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Cathis
Sep 11, 2001

Me in a hotel with a mini-bar. How's that story end?
Cats.. will be cats. Gurgi seems to be finally feeling a bit better (the antibiotics must be working.. though his poo is still deadly) and he decided to be catlike at 5 AM this morning, by meowing like his tail had been cut off. I went into his room, and nope- nothing wrong. Last time that happened it was because he wanted to poop and couldn't figure out where - since then he's learned to use the litterbox. So, I went back to bed.. for about 10 minutes until he wailed for another 10 minutes at the top of his extremely loud lungs. I went back into his room.. nothing.
Well, a half hour or so later, with lots of pets and snuggles, it turns out the only thing wrong was he was lonely in his room all by himself.
Retarded cat.

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HondaCivet
Oct 16, 2005

And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know


spitcloth posted:

Also, my family is getting downright snarky, and I don't know why. I'm used to parrots and sugar gliders and herps and various rescue exotics, a cat seems too easy. Everything you need is right there in the stores, you don't have to order HPW from Australia or anything! So after a few weeks of testing I have the food thing figured out, she loves the salmon BG dry food and gets small amounts of wet food through the day (prefers the Newman's Own chicken/salmon, mixed with assorted other healthy wet foods because she stops eating if you feed her the same thing more than a couple times in a row). And she likes fresh cooked lamb and chicken and turkey with homemade gravy for treats. And I took her to the groomer to get a bath and her nails clipped, ears cleaned, butthair trimmed, so on, and we brush her daily and I use Allerpet on her once a week because I'm allergic. The kitten seems to think she's died and gone to heaven, but people are starting to call and send me emails about how I'm really going overboard for a freaking shelter muttcat. Have I lost my mind? :ohdear:

Obligatory pic of kitty becoming beautiful:

Click here for the full 596x800 image.


So your family is sending you angry emails because you are feeding your cat non-garbage and took it to a groomer once? Also they are implying that you should only spend money on a cat if it's a fancy breed? Yep, the problem definitely lies with your family, not the treatment of your cat.

Kerfuffle
Aug 16, 2007

The sky calls to us~
I honestly don't think how PI takes care of their cats without unusual needs or medical problems is even close to ridiculous.

1. Keep Indoors

2. Feed a good food

3. Groom and keep on flea meds if you're in a high risk area

4. Some toys and poo poo if it's into that

GOD YOU CRAZY CAT PEOPLE YOU'RE ALL NUTS

spitcloth
Mar 12, 2008

may include giblets
Half of the family is fine, they're all crazy animal people too and understand totally. But the other half... I don't even know what the problem is. They've accepted that I'm not getting Alice declawed but only because all my furniture is secondhand junk and it doesn't matter if she scratches it up, and they keep sending articles about how you don't need to groom your cat or how cats are happier if you let them outside. I had no idea cat care was such a personal matter.

HondaCivet
Oct 16, 2005

And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know


Kerfuffle posted:

I honestly don't think how PI takes care of their cats without unusual needs or medical problems is even close to ridiculous.

1. Keep Indoors

2. Feed a good food

3. Groom and keep on flea meds if you're in a high risk areaHARTZ

4. Some toys and poo poo if it's into that

GOD YOU CRAZY CAT PEOPLE YOU'RE ALL NUTS

Fixed you crazy cat ladies :colbert:

People get like that because they really want to justify treating animals like gardening tools (leave outside when they get inconvenient, shave off the parts you don't like, etc.).

DeathTramp
Sep 15, 2008

by T. Finn
I have a kitten who's about 7 months old. I only have one. For a long time she was very cuddly and nice. She would bite but not very much or very hard, and I was training her as best I could not to. About three weeks ago she got spayed, and now she has become much more prone to biting and attacking my hands. My friends tend to tease her with their hands, could this be what's causing it? Is her belly still sensitive, so she doesn't want me touching it? She attacks often after I try to touch her belly, which she used to really like. Am I loving up by trying to touch it more?

Meow Cadet
May 2, 2007


friendship is magic
in a pony paradise
don't you judge me

DeathTramp posted:

I have a kitten who's about 7 months old. I only have one. For a long time she was very cuddly and nice. She would bite but not very much or very hard, and I was training her as best I could not to. About three weeks ago she got spayed, and now she has become much more prone to biting and attacking my hands. My friends tend to tease her with their hands, could this be what's causing it? Is her belly still sensitive, so she doesn't want me touching it? She attacks often after I try to touch her belly, which she used to really like. Am I loving up by trying to touch it more?

Teasing a cat with your hands is always a bad idea. I know it's cute when she's a little kitten, but as you now know, it's not so cute to have a larger cat chomping or swatting at your hand. Many (most?) cats will bite a hand after a belly rub. It's not that they don't like it, it's that they're treating your hand like a toy, and she much break your hand's neck, and then disembowel it with her hind legs. This hurts.

If you honestly think her belly is sore, you ought to take her into the vet. But to me, it just sounds like your cat is maturing. The personality of the cat you end up with might not resemble the personality of the kitten you brought home.

pandaid
Feb 9, 2004

RAWR
So, what could cause a cat to throw up blood that isn't a horrible terrible omg thing? It's hard to tell the amount of blood she just threw up, but it was bright red, and made the paper towel a medium shade of pink when I mopped it up. No food or anything foreign in it, just something that looking like red water. Only time she's had blood in throw up before was a small amount after a hairball incident. This was more and no hairballs.

She's been having digestive problems for a while, with loose stools, which was related to a course of antibiotics. I've been trying to get her stomach back under control, but I'm not that experienced with cats. I'm hoping that her stomach is just really irritated and this isn't a symptom of something else. She's acting normally right now. Was playing with her mouse right before it happened.

Why must this happen on a Sunday?

Obviously if she throws up more blood we're going to the e-vet. My wallet is hopeful she can wait until Monday. Could it just be irritation from a sensitive stomach?


edit: threw up blood again an hour later, with some clots in it. Called e-vet, going in. Wish us luck :(

pandaid fucked around with this message at 13:03 on Nov 21, 2010

SBZPrincess
May 6, 2004

I'm kind of at my wit's end here with one of my (two) cats. Here is Angel's basic stats:

Age:3
Weight: about 8 lbs
Food: Solid Gold Indigo Moon mixed with some Cosequin tablets (according to the vet, can help with interstitial cystitis)
Litterboxes: 3
Spayed: Yes
Declawed: hells no
Temperament: kinda shy, but she's snuggly at times. Doesn't make kitty piles with my other cat Cricket, but they don't hate each other.
Allergies: grains? She has bloody stool when she eats anything that has grains in it, she's had good results with the food she is on now.

The problem is peeing outside the litterbox. The problems started last year during New Year's, I thought it was because she wasn't used to fireworks but just to make sure I took her to the vet. I was having difficulty obtaining a urine sample but got an X-ray done. No stones. Eventually got the urine sample. Vet said there were some crystals but not a level that should be worried about. Also said there were white blood cells in her urine, and a small amount of bacteria. Angel is diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, given a giant shot of antibiotics (just in case), some painkillers and sent on her merry way. For quite some time, she is peeing in the litterbox as normal. I have to go out of town for work for 3 months, my next door neighbor watches cats, plays with them every day, makes sure they are fed etc. But she doesn't notice that apparently Angel has begun peeing on things again. I come home, spend a small fortune to get the carpets cleaned and doused with Nature's Miracle. Everything seems fine until about a month ago. I had to switch to a new work schedule, I don't really have a choice in the whole matter. I try using Feliway to help with things, to no avail. Now she's peeing on my clothes and blankets again. I try the painkillers like the vet tells me to, doesn't work. Now I'm about to drop 300$+ on an ultrasound of her bladder to try to rule out everything but behavior issues. Problem is, my other cat Cricket has an overactive immune system and therefore has inflammatory gum disease, and has to have dental cleanings on a regular basis. I just dropped 900$ to get some of her teeth pulled. I am starting to reach my financial limit, and I am getting really tired of having to come home to my house smelling like cat pee and trying to find the offending odor. If I can't find a solution to Angel's pee problem, I might have to take her to the shelter. Sorry for the giant book, I have been lurking in this thread since I got my cats and I wanted to provide as much information as I can, so that hopefully someone can provide some insight. Thank you.

Crooked Booty
Apr 2, 2009
arrr

pandaid posted:

edit: threw up blood again an hour later, with some clots in it. Called e-vet, going in. Wish us luck :(
Let us know what happens. Blood is scary. :(

SBZPrincess posted:

The problem is peeing outside the litterbox. The problems started last year during New Year's, I thought it was because she wasn't used to fireworks but just to make sure I took her to the vet. I was having difficulty obtaining a urine sample but got an X-ray done. No stones. Eventually got the urine sample. Vet said there were some crystals but not a level that should be worried about. Also said there were white blood cells in her urine, and a small amount of bacteria. Angel is diagnosed with interstitial cystitis, given a giant shot of antibiotics (just in case), some painkillers and sent on her merry way. For quite some time, she is peeing in the litterbox as normal. I have to go out of town for work for 3 months, my next door neighbor watches cats, plays with them every day, makes sure they are fed etc. But she doesn't notice that apparently Angel has begun peeing on things again. I come home, spend a small fortune to get the carpets cleaned and doused with Nature's Miracle. Everything seems fine until about a month ago. I had to switch to a new work schedule, I don't really have a choice in the whole matter. I try using Feliway to help with things, to no avail. Now she's peeing on my clothes and blankets again. I try the painkillers like the vet tells me to, doesn't work. Now I'm about to drop 300$+ on an ultrasound of her bladder to try to rule out everything but behavior issues. Problem is, my other cat Cricket has an overactive immune system and therefore has inflammatory gum disease, and has to have dental cleanings on a regular basis. I just dropped 900$ to get some of her teeth pulled. I am starting to reach my financial limit, and I am getting really tired of having to come home to my house smelling like cat pee and trying to find the offending odor. If I can't find a solution to Angel's pee problem, I might have to take her to the shelter. Sorry for the giant book, I have been lurking in this thread since I got my cats and I wanted to provide as much information as I can, so that hopefully someone can provide some insight. Thank you.
This all sounds pretty classic for interstitial cystitis. Before you give up, you may want to ask your vet about something like Amitriptyline or Prozac. Antidepresants can sometimes really help with cats whose flare-ups are triggered by stress. Also Amitriptyline is used in people with interstitial cystitis because it does some magical stuff to bladder-associated pain.

I would also try feeding canned food. With all bladder problems in cats, increasing water intake helps dilute the urine, and therefore also helps dilute anything in the urine that's causing irritation. I would even try a prescription urinary diet before giving her up to a shelter.

Also, try not to get discouraged. Reaching your financial limit is one thing, but it sounds like you have a pretty good idea of what's wrong, and she's had 3 major self-limiting episodes in the last year. If you try more drugs and food changes with no results, and you really can't take it anymore, you may want to consider humanely euthanizing her. She is peeing when you go away or aren't home to entertain her enough, i.e. because she stressed. Going to a shelter will make her problem worse if anything. Adult cats who pee outside the box don't make it out of kill shelters alive. Unless you are able to find her a new home with an individual who knows about her urination issues, I think you'd be doing her a serious disservice to rehome her to someone who doesn't know about the issues, or to leave her at a shelter where she'll be super stressed out until the moment she's euthanized.

Cathis
Sep 11, 2001

Me in a hotel with a mini-bar. How's that story end?

Cathis posted:

Cats.. will be cats. Gurgi seems to be finally feeling a bit better (the antibiotics must be working.. though his poo is still deadly) and he decided to be catlike at 5 AM this morning, by meowing like his tail had been cut off. I went into his room, and nope- nothing wrong. Last time that happened it was because he wanted to poop and couldn't figure out where - since then he's learned to use the litterbox. So, I went back to bed.. for about 10 minutes until he wailed for another 10 minutes at the top of his extremely loud lungs. I went back into his room.. nothing.
Well, a half hour or so later, with lots of pets and snuggles, it turns out the only thing wrong was he was lonely in his room all by himself.
Retarded cat.

He did this again this morning. At exactly 5 AM. This time, he got ignored, and shut up after about 1/2 hour. All I can think of is that Friday Am I had to get up at 5 to go to work, and fed him at 5, and he must have really liked that.
At least i really am going to be awake at 5 am again tomorrow, on purpose. :/

pandaid
Feb 9, 2004

RAWR

Crooked Booty posted:

Let us know what happens. Blood is scary. :(



Vet thinks stomach ulcer is a good possibility, and she might be an IBS kitty. Her temp was normal. No more vomitting, thankfully. She recommended bloodwork at my regular vet tomorrow, to make sure it's not a symptom of kidney problems or cancer :(. Hopefully we won't need an x-ray as well. I'm deworming her and I got medicine to coat her stomach. Also feeding a easy to digest food called W.D.

I'm happy she's not vomiting more, and the stomach coating medicine should help. She's acting normal, and wants more food. I'll update again tomorrow after the vet appointment.

SBZPrincess
May 6, 2004

Crooked Booty posted:



I would also try feeding canned food. With all bladder problems in cats, increasing water intake helps dilute the urine, and therefore also helps dilute anything in the urine that's causing irritation. I would even try a prescription urinary diet before giving her up to a shelter.


Would you happen to know of any grain free canned foods? I wanted to try giving her a urinary diet but I can't seem to find any prescription urinary diets that are grain free, and unfortunately with her history of bloody stool I am really hesitant to change her diet.

spitcloth
Mar 12, 2008

may include giblets
http://www.beforegrain.com/

My kitten loves the salmon and chicken ones, and PetCo near me is having a sale on this whole line right now.

HondaCivet
Oct 16, 2005

And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know


SBZPrincess posted:

Would you happen to know of any grain free canned foods? I wanted to try giving her a urinary diet but I can't seem to find any prescription urinary diets that are grain free, and unfortunately with her history of bloody stool I am really hesitant to change her diet.

There's quite a bit out there although you probably won't find much at a grocery store or Wal-Mart. The most obvious ones off the top of my head are the grain-free varieties of Wellness. Not every flavor is grain-free but if it is, it'll say on the label. Really, most wet foods will advertise pretty clearly on the label if they are grain-free.

Crooked Booty
Apr 2, 2009
arrr

SBZPrincess posted:

Would you happen to know of any grain free canned foods? I wanted to try giving her a urinary diet but I can't seem to find any prescription urinary diets that are grain free, and unfortunately with her history of bloody stool I am really hesitant to change her diet.
Check out the petfood megathread. Wellness, EVO, Taste of the Wild, Blue Buffalo, Merrick, Wysong, etc... Most of the premium brands have at least a few grain-free formulas.

SBZPrincess
May 6, 2004

HondaCivet posted:

There's quite a bit out there although you probably won't find much at a grocery store or Wal-Mart. The most obvious ones off the top of my head are the grain-free varieties of Wellness. Not every flavor is grain-free but if it is, it'll say on the label. Really, most wet foods will advertise pretty clearly on the label if they are grain-free.

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll go see what I can find. Angel's vet appointment is Monday, so hopefully we'll get some good news. I'll let you all know.

Exelsior
Aug 4, 2007

Cathis posted:

He did this again this morning. At exactly 5 AM. This time, he got ignored, and shut up after about 1/2 hour. All I can think of is that Friday Am I had to get up at 5 to go to work, and fed him at 5, and he must have really liked that.
At least i really am going to be awake at 5 am again tomorrow, on purpose. :/

One of my cats used to do this constantly. Meow every ten minutes in the middle of the night, he didn't want anything but hugs. If we let him in the room, he would purr like a jet engine and meow until we patted him. It got to the point where the lack of sleep was affecting my work. Eventually I just had to lock him in the bathroom over night, every night. He still meowed but it wasn't loud enough to wake me up. I felt really bad about it but he had a whole set up in there, bed, toys, scratching post, litter tray, food and water. Occasionally I let him out to see if he will be good overnight, but it reverts to the same thing, purring while clambering all over me and headbutting my face and meowing for pats. Its nice that he loves me, but I need some sleep goddammit.

Panthrax
Jul 12, 2001
I'm gonna hit you until candy comes out.
Yep, I have to lock both of my cats out at night. Hobbes would probably be fine, but Calvin's about 15 months old, and he's really excited to be in my bedroom, and walks around, lays on my chest, licks me, claws at me, attacks and scratches the poo poo out of my feet, etc. I hope he grows out of it, I'd like to leave my bedroom door open, but I just can't sleep with him being an annoying poo poo.

Every couple weeks I'll let them in to see if it's any better, but it never is. :(

Fire In The Disco
Oct 4, 2007
I cannot change the gender of my unborn child and shouldn't waste my time or energy pretending he won't exist
After the baby came I started having to close the cats out of the bedroom because two of the four became jerks. One would race around the windowsill (our bed is against the window wall so the sill is right over our heads) from 2 to 4 am meowing like a maniac. The other began eating my hair. I have small chunks of my hair that are about 4" long when the rest of my hair is midway down my back. :(

pandaid
Feb 9, 2004

RAWR

pandaid posted:

Vet thinks stomach ulcer is a good possibility, and she might be an IBS kitty. Her temp was normal. No more vomitting, thankfully. She recommended bloodwork at my regular vet tomorrow, to make sure it's not a symptom of kidney problems or cancer :(. Hopefully we won't need an x-ray as well. I'm deworming her and I got medicine to coat her stomach. Also feeding a easy to digest food called W.D.

I'm happy she's not vomiting more, and the stomach coating medicine should help. She's acting normal, and wants more food. I'll update again tomorrow after the vet appointment.

Went to the regular vet today. So far the only worrisome thing is her urine is more dilute than it should be. Getting blood results tomorrow. Oh god, please don't be kidney failure. I'm really wondering if that antibiotic I gave her she was intolerant to and did some damage. Crossing fingers for tomorrow.

John Dyne
Jul 3, 2005

Well, fuck. Really?
Okay, so it's been years since I rescued a cat, and even then I didn't know as much about them as I do now. My fiance and I rescued a cat since we're at a point where we're financially able to support one, and we rescued a tabby/calico mix named Hannah. She's a year and a half old, and she is extremely skittish and people shy. She seems terrified of anyone standing up, and being carried freaks her out more than I've seen a cat get freaked out.

She was first adopted out October 13th, and then she was brought back because they didn't want her anymore sometime around October 25th. The next owners got her on the 5th, and brought her back on the 19th. We have no intention of taking her back, but we really want to make sure we can do everything we can to help her adjust to her new home and make her comfortable.

I am just about positive that she was kicked at her old home, and as soon as someone stands up and moves towards her, she will lay her ears back and zoom under something start crying. If she's left alone in a room, she starts crying, and the only way we could calm her down in her carrier on the ride home was for me to pet her with my hand in there the whole time, talking to her.

She's also incredibly skinny and small for a full grown cat, and we're not sure if it's because she was spayed too early or if she's just malnourished; the pet shelter had her on Science Diet, and they gave us a bag of that to wean her onto something better (we picked up Blue Buffalo because we could find it here and it was listed as Premium.) Right now she's been here maybe 3 hours and we've been putting her in the litter box every hour or so, and she hasn't gone yet, and we know that might just be because she went we got her, but we're also hunting to make sure she hasn't gone under/behind the bed or whatever, and have Nature's Miracle to take that up.

Does anyone have any insight/suggestions/whatever so we can maybe hazard a guess on why she's so skittish, or how we can help her adjust smoothly? She's a beautiful cat, and I know this is probably a pretty common set of questions so I didn't want to make a thread just for her.

We have all her records and she's up to date and spayed, but we intend to take her into the vet within the next two weeks just so we can get her acquainted with him and get all the paperwork out of the way, that sort of thing.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

John Dyne posted:

:words:

Thanks for giving her a second third fourth chance :) I hope she warms up.

Firstly, are you keeping her in one room, or are you giving her the run of the house? It may be easier for her to adjust if you confine her to one room for a week (or more depending on how she's doing). That way, she can get to know her surroundings more quickly, and you guys moving around the house won't be as frightening and unpredictable. So long as she has food, water, and litter in the same room, she'll be fine.

Stop bringing her to the litterbox. She knows where it is now, and you coming to pick her up every hour is probably stressing her out. Plus, it's needless work for you! Many cats don't eat or use the bathroom for the first 12-24 hours or so of being in a new place. They have to feel a bit comfortable first. That said, if she hasn't eaten anything after about 24 hours, we can suggest some tricks to make her eat because cats actually WILL starve themselves out of stubbornness/illness/fright, and they get serious liver problems within about 3 days of not eating.

Why she's so skittish: She's probably had a rough life in the past, especially after going through multiple adopters. Before she got to the rescue she may have had to live outside, which necessitates different skills from being an indoor cat. Trusting humans isn't always a good idea when you're an outdoor kitty. Failing that, some cats are just more skittish than others.

For now, keep her in one room and hang out with her in a quiet way. Even if she's under the bed/couch, she can still work on getting used to your presence. Hang around in the room, ideally lying down or sitting on the ground (taller is scarier; death from above sort of thing). Do something quiet like reading or a craft project or a TV on relatively low volume. Heck, take a nap. Sudden movements or loud noises will freak her out. As she gets more used to having you around, you'll be able to move more. You may also have success by enticing her with a toy (a thing on a string usually works well). In the meantime, the goal is really just to let her get used to your scents and the room she's staying in for now.

Random things:
- Blue Buffalo is a good food. Stick with that, provided she eats it.
- Calico & tabby are both colorations, not breeds, so you don't need to call her a "mix." She may be what is called a "torbie," a tabby with calico or tortiseshell coloring :3: In the end it doesn't much matter though.
- Size: Lots of cats are small, especially but not exclusively females. She'll fill out and look healthier as she eats that good food.

Keep us updated (and feel free to make a thread for this sort of issue, especially if you post pictures :d:).

ChairmanMeow
Mar 1, 2008

Fire up the grill everyone eats tonight!
Lipstick Apathy
Eggplant Wizard hit everything just about perfect. Just wanted to add it can be a much slower process than you might expect depending on the cat. It took months with my tuxedo. The small separate room really helped, and napping in there seemed to help, as she would get brave enough to come out and sniff me on her own when I was asleep. She would also only eat and eliminate at night alone when it was quiet. She is still terrified of company and loud noises(garbage trucks,storms), but she is a huge cuddlebug every other minute of the day and normally within arms reach. Good luck!

SBZPrincess
May 6, 2004

SBZPrincess posted:

Thanks for the suggestions. I'll go see what I can find. Angel's vet appointment is Monday, so hopefully we'll get some good news. I'll let you all know.

Good news: Angel's bladder looks fine, they are sending her urine sample out for a full workup (we are in Hawaii and everything sucks here except pineapples, sushi and mai tais)


Bad news: This means Angel's got a behavioral problem if the urine comes back negative. We're trying amitryptiline because I'm in the military and I can't change my working hours or even quit my job. *sigh* I hope this works.

John Dyne
Jul 3, 2005

Well, fuck. Really?
Our apartment is pretty small, about 600 square feet. We've been sequestering her in the bathroom and then letting her romp a bit, then she'll flee back there for a bit. We've been mostly sitting here at the desks or laying on the floor with her, while teasing her with the feather on a stretchy string.

The guys at the shelter told us the litterbox thing, but we can stop on that. We only did it three times so far, and she's been nosing at it so yeah, I think she knows what it's for.

She's been getting more energetic and playful even over the past hour, and has been exploring a lot when we let her roam. She's even taken to climbing and all that, sniffing at practically everything; she's also at a point where she'll rub up against our legs if we're standing and start purring, but if we move too much or talk too loud, she'll bolt or otherwise just freak. She did take fine to the fiance's parents visiting, though, so long as they were waving the feathered stick around.

She's being really playful now, and when she's playing she isn't freaking out that people are moving around, and she's making this really cute and really frustrated growling meow in the back of her throat that she can't catch the drat feather. When it pops off (it has a break catch for if things gets too rough,) she picks it up proudly and struts off with it.

When we leave her in the bathroom, though, she cries and it's really sad. And it's pretty frantic crying. She cried a lot on the way home, which I mentioned, but this is more than that. She also jumps at the door, which lead to us opening it and finding her clinging to a towel we had hanging from the top of the door.


John Dyne fucked around with this message at 02:05 on Nov 23, 2010

Crooked Booty
Apr 2, 2009
arrr
Sounds like you have everything under control, but I just wanted to point out that she doesn't look that skinny. Most people are accustomed to seeing fat cats because most pet cats are overweight. At a healthy weight, you should be able to feel every rib but not see them. Your vet will be able to tell better with his hands on her, but from those pictures she looks to be within a pound of perfect. Some cats are just small, and her age when spayed probably has little or nothing to do with it. :)

And yes, her breed is DSH - domestic shorthair, i.e. generic mutt cat. Her coloring is tortoiseshell tabby, aka torbie or patched tabby, and they are the prettiest cats ever (I have one, too). :3:

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte
Omg she's so pretty :swoon: I love torbies so much.

It sounds like she's doing well, actually, apart from not liking to be left in the bathroom. As for her weight, she looks pretty healthy. She has the lanky, slim look that a lot of cats around 6mo-1 year have. Is that her sort of age?

ChairmanMeow
Mar 1, 2008

Fire up the grill everyone eats tonight!
Lipstick Apathy
I misread things! She sounds much more social than I thought! she is really a lovely cat.

John Dyne
Jul 3, 2005

Well, fuck. Really?
She's a year and a half, so yeah. She's been wanting to play almost non-stop tonight, and she's gotten to the point where she'll climb on the bed and lay on us, so I think she might be adjusting just fine. She also finally drank something, and it was as close to chugging as I've ever heard a cat get; she killed the bowl of water in no time flat.

She also pants after play time, which is the first time I've seen a cat do that. Like, mouth open panting. She stops after a minute or two, so I'm thinking they kept her boxed up or something and she didn't get much play time. We'll certainly fix that!

She's now actually chatty and will respond to us when we talk to her, and she's definately exploring more. For the first few hours she stuck to under the bed or doing a set circuit, now she's actually crossing the room in different ways and climbing. She hasn't gone back under the bed except to try to stow her 'kill,' but she's seems to have the kitty crazies since she'll be sitting there one moment and then bolt off while meowing.

I think she'll adjust well. I'm off work tomorrow so I get a lot of face time with her, and can watch her to make sure she goes in her box instead of in a crevice where we won't find it until we move out.

John Dyne
Jul 3, 2005

Well, fuck. Really?
An update on Hannah: She's doing great. She follows us around now when we're standing up and doesn't mind us following her. She ate last night and even used her box this morning, and there have been no accidents at all.

She's also really super affectionate now, like to the point she will race across the room (if she's not already beside us) to our hand to get pets. She'll also lean back if the hand scratching her moves back, to the point where she'll flop. Hell, she's in my lap right now, trying to get me to stop typing and pet her. :v:

She also took a nap with me and curled up in the crook of my arm and purred herself to sleep. So I think she's become accustomed to us pretty quick. We need to get her a scratching post, though; I've been trying to get her to do the claws thing on an old wicker hamper we have, but she seems to prefer my jeans leg or a stretch of carpet for it.

HondaCivet
Oct 16, 2005

And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know


John Dyne posted:

An update on Hannah: She's doing great. She follows us around now when we're standing up and doesn't mind us following her. She ate last night and even used her box this morning, and there have been no accidents at all.

She's also really super affectionate now, like to the point she will race across the room (if she's not already beside us) to our hand to get pets. She'll also lean back if the hand scratching her moves back, to the point where she'll flop. Hell, she's in my lap right now, trying to get me to stop typing and pet her. :v:

She also took a nap with me and curled up in the crook of my arm and purred herself to sleep. So I think she's become accustomed to us pretty quick. We need to get her a scratching post, though; I've been trying to get her to do the claws thing on an old wicker hamper we have, but she seems to prefer my jeans leg or a stretch of carpet for it.

That's good that you are taking note of what she likes to scratch on. There are lots of options out there for scratching posts including material, angle (horizontal vs. vertical vs. in between), size, etc., so keep her preferences in mind when you go shopping. I'd probably start with a horizontal cardboard scratcher, almost all cats love those.

pandaid
Feb 9, 2004

RAWR
update on Nova:
No more puking blood episodes and her stool has finally firmed up. She's got a bit of blood on her bum after pooing, but maybe this is from having her temperature taken 2 days in a row. Can't be comfortable, and I'm in close contact with the vet.

Blood work came back all normal. Urine was dilute, and vet says that she has very early kidney disease. I'm hopeful that her kidneys will recover, but it could also be just that she is an older kitty. Nova and I made a deal that she would live 5 years and I would give her whatever she needed. I hope she can keep her end of the bargain up. I know she's trying. :/

RheaConfused
Jan 22, 2004

I feel the need.
The need... for
:sparkles: :sparkles:
Hey guys, litter-robot.com is doing $40 off between Friday and Monday for existing customers. Regular customers get $20 off. It's a pretty good deal if you have been considering getting one.

If I needed another one I would definitely get it now, but our is still going strong 4 years on.

Absolute Evil
Aug 25, 2008

Don't mess with Mister Creazil!
I am at my wits end about my cat.

Helga is around 8 years old, spayed, indoor cat. Never very social (took over 2 years of me dating her owner before she deemed me worthy).About 3 weeks ago, she began sleeping even more than usual and even when awake, seemed doped up. While always a saggy fat cat, her abdomen bulges (between her chest and saggy belly). I took her into the vet. Helga's temperature was 104.2. The vet gave her a shot of antibiotics and sent home liquid amoxicillin 1ml bid.

I should(?) mention 6 months or so ago we adopted a neutered male from the shelter and a month ago we adopted a neutered male and spayed female. All had been tested for FiV, Feline leukemia, and fip before being adopted. They are caught up on all of their shots and all 4 are strictly indoor kitties. Helga has nothing to do with the other 3...avoids them like the plague. Also (?) possibly worth mentioning is she wants nothing to do with my boyfriend anymore. He owned her for 7 of her 8 years and has been his shadow up until the past 3 weeks. If he touches her, she freaks out....growling, hissing, biting. She'll sit on my lap however, when she never wanted anything to do with me before...so I'm wondering if there's some confusion there as well.Now I'm the only one who is able to touch her without being attacked..tho there is some growling.

The vet said if the symptoms haven't lessened by the time the bottle of antibiotic is empty, to call back.The last dose will be given tonight at 9pm. She is still lethargic, still dopey, if not more so. She has not been grooming herself and when she goes to growl or meow, she wheezes along with the intended sound. The corners of her eyes are reddish, rather than pink. On top of that, she has diarhea from hell from the antibiotics. I asked the vet about FIP or feline leukemia and was told Helga did not have it. No blood tests have been done..actually no tests at all have been done, except temperature. I'm going to be taking Helga to a different vet in the morning, as I don't think the first place is taking my list of concerns/symptoms seriously. Can you guys think of anything else (disease-wise) that could be wrong with her?

McLibrarian
Jul 9, 2005

He's lucky that's the only thing I bit off.
Thanks for all the advice about moving and catproofing, everyone. We moved the cats tonight and it went much easier than I thought--Mindy didn't protest at all, and Kelly put up a rather pathetic last stand. I brought over three blankets and the cushion they always were sitting on and have them scattered around the room. One is tucked over a bookshelf as a sort of den--Mindy has been hiding there since we let her out of the carrier and Kelly has sequestered herself behind my suitcase.

I'm assuming I won't see them for a few days and I shouldn't worry unless they stop eating and drinking all together, right?

EDIT: I managed to get one picture of them before they scattered again.

McLibrarian fucked around with this message at 03:54 on Nov 24, 2010

Enelrahc
Jun 17, 2007

Absolute Evil posted:

I am at my wits end about my cat.

Helga is around 8 years old, spayed, indoor cat. Never very social (took over 2 years of me dating her owner before she deemed me worthy).About 3 weeks ago, she began sleeping even more than usual and even when awake, seemed doped up. While always a saggy fat cat, her abdomen bulges (between her chest and saggy belly). I took her into the vet. Helga's temperature was 104.2. The vet gave her a shot of antibiotics and sent home liquid amoxicillin 1ml bid.

I should(?) mention 6 months or so ago we adopted a neutered male from the shelter and a month ago we adopted a neutered male and spayed female. All had been tested for FiV, Feline leukemia, and fip before being adopted. They are caught up on all of their shots and all 4 are strictly indoor kitties. Helga has nothing to do with the other 3...avoids them like the plague. Also (?) possibly worth mentioning is she wants nothing to do with my boyfriend anymore. He owned her for 7 of her 8 years and has been his shadow up until the past 3 weeks. If he touches her, she freaks out....growling, hissing, biting. She'll sit on my lap however, when she never wanted anything to do with me before...so I'm wondering if there's some confusion there as well.Now I'm the only one who is able to touch her without being attacked..tho there is some growling.

The vet said if the symptoms haven't lessened by the time the bottle of antibiotic is empty, to call back.The last dose will be given tonight at 9pm. She is still lethargic, still dopey, if not more so. She has not been grooming herself and when she goes to growl or meow, she wheezes along with the intended sound. The corners of her eyes are reddish, rather than pink. On top of that, she has diarhea from hell from the antibiotics. I asked the vet about FIP or feline leukemia and was told Helga did not have it. No blood tests have been done..actually no tests at all have been done, except temperature. I'm going to be taking Helga to a different vet in the morning, as I don't think the first place is taking my list of concerns/symptoms seriously. Can you guys think of anything else (disease-wise) that could be wrong with her?

A lot could be wrong with her, some of which can be serious. New vet time, asap.

Absolute Evil
Aug 25, 2008

Don't mess with Mister Creazil!

Enelrahc posted:

A lot could be wrong with her, some of which can be serious. New vet time, asap.



Agreed. In the meantime, I'm scared she's suffering needlessly.And on the offchance she has something untreatable, I'd want an end to it sooner rathe rthan later.

RheaConfused
Jan 22, 2004

I feel the need.
The need... for
:sparkles: :sparkles:

Absolute Evil posted:

Agreed. In the meantime, I'm scared she's suffering needlessly.And on the offchance she has something untreatable, I'd want an end to it sooner rathe rthan later.

She's still very young. It could be a million things, but you definitely need to go to another vet. Seriously. My vet wouldn't stand for lethargy continuing after a few days, let alone a few weeks (for something she thought was treatable with antibiotics).

That coupled with her other changes in behavior are major warning signs.

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ricro
Dec 22, 2008

RheaConfused posted:

Hey guys, litter-robot.com is doing $40 off between Friday and Monday for existing customers. Regular customers get $20 off. It's a pretty good deal if you have been considering getting one.

If I needed another one I would definitely get it now, but our is still going strong 4 years on.

Goddammit, I just bought one the other day

(it is awesome)

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