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drat it. I get to spend my Sunday in the ER because my Crowley is exhibiting urinary blockage/infection symptoms.
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Mar 3, 2019 21:06
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Well, she's back home with a cone, pain killers, and a gnarly looking incision wound. Now we spend the next few weeks hoping for no complications.
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Mar 3, 2019 22:11
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I just got a cat after yeaaaars of wanting one but it not being practical (city-life, shared apartments, landlords) and I need more places to gush. I read the OP and a bunch of research in advance so I have no questions really, except maybe "why is this cat so insanely affectionate from the start if she was presumably dumped, or born in a landfill and will this somehow backfire on us??" Here's a x-post from the black cats thread: quote:This is Katya, she's a little garbage baby who was found in a Romanian landfill and we adopted her last week. Today I finished this cat-tree I was basically planning from the moment we got the okay and I'm really happy with how it turned out! https://twitter.com/invisiblemonkey/status/1102265599135268865
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Mar 3, 2019 22:45
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I bought two SureFeed microchip pet feeders for my cats because my kitten was exclusively eating our adult cat's prescription food and the adult cat was exclusively eating the kitten food. The system works decently well now, but if one cat goes to his respective feeder, and the other cat crowds underneath, the feeder stays open even if the cat that it's programmed for walks away. I know that there's a lid closing delay, but it's set to the fastest setting, and it still happens. So now my cats will basically team up and open their feeders for each other so that they can continue snacking on each other's food. It's a cute little quid pro quo situation but an annoying quirk of the product. Has anyone else noticed this happen?
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Mar 3, 2019 23:31
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illcendiary posted:I bought two SureFeed microchip pet feeders for my cats because my kitten was exclusively eating our adult cat's prescription food and the adult cat was exclusively eating the kitten food. The system works decently well now, but if one cat goes to his respective feeder, and the other cat crowds underneath, the feeder stays open even if the cat that it's programmed for walks away. I know that there's a lid closing delay, but it's set to the fastest setting, and it still happens. So now my cats will basically team up and open their feeders for each other so that they can continue snacking on each other's food. It's a cute little quid pro quo situation but an annoying quirk of the product. Has anyone else noticed this happen? Rexie will occasionally try to rush the other feeder when another cat leaves, but it always closes on her. (Ours, too, is on the fastest setting.) Is any food physically blocking the mechanisms? Might be worth a reset and fresh pair of batteries?
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Mar 3, 2019 23:51
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I gave up on separate bowls and tricks and just feed both cats the expensive prescription food. At least the cat that doesn't need it is only 5lb and doesn't eat much.
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Mar 4, 2019 00:41
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InvisibleMonkey posted:Today I finished this cat-tree I was basically planning from the moment we got the okay and I'm really happy with how it turned out! Congrats on cat! That is a cool tree but it would be even better if you wrapped the central column in carpet too. That way she'd be able to use it to stretch up and scratch and also climb up it to reach the platforms if in the mood.
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Mar 4, 2019 01:46
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Got my boy back from the vet. He's got crystals. So they gave him fluids, gave us pain medicine and stuff to give him. He's gonna have to be on a special diet from now on. Good thing we caught it before it was a true obstruction.
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Mar 4, 2019 02:05
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InvisibleMonkey posted:I just got a cat after yeaaaars of wanting one but it not being practical (city-life, shared apartments, landlords) and I need more places to gush. I read the OP and a bunch of research in advance so I have no questions really, except maybe "why is this cat so insanely affectionate from the start if she was presumably dumped, or born in a landfill and will this somehow backfire on us??" That does seem interesting. You'd think it'd be more likely that she'd be partially-feral given her history. Sometimes an explanation for a cat being small could be that she was pregnant when very young (there's a tiny cat at the cat sanctuary in my town named "little mama" for this reason) but I'm not sure if this is a probable reason if many of the cats this rescue gets from the area are small like this. Femtosecond fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Mar 4, 2019 |
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Mar 4, 2019 04:31
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Femtosecond posted:That does seem interesting. You'd think it'd be more likely that she'd be partially-feral given her history. Our six year old cat gave birth young (before we got her) and she's tiny. I'm always shocked when I interact with regular sized cats because I'm so used to her size. Our kitten is already almost the same size at 6 months and already has a longer body and tail.
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Mar 4, 2019 04:37
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So I've been leaving some dry food out for the little buggers to, uh, graze(?) on in between wet food feedings, and they seem to be doing a good job of not just devouring it all immediately. For example, when I go out of town for work, I leave them with 2 heaping bowls, and when I get home 3 days/2 nights later, there's usually some left. But HOLY poo poo do they poop and pee a lot. I'm going through like 40lbs of litter a month. My little brother comes by to check on them when I'm out of town, and he says their poops are way bigger than the ones my moms cats (same litter) leave. Granted both my cats now look significantly more mature/older than hers too. Like they're just growing faster? Also, while both foods I'm feeding are grain free and labeled for kittens, the dry food says it has literally 3.5x more calories per Kg than the Blue Buffalo Freedom wet food I buy (3500/kg vs 1000). I don't know if that's good or bad or neutral.
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Mar 4, 2019 06:03
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Organza Quiz posted:Congrats on cat! That is a cool tree but it would be even better if you wrapped the central column in carpet too. That way she'd be able to use it to stretch up and scratch and also climb up it to reach the platforms if in the mood. Thanks! I wrapped the lowest part of the pole in sisal rope for scratching, turns out 10 meters is not that much? I think we need to adjust the platforms a little too, so I might order more sisal when we’re done tweaking. InvisibleMonkey fucked around with this message at 19:31 on Mar 4, 2019 |
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Mar 4, 2019 08:52
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So my cat managed tip over a scentsy wax warmer onto herself last night. Now about 60% of her back is covered in wax. She was miserable for a while (this happened at 1am) but we got her calmed down. She's finally seemed to accept it and is fine now but we're struggling to come up with an idea to get it out without having to shave her. I read ice to harden it and crumble it out but she does not like being held down so it might be a rough road to get it out. Does anyone else have any other suggestions? Edit: We rubbed a bunch of coconut oil onto it and it really softened it up and we're able to get some out a bit at a time by brushing and wiping. wandler20 fucked around with this message at 19:49 on Mar 4, 2019 |
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Mar 4, 2019 19:17
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Dry food is incredibly calorie dense. My general advice is that if you're going to feed dry, then don't trust the portion instructions on the package at all. If it says your cat needs a 1/2 cup, they probably need close to 1/3 or even 1/4. Also be really careful about letting cats graze on dry; it's really easy to just fall into a habit of filling the bowl up whenever it's empty and losing track of how much your cats are really eating per day, which can lead to obesity in a hurry. I did this with Mel for a little under two years, and it got to the point that at her annual vet visit I was told she'd gotten too chunky. I've since switched back to wet which is far more annoying for me personally, but easier to control the cat's weight.
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Mar 4, 2019 19:20
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Sydin posted:Dry food is incredibly calorie dense. My general advice is that if you're going to feed dry, then don't trust the portion instructions on the package at all. If it says your cat needs a 1/2 cup, they probably need close to 1/3 or even 1/4. Also be really careful about letting cats graze on dry; it's really easy to just fall into a habit of filling the bowl up whenever it's empty and losing track of how much your cats are really eating per day, which can lead to obesity in a hurry. I did this with Mel for a little under two years, and it got to the point that at her annual vet visit I was told she'd gotten too chunky. I've since switched back to wet which is far more annoying for me personally, but easier to control the cat's weight. I leave them dry when I am on travel during the week, since it is stable and wont rot if left out. I'm usually gone from Tuesday mornings until Thursday afternoons. When I am home, I give them wet food in the morning and afternoon/evening. I've gotta take them to the vet soon to get their final rounds of shots and get them fixed, so if the vet says they're getting too big I'll have to figure something out. My brother can't always come out when I am out of town due to his own work schedule, so I can't just give them one scoop of dry before I leave... All that being said, neither of them looks fat to me, they're just bigger than their relatives who are near to/the same age. Noctis, my male cat, is from the same litter as my moms, while Nyx, my female, is from the same house but is a month older. Noctis is now slightly bigger than Nyx, and much more... dense? He's bulkier. Nyx is certainly bigger than Noctis' siblings, but still smaller than he is, and she's slimmer overall.
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Mar 4, 2019 20:04
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illcendiary posted:I bought two SureFeed microchip pet feeders... Has anyone else noticed this happen? Yah there are lasers in the arch that have to be tripped in addition to the rfid proximity for the door to open. You can open the lid with the cat within a few feet by putting your finger over one of the holes. If the chipped cat backs away but the laser is still blocked, the door won't close.
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Mar 4, 2019 23:26
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Glory to Italia!
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ILL Machina posted:Yah there are lasers in the arch that have to be tripped in addition to the rfid proximity for the door to open. You can open the lid with the cat within a few feet by putting your finger over one of the holes. If the chipped cat backs away but the laser is still blocked, the door won't close. drat it, that makes sense. Frustrating function limitation but it is what it is I guess. I'll take the feeder doing its job 50% of the time versus having zero control 
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Mar 5, 2019 02:23
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Since the last time I checked in. Marie finished her amoxicillin and is doing much better, but then this weekend Sancho got sick. He threw up a nasty hairball on Saturday which I thought nothing of. Then I guess he was a bit more lethargic, but my wife noticed immediately because he didn't come greet her when she got home like usual and he was in the same spot when we went to sleep and got up on Sunday. He didn't eat Sunday morning and just laid in bed until I got him and put him in the litter box after a fresh litter change. He peed and then went in a box in the living room. We were concerned and going to hit the vet on Monday, but we went out, come back still in box, go to feed him wet food, stays in box, bring him over to wet food, I notice his rear end stinks. He smells at the wet food, and then goes to the litter box and lets out the foulest diarrhea. He's super lethargic goes back into the box. We're worried so we call the vet and the awesome doctor and tech, on Sunday night during snow, agree to come to the office to look at him. He gets weighed, pound down from 10.8 to 9.8. Has a fever. They give him an x-ray and don't find anything. Get him some fluids(the hump was kind of hilarious), some antibiotic, vitamin b, anti-nausea shots, and clean up his bum and anal glands(man that was certainly a thing to watch happen). They gave us some hills digestive care food. He comes home and drinks water. Seems ok-ish next day, ate a tiny bit of the hills food(i actually put out a bunch of stuff just to try to get him to eat anything. He drinks water seems, pees a bit, and goes to his usual spot in the window. I work from home so I'm used to his routine. He comes by and gives me some loving around 11. Things seem ok. Then at food time he again sniffs at food and goes to the litter for diarrhea explosion, and seconds later, after he tracks some poo juice on the floor, he vomits. Call vet for immediate appointment. They get me in same doc examines him. Fever is gone, weight is the same(good because he got rid of the fluid given by IV), he gets a stronger round of injections, and I get sent home with metronidazole to give him by mouth twice daily. Just gave him his first dose and it was easy because he has no teeth but boy did he not like it. I feel really bad and I'm worried for him. He hasn't eaten or drank food this am. He's lethargic(not as bad as Sunday, but still very off) I'm really worried for him , and I just want my boy to be ok. This brings me to the point of this post. When I told the doctor we got Marie from the shelter we did they commented like they were not surprised she brought some sickness with her. I genuinely like Marie and I enjoy her company, but I feel like I betrayed my boy. l I really want this to turn out sunshine and rainbows, but if the worst happens I feel like it will definitely make me regret ever bring her home. Have any of you dealt with something like this? How do you deal with these feelings in a healthy way? tl;dr New cat likely got old, best boy, perfect, first cat ever sick. how to deal with resent, guilt, and possibly losing best boy ever?
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Mar 5, 2019 15:26
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You are doing the right thing and keeping him under the eye of your veterinarian constantly. Honestly, it could be stress - he may still be adjusting to having Marie in the house. I can't tell you the best way to deal with those things, I spent all last night wide awake worrying about my boy. It sounds like he hasn't been on the medicine for very long, and a lot of medicine doesn't really have maximum effect until 24-48 hours after first dose in my experience. Keep up on the medicine and special food, if you don't start seeing an improvement in a day or two I would talk to your vet for sure. But it's most likely just a temporary bout that will eventually improve.
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Mar 5, 2019 16:57
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illcendiary posted:I bought two SureFeed microchip pet feeders for my cats because my kitten was exclusively eating our adult cat's prescription food and the adult cat was exclusively eating the kitten food. The system works decently well now, but if one cat goes to his respective feeder, and the other cat crowds underneath, the feeder stays open even if the cat that it's programmed for walks away. I know that there's a lid closing delay, but it's set to the fastest setting, and it still happens. So now my cats will basically team up and open their feeders for each other so that they can continue snacking on each other's food. It's a cute little quid pro quo situation but an annoying quirk of the product. Has anyone else noticed this happen? Just thought of something - you didn't accidentally set it to 'training' mode, did you? The training modes won't close, or won't close all the way, even after the cats leave.
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Mar 5, 2019 18:23
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KidDynamite posted:Since the last time I checked in. Marie finished her amoxicillin and is doing much better, but then this weekend Sancho got sick. He threw up a nasty hairball on Saturday which I thought nothing of. Then I guess he was a bit more lethargic, but my wife noticed immediately because he didn't come greet her when she got home like usual and he was in the same spot when we went to sleep and got up on Sunday. He didn't eat Sunday morning and just laid in bed until I got him and put him in the litter box after a fresh litter change. He peed and then went in a box in the living room. We were concerned and going to hit the vet on Monday, but we went out, come back still in box, go to feed him wet food, stays in box, bring him over to wet food, I notice his rear end stinks. He smells at the wet food, and then goes to the litter box and lets out the foulest diarrhea. He's super lethargic goes back into the box. We're worried so we call the vet and the awesome doctor and tech, on Sunday night during snow, agree to come to the office to look at him. I am not a cat expert, but vomit and diarrhea with loss of appetite is classic bowel obstruction in humans. But trust your vet and keep them well appraised of the situation. As far as guilt, don't. You had no way of knowing (and still don't, really) that New Cat was carrying a bug, much less that Comrade Katte would catch it. You were, and are, doing a good thing by adopting a furball in need.
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Mar 5, 2019 18:35
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Annath posted:I am not a cat expert, but vomit and diarrhea with loss of appetite is classic bowel obstruction in humans. I have some newly-minted layperson expertise on cat bowel obstruction. Xrays/ultrasounds should show an obstruction if there is one. Xrays are less conclusive, but if they suspect an obstruction they'll usually do an ultrasound if the xray looks suspicious. Speaking of bowel obstruction... 
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Mar 5, 2019 19:11
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Dienes posted:Just thought of something - you didn't accidentally set it to 'training' mode, did you? The training modes won't close, or won't close all the way, even after the cats leave. No it's out of training mode, they were able to get through that part pretty quickly. I'm in contact with customer support and waiting on a response at the moment, but the aforementioned explanation does make sense in the context of where Cats A and B are when the sharing occurs. Thanks everyone for the help and thoughts!
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Mar 5, 2019 23:31
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Took Glitch to the vet for her checkup, as she's just turned 1, and I need to transition her off Kitten food because she's put on too much kitten weight. Meant to be 4.5kg, but is 4.9kg atm. So she is a mini-chonk, and I need to get her down to A Fine Lass weight. She was super good with the vet as well. Wasn't exactly thrilled to be there, but just sat there nice and calm and let herself be examined/weighed/trimmed instead of jumping all over the office.  Was told it was very weird that she loves getting wet, but more power to me that I've got a cat that I can bathe easily. Any recommendations for cat nail clippers?
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Mar 6, 2019 06:43
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I've a cheap tiny pair like these https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jo8AJWKYxws They've worked well for the last 4 years. You can also use human clippers as long as you're not clipping it flat: http://www.vetmed.wsu.edu/outreach/Pet-Health-Topics/categories/procedures/cats/clipping-your-cat%27s-claws Synthbuttrange fucked around with this message at 06:50 on Mar 6, 2019 |
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Mar 6, 2019 06:47
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So I grew up in a cat household, but once I moved out for college I never really had time for a pet. Things have changed though, and I am now the proud new friend of Marvin the Magician. I was kinda worried because I never saw him drinking out of his dish, but he was always trying to get to the water from faucets. Turns out he only drinks from mugs
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Mar 6, 2019 06:53
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And you dont have pictures of this?!
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Mar 6, 2019 06:54
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My apologies! Excuse the bad lighting, there's just a lot of black I have to work with here. 
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Mar 6, 2019 07:05
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A very refined boi
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Mar 6, 2019 07:05
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hahah, what a good boy
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Mar 6, 2019 07:43
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Synthbuttrange posted:hahah, what a good boy The best boy. Doesn't even chew on wires or strings or NOTHING.
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Mar 6, 2019 07:45
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Annath posted:I am not a cat expert, but vomit and diarrhea with loss of appetite is classic bowel obstruction in humans. You're right I just have to keep the vet in the loop, monitor him, and give them both lots of love. I was Dunning-Kruger-ing and it's not where I need to be directing my energy. He seems to have a bit of personality back, and ate treats for dinner last night(only thing he would eat so gently caress it). Hopefully he's on the road to a full recovery. The meds I'm giving him do not seem fun. His mouth gets all slack and super drooly. Edit: and he's eating food on his own this AM. Progress! KidDynamite fucked around with this message at 13:27 on Mar 6, 2019 |
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Mar 6, 2019 12:26
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Little update on MurderCat5000, the stray cat that kind of decided to move in with me and got all hosed up one day and some of you lovely goons helped pay the vetbills without me even asking.  Nearly been a year of MurderCat5000. Since his incident and deciding to ilve with us he's growing into a very healthy, happy, curious and mischievious cat. He's constantly making us laugh and has developed a really funny personality. I feed him a consistent diet of high grade dry cat food as well as daily servings of human grade salmon and raw eggs. His coat is so stupidly soft and fluffy and silky, almost show quality. He's very affectionate, follows both me and my housemate everywhere we go, very inquisitive, needs to know what we're doing all the time. Loves to be roughhoused and brushed, actually he's stupidly obsessed with the brush. He loves it. seeing him so comfortable and happy is really heartwarming. big change from the highly strung anxiety ridden stray kitten that first turned up here a year ago. I poured an entire jug of water all over him when he was lying on the ground in the middle of a heatwave and he didnt bat an eyelid. I think he really really trusts us and is just super chill. His brother (I assume) has started hanging around a lot as well, although he's a little more stray/shy althoight still very sweet and a little affectionate towards me. He will come up for pets if you call him and will come into the house for food but he's pretty skittish and will bolt if theres a sudden noise, doesn't like to be picked up either. But he and MC5K get along like a house on fire and are always playing in the garden. Maybe give it some time and he'll move in too but I doubt it, he's pretty stray. i'd like to at least get him desexed and wormed at some point. hes pretty beatup. He's very slowly getting more comfortable coming inside and doesnt run away when he sees us. Anyway thanks again goons ! Enjoy some catte pics  MC5K's brother:       PS if you wanna see more of MC5K I pretty much spam the poo poo out of my instagram story with him if you wanna follow @alexandergard Sludge Tank fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Mar 6, 2019 |
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Mar 6, 2019 13:27
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An extremely good update for an extremely good cat, thank you for sharing and congrats on your even newer cat.
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Mar 6, 2019 13:32
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I bought a clicker to train my cats and after 2 weeks. I'm making progress!! They now understand that click means treat. and understand that the click will only come when they perform the right behavior. They now finally put the ball in their mouth. soon..... I was getting tired of playing fetch with them and having to get the balls after I throw them Soon, they will bring them back to me after each throw.
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Mar 6, 2019 13:45
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My mates cat is great at fetching treats. My own cat is like "now why did you do that for? Now you'll be stepping on that barefoot later and you still have to give me a new treat"
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Mar 6, 2019 17:09
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I called off today because I wasn't feeling working with a fever again. The cats are keeping me company by using me as a personal heater. Thanks guys I feel the love.
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Mar 6, 2019 17:15
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Why sleep on an expensive cat bed or plush sofa when there is a pile of dirty towels to claim? Amazingly Pom Pom (the black fluffy one) was a skinny little runt when we picked her up from rescue - you certainly won't know it now. Meko (calico) on the other hand looks exactly the same as when we got her, bigger but the same proportions.
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Mar 7, 2019 06:49
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Me, tweeting a video of Tater welcoming me home. https://twitter.com/JakeMHS/status/1103063143247478794?s=19
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Mar 7, 2019 16:47
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Tater Love 
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I want to take an insurance policy out on my cats while they are young and healthy. What companies do you all recommend? And do you think I would have trouble with my Crowley getting insured? He just has a few extra struvite crystals in his bladder, but he is not diagnosed with FLUTD or any actual conditions. He was diagnosed with a UTI but that is not a lifelong condition and we have it managed with the prazosin right now.
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Mar 8, 2019 19:02
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