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FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010


Cat emergency, friends. I mentioned in a previous post that my old man cat momo had a run in with a stray that ran into the house- since then he's been extremely aggressive and so far he's attacked both me and my sister and left us in pretty bad shape. I've tried to create a clam environment for him, because I figured it was just stress from the other cat. But he's been yowling, hissing and attacking every time someone even walks by too fast- if he keeps attacking, I'll have to put him down. This would obviously devastate me, so I don't know what to do. I've ordered calming collars, one of those calming diffusers and cat booties just in case those don't work, but now I'm at a loss.

Please help me fix my cat, I don't want to have to put him to sleep.

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POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug
I might've missed it, but have you consulted with a vet? I'm sorry you and Momo are having such a tough time. :smith:

FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010


I've got an appointment for the vet, but the soonest they can get me in is january.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Sociopastry posted:

I've got an appointment for the vet, but the soonest they can get me in is january.

Find another vet. He may be hurt and is lashing out due to pain.

FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010


I'll make an appointment with one fo the vets in the surrounding towns.

Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

Yeah, if it's been going on for days, that goes beyond just misdirected aggression. Have you cleaned up the area the stray was in? Did the stray mark/spray anything? If he can still smell the stray, that might be aggravating things. That said, I agree with others that he needs a vet checkup to make sure he isn't hurt and lashing out from pain.

FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010


I checked around again and found a spot where the stray wee'd that I didn't notice. I cleaned it up with feliway and nature's miracle and he's already a lot calmer.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug

Sociopastry posted:

I checked around again and found a spot where the stray wee'd that I didn't notice. I cleaned it up with feliway and nature's miracle and he's already a lot calmer.

Good, every bit helps. A real deep cleaning might still be required. And that includes linens and laundry the stray might've got on. Cats are super territorial, and so having the stray smells lingering in Momo's environment probably seems like a constant existential threat to him.

Poor old guy... I hope another vet can fit you in much faster.

nwin
Feb 25, 2002

make's u think

So Amazon isn’t doing Prime selling on dr elseys cat litter anymore and wants ~$25 for it now where I used to pay around 12-14 for a 40lb bag.

Does anywhere else sell it?

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


Jet's recently started losing hair along his abdomen and back legs, and supposedly that's either a stress thing or an allergy thing. Since I haven't moved or gotten a second cat or anything, I suspect it's due to going from Science Diet to Taste of the Wild to Nulo - maybe one of the latter two has something he's allergic to? Has anyone else seen something like this happen in cats?

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

Pollyanna posted:

Jet's recently started losing hair along his abdomen and back legs, and supposedly that's either a stress thing or an allergy thing. Since I haven't moved or gotten a second cat or anything, I suspect it's due to going from Science Diet to Taste of the Wild to Nulo - maybe one of the latter two has something he's allergic to? Has anyone else seen something like this happen in cats?

It's not the brand, it's the ingredients. Cats can be allergic to almost anything - lamb, pork, fish, wheat, corn, whatever - and sometimes multiple things.

For our allergic cat we went to Royal Canin because it had just a couple ingredients and tried different flavors until we found one she could tolerate. We had her tested by a vet first, though, to confirm the allergies.

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


Hmmm, guess I'll have to take a look at the ingredients. I am not aware of him being allergic to anything in particular, and have no idea how to tell if he is allergic to anything. That said, I'll switch him back to Science Diet, since I know that doesn't have anything that messes with him (as far as I can tell).

Is there anything else that could lead to this? He's also getting small bald patches on his head/back of neck and his sides...is that indicative of something?

I wonder if this has anything to do with him being kinda bitey recently.

Lareine
Jul 22, 2007

KIIIRRRYYYUUUUU CHAAAANNNNNN
Everybody with cats licking themselves bald, keep in mind that spot licking can be a sign of hyperthyroidism so get that checked out if they don't stop despite a change in diet. Aika used to lick herself until her tummy was bare and that all stopped once she got radioiodine.

KidDynamite
Feb 11, 2005

bawfuls posted:

Is my cat humping my feet at night?

I took this cat in from a friend who had to give him up in early September. He's about six years old and a generally well behaved easy cat. Affectionate, greets me when I get home, jumps up on my lap head butting in search of head scratches, follows me around, etc. He will typically sleep at the foot of my bed without issue.

Somewhat recently, when I go to bed for the night he will walk over from his corner at the end of the bed to wherever my feet are, straddle them, and kind of squat down over them in a motion I can only describe as humping. It almost looks like he's preparing to poop, but he never does and there's no debris or residue left behind. (He's yet to even pee outside his box). He does it for several minutes, so it seems like more than just preparing a spot to sleep.

Anyway this is weird and hard to describe, but I failed to capture any video last night that was clear. Anyone have any idea what's going on?

Cat probably is. Are you using a fleece throw over your feet now that it's getting colder in the northern hemisphere? My fixed boy goes crazy for fleece.

kaworu
Jul 23, 2004

You know I have been like... trying to write a post about this and it's always sorta failing and I wind up spending 10 minutes on several paragraphs and deleting it, because it's hard to talk about this stuff.

So, right now I'm currently taking classes to learn how to *officially* become a substance abuse & trauma counselor. I've already done a fair amount on the streets, volunteering at the local shelter (currently in the northeast we really have a serious opioid epidemic) because I've been "clean" for going on 8 years now - clean in the regard that I *only* ever take what is prescribed to me in the precise indicated daily amount and do not deviate from what my Psychiatrist tells me I should be taking to help treat my problems. Which is very different from being an addict and self-medicating, even if you may still be taking certain amounts of a drug similar to your drug of abuse in some regards - it is often inevitable at times. But anyway, I am fairly well-educated, was an addict for a long time, and am fairly good talking one-on-one to people about this stuff - it's also very gratifying work, actually. It's a bit exciting, because I could actually see myself doing this for a living and not feeling bored or like I have a pointless job that just makes me some money and doesn't really help anything. If I can get paid enough to make a living do this, I'd be thrilled.

But this is the PET forum, and what I wanted to talk about was pets. Interestingly, one "newly sanctioned" part of certain modalities of treatmeants involves the use of pets - usually a puppy or dog, since they are generally regarded as more unconditionally affection and proactive in their needs, but cats too are also used. The idea is that giving the addict in recovery a pet allows them something to focus their misdirected needs of affection and comfort, rather than just making things harder on them. Drug addicts almost universally destroy the trust of their family and loved ones - generally through lying and stealing, always the former and often the latter too.

A pet allows this despondent addict who has destroyed every relationship in his life a chance to start a new relationship that is totally honest by necessity. You can't lie to a pet, or manipulate them, or use them. You *take care* of them. You love them unconditionally, and in turn they will love you unconditionally. It's actually a very healing process. It also builds confidence; when a drug addict is at rock bottom and in recovery, he has no confidence whatsoever in taking care of any living thing, especially themselves. Giving them a pet to take care of can be truly theraputic in this regard.

I should add that I'm not recommending that addicts who are still using heavily should be given pets; this is clearly an awful idea. I'm talking about the younger addicts mostly (18-25) who are either totally clean or (preferably, frankly) are stable on suboxone/methadone treatment, and are putting their lives together. Most addicts older than that (and some that young or younger) already have children that they need to take care of frighteningly enough...


Geez, again I feel like deleting all this and I'm not sure why I posted it here or where else to post it. I made a presentation about this recently and feel quite passionate about it. If I ever open up a practice of some sort, using cats/dogs/birds/reptiles/whatever the patient likes or is comfortable with would be a big part of my treatment, at least once they passed a certain point. I suppose a big reason (but certainly not the only reason) why I feel strongly about this is how much getting a cat helped me, when I had just reached my own rock-bottom (I lost my job and had to come clean about a massive web of lies). And how much having a cat STILL helps me with the exact same sorts of problems that stem from that.

Well, I'll just stop here.. I honestly think it's something that should be integral to nearly *all* long-term rehab patients once they've reached out-patient status, more or less. It's sort of a perfect match, given that we've got plenty of animals that need homes and plenty of lonely addicts that desperately need love from anything with a pulse, as well as needing to slowly build levels or responsibility.


TLDR: sorry about this post it's me talking about substance abuse patients in recovery and pets. I could go into why they're helpful for trauma survivors but thats more established and less controversial; besides, a large amount of drug addicts/alcoholics are trauma survivors who just keep their mouth sealed about what happened and will never talk about it come hell or high water... at least that's what the ones who get better and can cogently talk about their experiences ~10-20 years down the line say.

kaworu fucked around with this message at 16:10 on Dec 3, 2017

Wake_N_Bake
Dec 5, 2003

I love to argue by using all caps. I feel it helps keep people from noticing that I have little or nothing to add to any given conversation. I also
Are all torties assholes? I’ve had a few kittens before, but drat, this one is literally climbing the walls.

Anyway, here’s Molly. She’s adorable, and is driving my cat crazy. He walks around with her jumping and hanging on him. She’s a rescue, was abandoned in a barn.



https://imgur.com/gallery/l58sm



https://imgur.com/gallery/0Br8U

Wake_N_Bake fucked around with this message at 16:41 on Dec 3, 2017

in_cahoots
Sep 12, 2011
I get that you’re well-intentioned but pushing a pet on an 18-year-old recovering addict is a recipe for disaster. Most young adults have some uncertainty in their housing situations; unless they are real pet-lovers there will come a time when they have to choose between cheaper / more practical housing and pet-friendly housing. And as you yourself have shown by sending a cat back to the shelter, some people can’t handle the stress and responsibility of adopting pets, even if they think they can initially. What’s going to happen when the addict relapses and spends every spare dollar on drugs instead of cat food?

Pets are a 10+ year commitment that costs time and money, not a tool for an addict’s recovery. You wouldn’t recommend an addict have children to help them stay sober, why would you respond differently for a pet?

in_cahoots fucked around with this message at 18:10 on Dec 3, 2017

FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010


Momo update: I cleaned the entire house with a combo of Feliway, Natures Miracle and Spic n Span and now he is back to his happy, snuggly old man self. I must not have gotten the cat smell out. Also, I started playing with him even harder than normal and that seems to have also brought down the aggression remaining. I still have a vet appointment, but right now it seems the problem's fixed. I'm really glad, I would have been devastated to lose my buddy.

Zerg Mans
Oct 19, 2006

so I pushed my calico off my lap because it was being annoying, giving her a slight push on her butt to make her go forward. She left some weird brown liquid on my leg that must have come from her butt. It smelled incredibly yeasty, like how I'd imagine Vegemite smells, if I ever had a jar. Also, her brother went nuts when he caught a wiff and instead of the usual passing butt-sniff, he went straight to lapping up her butthole. It was a pretty gross display overall.

Anyway, I assume this is some sort of anal gland discharge, but it didn't smell bad really, just yeasty. Also she's never done it before. Something I should get checked out or just don't push her that way anymore?

bawfuls
Oct 28, 2009

KidDynamite posted:

Cat probably is. Are you using a fleece throw over your feet now that it's getting colder in the northern hemisphere? My fixed boy goes crazy for fleece.
yeah he was humping the poo poo out of the fleece blanket. Talked to my friend who previously had him and he said this guy loves to hump fleece or any really soft and fuzzy thing

Soaring Kestrel
Nov 7, 2009

For Whiterock.
Fun Shoe
Mola woke up a couple days ago and one of her back legs wasn't working - she couldn't walk and was clearly in pain. This lasted for most of the morning. We took her to the vet, physical exam was fine, blood work just came back negative for anything. She is back to 100% now, and the plan as discussed with our vet is to monitor and take her in if it happens again, but does this sound at all familiar to anyone?

kaworu
Jul 23, 2004

in_cahoots posted:

I get that you’re well-intentioned but pushing a pet on an 18-year-old recovering addict is a recipe for disaster. Most young adults have some uncertainty in their housing situations; unless they are real pet-lovers there will come a time when they have to choose between cheaper / more practical housing and pet-friendly housing. And as you yourself have shown by sending a cat back to the shelter, some people can’t handle the stress and responsibility of adopting pets, even if they think they can initially. What’s going to happen when the addict relapses and spends every spare dollar on drugs instead of cat food?

Pets are a 10+ year commitment that costs time and money, not a tool for an addict’s recovery. You wouldn’t recommend an addict have children to help them stay sober, why would you respond differently for a pet?

Not quite sure you're understanding the argument, here. Once you're an addict, you're an addict for the rest of your life, and treating that affliction and figuring out a way to live a happy life is not easy - generally speaking, it's a very long journey and a lifetime commitment. I don't know why I was saying younger people might benefit more, because it's absolutely something that can help anyone in recovery - adopting a pet, that is.

But there's a sort of fundamental misunderstanding, here. I'm not talking about forcing this on patients who are just a few months into recovery. Addicts rarely even have a stable living situation at that stage. I'm talking about this as a treatment for drug addicts who have already been going through recovery, and (obviously) are in a stable situation both in terms of where they live and in terms of personal finances. The point I'm making is that there truly are a *lot* of people in recovery who have achieved that, and are still years from having a normal life. Drug addiction/alcoholism is a lifetime affliction.

I think a drug addict in recovery is actually more likely to take better care of a cat or dog, provided they truly have been in recovery and have an established record of sobriety. It's sort of absurd to say that such as addict would "relapse and spend everything on drugs and let their pet starve." That kinda shows a really fundamental misunderstanding of the culture of recovery. When you relapse, it is not something long-term unless you effectively hide it and lie about it successfully to *all* the people in your life, who know that you are an addict and know your patterns and generally know when you're lying. When you are in recovery, you set things up such that if you *do* end up relapsing, people will notice and help you.

But the truth is, once most people do achieve stability and manage to stay clean, most of them do not relapse - and if they do, it's brief.

The people we are talking about are generally decent men and women at the lowest ebb possible in their life. Some may have had children at one point, but do not anymore. Some may have had pets that they neglected and let run away when they were addicts. Some of these people should never be given anything living to take care of again - ever. Some of these people deserve another chance, some don't. Addiction is extremely ugly - the extent of human cruelty in general is extremely ugly. But people need to learn how to trust again, somehow, and that's a different process for everyone. You have to approach treatment - regardless of which end you're on - with absolute compassion to the addict. That's always a place that's a lot harder for the addict to get to than the counselor, and it can take months or years to get them to stop feeling guilty and move on.

Again, I know we do not live in a world right now that has much compassion for people who break laws, wind up hurting themselves or others either on purpose or inadvertently. But the only way the cycle actually gets broken and people actually get better is through treatment, not punishment - through compassion and understanding and hard-earned trust, not knee-jerk reactions based on generalizations and stereotypes about what your typical mental image of some gross unwashed dope fiend is.

Da Mott Man
Aug 3, 2012


Wake_N_Bake posted:

Are all torties assholes? I’ve had a few kittens before, but drat, this one is literally climbing the walls.

Anyway, here’s Molly. She’s adorable, and is driving my cat crazy. He walks around with her jumping and hanging on him. She’s a rescue, was abandoned in a barn.



https://imgur.com/gallery/l58sm



https://imgur.com/gallery/0Br8U

I don't know what it is about torties, but mine is an adult now and has not stopped acting like a kitten. She always wants attention and will play anytime 24/7. My other cat seemed to become a lazy lump at about 9 months old and now its really hard to even get him to play.

TL;DR: Yes, torties are crazy.

Megan the terrible

Da Mott Man fucked around with this message at 23:01 on Dec 3, 2017

in_cahoots
Sep 12, 2011

kaworu posted:

But the only way the cycle actually gets broken and people actually get better is through treatment, not punishment - through compassion and understanding and hard-earned trust, not knee-jerk reactions based on generalizations and stereotypes about what your typical mental image of some gross unwashed dope fiend is.

I don’t want to get into a debate about addiction. Suffice to say that I have a great deal of experience and compassion with addicts, and am not basing this off some stereotype of a ‘dope fiend’. That being said, there are not many 18-25 year olds I would actively encourage to get a pet. There are even fewer recovering addicts. I say this as someone who has given a spare room or couch to multiple recovering addicts in that age range. People that age just don’t have the stability or maturity of older adults. I’ve seen too many pets given up because of housing or financial problems to actively encourage someone who isn’t already in that mindset.

Boogalo
Jul 8, 2012

Meep Meep




I think my tortie is broken.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYf8Rk8QUqU

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug

Flying Leatherman posted:

Mola woke up a couple days ago and one of her back legs wasn't working - she couldn't walk and was clearly in pain. This lasted for most of the morning. We took her to the vet, physical exam was fine, blood work just came back negative for anything. She is back to 100% now, and the plan as discussed with our vet is to monitor and take her in if it happens again, but does this sound at all familiar to anyone?

One leg? Is Mola older? Could be degenerative joint disease. Anyway, monitoring is pretty standard. Just watch for changes in behavior like being less willing to jump, sleeping more, etc.

The Lord of Hats
Aug 22, 2010

Hello, yes! Is being very good day for posting, no?
How do I get Tuna to comprehend that there's a set time every day that he gets fed? Right now I'm holding hard to the time, and I'm playing a doorbell sound before I get up to feed him, but he's still pestering me for food nonstop from the time I get home.

Deteriorata
Feb 6, 2005

The Lord of Hats posted:

How do I get Tuna to comprehend that there's a set time every day that he gets fed? Right now I'm holding hard to the time, and I'm playing a doorbell sound before I get up to feed him, but he's still pestering me for food nonstop from the time I get home.

Is cat, can't fix.

I feed mine at 9 PM. They start lining up about 6:30.

Thumposaurus
Jul 24, 2007

I usually give our cats some dry food before I leave for work about 6 am the one will start sitting on my chest about 3-4 am in anticipation.
They get fed wet food when I get home in the evening but sometimes my fiancé feeds them before I get home. One time they tricked me into giving them more wet food when they acted like they hadn't been fed.

teh winnar!
Apr 16, 2003

bawfuls posted:

Is my cat humping my feet at night?

bawfuls posted:

yeah he was humping the poo poo out of the fleece blanket. Talked to my friend who previously had him and he said this guy loves to hump fleece or any really soft and fuzzy thing

This is a well-known occurrence.

Soaring Kestrel
Nov 7, 2009

For Whiterock.
Fun Shoe

POOL IS CLOSED posted:

One leg? Is Mola older? Could be degenerative joint disease. Anyway, monitoring is pretty standard. Just watch for changes in behavior like being less willing to jump, sleeping more, etc.

She's maybe 6. Not 100% sure since the shelter said she was formerly a stray and was estimating her age.

Just weird to have it happen for a morning and then stop, you know?

Appreciate your thoughts in any case, arthritis was my first thought but I figured it would have presented more consistently or gradually - but if there's one thing I know it's that I'm clueless about how this stuff actually works. :P If anything, she's jumping around more after this happened, which is just bizarre.

Here's a picture, because she's a nice photogenic cat.

dovetaile
Jul 8, 2011


Grimey Drawer
She is a very photogenic cat, goodness. :3

Our kittens (10-11 weeks) have stopped eating their wet food (Blue Buffalo Freedom Indoor kitten chicken), any tips? Do we just keep trying it or should we switch it up? They're still active as hell, still pooping even if it's rather runny/smellier than normal.

FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010


I FOUND THE CUTE STRAY CAT A HOME!

Someone came into my work and saw the sign I put up about her, so now she's going to her forever home tomorrow to live with a very nice lady. Momo doesn't have to worry about it anymore. CATS ARE HAPPY.

effika
Jun 19, 2005
Birds do not want you to know any more than you already do.

zegermans posted:

so I pushed my calico off my lap because it was being annoying, giving her a slight push on her butt to make her go forward. She left some weird brown liquid on my leg that must have come from her butt. It smelled incredibly yeasty, like how I'd imagine Vegemite smells, if I ever had a jar. Also, her brother went nuts when he caught a wiff and instead of the usual passing butt-sniff, he went straight to lapping up her butthole. It was a pretty gross display overall.

Anyway, I assume this is some sort of anal gland discharge, but it didn't smell bad really, just yeasty. Also she's never done it before. Something I should get checked out or just don't push her that way anymore?

Yep, you tapped just right to get anal gland discharge. Don't do that anymore and you'll be fine.

Sometimes a vet might discharge it on purpose, but you should avoid that smelly mess if at all possible.

Pollyanna
Mar 5, 2005

Milk's on them.


God, cats are loving gross.

I ditched the new food for Jet and went back to Science Diet. It's not ideal, but I know it works for him and he's not allergic to it (as far as I can tell). He went loving nuts for it and I wonder if he really disliked the other food :( But now he's happy! Let's hope this helps with the hair loss.

POOL IS CLOSED
Jul 14, 2011

I'm just exploding with mackerel. This is the aji wo kutta of my discontent.
Pillbug

Flying Leatherman posted:

She's maybe 6. Not 100% sure since the shelter said she was formerly a stray and was estimating her age.

Just weird to have it happen for a morning and then stop, you know?

Appreciate your thoughts in any case, arthritis was my first thought but I figured it would have presented more consistently or gradually - but if there's one thing I know it's that I'm clueless about how this stuff actually works. :P If anything, she's jumping around more after this happened, which is just bizarre.

Here's a picture, because she's a nice photogenic cat.



Those problems have generally presented really abruptly in POOL family cats. They tend to hide their symptoms until they absolutely can't anymore. Mola though might've just been out of sorts or sore from zoomies; if nothing else changes and the problem doesn't reappear, she's probably in the clear!

And she's a very pretty kitty. :3:

kaworu
Jul 23, 2004

zegermans posted:

Anyway, I assume this is some sort of anal gland discharge, but it didn't smell bad really, just yeasty. Also she's never done it before. Something I should get checked out or just don't push her that way anymore?

effika posted:

Yep, you tapped just right to get anal gland discharge. Don't do that anymore and you'll be fine.

Sometimes a vet might discharge it on purpose, but you should avoid that smelly mess if at all possible.

Yep, what happened is she probably *barely* stimulated the gland, and because it had probably never been emptied in years or ever for all we know (depending on the age of the calico kitty and the amount of stress and lots of early development factors) given that a ton of really gross and smelly stuff oozed out from just a light shove on the butt.

So, yes that was absolutely and healthy discharge that builds up in your cats anal glands - it's absolutely worth talking to your vet about this. **I am obviously not a Vet!** but I'd imagine that once you mention this to your vet, they will start manually expressing your cat's anal gland just as a matter of course when you take her in for her annual (yearly) exam, which frankly should solve this from being any kind of a consistent problem like this, because it REALLY is gross.

With the cats I experienced this with, it generally smelled like... I dunno, the worst possible smell EVER to me - like some combination of poo poo and rotting animal. I should add that for *feral* cats (and unfortunately some domestic cats in especially bad or unfortunate situations) expressing their anal glands is like a VERY extreme flight/fight response, usually. When they truly feel like their life is in danger or they are very backed into a life/death situation or corner, they will basically go crazy screaming attacking everything and expressing their anal glands which (even to us humans who are nearly deaf when it comes to our sense of smell compared to other vertabrates/mammals) has an extremely strong reaction, so I imagine it's has a greater effect to real potential predators.

For example, my mother has had a cat who was feral for the first 6-8 weeks of her life (we got her at 12 weeks) - and while she ended up as a totally cool cat (great hunter) she was also extremely aloof around humans - especially for her first 10 years, she trusted nobody but my mother and *hated* me and all other males for some reason. We named her 'Lola' because apparently they thought she was a boy-cat until we adopted her - she was so wild that they couldn't get a close enough to look really tell, and they were convinced she was a male because of how aggressively she behaved at times. Even though I was 12 I knew the song was about a man who dressed like/was a woman and this cat was a girl mistaken for a boy, but given how asexual spayed/neutered cats are it really doesn't matter much, IMO. Kinda cool. \

Anyway, She has finally mellowed in the last few years - she is 20 now, which is actually pretty impressive! My mother got her way back in late 1997 when I was 12. She has never really had any health issues or broken any bones *knock on wood* and despite being small and lithe dark grey mackerel tabby at ~6-8 pounds (she probably hasn't been 8 pounds in a decade). She has won MANY fights with much bigger cats and other beasts and never got hurt. Her friend/companion/fellow adevnturer/cuddler for some ~14 years of their life or so was an all-black male named Fidel (after El Presidente of course) who was the most unfailingly friendly and cool affectionate and goofy cat ever - Lola protected him vigorously because fidel liked and trusted everyone and if you so much as showed him a little attention he'd be rubbing against your legs, and then jumping up and (if you were on a chair or sofa) he would get next your head and start rubbing and purring loudly and pushing/headbutting against your face, and of course drooling profusely and spreading his drool which flowed more the happier he was.


I would write SO many paragraphs about Fidel (I'm sure I've written some, but hey I'll write some more) but he was TRULY the cat with nine lives. When he was maybe ~10 or so he got hit by a car for the first time head on the car was going 25 and literally hit the side of Fidel as he was in mid air trying to run/jump out of the way, and he was *mostly* fine but he was always blind in his left eye after that, and seemed to have limited feeling/sensation on the left side of his face after that. His whiskers worked fine on both sides which seemed to keep him basically functional, and you'd never know it. Or maybe the vision loss happened gradually, but he was definitely not only half-blind but half-paralyzed on that side of his face.. He was ALWAYS such a sweet, sweet cat. He survived getting hit by a car twice! On three occasions he ran away for extended periods of time and we'd give up hope and then find him like 10 miles from the house or just have him show up. Once he showed up after being gone a month when my mother was on vacation. There was a huge storm going on that night, and we was soaked to the bone - and there wasn't much beyond left to him!! He had been up under the eaves at the second floor window of my moms room yowling and yowling and YOWLING for god even knows how long. He meow sounded half-broken, even. This was close to the end of summer, as I recall.

Anyway I was thrilled and so was everyone else, but he was SKIN AND BONES. I'd never seen a cat look so emaciated, and it wasn't because he was wet. Probably he had gotten stuck in a garage while some people when on vacation, as Fidel was knows for stupid crap like that. Even though we checked as many garages as we could in the area. Who knows where he was - but he wasn't eating much wherever that was. It just REALLY shocked me... I was so used to Fidel just ALWAYS being the same size the decade I'd known him - this comfortably plump (but never fat) kitty with kind-soft fair that was nevertheless rougher than most cats. The cat who showed up at that window - I didn't even realize it was Fidel for a moment and was shocked when he came right in and went down the stairs. His nose was all defined and his hips were extremely well defined and he seemed to have no gut whatsoever but I absolutely knew it was him by the way he looked at me (with the lazy/unseeing left eye and all) and the way he sounded - even though his meow seemed oddly broken and would go silent halfway through (his meow stayed broken for the rest of his life after this incident.

Amazingly after a month he was back to looking totally normal and healthy again. The totally indestructible cat. He would later fall off the deck on a *3-story-building*, and somehow remained totally fine. He defied at least 5 or 6 things that could/should have killed him and did not, and he was not only alive but still a cuddly sweetheart.

Sadly, things came to an end when a ~16-17 year old Fidel (who was totally healthy) had the extreme misfortune to come across a large rabid raccoon who was roaming the streets at the time, and I believe had already killed one cat and injured another. Him and this Bastard raccoon had a fight, and Fidel did disable it (it got around the corner before animal control more or less put it down or took it to out down. But Fidel after that was one of the most awful, horrible, horrible heartbreaking things I had ever seen. Half of his intestines, pink and bloody, were hanging out. He had deep gashes all in his stomach but he was still brothers and I could tell he was silently meowing, and his eyes were still open, and I'm sobbing right now - just recalling this scene, because it was such an awful thing, My mom actually went to the vet with him and was there with him all the way - they actually had to *euthanize* Fidel - full of deep cuts, his guts literally hanging out of his body, his face a wreck, at least one leg broken, and the guy STILL would not die, not even after an encounter with a crazy racoon literally 3 times Fidel's size - this raccoon was nearly 30 pounds to Fidel's 10! :(

tldr: I like talking about my cats and because I had divorced parents a couple years right after I was born who both believed in always having at least 2 cats.... well, I have a lot of cat stories :catstare:

Boogalo
Jul 8, 2012

Meep Meep




Milly had trouble with her butt glands clogging when I was working out what food wouldn't give her the shits. Most cats' normal pooping expresses them enough that they won't get clogged. Milly though would sneeze and spray caustic goo everywhere and one time it was just my glasses between it and my eyes.

FluxFaun
Apr 7, 2010




Fat man is displeased by his new collar, but he got kibbles for his troubles.



The Booties of Shame, in case he gets aggressive and scratchy. But mostly he is very chill now. Momo is a good cat and my best buddy and he's gonna be around for a lot longer.

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floofyscorp
Feb 12, 2007

How do cat booties work? I feel like mine would probably slither out of anything that isn't literally glued to their bodies.

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