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Lost my 17-year-old Norwegian Forest Cat Buki to cancer a few months ago.  He was fine in January, but things went downhill so quickly. Finally had to make the call in April once he could no longer eat. One of the hardest decisions of my life; I'm used to living out in the country and having indoor/outdoor cats that have the agency to wander off when they know it's their time. Fortunately we've got an amazing service here that helps them transition after assessing QoL and they were very reassuring that we made the right decision. It went as gracefully as I could've hoped and they allowed us to keep his body so we could bury it on my girlfriend's land. I tend to wait a while before getting a new pet, but I was offered this amazing 8-week old kitten this past weekend from a litter my friend was trying to house. She was the only one left. Her name is Sputnik and I'm teaching her to perch on my shoulder.  Has anyone here leash trained their cat? I get lots of conflicting information as to whether it's a lovely thing to do or not.
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Aug 13, 2021 19:23
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I leash trained our current two cats when they were kittens. Both of the tolerate the harness well, but as they matured one of them decided she's a house cat and refuses to go outside. The other one loving loves it (who happens to be a norwegian forest cat) and every day at 5pm she's at the door bawling to put her leash on and go tour the backyard. Whichever type of cat you have is irrelevant IMO, getting them tolerant of a harness will be useful someday. If they like to go on walks it's a giant bonus.
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Aug 13, 2021 19:36
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Princess, you literally came out to the garage and saw me changing the loving litterbox. Why in the actually godforsaken gently caress did you just protest-poo poo on the floor next to where the box goes as I was putting it back?
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Aug 13, 2021 19:43
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astronautism posted:Has anyone here leash trained their cat? I get lots of conflicting information as to whether it's a lovely thing to do or not. Sorry for your loss. I know how that goes with cancer in cats. It's horrible how quickly it can progress. 17 years is a good long life. We leash trained two indoor-only cats from kitten age. They never minded the harness too much. Both saw the trips as a mild little adventure, tramping around and sniffing things. One was content to sit and observe the world after a while (or even from the carrier), while the other moves at high speed and requires effort to keep up with outside. Be ready for scares that send them trying to run. Always remember that they can maybe wriggle out of a harness moving backward, so try to stay behind them so any pulls would be forward. Unless your carrier is close, be ready to earn some scratches if they panic and you need to grab them. Our cats never scratch us in anger, but when in panic mode it can happen when they try to scramble away. "Trained" may be the wrong word for our cats, but they seemed to like it. I think you have the right idea starting young so they see it as a normal thing.
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Aug 13, 2021 19:57
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incogneato posted:"Trained" may be the wrong word for our cats, but they seemed to like it. I think you have the right idea starting young so they see it as a normal thing. https://www.youtube.com/c/TravelersGarden/featured I stumbled on this youtube channel once, the lady seems to have done a pretty stunning job to literally training her cats. She'll even do off-leash walks with them. I don't think mine have the temperament for it, and I'm a bad trainer too, but there is video proof it's possible. 
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Aug 13, 2021 20:18
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Oh yeah, I don't doubt it's possible. I just meant I wouldn't describe our cats as "trained". More like tolerant and willing to enjoy a little adventure now and then. We don't take them out often enough to justify actual training, in part because we lived in a condo in the city until recently which meant driving to a quieter park each time. Also because we're lazy.
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Aug 13, 2021 21:18
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Organza Quiz posted:Can't burrito a cat who violently doesn't want to be burritoed. https://twitter.com/SaraQDavid/status/1331287244959838213?s=20
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Aug 14, 2021 00:34
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D34THROW posted:Finally got a new comforter because our old one had been pissed on so many times. Two nights ago Prinny hopped up and more or less pissed on my wife as she slept. The last time that happened to me, it was because she had a UTI (and thus associated the litter box with pain, and thus pissed wherever else she could only when she was bursting and couldn't wait any longer...). Might be worth checking with a vet? It's not necessarily a big deal, mind you, I got to buy expensive vet food for her forever after but otherwise she was fine.
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Aug 14, 2021 11:38
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As thanks for having to read about my cat dramas, here is Peridot looking loving stupid (I asked them not to lion cut her and just take her matted bits off but I guess it ended up simpler for them just to lion cut her) 
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Aug 14, 2021 17:07
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I feel awful about it but I can’t help but laugh at cuts like that, they remind me of poo poo like big head mode cheats in old videogames
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Aug 14, 2021 17:19
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feedmegin posted:The last time that happened to me, it was because she had a UTI (and thus associated the litter box with pain, and thus pissed wherever else she could only when she was bursting and couldn't wait any longer...). Might be worth checking with a vet? It's not necessarily a big deal, mind you, I got to buy expensive vet food for her forever after but otherwise she was fine. She's been checked. It's not a UTI, she's just a serial bedpisser. Voiding either her bowels or her bladder on the bed is how she tells us she's mad that my wife isn't home. Or that my wife is out of town. Or that the litterbox isn't clean enough - as it was in this case. Or that the box fan is half a degree out of whack with how she likes it. As an example of the wifely presence thing, when my wife is out of town, Prinny will crap in her spot six or seven out of ten times, even with a freshly-changed litterbox.
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Aug 14, 2021 17:20
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I'm moving to a bigger apartment next month; any suggestions to make the move easier for my cat? He is 10 years old and not as active as he once was, but I want to make the move as easy as possible for him.
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Aug 15, 2021 05:51
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astronautism posted:Has anyone here leash trained their cat? I get lots of conflicting information as to whether it's a lovely thing to do or not. I have, but it's been kind of useless. We have an enclosed yard that they get attended time in and our street is too busy for walks. I vaguely had this idea of using it to clip her to the backseat of the car to make vet-trips less stressful but ehhh. Never bothered with our second cat, I prefer to make them do high-fives and have them sit for dinner.
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Aug 15, 2021 10:26
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I made friends early this morning, the little tortie is obsessed with me and tried to get into the house.  https://twitter.com/invisiblemonkey/status/1426839513427496963?s=20
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Aug 15, 2021 10:38
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I just found a cat tooth laying on the ground. I found one other like 2 months ago. I can’t say for sure how long this one has been there, but I don’t think more than a day or two. I’m not sure how to tell if these are baby teeth falling out or not? She was born sometime in February. I didn’t even know cats had baby teeth until just now. She’s an extremely bitey cat who just loves to chomp on anything and everything. I’m worried that’s causing it. drunken officeparty fucked around with this message at 21:08 on Aug 15, 2021 |
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Aug 15, 2021 21:03
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drunken officeparty posted:I just found a cat tooth laying on the ground. I found one other like 2 months ago. I can’t say for sure how long this one has been there, but I don’t think more than a day or two. I’m not sure how to tell if these are baby teeth falling out or not? She was born sometime in February. I didn’t even know cats had baby teeth until just now. Cats do have baby teeth, but they usually don't fall out, they just swallow them. At about four or five months old they can have a funny phase where there are two parallel long teeth in each corner of their mouth. Can you look in her mouth and see if all her teeth are still there? If she's missing a canine, I'd definitely see the vet to be safe. Also, if the cat is dropping tooth like things around the house, check if it could be toenail sheaths. Those look a bit like teeth, but it's totally normal for cats to drop them.
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Aug 15, 2021 21:15
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It’s definitely a tooth. I’m pretty sure I can see a gap where it should go, sort of the middle of one side of her mouth. Definitely not the front stabby fangs. E: really hard to get a picture. It’s missing from where the arrow is. 
drunken officeparty fucked around with this message at 21:26 on Aug 15, 2021 |
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Aug 15, 2021 21:21
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drunken officeparty posted:I just found a cat tooth laying on the ground. I found one other like 2 months ago. I can’t say for sure how long this one has been there, but I don’t think more than a day or two. I’m not sure how to tell if these are baby teeth falling out or not? She was born sometime in February. I didn’t even know cats had baby teeth until just now. That's how I found out too, haha. I found a couple of tiny teeth when Kimchi was losing them, vet confirmed her adult teeth came in just fine. I'm actually considering having one tiny pair gilded and made into creepy jewellery.
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Aug 15, 2021 21:30
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Organza Quiz posted:As thanks for having to read about my cat dramas, here is Peridot looking loving stupid (I asked them not to lion cut her and just take her matted bits off but I guess it ended up simpler for them just to lion cut her) Oh bless, she looks so unimpressed! My foster cat has started eating litter. I know this is potentially a sign that he's ill, which I already know because he's on medication awaiting an operation, but I'd prefer to get him some plants to nibble on instead. Has anyone tried growing cat grass from seeds? He's not allowed out so can't feast on the garden buffet.
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Aug 15, 2021 23:00
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Lady Demelza posted:Oh bless, she looks so unimpressed! Yeah you can get 'cat grass' seeds in most pet stores or garden centers. It's oats. Oat grass grows faster than lawn varieties, lawn grass varieties are selected to be short and slow-growing to make lawn maintenance easier. In my experience it tends to get manky looking after a while, then turn yellow and fall over. Starting a new pot of seeds every few weeks can help. Only let the cat have the new pot once the seedlings are well established, otherwise they'll just pull them out roots and all.
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Aug 15, 2021 23:19
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We have a grass loving cat and she loving loves crab grass. My neighbors probably hate me for having it but gently caress it, it grows nice and tall and it's easy for her to chew on the big blades and it keeps her poo nice and solid. Won't touch the normal lawn grass though, she doesn't even like to walk on it.
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Aug 16, 2021 02:47
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drunken officeparty posted:It’s definitely a tooth. I’m pretty sure I can see a gap where it should go, sort of the middle of one side of her mouth. Definitely not the front stabby fangs. kitten teeth generally shouldn't fall out until the new tooth is there to push it out, so there being an actual gap is not ideal, vet time probably
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Aug 16, 2021 05:55
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Weird behavior question: My boy butters does this weird thing when you stroke along his spine at a moderate pace where he yowls but also purrs like the dickens and licks you until you continue. Something to be concerned or cats be cats? Worried I might be hurting him when I do that.
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Aug 16, 2021 08:28
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WombatCyborg posted:Weird behavior question: My boy butters does this weird thing when you stroke along his spine at a moderate pace where he yowls but also purrs like the dickens and licks you until you continue. Something to be concerned or cats be cats? Worried I might be hurting him when I do that. Reasonable scratchies are always nice, maybe try to get a sense of if the skin seems weird or scaly or anything problematic, otherwise your cat probably just likes attention on that area.
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Aug 16, 2021 08:47
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Lady Demelza posted:Oh bless, she looks so unimpressed! We have a grass loving cat and started just buying wheat grass seeds in bulk from the local hippie store instead of the $$$ they charge on Amazon for "kits". Seeds and a bag of coir and you will have a multi year supply of cat grass. As soon as we give him a new pot of it we start the next batch by the time the first one starts looking lovely the new batch is ready to go and the old one gets tossed in the compost. The other cat doesn't care about grass at all.
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Aug 16, 2021 10:23
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Martman posted:In my experience a lot of cats have a ton of sensitivity on their backs, especially their lower backs. Sometimes they're just often itchy there especially because their tail placement makes it hard for them to rub against something to scratch those spots. Very common for cats to start salivating and lick stuff when you scratch an itchy spot like that, the yowl probably is just like a "whoooaaaa dude that's intense" kinda thing. That's what I figured, was just worried it might be a nerve issue or something, never seen a cat react to pets with that reaction before.
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Aug 16, 2021 11:17
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I churn out batches of cat grass as fast as I can. Aleta can kill a small planter pot's worth in 15 minutes flat. Like, actually kill. But they're so easy. I just keep recycling the same soil since the grass grows so quickly and gets mowed down equally quickly. It will absolutely get yellow, dry, and icky after a while if it doesn't get snarfed, though. I no longer buy sacrificial plants after the lemon verbena incident and she killed my big spider plants and all fifty of their babies I saved for her to eat, so cat grass is the last thing left.
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Aug 16, 2021 11:51
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I miss being able to own spider plants.
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Aug 16, 2021 13:14
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owls or something posted:I miss being able to own spider plants. My cat has chomped down my spider plants pretty determinedly, she especially likes to eat the babies. I just let her, she deserves a bit of fun in her dreary indoor life.
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Aug 16, 2021 13:29
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We have a fake potted palm in the living room that for the longest time, 2 of the cats attempted to eat. Morons put holes in the fabric.
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Aug 16, 2021 14:18
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I am literally trying to find a tray the exact size and shape of my windowsill so I can move the plants off whenever Her Fartness demands to sit and stare at people in the swimming pool.
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Aug 16, 2021 15:03
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Kitten has started softly mewing when she poops. It doesn’t sound like a painful noise, more like the noise she makes when she plays with a toy. I don’t know if I should worry about a blockage or UTI yet because there is no other symptoms, she eats both wet and dry food and drinks plenty. No peeing on anything, no blood in urinate as far as I can tell. Should I freak out yet or wait and see. Do cats just really enjoy pooping and make satisfied noises?
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Aug 16, 2021 16:59
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Continuing the cat poop discussion: Has anyone tried the Petkit Pura X automatic box? It seems to be more aesthetically (and space wise) appealing, but 100 more dollars than the litter robot, and support being "eh" at best. However, it seems like if nothing goes wrong, it's overall a much better product. Should I go with the new hotness, or just get the litter robot and put up with it's quirks
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Aug 16, 2021 22:16
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I have no complaints with the LR and the product has been around for like 10+ years at this point so I’d be hard pressed to say to go with something more expensive.
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Aug 17, 2021 08:53
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She woke up normal, went and gave her the morning can of food. She chomped it all down. 45 minutes later  it all back up. Then she meowed sadly at me and threw up 3 more times in 10 minutes but just little liquid puddles.At least it wasn’t on carpet. I’m sure it’s just an upset tummy from eating too much or too fast, but I hate worrying so much 
drunken officeparty fucked around with this message at 12:09 on Aug 17, 2021 |
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Aug 17, 2021 11:55
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Ball Tazeman posted:Kitten has started softly mewing when she poops. It doesn’t sound like a painful noise, more like the noise she makes when she plays with a toy. I don’t know if I should worry about a blockage or UTI yet because there is no other symptoms, she eats both wet and dry food and drinks plenty. No peeing on anything, no blood in urinate as far as I can tell. Should I freak out yet or wait and see. Do cats just really enjoy pooping and make satisfied noises? Fyodor makes this face when he poops like pursing his lips(or whatever you call cat lips). Sometimes pooping  💩
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Aug 17, 2021 13:22
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I got my first cat last Thursday! She's about a year old and so far she's actually been really easy. She uses the litterbox, scratches only her scratching post, and lets me pet and hold her with no squirming. She's still spooked really easily and returns to her hiding spot at the drop of a hat, but I assume that will get better over time. However, she meows loudly all night, pretty much as soon as we turn off the lights. I saw the advice in the FAQ is to keep her active during the day. I have been playing with her with a wand before bed but I guess I'm not getting her tired enough. I ignore her meowing completely but it's crazy loud and I can hear it even through my earplugs. Are there any self-play toys you'd recommend? Something like an auto-laser? Anything else I should look into or think about for nighttime meowing?
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Aug 17, 2021 15:27
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Yowling is a general attention seeking behavior. You can train them out of it long term by not giving them attention when they do it, but probably not completely. She may just need more attention or if your circumstances allow it perhaps a second cat. She might just want more friends.
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Aug 17, 2021 15:33
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It's only been a few days, she might also just be sad and confused. Give it a week or two to see if she settles down. If she's still running to hide at noises she probably doesn't yet understand that she's in a safe secure place that's her territory just for her, I have a cat who yowls in that situation and I always see it as her going "Here I am! Come get me whoever you are! I'm not scared!!"
Organza Quiz fucked around with this message at 15:37 on Aug 17, 2021 |
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Aug 17, 2021 15:35
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dantheman650 posted:I got my first cat last Thursday! She's about a year old and so far she's actually been really easy. She uses the litterbox, scratches only her scratching post, and lets me pet and hold her with no squirming. She's still spooked really easily and returns to her hiding spot at the drop of a hat, but I assume that will get better over time. something that will move when she kicks it is a good thing for her to be able to chase around, a small ball or something vaguely round, though it may well get stuck under furniture and if it's hard it might make noise bouncing off the walls or there are lots of things along these lines which are similar except without the possibility of the balls getting lost
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Aug 17, 2021 15:35
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