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All I can say is, cats tracking litter around the room is one of life's unavoidable struggles. Buy a dust buster.gradenko_2000 posted:Any general guidelines for kitty litter? How much to use, how often to change it out, anything to watch out for, that sort of thing? Sorry for Page Sniping 
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Jun 19, 2017 16:48
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vermin posted:All I can say is, cats tracking litter around the room is one of life's unavoidable struggles. Buy a dust buster. I could not handle this many cats and shitboxes without a Roomba doing daily touchups.
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Jun 19, 2017 16:52
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I rely on a Swiffer and lobby broom+pan to keep my apartment litter and grit free. A Roomba might be a good investment. Edit hahahaha not at those prices, gently caress that.
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Jun 19, 2017 16:58
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Pollyanna posted:I rely on a Swiffer and lobby broom+pan to keep my apartment litter and grit free. A Roomba might be a good investment. Edit hahahaha not at those prices, gently caress that. The Eufy roomba knockoff is really good.
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Jun 19, 2017 17:20
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If you get a vacuum robot, make sure it can handle pet hair. This is also relevant if you have long hair. Litter boxes should be changed weekly at least. Depends on the size of the container, number of cats, and their toilet habits. More often is better. The type of litter may play a role. Your litter usually comes with some advice on how deep it should be. I do probably an inch and a half and I use feline pine, which is a compressed sawdust pellet. If you're smelling the box despite daily scooping, it needs changed.
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Jun 19, 2017 17:30
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Anyone here use lint rollers for getting rid of cat hair? My bedsheets always get a bunch of hair, dust and grit on it and I was gonna find one of those really big ones to wave over my bed.
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Jun 19, 2017 22:52
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Don't know about rollers (the tape kind sort of suck), but lint brushes work pretty well and seem to last forever.
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Jun 19, 2017 23:09
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Books On Tape posted:We are in the process of introducing our new cat to our existing cat. We have taken the introduction very slow over the course of two weeks as the new cat is used to being around other cats, but our existing cat is not. We kept the new cat in another room, fed them both by the door everyday, graduated to a gate so they could see each other, and everything has gone well with no real signs of aggression. Sounds like an invitation to play to me, not aggressive at all. Your cats are probably fine, leave them be unless they start having screaming fights and drawing blood. Pouncing and wrestling is just what catfriends do.
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Jun 20, 2017 05:41
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Pollyanna posted:Anyone here use lint rollers for getting rid of cat hair? My bedsheets always get a bunch of hair, dust and grit on it and I was gonna find one of those really big ones to wave over my bed. Rubber dishwashing gloves. Changed my life. Just rub and the hair comes right up in easy-to-toss wads. Better than a squeegee.
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Jun 20, 2017 06:14
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I use lint brushes or my cats large rubber brush, picks up loose fur real fast.
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Jun 20, 2017 06:52
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Which gender of cat handles living alone better, males or females? I've owned female cats for most of my life and the only time I ever had a male cat was when I had two at once.
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Jun 20, 2017 08:12
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OK, is there an alternative to locking a cat out of the bedroom when he insists on kittenpiling on your head at night and digging his little claws in? He's a rescue cat and I've only had him a few days, but he's a bit unsocialized due to being one of many cats owned by a real crazy cat lady, and he's discovered a bit of freedom. I usually don't mind a cat who sleeps on the bed, but I've never had a cat who does this before. I've done the NO and move away thing, and the yelp and ignore thing, neither works.
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Jun 20, 2017 08:40
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ISIS CURES TROONS posted:Which gender of cat handles living alone better, males or females? I've owned female cats for most of my life and the only time I ever had a male cat was when I had two at once. I feel like this comes down more to the individual cat temperament than the gender; I've definitely heard of cats of both genders who were very happy only cats, and cats of both genders who absolutely couldn't deal with not having a friend. If you're looking to adopt a single cat, I'd talk to your local shelter and see if they have an adult cat who's known to be other-cat-averse or otherwise fine on their own. They'll probably be grateful for your interest, since adult cats are harder to get adopted anyway, let alone ones that have any trace of antisocial temperament. If you're open to an older cat, there may be a lot of options there.
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Jun 20, 2017 09:15
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Has anyone here used a water bottle for cat drinking water? Somewhat like a hamster bottle. My cats are really weird about water, I could go into a bunch of details an examples of various idiosyncracies, but the gist is that I think they might actually prefer to drink from a bottle like this, and I think it would be more sanitary than an open water bowl. I was looking at some various options out there, and a lot of people complain about the simple ball bearing hamster bottle style leaking quite often. Then I came across this other type of drinking valve thing that looks like a little more legit design, and seems like it has less complaints of leaking from reviews I've read. The design looks a bit like a toggle switch, with a lever poking out which can be knocked around to let out a small bit of water each time. It seems to only be sold as farm/livestock supply(mostly for poultry, rodents, or pigs), not specifically for pets (I'm curious as to why they are not more commonly seen in the pet market if they really work better, but maybe they don't?). An example video to see one in action: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HML2RQ0gUCk I found a few different style by searching variations of "nipple waterer" or "stainless drinking nipple", etc. I ordered these two types to play around with and see if one is more suitable than the other: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00MBVDWAG https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00XXHAOO4 some have a shroud that I think is referred to as a bite guard, which i guess keeps pigs from breaking the little lever off? I think probably don't want that feature for the cats, but I'm not sure.  Anyone have experience with these sort of things? peepsalot fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Jun 20, 2017 |
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Jun 20, 2017 19:32
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I use a thing like a water cooler that feeds down into a bowl. She does use it quite a bit. I'll get her a fountain eventually.
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Jun 20, 2017 22:46
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Just a silly picture we made of GBS's cats, on a pirate voyage. If you want your cat on a pirate ship, please post a pic in that thread and ask us, we'll add it if there's space onboard. 
GRINDCORE MEGGIDO fucked around with this message at 21:11 on Jun 21, 2017 |
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Jun 21, 2017 11:25
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Not sure why that was in the schadenfreude thread.
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Jun 21, 2017 11:40
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Does anyone know if the formula changed for Wellness turkey wet cat food? The label was updated with this last flat we bought from Amazon. Two of the tiny cans in our cat acted colicky, had a loose stool, then refused to eat it. We gave her some old-label cans that we found at PetCo after that. She gobbled those down and has been fine on them. I suppose I should call Wellness to complain, but I wondered if anyone knew anything here first. My Google-fu is weak and I'm only finding stuff about the 12oz can recall earlier this year. Sometimes we'd have trouble with the chicken in the summer. The heat during transport changed the texture enough that our cat generally refused it, but she never had loose stools on it.
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Jun 21, 2017 14:14
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effika posted:Does anyone know if the formula changed for Wellness turkey wet cat food? The label was updated with this last flat we bought from Amazon. Wouldn't be surprised if there was another bad batch. I would call Wellness to let them know, but I'm not the smartest person to ask, so YMMV.
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Jun 21, 2017 15:52
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Longhair cat threw up water the other day making me worried  Then she went on to play and eat act perfectly normal 
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Jun 21, 2017 16:28
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Anybody know if there's been a recall or any reason not to buy Weruva BFF wet cat food in the US? I know there was a recall in Australia recently. This is the only wet food that the girls will eat and I wanted to order a ton but am paranoid.
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Jun 22, 2017 00:16
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Update on my Wellness wet food issue: Wellness is sending me some coupons, to see if our cat likes any other flavors better, and to see if she just didn't like that batch of turkey. One mention of our picky siamese and the customer service lady went from very-slightly-but-very-politely skeptical to "Oh, a siamese, of course, let me throw you coupons." She also let me know that Wellness did change the formula on their wet food- they removed carrageenan and replaced it with some other gums, and reduced/eliminated some of the fruits & vegetables. I hope that formula change wasn't enough to make our cat colicky, but she's getting older. Maybe a different flavor or batch will be better. I so do not want to go through changing food poos if I can help it!
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Jun 23, 2017 04:27
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How much space would two indoor cats need? I'm considering getting cats. I work from home a lot but will need to leave the apartment for 9-10 hours occasionally due to work, so I figure two would be better. My apt is ~500 square feet (48 sqm) with a very open layout. The only doors are the front and bathroom doors, but there is a lot of furniture so it's far from an open room, and one wall is just windows. Would this be enough for two cats? Does it differ from breed to breed how much space they need/want?
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Jun 23, 2017 14:32
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They should be fine. Vertical space is key though so a cat tree or two in good spots will help a lot. They'll likely play with each other while you're gone. If you haven't adopted yet, ask your local shelter about bonded pairs. They're harder to adopt out for some reason but you get two cats who already get along great.
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Jun 23, 2017 14:45
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I agree that 500 square feet should be enough, especially if you put in a cat tree or two. A bonded pair is a really good idea, especially so that you don't need to go through the awkward introduction phase of two cats that are strangers.
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Jun 23, 2017 22:11
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It didn't go well with Jasmine's kidney disease, and I had to euthanize her on Wednesday.  She's been in a bonded pair with my other cat, Hailey, since before I met them. Since they're only 12, I hadn't really considered the possibility of what to do if one pre-deceased the other, and I'm not sure if wanting her to have a new friend now is more a bandaid for me or as a way to help her. Hailey is an extremely affectionate cat, and since my fiance is out of the country and Jasmine is gone she's been following me around constantly and meowing if, for instance, I shut the door while in the bathroom or go down to the shared basement to do laundry without her, and I'm worried that she's lonely. . How long are you supposed to wait before getting a second cat? Are you supposed to do that at all when half of a pair is gone?
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Jun 24, 2017 16:03
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There isn't a supposed to, it's really hard to say and depends on how you feel. Especially since there's no guarantee that she would get on with a newcomer. If you're going to get another cat then get an adult who is known to be chill with other cats so as to avoid having her be irritated by a hyper young pouncing machine.
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Jun 24, 2017 16:22
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peepsalot posted:Has anyone here used a water bottle for cat drinking water? Somewhat like a hamster bottle. Why not get a fountain?
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Jun 25, 2017 12:16
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This is probably way too broad a question to get a real answer, but does anyone have any experience with breaking a Fever of Unknown Origin? I had to take my cat, Ozy (neutered male, 2 years old, indoors only), to the emergency vet Friday night after he had been lethargic and not eating all day and started showing signs of abdominal pain. When they admitted him, he had a fever of 105.7 but bloodwork and x-rays were clean. Slightly elevated white blood cell count, but nothing else out of the ordinary. They ended up putting him on IV fluids, an appetite stimulant, four different antibiotics, and some sort of steroid. The next morning his fever had dropped into the 103s, but it's held there pretty steadily since then. I'll be picking him up tomorrow morning to transfer him to his normal vet, and I'm worried about how much longer it will take for him to get better. His brother died about a year ago of a random fever, though it was a good bit higher than what Ozy is dealing with now. The only possible vector for infection I can think of was that he got some fleas during a visit to my parent's house around a month ago, but that was all taken care of within a couple days once I got him on Frontline. Maybe he got something from them and it took a month to start showing symptoms? I know it's been barely 48 hours since he started treatment, but this is the first time he's ever been this sick and it's got me remembering everything his brother went through with his fever.
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Jun 26, 2017 01:35
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I have 3 cats (~11yrs/f, 11yrs/m, and 2yrs/m) and one of them recently took to eliminating places other than their litter boxes. We first noticed a urine smell on the back of our couch so we cleaned that up and cleaned the actual litter boxes and replaced all them with fresh new litter (Thursday). The litter boxes are in our walk up attic (easy access, and they've been there for years without issue) but it's been hot so we moved them to the 2nd floor landing at the bottom of the attic steps. We've had them there before too in the winter when it's too cold so this is not an unusual location for the boxes. We went away for a long weekend and had a friend spend some time with the cats while we were gone and she reported no issues of a urine smell or crap on the floor. Great! Except later that night when we got home there was some crap on the first floor hardwood floor, urine in the neighboring room (tile) and lots of fur all over the place (Sunday). We've been keeping the litter boxes clean, twice a day. Today (Monday) I came home from work during lunch to check up on them and there was lots of fur, some puddle of urine, and some crap in the tiled room mentioned above.  Problem is I can't tell which cat the fur belongs to as they are all pretty similar. I'm leaning towards the two older cats because the young guy barely sheds. I've since (monday after lunch) separated the three of them into their own rooms with their own litter boxes and took the stool sample to the vet. Can anyone piece together what the symptoms of urinating, defecating, and loosing a lot of fur could be?
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Jun 26, 2017 20:03
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First I'd say get them to the vet to see if there's any medical cause.
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Jun 27, 2017 02:09
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Lately, I've started paying more attention to how my cats position their tails, to read their body language. I recognise most of the positions they use from stuff I've read, but one I don't: tail curving high over the back in a crescent shape. I'm having trouble googling up a credible source explaining that one. Any links?
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Jun 28, 2017 13:35
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Milly will whump her tail all over the place even when in snuggle mode so I gave up trying to get a read from it. 99% of the time her mood is "pet me"
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Jun 28, 2017 13:40
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Last night I took my cat to the vet since he had been having pain/discomfort in his butt. Sunday night he was visibly in pain, lethargic, clingy etc. but was still eating/drinking. Monday/Tuesday he was much better and more normal, kept eating/drinking/playing and was peeing but didn't poop. The vet said everything looked normal, his anal glands were about half-full (my thinking was the reason he was better Monday/Tuesday was he managed to get a little out of them by cleaning there or something) so she cleared them out. This morning he was acting normal, but then he went to the litter box. He pooped, and it looked 100% normal; he didn't seem like it was painful or hard to push out, and he didn't immediately bolt from the litter box before covering it up like he has in the past, but a couple of minutes later he started acting like his butt was bugging him again (he doesn't hide per se, he has a couple of spots on the stairs where he'll go and sit down). I looked at his butt and there was a little blob of what looked like clearish mucus. I dabbed his butt with a wet paper towel and while he squirmed and meowed, it was annoyance meowing and not pain meowing, and he didn't hiss or anything. His butt looked about as normal as a cat butt can look after I cleaned it off. Unfortunately I had to leave for work afterwards. I'm not super worried because he's been eating and drinking normally throughout, hasn't vomited (except once at the vet but it was watery and IMO was stress/motion related, he's an indoor cat and the road to the vet is kind of bumpy), and he did finally seem to poop normally this morning. Behavior-wise he ran to the stairs, but is still acting almost entirely normally - he usually shows pretty clear signs when he's not feeling well, and right now he's really only showing signs that his poor kitty bum hurts
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Jun 28, 2017 14:52
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So I'm taking my furbutts across the country, like 6 hour drives over 3 days. Is there anything I should do during the trip, like litter wise? I'm giving them some kitty Valium basically, and I'm setting up a litter box when we get to our destinations for overnight, but I didn't think about them being in the carriers for 6 hours.
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Jun 29, 2017 13:56
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When my friend moved her cats from MN to Seattle, she made a chicken-wire grate behind the driver's and passenger's seat and let them wander in the back of the car freely. I don't know if you'll have to worry about them not being able to hold it for 6 hours, but 6 hours in a cramped carrier is pretty uncomfortable and they're likely to misbehave when they get out.
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Jun 30, 2017 03:48
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Drugged cats will sleep 6 hours and not care at all, i've done three 3000 miles trips with my stinkers and they just sleep the whole way. Make sure you have a pet friendly hotel and bring a portable litter kit (a small box which you put a garbage bag in as a one night liner and enough litter so they get the idea.) No scooping just toss the bag in the morning. They will be quite active in the hotel since they'll be sleeping all day, but that's about it. It's never a good idea to let animals loose in a car, since they can do things like wedge themselves under gas pedals if they get scared. Keep em crated, they will be fine. (the wire mesh isn't a bad idea if you dont need to pack the car, but honestly, crating is the safest thing.) --- So Sam has his third UTI in five years and I'm putting him on the special food because this is clearly gonna be a problem forever. Problem is I've always free fed before. He likes the new wet food a lot, and it's easy to ration him, but how do I keep the kibble for the OTHER cat away from him? Or failing that, how do I get a cat used to mealtimes when they have always grazed? I just want this to be low stress as possible since he's feeling so sicky.
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Jun 30, 2017 07:19
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Boogalo posted:Milly will whump her tail all over the place even when in snuggle mode so I gave up trying to get a read from it. 99% of the time her mood is "pet me" Well, since I've been looking for it, I've noticed Wolfgang usually has the classic "straight up and bent at the tip" which I interpret as "happy and alert". His bro usually has the crescent tail, while rubbing up against me and purring. I'm going to interpret it as " happy and alert, but with a funny accent"
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Jun 30, 2017 08:06
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mistaya posted:They will be quite active in the hotel since they'll be sleeping all day, but that's about it.  Currently consoling my one distressed furbutt cause she's running around my friend's condo yowling. Who needs sleep, anyway?  But I drugged them both for the first time yesterday and despite the meds talking longer to kick in than anticipated, they slept the entire ride, essentially. Tomorrow and Saturday will be longer drives, so even more  Can't find my trash bags though, but if that's the biggest issue with this trip I will be very happy.We're in a Uhaul and I've had experience with strays I've helped before jumping into the pedals and wedging themselves in there so no way they're not being caged. Good luck with Sam, wish I had advice for you.
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Jun 30, 2017 08:30
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Its funny how once I got another opinion on my cat Tibis mouth poo poo, they diagnosed stomatitis and an a bone infection in his jaw, he's some strong anti biotics and a round of injections and 3 days later all he wants to gorge on is dry food. Keep in mind he hasn't eaten dry food with regularity for a long time cause of his mouth pain, guess he missed the taste of it, doesn't want tuna or canned soft food, just dry food. Its funny but makes me happy.
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Jun 30, 2017 09:57
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