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There have been studies determining that cats do learn their name, but whether they respond or not depends on if they feel like it. One of ours has about five phrases she's learned but I can't just say them, I have to do them in that dumb elevated pitch that people talk to cats with. "Snack attack" and "show off" are the big ones, but "outside," "'c'mon" and "that's not your house" are others she's picked up on because I use them in the same contexts every time. When I start calling "outside" she goes loving bonkers and posts up next to the door waiting for me to put her leash on. There's people out there that have taught cats to use sound boards but I ain't got the patience (or floor space) for that.
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Feb 28, 2023 20:52
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phosdex posted:Do your cats understand their name? Jasper figured out I was talking about him it feels like within a month. And he def knows that I'm talking about him and not the other. But Rocket after 3 months now hasn't a clue. Mine have generally known at least two names for themselves. They can pick it up pretty fast.
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Feb 28, 2023 21:23
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Surprisingly, every cat instinctively responds to being called "shithead."
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Feb 28, 2023 21:32
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Affie definitely knows her name, she will turn to you if call her. She also knows "treat" and "din-din".
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Feb 28, 2023 21:37
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Mine know their names and at least one nickname. Two of the three respond all the time and the young rebel responds whenever she when she feels like it. They know some other word like upstairs, down, treat, etc., and I've been teaching them tricks so all of them know sit, two know speak (youngest cat rarely makes any vocal sounds), and two of them know high-five and shake. Training the first was really hard but the other two learn by watching her now.
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Feb 28, 2023 22:34
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Lena responds to her name and her nick name most of the time. Katya does too but he's a lot more responsive when my girlfriend calls him than when I do.
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Mar 1, 2023 01:14
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Oh god damnit! I was finally going to get my poo poo together and order a Litter Robot 4 this evening. In fact, I even went and ordered waste tray liners, and backup ones in case the (biodegradable) ones I want don't actually fit properly. I then went to put in my order for the Litter Robot 4 to discover that it hasn't actually been released yet here. Apparently it's expected mid-year. drat. I kind of had my heart set on the mk 4 because it's got automatic weight tracking. I was considering switching to free-feeding them, monitoring their weight to make sure James isn't gorging himself. Had a whole chat with the vet about it and everything, during Wolfgang's senior citizen checkup, how the Litter Robot would make that really easy. I mean, I guess I could get a mk 3, but the 4 really does seem a lot better. Though I do want to try to get my place un-stinky quickly and have people over more often :/
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Mar 1, 2023 13:08
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It's more fun to monitor weight by picking up your cat and stepping on the scale. Treat it like a chance to bond.
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Mar 1, 2023 14:06
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Someone needs to come out with a human+pet scale with an extra decimal point. Because that's how I weigh my cats too, but a tenth of a pound is 1.6 ounces which is a pretty big margin of error for cat weight. (also gently caress imperial measurements)
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Mar 1, 2023 14:11
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Do you need to know your cats' weight that accurately because they're on a diet or have some medical condition that makes it important? I feel like getting a weight within +/-0.1lb is enough for me to tell that my cat has been ~10.5lbs for the last forever and so I must be feeding her about the right amount.
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Mar 1, 2023 22:38
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kaom posted:3) Litter tracking tips Well I’ve seen this in action now and can confirm no mat will help us. One of our cats came out of the litter box and straight to me for belly rubs, and it turns out sawdust is sticking all over the fluff on the back of their legs (long-haired cats). Sure explains how they were tracking it so far around the house… Glad I didn’t shell out, although I’m not sure where to go from here other than accepting my pine-scented fate.
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Mar 2, 2023 03:14
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The other thing is, from what I understand, the version 4 has some improvements for containing the stink over and above the version 3, and stink containment is most of the reason I want to get one :/Jayne Doe posted:Do you need to know your cats' weight that accurately because they're on a diet or have some medical condition that makes it important? I feel like getting a weight within +/-0.1lb is enough for me to tell that my cat has been ~10.5lbs for the last forever and so I must be feeding her about the right amount. Nah, it would just have been for convenience.
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Mar 2, 2023 03:21
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kaom posted:Well I’ve seen this in action now and can confirm no mat will help us. One of our cats came out of the litter box and straight to me for belly rubs, and it turns out sawdust is sticking all over the fluff on the back of their legs (long-haired cats). Sure explains how they were tracking it so far around the house… Glad I didn’t shell out, although I’m not sure where to go from here other than accepting my pine-scented fate. If you have a box full of dust and pellets in your house, the dust and pellets will inevitably go somewhere else in your house that is not the box. 
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Mar 2, 2023 15:21
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My cat loves q-tips. He bats them around and chews on them and tosses them in the air and catches them with his paws, no joke. He also eats literally everything - the day after we brought him home last year he puked up a plastic battery cap. It probably isn't good for him to play with q-tips as he will eat the cotton as it comes off, but he loves them so much he figured out how to open the bathroom cupboard to get to the box. Are there are any q-tip-like toys that he could entertain himself without without wrecking his intestines?
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Mar 3, 2023 15:44
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We've had q-tip cats before and as far as I can tell there's no replacement for them. You just need to figure out a way to secure them so kitty can never get into them (and bury them in the trash because they WILL know if there's a q-tip in there). The best I got for an alternative is cat toys made out of felt, there's a bunch of people selling them on etsy. We got a little felt sushi kit last week from one seller that both our cats go nuts over. https://www.etsy.com/listing/959401..._search_click=1 We have some of the felt fishies too which are also pretty popular.
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Mar 3, 2023 16:05
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My cats today met one of the outdoor neighborhood cats. They were very brave behind the protection of a screen door and hissed until the cat got bored and left.
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Mar 3, 2023 20:13
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I've been trying to walk my cat on a leash but she's incredibly cowardly. I carry her to the entrance of our garden and she already starts struggling on the way, then when I set her down she runs to the house door as fast as she can. We can repeat this a couple of times but the most she'll do is run home in a slightly more relaxed manner. When I go in the other direction into the garden, she's reasonably interested in looking at some birds, but the road with people and vehicles is just too much for her. At least I know that she now knows how to run home and wait in front of the house door to be let in. Maybe she'll be able to do that if she ever gets lost. For people who have experience walking their cats, did they start out like this? How can they get braver?
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Mar 3, 2023 20:47
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It's tougher for adult cats to adapt to new experiences, you can get lucky if they're already interested but if they aren't I'm not sure there's much you can do. Maybe do a lot of small excursions to try and build up a tolerance. Or get a mesh carrier so they can chill out in a safe spot. Or build a catio. The more positive you can make the experience and the more in control the cat feels the better it's gonna go. But you can't fight their disposition. Both of ours were leash trained as kittens and one of them wants nothing more than to stay inside and watch birds through windows. The other one bawls at the front door every night at 5pm demanding I take her on a walk.
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Mar 3, 2023 20:53
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kaom posted:Well I’ve seen this in action now and can confirm no mat will help us. One of our cats came out of the litter box and straight to me for belly rubs, and it turns out sawdust is sticking all over the fluff on the back of their legs (long-haired cats). Sure explains how they were tracking it so far around the house… Glad I didn’t shell out, although I’m not sure where to go from here other than accepting my pine-scented fate.
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Mar 3, 2023 21:01
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I put an air purifier next to one of the litter boxes, it seems to help a bit but it really highlighted how much dust the litter gave off.
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Mar 3, 2023 22:56
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pidan posted:I've been trying to walk my cat on a leash but she's incredibly cowardly. I carry her to the entrance of our garden and she already starts struggling on the way, then when I set her down she runs to the house door as fast as she can. We can repeat this a couple of times but the most she'll do is run home in a slightly more relaxed manner. Why insist on making her do it if she's scared and wants to go home? Most cats just want to stay in their territory, not every cat is an explorer.
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Mar 4, 2023 02:46
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pairofdimes posted:I put an air purifier next to one of the litter boxes, it seems to help a bit but it really highlighted how much dust the litter gave off.
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Mar 4, 2023 06:32
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Organza Quiz posted:Why insist on making her do it if she's scared and wants to go home? Most cats just want to stay in their territory, not every cat is an explorer. Our apartment is relatively small so I just want her to have some new experiences. And she is interested in looking at things, as shown by her behaviour on the other end of the garden, and she likes going on the balcony and looking down. She's just scared. I also want her to have a basic idea about the outside world so she won't be completely lost if she ever falls out of the window or something like that.
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Mar 4, 2023 06:45
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Arsenic Lupin posted:tell me more? I just spent a day in bed thanks to litter dust. If you're that sensitive to litter dust you should avoid it completely and switch to the extruded walnut poo poo.
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Mar 4, 2023 07:26
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pidan posted:Our apartment is relatively small so I just want her to have some new experiences. And she is interested in looking at things, as shown by her behaviour on the other end of the garden, and she likes going on the balcony and looking down. She's just scared. If you want her to have new experiences then bring her interesting things into her territory. There's no point forcing her to do something she's scared to do.
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Mar 4, 2023 09:31
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I agree and I'd add that even if your cat could become interested in being walked, forcing a cat to do something is the best way to make them never ever want to do that thing. Cat stubbornness is not something to trifle with
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Mar 4, 2023 10:00
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Yeah, and if you're concerned about her being in danger if she falls off the balcony, just... make sure that can't happen? Either screen in the balcony or don't let her out there.
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Mar 4, 2023 10:29
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If she already likes just walking around the garden, that kinda seems like plenty What's wrong with just taking her around the garden to spend some outdoor time together?
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Mar 4, 2023 15:24
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Arsenic Lupin posted:You can switch brands and types of litter. I stopped using World's Best cat litter (corn-based, very dusty) and am currently testing Dr. Elsey's Ultra and Arm & Hammer Cloud Control. You might also consider crystal litter, which is dust-free. I’m totally open to switching it up, we started with pine pellets because it was what the shelter was using and we wanted to minimize the amount of change they were going to run into coming home with us. Maybe I’ll try this: VelociBacon posted:If you're that sensitive to litter dust you should avoid it completely and switch to the extruded walnut poo poo. Either way, they’re still only using one litter box and haven’t done more than dig around a little in the second one on the main floor. They both always run back up to the cat room.  Ultimately we want that to become the guest bedroom and not contain a litter box, but we haven’t dared moved it yet because we’re a little worried about what they’ll do if they can’t find it where they’re expecting it. It’s the only thing left in there. We wound up addressing the “scared to come downstairs in the day time” problem by moving all their cat furniture downstairs except the anti-anxiety cushion in the office. This has actually been working pretty well, they’ve come down all on their own for meals and company a few times and haven’t immediately bailed back upstairs, there’s been some play in the living room and one of them spent an afternoon on the cat tree in the sun. As long as the time they’re spending down here increases, even if it’s a slow process, I think we’re on track for them realizing the whole house is their home and not just the upstairs. Still no idea what to do about encouraging them to eat, though. Our licker still only likes to lick (unless it’s beef). And they both strongly prefer licking food off our fingers vs eating it out of a dish. (We have flat stainless steel food dishes for them.) This is very very cute and I assume good bonding, but we can’t let it be the only way they’ll eat without being fussy because we know we have to travel for a family wedding this summer and I’m not going to ask a cat sitter to feed them this way lol.
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Mar 4, 2023 23:43
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Arsenic Lupin posted:tell me more? I just spent a day in bed thanks to litter dust. It's pretty much what it sounds like, I put the air purifier right next to the box with the intake pointing toward the box. When I clean the box I manually turn the fan speed to max to try and pull more dust into the purifier. This one actually has an auto mode where it turns up the fan speed when it detects dust, but the cats are afraid of it when it goes up to max so I have to leave it on low.
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Mar 5, 2023 00:31
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kaom posted:Either way, they’re still only using one litter box and haven’t done more than dig around a little in the second one on the main floor. They both always run back up to the cat room. I’m going to bluntly suggest moving some buried poops from the upstairs box to the downstairs, so it smells like a place for cats to poop. You should also start slowly moving the upstairs litter box closer to where you want them to go. Half its width a day is usually safe. Stairs can be a problem.
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Mar 5, 2023 07:38
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Weird Pumpkin posted:If she already likes just walking around the garden, that kinda seems like plenty Standing in the yard for half an hour while the cat contemplates a tree is pretty boring, walking around would be fun, and exercise. This is a very walkable neighborhood, I've seen a couple of people walk with their cats. I'll definitely keep trying for a while, if she never stops being afraid then I guess I'll give up eventually. I have transported her in a mesh backpack on my bike, to the vet, and she seemed to take that well enough, no screaming or struggling. She's just not used to being outside.
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Mar 5, 2023 15:13
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You are deliberately doing something that makes your cat miserable. This is not going to end well. She is going to associate you with being miserable.
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Mar 5, 2023 16:41
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Both Jet and I have been sneezing quite a lot these past few days. Not sure what’s changed, but I suspect I may have picked up a virus - especially since vacuuming, dusting, cleaning, and opening windows hasn’t stopped us from getting sneezy. I can sneeze all I want, but I’m more worried about him. How bad are upper respiratory infections for cats? Should I be worried or will he get over it once I do the same?
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Mar 5, 2023 20:42
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pidan posted:Standing in the yard for half an hour while the cat contemplates a tree is pretty boring, walking around would be fun, and exercise. This is a very walkable neighborhood, I've seen a couple of people walk with their cats. I'll definitely keep trying for a while, if she never stops being afraid then I guess I'll give up eventually. This is not how cat works. She does not want to do the thing! Just repeatedly forcing her to do the thing is not going to do anything other than upset her. You miiiiight get somewhere by giving her treats while harnessed, then while outside, so that she associates walks with fun times. But I don't think it's likely to happen.
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Mar 5, 2023 21:43
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Pollyanna posted:Both Jet and I have been sneezing quite a lot these past few days. Not sure what’s changed, but I suspect I may have picked up a virus - especially since vacuuming, dusting, cleaning, and opening windows hasn’t stopped us from getting sneezy. I can sneeze all I want, but I’m more worried about him. How bad are upper respiratory infections for cats? Should I be worried or will he get over it once I do the same?
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Mar 5, 2023 22:47
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Pollyanna posted:Both Jet and I have been sneezing quite a lot these past few days. Not sure what’s changed, but I suspect I may have picked up a virus - especially since vacuuming, dusting, cleaning, and opening windows hasn’t stopped us from getting sneezy. I can sneeze all I want, but I’m more worried about him. How bad are upper respiratory infections for cats? Should I be worried or will he get over it once I do the same? Don't rule out allergies, if it's getting to be spring where you are. My cat and I both have pollen allergies!
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Mar 5, 2023 22:51
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Arsenic Lupin posted:I'm having the same problem, but in my case it seems to be litter dust. When you scoop your litter, is there a lot of dust on the top/bottom? When your cat tracks stuff, is it fine dust or grains? I use pine pellets, so it’s more like sawdust. Anything that gets tracked is (usually) a large pellet, and the piss dust collects at the bottom of the box. I switched away from clay years ago, but I remember it kicking up a bunch of annoying dust back then too. Not currently a problem - plus nothing has changed there recently. effika posted:Don't rule out allergies, if it's getting to be spring where you are. My cat and I both have pollen allergies! poo poo’s still dead as gently caress here but hmm. I do wonder…
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Mar 5, 2023 23:38
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pidan posted:walking around would be fun, and exercise.
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Mar 6, 2023 06:25
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pidan posted:Standing in the yard for half an hour while the cat contemplates a tree is pretty boring, walking around would be fun, and exercise. This is a very walkable neighborhood, I've seen a couple of people walk with their cats. I'll definitely keep trying for a while, if she never stops being afraid then I guess I'll give up eventually. you're projecting quite heavily here imho, if you want a pet for exercise and going on walks with I know just the one for you but it's never gonna be a cat.
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Mar 6, 2023 12:59
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