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Cat training problem: We have 2 cats: Beau (approx age 3-5) and Jubilee (age 1.5). Our problem is they will not shut the gently caress up. We feed them dry food twice a day- in the morning (between 6:00 and 8:00, depending on who is working first that day) and at night (around 9). At least an hour before normal food time every day, Jubilee will start walking on the windowsills and rattling the blinds/blind cords and Beau will meow incessantly. This wakes both of us up in the morning and interrupts our free time at night and is driving us crazy. Here's some of what we have tried so far: 1. Ignoring: no effect. If we wait to feed until they are quiet, they will literally never get fed. They keep going for hours. 2. Removing them from the room/shutting them out: We live in a carpeted rental and both cats will scratch at the carpet and door of any room they are in until we let them out. We cannot afford to allow them to do this. There is no room where we can leave them that I am comfortable with them destroying. We are considering trying canned air (we used it when the kitten was young to deter cord chewing and it seemed to work), turning on the vacuum (they're terrified of it and will scatter the instant it comes on) or automatic feeders. The only problem with automatic feeders is that I've heard from other owners of fatty fats like my cats is that their cats will spend hours trying to break it open, and once they figure out how to get food on demand obviously there's no point of using it. I wish we could free feed, but at least one of the cats will gorge until he vomits (then the kitten comes and eats it). Canned air and the vacuum I'm open to but they do require me waking up anyway to do this and it's not like we can keep a vacuum running for hours to try to sleep. Anyone have any suggestions on how to curb this? I'm so loving tired.
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Dec 9, 2015 00:51
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floofyscorp posted:I used to think the cats' insistence on following people to the bathroom was weird but apparently it's standard cat behaviour. I lock them out when I shower and they sit at the door, meowing indignantly until I come out. I adopted a cat last month and she does this, I had no idea that this was normal cat weirdness but knowing that makes me feel better. I assumed it was because it's the room with the litter box and she was worried about it being blocked off
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Dec 9, 2015 00:54
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Sea Pancake posted:I wish we could free feed, but at least one of the cats will gorge until he vomits (then the kitten comes and eats it). This works: http://www.amazon.com/Northmate-101...6QE03RPT3XBVWHC I have a couple that eat too fast, but this slows them down nicely, and I think it keeps them from eating quite as much. Can't eat as fast = food has time to register in tummy and walnut brain = less consumption overall.
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Dec 9, 2015 01:19
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Super Librarian posted:I adopted a cat last month and she does this, I had no idea that this was normal cat weirdness but knowing that makes me feel better. I assumed it was because it's the room with the litter box and she was worried about it being blocked off Cats are weirdos. Pudding likes to supervise everything I do. Shower, bathroom, couch, tv, cooking, cleaning, he's always there beside me. Unless I'm vacuuming.
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Dec 9, 2015 01:24
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Puppy Galaxy posted:Please explain how you accidentally ate cat treats
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Dec 9, 2015 03:16
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Sea Pancake posted:Anyone have any suggestions on how to curb this? I'm so loving tired. This is perfectly normal cat behaviour and I don't think you can train cats out of that sort of thing in the same way you might be able to train a dog. As far as I'm aware, the best way to try to stop it is to teach them that there's a distinct cue before they get fed and they'll never be fed before that cue but they'll always be fed after it. Like an alarm going off or something like that. If you're feeding them as soon as you wake up in the morning then definitely stop doing that because you just taught them that the cue for being fed is you getting up and that's why they wake you up in the morning. You might be able to convince them not to rattle the blinds by making it unpleasant for them to do it with al foil or canned air or whatever but that's not going to work for the yelling at you part. Think of it like this: they're uncertain about when or if they're going to be fed, so teach them that they will definitely be fed when x happens, but definitely not before it.
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Dec 9, 2015 03:17
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"What if X doesnt happen today?! I should remind him!"
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Dec 9, 2015 03:40
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Puppy Galaxy posted:Please explain how you accidentally ate cat treats Hey its possible.
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Dec 9, 2015 03:42
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Organza Quiz posted:This is perfectly normal cat behaviour and I don't think you can train cats out of that sort of thing in the same way you might be able to train a dog. As far as I'm aware, the best way to try to stop it is to teach them that there's a distinct cue before they get fed and they'll never be fed before that cue but they'll always be fed after it. Like an alarm going off or something like that. If you're feeding them as soon as you wake up in the morning then definitely stop doing that because you just taught them that the cue for being fed is you getting up and that's why they wake you up in the morning. You might be able to convince them not to rattle the blinds by making it unpleasant for them to do it with al foil or canned air or whatever but that's not going to work for the yelling at you part. Think of it like this: they're uncertain about when or if they're going to be fed, so teach them that they will definitely be fed when x happens, but definitely not before it. This is what I was afraid of. We do have a cue word for them- "Dinner!" We actually don't even call our own evening meal dinner anymore- we only use it to tell the cats to go upstairs so they can get fed. The problem is that in anticipation of this, they will scream at us/rattle blinds whenever they feel hungry. I guess the auto feeder seems to be a go. I've heard that if you use one the cats realize eventually that the machine feeds them and not you, so they won't badger you as much. Anyone have any brand recommendations? My cats are dumb as rocks but they are determined so I'm looking for something they won't be able to figure out easily.
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Dec 9, 2015 03:46
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Kiska Pisska has not pisska'd in twenty-four hours that I can tell  Cat you are NOT getting pee problems again.There was no pee that I noticed in her litterbox between last night's cleaning and this one. As far as I can tell there isn't any around the house; it's a very small house and I've checked every room to where I'd imagine I'd have smelled it. So either she's got ~*pee issues*~ again, the litter is somehow not clumping around it, or she just took a twenty-four hour pissbreak and is about to go drop a small lake in there. Time to call the vet in the morning if she doesn't go by the time I wake up. drat it, cat.
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Dec 9, 2015 04:28
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Tenzarin posted:Hey its possible. ....
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Dec 9, 2015 04:39
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Sea Pancake posted:This is what I was afraid of. We do have a cue word for them- "Dinner!" We actually don't even call our own evening meal dinner anymore- we only use it to tell the cats to go upstairs so they can get fed. The problem is that in anticipation of this, they will scream at us/rattle blinds whenever they feel hungry. I guess the auto feeder seems to be a go. I've heard that if you use one the cats realize eventually that the machine feeds them and not you, so they won't badger you as much. Anyone have any brand recommendations? My cats are dumb as rocks but they are determined so I'm looking for something they won't be able to figure out easily. Auto-feeder might work, but also try using something that isn't your voices as the cue. Voice commands are difficult because the cat has to realise that this one particular time you're actually saying something meaningful to them that they could work out instead of all the other times meaningless noise is coming from you. That's why clicker training is so effective as a thing, it's a specific noise that the animal knows only means one thing and it always means that thing and never anything else. I'd try setting a unique alarm noise on a phone or something that you don't use for anything else. I mean, I'm not guaranteeing that it'll work and it could take a long time to work even if it does but it has a higher chance of working. An auto-feeder is definitely a good option if they can't get it open themselves.
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Dec 9, 2015 06:36
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An automatic dispenser was very effective in getting my two to stop bugging me for food. Unfortunately because they both are now on special diets I cant use it any more, and they're back to begging me hours out from mealtime.
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Dec 9, 2015 06:48
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Puppy Galaxy posted:Please explain how you accidentally ate cat treats Ooh I can do this - when I was very young and too short to see what was on the top of the kitchen counters, I was used to reaching up for little ramekins of raisins my parents used to leave out to snack on. One day a ramekin had cat kibble in it instead. It tasted like stale, meaty cereal. After that I would always double-check what was actually in the ramekin before stuffing it in my mouth. THE END.
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Dec 9, 2015 10:14
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My cat sneaks up on me and taps me on the shoulder. Then when I look at her she meows in my face and scampers to the food container. I know what you're saying, cat, but dinner is 2 hours from now. The worst is if they've already been fed, but next time I stand up they're trying to gaslight me with pitiful hunger sounds.
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Dec 9, 2015 13:42
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Puppy Galaxy posted:I think it's fine to give them small amounts of jerky. I usually don't eat jerky, but whenever I'm making a sandwich my cat wakes up and demands lunchmeat, I usually just tear what would be a kitty sized mouthful off and she's happy and goes back to catting. Super Librarian posted:I adopted a cat last month and she does this, I had no idea that this was normal cat weirdness but knowing that makes me feel better. I assumed it was because it's the room with the litter box and she was worried about it being blocked off I don't know at what point I gave up, but since I'm single and live alone, I really don't even close doors anymore. My cat loves to lay on my towel during showers, the standard ritual is, underwear on toilet seat, followed by towel, followed by cat. One time I forgot to put the towel down and my cat just looked at me like I was the biggest idiot ever (not saying that I'm not though). CompactFanny posted:My cat sneaks up on me and taps me on the shoulder. Then when I look at her she meows in my face and scampers to the food container. I know what you're saying, cat, but dinner is 2 hours from now. My cat will climb to the top of her tree and swat me when I walk down the hallway, when she thinks I'm being slow about food, it's a bit better than before the tree at least when she would run up and bite my ankle.
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Dec 9, 2015 14:08
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My cat will completely freak out anytime I go into the kitchen, even if he already has food in his bowl. On those occasions I usually just pick up the bowl, shake it, and set it back down again and he eats like I just gave him new food. Cats, man.
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Dec 9, 2015 15:38
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CompactFanny posted:My cat sneaks up on me and taps me on the shoulder. Then when I look at her she meows in my face and scampers to the food container. I know what you're saying, cat, but dinner is 2 hours from now. There are mornings where I am up before my SO, and nice versa. Whoever is up at breakfast feeds them. They don't beg me for food, but on the mornings I feed them, the ginger cat will go and beg immediately after breakfast to try to trick his way into another meal.
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Dec 9, 2015 16:59
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Yeah my roommate sometimes gives them dinner on nights that I come home late, and as soon as I do get home they're all THANK GOD YOU'RE HERE WE ALMOST STARVED TO DEATH!!!! I also have 4 food dishes scattered around the apartment, it's supposed to slow them down and encourage smaller portions spread out through the day. However all it really does is cause them to bolt between the dishes at 900 miles an hour as I fill them, slinging cat spit kibbles all over the place. Yay!
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Dec 9, 2015 17:57
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My cat meows a lot when she's hungry (I'm assuming that's what she's meowing about anyway) so I'll fill up her bowl then she'll take one bite and run off only to come back and eat the rest later.
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Dec 9, 2015 18:09
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SynthOrange posted:Cats are weirdos. Pudding likes to supervise everything I do. Shower, bathroom, couch, tv, cooking, cleaning, he's always there beside me. Unless I'm vacuuming. Tali even watches me vacuum, she sits right by the wall where the living room ends and you end up at the bathroom/bedroom and judges me while I vacuum up all the litter she flings out of the litter box when she jets are leaving a stinky kitty poop for us. Unless I make it seem like the vacuum is coming right at her she's pretty alright with it.
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Dec 9, 2015 22:22
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Iron Crowned posted:I don't know at what point I gave up, but since I'm single and live alone, I really don't even close doors anymore. My cat loves to lay on my towel during showers, the standard ritual is, underwear on toilet seat, followed by towel, followed by cat. One time I forgot to put the towel down and my cat just looked at me like I was the biggest idiot ever (not saying that I'm not though). Yeah I think I gave up around week two when I couldn't handle the intensely sad-sounding mewling anymore. Right now the only door that ever closes is the main one leading out of the apartment.
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Dec 9, 2015 23:19
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Before my cat developed her current problems, I would take her daily feed and split it half. She would get half at 7am (when I get up for work, or even on days off) and I split the other half between feedings at 5pm (when I get home), 7pm, and 10pm. If I was late, she would sit at my feet and stare a hole in my brain until I fed her. In the rare occasions she forgot, I would just say, "Is it time?" and she'd meow and run to the kitchen.
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Dec 10, 2015 01:18
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CUM!!!
Smug Mug fucked around with this message at 23:32 on Mar 12, 2016 |
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Dec 10, 2015 02:09
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Wow what an rear end in a top hat. Surrender if you cant care for it. Then find a cat skeleton and mail it to your ex roommate.
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Dec 10, 2015 02:19
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Tendai posted:or she just took a twenty-four hour pissbreak and is about to go drop a small lake in there. Goddammit Kiska, you are the dumbest rear end in a top hat ever to apparently have a bladder the size of your head.
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Dec 10, 2015 03:40
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Are automatic dry food/kibble dispensers ever a good idea? We were thinking of buying one as a "just in case" solution if my wife and I had to leave down for over 24 hours on short notice.
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Dec 10, 2015 06:28
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Automatic as in timed, or as in plain old gravity fed? The first is great, the second just resulted in a fat cat.
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Dec 10, 2015 06:33
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melon cat posted:Are automatic dry food/kibble dispensers ever a good idea? We were thinking of buying one as a "just in case" solution if my wife and I had to leave down for over 24 hours on short notice. yeah. I got this one and it works great, though the minimum amount it can dispense is still a larger portion than i'd like for my 2 cats per feeding. It's been pretty reliable though, and has been running on the same batteries for something like 1.5-2 years now.
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Dec 10, 2015 07:31
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I noticed some string coming out of one of my cats at about 11 pm tonight. I very gently pulled it, and about 1-2 more inches came out with no resistance before it stopped and any gentle pulling caused the cat pain. We brought her to an emergency vet, and they took X-rays which did not show the string, but showed part of her colon had nothing but gas in it, potentially indicating the string was attached somewhere in her small intestine? The vet wanted to keep her overnight with a CT scan now and in the morning for about $1500, and then schedule surgery the next day depending on the CT results. We thought it was a little premature to schedule a ~$4000 surgery within 2 hours of noticing the string sticking out, especially since the cat was still eating and drinking and acting normal. She is an indoor only cat so it is not possible she was walking around with the string dangling for more than a few hours. We still scheduled an appointment for surgery tomorrow, which is now only 8 hours away, just to give her a chance to poop it out first. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences with the situation? Is surgery typical for this type of thing? My wife said she always grew up with cats that never went to the vet, and they would always eat string or tinsel or whatever and be fine. Also, to my disappointment, the cat did not talk when I pulled the string.
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Dec 10, 2015 12:43
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You are receiving this broadcast as a dream...We are transmitting from the year one nine... nine nine ...You are receiving this broadcast in order t
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Gorgar posted:This works: Thanks for this suggestion. My cat likes to swallow all her food immediately and try to eat the boyfriend's cats' food, so I need something to slow her down. The other cats like to graze, which doesn't help. Mostly we're just hyper-vigilant while they're eating, so this should help.
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Dec 10, 2015 12:47
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Super Librarian posted:Yeah I think I gave up around week two when I couldn't handle the intensely sad-sounding mewling anymore. Right now the only door that ever closes is the main one leading out of the apartment. Yeah, basically. The bedroom closet stays closed most of the time, but for some reason my cat loooooves to go chill out in the back corner, so there are lots of times where I'll get angrily meow'd at to open it so she can go chill for 20 minutes. This is especially great in the summer since the door blocks the air conditioner, so I just have to say "no, sorry" and try to ignore it. She doesn't ever bother me about the hall closet though, probably because that's where the vacuum lives. Mister Kingdom posted:If I was late, she would sit at my feet and stare a hole in my brain until I fed her. In the rare occasions she forgot, I would just say, "Is it time?" and she'd meow and run to the kitchen. Usually, my cat will just come up, and sit in my lap (or on whatever I'm doing) and stare at me while giving me the "butter up" purr (typically she'll curl up in my lap or walk all over me before settling on the back of the couch  ). She's also learned that standing in front of the TV is an annoying way to get my attention. Sometimes though, I'll look at the clock and realize it's 5pm, and she's snoozing somewhere, and I'll say, "is you's a hungry kitty? Are you ready for some kitty foods?" Which will usually be greeted with a yawn, stretch and a mosey on over to the kitchen.
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Dec 10, 2015 14:07
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Pain of Mind posted:I noticed some string coming out of one of my cats at about 11 pm tonight. I very gently pulled it, and about 1-2 more inches came out with no resistance before it stopped and any gentle pulling caused the cat pain. We brought her to an emergency vet, and they took X-rays which did not show the string, but showed part of her colon had nothing but gas in it, potentially indicating the string was attached somewhere in her small intestine? The vet wanted to keep her overnight with a CT scan now and in the morning for about $1500, and then schedule surgery the next day depending on the CT results. We thought it was a little premature to schedule a ~$4000 surgery within 2 hours of noticing the string sticking out, especially since the cat was still eating and drinking and acting normal. She is an indoor only cat so it is not possible she was walking around with the string dangling for more than a few hours. We still scheduled an appointment for surgery tomorrow, which is now only 8 hours away, just to give her a chance to poop it out first. Anyone have any thoughts or experiences with the situation? Is surgery typical for this type of thing? My wife said she always grew up with cats that never went to the vet, and they would always eat string or tinsel or whatever and be fine. Also, to my disappointment, the cat did not talk when I pulled the string. The biggest concern with this, and the reason the vet went to surgery right away is because there's indication that the other end of the string is causing an intestinal obstruction, and those can go south real fast. Honestly, I'd suspect an obstruction too just based on your description where the string won't move and pulling on it in any way causes pain. If it's stuck in there it needs surgery to come out. Don't feel too bad, this happened to me when my cat Suzie ate the feather and string from a feather wand (she was my first cat, we learned our lesson since) and within 24 hours she was violently ill and vomiting bile everywhere. She recovered well after the surgery and went on to terrorize our house for another 17 years. If it does need to go to surgery, see if your vet can work out a payment plan or accepts Care Credit.
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Dec 10, 2015 14:22
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^^^ I was typing a reply to this and then realized I was late for work and got beaten. I wanted to make sure it's clear to any cat owners out here that you never ever ever ever pull on anything sticking out of the butt. Even a gentle pull can tighten a loop or even cause perforation to the intestinal wall which is never good news. The gas bubble in there is very concerning because if the intestines are blocked enough to trap air, chances are they aren't getting adequate blood flow and can quickly die. Compounding the string problem by a lot. CATS THEY ARE GREAT
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Dec 10, 2015 14:37
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CompactFanny posted:^^^ I was typing a reply to this and then realized I was late for work and got beaten. I wanted to make sure it's clear to any cat owners out here that you never ever ever ever pull on anything sticking out of the butt. Even a gentle pull can tighten a loop or even cause perforation to the intestinal wall which is never good news. The gas bubble in there is very concerning because if the intestines are blocked enough to trap air, chances are they aren't getting adequate blood flow and can quickly die. Compounding the string problem by a lot.
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Dec 10, 2015 15:37
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Pain of Mind posted:My wife said she always grew up with cats that never went to the vet, and they would always eat string or tinsel or whatever and be fine. People don't exactly volunteer the stories where they didn't take the cat to the vet and the cat died. Obstructions can cause big issues very quickly. I know its a big expense, but better to pay it now when the cat is more likely to come out okay than to wait and pay for the same surgery when the outcome is less certain.
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Dec 10, 2015 16:28
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Dienes posted:People don't exactly volunteer the stories where they didn't take the cat to the vet and the cat died. Yea, it is definitely possible that people she got these anecdotal stories from just never mention bad outcomes. As a follow up: We brought the cat back to the vet today, presumably for her surgery since she still had her second tail. We saw a different vet, and this vet had a completely different opinion from the one we saw last night. This vet said that since she is still eating and acting normal, just let her go until she shows any signs of sickness, since typically if there is an obstruction they start acting sick sooner than this. Not out of the woods, but I guess there is still hope she can poop it out. It has been about 14 hours or so since we noticed.
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Dec 10, 2015 21:43
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SynthOrange posted:Automatic as in timed, or as in plain old gravity fed? The first is great, the second just resulted in a fat cat. Timed! If my cat ever figured out a gravity-fed one, I'd have a giant fat cat in less than a day!  duckfarts posted:yeah. I got this one and it works great, though the minimum amount it can dispense is still a larger portion than i'd like for my 2 cats per feeding. It's been pretty reliable though, and has been running on the same batteries for something like 1.5-2 years now. melon cat fucked around with this message at 00:16 on Dec 11, 2015 |
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Dec 11, 2015 00:05
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I've just noticed a little bit of blood on James' head, in front of his right ear, in that patch where there's less hair. It looks like a small scrape. Worth another trip to the vet? Can/should I treat it myself?
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Dec 11, 2015 09:21
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meristem, how are you doing? I just wanted to say that when I read your edit on the last page my heart dropped out of my chest. There really isn't anything to do but work through. Things will get better eventually, but it's going to take time.
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Dec 11, 2015 13:36
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