for the next 10 hours, asked us to clean up after the rabbit better (it's not my rabbit, it's my boyfriend's, and it does need to be cleaned up better) and past that, put the cat on a bland diet. I currently have a hungry, talky cat on my hands, who was not very happy about the syringe of Lactulose I just shoved down his throat. Weeee. minivanmegafun fucked around with this message at 05:46 on Apr 29, 2010 |
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Apr 28, 2010 17:49
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Question. My cat is almost 1 year old now and is an rear end in a top hat. She won't stop digging her claws into everything (furniture, bed, my leg, my face, etc.). I bought her one of those scratch thingys that hangs on the door but she rarely uses it and being the little rear end in a top hat she is she prefers more expensive things despite my repeated threats against her furry rear end. Can anyone recommend a good and STURDY scratch post or something similar for her to use?
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Apr 28, 2010 18:07
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colonelsandy posted:Question. My cat is almost 1 year old now and is an rear end in a top hat. She won't stop digging her claws into everything (furniture, bed, my leg, my face, etc.). I bought her one of those scratch thingys that hangs on the door but she rarely uses it and being the little rear end in a top hat she is she prefers more expensive things despite my repeated threats against her furry rear end. Can anyone recommend a good and STURDY scratch post or something similar for her to use? Armarkat makes cat trees that people recommend highly, but you may also want to try the cheapo cardboard scratchers that lie flat on the ground. Either way, keep on top of trimming her claws for the times she decides to have a go at the other stuff.
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Apr 28, 2010 18:14
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Engineer Lenk posted:Armarkat makes cat trees that people recommend highly, but you may also want to try the cheapo cardboard scratchers that lie flat on the ground. Either way, keep on top of trimming her claws for the times she decides to have a go at the other stuff. Cool, thanks a bunch!
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Apr 28, 2010 18:17
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minivanmegafun posted:My cat ate a bunch of my rabbit's hay and puked it all over my stairway this morning. Is the hay bad for him, or is he just eating it to force himself to puke (like a cat will eat grass if let outside)? Should I put the hay away and make a point to clean up the rabbit's mess more often? I don't really know if the hay is bad for cats, but our cat tries to eat our rabbits' hay all the time (although she does not often succeed). So far she hasn't puked up any of it and hasn't had diarrhea or anything. My guess is she thinks it is grass and cats, for whatever reason, eat grass occasionally. We started growing a flat of wheatgrass for the rabbits and the cat and they all love it. It's super easy to grow and is ready to eat about 10-14 days after planting, as long as the soil is super moist. Plus the seeds are cheap if you buy them online. The cat has never had a problem after eating wheatgrass and I read online that it is fine for them, assuming there are no chemicals on the grass.
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Apr 28, 2010 20:59
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