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Unfortunately no. She'd lost another 600g in the last 2 weeks and the vet said the smell of her breath was more the kidney disease. Basically the vet didn't think trying to treat her CKD more at this point was going to do more than maybe buy another week or two. It wouldn't have been fair on Buffy so I had to say goodbye. I've lost a lot of pets over the decades but it still hurts. The house feels empty without any cats (she was the last of this generation) and I know I'll keep finding reminders (19 years we lived together in this house). I'll bury her on the slope next to the boys tomorrow, I can't face it today. A tribute in pictures, she was an amazing companion. Feisty kitten...  Turbo charged teen...  Settled princess...  Fearsome hunteress...  Comfy middle age...  Sleepy senior... 
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Sep 11, 2019 15:53
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This is ringworm, right? Bug is a cute little fucker when he's not contracting gross fungal infections.  Ratzap posted:Sleepy senior... She was beautiful. She looks just like my tortie, Quinn. Sorry for your loss 
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Sep 11, 2019 16:05
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Rotten Red Rod posted:This is ringworm, right? Bug looks smol like my cat. She's about a year old and will probably get a little bigger but the vet says she's "petite." That ear infection might be ear mites if not ringworm. If it's ear mites you should probably see black grainy gunk, it's hard to tell from the picture.
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Sep 11, 2019 16:16
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Maybe. It is a little crusty, but I didn't see any black specks. He's going into the vet tomorrow for some shots, so we'll find out then. He is currently smol, but he's also only like 2 months old, so who knows how big he will get. We did have another cat that turned out petite when full grown, about half the size of his cat housemates (RIP, Robin).
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Sep 11, 2019 16:22
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Ratzap posted:Unfortunately no. Aww, sorry to hear that
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Sep 11, 2019 20:08
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Rotten Red Rod posted:This is ringworm, right? That's almost certainly ringworm. Can't be ear mites, they hang out inside the ear and this is outside.
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Sep 12, 2019 02:05
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I bought a cheap thermal camera for my phone and decided to try it out on one of the stray cats, you can see where she's licking the food or when it falls out of her mouth: https://i.imgur.com/kU0sEKQ.mp4
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Sep 12, 2019 07:55
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Marchegiana posted:That's almost certainly ringworm. Can't be ear mites, they hang out inside the ear and this is outside. Well, they're doing testing now. In the meantime we have a cream for it, we're keeping him separate from the other cats, and we're going to clean everything.
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Sep 12, 2019 18:45
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My girlfriend and I are about to take a hell journey for two days with my cat, driving from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Cat gets violently carsick from both ends  and so stressed out he wails and drools. Additionally, we'll be spending the night at my sister's house, where he's never been. Measures I am taking to keep him calm: -a gigantic, soft-sided cat carrier with enough room for a litter box and a flap that will either let him look out or can be used to cover the carrier and attempt to trick him into thinking it is eternal night -pheromone spray to put on literally everything -gabapentin from the vet -no feeding him until we're settled for the night ( ) -thundershirt Some questions: 1. How long can a thundershirt be safely left on a cat? Their website says take it off every 2 hours to "check for irritation" but he doesn't seem to be irritated (I'm doing a trial run with it tonight), and I don't want to pull over every 2 hours to fiddle with it. He does seem to be reasonably okay wearing it, at least, although it's also hilarious when he dramatically slumps to the ground. 2. What about water during the day? The first leg of the journey is 6.5-7 hours. The second leg, to Philly, could take as much as 10 hours depending on DC traffic. I don't like the idea of him having no access to water, but he'll also throw up everything he consumes, and I'm not sure he'll use the carrier's litter box (which I am leaving out for him to get used to). 3. Anything I haven't thought of here? I know there's no way to make this easy on him, per se, but I'd like to keep him as comfortable as possible 
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Sep 13, 2019 01:40
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About three weeks ago I was coming home from work and noticed some kittens out front of the apartments next to where I live. Turns out there's a whole bunch, at least nine, seven kittens maybe 2-3 months old, two adults, possibly more. This woman said she has been feeding the cats for a year she just puts it out then leaves, but hasn't done more than that. Recently I found out there's some pretty hostile people living there apparently someone was putting chili powder in the food left out. This guy was harassing me today telling me not to feed the cats because they spread disease and they are attacking dogs and giving their dogs fleas and to quote "there are pregnant women here". I've been coming out every day putting out food sitting with the kittens trying to socialize them and I just put out my trap the first time yesterday and caught one so that's a start. Anyways, these people made me feel pretty miserable today I understand how they feel but they don't help and I just feel bad that these cats had to be born in such a lovely place.
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Sep 13, 2019 02:34
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Blue Scream posted:2. What about water during the day? The first leg of the journey is 6.5-7 hours. The second leg, to Philly, could take as much as 10 hours depending on DC traffic. I don't like the idea of him having no access to water, but he'll also throw up everything he consumes, and I'm not sure he'll use the carrier's litter box (which I am leaving out for him to get used to). Whenever you stop to go to the bathroom/eat, you can give him a little dish of water in the carrier. That said, he'll likely not drink it due to stress. Our cats didn't appear to eat or drink the whole trip when we did a ~9 hour drive and they were ok. I'm not quite sure how it will go with your cat getting carsick though. Maybe you should consider making it a 3 day trip and cut one of the days in half, and stay the night at a hotel that allows pets? Might be a good idea if you're worried about him being stressed for that long during the day. Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 03:45 on Sep 13, 2019 |
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Sep 13, 2019 03:42
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Blue Scream posted:1. How long can a thundershirt be safely left on a cat? Their website says take it off every 2 hours to "check for irritation" but he doesn't seem to be irritated (I'm doing a trial run with it tonight), and I don't want to pull over every 2 hours to fiddle with it. He does seem to be reasonably okay wearing it, at least, although it's also hilarious when he dramatically slumps to the ground. Thundershirts, like weighted blankets, weighted vests, etc. are a form of restraint. That isn't to say they are bad, but there are considerations that need to be kept in place to keep everyone safe. Don't leave it on for extended periods - it can cause overheating (cats can't sweat to cool off and these things are heavy and thick) and fatigue even if it doesn't irritate the skin itself. I know the ads say its like a hug, and they are, but they are also like wearing a backpack weighing a quarter of what you do, and that over the long term can cause physical stress to the back, joints, etc. The other factor is that animals do habituate to the physiological calming effect of the pressure, so leaving it on for extended periods will make it less effective. Leave it on for two hours max, then remove.
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Sep 13, 2019 14:11
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Yeah honestly I'd say ditch the thundershirt, or otherwise only use it to make transitions (in/out of the car/carrier) easier. At the end of the day no matter what you do, your cat is not going to be happy about the car ride. The most you can do is make sure that there's food/water/litter available even though the cat probably won't touch any of it. It'll suck in the moment but your cat will get over it.
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Sep 13, 2019 16:42
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I almost hate that this thread is, like, 1/3 in memoriam posts but sometimes you need to put up a memorial on something at least a little permanent. I guess that's our dead gay comedy forum. We said goodbye to Bear today. He had dental surgery, which led to another dental surgery and a feeding tube installation, and then that fell out. He hasn't been eating anything for weeks. The only things left were temporary measures and invasive diagnostic procedures, and the poor guy has been through more than enough. But enough about the sad stuff. He was my wife's cat before he was ours, and he's half the reason I love cats. His brother is the other reason. They loved each other. Right before the end, they were snuggling.  He was a truly majestic, dumb looking cat.   Sometimes, he held himself with the dignity befitting his well dressed nature.  Usually not, though.  We'll miss you, man.
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Sep 13, 2019 17:48
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TheMopeSquad posted:About three weeks ago I was coming home from work and noticed some kittens out front of the apartments next to where I live. Turns out there's a whole bunch, at least nine, seven kittens maybe 2-3 months old, two adults, possibly more. This woman said she has been feeding the cats for a year she just puts it out then leaves, but hasn't done more than that. Boxman posted:He was a truly majestic, dumb looking cat. Sometimes I think cats plan it this way, that they're so cute and wonderful when they're young, and then you have to watch them go through hellish older years which make you a total wreck, and the whole loving time they're thinking "Yes, my puppet, you are responding exactly as you should."
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Sep 13, 2019 21:22
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Boxman posted:He was a truly majestic, dumb looking cat. Goodbye Bear, he of the majestic blep. A good cat who had a good life.
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Sep 14, 2019 00:34
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I have an 11 year old cat who I have been with for 4 years and we are super tight and awesome. The cat does show signs of stress if I leave for multiple days, with or without cat sitters. One possible remedy is to have a second cat in the house. My friend has a kitten that adopted them and they brought it into my place. Is there any process to help the two cats acclimate to each other? What can one do over a weekend to check if the cats would work together? Currently have what I would expect happen, where the kitten is super exploring and the established cat will hiss/growl anytime she sees the new cat.
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Sep 14, 2019 11:16
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Boxman posted:I almost hate that this thread is, like, 1/3 in memoriam posts but sometimes you need to put up a memorial on something at least a little permanent. I guess that's our dead gay comedy forum. My commiserations. I know what you mean having just posted my own and buried Buffy yesterday. I find it hard to respond to these at the best of times, especially so now but maybe sharing helps. You're probably beating yourself up trying to second guess what you should have done rather than what happened. It's just so drat cruel they live short lives but living without cats feels empty or alone, the house is quiet, there's no greeting when you come home or a little foot demanding breakfast. Having pets enriches our lives and gives them the best existance they can have, never forget how much you made your cat happy. It's just saying goodbye and putting them in the ground hurts so much.
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Sep 14, 2019 14:45
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Maxwells Demon posted:I have an 11 year old cat who I have been with for 4 years and we are super tight and awesome. The cat does show signs of stress if I leave for multiple days, with or without cat sitters. One possible remedy is to have a second cat in the house. Go to Jackson Galaxy’s channel on YT. He’s got some great primers on introducing cats that I can’t recommend enough.
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Sep 14, 2019 15:14
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Maxwells Demon posted:I have an 11 year old cat who I have been with for 4 years and we are super tight and awesome. The cat does show signs of stress if I leave for multiple days, with or without cat sitters. One possible remedy is to have a second cat in the house. That's completely normal. The old cat sees the new one as an intruder until it figures out the new one isn't going away, and then they figure out a way to accommodate each other. Some people recommend elaborate introduction rituals, but I've never used any. The cats work it out among themselves in a week or so.
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Sep 14, 2019 15:17
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Just keep in mind there's no guarantee your cats will be new best friends. From what I've seen, the way most cats relate to other cats never really changes throughout their life. You'll get the best results with one of them being a kitten though, as the adult cat won't be threatened by it and the kitten will seek out attention/play/affection from the adult. But yeah, hissing is normal. Just watch to make sure it doesn't go past that. It's gonna take more than a weekend for them to get past that stage. I'd say if your adult cat doesn't get actually violent they'll probably be fine. Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 18:26 on Sep 14, 2019 |
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Sep 14, 2019 18:23
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I had a kitten basically with my senior kitty after her husband passed weeks before and that did not go well despite our attempts to get them acquainted over a week involving liberal amounts of feliway, treats, and petting. The kitten just had way, way too much energy for our senior cat (heck, even us) to handle and she started to get very defensive when he'd come ripping through the house running into everything. We were sobbing as we gave him back to the shelter because we felt so bad for him, her, and we were still getting over our cat that had just passed.Blue Scream posted:My girlfriend and I are about to take a hell journey for two days with my cat, driving from Atlanta to Philadelphia. Cat gets violently carsick from both ends La Quinta Inn accepts pets across the country and are relatively affordable. Be very, very careful when leaving your room for any reason because you know cats can be sneaky out of nowhere when stressed. I nearly lost a cat in fuckin' Oklahoma because he ran from underneath the bed and swiftly tailed me when I left to get some breakfast as I shut the door and turned around quickly. We spent 2 hours looking for him across the entire hotel before we found him in a storage unit inside scared out of his mind. Also, as a DC area person your problems with traffic will start far further south in Fredericksburg and around Woodbridge, VA. The beltway (495) might be bad sometimes but those places are basically bad even on weekends and are bad all the time during rush hour. Blame the military industrial complex's obsession with centralization and unnecessary on-site "work" for that. Try to avoid those starting around 2 pm if possible. In good news, if you're stuck in traffic you're not moving much and motion sickness is not as much of an issue. Have you considered taking your cats with you on a train instead? I've taken Amtrak from Atlanta to DC and back as well as up north to Philly as well and it's probably easier to manage cats on that kind of a route and may be cheaper than a hotel stay.
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Sep 14, 2019 20:39
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Maxwells Demon posted:I have an 11 year old cat who I have been with for 4 years and we are super tight and awesome. The cat does show signs of stress if I leave for multiple days, with or without cat sitters. One possible remedy is to have a second cat in the house. When we introduced my kitten to my girlfriend's 7 year old cat it was maybe 3 days of just kind of holding them in front of each other a few times a day before the older cat stopped hissing at the kitten. Now they're BFFs. Except when the kitten gets too rambunctious and the 7 year old just gives me the "why did you do this to me?" look. But yeah, every cat is going to be different. Her's has lived with a lot of other cats over the years so I'm sure that helped.
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Sep 15, 2019 14:56
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On a similar note, any thoughts on integrating a kitten into a dog household? A former classmate of mine contacted me; her dad found a stray six-week-old male kitten that's in need of a home. I've asked around and my social circle is either full up, allergic, or doesn't have any leads. We recently lost one of our our two cats; the surviving one is incredibly social and affection-loving, and it's evident he's missing his feline brother. I'm not terribly worried about him; he's never known a stranger and has always been very comfortable around other cats. We just got a two-year-old dog in June (the first one I've ever lived with)--she and our current cat are (slowly) warming to each other. The dog, for her part, is interested in/excited about the cat--there's not a hint of aggression--but the cat's still a bit skittish when the dog approaches at a trot or comes by for a sniff. They'll get there as they learn to speak each other's languages, but it's slightly slow going. I'm not sure if bringing a kitten in would be better or worse--if the kitten would more malleable (basically, having the dog around would just be his normal), or if we should hold out for a more assertive adult cat down the line. Regardless, if he does have to go to a shelter, I think we'll pay for meds, fixing, etc. in memory of our recently passed kitty. (cross-posted to the dog thread as well) JaneError fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Sep 15, 2019 |
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Sep 15, 2019 20:43
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JaneError posted:On a similar note, any thoughts on integrating a kitten into a dog household? A former classmate of mine contacted me; her dad found a stray six-week-old male kitten that's in need of a home. I've asked around and my social circle is either full up, allergic, or doesn't have any leads. We recently lost one of our our two cats; the surviving one is incredibly social and affection-loving, and it's evident he's missing his feline brother. I'm not terribly worried about him; he's never known a stranger and has always been very comfortable around other cats. We just got a two-year-old dog in June (the first one I've ever lived with)--she and our current cat are (slowly) warming to each other. The dog, for her part, is interested in/excited about the cat--there's not a hint of aggression--but the cat's still a bit skittish when the dog approaches at a trot or comes by for a sniff. They'll get there as they learn to speak each other's languages, but it's slightly slow going. I'm not sure if bringing a kitten in would be better or worse--if the kitten would more malleable (basically, having the dog around would just be his normal), or if we should hold out for a more assertive adult cat down the line. What kind of a dog is she? It's a good sign that she's getting along reasonably well with the existing cat, but some breeds and mixes do have stronger prey drives than others, that a tiny kitten might trigger. Other breeds would just be indifferent or try to adopt the kit, so it really does depend upon the individual dog.
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Sep 15, 2019 21:05
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TofuDiva posted:What kind of a dog is she? It's a good sign that she's getting along reasonably well with the existing cat, but some breeds and mixes do have stronger prey drives than others, that a tiny kitten might trigger. She's an Australian cattle dog mix (pit likely accounting for a fair bit of the "mix" part), which admittedly does fall on the higher prey drive end of things. She was around (and we witnessed her getting along with) cats at the shelter we adopted her from; like I said, what drive we've witnessed re: cats has manifested itself mainly as "oh, this is new and I want to run over and sniff it enthusiastically!" We've put in work to curb that instinct and reward calm observation, with quite a bit of success. I'd like to hope those lessons would transfer across cats, but it's obviously hard to say, especially when it's a kitten vs. an adult. And of course, we wouldn't just throw the dog in a room with a kitten (or any cat); there's be a transition period--we were super-conservative introducing her to the other cat(s) and would probably follow a similar trajectory with any new cat we bring into the home.
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Sep 15, 2019 21:41
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As long as you're supervising I don't see a problem with giving it a shot, if things look dicey then plan B was to take the kitten to the shelter anyways. Kitten is more likely to get over their fear of the dog if it's not aggressive than an older cat so hopefully things are chill. It sounds like you're attentive enough to try, and not going to keep the kitten if its unsafe, so go for it!
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Sep 16, 2019 08:40
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My three year old boy has been doing something new. He keeps on trying to escape. He's usually content sitting back as we come in, but he's been waiting for the door to open and dashes out. He usually saunters down the stairs and hangs out until I pick him up, but there are tons of dog walkers in my apartment, and I'm scared he'll run off. What can I do to deter this new behavior? Our downstairs neighbor has been feeding squirrels and we've been getting a regular visitor to our balcony. Could this be the reason he had a newly found interest in the outdoors? Can anyone recommend a good secure harness? I even gave thought to keeping a water spray bottle by the doo, as a last measure. He has a sister to keep him busy, and we make time to play with him. Any ideas?
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Sep 17, 2019 14:15
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A few weeks ago I bought a catwheel, Yesterday one of my cats went on it by herself.  Progress!
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Sep 17, 2019 14:24
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Bioshuffle posted:My three year old boy has been doing something new. He keeps on trying to escape. He's usually content sitting back as we come in, but he's been waiting for the door to open and dashes out. I have an ssscat by my front door, about a foot away. It has a sensor and shoots a puff of air. The cats won't go within three feet of the door. When I get home, they wait for me in the living room. When you need to replace the can of air in your ssscat, you can use a normal air duster can which is bigger and cheaper.
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Sep 17, 2019 15:02
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Sefal posted:A few weeks ago I bought a catwheel, Yesterday one of my cats went on it by herself. That is fantastic progress!!
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Sep 17, 2019 15:53
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JaneError posted:On a similar note, any thoughts on integrating a kitten into a dog household? A former classmate of mine contacted me; her dad found a stray six-week-old male kitten that's in need of a home. I've asked around and my social circle is either full up, allergic, or doesn't have any leads. We recently lost one of our our two cats; the surviving one is incredibly social and affection-loving, and it's evident he's missing his feline brother. I'm not terribly worried about him; he's never known a stranger and has always been very comfortable around other cats. We just got a two-year-old dog in June (the first one I've ever lived with)--she and our current cat are (slowly) warming to each other. The dog, for her part, is interested in/excited about the cat--there's not a hint of aggression--but the cat's still a bit skittish when the dog approaches at a trot or comes by for a sniff. They'll get there as they learn to speak each other's languages, but it's slightly slow going. I'm not sure if bringing a kitten in would be better or worse--if the kitten would more malleable (basically, having the dog around would just be his normal), or if we should hold out for a more assertive adult cat down the line. I've attempted integration with cats and dogs a few times and my experience has been that integrating kittens with adult dogs is much easier than adult cats with puppies. Make sure the first few meetings are supervised. I held the kitten in my lap while my dog came up and sniffed the crap out of the kitten. The kitten hissed once then sort of just stood there. I petted the cat while telling the dog everything was okay. I did another session where the dog did the same thing again, then afterward the dog accepted the kitten as part of the household. The dog and cat were best buds shortly after 
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Sep 17, 2019 17:51
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Bioshuffle posted:My three year old boy has been doing something new. He keeps on trying to escape. He's usually content sitting back as we come in, but he's been waiting for the door to open and dashes out. It is a difficult behavior to correct; mine developed this notion, and I have not been able to convince him out of it yet. I've put a child gate a few feet in front of the door in the meantime. The ssscat that Sarern suggested looks interesting, but I haven't tried it. Also, just in case he does get out - if you haven't had a chance to do it yet, please think about making sure he has a microchip with up to date info.
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Sep 17, 2019 18:51
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seiferguy posted:I've attempted integration with cats and dogs a few times and my experience has been that integrating kittens with adult dogs is much easier than adult cats with puppies. Make sure the first few meetings are supervised. I held the kitten in my lap while my dog came up and sniffed the crap out of the kitten. The kitten hissed once then sort of just stood there. I petted the cat while telling the dog everything was okay. I did another session where the dog did the same thing again, then afterward the dog accepted the kitten as part of the household. The dog and cat were best buds shortly after Thanks for this! I've been in contact with my classmate and as of this morning, the little guy has found a home. Which I'm admittedly a little sad about, but wrangling a young kitten with our work schedules would have been difficult. We'll look into adopting once some time has passed and our pup and existing kitty have progressed a bit more--our cat is SO social, I know he'd appreciate some company, especially when the dog is out of the house for extended periods.
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Sep 17, 2019 19:10
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Sarern posted:I have an ssscat by my front door, about a foot away. It has a sensor and shoots a puff of air. The cats won't go within three feet of the door. When I get home, they wait for me in the living room. When you need to replace the can of air in your ssscat, you can use a normal air duster can which is bigger and cheaper. Could getting a harness and taking him out on walks fix this behavior? Or would it make it worse?
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Sep 17, 2019 19:42
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Bioshuffle posted:That looks interesting! I'll have to check it out. I think the latter is more likely, unfortunately.
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Sep 18, 2019 03:03
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My Salem is doing a butt scoot and licking his butt a lot. He likes to sneak dog food. Indication of something bad or could he just feeling the effects of eating puppy food? He still lets me pet him but he gets very upset if I touch his stomach area. But he just ate a good chunk of wet food, so that’s still good? Macichne Leainig fucked around with this message at 12:54 on Sep 18, 2019 |
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Sep 18, 2019 12:42
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Protocol7 posted:My Salem is doing a butt scoot and licking his butt a lot. I am not an expert, but if his tummy area is still tender or he keeps scooting, I'd take him to the vet. A small amount of puppy chow probably isn't harmful and may not be related to what you've noticed, but his symptoms do indicate that whatever the cause, he is uncomfortable and may need help.
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Sep 19, 2019 04:13
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There was a huge hair ball (well, not balled, just puked up) later that day so I can really only assume he just had an upset stomach from that. He’s fine now, I’ve watched him poop and pee just fine so I don’t think it’s a potty problem.
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Sep 19, 2019 14:47
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I have a vet appointment in a couple of weeks, and last time my vet suggested giving my cat an anti anxiety medication before the trip (night before and day of) because he does really bad compared to other cats and that there was OTC stuff I could get. Is there a good recommendation?
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Sep 19, 2019 18:08
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