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supermikhail posted: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. FYI: this isn't E/N. Advice is "don't get a second cat for this", take it or leave it. Additionally, a week isn't terrible; just make sure someone can make sure there's food and water and hopefully scoop nugs for you.
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Apr 13, 2015 13:01
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Curiously, I didn't ask for advice on whether to get a cat or not (not). Nor on dog or sister relationships. On a more positive note, I don't know if I've already mentioned it, but that drinking "spring" seems to be an excellent purchase also in regard to absences. When I bothered to count, the water easily lasted 4 days. What's more, unless I'm imagining it (or didn't notice with the regular drinking bowl), my cat does drink more often with it, and it seems like it's relaxing when I've had to discomfort her, or when she's bored the splashing stimulates her to go drink... At least I think that's a good thing.
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Apr 13, 2015 13:50
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i've had good luck with crushing up a pill in water and syringing it into the cats mouth that way, fucker swallows it then and doesn't even fight.
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Apr 13, 2015 18:07
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AtomikKrab posted:i've had good luck with crushing up a pill in water and syringing it into the cats mouth that way, fucker swallows it then and doesn't even fight. I found pills didn't mix with water that well, but they would with milk or a solution of very watered down wet cat food. I'd make a batch for three days at a time, refrigerate it, shake it up and syringe a third of it per day out of the container and into the cat's yap. A little gets lost in the process, stuck on the side of the container or in the syringe, but getting 90% into the cat each time beat getting none in at all if he spit it out when I wasn't looking, and there was way less argument.
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Apr 13, 2015 19:02
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AtomikKrab posted:i've had good luck with crushing up a pill in water and syringing it into the cats mouth that way, fucker swallows it then and doesn't even fight. We found that works for some things but there are some medicines which obviously taste so foul that you can't do that. The coat on the pill keeps them from tasting it normally but when you cut them up or crush them they get the full experience. One anti-biotic we got recently caused Wilfy extreme discomfort: instant drooling, wiping at his mouth and spitting. After that we made sure he got undamaged pills, they were no problem (bar the usual wrestling).
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Apr 13, 2015 19:09
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Can anyone help me with litter box stuff? I want to get whatever combination of box/litter/whatever that will make it smell the least and involve the least amount of work on my part. I've been looking at automatic ones but they all seem like garbage unless you spend 350$ on a litter robot.
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Apr 13, 2015 23:44
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Don't know anything about fancy litter boxes but from my experience the silicon cat litter (the one that looks like milky white crystals) is the least smelly type.
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Apr 14, 2015 00:10
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I've used the silica litter before switching to paper pellets and honestly I cant tell any difference. It's pretty much the same thing because one of my cats would never bury his poop. (Actually that one got solved by getting a bigger litter pan. Cats.) Silica litter Pros: Very absorbent, lasts a fair while. Only have to scoop out poops. Cons: Hurts like a motherfucker if you step on a stray piece outside the box. Reeks like poo poo towards the end of its use by. Recycled Paper Pellet (sold as Breeder's Choice here in Aus) Pros: Very cheap, reasonably light so I can carry a 20 L bag that lasts forever back from the store. Cons: You've to clean up every day, scooping out poops and urine soaked pellets. Overall I prefer the paper pellets. They dont cut and shatter if you step on one. Because you just clean up once a day they're really clean and non smelly at all. The silica packs do say 'Lasts up to a month' but they're referring to a whole bag, you'll never be able to get away without throwing out the whole thing for a month.
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Apr 14, 2015 01:07
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Well, I live in a studio apartment like I said, so the litter-box is obviously an issue. The way the apartment is set up, the door opens into a sort of hallway with first an open closet-ish thing with shelves on top and then a bathroom on the right, and a galley-style kitchen on the left, and the hallway opens up into the big main room. I didn't want to put the litterbox *in* the bathroom (and definitely not in the main room) so I use the open closet that comes right before the bathroom door, and it's basically perfect but if there's a bad smell, there isn't really anywhere good for it to go. I hadn't though Jackie was a smelly kitty (and she isn't generally) but sometimes she really, really is. And to be honest, all I do is use Arm & Hammer kitty litter Deodorizer and it does a great job. I just sprinkle a bit into the usual litter we use every other day (or if there was a particularly smelly event which is rare) and mix it into the kitty litter, and it totally neutralizes that general "kitty litter smell" (which I really don't want to smell when I'm doing stuff in the kitchen which is honestly precariously close to the litter box in this tiny apartment). It's just this white powder, nothing special. I don't use a special litter box or anything - just a normal one. I guess I could get a more fancy one but this system feels like it works fine - it just requires upkeep. Now I just need to both scoop the litter box and sweep all around it (because she kicks up litter when she uses it) every single morning. And it's cool because this apartment building even has a great trash system so I can very easily and quickly get rid of any trash immediately instead of having to buy special expensive trash bags at the grocery store and wait a week for trash pick-up - that is such a convenience when you previously always had to deal with seven days worth of cat leavings building up in your trash bags.
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Apr 14, 2015 01:57
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blackflare posted:Can anyone help me with litter box stuff? I want to get whatever combination of box/litter/whatever that will make it smell the least and involve the least amount of work on my part. I've been looking at automatic ones but they all seem like garbage unless you spend 350$ on a litter robot. I'm a big fan of the Omega Paw box, which is basically a manual version of the Litter Robot; it makes cleaning the litterbox take like 10 seconds maybe and I don't have to do any sifting or anything. I use it with mini fiber pellets so I can flush the litter, but it would work best with normal clay litter. If you're worried about smell, a fine clay litter is probably best in terms of getting rid of poop/pee smell PROVIDED YOU SCOOP DAILY, though I personally think that they make your cat smell like the clay litter(even if it's unscented, which I'd recommend). Also, clay litters tend to track pretty easily. Fiber pellets do a terrible job of covering poop smells if your cat is bad about covering their nugs, and pee turns the pellets into sawdust, which you can't really scoop; you have to either filter/sift them out or just dump the whole thing after a while. There are ones that are "clumping pellets" which can help, but the rest of the box will all turn into slightly pee-scented sawdust after a while. I really don't like silica litter because they're basically sharp little rocks that hurt you, may hurt the cat(cat may not like using the box), and slowly turn from white/blue magic diamonds into vile yellow pee crystals of concentrated hate and you don't want to have to sort between the two. If you really want to use them, I'd use them where they come in some sort of mix with another kind of litter.
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Apr 14, 2015 04:16
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I think that omega paw box is just what I was looking for. Probably going to get the large size though, she's not a big cat but I want her to have enough room that she doesn't hate it.
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Apr 14, 2015 09:01
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Recommend me toys! My older cat goes nuts over a laser pointer, but either has no interest or runs away and hides from any other toy I try to use to play with her (she's a rescue and pretty skittish). My kitten (who really isn't a kitten anymore, she's 2) goes crazy over shoe strings and will chase things if I throw them but loses interest quickly. She plays with the laser pointer, too, but it's more of a "hide and pounce" once or twice rather than chasing it around everywhere.
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Apr 14, 2015 15:10
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blackflare posted:Can anyone help me with litter box stuff? I want to get whatever combination of box/litter/whatever that will make it smell the least and involve the least amount of work on my part. I've been looking at automatic ones but they all seem like garbage unless you spend 350$ on a litter robot. I have the Breeze litter system and recommend it to everyone. It never smells and uses no litter so there's no mess. You change a pee pad once a week, and the pellets once a month. You just scoop it in between.
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Apr 14, 2015 15:11
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blackflare posted:Can anyone help me with litter box stuff? I want to get whatever combination of box/litter/whatever that will make it smell the least and involve the least amount of work on my part. I've been looking at automatic ones but they all seem like garbage unless you spend 350$ on a litter robot. The simplest solution, buy yourself a litter-locker. Its about 30$ at wallmart or similar stores. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ccnMdTIe9k4 Seriously, whenever you walk by the litter and see poo poo or piss, you take one second to scoop and dump it in this. Once a week you remove the bag.
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Apr 14, 2015 15:17
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Hi cat thread, Last year we lost one of our cats to cancer. We still have her litter-mate, an 8yr old female. Since her buddy died, we've found that she has been very clingy and, in particular, found that she didn't respond well when we went away and left her alone for a day or two. So, three weeks ago, we got a second cat from the local SPCA. This new cat is a 3yr old female. We initially kept them separated for maybe 10 days (new cat lived entirely in the spare bedroom), then gradually introduced them through a baby gate, and then by allowing the new cat out to mingle whilst supervised. There was a bunch of hissing (entirely from our old cat), but otherwise it was ok. About a week ago, we finally let her move out of the spare bedroom, so she has full run of the house now. Things have been going 'ok', but there seems to be a bit of a power struggle going on. Sometimes I'll walk into the room and the cats are lying next to eachother, sometimes I'll see them go right up to eachother and sniff/lick eachother, but othertimes it turns into a mexican standoff between to two, with hissing and swatting. It seems that the new cat has started initiating this now too. I think one of the main problems is that the new cat is full of energy, loves to play/chase/run around, whereas the older cat doesn't really play very much, and prefers to be chilled out - the new cat seems to chase the older one around like it's a game, which leads to hissing etc. Is this pretty much normal for introducing two cats? Ultimately, if the new cat continues to distress our old cat, we're going to have to find a new home for her, but I really don't know how long this whole process is supposed to take. How long do you give it before you decide that this isn't working?
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Apr 14, 2015 16:20
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That all sounds pretty normal. They'll sort it out soon enough. Our youngest cat loves to harass our oldest, which is largely a loner and doesn't want to play.
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Apr 14, 2015 16:32
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Yeah, cats have personalities too, unless there is serious fighting there isn't a problem. Not all cats get to the level where they cuddle and lick each other all the time. My new kitten likes to stalk and annoy my older cat too.
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Apr 14, 2015 16:39
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Therion posted:Yeah, cats have personalities too, unless there is serious fighting there isn't a problem. Not all cats get to the level where they cuddle and lick each other all the time. My new kitten likes to stalk and annoy my older cat too. Thanks guys - this is reassuring. What would be classified as 'serious fighting'? I've never had to deal with cats scrapping before, so i'm not sure at what point we should be worried. At the moment, when they go at it, they're pretty much waving their arms around, hissing, ears pinned back, but I don't think there's any actual physical contact. Also this only lasts for a few seconds.
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Apr 14, 2015 16:47
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Zartans Lady Mask posted:Thanks guys - this is reassuring. Those are just to establish limits and dominance. Serious fighting is claws out and biting, drawing blood. If they're not doing that it's just for show and will settle out over time as they establish their social positions.
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Apr 14, 2015 16:50
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Zartans Lady Mask posted:Thanks guys - this is reassuring. Anything that breaks skin, I'd say. What you are describing sounds very normal, cats act tough to figure out territory and junk, so I doubt it will come to that. The best thing to do is leave them to their negotiations, as any attempt to intervene will just delay then settling into their social roles.
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Apr 14, 2015 16:52
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emotive posted:Recommend me toys! My older cat goes nuts over a laser pointer, but either has no interest or runs away and hides from any other toy I try to use to play with her (she's a rescue and pretty skittish). My kitten (who really isn't a kitten anymore, she's 2) goes crazy over shoe strings and will chase things if I throw them but loses interest quickly. She plays with the laser pointer, too, but it's more of a "hide and pounce" once or twice rather than chasing it around everywhere. String on a stick. Seriously, you can't go wrong with string on a stick. Just get some string and tie one end of it to a stick (and maybe use some sticky tape or even glue to keep it there). I had a cat who was scared of toys and anything thicker than string was a no-go but string and the laser pointer were just fine. The stick is to make it easier to flick and move around quickly without killing your wrist.
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Apr 14, 2015 16:56
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emotive posted:Recommend me toys! My older cat goes nuts over a laser pointer, but either has no interest or runs away and hides from any other toy I try to use to play with her (she's a rescue and pretty skittish). My kitten (who really isn't a kitten anymore, she's 2) goes crazy over shoe strings and will chase things if I throw them but loses interest quickly. She plays with the laser pointer, too, but it's more of a "hide and pounce" once or twice rather than chasing it around everywhere. Sparkly poof balls, might be called pom poms in craft stores i think(not the cheerleader thing). They're just these little puff balls with a felt center and they're light and easy to bat around, and one of my cats likes those almost exclusively. Other than that, try getting a cat dancer toy; it's basically a heavy duty shoelace on a stick and they're cheap and great.
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Apr 14, 2015 17:47
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duckfarts posted:Sparkly poof balls, might be called pom poms in craft stores i think(not the cheerleader thing). They're just these little puff balls with a felt center and they're light and easy to bat around, and one of my cats likes those almost exclusively. Organza Quiz posted:String on a stick. Seriously, you can't go wrong with string on a stick. Just get some string and tie one end of it to a stick (and maybe use some sticky tape or even glue to keep it there). I had a cat who was scared of toys and anything thicker than string was a no-go but string and the laser pointer were just fine. The stick is to make it easier to flick and move around quickly without killing your wrist. Both of these made my cat go bonkers. Speaking of, her first birthday is coming up on Thursday and we're trying to figure out what to get her as a present. My mom already bought her a Temptations snack toy that you put treats in and the cats bats it around to get it out, she loves chasing poo poo and batting it around, so this will probably be perfect for her (if you came to our apartment you'd think we were crazy, our living room has pizza tables all over the place because they're super easy to get and she loves chasing them around the apartment). I'm probably going to get her a new string on a stick toy, since she broke her last two.
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Apr 14, 2015 18:40
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When Tesla was a wee kitten, I hung a piece of kitchen twine from the ceiling. It was low enough for him to bat at easily, but high enough that he couldn't just sit there and gnaw on it, and that string kept him entertained for hours. Especially if I tied one of his mice to it, and made basically a kitten tetherball court.
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Apr 14, 2015 18:48
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Blimpkin posted:When Tesla was a wee kitten, I hung a piece of kitchen twine from the ceiling. It was low enough for him to bat at easily, but high enough that he couldn't just sit there and gnaw on it, and that string kept him entertained for hours. Especially if I tied one of his mice to it, and made basically a kitten tetherball court. I did something similar with my family's cat when he was a kitten. We had a ceiling fan we rarely used, so tied a short length of thin rope to it and a catnip mouse at the other end. Especially entertaining results when we'd put the fan on the lowest speed.
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Apr 14, 2015 19:47
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My cat has AIHA, probably the primary version. She is basically not eating, but is on medication. Should I force feed her and if so how much are talking about here cause I just tried to and it is very stressful for the cat. Edit: What I mean is, I know a cat not eating is very, very bad, and I'm not sure how long she hasn't eaten. Sounds like force feeding is in order, but my watered down cat food smoothie is going to take a looot of tiny syringes full to approximate a normal daily intake of calories. I probably can't get anything like Hills A/D or royal canin recovery food until tomorrow. Torpor fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 15, 2015 02:26
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duckfarts posted:I'm a big fan of the Omega Paw box, which is basically a manual version of the Litter Robot; it makes cleaning the litterbox take like 10 seconds maybe and I don't have to do any sifting or anything. I use it with mini fiber pellets so I can flush the litter, but it would work best with normal clay litter. I honestly hated my Omega Paw box, it's cheaply constructed and no substitute for the cleanliness of shoveling the poop yourself. There's not really an easy, fool-proof way to deal with cat litter besides doing it by hand.
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Apr 15, 2015 02:41
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Please do not go through your litter box with your bare hands.
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Apr 15, 2015 02:53
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SynthOrange posted:Please do not go through your litter box with your bare hands. 
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Apr 15, 2015 03:09
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SynthOrange posted:Please do not go through your litter box with your bare hands.
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Apr 15, 2015 03:10
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You can't not swing at a pitch like that.
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Apr 15, 2015 03:11
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Organza Quiz posted:String on a stick. Seriously, you can't go wrong with string on a stick. Just get some string and tie one end of it to a stick (and maybe use some sticky tape or even glue to keep it there). I had a cat who was scared of toys and anything thicker than string was a no-go but string and the laser pointer were just fine. The stick is to make it easier to flick and move around quickly without killing your wrist. Yes you can... One of my two cats is a really pussy. He fears everything. My gf bought him a string on a stick thinking he might enjoy this. She took it out to play with him and it scared the poo poo out of him. He just wants nothing to do with this devilish invention (his words, not mine).
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Apr 15, 2015 04:24
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I have the opportunity to adopt a couple kittens. I've never owned cats before, so I'd like to run some numbers by you guys regarding monthly costs so I can properly budget for them. $50/month for wet food. $15/month for litter $20/month for insurance $2/month for water fountain filters. That's $87/pet/month, before treats and toys (since those costs will depend on their personalities) and other fixed startup costs (Litterbox, dishes, etc). And also assuming that insurance will cover vet costs. Do those numbers seem right? As they transition to adult cats, I've been told that feeding them nothing but wet food is also bad for their teeth, so I need to toss some dry food their way. Any ideas how that might affect costs?
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Apr 15, 2015 05:59
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demota posted:I have the opportunity to adopt a couple kittens. I've never owned cats before, so I'd like to run some numbers by you guys regarding monthly costs so I can properly budget for them. I personally don't recommend wetfood. Once you get started on wet food, they do not want to eat anything else and it ends up expensive. I've also been told its not as good as dry food in many little ways. For example, dry food acts as an abrasive on the teeth and dislodge gingevitas (sp?). That sort of thing. I do not know if the things I have heard are true, but who knows. A bag of dryfood (something like 10 kilo, maybe a bit more) runs about 30$ and will last a month or more with only one cat. Depending on how many cats you intend to have, litter can be more expensive. For one cat, 15$ a month sounds about right. A good litter box should run you around 25$ to 45$ Water fountain filters really are an extra expense. Most western countries already give you clean water through your tap. Your filter will not do much more than what has already been done to it. Just give you cat a fresh bowl of water every day and you will be fine. Also, post pictures of your new kitten when you get it. Dalael fucked around with this message at 06:10 on Apr 15, 2015 |
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Apr 15, 2015 06:08
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demota posted:I have the opportunity to adopt a couple kittens. I've never owned cats before, so I'd like to run some numbers by you guys regarding monthly costs so I can properly budget for them. Re food- Vets used to recommend feeding dry food to cats, partially for dental health. However, in recent years this recommendation has changed. You can read more about this in the Pet Nutrition thread, but here's the gist: Cats are obligate carnivores and need protein to live. Cats also do not drink a lot of water and if dehydrated, can face UTIs, urinary crystals, and kidney failure, all of which are painful for kitty and your wallet. If you can afford it, feed your cats good wet food- natural balance, taste of the wild, solid gold, merrick, and blue buffalo are good brands. You want nice high protein ratios. If you can't afford to buy canned, you can do dry. Keep in mind that in order to turn moist, tasty meat into kibble you need fillers. Most commonly, corn or wheat. These aren't there for nutrition, but for texture. The less fillers the better. Gluten free food is trendy but my cats get grain free Merrick because corn is pretty nutritionally devoid for cats so why feed it? Look for something with high protein and fat and remember that something like nine lives, meow mix, or whiskas is pretty much meat flavored corn clumps and is like feeding your cat mcdonalds- they'll live, but there are better options. TLDR, feed wet if you can afford it and your cats will eat it. If not, feed high quality dry food and try to make sure your kitties stay hydrated by mixing water into the kibble or using a fountain.
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Apr 15, 2015 07:01
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Sea Pancake posted:Look for something with high protein and fat and remember that something like nine lives, meow mix, or whiskas is pretty much meat flavored corn clumps and is like feeding your cat mcdonalds- they'll live, but there are better options. drat. I did not know about Whiskas. I actually thought it was a good brand considering its more expensive than what is usually considered cheap brands. I guess I've been paying for the name more than anything else?
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Apr 15, 2015 07:06
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emotive posted:Recommend me toys! My older cat goes nuts over a laser pointer, but either has no interest or runs away and hides from any other toy I try to use to play with her (she's a rescue and pretty skittish). My kitten (who really isn't a kitten anymore, she's 2) goes crazy over shoe strings and will chase things if I throw them but loses interest quickly. She plays with the laser pointer, too, but it's more of a "hide and pounce" once or twice rather than chasing it around everywhere. My cat loves the catit circuit. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir683jCHGXw
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Apr 15, 2015 07:56
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AtomikKrab posted:i've had good luck with crushing up a pill in water and syringing it into the cats mouth that way, fucker swallows it then and doesn't even fight. When my oldest was still alive, we were giving her daily dose of some form mild painkiller for her joints. After the first couple of times, she ended up making sure that she was in the same spot at 6pm every night where we kept the bottle of fluid and would scream like she hadn't been fed in a week if we were even a moment late.
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Apr 15, 2015 08:32
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Had a diabetic cat in a multi-cat household who, because the other rear end in a top hat cats preferred her special diet kibble to their own food, received shots. At shot time she would always hop onto the part of my desk where we administered them and, if we forgot, remind us. She was a floor dog, too, so jumping up on furniture wasn't really her thing ordinarily.
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Apr 15, 2015 14:07
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Both of my cats have well-adapted to eating dry food with a spoonful of wet on top, which they get twice per day. Usually at meal time they'll gobble the wet, take a few bites of dry, go steal some of each others' dry food (because they're badasses) and then return to the dry food a few times to finish it off before the next meal. The biggest advantage I've found here is that they're suddenly much less picky about what they eat. One of them in fact for a long time refused to eat anything except whiskas, but that's not an option anymore. The wet food makes it so that if I can't find the exact food she usually gets, I can get any other brand with decent nutrition, and she just doesn't give a gently caress once she starts eating it with the wet food.
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Apr 15, 2015 14:16
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