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Robot Mil posted:Does anyone have tips for getting a greedy cat to eat slower? Put a golf ball in the food dish.
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Sep 16, 2014 00:16
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So our cat is a biter. Like, she'll nip at both me and and my girlfriend, but she'll at least cuddle with me, while she'll go hard on my girlfriend's arms and legs. I'm really not sure what to do. We've tried all the standard google, Jackson Galaxy solutions. Our only real recourse right now is giving her time outs (30min-1hr usually) in the hopes that she calms down. Any suggestions? We live in a New York apt so getting another cat isn't really in the cards. Also, she is a calico which apparently translates to crazy. We weren't told this at the shelter, but from multiple vets, apparently this is a thing. >:< I'm also pretty sure she was taken away from her mom too early, and whoever owned her before we got her didn't train her not to attack hands and feet.
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Sep 16, 2014 02:59
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Alteisen posted:Truth be told I didn't wanna do it, but I saw him being born, was there when he opened his eyes, I was the first person he saw and heard, its only fitting I be there for the end. Orange and white cats are the best cats, this is scientifically proven. Sorry for the loss of your companion.
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Sep 16, 2014 03:20
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bettsta posted:If we do catch it there's no way we'd release it back out there. The representative from the animal shelter told me to call back if we managed to capture the kitten, and if it turns out they can't accept the kitten then it's on to the ASPCA and local rescue organizations. Should I contact the ASPCA and rescues before making another attempt to confirm that they'd take it in before trying to capture it? If none of those pan out then it's a matter of finding it a home ourselves. I'm a little hesitant to keep it with us because we have two 5 month old kittens in an open loft with no doors except for the bathrooms, so keeping them apart to ease them through socialization would be a pain. However, if it comes down to sleepless nights and an empty bank account vs. putting it back on the streets, we'll of course figure out a way to care for it. I can't get its tiny little mews out of my head. If you keep putting food out for the cat at the same time every day, making the same noise to call it, and hang around while it eats, it's possible it will warm up to you just after a few days of doing that. Try to get a little closer to the cat each time you feed it. I have had a couple of scared ferals who I managed to catch using this method. The cat already seems slightly OK around you (i.e. you can see it) so this method may work. If the kitten is very recalcitrant (or you want to speed up the process) see if you can get your hands on a humane trap. Local rescues that do TNR may be able to lend you one (Alley Cat Allies has resources) or you can purchase a Havahart-style trap yourself. Check around with local organizations to see if they have a spot. Often they will ask you to do the socialization and fostering yourself if they don't have open spots. Let them know you're willing to do it if you are and most will try to help you out! Usually local rescues/ASPCA can hook you up with cheap deworming/vaccination/fixing/FeLV-FIV tests. (P.S. "I think the cat may be pregnant" is the magic phrase that will push rescues to move heaven and earth to get the cat trapped and fixed to avoid babies. Even if the cat *isn't* pregnant at least it's not like they're going to dump it without providing medical treatment)
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Sep 16, 2014 06:32
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cov-hog posted:Put the food in a muffin tin or some other kind of bumpy bowl. It'll take him longer to pick kibbles out of the cups. I did this with Oscar for a bit and it worked wonders.
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Sep 16, 2014 11:04
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bettsta posted:Need some advice with a feral kitten. It's not feral, it'll be an abandoned domestic or the offspring of one. An actual feral cat will never make a sound, will not cross open ground and certainly won't come toward a person. Most likely someone moved away leaving an entire queen or threw a pregnant queen out and she's raising her litter as best she can. Kittens that age do not survive for long without a mother so it's unlikely he was tossed out on his own however from what you describe it could have been. Domestics that are dumped tend to be almost shellshocked, they will come toward a person then remember whatever horror has happened to them and run away. Your best bet is to trap it yes and put food down at the edge of a visible area in order to coax out any others that may be there (if it's a mother and kittens). Ring your local rescues and ask to borrow a trap, they will often come straight round, explain how it works, give you advise and some will help you trap it. If you can, get the rescue to agree to at least vet it so that once you catch it, it can go straight for a consultation.
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Sep 16, 2014 14:17
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Thanks for all the tips for slowing down our greedy cat! We're now feeding him in the kitchen separately from the other two, but I like the idea of putting a golf ball in the dish or finding some other bumpy one, for entertainment value if nothing else.
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Sep 16, 2014 18:21
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Robot Mil posted:Thanks for all the tips for slowing down our greedy cat! We're now feeding him in the kitchen separately from the other two, but I like the idea of putting a golf ball in the dish or finding some other bumpy one, for entertainment value if nothing else. If it's entertainment you're after, a treat ball like this will work for slowing him down, getting him a little exercise, and being pretty fun to watch.
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Sep 16, 2014 20:31
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 wrong thread
TheAngryDrunk fucked around with this message at 22:56 on Sep 16, 2014 |
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Sep 16, 2014 20:40
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After combining households, we now have 2 meal-eaters and 2 grazers. The grazers have to eat prescription food, and so we really want to convert them to meal eaters so that the meal eaters won't wolf down the grazers' prescription food. Does anyone have a good guide for converting to meal eating? Jackson Galaxy has a video stressing its importance, but doesn't offer any tips on how to do it. Dick.
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Sep 16, 2014 22:23
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In a similar situation, we convinced Ozma to eat her whole meal by locking her in the bedroom until it was gone. If she wandered away from the food, we'd coax her back and encourage her to eat. If she cried at the door, we pushed the bowl to her. When the last kibble was gone, we let her out. Took her a couple months but now she knows that she can't go out til she's done eating and finishes usually in about 15 minutes. e: if she took too long to finish, we'd take the leftovers and put them away, then let her out. she eventually realized that the duration of us getting ready in the morning is all she gets for breakfast and if she doesn't finish she goes without til dinner.
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Sep 16, 2014 22:38
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That's not a bad idea. On a related note, we're couch-shopping. I brought a fabric swatch home and the cat demonstrated her approval.  Sigh... back to the drawing board.
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Sep 16, 2014 23:27
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A friend of a friend doesn't want his cat (2 year old male) anymore. I'm going to go see it with my girlfriend tomorrow to see how the cat is since he's planning on returning it to the breeder he got the cat from if no one takes it. The cat is a straight scottish fold with super long hair. That being said, we live in a single bedroom apartment. My current cat (female, 5 years old) takes charge of every room but really loves to sleep in the bedroom with us. Where would a good place be to slowly introduce the cat? Restroom? Bedroom? Should I preemptively get some Feliway to help calm the new cat down? My current cat didn't seem to respond well to it when we moved into the 1BR but I still have the collar I used for her when we moved in. Any other recommendations? Edit: Pictures of the new cat:  More recent video: http://instagram.com/p/nV1EihPirW/ This is my current cat: 
Shadowhand00 fucked around with this message at 23:42 on Sep 16, 2014 |
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Sep 16, 2014 23:37
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Huntersoninski posted:In a similar situation, we convinced Ozma to eat her whole meal by locking her in the bedroom until it was gone. If she wandered away from the food, we'd coax her back and encourage her to eat. If she cried at the door, we pushed the bowl to her. When the last kibble was gone, we let her out. Took her a couple months but now she knows that she can't go out til she's done eating and finishes usually in about 15 minutes. This is helpful, thanks. My cats get measured amounts of dry food twice a day and wet food once a day, but they don't always eat all of it at once and then it's kind of a free-for-all on the bowls. I've been trying to think of a way to get them to just eat it when we give it to them, so this is nice to know. Shadowhand00 posted:A friend of a friend doesn't want his cat anymore. I'm going to go see it with my girlfriend tomorrow to see how the cat is since he's planning on returning it to the breeder he got the cat from if no one takes it. The cat is a straight scottish fold with super long hair. When we found our two kittens, we kept them in the master bathroom (which is an ok size) for a while for introduction purposes and because they ended up having ringworm. It was a bit of a pain because we had to work around a huge cardboard box barrier we set up every time we needed to get dressed or brush our teeth, but it ended up working out ok. Feliway is pretty awesome and I'd still be using it if the refills weren't as costly as they are. Edit: Oh my goodness he looks so angry. 
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Sep 16, 2014 23:42
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Does anyone know how to keep a cat from waking you up at night or keeping you up? Or is it just something that will fade as he ages? Freddie is six months old and we adopted him Friday. He is finally getting use to the house thankfully and this is helping although he is a very friendly cat. Most nights he will come in at around three or four in the morning and jump on my bed. He will then purr nonstop as he rubs against any part of me he can find, or else jumping on my head, back, legs/etc until it wakes me up. Also if I get up at night for any reason he will get up with me. I cant shut the door as he can crawl underneath it. I'm trying to ignore him when he does this although it is hard when he is trying to walk on my head. I've had cats before but they have been standoffish and I've never had this issue.
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Sep 17, 2014 01:50
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Pendergast posted:
Replace your saloon doors with a real door. How is it going under the door? can you fold a bath towel in half and stuff it under the door?
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Sep 17, 2014 01:53
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Pendergast posted:Does anyone know how to keep a cat from waking you up at night or keeping you up? Or is it just something that will fade as he ages? Freddie is six months old and we adopted him Friday. He is finally getting use to the house thankfully and this is helping although he is a very friendly cat. Most nights he will come in at around three or four in the morning and jump on my bed. He will then purr nonstop as he rubs against any part of me he can find, or else jumping on my head, back, legs/etc until it wakes me up. Also if I get up at night for any reason he will get up with me. Are you in the habit of feeding him as soon as you wake up?
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Sep 17, 2014 02:04
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Our doors are poo poo mobile home doors and have a couple of inches of space between it and the floor and he just squeezes himself on through. He'll just push the towel out of the way, or else the other cats will. I had a fairy heavy container blocking the gap and he just pushed on through. My other two cats cant fit underneath anymore so I'm hoping he will soon outgrow it.CommonShore posted:Are you in the habit of feeding him as soon as you wake up? Yes, I do. I use to have free range food but one of the cats was getting to fat so now I just feed them all in the morning and in the evening.
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Sep 17, 2014 02:06
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Pendergast posted:Yes, I do. I use to have free range food but one of the cats was getting to fat so now I just feed them all in the morning and in the evening.
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Sep 17, 2014 02:39
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Pendergast posted:Our doors are poo poo mobile home doors and have a couple of inches of space between it and the floor and he just squeezes himself on through. He'll just push the towel out of the way, or else the other cats will. I had a fairy heavy container blocking the gap and he just pushed on through. My other two cats cant fit underneath anymore so I'm hoping he will soon outgrow it. The only solution I have to this is behavioral training. Completely ignore them when you're in bed - no yells, no pets, nothing. They will drive you nuts for a while but will gradually learn that pestering you in bed is pointless and will knock it off. Hence, it's important to lay absolutely still no matter how much it's bugging you. Any attention of any kind is positive reinforcement of their behavior. That's not an easy or quick solution, but the only one I've found to be effective.
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Sep 17, 2014 02:46
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Pendergast posted:Our doors are poo poo mobile home doors and have a couple of inches of space between it and the floor and he just squeezes himself on through. He'll just push the towel out of the way, or else the other cats will. I had a fairy heavy container blocking the gap and he just pushed on through. My other two cats cant fit underneath anymore so I'm hoping he will soon outgrow it. The advice about trying to ignore them in bed is ok, but if you don't want to do that (since I kinda like when the cats visit me in bed) you can try to just delay the morning feeding a bit. I get up, shower, and start making my coffee before I feed the cat. It only took a week of that for her to stop trying to wake me up to get food. Now she starts the whole FEED ME routine as I get out of the shower, which I can deal with.
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Sep 17, 2014 02:52
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So, my cat is a 3 year old male tabby. He's started behaving in a really frustrating and annoying manner at night and I don't know what I can do to change his behavior. I live in a one bedroom apartment, and in the living room area I have a couple large picture frames hanging on the wall above the couches. The pictures are well within reach of my cat when he stands on the back of the couches. The problem is, when I get in bed at night eventually he goes to the other room and starts pawing at the picture frames (causing them to slide back and forth from the nail) and meowing at them. I'm worried about wall damage and damaging the pictures as well. I've tried everything I could think of. I went weeks without reacting to see if not responding would get him to lose interest, but that didn't work at all. I can't move the furniture around to get him away from the pictures, it just isn't feasible in my apartment setup. I've recently taken measures to secure them so that they won't be able to slide but he still goes and tries to mess with them every night. I guess I could move his food/water/litter box into the bedroom to keep him from getting at them, but that isn't a great solution in my mind. Do y'all have any ideas on how to stop this behavior? I'm at wit's end.
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Sep 17, 2014 08:27
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Stick double sided tape on the top of the couch where he'd sit and on the picture frames for a few months.
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Sep 17, 2014 08:36
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Covering them in foil for awhile also works. Looks like rear end, but just until he loses interest.
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Sep 17, 2014 09:34
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Shadowhand00 posted:A friend of a friend doesn't want his cat (2 year old male) anymore. I'm going to go see it with my girlfriend tomorrow to see how the cat is since he's planning on returning it to the breeder he got the cat from if no one takes it. The cat is a straight scottish fold with super long hair. Do you have a shower with a glass door? Put one in the shower (not always handy) bedding litter box and food etc or feed on each side of the door. I wanted another kitten (i thought my 12 week kitten would love a friend. So i used the shower to introduce them as i live in a one room place, sadly it didn't work out. My current one doesn't like other cats . Or look into cat tents a shelter might have one to lend you. Everything i have read on introduction cats said small rooms are ok. I think it has to do with cats living in small cages at shelters or breeders.As its your friends cat consider swapping each cats bedding before you bring the new cat home. This way the cats will already know each others smell.
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Sep 17, 2014 12:26
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Hmm ok I'll give that a try. Thanks!
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Sep 18, 2014 00:35
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ATP5G1 posted:If you keep putting food out for the cat at the same time every day, making the same noise to call it, and hang around while it eats, it's possible it will warm up to you just after a few days of doing that. Try to get a little closer to the cat each time you feed it. I have had a couple of scared ferals who I managed to catch using this method. The cat already seems slightly OK around you (i.e. you can see it) so this method may work. Thanks for your advice! The past few nights it seems to be more wary of my presence (it looks over at me and immediately high tails it back through the fence) so I borrowed a humane trap from a local feral cats organization. I've called around and while the animal shelter would take a tame kitten, a feral kitten would be deemed "unadoptable" and euthanized. Naturally, the no-kill shelters are pretty crowded, although I've been emailing back and forth with one who sounds like they'll try to find somebody asap. I have no problem with trying to socialize the kitten myself to the point that the shelter would consider it adoptable, but since we have cats of our own who have a very tooth-and-claw demand to be let into any room with a closed door I'm worried that it would be inevitable that they'd breach quarantine. I want to help this stray but I also don't want to somehow infect my current cats with whatever the little dude might have. So, as it stands, I think I'll wait until tomorrow night to attempt to capture the kitten so as to minimize the amount of time it stays with me. Hopefully I hear back tomorrow about someone who's got room and things can go from there.
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Sep 18, 2014 04:59
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Here's the new guy, Tigger. I want to call him Wicket.
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Sep 18, 2014 06:28
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Pendergast posted:Does anyone know how to keep a cat from waking you up at night or keeping you up? Or is it just something that will fade as he ages? Freddie is six months old and we adopted him Friday.
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Sep 18, 2014 14:11
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I don't feed my cats until I am out of the shower. Now they don't bother me until the alarm goes off since they know they get pets when it does.
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Sep 18, 2014 14:58
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My wife and I are considering adopting another cat, but we were wondering how we would deal with the food situation. Our current cat is allergic to everything and needs expensive prescription food. If we were to get another cat we would want to minimize the cost of pet food and try to keep their dishes separate, how difficult would this be? I know that it depends on the cat's personalities, but I was wondering if this is even feasible.
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Sep 18, 2014 21:44
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I feed Jess and oscar in slightly different places and they don't go for each other's food (not that it would matter because they eat the same stuff), so I guess if each cat associates a different place with food they'll be less likely to go off and look for food elsewhere.
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Sep 18, 2014 21:52
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Do meal feeding rather than free feeding. You SHOULD be able to train them to each eat out of their specific bowl, but if they're truly hopeless you can just put them in separate rooms during meal time. If you don't have enough time to separate your cats for meals for 15 minutes a day, you don't have enough time for two cats.
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Sep 19, 2014 00:28
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Ruby is almost 3 months old and is still as aloof as ever. Sometimes she'll be laying down in an open area of the kitchen fully aware I'm there and bolt into the bedroom when I lean down to pet her and then not ten minutes later, she'll be trying to get my attention when I'm either watching TV or playing video games. I read that just them being out in the open and letting themselves be seen by you is a good sign, but hopefully she gets more comfortable around me as she gets older. I've been trying to play with her on the floor with her toys. At first she'll keep her distance, but will eventually come out and pounce on her toy and get rewarded with a treat. Sometimes she'll stay in the bedroom with the fiancee all night and not come out at all. She still likes lightly nipping at the fiancee's fingers and toes in a playful way on occasion, but doesn't do this with me. Maybe because she's scared or that I give her treats. I prefer to think it's the latter.  Cats are weirdos is what I'm getting at here.
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Sep 19, 2014 01:18
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Slimy Hog posted:My wife and I are considering adopting another cat, but we were wondering how we would deal with the food situation. Our current cat is allergic to everything and needs expensive prescription food. If we were to get another cat we would want to minimize the cost of pet food and try to keep their dishes separate, how difficult would this be? I know that it depends on the cat's personalities, but I was wondering if this is even feasible. I feed my cats twice a day and just sit there in between them. The one that finishes first will invariably go for the other's food, so I just have to play cat pong until the other finishes. CAT LITTER QUESTION I've been using silica crystals so far, it's mostly okay but stepping on a loose piece on the bathroom tile is the worst thing. The second worst thing about it is how it's okay just until the point where it cant take anymore at which point it reeks of cat piss. Been trying out this recycled paper pellet litter as an alternative, Breeder's Choice. Doesnt seem to track as much, stepping on a loose piece isnt painful. How should I deal with liquid waste though? Just scoop out all the expanded pellets, or mix them into the rest of the pellets? Should I scoop more often than once a day with this stuff? One cat's fine with using the stuff. The other is a bit suspicious, so I've left one tray with crystals that I'm slowly mixing the pellets into.
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Sep 19, 2014 03:26
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Hey guys, happy cat owner checking in with a question on how to make my cat happier. We moved from a 2 floor duplex with plenty of high windows to a smaller 1 bedroom apartment; I'm worried my cat isn't getting as high up as he'd like to. What's the best/most cost efficient way to get your cat some elevation? Gigantic cat tree, cat shelves? Everything seems to be right about $100 if you invest in something that will hold a cat and comes with brackets. This includes the ikea cat tree hack. For reference, I've been looking at IKEA shelving, Armarkat trees, and Contempocat shelves. It's all a little expensive for what seems like a small project.
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Sep 19, 2014 03:37
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Butt Bidness posted:What's the best/most cost efficient way to get your cat some elevation? Gigantic cat tree, cat shelves? Everything seems to be right about $100 if you invest in something that will hold a cat and comes with brackets. This includes the ikea cat tree hack. Well there's...  I whipped this up for Cookie and Pudding.  I settled on a 2x2 combo in the end, and oriented the boxes on their side so any surfaces they stand on would be solid board. And at that configuration it seemed pretty drat stable, hasnt tipped over so far in the weeks I've been watching them horse around in/on it.
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Sep 19, 2014 03:54
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Catte goons, I am at my wits end. Fats will not use the litter box anymore/consistently. She's been to the vet and was on antibiotics for 5 days. The vet called back yesterday and said the cultures were clear and there were no signs of crystal either. Yesterday morning as I'm taking a poo poo the cat pisses on the carpet right next to the litter box (the second one i got and put over where she had been urinating on the carpet. which is after I cleaned the floor with natures miracle.) This morning she took a poo poo on the other side of the room. I've got a steam cleaning/professional carpet cleaner coming out Monday, If she still refuses to use any of the now three liter boxes (clever cat, open Rubbermaid deep tub and a low sided one ALL with cat attract) I think I'm going to give up and take her back to the humane society after the better part of two years. If this wasn't a rental house i'd be half tempted to rip up the carpet and go wood flooring, but its not an option, plus it seems a bit extreme. I mean, i don't want to sound cold/uncaring but this has been three loving weeks of anti-litter box crusade (including three different piles of cat based mudbutt) and I'm just tired of wet vaccing my carpet every day and picking up a random pile of poo poo at least once a week. In general she's a cool catte with an awesome purr, and great attitude, loves the ever-loving daylights out of me (i come home and its mrows and belly rolls until i pick her up like a baby and give her some loving), but this is not sustainable anymore. Am I a horrible person? What else can i do? Will the other cat forgive me for taking her "sister" (not real sibling, but adopted same time) away? Cat purr: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYRoXm6NsbY How i have to say hello when i get home: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=En3q-FA-Pss
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Sep 19, 2014 23:35
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toplitzin posted:Catte goons, I am at my wits end. You try Cat Attract yet?
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Sep 20, 2014 00:09
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Has anything changed recently? I've seen cats do that sort of thing as a sort of protest or way of getting your attention that they're mad about something.
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Sep 20, 2014 00:10
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