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Eggnogium posted:My family has been battling a flea problem with our adult cat for several months now and I’ve completely lost the thread on whether we’re making any progress at all. Get a flea treatment that works. The old Frontline obviously didn't. I can vouch for Revolution. We have to get it from our vet but it works.
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Feb 12, 2021 22:24
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| # ? May 16, 2024 06:06 |
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Remember the flea life cycle- the dying ones now have already laid eggs that need 2 weeks to hatch and then get sick and die and they might lay a few eggs before they do that etc, so yes if you've got sickly fleas you're going to see them for another 2-4 weeks while the generations cycle until they're all dead. Also fleas can survive on furniture or what have you for several months so if she picks up a newly hatched healthy one it can regress until you run out of those too. Please be careful not to overmedicate your cat though, they can become very ill if you do. I just went through this a couple months ago, there never appeared to be any less of them until they were straight up gone.
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Feb 12, 2021 23:08
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Deteriorata posted:Get a flea treatment that works. The old Frontline obviously didn't. The vet was the one that recommended Advantage and told us it was working so not hopeful about getting a scrip from them but we can ask. mistaya posted:Remember the flea life cycle- the dying ones now have already laid eggs that need 2 weeks to hatch and then get sick and die and they might lay a few eggs before they do that etc, so yes if you've got sickly fleas you're going to see them for another 2-4 weeks while the generations cycle until they're all dead. Also fleas can survive on furniture or what have you for several months so if she picks up a newly hatched healthy one it can regress until you run out of those too. That is good to know that it was a sudden drop off. I know not to expect medication to no fleas in a couple days but it is concerning that the volume hasn’t gone down after almost 4 weeks of Advantage and we never once that I can remember have pulled a flea corpse off of her. Shouldn’t some of them be dead and caught in her fur if it’s actually, like, deadly?
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Feb 13, 2021 00:08
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Eggnogium posted:That is good to know that it was a sudden drop off. I know not to expect medication to no fleas in a couple days but it is concerning that the volume hasn’t gone down after almost 4 weeks of Advantage and we never once that I can remember have pulled a flea corpse off of her. Shouldn’t some of them be dead and caught in her fur if it’s actually, like, deadly? Unfortunately 4 weeks isn't long at all once you have a severe infestation.  The treatments you are using ONLY affect adult fleas. You probably have hundreds or thousands of flea larvae living in your carpets and upholstery, eating random debris. Plus eggs and pupa. Nothing you are doing can knock down that incubating population, so you have to wait for each individual to reach adulthood, and then hope any given female dies of poison trying to get her very first blood meal, before she lays her first eggs. You can't do anything about pupa. Those fuckers are out of your hands, and like the jpg says they can sometimes just not come out for months. You can't do much about eggs. You can vacuum obsessively. If she has favorite sleeping spots you could line them with clean towels and wash those every 2 days. Larva in the rugs and upholstery may be reduced by aggressive vacuuming. I've talked about Food Grade Diatomaceous Earth in this thread before, click the ? under my avatar to see the effort posts. The key thing is DE is not a poison, it is a mechanical irritant that is safe for mammals. It could be drying and a little irritating if a baby rubbed it right in their eye though, just like you wouldn't want to rub talc in your eye. For extra safety with a baby you could sprinkle it around at night after putting the baby to bed, then vacuum it up in the morning before letting the kid have floor time. Do that maybe once a week to help catch the critters in the stages between egg and pupa. Or more often if you don't mind the extra vacuuming, it's not poison so you can't accidentally over do it. Oh, and is there any chance your house has mice or rats? Birds or raccoons nesting in the attic? Varmints in a poorly sealed crawl space? Any warm blooded stowaways can be a reservoir for the fleas that will prevent them from ever being eliminated. If the problem isn't getting better after another couple months of aggressive treatment that could be a sign that the cat isn't the only carrier.
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Feb 13, 2021 03:28
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Oh did your vet say anything about treating for worms? If your cat has a bad case of fleas they've probably eaten some flea poop, and that's one of the ways cats get worms.
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Feb 13, 2021 03:31
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Seconding DE and heavy vacuuming along with washing anything you can at the highest temperature (streaming if possible) - that made a hell of a difference when I had to deal with fleas a while ago
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Feb 13, 2021 05:38
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Heroic Yoshimitsu posted:So I’ve had the Litter Robot for almost two weeks now, and so far it has been really great! My cat took to it very fast, she’s not afraid of the sounds it makes when it runs and actually SHE runs to it when it runs to watch it so it’s thing. It’s very cute My cats will both run into the room to watch the Litter Robot spin. Ginny will stand on the little ledge and swat at the clumped litter though like she thinks its not sliding down to the hole fast enough and once in a while some small bits of it will fly out when she does that and I just put it into the bot to be collected next cycle. The Litter Robot is the best pet related purchase I ever made.
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Feb 13, 2021 07:41
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Vouching for the fact that it can take a couple months of consistent flea treatment along with an inspired standard of cleanliness before the fleas start to vanish - and of course, it's important to continue whatever flea treatment for a while after that as well, as I've seen them come back just as bad as a result of not being absolutely punctual and diligent about that. On an unrelated note, my 14-year-old female polydactyl cat Jackie - whom I had always perceived as being timid and shy and not especially aggressive around other cats - has continued to deeply surprise and impress me with what a tough and fearless warrior-cat she has proven herself to be, ever since arriving here and living with other cats (3 of them now) for the first time in 10 years, for her. I was worried she'd get bullied, like she was before I adopted her, especially since one of the cats here (Murfy) was a bit of an established bully, especially to older females like Jackie. Murfy is a seriously tough and strong cat, too - he's a Savannah Cat and so is quite large and muscular, as well as a prodigious jumper and feared hunter. Murfy got into a brawl with a freaking ~100 pound mountain lion last year and survived, albeit after a vet visit but apparently it was dramatic. So Murfy is tough as nails and Jackie is... a soft, cuddly, still slightly overweight housecat whom I've never seen successfully kill so much as a moth. So I was definitely pretty concerned about how Jackie was going to fit in here, most especially with Murfy. It turns out I needn't have worried at all - Jackie stood up for herself from the very beginning, and after the first few days (and I don't even really know how she pulled this off) Murfy actually seemed *afraid* of her! There had only been some posturing and no real fighting that I'd seen, but they seemed to get along fine - and if anything, Murfy was fearful of Jackie, which I've had difficulty believing is really true - at least until yesterday. It was early in the morning and I had gone out to start my car. When I got back inside Murfy had heard me and was meowing insistently at the door, wanting me to let him out - something I couldn't do. I petted him a few times, laughing and telling him that I couldn't let him out, and he got a bit annoyed at me - which is uncharacteristic of him but not entirely out of the ordinary - and clawed at my hand with a surprising amount of force, even hissing at me which made me recoil. Less then a *second* after this happened, Jackie just FLEW out of nowhere and was immediately between me and Murfy, hissing and spitting at him and furiously chasing him around the perimeter of the room and back up the stairs in another second. It was seriously impressive - in 10 years I had never seen Jackie behave like that before, for any reason. I was pretty touched that she was so clearly protecting/defending me, and to be honest it was pretty touching. I've never had a pet swoop in and defend me before like that.
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Feb 13, 2021 13:43
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Thank you for all the flea advice. Going to add DE to our routine and ask the vet again about other medicines that might work.
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Feb 13, 2021 15:38
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Heroic Yoshimitsu posted:So I’ve had the Litter Robot for almost two weeks now, and so far it has been really great! My cat took to it very fast, she’s not afraid of the sounds it makes when it runs and actually SHE runs to it when it runs to watch it so it’s thing. It’s very cute We've been using the thing since September and the poo poo gremlin still run over to investigate where it's taking his poop Also speaking of the poo poo gremlin This is the closest he's come to sleeping in a cute cuddle with Bean in the almost 4 years we've had her 
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Feb 13, 2021 22:28
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The assholes used to watch it and bat the turds out of the LR when it cycled. No you jerks, the whole goddamn point was that I no longer touched your poop
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Feb 13, 2021 22:51
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kw0134 posted:The assholes used to watch it and bat the turds out of the LR when it cycled. No you jerks, the whole goddamn point was that I no longer touched your poop Omg one of mine does that (or did) and I had to use a water bottle to finally get her to stop. On occasion she runs over and watches it but she’s not swiping at stuff and making the LR stop. Side note I bought them a pack of these and they just can’t get enough of them. SPOT Ethical Products Ethical Wide Colorful Springs Cat Toy https://www.amazon.com/dp/B000CMKHDG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_glt_fabc_ENDEPCND4NZVKKSGFP7J They both will spend a good hour chasing it or bringing it to me to throw for them. They are amazing. I have wood floors though so it probably helps that they spin all over the place and stuff.
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Feb 13, 2021 23:12
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Mixed-good news: both kittens went home today. Had to be sedated in the morning (to wrap up medication I think?) and even with that they were still worked up enough to nearly shake the carriers out of my hands. Hoping it's a good fit. I always have mixed feelings about adopters, I'm sure things will work out but people are often really bad at inspiring any faith in them during the adoption pickups. Fingers crossed. I still wish I knew how to make Jasper happy though. Odd little guy who just wants to rub his face against my hands/arms/legs and pace around in my lap. Happy enough and purring and whatnot when he does, just doesn't feel like it's very "happy" for him all together. Maybe I'm just overthinking it. Would at least like him to eat normally - shelter staffing limitations mean it's pretty much a free-feed situation, and even then he's really skinny & small. Enough that I've been asked if he's an older kitten before. I can't imagine his chronic upper respiratory issues are helping with that, but no long-term treatments that will really work for him that have been found with any vet so far.
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Feb 14, 2021 00:21
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 Kira has arrived home  e: https://streamable.com/h4z6we cat cat cat cat cat biosterous fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Feb 14, 2021 |
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Feb 14, 2021 00:35
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edit: claimed. enjoy!!
durrneez fucked around with this message at 22:44 on Feb 16, 2021 |
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Feb 14, 2021 17:05
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I can head over to grab it on Tuesday unless anyone is closer or wants it more
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Feb 14, 2021 21:14
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Does anyone have a litter robot referral code kicking around?
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Feb 17, 2021 01:52
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textbookOrigins posted:Does anyone have a litter robot referral code kicking around? http://share.litter-robot.com/396lWT
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Feb 17, 2021 01:57
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Thanks!
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Feb 17, 2021 01:59
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Trip report: I did not get murdered or abducted by durrneez, and I am posting this of my own free will Zoe and Star are already 100% on board with the litter robot, and even if the automatic part isn't working (yet) with this one, it's awesome to just be able to push a button to have it scoop automatically. Totally worth pulling the trigger if anyone's on the fence about them
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Feb 17, 2021 03:59
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I asked here before, and on Reddit, but I didn't get much of a reply: How can I get my kitten to stop picking on my dog? Every time he sees her he just wants to pounce on her. Even if she's just sleeping in bed, he wants to come up and bat at her head. I've tried squirting him with a squirt gun when he bothers her, or picking him up and depositing him directly in cat jail (a soft zippered playpen that he sleeps in at night) but it's only seemed to teach him that he's gotta wait until the humans aren't around. And even when we ARE around, he still wants to run around and kinda half-pounce on her then zoom away before we can respond. It feels like he's playing a game -- let's see if I can attack the dog then run under the bed before I can get sprayed or thrown in jail. The poor dog has had health problems in the past and I don't want her to have to be constantly on guard for this cat picking on her, and she's a timid, gentle little girl who doesn't want to fight with him. She's a little dog, so the kitten is starting to catch up to her in size, too. She snarls and snaps at him when he acts up, but he doesn't always run away when she does -- I think he just thinks she's playing with him. I'm not sure what we can do!
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Feb 18, 2021 17:25
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Phenotype posted:I asked here before, and on Reddit, but I didn't get much of a reply: How can I get my kitten to stop picking on my dog? Get another kitten. I'm serious. Kittens are assholes, and they have More Energy Than You. If you have two kittens they'll take out a lot of their energy on each other. If you don't want a kitten who's going to relentlessly attack and annoy and play with everything and everyone... don't get a kitten. That's what they do.
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Feb 18, 2021 17:55
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Phenotype posted:I asked here before, and on Reddit, but I didn't get much of a reply: How can I get my kitten to stop picking on my dog? Kittens gonna kitten. Your only option is to keep them physically separated or find a way to keep the kitten occupied. Lots of toys in another room, maybe There isn't really much that can be done, which is why no one has given you a magic solution. Eventually the kitten will grow up and settle down.
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Feb 18, 2021 18:06
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Cythereal posted:Get another kitten. This. Kittens (and any young animals) are inherently playful--it's a part of their development. In our case, we have a young cat and dog who will frolic all day, as well as an older cat. Kitten has realized older cat has no patience for her feisty moments, but is good for snuggles and grooming sessions, while the dog is her favorite playmate. Another kitten will keep her enriched, engaged, and wear her out.
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Feb 18, 2021 18:56
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Can confirm, getting two kittens was a good idea.
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Feb 18, 2021 19:27
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Yeah, we adopted a kitten because it would be less threatening but our other cat is also still pretty young so we figured it was fine. It is, but hooly poo poo did we underestimate rear end in a top hat kitten energy. Daily beatdowns were necessary for little Kimchi to chill the gently caress out for a minute and there are still incidents where we have to separate them because she can be relentless. I don't have any advice beyond "this is normal" but at least we've noticed she's calmed down some over time. v  vSpeaking of kitten energy, it was so sad seeing her all ginger and wobbly after she's been spayed and I worried so much about her going nuts and ripping her stitches, but tomorrow she has her post-op check and her recovery seems to be going well. She was adorably miffed about having to wear her little shirt but now it's off she seems back to her old self again. 
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Feb 18, 2021 19:47
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I bought one of those flea traps that costs more than soapy water but can't be drank by an rear end in a top hat cat. So far after 3 days it's caught 0 fleas which I'm hoping is a good sign. We're going to by more medicine from the vet next week for the march dose. Should we give the cats a bath again? They're still fairly traumatized from the last one and won't go in the bathroom
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Feb 18, 2021 21:35
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Make sure to put the trap in a high-traffic area and move it around if it isn't catching anything, basically anyplace close to where they sleep a lot is good. Honestly the flea trap we got didn't catch many fleas but it did get a decent amount of other small insects so I felt like it was an okay purchase. You don't want to over-bathe them because it dries their skin out and they'll get dandruff. They need to maintain a certain amount of oil in their coats which bathing will strip out too. Just keep combing the fleas out and vacuuming, you'll get them all eventually.
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Feb 19, 2021 03:50
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mistaya posted:Make sure to put the trap in a high-traffic area and move it around if it isn't catching anything, basically anyplace close to where they sleep a lot is good. Honestly the flea trap we got didn't catch many fleas but it did get a decent amount of other small insects so I felt like it was an okay purchase. We've put it by both cat beds and under our bed so far just some cat hair
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Feb 19, 2021 04:10
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We got some silvervine sticks for the guys and when we bring them out for them to play with when I hold it up to them they smell down the length of it like they are appraising a fine cigar.
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Feb 19, 2021 04:21
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Len posted:I bought one of those flea traps that costs more than soapy water but can't be drank by an rear end in a top hat cat. So far after 3 days it's caught 0 fleas which I'm hoping is a good sign. We're going to by more medicine from the vet next week for the march dose. Should we give the cats a bath again? They're still fairly traumatized from the last one and won't go in the bathroom I've never found bathing super effective for cats. It's only going to target the ones one the cat at the moment of the bath, so it misses most of them. Dog flea baths might have some residual effects, but the cat shampoo has to completely rinse off so the cats don't lick too much of it and get sick. Even if you've got a cat that doesn't mind baths you can't do it often or it fucks up the cat's skin. Not worth it.
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Feb 19, 2021 06:16
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Thumposaurus posted:We got some silvervine sticks for the guys and when we bring them out for them to play with when I hold it up to them they smell down the length of it like they are appraising a fine cigar. My cat really loves the smell of ricola throat sweets. If there's a wrapper lying around, she'll go out of her way to get it and gnaw on it. She's even developed a bit of a theory of mind for the purpose, where she'll keep track of what the humans are looking at, and then pounce on the wrapper when we're not paying attention. She's not allowed to have the wrapper both because I worry she may swallow the paper, and because we don't want her to stash them in inaccessible places.
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Feb 19, 2021 06:28
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Do any of you guys have nightly rituals for your cats other than feeding? Growing up, my family had indoor/outdoor cats so at most it was persuading the cat to come inside at night, be fed or eat food that had already been put out and then sleep on my bed. Playtime with a cat toy was a spontaneous ad-hoc activity because the cats got plenty of exercise and simulation being outside all day and playing with toys was just a bit of extra fun. Now, our kittens are fully indoors (we do plan to harness train once the weather gets nice), which means we need to play with and exercise them more so they don’t turn into neurotic lards. They do get a good amount of physical activity in throughout the day chasing each other all over the house. We started playing with them before we put them to bed to drain zoomies so they wouldn’t be riled up and claw at the door/carpet. And we gave them treats at the end so they could feel like they were eating their kill. This has evolved into this... orthodox ritual performed by my husband in which he plays with the kitties for like half an hour until they are completely and utterly worn out and insists they need to concentrate and poo poo (like got upset when I popped in one time to say goodnight because I broke their concentration  ). They’re just kittens who need some energy drained, not dogs doing agility training, so I’m wondering if the seriousness or intensity is necessary. If I’m on kitty bedtime duty I’ll play with them for five or so minutes until they are sufficiently pooped/calm, give some treats and leave. Results in terms of nighttime behavior seem about the same as the rigorous sessions.My husband has never had cats before (or any pets, really), so it is new to him. I feel like he expects more dog-like behavior from them, hence being more prone to yelling “no” and other basic commands at them when they are misbehaving. On the other hand, my response to bad behavior is to treat them like dumb toddlers and sweetly tell them no and pick them up from whatever they’re doing and put them down somewhere else. This does kind of create a good cop/bad cop dichotomy but I hope we can improve it as my husband learns the Tao of cat.
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Feb 19, 2021 08:04
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Butters and Milly both follow me upstairs for bedtime. Butters stands next to my pillow and purrs into my ear while Milly loafs on top of me. I'll scritch Butters for a while until she gets bored and she fucks off to go poop then pick a fort warms to sleep in. Once Butters is gone, Milly paws at my pillow to be let under the covers for about 5 or so minutes of pettings but she eventually leaves too and then I can finally to to sleep. If I go upstairs without making sure Milly knows, she will sit downstairs and howl in the dark until I get back up and yell to her so she knows where I am, then she'll come bounding up the stairs and hop on the bed like normal. Cats
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Feb 19, 2021 19:28
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Ours will follow us to the bedroom, putter around for a bit and then Katya will settle at the foot end (preferably in between someone's feet) and Kimchi will want to get under the covers for a cuddle. Once a night I'll be woken up by Katya who wants her turn under the covers and she usually burrows down deep, she will be extremely offended if Kimchi is already under there and leave in a huff. The kitten is a total cuddle bug so we haven't had a lot of issues with her adapting to our rhythm, she's always just happy to be there. 
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Feb 19, 2021 19:41
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Man, we taught our kitten to play fetch. Or rather, he really kinda taught himself since we were throwing his toys for him. Now we never get to stop playing fetch (it's very cute)
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Feb 20, 2021 01:13
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Sam: Howling at the screened porch door because I need to go OUTSIDE right NOW!!!! Me: "It's 40 degrees out and pouring rain you muppet." Sam: NOOOOOWWW!!! I open the door. He looks out there. Looks up at me, offended, like the rain is my fault somehow and won't I go turn it off please. I close the door. He continues to sulk on the rug for the next hour. Cats.
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Feb 20, 2021 01:19
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The cats aren't allowed in the bedroom overnight, so I used to lure them out with treats but now I just close the door at all times and we do treats before bed anyway just as a bedtime ritual. Pepper does tricks like stand up and hi-five to earn treats, Peridot's trick is come-here-and-let-me-pet-you. It's kinda nice because it means if I try to stay up late I have to deal with them getting upset because it's Treats O'clock but there are no treats yet.
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Feb 20, 2021 02:58
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CAT poo poo ISSUE. So around Xmas my cat Bug started having runny stools. Like super soft serve or liquid poop. Got her to the vet, got some metro, everything cleared up. Until last Saturday. Liquid poo poo is back. I have shower curtain liners all over my bedroom floor, for easier cleanup, and she isn't allowed out of my room. The one time I did let her out, she ran to our litter box area (5 of them) in the living room, and poo poo puddles around the boxes, before running back to my bedroom. Took her to the vet. They said she looks fine, advocated some new food (she refuses to eat anything but the dry Kirkland brand. No wet food, no cooked chicken or eggs, etc. Kibble is her only food.), and to add fiber dust to her diet if she refuses the new food. Said fiber on her usual food made the runny stools more liquid. I asked the vet for more metro, no reply yet. The only thing in the house that has changed has been Little Rat, a foster-adopted kitten who has hit spayed puberty, and has grown; she runs amok in the house and plays with the other cats, never Bug, who hates/chases her out of my bedroom if Rat gets inside. So I am wondering, stress related? No sign of parasites in the stool, her appetite is great, she snuggles in bed and wants attention all the time. Stress, maybe separation anxiety being locked in my room during the day when my mom works from home? I have noticed a droop in her tail lately but when I pet or touch it, she doesn't react with pain. Ideas, goons?
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Feb 20, 2021 06:13
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| # ? May 16, 2024 06:06 |
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That sounds a lot like the issue I am having where my big black floof girl Hera HATES my new kitten. He is obsessed with her and will follow her around copying her if he is not jumping at then trying to bite for play times. As a result she has started making GBS threads on the carpet next to her favourite litter tray if he has used it at all. Unfortunately he uses all litter trays and so my dining room is now a horrible chamber of cat poo poo stink. For some reason she never twigged that she was literally six times his size and so had no reason to fear him and he will actively bully her off her heat pad or chase her out of the room when I am giving her attention. Even now she is over twice his size and she survived just fine as a stray for months - I have seen her pick fights with big male adult cats so I am not quite sure why this little guy always seems to win face offs.
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Feb 20, 2021 16:32
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