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Hey all. I read the first ten or so pages of the thread then skipped around, but didn't find what I was looking for. I read about introducing cats to cats.. But what about cats to dogs? We just adopted a 1 year old cat this weekend and we have 2 dogs at home (a 15 year old deaf/blind miniature dachshund and a 4 year old treeing walker coonhound). Both dogs have been around cats in the past, even living with them for a few months at a time so I know they know cats aren't chew toys, but usually the houses they go into the cats have already been there and established their dominance or territory or whatever. So, anyways, we have Stache (Haffastache is his name, I'll post a picture and you'll see why) upstairs. His food, toys, litterbox, bed and everything are in a room and he has free range of it and our room where he sleeps. The dogs aren't allowed upstairs (the stairs are steep) so I can't do the whole feeding on opposite sides of the doors. He's ventured down the stairs a few times, but as soon as he peeks around the corner the dogs see him and bark/howl/lunge and he runs back up. We did lock the dogs in the dining room lastnight and brought Stache in the living room, where he camped out in the corner of the couch. Toby, the mini dachshund got brave a few times and got hissed/swatted at, but was eventually able to lay on the couch and ignore Stache. The minute we brought Mady (the coonhound) in, she howled and whined and Stache arched and puffed up while growling, so we separated them and took him back upstairs. So, I don't know what to do. Everyone keeps saying 'Give it a few days, everyone will calm down', but I'm worried it won't. I want Stache to be able to enjoy downstairs without being scared and I want the dogs to carry on without hyperfocusing on the cat. Anyways, without further adieu, here's Haffastache:   He was apparently a stray cat roaming around the streets of Guam before being picked up and brought to the local shelter where he was neutered (or may have been already neutered, we're not sure), but he got microchipped, all his shots and a clean bill of health.. He was then transferred to a local pet store to be adopted out. He had just gotten there Saturday before we walked in to get mice bedding and saw him and knew we had to have him. He's supposedly a snowshoe Siamese. Despite the pictures he does have the prettiest, crystal blue eyes and his coat does have that typical chocolate Siamese coloring. He is SO sweet. He kneads on you constantly while purring and wants nothing more than to be on your lap, or cuddling with you. I've never had a cat so friendly and affectionate. He's pretty vocal too. So, yeah. Help, please? We want a harmonious house.
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May 5, 2013 13:18
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Pollyanna posted:You don't get it man. He looooooves them balls. HE CAN'T STOP NOW MAN THESE BALLS ARE ON FIRE AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA 1. This is adorable. 2. Your cat has mitten feet. Seriously, how many toes does that little panther have?
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May 5, 2013 15:19
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The Heartless posted:So, yeah. Help, please? We want a harmonious house. This is a dog training issue more than a cat one. Running away from something that's barking and lunging at you is just reasonable self-preservation. Do one dog at a time, other one in the other room. Put the dog on a leash, let the cat come down on his own terms. As soon as the dog notices the cat (preferably before they bark), mark it and shove a treat in their mouth. Let Stache puff up and growl as need be, just keep the dog non-reactive. Repeat the exercise until your dogs see the cat and immediately look at you for treats before ever trying it off-leash. It sounds like Stache isn't going to just run and hide from a non-reactive dog, so he should settle within a couple of weeks.
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May 5, 2013 15:26
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Since I woke up this morning my cat has been acting really strange. He was running around the house like crazy and stopping to meow at me or at the front door. Then he'd run back into his litter box, dig around a bit, and then run out and meow again at me. I did notice a tiny drop of poop on the carpet, too. I thought perhaps he wanted his box cleaned because it was kind of stinky, so I cleaned it up, replaced the litter and even washed it out. I put a tiny bit of baking soda on the bottom so it wouldn't stink too bad. Now he keeps going back and forth between digging in the litter box and looking out the window and coming over to me and crying. He's about 2-3 years old, male, slightly overweight (13.8 pounds). We feed him Natural Balance salmon dry and wet twice a day and he gets lots of water, which I haven't noticed him drinking a lot of. I gave him his first Revolution dose Friday as we're starting to take him out on walks. I know blockages are an emergency in male cats, but my experience with them was different from what my cat is doing now (lots of crying IN the box, vomiting, lethargy). I feel like every time I think I understand cats, they come up with something new! Could he just be bent out of shape because I changed his litter? He's seemed to calm down a bit, but can cats get upset because you removed all of their old stinky litter and now the box doesn't smell like them? I went and checked on him a few times while he was in there and sometimes he'll squat down and nothing will happen, or sometimes he'll urinate a small amount.
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May 5, 2013 16:54
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Hand of the King posted:Okay, I was sort of thinking the same the less dusty litter would be better for the cat even if clay litter is harmful when ingested or inhaled. After reading that article and a brief investigation using Google, I can only say that
IMHO, I haven't had any problems with my cats and kittens. This type of cat litter has been sold for a long time(50+ years) in major chain and local pet stores. I think the information about this concern is dubious at best. If you are worried, then consider purchasing alternative cat litters that don't use sodium bentonite or is clumping clay action.
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May 5, 2013 16:56
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Couple years ago someone found a 6 week old kitten on the side of the road. They found my wife and long story short, I came home early from work that day with a kitten under my couch. Almost 3 years later, here's our kitty Bella:  She's been a perfectly healthy cat with the exception of a recently acquired tapeworm, which we're currently trying to to get rid of. Every day I come home from work and lay down for a few minutes, and every day she has to climb on my chest and sleep while I scratch her. Dog is a man's best friend my rear end. Love that cat. 
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May 5, 2013 17:19
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Shnooks posted:Since I woke up this morning my cat has been acting really strange. He was running around the house like crazy and stopping to meow at me or at the front door. Then he'd run back into his litter box, dig around a bit, and then run out and meow again at me. I did notice a tiny drop of poop on the carpet, too. Vet.
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May 5, 2013 17:32
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Ugh, immediately?
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May 5, 2013 17:33
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Shnooks posted:Since I woke up this morning my cat has been acting really strange. He was running around the house like crazy and stopping to meow at me or at the front door. Then he'd run back into his litter box, dig around a bit, and then run out and meow again at me. I did notice a tiny drop of poop on the carpet, too. I'd highly suggest a vet trip. I do not have experience with this kind of behavior, but from what I've heard if it even seems like he's having issues urinating it can be a sign of a blockage. Please at least call your vet (or e-vet since its Sunday) and ask for a professional opinion.
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May 5, 2013 17:34
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So I'm a little worried. My cat has coughed up 5 hairballs in two weeks, more than she ever has. She recently had her teeth out due to surgery, and while she eats some of her dry food (which I believe is supposed to help with hairballs), she is mostly eating wet food now. Is the change in diet a cause? Should I call the vet tomorrow?
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May 5, 2013 18:36
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Shnooks posted:Ugh, immediately? Yes. Straining in the litter box can be a sign of very bad things that can snowball rapidly into horrifically painful and/or fatal.
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May 5, 2013 18:56
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Serella posted:Yes. Straining in the litter box can be a sign of very bad things that can snowball rapidly into horrifically painful and/or fatal. I know. I called the on call vet and she said it would be OK to take him into work with me tomorrow since he's no longer digging like a maniac or squatting in there or anywhere.
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May 5, 2013 19:17
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Serella posted:Yes. Straining in the litter box can be a sign of very bad things that can snowball rapidly into horrifically painful and/or fatal. I didn't take this seriously with my first cat and she died because of it.  It was an early warning sign of anemia. By the time I noticed the others, it was too late for the vet to save her.
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May 5, 2013 19:35
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booshi posted:So I'm a little worried. My cat has coughed up 5 hairballs in two weeks, more than she ever has. She recently had her teeth out due to surgery, and while she eats some of her dry food (which I believe is supposed to help with hairballs), she is mostly eating wet food now. Is the change in diet a cause? Should I call the vet tomorrow? I wouldn't say it's vet worthy. Get her some Petromalt and start giving it to her every couple of days. That ought to help.
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May 5, 2013 22:16
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Hey, guys. I have a problem and I'm hoping maybe somebody has some good advice. It's almost 4AM, which is the reason why I'm not calling the vet right now and I really wasn't sure whether I should do it yesterday or not, but I plan to do so in the morning. I'm still wondering if maybe someone has gone through the same thing. I have a male cat named Alfa. He is about three years old and he is an indoor cat. So the day before yesterday while I was washing the windows he managed to fall out, a three story drop. He landed on asphalt and immediately hid under the nearest parked car. As soon as we got him from there, we rushed him to the vet, his nose was bloody and his mouth was a bit torn up (from the fangs hitting the inside of the mouth, the doctor said) and he was really scared and nervous, but otherwise he seemed fine. The vet didn't take any x-rays and said to monitor his bathroom habits (if there's blood in the pee, that may be normal, but if he is in pain while peeing then that is a sign of something worse and to take him back). It also seemed one of his paws hurt, since he wouldn't let anyone touch it, yet he made no sounds, just flinched. The vet figured that maybe he had broken a toe and said to wrap a vodka compress (had to look up that translation, not sure how often such a thing is heard of or used in the US, or other countries...) around his paw a few times a day, to keep down the inflammation and gave us some pills which were supposed to have the same effect, if I remember correctly. We also got the instructions to rub his mouth-wounds with sea buckthorn oil. Now, the thing is that it's been two days and his paw seems to really hurt, since he's limping and not stepping on it and doesn't like us touching it at all. We've wrapped it in vodka-soaked bandages about once a day, I've been feeding him the pills (thankfully he likes them so much he licks them off my hand, so no struggle necessary!) and we've been dabbing his mouth with the above-mentioned oil. He's been really lifeless the past two days and he is usually a very social cat who loves to play with whatever it is we are dangling infront of him. He's just lying in bed, or on the couch and he has literally been sleeping the whole day. He doesn't really react to any strings or his other toys and I have not once heard him purr, even though it used to be really easy to get him to purr. Today I finally got him to eat by buying some new flavors of wet food which he loves. But usually after he eats there's a few minutes when he has a complete energy burst and he runs around the room, this is not the case right now. The only way I've got him to pee is if I actually carry him into his litterbox. He doesn't seem to be in pain (or well, he didn't make any sounds implying he was?), nor is there blood. But I am pretty sure he hasn't pooed and he is a cat who goes once, if not more times a day (he loves to eat a lot, yet he has eaten a little in the past few days). He's had such a fall once before, last autumn, when he managed to jump and slip off the balcony. I haven't let him roam there without supervision since and since that was the only incident in a couple of years I've had him I never expected him to fall down the window on the other side of the house, while I wasn't watching. Last time he split his lip open, underwent surgery to get it fixed but recovered in about a day and has been his happy self ever since. So I'm very worried. I'm not sure if I should take him back to the vet or if it's still too early to tell or am I just overthinking? Is there anything that could be wrong with him that the vet was missing? He doesn't seem to be in pain when touched from anywhere else. Sorry for the long text, here's a picture of him to make up for it! 
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May 6, 2013 01:57
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Serella posted:1. This is adorable. He's got two extra claws on each front paw, so like 12 in the front.  I forgot how many cats usually have, he has six on each paw by my count. His back feet are normal.And yes, he is my little Bagheera
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May 6, 2013 04:30
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Bombajio posted:Hey, guys. I have a problem and I'm hoping maybe somebody has some good advice. It's almost 4AM, which is the reason why I'm not calling the vet right now and I really wasn't sure whether I should do it yesterday or not, but I plan to do so in the morning. I'm still wondering if maybe someone has gone through the same thing. I would take him back to the vet for sure, and possibly to a different vet who isn't someone's 95 year old sorceress grandmother. He's clearly in pain if he's acting like that, especially the bathroom thing. Please please take him back or to a second opinion if it's available.
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May 6, 2013 14:02
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 Kitty pile achieved. Loki has calmed down for the most part in his playfighting, Grey has started to actually play back. Grey still whines and cries like a 5 year old girl whenever they play, even when it's gently, but I can now ignore that unless it becomes yowling. Loki still occasionally once a day gets too hyper and aggressive, but now that Grey is actually playing back, he just smacks him a few good ones until Loki runs off to the ball room.
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May 6, 2013 14:50
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Yeah, I called a different vet, they didn't have any openings today, but they promised to call me back and let me know when someone is available to at least listen to my questions. So now I'm waiting for that call and keeping an eye on my kitty. There's two vets that I usually visit, the one I went to is where I usually take my cat, the other one is the type that's open 24 hours, but is more expensive. Last time he fell it was during the night and I took him to the 24 hour place, they did a great job and seemed to really take care of him. The reason I went to the above-mentioned clinic this time is because it is cheaper and they have usually been very helpful. Plus I was just too embarrassed to go back with the same problem half a year later, I am so pissed at myself that I didn't think he would fall down again and I really am very embarrassed Well, I have to say he's been a bit more lively today, though he still sleeps a lot. His appetite has definitely come back but I am still worried about the fact that he doesn't do the number two! And is it normal for a cat to be in pain and just not generally wince or whine about it? The cat that is at my parents has always let us know when she is in pain or if something is causing her distress. Alfa has been very quiet through the whole ordeal :/ I've felt up his stomach several times and he doesn't flinch or show me any signs that he's in pain... EDIT: The vet I talked to suggested I let somebody take an x-ray since he does act weird. Since the 24hr clinic doesn't have any free openings today I'm seeing if I could take him anywhere else. The saga continues. Bombajio fucked around with this message at 15:27 on May 6, 2013 |
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May 6, 2013 15:05
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Bombajio posted:And is it normal for a cat to be in pain and just not generally wince or whine about it? The cat that is at my parents has always let us know when she is in pain or if something is causing her distress. Alfa has been very quiet through the whole ordeal :/ I've felt up his stomach several times and he doesn't flinch or show me any signs that he's in pain... Yes, absolutely. They tend to hide injuries. I am glad you talked to another vet. Good luck getting the x-ray... keep us updated.
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May 6, 2013 19:19
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The earliest time I could get was tomorrow, 9:30 at the same place, but I'm well aware that I should push them more and let them know that he is acting really strange. Or well... Was. About ten minutes ago he finally pooped (I have never been more happy to see my cat take a crap  ) and he is moving around, his appetite is really good. Also he has already peed more than once today, yay!He has stopped stepping on his paw though, so if there's nothing more then at least I hope there's a cast option or anything to keep him off his paw, if it does turn out to be a broken bone. So yes. I am less worried and he is looking better  But I'll know more tomorrow! Thanks for taking the time to reply, guys!
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May 6, 2013 19:26
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Animals typically show pain in ways that we don't usually see as painful. Instead of really crying about it, instead he's not bearing weight on his leg, he doesn't want you to touch his leg, he's not eating as much, he's not as active, he's more quiet, doesn't want to do much, etc. Those are all signs of pain.
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May 6, 2013 20:44
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I took Ollie to the vet today and she said it was just typical FLUTD-y stuff, that he wasn't blocked and his bladder was small, but it was pretty painful. We gave him fluids, some buprenorphine (and sent me home with some), and some prazosin for the week and we got a urine sample. Now that we're home now he's obsessed with the litter box. He wont leave! He just keeps squatting in it and it's really sad. They checked his bladder before I went home and he said he was painful but it wasn't blocked. Will the Prazosin help? I guess I just feel really bad for him right now Also, he had this tiny lump in between his toes, plantar, on his hind foot. It's probably a smidge smaller than a pencil eraser and not very raised. It was really crusty about two weeks ago so the doctor gave him a Convenia injection and said to recheck in two weeks. The crusties went down but the bump was still there, so Friday we did a fine needle aspirate. We got the results back today and it's a mast cell tumor. Of course, I immediately think of a patient I saw that was basically one giant oozing mast cell tumor. Anyways, the two doctors and the clinic manager seem to feel that hacking it off is the appropriate thing to do to prevent it from growing in a difficult area, but I'm not so sure that's the best course of action to take. I'm going to talk to the doctor who did the FNA and would be doing the surgery tomorrow, but I guess I wanted someone elses opinion on removing very tiny mast cell tumors in young cats.
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May 6, 2013 22:08
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We're also having cat bladder issues. About 5 weeks ago, we noticed Iggy straining in the litter box (thought he was constipated, though, since we noticed him peeing). The vet checked him out and didn't notice any problems anywhere. She did go ahead and check his bladder, but didn't do a urinalysis because it wasn't blocked, enlarged, etc. Three weeks ago it all started again, but this time he was definitely having trouble peeing. Frequent litter box trips, obvious straining, obsessive cleaning, lethargy, etc. Rushed him to the vet. They tried to do a urinalysis, but couldn't because his bladder was COMPLETELY EMPTY. Since he wasn't blocked, they said it was either a bladder infection or stress-related inflammation, so they went ahead and gave us Clavamox to give him, and after 3-4 days he was all better. This morning we noticed him doing the same thing again, same symptoms. I know for a fact that he peed like a loving champion yesterday, I heard it happen. It was a LOT of pee. I also know, because we've been through it with our other male cat, that a blockage can happen extremely quickly. The last two vet visits cost us about $300 total, because he's such an idiot at the vet that they have to knock him out in order to examine him AT ALL. Obviously, he needs to go back to the vet, and obviously we'll pay the $150 or whatever it takes to make sure he's okay. HOWEVER, I'm kind of at a loss, because we cannot continue paying $150/month to discover that the cat may or may not have a problem that may or may not be making it difficult for him to pee. Any recommendations for things we should ask the vet to do or check on?
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May 6, 2013 23:24
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Nione posted:We're also having cat bladder issues. About 5 weeks ago, we noticed Iggy straining in the litter box (thought he was constipated, though, since we noticed him peeing). The vet checked him out and didn't notice any problems anywhere. She did go ahead and check his bladder, but didn't do a urinalysis because it wasn't blocked, enlarged, etc. The recurrent straining/bladder issues is pretty typical of the stress-related urinary inflammation cats can get (it's called FIC, for feline idiopathic cystitis or feline interstitial cystitis). Treatment tends to revolve around pain control, sometimes medications to relax the spasming of the urethra (the prazosin Shnooks's cat got), and modifying the environment so the cat isn't so stressed out (changing the litterbox at least daily, having more boxes than cats, removing whatever new things in the environment you think might be bothering them, etc). Increasing water intake through canned food in place of kibble, water added to the food, and water fountains can also help. Generally FIC episodes will clear up themselves in less than a week, no matter what you do, so the fact that the last episode resolved with antibiotics doesn't necessarily mean there was an infection involved. If your cat has certain risk factors that make an infection more likely, though, they may want to culture the urine (if they can get a sample, but the empty or tiny bladder is pretty common with these guys).
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May 6, 2013 23:41
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I had no idea so much poo poo could come from such a little animal.
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May 6, 2013 23:52
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Yeah, I'm pretty sure Ollie's issues came from his vet visit where we did a FNA on his footie. Stupid cat I've been trying to clean the litter box more often for his sake and ours, now I definitely will. I was speaking to one of the veterinarians last week about FLUTD. Many people come in saying they think their cats have UTIs, but it's pretty rare for cats to have UTIs compared to dogs. She said occasionally she'll send home antibiotics because it can't really hurt, but typically it would have cleared up on it's own. Of course cats can get UTIs, it's just not like on French Bulldogs or something.
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May 7, 2013 00:12
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Thanks, Dr. Chaco. We've got an appointment in 20 minutes with a new vet, I'm hoping that he might not completely overreact if he's at a new office. It's also a cat only clinic that's 8 blocks from our house, and they have good reviews, so hopefully they'll be able to figure it out. I was going to wait, because I really don't think he's blocked, but when I got home tonight he was just so MISERABLE that I knew he needed something. We have 3 litter boxes and 3 cats and don't really have room for another. We do need to scoop more often and have decided to do it twice daily from now on (we were doing it daily or every other day, as needed). He won't eat soft food, we give it to them every night and he just ignores it. I will look into a fountain, though, it's something we've been talking about for a long time now. Nothing else has changed, though, in the last 6 months that could cause this. I'm guessing it's just the litter boxes.
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May 7, 2013 00:25
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Shnooks posted:I was speaking to one of the veterinarians last week about FLUTD. Many people come in saying they think their cats have UTIs, but it's pretty rare for cats to have UTIs compared to dogs. She said occasionally she'll send home antibiotics because it can't really hurt, but typically it would have cleared up on it's own. Yeah, less than 2% of cats that come in for FLUTD/FIC actually have a UTI, so antibiotics really aren't indicated unless there's something that predisposes them to UTIs. Prescribing them when they're not necessary doesn't really hurt, but it kinda does by contributing to bacterial resistance. Another thing you can do to help them is to give them mental stimulation. Boredom is considered a stressor and it's not one that a lot of people think about. Feeding from a food ball, or setting aside time every day to play with them can really help.
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May 7, 2013 01:45
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Well, I just got home. It's a very good thing I took him in when I did, he was completely blocked. They're doing a urinalysis and will call me tonight to let me know what they find, but they're thinking it might be crystals. It's scary how quick this all happened, because last night he was his usual self, it wasn't until this morning that he started showing signs of trouble again. He's at the vet tonight with a catheter, I really hate leaving him. I stayed until he was awake and got to see him. They'll be keeping him for 48 hours at least. Fingers crossed he doesn't manage to pull the catheter out tonight. He doesn't have a tail, so they had to tape it to his leg. Anyway, thanks for your help, guys. They also mentioned that the blood panel they did showed elevated glucose levels and they'll be retesting him when the catheter is out because they're worried about diabetes.
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May 7, 2013 02:19
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Good luck Nione. 
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May 7, 2013 02:33
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Long overdue update, but I just wanted to share that my adopted kitty has gone from hiding constantly and avoiding my husband and I, to being downright cuddly. quick and dirty webcam pic.  I am extremely glad my hesitant husband agreed to adopt her, even though he was worried about how shy she seemed to be. She's a real part of the family now.
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May 7, 2013 08:41
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So, I took Alfa to the vet today, even though by now he seems all fine, except for his paw. They did and X-ray and even though there is a fracture in his toe, the vet said he doesn't want to operate and it's probably better for Alfa to heal by himself. Alfa's bowels were empty, so no problems there, at least the doctor said he didn't find anything. Also, he has started using his litterbox regularly again so that's good His mouth and lips have gotten better as well, and the swelling in his nose has gone down, plus when he rubs against me he goes nose-first so I don't think it hurts anymore! All in all when I took him home he acted as if he hadn't been fed for days and now hes curled up beside me and purring away. I'm hoping for quick recovery on his paw, it's heartbreaking watching him limp around. And for some reason he loves going up and down the stairs. He doesn't have to go down the stairs to sleep, the living room couch is where he usually hangs, but ever since he broke his paw he keeps going either down the stairs to take a nap in my guestroom or up the stairs to sleep in the corridor. Weird cat. PS: I think I have found my new favorite thread in SA! I don't even know how I didn't notice this little cat-lovers corner of SA before
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May 7, 2013 09:28
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Sorry, this is going to be a bit long because there's a bit of history here, but basically I'm at a bit of an impasse when it comes to convincing two cats to co-exist and hoping someone has some advice that I haven't found by googling. I'll try and summarise as much as possible without leaving out anything important. A couple of months ago I adopted a then fourish-month-old kitten called Pepper. We also have another cat called Amber, who's 16 years old and little arthritic but generally in excellent health, still running around and jumping on things etc. Amber spent the first 15 years of her life being bullied by my childhood cat, who died peacefully aged 19 last year, so as you can imagine she's pretty wary of other cats. We knew that our mistake with the first two was probably that we didn't the faintest clue how to introduce cats (my excuse is that I was a child at the time), so this time I did a ton of reading up on introducing cats and we pretty much followed everything we were meant to do. Pepper has her own room and she lived in there mostly for about a week. We got Amber used to her smell and we let her see Pepper for short periods, we've had feliway in our main living room since we got her etc. Amber was at first extremely nervous but not aggressive at all. She basically ignored Pepper's existence whenever she could, even when Pepper was right in front of her. When we started letting them out together Amber was fine as long as Pepper ignored her, but would hiss at her to go away whenever Pepper bugged her. I took that as an okay sign, because Pepper has pretty good cat social skills. She's very circumspect about bothering Amber and always approaches her slowly and delicately, making little unthreatening chirping noises. If she's hissed at then she'll go away quietly and do something else for a while. Mostly she just wants to look at Amber from a safe distance. Pepper's not allowed outside but we have an enclosed back yard that Amber spends most of her time in during the day (Pepper hasn't worked out how to use the cat door yet and we've been actively trying to stop her from figuring it out). So Amber has a nice safe space that's her space that she can go if she really wants to not be bothered by the kitten. This has basically been our status quo for the last month and a half or so since we started letting Pepper run around the house whenever one of us is home. Amber would come inside in the evening and settle down on her favourite chair or whatever and Pepper would pretty much leave her alone while she slept. We figured that it might get better as Amber got more used to her presence but at least it wasn't too bad even as it was. Pepper's only going to be living in this house for the next twelve months or so until I move out, so as long as they can live together without murdering each other until then we're fine. Which leads me to our current problem. For the past few days Amber's been actually aggressive towards Pepper instead of just avoidant. Instead of just crouching and hissing and growling a little until Pepper went away, for the last two nights or so she's actively chased her a bit and given her a bit of a swat. I wasn't too worried about that because since then Pepper's been much better about coming to us for attention instead of bothering Amber for it so I figured they were working poo poo out for themselves. But tonight Amber was even more aggressive than the past couple of nights, culminating in her launching herself off a chair she was sitting on as Pepper walked towards it and landing on her and actually drawing blood. It's more or less the first time she's done anything to her without Pepper approaching her first with intent to bother. Pepper bled a fair bit while she was running around the house before I managed to get her into her room, but I've checked her all over and I can't even find where she was bleeding from, much less still see blood. I think Amber may have nicked her ear or somewhere else very shallow. I've had a very good prod of everywhere I can reach on Pepper and she doesn't seem to be in pain anywhere (she's a very good kitten who'll even let me handle her paws without complaining so that was easy). So I'm not worried about her from a health point of view, I'm just not sure of where to go from here. She's confined to her room for the night and I was thinking of keeping them separated for the next few days, but I also don't want to teach Amber that if she attacks Pepper then Pepper will go away for a few days. I should also mention that it's very, very difficult to motivate Amber with food. We've only very recently managed to find a treat that she actually likes that isn't as perishable as fresh chicken or something, and even then she won't go very far out of her way for it (or chicken for that matter). So any plan involving rewarding her with food for being near Pepper is unlikely to be successful. We've actually been trying that for the past week or so with the new treats and well, that doesn't seem to have done anything good. Is there anything we can try that I've been missing?
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May 7, 2013 15:28
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Have you been able to dedicate time to just playing with or petting Amber? Apart from the outdoor space, are there any other places that Amber can get to and Pepper can't? Is Pepper fixed yet? I mean, yeah, if she were food-motivated then trying to get her to associate Pepper with treats would help probably. Have you tried tuna or garbage fancy feast type stuff? Greenies? Cheese-flavored cat treats? How do they eat now? Scheduled feedings or free feedings? Same area or separate?
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May 7, 2013 15:39
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Have you been able to dedicate time to just playing with or petting Amber? Apart from the outdoor space, are there any other places that Amber can get to and Pepper can't? Is Pepper fixed yet? Pepper was fixed two days after I first brought her home. I do play with and pet Amber, usually outside in the mornings and then in the evenings when she comes in and especially after Pepper's been put to bed in her room for the night. I don't think she's hurting for attention because she's always been a pretty independent cat who likes being petted sometimes when she feels like it but otherwise wants to be left alone to do her thing. Which these days is usually sleeping all day. I can certainly make more of an effort to pay her special attention. There aren't any areas inside that Amber can get to that Pepper can't and I don't even know how we could make one since Amber's a very tiny cat and Pepper's basically her size already. She really does love being outside though, she's always spent most of her day lying in the sun. She also has a chair inside that's her favourite to lie on that angles such that Pepper can't see her and won't bother her if she's asleep on it (for some reason Pepper has no interest whatsoever in jumping on it). The trouble is that half the time we can't convince her to stay there and go to sleep. Eggplant Wizard posted:I mean, yeah, if she were food-motivated then trying to get her to associate Pepper with treats would help probably. Have you tried tuna or garbage fancy feast type stuff? Greenies? Cheese-flavored cat treats? How do they eat now? Scheduled feedings or free feedings? Same area or separate? Cheese flavoured cat treats are the treats I discovered the other week that we've been trying, since cheese is one of Amber's great loves. Cream cheese is actually her favourite but we currently use that to hide her hyperthyroidism tablet in and I don't want to use it for anything else in case it compromises her willingness to cooperate in eating her tablet inside it. It's the highlight of her day! She does like the treats but she'll still ignore them half the time. We currently feed them both dry food. Pepper's bowl is in her room and I give her some in the morning and some in the evening because we tried free feeding and she seems to just gobble down everything available to her instead of grazing. Amber gets free feeding except that these days that means her food is up out of reach of Pepper until Amber comes inside and then we sort of have to guard it so Pepper doesn't eat it. She mostly eats overnight while Pepper's in her room. It's not really ideal but I think it's better to have her associate coming inside with getting food than letting her eat outside. We do sometimes give her those little Whiskers packets as a treat so I could try getting her to associate that with the kitten more, it's just that I'm worried that A) it'll be hard to have her eat near Pepper without Pepper really bothering her for the food and B) she'll be really stressed out eating near her. We have been putting the wet food very close to the door to Pepper's room in the hopes of convincing her that being near the room is okay, that was part of our strategy right when we first brought the kitten home. I guess I'm also reluctant to use treats with her because it feels almost like it makes her more angry in a way. Like there have been times when she's been looking at Pepper fairly calmly so I've given her something nice and that seems to sort of upset the balance and make her get up and start growling. There's also the fact that she's gotten angrier in the week or so since I started giving her the cheese flavoured treats but I know correlation and causation aren't the same. It just feels less like I'm giving her a good association with Pepper and more like I'm giving her something to guard jealously from her or something. Or like it breaks her concentration while she eats it and then when she looks up she realises that Pepper's there all over again and gets angrier.
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May 7, 2013 17:06
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Organza Quiz posted:We currently feed them both dry food. Pepper's bowl is in her room and I give her some in the morning and some in the evening because we tried free feeding and she seems to just gobble down everything available to her instead of grazing. Amber gets free feeding except that these days that means her food is up out of reach of Pepper until Amber comes inside and then we sort of have to guard it so Pepper doesn't eat it. She mostly eats overnight while Pepper's in her room. It's not really ideal but I think it's better to have her associate coming inside with getting food than letting her eat outside. Okay, so here's a thing. Watch basically any episode of My Cat From Hell that features a multi-cat conflict and the guy will probably do this. Start feeding them at the same time. Get Amber used to eating at defined times. The way the dude on tv does it is he has people install a screen door in their house, and each cat eats on one side of it. Block it up with a cloth, then slowly raise the cloth until the cats can see each other. Another thing is to skip the cloth and simply have the bowls move closer and closer to each other over time. If they can eat near each other without incident, they'll have a direct positive association with one another's presence. It will take time. If you don't want to do a screen door (because seriously dude), a baby gate might work. You can do this with treats as well as meals sometimes, too. The idea is that they both have to feel protected from the other cat. Cat aggression is often fear-based, so Amber needs to feel safe or nothing will change. How are you for vertical space in your house? Cat tree, tall bookshelves cats sit on, small wall shelves? Things like that can help them feel like they have more options for avoiding one another and being up high generally pleases them too since they can see everything (and therefore, safety). e: Honestly, it may also just be a matter of time. Maybe Amber was scared, and now she's got enough courage to "defend" her territory by going after Pepper, and they need to establish the hierarchy. Usually we say if blood is drawn then it's time to separate them, but it might be good for them to have some growling, hissing, tussling sessions.
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May 7, 2013 19:32
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Does anybody have tips for road tripping with a cat? Phoebe has flown with me several times and been great, but I'm driving across the country this time. She'll be a good sport I'm sure (most chill cat ever), but how can I make the trip better for her? It'll be about 10 days.
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May 7, 2013 20:28
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Eggplant Wizard posted:Okay, so here's a thing. Watch basically any episode of My Cat From Hell that features a multi-cat conflict and the guy will probably do this. Start feeding them at the same time. Get Amber used to eating at defined times. The way the dude on tv does it is he has people install a screen door in their house, and each cat eats on one side of it. Block it up with a cloth, then slowly raise the cloth until the cats can see each other. Another thing is to skip the cloth and simply have the bowls move closer and closer to each other over time. If they can eat near each other without incident, they'll have a direct positive association with one another's presence. It will take time. If you don't want to do a screen door (because seriously dude), a baby gate might work. You can do this with treats as well as meals sometimes, too. The idea is that they both have to feel protected from the other cat. Cat aggression is often fear-based, so Amber needs to feel safe or nothing will change. I'm Australian and we don't get that show here, but I might dig up an episode or two if I can. Thanks for the advice, that's definitely doable. We've got tons of vertical space in the house and Amber does indeed like to get high up to keep an eye on things. And yeah, it's taken this long for me to ask for advice because I thought it was probably just time. It's just been two months now and things seemed to be getting worse rather than better. I'm very, very aware that cats need to work things out themselves, because I think the fact that we used to yell at Blackie and Amber for fighting (really didn't have any information on introducing cats at the time) is most of what contributed to them hating each other for 15 years. That said, even though they hated each other they mostly just left each other alone and never drew blood, so it's hard to watch it happen now and think that everything has a chance of being okay if we just keep letting them work it out.
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May 8, 2013 01:41
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| # ? May 16, 2024 23:58 |
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Shine posted:Does anybody have tips for road tripping with a cat? Phoebe has flown with me several times and been great, but I'm driving across the country this time. She'll be a good sport I'm sure (most chill cat ever), but how can I make the trip better for her? It'll be about 10 days. How much room in the car do you have to work with?
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May 8, 2013 01:47
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