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FuzzySlippers posted:My poor old cat (16) gets bullied a lot by one of our younger cats (almost 1). There's no claws or damage, but he chases her around and she hisses and smacks him. He thinks its great fun since he wants to wrestle. I feel bad for the old lady since she just wants to eat and lay in the sun. Pretty much every day I wake up or come home I find him harassing her since he inevitably tires his brother out (who starts hiding) and goes stir crazy in 8 or 9 hours left alone. Get another kitten. Hope its an rear end in a top hat to current kitten instead of grandma.
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Apr 22, 2019 20:10
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Is a kitten, working as intended (unfortunately). Given another year he should calm down, but unless you have yet another kitten to play with him there's likely no foolproof method of distracting him for hours at a time. Kittenhood is, for better or worse, a temporary condition though. He'll grow out of it eventually. Hopefully. In the meantime give the old dame a space, if possible, that only she can access and that should give her some measure of peace.
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Apr 22, 2019 20:23
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Boogalo posted:Get another kitten. Hope its an rear end in a top hat to current kitten instead of grandma. Getting Bishop did wonders for keeping the Obliterator from annoying the geriatric and high-strung cats.
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Apr 22, 2019 23:04
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FuzzySlippers posted:Any suggestions for ways to keep him occupied when we aren't around? A battery operated disco ball near a sunny window.
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Apr 22, 2019 23:49
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We actually already have two kittens. Boo (the crazy one) just has so much energy he tires out his brother and then still has energy to harass grandma. He's by far the most high strung kitten I've ever seen. It's tough getting a safe spot for the old cat since they are far more spry than her. So anywhere she can jump they can jump there more easily. We actually installed a pet door with a chip reader to give her a blocked off room but she just leaves. She doesn't like the kitty messing with her but she also doesn't want to change her routines a bit. 
FuzzySlippers fucked around with this message at 01:54 on Apr 23, 2019 |
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Apr 23, 2019 01:42
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Dear lord. I feel like a broken record at this point. 6 vet visits over the last 6 weeks across 4 different vets. All kinds of pain meds - buprenorphine, gabapentin, you name it. Lots of prazosin. A few antibiotics here and there. Crowley is still acting the same way that made us take him to the emergency vet in the first place. Acting pained and somewhat struggling to pee. What the hell do I have to do to fix my drat cat? I’m about ready to just go for PU surgery on him. I’ve lost two cats in the last three years. I’m not losing another, god damnit.
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Apr 23, 2019 14:00
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Protocol7 posted:Dear lord. I feel like a broken record at this point.
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Apr 23, 2019 15:16
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Crooked Booty posted:If your cat has FIC/FLUTD, PU surgery isn’t going to do anything for the pain and inflammation in his bladder. All it does is help prevent urethral obstruction. Is he eating 100% canned prescription urinary food? No, and that hasn't even been recommended by any of the vets honestly. I just got back and they said he wasn't blocked yet, just having some muscle spasms/cramps so they have him a shot of Onsior to help, and then of course he pissed in the carrier on the way home. Going through urine cleaning supplies like crazy. I'm just glad he finally did pee though. He is on Orbax daily for the next three weeks and that should hopefully kick whatever infection is going on in his bladder (two separate urinalyses confirm no crystals, only bacteria and blood cells present), and then assuming I don't have to make any return trips in the next three weeks I'll ask the vet how we can manage this in the future. Macichne Leainig fucked around with this message at 16:51 on Apr 23, 2019 |
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Apr 23, 2019 16:35
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Cythereal posted:I think every cat owner has spent at least a couple hundred dollars on vet visits for a diagnosis of "Is a cat." $80 to find out the cat was constipated. God willing I did a good enough job carpet scrubbing we get at least some deposit back when we move.
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Apr 23, 2019 17:45
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 This was shaped like a heart until I went to take the photo and the orange one moved his head.  
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Apr 23, 2019 19:16
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Anyone have automatic/microchip feeder suggestions that work with wet food? We have one cat who chows down anything in front of her and one cat who really prefers to graze. Food-loving cat will absolutely eat his lunch.
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Apr 24, 2019 04:07
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Tater Love 
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My cat got a white spot on her nose that doesn't wash off. It wasn't there yesterday and she hasn't been outside to smell any white paint. zakharov posted:Anyone have automatic/microchip feeder suggestions that work with wet food? We have one cat who chows down anything in front of her and one cat who really prefers to graze. Food-loving cat will absolutely eat his lunch. What about putting a chip reader cat door on a small cage and the food inside there?
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Apr 24, 2019 09:08
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For the love of God, why?! E: upon further investigation, it is not poop in the water fountain, but actually a piece of plastic debris from god knows where. Annath fucked around with this message at 16:08 on Apr 24, 2019 |
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Apr 24, 2019 15:53
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Are there any auto-cleaning litter boxes out there that don’t suck?
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Apr 25, 2019 03:14
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I. M. Gei posted:Are there any auto-cleaning litter boxes out there that don’t suck? The litter robot open air. Ours has handled 3 cats for 3 1/2 years and barely requires maintenance.
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Apr 25, 2019 03:29
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There are basically 3 types of auto cleaning litter boxes and we've owned them all. Cat Genie We've had it for 4-ish years I think and it's been pretty great. Only maintenance has been cleaning the water sensor a few times. It requires absolutely no daily/weekly/monthly upkeep. One of our cats doesn't use it because I think they got scared of the water/noise, but the other 2 use it and one of those pretty much only uses that box. I would only recommend it if you can put it in a laundry room. It needs a water hookup and most of the horror stories you can find online are about hooking it up to a toilet. Doing so is not very stable and bound to fail. When it does you risk a kitty toilet flood. So a lot of houses just aren't going to have a good spot for it and I wouldn't fight against that. It's quite a bit cheaper than the Litter Robot but you do have to buy the sani solutions cartridges from them. No joke: they have drm in them and nothing else works. You only have to buy them every couple months so it isn't a big deal to me for a litter box you can completely forget about. I know this will bug some people though. Litter Robot We bought one in Nov and just bought our second a few weeks ago. They are very expensive and kinda dumb. It's a big litter box that rotates completely vertical to sift. I feel like there's a more clever solution here, but it does work. Since it uses normal litter I think most cats will use it eventually but our old cat has always preferred her cat genie. It takes up a lot of room, but you can place it basically anywhere unlike the Cat Genie. The litter trap is small enough that with mostly 2 cats using it I have to take it out a bit less than once a week. Unfortunately it often stops sifting and claims to be full long before it actually is so sometimes I have to empty it more frequently. Still, it's a lazy solution that allowed us to get better coverage for a 3 cat household so that's why we bought another. If you've got the cash and the space for it I think it's a pretty low risk purchase. Pet Safe / other raking boxes There are a bunch automatic litter boxes that use a rake to sweep the box whenever the cat leaves. Do not buy. We used one for about a month and it was awful. We knew we needed another box besides the Cat Genie for the kitties and I was reluctant to drop $500 on the robot. It was quickly dubbed 'the poo poo box' because the rake continuously smeared poo poo all over itself and stayed filthy no matter how we cleaned or adjusted it. The crystals also barely help with the smell and don't clump which makes emptying completely awful. This isn't like when you have nicely clumped litter box you need to clean out and dealing with cat poo poo is a little abstracted. The rake just shoves all the cat poo poo into a cat poo poo compartment that is 100% nothing but cat poo poo. So you need to empty a giant pan of crystals and cat poo poo into a garbage sack once a week or more and it's terrible. When I was doing so one week I hadn't noticed Boo had been playing with the garbage sack and so when I dumped in the crystals they broke the bag went onto the floor. When I finished cleaning that hellscape up the box went into the garbage and I ordered a Litter Robot. edit: Though the kitties did love the poo poo box. When it was around they wouldn't use any other box (normal or cat genie). We both despaired watching the kitties walk right by other boxes to go dirty up the poo poo box knowing we'd have to clean it sooner. FuzzySlippers fucked around with this message at 05:54 on Apr 25, 2019 |
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Apr 25, 2019 05:21
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My fiancees sister has two of the Scoopfree raking boxes and hearing they're not great warms my heart. This is the same sister that bought a $200 Tiffany non-breakaway collar for her first cat
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Apr 25, 2019 11:41
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We got one of the corner sifters from PetSmart and that's the way to go. Takes like, a minute tops to sift all the waste out. edit: It's not automatic, it has three trays and one of them is a sifter, so you just dump the litter into the other tray with the sifter on top, pull the sifter up and all the waste is in the sifter. Dump it and you're good. Macichne Leainig fucked around with this message at 16:32 on Apr 25, 2019 |
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Apr 25, 2019 15:45
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All the automated systems have their flaws. The cat genie is highly restricted to where it can be placed, and it also has a long cleaning cycle, which lead to my cat deciding to poop on the floor mat in front of the litter box instead of waiting. When it works, it's almost totally maintenance free. The litter robot tends to "heap" the litter in its waste tray causing it to not cycle unless you empty it or pull it out to settle the used litter below its sensor. But it cleans in only a few minutes which is super useful when you have multiple cats and they're literally queuing up to poop, and it only needs a place to plug into power. Either one is much preferable to hand sifting. gently caress that.
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Apr 25, 2019 16:28
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Maybe I'm just broken but I don't understand spending hundreds of dollars to save myself 2-3 minutes a day. Scooping the box twice a day is just part of my routine now and it's not even that intrusive of a part.
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Apr 25, 2019 18:33
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Sydin posted:Maybe I'm just broken but I don't understand spending hundreds of dollars to save myself 2-3 minutes a day. Scooping the box twice a day is just part of my routine now and it's not even that intrusive of a part. With 3 cats who are all really picky about the box being clean I was having to go scoop litter basically every hour. If it wasn't clean, such as when I go to work, one of them would just poop next to the box.
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Apr 25, 2019 18:38
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Ah, that's not fun then. My cat isn't particularly picky about the conditions of the litter box. The only time was when I was bedridden for a couple days with the flu and kept forgetting to scoop the box, but even then she didn't just go on the floor. Instead she came over and meowed at me incessantly a led me over to her box, then plopped down and meowed more. Soon as I scooped it she jumped in and used it. 
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Apr 25, 2019 19:03
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Yeah our old lady cat will happily pee on couches/whatever when she doesn't have a very clean box. So automatic boxes help keep us all sane. The new kitties were less picky and we had normal boxes for a while, but it's a nice luxury to have the litter box be a weekly instead of a daily chore while also keeping them ultra clean for the cats. It'd also be a bit of a pain to daily manage multiple boxes. If money was tighter I definitely wouldn't save for it.
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Apr 25, 2019 19:17
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Let me rephrase my question: Is there an automatic litter box that cleans all parts of the box, edges included? Because our cats like to poo poo on the edges of the box from time to time, and a lot of boxes either won’t clean those or will smear poo poo all over them, or both.
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Apr 25, 2019 20:52
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I. M. Gei posted:Let me rephrase my question: Is there an automatic litter box that cleans all parts of the box, edges included? Because our cats like to poo poo on the edges of the box from time to time, and a lot of boxes either won’t clean those or will smear poo poo all over them, or both. Only one that might help is the Cat Genie since it runs a cleaning cycle with water. That is actually why some cat experts don't like it. Since it could keep cleaning up diarrhea/whatever and you might not notice your cats are sick.
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Apr 25, 2019 21:28
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FuzzySlippers posted:Only one that might help is the Cat Genie since it runs a cleaning cycle with water. That is actually why some cat experts don't like it. Since it could keep cleaning up diarrhea/whatever and you might not notice your cats are sick. This might work for us. We have two litter boxes, one is next to a bathroom sink and the other is next to our washer. So water shouldn’t be an issue, assuming we can get a plumber to help us out for cheap. The only potential problem is that one of those boxes is pretty big. How big is the Cat Genie?
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Apr 25, 2019 21:54
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I. M. Gei posted:This might work for us. We have two litter boxes, one is next to a bathroom sink and the other is next to our washer. So water shouldn’t be an issue, assuming we can get a plumber to help us out for cheap. Doesn't require a plumber to install. Just need to Y your cold water into it (home depot part) and stick the outflow into your drain pipe. I'm far from a plumber and set it up in two different houses in < 10 minutes. It's pretty big. The usable area for the cat is way bigger than any of the other auto boxes we've used.
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Apr 25, 2019 22:01
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FuzzySlippers posted:Doesn't require a plumber to install. Just need to Y your cold water into it (home depot part) and stick the outflow into your drain pipe. I'm far from a plumber and set it up in two different houses in < 10 minutes. Our bathroom sink pipes are in a cabinet and the washer is behind a shutter door. You’re saying I can set up both boxes by myself, possibly without drilling any holes? EDIT: Wait, when you say “outflow”, are you saying this thing flushes the poop too?
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Apr 25, 2019 22:07
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Yep it's a kitty toilet not an auto-scooper. That's why I said it requires zero regular maintenance. It just cleans and flushes It's pretty big so it'd dominate a bathroom and you would need a plumber to install it there properly (do not just shove the outflow into the toilet like it says you can. That courts disaster). If you hook it up by a washer than you don't need to do anything fancy. Just Y the cold water from your washer and then stick it's outflow tube into the drain pipe where your washer drains into. That's why it's way more suited to a laundry room than anywhere else.
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Apr 25, 2019 22:28
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My cat got stank-rear end breath. Her sister doesn't, which should rule out food I think. Vet checkup is incoming, but until then is there anything I should be looking for?
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Apr 28, 2019 23:32
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The Chad Jihad posted:My cat got stank-rear end breath. Her sister doesn't, which should rule out food I think. Vet checkup is incoming, but until then is there anything I should be looking for? Age? When was her last dental work (if any)? What does she eat?
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Apr 29, 2019 15:43
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Ratzap posted:Age? When was her last dental work (if any)? What does she eat? A little over 1, no dental work that I'm aware of, Blue wilderness high-protein indoor along with occasional greenies
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Apr 30, 2019 02:23
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I need moving advice! I’ve traveled with dogs before but never with cats. This month I’ll be moving two cats (10 and 12 years old) from Boston to Virginia, which will be about an 8 hour drive. The cats have two standard carriers which we use to take them to the vet-and they don’t tolerate the 30 minute ride very well. With dogs it’s easy because I can pull over at a rest stop and take them out to use the bathroom. But with the cats, I can’t do that. It’s also not like they listen to commands and will try and go to the bathroom if I tell them to like my dogs used to. I figure they’ll be way too stressed to eat or probably drink water during the drive, but I don’t know how to approach the bathroom problem. I’ve seen some larger carriers that have a good dish and a small litter box, so maybe that could be an option? They are larger cats (about 15 and 17 pounds), and they don’t get along that well so they would definitely need separate carriers. I’ll be driving by myself. The only two options I see currently are: 1) leave them in the carriers for the whole trip as they’ll be too stressed to do anything over 8 hours. They usually use the bathroom in the morning and at night so once they’ve gone then hopefully they won’t go again. 2) I have an SUV so maybe I could put a baby gate in the back and set up a litter box and a water dish and they could just hang out in the back of the car? One problem I see with this is when I get to Virginia-getting them out is going to be a problem. If I open the back up then they might just run for it. Only option for that is to bring the carriers and take the gate down from inside the car and try to put them in the carrier before opening the door. Oh-and we’ve tried medicating them before-it doesn’t really seem to work. Suggestions and help is appreciated! nwin fucked around with this message at 13:04 on May 1, 2019 |
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May 1, 2019 12:56
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Got nothing for the cats, but have an early welcome to Virginia! Where are you moving to?
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May 1, 2019 14:30
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8 hours aint too bad, maybe offer a little water at rest stops. They'll be unhappy, but will eventually sleep, and then get over it after you arrive. Echoing welcome to VA!
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May 1, 2019 14:46
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nwin posted:I need moving advice! I’ve traveled with dogs before but never with cats. Talk to the vet about the meds. Its possible that there is a different med, or a different dose, that might help. Some meds need more 'lead time' before you start traveling, too. The vet might suggest withholding food and water right before the trip, so they aren't holding their bladder for hours on end, but that isn't feasible for all cats or all trips. I wouldn't suggest the baby gate - you'd be surprised how easily they can be dislodged, or how well they can get into other spaces of the car. Just not safe. If you can swing it, I'd suggest the larger carriers that allow for a small litter box and food/water bowls, just in case. I'd be shocked if they used them, however. Line the carriers with towels and bring extra towels. If worst comes to worst, you can swap out a towel quickly and easily. Feliway comes in a spray now, so you can spritz your car interior and/or the towels if you think it might help (I hear mixed things about it).
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May 1, 2019 14:51
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Instead of towels, buy a pack of puppy pads. Line the inside of the carriers, and so on with those. That way when/if they stress piss, you can just toss the pads. Plus they're pretty absorbent. Seconding keeping them inside the carrier. You absolutely do not want any chance of them getting loose in the car. They're gonna be mad no matter what.
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May 1, 2019 14:54
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Thanks for all the advice! I’m moving to Alexandria. It looks like I’ll buy the Feliway and see how that goes-I’ve never heard of it before. I’ll also buy some puppy pads and line the crates with those and try to give them water at rest stops. I don’t think they’ll use them, but who knows. I remember one of my dogs used to pant so much during car rides that she would drink everything possible during rest stops. One of my cats only drinks from a water fountain so she might just suck it up for 8 hours.
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May 1, 2019 15:21
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nwin posted:Thanks for all the advice! I’m moving to Alexandria. RIP your wallet. Come down south a ways to FredVegas if you're into history.
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May 1, 2019 15:23
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Annath posted:RIP your wallet. Yep-it’s a military move so not much say in the matter.
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May 1, 2019 15:32
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