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Len posted:does anyone with a Surefeed have any experience with it flashing read and making a horrible grinding noise? Because one of ours is doing this rather than letting a cat eat. Have you charged the battery and cleaned it recently?
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Jul 17, 2021 14:26
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InvisibleMonkey posted:I've pulled all sorts of mystery plastic bits out of Kimchi's mouth, if she's ever swallowed any it hasn't seemed to bother her though. I think it might be a dumb baby thing where they use their mouth to explore new/unusual items? Hopefully most of them grow out of it.
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Jul 17, 2021 14:29
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Dienes posted:Have you charged the battery and cleaned it recently? the batteries should be fine, we've only had the things since May what part would get cleaned? edit: this isn't the angry yelling, but here is the sound it makes every time it closes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDqO-UEJqY Len fucked around with this message at 14:41 on Jul 17, 2021 |
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Jul 17, 2021 14:34
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Len posted:does anyone with a Surefeed have any experience with it flashing read and making a horrible grinding noise? Because one of ours is doing this rather than letting a cat eat. Constant flashing or like once every 5s? The latter I think is low battery, which can also lead to a really sluggish "ugggggh I can't do this" motor sound. Otherwise not sure, but their customer service has been quite good in my experience. Although the back invasion-proof cover I ordered in May hasn't turned up, but I think that's Brexit. Re eating things, our Maple loves the kind of thin plastic that you get around a set of plastic bottles, or the bag that hangs out the edge of the litter box. We were freaked out because her sister Peanut was eating litter before she died to try and compensate for her low blood count, but Maple's bloods are fine and she just likes the texture I think. Also packing tape as others have said. We just keep an eye that they're both still eating and pooping. Silly creatures!
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Jul 17, 2021 14:46
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Bobstar posted:Constant flashing or like once every 5s? The latter I think is low battery, which can also lead to a really sluggish "ugggggh I can't do this" motor sound. Otherwise not sure, but their customer service has been quite good in my experience. like i press the open button and it doesn't open, takes a pause, turns solid red and lets out this horrible grind sound when it's not yelling at me it's not flashing any sort of colored light
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Jul 17, 2021 14:50
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I feel very lucky that the only non-catfood thing either of mine seem actually interested in eating is houseplants; Cinnamon ate most of a maidenhair fern and enjoys nibbling on my long-suffering marantas. I grew some catmint in a pot for her which she completely ignored, of course. Loki likes licking plastic but not eating it, and, completely inexplicably, he eats the petals of my geranium but only the ones that have already fallen off the plant  I caught him chewing on my silk scarf recently though and one corner of it is full of teeth holes now 
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Jul 17, 2021 14:53
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Len posted:like i press the open button and it doesn't open, takes a pause, turns solid red and lets out this horrible grind sound I guess I don't understand the resistance to at least trying fresh batteries first.
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Jul 17, 2021 16:24
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Dienes posted:I guess I don't understand the resistance to at least trying fresh batteries first. Because there's supposed to be a low battery warning right? Like a steady red flashing that tells you "hey time to change these" according to the manual I don't have that, I have no light at all until it tried to open and then it gargles hell scream at me So either it's broken and the low battery indicator doesn't work, or it's broken and doesn't want to open
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Jul 17, 2021 16:29
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mistaya posted:Two adult cats who aren't already friends can be very hit and miss and I wouldn't recommend it for a first time cat owner. It could go just fine but it's a dice roll, and there's a lot of extra work involved in getting adult cats to co-exist happily even if goes well. Yeah, and I absolutely have lost that dice roll, multiple times. Made for very stressful situations.
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Jul 17, 2021 16:32
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Dead batteries aren't gonna make gears start grinding. It's broken. Best case some dried food got inside it and is getting chewed up by the mechanism. But if it's new I'd just do a warranty call.
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Jul 17, 2021 16:32
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Len posted:Because there's supposed to be a low battery warning right? Then why post here when you've already exhausted all the options you are willing to investigate and have already determined the problem?
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Jul 17, 2021 18:20
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It’s not too hard to open up a Surefeed. Take batteries out, unlock the sliding mechanism and remove the sliding door (if you look at it top-down, it’s the little gray switch with an unlock and lock icon). Then it’s just four Phillips screws on the back to remove the cover. Our disabled cat tends to shove her kibble into the crevices and inside of the machine proper, so I have to open it up about once a month to clean it out. My guess is one of the gears has something caught in it or is off track.
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Jul 17, 2021 18:47
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Dienes posted:Then why post here when you've already exhausted all the options you are willing to investigate and have already determined the problem? Because I'm trying to see if anyone else has had one of their feeders give a red light and the screeching and grinding of gears? illcendiary posted:It’s not too hard to open up a Surefeed. Take batteries out, unlock the sliding mechanism and remove the sliding door (if you look at it top-down, it’s the little gray switch with an unlock and lock icon). Then it’s just four Phillips screws on the back to remove the cover. see like this
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Jul 17, 2021 18:50
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Len posted:Because I'm trying to see if anyone else has had one of their feeders give a red light and the screeching and grinding of gears? You had two people tell you that a low battery can also cause some struggling noises and be resolved with fresh batteries, so what you really wanted was people telling you what you wanted to hear. I had the exact same issue and it just needed a recharge but gently caress me for trying to help I guess.
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Jul 17, 2021 18:58
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Dienes posted:You had two people tell you that a low battery can also cause some struggling noises and be resolved with fresh batteries, so what you really wanted was people telling you what you wanted to hear. I just took the batteries out of feeder 1 and put them in feeder 2. Feeder 2 does not have this grinding noise when it closes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4RDqO-UEJqY Putting the batteries from feeder 2 back into 1 it still makes that sound when it closes If it were batteries the sound should have stopped on feeder 1 and moved to feeder 2. This isn't a sound of struggling it's a solid red light and an incredibly loud grinding noise
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Jul 17, 2021 19:09
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Len posted:I just took the batteries out of feeder 1 and put them in feeder 2. Feeder 2 does not have this grinding noise when it closes Then I guess your feeder is broken. Look online for troubleshooting and repair advice or contact the manufacturer for a replacement if it's under warranty.
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Jul 17, 2021 19:15
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Well, they found out what's causing Toffee to have diarrhea since the start of the month. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. No mention was made of any sort of GI issue or a need for special food when I adopted him, and the food they were feeding him at the shelter was prescription only, so I couldn't keep feeding it to him, but drat, I feel like I screwed up  Especially since one possible cause is parasites, and even though Toffee's fecal tests came back negative, Oreo's was positive for giardia
Davin Valkri fucked around with this message at 23:37 on Jul 17, 2021 |
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Jul 17, 2021 23:35
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Davin Valkri posted:Well, they found out what's causing Toffee to have diarrhea since the start of the month. Inflammatory Bowel Disease. No mention was made of any sort of GI issue or a need for special food when I adopted him, and the food they were feeding him at the shelter was prescription only, so I couldn't keep feeding it to him, but drat, I feel like I screwed up Then the shelter screwed up, not you. Not only should they have told you about the need for prescription food when you took him home, they should have checked if you could adopt a cat with a long-term medical need. Plenty of people couldn't take on that responsibility so they really dropped the ball here.
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Jul 18, 2021 00:24
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Lady Demelza posted:Then the shelter screwed up, not you. Not only should they have told you about the need for prescription food when you took him home, they should have checked if you could adopt a cat with a long-term medical need. Plenty of people couldn't take on that responsibility so they really dropped the ball here. He didn't have diarrhea or anything while he was at the shelter. They mentioned the need for dental work, which I acknowledged. The diarrhea only showed up after about a month in my care.
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Jul 18, 2021 00:25
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Shelters can't really do full batteries of health tests on every cat they take in, so sometimes stuff slips under the radar, especially if it wasn't presenting while he was at the shelter. Hell, part of it might have been that he wasn't eating very much because of the dental stuff, so fixing his teeth let him pig out and only then did the IBS show up. Most of these cats come into the shelter system with ??? on their medical record because they were either strays, or surrenders from people who found them and have no idea, or from people who didn't give a poo poo when they were small and have no idea, so there is definitely a few months of figuring out what any given adopted cat's medical needs are. You don't have to look for blame most of the time, this stuff is pretty common. We have had stories in here of new adoptions suddenly presenting much more serious conditions so as stressful as the IBS was/is it's not 'surprise liver failure' or 'surprise brain cancer', it's manageable and Toffee will still get to have a great life.
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Jul 18, 2021 12:19
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Davin Valkri posted:He didn't have diarrhea or anything while he was at the shelter. They mentioned the need for dental work, which I acknowledged. The diarrhea only showed up after about a month in my care. Ah, my mistake. I thought he was on prescription food for his problem poops and they didn't communicate this to you.
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Jul 18, 2021 17:26
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I've gotta say, it kinda blows me away just how much Jackie's continuing to thrive living up here at high altitude with several much younger cats. I really didn't know whether it would be a disaster or not, initially. And then when we adopted Mini-Scratcher (a semi-feral 8-month old kitten) in January, I wasn't sure how that would work out, either - especially when Mini attached himself to Jackie, to her initial dismay, and she seemed to be constantly growling and hissing at him for acting affectionately towards her. It's all worked out remarkably well, though - in the last few weeks, Jackie seems to have rediscovered her jumping ability, at age 14 no less! She was always a dreadful jumper, and at the height of her obesity she could barely get airborne. Murfy, being half Savannah Cat, can literally jump about 6-7 feat high (no exaggeration) so maybe that inspired her? Playing with Mini-Scratcher and chasing him around also must have helped. Jackie acts annoyed and somewhat hateful towards him, but at least half of it is an act - I mean, she'll follow him around sometimes just to keep up the act, so she can't really hate it all that much, right? It's deeply satisfying just to see how happy and content she is in general, though. She seems so much more energetic and engaged with the world than she was a year ago. Being able to let her go outside as much as she wants makes a world of difference to her, even though she stays inside about 90% of the time, still.
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Jul 19, 2021 03:16
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After several varied attempts at getting my Extremely Anxious Cat into a carrier to get her to the vet to deal with some matts, the vet suggested I give her some gabapentin first (they were initially reluctant without examining her first but I just cannot get her in the carrier as is so they decided better to just allow it). Anyone have experience with just how much gabapentin sedates/relaxes super paranoid jumpy cats? I feel like I still need to strategise even if she is sedated, she is that impossible to handle.
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Jul 20, 2021 16:17
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It doesn't sound to me like drugging your cat every time you want to get her to the vet is very sustainable. I'd recommend getting a bigger carrier (like one for dogs, or one of these), and burritoing your cat in a big, thick towel when you try to put her in.
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Jul 20, 2021 16:43
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Rotten Red Rod posted:It doesn't sound to me like drugging your cat every time you want to get her to the vet is very sustainable. I'd recommend getting a bigger carrier (like one for dogs, or one of these), and burritoing your cat in a big, thick towel when you try to put her in. Thanks I have been trying absolutely everything at intervals over two months now and it is not a question of needing more advice on how to get a cat in a carrier. I have tried it all, trust me. This is a last resort.
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Jul 20, 2021 16:48
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Fair enough.
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Jul 20, 2021 16:58
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Organza Quiz posted:After several varied attempts at getting my Extremely Anxious Cat into a carrier to get her to the vet to deal with some matts, the vet suggested I give her some gabapentin first (they were initially reluctant without examining her first but I just cannot get her in the carrier as is so they decided better to just allow it). Anyone have experience with just how much gabapentin sedates/relaxes super paranoid jumpy cats? I feel like I still need to strategise even if she is sedated, she is that impossible to handle. it makes my shy cat sleepy. he was still anxious but sedated enough that he wasn’t meowing for 6 hours for 5 days in a row while we were moving across the country. my fat one didnt need it until the last day. gaba made him a lot less bitey and scratchy. he didnt fight being put in the car like he did 30 mins before i gave him the meds. hope it works out for you. durrneez fucked around with this message at 17:07 on Jul 20, 2021 |
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Jul 20, 2021 17:05
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Seconding trying a bigger carrier. One of my cats was absolutely impossible to get into a small carrier, and theorizing that maybe they found it claustrophobic, I bought a hilariously oversized one (MP Bergamo BRACCO 5), and now it is a complete non-event to herd them inside. They'll even hang out inside the carrier at home.
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Jul 20, 2021 17:24
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We bought the 'go pet club crate' which is also extremely huge because we take our two cats to the vet as a pair so we needed something bigger. But the secret weapon with it is the top loading hatch. It makes it easy to cover the cat's eyes and scoop them into it before they know what's going on. We have relatively tolerant cats though, no hissing or flailing for us.
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Jul 20, 2021 17:44
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Organza Quiz posted:After several varied attempts at getting my Extremely Anxious Cat into a carrier to get her to the vet to deal with some matts, the vet suggested I give her some gabapentin first (they were initially reluctant without examining her first but I just cannot get her in the carrier as is so they decided better to just allow it). Anyone have experience with just how much gabapentin sedates/relaxes super paranoid jumpy cats? I feel like I still need to strategise even if she is sedated, she is that impossible to handle. i've used gabapentin for my cat a few times now for cross-country road trips. the vet told us how much a full dose was (sorry, I don't remember the amount) and had us try a half dose a few days before to make sure there were no bad side effects. half dose did basically nothing for him (11 lbs adult cat). full dose took about an hour or two to kick in and then he'd just be quiet and calm in his carrier. no crazy meowing or pawing to try to get out
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Jul 20, 2021 22:16
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xzzy posted:We bought the 'go pet club crate' which is also extremely huge because we take our two cats to the vet as a pair so we needed something bigger. Just took one of mine to the vet this morning after getting behind on things from quarantine. She wouldn't go in the smaller mesh carry bag thing, so I got the bigger plastic carrier and just unscrewed the top and set her in. Is that not an option for most rigid small-to-medium pet carriers? I agree gently caress trying to force them in through the little door if they don't want to go. Something like this where the whole thing can just split in half: 
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Jul 21, 2021 00:16
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How long does it normally take for a cat to return to normal behavior after a 24 hour stay at the vet?
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Jul 21, 2021 05:52
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SoggyBobcat posted:How long does it normally take for a cat to return to normal behavior after a 24 hour stay at the vet? Totally dependent on the cat. I've had some that wouldn't trust me for days afterwards, and I've had others that were back to normal the moment they jump out of the carrier.
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Jul 21, 2021 06:15
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How many days could we be talking about here?
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Jul 21, 2021 19:15
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SoggyBobcat posted:How many days could we be talking about here? Literally completely cat dependent. I'd say more than a week would be concerning.
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Jul 21, 2021 19:18
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Okay, we're only on day 2 so it's good to know there's still time. Poor kitty had to have fluids drained from his lungs and now he's on heart medication. He mostly lays down in the hallway, ignoring all his old sleeping spots and is barely eating, though he is drinking.
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Jul 21, 2021 19:31
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SoggyBobcat posted:Okay, we're only on day 2 so it's good to know there's still time. Ok yeah for invasive procedures, imagine how crappy you feel after a major surgery, and now imagine you're a cat that doesn't have any real concept of medicine and things sucking now so they don't suck later
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Jul 21, 2021 19:34
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A cat that I recently rescued HATES the carrier to the level that he goes no 2 in there literally every time you put him in. I tried both 100mg and 200mg of gaba and it didn't help either. I was at the point where if I had kept him any longer and needed to drive him around, I was going to let him ride on the floor in the back of the car and just drive slowly.
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Jul 21, 2021 20:51
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I have to wait until Mel is sleeping and then quickly scoop her up - usually swaddled in her blanket so she can't jump out - bring her into the shower and close the door, and then have my roommate follow behind me and throw the carrier over the shower door in. Then it's a five to ten minute fight to force her into the carrier, because she will constantly hook her claws into the edges and try to force her way back out. Multiple scratches every time. I have tried everything over the years to make this situation better: different carriers, treats in the carrier every day for her to find, eating in the carrier, toys in the carrier, nothing works. She has a sixth sense for when I actually plan to close her up in there and she fights me to the bitter end over it. Thankfully she generally only needs to leave the house twice a year: once for her check-up, and once to come with me to my parent's for Christmas.
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Jul 21, 2021 21:20
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I leave the carriers out and put in towels, toys, etc. to make it inviting and the cats seem to associate it with a safe place to be. Not everyone has the space to do that, but the more you normalize being around or in a carrier the less drama there is. And when at the vet when they're done, they troop back into the carriers by themselves because...it's a safe spot away from those mean vets. (Your mileage may vary)
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Jul 21, 2021 21:28
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