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Serella posted:Scare the poo poo out of him. Seriously. When my cat used to meow early in the morning for food, is open the door, scream, and chase him down the hall. He stopped after a few days because he realized it had terrifying consequences. Yeah I don't really want to make my cat scared of me. Anyway, he will just come back 2 mins later and continue, he is... persistent. We do have a food timer but don't generally use it (mainly just when we are away) plus the cats tend to try and break in as they know there is food there! Generally they don't succeed, and I reckon if we used it consistently they would get used to it. I might try shutting them in the kitchen/diner at night combined with the timed feeder for a week or so and then see if we leave the door open, they have learned that food comes no matter what time we get up. Dienes posted:
Yeah we are guilty of feeding nearly first thing when we get up. If the food timer doesn't work (because our cats are super greedy and break it or something, or we suck and forget) I will definitely keep waiting until after the morning routine and just before I go to work. We do have them on a 3x a day feeding routine though which makes things trickier, but leaving dry food out all day doesn't work as they will both gorge themselves and throw it back up again. Aah cats, gotta love em.
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Mar 16, 2014 17:42
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| # ? May 15, 2024 23:34 |
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Really need help with my cat. He is 3 years old and had destroyed countless pieces of furniture by scratching them. Nothing seems to make him stop. He has a scratch pad right next to the couch and uses it most of the time, but he will often also scratch the arm of the couch. Telling him no doesn't work, spraying him makes him scratch then run away when reaching for the spray bottle. No idea what to do to get him to stop it for good because I'm tired of replacing furniture. Couches, leather kitchen chairs, he scratches them all. Does anyone have any advice?
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Mar 17, 2014 01:27
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moray cup
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duckfarts posted:I do this same setup more or less and it works great. I think I've inadvertently trained Pudding to associate my morning alarm with his morning meal. He gets mad as hell if I hit snooze.  Also:  Day 3. No hissing, just lots of curious sniffing. I keep them seperated when I'm away at work, but I think I'll be able to let Cookie and Pudding interact while I'm around.  northward posted:Really need help with my cat. He is 3 years old and had destroyed countless pieces of furniture by scratching them. Nothing seems to make him stop. He has a scratch pad right next to the couch and uses it most of the time, but he will often also scratch the arm of the couch. Telling him no doesn't work, spraying him makes him scratch then run away when reaching for the spray bottle. No idea what to do to get him to stop it for good because I'm tired of replacing furniture. Couches, leather kitchen chairs, he scratches them all. I've used this to stop my cat from scratching at a textured fabric chair. http://www.amazon.com/Pioneer-Pet-S...ticky+paws+roll It's a low tack double sided tape, he hates it and doesnt scratch wherever I've applied it. Once he stops trying, I'll remove the tape. Synthbuttrange fucked around with this message at 01:37 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 01:35
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Just popping in to say that I am at the evet with my cat Oliver, who cannot pee.  Wish us luck goons.
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Mar 17, 2014 04:40
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Good luck with Oliver. Hope he pees freely.  Meanwhile, kitty integration proceeds well ahead of schedule.
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Mar 17, 2014 10:23
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Da bird is a superior integration tool.
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Mar 17, 2014 13:20
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Well, we ended up having to go ahead with the catheter. It was crystals. 
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Mar 17, 2014 15:38
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Cat question - we've had this cat show up at our doorstep every day for like a week now. He looks like he's in good health, so I think he's probably a neighbour's pet. We've done nothing to encourage him, no feeding him or anything. Problem is, we have a cat ourselves and this new guy is really upsetting him. Plus, I'm kind of worried about what happens if he shows up while our cat's outside. Does anyone have any idea how to get rid of this cat e: phrasing JULIAN ASSANGE fucked around with this message at 21:17 on Mar 17, 2014 |
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Mar 17, 2014 21:10
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Turn the hose on him whenever you see him?
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Mar 17, 2014 22:01
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Might be a good idea. He's been sitting there for two hours now. What the hell? I can't scare him off.
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Mar 17, 2014 22:17
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At least try a squirt bottle before going full hose. 
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Mar 17, 2014 22:20
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Normally I'd agree but if you want the cat to fear your whole yard a hose is the only thing with the reach for that. e: I mean maybe buy an airhorn or something but that's going to upset more beings than one cat.
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Mar 17, 2014 22:22
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I sprayed some water at him and he didn't leave. Now he's wet and it's cold out and I feel bad. He's trying really hard to sneak in every time I open the door. I've got to go out now so I hope he finds his way home. I really hope this isn't a stray. He's really friendly, doesn't even react when I yell.
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Mar 17, 2014 22:26
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Got Estrella from the humane society eight days ago. Physically active, cuddly, likes people, follows me into every room of the apartment, doesn't piss or poop outside the litterbox. Just a couple of problems: Doesn't like being picked up and carried around. This is understandable. Caused a minor show at the humane society when one of the volunteers tried to load her into a basket--watched the volunteer instantly give the cat a five-foot radius. Her reaction to being picked up is still not very good, but has greatly improved now that she's not in kitty prison. It's not that big of a problem, but it goes hand in hand with-- Is a nibbler. Lets you know you are petting the wrong place by pecking you a little, or occasionally seems to do it at random. Doesn't hurt and never breaks skin (she also doesn't really bust out her claws). Most amusingly, doesn't leave my lap if I annoy her. I have to pretty much dump her out by getting up. I imagine this has a lot to do with being a seven-year old cat who was raised up with other animals and children. Probably had to tell a few babbies that No Means No. I think the next step may be spray-bottling, because I don't want an astonishingly dedicated lap cat doing this at random all the time because my hand drifted one inch too close to her stomach. I really have yet to be scratched by this cat, let alone hurt.    
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Mar 17, 2014 22:28
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Just got a call from my mom to tell me that my very first cat ever, Grall, is rapidly declining. Strains to poop (not pee), doesn't eat but begs for food all day, loss of weight, arthritic. He's 14, which isn't that old for an indoor cat. I find myself feeling really mad at her because he stayed at home when I went to undergrad and graduate school in another state, and every single issue she listed was something she mentioned while I was at school and I begged her to take him to the vet (and offered to pay for it, too). She never did, for one reason or another. But mostly right now I just feel sad.
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Mar 17, 2014 22:38
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JULIAN ASSANGE posted:I sprayed some water at him and he didn't leave. Now he's wet and it's cold out and I feel bad. Kind of why I advised the spray bottle first. Poor guy.So my two cats are currently still separated when I'm out, but I let them mingle when I'm home and able to supervise. Just wanted folks opinions on how they're getting along. It's still pretty early. Resident 1 year old Pudding is super interested in Cookie. Cookie is a bit more laid back, but more interested in the environment. Both will make for the bathroom door when I head to open it leading to sniffs. Mostly Cookie's content to just lie around and bat at toys or watch the environment. Pudding will sit nearby (a few feet away) an watch Cookie and slow blink him all the time. I try to get them to play with Da Bird, but on opposite sides of me, so they're both swatting at it but apart. They dont seem to mind. The only time there's trouble is when Pudding follows Cookie too closely and backs him into a corner without escape, then Cookie will have raised paws and swatting. There's very little hissing, and if that does start, I'll separate them again for the night/day. When that happens, Pudding goes to the bathroom door and meows under it. Pudding also dug in Cookie's litter tray to sniff at his poops. Gross, dude!  Unrelated, Cookie's nose and chin are so big and soft.
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Mar 18, 2014 00:57
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:Is a nibbler. Lets you know you are petting the wrong place by pecking you a little, or occasionally seems to do it at random. Doesn't hurt and never breaks skin (she also doesn't really bust out her claws). Most amusingly, doesn't leave my lap if I annoy her. I have to pretty much dump her out by getting up. This could also be overstimulation, in which case spray bottles won't help at all. Are there precursors to a nip - like a wagging tail or ear twitch?
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Mar 18, 2014 07:23
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SynthOrange posted:I think I've inadvertently trained Pudding to associate my morning alarm with his morning meal. He gets mad as hell if I hit snooze. I had this exact problem with my cats, and it took a month or two of re-training to get them out of the habit. Top tip - If you feel them at 7am and 7pm, make sure your alarm is set for something like 6:30 so they stop building an association between the beeper making you get up to give them food in the morning. With half an hour of me faffing around doing morning stuff before feeding them every day, they eventually stopped trying to harass me to get out of bed / going nuts when the alarm goes off. Also their integration update is sounding very encouraging. At the point you have them in, I'd be tempted to give them more freedom to explore each other. There will almost always be a bit of swatting at the start while they learn each other's personalities, so unless they're getting into proper wrestling/pinning/screaming I'd give them a bit of a chance to express themselves to each other. matryx fucked around with this message at 12:25 on Mar 18, 2014 |
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Mar 18, 2014 12:23
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Well there was screaming when Pudding initiated a wrestle fight. Pudding, it's too early to start pouncing Cookie from a chair! 
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Mar 18, 2014 13:20
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Engineer Lenk posted:This could also be overstimulation, in which case spray bottles won't help at all. Are there precursors to a nip - like a wagging tail or ear twitch? There's a wagging tail afterward. It seems to be deeply ingrained, because I've woken her up and get my thumb immediately in her mouth.
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Mar 18, 2014 17:41
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Now the mysterious door cat is fighting in my yard with a white cat I've never seen before. Where are all these cats coming from? I'm being invaded! 
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Mar 18, 2014 23:08
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They're back for revenge. You're going to be hosed down the moment you step outside.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:17
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JULIAN ASSANGE posted:Now the mysterious door cat is fighting in my yard with a white cat I've never seen before. Where are all these cats coming from? I'm being invaded! Your yard is the scene of a cosmic war, many years in the waging, that will see many more yards yet before the last battle is fought. Now comes the chapter of the conflict into which you figure.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:29
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JULIAN ASSANGE posted:Now the mysterious door cat is fighting in my yard with a white cat I've never seen before. Where are all these cats coming from? I'm being invaded! It's the Cat Signal.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:29
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:There's a wagging tail afterward. It seems to be deeply ingrained, because I've woken her up and get my thumb immediately in her mouth. If it is overstimulation, the only way I've found to work around it is to slowly increase their handling tolerance and always take your hands away while they're still wanting more affection. In other words, she'd be a lap cat but not much of a petting cat, except for in widely-spaced 5-second intervals.
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Mar 18, 2014 23:50
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Update on my Oliver... Cath was removed this morning at 11:30, and at 6pm he still hadn't peed. But, they also stopped the IV fluid at the same time, and he wasn't really eating or drinking for them. The vet said his bladder still felt small so he might just not feel the need to go yet. So I opted to take him home and see if he would pee in comfort. We've been home for about an hour and he's visited the box several times, peeing small amounts (no blood that I can see). We coaxed him to drink some water by flavoring it with tuna juice, and he very much wanted dinner and horked down some kibbles so I'm choosing to be optimistic. Anyone in here have any dysuria stories to share? Also, my other cat is very weirded out by the way he smells now and won't stop hissing at him. We put her on top of the cat tree, and she's just sitting up there like My advice: don't get a cat
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Mar 19, 2014 02:00
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Somewhere along the line my cat Rocky got old, I know he has a few years ahead of him(gonna take him to the vet soon for some dental stuff soon), but it hit me harder than I thought it would, Rocky's been a streetcat for the last 8 years, though I always kept up with his vaccinations and had him fixed and such, but he's definitely getting slower, he doesn't stray as far either thankfully so that's one plus. His appetite is still the same thankfully. I've had the misfortune of losing other animals way to young, this would be the first time I've had animal age gracefully like this and the mere though of him not being around is ripping me up. How do you guys do it, how do you cope with these feelings?
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Mar 19, 2014 02:26
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CompactFanny posted:Also, my other cat is very weirded out by the way he smells now and won't stop hissing at him. We put her on top of the cat tree, and she's just sitting up there like
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Mar 19, 2014 02:28
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Alteisen posted:How do you guys do it, how do you cope with these feelings? Pet the cat.
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Mar 19, 2014 02:29
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So today I was looking on a website called Gumtree (like craigslist, but used quite often here in the UK) at kittens. I already have 2 lovely kittens, Sophie and Chloe who I love very much, and I don't really have any intentions of getting any more cats at the moment because I want to make sure that if I was to adopt any more cats/kittens I'd have enough money to pay their vet bills and insurance costs and 2 is enough for me right now.. I just like to look at pictures of the cute little kittens sometimes! I came across one post on there where some woman was selling her 7 month old kitten because she's getting a puppy and wont have time for the cat.. The thing that angered me the most though, is that she'd previously rehomed another kitten (I couldn't view the ad description because it was some time ago) and also an 8 month old dog because "his not getting the exercise so he deserves better". It really disgusts me that some people just adopt pets and then decide they don't want them anymore and then decide to get another, and I guess the cycle will repeat itself.. I wonder how long it'll be before this new puppy she's getting is listed because she's getting another animal instead. It really upset me reading about it.. I don't know how someone could put an animal through that.. It's settled at a home with owners it thinks loves it, then the owner just decides they're bored of it and want something else and so just get rid of it as if it's just a worthless object and it's time for an upgrade.. I really wish people like that could be banned from owning pets because it's really not fair for the pets they bring into their life and then just discard I wish I could adopt the cat so at least I could make sure it'd have a loving home where it'd be well cared for, but my situation isn't the best right now. The last few months I've not been working because of illness, and I'd worry that I couldn't provide for all it's needs. She's also not received any vaccinations or been spayed, even though she's 7 months old, and I don't think I'd be able to afford all that along with the pet insurance at the moment.. When I got Sophie and Chloe my situation was better. I was studying full time as well as being self employed and I was making a decent income and before making the decision to adopt them, I had the money set aside for their vaccinations, spaying, pet insurance, etc. I hope it's ok to write about it here! I just needed to rant a little about it and didn't want to make a whole thread..
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Mar 19, 2014 02:39
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Rah posted:So today I was looking on a website called Gumtree (like craigslist, but used quite often here in the UK) at kittens. I already have 2 lovely kittens, Sophie and Chloe who I love very much, and I don't really have any intentions of getting any more cats at the moment because I want to make sure that if I was to adopt any more cats/kittens I'd have enough money to pay their vet bills and insurance costs and 2 is enough for me right now.. I just like to look at pictures of the cute little kittens sometimes! Sadly this is quite common as these people really only want omfghowcute kittens and puppies. Why they don't just foster..
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Mar 19, 2014 02:43
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CompactFanny posted:Also, my other cat is very weirded out by the way he smells now and won't stop hissing at him. We put her on top of the cat tree, and she's just sitting up there like I wouldn't worry to much, Oliver has probably got his hormones a little out of whack and he's probably been stressed with the catheter and vet which has then subsequently changed his scent. The other cat is wondering wtf. I would have thought after a couple of days, Oliver will settle down and his smell will change, which will then let the other cat know he's doing alright. The good thing is, Oliver is home and he's doing okay. And remember, having a cat is a privilege, they are little rascals sometimes, but you'll find they give a lot more than they take :-) Hope Oliver gets better soon
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Mar 19, 2014 03:41
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Alteisen posted:I've had the misfortune of losing other animals way to young, this would be the first time I've had animal age gracefully like this and the mere though of him not being around is ripping me up. Think about the fact that your doing something good and worthwhile that you've taken the responsibility for Rocky. You've been looking out for him, given him a place to sleep, plenty of good food, regular visits to the vet, lots of playtime and the freedom to roam (sounds like my childhood LOL). You've given Rocky a home. If it weren't for you, Rocky's life would be very different. I'm sure he realises how lucky he is and he repays that kindness by staying with you. How do you cope with these feelings ? Realise that you have made a remarkable connection to another living creature and enjoy the experience. Do yourself a favour, next time your shopping, get yourself one of those cardboard party hats, get a Post-It-Note and write "Rocky" on it, take it home, wear it and then play with Rocky. He wont understand what's going on, you'll look stupid, but then you can have a laugh with yourself afterwards knowing you did this for your special friend. P.S If you take a selfie, I wouldn't show your friends... LOL :-)
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Mar 19, 2014 03:59
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Crossposting from the not-deserving-their-own-thread thread. It's bummertime. My three cats are getting to the age where terminal conditions might crop up. Unfortunately, it looks like our middle cat, Olive, likely has lymphoma. Olive's always been a bit of a picky eater and a grazer, so it can be difficult to monitor how much she's eating. She also has hyperthyroidism that has been under control for a couple of years, so when we first noticed her dropping weight last month, we thought it might just be her thyroid again. Took her to the vet after it was clear she wasn't eating as much, and the vet felt a bulge in her intestines. Bloodwork was normal. He took some xrays but couldn't determine if the bulge was a blockage or a mass, so he gave her an enema to see if it might clear. After a couple of days of Olive pooping her little kitty brains out, the vet had difficulty feeling the bulge, so he hoped it was indeed just constipation or something she shouldn't have eaten. Cut to two weeks later, Olive continued to drop weight and suddenly began acting very lethargic. She spent two days curled up in my closet, coming out only to eat a few bites of food. Took her back to the vet and unfortunately the mass was much larger than the first time he felt it. Our vet let me know he can refer me to a specialist, but that at this stage they'd have to do exploratory surgery just to get a sense of how bad it is and that the mass is both too large and in too bad an area for removal to be an option. He also felt that chemotherapy would likely not give her much time. My own research seems to confirm this, with best case scenario giving her maybe a year's extension. Olive is a pretty timid cat to begin with, and I can't imagine that stressing her out with a lot of treatments only to give her a few extra months would be any kind of quality life. In the meantime, the vet gave her some depo-medrol to see if it would make Olive feel a bit better, and along with lots of treats and catnip, it seems to have made her a lot more comfortable. She's still depressingly skinny and not nearly as lively as she was 2 months ago, but she's at least not sitting in the closet all day. Does anybody else have experience with this? I love our vet and trust him immensely, but of course I also wonder if I should be getting a second opinion or if we're doing the wrong thing by forgoing aggressive treatment for palliative care. Here's a photo of Olive in happier days, chillaxin this past fall. She turns 12 this year. 
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Mar 19, 2014 06:41
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Chicken of Tomorrow in the YOSPOS cat thread just went through the same thing with her cat Cabot, who had lung cancer. Have a dig through that thread and there's lots of good advice. I would suggest that if you have that good a relationship with your vet, and understand your cat's personality, your first instinct is probably correct. As long as you're happy that you've understood fully what both options will mean for you and Olive, do what you think is right for your cat.
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Mar 19, 2014 09:10
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First time cat owner here. My boys just turned 1. Do they need any boosters or vet exams? We saw the vet back in October and they're current health appears great, but I don't know general scheduling for health things.
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Mar 19, 2014 09:18
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Melicious, I went through something similar with my cat Maggie. She started having blood in her urine. We took her to the vet and they told us she had crystals that needed to be removed from her bladder. We had them do the surgery and they found transitional cell carcinoma instead. Without treatment she would have had about 6 months left. Chemo would have added an additional 3 months. Maggie was a kitty that did not tolerate being handled well. The vets needed 2 techs to pill her. Clipping her nails was a nightmare, even burritoed it was like fighting Wolverine. She was also the kind of cat that held a grudge and would hide from you for days after trying to give her medicine. We opted to forgo treatment and just keep her comfortable. When we noticed her really beginning to decline we had her put to sleep, about 5 months after her diagnosis. We really didn't want the last few months of her life to be any more stressful than they were. It was a hard decision but I think we made the right decision.
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Mar 19, 2014 11:46
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 Progress with kitties.
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Mar 19, 2014 12:25
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Ahh food, the great peace-bringer.
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Mar 19, 2014 13:25
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| # ? May 15, 2024 23:34 |
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Then this just happened: 
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Mar 19, 2014 13:27
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