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nunsexmonkrock posted:How well does that fountain work? It’s the Catit stainless steel fountain. It’s ok, I mostly got it because of the water level indicator thing. I’ve not had issues cleaning it and I bought like a years worth of filters from the website. Sometimes it seems to leak? But I suspect it’s from the cat loving with it. Hence why theres a wash cloth under it. Honestly the other one people are linking seems better but I haven’t had enough issues to consider replacing it. Edit: Just cleaned/changed the filter and noticed bite marks allover the flower lol. Crocobile fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Nov 2, 2022 |
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Nov 2, 2022 20:31
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| # ? May 28, 2024 17:41 |
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I lost Jackson to liver cancer last week. We were together for eleven and a half years and he was the best companion a guy could ask for. I think I'm handling it pretty well all things considered but my apartment feels eerily empty and I've already started to think about adoption. I'm trying to decide if I should adopt two cats at once. I've got the space and since I still work in an office I'm gone for much of the week so it would be great for them to have companionship. But Jackson was always my only cat so I've never had to care for two cats at once. Are there any surprises or considerations I should be aware of? How do vet checkups work when you have two of them? Obviously it means twice as much food and twice the likelihood of medical problems but what non-obvious stuff can come up?
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Nov 3, 2022 02:05
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FBS posted:I lost Jackson to liver cancer last week. We were together for eleven and a half years and he was the best companion a guy could ask for. I think I'm handling it pretty well all things considered but my apartment feels eerily empty and I've already started to think about adoption. Probably the biggest thing is to look for a bonded pair, especially if you'll have to be away for chunks of the day. Otherwise you'll have to worry about cat introductions along with them in a new home and you being at work and stuff
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Nov 3, 2022 02:10
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Yeah, if you're specifically looking for adult cats, you want either a bonded pair or a single cat who prefers to be an only cat -- adopting two stranger adults at once can work, but it's sort of a crapshoot. (Kittens are much easier in this regard, because they tend to just get along with any kitten in their space). On the plus side, asking a shelter about adult bonded pairs and/or only cats should be easy, since they're not as quickly adopted.
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Nov 3, 2022 03:14
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I just want to post a dang cute pic
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Nov 3, 2022 06:34
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I think this thread needs to see more pictures to ascertain precise cuteness levels.
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Nov 4, 2022 15:24
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I want to adopt a feral cat that hangs out on my porch and has shown signs that she could be socialized. Do you guys think it would be best to have her fixed immediately after capture, or to wait until after gaining trust?
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Nov 4, 2022 21:47
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Immediately so you don't have to put up with her for even part of a heat cycle.
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Nov 4, 2022 22:03
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I'd get her fixed ASAP, especially since that way you can do a general vet appointment and see if she has any other health needs. The general order I see from rescue programs is trap -> vet -> home
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Nov 4, 2022 22:04
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I've got two cats, a fixed orange male I've had for almost 8 years, and a fixed orange female I've had for a year and a half. They were best friends and were getting along wonderfully until a perfect storm of stressers all happened all at once (she got fixed, got an infection and had to wear a cat-onesie to keep her from licking her wounds, he's got twitchy cat syndrome and I ran out of Feliway so he was without it for 3 days, my parents visited with their dogs, and there were stray cats in the backyard) and the two of them scared each other, and had a nasty fight. I separated them immediately and slowly introduced back to each other over a month, until they were able to calmly hang out together in the same room. They had a few nasty fights in the first few weeks when she kept escaping the room during feeding times, but I made sure to never let them fight it out, and to always separate them instantly, and always was supervising them when they were eventually let out. They were finally back to cuddling up against each other again. After a week of peace, they were set off (I think over a cat in the backyard - she jumped into the window where he was watching and they scared each other) and had another fight. I separated and then reintroduced them (this time more quickly - only took a week) and they were peaceful for another week before they were set off when sharing a lickable treat. I managed to get them to chill out again after four days, but then they were set off tonight after three days of peace, attacking each other without any provocation while walking down the hallway. She seems more willing to play along and be good while he's grumpier and tends to try pull rank (pressing his teeth against her/snapping his teeth at her/smacking her) and she ignores it, but once he hisses/snarls, she escalates it into a massive fight. I've got two things of Feliway friends pumping in the main living room and the quarantine room downstairs, they only eat when they see each other (one goes into a large dog cage, and then when they eat in the open at the start, she goes onto a lead), I rotate them through the room on a regular basis, I've been spraying lemon juice around the back fence to keep cats out, and I've tried to minimize any possible conflicts. Is there anything vital I'm missing that would help smooth things out? My next step after you guys is to talk to a vet to figure out if the boy needs stronger anti-anxieties, but he's not overgrooming himself or showing any other signs of aggression (when unmedicated and flaring, his back tends to twitch heavily and he bites me), or if they know why she's escalating straight to fighting when he snarls/hisses.
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Nov 6, 2022 05:59
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I think only time and patience can work this out, because they've been through a lot of stressors as you've identified. And cats once stressed like that tend to keep those impressions for a long time because it's so emotionally impactful. I think you'll probably get random flareups that should diminish in frequency as long as you keep the stressors out of their lives, but there's no easy solution to this besides waiting.
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Nov 6, 2022 16:44
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Diana is now 15 months old and she is BORED. Bored bored bored bored bored. She wanders the house looking for entertainment. She has cat toys. She has Byakko. She plays with a pointer. This is not enough. When the mail comes, she is frantic with joy and needs to sniff each envelope and jump in each box. Then they are boring. Diana is also terrifyingly smart and inquisitive. She is a Very Good Cat, but. Would clicker training be a way to entertain her? I'm wondering if she's like a border collie and needs something to do.
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Nov 6, 2022 17:12
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Diana is now 15 months old and she is BORED. Bored bored bored bored bored. She wanders the house looking for entertainment. She has cat toys. She has Byakko. She plays with a pointer. This is not enough. When the mail comes, she is frantic with joy and needs to sniff each envelope and jump in each box. Then they are boring. Diana is also terrifyingly smart and inquisitive. Could work! When my cat got super bored I started taking her outside on a harness for half an hour every day and that gave her plenty of mental stimulation but also is a bit of a commitment, it's not even good exercise because they don't walk like dogs, they wander around and sniff stuff.
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Nov 6, 2022 17:34
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Diana is now 15 months old and she is BORED. Bored bored bored bored bored. She wanders the house looking for entertainment. She has cat toys. She has Byakko. She plays with a pointer. This is not enough. When the mail comes, she is frantic with joy and needs to sniff each envelope and jump in each box. Then they are boring. Diana is also terrifyingly smart and inquisitive. Clicker training is a great way to give them a mental and physical workout, but sessions will be relatively brief. I'd suggest a combination attack of clicker training, food puzzles, and automated toys. Is there a bird feeder by a window she can enjoy?
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Nov 7, 2022 00:24
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One of our current cats got like that around 1-2 years old. Still had kitten energy and would beg for play time, but got bored of everything we could come up with for her to play with. The only things that worked was what I call 'treat chasing,' she's motivated enough by them to sprint across the house if I tossed one and that seemed to help. She also took well to a leash to walks into the backyard really helped. A teaser stick from cool cyber cats worked really well too, the feather toys and the deer fur ones were insanely popular for a while. Other than that it was just time. By age 4 she turned into full adult cat and has adjusted to the reality that not every moment of life is an exciting hunt.
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Nov 7, 2022 00:33
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Dienes posted:Clicker training is a great way to give them a mental and physical workout, but sessions will be relatively brief. I'd suggest a combination attack of clicker training, food puzzles, and automated toys. Is there a bird feeder by a window she can enjoy? Diana is *extremely* food motivated. Can the thread recommend their favorite food puzzles? Sadly, we live in an area where bird feeders attract bears, and so are forbidden. Given that a bear tossed over my trashcan last month, I'm inclined to take that seriously.
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Nov 7, 2022 01:59
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If your cat is food motivated clicker training is great! Yeah you’re sorta supposed to train them in quick “commercial break” long sessions. Idk, I did it for a little bit and then got too slammed at work to keep up, but my cat LOVED it. Here’s a Youtube channel with some intro lessons: https://m.youtube.com/c/CatSchool
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Nov 7, 2022 02:27
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Arsenic Lupin posted:Diana is *extremely* food motivated. Can the thread recommend their favorite food puzzles? We got this and it was super successful: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009R3SFBC/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1 Cats get clever though, ours can clean it out in under a minute at this point. They make a more complex one but it didn't slow her down much. We also have this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001O8L2UO/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s01?ie=UTF8&psc=1 It's even easier for her but it's better for kibble because you can wash it (kibble tends to ooze oils into the cardboard ones). So put a meal in there and make it a game.
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Nov 7, 2022 03:16
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xzzy posted:We also have this: I have this one as well and I can recommend it! Pepsi needs to lose some weight as he likes to eat, so the activity board keeps him busy while eating. He doesn't really know how to scoop the kibble from the cups, but Price does, so I don't really have to worry about Pepsi overeating.
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Nov 7, 2022 09:02
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I just wanna vent about some bad news about my childhood cat, Ebony. A small black gremlin. Somehow, she's made it to around 18-20 yrs of age. But now she has possible issues with her nasal passage, with her breathing being rather noisy like she's really bunged up or something. There hasn't been any nasal discharge. Just... it would cost a lot and be risky for her to be scanned. The vet is giving her two weeks and seeing how she does. I just feel bad because I know my mum is working more often than not and I know we haven't been the best cat parents ever (my mum's house is messy and I gave up trying to combat that a long time ago). In fact, the joke I tell myself is that Ebony lives on just to spite us. It's a tough situation, especially as I know my mum to always have been busy with work and not be the most organised person. And no, I can't take Ebony as the move would be too stressful for her old bones and we've got two cats already. The good thing is, is that she is maintaining a healthy weight and seems to be her old gremlin self but poo poo sucks. Terratina fucked around with this message at 14:19 on Nov 7, 2022 |
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Nov 7, 2022 14:15
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I used to live with three cats, now have two after my eldest kitty passed away around 17 years old a few months back. The other two are 13 (Sophie) and 15 (Henry) respectively. I just got a new puppy (Biscuit), and I'm trying to do the introductions right (lots of treats and positive feedback, trying to make sure they get equal attention, distracting the puppy from barking, keeping them in separate rooms and letting them sniff through the pen, making sure they have their own territory, etc). While Henry just does not give a gently caress to the point that the one time the puppy slipped my grip during a carry to the lawn and ran up to him on the couch Henry didn't even bother getting up from his nap, Sophie is in great distress just sniffing around. She's managed to dig her way out the catio and didn't come home until 9pm despite being an indoor cat, giving us a heart attack, and she keeps rushing to hide under the bed when I go to give her any attention. I'm trying to do everything right and it's just not sticking with her. Any tips?
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Nov 8, 2022 23:53
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https://twitter.com/danielleweisber/status/1589700830361694210
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Nov 9, 2022 13:17
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“we’ve never seen him before, but he walked in like he owned the place, so I guess now he does”
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Nov 9, 2022 22:16
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I'm starting the formal adoption process now and it feels very weird compared to having the universe drop a cat into your life.
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Nov 10, 2022 00:42
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MarcusSA posted:You should probably see a vet sooner rather than later because that’s definitely not a normal thing. Sorry for lateness in replying, but I took her to the vet and it turned out she had a UTI. I gave her medicine and special kibble to treat it and now she doesn't pee on the bed anymore.  Also, the dream kicking is not due to seizures, she just dreams very intensely sometimes.
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Nov 10, 2022 02:20
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I would pay everything I have to know what cats dream about.
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Nov 10, 2022 02:28
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xzzy posted:I would pay everything I have to know what cats dream about. Same but it's probably finally killing me and feasting on my corpse
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Nov 10, 2022 02:46
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Taking our 2 young boys to the vet tomorrow, for the first time together. They'll be in separate carriers (mostly because they're both pretty big boys) so there won't be any confined cat rough housing They've both been fine with the vet in the past, but since they'll both be there I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they won't end up stressing each other out
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Nov 10, 2022 04:00
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xzzy posted:I would pay everything I have to know what cats dream about. I'm like 99% sure it's about chasing the laser in her sleep. My girl is absolutely obsessed with it, to the point of knocking things off the table to get my attention to play even more with it. Curiously, she has little to no interest in automatic laser toys - it must be I who uses the laser pointer.
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Nov 10, 2022 04:17
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Hello it's my first time coming to PI for advice. I've had cats all my life but my friend is in a situation I've never been in and I don't know how to best proceed. She took in two feral cats, young, they have the lanky look of being around a year old maybe. Anyway she is just taking care of them while she tries to get someone to adopt them. The thing is they cannot come inside her house because she and her daughter are allergic so the cats are in the garage. They have a bunch of toys and things to scratch and climb, get fed, lots of love and visits when antihistamines are in effect, etc but the garage has no windows or screen door. She has also been looking for work for months so she's on a very tight budget. What is the cheapest/most efficient way to improve these cat's situation in the garage? I was thinking one of those portable screen enclosure things so the cats can be outside for part of the day, or maybe a screen for the garage door so that can be open sometimes. But I am hesitant to suggest this because I've never done it and would hate to be responsible for a kitty getting hurt. I would just adopt them myself, they're adorable, but I already have pets and it would be irresponsible for me to take in more.
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Nov 10, 2022 18:25
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I moved to the States and my English-born suburban cat is now an indoor cat. She is adjusting fine (and is 9.5 years old) but I have a question about cat grass. I bought some seed kits and she's been happily munching away on it occasionally. Only thing is that the keeps knocking over the flimsy little plastic tub the kits shipped for them, spilling soil all over. I'm down to the tail end of the life of that set of kits and want to get something she won't be able to brutalize quite so easily. Do any of you have a preferred, heavier type of pot that you grow cat grass in? For an 8lbs tortie she causes too much havoc 
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Nov 10, 2022 21:41
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How about a water bowl? Like those ceramic ones that petco sells. Unless your cat also attacks water bowls, in that case there may be nothing that will save you.
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Nov 10, 2022 22:01
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Thread, I could use some help. I've had cats all my life. We are having some serious difficulty integrating a new cat. The demographics/cat dramatis personae: Taters, the original cat - Age: 15 - Sex: Female - How long have you had your cat? 14 years - Is your cat spayed or neutered?: Yes, spayed - What food do you use? Purina One True Instinct Tuna in Sauce, 1/3rd can 3 times a day, with 1/3rd packet Fortiflora each time; 1 capsule Cosequin sprinkled over the first serving. Nulo senior cat high protein kibble available at all times. - When was your last vet visit? Two weeks ago - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Indoors Freddie, the new cat - Age: 18 months - Sex: M - How long have you had your cat?: 2.5 months - Is your cat spayed or neutered?: Yes, neutered - What food do you use?: Purina One True Instinct Tuna in Sauce, 1/2 can twice a day, Purina Naturals Indoor kibble, 1/2 cup 3 times a day in a slow feed mat - When was your last vet visit? 2.25 months agi - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both? Indoors - How many pets in your household? Just the two cats above - How many litter boxes do you have? Three: two downstairs in the basement, one upstairs on the 2nd floor I'm bad at keeping things brief but will try to do so. Taters had a sister, Cecilia. We had Taters first, adopted Cecilia when Taters was maybe 6 or 7, Cecilia was 1 or 2. Cecilia passed away unexpectedly in August. We adopted Freddie in mid September. We kept him upstairs with full run of the 2nd floor, with his own food, water, and litter. Taters got the 1st floor and basement. Over the first week, we did scent swaps, and there was no real reaction. After the swaps we did supervised visits, and it was a bit growly/hissy for the first few visits, then less so, but he still wanted to play with her. We'd feed them separately across the kitchen, and they'd both eat their food and eat kibble that we keep out. They were eventually getting on well enough - Freddie would jump onto the same couch as Taters and Taters wouldn't mind unless he got too close. Freddie would sit in the hallway, which I guess qualifies as blocking, but Taters still made her way where she wanted most of the time as far as we can tell. After three or four days of finishing the integration, Taters had a sudden medical crisis - she lost her meows, almost like kitty laryngitis, then she just stopped eating. We separated them again, same upstairs/downstairs arrangement, to let Taters recover. We had to force-feed Taters with prescription diet cat food slurry to get her appetite back. She has regained her appetite, thankfully. They have been separated again for almost a month now. Emergency vet and regular vet visits and testing indicated no primary medical issues; she's got an appointment for an abdominal ultrasound to make sure there's nothing up with her liver. She's been in otherwise fine shape for a 15-year old cat. We've restarted the integration after about two weeks of being isolated - again, no reaction from either cat on scent swaps. We've had them see each other from across a very tall baby gate; Taters has growled, hissed a little, and backed off pretty much every time she saw Freddie. We've tried supervised visits, and as soon as he has a clear line of sight on her, Freddie will jump over to Taters to play, and she'll growl/hiss/yell and they tussle until we separate them. It's not friendly tussling - she's yowling, almost like feral cat fighting. We've tried time in between the vistis. We've had a Feliway multi-cat diffuser in Taters' space, it's almost out. We've tried so much and Freddie just wants to play with Taters, and he'll keep on doing it even if she screams and hisses and fights back. Is there anything we can do here? Do we have to basically flood the house in Feliway diffusers for a month or two? Taters is not a playful cat, she wants to just do her thing, and it seems that having the baby gate as a permanent fixture in our hosue is the only way to ensure she can. We're getting crazy stressed with all these failed integrations. My wife and I understand that they're going to tussle as they feel each other out - we've had two other periods of cat integration over the years - but we're both worried about this process. Our vet and the adoption folks we've worked with have coached us through the integration process, they say we're doing things right, and it just takes time, but four weeks of isolation seems like a lot. How do we either calm Freddie down or get him to stop going for Taters? Should we do supervised visits but with a spray bottle to squirt Freddie if he goes for her?
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Nov 11, 2022 01:32
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Freddie is a young cat who is naturally going to want to keep playing. If he's not learning from Taters trying to establish her boundaries then I'm not sure how much you can do other than get Freddie another young cat friend who does want to play.
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Nov 11, 2022 01:38
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Is that really a good idea? What if the third cat goes after Taters too? I seriously worry that if this doesn't work out all I can do is keep Freddie as an upstairs only cat until Taters dies, or rehome Freddie, which is going to be horrible for the poor guy. He's not doing anything wrong, we didn't even know he was energetic. We interacted with him for hours at the shelter over a few different days. We opted for a grown cat in hopes that he'd be calm and chill and allow Taters her space.
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Nov 11, 2022 05:39
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1.5 years old isn't really a chill age, it's not kitten chaos but it's still very young, you want like 4-5+ for a better chance of a chilled out animal that won't bother an old lady. The idea with a second younger one is they get out all their energy with each other so they aren't desperate to play with the older cat. The bigger problem is rolling the dice on whether the third cat likes the second one.
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Nov 11, 2022 08:01
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And if they don't, you just need to get a fourth cat. Easy peasy But yeah going back in time when we wanted to introduce a younger cat to our older one, I think I would've gotten two kittens instead of the one, so they could wrestle each other and not spend as much time chasing around our sicker elderly cat
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Nov 11, 2022 13:27
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We are definitely not getting a third cat. Our worst case scenario is Freddie remains an upstairs cat. The see-through baby gate wall just gives him the kitchen as well as the upstairs. If everything fails, we just close the upstairs door and that is his domain for the remainder of Taters' natural days. When Taters passes - and she's 15, after two E-vet visits in one week for her eating crisis, we're at peace with her mortality - we'll grieve, and adopt another friend for Freddie. Until then, we're going to try some other stuff with integration in mind - calming collars are ordered, we'll give them a week or so. Then we play with Freddie to wear him out before a supervised visit with Taters. If it goes well, we repeat. If not, the visits will include a spray bottle and we spritz him if he's stalking or preparing to pounce. We might also try a harness and leash on him if he'd take it. But yeah, he's not a bad cat, we just didn't anticipate 18 months still being youthful. We volunteered with our local shelter for darn near 10 years before the pandemic and interacted with cats all over the age and personality range, from hellions to mushes. I guess it's just been a while since we had this in our lives. At least we don't have to pay for college. Anyway, cat thread tax. https://imgur.com/a/bJADHiV Freddie's in the bowtie collar, Taters is luxuriating on the pillow.
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Nov 11, 2022 14:52
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I have a 2.5-ish year old and just got a 6ish month old. Obviously they don’t have nearly as big an age difference and introductions went shockingly smooth, but I initially had a similar issue of the younger one being way too excited. Idk if you’re already doing this but when I let the cats in the same room I’d have a wand toy to play with the younger cat. Partially to distract him from the older cat, partially to just get some of that energy out, but also so the older cat could watch the younger one without conflict. My older cat loves to chase treats so I’d chuck a treat and wiggle the wand toy when I felt things were getting a little too spicy.
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Nov 11, 2022 15:21
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| # ? May 28, 2024 17:41 |
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We haven't been able to distract him, but we also haven't segued from him playing to him interacting. When we let him through the gate, he explores. He sees Taters, he gets ready to play. I guess we gotta just keep him fully playing with the toy when we next interact them.
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Nov 11, 2022 19:30
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