|
Welp. Took the plunge today and adopted a second cat to keep my pissy 12 year old cat, Andie, company. The cat I picked is a rickety, skinny, 13 year old blue tabby named Grayson, and I am already in love. He has great cat skills, which will be a necessity when he meets Andie, who was feral for the first six months of her life. This cat, you guys. All he wants is headbutting and pets and warmth, and if you stop petting him too soon, he reaches out to pat your hand politely. My Facebook friends are plotting to steal him, as is my sister. The ladies at the charity he came from were practically in tears when I said I'd take him, and gave me cat beds and scratching pads and handmade toys. And apparently there is an oil painting of Grayson coming, as he is a distinguished gentleman (with terrible butt tufts)? Grayson has the whole run of the apartment except for the bedroom right now; Andie is in there with food, litterbox, and water. She is not happy. She smelled him on my jeans and promptly began hissing, so should I change clothes or wash hands when switching between them? I have Grayson's cat carrier; should I put it in the bedroom so Andie can get used to his smell? I'm going to have them eating on opposite sides of the door soon, and not introduce them in person for three days at least. When should I deem it okay for them to meet in person? Andie is chunky, but surprisingly strong and fast, and the last thing I want is for Grayson to get hurt. Additionally, Grayson peed on a blanket instead of in the litterbox. I'm not too upset (laundry day is tomorrow anyway), but is there anything I should do to keep this from becoming a habit? Pinball fucked around with this message at 06:24 on Nov 13, 2016 |
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 06:20
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 17:12 |
|
|
Pinball posted:Welp. Took the plunge today and adopted a second cat to keep my pissy 12 year old cat, Andie, company. The cat I picked is a rickety, skinny, 13 year old blue tabby named Grayson, and I am already in love. He has great cat skills, which will be a necessity when he meets Andie, who was feral for the first six months of her life. Actually, I would keep wearing the same clothes. The more that your cats smell each other, the better the transition will (probably) be. Also, I need pictures of this cat and the oil painting right now, thanks.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 06:51
|
|
|
Got a new kitten yesterday. She is teeny tiny and adorable. I decided to see how she and Onca would get along before jumping straight to the super complicated method of cat introductions, and tbh I think I'm going to be skipping it? Less than 24 hours in and we seem to already be at the 'peacefully coexisting' stage.  
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 08:11
|
|
|
Yeah, seems that kitten introductions are easier than introducing two full grown cats.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 09:30
|
|
|
Just bear in mind that kittens tend to be assholes and haven't learned adult cat etiquette yet. Don't be alarmed if there's some hissing and swatting, especially if the kitten wants to play and the adult cat isn't in the mood.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 13:50
|
|
|
This week Lorna turned a year old. He now gets along with Junjun (2 years his senior) rather well. Before Junjun could not stand his incessant playing. Now they have gotten to smelling each other's buttholes placidly. Here are some Junjun pics.   
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 14:01
|
|
|
A stray kitten found its way to my girlfriend's sister's house, and I think my girlfriend wants to adopt it temporarily. It's a male, though, and I don't want it peeing all over the house. We also have two female cats already, but they're sterilized. Please advise.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 14:42
|
|
|
Boz0r posted:A stray kitten found its way to my girlfriend's sister's house, and I think my girlfriend wants to adopt it temporarily. It's a male, though, and I don't want it peeing all over the house. We also have two female cats already, but they're sterilized. Male cats are much more likely to have issues with not being able to pee than with peeing too much IMO. I mean, assuming you get him snipped at the right time.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 15:11
|
|
|
HazCat posted:Got a new kitten yesterday. She is teeny tiny and adorable. LOOK AT THE SIZE OF HER EARS 
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 17:39
|
|
|
He is so tired of your poo poo.  I don't know what it is about this cat, but she is obsessed with watching screens. Annoyingly this has developed into standing directly in front of one of my monitors.  Of course she follows and attacks the mouse pointer, but she will just sit there staring even when that isn't moving. She'll hang her head out of the bed to watch videos, it's weird.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 20:03
|
|
|
About a month ago we adopted a cat with anxiety issues and a habit for overgrooming. My friend who we adopted her from said that the cat was healthy and normal before they had kids and she no longer could keep the cat because the cat was just too stressed and needed to be in a home without any children. It took about a week and a half for her to start to warm up to us, but now she is coming out of her hiding place regularly and has turned out to love sitting in laps and getting attention (she does the thing where she if she's not being petted she'll basically head-butt your hand ). Our apartment is pretty quiet, just the two of us and no other pets. Recently I have been working from home, so she has regular company during the day. Sometimes she will freak out if she hears a noise outside and she'll go hide in my closet and also she will hiss if I get to close to her when I need to get something out of the closet. Plus she freaks out if I go near the closet when she is not in it. We have been using a feliway diffuser and she has special "calming" cat food but we noticed she is still overgrooming, especially her front legs and lower belly. She used to be on kitty prozac but we weren't able to keep her on it since she was too scared and showed fear aggression when we tried to give her the medication during the first week we had her. I am wondering if maybe we should be thinking about reintroducing the  or maybe going to a vet? Or since going to the vet would give her even more anxiety at this point, just try and wait it out and see if the overgrooming goes away over time? We are seeing little improvements with her confidence everyday. It has only been about five weeks at this point that we have had her.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 20:44
|
|
|
tentawesome posted:Actually, I would keep wearing the same clothes. The more that your cats smell each other, the better the transition will (probably) be. I don't have the oil painting yet, bit here is the best I can do of Grayson; he keeps headbutting the phone.  Andie is sulking still and hisses every time she sees me. She might not even be eating since her food dish is near a door that smells like Grayson. I wonder how long she'll hate me.
|
|
#
?
Nov 13, 2016 22:22
|
|
|
Boz0r posted:A stray kitten found its way to my girlfriend's sister's house, and I think my girlfriend wants to adopt it temporarily. It's a male, though, and I don't want it peeing all over the house. We also have two female cats already, but they're sterilized. Organza's mostly right, but kittens might not have great litterbox skills if they've never used one before. I suggest picking up some Nature's Miracle (the "No More Spraying" kind works well for me) in case you need to clean, and some Cat Attract litter additive. Make sure the litterboxes are being cleaned regularly, and don't leave any linens on the floor (nor anything else you value until you're satisfied he knows where to pee) and you should be in the clear. If you have any questions about fostering or rescues in general, head over to the Butterscotch thread. Everyone there has tons of great resources and we're always happy to help. Also, good for you and your girlfriend on taking the little dude in!
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 00:59
|
|
|
Mr. Jive posted:Please help. My 1.5 year old cat doesn't know how to bury his poop. He tries. He is not trying to mark his territory. He gets out of the litter box and starts pawing at the floor trying to bury it, periodically re-smelling to see if he buried it. He eventually gives up and his sister ends up burying it for him. One of my six-month-olds has started doing something similar. She just paws at the side of the litter box. I did switch to new litter boxes recently: the old ones were big plastic tubs with vented lids, which worked okay but were impossible to clean. The new ones are like this: https://www.amazon.com/Enclosed-Litter-Extra-Large-Beige/dp/B00E1XP8BS. They seem to like them fine, and there haven't been any accidents (except the occasional poop pellet, which was happening before and I think is getting better). And the other two don't seem to have an issue. Today I heard her doing the "pawing at the side of the box" thing, and decided that was as good a time as any to clean the litter boxes. She got out of the one she was in, so I picked it up to clean it. She went into a different one and started pawing at that one. It's like she decided if she couldn't cover her poop, she'd cover something! I'm hoping it's just her getting used to the different dimensions of the box. Her two brothers don't seem to have any problem.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 01:40
|
|
|
Can I get some suggestion for chew toys for cats? Weird question I know but one of my boys really loves chewing stuff, it led to him almost dying since he was outdoor/indoors, he is now indoors forever as a result of his stupidity but he still likes chewing on stuff, I've caught him chewing my sandals, he tried to chew the metal bindings on my notebook and the other day he ripped a small chunk off my door and was chewing on it(he's a hefty boy). So I'm looking for something to satisfy his unusual habits that won't get him hurt.
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 21:39
|
|
|
For real guys it was in the last thread but I cant remember the goons name, can someone link the post? He talks about like finding the stray in the bushes and taking it in and then like a day later he is all "whlep, im a big retarded goon and put the cat in the shower and forgot about him then I went to take a shower and stepped on his head and killed him", the pot was funny af. like, not for the cat but just the dude was such a goon haha
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 21:41
|
|
|
I, uh, could really use some advice on introducing multiple new cats into a household. Two of them, a barely 1 year but shy female, and a big, grouchy old male. Both fixed, so at least that's not an issue but we have already have a younger, healthier male (also fixed) living here & a small, elderly dog. The dog, fortunately, is smart enough not to tangle with cats but you can see why it's a potentially voilatile situation, yes? Now we can set things up to limit the new arrivals to one floor, and give them their own feeding area, litter box, etc. but that's a temporary solution. I guess I'm just asking for any advice people can offer, expectations on how long it could take them to adjust, that sort of thing. And before you ask, no, I can't just refuse. I think it's a poor idea, but I don't have veto power here so I want to do everything I can to ensure it happens smoothly. tl,dr: I need to establish the feline Brady Bunch without Jan & Marsha clawing each others' eyes out Rangpur fucked around with this message at 22:16 on Nov 14, 2016 |
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 22:14
|
|
|
Alteisen posted:Can I get some suggestion for chew toys for cats? Weird question I know but one of my boys really loves chewing stuff, it led to him almost dying since he was outdoor/indoors, he is now indoors forever as a result of his stupidity but he still likes chewing on stuff, I've caught him chewing my sandals, he tried to chew the metal bindings on my notebook and the other day he ripped a small chunk off my door and was chewing on it(he's a hefty boy). My cat is a chewer, it's not super weird. I gave her an old shoelace which she LOVES chewing on, but I'm paranoid and only keep it out when I'm home (I'm pretty sure she's not dumb enough to choke on it but she's my baby) As an always-out alternative, I got her a pack of these: http://www.petsmart.com/cat/supplies-and-training/toys/toys/petstages-night-time-catnip-rolls-cat-toy-40390.html?cgid=200099 She absolutely loves chewing on them and batting them around, obviously though ymmv since we're talking about cats 
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 22:25
|
|
|
Turns out that my fussy baby Cinnamon has hella struvite crystals, so the vet has given us some special medicated foods to try her on. With luck, a couple of months on this stuff and the crystals should be gone, and I can stop worrying that she's going to pee all over the drat bed again. Here's the problem: she hates this new food. Or she hates being separated from her brother at mealtimes. Whichever it is, she refuses point-blank to eat the wet food the vet gave us, and she's only eating a few mouthfuls of the dry stuff before ignoring the half-full bowl. We've tried adding water to it, microwaving it, mixing some of her old food in with it, but she's not budging. It's only been a few days but I'm worried that she's just not eating enough  How do I convince her to eat this stuff? Should I ask the vet for a different flavour/brand or hope that if I keep putting the bowl down in front of her she'll give in and just eat it?
|
|
#
?
Nov 14, 2016 23:35
|
|
|
You can ask the vet, or you could try putting a mix of old/new food, but with old food separate on one side of the bowl, and new on the other. It sounds stupid as heck, but when we had to move Pizza to Urinary SO food, he also did not like it at first. For some reason, if we mixed his new and old food, he'd turn up his nose, but if we gave him a bit of old and new but each on their own side of the bowl, he'd eat them. Then we just put larger and larger portions of new food/smaller and smaller of the old until he was eating his Rx without problem. It may be a long shot, but for some loving reason it worked for us.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 00:29
|
|
|
Synthbuttrange posted:I got my bad at pooping cat to bury their poop by providing a bigger litterbox. This is a good idea actually. He's about as dumb as he is big and every time we upgraded his litterbox it improved things.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 04:00
|
|
|
My kitten, Nusse, doesn't want to use her scratching post. At all. She used to use my bed, my recliner, and our sofa (no interest in the carpets, maybe because they smell too much like my sister's cat, Luna?). What she does want to do, and does at every opportunity, is climb up my curtains and swing around like a friggin' Tarzan. Or climb up and slide down with her claws, which after some days now has started tearing up. Whenever I catch her in the act, I firmly tell her that it isn't allowed (as if that helps), and carry her away to timeout, but that doesn't really help. She'll soon run back to the curtains. She usually stays in my room so that my sister's cat can eat in peace (as mentioned in earlier posts, Luna is very anti-social and does not enjoy kittens, other cats, or other living beings, heck, she hardly tolerates us after living with us for 4 years), but I'm starting to feel I should just put Nusse in a room with less … stimulants, in the hopes that I can ween her off attacking my curtains (fat chance). Any advice? She's one of the cats that doesn't react to catnip at all, but at least she's very playful and it's always easy to get her occupied with something else by dangling an iPhone charger in front of her (no luck on my regular USB-cables, though, oh well).
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 08:37
|
|
|
So after years of begging I've decided to get my wife a kitten as an Xmas present. We've both owned cats all of our lives but 3 years ago we bought our first dog. Is there any information/recommendations on introducing a kitten to the environment (going to hit the SPCA but want something young so it doesn't have pre-conceived I hate dog notions). We know our dog is a sweetheart to other kittens (The daycare she goes to weekly has a new kitten and they've been found grooming each other and napping together) but has an aversion to fully grown cats. Any resources I can read up on/suggestions? How about products that may make our lives easier (closed off litter boxes or something).
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 19:23
|
|
|
Were you going to let her pick one out? It will probably work best if you do.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 19:41
|
|
|
Get 2 kittens, seriously.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 19:45
|
|
|
Gorgar posted:Were you going to let her pick one out? It will probably work best if you do. Yes. It's not going to be a surprise. We're also going to bring the dog with us and have a Meet and Greet of sorts. Joburg posted:Get 2 kittens, seriously. I understand the initial sentiment for this if it was going to be a solo pet, but wouldn't the loneliness thing be offset by the fact that there's a dog? (3.5 year old Lab/retriever)
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 19:49
|
|
|
Huntersoninski posted:try putting a mix of old/new food, but with old food separate on one side of the bowl, and new on the other. I tried this today, shut her in the isolation room so her greedy brother doesn't eat all her special food as well as his own, and when I came back in she'd neatly eaten most of the normal food while the new stuff remained untouched  Feeling a bit defeated, I sat down on the floor and rattled the bowl at her. And she trotted over and ate almost everything in it, only pausing for a couple of head-scratches. I guess she just likes having company while she eats?? Normally she has dinner in the living room while we eat ours or watch TV. Whatever, cat. If that's all you need I will sit with you for every meal
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 20:10
|
|
|
m.hache posted:I understand the initial sentiment for this if it was going to be a solo pet, but wouldn't the loneliness thing be offset by the fact that there's a dog? (3.5 year old Lab/retriever) In my experience 2 kittens raised together are way less assholish than 1 kitten raised alone even in a multi-pet household. Depending on age, kittens want to play ALL THE TIME and an adult dog will get tired of that. Then the kitten will look for other ways to entertain itself such as destroying your curtains, biting your feet, screaming at the door, attacking the dog, eating your power chords, etc. Even after he grew up, my lone kitten found great joy in terrorizing my senior cats and dogs (his favorite game was Surprise Attack in the Litter Box which led to litter box problems) and eventually he had to go live on a ranch as an only cat. I would not get a lone kitten ever again after having 2 at one time.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 23:02
|
|
|
Nooner posted:For real guys it was in the last thread but I cant remember the goons name, can someone link the post? He talks about like finding the stray in the bushes and taking it in and then like a day later he is all "whlep, im a big retarded goon and put the cat in the shower and forgot about him then I went to take a shower and stepped on his head and killed him", the pot was funny af. like, not for the cat but just the dude was such a goon haha Why is everyone across the forums talking about this post? It's not funny. And no I don't know where it is.
|
|
#
?
Nov 15, 2016 23:59
|
|
|
floofyscorp posted:I tried this today, shut her in the isolation room so her greedy brother doesn't eat all her special food as well as his own, and when I came back in she'd neatly eaten most of the normal food while the new stuff remained untouched I've had a couple of these. One was a very gothic black cat who seemed mournful all the time about being a cat and needed emotional support to eat, but oddly the other is a stripey orange outgoing happy playful beast. He'll eat on his own, but any time I head towards the kitchen, he wants me to go pet him in the window for a moment, then pet him while he eats. I guess pets + food is just good poo poo to a cat. It's an easy way to make him happy, so why not?
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2016 00:57
|
|
|
Nooner posted:im a big retarded goon
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2016 03:08
|
|
|
floofyscorp posted:I tried this today, shut her in the isolation room so her greedy brother doesn't eat all her special food as well as his own, and when I came back in she'd neatly eaten most of the normal food while the new stuff remained untouched My sweet old boy Rocky used to do this, he wouldn't eat at all unless I sat with him in a specific place and the food had to be pressing against my left leg.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2016 03:17
|
|
|
m.hache posted:I understand the initial sentiment for this if it was going to be a solo pet, but wouldn't the loneliness thing be offset by the fact that there's a dog? (3.5 year old Lab/retriever) The big reason for that is that another kitten (or a cat) will teach a kitten cat etiquette in a way that humans or dogs really can't. By all accounts, it's much easier for a kitten to learn things like "being bitten hurts, so bite gently when you play" through play with a companion than through a human's attempt to get it through to them. As has also been mentioned, kittens will also be more alike in energy and activity patterns than a dog or human will be, so they can entertain each other when you and the dog aren't up for it. On top of that, a lot of kittens in a shelter will come in bonded pairs from litters, so being open to two kittens may broaden your options for adoption. Most shelters will try to place bonded littermates together first.
|
|
#
?
Nov 16, 2016 04:12
|
|
|
Why do I keep finding one random poop pellet in my house? I came home to one (with a smear of poop beside it) on my kitchen floor. I cleaned that up, and then a couple of hours later I spot a new one (I know it wasn't in that spot before). It's never a full bowel movement, just one little pellet. I was thinking maybe one of my cats was in the litter box and got startled by another cat and ran away. But I'm not sure; I've never seen this happen. Also, one of my cats has started pawing at the side of the litter box instead of actually covering her poop. I'm wondering if this is related. What can I do? I'm thinking about putting a webcam on their litter boxes so I can see what they do when I'm not here.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 02:20
|
|
|
Is your cat long furred? Might need a butt trim if it's catching poops which fall off as she walks away.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 02:53
|
|
|
Ugh. So I adopted Grayson last Saturday, and ever since coming home, he's begun pulling fur out of his rear end. I imagine this is related to his whole life changing, which at 13 is probably hard to handle, but it worries me. How can I help stop this behavior? Would a Feliway diffuser work? Additionally, he and Andie, my current cat, are still separated; they met once, scuffled a bit, then ignored each other (Andie wouldn't leave the bedroom she'd been in). I wasn't sure of their ability to be friends yet, so I decided to keep them separate still. Andie will not eat or drink if I place her food dishes near the door between her and Grayson. I'm concerned that they won't be able to live together in an apartment with open doors. Is there anything I can do to help the socialization process? They smell each other on me all the time and seem okay with it, but when they see each other, Andie becomes agitated, and I feel that it's unfair of me to have kept her in a bedroom for four days. Should I swap her and Grayson between different rooms?
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 03:27
|
|
|
Pinball posted:Ugh. So I adopted Grayson last Saturday, and ever since coming home, he's begun pulling fur out of his rear end. I imagine this is related to his whole life changing, which at 13 is probably hard to handle, but it worries me. How can I help stop this behavior? Would a Feliway diffuser work? The socialization process will probably take 6 months to a year before they're truly comfortable around each other. They will probably never be buddies, though - merely tolerant of each other. That's the way it is with most cats. Keep your expectations realistic.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 03:37
|
|
|
It was probably a bit rough to lock up the current cat and give new guy run of the house. Usually I see it happening the other way around. I can see that really freaking out old cat since what they're used to has changed AND there's a new cat around they don't know. It's going to take time, maybe a lot. A week is just not very long.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 04:43
|
|
|
I don't remember the timelines but I remember thinking that your first post was a bit fast with the socialization. When I did it the process took around 2 weeks: 3-4 days with the new cat in a single room 2 days guiding the new cat around the house with the second cat in seclusion 3 days introducing clothing scented with the other's scent to each cat 3-4 days guided supervision as they met And then full interaction, while keeping the food separate for awhile longer. Even then it took some time for them to tolerate each other's presence.
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 05:08
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 16, 2024 17:12 |
|
|
I got pregnant and now my cat won't poop in her litterbox. She poops directly in front of it. She pees in the litterbox no problem, but no matter what we do she poops RIGHT next to it. We've tried making sure the litter is absolutely fresh at all times, we've tried different locations for the litterbox in case she didn't feel safe pooping where it was (when we did that she pooped right in front of it AND in front of her water fountain, and peed in her food dish). There are infrequent wandering stranger cats in the back yard that make her nervous, and she occasionally pees on furniture when she sees them through the window, but this pooping is new and it started pretty much as soon as I had a positive test. Nothing else has changed. WTF??
|
|
#
?
Nov 17, 2016 16:51
|
|