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There's nothing about a side flop that's universal cat language for "play", it just seems like that's your cat being a weird little snowflake like all cats.
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Oct 9, 2019 01:46
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my two cats flop over when they see me holding the brush.
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Oct 9, 2019 01:52
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My cat flops when one of the dogs act interested and try to sniff his bum It's apparently really effective because they immediately get bored and move on He also does a weird little pop off his front paws when he wants pets, like a shoulder check except he misses completely  he's my sweet little moron
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Oct 9, 2019 01:54
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Synthbuttrange posted:Is the mom anywhere to be found? Anyway there's a dedicated foster/rescue thread here with experienced people! https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3768887 I know the mom and she hasnt been around lately. I'm in the process of TNRing all the neigborhood cats and she is my white whale. I first noticed the kittens a week or so ago and Ive been feeding them in the garage but havent seen the mom. They seem to be about 5 or 6 weeks old. I guess the plan now is to hang on to them until they are old enough to be spayed and then find a home for them. I'm kind of nervous because Ive never handled such tiny little kittens before. Thanks for the link, that thread seems like the kind of info i need 
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Oct 9, 2019 02:01
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Rotten Red Rod posted:There's nothing about a side flop that's universal cat language for "play", it just seems like that's your cat being a weird little snowflake like all cats. Yeah, on one hand there's universal cat body language, but on the other hand there's all sorts of stuff that individual cats will end up using as signals as they trial-and-error ways of talking to the weird big hairless cat that doesn't understand them properly.
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Oct 9, 2019 03:06
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Pellisworth posted:I have a question about cat posture/behavior. Wozo willingly accepts petting when she's in cat loaf or curled up into a ball, but when she flops on her side that seems more like playtime mode. If I my hands or feet go near here when she's on her side flopping around, she will bat at them (not with claws though). If I try to pet her like that she squirms and bats at me and I'm pretty sure that's communicating "no touch, want to play." She also does that when I'm trying to pick her up and she doesn't want to be, I go to scoop her up and she'll immediately flop roll on her side and use her paws to defend. So are you just not playing with her when she flops on her side? I'd be using my hands and petting and batting back and having fun with her when she is flopping around. But maybe I'm just weird in that I have absolutely no qualms about using my hands as play toys for my cats. And it doesn't mean that the cats always see my hands as a toy.
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Oct 9, 2019 03:52
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My cat has used [flop over two feet out of hand's reach] to signal "give me belly rubs" ever since the first night I met him as a stray outside my parents' country house like eight years ago. His consistency in being out of reach is a remarkable lifetime feat.
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Oct 9, 2019 03:56
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TMMadman posted:So are you just not playing with her when she flops on her side? I'd be using my hands and petting and batting back and having fun with her when she is flopping around. I dunno, I kinda don't want to encourage her playing with hands. I have some peacock feathers which she loving loves to play with which is my goto. I interpret [side flop paw bat] as "gently caress off" because she does it when I try to pick her up and she doesn't want to go anywhere. It sort of seems like a defensive position for her because she goes after my hands and feet when she [flops]. Not with claws out, but I'm really uneasy with her batting at my body parts.
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Oct 9, 2019 04:20
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It can be casually defensive because it lets her kick with all four, but she might be flopping into defensive position because she wants to play bat. I think you'd probably need to read other cues for any given time.
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Oct 9, 2019 04:29
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MikeJF posted:It can be casually defensive because it lets her kick with all four, but she might be flopping into defensive position because she wants to play bat. I think you'd probably need to read other cues for any given time. Yeah, the ears are the main cue. If they're forward, she's happy and wants to play. If they're back, she's defensive and ready to fight.
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Oct 9, 2019 04:35
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MikeJF posted:It can be casually defensive because it lets her kick with all four, but she might be flopping into defensive position because she wants to play bat. I think you'd probably need to read other cues for any given time. yeah, it's a fairly casual defensive position because while it gives her more of an opportunity to rabbit kick with her back feet, it also makes her stomach somewhat more vulnerable. And I'm pretty sure you wouldn't really see that move happen in a fight between two strange cats, so I feel like it's really only a move that happens during play time
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Oct 9, 2019 04:35
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okay thanks! but how do I combat heinous cat farts??
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Oct 9, 2019 04:37
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Pellisworth posted:okay thanks! 
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Oct 9, 2019 04:41
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Pellisworth posted:okay thanks! Diet. Milly had the most horrible death farts and it took me a year of food changes to nail down that she's allergic to fish AND find a food without fish that she'll actually eat and doesn't make her barfy. Fish allergies are surprisingly common in cats.
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Oct 9, 2019 04:55
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Aggghhhh Pudding you goddamn idiot! I was cooking some mince. I wasnt paying attention and he's dug up the packaging and ate the whole sheet of wax? paper that the mince was on in the package. I'll keep an eye on him and hope he poops, the goddamn idiot.
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Oct 9, 2019 10:01
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Synthbuttrange posted:Aggghhhh Pudding you goddamn idiot! I was cooking some mince. I wasnt paying attention and he's dug up the packaging and ate the whole sheet of wax? paper that the mince was on in the package. Tell Pudding there's better food. (Also here's hoping he's ok!)
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Oct 9, 2019 12:33
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I’m sure this happens all the time and hopefully I’m not breaking any conventions here, but I got a Cat Mystery for our goonish cat experts. My wife and I adopted a 2 years old cat from the shelter last week that we’re calling Pearl (she’s tiny and all white :3). Apparently Pearl was originally owned by an old woman who passed away 2 months ago, so she was a housecat her whole life, then in a shelter for 2 months, and now at our house. I believe the shelter spayed her recently as well because she seems to still be somewhat shaved. Pearl seems to be acclimating to our household well for the most part. She’s started warming up to our cat Penny who we’ve had since she was a kitten, (and Penny’s warming up to her) and she’s starting to let her personally show a bit now. My issue is this: Pearl goes through fits where she meows constantly. It’s mostly in the morning when we’re getting ready for work but it also happens when I’m home for lunch or in the early evening. If I was trying to have a conversation with her, I wouldn’t be able to get a word in edgewise. It’s just “meow, meow, meow, meeeeooow, mow. Mow. Meow meow meow...” We wondered if she was looking for affection but petting and scratching her only seems to briefly distract from the vocalizations rather than abetting them. My wife thinks she’s just vocal but it seems more to me like she wants something specific because sometimes she’ll get my attention, wait for me to approach, and run out of the room like she’s trying to lead me somewhere. This morning it finally dawned on me: maybe her previous owner gave her regular treats or tuna or something that she’s missing from us? We’ve been feeding her a mix of dry and wet food and, even though she is skinny, both naturally and probably from the shelter, we’ve been sure to feed her plenty and make sure she knows where her food is (and that she’s eating, which she is). I plan on picking up some tuna and cat treats today but what do y’all think? Is she just chatty or is she trying to tell us something?
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Oct 9, 2019 12:46
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Is she meowing at you in particular or just enjoying the sound of her own voice? Also how's her hearing? Is she deaf and testing her voice?  Throwing her treats when she meows WILL lead to more meowing, you realize? Synthbuttrange fucked around with this message at 13:09 on Oct 9, 2019 |
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Oct 9, 2019 12:58
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Synthbuttrange posted:Is she meowing at you in particular or just enjoying the sound of her own voice? Definitely at me or my wife, I never hear her just doing it from the other room for no reason or anything. I never thought about her hearing...I think she can hear okay though? Seems to react to sound appropriately as far as I can remember, but I’ll definitely do some checks when I’m back home again today
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Oct 9, 2019 13:10
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She might just be being a cat! Either that or you'll figure out what she wants eventually, it could be literally anything. One of my cats always goes through a phase as she gets braver in a new environment where she feels the need to yell individually at every object in a room. Best I can tell it's some sort of bravado "I'm not scared of whatever's here come and get me!!" meow but who knows really? Giving her treats for talking will definitely cause more rather than less.
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Oct 9, 2019 16:14
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Do check her hearing, but if that's ok, it could also be an invitation to play chase, especially if Penny is not inclined to race around with Pearl. I'm of two minds about joining in on the chase because while it's fun for both of you, I really want my cat to not run away from me in an emergency. So when mine wants to do this, I break out the nerf golf balls and throw one down the longest straight stretch of floor that we've got. He chases, I go to him, and we do it again. And again. (And again...) My first cat decided he liked to fetch, and so for him, I'd toss the ball up the stairs and he'd race up and bring it back down. We'd do that until he was a very tired, happy cat. Anyway, it might be something to try. We love our nerf golf balls  :
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Oct 9, 2019 16:16
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It sounds like she's asking for play more than food or pets - at least that's where my mind first went. If you try the nerf balls and she doesn't respond you could also try the small plastic springs they make for cats, or a ribbon/wand toy.
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Oct 9, 2019 16:37
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Also, where is she meowing? She might be asking you to open doors.
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Oct 9, 2019 17:28
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Hey all cat friends. The weather is getting chilly and YOSPOS's favorite heated cat beds are on sale. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00YGZ84P8 https://www.amazon.com/Pet-Products-Thermo-Kitty-Heated-Mocha/dp/B07HMLDPDJ
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Oct 9, 2019 17:44
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Okay, so her hearing seems fine, no issues there just as I suspected. It could definitely be that she wants to play! We'll try to get her going with some ribbons or plastic balls later. Duly noted re: handing out treats, perhaps that plan was a bit short sighted I just want to give her whatever she wants! She seems to desperate to communicate whatever this is!Definitely not looking to get into any doors, this usually happens in our upstairs hallway and bedroom and there are no regularly closed doors to be found in that vicinity. Thanks for the feedback everyone! If we ever figure out what the hell she's meowing about I'll y'all know. Hell, maybe she is just talkative. That's totally fine, it's not particularly annoying (yet), just want to make sure she's happy!
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Oct 9, 2019 17:44
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What colour are her eyes? Deafness is common in white cats, but even more common in white cats with blue eyes.
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Oct 9, 2019 17:48
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The idea that there's some routine playtime or something that she's expecting sounds pretty plausible: cats can be fairly extreme creatures of habit at times.
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Oct 9, 2019 17:52
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Boogalo posted:Hey all cat friends. The weather is getting chilly and YOSPOS's favorite heated cat beds are on sale. I got the second one and my idiot cat wouldn't even go near it. I think I got him to voluntarily put a paw on it one time. Gave it away after a couple months of that.
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Oct 9, 2019 18:04
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So my friends kittens are now about 6 weeks old, I will be making a larger post later. I am planning to adopt one of these two fuzzos: 
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Oct 9, 2019 19:04
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Only 1!?
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Oct 9, 2019 19:07
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I live in a studio and the waitlist for an actual 1 bedroom is... years away. I would take two if there was the space for the litter boxes/cat hair. A bin full of fuzz: 
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Oct 9, 2019 19:11
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Hello cat thread new owner here, I recently adopted 2 domestic short hair females, at approximately 10 weeks old (they were abandoned so best guess), they've been vaccinated, neutered & microchipped before I got them, and socialised with a surrogate mother for a few weeks before I adopted. So far things have been going great, they're eating plenty (wet food, felix for kittens) I'd been a bit concerned over they're tendency to not be at the water bowl a lot (but they do drink from it, the wet food means they're not very thirsty I guess?). However, I've discovered over the last two nights that one of them is peeing somewhere other than the litter box, the odd thing is A)only at night B) only upstairs (so far) C) she happily pees in the litterbox during the day D) after her most recent little accident on the guest bed, she then proceeded to go poop downstairs? Also the urine appears to be completely odourless where as her sisters is not (she went to pee shortly after Betty went to poop). I've read the OP and currently only have 1 very large litter tray recommendation is more due to having the 2 kittens, but since day one they both seem happy to use the same tray so I didn't think it was an issue. I'll be buying a second tomorrow. I'm still scratching my head as to why she's gone pee outside the litter tray, but only at night time, and only last night and tonight (I've had them a week)? I've seen her pee in the tray during the day? I only learned of the first instance of rogue pee from the second instance tonight, the pee on my jumper was so odourless I thought I'd spilt something on it and forgotten only now have I twigged it was her. Also of note the two accidents were in different locations, but adjacent rooms upstairs. It's possible there's been 1 or 2 other incidents that I am still unaware of due to their main living area having a dark carpet, but the complete odourlessness of the 2 known incidents means there could be more and I'm unaware. Any ideas as to what's going on? I can't see it being a medical issue when she's peeing in the tray during the day, but am having a trip to the vet just to be on the safe side. Betty & Olive, it's betty on the left having the issue 
rocket_Magnet fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Oct 10, 2019 |
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Oct 10, 2019 01:53
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I would actually recommend you get 2 litterboxes, so that you will have three of them in the house.
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Oct 10, 2019 02:11
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Is it like really far away by kitten standards? You're mentioning upstairs and downstairs, so having one tray on each level would be a good idea to start, they just might not be able to hold it in.
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Oct 10, 2019 02:16
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rocket_Magnet posted:Hello cat thread new owner here, I recently adopted 2 domestic short hair females, Get a couple more litter boxes. Cats are very fastidious and tidy, they're also weird assholes. Wherever your cat is making GBS threads/pissing, plant a litter box and they'll quickly get the idea. You can pick them up and scrape their claws in the kitty litter if they are absolute morons who don't understand "poo poo here you idiot" edit: after you have them trained to a litter box you can slowly move the litterbox to where you want it. A couple inches a day. Cats hate new things, they're very much creatures of habit. Pellisworth fucked around with this message at 02:28 on Oct 10, 2019 |
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Oct 10, 2019 02:25
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Yeah, for kittens that young, navigating stairs can be a big deal, and it sounds like maybe her bladder control isn't the best yet? Definitely have at least one box on each floor, even if it seems like overkill. EDIT: Also, if it hasn't been said yet, make sure to clean everything she pees on with enzymatic anti-urine cleaner (Nature's Miracle is the go-to and available at most pet stores). You want to thoroughly break down the scent indicators in pee, because any that linger will mark something as a Pee Here Zone, and conventional detergent won't do it well enough for a cat's sense of smell. Antivehicular fucked around with this message at 02:30 on Oct 10, 2019 |
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Oct 10, 2019 02:27
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Yeah, just because you can't smell her pee doesn't mean that she can't smell the spot.
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Oct 10, 2019 02:32
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The vet visit and extra litterboxes with at least one upstairs are good ideas, and they may solve the problem. Given that ths only occurs during the night, as odd as it sounds, you could also try putting a night light on the path to where the current pan is. Most cats do see really well in darkened spaces, but it can still sometimes freak them out a little bit. One of my cats suddenly decided that the stairs were too scary at night, and her out-of-box episodes pretty much stopped when I put a night light where it could illuminate the stairs and the downstairs pan just a little bit.
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Oct 10, 2019 02:33
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Thank you for the quick replies. They'd both been using the single litter tray from the first day I got them so thought I may be ok, but I'll go pick up another pair of them. I'll also get a night light and put one of the trays upstairs as "it's dark and it's too far to the litter tray" idea sounds like that maybe what's going on. I've had them a week and it's only yesterday I let them out of the living room and out into the rest of the house including upstairs. Both accidents have been upstairs and at night so I'll see how she does with the improvements. Much obliged
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Oct 10, 2019 03:01
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rocket_Magnet posted:Thank you for the quick replies. They'd both been using the single litter tray from the first day I got them so thought I may be ok, but I'll go pick up another pair of them. I'll also get a night light and put one of the trays upstairs as "it's dark and it's too far to the litter tray" idea sounds like that maybe what's going on. I've had them a week and it's only yesterday I let them out of the living room and out into the rest of the house including upstairs. Both accidents have been upstairs and a night so I'll see how she does with the improvements. Much obliged Oh yeah, then it's almost certainly a case of not really knowing the house well enough. And they will still probably both use all the litter trays, it's just easier because cats are weird and especially with kittens giving them multiple places to go helps them learn to go in the box. edit - the general rule of thumb is 1 litter box for each cat plus an extra one, even if they have no qualms about using the same litter box. It's sort of a territory thing. TMMadman fucked around with this message at 03:10 on Oct 10, 2019 |
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Oct 10, 2019 03:07
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