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The Ferret King
Nov 23, 2003

cluck cluck
Well, from my post above. We put a second box in the house and I thought it solved the issue, but the cat crapped on the carpet again today (in the hallway between the two box locations).

Both cats stopped using the first box completely. I guess we might try a different litter brand. We're also getting some proper cleaner for the carpet. I just don't get it. One cat is 10 years old, and the one having the problem is 7 years old and neither have ever had this problem.

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bubblelubble
Feb 26, 2013

scribbled out the truth,
paying in naivety.

SynthOrange posted:

Cats dont care what you call them. :catstare:

Eh I've heard many things about cats and their names. Cos yeah, I've heard it's not so much that they know it's *their* name but moreso that they know they're being called or something when they hear it. But then again, my friend got a "thirdhand" cat whose name was changed by its second owner, and it doesn't recognise its name at all, despite being called that for years now.

I guess what I'm really asking is: how old should a cat be if I want it to be able to recognise its name/calling command? (Or can stuff like this just be clicker-trained?)

matryx
Jul 22, 2005

I think I just had an evilgasm...

SynthOrange posted:

Cats dont care what you call them. :catstare:

Completely. One of mine is called Aurelius and when we call him in we call Auuurriiiiieeee. I can also using the same tone call Stiiiiinnnkiiieeee or bum-faaaaaceeeee and he'll come running.

^^ If you want the cat to come running when you call it, get near it, call it and feed it a treat in the same motion. Repeat periodically.
Both of my cats will come running when I call "dinner" now.

Angrymog
Jan 30, 2012

Really Madcats

My cats respond to their own names individually, and to Mogggiiies! as a group. Also to their treat tube being rattled. This is actually more effective than the name with one of them.

Organza Quiz
Nov 7, 2009


bubblelubble posted:

Eh I've heard many things about cats and their names. Cos yeah, I've heard it's not so much that they know it's *their* name but moreso that they know they're being called or something when they hear it. But then again, my friend got a "thirdhand" cat whose name was changed by its second owner, and it doesn't recognise its name at all, despite being called that for years now.

I guess what I'm really asking is: how old should a cat be if I want it to be able to recognise its name/calling command? (Or can stuff like this just be clicker-trained?)

Cats can be clicker-trained and if you're planning on actually making an effort to train your cat to come when called then it's not going to matter what you call it because it'll learn to come to that sound anyway. Some cats learn to recognise their names by themselves (from what I hear) and some definitely don't (my personal experience). Either way, don't be put off adopting an older cat because you'll want to change its name, it isn't going to make that much difference to it.

Rat Patrol
Feb 15, 2008

kill kill kill kill
kill me now
My cats recognize their names. Like if I mention Ozma's name in conversation she'll look up and maybe come over to see what we wanted. Same for Pizza, and he'll usually chirp back.

It's a crapshoot if they actually come when they're called by name though. Usually they'll only come for food, so their names might as well be the sound of a treat bag shook gently. Call the cat what you want as long as you call it for dinner.

Raisin
Feb 10, 2004

bubblelubble posted:

Eh I've heard many things about cats and their names. Cos yeah, I've heard it's not so much that they know it's *their* name but moreso that they know they're being called or something when they hear it. But then again, my friend got a "thirdhand" cat whose name was changed by its second owner, and it doesn't recognise its name at all, despite being called that for years now.

I guess what I'm really asking is: how old should a cat be if I want it to be able to recognise its name/calling command? (Or can stuff like this just be clicker-trained?)

My cat was about five when I got him and I changed his name. I just said his name and his ears twitched a little (he's asleep) and I said the dog's name and no twitch, so I guess he knows his name. Mostly he comes when I say "Do you want some lunch?" and I'm sure they didn't say that to him at the shelter.

Also, my cat was a stray that someone trapped in their yard and brought to the shelter, so his shelter name was meaningless to him. They had 200 cats and not enough time to lovingly call each one by their name 50x a day. A lot of the cats you're looking at in the shelter might be in a similar situation of having no attachment to their shelter name.

EXTREME INSERTION
Jun 4, 2011

by LadyAmbien
Cats aren't totally stupid, they can learn a new name. Source: my cat now responds to "fatty", even if mentioned casually in conversation, as well as her regular name.

EXTREME INSERTION
Jun 4, 2011

by LadyAmbien
I think whether the cat will come or not to it's name depends on the cat though haha

Robot Mil
Apr 13, 2011

Does anyone have experience introducing an older cat to two younger ones?

We have two 6 year old male cats who have been together since kittens (not litter mates) and they... lets say tolerate each other. There's the occasional scrap and swipe and there's no catpiles but they generally get on ok if quite separately. After visiting a cat adoption centre we really want to give another cat a home, preferably an older (10 year old) female.

Apart from checking out with the cat centre how she is with other cats to make sure she isn't likely to be overly stressed, and following normal cat introduction procedures, is there anything we should be really worried about? We have a fairly big house with plenty of escape room and the cats go outside in evenings when we are home. We're happy to get additional litter trays and scratching posts etc.

Araenna
Dec 27, 2012




Lipstick Apathy
Considering the amount of nicknames that are sometimes not at all related to their real names my cats have responded to over the years, I'd say you can change their name whenever. Unless it's a really dumb cat.

Vertigo Ambrosia
May 26, 2004
Heretic, please.
When should I worry about a cat's third eyelids showing? I'm catsitting, and one of the cats' eyes are a little goopy and since this morning the eyelid was showing a bit in both eyes. He seems pretty fine otherwise (eating, drinking, meowing, getting mad when I try to wipe his eyes), and I wouldn't want to worry his owner if this is nothing or if it'll probably clear up just fine. (He's also blind in one eye, but I don;t think that's related.)

Ochowie
Nov 9, 2007

So I just got a kitten. I was going to adopt but I randomly came into contact with some Cornish Rexes and I knew it was a match. I brought him home on Friday and it was a stressful day as he had a tough journey was pretty scared. He's doing better now and sleeping with me and he's a purr machine. Seriously, he just runs over to me now and purrs nonstop. Here is a picture of the little jerk.

DisMafugga
Apr 29, 2013

bubblelubble posted:

This Sunday will be the big day, and I'm now thinking of getting a young cat rather than a kitten. A lot of the cats' names at the shelter are putting me off, however, so I'll probably end up renaming it. So how old is too old to rename a cat?



I call my cats a hundred different things and they don't care about any of them. They may as well all be named the "tick tick" sound you make with your tongue.

Fake Edit: I had not refreshed in quite some time it seems.

Fortis
Oct 21, 2009

feelin' fine
So I found out the hard way why the vet recommended that I put my cat in the carrier 1.5 to 2 hours early for a urinalysis.
It is because when we finally got there, she didn't have any pee to give.
She had to spend some time there getting subcutaneous fluids until she produced enough urine for a sample. She FINALLY made enough just before they closed. They found blood but will have to give me actual conclusive results today once the sample has been through the lab.

They sent me home with pain meds that I have to administer via syringe into her mouth once every 12 hours. I can't see how she isn't going to end up hating me after this. I've only had her since September and I'm terrified that it hasn't been long enough to establish enough trust for her to forgive me for squirting gross liquid into her mouth every morning and evening, even if it is only till tomorrow. I have no idea what the gently caress I'm going to do if it turns out she needs a full course of antibiotics.

Everyone tells me it's going to be fine, but they've had their cats comparatively forever. Am I being crazy? I don't want my cat to stop loving me. :ohdear:

Submarine Sandpaper
May 27, 2007


Fortis posted:

So I found out the hard way why the vet recommended that I put my cat in the carrier 1.5 to 2 hours early for a urinalysis.
It is because when we finally got there, she didn't have any pee to give.
She had to spend some time there getting subcutaneous fluids until she produced enough urine for a sample. She FINALLY made enough just before they closed. They found blood but will have to give me actual conclusive results today once the sample has been through the lab.

They sent me home with pain meds that I have to administer via syringe into her mouth once every 12 hours. I can't see how she isn't going to end up hating me after this. I've only had her since September and I'm terrified that it hasn't been long enough to establish enough trust for her to forgive me for squirting gross liquid into her mouth every morning and evening, even if it is only till tomorrow. I have no idea what the gently caress I'm going to do if it turns out she needs a full course of antibiotics.

Everyone tells me it's going to be fine, but they've had their cats comparatively forever. Am I being crazy? I don't want my cat to stop loving me. :ohdear:

When I got my cat in late Feb this year I had to take him to a vet two weeks afterwards for a general checkup. He was already timid of me, spent four days under the couch and was finally letting me hold him.

Little did I know he would not like to be in the carrier, so I ended up having to tear my apartment apart, taking apart the bed and moving the couch to get the little bugger. It took so long and I didn't watch the clock so we had to do the same thing the next day.

Took a few more weeks after that to rebuild the trust and for him to get out of the couch, but all ended up going well. Now I can't keep him off my lap.

Pinball
Sep 15, 2006




I had the best experience adopting a cat yesterday. I wanted an older, complacent, male cat to keep my current cat company. The oldest male cat the local animal control had was a 1-ish year old gray cat named Boris, and the shelter staff rhapsodized over how calm he was, how he was submissive to other cats, so on and so forth. So I adopted him and took him home and stuck him in the closet, so as to have him meet Andie, my current cat, through the door. Andie is shrieking at him, he's shrieking at her, and when Andie goes to the living room, I go inside to say hi to Boris. Boris acts so upset at being confined in the closet that I decide to let him wander the apartment under supervision. He sees Andie, Andie sees him, they're staring and growling, so I try to grab Boris. Boris decides I'm a better target and bites ten puncture wounds into my elbow. I let go of Boris, Boris chases me into the bedroom and tries to bite me again, I get him into the closet. I spend the evening at the ER getting started on a course of rabies shots, Boris gets taken by animal control and put into quarantine, and Andie seems happy to have the apartment to herself again. It was a great evening.

Fortis
Oct 21, 2009

feelin' fine

Pinball posted:

I had the best experience adopting a cat yesterday. I wanted an older, complacent, male cat to keep my current cat company. The oldest male cat the local animal control had was a 1-ish year old gray cat named Boris, and the shelter staff rhapsodized over how calm he was, how he was submissive to other cats, so on and so forth. So I adopted him and took him home and stuck him in the closet, so as to have him meet Andie, my current cat, through the door. Andie is shrieking at him, he's shrieking at her, and when Andie goes to the living room, I go inside to say hi to Boris. Boris acts so upset at being confined in the closet that I decide to let him wander the apartment under supervision. He sees Andie, Andie sees him, they're staring and growling, so I try to grab Boris. Boris decides I'm a better target and bites ten puncture wounds into my elbow. I let go of Boris, Boris chases me into the bedroom and tries to bite me again, I get him into the closet. I spend the evening at the ER getting started on a course of rabies shots, Boris gets taken by animal control and put into quarantine, and Andie seems happy to have the apartment to herself again. It was a great evening.

Uhh... doesn't the aggressive animal invariably get put down in situations like this?

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Fortis posted:

So I found out the hard way why the vet recommended that I put my cat in the carrier 1.5 to 2 hours early for a urinalysis.
It is because when we finally got there, she didn't have any pee to give.
She had to spend some time there getting subcutaneous fluids until she produced enough urine for a sample. She FINALLY made enough just before they closed. They found blood but will have to give me actual conclusive results today once the sample has been through the lab.

They sent me home with pain meds that I have to administer via syringe into her mouth once every 12 hours. I can't see how she isn't going to end up hating me after this. I've only had her since September and I'm terrified that it hasn't been long enough to establish enough trust for her to forgive me for squirting gross liquid into her mouth every morning and evening, even if it is only till tomorrow. I have no idea what the gently caress I'm going to do if it turns out she needs a full course of antibiotics.

Everyone tells me it's going to be fine, but they've had their cats comparatively forever. Am I being crazy? I don't want my cat to stop loving me. :ohdear:

Whenever I have to give my cats medicine, I always sit in a specific chair in the kitchen. That way they only associate the meds with that one spot, and don't get mad at me generally.

As long as they're not in that chair they're OK, and when they are, they're ready for what's coming. You might want to wrap the cat in a towel first if it's big and scratchy.

Ed: and if it's any consolation, my cats will pee in the carrier if I put them in early, so I have to drop them off at 7 AM whenever they need urinalysis, and don't plan on picking them up until after 5 PM. They know just what you want, and will refuse to cooperate every time.

Deteriorata fucked around with this message at 17:01 on Jun 18, 2014

Pinball
Sep 15, 2006




Fortis posted:

Uhh... doesn't the aggressive animal invariably get put down in situations like this?

Apparently not. The Animal Control guy said that they had a dog bite a few years ago where an Akita bit his owner's girlfriend on the face and basically peeled most of the skin off, and because the owner wanted the animal back, it just had to go through two weeks' quarantine and then went back to the owner. I don't know if I want Boris back, though; I'm pretty much a cat neophyte, and I don't know if I can deal with an animal that will respond to things by giving me ten bite wounds. It's mostly my own fault for letting him out, but I'm a little annoyed with Animal Control for saying he was submissive and calm with other cats and people.

Rat Patrol
Feb 15, 2008

kill kill kill kill
kill me now
It could be he is submissive once he's comfortable. It could be the combination of being in a strange place with a new person, being confined (hopefully the closet is big?), having an angry cat spitting threats at him, and then probably feeling ganged up on (your current cat attacking from the front then you come up on the side feels like a joint attack - he wouldn't know that you were trying to get him to safety because he doesn't have a relationship with you to know you mean no harm) that led him to snap like that. Boris has no context within which to view your actions - he saw you as just another attacker in a fight, in a strange new place and acted accordingly.

It sucks you had a rough time. I don't blame you for not wanting him back if he attacked you, but there are a lot of factors that can make a cat act against his usual personality if he feels threatened enough.


Deteriorata posted:

Whenever I have to give my cats medicine, I always sit in a specific chair in the kitchen. That way they only associate the meds with that one spot, and don't get mad at me generally.

As long as they're not in that chair they're OK, and when they are, they're ready for what's coming. You might want to wrap the cat in a towel first if it's big and scratchy.


That's a clever idea. I've just got into the habit of giving them meds right before feeding time. My cats are super duper food motivated so they'll put up with just about anything if they can stuff their faces afterwards.

Rat Patrol fucked around with this message at 17:05 on Jun 18, 2014

Fortis
Oct 21, 2009

feelin' fine

Pinball posted:

Apparently not. The Animal Control guy said that they had a dog bite a few years ago where an Akita bit his owner's girlfriend on the face and basically peeled most of the skin off, and because the owner wanted the animal back, it just had to go through two weeks' quarantine and then went back to the owner. I don't know if I want Boris back, though; I'm pretty much a cat neophyte, and I don't know if I can deal with an animal that will respond to things by giving me ten bite wounds. It's mostly my own fault for letting him out, but I'm a little annoyed with Animal Control for saying he was submissive and calm with other cats and people.

Oh, okay. Well, if you do decide to take him back... when you say you stuck him in the closet, was it actually, like, a closet? Or a walk-in closet? Most people keep new cats confined to the bathroom or something. I think he probably got agitated quicker by being a little too confined. I don't have direct experience with this but the first step should be acclimating the new cat to their new surroundings, THEN doing introductions. Which means he would need more space to get used to his new home in and even if he's really champing at the bit to get out there and explore you need to take it super slow.

Well, if he just goes back up for adoption after quarantine should you not decide to take him back, no harm, no foul, I guess.

Pinball
Sep 15, 2006




Fortis posted:

Oh, okay. Well, if you do decide to take him back... when you say you stuck him in the closet, was it actually, like, a closet? Or a walk-in closet? Most people keep new cats confined to the bathroom or something. I think he probably got agitated quicker by being a little too confined. I don't have direct experience with this but the first step should be acclimating the new cat to their new surroundings, THEN doing introductions. Which means he would need more space to get used to his new home in and even if he's really champing at the bit to get out there and explore you need to take it super slow.

Well, if he just goes back up for adoption after quarantine should you not decide to take him back, no harm, no foul, I guess.

It's a very large walk-in closet, probably about twenty or thirty square feet. I'm not sure if he'll go back up for adoption, but I don't think I'll be taking him back. My current cat, based on her reaction to Boris, doesn't want any other cats in the apartment, and I was planning to get another cat to keep her company when I'm in class or working. I might just not have another cat.

Rat Patrol
Feb 15, 2008

kill kill kill kill
kill me now
It can take a cat 1-3 months to get used to another cat in their home. Fighting and stress after just a couple of days together is really to be expected. My cats are best friends but they fought all the time when I first introduced them, and they still have the odd angry brawl even now that they know and like each other.

Obviously you don't have to get another cat, but these things take time. My cats took about a month to be really cozy. My sister once took in two unrelated cats and they got along perfectly from day one. Then another time she took in a new cat and it took him about 3 years to warm up to her other cats enough to let them sit next to him in a chair without touching. You just kind of have to know your pets and give them the time they need.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Pinball posted:

It's a very large walk-in closet, probably about twenty or thirty square feet. I'm not sure if he'll go back up for adoption, but I don't think I'll be taking him back. My current cat, based on her reaction to Boris, doesn't want any other cats in the apartment, and I was planning to get another cat to keep her company when I'm in class or working. I might just not have another cat.

It may take a few weeks, but cats usually learn to at least tolerate the presence of others. Primarily by learning to stay out of the way of each other.

If you like the cat, give it another go, and give it some time. Cats rarely get along at first sight, perceiving the other as a rival/competitor/invader. They gradually figure out that the other isn't going anywhere and adapt.

Your new cat was scared and disoriented. It's not at all surprising he lashed out at you.

Dogen
May 5, 2002

Bury my body down by the highwayside, so that my old evil spirit can get a Greyhound bus and ride
I feel really bad for Boris, it sounds like the shelter people didn't really ask enough questions or give much in the way of advice about introducing cats. Also, never try and grab a cat when it's already mad and you don't know it that well. But it takes weeks to months for cats to get used to living with another cat.

seakindliness
Apr 23, 2009
One of my kittens is bullying my other kitten. I have two, one male and one female. The boy is always muscling the girl away from toys even if I throw down three or four for them, he grabs them in his mouth, runs off somewhere and gathers them together so that only he may play with them. When she tries to get close he growls at her or chases her off.

The girl ultimately ends up sitting back and watching with this depressed look on her face. The same thing happens if I bring out a string toy for both of them. He'll growl at her and chase her off so only he may play with the toy. He's honestly being a little rear end in a top hat. I tried isolating him for a few minutes while I play with the girl but he never stops hogging the toys or play time and will just start chasing her off when I let him out.

Strangely enough, the girl loves him. Outside of playtime, they are very cooperative with each other. They like eating together and sleeping on what used to be my throw together and they hate being separated.

Rodent Mortician
Mar 17, 2009

SQUEAK.

Pinball posted:

It's a very large walk-in closet, probably about twenty or thirty square feet. I'm not sure if he'll go back up for adoption, but I don't think I'll be taking him back. My current cat, based on her reaction to Boris, doesn't want any other cats in the apartment, and I was planning to get another cat to keep her company when I'm in class or working. I might just not have another cat.

You really have no gauge for that - in Boris' mind, he was kidnapped, locked in a closet, attacked by a weird cat, and then grabbed by a stranger repeatedly. In your cat's eyes, a burglar showed up in his house, talked poo poo to him, and then attacked his owner. Your cat may legit not be a cat that likes other cats, but the situation was set up to fail and it did, unfortunately.

DaisyDanger
Feb 19, 2007

Sorry, a system error occurred.
Yeah, if I had gauged whether or not to keep my kittens on the first meeting with my older cat, we would not have kept them. They've now been out of quarantine for a week and a half and my big cat is still weary of them, but at least they can all be within a few feet of each other without claws coming out now...most of the time. This is the closest thing to a cat pile yet:



I woke up this morning to Taters (the older one) yowling. I thought he wanted breakfast, so I climbed out of bed to find him making GBS threads on the floor just in front of his litter box. I cleaned it (not just changing the litter, but an actual clean) yesterday. We have three litter boxes (no room for a fourth anywhere and they all ignore one of the three boxes anyway) and the litter box he poo poo in front of is "his" litter box. The kittens ignored it until a few days ago and now they only want to use that one. I tried keeping them out of it for a few days, but Taters seemed fine using it with the kittens using it, too. Could the issue be that he doesn't want to use it because it is sparkling clean or maybe because he doesn't want to share with the kittens? It appears he peed in it at some point because there was a big clump in the box this morning when I scooped and the kittens don't pee as much as him.

Pinball
Sep 15, 2006




Rodent Mortician posted:

You really have no gauge for that - in Boris' mind, he was kidnapped, locked in a closet, attacked by a weird cat, and then grabbed by a stranger repeatedly. In your cat's eyes, a burglar showed up in his house, talked poo poo to him, and then attacked his owner. Your cat may legit not be a cat that likes other cats, but the situation was set up to fail and it did, unfortunately.

You're right, and I feel really bad for Boris. I've never had two cats, and have only had Andie for about two months, though she's lived with my family for nine years. I didn't realize how territorial cats get and how difficult it is to introduce them to each other. I know a lot more about dogs, and all of our dogs have always gotten along tremendously. I guess I'll see what happens when Boris gets out of quarantine. AC hasn't called, so I'm not sure what's going to happen.

KoB
May 1, 2009

EXTREME INSERTION posted:

Cats aren't totally stupid, they can learn a new name. Source: my cat now responds to "fatty", even if mentioned casually in conversation, as well as her regular name.

poo poo, my cat knows Im coming just from the sound of my footsteps and even the sound of my car.

bubblelubble
Feb 26, 2013

scribbled out the truth,
paying in naivety.
So I preemptively bought cat (1+ years) dry food rather than kitten food for my (slightly large for her age) six-month-old kitten. If I feed her three times a day, is it okay to give her the dry food at midday if I give her the wet food in the morning and at night? Will that be enough nutrient intake for her?

edit: My bad, she's almost 8 months old, not 6 like I said. Thank god, I was kinda freaking out possibly raising a monster kitty.

Adding another question - how many chicken necks can I give her at a time? A lot of googling has told me how often (generally 2-4 times a week) but never how many a time.

bubblelubble fucked around with this message at 08:53 on Jun 19, 2014

DisMafugga
Apr 29, 2013

I have a 2/3 year old rescue cat named Knuckles that has constantly got diarrhea. I prefer to call it liquishits, but it is ALL the time. I've got him eating Iams cat food with meat as the first ingredient that is supposed to aid in his digestion. I've had him to the vet who took samples and said he may be suffering from feline colitis and that there's really not all that much that can be done for his condition. I'm pretty much at the end of my rope with him after years of dealing with it. He sometimes goes outside the box(which is awful because nothing is ever solid) though he generally does keep to it. He usually ends up stepping in his own mess while trying to bury it and then tracking it out into the room and everywhere he goes until it dries...

I am freshly off a bout of wrestling him into the sink to wash his hind leg off. I have a nice rake of claw slashes along my side as a thank you from him for my attention to the matter.

Is there anything I can try to solidify his movements? I tried the pumpkin trick from early on in the thread, and it did seem to have some effect on it for a time. Unfortunately the positive effects wore off after a time and I am back to square one. I will be getting married and moving to a new house that I will not be able to take him to in this condition.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.


Fake Edit: I've attached a picture of the culprit. He really is a wonderful tempered cat. He's just so damned dirty/disgusting when he goes.

Knuckles as a kitten. He really hasn't grown all that much since. I believe due to his condition, though he could just be a runt.

HelloSailorSign
Jan 27, 2011

If all that was done were fecal samples then there are still many more tests that could be done. Colitis has many causes, many of which are treatable, or at least somewhat manageable. Bloodwork, abdominal ultrasound, tissue biopsy, limited ingredient diets, intestinal antibiotics... there's a lot to be done both diagnostically and therapeutically.

Daily Forecast
Dec 25, 2008

by R. Guyovich

Pinball posted:

I had the best experience adopting a cat yesterday. I wanted an older, complacent, male cat to keep my current cat company. The oldest male cat the local animal control had was a 1-ish year old gray cat named Boris, and the shelter staff rhapsodized over how calm he was, how he was submissive to other cats, so on and so forth. So I adopted him and took him home and stuck him in the closet, so as to have him meet Andie, my current cat, through the door. Andie is shrieking at him, he's shrieking at her, and when Andie goes to the living room, I go inside to say hi to Boris. Boris acts so upset at being confined in the closet that I decide to let him wander the apartment under supervision. He sees Andie, Andie sees him, they're staring and growling, so I try to grab Boris. Boris decides I'm a better target and bites ten puncture wounds into my elbow. I let go of Boris, Boris chases me into the bedroom and tries to bite me again, I get him into the closet. I spend the evening at the ER getting started on a course of rabies shots, Boris gets taken by animal control and put into quarantine, and Andie seems happy to have the apartment to herself again. It was a great evening.

Have a little patience. When I first adopted Jasper he spent a full two months hiding under the furniture, hissing, biting and clawing, and now he's just the loviest cat I've ever had. When we adopted Theodore a few months after that, it was full scale declaration of war for about a week before they started tolerating eachother. They don't exactly cuddle up on the bed or anything, but they frequently play together (take turns chasing eachother through the apartment- it's adorable) and sit next to eachother and beg for food together and peace (predominately; there's a few tussles now and again) reigns.

This poo poo can take a long time, but the vast majority of cats will learn to at least tolerate eachother's presence in their territory. And now that the shelter 'knows' that the cat's aggressive, he might be put down! Go save a life. :(

vaguely related: I remember when we fostered a kitten for a week, after we got Jasper but before we got Theodore. Jasper was absolutely terrified of her. It was hilarious.

edit: the little poo poo himself (I love him so much)

That's Theodore's tail in the background, so, you know, close proximity without bloodshed.

Daily Forecast fucked around with this message at 11:23 on Jun 19, 2014

Bad Mitten
Aug 26, 2004
Intuition as guided by experience

bubblelubble posted:

So I preemptively bought cat (1+ years) dry food rather than kitten food for my (slightly large for her age) six-month-old kitten. If I feed her three times a day, is it okay to give her the dry food at midday if I give her the wet food in the morning and at night? Will that be enough nutrient intake for her?



My vet told me I could feed my adult cat and my kitten the same food as long as it was labeled "for all life stages."

Rodent Mortician
Mar 17, 2009

SQUEAK.

Pinball posted:

You're right, and I feel really bad for Boris. I've never had two cats, and have only had Andie for about two months, though she's lived with my family for nine years. I didn't realize how territorial cats get and how difficult it is to introduce them to each other. I know a lot more about dogs, and all of our dogs have always gotten along tremendously. I guess I'll see what happens when Boris gets out of quarantine. AC hasn't called, so I'm not sure what's going to happen.

It can be tough if you've never done it before, definitely. Sometimes a younger cat helps (not necessarily a kitten, but youthful) as they're a little less sure of themselves and can be a little more submissive. However, if your cat is a 65 year old grandma at heart, s/he may be annoyed by having a youth bouncing around their head all day. Opposite sex cats also often have less to beef about (even though there are plenty of same-sex buddies).

If you decide to try again, plan on a solid month of going very slow. Usually what I do is lock the new inmate in a bathroom and let the other cats poof and hiss and jam their feet under the door to display their rage for a few days until their natural sloth takes over. Then I'll stick a baby gate in the door and start letting them nose each other. The gate won't keep them out or in if they really want to get over it, but it does give them a quick barrier so they can't immediately lock up and start fighting if they really hate each other.

Usually I get a lot of butthurt hissing for a while, especially over stupid things like the toy mice that there are approximately 40,000 of in the house, but THAT one is the best one, etc. Making sure they've got lots of space to 'escape' from each other is important too. If you don't have a cat tree, a nice big one is a good investment. Generally I'll try to let them interact together slowly, and try to prevent any major altercations. So like, day 1 I'll let them poo poo talk at each other and sulk for an hour, and then return new guy to the bathroom, everybody gets treats. If nobody dies after a couple of days of that, I'll try 3-5 hours. And then at night when I'm at home, but separate when I'm at work, etc. If it's really difficult, there's a product called Feliway which is kitty feel good pheromones that can help if either cat is super stressed.

I'm probably more on the paranoid side, but I feel like a veteran of the bitchy cat wars since my boyfriend and I are currently Brady Bunching our cat hordes.

Tsietisin
Jul 2, 2004

Time passes quickly on the weekend.

CarrotFlowers posted:

My cat keeps making GBS threads outside of his litter box, and it's driving me crazy. I switched litter a while ago to world's best, and he hated it. Started peeing and pooping outside his litter box, so I totally cleaned his litter box and replaced it with cat attract. Now he'll pee in it, but he still feels the need to poo poo on the floor. It's a dumpy little cement room under the stairs so at least it's not on my carpet or anything, but what can I do here? Any ideas why he'll pee in it but not poop? Just took him to the vet a couple months ago for his checkup and vaccines and he was in great shape. He's about 6 years old, mostly indoor cat. I started letting him outside on his leash when I was gardening about the time he started making GBS threads on the floor actually. Could that be related?

I am having the same issue, but in reverse. One of my cats is happy to poo in any of the 4 litter boxes we have around the house, but always wants to pee on the floor, usually well away from any of the boxes. It's getting quite frustrating having to mop it up every day. I'm just thankful she has not gotten to doing it in a carpeted room.

Same litter as always, just cant seem to get her to pee in the box.

And as before, she has been checked out, everything is fine with her physically.

Fortis
Oct 21, 2009

feelin' fine
Holy poo poo, I am so angry at my rear end in a top hat cat right now.
Stella waged a war of attrition this morning about taking her medicine (Buprenorphine) and loving won. I can't do anything about it. I need to go to work to afford things for her like this loving medicine. She literally ran out the clock.

I know it's "just" pain medicine, and she didn't even have surgery, but I feel like I've completely failed her. I don't have any help with her most days of the week, and if she gets under the bed in the morning, unless I can trick her out in time... welp.

:argh:

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Iron Crowned
May 6, 2003

by Hand Knit

Fortis posted:

Holy poo poo, I am so angry at my rear end in a top hat cat right now.
Stella waged a war of attrition this morning about taking her medicine (Buprenorphine) and loving won. I can't do anything about it. I need to go to work to afford things for her like this loving medicine. She literally ran out the clock.

I know it's "just" pain medicine, and she didn't even have surgery, but I feel like I've completely failed her. I don't have any help with her most days of the week, and if she gets under the bed in the morning, unless I can trick her out in time... welp.

:argh:

Whenever I've had to give my cat medicine, I close all the doors to places she can get to that I cannot, such as a bedroom. I still have had to run her down, and have gotten antimicrobial poo poo in my eyes more than once, but limiting escape routes does help.

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