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Can you feel the ribs easily? If yes, then he's a large but healthy lad. If no, then he could stand to lose weight. That's the typical metric regardless of breed.
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Aug 30, 2022 18:59
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owls or something posted:It really does sound like maybe giardia, and the vet should just give you the $10 worth of harmless-to-try pills without needing to test first. Poor poopy kitty. Don't have to go outside to get it. I’ll harangue them into testing it and giving us meds, and I’ll inspect when I get home - thanks! Oh yeah, are the pills different from metronidazole? I’ve been trying to give him the pills for a while now, though I’m not always 100% successful  but I’m intent on finishing the regimen.Edit: I’m also gonna buy some backup boxes and regularly swap them out…and figure out how to bleach the gently caress out of them when it’s time to clean. Pollyanna fucked around with this message at 20:00 on Aug 30, 2022 |
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Aug 30, 2022 19:53
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wanna pet that cat
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Aug 30, 2022 21:20
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That is exactly what the vet said when I brought him to them for the first time with all the aids and phone people circling around to look. He like to bite peoples feet to make people pay attention to him so this is a shoes required household - especially while dealing with boiling water. Odd story - he just showed up on my porch one day meowing at my door - obviously wasn't feral. Took him in and put him in my bathroom to keep him away from the other cats. We took him to the vet and he was microchipped. When we got home we just released him into the house. His microchip was never registered, so we posted found cat flyers, posted on nextdoor, called other vets and shelters. No one ever responded so he ended up being my cat. Someone just dumped him, which is rather common here, not really people in the neighborhood, Drexel and Penn students because it was about that time where they got out of school - this super friendly cat. - My cat now and I registered his microchip to me. I mean he can be a bit of a dick (he's a cat) but he has never drawn blood and his slaps on my head when I go to walk up the steps are always claws-in. E: kw0134 posted:Can you feel the ribs easily? If yes, then he's a large but healthy lad. If no, then he could stand to lose weight. That's the typical metric regardless of breed.
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Aug 31, 2022 00:38
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 please work 
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Sep 1, 2022 00:12
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Goons, I could use some advice. I adopted a new cat a little over a month ago. Apart from the usual difficulties with introducing a cat to a new home, things have been fine. She's been active and friendly, and has been eating, playing, and using her litter box like any healthy cat. In the last couple of days, however, she seems to have become afraid of me. She'll rub against me and cry for food, and even sit on my lap when it's available, but when she sniffs my hand she immediately recoils, and either runs away or attacks if I persist. There has otherwise been no change in her behavior that I've seen. Does anyone have an idea of what might have caused this? How worried should I be? 5-Headed Snake God fucked around with this message at 04:21 on Sep 1, 2022 |
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Sep 1, 2022 02:40
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I've had my oldest cat for 6 years now and she still basically does the same thing. Sometimes she tolerates pets but usually she'll turn into rubber to avoid getting petted then sits down somewhere else just out of reach while staring at me. I've learned to give her space because that's the kind of cat she is and have come to appreciate the cute moments I get where she just gets real into a belly rub out of nowhere. I wouldn't be too worried, if it's only been a month she may still be getting adjusted to living with you too.
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Sep 1, 2022 03:47
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explosivo posted:I've had my oldest cat for 6 years now and she still basically does the same thing. Sometimes she tolerates pets but usually she'll turn into rubber to avoid getting petted then sits down somewhere else just out of reach while staring at me. I've learned to give her space because that's the kind of cat she is and have come to appreciate the cute moments I get where she just gets real into a belly rub out of nowhere. I wouldn't be too worried, if it's only been a month she may still be getting adjusted to living with you too. I'd be less concerned if she'd been this way from the start, but she's been fine up until now. You may be right that it's nothing, but the abrupt change still concerns me.
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Sep 1, 2022 04:22
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A hand soap we used for a while made one of our cats really aggressive towards us. No hissing or anything but if we pet her just after washing she would start trying to attack our hands like it was one of her toys. Assuming something similar is happening here, it might be worth trying to figure out if the reaction is related to getting something on your hands.
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Sep 1, 2022 04:29
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5-Headed Snake God posted:I'd be less concerned if she'd been this way from the start, but she's been fine up until now. You may be right that it's nothing, but the abrupt change still concerns me. It might just be that she's gotten comfortable enough to express boundaries? I think some cats are like that.
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Sep 1, 2022 05:26
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Stool tests came back negative - not sure what’s up. Will get detailed results via email.
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Sep 1, 2022 14:10
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This was when we first got him about a few days after he showed up on my porch meowing at my door and before I put him on a diet:
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Sep 1, 2022 15:22
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nunsexmonkrock posted:This was when we first got him about a few days after he showed up on my porch meowing at my door and before I put him on a diet:  Holy cow that's a big cat! One of our boys has gotten pretty big, he was a lot slimmer in the shelter but at the same time we can still feel his ribs easily. He basically only eats 2/3s a cup of food+ a little bit of special dry food for joint feeding time each day, which is probably about right. What's weird is if we just give him 2/3s a cup he scarfs it all down immediately, but if we fill the bowl he grazes on it through the day instead and still eats the same amount. Guess he just gets worried when the bowl is emptier 
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Sep 1, 2022 19:31
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Can I rant real quick about how unrealistic guides for introducing cats are for people who live in small homes? I have a small one bedroom (600ish square feet) and I wanted to get a younger cat companion for my old man who has been a little depressed since we moved out of a multicat household last year. Every single one of these guides seems to assume you live with at least one other person in a place with a spare bedroom, spare bathroom, and/or multiple floors. It's nearly impossible to follow these guides when you live on your own and only have one bathroom and no spare rooms. It was not realistic to keep the new cat completely isolated from my older cat in the bathroom for more than a few days. I need to use that bathroom sometimes! Some of these guides even say if the cats so much as see each other, you have to start over! If I had followed that guide they would have never been introduced. There was absolutely no way for me to keep the cats separated in such a fashion--the new cat desperately wanted out of the bathroom and would come charging out at every opportunity and my older cat was intensely curious and can open doors. Then there's the feeding them on the opposite side of the door thing. God just try to do that when you're a single person and your bathroom door is old and difficult to open and close. I spilled so much cat food trying to get them setup and half the time one or both of them would end up in the opposite room that they were supposed to be in, eating each other's food. I think there is a definite need for guides to cat introductions that are written for small homes and with a recognition that accelerated timelines may be needed, even if they are less than ideal. That being said, I managed to get the cats introduced and was comfortable letting the new cat out supervised by day 3, while I was sleeping by day 6, and while I was away from home by day 8. Here's what worked for me: After the first 24 hours of isolation for the new cat, I started scent swapping in the morning. That evening I did location swapping for an hour, putting my old man in the bathroom and letting the new cat roam. After two days I would play with them both separately until they were super tired, feeding them a big meal so they were stuffed, and then opening the door and sitting on the floor between them while they learned to interact with each other. They were so lethargic that aside from a stay growl or hiss, there were no issues. Usually my old man would be a little curious but after a few minutes he'd go pass out in one of his favorite sleeping spots leaving the new cat to roam. I would do this for an hour in the morning and 2-3 hours at night. On days 3-6, I let her out all day while I worked from home. There were a few hissy and growly moments but I broke them up and they were fine. I still put the young cat back in the bathroom to sleep at night. The night of day 6, I slept with them both out and about and had no issues. They've had a few play sessions since that have turned into little tiffs but they seem to be getting along just fine now. They are starting to get a little cuddly even. Here they are: 
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Sep 1, 2022 19:57
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Took my kitties to the vet for their first visit today and they said everything was fine with them. They also said they were pleasant to work with while trimming nails and getting shots. My little angel babies. The one problem is they weighed the cats in kilograms so now I have to try to remember what 1.44kg and 2.88kg (Artemis is literally twice Orion's weight) are in pounds. I'm sure Google can help but if I don't post it somewhere I'll forget it soon
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Sep 1, 2022 20:10
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Yeah it's a problem. When I was a vet tech I often had to deal with clients asking about this exact thing because every resource out there assumes you live in a house. Looks like you did good, though, A+ cat cohabitation going on in that photo 
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Sep 1, 2022 20:39
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TTBF posted:Took my kitties to the vet for their first visit today and they said everything was fine with them. They also said they were pleasant to work with while trimming nails and getting shots. My little angel babies. Approx 3.2 and 6.4 pounds respectively.
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Sep 1, 2022 21:25
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Trebuchet King posted:Approx 3.2 and 6.4 pounds respectively.
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Sep 1, 2022 21:29
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Weird Pumpkin posted:
My Porch Kitty (Just a name because we found him on the porch) use to howl at me if his bowl was anything less than half full. God it was hell when he was on his super expensive prescription food (Royal Canin S/O + Hydrolized protien). Stuff was like $90 for a small bag. I would have to lock him in the bathroom for a couple hours because he was a cat that nibbled over a few hours. Then the other cats would just eat their food. E:I now and forever hate laptop keyboards. nunsexmonkrock fucked around with this message at 22:59 on Sep 1, 2022 |
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Sep 1, 2022 22:53
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Pollyanna posted:What’s cleaning like? My main problem with cat fountains is how often you have to clean them, and at that point it will simply be more prudent to ensure a water dish is always clean by emptying it, washing it, and replacing it - easier with a daily dish. I hate all cat fountains. One that I had would vibrate and walk away if it was anything less the full to the brim. Other one that I told my husband not to buy because they tend to leak the water all over. He bought it anyway and guess what - it started leaking water from the tank - also it was a bitch to clean. Another the pump just randomly died even with a filter in front of it to stop cat hair blocking it. I just use a gravity waterer that I can put a carbon filter into now. E: sorry for posting twice in a row, I should have edited my last post - too late now though. nunsexmonkrock fucked around with this message at 23:23 on Sep 1, 2022 |
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Sep 1, 2022 23:19
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On the subject of cat fountains, are there any that use 3-prongs for their power adapters? Ungrounded and water don't mix well, I feel.
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Sep 2, 2022 10:45
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My cat just walked over on her own accord and opened her auto-feeder to get dry food after feeding her wet food after like 6 months of owning this thing I think I could cry  Still a long way I think from her realizing she can just go shove her head in that thing for food instead of bothering me every time she's feeling peckish but this is huge progress.
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Sep 2, 2022 15:40
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explosivo posted:My cat just walked over on her own accord and opened her auto-feeder to get dry food after feeding her wet food after like 6 months of owning this thing I think I could cry  We got lucky that all 3 of the cats we have had just immediately understood how to use our chip feeders and were totally ok, more than ok even, with the litter robot
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Sep 2, 2022 16:43
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Tree Reformat posted:On the subject of cat fountains, are there any that use 3-prongs for their power adapters? Ungrounded and water don't mix well, I feel. It’s really not that big of a deal as they use really low power usb submersible pumps. The three different ones I’ve had all use a usb plug. If you are really concerned you could just get this TROND Outlet Extender Box with Quick 3.0 Fast Charge & USB C PD Wall Charger, Multi Plug Outlet Splitter Expander, 3 Prong Side Plug Adapter, ETL Listed https://a.co/0ECjK8c
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Sep 3, 2022 00:40
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My cat success of the week: Mona now comes over when I call her if I'm holding a brush. She's still not a big fan of getting petted but she loves being brushed, with kneading and purring and everything. Just few months ago she didn't allow me to touch her at all  Less fun was that yesterday was also the first time that I found a poop outside the litter box. In a small neat pile, like a perfect reproduction of the poop emoji right in the middle of the living room floor. I know that the normal advice is that it's a sign of health issues but both cats have been to a vet in the last few months so I'm choosing not to panic over this just yet, especially since I don't know which cat it was. Maybe it was just a sign that I need to clean my bathroom where one of the litter boxes is.
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Sep 3, 2022 12:17
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Hey cat goons. My girlfriend and I are currently on a road trip pulling a small camper trailer and at our last campground we fell in love with two stray young cats. After playing with them every morning while we were there and finding them extremely sociable and human-friendly we asked around and found that they were strays and were told to take them if we wanted them. Well...we couldn't bear to leave them behind and now we have two adorable sweet cats living in the trailer with us. So far they've been great, they ride in the car extremely well, they use the litter box, sleep quietly through the night, and we adore them. Took them to the vet yesterday to get them shots and checked out and they are now healthy and vaccinated. The only trouble we have with them is they are absolutely nuts for food. As soon as we get out food (human or cat) they go nuts meowing and trying to jump over each other to get to the counter or table and take it. We're starting to lock them in the bathroom when we prep their food bowls and then serve them with the male locked in the bathroom because otherwise he'll finish his and start trying to take his sister's. Is this behavior that will likely just clear up eventually as they realize that they have two consistent meals coming every day? Is there anything else we should do to help them get over the food crazies? Also is there anything else that is a must-do when bringing stray cats into a home? We got them each a small rope harness and they seem to do well on it. We wanted to give them a bit of outdoors time still since they've always been outdoors and occasionally meow at the door wanting to go out. In a few weeks when we have a yard again we'll probably start giving them more freedom to roam outside.  
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Sep 3, 2022 15:11
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Going crazy for food is a normal kitten thing, they grow so fast that they can have trouble getting enough calories. With a stable environment they should mellow by 6 months of age, but if they were strays having trouble getting enough food it might be part of their personality now. Even then I would expect that to fade some once they're in a quiet stable home with a set routine.
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Sep 3, 2022 15:17
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We have a former stray and it's normal for them to be food-obsessed, BUT it also took her about a year to realise that regular meals were a thing. It's also normal for kittens/young adults though, so it could calm down with age. Good for you for adopting them, what a sweet origin story!
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Sep 3, 2022 20:15
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My younger cat was fully grown when we got him (maybe 2 years old?) and totally food obsessed. He'd climb anywhere and eat anything and inhaled food so quickly he barfed it back up half the time. Now 3 years later he's picky instead and only rarely forages on kitchen counters. One thing that vaguely helped was 'frustration'/slow food bowls that make them work to get at their food, although they can cause whisker stress.
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Sep 4, 2022 13:15
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Oh that's a good point! I always forget because he's so good about it now a year later, but when we got our youngest as a kitten he'd absolutely inhale his food. Like his method of eating was open his mouth as wide as he could and then just jam his face into the bowl lol. He didn't throw it up, but mostly because his mouth was too full so he'd end up with food everywhere We got one of those slow eater things and he eventually stopped, never to start again when we gave him his smart feeder. He still makes an insane mess though
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Sep 4, 2022 14:55
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Those puzzle boards are pretty good too, forces them to eat slow and turns it into a game. They need the personality for it though, one of ours loves getting kibble out of a maze and the other gives us the flattest "gently caress off with this" glare ever.
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Sep 4, 2022 15:43
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Those of you with cats who had poo problems, how did things shake out in the end? What sort of health problems were revealed by the veterinarian? Did it eventually resolve, or did it turn out to be chronic? Any advice in managing it? This is regarding my cat’s recent downturn in the litter box, I’ve changed up the litter and switched to a limited ingredient diet but I still often come home to a war crime. A jumbo sized litter box and clay litter helps a little, but doesn’t completely eliminate the problem. Especially if it gets outside the box  He’s also now upgraded to producing tiny dumps 2-3 times a day, or more. Kinda reminds me of when I had norovirus, which was godawful. I’m worried that this is some sort of progressive disease.
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Sep 4, 2022 16:40
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TTBF posted:My dad just adopted a two year old cat from a rescue and is having some problems with him. Namely that he won't move, even to eat. My dad can leave him alone with a bowl of food all day and he won't touch it. But when he comes home my dad moves the bowl right in front of the cat's spot in the bathroom closet and the cat eats out of it. So he's hungry but not doing anything about it. Thankfully he is using the litter box but not when my dad is home/awake TTBF posted:Both my dad and his first cat are leaving the new cat alone. The new cat has begun to venture out of the closet, but only at night. When he does venture out, he explores and mostly ignores my dad. He still requires my dad to bring food to him during the day though. My dad is happier with this situation and thanks the thread for the advice. Well I've got bad news on this. My dad continued to leave him alone, only approaching him to give him food. Unfortunately my mom recently had a major stroke and was on the verge of death and in his rush to get to the hospital he accidentally closed the closet door after getting dressed. He did this while the new cat was using the litterbox and didn't realize he had just shut the cat out of his hiding place. When he got back he found the cat had wedged himself behind my dad's computer desk and refused to come out. He won't even come out for food(!) and when he does come out it's to go onto the balcony at night and yowl loudly enough that there was a noise complaint filed. My dad is near deaf and can't hear it without his earplugs, but the few times he's gotten up at night and saw the cat outside the cat immediately ran back behind the desk. My dad's tried everything he could think of to coax the little guy out or at least to get him to eat. But now the room is beginning to stink (like poop, my dad said) and my dad doesn't have many options left. He's going away for a week to attend my mom's funeral, and after that if things miraculously improve that's great, but if they stay the same then he's going to return the cat to the humane society. If anyone has some last ditch advice to give him he'll listen, but he's strongly convinced that whatever lifestyle will make the cat happy is one he can't provide. As for my cats, they're doing great. Orion was pooping everywhere but now only poops in litterboxes and the bath tub. That's a huge improvement over constantly pooping on my chair or couch. Artemis still hasn't learned to cover her droppings and I'm not sure what to do about that but its not really a problem.
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Sep 4, 2022 20:08
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That sounds really tough and you guys are obviously trying everything you can. Only thing I can think of would be like.. some sort of covered high perch or something where the cat would feel like it's safer? But you'd have to actually get them up there would be the issue, poor little guy
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Sep 4, 2022 20:15
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Pollyanna posted:Those of you with cats who had poo problems, how did things shake out in the end? What sort of health problems were revealed by the veterinarian? Did it eventually resolve, or did it turn out to be chronic? Any advice in managing it? I alluded to it before, but one of my kittens had Giardia when I got them. He had constant diarrhea which the vet first attributed to the stress of moving and getting used to new cat food. The vet prescribed probiotica and I switched over to wet food for my kittens to ensure he wouldn't get dehydrated. The diarrhea stopped being as liquid, but wouldn't stop, so the vet asked for a stool sample. The first time they couldn't detect anything so I was recommended more probiotica and feed them gastrointestinal wet food to see if things would improve. That food made it even worse! The poo became even more liquid than before. It didn't help Price was unable to hold his poo and started defecating on the furniture before he could reach the litterbox. So the vet asked for another stool sample. I remember always having a plastic spoon ready and the litterbox close by so I could catch the poo on the spoon whenever he went to the litterbox to ensure a clean stool sample. This time around the vet was able to detect Giardia cysts. I got Panacur (fenbendazol) for both of the kittens, as Pepsi's stool was getting more liquid by the day. The cure seemed to improve their poo somewhat, but after a few days, the diarrhea continued. I had to do a deep clean of my entire house since the kittens defecated all over the place due to the diarrhea, it was mentally taxing. I also noticed grain free wet food helped with the diarrhea compared to dry food. From what I can tell this is because Giardia loves carbs. This left me wary of feeding them dry food for the longest time. To make cleaning the litter boxes easier I used those plastic litterbox bags and small amounts of litter to clean the boxes twice a day and had baby wipes ready to clean their butts after every visit to the litter box. As the panacur hadn't helped, the vet prescribed Metrobactin (Metronidazol). It was a bit more difficult getting them to eat it due to the bitter taste, but easy pill did the trick. This seemed to be the cure, their poops started becoming solid masses again. I did continue the litter box plastic bag stuff for at least an additional week to ensure there were no cysts left. These days they're healthy happy cats eating dry food without any issues!
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Sep 5, 2022 09:26
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I really hope that’s not the case with my dude. It’s been a similar trajectory, fecal flotation came back negative and the new limited-ingredient food has not helped a whole lot yet. Can I ask a vet to run a more detailed test to catch any and all parasites just because I suspect them? And/or would this show up on an ultrasound? He also fuckin hates metronidazole, I’m so sorry man but I can’t tell if it helped or not, or if it was just the passage of time. Ugh, this is so complicated I hate it.
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Sep 5, 2022 14:09
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Anyone here use the SurePet microchip feeder, and how have you liked it? I have one cat on Hill's Prescription Diet c/d and the other (recently acquired) cat has started grazing at that food overnight instead of daring to come upstairs to where his own food station is.
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Sep 5, 2022 14:56
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TTBF posted:As for my cats, they're doing great. Orion was pooping everywhere but now only poops in litterboxes and the bath tub. That's a huge improvement over constantly pooping on my chair or couch. So I think Orion is just a stickler for litter box cleanliness and doesn't like using one of the litterboxes, which is a problem as they both prefer a certain litterbox location over the other one. So that one location (which is by the bathroom) needs to be cleaned once or twice a day. That's not a big deal but I'd certainly like to minimize the chance of him pooping outside the litterbox. I recently bought a third litter box and have been debating where to put it. Should I put it halfway between the other two (which are on opposite sides of the apartment) or should I put it right next to the one they use the most? e: Sorry if I keep asking the most basic questions but the last time I owned a cat I was a child and my parents did all the work so I have no clue what I'm doing sometimes. And reading up on things can only prepare you so much since all cats are different. TTBF fucked around with this message at 15:55 on Sep 5, 2022 |
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Sep 5, 2022 15:41
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TTBF posted:Well I've got bad news on this. My dad continued to leave him alone, only approaching him to give him food. Unfortunately my mom recently had a major stroke and was on the verge of death and in his rush to get to the hospital he accidentally closed the closet door after getting dressed. He did this while the new cat was using the litterbox and didn't realize he had just shut the cat out of his hiding place. When he got back he found the cat had wedged himself behind my dad's computer desk and refused to come out. He won't even come out for food(!) and when he does come out it's to go onto the balcony at night and yowl loudly enough that there was a noise complaint filed. My dad is near deaf and can't hear it without his earplugs, but the few times he's gotten up at night and saw the cat outside the cat immediately ran back behind the desk.
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Sep 5, 2022 16:09
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Yeah as sad as it is, your dad is correct that he's in no place to take care of that cat currently.
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Sep 5, 2022 16:33
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