|
I just checked the Solid Gold website on a whim, and came across this in the FAQ section...quote:I recently purchased a bag of Solid Gold that wasn't vacuum sealed, is it still OK to feed it? Guess I should have looked there first!!
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2011 05:37
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 12:27 |
|
|
SunknLiner posted:I just checked the Solid Gold website on a whim, and came across this in the FAQ section... Wow, that's a pretty thorough FAQ, wouldn't have expected an answer like that there myself. Cat ladies with the internet really are the type that would ask in great numbers about that sort of thing though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2011 05:45
|
|
|
Thanks for this thread, it helped a lot getting me ready for my new kittens. I brought two sisters home from the shelter last night, 2.5 months old. They immediately crawled up under my TV stand, next to my cable box and have been chilling there since. I'm fine with that, and not trying to force them out or anything, letting them get comfortable in their new home, but I'm a little concerned because the shelter gave me some antibiotics for a respiratory condition they have. It's a pink liquid and I'm supposed to give them 1.5ccs each, every 12 hours, via oral injection (squirt syringe). I'm just worried that if I have to pull them out of their little spot every 12 hours to give them their medicine, they'll associate anytime I come to pick them up with having to take medicine. Should I wait until they start exploring on their own before I start giving them the medicine? I only gave them their first dose this morning, neither of them seemed to enjoy it very much 
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2011 18:07
|
|
|
No, keep giving them their antibiotics on schedule. They'll dislike it for a while, but they'll get over it in time. Also, try luring them out with play and treats when it's not medicine time, so they have some good associations as well.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2011 18:18
|
|
|
Eggplant Wizard posted:No, keep giving them their antibiotics on schedule. They'll dislike it for a while, but they'll get over it in time. Also, try luring them out with play and treats when it's not medicine time, so they have some good associations as well. Yeah, I've been petting them a bit while they're under there. They purr like crazy but still don't want to come out on their own accord yet. They don't seem too interested in toys yet, at least not the ones I have. I'll pick some different ones up at the store today. Thanks for the reply.
|
|
#
?
Jan 20, 2011 18:26
|
|
|
My girlfriend and I got two of the sweetest bengal kittens. Toby is tri-color rosetted and Cory is chaining marbled. Cory was noticeably bigger when we visited them at 3 weeks and now at just 2 months, Toby is now bigger. Cory doesn't eat as much as Toby. They are only a day apart in age and Toby eats much more than Cory. This has lead to Toby getting a pot belly and kind of looking bloated, especially after eating. When Cory is walking around, his belly doesn't hang down, but with Toby, I can see that it's full. It's not very noticeable on Toby when he is hungry, but I can feel his stomach being so full after a meal. Is this OK? We're taking them to a vet just for a check up this Saturday. We feed them Wellness kitten formula wet food mixed with Wellness Kitten Health dry food (quarter can each time + like 15 pellets of the dry food). They get fed 3 times a day and we leave dry food for them to free feed (which they eat sparingly). Is this too much or two little? Toby seems to be always hungry. hog wizard fucked around with this message at 03:50 on Jan 21, 2011 |
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2011 03:48
|
|
|
Yeah, get it checked out at the vet. It sounds like Toby might have worms or some other parasite.
|
|
#
?
Jan 21, 2011 05:28
|
|
|
Our 3 year old cat wants to eat grass pretty badly. She is an indoor cat but before we adopted her she was allowed to go outside for a couple of hours so I guess she sort of has that instinct in her. We have a few plastic shrubs for decoration and she tries her best to chew on them. We're tired of fixing them and that plastic can't be good for her so we'll get some real plants/shrubs for decoration. Is there any particular type that is safe for cats or any particular ones we should avoid? We're going to be buying something that probably lasts a while and requires minimal attention.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2011 00:50
|
|
|
Rekkit posted:Our 3 year old cat wants to eat grass pretty badly. She is an indoor cat but before we adopted her she was allowed to go outside for a couple of hours so I guess she sort of has that instinct in her. We have a few plastic shrubs for decoration and she tries her best to chew on them. We're tired of fixing them and that plastic can't be good for her so we'll get some real plants/shrubs for decoration. The "Cat Grass" that they sell in pet stores is just wheat grass or oat grass, that you can get much cheaper at grocery stores and other places. You can also grow catnip, D8 sells great seeds in SA-Mart. http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3228418 Reference a list of toxic plants to cats before ever bringing in a house plant. http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/poison-control/plant-list-cats.aspx I'd even check 2 or 3 lists, since there will always be conflicting information.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2011 00:55
|
|
|
Rekkit posted:Our 3 year old cat wants to eat grass pretty badly. She is an indoor cat but before we adopted her she was allowed to go outside for a couple of hours so I guess she sort of has that instinct in her. We have a few plastic shrubs for decoration and she tries her best to chew on them. We're tired of fixing them and that plastic can't be good for her so we'll get some real plants/shrubs for decoration. Wheat grass and oat grass, as Meow Cadet said, is fine for cats to nibble. Also lemon grass is good. I don't recommend growing catnip indoors that is cat accessible 24/7 unless you have a high tolerance for cleaning up after the cats rape the hell out of a pot and scatter dirt everywhere. I'm not 100% certain on the following, so a grain of salt: I've heard that cats like to eat grass to facilitate puking up hairballs.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2011 04:48
|
|
|
Both wheat and oat look good! Thank you.
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2011 16:31
|
|
|
I buy that stuff from time to time. I always believed in the idea that it was a puking aid but my cats didn't puke any more or less than usual (which is basically never because I fortunately ended up with pretty non-pukey cats). I don't know why they like it either but it's cheap and they go nuts over it so it's worth it to me. v v
|
|
#
?
Jan 22, 2011 20:40
|
|
|
At night my two male cats love to wander in the back yard, but one of them likes to pick fights after dark. They've both been desexed and sometimes they play nice, is there anything I can do other than let them in and out at different times?
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2011 12:50
|
|
|
FRAZZLED JOHNSON posted:At night my two male cats love to wander in the back yard, but one of them likes to pick fights after dark. They've both been desexed and sometimes they play nice, is there anything I can do other than let them in and out at different times? Pick fights with each other you mean? If they are outside then it's possible that they are fighting with other cats. If you're sure that it's just the two of them then maybe you should double-check and make sure that they aren't just playing? If they aren't injuring each other on a regular basis then they are probably just goofing around.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2011 19:32
|
|
|
I took my cats to the vet yesterday, and they were given a clean bill of health. Before yesterday, the cats had solid poop. Now today, both of the cats have diarrhea. Is it from stress? We haven't changed their diet or anything, and they are very active as usual. They were shaking at the vet, and they both god their temperatures checked... so they really freaked out getting a thermometer stuck up their rear end for 10 seconds. It was kind of funny because my girlfriend cried from them crying and squirming so much, and when one of the cats cried from getting up his butt, the other one cried too. But seriously, why do both my cats suddenly have diarrhea?
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2011 19:53
|
|
|
hog wizard posted:I took my cats to the vet yesterday, and they were given a clean bill of health. Before yesterday, the cats had solid poop. Now today, both of the cats have diarrhea. Is it from stress? We haven't changed their diet or anything, and they are very active as usual. They were shaking at the vet, and they both god their temperatures checked... so they really freaked out getting a thermometer stuck up their rear end for 10 seconds. It could totally be stress. I'd just keep an eye on them.
|
|
#
?
Jan 23, 2011 20:56
|
|
|
HondaCivet posted:Pick fights with each other you mean? If they are outside then it's possible that they are fighting with other cats. If you're sure that it's just the two of them then maybe you should double-check and make sure that they aren't just playing? If they aren't injuring each other on a regular basis then they are probably just goofing around. They might just be playing rough, Cesar is a scaredy-cat so maybe he doesn't understand. They have definitely improved since they were desexed though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2011 16:13
|
|
|
Arthur smells so bad - I'm going to set up a vet appointment to make sure he's just... smelly and there aren't any other issues. SMELLS BAD! 
|
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2011 16:28
|
|
|
My girlfriend and I finally ran out of the pet food supplied to us by the shelter when we adopted Baxter, our 3 year old male indoor cat. We picked him up some Newman's Own Organic dry at our local Walmart, but that was quite expensive, and we are looking for a better alternative. Is Blue Buffalo still recommended? I found their Indoor Cat Dry on Amazon for ~$2.33/lb, which is comparable to what we'd be having to pay for bog standard cat food in the store, and the ingredients seem much better than the Purina Pro Plan we were feeding him before. Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything before I pull the trigger and get our little buddy on the road to healthy eating! e: Looks like PetSmart is having a sale on it right now for $28.99 for a $15 lb bag, so that's even better! Klungar fucked around with this message at 17:15 on Jan 24, 2011 |
|
#
?
Jan 24, 2011 16:49
|
|
|
Blue Buffalo is good yes. Abbeh, I think kittens are just smelly a lot. Is it a poo smell? That's definitely kittenly.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 01:20
|
|
|
I feed blue buffalo, I like it a lot but there was an unbelievable stinky poo transition period when I switched. Super super stinky.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 01:38
|
|
|
More of a butt-hole smell, kind of anal gland fulidish.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 01:57
|
|
|
This is my kitten, 16 weeks old. Click here for the full 479x720 image. Her name is Judith and we got her from a vet tech at an animal hospital. She was found without a mommy so she's pretty humanlike.  Click here for the full 720x479 image. My girlfriend and I are pretty convinced she's part Russian Blue. She's really personable and will spend pretty much all the time that she's at home in my lap. She also has darkish spots coming in on her haunches and rings on her tail. I haven't had any problems with her, except that I can't really get her to like the kitty hut I got her. She doesn't need to get in it, just scratch there. She's pretty uninterested in the treats I leave there, unless I need to start leaving better ones like straight-up tuna.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 02:15
|
|
|
Nope your cat is a mutt cat just like everyone else who gets their cats from non-cattery places. But it doesn't make it any less awesome. 
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 07:34
|
|
|
I have a cat-harness question. I'd like to get a mesh-style harness for my cat so I can take him out occasionally on a leash. The only local pet store that carries a "cat harness" is PetCo, and they only have it in the smallest size (8-10 lbs). My Murphy is about 12 to 14 pounds; I tried it, but the neck portion is just a wee bit too small to go over his big manly head. PetCo also has "dog harnesses" and to my uneducated eye the small-dog harness is the same thing as the cat harness. Would I be doing my cat irreparable harm by buying him a dog harness? Or can anybody recommend a tried-and-true cat harness that I can order online? I'm probably overthinking this, but this is the first cat I've ever owned that will even tolerate a leash, so I'm wading in unknown waters here. I definitely can't use just a collar because he's too good at getting out of them, and I can't take him out without a leash because the dogs next door are confirmed cat-eaters, and it's a recipe for disaster.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 11:47
|
|
|
Klungar posted:My girlfriend and I finally ran out of the pet food supplied to us by the shelter when we adopted Baxter, our 3 year old male indoor cat. We picked him up some Newman's Own Organic dry at our local Walmart, but that was quite expensive, and we are looking for a better alternative. Is Blue Buffalo still recommended? I found their Indoor Cat Dry on Amazon for ~$2.33/lb, which is comparable to what we'd be having to pay for bog standard cat food in the store, and the ingredients seem much better than the Purina Pro Plan we were feeding him before. Just want to make sure I'm not missing anything before I pull the trigger and get our little buddy on the road to healthy eating! Chicken Soup is also really good and actually amazingly well priced - ~$10 for a 6lb bag. The only drawback is finding somewhere that carries it, Petco and Petsmart don't but Pet Supplies Plus does if you have one of those near you. I was so excited to find it because we are poor as hell but the turds can still get a very high quality food, and it's actually cheaper than the semi-crap (purina one) I was feeding them before.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 13:16
|
|
|
Kerfuffle posted:Nope your cat is a mutt cat just like everyone else who gets their cats from non-cattery places. But it doesn't make it any less awesome. Don't destroy my illusion! She is a princess!
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 13:40
|
|
|
Eponine posted:Don't destroy my illusion! She is a princess! wheatpuppy posted:I have a cat-harness question. I'd like to get a mesh-style harness for my cat so I can take him out occasionally on a leash. My cat, every so often, has craps(or farts, I can't tell which) that are apartment clearing, as in, the air becomes chewable and I am robbed of my sight. The guilty party I believe is my bigger cat, as she sometimes gets dingleberries that I have to grab off with a tissue(shits seem healthy though, and not diarrheal). My cats are currently on Taste of the Wild(grain free I think?) - would mixing it with Chicken Soup cat food alleviate some of this? I'm really tired of airing out my apartment whenever she randomly decides to go nuclear.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 16:00
|
|
|
duckfarts posted:My cat, every so often, has craps(or farts, I can't tell which) that are apartment clearing, as in, the air becomes chewable and I am robbed of my sight. The guilty party I believe is my bigger cat, as she sometimes gets dingleberries that I have to grab off with a tissue(shits seem healthy though, and not diarrheal). My cats are currently on Taste of the Wild(grain free I think?) - would mixing it with Chicken Soup cat food alleviate some of this? I'm really tired of airing out my apartment whenever she randomly decides to go nuclear. Light a match and wrap a scarf around your nose & mouth. This too shall pass. Mixing foods is more likely to cause stinkier poos for a time, till they get used to it. ninja edit: also lol post/username combo
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 17:06
|
|
|
Eponine posted:Don't destroy my illusion! She is a princess! I tell people my cat is a Khao Manee She isn't I think shelters should label all the cats as close to what they resemble to make them more attractive to adopters. I get one shelter couldn't do it unless they all did and it doesn't work that way, but I think it should.
|
|
#
?
Jan 25, 2011 22:11
|
|
|
This question has been asked a thousand times, but it still confounds me: how do you tell if your cats are fighting or playing? When my cats get into it, it doesn't look as intense as cat fights you see on youtube, and no one seems to get hurt, but there is WAY more hissing than it seems like there should be if it was just play
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2011 01:52
|
|
|
Eggplant Wizard posted:Light a match and wrap a scarf around your nose & mouth. This too shall pass. SlipkPIe posted:This question has been asked a thousand times, but it still confounds me: how do you tell if your cats are fighting or playing?  , do they break out of the fight very quickly like nothing happened, or are they still pissed at each other? Keep in mind that playing/fighting may be one-sided, and playing for one cat, fighting for the other.
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2011 03:59
|
|
|
Welp, my kitty went to the vet today. She entered her second heat cycle on monday, and she's only been living with me for three weeks. Considering that she was supposed spayed before she even got to the shelter, I figured it was time for a professional analysis. The vet checked her out, and explained that if uterine tissue is left in a cat after a spay, they can still go through heat even though they're infertile. She itemized a bill for what spaying her would be, and the total will run anywhere from 320-450 dollars. I called the shelter I got her from, and they set up a time for Halcyon to come in and get spayed again by their own vet on Friday. I haven't had an incredibly good experience with this shelter, so I'm a little bit nervous that something will go wrong. But if my cat goes home with the wrong person, she's been chipped, and I have the number, so I can establish that she should be with me instead. Hopefully nothing bad happens during the actual surgery itself. If it weren't so shockingly expensive, I'd just have my own vet do it. But I'm not rich enough that I can drop 3-400 dollars if I don't have to 
|
|
#
?
Jan 26, 2011 23:33
|
|
|
I'm sure they will be extra careful and your girl will be home before you know it! I would do the same thing. Good Luck.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 02:50
|
|
|
I doubt very much that they will put your cat up for adoption by accident. It sounds like they really want to fix their error, so that says good things about the shelter.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 03:52
|
|
|
I'm actually about to switch Pooka to Before Grain, off of the Wellness Kitten he's been eating lately. Even off the wet food he's still the stankest little thing on the planet, so I'm going to switch his food to see if that helps. Problem is, Before Grain doesn't seem to have a 'kitten' food-is this necessary? They say that their regular food can be for adults and kittens. Should I try a different brand of food instead of BG or is 'kitten' food pretty much just marketing?
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 17:32
|
|
|
kissyboots13 posted:is 'kitten' food pretty much just marketing? Yes. It's also a totally non-standardized claim.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 18:49
|
|
|
Eggplant Wizard posted:Yes. It's also a totally non-standardized claim.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 19:43
|
|
|
Just wanted to post my progress with Grumples since we got him in December. He's an absolutely wonderful cat - a fat bundle of fur and love. He meows up a storm when I get home, and rubs himself on my legs like mad. He plays til he's completely exhausted and you'd never know he had FIV. At the moment, he's lapping up water from his fish dish and looking adorable. He's also doing very very well with the Litter Kwitter, learning to use the human toilet in stages Photos:   
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 20:23
|
|
|
|
| # ? Jun 8, 2024 12:27 |
|
|
Crooked Booty posted:Actually it is standardized. What you want to look at is the AAFCO statement, which will say the food is formulated for growth, for maintenance, or for all life-stages. Foods labeled for maintenance don't have to contain as much protein, calcium, and other stuff. The foods recommended in PI, like grain-free foods, typically have way more protein and nutrients than the AAFCO requires for adult foods, so these foods will be labeled "for all life-stages" and are totally safe to feed a kitten. If you look at something like Science Diet, on the other hand, the kitten food will say "for growth", and the adult food will say "for maintenance" because it has less protein. Just going by nutrient profiles, most low-quality kitten foods are way better than their adult food counterparts. Aha, I see. I had heard that claims for "kitten food" and "senior food" are pretty much nonsense, which is what I was referring to. That's useful to know about the AAFCO statement, though.
|
|
#
?
Jan 27, 2011 20:55
|
|