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four lean hounds
Feb 16, 2012

kaworu posted:

I just elbowed my poor, poor kitty-cat in the side of the head by accident! :cry: Jackie used to always announce her presence with a chirp or a trill of some sort whenever she jumped up onto my bed or the couch when I wasn't looking at her, but lately she has stopped doing this, and has taken to silently creeping up on me. So it's more like one moment I'm leaning forward to grab my cup of coffee or type something and then all of a sudden BOOM there's a big 14-pound cat directly behind me.

So this time I actually got startled which caused me to very quickly move my arm forward and I wound up elbowing my poor Jack in the face with WAY more force than ought ever be applied to a kitty :( She immediately yowled in pain and looked at me with these hurt eyes that seemed to say "Me, kaworu? Why would you ever try to hurt me like this?!" So I kinda grabbed her and cradled her in my arms and apologized profusely and repeatedly told her that it was an accident. I doubt this had the intended effect as she still just ran away immediately afterwards like I had been causing her more abuse.

But I think it's OK now because while writing that last paragraph she has returned to my side and is currently back under the blankets cuddling with me :3: It took her about 5 minutes to get over being elbowed in the face and go right back to loving me again. And of course she never ever scratched or bit or growled or hissed once, and still hasn't since she moved in with me a year and a half ago. I honestly have NO clue how I wound up with a cat this amazingly mellow and awesome. I certainly don't deserve it. I regularly tell Jackie that she's far better at being a cat than I am at being a human, which is very much true, and this is really just another example of that.

Aw, poor Jackie! Don't fret, I do that all the time to my cats. They are big cuddle bugs and as such must be within 2ft. of me at all times. They have been kicked, elbowed, popped on the head, all of that. Never hard or on purpose, but when they try to get literally underfoot, contact is imminent. I think they consider it a form of affection at this point.

I am glad she is forgiving. :3: Don't worry, the next time she does something naughty you can consider it payback for the elbow.

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Hef Deezy
Jun 11, 2006

Show no fear. Show no emotion at all.

Ktb posted:

Having read that again it sounds like Phoenix isn't particularly attached to either human but is very attached to her playmate. So another option would be to return her to the ex and let her be with Patrick again and get another companion for Panda if Panda is happy enough in her new digs without Possum (and Possum ok without Panda.) I know you said your roommate doesn't want to do either of these but if you've given it some time and ruled out medical reasons for Phoenix's behaviour then they might be the only alternatives to living with an unhappy cat which obviously isn't great for either of you or for her.

In short if she's acting out because she misses Patrick there is no easy way to make her get over it, be happy and stop calling out to him and trying to find him again.

This is very helpful. Panda and Possum are doing just fine, as they are very attached to their respective humans and not so much with the other cats. I'm pretty sure Panda especially would up and die if she didn't have my roommate around, as she has always only had eyes -- and trust -- for him. And while Phoenix is fine with most people, she actually is more attached to my roommate, just not in an obsessive way like Panda, so I probably downplayed it in that post.

I think I'll recommend he get her checked out to make sure it isn't medical, and then see if she manages to adjust. If not, he may have to make a tough decision. Thanks for the response!

Geno
Apr 26, 2004
STUPID
DICK
Anyone here have a problem with being allergic to cats?

I've been allergic to cats since I was young and couple years ago, I lived with someone who had two cats. The first week sucked but after that, I was fine where I wasn't feeling any symptoms at all.

I got my cat in March and like before, I had symptoms for the first couple days and was fine for awhile. About a month ago, my allergies started flaring up again. I would wake up with my nose just runny and I could feel my breathing suffer a little. I got an air purifier for my bedroom and it's helped a lot however, the problem still persists in my living room and kitchen.

I'm thinking about getting a cleaning lady to for my apartment but they have deep and light cleaning. I'm assuming the deep cleaning uses some type of chemicals and I have no idea if they're harmful for my cat. Should I just err on the side of caution and just stick with the light cleaning?

mistressminako
Aug 4, 2007

Beware the man in the wheelchair lurking off-screen.


What kind of exercise does Phoenix get beyond those supervised walks outside?

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!
So my cat has taken to being an rear end in a top hat by knocking things off the counter/table/sink/nightstand. Usually it's a TV Remote or my phone which I don't mind but yesterday it was a half full glass of coke which wasn't fun to clean up. Is there anyway to train this out of him or do i just need to be more careful where i leave stuff?

Drythe
Aug 26, 2012


 
Visiting for the holidays I encountered my family's new cat. At least it looks like a cat but I'm fairly certain it was a dog. I've never met a cat that begs for food as much as this one did. Apparently they got it to get rid of the mice which seemed to have worked. But now they just have one large mouse eating everything.

Rat Patrol
Feb 15, 2008

kill kill kill kill
kill me now

Geno posted:

Anyone here have a problem with being allergic to cats?

I've been allergic to cats since I was young and couple years ago, I lived with someone who had two cats. The first week sucked but after that, I was fine where I wasn't feeling any symptoms at all.

I got my cat in March and like before, I had symptoms for the first couple days and was fine for awhile. About a month ago, my allergies started flaring up again. I would wake up with my nose just runny and I could feel my breathing suffer a little. I got an air purifier for my bedroom and it's helped a lot however, the problem still persists in my living room and kitchen.

I'm thinking about getting a cleaning lady to for my apartment but they have deep and light cleaning. I'm assuming the deep cleaning uses some type of chemicals and I have no idea if they're harmful for my cat. Should I just err on the side of caution and just stick with the light cleaning?

Do you have a menstrual cycle? Because I have terrible allergy flare-ups during certain points in my cycle, sometimes people's cycles amplify illness and allergies, the phenomenon has a name but I'll be damned if I can remember it.

Are you taking any allergy meds? Maybe switch them up? You can always ask the cleaning company about the chemicals they use and whether or not they recommend boarding the pet for the process, or whatever.

edit: is your cat fixed? I've read that fixed cats make less of the allergy hormone, I've noticed my allergies respond a lot more violently to unaltered cats versus those who have been fixed.

Hef Deezy
Jun 11, 2006

Show no fear. Show no emotion at all.

mistressminako posted:

What kind of exercise does Phoenix get beyond those supervised walks outside?

She runs around and climbs everywhere when she wants to, and my roommate plays with her. She seems very active and energetic to me, and both cats have their toys and big climbing habitat/scratching post thing which is new and which they love. The jaunts outside are just to sniff at the porch and grass a bit to satiate her curiosity before she indicates she wants to go back inside, they're not for exercise and they only happen occasionally. Thankfully, since I work overnight from home, both cats sleep pretty much through the night on the bed with my roommate (or, in the case of Panda, sometimes on my ottoman which she has decided is an exceptionally fancy cat bed).

Is there any specific exercise she should be getting that she's not? We live in a fairly big apartment and she has free reign to go everywhere except my bedroom (though not for a lack of trying on her part), and seems to have no problem tuckering herself out.

She has been coming to me for affection a little bit more lately, though she never stays in one spot and sort of walks past me vocalizing a little bit until I pet her as she walks back and forth. With my roommate she actually sits on his lap/desk/wherever. I assume she's just getting used to having me around all the time. Should I be giving her more attention even though she's not technically my pet? She did use to have two owners to go to previously, of course.

This is her in a basket, there's no way to say no to that face:

Koivunen
Oct 7, 2011

there's definitely no logic
to human behaviour

mcmagic posted:

So my cat has taken to being an rear end in a top hat by knocking things off the counter/table/sink/nightstand. Usually it's a TV Remote or my phone which I don't mind but yesterday it was a half full glass of coke which wasn't fun to clean up. Is there anyway to train this out of him or do i just need to be more careful where i leave stuff?

Sorry to give this diagnosis, but it is a cat. There's no cure.

You have to train yourself to not put things in places where cats can't knock things over.

As much as I have tried to tell my cats that they shouldn't knock stuff off the counter/night stand/table/etc, they are cats, and they do not listen. Provide some other form of stimulation, like a scratching post or some kind of dangling toy that they can preoccupy themselves with, but cats tend to love disaster.

Just remember to place things in spots that cats can't access, and you won't have any more problems.

duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat
You can also try scat mats to see if they'll help with training her to stay off some areas.

Tamarillo
Aug 6, 2009

kaworu posted:

I just elbowed my poor, poor kitty-cat in the side of the head by accident! :cry:

Yeah, don't read too much into it. Hugo loves to dart between our legs when we're walking and we've given up counting the number of times he's gotten thumped in the head. Clearly it isn't bothering him too much because it happens almost on a daily basis.

Also both Decoy and Hugo are assholes when it comes to knocking stuff off places. The nightstand is the normal crime scene although the other day I managed to intervene just in time as Decoy tried to punt a full toilet paper roll off the ledge into the toilet.

Lastly, Decoy's turning into a Hunter of Objects and it is hilarious. He's bought in some random things before, but last weekend he bought in a roast potato and later what was clearly a piece of cooked broccoli. Today, he bought in a huge stuffed mouse toy that is most definitely not ours, on account of the annoying squeaker in it. He loving loves it and will not put it down. I'm not sure where the mouse is from but I think he's raiding the food from the neighbours next door when they eat dinner/leave dinner unattended outside.

kaworu
Jul 23, 2004

Tamarillo posted:

Yeah, don't read too much into it. Hugo loves to dart between our legs when we're walking and we've given up counting the number of times he's gotten thumped in the head. Clearly it isn't bothering him too much because it happens almost on a daily basis.

Yep the incident is more or less forgotten by us both, it was just a bit freaky because it was so sudden and, well, *loud*. It's pretty scary to feel like you might have actually harmed your pet by accident! I could tell that she actually stayed a little unnerved about the elbow for a while, though, because for like 6 hours afterwards she stayed sitting on her paws. This is one of those cat body language things, and I have no idea how universal it is, but I know when Jackie feels relaxed and comfortable because she lies down on her actual side - if she's loafing in a certain way or staying on her paws while otherwise *appearing* to lay down, she's always at least a little tense. It took her a while last night to feel totally comfortable again, poor thing.

But I agree they are amazingly resilient and durable, in a manner of speaking. I've always found that to be one of the rather remarkable things about cats. Jackie also loves walking underfoot like many cats, and I've just gotten totally used to always watching my feet when walking indoors, heh.

It's good to hear about Hugo and Decoy, though! I loved your thread, they were both such adorable kitties :) I'd like to see pics of how they're coming along, if you have any, please! I was shocked at how dark Hugo had gotten in his last pics, and I'm curious if he's gonna wind up being a BIG cat like some ragdoll males, weighing like 16-20 pounds without too much excess fat. I like big cats - for some reason all the cats I've been close to have tended to be on the gigantic side, adult cats who are >10 pounds just seem odd to me.

kaworu fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Nov 27, 2012

The Prismatic Goth
May 31, 2001

duckfarts posted:

You can also try scat mats to see if they'll help with training her to stay off some areas.

I've used scat mats and ssscat in an effort to set up some "cat-free" areas. My cat would still go to these areas and set off the shock/spray at least once every couple days. Every time he gets super spooked, but he keeps doing it. I don't know what this means - is he testing them just in case they stop working one day? Or is he just too stupid to remember they're there? Who knows?

Anyway, once he got spooked by the ssscat so bad he kinda lashed out on it, knocking it across the room; the battery compartment hit the floor so now the lid doesn't close and the batteries won't stay in anymore. :argh:

mistressminako
Aug 4, 2007

Beware the man in the wheelchair lurking off-screen.


What a cutie :3:

My neutered male tends to be very vocal and as far as I know, he was never especially bonded to another cat (adopted him from my front yard). Ai just really likes having people around and gets upset if he's left alone.

I've had good luck using a Da Bird a couple times a day to give him focused activity and exercise, and it's something that you and your roommate both can bring out for her when she starts crying. I like the Da Bird pole better than a lazer pointer because it gives the cat something to "catch". Ten minutes of chasing after the thing and Phoenix should be comfortably worn out.

Macichne Leainig
Jul 26, 2012

by VG
I'm not sure this is the best place for this, but here goes:

My cat has recently developed a lump sort of between her right shoulder and the back of her neck. She's an obese cat, if that's an important detail. The lump is bald, and you can kind of get your fingers under it, like it's a giant pimple or something. It's about thumb sized and completely round. She does not show any signs of pain when I touch it. Any ideas what it is? I'm thinking a cyst of some sort?

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!

Koivunen posted:

Sorry to give this diagnosis, but it is a cat. There's no cure.

You have to train yourself to not put things in places where cats can't knock things over.

As much as I have tried to tell my cats that they shouldn't knock stuff off the counter/night stand/table/etc, they are cats, and they do not listen. Provide some other form of stimulation, like a scratching post or some kind of dangling toy that they can preoccupy themselves with, but cats tend to love disaster.

Just remember to place things in spots that cats can't access, and you won't have any more problems.

Figured this would be the answer. haha.

Crooked Booty
Apr 2, 2009
arrr

Protocol7 posted:

I'm not sure this is the best place for this, but here goes:

My cat has recently developed a lump sort of between her right shoulder and the back of her neck. She's an obese cat, if that's an important detail. The lump is bald, and you can kind of get your fingers under it, like it's a giant pimple or something. It's about thumb sized and completely round. She does not show any signs of pain when I touch it. Any ideas what it is? I'm thinking a cyst of some sort?
It could be certainly be a cyst, but there are a lot of other possibilities, some more serious than others. The best thing to do is have your vet take a look. They will be able to stick a needle in it and get an idea of what it is, and whether or not it needs to be removed.

Macichne Leainig
Jul 26, 2012

by VG

Crooked Booty posted:

It could be certainly be a cyst, but there are a lot of other possibilities, some more serious than others. The best thing to do is have your vet take a look. They will be able to stick a needle in it and get an idea of what it is, and whether or not it needs to be removed.

That's what I was thinking. I'll book an appointment, better safe than sorry.

Hef Deezy
Jun 11, 2006

Show no fear. Show no emotion at all.

mistressminako posted:

What a cutie :3:

My neutered male tends to be very vocal and as far as I know, he was never especially bonded to another cat (adopted him from my front yard). Ai just really likes having people around and gets upset if he's left alone.

I've had good luck using a Da Bird a couple times a day to give him focused activity and exercise, and it's something that you and your roommate both can bring out for her when she starts crying. I like the Da Bird pole better than a lazer pointer because it gives the cat something to "catch". Ten minutes of chasing after the thing and Phoenix should be comfortably worn out.

Thanks so much! I kind of get the feeling sometimes that she's bored of the surroundings, which is why she sometimes gets so adamant about exploring the porch or my room. I'll get the cats one of these as an early Christmas present and see if it helps distract them -- I think they're starting to realize the trick behind the laser pointer, actually, as Phoenix especially will try and steal the actual device when it's sitting out!

ChaiCalico
May 23, 2008

Total cost spent on purr pads, cat beds, tunnels and baskets ~ $100

Cats favorite napping place aside from my bed is a cut up piece of my sofa cover which was falling apart and is probably about $5 of fabirc :arghfist: :3:

jrr
Sep 13, 2007
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo
Sorry if there is a better thread for this, but... The exterminator came to my apartment today for a routine check-up type thing and now when I got home there's white powdery stuff all over the inside of one of my cabinets, the one with the cat food container. It was all over the lid of the container and when I opened it, there was some inside too. I am going to chuck all of the cat food that was in the container but what could this stuff be? I am assuming it's toxic to the cats but uh is it toxic to me too? There's nothing on the exterminator's note about it and it also isn't in any other cabinets.

Giant Tourtiere
Aug 4, 2006

TRICHER
POUR
GAGNER

jrr posted:

Sorry if there is a better thread for this, but... The exterminator came to my apartment today for a routine check-up type thing and now when I got home there's white powdery stuff all over the inside of one of my cabinets, the one with the cat food container. It was all over the lid of the container and when I opened it, there was some inside too. I am going to chuck all of the cat food that was in the container but what could this stuff be? I am assuming it's toxic to the cats but uh is it toxic to me too? There's nothing on the exterminator's note about it and it also isn't in any other cabinets.

I would call the exterminator (or your landlord if you don't have their contact information) and insist on knowing what's up. You should really be advised about any chemicals they're deploying in your place, and also if you have any critters that they're trying to wipe out that seems like it would be good to know too.

jrr
Sep 13, 2007
Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo

lockout username posted:

I would call the exterminator (or your landlord if you don't have their contact information) and insist on knowing what's up. You should really be advised about any chemicals they're deploying in your place, and also if you have any critters that they're trying to wipe out that seems like it would be good to know too.

Thanks for the advice. I am like 99% sure I don't have any critters and it was just a routine maintenance thing but I did email the exterminator and I will call them as soon as it's business hours tomorrow to find out what this stuff is. I was really, really hoping that someone on here would be like "oh yeah exterminators do that all the time. That's diatomaceous earth and your cats are A-OK."

edit: I'm also worried that there's some somewhere else in the apartment that I haven't found that the cats could get into. Last time the exterminator came for a routine visit, I was finding poison mousetraps all over the place like an Easter egg hunt. They said pet-safe but I threw them all away anyway.

jrr fucked around with this message at 02:54 on Nov 28, 2012

Neena
May 11, 2007

No male will ever handle my massive CoX!
Wait, I meant boobs! Wait!
FISTS, Shit!
It might be borax, but definitely find out for sure.

Sulla Faex
May 14, 2010

No man ever did me so much good, or enemy so much harm, but I repaid him with ENDLESS SHITPOSTING
Has anyone had their cat eat a cooked chicken bone? The girlfriend and I had dinner and then were in a rush and had to duck out for a bit, we accidentally left a plate with a couple of chicken drumstick bones on them where the cat managed to find them. He ate 1/3 of one and 2/3 of the other. He seems to be okay but we are pretty worried because we know cooked bones are dangerous and splinter. Certainly there were a lot of bone fragments left, but they felt pretty soft.

We're feeding him a chicken neck now to see if we can't help clear his system and get him to poop ASAP to clear whatever he ate. I know cats don't like showing signs of weakness (illness or pain), what are the odds of a chicken bone splinter causing a problem? Is there anything we can do, or anything in particular to keep an eye out for?

motherfish
Nov 11, 2005

I was watching this video on how to introduce your cat to getting it's teeth brushed and they mention you only have to brush the outside since the inside part gets taken care of by their saliva, however at the petstore they had no similar small brushes only these doublebrush ones that look huge...They even said it's important to brush both sides, what's up?

If you have any recommendations for toothpaste or products related to mouth health lemme hear it too!

Dr. Chaco
Mar 30, 2005
Re: chicken bones: any sign of illness would be concerning, but especially vomiting or diarrhea. You might also see loss of appetite and increased hiding/decreased activity, which seems to be true with any cat illness.

Re: tooth brushing, when I was good and brushed my cats teeth I only did the outsides. At school we were taught that the insides get cleaned with the tongue and brushing was less/not necessary. Having cleaned a lot of cat teeth, it does seem to be true, at least for the back teeth, that the majority of the gunk is on the outside. I used a regular human-style toothbrush.

Rat Patrol
Feb 15, 2008

kill kill kill kill
kill me now
When I got my kitten he had just improved from an upper respiratory infection. His eye was swollen and runny, but they said that should be the last of his symptoms and gave me some gel to put in his eye a couple times a day.

It's been over a week and he's not much improved. His eye is not swollen, but it is definitely squinty and sensitive, and runny. His nose is also runny, he occasionally sneezes, but most worryingly for me, he will maybe once a day that I've seen, have a coughing fit on phlegm.

He's eating, drinking, and playing plenty, but I'm worried! They said he should be improved in a week! And since it's been 8 days, his illness is technically my problem - only if I called the APL within seven days would they help me take care of it. I'm still going to try them, but if they tell me they can't help me, how worried should I be? How much more time should I give this eye gel to work?

He's running around like a crazy cat now, and if it weren't for his runny face he'd look totally healthy. Some nights he does seem vastly improved. But some days, like today, his eye is all gunky and he just looks sad (when you can get him to sit still that is).

seiferguy
Jun 9, 2005

FLAWED
INTUITION



Toilet Rascal
So one of my cats has had inflamed gums that we've had her in and out of the vet for. She got prednisolone for awhile, but it wasn't helping too much. The vet thought she had stomatitis, and get suggested a dental cleaning. We got her a dental cleaning today (which hurts the money book, I should say), and the vet just called saying that they'll need to extract 2 impacted teeth :(

Anyone dealt with Stomatatis? Any treatment you know besides total teeth removal that has worked? Am I going to have to feed her wet food from now on? It wouldn't be too much of an issue except our other cat is a total fatty and pushes her out of the way when eating so it just means feeding them in separate rooms.

taint toucher
Sep 23, 2004


seiferguy posted:

So one of my cats has had inflamed gums that we've had her in and out of the vet for. She got prednisolone for awhile, but it wasn't helping too much. The vet thought she had stomatitis, and get suggested a dental cleaning. We got her a dental cleaning today (which hurts the money book, I should say), and the vet just called saying that they'll need to extract 2 impacted teeth :(

Anyone dealt with Stomatatis? Any treatment you know besides total teeth removal that has worked? Am I going to have to feed her wet food from now on? It wouldn't be too much of an issue except our other cat is a total fatty and pushes her out of the way when eating so it just means feeding them in separate rooms.

I had to deal with pretty severe stomatitis with one of my cats. When we adopted him from our local rescue they warned us that he had issues but we never realized how bad it actually was. His was so bad many of his teeth were rotten at the root and were barely being held in his head and eating started to become very painful for him. Of course since our vet never took x-rays we didn't know this and spent a lot of time and money trying to treat it.

We tried the cleaning and it didn't work, same with prednisolone. After spending a whole lot of money on things that didn't work we talked with an animal dentist who suggested a full extraction. We had that done and he's been absolutely wonderful ever since. He went from being very cranky and anti-social to an extremely loving and social cat. I'm guessing he was in pain for quite some time and was very good at hiding it.

He has no problem eating hard food it seems. The animal dentist told us that cats really don't chew hard food much anway. He put on a decent amount of weight after he healed up and seems to be doing great. The full extraction is pricey but it seems that it's almost unavoidable when the cat has bad stomatitis.

Dragyn
Jan 23, 2007

Please Sam, don't use the word 'acumen' again.
I have one of the cats in isolation in a bathroom, as we work on a re-introduction (which hasn't been going well, but hopefully the Feliway will help). I went in to clean her box this morning and it there was a small drop of what looks like blood on the liner of the box, around head height for the cat.

I inspected her, and I don't see anywhere she's bleeding from or was bleeding from. She hasn't been able to fight with the other cat for 4 or 5 days now, so it can't be a battle wound.

Any suggestion as to what I should be looking out for?

Also, since I posted them outside of PI and not here, kitties :3

Kevin on the towelcat warmer in the bathroom.


Stitch playing with my DIY Da Bird

Dragyn fucked around with this message at 20:34 on Nov 30, 2012

Crooked Booty
Apr 2, 2009
arrr
Anyone have an opinion about less dusty, unscented cat litters for asthma kitties?

I know crystals or pellets are probably ideal, but I have a Litter Robot and would desperately like to find something clumping/scoopable. I just switched to World's Best, which is a huge improvement from what I was using before, but if anyone has experience with something better, I'd love to hear it.

dangittj
Jan 25, 2006

The Force is strong with this one

seiferguy posted:

So one of my cats has had inflamed gums that we've had her in and out of the vet for. She got prednisolone for awhile, but it wasn't helping too much. The vet thought she had stomatitis, and get suggested a dental cleaning. We got her a dental cleaning today (which hurts the money book, I should say), and the vet just called saying that they'll need to extract 2 impacted teeth :(

Anyone dealt with Stomatatis? Any treatment you know besides total teeth removal that has worked? Am I going to have to feed her wet food from now on? It wouldn't be too much of an issue except our other cat is a total fatty and pushes her out of the way when eating so it just means feeding them in separate rooms.

One of our cats has stomatatis and will need at least 5 teeth pulled. They haven't been bugging him as of yet so we are waiting on getting it done, especially since it's so pricey. I feel bad for poor Trogdor, the vet was saying they have to put him way under and even then whey they make the pull she said the jaw will shake and the cat will wince a little bit.... :(

Vet said that there wouldn't be any difference in food afterwards.

Onean
Feb 11, 2010

Maiden in white...
You are not one of us.
One of my parent's cats had a litter of kittens a little while ago, and they're now 3 and half-ish months old. I'm looking to adopt two of them (just waiting on the go-ahead from the landlady) and I just want to double check mostly the food choice.

My parents give their cats the cheap Purina (or similar) brand dry food, but I stopped by the only (non PetSmart, don't yet have the time to run to the next town over to check it) pet store I could find locally to see what they had, and they gave me a few samples to try out for free. One was on the list in the Nutrition Thread (Taste of the Wild Rocky Mtn. and Canyon River) but the other, called go!, wasn't. Has anybody had any experience with this brand? (Ninja Edit: Just saw it under the dry dog food section, but not the cat.) They did have Orijen for dry, and Tiki Cat, Natural Balance and Organix for wet. They also gave me a couple samples of Rad-Cat raw food. I'm going to give each a try, just to see what the kittens will eat and which ones they won't, but does anybody or anybody's cats have any preferences?

Also, are there any fellow northern Flathead Valley, Montana goons that can point me towards some other pet stores/vets in the area? I found Tail Waggers in Whitefish, and they couldn't point me towards any other stores, but they did point me towards the Whitefish Vet Clinic for a vet. I'm not going to be able to afford a vet visit for at least two weeks, probably a month, but I'd like to see what options are in the area.

Crooked Booty
Apr 2, 2009
arrr

Onean posted:

My parents give their cats the cheap Purina (or similar) brand dry food, but I stopped by the only (non PetSmart, don't yet have the time to run to the next town over to check it) pet store I could find locally to see what they had, and they gave me a few samples to try out for free. One was on the list in the Nutrition Thread (Taste of the Wild Rocky Mtn. and Canyon River) but the other, called go!, wasn't. Has anybody had any experience with this brand? (Ninja Edit: Just saw it under the dry dog food section, but not the cat.) They did have Orijen for dry, and Tiki Cat, Natural Balance and Organix for wet. They also gave me a couple samples of Rad-Cat raw food. I'm going to give each a try, just to see what the kittens will eat and which ones they won't, but does anybody or anybody's cats have any preferences?
One of the best things you can do with kittens is to feed a variety of foods. Cats develop their preferences based on what they eat as kittens, so if you feed various flavors (fishy, non-fishy) and textures (dry, chunky, shredded, pate, etc.) now, it will make your life easier when they are adults (particularly if one ends up with a health problem that calls for a specific diet).

Canned food is better than dry food in just about every way. If you're going to feed dry and want to keep things simple, I'd personally just go with the food that has the highest percentage of protein. Almost any canned food will be very high in protein compared to dry foods.

Make sure anything you're feeding has an AAFCO statement on it that says "for growth/kittens" or "for all life stages" because kittens require more of certain nutrients than adult cats.

In any case, the "right" food is the one that 1) they like to eat and 2) they do well on (soft non-greasy haircoat, solid stool, minimal kitten farts, etc). You have a lot of good options. :)

Onean
Feb 11, 2010

Maiden in white...
You are not one of us.
Landlady said yes. :)

I've currently got two kittens exploring and running all over the place. No accidents yet, but we'll see how long that lasts.

Crooked Booty posted:

Make sure anything you're feeding has an AAFCO statement on it that says "for growth/kittens" or "for all life stages" because kittens require more of certain nutrients than adult cats.

Yeah, all of them have it. It was the first thing the lady at the store checked, followed by grain-free (I asked, dunno if she would have checked if I hadn't). They haven't touched the food I set out yet, but I imagine that'll happen in time.

Edit: And one just used the litterbox, so we're off to a good start.

duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat

Crooked Booty posted:

Anyone have an opinion about less dusty, unscented cat litters for asthma kitties?

I know crystals or pellets are probably ideal, but I have a Litter Robot and would desperately like to find something clumping/scoopable. I just switched to World's Best, which is a huge improvement from what I was using before, but if anyone has experience with something better, I'd love to hear it.
Anything with large grains, often marked as "non-tracking" would be worth a shot maybe.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

seiferguy posted:

So one of my cats has had inflamed gums that we've had her in and out of the vet for. She got prednisolone for awhile, but it wasn't helping too much. The vet thought she had stomatitis, and get suggested a dental cleaning. We got her a dental cleaning today (which hurts the money book, I should say), and the vet just called saying that they'll need to extract 2 impacted teeth :(

Anyone dealt with Stomatatis? Any treatment you know besides total teeth removal that has worked? Am I going to have to feed her wet food from now on? It wouldn't be too much of an issue except our other cat is a total fatty and pushes her out of the way when eating so it just means feeding them in separate rooms.

Have you tried changing to a hypoallergenic food?

Ema Nymton
Apr 26, 2008

the place where I come from
is a small town
Buglord
My new kitty has been missing since last night, and I found him this evening inside the structure of my kitchen cabinets when he finally made some noise. I was sure I had sealed off all the gaps down there years ago.

I pulled the baseboard off and let him out. So what does my other cat do? He immediately tries to squeeze himself into the same hole I just took the new cat out of. Cats are assholes. :mad:

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I Am Frick
Mar 26, 2004

The lesser half
of Frick and Frack
So my cat is kind of weird. TL,DR - I think she's dying. Is she?

Back an unknown amount of time ago - we'll say 1999 - we picked up a stray after losing an outdoors cat to the wild (he ultimately was our last outdoors cat. We kept them all harbored indoors ever since). A woman called us from eight towns away saying, "we have had this cat coming to our door, it's obvious nobody is taking care of her, she won't leave my property, sounds like the cat you described in the classifieds and a big winter storm is a day away. Whether this is your cat or not, take it."

So we took her. Black American shorthair. Her name became Cleo.

The vet said, at the time, that she was two to four years old, maybe older, judging by the condition of her teeth. She was happy with us, but the other four cats started picking on her. She quickly took an interest in my room and started living in it, until it got to a point when the other cats wouldn't let her leave to use the litterboxes. She started getting her own litterbox in my room while we built a new room in the basement complete with little kitty doors in the wall leading to her own private litter box.

Over the span of eight years or so, her health slowly declined. She was eating Fancy Feast every morning and night, half a can each time, and the supply of dry food was constant. Sometimes, she'd sit in the litterbox for a while, cook up something absolutely fowl, come out sounding the kitty sound of terror, and then throw up everywhere. I will admit, sometimes her bowel movements were so strong I too felt like I was going to throw up.

I finally moved into my own house with my now wife in May. It was Cleo's first chance to essentially live in an environment bigger than a bedroom since around 2003. We kept her upstairs because of demolition and construction going on down in the first floor (this place was trashed from a previously bad owner, so we got it shortsale before the bank foreclosed. As such, the living room got torn apart, as did the kitchen and basement). A baby barrier was installed on the second floor to keep her to the master bedroom and our office, where her food (Fancy Feast wet twice daily, Wellness dry), water and litter box were.

She started puking more frequently after eating Fancy Feast around mid-September. So I went to a local, privately owned pet store, explained that my best guess puts her at around 16 years old, and the woman running the place introduced me to Weruva. Cleo started going nuts on the stuff, particularly tuna, beef and chicken flavors (oh god, especially the chicken). She eats a large can daily - half in the morning, half at night. Volume-wise, that's about twice what she ate before in wet food.

Once the kitchen and living room was done, we allowed her downstairs and let her roam freely when we're home (she stays upstairs when we're not). But over the last two months, she's gotten slower and slower. She's also just about deaf, as she doesn't respond to sounds from us and her own meowing has increased in volume over the last month. Now, she barely makes it up the stairs from the first floor, she wobbles when she walks, she goes limp when I pick her up, and in the last week, her meowing has become much weaker. She's also eating less, but she's drinking water like a horse (always has). She's lost a ton of weight in the last few weeks, something I didn't really notice until I took a hard look at her a few minutes ago. If I had to guess, I'd say she's around 4 pounds right now. It's not a healthy weight, and it looks far from healthy.

It doesn't seem like she's in pain. I can't see blood anywhere. She doesn't cry when I pick her up - only when I'm not giving her attention because I'm doing something else. She's making it to the litter box, not a single accident since we moved here.

So I'm making a vet or cat expert the priority this weekend, but just so I can put my mind at ease, what's your take on this, goons?

I Am Frick fucked around with this message at 06:45 on Dec 1, 2012

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