|
Sorry to just drive by post, but.... My cat's having kidney issues. Vet's aware. Treatment in process, etc, but in the meantime: Question for P.I. What is the best kitty litter for a cat that's peeing A LOT?
|
#
?
Oct 24, 2022 20:39
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 00:11 |
|
|
I use pine pellets with our cats. And they can hold a lot of pee. And if you have a feed and tack store in the area, you can buy it there for a third of the price as the pet store.
|
|
#
?
Oct 25, 2022 02:56
|
|
|
Speaking of litter, I adopted a 4-5 month old kitten on Friday and he’s been playing in his litter and knocking clumps/poop out and then bats it around ITS SO GROSS. My emergency/budget solution atm is to grab a crummy old plastic bin and cut a hole in it for a makeshift high-walled litterbox. But I wonder if switching out litter to pellets or similar would help too? I use a grass seed litter with Sinjin which works fine with his top-entry box but it tracks like crazy in a low walled box. Especially when a kitten is throwing it around.  
Crocobile fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 05:35
|
|
|
So, what are people's thoughts about social dynamics between sibling kittens? I'm going to adopt 2 of the 3 kittens my sister is fostering, and it looks like I am going to go with the feisty calico and one of two tabbies: one of them is shy and sweet, the other one is more outgoing and frisky. This is all based on like 3 weeks of fostering and an afternoon of hanging out with them, but in general does anyone have any recommendations? All are females, btw.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 06:15
|
|
|
skimmed the OP a bit and didn't see anything contrary so let me know if I'm fuckin up but is this a good thread to ask about what to do about neighborhood cats? I've got a few that hang out behind the house and would like to get them somewhere more helpful before winter. they have a tarped shelter under the deck to use but I haven't seen them in there much and it's only gonna get colder here. in in southern Wisconsin if that helps. I called the humane society and didn't really get anything helpful from them so far.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 06:50
|
|
|
Light Gun Man posted:skimmed the OP a bit and didn't see anything contrary so let me know if I'm fuckin up but is this a good thread to ask about what to do about neighborhood cats? I've got a few that hang out behind the house and would like to get them somewhere more helpful before winter. they have a tarped shelter under the deck to use but I haven't seen them in there much and it's only gonna get colder here. The best thing you can do for them is probably to get them spayed / neutered if you have the chance. There are charities that will cover the cost, no need to do it at your own expense. This thread has also at some point shared a link for building little cat houses that can keep cats warm in the winter, the site also has resources for other ways to help stray cats: https://alleycatadvocates.org/communitycat-care-center/creating-winter-shelters/ Of course, can't let this post by without opining that you should let them in. pidan fucked around with this message at 07:15 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 07:13
|
|
|
most of them don't wanna get anywhere near humans. pretty feral. one of them is very friendly and socialized to humans, I let him in for awhile now and then. like today, it was raining so I let him hang out awhile while I could keep and eye on him. house ain't really in a state to be having a cat roam around freely though unfortunately. I am in the lengthy process of de-hoardering it. I'll check the link out, thanks.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 07:30
|
|
|
Southern Wisconsin? Google "Madison WI TNR" to get places that interact with street cats year round. They''ll know what's going on. ETA: Or Milwaukee or whatever big-ish city is nearest.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 07:53
|
|
|
RapturesoftheDeep posted:So, what are people's thoughts about social dynamics between sibling kittens? I'm going to adopt 2 of the 3 kittens my sister is fostering, and it looks like I am going to go with the feisty calico and one of two tabbies: one of them is shy and sweet, the other one is more outgoing and frisky. This is all based on like 3 weeks of fostering and an afternoon of hanging out with them, but in general does anyone have any recommendations? All are females, btw.
|
|
#
?
Oct 26, 2022 14:02
|
|
|
RapturesoftheDeep posted:So, what are people's thoughts about social dynamics between sibling kittens? I'm going to adopt 2 of the 3 kittens my sister is fostering, and it looks like I am going to go with the feisty calico and one of two tabbies: one of them is shy and sweet, the other one is more outgoing and frisky. This is all based on like 3 weeks of fostering and an afternoon of hanging out with them, but in general does anyone have any recommendations? All are females, btw. Also, who is taking the third? If the third one is going to be left alone, you should take all three. But if the third one is getting place with other cats, they should be young enough where they're not super bonded yet.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 02:21
|
|
|
Light Gun Man posted:skimmed the OP a bit and didn't see anything contrary so let me know if I'm fuckin up but is this a good thread to ask about what to do about neighborhood cats? I've got a few that hang out behind the house and would like to get them somewhere more helpful before winter. they have a tarped shelter under the deck to use but I haven't seen them in there much and it's only gonna get colder here. There are a few TNR programs around, you pick up a live trap from Farm and Fleet and leave some tuna in there and bam! You have an angry cat to take in.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 02:52
|
|
|
OKAY SO: adopted 4-5 month kitten last friday, He’s isolated to my bedroom, and there’s a pet-gate covered by a towel set up just behind the door. Theoretically so I can control if/how much he and my 2-year old cat, Sinjin, see each other. Scent swapping has gone well, and they peeked each other from different rooms. No aggression, neither of them seem that concerned. Great! This morning while I was playing with the kitten Sinjin kept whining from the other side of the door. I open the door so we’re still separated by the towel-covered pet gate and manage to play with wand toys with the kitten while occasionally tossing treats for Sinjin to chase & eat. Both def saw eachother but were more interested in the games. TONIGHT I tried to do the same thing but the kitten caught a glimpse of Sinjin and went WILD. First excited meowing then he figured out he could scale the towel and next thing I know he’s on top of the pet-gate. I caught him before he got to Sinjin but as soon as I put him back he was ontop of the gate again. Was able to put Sinjin in a separate space and kitten back into bedroom. Kitten seemed to be looking for Sinjin; eventually he got distracted (after I blew bubbles at him) Ok, so. NO hissing, no arching of backs or poofing of tails. Idk if the kitten just REALLY wants a playmate or it I should interpret this as agression? Obviously I need to slow down, modify my pet gate set up and back off for a bit. But any insight?
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 08:27
|
|
|
Had something weird happen to Affie the other day. My SO was playing with her and apparently the cat got one of her paws caught by a bit of carpet and landed on the paw awkwardly and let out a small yowl. Affie started licking that paw and my SO checked it out and it had a nail on the bottom of it. I come back home and check it out and yep, there's a claw there. We start thinking she dislocated her claw but she's not limping and generally doesn't seem to be in pain, but we get her to the vet the next day and all paws seem to be in place and nice, and the vet gives her a trim just in case. Can't understand what it was because I definitely saw a bit of claw in the middle of her toe-beans. Might have been just an old claw that got dislodged? Affie is okay at least and I guess it's better safe than sorry for the vet visit.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 09:02
|
|
|
SpeedFreek posted:Same area but close to the lake, I have a few strays I see from time to time, year after year. At least two of them have been around multiple years now so they have found somewhere that they can keep warm. My only concern is about any kittens when it starts getting colder but adult cats are pretty tough. i have also seen them survive winters, but a friend of mine has been coming over and getting stressed out about them being left outside. so we're doing what we can for em. started building the shelters at least.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 09:13
|
|
|
Tekopo posted:Had something weird happen to Affie the other day. My SO was playing with her and apparently the cat got one of her paws caught by a bit of carpet and landed on the paw awkwardly and let out a small yowl. Affie started licking that paw and my SO checked it out and it had a nail on the bottom of it. I come back home and check it out and yep, there's a claw there. We start thinking she dislocated her claw but she's not limping and generally doesn't seem to be in pain, but we get her to the vet the next day and all paws seem to be in place and nice, and the vet gives her a trim just in case. Can't understand what it was because I definitely saw a bit of claw in the middle of her toe-beans. Might have been just an old claw that got dislodged? Affie is okay at least and I guess it's better safe than sorry for the vet visit. Cats naturally shed their claws in layers, such a layer kind of looks like a claw itself:  If they get yanked off before they're ready that could certainly cause a cat to yowl, kind of like when a human breaks a nail, but it wouldn't be dangerous. I think it's good that you let the vet check, but if the cat is walking and acting normally I think it was probably just a claw layer that came off.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 09:18
|
|
|
Ah thanks, at least we know in the future that unless her behaviour changes (limping/not eating food/unexpected irritability etc), it's nothing to worry about. I think if we had just seen the nail loose on the floor it would have been fine, it was just that it seemed to be stuck to her that got us worried.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 09:47
|
|
|
Crocobile posted:OKAY SO: adopted 4-5 month kitten last friday, He’s isolated to my bedroom, and there’s a pet-gate covered by a towel set up just behind the door. Theoretically so I can control if/how much he and my 2-year old cat, Sinjin, see each other.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 13:02
|
|
|
That's absolutely a "I wanna be friends!" move by the kitten, and kittens are almost hardwired to act that way to other cats at that age. The real issue is how your existing adult cat is handling it, because they're less apt to welcome a stranger cat into their territory. There is a certain tolerance for kittens, but the real trick is seeing if Sinjin acts abnormally even if he doesn't do so while in contact with the kitten. Otherwise your litiming speed should be as to whether Sinjin is bothered. The rule for aggression is noise. Hissing/growling is antagonistic. Mewing or dead silence is good. Even a little hissing is okay because that's really the only way for cats to indicate actions that push their personal boundaries before swatting and a kitten will push them because that's how they learn.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 14:01
|
|
|
gloom posted:That doesn’t seem like aggression to me, take your time for sure but it sounds promising, more like excitement. If your cats are like ours it’s the established one who needs more time to adapt to the newcomer, maybe use Sinjin’s reactions as a guide for when to increase contact? Or I might be biased because our first cat Merlin was pretty shy during the period when we brought Kali home. She was eager to meet him from the first day but we went slow. He was a little under two years old and she was about 5-6 months at the time. That’s good to hear you had similarly aged cats. The kitten chaotic energy is so intense I’m, personally, a bit overwhelmed but maybe Sinjin isn’t? Sinjin has been surprisingly chill, even when the kitten was in full view ontop of the gate, Sinjin’s body language is similar to if a new person visited the apartment. Cautiously friendly? He seems to be ok with non-kitten things too. There’s very obnoxious construction happening immediately outside my building so he’s kinda distracted, but hasn’t been acting upset or stressed.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 14:56
|
|
|
Yeah a bit of hissing is totally fine and normal and how they establish boundaries, so if he's not even hissing he's doing really great.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 15:00
|
|
|
So far. Keep an eye on them.
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 15:11
|
|
|
When one of my little idiots broke his leg my friend brought him and his brother home and they were fine with her cats right away. Depends on the cats and probably helps if the existing cats are used to other cats already. The little idiot: 
|
|
#
?
Oct 27, 2022 15:15
|
|
|
Got our first hiss! When the kitten sees Sinjin he runs over and tries to paw at him thru the gate. Sinjin did NOT like this and gave a big hiss. I grabbed the kitten, chucked some treats at Sinjin and closed the door. Definitely gonna have to go at Sinjin’s pace but really hoping I can get the kitten to be SLIGHTLY more chill when approaching him. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 02:19
|
|
|
You're the one who's there, so you're maybe in a better position to judge, but hissing doesn't necessarily mean you need to carefully keep them separated. That's how they tell each other to back off, and if the kitten gets the message after a few hisses then everything is good to go. I once had a roommate with a cat who then adopted a dog. The dog wanted nothing more than to play with the cat and the cat was uninterested. He would hiss at the dog whenever she got close. The dog would then just stop trying to play and look sad. After a few weeks of this the cat stopped hissing, and eventually they warmed up to each other. There was never any real conflict, just some hisses.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 02:31
|
|
|
Rabbit Hill posted:My late, great cat Raphael was a spicy little meatball and no toy made him happier than this kicker toy, which is super sturdy -- he kicked the poo poo out of that thing multiple times a day for three years, and it still looks like new. (He passed away last year and that toy is now sitting next to the box of his ashes.) Hey, your recommendation directly led to me pulling the trigger on this toy - and my cat is enamored of it. Just in LOVE with kicking that little green stick. Thank you so much for sharing the reccomendation and the beautiful memory 
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 03:48
|
|
be good and try hard!
|
TychoCelchuuu posted:You're the one who's there, so you're maybe in a better position to judge, but hissing doesn't necessarily mean you need to carefully keep them separated. That's how they tell each other to back off, and if the kitten gets the message after a few hisses then everything is good to go. I once had a roommate with a cat who then adopted a dog. The dog wanted nothing more than to play with the cat and the cat was uninterested. He would hiss at the dog whenever she got close. The dog would then just stop trying to play and look sad. After a few weeks of this the cat stopped hissing, and eventually they warmed up to each other. There was never any real conflict, just some hisses.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 04:54
|
|
|
Rabbit Hill posted:My late, great cat Raphael was a spicy little meatball and no toy made him happier than this kicker toy, which is super sturdy -- he kicked the poo poo out of that thing multiple times a day for three years, and it still looks like new. (He passed away last year and that toy is now sitting next to the box of his ashes.) Hey I don't know if it helps or not but because of you I'm going to buy Quill this toy. You've made potentially a huge improvement in her playtime and I hope you can find some small joy in that, given the circumstances. I'm sorry.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 04:55
|
|
|
Jet had an endoscopy scheduled for today. Jet is no longer having an endoscopy today. Cardiologist ran an echo before putting him under, and they found signs of heart disease. Which I knew about - he’s always had a heart murmur - but he’s been asymptomatic for as long as I had him. Apparently it’s progressed significantly since the last echo. Irregular heart rate, marked thickening of the heart muscle, and “a small amount of fluid around his heart, concerning for early heart failure”. Based on this, the cardiologist recommended against anesthesia. Scope canceled. Jet’s home now with a bunch of new pills, some of them twice a day. So uh, yeah. https://youtu.be/Fh_oD2OyPmk Yeah.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 17:27
|
|
|
I’m so sorry Pollyanna. 
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 17:58
|
|
|
This was inevitable. It’s just not the news I was hoping to get today. Came sooner than I expected is all. Still sucks. (Truth is, he’s kind of an old coot and has been for a while. I just can’t deny it any longer.) For now, he’s fine. Still some poop troubles, but no vomiting, no bad mood, nothing. Sometimes he yowls for no good reason, sometimes he gets a turd stuck to his rear end hair, sometimes he has trouble jumping onto one of his podiums. Jet’s just an old cat 
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 18:06
|
|
|
I'm sorry to hear that and hope your vets are able to put together a plan to manage his dotage to give Jet the best quality of life he can have.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 18:12
|
|
|
kw0134 posted:I'd go so far as to argue that for kittens, being hissed/swatted at is a necessary part of socialization because otherwise they will never learn what is acceptable behavior with their new housemate. No matter what you do, it is inevitable that the kitten will transgress some boundary Sinjin has and will get hissed at. The kitten will either learn to heed that boundary or get a paw across the face. And that's fine! There is no cat etiquette school except the one forcibly imposed by a swat or a hiss. Introductions are controlled not to avoid all conflict but to make them manageable so they can get it sort it out between each other without killing themselves in the process. Quick update: Bit the bullet and just let them interact with my supervision. Anytime the kitten approached Sinjin he got hissed and swatted at. No growling or really worrisome behavior though. Sinjin mostly watched the kitten play with toys and later walked off to sniff around the kitten’s room while the kitten was distracted. Didn’t want to push my luck too far so when kitten started to slow down I put him back in his room and both got fed. I’ve never seen Sinjin interact with cats so this is going way better than expected. Keeping an eye on any odd behavior. Don’t want him to get too overwhelmed. Name-wise currently choosing between Niko or Gizmo for the kitten.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 19:41
|
|
|
Crocobile posted:Quick update: Bit the bullet and just let them interact with my supervision. Anytime the kitten approached Sinjin he got hissed and swatted at. No growling or really worrisome behavior though. Sinjin mostly watched the kitten play with toys and later walked off to sniff around the kitten’s room while the kitten was distracted. Didn’t want to push my luck too far so when kitten started to slow down I put him back in his room and both got fed. Just be aware if you go for an in between name like "Nismo" that's the performance branch of Nissan, the car company.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 20:58
|
|
|
I wanted a weird rear end name for my cat but also wanted a nickname for her that would be, for all intents and purposes, her actual name, so Affie's "real" name is Affogatto Al Caffe.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 21:02
|
|
|
Crocobile posted:Quick update: Bit the bullet and just let them interact with my supervision. Anytime the kitten approached Sinjin he got hissed and swatted at. No growling or really worrisome behavior though. Sinjin mostly watched the kitten play with toys and later walked off to sniff around the kitten’s room while the kitten was distracted. Didn’t want to push my luck too far so when kitten started to slow down I put him back in his room and both got fed.
|
|
#
?
Oct 28, 2022 22:22
|
|
|
kw0134 posted:Don't need to rush it, but you should also consider places that Sinjin can go that the kitten can't follow once you decide to let them intermingle more freely, because kittens are exhausting and adult cats have different tolerances to having a bouncing ball of fur constantly pouncing on them. Better think of that now and note where Sinjin likes hanging out so he can have a space of his own too. How would you enforce that? I can’t really think of spots that Sinjin can get to that the kitten wouldn’t physically be able to reach, though I’m trying to at least set up separate cat trees.
|
|
#
?
Oct 29, 2022 00:42
|
|
|
Crocobile posted:How would you enforce that? I can’t really think of spots that Sinjin can get to that the kitten wouldn’t physically be able to reach, though I’m trying to at least set up separate cat trees.  it seems like part of their normal wrestling, which is a source of daily hilarity around here.I'd guess that as long as your place is big enough that each cat can find their own place to get away from the other sometimes, they'll be ok. Separate cat trees seem like a good idea!
|
|
#
?
Oct 29, 2022 05:40
|
|
|
Think height. Kittens that age simply can't jump as high or as far as an able adult. You don't need to have a full cat condo built into the ceiling or something, but having the option of getting away is what you need. Separate cat trees are great but even one would be enough if the top shelves are taller than what a kitten can achieve. Edit: and that kind of applies to all cat owners since cats like height and we should all think of ways you can get them a nice perch some place in their homes. kw0134 fucked around with this message at 11:33 on Oct 29, 2022 |
|
#
?
Oct 29, 2022 11:28
|
|
|
Kittens are fearless climbers though. If there's anything they can get their nails into (a blanket, curtains, towels, pants, your skin, etc) they will go full Alex Honnold on it. They are real bad at going down though. Tall towers are a risk for kittens because they jump off or fall off trying to climb down. They're basically made of rubber so it's usually okay.. but there is an injury risk.
|
|
#
?
Oct 29, 2022 14:56
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 25, 2024 00:11 |
|
|
You can usually split the difference by having furniture near where you want the kitten, and sheer surfaces without purchase where the adult can can go. If you try to see what a kitten can do and that's where the adult likes being, then you can usually engineer a solution that allows the adult a safe space (pulling back drapes, removing that chair, etc.)
|
|
#
?
Oct 29, 2022 15:17
|
|