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Apartment/Condo living yay! My indoor cats get fleas here and there, but it's not like I need to keep them on advantage at all times, just some summers they need a month or two and then there's no problem for a few years.
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Jan 22, 2024 04:38
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She's never had fleas, it's just been a monthly routine we've done since she was a kitten because, well, it was just the default
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Jan 22, 2024 04:47
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Yeah it's always cool when a cat is able to acclimate to stuff from kittenhood so just lets you do it. I'm hoping I'm touching my little guy's paws enough and otherwise handling him to keep him easy and chill. He seems mostly to tolerate everything. He's been in my house for a month, and it just melts my heart that in <30 days he went from hissing at me from a hiding spot behind the toilet, to only ok with me petting him if he couldn't see me, to running up to me in the mornings with his tail up, and always wanting to sleep leaning against me or one of the other cats.
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Jan 22, 2024 04:52
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Kaiho posted:I moved with my cat to the US from Europe last year. She was prescribed Advantage Plus as a flea and heartworm treatment in her checkup here in Chicago, which I've now given the last of the dose of. I moved with two cats from Europe to the US back in 2014. Just out of curiosity, what was your experience moving with a cat across the Atlantic? I found it to be one of the most stressful things I've ever done but thankfully the cats made it through alive and well.
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Jan 22, 2024 05:52
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I am at my wit's end with my cat peeing on couches. We got a very nice brand new couch and after sleeping and lounging on it peacefully for the first two days he has now peed on it twice in a week. We were at least wise enough to get the generous protection plan but I'm afraid we'll have to return it now because we know he won't stop and it's too big to cover practically. Just now before peeing he was sitting on my lap (in a chair) for nearly an hour until I went to go to bed, which is quite unusual because he's not a self-taught lap cat and needed encouragement. Relevant background: - approx 6 years old (had him for 4+ years) - no inappropriate urination for the first 2 years, he was just a maniac who inhaled food and jumped straight onto 5 foot tall bookshelves and had incurable zoomies. Has calmed down with agre. - has also peed on beds but not in the last ~year. - had no couch peeing incidents until this week for the last... 4 months? Mainly because we didn't have a couch. But he also didn't pee on my parents' futon despite numerous opportunities. - he is anxious and easily scared and so is on prozac. Mostly fine now because there's nothing much around to surprise him. - has been an only cat since his older bro died 4 months ago. Seems fine with it, they got along but weren't bonded. Again, did not pee inappropriately for several months even though we essentially moved twice in that time frame, so he had some stressors. - multiple vet visits and none ever revealed any urinary issues. He does poop infrequently (every 2-3 days) and so gets laxatives when needed, but the vets had no other suggestions for that. - maybe some allergies developing as we noticed his hair thinning on his brow and around his ears, but that's fairly new. I tried putting a litter box next to the couch after the first incident (in addition to the two other litterboxes he has to himself now) and he used it three times, but not the fourth, obviously. I've read all of the literature I could find on this topic and am at a loss. Some mentioned that cats like heights and soft materials but this couch is lower than any of the other pieces of furniture he hasn't peed on despite opportunities. My only remaining theory is that he cannot abide furniture with creases, because he prefers to pee around the crack between seat cushions. The futon he has never peed on is a single folded mattress so I guess it's no good as a litterbox?? He also has an aversion to chairs and avoids even jumping on them (think Ikea Poangs and office chairs too). At this point all I can think of is to get a cat behavioralist/exorcist. I guess I could try raising one litterbox but the height issue seems unlikely to be the cause. Restricting access at night is possible but we'd have to put a tall gate and block off half the apartment for him to keep him out of the living area. A fabric he refuses to step on? An orange-scented military grade waterproof futon?
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Jan 22, 2024 09:17
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Nuclear Tourist posted:I moved with two cats from Europe to the US back in 2014. Just out of curiosity, what was your experience moving with a cat across the Atlantic? I found it to be one of the most stressful things I've ever done but thankfully the cats made it through alive and well. I felt bad for her the entire run up to it, throughout it, and was terrified of opening the crate when she arrived. It was a stressful week because it was also hot in Europe then and they were parking all pet flights but we had to get out there etc etc. She thankfully settled into the new life well though, but she has always been super adaptable, if noisy. I don't think I could have done it without the relocation service handling the logistics. Kaiho fucked around with this message at 15:29 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 15:20
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Thanks again for helping me sort out my cat's urinary issues. He is less than 2 years old and already costs us 10 grand, let's see if we can keep that number down going forward, lol Anways quick question- I'm the primary caregiver of 2 of our 3 cats. And I noticed that one of them has started purring LESS around me. He purrs the most when he's being pet my both me and my wife at the same time. He just melts. But with me, he just purrs a little despite me clearly being his #1 primary human. He always purrs but it's less than he used to. It's almost like he has purred less as he's gotten truly used to hanging out with me, is that common? Purring is what he seems to do more when he's with someone he's less comfortable with, I Guess, at the moment, I don't know.
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Jan 22, 2024 16:57
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Precambrian Video Games, what cleaning agent are you using to clean the couch?
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Jan 22, 2024 17:05
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My cat peed on my couches when I first got her, I got couch covers and she never did it again. I’m sure you don’t want to put covers on your brand new couch, but I’m hooked on them now because I can just pull them off and throw them in the washer anytime something spills. Couches should all come with [edit: easily] removable covers imo.
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Jan 22, 2024 17:05
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the reason i ask is because sometimes they'll pee in the same area if the proteins in their urine are left over
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Jan 22, 2024 17:06
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Precambrian Video Games posted:I am at my wit's end with my cat peeing on couches. We got a very nice brand new couch and after sleeping and lounging on it peacefully for the first two days he has now peed on it twice in a week. We were at least wise enough to get the generous protection plan but I'm afraid we'll have to return it now because we know he won't stop and it's too big to cover practically. Just now before peeing he was sitting on my lap (in a chair) for nearly an hour until I went to go to bed, which is quite unusual because he's not a self-taught lap cat and needed encouragement. First, before it gets any worse, you gotta waterproof that couch. I don't care what it takes, do it, because he's not going to magically stop. Maybe get 2+ waterproof bed sheets and cover the whole thing. Tuck it in so there's no way he can dig it out. Replace your cushion covers with waterproof ones if they aren't already. Make sure all your beds and any other sofas have waterproof covers as well, permanently. Next, clean it like crazy with enzyme cleaner. This is partly so he can't smell his pee anymore, and partly so that you, well, save your couch. Now, finally, addressing the peeing. There's a lot of reasons cats pee on things - urinary issues, anxiety, territory, etc. I think probably the reason your cat pees on your couch (and other soft things) is... Because he prefers it to his litterbox. Some switch in his brain has said "this soft thing works as a better litterbox than my litterbox". So you gotta remove all the soft options except for the one you want him to use. Remove all rugs in the house, and cover all soft furniture (sofas + beds) with tarps or something (at least while you can't observe and stop him from peeing), or don't allow him in the rooms with that furniture. And then, next to each litterbox, put down a soft washable puppy pad. His options for "soft thing to pee on" will now be litterbox or puppy pad. I can't guarantee this will work, but it did work for one of my cats that decided she does not trust the Litter Robot and kept finding alternative litterboxes for both peeing and pooping. Once we gave her an approved alternative (the puppy pad) and got her used to that, she has stuck to that, and I just change out the pad daily and put down a clean one. Although we've given up on having any rugs because of her. Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 17:33 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 22, 2024 17:28
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Kaiho posted:I felt bad for her the entire run up to it, throughout it, and was terrified of opening the crate when she arrived. It was a stressful week because it was also hot in Europe then and they were parking all pet flights but we had to get out there etc etc. Are there services you can contract that will move pets for you long distance like that? I handled everything myself and it still feels like an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy.
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Jan 22, 2024 17:46
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Wii Spawn Camper posted:My cat peed on my couches when I first got her, I got couch covers and she never did it again. I’m sure you don’t want to put covers on your brand new couch, but I’m hooked on them now because I can just pull them off and throw them in the washer anytime something spills. Couches should all come with [edit: easily] removable covers imo. He pees on couch covers too. This new one, the upholstery is water-resistant but there are sections of softer black fabric at the backs of the cushion covers and the part of the frame under the cushions so if anything seeps through it's not going to be feasible to clean (orange enzyme cleaner diminishes the smell but doesn't remove it entirely, I have a pet wet vac and it's not powerful enough either). Nuclear Tourist posted:Are there services you can contract that will move pets for you long distance like that? I handled everything myself and it still feels like an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. For transpacific flights to Australia at least, most airlines I contacted (this was pre-COVID) required that you use a pet transport service and would not let individuals book pet carriage. Air Canada and Qantas were the exceptions I found.
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Jan 22, 2024 18:05
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Nuclear Tourist posted:Are there services you can contract that will move pets for you long distance like that? I handled everything myself and it still feels like an experience I wouldn't wish on my worst enemy. My cat's travel and transfers were organised by World Care Pet, for what it's worth. I couldn't have added booking catteries, transport, flights, etc on top of the poo poo I was dealing with so glad they exist.
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Jan 22, 2024 18:19
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I'm really stressed out with the cat we got a month ago. He's pretty playful and wants to chase our older (I mean I say older, he's 2-3 and she's 5-6) girl cat around often. For a while it kind of got to the point where they're comfortable around each other most of the time, but when he wants to play and jumps at her, it's progressed from just hissing to outright shrieking from her, and he chases her pretty relentlessly until she's entirely cornered or we catch him. As a consequence she's sort of back slid a bit and is more tense around him the rest of the time, where she used to be curious. Now him coming anywhere near her almost always results in some hissing and swatting, even if he's not trying to play. So as a result we've made zero progress on him being out of the bedroom at night, feeding together, etc... We're sleeping in separate bedrooms so one cat can be with each of us (he's locked in the other bedroom at night). Which is getting exhausting to deal with too. On the one hand she is standing up for herself, or at least trying to, which is better than her hiding all day. But on the other hand, it frequently escalates DRAMATICALLY and that sort of thing happens at least 2-3 times a day. And honestly it's hard to know how far it would go if we didn't stop it, I'm not willing to let her get stressed to the point she starts peeing around the house or something. The ultimate karmic irony is that our girl cat used to stalk/hunt/harass the older girl cat we had (who has passed away now). I still feel a lot of guilt about that cat being chased around in her elder years when she had straight up arthritis and such. I'm not willing to just settle into this being the new normal, but I don't know what else we'd do but return/re-home the boy cat and just not get another cat.
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Jan 22, 2024 23:40
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This sounds really bad, but... You're only a month in. You have no idea if this is permanent. You need to give them a little more time than that. You could try re-introductions, but your best bet is that the new cat eventually gets the message and chills out.
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Jan 23, 2024 00:18
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That's fair but my thinking is: Their interactions are basically either A) Virtually ignoring each other B) Screeching cat fight and chasing in circles around the house. Doesn't seem to leave a lot of potential for exposure therapy. It's true that 95% of the time they're fine and she just avoids him or whatever. So I'm having trouble picturing what re-introductions would look like. They're pretty much fine as long as he doesn't ever try to play/wrestle with her. Early introductions went really well actually, it wasn't until he became more comfortable in the house that he started wanting to play more and really stress her out. At some point (3 months, 6 months, ?) we'll have to pull the plug if he just won't stop trying to wrestle with her and she's freaking out this bad every time. Both these cats are (hopefully) going to live another 10+ years. I don't know what's a good time range to try this out before rehoming him would be too difficult on both him and us. I'm sure I sound like I'm majorly jumping the gun but I'm just trying to figure out what sort of time span is realistic and understand how difficult it will be at that point if we had to make a horrible decision then.
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Jan 23, 2024 01:05
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So hey about me introducing two cats Since everyone indicated that things were going well with my cats and the behavior I've seen is normal, starting on Jan 12th I've been keeping the cats together while I'm home. I generally still block off the downstairs so they're near me but otherwise I just let them just do their things. Then, on the 19th (FRiday) I decided since things seemed to be going quite well, that I'd not separate them while I sleep. There was one little fight (Maybe playing?) Saturday morning but other than that it's been actually going well. Ish. The cats still avoid one another. They both keep to themselves but they don't seek out fights. They even get close-ish to one another on occasion but there's still meowing and the very, very, very, very occasional hiss. Those hisses are fairly rare. Mostly they just don't interact, which I'm OK with. Let them interact as little as they want as long as they aren't fighting. And if I put food down they can even tolerate being a foot away from one another, at least until the food is gone. Biggest hurdle right now is one cat likes to lie down in the doorways and the other cat gets unsure how to get around the first one. Usually they just work it out, from what I've seen. So my question here is how long should I keep them separated while I'm OUT of the house? Right now I keep both of them with me while I'm home but I don't know whether or not I should be separating them for the ~9ish hours a day I'm at work or commuting to/from work. I'm not expecting any trouble but.... well, this is all new to me!
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Jan 23, 2024 01:12
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Rescue Toaster posted:That's fair but my thinking is: I'm certainly no expert, but I think reintroductions is mostly giving them space separate from each other where they can't get into the big scuffles and then slowly working up to being together again. So I think you go back to being separated by something. You could maybe do the mesh door thing that worked for us though, that way they can see each other (and interact a bit) but can't actually have someone tackling each other/cornering each other + feeding where they can see each other and stuff?
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Jan 23, 2024 01:21
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I'm not sure how I could do something like that. We have baby gates and such, (and I can block the area above the gate) but there's no reason for them to hang out near the door for more than a couple minutes to eat. I can't figure out how to 'force' some kind of ongoing exposure/presence where they have to be able to see each other and yet can't get in a fight. If I put a gate in a room of a door, the other will just wander off. I would need like, a small room with a giant screen down the middle. How the hell would I do something like that? Or two small rooms with a connecting door that I could put a screen/gate in. I can't imagine most houses would have something like that. Putting one of them in a pen of some kind in a room with the other, maybe? I'd have to buy some large expensive crate and whoever is in the crate would probably be miserable. tldr: It feels like more of an incompatible personality issue than a introductions issue, it would seem. He wants to roughhouse (it's definitely play behavior) and she absolutely does not. If he can't get at her to tussle, then fine. But the second he can reach her if he's in an excited mood, it's a disaster. I don't know how long it's going to take him to learn not to attack her, if he ever does. Her hissing/swatting/screeching only seems to dissuade him momentarily, he still wants to play 20-30 seconds later. And the advice to 'play with him to tire him out' is ridiculous. I play with him a lot but really it just riles him up. Even if I run him around like a maniac for 45+ minutes and he seems tired out, if I then let them in the same room he bounces back in like 5-10 minutes and wants to have a go at her. Rescue Toaster fucked around with this message at 03:25 on Jan 23, 2024 |
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Jan 23, 2024 03:23
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You might just have to accept that this is how cats are. It doesn't really sound like a disaster to me though? I think you're just having a hard time seeing your existing cat unhappy, which does make sense but is it just in the moment that she's being bothered or is she generally unhappy? If your existing cat isn't displaying signs of significant distress, like hiding all the time or weeing where she shouldn't or generally acting unhappy even when she isn't being actively bothered, then she's probably fine. The question is whether you want a second cat enough to deal with that and let them sort it out however and end up with whatever status quo they end up with, even if it means your first cat's life is a bit harder than it was before you brought the second cat home.
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Jan 23, 2024 05:01
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Rescue Toaster posted:I'm not sure how I could do something like that. We have baby gates and such, (and I can block the area above the gate) but there's no reason for them to hang out near the door for more than a couple minutes to eat. I can't figure out how to 'force' some kind of ongoing exposure/presence where they have to be able to see each other and yet can't get in a fight. If I put a gate in a room of a door, the other will just wander off. Ah sorry yeah, in my case we put up a little sticky screen door for pets where you could unzip and rezip it between two rooms. So they could see each other and play paws and stuff but if someone got too worried they could just run away and not be followed Fwiw we tried the crate idea and it's one of my biggest regrets for our cat introductions because it meant the cat outside could be super hissy and growl and stuff, and the cat inside was safe but couldn't disengage and get away I would really recommend against it, I feel like it didn't really help and just stressed the little guy out (though it turned out ok and he ended up adoring her until she passed a year later, rip socks) Edit: oh actually come to think of it we had a super similar thing after socks passed and we got Pavarotti. Introductions went super great and they were fine together, but every once and awhile when pav was excited he would chase Sage down and try to play too rough. We were super worried because sage would make some terrible hisses and growls and they would go on insane chases around the rooms with Pav cornering sage. We broke up the really bad wrestles and eventually I guess they negotiated it out, because it's almost entirely stopped now. It still happens sometimes though, just last week there was a crazy loud cat wrestle and hissing and poor Sage went and hid under the bed after we got the chasing to slow down but they were back to normal an hour later. So it honestly might just require a little more time but I know how worrying it is. We were super worried the first little while we would let them stay together without being supervised at night Weird Pumpkin fucked around with this message at 05:22 on Jan 23, 2024 |
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Jan 23, 2024 05:03
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The fact they are able to ignore each other for periods of time is what makes me think this is temporary. If the mere presence of the other is enough to initiate a fight, then you've got an untenable situation. But they can coexist peacefully - its just one cat's actions that are setting off the other, and that CAN improve, even if it doesn't seem that way now. I'd also look at the environment. Does the old cat have high places to observe from? Are there spots where she gets cornered where you could give her a better escape route? In general, just giving your house more options for cat-only vertical movement will make them feel more secure. It also may be a good idea to designate one room (bedroom?) as old cat only, and let her retreat there to calm down when stressed. If you're looking for a way to force them to interact with separation for reintroductions, the classic thing to do is feed them at the same time within sight of each other. There's also one idea, if it's feasible. Are you able to get another cat? Maybe a kitten? The new cat may focus more on a playful kitten to get his energy out, and the old cat will find it difficult to feel threatened by a kitten. Not guaranteed, but it is something to think about. Edit: one more thing I thought of. Have you taken old cat to the vet lately? Maybe she has some sort of pain that she's covering up well in her daily life, but makes her feel very insecure when it comes to other cats trying to play. Have you noticed any other personality or physical changes? Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 13:50 on Jan 23, 2024 |
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Jan 23, 2024 13:45
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This is making me significantly more wary of adopting two cats instead of just one. 
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Jan 23, 2024 14:08
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Sup goons, maybe you can help me figure out what the matter is with my beloved cat?  She's 8, and we have a feeding routine (I feed her when I wake up and make my coffee, she chirps at me for lunch b/c I work from home, then chirps again at me around 6 or 7 for dinner). She usually eats like an enthusiastic drunk frat boy and is always chirping up a storm in the morning, chirping if she can see the bottom of her food bowl, etc. Yesterday when I woke up I noticed she hadn't eaten ANY of her food from last night, and was pukey all day. My roomie brought home a new cat (fixed, vaxxed, the works) a couple weeks ago, and I noticed my girl stealing the new cat's food, so I figure she'd eaten the new food, got sick, and didn't have a good time. This morning I noticed she STILL wasn't eating so I panicked and opened her treat food (soft food from her normal brand), which, luckily, she's eating, just not a whole lot. She's drinking water just fine, albeit a bit more than usual. I'm wondering if I should take her to the vet today? Roomie's cat's vet suggested my cat is just VERY stressed out which I haven't ruled out yet
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Jan 23, 2024 14:09
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Lack of appetite is never a good thing. I say vet.
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Jan 23, 2024 14:10
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Pollyanna posted:This is making me significantly more wary of adopting two cats instead of just one. Look for a bonded pair if you can! I've heard it's so much harder to adopt a bonded pair together and it always seems so sad for them to get broken up Alternatively I'm pretty sure if you adopt them as kittens you'll have a super easy time with it, though I guess it's still possible that as they grow up they may not like each other. And yeah, not eating (especially not eating the treat food) would mean immediate vet visit for me if you can swing it.
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Jan 23, 2024 14:16
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Got it, I'll be taking her this morning! Thanks for the advice, fingers crossed it's nothing big!
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Jan 23, 2024 14:21
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Lieutenant Dan posted:Got it, I'll be taking her this morning! Thanks for the advice, fingers crossed it's nothing big! I wonder if you could give her the food somewhere more quiet or something too? Has she been acting differently at all other than the lack of appetite? I ask because when we took Pavarotti to the vet in december for his annual check up + vaccines he got like 3 of them at once or something. He was definitely a little creaky the next day (because I'm sure he was crazy sore) and at first he wouldn't eat his food so I was really worried. But it turned out that the bowl was just too low for the poor guy cause he was so sore. We put his food bowl on a little riser for the day and he munched away (albeit a little slower than normal since I'm sure getting that many vaccines at once made him feel pretty icky).
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Jan 23, 2024 14:31
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Pollyanna posted:This is making me significantly more wary of adopting two cats instead of just one. We've had maybe 15 cats in total over the years, always multiples. We've never done any introductions, just drop the new cat in the litter box so it knows where it is, and then left the new and old cats alone to figure out their new relationships. It's always worked. Our cats aren't buddies, but they get along. Never had any compatibility problems.
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Jan 23, 2024 14:34
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Pollyanna posted:This is making me significantly more wary of adopting two cats instead of just one. Just get two who already like each other, that's the pro move. Although yes most pairs of cats will be able to co-exist fine, it's cuter and easier when they're best buddies.
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Jan 23, 2024 14:47
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Yes, my plan is a bonded pair next. Just anxiety and brain problem things I guess!!!
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Jan 23, 2024 14:53
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Organza Quiz posted:You might just have to accept that this is how cats are. It doesn't really sound like a disaster to me though? I think you're just having a hard time seeing your existing cat unhappy, which does make sense but is it just in the moment that she's being bothered or is she generally unhappy? Yeah this is the difficult question. She's generally OK, but she's no longer playful at all unless he's locked away. She used to actually love me to chase her around (she'd run around a bit and then lead me to her brush), and would chirp at me all the time when she wanted to play. All that behavior has completely stopped, which is upsetting. She'll tolerate me brushing her, and will occasionally play with a toy sort of halfheartedly, that's it. When he's locked away for the night I open the bedroom she and I sleep in, and she's very relaxed/comfortable on the bed in there. But there's no way to really give her a safe space during the day where she can get away from him, other than manually putting one of them in a bedroom and trapping them in there. Weird Pumpkin posted:Edit: oh actually come to think of it we had a super similar thing after socks passed and we got Pavarotti. Introductions went super great and they were fine together, but every once and awhile when pav was excited he would chase Sage down and try to play too rough. We were super worried because sage would make some terrible hisses and growls and they would go on insane chases around the rooms with Pav cornering sage. We broke up the really bad wrestles and eventually I guess they negotiated it out, because it's almost entirely stopped now. This sounds pretty familiar. They will generally sleep/ignore each other, can eat near each other (treats or wet food, he eats dry food too fast for us to feed them that together), etc... and there's only an occasional hiss and slowly backing off. But it's specifically his behavior wanting to play with her, starting with running directly at her or jumping on her from behind that kicks things off. Rotten Red Rod posted:There's also one idea, if it's feasible. Are you able to get another cat? Maybe a kitten? The new cat may focus more on a playful kitten to get his energy out, and the old cat will find it difficult to feel threatened by a kitten. Not guaranteed, but it is something to think about. We had considered getting a bonded pair for that reason, but 3 cats is a lot. Also, when I was younger we got two cats and still had an older one, though the age gap was more like 10 years rather than 3, and as the girl got older the boys absolutely terrorized her until she basically lived in a room alone, which we definitely didn't want to risk something like that. I mean 'older cat' in my case is only about 5.5 years. Honestly she seemed bored and thought she would enjoy someone to play with, especially considering SHE used to chase our older cat around (who passed away last year) and seemed bored since her passing. But apparently she's a hypocrite and/or just rear end in a top hat who only wants to be the one doing the chasing, she apparently didn't want someone who could fight back.
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Jan 23, 2024 15:39
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Pollyanna posted:Yes, my plan is a bonded pair next. Just anxiety and brain problem things I guess!!! I have a bonded pair of sisters. You will not regret a duo.
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Jan 23, 2024 16:17
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Holy poo poo thanks for your advice, they got my girl into surgery ASAP because she swallowed something metal. They said it's luckily just chilling in her stomach and not her intestines so she should be out tonight or tomorrow! I'm worried as hell but they're working on her right now so I'm sitting tight
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Jan 23, 2024 17:45
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Pollyanna posted:Yes, my plan is a bonded pair next. Just anxiety and brain problem things I guess!!! My partner and I got a bonded pair of sisters around the end of November, and they have been absolutely wonderful. They were an emergency foster, but got acclimated to our house and two existing cats so quickly and easily that we failed the foster pretty quick and decided to keep them for ourselves. They just got their spay last week, and have been keeping each other company while they recover while separated from the other two cats. They're wearing recovery suits instead of collars, so they're still able to snuggle up, and in general, have been just chilling. Lieutenant Dan posted:Holy poo poo thanks for your advice, they got my girl into surgery ASAP because she swallowed something metal. They said it's luckily just chilling in her stomach and not her intestines so she should be out tonight or tomorrow! I'm worried as hell but they're working on her right now so I'm sitting tight I'm glad you were able to catch that before it became a serious problem! It's good that you were able to recognize the change in behavior.
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Jan 23, 2024 18:04
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I had a not eating cat scare a couple months ago. She'd had a tick on her earlier in the summer so I was super paranoid. Get to the vet office and she barfs up the biggest hairball in history. cats 
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Jan 23, 2024 18:08
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Pollyanna posted:This is making me significantly more wary of adopting two cats instead of just one. Honestly... Good. You should be very wary of putting 2 adult cats together unless you are VERY sure of how easily they both accept other adult cats. And even then they can change over time. As others said, though, a bonded pair is a great idea. 2 kittens is another matter though. 2 kittens are almost always better than 1. Deteriorata posted:We've had maybe 15 cats in total over the years, always multiples. We've never done any introductions, just drop the new cat in the litter box so it knows where it is, and then left the new and old cats alone to figure out their new relationships. You've been lucky. I had a roommate's cat that absolutely triggered one of my cats - could not be in the same room without a vicious fight, and my cat started marking the entire house constantly. Nothing we did helped except separate them, and eventually moved out. That and I assume with 15 cats you have more room for them to avoid each other if they want. Rescue Toaster posted:Yeah this is the difficult question. She's generally OK, but she's no longer playful at all unless he's locked away. She used to actually love me to chase her around (she'd run around a bit and then lead me to her brush), and would chirp at me all the time when she wanted to play. All that behavior has completely stopped, which is upsetting. She'll tolerate me brushing her, and will occasionally play with a toy sort of halfheartedly, that's it. When he's locked away for the night I open the bedroom she and I sleep in, and she's very relaxed/comfortable on the bed in there. But there's no way to really give her a safe space during the day where she can get away from him, other than manually putting one of them in a bedroom and trapping them in there. And, I say again, you're only a month in. That's really not a lot of time. This still could change. I suggested getting another cat because it's clear the issue is with your new cat - he has a poo poo ton of energy and he's trying to find a way to expend it. He has so much that he's ignoring the signals from your old cat to stop. Your old cat is gonna react how she's gonna react, you can't do much to force that - the thing you need to address is your new cat's energy. I don't have expert advice on doing that aside from what I've said here, but it wouldn't hurt to marathon some Jackson Galaxy or something until you find some things that work. Question - why did your older cat seem "bored"? What actions was she taking that made her seem that way? I ask because many people will interpret an older cat's laziness and routine as "boredom" when it's just them being normal contented cats.
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Jan 23, 2024 18:15
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xzzy posted:I had a not eating cat scare a couple months ago. She'd had a tick on her earlier in the summer so I was super paranoid. I've had 2 cats stop eating and change personality suddenly. One of them turned out to be very, very sick with bleeding in his intensities and needed to be put down. I really wish we had taken him in sooner instead of ignoring the signs. The other... Yeah, giant hairball, but in his poop. Gave him kitty laxatives and out it came, and suddenly he was back to his old self and still going strong today. Anyway, yeah, if your cat stops eating and/or suddenly changes its personality, get to the vet ASAP.
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Jan 23, 2024 18:20
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Kaiho posted:My cat's travel and transfers were organised by World Care Pet, for what it's worth. I couldn't have added booking catteries, transport, flights, etc on top of the poo poo I was dealing with so glad they exist. Thanks for the tip. I hope I never have to move cats long distance like that again, but it's good to know that these kinds of services exist if it turns out I need to bite the bullet.
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Jan 23, 2024 18:26
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