|
Staryberry posted:Is there anyway to teach a cat how to climb properly? My parents refuse to keep the cat inside all day, so it is only a matter of time before she is stuck up another tree, or hurts herself trying to get down. She will either figure it out on her own or die trying, you can't really teach her how to climb down.
|
#
?
Apr 8, 2015 21:06
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 23:45 |
|
|
Staryberry posted:My parents have a cat who is a little under one years old. My parents let the cat go outside during the day, and twice the cat has gotten stuck places. She does not seem to understand that she has to climb down trees backward. The first time, she got stuck 35 feet up in a tree and stayed there for nearly 36 hours before she jumped/fell down. The poor kitty bloodied her nose and lost over a pound while she was stuck up there. The second time, she got on the roof of the house and couldn't figure out how to climb down the tree to get down. That time, my dad was able to grab her by the scruff and pull her down from the roof. There's a reason for the cliche of fire fighters being called out to get a cat down that's stuck up a tree. That said, I had outside cats growing up and one of them got stuck up a tree once and had to be fetched down and then never again. Cats are very good at deciding never to do something ever again if it's an unpleasant thing to do, so she'll probably get the idea eventually.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 03:57
|
|
|
Staryberry posted:My parents have a cat who is a little under one years old. My parents let the cat go outside during the day, and twice the cat has gotten stuck places. She does not seem to understand that she has to climb down trees backward. The first time, she got stuck 35 feet up in a tree and stayed there for nearly 36 hours before she jumped/fell down. The poor kitty bloodied her nose and lost over a pound while she was stuck up there. The second time, she got on the roof of the house and couldn't figure out how to climb down the tree to get down. That time, my dad was able to grab her by the scruff and pull her down from the roof. Cats operate under a "monkey see, monkey do" learning policy when they're younger. You can get some of these and see if you can train the cat to climb properly.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 04:17
|
|
|
Staryberry posted:My parents have a cat who is a little under one years old. My parents let the cat go outside during the day, and twice the cat has gotten stuck places. She does not seem to understand that she has to climb down trees backward. The first time, she got stuck 35 feet up in a tree and stayed there for nearly 36 hours before she jumped/fell down. The poor kitty bloodied her nose and lost over a pound while she was stuck up there. The second time, she got on the roof of the house and couldn't figure out how to climb down the tree to get down. That time, my dad was able to grab her by the scruff and pull her down from the roof. Is there a way you could put baffles on the tree trunks so your cat can't climb up that high?
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 06:42
|
|
|
Does anyone have experience owning tarantulas or birdeater spiders together with cats? I have no interest in it myself, as such, although I've become rather morbidly fascinated with how that would work, after forlornly browsing the "other animals" section of a local ad board. Additionally looking for stories of cat cohabitation with ferrets, giant snails, African pygmy hedgehogs, squirrels ...and loris(es)?  ...Yeah, that's about it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 08:46
|
|
|
Keep them in a cage when you're not playing with them? My cats are obsessed with my hamster but she's in an aquarium so they can't get to her. Other than your cats being annoying there's not really anything special.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 10:52
|
|
|
Well drat, I completely skipped over the common rodents because I thought that's a recipe for disaster. On the other hand, I've just remembered that I have personal experience in this area, so yeah, nothing special.
|
|
#
?
Apr 9, 2015 11:23
|
|
|
tentawesome posted:Keep them in a cage when you're not playing with them? My cats are obsessed with my hamster but she's in an aquarium so they can't get to her. Other than your cats being annoying there's not really anything special. Yeah, just make sure they can't knock the cage around either. Tarantulas can die of stress, not just being eaten. (but they also don't see very well, so don't freak out if your cat just likes to watch). I lost one like that after my ex's cat knocked the cage off the dresser. I have since upgraded my equipment. My cat doesn't have much interest in my T, but I keep him in a heavy cage with a lid and an ssscat in front of it just in case. He only really cares when I get some fresh crickets because he really, really wants to squish them with his paw and then leave them for me to clean up. Rude.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 01:32
|
|
|
There's probably an obvious answer to this but how bad of an idea would it be to have a bird in a home with two cats? They've never been outside and as such never hunted birds, though they like to watch them out the window. I know it sounds ridiculous but there's a bird at the pet store my girlfriend works at and it keeps getting picked on by the other birds (they pick at its neck all the time and it just seems miserable at the store) so she's been trying to figure out a solution to get it away from the other birds and short of finding a bird-specific animal shelter she's not sure what else she can do to help it. It's probably a terrible idea but the last few posts here got me thinking about it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 05:23
|
|
|
Ev posted:There's probably an obvious answer to this but how bad of an idea would it be to have a bird in a home with two cats? They've never been outside and as such never hunted birds, though they like to watch them out the window. It is a terrible idea unless the plan is to make absolutely certain that the cats and bird are never in the same room at the same time. Even cats that seem chill with the bird at first may get bored and attack it without warning. There's more than one sad story about cats and birds in the same house over in the bird thread.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 06:25
|
|
|
Ev posted:There's probably an obvious answer to this but how bad of an idea would it be to have a bird in a home with two cats? They've never been outside and as such never hunted birds, though they like to watch them out the window. You can have birds and cats in the same house. I have 2 cats (one of them which actively hunts rodents and birds) and 2 birds. Just don't let the birds loose when the cats are freeroaming in the house and you should be fine. I tend to put the cats away in the bedroom for 2 or 3 hours at a time (They really couldn't care less, the hunter one actually loves it) and let the birds fly loose so they can stretch their wings. Keep in mind there are always risks involved and you need to pay attention. This one time my little hunter ended up loose with the birds. I saw him try and sneak on them and he was just about to pounce when I noticed. A few more seconds and he was getting a snack. Another thing you need to be careful about : Even cats who have never hunted before can easily kill a bird with 1 swipe of their paw.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 14:28
|
|
|
Ev posted:There's probably an obvious answer to this but how bad of an idea would it be to have a bird in a home with two cats? They've never been outside and as such never hunted birds, though they like to watch them out the window. I've posted about this many times. As someone with three birds and one cat... It's totally fine, so long as you respect the cat's instincts. My birds only come out when my cat is securely locked away and has no access to them. My cat is very sweet, very gentle, and has never hurt anyone or anything. I don't care, I will never have him around my birds. I was very stern with my cat when he expressed curiosity in the birds. Even when he just sits in front of their cage and stares I march right over to him and raise my voice. He's gotten the picture that they are off limits. So, go get that bird, get a nice secure cage, be very clear with your cat that the bird is off limits, never take out the bird unless the cat is safely sequestered, and then take lots of pictures and post them in the bird crazy thread.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 15:04
|
|
|
I would go so far as to say keep the secure cage in a no-cat room. A family friend had a budgie she kept in a hanging cage from the living room ceiling, it was up about 5 feet off the ground with nothing around for the cat to jump on to get to it. WELP after a few months her husband came home to find the cat just bear hugging the cage and hanging there cat staring for who knows how long. Luckily the bird didn't die of stress or a scratch, but he did die weeks later of a broken leg accident (he was being left to fly around the house unsupervised and got it wedged in between a stack of magazines, broke the thigh bone trying to tug it loose), had to be euthed. All I'm saying is you have to be really vigilant about it. Same goes for rats and ferrets (I have kept cats/rats/ferrets at the same time before and had no issues just keeping them separated.
|
|
#
?
Apr 10, 2015 18:36
|
|
|
I got a pair of 6 month old kittens and am looking for cat furniture for them. Can anyone recommend a good vendor?
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 01:41
|
|
|
Cats get sick from eating dog food, true or not? I don't have cats but there are a few in my neighborhood that like stealing my dogs food and I think one got sick and died from it
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 03:47
|
|
|
El Hefe posted:Cats get sick from eating dog food, true or not? Dog food doesn't have enough taurine for cats, but the malnutrition aspect would require that to be all the cat is eating.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 07:06
|
|
|
El Hefe posted:Cats get sick from eating dog food, true or not? They won't die from stealing dog food, the worst that would happen is diarrhea. If that's literally all the eat for weeks it would be a problem, but that's really unlikely.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 07:48
|
|
|
If the cats wander around and steal from neighbors, it's not impossible for one of your other neighbors to have left poison out for them: nabbing some dog food wouldn't have killed one.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 14:45
|
|
|
Ugh, quote is not edit, furthermore gently caress phone posting
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 14:45
|
|
|
Yeah that poor cat just kept getting thinner and started losing his hair and then he died Maybe someone poisoned him But I've caught one of my neighbors cat breaking into my house a few times and she looks really healthy, I don't know why she likes my dogs food because I'm sure my neighbor feeds her.
|
|
#
?
Apr 11, 2015 15:39
|
|
|
Macaroni Surprise posted:I got a pair of 6 month old kittens and am looking for cat furniture for them. Can anyone recommend a good vendor? Check out http://www.armarkat.com/. Good quality, lots of variety, and cheaper than the equivalent per store furniture usually. (Still a bit pricey, but this stuff will LAST.)
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 02:58
|
|
|
hoobajoo posted:They won't die from stealing dog food, the worst that would happen is diarrhea. Quoted for truth, having just cleaned up a what-the-actual-gently caress rear end explosion in the litterbox after my fatass cat broke into the dog food and went to town.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 12:09
|
|
|
So, I should probably say that my interest in other animals is no entirely for selfish reasons, although I have to disclaim that I don't consciously want or intend to acquire another animal for those reasons. Anyway, I've known for a while that I'll have to go on a trip for a week, and leave my cat behind. And she doesn't play on her own, in fact not always with me. My mother, who's supposed to take care of the essential needs while I'm away, is probably not going to play with the cat, or more likely the cat with her, and the cat's going to demand to be let outside, which isn't too much of a problem. In fact it used to be her main summer entertainment a year ago. But in addition she had a fuller reign of the house, which she's lost now because of the dog. Anyway, I've experimented with feeding birds at the windowsill as a bit of a show but my offering has been completely ignored for a month and a half, I think. And I'm leaving in two weeks, so there's really nothing to do now. Obviously, cats have survived for longer periods without entertainment, but I wish I had some kind of plan for my absences. And getting another animal comes to mind, but I don't have the space for a second cat, and everyone who requires less space than a cat is going to be trouble. Unless they just wanted to hang outside the window, little morons. I've got a whole buffet there, with at least four kinds of grain! Cat pic as a reward for reading this:  That's a couple weeks ago, that dumb grass has now basically covered all of the window sill. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 14:26
|
|
|
My cat had to be put on an antibiotic, but wiggles around too much to do the grab-head-open-mouth-drop-in-pill method and will try to bite/scratch when I go to do it. Can Baytril be crushed and hidden in food? I keep finding conflicting answers on this.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 15:42
|
|
|
Geoff Zahn posted:My cat had to be put on an antibiotic, but wiggles around too much to do the grab-head-open-mouth-drop-in-pill method and will try to bite/scratch when I go to do it. Can Baytril be crushed and hidden in food? I keep finding conflicting answers on this. Find out. If necessary, get a partner and a towel. Wrap cat in towel like burrito. Partner holds cat, you force its mouth open and throw pill to back of its throat. Mine tended to fight like tigers until they realized they were going to get the pill regardless and have chilled out considerably. They still don't like it, but don't fight it as much.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 17:00
|
|
|
Just some Google made montage of the orange bandit that terrorizes our birds and leftover cat food supply: https://youtu.be/EvycA6IgsxI He's such a cutie but really needs to not poo poo on the tomatoes. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 21:57
|
|
|
Crushing antibiotics on food can work, but can also cause the cat to not eat the food. I just kept forcing antibiotics down my cats throats til they gave up and dealt with it.
|
|
#
?
Apr 12, 2015 22:14
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:Anyway, I've known for a while that I'll have to go on a trip for a week, and leave my cat behind. You are way overthinking this, do not get another animal because you want your cat to be entertained during a trip. Do you not also live with your sister, who may be persuaded to give your cat a pat every now and then supposing she is not annoyed at you for having a big drama llama moment over her dog that it turns out she wasn't mistreating.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 02:48
|
|
|
Geoff Zahn posted:My cat had to be put on an antibiotic, but wiggles around too much to do the grab-head-open-mouth-drop-in-pill method and will try to bite/scratch when I go to do it. Can Baytril be crushed and hidden in food? I keep finding conflicting answers on this. A. a lot of pills are bitter when crushed, and it can put your sick cat off their food B. If it's small, try a pill pocket. I usually break it in half and roll up the medicine in a little ball. Worth a shot for easy solution. 1. Towel burrito wrap 2. Pill pusher - basically a little stick thing so you can get the pill in the back of the throat 3. Coat the pill in butter so it slides down the throat more easily 4. If all else fails, there are liquid antibiotics. Not very tasty as they usually are compounded at a human pharmacy, which means they'll probably be cherry flavored, but it's what I had to do for my cat I can't burrito wrap.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 03:04
|
|
|
Seconding the "Pill Pocket" for getting cat to take pills. Or just ball the pill up in some cheese. We have to get 4 pills/day into our cranky old pissbag and she hoovers up the cheese like nobody's business.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 03:53
|
|
|
Tamarillo posted:You are way overthinking this, do not get another animal because you want your cat to be entertained during a trip. Do you not also live with your sister, who may be persuaded to give your cat a pat every now and then supposing she is not annoyed at you for having a big drama llama moment over her dog that it turns out she wasn't mistreating. Oh, yeah, except the time when she left him locked in her room in a pile of his own poo poo without warning anyone. And of course he shits and pees everywhere due to excellent care. Or from a different perspective, when she leaves all the time at night making the dog go into hysterics and wake everyone up. gently caress you.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 05:14
|
|
|
supermikhail posted:Oh, yeah, except the time when she left him locked in her room in a pile of his own poo poo without warning anyone. And of course he shits and pees everywhere due to excellent care. Or from a different perspective, when she leaves all the time at night making the dog go into hysterics and wake everyone up. gently caress you. Untwist your knickers, just going off your post about how you said you actually had nfi if your sister knew how to dog or not, and you could only draw assumptions because you two were cohabiting but not talking because you were a dick about the dog and then barked at it a lot while hiding your cat in your room. Don't add another animal to the situation.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 06:34
|
|
|
I finally figured out how to make pill pockets work for my cat, too. The fuzzy jerk didn't know that the pill pockets were actually treats, so I had to wrap half a pill pocket around the pill, then stuck it to a crunchy treat of the sort she actually knew was food.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 08:39
|
|
|
Yeah I've never had a cat that understands food vs. non-food items. They look at me like I'm stupid when I try to give them treats, and then I catch them trying to eat the brake cable on my bike or whatever. 
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 09:40
|
|
|
Stanley Goodspeed posted:Yeah I've never had a cat that understands food vs. non-food items. They look at me like I'm stupid when I try to give them treats, and then I catch them trying to eat the brake cable on my bike or whatever. Top ten sign your cat is trying to kill you?
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 09:41
|
|
|
I thought that was just part of the social contract.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 09:59
|
|
|
We recently started giving Zyrtec to my cat on account of a terrible allergy season. Poor dear was licking holes in her skin. We couldn't hope to give her pills by force because she is just too strong so what we are doing is wrapping the pill in cream cheese and then coating the cream cheese ball with butter for good measure. 3 days in and she still hasn't figured out that we are pilling her. Let's hope she never catches on.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 11:01
|
|
|
For people who have trouble pilling their cats, IMO the easiest way is the pill pusher. Another successful method is to make pill pocket time a daily thing no matter what. If they're used to getting a pill pocket treat before bedtime for example, they probably won't notice if you slip a pill in there. If you only use them when you need to give meds, kitty's already on high alert because the routine has changed.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 12:19
|
|
|
Tamarillo posted:Untwist your knickers, just going off your post about how you said you actually had nfi if your sister knew how to dog or not, and you could only draw assumptions because you two were cohabiting but not talking because you were a dick about the dog and then barked at it a lot while hiding your cat in your room. Don't add another animal to the situation. And you didn't expect that it would be a tense topic for me? As to your previous suggestion, the cat and my sister never got on too well for some reason (which may have added to her motivation to get a dog), at least not as far as patting, and now the likelihood is even less.
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 12:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 13, 2024 23:45 |
|
|
Jackie is horrible about taking pills. I've tried pill pockets, and she literally just either eats around the pill or literally spits it out while eating the tasty stuff. I basically just had to get really good at, well, "pilling her" manually, so to speak. meaning wrapping her up like a kitty burrito to take her paws out of the equation, and then having to pry her mouth open, place the pill in there, and hold her mouth shut until she swallows. This is like, the one thing she hates above all else - not even having her claws clipped is this bad. She still won't hiss or growl or scratch or bite, but she gets very angry at me for half an hour at least! Luckily she's usually healthy  Also, Jackie is amazingly good at telling food from not-food. I am not always the cleanest person ever - for instance I left a crust of bread I was munching on that got very dried up on a plate by the floor, and Jackie was daintily snacking on the breadcrumbs at a later point, though she never eats similar looking crumbly non-food items. In general she is amazingly good at this. Living in such close quarters with her now (I mean, we share a studio apartment, it is impossible not to always have her in the same room) I am insanely glad she is such a good cat. That she is quiet when I ask her to be quiet, or actually lets me sleep instead of waking me up. I have no clue how she knows to do that. I wake very easily and I slept 10 hours the other day... when I woke up and started making noise Jackie immediately jumped onto my bed trilling and nosing me like "hey why'd you sleep so long now you can feed me and pay attention to me!!" but she didnt do that till I woke up on my own, what an amazing cat 
|
|
#
?
Apr 13, 2015 12:40
|
|
