|
Organza Quiz posted:Hey thread, how do I teach my generally quite intelligent cat that it's not actually random whether I let her on the bed in the morning or not, it's that if she has wet paws from being a shameful shower-drinker she isn't allowed but if she has dry paws then it's fine? She's usually pretty quick to understand cause and effect but this is a bit too esoteric for her and she gets really upset when I kick her off the bed in the mornings because it's always been fine before. One thing I have never once encountered in a cat is the ability to comprehend that when they are soggy moggy, they need to go dry off before they can get lap/pet/bed. I just do not think the feline brain can understand it. Boogaloo I'm glad they're making progress, they do seem to be doing better in that new vid  Keep it up!
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 05:59
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 21:05 |
|
|
Boogalo posted:Butters Milly Are you pumping the place full of feliway or anything?
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 06:15
|
|
|
What’s a few damp paws between friends? I probably wouldn’t kick her off if she doesn’t understand, but I’m ridiculously tolerant of cat things, I guess. Having her not understand why I was shoving her away would bother me more than dampness. Keep a spare towel handy, put her on that when she’s wet?
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 06:15
|
|
|
So I have a bit of an odd issue. I live in a hundred year old house and there's no door between the first and second floors.  Pictured: Chell in front of the "don't sleepwalk" hole in my bedroom. The central AC sucks for keeping the second floor cool so I have a window unit up there. Right now when I have the window unit on I have a tacky rear end cardboard box with a towel on the end so Chell can get into and out of the room when she wants without all the cold air pouring down the stairs. I'm planning on building a lightweight door, basically a PCV frame and some cloth that will look less like poo poo and be easier to move out of the way. My problem is how to let my adorable little bandsaw in and out with the new setup. I've tried looking for some sort of floor based cat flap but there doesn't seem to be any commercially available. Does anyone in the thread know of anything like that? (or of a better thread to ask this question in?)
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 08:42
|
|
|
Could probably use a motion sensing mechanical one if your cat can figure out how it works.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 09:08
|
|
|
Gorgar posted:What’s a few damp paws between friends? Yeah, I should probably just put a towel down and she'd hang out there because hanging out on a flat thing on bed is superior to just hanging out on bed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 10:36
|
|
|
Presented without comment:
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 12:21
|
|
|
Indoor-outdoor cat question: Our nine month old kitty has recently started going out unsupervised. I worried at first (I'm mostly pro-indoor but my girlfriend insisted), yet he turned out to be surprisingly chill and well behaved. 99% of the time he hangs out in our block's communal garden playing with his buddies and doing cat things. Gets along well with our neighbors and all the local cats. So far, so good. Thing is, he won't come back of his own accord, probably because we took him out for supervised outings at first. He's not averse to coming back, and if we go to the usual spot and call out, provided he's been out for a while and feels hungry or tired, he'll happily come and let us scoop him up and carry him home. But he won't come home himself and signal that he wants to go in. If we try to lead him to the entrance then he just goes around in circles until we grab him. How do I teach my dumb cat to enter the house for food instead of relying on human servants to look for him and carry him around like some kind of decadent aristocrat?
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 13:21
|
|
|
Synthbuttrange posted:Are you pumping the place full of feliway or anything? Yeah, I have a thingy in both butters room, and the room next door where Milly's litter boxes are and has an open door. I would need probably 2-3 more of those things to cover the rest of the house since Milly hangs out downstairs most of the time. They're almost dry so when I buy refills it'll be the other formula since this one didn't seem to have much effect. Complicating things is my weeklong vacation at the end of the month, If I wasn't going anywhere, I probably would have let them out to settle things on their own by now.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 13:34
|
|
|
Guildencrantz posted:Indoor-outdoor cat question: Stop carrying him in. You've taught him how things work, and he won't change unless you make him. This does of course come with the risk that he just might not come back if you stop going out to get him, but... don't let your cat outdoors.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 13:34
|
|
|
Can I ask why your girlfriend insisted on keeping the cat outside?
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 13:54
|
|
|
Boogalo posted:Yeah, I have a thingy in both butters room, and the room next door where Milly's litter boxes are and has an open door. I would need probably 2-3 more of those things to cover the rest of the house since Milly hangs out downstairs most of the time. I've heard that Feliway doesn't work for a lot of cats. There's someone who wrote up a big thing about it in Dutch, but I'm too lazy to translate and Google Translate doesn't do a very good job of it. But it comes down to that it just does nothing for a lot of cats, or even has a negative effect on the cat(s). Click here if you want to read the article by this cat behavior specialist anyway
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 14:13
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:Can I ask why your girlfriend insisted on keeping the cat outside? This is a good question. Understand this: if you keep letting your cat outdoors, he will murder local wildlife with wild abandon. He is probably going to get sick or injured, and you will have no idea from what. There is a very real and serious chance he'll get killed (by wildlife, accident, or someone in the neighborhood who takes to poisoning or shooting feral cats and yes this does happen), and a non-trivial chance he'll get taken by someone or trapped and brought in by a local animal shelter. There is a good chance your cat will simply not come home one day and you'll never know what happened, and if you're lucky he'll show up again in a week or two but he probably won't. Do not let your cats outdoors.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 14:33
|
|
|
WindowLiquor posted:I've heard that Feliway doesn't work for a lot of cats. There's someone who wrote up a big thing about it in Dutch, but I'm too lazy to translate and Google Translate doesn't do a very good job of it. But it comes down to that it just does nothing for a lot of cats, or even has a negative effect on the cat(s). Yeah, I kept a close eye on them when I first got it and it didn't seem to help aggression at all and if anything, it made Milly cuddlier (with everyone except butters) which I didn't expect was possible. Going by another article on that site I'm on the right track. Milly is just being a dingus.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 14:50
|
|
|
Oh boy, I wasn't aware this thread feels so strongly on the issue. I mean, I personally prefer indoor overall because it is safer, so I'd rather not rehash all the arguments of a side I'm not particularly attached to, but I don't think it's that huge of a difference. Every going-out cat I've known has lived into its teens. Maybe it's a cultural Europe-vs-US thing, but where I live letting cats roam is more or less the default for anyone who doesn't live in a tower block or next to a busy street. My parents' cats were/are kept indoors, but I honestly first encountered the idea that letting your cat out somehow makes you a horrible owner on the English-speaking internet. In any case, uh, I don't want to start a divisive debate that's probably happened a bunch of times here already without much of anyone getting convinced, so I'll just do the cowardly but less flamewar-inducing thing and take my questions elsewhere.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 15:28
|
|
|
Guildencrantz posted:Oh boy, I wasn't aware this thread feels so strongly on the issue. I mean, I personally prefer indoor overall because it is safer, so I'd rather not rehash all the arguments of a side I'm not particularly attached to, but I don't think it's that huge of a difference. Every going-out cat I've known has lived into its teens. The US is absolutely more dangerous for stray cats than Europe, but understand that letting your cat outdoors means your cat will slaughter local wildlife and you're gambling every time you let your cat outside because it may not come back, or may come back injured or sick. As for your question: Stop carrying him in. You've taught him how things work, and he won't change unless you make him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 15:38
|
|
|
I sat Milly down to watch some instructional videos. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fLFCiNjQxFc
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 16:11
|
|
|
 Cats being cats. I don't know why I bought them a bed.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 17:10
|
|
|
The nearby box is also empty, a much clearer indication that your cats are defective.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 17:19
|
|
|
What's the recommendation for flea control of cats? They're indoor cats and they never go outside so they haven't been on a flea control program, but it looks like our dog picked up some fleas from a friends house and now they're spreading to the cats faster than we can treat her.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 17:34
|
|
|
I used Frontline, whatever the strongest version was. The trick seemed to be using it every two weeks instead of every month.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 17:38
|
|
|
From what I understand it varies by region, you might want to call your vet for a recommendation. I know they can administer an oral treatment that kills all the fleas currently on the cat, giving you a leg up in washing out/killing the rest. I've also heard getting a flea collar, cutting it up, and putting it in the bag/canister of your vacuum cleaner and vacuuming everything can be helpful. But flea collars aren't really effective on the cats.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 17:39
|
|
|
FCKGW posted:What's the recommendation for flea control of cats? They're indoor cats and they never go outside so they haven't been on a flea control program, but it looks like our dog picked up some fleas from a friends house and now they're spreading to the cats faster than we can treat her. We use Revolution. Works great.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 17:51
|
|
|
Revolution or Advantage. Don't buy any of the cheap stuff no matter how tempted you might be, especially Hartz brand. It's known to be pretty poisonous and has killed cats. Never buy a flea collar.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 18:32
|
|
|
Definitely get a vet recommendation. Don't just buy anything off the shelf. Some of the stuff they sell is actively toxic to cats, even when labeled for cats. If the active ingredients have anything resembling Pyrethrin or Permethrin on them, avoid like the plague.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 18:35
|
|
|
Alright, I'll call the vet. We've been giving the dog flea baths and and vacuuming daily too, hopefully that will take care of them.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 19:29
|
|
|
Not sure exactly what did it, but we kind of threw the book at the problem when we somehow tracked them in from stray rabbits or neighborhood cats that wander through our yard a couple years ago: 1) Flea comb dipped in lemon juice a couple times a day 2) Tons of vacuuming with a cut up flea collar in the bin 3) Flea treatments for the cats* 4) Diatomaceous earth that I sprayed all over the house with a duster, especially the hard to vacuum areas like the couch and edges of carpet 5) A house treatment spray for the carpets -- which I'm pretty sure was also permethrin, but that's only really dangerous when wet. We kept the cats in the bathroom for a few hours for it to dry * - The reason I jump on the "don't just buy the shelf stuff" so quickly is that I probably almost killed our cats with the cheap stuff before I knew better. I put some of that Sentry stuff on them, and while it says they're not supposed to lick it, it's really oily and runny. One of them was acting a little sluggish, so I got worried and quickly Googled some reviews. Apparently the active ingredient is a neurotoxin that cats don't have an ability to metabolize. It can cause anything from fur loss to brain damage to seizures if they get too much in their system. As soon as I saw that, I saw someone recommended using dish soap to get it off, so I quickly cleaned the stuff off of them. Thankfully they went back to their normal itchy selves quickly afterward. Pics as penance:  rear end in a top hat #1  rear end in a top hat #2
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 20:15
|
|
|
 My view at 4-5 AM every goddamn morning.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 21:27
|
|
|
Little Frederic very much wants to leave his room and be friends with our other cat Jasmine, but he can't until his respiratory infection clears up so we have to hear very sad little chirps from him sometimes.  But he is also an extremely sweet little guy who loves being pet and brushed. He seems not to like heights. He won't jump onto anything and if we set him on a chair or something he jumps down at the earliest opportunity. Also has no interest at all in treats, though we think that might be because he can't really smell them with his nose all stuffed up. Every time he sees Jasmine through a gap in the door, he approaches with his tail held high and gently swaying, just super friendly. She goes back and forth between tentative curiosity and brief warning hisses, but it's only been a week so I think she just needs more time.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 22:11
|
|
|
Guildencrantz posted:Oh boy, I wasn't aware this thread feels so strongly on the issue. Also from a country where outdoor access is the universal norm so am not bothered. As well as not carrying him in, I taught my cat to come inside using a clicker you'd usually use for dog training. He's a dim unit but I got him used to the idea that a click meant a treat, then at night I would go outside and click and he'd come racing back from wherever he was hanging out within about 30 seconds. Also we have a cat door, didn't see if you had one of those but obviously giving him the freedom to go in/out on his own bat might help him be less finicky about being carried. Get a microchip one that locks though.
|
|
#
?
Jun 13, 2018 23:38
|
|
|
I'm a bit at the end of my rope. Jayne is being a super jerk about food and I just can't take it anymore. He meows constantly whenever he decides he's hungry, be that at 5:30AM or 12:00PM or 7:00PM. We feed him a half can each meal daily. Usually around 6:30AM and 5:00PM. It's been this way for years. We've had to shut him out of our bedroom at night because he'll come in and bat at our faces when he's thinks he's hungry. Vet says he's in perfect health for a 13 year old. We tried increasing his food to 1 can per feeding but he doesn't finish it. If we stick to half, he finishes it just fine and is usually content for a few hours. His dry food is on an auto feeder and he slowly goes through it. It's gotten to the point where I feel like it's not a good relationship. I love him like family but we're pretty sure he's waking up our 2 year old with his meowing in the mornings. Help 
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 15:10
|
|
|
Have you tried shifting his feeding times? Jasmine was the same way for a while, often waking me up at 3 or 4 am when she decided she was hungry. Locking her out of the room never helped, either, because she'd meow to be let in to sleep on the bed with us (which is something we really like that she does, so we'd like her to be able to come and go as she pleases). So eventually I started feeding her after work, and then again just before bed. We leave her a small amount of dry food in case she gets hungry during the day that she slowly picks away at. You could try feeding him right before you go to bed and see if that lasts him through the night?
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 15:38
|
|
|
Harrow posted:Have you tried shifting his feeding times? I'm going to try switching his dry food as he's been picking at it a bit less than before. I hadn't thought of a 3rd feeding time due to the fact he never finishes a whole can in 1 sitting but feeding him before bed may be an idea too. The only other thing I could think of was an auto feeder to let him project his meows at that rather than us but saw some mentions of the risk of wet food going bad in those so I don't know if that's the right path either.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 16:00
|
|
|
Irritated Goat posted:I'm a bit at the end of my rope. Jayne is being a super jerk about food and I just can't take it anymore. He meows constantly whenever he decides he's hungry, be that at 5:30AM or 12:00PM or 7:00PM. It's been 2 years since getting my first cat and she still does this every morning. She'll bat poo poo off our side tables and jump up on us from the floor over and over again until we finally get up. The advice is to always ignore it for *a while* and it will eventually stop, but it's hard to ignore when she makes so much noise and just knocks everything off our tables like an rear end in a top hat. I'm kind of at the end of my rope as well, although I put up with it. I usually get up, walk her out of the room, and slam the door behind me, shutting her out of the bedroom. I've done this for maybe a year straight and she still wakes us up like it's going to get her fed. 
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 16:05
|
|
|
explosivo posted:It's been 2 years since getting my first cat and she still does this every morning. She'll bat poo poo off our side tables and jump up on us from the floor over and over again until we finally get up. The advice is to always ignore it for *a while* and it will eventually stop, but it's hard to ignore when she makes so much noise and just knocks everything off our tables like an rear end in a top hat. I'm kind of at the end of my rope as well, although I put up with it. I usually get up, walk her out of the room, and slam the door behind me, shutting her out of the bedroom. I've done this for maybe a year straight and she still wakes us up like it's going to get her fed. At this point, she might just be waking you up for attention. Cats do poo poo like that, too. Irritated Goat posted:I'm going to try switching his dry food as he's been picking at it a bit less than before. I hadn't thought of a 3rd feeding time due to the fact he never finishes a whole can in 1 sitting but feeding him before bed may be an idea too. I think maybe the same number of feedings, just at different times could work. If you give him a small amount of dry food in the morning for him to nibble on during the day, then half a can at 5 PM and another half just before bed, that might help without increasing the actual amount of food you're giving him.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 16:21
|
|
|
Harrow posted:At this point, she might just be waking you up for attention. Cats do poo poo like that, too. Yeah, are you sure she's hungry and not just bored/lonely? Does she have toys she plays with alone?
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 18:08
|
|
|
I've seen automatic wet food dispensers mentioned a couple times in the thread. They're usually dismissed due to getting gross fast (moldy and crusty I assume?). We're considering one just for rare occasions when we're away for an entire day. We like to go on long day hikes, and can easily be gone 10-12 hours. The kitten doesn't eat dry food (doesn't even acknowledge it), and the vet said he should be eating at least every 8 hours. He's ~10 weeks. Does anyone have a suggestion for a feeder for this purpose? Or another solution? I've started looking at Amazon reviews and such, but I figured I'd see if anyone had personal experience here first.
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 19:05
|
|
|
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W_cgH4HUI8E
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 20:19
|
|
|
 Is there anything as satisfying as catching your cat mid-yawn when you're taking a picture?
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 21:29
|
|
|
|
| # ? May 31, 2024 21:05 |
|
|
Cat yawn pictures are great Here's one of Jasmine I posted in the black cats thread a few days ago 
|
|
#
?
Jun 15, 2018 21:39
|
|