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Ferremit posted:Yaaay... both smudge and Isaac are fatty fat cats... 6.6 and 6.2kg each. Already cut their food intake by 25%. How the hell do you make a cat exercise more apart from starting to buy live mice? I don't think this is possible. My cat is about 6.5kg and he does not get a lot of food but he also does gently caress-all so he's stubbornly stayed at 6.5kg. The only thing he plays with of his own accord is his catnip banana and that only for a few minutes. If I play with him, he'll play properly actively for a few minutes and then he ends up lying down and batting at the thing. Beyond that, he'll only leave his chair if he sees an available lap. Some cats are just lazy. Laaaaazzzzzzzzyyyyyyyyyy.
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Jan 24, 2016 11:56
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Yep. Cookie's like that. I've switched him to low calorie food and small portions and he's still a chubster. Oh well at least he's not obese. He'll pretty much sleep all day if my other cat didnt pester him from time to time.
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Jan 24, 2016 12:01
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I adopted an older cat to serve as a mom for my kitten, except the older cat growls at the little one. I tried introducing them by scent through closed doors for like a week. She's okay through closed doors and even visual range, but my idiot of a kitten keeps trying to charge her to play, and she will have none of it. The growling discourages him for a while, but within a few minutes, he'll try to wrestle her and she smacks him and hisses. This never actually drives him away for more than a couple minutes. They just had an altercation where he jumped on her and they rolled around for a while before the kitten ditched. I keep hearing about how growling and hissing and swatting is normal for cat introductions, but I'm afraid that the kitten might get hurt given the size difference I have the option to return the older cat to the shelter, and if she's really going to be unhappy here, that might be the best option. I tried to do site-swapping once, but the older cat just got scared and wouldn't leave a hiding space, so she wasn't going around the house and picking up the little one's scent. 
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Jan 26, 2016 07:35
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demota posted:I adopted an older cat to serve as a mom for my kitten, except the older cat growls at the little one. I tried introducing them by scent through closed doors for like a week. She's okay through closed doors and even visual range, but my idiot of a kitten keeps trying to charge her to play, and she will have none of it. The growling discourages him for a while, but within a few minutes, he'll try to wrestle her and she smacks him and hisses. This never actually drives him away for more than a couple minutes. They just had an altercation where he jumped on her and they rolled around for a while before the kitten ditched. Feliway.
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Jan 26, 2016 10:16
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Hyperlynx posted:Feliway. Feliway's been running in that room for like, a week now. The diffuser, at least. Maybe I need the spray?
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Jan 26, 2016 15:07
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demota posted:I adopted an older cat to serve as a mom for my kitten, except the older cat growls at the little one. I tried introducing them by scent through closed doors for like a week. She's okay through closed doors and even visual range, but my idiot of a kitten keeps trying to charge her to play, and she will have none of it. The growling discourages him for a while, but within a few minutes, he'll try to wrestle her and she smacks him and hisses. This never actually drives him away for more than a couple minutes. They just had an altercation where he jumped on her and they rolled around for a while before the kitten ditched. This all sounds completely normal. It is how cats usually interact. I'm not sure why you think you have a problem. Kittens are energetic assholes. Getting smacked is how they learn to knock it off.
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Jan 26, 2016 15:42
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demota posted:I adopted an older cat to serve as a mom for my kitten, except the older cat growls at the little one. I tried introducing them by scent through closed doors for like a week. She's okay through closed doors and even visual range, but my idiot of a kitten keeps trying to charge her to play, and she will have none of it. The growling discourages him for a while, but within a few minutes, he'll try to wrestle her and she smacks him and hisses. This never actually drives him away for more than a couple minutes. They just had an altercation where he jumped on her and they rolled around for a while before the kitten ditched. This is completely one hundred percent normal. The kitten will be fine, the older cat will be cranky/stressed but then fine. She is just socializing the kitten by laying the smack down. My old kitten/cat combo were like that for a week or two and then we caught the kitten sleeping on top of the cat.
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Jan 26, 2016 17:04
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demota posted:Feliway's been running in that room for like, a week now. The diffuser, at least. Maybe I need the spray? Do you use any kind of scented candles? I have been told the pheromones Feliway releases can be overpowered by other scents in the house and drastically reduce their effectiveness. Also, the fact that the kitten is going back means the other cat isn't being dangerous aggressive, just standard cat social interaction. I would be very excited that they interact that much. One of our boy cats shows real aggression to our other boy cat and you can tell a big difference between that and when the victim boy cat plays with one of our girl cats. We keep the boy cats separated now until we can get that situation resolved. Also, Carl, the victim boy cat recently got his teeth cleaned and the vet thought he might have LPS due to redness of gums and mouth ulcers. They gave him this proprietary cocktail that includes a low dosage immunomodulator and between that and the stress weakening his immune system he developed some sort of infection. He was lethargic so we took him to our normal vet yesterday and he had a fever of 104. It was around 103.5 today. We obviously stopped the medication for LPS and have been giving him oral antibiotics, and the vet gave him an antibiotic shot today. He seems to be more active and is has been eating at least a little every feeding time, but it's the first time one of our cats has been sick sick. Do yall's cats get sick like this? He's been sneezing a bit so we're thinking it's just some form of URI. Reik fucked around with this message at 17:16 on Jan 26, 2016 |
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Jan 26, 2016 17:09
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Thanks. Maybe things aren't as bad off as I thought. I'm not using any scented candles. I'm going to try for longer site-swapping today, then try to give them more introductions tonight. In other news, my sister's kitten ate her hair lying around the house, then took a poop, but the hair didn't all come out with the poop, then the kitten ran around the entire house with a poop trailing behind her.
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Jan 26, 2016 18:34
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Hello, cat thread. Looking for some advice. I'm in the process of introducing a new cat to a two cat household. The new cat, Hobbes, has been here for 3 weeks exactly today, and our female cat, Tonks, has been getting along with him pretty well. We still monitor them when they're in the same room together because sometimes Hobbes annoys her because he won't quit following her around and sometimes they fight about it if left alone. He's mostly just curious and wants to play- he's the size of a full grown cat (he's actually bigger than Tonks) but according to the shelter he's only 5 months old (closer to 6 now). However, there have been some issues with our male cat, Bulleit. Namely, Hobbes has been really aggressive with him, staring him down and advancing on him whenever they meet. Bulleit is a pretty fearful cat and responds by pulling his ears back, raising his hackles, and hissing, but Hobbes just continues to advance until Bulleit gets backed into a corner and they fight. I know this because today is the second time Hobbes has gotten out of his room and attacked Bulleit. I woke up to the sound of a fight and had to separate them, then Bulleit poo poo on the floor because he'd been trying to go to the litter box when Hobbes started advancing on him (I can tell because of the tufts of Bulleit's fur strewn across the floor right next to the box). For a while I'd been holding Bulleit in my lap with Hobbes in the room for short periods and prevented Hobbes from getting within a certain radius of Bulleit using my feet to push him away when he got so close Bulleit started growling. But now that they've had two fights I'm not sure what to do to introduce them to each other. My instinct is to keep them completely separated for at least a week then put Hobbes in a cat carrier and re-introduce him to Bulleit then try to move on from there. Is that a good plan? Edit: important details: all three cats are spayed/neutered. New cat is indoor-only, the other two are indoor/outdoor.
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Jan 26, 2016 19:08
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Zandorv posted:Hello, cat thread. Looking for some advice. I'm in the process of introducing a new cat to a two cat household. The new cat, Hobbes, has been here for 3 weeks exactly today, and our female cat, Tonks, has been getting along with him pretty well. We still monitor them when they're in the same room together because sometimes Hobbes annoys her because he won't quit following her around and sometimes they fight about it if left alone. He's mostly just curious and wants to play- he's the size of a full grown cat (he's actually bigger than Tonks) but according to the shelter he's only 5 months old (closer to 6 now). We have 4 cats, 2 boys 2 girls. The only issues we have is with one boy bullying the other, so it's a similar situation. How many litter boxes do you have? What kind of introduction did you do initially? Do you have an UV light? Also, how much hair does Bulleit have? Our victim is very long haired and we didn't notice a bite on his tail until it had abscessed about week later. If Bulleit is long haired I'd give him a thorough physical exam since they've had altercations in which fur was pulled out. Here is a pretty good guide for introducing two cats. Because they already know each other is there I'd probably keep them separate for a week or two before reintroducing them to try and reset their relationship. http://www.americanhumane.org/animals/adoption-pet-care/cat-behavior/introducing-cats-to-cats.html Edit: Are any of them declawed? Letting the other two outdoors is going to make them all getting along more difficult. You have no idea what they'll smell like when they get back, maybe they ran across some spraying from a non-neutered male and Hobbes is taking it as a sign of aggression.
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Jan 26, 2016 19:48
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Zandorv posted:Hello, cat thread. Looking for some advice. I'm in the process of introducing a new cat to a two cat household. The new cat, Hobbes, has been here for 3 weeks exactly today, and our female cat, Tonks, has been getting along with him pretty well. We still monitor them when they're in the same room together because sometimes Hobbes annoys her because he won't quit following her around and sometimes they fight about it if left alone. He's mostly just curious and wants to play- he's the size of a full grown cat (he's actually bigger than Tonks) but according to the shelter he's only 5 months old (closer to 6 now). Something to try, as far as discipline, is a bop on the nose with your fingers when Hobbes starts getting aggressive. Mother cats do that to their kittens when they're getting out of line, and it's universal cat language for "Mom says Stop It!" (not too hard - the objective is to startle, not inflict pain). It also tells Hobbes that Bulleit has friends in high places and he'd better watch his back. It may help convince him to tone down the aggressiveness. Give him treats when he's acting civil toward Hobbes, as a way of reinforcing that behavior. Cats can learn to alter their behavior, but it takes time and consistent discipline/rewards. The reintroduction in the cat carrier might work, who knows. Experiment with different stimuli. Maybe Hobbes can be distracted with Da Bird (or a similar toy) when he gets aggressive, stuff like that. Da Bird diplomacy has worked a few times for me - cats who don't get along learn to tolerate being in the same room when they alternate playing with Da Bird. They learn that if they attack each other, play time is over, but they can still get their aggression out by attacking the toy. Keep trying things. Sometimes it's just time, with the aggressive cat learning that the newcomer isn't going to go away no matter what so it starts working out ways of living together.
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Jan 26, 2016 20:09
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I have a truly amazing recent addition to my home, Ringo, the adorably derpy half-Siamese 7 year old with a lazy eye and a chipped canine tooth. Trouble is, he's LOVES to chew on cables. Not eat them, just chews them and tosses bits of cable everywhere. He has ruined 6 really nice cables in the span of a few months. I'm worried that one day he's going to chew on the wrong one and get a face full of mains power and I'll come home to a fried kitty. Sour Apple spray does nothing and I'm not super keen on dousing all my cables in hot sauce (home studio, lots of cables). I try to keep them elevated but that's not always possible. According to the vet and the Humane Society (where I adopted him ~9 months ago) due to a digestive problem he's not allowed treats (as well as a strict diet) so positive reinforcement with treats is not really possible. What do I do?
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Jan 27, 2016 04:54
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FlyingCheese posted:I have a truly amazing recent addition to my home, Ringo, the adorably derpy half-Siamese 7 year old with a lazy eye and a chipped canine tooth. Trouble is, he's LOVES to chew on cables. Not eat them, just chews them and tosses bits of cable everywhere. He has ruined 6 really nice cables in the span of a few months. I'm worried that one day he's going to chew on the wrong one and get a face full of mains power and I'll come home to a fried kitty. Sour Apple spray does nothing and I'm not super keen on dousing all my cables in hot sauce (home studio, lots of cables). I try to keep them elevated but that's not always possible. According to the vet and the Humane Society (where I adopted him ~9 months ago) due to a digestive problem he's not allowed treats (as well as a strict diet) so positive reinforcement with treats is not really possible. What do I do? Maybe some conduit or a cable cover like this? He's probably smelling some plasticizer in the insulation of the cable, so the cover may keep the odor down enough for him to leave them alone. Otherwise, at least it's another layer of protection. Perhaps covering the cables in aluminum foil or double-stick tape will ward him off, as well. It doesn't have to make them taste bad, just be unpleasant to bite. Comedy option: paint your cables with this!
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Jan 27, 2016 05:32
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I'm moving back home to my parents in a few months (I know, shameful) and will be bringing my lovely orange cat with me. My parents love my cat, but are super intolerable of the smell of cat poop. Any ideas on how to combat the stank of the litter box so I don't upset my new roomies? I clean the box regularly (typically every other day) and replace the litter every couple of weeks - and I know that the smell of cat poo poo is basically inevitable...just wondering if anyone has any tricks!
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Jan 28, 2016 05:51
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BurgerKingBathroom posted:I'm moving back home to my parents in a few months (I know, shameful) and will be bringing my lovely orange cat with me. My parents love my cat, but are super intolerable of the smell of cat poop. Any ideas on how to combat the stank of the litter box so I don't upset my new roomies? I clean the box regularly (typically every other day) and replace the litter every couple of weeks - and I know that the smell of cat poo poo is basically inevitable...just wondering if anyone has any tricks! Crystal litter is the best for getting rid of the smell quickly, but it's also terrible to deal with because it's hard and painful to step on when it's tracked out of the litterbox. It also absorbs liquid rather than clumping so you have to replace it whenever it gets "full". But if your absolute top priority is having the smell die down as fast as possible, as far as I know it's your best bet.
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Jan 28, 2016 08:53
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Crystal is the best when it's fresh, the absolute worst when it's near done. The way I'm using to manage poopsmells is recycled paper litter in three trays for two cats which I scoop daily. Having more trays means they get more litter to bury stuff in. Larger boxes also help them satisfy their instinct to bury stuff, with smaller boxes, they'd leave stuff uncovered more. Finally I store the soiled litter in a bin that I chuck some crystal litter into as well.
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Jan 28, 2016 09:13
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SynthOrange posted:Crystal is the best when it's fresh, the absolute worst when it's near done. The way I'm using to manage poopsmells is recycled paper litter in three trays for two cats which I scoop daily. Having more trays means they get more litter to bury stuff in. Larger boxes also help them satisfy their instinct to bury stuff, with smaller boxes, they'd leave stuff uncovered more. Finally I store the soiled litter in a bin that I chuck some crystal litter into as well. Where do you keep the litter boxes at? BurgerKingBathroom fucked around with this message at 14:07 on Jan 28, 2016 |
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Jan 28, 2016 13:56
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BurgerKingBathroom posted:I'm moving back home to my parents in a few months (I know, shameful) and will be bringing my lovely orange cat with me. My parents love my cat, but are super intolerable of the smell of cat poop. Any ideas on how to combat the stank of the litter box so I don't upset my new roomies? I clean the box regularly (typically every other day) and replace the litter every couple of weeks - and I know that the smell of cat poo poo is basically inevitable...just wondering if anyone has any tricks! We put our litter boxes in closets and replaced the closet doors with shower curtains. It does a pretty good job of keeping the smell contained considering we have 4 poop machines running around.
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Jan 28, 2016 20:40
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I finally have some real progress to report! Peridot started eating, drinking and using her scratching post in my presence, so I instigated a new regime that food will only be available to her while I'm in the room. She didn't eat much yesterday since she was waiting for me to leave, but this morning she cautiously hopped down and ate quite a bit. Her food bowl is under the desk where my computer lives, so she has to get less than a metre from my legs to eat. After she ate, I felt her sniffing at my legs, and somehow Pepper must have sensed a disturbance in the Force because the next thing I know, she's taken a couple of steps into the room and is hissing and yowling at Peridot. They had a brief stand off of hissing and back arching and doing the I'M SO SCARY LOOK HOW SCARY I AM thing before Peridot settled down crouched half-behind a box and Pepper sat and quietly sang at her for like five minutes before eventually giving up and leaving. Peridot didn't seem especially bothered, she just waited it out and then got up and had some more food and went back to her windowsill for the day. I'm really happy about pretty much all of that, her sniffing me is the first interest she's actively shown towards me in the ~seven weeks since I brought her home and I feel like that was a very, very good first real confrontation between her and Pepper. Until now all they've done is stare at each other from the windowsill/the corridor just outside the room and maybe a tiny bit of hissing or Peridot's weird little croaky go-away-or-I-will-hiss-at-you noise.
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Jan 29, 2016 05:23
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It's been four weeks since Ned's surgery and I'm pleased to report he's doing great. The cone of shame came off a couple of weeks ago and his hip's healed up remarkably well, so he's no longer confined to his crate. He and Ralph the dog are firm friends who spend most of their time chasing each other around the apartment and/or chewing on each other's ears. Olaf gets a little grumpy when he feels the cat is intruding on his personal space, but they're working it all out. Funny thing: because he had to spend so long in a kennel due to the surgery, Ned is basically crate trained now. When we crate the dogs up in the morning before work, he follows them and goes right back into his old crate, then just sits there like "well? bring me my daytime food and shut the door, assholes." Weird cat. He does still spend most of the night going bonkers and running around the place no matter how much we try to get him to play before bed, but that's just nocturnal kitten energy, so what can you do?  Overall, 10/10, would cat again. Ned's next big adventure: Moving to Sweden in two months.
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Jan 29, 2016 16:03
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Well, I am officially a cat owner. I adopted the cat I posted a couple pages back. I went out and got all the supplies and brought the cat over approximately 4 hours ago. She explored my apartment thoroughly; however, for the past 1.5 hours she has been sitting underneath my lay-z-boy. I know hiding is pretty typical of cats.. . but I would prefer it if she didn't pick under the lay-z-boy as her go to spot. I am worried she will get hurt if I rock it too fast without knowing she is under there. Is she hiding because she is in an unfamiliar place? Or is this going to be a regular thing? Should I attempt to deter her from hiding under there now so that it doesn't become a regular thing?
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Jan 30, 2016 00:43
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Sypher posted:Well, I am officially a cat owner. I adopted the cat I posted a couple pages back. I went out and got all the supplies and brought the cat over approximately 4 hours ago. Some cats are naturally very hide-y, but pretty much all cats will hide when they're in an unfamiliar place -- you may just have to see how it goes. Right now, you probably want to give her a little time, but later you can work on encouraging her to be out more. Is there any way you can make the recliner inaccessible to her? Unrecline it and move it it so it's up against the wall/other furniture, maybe?
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Jan 30, 2016 00:49
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BurgerKingBathroom posted:I'm moving back home to my parents in a few months (I know, shameful) and will be bringing my lovely orange cat with me. My parents love my cat, but are super intolerable of the smell of cat poop. Any ideas on how to combat the stank of the litter box so I don't upset my new roomies? I clean the box regularly (typically every other day) and replace the litter every couple of weeks - and I know that the smell of cat poo poo is basically inevitable...just wondering if anyone has any tricks! I've had amazing success in getting rid of poopsmell by using Naturally Fresh litter, there's a special kind in a yellow bag that has enzymes in it that break up the poop smell molecules. It also clumps really well... might be worth a shot?
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Jan 30, 2016 00:50
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Antivehicular posted:Some cats are naturally very hide-y, but pretty much all cats will hide when they're in an unfamiliar place -- you may just have to see how it goes. Right now, you probably want to give her a little time, but later you can work on encouraging her to be out more. She is pretty tiny, so I think even if i move it up against the way, she may be able to sneak in. I guess if it becomes regular, I could McGuyver something to block access. She is friggin adorable, though. I am so happy I got her. 
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Jan 30, 2016 00:54
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Provide hiding places of your own. a box with a hole cut in it, a little blanket fort, etc.
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Jan 30, 2016 01:04
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SynthOrange posted:Provide hiding places of your own. a box with a hole cut in it, a little blanket fort, etc. Definitely this, distraction/diverting seems to be the best strategy (in the two weeks I've had my kittens). Don't think "how will i stop this" think "what do i want them to do instead" edit: Question of my own- My two ~18wk bombays seem to be doing well, other than a small amount of discharge that collects at the bottom of their eyes (cleaning it every other day or so), and in the last 4 days, bouts of sneezing (one to two bouts of 2-5 sneezes) than at all before). I got a HEPA filter yesterday, and I'm hoping that helps all of us. I'm wondering if these are breed-specific things, if they should see a vet, etc. For reference, they are currently eating the trader joe's chicken, turkey and rice, and turkey & giblets, and using World's Best multi-cat lavender litter. 365 Nog Hogger fucked around with this message at 01:50 on Jan 30, 2016 |
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Jan 30, 2016 01:06
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Deteriorata posted:Maybe some conduit or a cable cover like this? He's probably smelling some plasticizer in the insulation of the cable, so the cover may keep the odor down enough for him to leave them alone. Otherwise, at least it's another layer of protection. Ugh I have so many cables, the thought of running them all through conduit... I guess it'll have to do, at least for the permanent ones going to and from the board. I don't think clients would be too amused with double-stick tape and aluminum foil cables in the studio. Coyote/Wolf pee on the other hand...
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Jan 30, 2016 09:11
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In a fortnight my partner is getting a puppy. My cat has experience with dogs (rescue cat, was feral then lived in a shelter with dogs around) but not for about a year and a half now. Any tips I won't find in any of the basic how to guides I should know? Cat is pretty chilled in general.
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Jan 30, 2016 12:08
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Protip for making friends with absurdly skittish cats: laser pointer. You can do it from the other side of the room while not making any large movements at all! By "friends" in this case I mean she's not glancing up at me every two seconds while eating anymore and she seems more confident about being on the ground while I'm in the room as long as I don't look at her too much. But we're getting there...
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Feb 2, 2016 03:47
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Totally unsolicited advice that I want to share. I replaced my plastic litter boxes with stainless steel steam/hotel/gastronorm pans. Wish I'd done that from the start, they absolutely own and don't retain any smells. Cheaper than any similar "official" litter box, same price as converting a recycling box or similar. I'm sure they are great for food too and this post will make some chef cry, but man are they amazing at holding cat poo poo and piss.
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Feb 2, 2016 17:48
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Mango Polo posted:Totally unsolicited advice that I want to share. I replaced my plastic litter boxes with stainless steel steam/hotel/gastronorm pans. Wish I'd done that from the start, they absolutely own and don't retain any smells. Cheaper than any similar "official" litter box, same price as converting a recycling box or similar. That sounds awesome. What are the biggest ones out there? We have a couple cats who suck at the litter box so we use these: http://www.amazon.com/Petmate-22040-Giant-Litter-Bleached/dp/B000HHLVA4 Any chance they make some around that size?
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Feb 2, 2016 18:10
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Reik posted:That sounds awesome. What are the biggest ones out there? We have a couple cats who suck at the litter box so we use these: http://www.amazon.com/Petmate-22040-Giant-Litter-Bleached/dp/B000HHLVA4 Woah that's huge. Couldn't really find anything THAT big as far as I've seen. These are the ones I'm using, in the US you'd opt for something like these. Lost a bit of space compared to the main litter box, gained some space compared to the secondary one. Don't even care that there's no high walls, my cats manage to tract the wood pellets everywhere anyway.
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Feb 2, 2016 19:35
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Hi cat thread! I have three questions-- one silly, one maybe silly, and one serious. I have a 13-pound, 3-year-old male maine coon mix. He eats Canidae dry food in the morning, gets Canidae treats, and Tiki Cat wet food at night. I brush his coat out every other day. For litter, I use World's Best in pine. He has a slight case of gingivitis and refuses to drink water if it has any additive, and while he will let me rub his teeth/gums and the surrounding area, he won't tolerate it if I have any kind of product (tooth gel, etc.) on it. Serious: I think my cat has asthma. He'll have coughing fits that sound like a hairball, but nothing ever comes up. It doesn't last long, and it usually only happens once a month or so, though it happened a few times in one week after we moved (from HI to CA). Is there anything I can do to my house environment or with his feeding/grooming/litter that can help? Maybe Silly: My cat is an emotional support animal for me. Because of that, he is my best buddy and whenever I'm home, he is usually on my lap or near me. He sleeps next to me or on me and wakes me up in the morning with some licks on the nose. I am going to be going back to work soon, and I was thinking about getting another cat so he's not alone during the day. My problem with this is that I just cannot imagine splitting my attention between him and another cat. I'm not worried about introducing another cat to him, but I am worried about my own processing with it. Is there an emotional support animal megathread somewhere? Any advice on calming the gently caress down about getting my cat a buddy? Silly: Next week will make 6 months since I adopted my cat. I want to do something a little special for him and was hopeful that someone here would have some cute ideas. :3
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Feb 4, 2016 00:20
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Mango Polo posted:Totally unsolicited advice that I want to share. I replaced my plastic litter boxes with stainless steel steam/hotel/gastronorm pans. Wish I'd done that from the start, they absolutely own and don't retain any smells. Cheaper than any similar "official" litter box, same price as converting a recycling box or similar. Just wait til you have a buffet at your house.
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Feb 4, 2016 00:24
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mick ohio posted:Hi cat thread! I have three questions-- one silly, one maybe silly, and one serious. I have a 13-pound, 3-year-old male maine coon mix. He eats Canidae dry food in the morning, gets Canidae treats, and Tiki Cat wet food at night. I brush his coat out every other day. For litter, I use World's Best in pine. He has a slight case of gingivitis and refuses to drink water if it has any additive, and while he will let me rub his teeth/gums and the surrounding area, he won't tolerate it if I have any kind of product (tooth gel, etc.) on it. Your cat will be fine without you. If you get him a "buddy," the odds are about 95% they'll just ignore each other all day. Very rarely unfamiliar cats will bond and become close companions, but usually they need to be adopted together as kittens - and even then they don't often bond. Your cat is a cat. They are largely solitary animals. Don't anthropomorphize him. If you want a second cat, get one. Do it for yourself, though. Your cat very likely won't care one way or the other. The asthma may be just him horking up a hairball. If it's only once a month, don't worry about it.
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Feb 4, 2016 00:56
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I was my cat's only social interaction when we lived alone, and since I was gone so long every day, she ended up trying to keep playtime going after I turned the lights out to sleep and I felt like a monster. She was always next to me and cuddly. We now live with my boyfriend and his two cats. One is BFFs with my cat and the other one hates both of them. My cat doesn't stick to my side as much as she used to, but she still hangs out and cuddles with me frequently. She gets her playtime in with her buddy and doesn't need as much from me (though she still enjoys it). I guess it's best just to think of what your cat wants. If your cat seems chill and not lonely, it's probably fine being an only cat (see: aforementioned cat that hates other cats). My cat needed more social interaction and not being the center of her world is 100% worth knowing she's fulfilled.
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Feb 4, 2016 01:14
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Deteriorata posted:Your cat is a cat. They are largely solitary animals. Don't anthropomorphize him. That's not actually true, though. Feral cats form social colonies all the time. There's also the fact that pet cats need mental stimulation and play, and that can come from playing with another cat just as easily as a human.
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Feb 4, 2016 02:18
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Yeah. Cats can have different needs though. If I got Cookie first, I'd have been fine with him as an only cat. Pudding came first though and it became really clear that he needed more stimulation than he could get with just one guy around after work hours.
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Feb 4, 2016 02:36
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Our old boy Rodney does the coughing fit thing. We've had him checked out at the vet and they didn't find anything wrong. We think he is just trying to cough up a hairball. I would wait and see how he responds to you going back to work. If he's full of energy when you have to go to bed having a friend could be beneficial. For the 6 month you could get him his own catnip and/or cat grass plant.
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Feb 4, 2016 04:00
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