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My poor sneezy cat. One in a while (I'd say maybe 1-2 a year) my cat gets some sort of cold. He'll sneeze for a few days and it'll eventually turn into a wet cough for a few days and then go away. I've been to the vet about this many times (and a couple of vets) and they always come back that he's generally fine but has a little upper respiratory infection. He still eats and drinks and poops, he just does so while having sneezing or coughing fits. I feel bad for the poor little guy since obviously his nose or sinuses hurt and he'll scratch at them not understanding that the pain is inside him. I know I can only really wait it out, but is there anything to be done to ease his symptoms? I read somewhere to try the steam filled room like you do with kids when they have a cough, but when I tried that I'm pretty sure he thought the room was on fire and panicked, so that one is out. Poor sneezy.
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Mar 23, 2016 01:16
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Try a humidifier! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TG9j44MQ3wY It's ultrasonically generating the mist, it's not boiling hot, just room temp moisture. I used one when Cookie was sneezy as hell, seemed to help. Also its cute as hell when they get confused by one. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WREcQu_O_mc
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Mar 23, 2016 01:22
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Got to admit to feeling a little down. My wife and I went to the Ottawa Humane Society tonight to see if any of the kitties would be a good match. We met a few very nice and playful cats, but none that had that je ne sais quoi / immediate bond. We both knew it was a possibility that we wouldn't find a new fuzzy baby tonight, but still: 😔
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Mar 23, 2016 02:35
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JohnnyCanuck posted:Got to admit to feeling a little down. My wife and I went to the Ottawa Humane Society tonight to see if any of the kitties would be a good match. We met a few very nice and playful cats, but none that had that je ne sais quoi / immediate bond. We both knew it was a possibility that we wouldn't find a new fuzzy baby tonight, but still: 😔 A shame. I've gotten 3 cats from there over the years (Molly who I got when I was 12 and just died a couple of years ago at the age of 17, and my two current cats Alex and Simon who are both around 9). There's always SPCA across the river in Gatineau which I've never been to but heard good things about.
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Mar 23, 2016 03:27
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So I live in a small studio apartment with one cat. For basically the past year or so, at night, my cat tends to run around and yowl very distressed-like, climbing up walls and chairs and the like, mostly at the front door. I can't let him out or anything because there's no way for him to get back in, and he hasn't really been outside the apartment for months. Is my cat actually in pain/distress/going insane? Is it possible that he's having cabin fever due to the small apartment or lack of stimulation? How can I tell that what he's doing is just him being a cat instead of actually being in distress? Cats are hard  I just don't want him to be in pain or something
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Mar 23, 2016 04:32
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Pollyanna posted:So I live in a small studio apartment with one cat. For basically the past year or so, at night, my cat tends to run around and yowl very distressed-like, climbing up walls and chairs and the like, mostly at the front door. I can't let him out or anything because there's no way for him to get back in, and he hasn't really been outside the apartment for months. Is my cat actually in pain/distress/going insane? Is it possible that he's having cabin fever due to the small apartment or lack of stimulation? How can I tell that what he's doing is just him being a cat instead of actually being in distress? He's probably hearing or smelling something out in the hall if his activity is concentrated near the door. Maybe a neighbor gets home from work late or another pet's odors are noticeable at night. If he was in pain he'd show it during the day as well, so that seems unlikely. It seems mostly to be a cat being a cat, chasing phantoms in the night. Maybe play with him more in the evening to wear him out. He'll probably get over it eventually.
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Mar 23, 2016 04:48
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I'm more worried about the pent-up energy and cabin fever thing. I feel like he's in a more mental/psychological pain, really, which is why I called it distress. Maybe I'm projecting onto him, but it's a very small apartment, and I feel like being confined to that space 24/7 is taking its toll on him. I can't prove it, but it seems like that to me. Am I overthinking it? Incidentally, how much litter should go into a litter box? Is it a depth of 2in, 1in, 3in? I've never been able to figure out how to minimize having to change the litter so often with not having the litter be ruined by stinky, broken-up urine clumps and with not having litter tracked everywhere (oh my god so much litter tracking). I'm just sick of vacuuming the bathroom floor three times a day.
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Mar 23, 2016 05:06
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Could you get him a harness and take him for walks?
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Mar 23, 2016 05:12
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toe knee hand posted:Could you get him a harness and take him for walks? I've taken him out before. We're in the middle of the city, so he tends to get the leash caught under fences and there's not many places for him to go, anyway. There is a park nearby, so maybe I'll try there instead of right outside the apartment - but I don't think he'd tolerate me carrying him long enough to walk there.
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Mar 23, 2016 05:13
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Pollyanna posted:I'm more worried about the pent-up energy and cabin fever thing. I feel like he's in a more mental/psychological pain, really, which is why I called it distress. Maybe I'm projecting onto him, but it's a very small apartment, and I feel like being confined to that space 24/7 is taking its toll on him. I can't prove it, but it seems like that to me. Am I overthinking it? I also have a tiny apartment with a cat that runs around like a maniac at night. I usually turn on one of her electronic/automatic toys while I use the computer and when its closer to bedtime I play fetch with her until shes too tired to bring the mouse/bird back and just plops on the carpet. She still gets up in the middle of the night to run around like a nutcase and even thats normally fine with me but occasionally she tries to wake me up at 2am by dropping her toys on my face or playing on top of me and that is annoying. Or if I get up at any point in the night for a glass of water or something she takes that as her cue that its playtime again. Other times she spends the whole night staring out the window. Cats gonna cat. Im going to switch brands of litter, but right now Im using Tidy Cats and I do the 3 inches. Part of it is that Ginny likes to perch on the rim of the litterbox like a bird on a telephone wire when she goes and anything less and her weight will tip the box over. The other reason is her pee hits the bottom of the litterbox and it clumps and sticks and makes me have to scrape the bottom to clean it. When I visited my mom she had some old arm and hammer cat litter laying around and even with less than inch I didn't have that problem (and she used a huge litterbox so she couldnt tip it). The A&H stuff is really powdery though and the smell of it sticks to your cat. So I guess it depends on the brand/type of litter?
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Mar 23, 2016 05:46
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I used to have an excessively energetic cat. Then I got two cats so they can unload their excess energy on each other. 
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Mar 23, 2016 07:32
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Update on our cat - he continued spraying constantly and we finally took him to the vet. They tested his urine to see if he really needed to still be on the urinary food - they said that increases his urine production by a lot and may contribute to his spraying, if only the quantity of it. They found no crystals, so he's back on normal food, which is good for my budget, and should end his anxiety about not always having food (and he's stopped waking me up in the middle of the night because he's hungry). They also prescribed Alprazolam (Xanax) for 2 weeks. He's confined to the bedroom away from the other cats and his pee spots while on the Xanax, and we're cleaning the house head-to-toe in the meantime. Yup. I put my cat on Prozac after ruling out everything, too, and the spraying stopped really quickly. Like your cat it was anxiety based. After I moved away to a place with less cats in the neighborhood, he completely stopped and I haven't needed to use it again. He will revert to old habits if the situation is the same and you try weaning off the pills. Luckily, Prozac is pretty cheap.
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Mar 23, 2016 07:53
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I think we're getting closer to diagnosing my cat. It feels like the past four months have been a very slow moving episode of House... Here's everything in case anyone wants to play along at home! Quick review of the symptoms: December - Started coughing, wheezing, losing weight. Starting weight was somewhere around 16 lbs, he weighed in at 14.8lbs at this time. January - We got a diagnosis of asthma and tried treating him with high-dose steroids. Down to 12.5lbs. Give worming medication and test for heartworm, we get a conclusive negative. February - I started noticing he was lifting his paw whenever he was standing still. No limping, appetite improving substantially and weight loss slowing. Down to 11.8lbs. Beginning of March - Paw worsens, limp starts. Vet thinks it looks bruised and finds some old scabs, gives him pain meds and advises us to monitor him. Activity decreases as paw seems to be giving him a lot of pain, appetite is still ok. We decide to wean him off steroids because he was still wheezing a little. I find black mold in the window sills, where he hangs out, we add allergy meds and air purifiers. We notice his left eye isn't constricting well, vet thinks it's normal atrophy. Last Friday - Cat progresses to serious lethargy. Loses interest in food, but does eat a little. Unwilling to eat treats to take meds. I call vet and get first available appointment, yesterday afternoon. Pick up more pain meds to manage that while we wait. Yesterday- Paw has a rotten-smelling abscess in his toe on the bad paw. Infection has made it to the bone. No fever. The poor constriction in his left eye is worse and vet observes "focal seizures" on the left side of his head. Weight is down to 11.25lbs- he's starting to look emaciated because he's a Maine coon mix. Our best guess at a diagnosis for this medical mystery? Fungal infection. We're from AZ, where Valley Fever is endemic. He might have been carrying it without symptoms since we left in 2010. We're in Illinois farm county now so he also could've picked up a local fungus. Blasto affects tons of dogs here, but our vet hasn't seen it in cats. We're going to get a fungal panel as soon as my vet finishes consulting with some colleagues. And we're going to monitor his toe for the next week to see if it's improving, otherwise we have to get an "orthopedic consult" at the university. Medical mysteries are way less fun when you love the patient. And when you have to pay the bills.
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Mar 23, 2016 15:57
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Asiina posted:My poor sneezy cat. The guy might have feline herpes if he has recurring respiratory infections. Do you keep up with his RCP vaccine? L-Lysine treats might help too. Pollyanna posted:So I live in a small studio apartment with one cat. For basically the past year or so, at night, my cat tends to run around and yowl very distressed-like, climbing up walls and chairs and the like, mostly at the front door. I can't let him out or anything because there's no way for him to get back in, and he hasn't really been outside the apartment for months. Is my cat actually in pain/distress/going insane? Is it possible that he's having cabin fever due to the small apartment or lack of stimulation? How can I tell that what he's doing is just him being a cat instead of actually being in distress? Could you set aside 30 minutes of designated hunt play time with him before bed every night? Cats hunt at dusk/night so that's when they're ready to go. Our boy Rodney does the same thing if we go to bed without playing with him and I'll have to get out of bed and grab a mouse toy and flick it around for like 15 minutes or so before going back to bed. Reik fucked around with this message at 18:20 on Mar 23, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 18:18
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Pollyanna posted:So I live in a small studio apartment with one cat. For basically the past year or so, at night, my cat tends to run around and yowl very distressed-like, climbing up walls and chairs and the like, mostly at the front door. I can't let him out or anything because there's no way for him to get back in, and he hasn't really been outside the apartment for months. Is my cat actually in pain/distress/going insane? Is it possible that he's having cabin fever due to the small apartment or lack of stimulation? How can I tell that what he's doing is just him being a cat instead of actually being in distress? Sometimes Lady (the cat) looks up at the ceiling and starts meowing like there's phantoms taunting her from the attic. I learned that if she does this, I can pull out any toy in reach and she'll start playing like there's no tomorrow. My guess is that your cat wants to play and is trying to be polite by not asking you directly and instead pretending there's spooky ghosts only he can see. Maybe I'm wrong here, but I think cats have a little bit of imagination and can pretend they're chasing something sometimes so it would stand to reason that if they're bored enough they'll go into a The Floor Is Lava And A Monster Is Chasing Us play mode. MrSlam fucked around with this message at 18:07 on Aug 7, 2016 |
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Mar 23, 2016 21:18
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That doesn't quite explain the yowling that sounds like he's being murdered, though. As long as he's not in distress, I guess it's fine, but it sure sounds like he's in pain or something. It's almost like a scream. As for the litter box, I will never enjoy it. I have yet to find a setup that doesn't inevitably result in gross, wet, ruined litter and tile grout turned brown-orange by litter being tracked everywhere. I need to find a box that makes it easy to replace the litter, sift out the piss and poo poo, and not immediately become a mess. Hauling a massive bag of litter both into the bathroom to place and out of the apartment to throw away is something I want to do as rarely as possible. Just adding new litter ends horribly, though. Maybe I'm just bad at litter boxes, I don't know.
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Mar 23, 2016 21:27
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All cats have different vocalizations. One of mine sounds like the saddest little thing, and stands by the front door when he makes his playtime noises. The other goes "WRRRP!" and jumps all over the place when he wants activity. Cats man.
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Mar 23, 2016 21:43
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Pollyanna posted:So I live in a small studio apartment with one cat. For basically the past year or so, at night, my cat tends to run around and yowl very distressed-like, climbing up walls and chairs and the like, mostly at the front door. I can't let him out or anything because there's no way for him to get back in, and he hasn't really been outside the apartment for months. Is my cat actually in pain/distress/going insane? Is it possible that he's having cabin fever due to the small apartment or lack of stimulation? How can I tell that what he's doing is just him being a cat instead of actually being in distress? Cats are: 1. Jerks 2. Nocturnal* 3. Jerks Welcome to cats. *Yes I know they're not precisely nocturnal - cats are such jerks that classifying their activity patterns is beyond science - but it's close enough for government descriptors
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Mar 23, 2016 21:53
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Oh God Ned has learned that he can jump on the kitchen countertop and nothing will ever be safe again.
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Mar 23, 2016 23:12
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GimpInBlack posted:Oh God Ned has learned that he can jump on the kitchen countertop and nothing will ever be safe again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V_jTM_w3wnc
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Mar 23, 2016 23:16
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GimpInBlack posted:Oh God Ned has learned that he can jump on the kitchen countertop and nothing will ever be safe again. We don't fry food very often around our house, so when I tried making some fried chicken and had a dutch oven full of hot oil I was on pins and needles the whole time. The cats follow me from room to room and I had to stay around the frying oil so I was policing kitties the whole time praying they didn't choose today to summon the courage to hop on the stove. I found out if I hung out halfway up the stairs to the kitchen instead they'd ignore the curious and interesting smelling boiling pot of hot death.
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Mar 23, 2016 23:47
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MrSlam posted:We don't fry food very often around our house, so when I tried making some fried chicken and had a dutch oven full of hot oil I was on pins and needles the whole time. The cats follow me from room to room and I had to stay around the boiling oil so I was policing kitties the whole time praying they didn't choose today to summon the courage to hop on the stove. I found out if I hung out halfway up the stairs to the kitchen instead they'd ignore the curious and interesting boiling pot of hot death. Fortunately Ned is cool with hanging out in his giant kennel from when he was recuperating from the broken hip, so we have an option for when we cook dinner. But yeah, hot stove + cat is a nerve-racking experience.
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Mar 23, 2016 23:51
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Get a couple Ssscats and they will never go up there again
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Mar 24, 2016 00:17
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hey cat thread, I'm mostly looking for some semblance of reassurance. My 13/14 year old cat has suddenly started showing some...odd behavior (that I haven't been around to see personally, unfortunately.) that consists of her body tensing up, eyes glazing over and then walking like a drunk after it's over. My Mom is convinced it's seizures, but I'm not sure. She has a vet appointment for this upcoming week (the earliest we could get) but I'm sure she needs dental work and at her age I'm worried about all the things that could go wrong if she's put under for the work. Has anyone seen this sort of odd behavior with their cats? I'm really worried, this cat has been my baby forever
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Mar 24, 2016 23:10
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darkforce898 posted:Get a couple Ssscats and they will never go up there again They really work.
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Mar 25, 2016 01:16
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Looks like Fival probably doesn't have much longer. He had severe pleural effusion - 300ml of fluid got into his lungs since Tuesday. Now the vet thinks it's cancer.
dopaMEAN fucked around with this message at 04:44 on Mar 25, 2016 |
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Mar 25, 2016 04:08
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I'm very sorry to hear that man, I hope it's not cancer and/or it's treatable enough to let you at least get a goodbye weekend. Came here to ask about the weird wheat or other grain based litter alternatives I've seen. Priss is pretty easy going about litter, but I personally hate the smell of regular cat litter and was wondering if it might be something we'd both like.
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Mar 25, 2016 07:06
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Hello, it's possible that this has been mentioned before considering the season, but I haven't either found a thread on Gardening with Pets nor is it mentioned in the OP. So, it's spring and we want to put plants out on our balcony (7th floor). I find that typing 'is x plant poisonous to cats' on google tends to work, but sometimes I get a hit for livestock or dogs and I'm not really sure. We've bought some cilantro, thyme, basil, and verbena as well as this tree Cupressus macrocarpa, aka Monterey Cypress. We also plan to lay down some simple grass/cat grass (but not the kind that gets her terribly high because she gets super loopy and with the balcony that worries us). The problem is that Marnie, the cat, has the tendency to eat pretty much every plant we bring home. Our jasmine was eaten away flowers and all wherever she could access it and the second I brought in some mimosa flowers during the winter they were eaten quickly till I put them out of reach. I've discoveerd via the ASPCA site that cilantro, basil, and rosemary are all fine. Mint isn't so I've put that out of reach, they say that thyme isn't toxic, but has toxic principles, and I can't find anything about verbena or the tree except that it's bad for livestock. tldr: So does anyone know if verbena will be harmful or not, seeing how leafy it is I'm pretty sure she'll go after it. Also would she eat a tiny pine tree or will she have the sense to leave it will alone? Any other plants people have had success with? I don't mind her eating the plants, it's more I don't want them to do her harm.
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Mar 25, 2016 07:56
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Nasgate posted:Came here to ask about the weird wheat or other grain based litter alternatives I've seen. Priss is pretty easy going about litter, but I personally hate the smell of regular cat litter and was wondering if it might be something we'd both like. I've been using Swheat Scoop most of the time for years. I like it. It's flushable!
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Mar 25, 2016 09:17
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Nasgate posted:Came here to ask about the weird wheat or other grain based litter alternatives I've seen. Priss is pretty easy going about litter, but I personally hate the smell of regular cat litter and was wondering if it might be something we'd both like. i wrote an effortpost at the top of the previous page about using wood pellets if that helps
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Mar 25, 2016 10:28
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I adopted two adult cats on Monday and I think I'm regretting it. I think I'm just not really as much of a pet person as I thought I was. I don't really have any specific problems with them, I just suddenly don't think I'm ready to be spending decades of my life with them. I feel really guilty about this - I really wanted to be able to adopt pets for a while and now that I actually have I'm just not enjoying it, but it seems incredibly lovely to just take them back to the humane society. Has anyone else gone through something like this? Should I give it a little more time before making a decision?
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Mar 25, 2016 10:44
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DoubleDonut posted:I adopted two adult cats on Monday and I think I'm regretting it. I think I'm just not really as much of a pet person as I thought I was. I don't really have any specific problems with them, I just suddenly don't think I'm ready to be spending decades of my life with them. Taking them back to the humane society if they're not working out is actually the least lovely thing you can do. It might not hurt to give it another week or two, but cats get returned all the time; as long as you make it clear that it's just you and not a temperament issue with the cats (which can get them flagged "special needs" and complicate re-adoption, depending on your humane society's policies), it's not going to be a huge issue. Humane societies understand that sometimes this doesn't work out, and returning them there (instead of dumping them in a parking lot or rehoming them on Craigslist or whatever) is the responsible choice if you decide you don't want the cats.
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Mar 25, 2016 10:47
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It gives them a chance with another family who're more into cats, rather than be stuck with someone who's not ready for them.
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Mar 25, 2016 10:50
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What the people above said is what I think too, but I'm curious about what you aren't enjoying about owning them, if you don't mind sharing. Just in case it's something that there is an easy solution to or that is actually unusual behaviour or something like that.
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Mar 25, 2016 11:01
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I mean, they seem like pretty good cats; they're not aggressive or anything, they use their litter box, they're friendly without needing constant attention, etc. But I look at stuff like how one of them wanders around at night and forgets where I am so she meows until I get out of bed and go find her or having to periodically pick crumbs up that they've dropped around their food bowls and I think I realized that I'm just not really up to doing this for 15 years. I did grow up with dogs and I'm used to taking care of dogs, so maybe I'm just not used to the specific stuff that cats do. But mostly I just kind of feel like I'm not enjoying having them around.
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Mar 25, 2016 11:07
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Gorgar posted:I've been using Swheat Scoop most of the time for years. I like it. It's flushable! +1 to Swheat Scoop, switched a couple months ago and it's better on my lungs. Plus, the cat didn't mind the transition from clay at all. I didn't know it was flushable, though, that's awesome.
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Mar 25, 2016 12:51
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100YrsofAttitude posted:Hello, it's possible that this has been mentioned before considering the season, but I haven't either found a thread on Gardening with Pets nor is it mentioned in the OP. It looks like they list verbena there too, just under a different name (Lantana). It's listed as toxic.
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Mar 25, 2016 12:54
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Flying Leatherman posted:It looks like they list verbena there too, just under a different name (Lantana). It's listed as toxic. The one the show there is different from the kinda I've planted, but if they're in the same family I'd rather not take a chance. I'll hang that one up. I did put out the cypress which she sniffed and tried to bite but recoiled pretty fast so I don't think she bit any off or it has a taste that she doesn't care for or maybe the texture of the needles is more trouble that it's worth. She's finally got a fair share of grass laid out for her so I think she'll just pig out on that instead. But thanks.
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Mar 25, 2016 13:08
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DoubleDonut posted:I mean, they seem like pretty good cats; they're not aggressive or anything, they use their litter box, they're friendly without needing constant attention, etc. But I look at stuff like how one of them wanders around at night and forgets where I am so she meows until I get out of bed and go find her or having to periodically pick crumbs up that they've dropped around their food bowls and I think I realized that I'm just not really up to doing this for 15 years. Again, if it's not working out for you then there's no shame in taking them back to the shelter and you absolutely should, but the cat is crying at night because she's bored and wants to play, so the best way to deal with it is actually to ignore her until she stops and she will learn that crying at night won't get her anything. Either that or she's a bit confused/distressed since she's only been in the house less than a week, my cat does that when she's unsettled but only when something very unsettling has happened. Either way, getting up to see her will only make her do it more and most cats learn to cut that poo poo out pretty fast if ignored. I'm not really sure what to say about picking up crumbs from around food bowls, I have literally never had to do this ever in over 20 years of cat ownership. Either they're bizarrely messy eaters or the bowl is too small. But yeah, if you're used to dogs then maybe a dog would suit you better.
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Mar 25, 2016 13:44
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Alright, thanks for the advice. I'll make my mind up one way or another.
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Mar 25, 2016 13:56
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