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spregalia posted: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. Around here there are a few shots including rabies that are required to be given annually, by law. But if they got their checkup and shots in October, you can probably wait til October again (tho some vets recommend checkups every 6 months). If your vet is like mine, they should send you a letter or email letting you know when it's vaccine time again.
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Mar 19, 2014 13:28
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So, training the cats to harass the cat feeder not us is not going to well. Or it's going TOO well, as they harass it until the battery falls out and it won't open, and then try and prise the food out. We are currently using this timed cat feeder, does anyone have any recommendations for sturdy timed feeders suitable for wet food and available in the UK??
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Mar 19, 2014 18:54
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Robot Mil posted:So, training the cats to harass the cat feeder not us is not going to well. Or it's going TOO well, as they harass it until the battery falls out and it won't open, and then try and prise the food out. I use a similar one, and I've never had issues. Even my fatty cat couldn't pry it open. He attempted to open it by knocking it off the counter once, but all that did was flip it over and prevent him from getting food at the designated time, so he's never done it again. These things can hold wet food, if it's like the one I have and the trays are removable. You just put a small ice pack underneath to keep the food cool. Of course the smell will drive the cats mad, so I wouldn't do it, but it's certainly possible.
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Mar 20, 2014 00:05
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Robot Mil posted:So, training the cats to harass the cat feeder not us is not going to well. Or it's going TOO well, as they harass it until the battery falls out and it won't open, and then try and prise the food out. We use the exact same feeder for our cat Cleo. I was thinking, what you might want to try is putting some velcro on it, and then attaching it to a larger flat piece of plywood to use as a base. Yes it will be a larger surface area on the ground, but at least the feeder will be attached more securely, and after trying to swat or move it around, they'll lose interest as it wont flip over. Just a thought, good luck :-)
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Mar 20, 2014 00:38
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spregalia posted:Sadly this is quite common as these people really only want omfghowcute kittens and puppies. Why they don't just foster.. The thing I don't get is that kittens are the worst part. KITTENS are assholes, cats are awesome. My hands were a lattice of scars until Hugo and Decoy were 6 months old. The kittens I fostered confirmed this hypothesis and had rancid kitten shits to boot. The only reason for getting kittens is to make sure your eventual-cats have a good upbringing.
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Mar 20, 2014 08:05
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What are signs to watch out for that indicate that an old cat's quality of life is going south for good? My girl has developed stomatitis and her weight's been dropping, but aside from that she still seems like her old self. It's been itching at the back of my mind that her time may be coming, though, and I want to know what to look for. Etta James:   
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Mar 20, 2014 16:40
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Serella posted:I use a similar one, and I've never had issues. Even my fatty cat couldn't pry it open. He attempted to open it by knocking it off the counter once, but all that did was flip it over and prevent him from getting food at the designated time, so he's never done it again. Hmm yes we have been putting wet food in as we only feed wet food... thinking we might switch to a measured amount of dry food in the morning to put in the feeder. We just can't leave a days worth of dry out for example as they will gorge themselves and be sick! Are there likely to be any issues with switching to dry food for one meal out of three?
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Mar 20, 2014 17:44
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Sup PI goons. I figure this thread is the best place to ask. I live in the top floor of an apartment building, and I have my own rooftop space with a deck and jacuzzi, and a stray cat has taken it upon his/herself to poo poo inside it every other night. There's a tarp covering it, but cleaning it is starting to piss me off. How do I stop this cat from making GBS threads all over my rooftop space? The walls of the enclosure are pretty tall, too, so we're dealing with an acrobat. I even thought of putting down a cage and capturing it, since I help some guys from an animal shelter sometimes (though they mostly handle dogs).
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Mar 20, 2014 17:51
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Pochoclo posted:Sup PI goons. I figure this thread is the best place to ask. I live in the top floor of an apartment building, and I have my own rooftop space with a deck and jacuzzi, and a stray cat has taken it upon his/herself to poo poo inside it every other night. There's a tarp covering it, but cleaning it is starting to piss me off. How do I stop this cat from making GBS threads all over my rooftop space? The walls of the enclosure are pretty tall, too, so we're dealing with an acrobat. I even thought of putting down a cage and capturing it, since I help some guys from an animal shelter sometimes (though they mostly handle dogs). I would go for the nose. Go at your jazcuzzi with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle so it stops smelling like a toilet to the cat, then try placing mothballs around it and citrus-scented air fresheners inside it. Capturing it would solve your problems, too, but I would definitely do the Nature's Miracle part either way.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:15
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Robot Mil posted:We are currently using this timed cat feeder, does anyone have any recommendations for sturdy timed feeders suitable for wet food and available in the UK?? It can be hard to find, but if you can get the larger C50 version, it's a lot bigger and sturdier and less easy to shove around. It has ice packs in the bottom and you can put wet or dry food in it, and you can set the timer up in a variety of different ways over 4 days. It's also great for short stays away, I've used it to go away for a couple of nights and the cat loves it.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:27
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One of my cats had diarrea this morning and decided to press her butt on every single white surface available. My dream suddenly smelled really poopy and the first thing I saw when I woke up was her stinky butt. I spend two hours de-pooping everything and the smell just wouldn't go away and that was when I found out she poop-stamped my face as well. gently caress this gay earth and gently caress this cat because she is just being too adorable and I can't stay mad at her.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:28
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One of my little bastards managed to get it all over his tail, and then proceeded to both run around rubbing it on everything, and also flicking it back and forth like a whip to spread the joy.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:40
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aghastly posted:I would go for the nose. Go at your jazcuzzi with an enzyme cleaner like Nature's Miracle so it stops smelling like a toilet to the cat, then try placing mothballs around it and citrus-scented air fresheners inside it. Thanks. There's nothing like Nature's Miracle where I live, but I'll try bleach and disinfectant and mothballs and also something called "not here!" which is supposed to repel cats and dogs.
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Mar 20, 2014 18:42
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I feel so terrible! My kitty has been wearing a collar for about a week in preparation for the move so he can get used to wearing it. He climbed up on me today and his fur moved in a way under the collar that I could see through to his skin, and it's all irritated and scabbed up(he scratches at it, but not constantly)! I immediately to the collar off(one of the regular ones from petsmart) and checked his neck, it's pretty irritated where the collar sat. I feel awful I didn't know this was happening! Is there anything I can do for him? Or just leave off the collar and let him heal? Has anyone experienced this before? What am I supposed to do now for a collar? Can he just not wear them anymore? I also purchased a harness for him too, but now I'm also afraid it's going to irritate his skin as well.
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Mar 20, 2014 22:50
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Becklespinax posted:It can be hard to find, but if you can get the larger C50 version, it's a lot bigger and sturdier and less easy to shove around. It has ice packs in the bottom and you can put wet or dry food in it, and you can set the timer up in a variety of different ways over 4 days. It's also great for short stays away, I've used it to go away for a couple of nights and the cat loves it. Is there room for two kitty heads to get at food in one of the compartments? Ours will share a bowl if necessary, but we have one that is slightly greedier (and larger) than the other and I don't want the smaller cat to get short changed! I'm tempted to get this dry food dispenser for morning feeds, if only for the hilarious reviews about how badly the instructions are written, and to see if my techie boyfriend can work it out before he smashes it through a window...
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Mar 20, 2014 22:52
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I have a 2.5 year old female cat. Yesterday morning she tore off some chunks of foam plastic and ate them. She threw 2 of them up shortly after that, but then she kept throwing up over and over. She sat there awake, drooling, and staring into space for a few hours and threw up about 10 times, so I left work early and we took her to the vet. The vet took xrays and did some bloodwork to make sure her water, electrolyte, and some other levels were ok after all that vomiting. She wasn't really dehydrated and her bloodwork came out pretty ok, with everything still in normal ranges. On the xray, her stomach was completely empty and the piece of plastic had made it all the way to her colon, so the vet just gave her some laxatives and said since it's relatively soft plastic and it made it to the colon we should just let her pass it. He said if she didn't eat at all yesterday it's still normal. Her digestive tract looked entirely empty except for this 1 thing. That was about 16 hours ago, and she still won't eat and hasn't passed the plastic. She's used the litter box, but only to pee. Other than that she's just slept for literally the entire time and has barely moved. We gave her some more laxatives this morning before I went to work, but my girlfriend said she just threw it all up. At least she hasn't thrown up other than that since her visit to the vet. Should I be worried again at this point? When should we be taking her back into the vet if she doesn't pass the plastic?
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Mar 21, 2014 04:25
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MeramJert posted:I have a 2.5 year old female cat. Yesterday morning she tore off some chunks of foam plastic and ate them. She threw 2 of them up shortly after that, but then she kept throwing up over and over. She sat there awake, drooling, and staring into space for a few hours and threw up about 10 times, so I left work early and we took her to the vet. I don't have the answer to your question, but usually if I'm uncertain about something after visiting the vet, I'll call the receptionists at the vet I use and they're always really helpful. If they don't know the answer, they'll ask one of the vets/nurses and find out for me. You should give them a call and see what they say.
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Mar 21, 2014 12:47
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We have an elderly cat who is bad at eating. He tends to lick his food rather than bite it. He also doesn't like to drink much water, so we prefer to give him wet food. However, the food that he takes the most interest in is a pate texture, which is harder for him to eat than the chunkier kind. We've tried putting it in his bowl and on a plate. The plate seems easier for him, but he still misses a lot. Is there anything else we can try? Also, how can we encourage him to drink more water? We picked up one of those fountain water bowls because it was on sale, but he seems leery of it.
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Mar 21, 2014 12:56
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hooah posted:We have an elderly cat who is bad at eating. He tends to lick his food rather than bite it. He also doesn't like to drink much water, so we prefer to give him wet food. However, the food that he takes the most interest in is a pate texture, which is harder for him to eat than the chunkier kind. We've tried putting it in his bowl and on a plate. The plate seems easier for him, but he still misses a lot. Is there anything else we can try? Have you had his teeth checked out to make sure they're not hosed up?
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Mar 21, 2014 13:21
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hooah posted:We have an elderly cat who is bad at eating. He tends to lick his food rather than bite it. He also doesn't like to drink much water, so we prefer to give him wet food. However, the food that he takes the most interest in is a pate texture, which is harder for him to eat than the chunkier kind. We've tried putting it in his bowl and on a plate. The plate seems easier for him, but he still misses a lot. Is there anything else we can try? Before our old man cat passed, we would take the pate food and mix it with warm water and make it into a mush. He had kidney issues and that was our way of bribing him into drinking a little more. It may be worth trying, though I would agree on getting his teeth checked regardless.
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Mar 21, 2014 13:28
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He's been to the vet plenty. The second one we took him to (we were moving around a lot) even said his teeth looked really good for a cat his age (unknown, but definitely over 10), so that's probably not the problem. Thanks for the suggestion about mixing it with water.
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Mar 21, 2014 13:31
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Rah posted:I don't have the answer to your question, but usually if I'm uncertain about something after visiting the vet, I'll call the receptionists at the vet I use and they're always really helpful. If they don't know the answer, they'll ask one of the vets/nurses and find out for me. You should give them a call and see what they say. Yeah, I ended up doing this about an hour after my previous post. They said it wasn't a good sign and I should bring her back in later that day, which I did. They force fed her some sort of white liquid and took more x-rays, which revealed this:  Which means the thing is blocking things getting from her stomach to her small intestines, so she's probably going to need surgery 
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Mar 21, 2014 15:23
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Oh poor thing. Ozma had to have exploratory surgery for a suspected string last year and it was such a lousy ordeal. Best of luck.
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Mar 21, 2014 15:39
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Hi cat friends, My kitty Sterling has been trying to hork up a hairball for the last couple days-- at least I think that's what it is, since the season is right and she has very thick fur. I'm concerned because I've never noticed it taking this long for her to get one out before, and although half the time she's still playful and cuddly, the other half she's sluggish and doesn't want to move (behavior I recognize as consistent with when she needs to deal with a hairball). She's eating, drinking, and using the litterbox, and I brought her some grass the other day which she chewed up with enthusiasm, but when she threw up later all that came up was the grass. I'm thinking of taking her to the vet tomorrow if I don't notice a change or find the mess when I get home, but was wondering if that's necessary and if there are any other ways to help a kitty pass a bad hairball? Overall she's in vet-declared "excellent" health for a ten-year-old, aside from being a bit overweight. She has a history of allergies that make her sniffly and dandruffy, which I combat by putting fish oil on her (decreasing portion of) food every day.
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Mar 21, 2014 16:22
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tarbrush posted: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. Bad Mitten posted: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. Thanks for the responses. I've pretty well come to terms with the decision at this point. It seems pretty obvious to me that she's too far gone for there to be anything we can really do other than make her as comfortable as possible. The sun has finally come out here in Chicago, so she's at least been enjoying the windowsills the last couple of days!
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Mar 21, 2014 17:25
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Grantaire posted:Hi cat friends, If she's making hairballish coughing noises but isn't bringing anything up then she might actually be having an asthma attack. They do sound a bit different to throwing up noises but it's close enough to easily mistake the two if you don't know there's a difference.
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Mar 21, 2014 17:41
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Organza Quiz posted:If she's making hairballish coughing noises but isn't bringing anything up then she might actually be having an asthma attack. They do sound a bit different to throwing up noises but it's close enough to easily mistake the two if you don't know there's a difference. Oh no! Would this also apply to the Puke Stance, and make her sluggish/sensitive to stomach touching?
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Mar 21, 2014 17:43
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Organza Quiz posted:If she's making hairballish coughing noises but isn't bringing anything up then she might actually be having an asthma attack. They do sound a bit different to throwing up noises but it's close enough to easily mistake the two if you don't know there's a difference. My cat will mime puking when she really wants me to take off her collar 
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Mar 21, 2014 17:45
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My kitten Sophie broke her leg almost 3 weeks ago now and 2 weeks ago had surgery to put in some pins.. Today though she finally has the bandage and splint off her leg  She has a nasty sore from the wire around the bone breaking through her skin so the vet put some staples in it and left the bandage off since she thinks the bandage and splint was putting pressure on it making the sore worse. I have to be stricter with the cage rest now that she doesn't have the splint and bandage to help support her leg though! I was allowed to let her out and let her walk around as long as she's not jumping about, but for the next few weeks she's only allowed out if she's sitting down on the sofa with me.. I know she'll not like it, but I'll be glad when she's better and can get back to normal
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Mar 21, 2014 18:33
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Out of curiosity, do some cats just prefer playing by themselves? I've tried every Da Bird type toy there is on Toast, and he's interested, but he doesn't do backflips trying to hunt the things. I can't really wear him out with them. I convinced myself today that I was just doing something wrong after I put that toy away, but then Toast spent the next five minutes frantically wrestling a crumpled up receipt and is now passed out on top of my running shoe. 
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Mar 21, 2014 18:53
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aghastly posted:Out of curiosity, do some cats just prefer playing by themselves? I've tried every Da Bird type toy there is on Toast, and he's interested, but he doesn't do backflips trying to hunt the things. I can't really wear him out with them. The problem is that your cat is a cat. I'm afraid there's no cure. 
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Mar 21, 2014 18:59
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aghastly posted:Out of curiosity, do some cats just prefer playing by themselves? I've tried every Da Bird type toy there is on Toast, and he's interested, but he doesn't do backflips trying to hunt the things. I can't really wear him out with them. My mom thought my cat was broken when we lived with my folks temporarily, because he wouldn't play with some yarn she was dangling for him. Just stared at her. I made her hide in the hallway bathroom, then I went down the hall with the yarn - he chased it like a crazy thing. It's weird, like he gets embarrassed in front of other people and won't act undignified if he knows they're watching. Point being: cats are weird. Who knows.
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Mar 21, 2014 18:59
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Iron Crowned posted:My cat will mime puking when she really wants me to take off her collar It burns us! It freezes! Nasty elves twisted it. Take it off us!
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Mar 21, 2014 19:02
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aghastly posted:Out of curiosity, do some cats just prefer playing by themselves? I've tried every Da Bird type toy there is on Toast, and he's interested, but he doesn't do backflips trying to hunt the things. I can't really wear him out with them. One of our cats is a nut for crumpled paper. She does love to play fetch with them, but can entertain herself playing soccer.
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Mar 21, 2014 19:32
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I've made an appointment with the vet on Sunday, just in case. Thanks for putting the possibility of asthma in my mind, even if now it's going to fester there until I get it confirmed or denied. Better to know than to just assume it's a hairball and have it proven otherwise!
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Mar 21, 2014 20:14
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Grantaire posted:I've made an appointment with the vet on Sunday, just in case. Thanks for putting the possibility of asthma in my mind, even if now it's going to fester there until I get it confirmed or denied. Better to know than to just assume it's a hairball and have it proven otherwise! One of my two cats has asthma according to the vet. When it's bad she gets some steroids (I think, stuff anyway) but that's not very often. Most of the time I hear her coughing for 20 or 30s then she's her usual self again. The vet convinced me not to be overly concerned and the years have backed that up.
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Mar 21, 2014 22:24
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Yeah, Sterling's been a bit wheezy for as long as I've known her, but I've asked vets about it before and they've always concluded it was allergies. She's had to have steroids for itchy skin/runny eyes during allergy season, so it wouldn't exactly be news if she had to get them again. I just wanna cover my bases.
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Mar 21, 2014 22:30
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Ozma has similar symptoms, one vet theorized it might be asthma, the other suggested it was cat herpes, but either way she's fine except the odd coughing fit every few months or so. I just try to keep things vaccuumed/run the air filter frequently.
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Mar 21, 2014 22:56
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I'm just wondering if anyone has any tips on how to know if a cat is experiencing pain? I have googled it, but a lot of the symptoms it says to look for either she seems fine about or I'm uncertain about. In case you've not seen my other posts here, my kitten Sophie broke her front right leg almost 3 weeks ago and had surgery 2 weeks ago to put pins in the bone. They also put some wire around the bone too and the pressure from the splint/bandage caused it to break through the skin and she has quite a nasty sore. Since she had her accident she's been having Metacam every day until a few days ago when she'd been experiencing diarrhea and vomited a couple of times so I was advised to stop giving her it. Today we went to the vets to have the stitches removed and the vet allowed the bandage and splint to stay off her leg (Although I need to be much stricter with the cage rest now she doesn't have the extra support from the splint) and instead of reapplying the bandage because of the sore she has from the wire breaking through her skin, the vet stapled it closed because she thinks it's likely the bandage and splint that put pressure on it to make it happen. For the last few days without the Metacam she seemed fine and didn't seem to have any pain. When I saw the sore on her leg properly today though it looked very bad so I asked about some pain relief for her just in case she is in any pain. I got some different pain medication and was told to give her it if she's in pain, but if she doesn't seem in any pain, not to. Since we got home though she doesn't seem her normal self, but I could just be imagining that after seeing the sore and worrying about pain, or it could be because she's now got to stay in her cage a lot more than previously. I was advised by the vet after her surgery she's allowed out of her cage as long as she's not trying to walk around or jump, and I'm at home a lot of the time so most of the time I've allowed her to be out of the cage since I can watch over her. The vet said today though, since she wont have the bandage and splint to offer any support to be stricter with the rest and only allow her out if she's laying on the sofa with me and not to let her walk around the living room anymore. Anyway, I'm just wondering if anyone could give me some advice about easy to spot signs of her being in pain? I'd hate for her to be in any pain and suffering, but I don't want to medicate her if she doesn't need it, since she's already been receiving pain medication and antibiotics for some weeks now and I worry about the possibility of liver toxicity from all the drugs, especially since she's only a 6 month old kitten. If anyone wants to see a picture of her leg/sore to help determine if she's likely to be in much pain, I can get a picture, but right now she's asleep so I don't want to disturb her unless its necessary.
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Mar 21, 2014 23:01
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In my own experience, cats in pain don't howl, they hide. They may snarl or bite if touched in a sensitive spot. If an active cat is suddenly very quiet and doesn't want to move around, something is probably wrong. Other than that, it's extremely difficult to know. Cats by nature do not show discomfort much, you have to guess.
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Mar 21, 2014 23:08
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