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assfro
Oct 15, 2005

I think this is the right thread for this, but if I should post this elsewhere or open up a new thread, just let me know.


Age: Around 10
Sex: Female
How long have you had your cat? N/A (sort of)
Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes
What food do you use? No clue
When was your last vet visit? Don't know
Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Strictly indoors
How many pets in your household? One
How many litter boxes do you have? One



My girlfriend is in the process of moving in with me, and with her comes her cat. I'm posting this because she loves the thing dearly and I want the cat to be comfortable in its new home. The cat was originally a feral cat, and then came to my girlfriend as a rescue following that. It is incredibly skittish and scared of people. It spends the majority of its time hiding during the day, though it will come out and hang out in the evening. Generally this takes the form of the cat coming out of hiding and just sort of staring at you and circling in for some petting before darting away (only if we are sitting down, it really does not like people moving around it, standing up will cause it to bolt 9 times out of ten).

It used to live in a relatively small apartment, and so it is having to transition to my place which is a small(ish) house. Its been here for three days, and while it spent most of the first day hiding in a closet in the basement, its more or less out and about now. My hope is to do whatever I can to make its transition here a happy one, and maybe even "socialize" it a bit. It has a tendency to just hang back and meow at people, and occasionally will come in for pets (it will kind of circle back and forth, rub up against you for a few seconds then walk away, then back, and repeat for awhile) when it wants attention. Nothing wrong with that, though I wish it felt more at ease. The one problem is that sometimes it will be laying there seemingly contented and then decide its done being petted and swipe at whoever was petting it. The cat still has its claws (which is fine, as far as I am concerned - its an indoor cat, but its 10ish and declawing it after all this time seems unnecessarily cruel), so that poo poo gets old. I would appreciate any suggestions regarding how to make it A: more comfortable with people (it actually likes me quite a bit, and apparently I am the only person other than my girlfriend that it will allow to pick it up - but it still does the circle routine to me and my girlfriend) and cut down on its skittishness; and B: knock off the meowing/clawing behaviors.

Finally, it used to have full run of the old apartment, but here we agreed to keep it out of the bedroom (I have mild allergies and it sheds a lot, even with daily brushing). It is also super nocturnal and will run around in a bedroom, pawing at you, knocking poo poo off the dresser, etc. to get attention - which can be a literal pain if you are petting it while half awake and it decides its done being pet and takes a swipe at you. The problem is, it will just hang outside the bedroom door at all hours of the evening and will meow and occasionally hit the door. My girlfriend got it a little cat bed that we put in the sun room, but it has largely ignored it. Any suggestions for getting it to not bang on the door/ use its bed?

Sorry for the long post, and I would appreciate any advice y'all can provide.

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duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat

assfro posted:

Sorry for the long post, and I would appreciate any advice y'all can provide.
1. Sociability can take a loooooong time, and you should clip nails before having guests over
2. Try one of those IR sensor compressed air things for your door at night(SCAT?), the door should always be closed and marked as a "no-cat" zone so if your cat gets in, they know to get out if you yell at it
3. Your cat will decide what things are good to sleep on whether you like it or not

Diogines
Dec 22, 2007

Beaky the Tortoise says, click here to join our choose Your Own Adventure Game!

Paradise Lost: Clash of the Heavens!

My 7 month old cat has sort of figured out that if she hops onto my desk while I work, toy in hand, I will throw it across the room, she will then fly to chase it and play with it and possibly bring it back to be thrown again, sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I want to encourage this behavior because it makes her happy and gives her some extra exercise without me having to do much.

What if anything can I do to encourage this?

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride
Not sure exactly, one of my cats just does this naturally and I wish she would quit it because it's really loving annoying after a while.

Is there like a favorite sort of toy she might do this with? I can pretty much guarantee some fetch playtime if I crinkle up a receipt into a ball with my fetch prone cat.

duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat

Diogines posted:

My 7 month old cat has sort of figured out that if she hops onto my desk while I work, toy in hand, I will throw it across the room, she will then fly to chase it and play with it and possibly bring it back to be thrown again, sometimes yes, sometimes no.

I want to encourage this behavior because it makes her happy and gives her some extra exercise without me having to do much.

What if anything can I do to encourage this?
Keep doing it; fetch cats are cool.
:smugdog:

Kornball
Apr 28, 2003
Look my schniggies! I had a strizoke in my brizain, okay, you know what I'm sayin? So I can't move all good. Thanks for mentioning that, thank you very much.
Our cat has developed a really nasty habit of jumping on the kitchen counter when we're not around, in hopes of finding food. We invested in a Tattle Tale, but sometimes it goes off inadvertently, frightening the dog, my girlfriend, and me. Unfortunately, it doesn't phase our cat at all, even when it works properly.

My next step is to invest in either a Scat Mat or X-Mat training mat. Does anyone have any experience with either of these?

I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with this situation, so any/all suggestions are welcome.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte
Scat Mat is badass. It works for countertops/tables for sure. Worth every penny. I have a Sssscat thing too that I tried for the same purpose and it's rubbish. Goes off too easily. The only negative about the scat mat is that my cats have figured out how to jump over it when I use it in doorways, but it keeps them from scratching at the door at least (when it's closed).

Kornball
Apr 28, 2003
Look my schniggies! I had a strizoke in my brizain, okay, you know what I'm sayin? So I can't move all good. Thanks for mentioning that, thank you very much.

Butt Wizard posted:

Scat Mat is badass. It works for countertops/tables for sure. Worth every penny. I have a Sssscat thing too that I tried for the same purpose and it's rubbish. Goes off too easily. The only negative about the scat mat is that my cats have figured out how to jump over it when I use it in doorways, but it keeps them from scratching at the door at least (when it's closed).

Thanks! I was thinking the Scat Mat might be a better deterrent. I forgot to mention that we've also tried putting tape on the counter sticky-side-up, but that doesn't seem to do much either :(

Monte Blood Bank
Dec 1, 2005

and we are faceless
you cannot attack us

take the money and then
run
Quick poop and litter question for you guys that has been driving me nuts.

Age: 1 year
Sex: Male
How long have you had your cat? 5 months
Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes
What food do you use? Nature's variety instinct
When was your last vet visit? 4 months ago
Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Strictly indoors
How many pets in your household? One
How many litter boxes do you have? One, covered

I love my little fluffball but he has a tendency to throw litter everywhere out of his box even though it's covered (it got worse when we took the cover off). Even more problematic, sometimes he seems to stick his foot in his poop and drag it around the house, leading to mopping and forced kitty bathing. Is there something we can do to help him be a bit cleaner?

Duckie
Sep 12, 2010

This is sewious!

Kornball posted:

Thanks! I was thinking the Scat Mat might be a better deterrent. I forgot to mention that we've also tried putting tape on the counter sticky-side-up, but that doesn't seem to do much either :(

Do you use enough tape? We had to put tape on our entertainment center to keep him from going there, but we found that unless it's literally a sold block of tape, the cat WILL find a way to step in the cracks. We wrapped the tape around a piece of cardboard so it could be easily moved if necessary. We used the regular light brown packing tape, if that makes any difference.

Rocks
Dec 30, 2011

New cat owner here.

Age: 2 years + two months
Sex: Male
How long have you had your cat? 3 months
Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes
What food do you use? Eagle Pack (but will switch to Orijen after reading this thread)
When was your last vet visit? 2 1/2 months ago
Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Strictly indoors
How many pets in your household? One
How many litter boxes do you have? One, uncovered

A few questions:

1) I've been feeding him a strictly dry diet because he is very picky about the canned food and it often goes stale after I come home from work, and he's barely touched it. I know everyone says to make sure cats (esp. male) eat canned so as to not get UTIs, but my cat drinks water no problem. In fact, often his (large relative to his body) water dish is almost empty after the day is up. He also goes pee about twice a day in fairly large amounts which I notice when I clean his litter box.

Is it really an issue that I feed him a dry-only diet here? Especially if he drinks the amount of water he does, as well as switching him to one of the premium dry foods (Orijen).

2) Regarding teeth cleaning - how often do you clean a cats teeth? Also, are there any products you recommend for teeth cleaning? Thanks so much, love this thread!

3) My cat goes nuts for those cat dancer toys, absolutely loves them and goes crazy every time I pull it out. Any recommendations for similar string toys that I can leave out while I'm at work (or sleeping) that he can play with and stay entertained?

Rocks fucked around with this message at 15:36 on Apr 24, 2012

HPL
Aug 28, 2002

Worst case scenario.

dnbrwn posted:

3) My cat goes nuts for those cat dancer toys, absolutely loves them and goes crazy every time I pull it out. Any recommendations for similar string toys that I can leave out while I'm at work (or sleeping) that he can play with and stay entertained?

There's this electronic mouse-on-a-string thing that squeaks when it moves like when the cat bats it or it bounces around. It has a bracket that mounts to the top of a door so the cat can play with it on its own. After a while my cat got bored of using it normally but he absolutely goes crazy when I take it off the door and swing it around. He still goes and gives it a few bats every now and then when it's mounted on the door.

Aerofallosov
Oct 3, 2007

Friend to Fishes. Just keep swimming.
My cats are 2 and 3 years old respectively. We may be fostering or adopting a black male kitten. Is there anything I can do to make it easier besides the usual gentle intros? I feed my cats blue buffalo and would try to get him some kitten kibble (I'm not sure how old he'll be, I'm still waiting to hear back).

Or is this just a terrible idea?

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

Aerofallosov posted:

My cats are 2 and 3 years old respectively. We may be fostering or adopting a black male kitten. Is there anything I can do to make it easier besides the usual gentle intros? I feed my cats blue buffalo and would try to get him some kitten kibble (I'm not sure how old he'll be, I'm still waiting to hear back).

Or is this just a terrible idea?

Well ideally you would have enough room to quarantine the kitten for a while, both for health and introductory reasons. There is a whole elaborate process you can go through to let them interact with each other more and more gradually (start by keeping the door blocked with a towel, remove towel and see how they react to seeing other under the door, once they start playing or at least not hissing maybe open the door so they can see each other, so on). This of course requires you to have enough room/litterboxes (which if you have 3 cats you should have more than one box anyway), but it's the best way.

Also if one cat is getting different food, you should feed them separately, because it will inevitably lead to cats eating the wrong food otherwise.

But no, not a bad idea. We gradually have acquired 3 cats over time and they get along great. Also maybe try some feliway to smooth the introduction.

Kornball
Apr 28, 2003
Look my schniggies! I had a strizoke in my brizain, okay, you know what I'm sayin? So I can't move all good. Thanks for mentioning that, thank you very much.

Duckie posted:

Do you use enough tape? We had to put tape on our entertainment center to keep him from going there, but we found that unless it's literally a sold block of tape, the cat WILL find a way to step in the cracks. We wrapped the tape around a piece of cardboard so it could be easily moved if necessary. We used the regular light brown packing tape, if that makes any difference.

We used painter's tape since we weren't sure if packing tape would take the finish off our counter. I placed the strips about half an inch apart from one another. I really like the cardboard idea, but I guess it's a moot point since I ordered the scat mat last night. Thanks for the suggestion, though!

mcmagic
Jul 1, 2004

If you see this avatar while scrolling the succ zone, you have been visited by the mcmagic of shitty lib takes! Good luck and prosperity will come to you, but only if you reply "shut the fuck up mcmagic" to this post!
I'm planning on getting a Kitten in a month when I move into a building that allows cats. My question is, I want to adopt from a shelter but I'm not sure if there is a vetting process I should be going through before I go over there and pick up my new kitty.

I found this organization on pet finder but their website looks a little low rent. Thoughts?

http://capic.webstarts.com/

Any thoughts on what I should be looking for in a shelter and in a kitten when I'm finally ready to adopt??

mcmagic fucked around with this message at 20:03 on Apr 26, 2012

Schmeichy
Apr 22, 2007

2spooky4u


Smellrose
I adopted this cat yesterday:



Age: ~5 years
Sex: Female
How long have you had your cat? 1 day
Is your cat spayed or neutered? Yes
What food do you use? Shelter gave us the Purina Pro she was eating, but I'm going to try to switch her to better food (looking at Blue Buffalo or Tiki cat)
When was your last vet visit? She was abandoned at a vet, and they kept her up to date on shots, etc. I'm planning on taking her in for a check-up within the next few weeks.
Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Indoors
How many pets in your household? One
How many litter boxes do you have? One, uncovered

My family owned/owns cats, but this is my first pet as an adult. She was left at a vet, and has been up for adoption for over a year. I have no idea why, because she is the friendliest cat I've ever seen. So friendly, that I'm wondering if her behavior is normal. I know that cats can act strange when they're sick, but for all I know, this is just her personality or new-house nerves.

She freaked out a little in the carrier during the car ride home, but I sprayed some calming spray on the carpet and fed her some wet food as soon as I let her out of the carrier. She immediately started purring and rubbing her face on everything within reach. As my husband and I go from room to room, she follows, meowing and purring and headbutting us. She's also sneezed a few times. I'm paranoid, because the last cat I saw that was this headbutty and purry was in a lot of pain and died of cancer.

I'm not too worried about her, since she's been eating and drinking and used the litter box fine. Am I okay to give it a couple days and see if she's just acting strange because she's in a new place?

She's pretty fat for her size, around 15 pounds, and will need to go on a diet. She was free fed at the shelter, and I gave her a normal portion of food when we brought her home. I think she's trying to beg for more food. Does anyone have tips for getting a cat to lose weight? She has some mats by her tail, and kind of a dirty bum, is that because she's too fat to clean herself? I've been brushing her when she'll sit still, and if she calms down tonight, I'll try and get the mats out completely.

I'm a nervous new cat parent, goons, tell me it's gonna be okay. Also, this cat has a serious thing for licking plastic bags. Should I stop her?

Geno
Apr 26, 2004
STUPID
DICK
the sneezing is fine and it's just the cat adopting to its new home. my cat did that for like the first three weeks but it hasn't sneezed since.

as for making it lose weight, that's tricky. sometimes, i'll put its food in a high place, like on top of a fridge, so it'll get exercise. i also got the PetSafe Slimcat so it'll eat slower. not sure if it's worked.

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-SlimCat-Food-Distributor-Ball/dp/B0018CG40O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1335470938&sr=8-7

Schmeichy
Apr 22, 2007

2spooky4u


Smellrose

Geno posted:

the sneezing is fine and it's just the cat adopting to its new home. my cat did that for like the first three weeks but it hasn't sneezed since.

as for making it lose weight, that's tricky. sometimes, i'll put its food in a high place, like on top of a fridge, so it'll get exercise. i also got the PetSafe Slimcat so it'll eat slower. not sure if it's worked.

http://www.amazon.com/PetSafe-SlimCat-Food-Distributor-Ball/dp/B0018CG40O/ref=sr_1_7?ie=UTF8&qid=1335470938&sr=8-7

The food ball is a good idea. It'll give her something to do while we're working, too.

kaworu
Jul 23, 2004

Schmeichy, I might have a bit of advice or some reassurances for you. I adopted my cat, Jackie, from my parents a little over a year ago now. Jackie was very similar to the cat you just got. Similar age, weight, gender, and even a similar sort of build based on that pic. Similar temperament, even - Jackie is incredibly friendly and purry and headbutty, and she's always been perfectly healthy. Some cats are just naturally very affectionate.

Anyway! Like your cat, Jackie had been free-feeding and basically been allowed to eat dry food (of decent but not excellent quality) to her heart's content for her entire life. I immediately switched her to an almost exclusive diet of wet food - I personally use wellness core wet food, supplemented with very occasional bits of dry food (also wellness core) and some crunchy kitty-treats now and then for dental purposes. Just being on a regimented diet of only so much food per day caused Jackie to slowly but steadily lose weight. There was also the fact that she had been eating a lot before in part as a stress response, because she didn't have a particularly happy life (didn't get along with the other cats in her previous house) and was not receiving the necessary amount of love and attention. So she simply didn't seem interested in eating as much food after I got her, and I think it had a lot to do with her quality of life being much better overall. Over the course of this past year, Jackie's gone from weighing ~17 pounds when I got her to about 12-12.5 pounds right now. She has a little ways to go, but she's in *way* better shape regardless.

Jackie also had similar hygiene problems - because of her weight she couldn't properly clean her own butt, so I had to do that for her on occasion for the first couple months. But she pretty quickly lost enough weight to do that. I used a bit of warm-ish water and a thick, soft absorbent paper towel - Viva paper towels, actually, which are amazing because they're very soft and almost cloth-like. That worked very well for that purpose.

Anyway! I really think you'll all be fine. She just sounds happy to be in a new home where people love and pay attention to her. :)

kaworu fucked around with this message at 07:56 on Apr 28, 2012

benjai
Jun 26, 2007
You know, back when Batman was four months old and I'd just gotten him, I couldn't believe everything people were saying about what assholes kittens could be. So he ran around a bit, it's a small apartment, fixed that by putting up kitty shelves, and hell he's silent and he barely sheds and he's just so adorable and cuddly....

I've had Batman since November and he's closing in on nine months now. And holy hell. The past couple of weeks he has not only started talking (ALL THE TIME) but at five-six in the morning, he does everything he can to wake us up by shoving stuff off of shelves and making sounds and then when we stir even the slightest he starts screaming in this high-pitched, feminine peep-meow, as though he's saying HELLO I HAVEN'T EATEN SINCE NINE LAST NIGHT WHY ARE YOU STARVING ME WHYYYYYYY.

Why did my cat turn into an rear end in a top hat :(

CantDecideOnAName
Jan 1, 2012

And I understand if you ask
Was this life,
was this all?
Your cat is still a kitten, and kittens are assholes.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte
My five year old cat does those things between 4-6pm (dinner is at 6). If I do not pay attention to mewing and hitting me with his paw, he starts knocking stuff over. The secret is that cats are assholes. All of them.

If you don't have Batman shut out of your bedroom at night, you should. He'll learn that you cease to exist until morning. He'll scratch at the door at first but he'll have to get over it. If he doesn't, do what I do- I put my scat mat in front of the bedroom door to keep them from being able to stand there scratching and that works well.

Schmeichy
Apr 22, 2007

2spooky4u


Smellrose


She seems okay, if she'd only stop sneezing.

benjai
Jun 26, 2007

Butt Wizard posted:

If you don't have Batman shut out of your bedroom at night, you should. He'll learn that you cease to exist until morning. He'll scratch at the door at first but he'll have to get over it. If he doesn't, do what I do- I put my scat mat in front of the bedroom door to keep them from being able to stand there scratching and that works well.

Wish I could, but I can't. I live in a one-room apartment so the only place I could shut him in at night would be the bathroom, and that's cruel. Plus, I get to blame myself because I love falling asleep with him next to me. He purrs like a lawn mower, it's really soothing.

Enelrahc
Jun 17, 2007

Schmeichy posted:



She seems okay, if she'd only stop sneezing.

She's super cute. Pretty much all cats carry viruses (the typical one is feline herpes) that normally are dormant but can be activated in times of stress. There's not much you can do other than wait it out. It should pass soon! Signs that you should see someone about it would be horrible gooky eye goo, eyes clouding up, lots of trouble breathing, lethargy, not eating.

Enelrahc fucked around with this message at 21:24 on Apr 28, 2012

Comrade Cakewalk
Nov 4, 2006
Win a cake for the motherland.

Comrade Cakewalk posted:

Couch demon
Finally got rid of this cat, new cat is currently snoozing in my bed and is generally super awesome. Getting the old cat into a carrier and out of my house was a loving nightmare, I seriously considered calling animal control.

New cat hasn't used his litter box yet, though, and I've had him since yesterday afternoon. How often do cats pee? I'm about to go sniff everything I own...

Also he makes biscuits. Constantly.

:3:

LeafyGreens
May 9, 2009

the elegant cephalopod

I'm looking to get a cat (or two!) once I settle into my new place, gonna look for indoor cats, unwanted cats, I'd love two bonded adults but I'm good to get a lonely cat and when they've settled in try introducing another.

My question is about the expectations of a house visit, should I have all the things I need for the cat in place before the inspection rolls around? Especially for house cats as they need a lot more stimulation etc. Or do they really just look at the location and the amount of space you have?

^
That marmalade cat is just the prettiest :3:

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

Prism_Pink posted:

I'm looking to get a cat (or two!) once I settle into my new place, gonna look for indoor cats, unwanted cats, I'd love two bonded adults but I'm good to get a lonely cat and when they've settled in try introducing another.

My question is about the expectations of a house visit, should I have all the things I need for the cat in place before the inspection rolls around? Especially for house cats as they need a lot more stimulation etc. Or do they really just look at the location and the amount of space you have?

^
That marmalade cat is just the prettiest :3:

Depends on the rescue. Many of them don't even do house visits unless there's a reason for concern. I would think having it reasonably clean and showing them where you plan to put a litterbox, cat tree etc (to show you've been thinking about it) would be enough. And have screens on your windows.

john mayer
Jan 18, 2011

Comrade Cakewalk posted:

Finally got rid of this cat, new cat is currently snoozing in my bed and is generally super awesome. Getting the old cat into a carrier and out of my house was a loving nightmare, I seriously considered calling animal control.

New cat hasn't used his litter box yet, though, and I've had him since yesterday afternoon. How often do cats pee? I'm about to go sniff everything I own...

Also he makes biscuits. Constantly.

:3:

Be patient. He's probably just nervous and getting used to his new surroundings. He'll pee when he's ready. Probably when you are not around.

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

john mayer posted:

Be patient. He's probably just nervous and getting used to his new surroundings. He'll pee when he's ready. Probably when you are not around.

Also check the bin, maybe he scooped up after himself.

For some reason the mental image of a cat being caught cleaning his own litterbox and then trying to act very nonchalant about it is amusing me greatly.

HPL
Aug 28, 2002

Worst case scenario.
My cat only buries his poop when we're not home. When we're home, he leaves it out in the open and starts meowing loudly until we come over and scoop it into the garbage, which we usually do anyway once the smell wafts over to wherever we are.

I'm not sure if he does that because he's proud of his poop or if it's because he can't stand the smell of it any more than we can.

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride

HPL posted:

My cat only buries his poop when we're not home. When we're home, he leaves it out in the open and starts meowing loudly until we come over and scoop it into the garbage, which we usually do anyway once the smell wafts over to wherever we are.

I'm not sure if he does that because he's proud of his poop or if it's because he can't stand the smell of it any more than we can.

Sounds like he knows he can make you get rid of it, but failing human intervention burying is the next best thing.

HPL
Aug 28, 2002

Worst case scenario.

Dogen posted:

Sounds like he knows he can make you get rid of it, but failing human intervention burying is the next best thing.

Well to be honest it's probably better this way because then the stench gets taken care of right away instead of permeating everything in the house.

It reminds me so much of little kids when they're in the bathroom and yell out that they're "done" and for the parent to come and check.

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride
The rational side of me wants to tell you that cats don't have a concept of pride, but the cat owning side of me knows better.

Comrade Cakewalk
Nov 4, 2006
Win a cake for the motherland.

john mayer posted:

Be patient. He's probably just nervous and getting used to his new surroundings. He'll pee when he's ready. Probably when you are not around.
Nope, he peed in my big potted plant. At least he's fairly considerate when he feels like peeing outside of the litter box.

I think the litter box may still smell like the old cat even though I washed it, changed all the litter, and wiped it down with some of the enzyme stuff. I'm going to re-clean with the Nature Miracle and get some of that cat attract litter.

Enelrahc
Jun 17, 2007

Comrade Cakewalk posted:

Nope, he peed in my big potted plant. At least he's fairly considerate when he feels like peeing outside of the litter box.

I think the litter box may still smell like the old cat even though I washed it, changed all the litter, and wiped it down with some of the enzyme stuff. I'm going to re-clean with the Nature Miracle and get some of that cat attract litter.
Well they'll pretty much always pee and crap in big potted plants over litter. Put some foil over the plant dirt and accept that your plant will now look like a space plant forevermore.

Aelia
May 13, 2008
I have 2 cats, Patrick and Isobel. I'm here a lot posting about them, because I've never been the primary-owner of cats before. We've had pets, but they've never been mine. Well, they're just shy of a year old (we think, they were rescued by a local group from a back yard) they're fixed, and have all their shots, etc.

I've recently outfitted my porch to make it cat-safe. We live on the third floor, and have a semi-enclosed balcony/porch that I wanted to let them on. We put up construction mesh with eye-screws, and aside from the edges, where I need to get concrete-bits and drill some anchors, it's finished. (I'd be willing to explain more about the process, etc. to y'all if you're interested, but I'm going to assume that's enough info for now.)

The thing is, there's a pass-through sort of thing which can let my cats see over to the neighbor's, and they have two cats, too. Now, I'm not sure about their cats, but I'm fairly sure they're indoor-except-the-balcony, too, since it's a third-floor apartment in the middle of a city.

My question here is two-fold.

1) How can I help my cats stop freaking out about the neighbors cats and/or the neighbors? I've been petting them and giving them reassurance whenever they're out there, and they seem moderately less freaked out by neighbor-noises now. But what else would be good?

2) Are there other medications I should get my cats on? Other issues I should be aware of if they're going to be in an outdoor space?

kaworu
Jul 23, 2004

Ok, it's official - my cat is pathologically incapable of being away from me, and I'm starting to actually worry about it. I recently got a complaint from the neighbor in the other apartment on my floor about her crying sometimes while I was gone - he said it's been happening for a little while but it's not really bothersome because the insulation is good enough that he generally doesn't hear it in most parts of his place, but he just wanted to let me know that it *is* happening. She apparently stops when she hears me coming up the steps - I live on the third floor so that gives her lots of warning. So, that's worrying me a bit.

And the other part of this is just how clingy she's always been, which has really only increased. I cannot overstate this enough - she is never more than a half a foot away from me at any given point, if that. If she's not on my lap/chest/side/feet/neck/face/etc then she's very close by, always. And where-ever I go she always follows. I'm just, well, worried that she's too lonely. I'd consider getting another cat but she does *not* do well with other cats.

Anyway, I don't know if there's a solution here, really. It's not necessarily a bad thing when I'm there - we both appreciate the company, really, and I mean... my cat just REALLY loves me, and that's not a bad thing because she's a totally fantastic and perfect cat and I love her. But I'm spending more time away from the apartment than I used to, hence the crying, and that worries me a bit. Would getting a feliway plug-in do anything at all? Anything?

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Comrade Cakewalk
Nov 4, 2006
Win a cake for the motherland.

Enelrahc posted:

Well they'll pretty much always pee and crap in big potted plants over litter. Put some foil over the plant dirt and accept that your plant will now look like a space plant forevermore.
I tried this last night. That furry bastard pried all the foil off and peed in it again. My house plants will now be porch plants. Right after I put the plant outside, he immediately went and peed in his litter box. Victory!

Is there a good brand or type of nail trimmers? I clipped his with little scissor looking ones and they splintered some.

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