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Well, that sure was fun. The puppy ate, threw up, peed in random spots, and in the end seemed to have difficulty breathing, although I'm not sure if it's a cold or because I let it play with (and throw up in) my cat's litter (fresh, of course.) The important thing is, my sister came home in tears, then immediately took the puppy out, although I didn't ask where because I was loving about with the carrier that I ordered for my cat. Speaking of which, the top attaches to the bottom with plastic clasps which don't look particularly sturdy. I thought part of the attraction was that you could use the bottom on its own to get your cat used to it?
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Dec 15, 2014 16:30
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Your sister really doesn't sound like she knows anything at all about raising an animal and you can't be expected to do it for her. If she doesn't want to put the effort into doing it right she needs to take it back.
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Dec 15, 2014 16:45
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Drythe posted:Your sister really doesn't sound like she knows anything at all about raising an animal and you can't be expected to do it for her. If she doesn't want to put the effort into doing it right she needs to take it back. This. If she still wants it, she should read through the first few paragraphs of the puppy/dog thread at the very least, and if she can't make the commitment to take care of the dog, this is going to go E/N real fast. Dogs aren't cats; they are needy creatures that need you to take them out to poo poo on a regular basis, period.
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Dec 15, 2014 16:58
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Also, as mentioned, puppies aren't cats so maybe take this over to the puppy thread where you might get more useful advice. I think this is a way bigger problem than the effect it has on your cat.
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Dec 15, 2014 17:08
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I keep hoping that I won't actually have to learn anything about dogs, and this'll be a temporary distraction in my cat-dominated life. Also, I feel like it would be better suited to E/N, because my issue is with my sister, not with the dog. (Although quite honestly I don't trust E/N's judgement, but at least it'll be a place to vent.) I'm actually quite at a loss what I'm going to do if my sister brings the puppy back. The thing is, I don't want advice on how to take care of it, but instead on how not to have to deal with it at all. Which, as has become abundantly clear from the short trial today, is impossible, without cutting out your conscience with a butter knife. Edit: Welp, I'm off to E/N. 
supermikhail fucked around with this message at 18:27 on Dec 15, 2014 |
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Dec 15, 2014 17:39
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Quick question. I have 2 male cats, and they keep getting tapeworms. Twice now we have gone to the vet for the meds, and both times the worms went away for about 2 months. Well they are back again! I really really cannot afford to keep going to the vet for the medicine, is there any stores I can go to that might have the same medicine, or something more effective for less money? Yes, I am positive that the worms are tapeworms, and not other types of worms.
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Dec 16, 2014 01:13
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If your cats aren't on good monthly flea control, they will keep getting tapeworms. Also is your vet sending you with 2+ doses (one now, one in a couple weeks)?
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Dec 16, 2014 01:32
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Constipated posted:Quick question. I have 2 male cats, and they keep getting tapeworms. Twice now we have gone to the vet for the meds, and both times the worms went away for about 2 months. Well they are back again! I really really cannot afford to keep going to the vet for the medicine, is there any stores I can go to that might have the same medicine, or something more effective for less money? I would recommend monthly treatments with Revolution, which you have to get from your vet. It doesn't kill tapeworms, but it does kill fleas which transmit tapeworms. There isn't any way to prevent tapeworms directly. We just got some for our cats. 8 treatments cost $95, so it's about $12 per dose.
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Dec 16, 2014 01:35
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Does anyone have experience with cats that have asthma? We have a female calico/Persian mix that's just under <2 years old. Before, she only had the occasional asthma attack, but now it's happening every 1-2 days. It has been this way for the past few weeks. We haven't changed her living environment in any big way- same food (Merrick's), same kitty litter (World's Best), and the entire house is kept very clean. We even try to avoid using noxious cleaning sprays, and don't use body sprays of any sort. We're taking her to the vet in a few days, but I just wanted to know if any of you have identified possible triggers. I'm guessing that maybe the dry winter air might be aggravating her respiratory system.
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Dec 16, 2014 02:38
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So, little cat behavior question - we had 3 cats, and then a friend moved into one of spare rooms and brought a new cat with her. It took a little while of slow introductions (and a few fights) but they're getting better with each other, enough that we can have him (the new cat) out in the house with the other cats most of the time. There was one of the original 3 cats that we were most worried about - she had a bad experience with being introduced to another cat and it lead to a prolonged territory marking war (the cat she didn't like is gone now). She's been the most trouble with this new cat, but she's getting better with him - while at first she always hid from him, now they can be comfortably in the same room - she just doesn't like being close to him. No pissing/marking at all though, thank god. The question is this - sometimes the new cat will run at her (old cat) like he's going to attack/play, but instead of striking he'll stop short and make a warbling sound (that his owner says he makes when he's upset) - he's standing up straight, not getting low. The old cat will get down low and stand her ground, and make the growling sound she makes when she's upset. What does this mean? Is he just asserting dominance? Is he just playing? I'm trying to figure out what the dynamic for them is going to be. Thanks for any input! Edit: Also here's the old cat back when she got bit and had to have stitches for a HUGE abscess that popped. She healed perfectly (despite having a wound FIVE CENTIMETERS WIDE) and we have declared them indoor cats now. 
Rotten Red Rod fucked around with this message at 03:21 on Dec 16, 2014 |
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Dec 16, 2014 03:10
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I generally interpret that behavior as an invitation to play and/or wrestle from the new cat, with the older cat telling new cat to gently caress off and leave him alone. I don't know if that's right, but it seems to fit how my cats behave.
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Dec 16, 2014 03:18
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pie.rat posted:Ugh! I am having cat issues Hello redirected aggression! http://consciouscat.net/2012/03/12/redirected-aggression-when-good-cats-attack/ Basically? You're going to have to reintroduce your cats to each other. Yeah it sucks. 
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Dec 16, 2014 09:49
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Deteriorata posted:I generally interpret that behavior as an invitation to play and/or wrestle from the new cat, with the older cat telling new cat to gently caress off and leave him alone. Yeah, I have that with mine. Harry wants to play and darts at Leyla, but then stops about one cat length away and just stands and stares at her while she growls (or makes a sound not unlike an air siren winding up) which is definitely the cat version of "gently caress off". It's just them having a disagreement about personal space.
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Dec 16, 2014 09:55
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melon cat posted:Does anyone have experience with cats that have asthma? They might also want to do some x-rays to rule anything else out, which are a little spendy. But the problem with asthma treatments is that steroids are kind of a carpet bomb treatment that can treat a lot of different kinds of illnesses, so if they just start with that and it turns out to be something else like an infection you can get yourself into trouble. One of ours has year-round really bad asthma (wet coughing fits nearly every day). We did end up getting the x-rays for our peace of mind, and the vet could tell right away that it was definitely asthma. So she'll probably be on anti-inflammatory drugs for life. But she went from being the laziest cat on the planet to... well, still pretty lazy, but she can actually get excited and play without having a coughing fit, which is great to see.
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Dec 16, 2014 17:44
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ImpactVector posted:Sounds like you're already doing most of what you can, and if it just recently got worse with no other changes it's quite possible that it's seasonal, yeah. The vet is going to tell you what you need to know, but in the mean time you could try uncovering the litter box to give better air flow. They might suggest a few other things like switching to a dust-free litter or wet food, but I'd wait until you can talk to the vet before making any other changes. Is your cat experiencing any side-effects from the anti-inflammatory meds?
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Dec 16, 2014 18:06
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melon cat posted:Is your cat experiencing any side-effects from the anti-inflammatory meds? This was a fairly recent treatment plan though. When we adopted her she'd been seeing a homeopathic vet (only in Oregon  ), but we hadn't seen any improvement so we went with a more standard vet after we moved. We're still slowly working her down to find the minimum required dosage to keep the asthma under control.If you've got a human asthma diagnosis in the family and have access to insurance-covered inhalers that's supposed to be a better option because it's more targeted (as long as you can get the cat to wear the adapter mask thing), but it's extremely expensive if you don't.
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Dec 16, 2014 18:25
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Next week, my SO and I are taking in my parents' 18-year-old indoor orange mackerel tabby from their 4-bedroom rural home to our 1-bedroom downtown apartment. He's a selfish jerk but I like him anyway for some reason. The cat has had a years-long habit of not covering his crap after he dumped in the litterbox. And, occasionally, he'd dump and then sprint away, sometimes doing the carpet butt-rubbing dance because his stool was so wet and it splashed back onto him. Or, if we kept an eye on him, he'd clean it himself. Anyway, I have a few questions. 1. Assuming that he keeps not covering his poop, are there any ways to encourage him to do that? 2. Are there any tried-and-true litterboxes that PI likes and recommends, specifically for old cats? His current one is fairly shallow, and he'll be off-target in his craps from time to time (I'm guessing because of the shallowness), so I'm thinking one with high sides or a whole cover would be good. 3. And finally, he gets diarrhea a lot, and I haven't been able to tie it to any eating habits. According to my parents, he had a rotten tooth for a while that they were going to have pulled, but it fell out on its own before then. That seemed to help his stools quite a bit, but it does still seem to be a small problem. What's the normal way of dealing with that?
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Dec 16, 2014 18:29
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Doctor Candiru posted:
I had a cat that wouldn't cover her poop and she was also nervous about using the litterbox. She wouldn't stay in the box long enough to cover it and would dash out right after she pooped. What I've read, is that using the litterbox makes some cats feel more vulnerable to possilbe dangers, so I'd try moving the box to a more private spot (if it's not already in one). Then he might feel more comfortable staying in the box long enough to cover up his mess. Older cats can be prone to arthritis so be careful buying something with sides that are high. We took my mother-in-law's 16 year old cat and tried making a litterbox from a Rubbermaid container so it would have higher sides. We got a cat who eventually refused to use the litterbox. So if you try this, maybe find something he can use as a step to get into it. As for diarrhea? If it's not medical, then it could be the food. Our dog had constant diarrhea and soft stools and this year, after switching foods, she no longer does. Otherwise she has always gotten a clean bill of health from our vet.
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Dec 16, 2014 20:02
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I posted a month ago about a sick cat, bandito. Well he's fine. His best buddy (David Hasselhoff, another male cat) has liver cancer though. The vet said that he's too old to operate at 8 years, and he's not making enough blood cells which indicates a bone marrow problem meaning the liver mass might have metastasised to the bone marrow. He's on steroids now and his (? ) blood cell count is at 30something rather than the normal 60something. Apparently at 10-15 he'll have a heart attack or suffocate. The vet recommended no ultrasound to look further (which would be the next step... the x-ray identified th emass), since surgery is already out and chemo can be up to 10k and he's seen pets get chemo to remove the mass and then die anyway a couple of months later. I'd spend 10k on Chemo for him if I had a ton of money but that's too much for us. The vet said to carry on giving fluid bumps, and maybe the steroids he just gave the cat, will stimulate the blood cell count. The cat is not in pain. I asked what he'd do if David Hasselhoff was his cat, he said: don't do ultrasound, carry on giving him fluid bumps (we'll have to get the needle and stuff for that I suppose) and "we'll do right by him and make sure he doesn't suffer". I don't really know how long our little cat has. Does anyone who has been through this have any recommendations as to what to do? Also I've never had a pet die before. I have no idea how this works. Is there anything my wife and I can to that will make us remember him more fondly or something? He's mostly sitting right near the heaters so we're building a fire every day because he loves stretching out at the fireplace.   He doesn't really want to play or eat much so we're mostly feeding him by syringe, which he is not a fan of. The steroids could change that, we only started him on those last night. He doesn't want to play or anything. He used to be our hungriest cat. Poor Bandito is his best friend so it'll be hard for Bandito when David Hasselhoff is gone. I told my wife we're definitely getting another cat when DH is gone.
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Dec 16, 2014 21:01
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He doesn't look well-hydrated (he has that flappy-skinned look that under-hydrated cats get) and, having seen this sort of thing before with friends' cats, it generally depends on how long you want to watch your cat just kinda sit there like a lump and not be himself, because the cat can go on like this for months. It's easy for me to say but I would consider putting him down.
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Dec 16, 2014 21:08
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bettsta posted:Does anyone have insight into aggressive adolescent males? We have a 8 or 9 month old who we had him neutered when he was about four months old (per our agreement with the rescue group) and he's been an absolute sweetheart up until about a month ago. In the last month he's taken to handbiting while being petted, and once I make a hissing sound and walk away, he lunges at my legs and ankles, clawing and biting. Blowing air in his face will deter him momentarily, but as soon as I look away he's back to lunging and biting. Plus, while previously he might give me a soft nip to let me know he's done being petted, these bites hurt and he's clearly putting his full jaw force into them. He's overstimulated by petting, and you've gone to the edge of what he's cool with long enough (soft bite) that he's escalated. Keep petting sessions very short and do not pet if his tail is wagging. If he gets to the point of having to bite you, you didn't read all the other signs he was giving you that he's had enough - don't punish for that, just disengage the best you can.
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Dec 16, 2014 21:49
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OneThousandMonkeys posted:He doesn't look well-hydrated (he has that flappy-skinned look that under-hydrated cats get) and, having seen this sort of thing before with friends' cats, it generally depends on how long you want to watch your cat just kinda sit there like a lump and not be himself, because the cat can go on like this for months. It's easy for me to say but I would consider putting him down. I'm going to echo OneThousandMonkeys. If your cat is no longer himself, and a stint of therapeutic IV fluids and nutrition doesn't get him back to the cat you know, he's suffering. At that point, it's time to consider giving him a peaceful end. This is something I'm watching my own cancer cat for these days. She's still pretty lively, but she also has an aggressive cancer which keeps recurring. (Surgery scheduled for New Years Eve, oh boy.) I'm surprised a little that your vet considers 8 years to be too old to operate; my cat's 12. It might be just the convergence of age plus the form and spread of the cancer in your boy's case, plus the vet's risk tolerance, so please don't take this as encouragement to second-guess your veterinary care provider dude. If palliative (rather than curative) chemo is an option, you might look into it to see if you can afford it and if it has a reasonable chance of improving your cat's quality of life over the next months or years. In the meantime, show him lots of love.
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Dec 16, 2014 22:16
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What's a good cat fountain for one?
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Dec 16, 2014 22:24
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Crooked Booty posted:If your cats aren't on good monthly flea control, they will keep getting tapeworms. Also is your vet sending you with 2+ doses (one now, one in a couple weeks)? No they only give us one dose to administer ourselves.. I'll give them a flea bath here in a little bit and pick up some medicine on my way home tomorrow.
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Dec 16, 2014 22:32
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Constipated posted:No they only give us one dose to administer ourselves.. I'll give them a flea bath here in a little bit and pick up some medicine on my way home tomorrow. And make sure you get more of whatever your vet gave you. Flea treatments range from good to useless to downright dangerous to your cat.
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Dec 16, 2014 22:51
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Mr. Wookums posted:What's a good cat fountain for one? Be warned- it needs to be disassembled and cleaned daily, or else gross gunk builds up in in the fountain's parts. So you're basically cleaning 8 little parts every night. But in my opinion, it's worth it.
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Dec 16, 2014 22:55
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Mr. Wookums posted:What's a good cat fountain for one? I have this one, Tali loves it and it's super easy to clean.
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Dec 16, 2014 22:58
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RedTonic posted:I'm going to echo OneThousandMonkeys. If your cat is no longer himself, and a stint of therapeutic IV fluids and nutrition doesn't get him back to the cat you know, he's suffering. At that point, it's time to consider giving him a peaceful end. This is something I'm watching my own cancer cat for these days. She's still pretty lively, but she also has an aggressive cancer which keeps recurring. (Surgery scheduled for New Years Eve, oh boy.) I'm surprised a little that your vet considers 8 years to be too old to operate; my cat's 12. It might be just the convergence of age plus the form and spread of the cancer in your boy's case, plus the vet's risk tolerance, so please don't take this as encouragement to second-guess your veterinary care provider dude. If palliative (rather than curative) chemo is an option, you might look into it to see if you can afford it and if it has a reasonable chance of improving your cat's quality of life over the next months or years. In the meantime, show him lots of love. The vet said that since the cat is not producing enough blood cells, that something (probably cancer) is wrong with his bone marrow too. The liver cancer is not what's causing the problem of the low blood count. He said: "if we operate he'll lose a lot of blood during the surgery and as a result of it afterwards. If we operate, he'll probably be on an IV in intensive care for a week then die due to low blood cell count. We should try steroids to see if they jump-start his blood cell count, that might work but we'll have to see". I think we'll see if the steroids have any effect. I'll be at home all day starting friday afternoon for a couple of weeks. I won't let him suffer so I expect we'll have to put him down some time fairly soon. I want to give this a chance though. I asked the vet if we should put him down right now and the vet said he'd be fine for a bit longer. I'll keep this thread posted I suppose.
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Dec 16, 2014 23:16
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Melon do you have horrible water, disclaimers that "You will get kidney stones if you drink this a lot :v" that my college town had? If not, this is more for insurance when I won't be around to swap the water and clean the bowl.ilysespieces posted:I have this one, Tali loves it and it's super easy to clean.
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Dec 16, 2014 23:24
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I have two of this model, and both cats like it. http://www.amazon.com/Catit-Design-Fountain-Softening-Cartridge/dp/B00CO527IC/
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Dec 17, 2014 00:25
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ilysespieces posted:I have this one, Tali loves it and it's super easy to clean. Mr. Wookums posted:Melon do you have horrible water, disclaimers that "You will get kidney stones if you drink this a lot :v" that my college town had? If not, this is more for insurance when I won't be around to swap the water and clean the bowl. Whichever fountain you go with will be a huge improvement over the regular water bowl set up as long as it's stainless steel. The good news is that our cats get much more hydration. The bad news is that they're peeing a lot more, which means I'm constantly scooping it up. 
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Dec 17, 2014 02:07
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melon cat posted:This one actually looks interesting. How noisy is it? I have a newer model of that. It's really quiet when it's full, gets noisier as the water level drops and the water drips down, but it's pretty much a running water noise.
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Dec 17, 2014 02:10
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melon cat posted:This one actually looks interesting. How noisy is it? Not at all, until it gets low in water. Then it starts to kind of groan/whine but it's handy because it sometimes reminds me it's refill time. We keep it in the kitchen and when I'm also in the kitchen for some reason (cooking/doing dishes) I can't hear it. Doesn't bother the cat at all, even when it gets loud if the water runs low. I read the complaints on Amazon about some people feeling like it's super loud, but they must be the kind of people who think a whisper in a library is basically screaming.
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Dec 17, 2014 04:07
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ilysespieces posted:I have this one, Tali loves it and it's super easy to clean. Do they drink from the bowl or the stream falling?
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Dec 17, 2014 04:31
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Also once you balk at the price of the carbon filters, you can borrow from the fishkeeping thread and get bulk activated carbon pellets from your local fish store and a mesh bag. Does the same thing and at a tiny tiny fraction of the price.
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Dec 17, 2014 04:48
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SynthOrange posted:Also once you balk at the price of the carbon filters, you can borrow from the fishkeeping thread and get bulk activated carbon pellets from your local fish store and a mesh bag. Does the same thing and at a tiny tiny fraction of the price. You shouldn't need them, anyway. The aeration from the waterfall will evaporate the chlorine out of the water in a couple hours. It's a very minor hazard to begin with. Anything that's safe for you to drink is equally safe for your cats.
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Dec 17, 2014 04:55
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Engineer Lenk posted:He's overstimulated by petting, and you've gone to the edge of what he's cool with long enough (soft bite) that he's escalated. Keep petting sessions very short and do not pet if his tail is wagging. If he gets to the point of having to bite you, you didn't read all the other signs he was giving you that he's had enough - don't punish for that, just disengage the best you can. Thank you! That makes a lot of sense and it seems to have worked the past couple of days without me knowing it. I just started to pet him for shorter periods of time more often to avoid getting bitten, so it seems that the tables have turned and now he's the one training me. Edit: After 20 minutes him following me around the apartment while I did some chores and standing in front of my legs so I had to walk in a zig-zag, I finally knelt down to pet him and he bit me as soon as my hand was close enough. For what it's worth, right before he bites my hand, he flops on his side and stretches, exposing his belly and rolling from side to side and rubbing his head against the carpet. bettsta fucked around with this message at 09:09 on Dec 17, 2014 |
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Dec 17, 2014 08:06
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bettsta posted:For what it's worth, right before he bites my hand, he flops on his side and stretches, exposing his belly and rolling from side to side and rubbing his head against the carpet. As far as I understand my cat, that is an official sign of asking for consent to engage in a game of painfully wounded hands. (Actually, my cat seems to absolutely hate it if I touch her in that position.)
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Dec 17, 2014 10:29
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SynthOrange posted:Hello redirected aggression! http://consciouscat.net/2012/03/12/redirected-aggression-when-good-cats-attack/ Thank you so much for this link! I'll send it to my parents. It sounds like the cat situation has gotten better; apparently the cats are acting like themselves when they're apart, but one cat is still bullying the other. Caats! 
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Dec 17, 2014 14:01
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I hope things get better for you and your cat, redreader 
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Dec 17, 2014 14:22
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