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Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:

Xenoborg posted:

Would a cat eat goldfish (the crackers)? My mom keeps small bowls of snacks out on the counter, and recently put out some goldfish. Now she claims that our 12 year old cat is eating them. I'll admit they do look sort of pushed around like she stuck her face in the bowl, but I wouldn't think a cat would have any interest in crackers. No other snacks like m&ms or ritz crackers have been disturbed in the past.

One of my cats loves goldfish crackers. When I was younger we would snack on them together.

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mistressminako
Aug 4, 2007

Beware the man in the wheelchair lurking off-screen.


Ai got out a couple nights ago and I found him a half hour later in my backyard. He was defending against a massive black and white cat that I think belongs to my neighbor but spends more time walking around my house. Ai only goes outside on supervised trips usually on a leash but he tries to test his luck when I have to go outside at night and sometimes he slips by me or a roommate and proceeds to sit on the step. He usually comes back on his own and darts away if I try to follow him outside at night unleashed (but can be coaxed back by the small container of meow mix I keep around for treats). I chased away the other cat, scuffed Ai and brought him inside.

I was playing with him before work and felt what I thought was a snarl of fur halfway down his tail. Turns out it's actually a 3/4 inch scab over a scratch wound. The wound doesn't seem to bother him. I didn't notice any excessive grooming. The skin around the scab looks normal. He is fully updated on his shots/just had a fresh dose of Frontline and is eating and drinking just fine (he's devoured half a 5.5oz can of Wellness Chicken & Herring so far today); running after Da Bird and being a general loveable pain in the rear end following me around and flopping on my lap.

So my question is, are there any signs I should look for? There is a good crust on the scratch so I'm inclined to think it is a scratch and not a bite. I can touch his tail and the wound with no protest.

mistressminako fucked around with this message at 21:06 on Mar 30, 2013

Golden-i
Sep 18, 2006

One big, stumpy family
Refurb pissed outside her box (and in the bedroom just outside the bathroom where her box is) twice last week. I'm mostly certain that it was her way of saying that her box needed to be cleaned - the last couple weeks have been busy and stressful so a few things like cleaning the litter box as frequently as I usually do have slipped through the cracks. Is that something cats just do if their boxes get too messy for their tastes?

Shifty Pony
Dec 28, 2004

Up ta somethin'


Some cats can be really fussy about litterbox cleanliness and if it isn't up to snuff they will find another place to go. Was it in the same spot both times? If you don't clean it up with something like nature's miracle she likely can still smell it and may think of it as just another place to pee after the first time.

Golden-i
Sep 18, 2006

One big, stumpy family

Shifty Pony posted:

Some cats can be really fussy about litterbox cleanliness and if it isn't up to snuff they will find another place to go. Was it in the same spot both times? If you don't clean it up with something like nature's miracle she likely can still smell it and may think of it as just another place to pee after the first time.

Not just on the same spot - it was on the same shirt that I happened to leave on the floor twice and was washed between incidents. Good thinking though, I'll scrub the floor in that area with some nature's miracle and see if that helps.

My favorite shirt. Thanks Refurb. :shrug:

Rev. Bleech_
Oct 19, 2004

~OKAY, WE'LL DRINK TO OUR LEGS!~

Golden-i posted:

Not just on the same spot - it was on the same shirt that I happened to leave on the floor twice and was washed between incidents. Good thinking though, I'll scrub the floor in that area with some nature's miracle and see if that helps.

My favorite shirt. Thanks Refurb. :shrug:

One of my cats just hates dark blue colors. She used to piss on a bathmat I had that was dark blue until I started hanging it up. If a dark blue bath towel happens to fall on the floor, she'll piss on it. Any other color she just ignores. This is despite the use of Nature's Miracle.

Cats are weird.

Kerfuffle
Aug 16, 2007

The sky calls to us~
I've seen PI stories where cat owners couldn't leave clothes on the floor or own bathmats because their (perfectly healthy) cat would pee on them.

duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat
One of my cats has this thing about pissing on synthetics, like nylon or whatever cat tunnels are made out of. Otherwise, yeah, peeing outside the box can be a definite sign your cat disapproves of the box's condition, so you gotta scoop that poo poo once a day.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

Xenoborg posted:

Would a cat eat goldfish (the crackers)? My mom keeps small bowls of snacks out on the counter, and recently put out some goldfish. Now she claims that our 12 year old cat is eating them. I'll admit they do look sort of pushed around like she stuck her face in the bowl, but I wouldn't think a cat would have any interest in crackers. No other snacks like m&ms or ritz crackers have been disturbed in the past.

Hells yeah.

Serella posted:

He still really needs to go. See if you can throw a towel over him, wrap him up, and stuff him in the carrier that way. Because if that is blood-tinged urine on the floor, he is probably in quite a bit of pain and depending on what the cause is, it could end up being fatal if it's not treated.

If it were blood tinged urine there'd be other signs. The cat would be peeing or trying to pee elsewhere in the house, besides the litterbox, usually on soft things. He'd probably be crying while in the litterbox, or not using it at all. That does not look like urine unless it's SERIOUSLY bloody, in which case there'd be other signs, like the cat would probably be dead by now. Don't be alarmist.

That being said, cat + pillowcase = hilarious and effective.

Butt Soup Barnes
Nov 25, 2008

So I noticed today that one of my cats has an ingrown claw. It's my fault for waiting too long to clip her nails (it's probably been 6 weeks or so) and I feel bad although she is walking fine and doesn't appear to be in pain.

Is this something that I should take her to the vet for or can I clip the nail and remove the embedded part?

Butt Soup Barnes fucked around with this message at 17:10 on Mar 30, 2013

Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:

Butt Soup Barnes posted:

So I noticed today that one of my cats has an ingrown claw. It's my fault for waiting too long to clip her nails (it's probably been 6 weeks or so) and I feel bad although she is walking fine and doesn't appear to be in pain.

Is this something that I should take her to the vet for or can I clip the nail and remove the embedded part?

How embedded are we talking here? If its just curling around you can try to clip it but avoid the quick. If it's really stuck in her foot you should take her to the vet. I see a few embedded claws as an assistant every month and we usually clip it, clean the wound, and depending on the animal bandage the foot.

Edit: Don't try to twist the toe while you're clipping it, either D: If you can't get it off, just bring her to the vet.

Esplanade
Jan 6, 2005

Got any cat family therapists on the board?

My cat Max had to get four teeth pulled yesterday, which is stressful enough for the poor guy, but ever since he came back my other cat has been growling and hissing at him like he was the spawn of Satan. They've pretty much grown up together and have always been pals up to now, so does anyone have any idea what could be setting her off? Could it be some residual smell from the extraction and/or :catdrugs:? Has he been replaced with a changeling? Has anyone else experienced an attitude change along these lines? I just want my happy little family back. :smith:

In happier times:

Esplanade fucked around with this message at 20:23 on Mar 30, 2013

shady anachronism
Oct 14, 2006

Where's my goddamned milk?!

^^ This happens often in my house when we take an animal to the vet. Whether it's the dog or one of the cats, vet smell seems to unsettle the other animals. See if you can keep them separated/mellow for a day or so. At least in my experience, things come back to normal soon.

four lean hounds
Feb 16, 2012
Yeah, your cat just smells like VET! and STRANGE ANIMALS! and FOREIGN! right now. They should come back together nicely in time. If you want, maybe rub Max down with a towel or something that will make him smell more like the house? Both of your cats are cute, is one a bengal?

Higgs often helps with the laundry. Sometimes he helps more than he wishes to.

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

Eggplant Wizard posted:

If it were blood tinged urine there'd be other signs. The cat would be peeing or trying to pee elsewhere in the house, besides the litterbox, usually on soft things. He'd probably be crying while in the litterbox, or not using it at all. That does not look like urine unless it's SERIOUSLY bloody, in which case there'd be other signs, like the cat would probably be dead by now. Don't be alarmist.

That being said, cat + pillowcase = hilarious and effective.

Gotta love PI. Another time when I posted telling someone else that urinary crystals weren't necessarily a life-ruining event for a cat, I got bitched out for "downplaying reality" or whatever because I related my own experiences with my cat's urinary issues and how his case wasn't very bad. Now I'm being called alarmist because I think a cat that just peed dark blood on the floor definitely needs to go to the vet?

When my cat had crystals, he peed bloody urine on the rug once and looked uncomfortable while doing it, but didn't display any other signs while I was around, and I made sure to get him into the vet the next morning. Better safe than sorry with cat urinary issues, since they're so common.

Kerfuffle
Aug 16, 2007

The sky calls to us~
I (and probably the rest of PI) would agree, but in this case since he said it didn't smell like cat pee then it probably isn't. There's really no mistaking how gross cat pee smells.

e: I keep leaving out wordsss

Kerfuffle fucked around with this message at 21:10 on Mar 30, 2013

Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:
That doesn't even look like bloody urine, its way too orange.

Serella
Apr 24, 2008

Is that what you're posting?

Kerfuffle posted:

I (and probably the rest of PI) would agree, but in this case since he said it didn't smell like cat pee then it probably isn't. There's really no mistaking how gross cat pee smells.

e: I keep leaving out wordsss

But he didn't say this so :confused:

Whatever, he can take the cat to the vet or not, what do I care.

Esplanade
Jan 6, 2005

four lean hounds posted:

Yeah, your cat just smells like VET! and STRANGE ANIMALS! and FOREIGN! right now. They should come back together nicely in time. If you want, maybe rub Max down with a towel or something that will make him smell more like the house? Both of your cats are cute, is one a bengal?

Higgs often helps with the laundry. Sometimes he helps more than he wishes to.


Good boy, Higgs! My third (foster) cat looks like him.

And yeah, Jaka is a hyper little Bengal drama queen. She does seem to be calming down around Max, though, so I guess the vet stank is wearing off.

marshmallard
Apr 15, 2005

This post is about me.

Serella posted:

But he didn't say this so :confused:

Whatever, he can take the cat to the vet or not, what do I care.

He did, you probably just missed it :)

almostkorean posted:

This my initial thought because it didn't smell very strong when I first bent down to smell it, but when I wiped it up and got a closer smell I thought it smelled more like pee. Although at that point I had convinced myself it was pee, so maybe it was confirmation bias?? I dono

I guess I'll find out, his vet appointment is at 3.

As an aside, now that I've been thinking about it, he has seemed extra needy this week. Hope he's alright!

Slickdrac
Oct 5, 2007

Not allowed to have nice things

Xenoborg posted:

Would a cat eat goldfish (the crackers)?

I should get another bag of goldfish and show you the lengths my cat will go to in order to get them. I once buried them under a pile of clothes, towels, and topped it off with a blanket. He spent the next half hour getting everything off just to get the drat things.

duckfarts
Jul 2, 2010

~ shameful ~





Soiled Meat
It makes sense, I mean, don't they make cheese flavored cat treats?

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


Jet isn't food motivated at all. In fact, I will put a piece of meat right in front of his nose, he will sniff it a little, and then thoroughly ignore it. And yet he whines like a little bitch if his bowl is even slightly empty :mad:

Speaking of Jet, I may have to drive cross-country (north to south) with him in the future. Tips for driving long distances with a cat? Besides Xanax (for the cat, not me).

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

duckfarts posted:

It makes sense, I mean, don't they make cheese flavored cat treats?

I got my cats these once. They LOVED them. They felt like little cheetos and smelled pretty good to be honest.

The package is also hilarious:

Esroc
May 31, 2010

Goku would be ashamed of you.
My cat had a litter of five kittens in my shed, then disappeared. They are about a week old from what I can tell. I've looked high and low for their mother, but she's been missing for about three days now. :(

At first I left them in the shed with a box and a nice blanket for a little over a day, not wanting to move them in case their mother came back, but there's been no sign of her so I brought them inside. The mothers bowl of food hasn't even been touched. So in the meantime, I've been trying to feed them warmed kitten formula. My problem is they really don't like the formula. I try to be as gentle as possible, but I've basically had to get an eyedropper and force them to drink it, and I'm not even sure if they're getting enough.

Anyone have any advice on making the feedings easier? They seem to be strong and healthy so far, so I'm not too worried. The only no-kill shelter around here wont take kittens that are too young to eat solid food, so I need to keep them healthy until the shelter will take them.

Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:

Pollyanna posted:

Jet isn't food motivated at all. In fact, I will put a piece of meat right in front of his nose, he will sniff it a little, and then thoroughly ignore it. And yet he whines like a little bitch if his bowl is even slightly empty :mad:

Speaking of Jet, I may have to drive cross-country (north to south) with him in the future. Tips for driving long distances with a cat? Besides Xanax (for the cat, not me).

Yeah, Ollie isn't food motivated at all. Sometimes we can get him to do stuff for greenies, but he doesnt go out of his way for it. We did get him to eat a piece of raw chicken once, but it took a lot of coaxing. If you put it in his bowl and it isn't his typical cat food he just eats it around it or doesn't eat.

He's so un-motivated by food that one morning I found a tiny piece of sliced ham on his back and he just...left it there. I rolled over and he was looking out the window with a piece of ham on his back! My other cats would have devoured that in a moment. Apparently my boyfriend dropped a piece on the cat while having breakfast :psyduck:

AtomikKrab
Jul 17, 2010

Keep on GOP rolling rolling rolling rolling.

MY cats love cheez-its... and it is hilarious to watch the lengths they go through to get the crunchy cheesy goodness into their mouths, pushing it around trying to get their mouth on it, trying to wrap a paw around it and lift it into their mouths like people :allears: so funny and they get a delicious treat.

benjai
Jun 26, 2007
How can I have gotten so lucky? We adopted an adult online from a family whose daughter had become allergic. That was last weekend and holy crap Bats and Tiggy are now bros. One week. They wrestle and Bats licks Tiggs and they are so going to start cuddling soon. I am the luckiest cat owner :3

Shnooks
Mar 24, 2007

I'M BEING BORN D:
Edit: Upset and frustrated, I'm over it.

Shnooks fucked around with this message at 15:57 on Mar 31, 2013

Dr. Chaco
Mar 30, 2005

Esroc posted:

My cat had a litter of five kittens in my shed, then disappeared. They are about a week old from what I can tell. I've looked high and low for their mother, but she's been missing for about three days now. :(

At first I left them in the shed with a box and a nice blanket for a little over a day, not wanting to move them in case their mother came back, but there's been no sign of her so I brought them inside. The mothers bowl of food hasn't even been touched. So in the meantime, I've been trying to feed them warmed kitten formula. My problem is they really don't like the formula. I try to be as gentle as possible, but I've basically had to get an eyedropper and force them to drink it, and I'm not even sure if they're getting enough.

Anyone have any advice on making the feedings easier? They seem to be strong and healthy so far, so I'm not too worried. The only no-kill shelter around here wont take kittens that are too young to eat solid food, so I need to keep them healthy until the shelter will take them.

Have you tried using a bottle instead of an eye-dropper? If they will suck, a small pet nursing bottle will be easiest. If they won't suck, they may need to be tube-fed, as bottle-babies can inhale the milk really easily if they are not sucking well. You would best learn that from someone experienced, as it's difficult to accurately describe over the internet.

Call your vet and see if they can help--some vets will let you pay for an appointment slot and then go over kitten care with you, or will have a tech who takes bottle babies who can teach you how to do it, or if you are fantastically lucky, raise them for you. If you do end up handing them off to someone else, I would strongly encourage you to donate as generously as you can towards their time, effort, and expense.

If you cannot get someone to go over kitten care in person, you may find this PDF helpful:

http://www.austinhumanesociety.org/sites/default/files/newbornhandbook.pdf

Esroc
May 31, 2010

Goku would be ashamed of you.

Dr. Chaco posted:

Have you tried using a bottle instead of an eye-dropper? If they will suck, a small pet nursing bottle will be easiest. If they won't suck, they may need to be tube-fed, as bottle-babies can inhale the milk really easily if they are not sucking well. You would best learn that from someone experienced, as it's difficult to accurately describe over the internet.

Call your vet and see if they can help--some vets will let you pay for an appointment slot and then go over kitten care with you, or will have a tech who takes bottle babies who can teach you how to do it, or if you are fantastically lucky, raise them for you. If you do end up handing them off to someone else, I would strongly encourage you to donate as generously as you can towards their time, effort, and expense.

If you cannot get someone to go over kitten care in person, you may find this PDF helpful:

http://www.austinhumanesociety.org/sites/default/files/newbornhandbook.pdf

I went and picked up a bottle today and they took to it much better than the eye dropper. They're still a little fussy about it, but they're drinking from it just fine. I've found a few no-kill shelters that are out of town but still within reasonable driving distance so I'm gonna call them all today and see if one of them will take them in.

thebehaviorist
Jan 11, 2009

Hello. I recently adopted an approximately 5 year old cat from a shelter 3 weeks ago. Since coming home with me she has not been eating. We took her to two vets and have spent over a grand on tests trying to figure out what's wrong. All of her blood work came back fine. We have been feeding her some food in a syringe and giving her an appetite stimulant. Today she ate some dry food and we were so excited. Then this evening we find that she has thrown up all over the bedroom and she keeps running to the litter box, but not producing anything. She drinks well and there is always urine in the box so I don't think it's a blockage. Her butt is kind of...leaky? And she gets little drops of poop wherever she sits. For the past 45 minutes she's been grooming her butt excessively and then going to the litter box. She has done this 3-4 times in a row. We are at a loss since all of her tests are normal we have no idea what is wrong with her. Going to monitor her tonight and try to get her into the vet again in the morning (she was just there on Friday). I also forgot to mention that she is crying and screams and swats at us if we try to touch her. Any and all ideas for what to do with this cat would be appreciated.

marshmallard
Apr 15, 2005

This post is about me.

Esroc posted:

My cat had a litter of five kittens in my shed,

...I need to keep them healthy until the shelter will take them.

This made me sad. Why wasn't your cat spayed if you didn't want kittens? Now the shelter has to find homes for five more cats.

Tamarillo
Aug 6, 2009

thebehaviorist posted:

Hello. I recently adopted an approximately 5 year old cat from a shelter 3 weeks ago. Since coming home with me she has not been eating. We took her to two vets and have spent over a grand on tests trying to figure out what's wrong. All of her blood work came back fine. We have been feeding her some food in a syringe and giving her an appetite stimulant. Today she ate some dry food and we were so excited. Then this evening we find that she has thrown up all over the bedroom and she keeps running to the litter box, but not producing anything. She drinks well and there is always urine in the box so I don't think it's a blockage. Her butt is kind of...leaky? And she gets little drops of poop wherever she sits. For the past 45 minutes she's been grooming her butt excessively and then going to the litter box. She has done this 3-4 times in a row. We are at a loss since all of her tests are normal we have no idea what is wrong with her. Going to monitor her tonight and try to get her into the vet again in the morning (she was just there on Friday). I also forgot to mention that she is crying and screams and swats at us if we try to touch her. Any and all ideas for what to do with this cat would be appreciated.

My cat did this when we changed his food too fast. His colon was so irritated by the change in diet it swelled up and blocked his butthole; so he couldn't pass the solid waste and all that could come out was horrible poo juice. This might be a pretty basic question but were you feeding her the same food she was fed at the shelter? If you changed the food, maybe she's got a super sensitive tum and isn't handling the sudden change very well. Not a vet, so could be any number of different things.

What fixed our cat was feeding him a steady diet of good ol' Hills I/D for a month or two, then extremely gradually moving him over to a new food. God forbid he eats anything different - even a few mouthfuls is enough to trigger eyewatering gastric emissions.

Also bahaha, as I was typing this I heard my husband growling at Decoy, followed by silence then some outraged yelling at Decoy. My husband was stupid enough to leave a plate of cheese and crackers within Decoy's reach, and unsurprisingly Decoy hooked himself a piece of cheese. When my husband growled at him and took his stolen cheese to put it in the bin, Decoy crammed the rest of the cheese in his mouth and took off :3: love that bastard animal.

Alpha Kenny Juan
Apr 11, 2007

thebehaviorist posted:

Hello. I recently adopted an approximately 5 year old cat from a shelter 3 weeks ago. Since coming home with me she has not been eating. We took her to two vets and have spent over a grand on tests trying to figure out what's wrong. All of her blood work came back fine. We have been feeding her some food in a syringe and giving her an appetite stimulant. Today she ate some dry food and we were so excited. Then this evening we find that she has thrown up all over the bedroom and she keeps running to the litter box, but not producing anything. She drinks well and there is always urine in the box so I don't think it's a blockage. Her butt is kind of...leaky? And she gets little drops of poop wherever she sits. For the past 45 minutes she's been grooming her butt excessively and then going to the litter box. She has done this 3-4 times in a row. We are at a loss since all of her tests are normal we have no idea what is wrong with her. Going to monitor her tonight and try to get her into the vet again in the morning (she was just there on Friday). I also forgot to mention that she is crying and screams and swats at us if we try to touch her. Any and all ideas for what to do with this cat would be appreciated.

I'm guessing that based on the swatting that you both are trying real hard to interact with her. She needs to interact with You on Her time. First off I'd give her space. Make sure she has areas to call her own. This is if this behavior has lasted the entire time. If she started chill yet went :catstare: recently that could be related to her not feeling well. My cat gets hissy when she is sick but is a bundle of floof and purrs every other time. Also maybe try some calming spray? I don't have experience with that but maybe someone here does.

As for her butt I wonder if it's irritated. Sounds like she wants to go but is having trouble. On the other hand you were just at the vet and they should have checked that... :confused:

Dr. Fraiser Chain
May 18, 2004

Redlining my shit posting machine


Tamarillo posted:


Also bahaha, as I was typing this I heard my husband growling at Decoy, followed by silence then some outraged yelling at Decoy. My husband was stupid enough to leave a plate of cheese and crackers within Decoy's reach, and unsurprisingly Decoy hooked himself a piece of cheese. When my husband growled at him and took his stolen cheese to put it in the bin, Decoy crammed the rest of the cheese in his mouth and took off :3: love that bastard animal.


The best part of this story is that your cat is named Decoy.

Eggplant Wizard
Jul 8, 2005


i loev catte

Goodpancakes posted:

The best part of this story is that your cat is named Decoy.

The best part is that they got a shelter cat and a purebred at the same time and named the shelter one Decoy :xd: Cracks me up every time I think about it.


Tamarillo posted:

My cat did this when we changed his food too fast. His colon was so irritated by the change in diet it swelled up and blocked his butthole; so he couldn't pass the solid waste and all that could come out was horrible poo juice. This might be a pretty basic question but were you feeding her the same food she was fed at the shelter? If you changed the food, maybe she's got a super sensitive tum and isn't handling the sudden change very well. Not a vet, so could be any number of different things.

I think you may be right here. Poor thing. I mean, hopefully the vet has spent some time palpating her abdomen to feel around for poo blockage, but it's possible she's super constipated. That can lead to horrible poo juice coming out the sides around the blockage. Have you done the laxative thing? Canned pumpkin (unspiced, unflavored!), a tablespoon every other day or so. That should clear her up if that's what it is.

Since she's not eating well you may have better luck with something like Petromalt. It's available at pet stores and there are a zillion iterations of the same thing: malt-flavored petroleum-based laxative. It's sticky as gently caress. You can either put it in a bowl and see if she'll eat it (probably not), or just put it on her paws and she'll have to lick it off. Or she'll walk all over your carpets with it :sun:

(p.s. If your cat is vomiting/having poo troubles/not eating, and you've done $1000 in bloodwork BUT your vet hasn't suggested a sensitive stomach food or a laxative, you should find a new vet.)

thebehaviorist
Jan 11, 2009

Thanks everyone. Just wanted to update you. We ended up taking her into emergency care last night. They said she was dehydrated and they gave her fluids, checked for blockages and X-rayed her tummy. No blockages so they sent her home and my boyfriend took off work today to stay home and monitor her. Poor kitty. The vet thought it may have been due to us changing her food a lot to see what she would eat. Definitely wont be doing that anymore! Thanks everyone for your help. Here's a pic of Margot. She thanks you too.

Alpha Kenny Juan
Apr 11, 2007

thebehaviorist posted:

Here's a pic of Margot. She thanks you too.

That's a sassy cat. :catstare:

So how long was it between pet visit and emergency care? If it was less than a couple of days, I second the advice get a new vet. The Ecare people sound like they knew what was up yet it sounds like the vet was test, test, test adding costs and missed some pretty obvious signs. This is just based on your post of course so use your best discretion based on your experience.

e: edited content

Alpha Kenny Juan fucked around with this message at 22:03 on Apr 1, 2013

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IratelyBlank
Dec 2, 2004
The only easy day was yesterday
I read the entire OP but didn't really see my question addressed since it's pretty specific to my situation. I've been feeding these two stray cats for around (a little less than) a year. I saw them hanging out in my back yard one day and I started leaving food and water out for them and they started showing up more regularly. After a few months it got to the point where they weren't afraid of me anymore and now they are really friendly towards me and will hang out with me in my kitchen and are generally really affectionate towards me, but still distrustful of other people.

One is a male and one is a female and the female got pregnant (I know, I should have had them both fixed but I'm taking care of it now) and the female delivered her kittens on Saturday night. She didn't show up for dinner which I thought was really strange because she has literally never not come around for dinner and the next morning I saw her in the box I made for her with her kittens. I was initially afraid she wouldn't use the box because she showed no interest towards it but I ended up finding her in there with her babies. I think she is comfortable enough with me around her kittens because she let me remove one of the dead kittens and change out the bloody towels (which required moving the other two) without going crazy at me and was still rubbing on me and letting me rub her afterwards (I have no idea about cat behavior and if this is meaningful).

Now, I'm thinking that I am going to bring the mother and kittens inside because I really don't want the kittens to end up wild like the other two. I am also concerned about other cats bothering her because these two aren't the only two cats that come around to my yard and the others aren't friendly and are much bigger and have chased them away before. Now she is in a box with her kittens and she can't really run away if one of these problem cats come around looking for food or to gently caress with her.

I have a space under my stairs that would be fairly spacious in terms of the size of 3 cats which I am thinking about taking the door off of, would this be a good area for her to have with her kittens? It is basically a small storage area, maybe 5'x3'x3', l x w x h. I also don't know how litter training them is going to go, if I put a litter box on the outside of this little area will she figure out how to use it if all she knows about is making GBS threads in the woods? Will she feel nervous being in my apartment all day if I am out at work? I really don't think she has ever lived inside and I think that bringing her in might stress her out, but I think it would be much safer for her and better for her two kittens in the long run for them not to become outdoors cats. Should I consider bringing the boy in also? He genuinely seems very happy outdoors and most of the time will just lounge around in my back or front yards, but I don't know where he goes at night. I live by myself in a 1000sq ft apartment, I think it is big enough for them but I'm not sure. Any help is appreciated.

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