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mdtyson posted:So my kittens have been doing really well, they're going on four-and-a-half months, and I love them unconditionally. Except they always seem to have a little poo poo hanging out by their assholes that they won't clean. The cats I had growing up never had this problem and seemed to spend more time cleaning up around there than my new kittens ever do. In fact, I rarely see them grooming themselves, and only occasionally will they groom each other. I assume this is because I got them a week or so early and perhaps their mum didn't teach 'em, but how do I go about getting my kitties to lick their assholes clean? At first I didn't mind and just used a little wipe to clean them up, but I don't want them to get into the habit of being cleaned, so I've stopped and now there's just a constant dingleberry or two on both of them. I've tried showing them that their rear end is dirty but that doesn't appear to bother them. Please help? First things first. Is their litterbox scooped every day? And are they long haired cats? I have a long haired that cleans herself meticulously, but still manages to get some poopies on his rear end due to sheer volume of fur. Even when her box is very clean, she sometimes gets this way. We have taken to trimming the fur beneath her tail and on her hind quarters to help alleviate the problem. Another one has semi long fur and usually has no problem, except when we don't get to the boxes every single day.
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Jun 1, 2010 21:23
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They've got two boxes that are scooped daily. Their box is darn clean, though the male cat is more meticulous about covering his poo poo than the girl. She's a short hair and he's more of a medium. We've done a little trimming to keep their fur clean - the main problem is really the rear end in a top hat. Little shits cling to that fucker like crazy.
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Jun 2, 2010 00:22
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mdtyson posted:So my kittens have been doing really well, they're going on four-and-a-half months, and I love them unconditionally. Except they always seem to have a little poo poo hanging out by their assholes that they won't clean. The cats I had growing up never had this problem and seemed to spend more time cleaning up around there than my new kittens ever do. In fact, I rarely see them grooming themselves, and only occasionally will they groom each other. I assume this is because I got them a week or so early and perhaps their mum didn't teach 'em, but how do I go about getting my kitties to lick their assholes clean? At first I didn't mind and just used a little wipe to clean them up, but I don't want them to get into the habit of being cleaned, so I've stopped and now there's just a constant dingleberry or two on both of them. I've tried showing them that their rear end is dirty but that doesn't appear to bother them. Please help? Are they longhaired? If so, you will probably need to trim their bums frequently. If not, keep grabbing them and wiping their butts. Hopefully if it annoys them enough they'll learn to do it themselves. edit: blaaah missed this page. Point about irritating them by doing it stands, I hope.
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Jun 2, 2010 12:56
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mdtyson posted:They've got two boxes that are scooped daily. Their box is darn clean, though the male cat is more meticulous about covering his poo poo than the girl. She's a short hair and he's more of a medium. We've done a little trimming to keep their fur clean - the main problem is really the rear end in a top hat. Little shits cling to that fucker like crazy. Seconding wiping their butts. If you leave it a little wet it should bug them enough to lick it dry which should get them in the habit of cleaning down there as well. I also think this is just another pleasure of having kittens. My little guys had this problem when they were young, but have pretty much outgrown it (11 months old now).
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Jun 2, 2010 14:56
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Bellmeistr posted:Seconding wiping their butts. If you leave it a little wet it should bug them enough to lick it dry which should get them in the habit of cleaning down there as well. I also think this is just another pleasure of having kittens. My little guys had this problem when they were young, but have pretty much outgrown it (11 months old now). Alright, good to know. I wasn't sure if by cleaning it myself it would encourage them to become lazier and less likely to clean it on their own.
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Jun 2, 2010 17:08
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I just moved and tore Toby (a 3 year old neutered male ginger tabby with a timidity problem) away from his bestest friends (my former roommate's cats). He came out from the blankets and explored around last night and a little bit this morning, and he ate his breakfast and had some water. A few minutes ago, I tried to coax him out from under the bed again with treats, for which he is usually greedy. He sort of poked his front end out from under the bed, licking his lips a bunch (which I gather is a "scared" thing?) and wouldn't even eat his treats  The thing that changed was that my ceiling fan was on high rather than low. I think someone posted here or the other questions thread about cats being afraid of ceiling fans recently, but has anyone else had this problem? Did the cats get used to the ceiling fans at all?I have a little table fan I can use instead, but it's just  seriously the light breeze is too much for you, buddy?
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Jun 2, 2010 17:31
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Eggplant Wizard posted:I just moved and tore Toby (a 3 year old neutered male ginger tabby with a timidity problem) away from his bestest friends (my former roommate's cats). He came out from the blankets and explored around last night and a little bit this morning, and he ate his breakfast and had some water. My cats are also big gay babies about any sort of change in the apartment. My b/f made them a scratching post and the one little bastard hid under the bed for hours and wouldn't get near it for the whole night. Maybe just give him a bit of time to get used to it? I kind of doubt he'll be terrified of it forever. Oh yeah, AND you just moved. He's probably pretty freaked out in general right now.
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Jun 2, 2010 17:40
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Maybe a stupid question, but how do you guys store catnip toys that end up getting saliva all over them?
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Jun 3, 2010 08:21
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When I clean the house, I put all the toys in a basket in the guest room. Ten minutes later, the floor is strewn with toys. Basically what I'm saying is I store the stuff wherever the cat drops it.
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Jun 3, 2010 14:06
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I've got a couple of cube ottomans that have a lid. Every now and then I fill them up with all the cat toys, then pull one or two out periodically. But for the most part, I just let the toys be wherever the cats left them last.
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Jun 3, 2010 14:23
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Yeah this is what happens when you try to 'store' toys and catnip in a box
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Jun 4, 2010 04:19
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I keep backup toys & catnip in a big popcorn tin. They can't get into that, at least. My cats have always been trained to put away any toys in current usage. Designated storage spots include: corners of rooms, middles of rooms, under doors, under rugs, under furniture and in shoes. They're really good at it.
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Jun 4, 2010 04:23
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I just wait for the dog to collect all the catnip mice and bring them to her crate.
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Jun 4, 2010 06:32
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Haha, yeah, that's the problem I was having. I figure I'll just leave the toys that aren't for solo play in a box on my dresser where he can't reach it. Another toy-related question. I know to avoid toys with easily detachable small pieces, and have heard horror stories about cats swallowing string, thread, dental floss, etc. But my cat just tears the poo poo out of whatever he's playing with and inevitably tears off little bits of fibre and string. I try not to buy cheap, crappy toys, either (at least I think so). His favourite toy is a stuffed mouse on a string dangling from a stick, and little bits of string come off the tail and the part where the mouse attaches to the string. Most toys I've seen in various stores look like they have little parts like this that will come off with vigorous play. Is this an unsafe toy? Are the kinds of string that come off it the kind I need to worry about? They come apart pretty easily and the pieces aren't very long. Is the main worry about swallowing string that a really long piece will be swallowed? http://yfrog.com/afdsc04135gj http://yfrog.com/10dsc04146dj http://yfrog.com/izdsc04138fj http://yfrog.com/5odsc04136aj nemesis_hub fucked around with this message at 00:42 on Jun 5, 2010 |
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Jun 5, 2010 00:33
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sorry, not getting a new kitten or anything, but one of my friends' garage cats just had a litter of kittens about a month ago... uh... i figured i'd just leave this here--the gophery, slightly-retarded looking kitten with a wicked case of bedhead Click here for the full 720x540 image.
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Jun 6, 2010 03:42
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I have a quick question. I have a 3-ish year old female and a 4 month old male kitten. When does it cease to be playing and start being fighting? I have never seen either one of them come away with injuries, but the little one will ambush the girl and come away with fur in his mouth. The girl is way more withdrawn now that she is under constant attack, and I just don't know what to do to make life easier for her. She's young, but she does not want to play like he does. Sometimes I see her play back with him but most of the time she's just pissed that he won't leave her alone. He's completely taken over my room at night. She used to sleep on the foot of the bed but she won't even come in the room anymore. What an rear end in a top hat. Can I do anything about this? Both fixed, I've had the little one since he was about 6 weeks, and I've had the older one for about a year and a half.
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Jun 7, 2010 00:01
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Kittens are assholes. He might settle down with time, I'm not sure what else you can do but wait.
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Jun 8, 2010 00:12
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My cat has been vomiting intermittently for the past few days. Like every once in a while the first day, then not at all the second, then it came back yesterday and today, though very infrequent and mildly. It's never anything solid, unless she happens to puke while she is trying to eat, just a little dab of frothy liquid which I assume is stomach acid. Most of the time she seems to just spit it up in her mouth and swallow it. She seems perfectly healthy otherwise, eating and drinking as much as ever, and she still wakes me up in the middle of the night because she's bouncing off the walls. I read that constipation can cause vomiting sometimes, and I couldn't specifically remember seeing any turds in the litter box recently, but she pooped a hard and dry one last night. I hoped this was the end of it, but she puked again this morning. How concerned should I be? Could this just be kitty indigestion or something that will pass in a couple days? Could it be a hairball that she just can't quite get out? Or am I a horrible person for not taking her to the vet the first time it happened?
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Jun 8, 2010 18:57
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Take her to the vet.
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Jun 8, 2010 19:37
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KnightLight posted:Kittens are assholes. So no input on what is fighting and needs to be stopped or avoided and what is just playing? I won't let him play that rough with me, so should I discipline him for playing roughly with the other cat? micnato posted:How concerned should I be? Could this just be kitty indigestion or something that will pass in a couple days? Could it be a hairball that she just can't quite get out? Or am I a horrible person for not taking her to the vet the first time it happened? She needs to go to the vet. Even if it is just "indigestion" or a hairball the vet can help her stop vomiting which is important so she won't get dehydrated. Also if there's something worse wrong it's better to find out sooner. Cats are really good at hiding when they feel crappy so please just bring her in and check it out.
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Jun 9, 2010 06:54
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aunt moneybags posted:So no input on what is fighting and needs to be stopped or avoided and what is just playing? I won't let him play that rough with me, so should I discipline him for playing roughly with the other cat? Basically, unless it draws blood, it's playing. Cats play rough. I used to say "unless it draws blood or you hear that terrible cat screaming," but some other cat owners say their cats scream when they play (this is real screaming I'm talking about, not the squalling noises some cats make while playing).
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Jun 9, 2010 13:56
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 my folks are taking Fry to the vet today. He's always been a frequent visitor to the litter box, but I figured he just likes dicking around in there (when he "scratches" at the litter, it sounds like someone's taking a baseball bat to the basement). Today I caught him peeing outside of it - on a different floor of the house. He scratched up some papers and let a bit out, and it had a pink tinge.He's going in at 2 (my parents are nice enough to come over, get the cat, and take him to my vet) and I explained the symptoms to them when I set up the visit. At first I figured it's probably just some crystals, but could it be worse? He's not even a year old yet 
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Jun 9, 2010 17:06
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Fire In The Disco posted:Basically, unless it draws blood, it's playing. Cats play rough. I used to say "unless it draws blood or you hear that terrible cat screaming," but some other cat owners say their cats scream when they play (this is real screaming I'm talking about, not the squalling noises some cats make while playing). Ok. I guess Belle is just a wimp and makes those noises. Hopefully once Poe chills out a little it won't be as stressful for either of us.
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Jun 9, 2010 18:51
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aunt moneybags posted:So no input on what is fighting and needs to be stopped or avoided and what is just playing? I won't let him play that rough with me, so should I discipline him for playing roughly with the other cat? Not really. It doesn't sound like really serious life-or-death fighting, she should be able to let him know if he's being too rough. Unless you think it's really stressing her out, you might as well just sit it out, he'll almost certainly grow out of it. Does she have anywhere she can go to get away from him when she wants to? Maybe a shelf on a cat tree that he's too small to get onto or something?
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Jun 9, 2010 19:02
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I have the same problem with my two assholes. One's about 10 months, the other's a couple years old, and the older one just loving wails like a banshee. I haven't found any blood, so I think it's just playing, but when they really get into it I break them up, just in case. Also doesn't help that the younger one has front claws and the older one is front declawed. But then again, they're alone for 16 hours between sleep and work, and one hasn't lost an eye yet, so I guess it's ok.
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Jun 9, 2010 19:37
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I wouldn't try to break it up. This is how cats determine the pecking order.
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Jun 9, 2010 20:22
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Hey PI  Last Wednesday I found a stray kitten on my back porch. With help from a friend who's a vet tech, we've nursed him from a flea-ridden bag of bones into a pretty happy and healthy kitten. I named him Fry, because I already have a kitty named Leela. Yes, there are pictures. No threat of KES here! Bonus pictures of my other pets there, too! He went to the vet on Friday and it was determined at that time he was 2 - 3 weeks old so now he's 3 - 4 weeks. He went back to the vet today because he had an orange poo yesterday, and he hasn't been eating enough. The vets last week and this morning ran many tests, and could find nothing wrong with him, and except for a respiratory infection, (which they found last week and he has been on Gentocin eyedrops for) is sure he is in all other ways, healthy. (There are 2 vets where I go, one saw him last week and the other today.) No FIV/Leukemia, no parasites in his tummy, and said that his orangish stool is still within normal color range. But, he hates eating. Hates it. I bottle feed him for at least 45 - 60 minutes each time when he wakes me up around 2-4 AM, when I wake up at 7-8AM, I come home from lunch and spent about 30 minutes feeding him before I have to race back to work, when I get home from work from 7-8 and before bed at 11-12pm. He's been on KMR this whole time so far, and at his weight / age (he was 11oz last week, he's 12oz now) he's supposed to eat at least 60ml (4 tablespoons) of KMR a day. The best I've gotten him to eat is maybe 3 tbsp. Yesterday he probably had less than 1, which I practically had to force down him. Tuesday he was lapping up KMR from a saucer, she he knows now how to eat on his own. He's very energetic and vocal. He can clean himself, he loves exploring and is very curious and friendly, he's in all other ways a very normal and happy kitten. I try to always give him the option of eating on his own and give him love and let him explore a bit before and after making him eat so he doesn't see eating as a punishment. My vet suggested today to try switching him to solid food, so I went and bought Science Diet Kitten wet food. I spent awhile feeding him some off of my finger, and most of that was pretty force fed, though occasionally he'd lick my finger. I then left him alone for awhile with a saucer of food, a saucer of water and his new kitten-sized litter box with kitten-specific litter in it. He had fun playing in his litter box (and even tried eating some, but quickly figured out it tasted terrible) and took a nap. I've tried pushing his nose in it and getting him to eat off my finger again, and he just has no interest in eating. Right now I put him in a small box with his food and a towel covering most of it to isolate him with the food, but he's crying and trying to jump to get out rather than take any interest in the food whatsoever (*edit* He managed to get out of this box.) He did have about 2/3rds a tablespoon of KMR from 7-8 this morning and I got maybe 1/4th of a teaspoon of solid food down him earlier today. He also won't drink water on his own. Help, PI. How do I make my otherwise happy and healthy kitten enjoy eating? Annakie fucked around with this message at 19:38 on Jun 10, 2010 |
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Jun 10, 2010 19:13
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Annakie posted:Help, PI. How do I make my otherwise happy and healthy kitten enjoy eating? Have you tried different types of food, or do you need to be feeding him the Science Diet? He might just be a typical finicky cat, so trying out a few options may help you to figure out what he'll eat readily.
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Jun 10, 2010 20:45
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Try mixing the wet food with the KMR, that's what we do where I work. Warm it up a bit and make a smelly and delicious slurry. Sometimes at this age you just have to syringe feed, did your vet give you any syringes? You might stop by there and pick some up.
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Jun 10, 2010 20:51
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Serella posted:Have you tried different types of food, or do you need to be feeding him the Science Diet? He might just be a typical finicky cat, so trying out a few options may help you to figure out what he'll eat readily. I did try some of my adult cat's wet food the other day, he didn't go for that either. But I bought 3 or 4 different flavors of the Science Diet kitten food so I will try a different flavor and see if that helps, thanks! RheaConfused posted:Try mixing the wet food with the KMR, that's what we do where I work. Warm it up a bit and make a smelly and delicious slurry. Sometimes at this age you just have to syringe feed, did your vet give you any syringes? You might stop by there and pick some up. How should I warm it up? Microwave or stove top? I have a 15ml syringe that my vet tech friend gave me. It's about as successful as bottle feeding, but I'll try the warm slurry and if not, it might be syringe tonight to get some food into him. Thank you!
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Jun 10, 2010 21:10
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Annakie posted:I did try some of my adult cat's wet food the other day, he didn't go for that either. But I bought 3 or 4 different flavors of the Science Diet kitten food so I will try a different flavor and see if that helps, thanks! Microwave should be fine, it can't be HOT, just warm enough to be stinky and pleasant. Make sure you touch it before giving it to him to make sure it won't hurt him. \/\/\/\/\/Should kittens that age be eating dry food even if the pieces are tiny? There doesn't seem to be anything special about it besides that. HondaCivet fucked around with this message at 21:54 on Jun 10, 2010 |
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Jun 10, 2010 21:49
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You may also want to see if you can find some Royal Canin "Baby Cat". It's a dry food, but the pieces are crumb-sized and tiny kittens tend to really like it. The big chain stores usually carry it.
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Jun 10, 2010 21:51
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Dry food is fine for kittens that age, but generally it should be soaked in some water to make it softer.
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Jun 10, 2010 22:07
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Fry update: This afternoon I tried the first solution of the warm slurry mix. I tried to put it in a saucer I bought for him and he didn't take to it at all, until I put it on my fingers. Then he got ravenous for it, but still wouldn't take it out of the bowl. For about an hour I dipped my fingers in it and let him lick / suckle it off. He was very, VERY enthusiastic about this, while I was trying to work with one hand and feed a kitten with the other. I was just happy he seemed happy to be eating. I let him sleep for awhile and put the remaining mix into his bottle, then cut the nipple off. First time I tried this I noticed nothing was coming out because the chunks were still too large, so I made a big batch in the food processor to really get the chunks out, heated that a little, put it in a bottle, and success! For the first time ever, he was really enthusiastic about drinking out of his bottle! He even sucked on it where as before he'd just halfheartedly lick at it and I'd usually end up squeezing it into his mouth. After a pretty big meal and a long nap, I tried again around 9pm to get more into him. He wasn't nearly as enthusiastic. Then I tried again at 10:30 and he ate quite a bit without a fuss. I realized the difference is, at 9pm his bottle was fresh out of the fridge and I'd let it sit here on my desk since then. I always tried to get the bottle warmed a bit before giving it to him, but I guess I need to let it get even warmer, fully room temperature til he'll really drink it. He still probably only drank less than 3 tablespoons all in all today, but most of that was this afternoon after making the slurry. The only problem now is he really thinks food comes from my fingers.  Hopefully he'll figure out real eating in a couple of days. Also, another big yay moment, he's both peed and pooped in his litter box and covered both up without me having to show him how. He did manage to step in his poop with both front paws while covering it up, so he had to have a half-bath, but otherwise, success! My big question now is, how safe is it to let the KMR go from fridge to lukewarm, back to fridge back to lukewarm? I know you don't really want to do that with human food, so I can't imagine it's much better for kitten food. He doesn't eat a full bottle at a time and it's a lot easier to feed him a full bottle than a mostly empty one. Thanks for the help, PI! I'm feeling better about my little guy's eating already. I took pictures and two short videos today but my camera is being difficult about getting the pictures. Hopefully tomorrow!
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Jun 11, 2010 05:01
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Your Fry is already smarter than my Fry, and mine is almost a year old!  Though mine managed to climb a door frame almost up to the ceiling, so that's something... (he goes tearing down the hall at full speed, leaps onto the frame and starts clawing his way up while howling at the top of his lungs)
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Jun 11, 2010 14:27
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Your Fry looks a lot like what my Fry is going to look like when he's older! Yay for Brown and White and Grey Frys! My Fry was very alert and engaged this morning. He's also starting to understand how to play, he was pawing at his shadow in between feedings and is fascinated at staring at my face now, so I think his eyes are focusing well. He also ate about a tablespoon for breakfast! He loves his slurry!
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Jun 11, 2010 16:09
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Great! Glad to hear he is doing better. Using the litterbox successfully is a big accomplishment at this point. Make sure you aren't using a clumping litter, as if he eats it it could hurt his tummy. Stick to paper based litter for now.
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Jun 11, 2010 18:36
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I just ordered a Litter Robot on the advice of cat owning friends but I don't see much talk about it on PI. I've heard horror stories of them breaking down within a month or cats being retarded and poking their head in, thinking they are fully inside and just pooping outside. Anyone have any experience with them? Also I feel like an anomaly because the pair of 3 month old kittens I adopted about a year ago are the nicest behaved things ever since they poop in the litter, rarely puke up anything (0 hairballs so far), only scratch their scratching post and haven't damaged anything aside from toilet paper that is completely shredded and unraveled on the floor. The only problem is that they're both generally skittish and don't like being held which makes trimming their claws fairly arduous. Am I gonna have to roll up some cat burritos? They also really really hate baths. 
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Jun 11, 2010 21:11
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Eej posted:
They aren't that odd, you just hear more about the issues people need help with. Congrats on your great kitties! You really shouldn't need to bathe them though, that might help with that.
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Jun 11, 2010 21:54
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Eej posted:I just ordered a Litter Robot on the advice of cat owning friends but I don't see much talk about it on PI. I've heard horror stories of them breaking down within a month or cats being retarded and poking their head in, thinking they are fully inside and just pooping outside. Anyone have any experience with them? We have a litter robot and have had one since 2003. We bought a new one after they put out a new quieter model. We did have an issue with the motherboard on our first one, but they replaced it with a brand new one with no argument. We left the plastic over the lights and such on the front on our new one, just in case, since we have one cat who sometimes sticks his rear end out and pees over the side. The pee goes through the step into the drawer, but we think that caused the issue with our old motherboard so we are being safe. Basically we love it. We have three cats who happily share the one box since it is always clean. We've never had an issue with a cat getting in it when it was going, it has a sensor on the step so it stops moving if they step up on it, and they can't really look into it without getting on the step. It was totally worth the money. Every few months my husband totally empties out the globe and cleans it out with water and 409, just to keep it fresh. Congrats on your good kitties, ours are pretty good too, no scratching or anything and they all love each other. We do get hairballs though. RheaConfused fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jun 12, 2010 |
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Jun 12, 2010 01:46
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