|
PriorMarcus posted:Does anyone have advice for clicker training our cat? We've been teaching her to use her scratching post by clicking and treating her when she uses it, but now she will just give it a tiny scratch and expect a treat. I’ve used videos from Cat School to teach my cat paw tricks and to sit & lay down. He won’t even consider the paw tricks unless I have a treat but he will sit and/or lay down on command (lay down is…pretty imprecise. He’ll walk in a circle then flop to the floor). But yeah, he’s a cat, he only does what he feels like doing. I haven’t done any training in several months but it was more of a fun playtime activity in itself. Lay down was really exciting; over several sessions you lure them to go under a prop, gradually lower the prop until they have to belly crawl, then take the prop away and reward them if they continue to get on their belly. It was like a series of puzzles he had to work out and when he connected the dots and belly crawled on command without any props I legit almost cried.  He later figured out he didn’t need to crawl and now just flops straight to the floor, it’s loving great. I haven’t had to mental energy to get back into it but he seemed to really enjoy the process.EDIT: Here’s a video I posted to the YOSPOS cat thread soon after I taught him lie down. https://i.imgur.com/xROvZlu.gifv Crocobile fucked around with this message at 16:45 on Jul 23, 2022 |
#
¿
Jul 23, 2022 16:35
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 07:12 |
|
|
I don’t have any input w/r/t dry food but if you want to introduce wet food maybe try something shredded like Tiki Cat or Weruva? Assuming the bad smell is from gravy or pâté.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 1, 2022 18:04
|
|
|
Maybe something like this? It’s a hard piece inside of a soft piece. If you’re just trying to slow them down I really like snuffle mats. They’re intended for dogs (and maybe pigs???) but idk, my cat loves it.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 12, 2022 08:41
|
|
|
Hug in a Can posted:It's normal for a ~3 month old kitten to act like she's deeply suffering because she isn't currently being played with, right? My cat is 2 y/o and makes big deep dramatic yodeling meows when he’s not getting played with. He’s also hissed at me once for not getting out of bed & playing with him.  He baby
|
|
#
¿
Sep 15, 2022 17:55
|
|
|
The Mod Kat litterbox can be top entry OR side entry, and it’s used with a liner that goes all the way up to the top. They’re just obnoxiously expensive for a big plastic cat toilet. https://modkat.com
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2022 18:04
|
|
|
explosivo posted:Modkat litterbox arrived today, it's fantastic. Feels sturdy and I like the way the lid folds back. It's expensive and the liners are expensive but I didn't clean their old litter box nearly as much as I should have so I'm hoping this'll end up being more sanitary in the long run for my kitties. Also defeat the wall pisser once and for all Cool! Yeah, the price went up a lot since I bought it a year ago, and it was expensive then.  If it’s any consolation I didn’t realize they recommended replacing the liner every 3-months and was just washing it out and spraying it down each full litter-box cleaning until the bottom started to wear thru. I only have one cat so ymmv. I got it after seeing it at a friends house and noticing there floor was not covered in cat litter. The top entry really cuts down on tracking.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 5, 2022 23:02
|
|
|
People who’ve gone from 1 cat to 2 cats; how was that transition and how would you compare the experience? I currently own a playful 2 y/o and am a click away from applying to adopt a playful young 1 y/o. Ideally we’ll all be friends but worst case I don’t want to make my resident cat totally miserable. I’ve been flirting with getting a second since getting #1 (originally planned on getting a bonded pair), but have only ever lived with 1 cat at a time.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 8, 2022 21:33
|
|
|
Speaking of litter, I adopted a 4-5 month old kitten on Friday and he’s been playing in his litter and knocking clumps/poop out and then bats it around ITS SO GROSS. My emergency/budget solution atm is to grab a crummy old plastic bin and cut a hole in it for a makeshift high-walled litterbox. But I wonder if switching out litter to pellets or similar would help too? I use a grass seed litter with Sinjin which works fine with his top-entry box but it tracks like crazy in a low walled box. Especially when a kitten is throwing it around.  
Crocobile fucked around with this message at 06:18 on Oct 26, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Oct 26, 2022 05:35
|
|
|
OKAY SO: adopted 4-5 month kitten last friday, He’s isolated to my bedroom, and there’s a pet-gate covered by a towel set up just behind the door. Theoretically so I can control if/how much he and my 2-year old cat, Sinjin, see each other. Scent swapping has gone well, and they peeked each other from different rooms. No aggression, neither of them seem that concerned. Great! This morning while I was playing with the kitten Sinjin kept whining from the other side of the door. I open the door so we’re still separated by the towel-covered pet gate and manage to play with wand toys with the kitten while occasionally tossing treats for Sinjin to chase & eat. Both def saw eachother but were more interested in the games. TONIGHT I tried to do the same thing but the kitten caught a glimpse of Sinjin and went WILD. First excited meowing then he figured out he could scale the towel and next thing I know he’s on top of the pet-gate. I caught him before he got to Sinjin but as soon as I put him back he was ontop of the gate again. Was able to put Sinjin in a separate space and kitten back into bedroom. Kitten seemed to be looking for Sinjin; eventually he got distracted (after I blew bubbles at him) Ok, so. NO hissing, no arching of backs or poofing of tails. Idk if the kitten just REALLY wants a playmate or it I should interpret this as agression? Obviously I need to slow down, modify my pet gate set up and back off for a bit. But any insight?
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2022 08:27
|
|
|
gloom posted:That doesn’t seem like aggression to me, take your time for sure but it sounds promising, more like excitement. If your cats are like ours it’s the established one who needs more time to adapt to the newcomer, maybe use Sinjin’s reactions as a guide for when to increase contact? Or I might be biased because our first cat Merlin was pretty shy during the period when we brought Kali home. She was eager to meet him from the first day but we went slow. He was a little under two years old and she was about 5-6 months at the time. That’s good to hear you had similarly aged cats. The kitten chaotic energy is so intense I’m, personally, a bit overwhelmed but maybe Sinjin isn’t? Sinjin has been surprisingly chill, even when the kitten was in full view ontop of the gate, Sinjin’s body language is similar to if a new person visited the apartment. Cautiously friendly? He seems to be ok with non-kitten things too. There’s very obnoxious construction happening immediately outside my building so he’s kinda distracted, but hasn’t been acting upset or stressed.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 27, 2022 14:56
|
|
|
Got our first hiss! When the kitten sees Sinjin he runs over and tries to paw at him thru the gate. Sinjin did NOT like this and gave a big hiss. I grabbed the kitten, chucked some treats at Sinjin and closed the door. Definitely gonna have to go at Sinjin’s pace but really hoping I can get the kitten to be SLIGHTLY more chill when approaching him. 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2022 02:19
|
|
|
I’m so sorry Pollyanna.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2022 17:58
|
|
|
kw0134 posted:I'd go so far as to argue that for kittens, being hissed/swatted at is a necessary part of socialization because otherwise they will never learn what is acceptable behavior with their new housemate. No matter what you do, it is inevitable that the kitten will transgress some boundary Sinjin has and will get hissed at. The kitten will either learn to heed that boundary or get a paw across the face. And that's fine! There is no cat etiquette school except the one forcibly imposed by a swat or a hiss. Introductions are controlled not to avoid all conflict but to make them manageable so they can get it sort it out between each other without killing themselves in the process. Quick update: Bit the bullet and just let them interact with my supervision. Anytime the kitten approached Sinjin he got hissed and swatted at. No growling or really worrisome behavior though. Sinjin mostly watched the kitten play with toys and later walked off to sniff around the kitten’s room while the kitten was distracted. Didn’t want to push my luck too far so when kitten started to slow down I put him back in his room and both got fed. I’ve never seen Sinjin interact with cats so this is going way better than expected. Keeping an eye on any odd behavior. Don’t want him to get too overwhelmed. Name-wise currently choosing between Niko or Gizmo for the kitten.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 28, 2022 19:41
|
|
|
kw0134 posted:Don't need to rush it, but you should also consider places that Sinjin can go that the kitten can't follow once you decide to let them intermingle more freely, because kittens are exhausting and adult cats have different tolerances to having a bouncing ball of fur constantly pouncing on them. Better think of that now and note where Sinjin likes hanging out so he can have a space of his own too. How would you enforce that? I can’t really think of spots that Sinjin can get to that the kitten wouldn’t physically be able to reach, though I’m trying to at least set up separate cat trees.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2022 00:42
|
|
|
Thanks! Took him to a Vetco clinic for his boosters and he might be more like 6 months  lol. The shelter listed him as 3.5 months, which was obviously super off, but I didn’t think would be THAT far off. Honestly the sooner he grows out of the hyperactive poo poo head phase the better. ETA: https://i.imgur.com/2sV9fQv.mp4 They’ve been playing this morning!!! Crocobile fucked around with this message at 19:37 on Oct 29, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Oct 29, 2022 16:17
|
|
|
I’m probably going to get a 2nd ModKat box. Last year they had 20% for Black Friday/Cyber Monday, so I just have to stand the little guy tracking litter for 4 more weeks. Good news (???) he already seems to prefer using Sinjin’s ModKat box. ETA: JUST as I hit post this wretched kitten hopped out of the top-entry box with a turd in his mouth and dropped it on the ground to bat around.   Crocobile fucked around with this message at 18:19 on Oct 30, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2022 18:09
|
|
|
Pollyanna posted:
Nice DIY! I haven’t tried pine litter but is that the stuff that turns to sawdust when it’s peed on? It sounds like magic. Ok ok so sorry for spamming the cat threads and I know things are still adjusting and they’ve literally just met eachother: Question for people who had one cat and adopted a younger cat! How do you handle interactive play sessions? I used to play with different attachments of Da Bird toy with Sinjin and he’d chase it around the apartment. Also he has these little balls I’d toss and he’d bring them back to me.  Now Niko chases anything that moves and does all these aerial jumps and stuff while Sinjin just sits back and watches. He’s sometimes crouching down and wiggling like he wants to pounce but the kitten dashes ahead and Sinjin backs off. I got the 2nd cat because I felt like our interactive sessions weren’t enough for him but now we don’t get that time at all.  And today Sinjin started scratching at the front door which he’s NEVER done before.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 31, 2022 18:40
|
|
|
HellOnEarth posted:I wish I could go to a shelter and like, get an idea of a cat’s personalities before I do anything but every rescue I can get to is online application, wait for callback, interview and sometimes home inspection before you can meet the cat. When my old roommate adopted her (male) cat from a county shelter in 2019 and she asked which cats were easy to handle. The cat she was directed to seemed friendly and was soliciting pets. When he got home we came to find he’s very independent and prefers his space. Still super easy to handle but he’s only affectionate first thing in the morning or if he’s super scared. Got my 2 boys (last one a week ago lol) through online applications only knowing they were both super scared/shy at the shelter yet were easy to handle/didn’t show aggression. Sinjin continuously became more of a cuddle bug over the 18 months I’ve had him and went from hiding from strangers to confidently soliciting pets. Niko’s new but he’s a cuddly purr machine. So idk, the shelter is a high-stress environment and it’s hard to judge what their personality will be in your home. Seems like a total crapshoot.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 1, 2022 16:32
|
|
|
nunsexmonkrock posted:How well does that fountain work? It’s the Catit stainless steel fountain. It’s ok, I mostly got it because of the water level indicator thing. I’ve not had issues cleaning it and I bought like a years worth of filters from the website. Sometimes it seems to leak? But I suspect it’s from the cat loving with it. Hence why theres a wash cloth under it. Honestly the other one people are linking seems better but I haven’t had enough issues to consider replacing it. Edit: Just cleaned/changed the filter and noticed bite marks allover the flower lol. Crocobile fucked around with this message at 21:00 on Nov 2, 2022 |
|
#
¿
Nov 2, 2022 20:31
|
|
|
If your cat is food motivated clicker training is great! Yeah you’re sorta supposed to train them in quick “commercial break” long sessions. Idk, I did it for a little bit and then got too slammed at work to keep up, but my cat LOVED it. Here’s a Youtube channel with some intro lessons: https://m.youtube.com/c/CatSchool
|
|
#
¿
Nov 7, 2022 02:27
|
|
|
I have a 2.5-ish year old and just got a 6ish month old. Obviously they don’t have nearly as big an age difference and introductions went shockingly smooth, but I initially had a similar issue of the younger one being way too excited. Idk if you’re already doing this but when I let the cats in the same room I’d have a wand toy to play with the younger cat. Partially to distract him from the older cat, partially to just get some of that energy out, but also so the older cat could watch the younger one without conflict. My older cat loves to chase treats so I’d chuck a treat and wiggle the wand toy when I felt things were getting a little too spicy.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 11, 2022 15:21
|
|
|
I used the toy so Sinjin would have time to watch Niko doing something positive, but Niko would still run over to Sinjin and get hissed/swatted at. After a couple sessions Niko backed off. I was told hissing & swatting is fine and to only intervene if there was growling/more aggressive noises. So there was some….wrestling that was definitely not playing, but I think was Sinjin trying to dominate Niko. I separated them when Niko was trying to stay away and Sinjin kept following him and swatting. In my case after a few sessions it turned into play fighting/chasing and then they were best buds, but I got EXTREMELY lucky. But letting the older cat set it’s boundaries isn’t a bad thing. Here’s a video of them being buds  https://i.imgur.com/lAgubrd.mp4
|
|
#
¿
Nov 12, 2022 16:25
|
|
|
xzzy posted:We have one with fur about the length of the one you're getting, and the equigroomer is the best cat brush I've ever used. It makes a huge mess but cats love it and unlike slickers you can actually tell when loose hair is gone because it stops producing fur piles. The furminator does this too but you can overgroom with it and end up with thin fur or scabs.. you should only use it once or twice a month. But with the equigroomer you can slide it over their fur every day if you wanted.  I had no idea you could overgroom with the furminator! My cats don’t really like it so I just brush bits of them when they’re sleepy. Good to know! I recommend “sanitary trims” (cutting back their butt curtains) for longer haired cats. Save future you from a lot of misery.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 14, 2022 05:36
|
|
|
Other people have more experience with this but for automated boxes Litter Robot seems to be best hands down. That’s maybe less of a luxury for your cat and more of a luxury for yourself (scooping piss and poo poo sucks!). You don’t need to jump to the most expensive litterbox immediately, you can settle them in with the cheapest things you can find. Really comes down to how clean they need the litterbox vs how much you’re willing to scoop it. 2 littermates/a bonded pair is best if you’re getting really young cats. Their energy levels are nuts AND young cats will teach eachother how to play nicely with claws & teeth. 15 mins interactive play (think wand toys) before feeding times is probably a good start. Get them Da Bird wand, every cat loves that thing!!!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 19, 2022 21:54
|
|
|
kaom posted:Re. litter boxes, our main issue is going to be placement. The new place is either open concept with no discreet corners to tuck one away in, or small rooms (bathrooms, den) where I’m worried about smell lingering. The ModKat top-entry litter box looks like it might work okay to stick in one of the open areas without drawing too much attention to itself, but it’s quite expensive and might not be a good fit depending on age/mobility of the cats… Is this something anyone else has run into? The XL box can be side entry or top entry. While I love my box, there are probably other attractive boxes that cost less. I’m annoyed that last year the XL ModKat box was $139.99. How has it gone up so much?!? They had a 20% of Black Friday sale last year so fingers crossed they have another one. 😤 I took Niko in for his first vet exam yesterday and he has GIARDIA!! Hasn’t shown any symptoms but they ask for a stool sample and he tested positive. They said it’s really common in the damp seasons in PNW? Poor kiddo also has a mild yeast infection in his ears. I’m out of town for Thanksgiving for 4.5 days so I can’t really administer meds… gently caress! I told my cat sitters and am getting nitrile gloves for them to use with the litterboxes. Told them to take off their shoes/wash hands/it’s transferred through fecal matter. I’m going to launder what I can & vacuum but idk how much I can do with being gone so soon? Vet only wants to treat Niko atm but Sinjin grooms this little goober!!! Was already planning on getting de-humidifiers for Black Friday. Need to make a shoe-cleaning station I guess? This sucks!
|
|
#
¿
Nov 19, 2022 23:24
|
|
|
Jesus loving christ, Niko keeps bringing toys into the litterbox to kick around and bury in his Giardia infested poo poo. Calling to rent a carpet cleaner tomorrow. I’m trying to go to bed and this absolute fucker has brought four toys into the litterbox in a row. I’ve gotten out of bed each time and grabbed the toy away to put in the wash tomorrow and I’M SO TIRED. Took this litterbox away since there’s another one in the living room and Sinjin was using this one more anyhow. 
|
|
#
¿
Nov 28, 2022 08:34
|
|
|
Any new cats are going to take some time to adjust, and it could be months before their weird little personalities start to really shine. I’ve had Niko for close to 6 weeks and he’s still kinda skittish. He’s 7-8 months old and just… either sleeping, running, or flopping all over and if I move too fast he might run to the next room. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But he does come up to me for pets and cuddles. When he first came home I’d have to be sitting or laying on the floor or I was TOO BIG & SCARY. Sinjin was similar when I first got him (he was maybe 10-11 months) and chilled out significantly around 18 months. The new cats probably like the counter because you aren’t towering over them. Try spending some time on the floor (even just reading a book or playing videogames, w/e) and they’ll get more comfortable with you. People change dog’s names when they adopt them; the cats will not give a poo poo. Shelters have to put a name for paperwork, it’s in no way written in stone. If you call their names while offering food/treats they’ll pick up on it, and eventually you won’t need to offer treats for them to respond to their names.  Anyway I came here to say I got the Equigroomer and the cats tolerate it way better than anything else so far! Holy smokes does it make a mess tho. My cats store all their fur in their tails.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2022 07:31
|
|
|
Rebecca! Rocky?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 1, 2022 21:28
|
|
|
She’s probably still settling in, but laser pointer toys can make cats really agitated. Jackson Galaxy has a video on how to use them: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=iMk0QDjQ9Wk Tldr version is: if you use a laser pointer, let the cat catch a real toy at the end of the session. It can also help to end the play session with a meal.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 14, 2022 21:03
|
|
|
Oh yeah, when I first picked up Niko from his foster his only 2 modes where hiding and intense cuddling. After a week he became SUPER playful and definitely got less cuddly as he got more comfortable. He’s a cute little cuddle bug at the vet, but that’s just because he’s scared. I’ve had him for 2 months and, truth be told, I don’t expect to have a full idea of his “normal” personality until he’s over a year and change.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2022 01:13
|
|
|
knox_harrington posted:this is urgent! somebody get an unemployed vet tech!!! Interestingly, I’ve never met an “unemployed” vet tech, but I’ve met a lot of former vet techs. Evidently it is an incredibly depressing and stressful job (and has a disproportionately high suicide rate). Not really sure why you’re antagonizing vets but you do you fam 
|
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2022 19:28
|
|
|
knox_harrington posted:You desperately want to squeeze out more steaming hot thousand word posts, go ahead, I already know your position and I'm not going to read em. And yet you continue to post.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 21, 2022 19:57
|
|
|
It’s way easier to get a bonded pair then to get 2 cats separately and hope they become friends. It’s also really nice for the shelters; they want to keep bonded pairs together but most people want to adopt one-at-a-time. I’d space out the boxes, personally. It’s going to depend on your space and where the cats like to go so you may have to adjust. Like say, if you space the boxes out but they only seem to be using one of them, move the unused box. I feed my cats at set times so I can’t help you with the food question.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 25, 2023 21:19
|
|
|
My 2 go-tos are either tossing treats across the apartment so he has to run & jump for them, or pulling out the wand toy and having the lure go behind something. Nothing seems to drive a cat crazier than having something go just out of sight. We have such a routine at this point that he’ll meow and look up at the cat tree, because he wants the lure to taunt him at the top of the cat tree. I guess it feels really satisfying to run up there and catch it. 🤷🏻♀️ With Niko I can just wiggle anything around and he’ll throw his body in the air. Sinjin I have to have this whole silly routine with.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 29, 2023 04:17
|
|
|
Wish for Rain posted:No, of course not! I don’t expect them to befriend each other. My previous cats mostly just tolerated each other, and that is fine with me. Him being disinterested is pretty ideal. Maybe you can give him some treats by the door? And maybe slide some treats under the door for the kittens so they can all hear eachother? It’s probably fair to assume he can already smell and hear them; it’s seeing them (and them seeing him) where it might get a bit chaotic.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 11, 2023 04:39
|
|
|
Don’t have personal experience with Persians but one of my favorite TikTok accounts is a cat groomer who mainly does Persians/Himalayans: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTRWsFYPq/ In the video she says most are on a 4-8+ week schedule, but longer if they’re getting lion cuts or teddy bear cuts. W/r/t grooming, I think that depends on the brush you’re using? Some people itt have talked about over-grooming issues with the Furminator brush. Other brushed just pull out loose & damaged hair.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 8, 2023 23:05
|
|
|
My 1 introduction experience went really easy so ymmv, but I kept the cats totally separate for an entire week. I have a 1 bedroom so I had the new cat in my bedroom and the resident in the rest of the apt. I introduced them over the course of 2.5 days (w/supervision) and it went so well I left them to sort it out overnight. It’s already a process to introduce a cat to a new living situation, so I think it’s best to approach things one at a time. Let the new cat pick some spots they feel safe in their quarantined room. After they feel comfortable in that space open them up to the other cat (ideally during feedings and play sessions, so they can adjust to eachother while respecting the other’s space). Best case scenario everyone gets along and they cuddle puddle & share stuff, worst case scenario one’s territory is the bedroom and the other’s the living room. Just cuz I want to post my boys: 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 14, 2023 06:05
|
|
|
gloom posted:One of our cats, Kali, is getting a little chonky. The vet suggested she’s ok for now but could stand to lose about a pound. I’ve noticed that she tends to eat her kibble super fast, and I’d like to try slowing her down a bit. Any experiences with puzzle feeders or snuffle mats? Specific recommendations? These are designed for dogs but I like the style and they seem like they might work for cats: I literally have the sunflower one on that page and Sinjin loves it! He was too fast at getting the food out of those ball puzzle feeders but the mat works super well. Niko couldn’t really figure it out, but his general strategy is to follow Sinjin and attempt to steal whatever he’s eating.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 30, 2023 17:56
|
|
|
 That’s incredibly sad. I hope you can help the cat (and your sister doesn’t get a new one). I’d mainly focus on getting the cat comfortable in their new room and socialized with people. Jackson Galaxy has a bunch of posts (and videos probably?) about introductions. Someone at the shelter I got my cats from sent me this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vpXwn77oA_w&t=1s It’s more focused on visuals (vs scent swapping) and I like the way it lays out establishing territories for each cat. I’ve only introduced a 6 month old to a 2.5 year old but I think a lot of things come down to disposition. Did your niece and nephew have a relationship with the cat?
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2023 20:53
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 16, 2024 07:12 |
|
|
It sounds like he has Manx syndrome. The big symptom I’ve read about is fecal and urinary incontinence. 😬
|
|
#
¿
Apr 2, 2023 16:51
|
|