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Some updates: transfer went well and Affie seems to be settling well. She tends to hide to noises which is similar to what happened when we first got her, but she gets out when either me or my wife are in the room. She still seems somewhat circumspect around the room but doesn’t seem too scared and has been eating normally. So far so good.
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Dec 23, 2022 19:46
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knox_harrington posted:Can someone refresh me on best practice for kittens starting to go outside Weird Pumpkin posted:I'd asked up thread, but it was in the middle of the discussion. We'll be away for two weeks which is obviously quite awhile, and I'd definitely feel better if I could think of a way for the cat sitter to be able to check on the shy one of our two cats, rather than just seeing if he ate some food by checking the microchip feeder and stuff Wednesday was very very shy for the first year or so we had her. We showed the catsitter her likely hiding places and the sitter made sure to peek if she didn't see/hear Wednesday on her visits. She went armed with treats, and barely saw her the first few times we went away. We used the same sitter for a few weekend trips and paid for 2 visits per day, and after a time Wednesday accepted that occasionally another human brings the food and got much braver. I think it can help to go with the stay & play option (our sitters usually do a 15min quick feed and litter change for £x and a longer 30-45min visit for £y) a few times when you're away so that the cat has time to come out at their own pace. Assuming you've an experienced sitter, they should have their own ways/ideas for checking on a nervous cat. Wednesday for cat tax: 
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Dec 24, 2022 10:37
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Kyrosiris posted:That cat is planning at least ten different murders. https://twitter.com/LitMoose/status/1383794260332277773  So my parents noticed some strays hanging around their old pool pumphouse and have been putting out a little bit of food at night. At this point they've pretty much been adopted by at least 2 adult cats, and around 3 new kittens. Here's a couple of the babies farting around in their courtyard: https://i.imgur.com/Ax7Vkle.mp4 The adults will sit and look at us while we're putting food out, but they won't approach us or anything and the kittens run away on sight. Depending on how involved they want to get, what's the recommended way to catch ferals for spaying/neutering? Is there a way to tell when the kittens are old enough to get the snip?
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Dec 25, 2022 21:50
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Google your nearest city + TNR. Whatever group you find will have all the answers immediately relevant to you.
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Dec 25, 2022 22:44
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^^^ Good idea, found one that mentions their city so that should be a good resource in the future. Think my tux may be properly sick. She already has a vet apt tomorrow morning but thought I'd ask here in case the symptoms were particularly indicative of something specific: 3 separate times yesterday one of them peed on the floor in the litterbox room. I never caught anyone mid stream but I'm pretty sure I was in another room with the torty one time which would only leave my tux. I haven't seen her eat anything in a while, and when I gave her a little bit of canned food she ate some of it, slowly, then threw it up a few minutes later. This one's tough to pin down but I ~think~ she's laying around more than usual. Just kind of moves from heating pad to heating pad around the apartment, hasn't been trying to get up in my lap like she usually does etc. And most worrying, I'm pretty sure she's losing weight. She's a longhair so it's also tough to say for sure, but I don't think I could feel her shoulders and spine as clearly before, and her collar definitely seems more loose than I remember. Probably all still too generic to say anything before the exam, but this is the first time either of them has (maybe) been sick so I'm pretty 
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Dec 28, 2022 21:01
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I've had the big guy Jasper for 7 weeks now, and the little one Rocket for 4 weeks. They have gotten along pretty well. Jasper stopped playing when I first got Rocket, but he is playing again. Jasper is food crazy but she doesn't care that much and eats super slow. Like he eats his bowl in a minute, she is still just licking the gravy 15 minutes later. It drives Jasper and myself nuts. I gotta play goalie to keep him out of her bowl. The whole time she is just slowly licking away and Jasper is going crazy that she still has food and he doesn't.
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Dec 29, 2022 16:05
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Is it at all common for a cat to get significantly sweeter with age? It would make sense if you adopted a mature cat who needed time to warm up, but I've had my kitty Boppo since he was 8 weeks old. The first few years, he was VERY aloof, to the point it made me a little sad. He would at least hang out in the same room as me, but always up and away in a cat tree, and he wasn't much of a cuddler. He never asked for much other than food. I had just accepted that that was his personality. But somewhere around the 5 year mark, I noticed he was becoming a little sweeter. He started sitting on the couch with me and asking for attention and pets more often. This was two years ago, and since then, he's just exploded with sweetness!! He loafs on my chest or my back every day, rolls around on the floor for pets, and even gets so happy his tail gets poofy from excitement. I love it, but what happened?! The man in question: Wile E. Toyota fucked around with this message at 05:09 on Dec 30, 2022 |
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Dec 30, 2022 04:51
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Sometimes that happens! I think it's just cat personality. As far as I know, becoming more affectionate isn't a sign of anything being wrong with a cat.
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Dec 30, 2022 04:55
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My Shadow, RIP, was a frightened ex-feral until, in midlife, he strained a leg and had to be kept on opiates and observed for a week to keep him from jumping. He emerged a mellow cuddlebug. I hate to recommend drugs, but...
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Dec 30, 2022 06:54
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I have heard that cats feel cold more easily as they get older, and for that reason many start to cuddle more. But cat personalities can change for many reasons, sometimes reasons that the owner could never know about. So if your cat changes in a way that you find an improvement, just take it as a gift imo.
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Dec 30, 2022 08:48
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This is my first cold winter with my kitty and she’s much more affectionate. She never used to come up on my lap but now she takes hours long naps with me. I don’t mind if she’s just cold - I’ll take some it!
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Dec 30, 2022 17:31
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I had to board one of mine for a couple of weeks, and ever since he’s been up on my lap several times a day, and pretty much every time I feed him he comes and naps on me if he can.
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Dec 30, 2022 18:22
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 This silly beast has gotten more and more insistent on getting out into the apartment hallway and checking everything out. She recently sat at the front door for half an hour mewling mournfully until I was finally off a call and could supervise her escapades. As pictured, she's also discovered she enjoys the neighbor's new doormat (both for lounging and for scratching). I might have to get one for her. She's terrified of people emerging out of doors, though, so will instantly skitter away to leave me looking like I'm just a weirdo lurking in the hallway alone  Separately, her acrocatics on the cat tree have grown increasingly daring, to the point I'm a bit worried she might accidentally injure herself. She fell off the top-most ledge chasing a feather today, barely managing to get an awkward, upside-down grip on it as she went over. I'll have to be a bit more cautious when engaging her up there, I guess.
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Dec 30, 2022 18:50
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phosdex posted:I've had the big guy Jasper for 7 weeks now, and the little one Rocket for 4 weeks. They have gotten along pretty well. Jasper stopped playing when I first got Rocket, but he is playing again. Jasper is food crazy but she doesn't care that much and eats super slow. Like he eats his bowl in a minute, she is still just licking the gravy 15 minutes later. It drives Jasper and myself nuts. I gotta play goalie to keep him out of her bowl. The whole time she is just slowly licking away and Jasper is going crazy that she still has food and he doesn't.  Jasper looks like a protective sibling and Rocket’s little smile is hilarious.
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Dec 30, 2022 19:09
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Cugel the Clever posted:As pictured, she's also discovered she enjoys the neighbor's new doormat (both for lounging and for scratching). I might have to get one for her.
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Dec 31, 2022 00:44
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Me and my partner adopted a new cat about 2 months ago. He's pretty skittish, but he's started to come into his own and get comfortable. That said, we had two cats before, and one of them just cannot stand the new one. It only manifests at certain times. She can eat facing him, one foot away, but if they make eye contact in other circumstances, she immediately hisses and runs away. She hasn't made any more aggressive moves toward him, and he's a gentle boy, and gets along with our other cat who's older than the new one and the pissy one. The new one has his own room and we let him out with a baby gate keeping him from the majority of the house during the day, though we've put the pissy one in a room and let him explore the whole house too. He seems like he's kind of getting that she's a pain and they both avoid each other during scheduled, supervised cohabitation, where we try and play with both to get them used to each other. That said, I don't know what else we can do besides wait it out. They eat fine together, and she doesn't try to murder him when they're together immediately, but whenever he explores close she just hisses and leaves. Any advice?
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Dec 31, 2022 23:26
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Just let them interact unless there is howling, blood, or fur flying.
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Jan 1, 2023 02:56
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I've had cats where one hated the other at first, and now they do just fine. Took a week, or months. Cats.
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Jan 1, 2023 04:41
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Moved two cats a third of the way across the country, two days of eight hour drives. I was so worried about their stress levels I never considered mine.. spent the whole time wanting to check on them and feeling bad every time I hit a bump. But they did fine. I covered the carrier in their favorite blanket to give a sense of safety and block out the scenery flying by, there was no wailing the whole time. Didn't even need any sedatives.
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Jan 1, 2023 04:56
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I think my grey kitty has worms somehow because she had a weird small rice grain sized thing by her butt today. Neither of my cats go outside so I may have tracked some in. Either way I'm calling vet on Monday. She's in a good mood, playfull, and has a good appetite otherwise and I figure I'll have to treat both of them. The litter boxes are cleaned 1-2 times a month with bleached, plus I wash their blankets and all the human bedding/couch covers weekly on top of vaccuuming so hopefully with meds this will clear up.
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Jan 1, 2023 10:44
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Yeah deworming pills work and are cheap. It's recommended to give them to cats a few times a year even if they're indoor only. You can bring in worm eggs on your shoes, or your cat might have eaten some mouse or even insect that was carrying them. It's nothing to worry about.
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Jan 1, 2023 13:10
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Anybody else have a cat who is incredibly resistant to using pet stairs? I've tried two different sets (a plastic one I got from a relative and a wooden and sisal one that I purchased) and she refuses to use either of them. She's just fine with me putting boxes and totes near the bed or desk where she likes to hop up and she uses those, just not the things that are specifically designed for that purpose. It is mind-boggling.
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Jan 3, 2023 16:33
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I brought my Drake posted:Anybody else have a cat who is incredibly resistant to using pet stairs? I've tried two different sets (a plastic one I got from a relative and a wooden and sisal one that I purchased) and she refuses to use either of them. She's just fine with me putting boxes and totes near the bed or desk where she likes to hop up and she uses those, just not the things that are specifically designed for that purpose. It is mind-boggling. Some of our cats use the stairs next to our desks, some delight in taking the long way around by climbing up my husband's desk and walkinig all the way around to mind, stepping on as many keyboards en route as possible. TL;DR: cats gotta cat
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Jan 3, 2023 16:46
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I brought my Drake posted:Anybody else have a cat who is incredibly resistant to using pet stairs? I've tried two different sets (a plastic one I got from a relative and a wooden and sisal one that I purchased) and she refuses to use either of them. She's just fine with me putting boxes and totes near the bed or desk where she likes to hop up and she uses those, just not the things that are specifically designed for that purpose. It is mind-boggling. How long have you had the stairs? A couple days? A week? I assume it's like cat trees, when I first got mine, it was about a month before my cat got on the second level, and another month before she went all the way to the top. She did take to the wood/sisal stairs after a few days, but never the plastic one that my roommate's cats loved. In other words: Dienes posted:TL;DR: cats gotta cat
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Jan 3, 2023 16:48
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Maybe she just finds them condescending.
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Jan 3, 2023 16:49
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HellOnEarth posted:Maybe she just finds them condescending. I'm hoping that she finds them uplifting. I've had the plastic one for months and just recently got the wood and sisal one. I also spent half an hour putting boxes and totes and things next to places where she likes to jump up, including the wood and sisal cat tree. I've heard horror stories about elderly cats jumping from high places and breaking a hip and I've been trying not to panic over it.
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Jan 3, 2023 19:50
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Woke up this morning and kitty had a really raspy and weak meow. 15 minutes later she’s all fed and seems to be talking completely normally. Ma’am why must you scare me like that
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Jan 4, 2023 11:43
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drunken officeparty posted:Woke up this morning and kitty had a really raspy and weak meow. 15 minutes later she’s all fed and seems to be talking completely normally. You probably did too when you first woke up.
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Jan 4, 2023 18:18
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Tulalip Tulips posted:I think my grey kitty has worms somehow because she had a weird small rice grain sized thing by her butt today. Neither of my cats go outside so I may have tracked some in. Either way I'm calling vet on Monday. She's in a good mood, playfull, and has a good appetite otherwise and I figure I'll have to treat both of them. The litter boxes are cleaned 1-2 times a month with bleached, plus I wash their blankets and all the human bedding/couch covers weekly on top of vaccuuming so hopefully with meds this will clear up. We had one cat randomly get some kind of small worm at one point, same story. The vet claimed it was some kind that is commonly hitchhiking on fleas? Which then freaked me out even though we never noticed fleas, obviously. He said it was probably just one flea coming in through a screen window and the cat would have had to eat it to get the worms from the flea. I have no idea how plausible this story actually is.
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Jan 5, 2023 00:18
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Is there a minimum temp that it's unethical to keep cats in? We recently moved to the cold realm of Seattle and due to a snafu with our propane, we have to wait several weeks to get more. In the meantime we have to subsist on about 25% of the tank for the next 4-5 weeks. This means we moved from using our normal propane heating to space heaters while we use the propane primarily for hot showers and the occasional oven use. Which is fine, but our cats have a sleeping area in the living room. I put 2x heated sleeping pads out there (which they love) but it gets to the low 50s every night for now. They're a bonded pair and sleep together, have the heated pads, and haven't shown any real unhappiness at the situation, but I'm not sure how a cat would show their unhappiness so maybe it's a moot point. My question is, is this arrangement ethical? Happy to entertain opinions and if I must, I will run a space heater all night, but... man, that sounds real expensive. I also bought this for the living room, and it's coming in a couple of days: https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B01J664WSY?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details&th=1
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Jan 5, 2023 16:23
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So, cats are desert creatures who are normally used to a high resting temp (they love sunbeams for a reason). But deserts also get cold at night! And they deal with this with dens that retain heat. You don't need to run a space heater 24x7 to accomplish this; a small enclosed space where their natural body heat will raise temps around them is fine. That's how feral cats in much colder climes deal with winters. If they're a bonded pair and sleep on top of each other in a cat bed with a cover then they'll be cozier than you'll be.
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Jan 5, 2023 16:36
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They'll be fine. They might curl into tiny balls more often because they'd be used to warmer temps but they have an inch (or more) of fur, they've evolved to survive winters outside. For example, there are feral cats in scandinavia. Guarantee those winters are colder than your living room.
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Jan 5, 2023 16:38
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I'd say it depends on what kind of cat they are. If they're Siberian longhair cats I'd worry less than if they're sphynxes or other very short haired cats. If they have a heated blanket that might be enough to tide them over. Maybe you can even use another (normal) blanket to make them a little heated tent to hide under. But keep an eye out for fire hazards! If they're too cold they'll show it by curling up, hiding their feet and tail under their body, and generally being sluggish. If they start shivering you should warm them up as soon as possible.
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Jan 5, 2023 16:39
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Update on Affie and her adventure of 1 week at our in-laws place: we kept her to one room and she adjusted pretty well, had all her food and litter tray easily accesible and she only spent 1 or 2 days in a hidey-hole, after that she didn't run when she heard us going up the stairs. She's now back home and already settled back into her usual routine back home.
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Jan 5, 2023 16:47
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kw0134 posted:If they're a bonded pair and sleep on top of each other in a cat bed …then you must post pictures, because aww.
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Jan 5, 2023 22:12
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Ugh, I'm STILL trying to introduce my cats and we're trying to feed them both in the same room for the 2nd time. First time went okay but not great (no fighting and we ended it early) but tonight the resident cat stopped eating to sprint at the new cat and they fought. Back to feeding on the opposite sides of the door I guess. The insane part is that they feed on opposite side of a door that's like 4in open no problem. No growling, no hissing, just eating with 4-6in between them and pretty much an open door between them... I suppose the illusion of separation is what they need to feel comfortable?
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Jan 6, 2023 02:04
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Slimy Hog posted:Ugh, I'm STILL trying to introduce my cats and we're trying to feed them both in the same room for the 2nd time. First time went okay but not great (no fighting and we ended it early) but tonight the resident cat stopped eating to sprint at the new cat and they fought. How long has it been? That's super rough, do you trade their territories around at all? That honestly was the key for us the times we had to do cat introductions
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Jan 6, 2023 02:33
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Weird Pumpkin posted:How long has it been? That's super rough, do you trade their territories around at all? This is week 3 or 4. We've had some setbacks when trying to get them to hang out in the same room before (then it was Christmas with people over so we went back to just feeding at the door and didn't try to do any swapping at all) but not as bad as today. We do swap them once a day for about an hour or so. Just gonna keep trying I guess... EDIT: luckily new cat doesn't seem any worse for the wear. Slimy Hog fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Jan 6, 2023 |
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Jan 6, 2023 02:50
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Slimy Hog posted:This is week 3 or 4. We've had some setbacks when trying to get them to hang out in the same room before (then it was Christmas with people over so we went back to just feeding at the door and didn't try to do any swapping at all) but not as bad as today. FWIW what worked for us was swapping them for like, days at a time The idea we saw online was that they should be trading scents and getting to roam in each other's "territory" to sorta comingle the scent. Hopefully to make it so that they don't get so protective over "their" space since it's all sorta co-mingled
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Jan 6, 2023 03:12
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Weird Pumpkin posted:FWIW what worked for us was swapping them for like, days at a time Oh interesting.... I'll give something similar a shot. My resident cat HATES being cooped up so I'll have to be clever. Thanks!
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Jan 6, 2023 03:43
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