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We had rain storms this week, and I swore I sporadically heard a cat crying, couldn't quite place if it was in my bushes, near a neighbor'a door or inside. It didn't help I only heard the crying at night. Last night I was able to use treats and my voice to lure it to a spot where I could see it, and the cat is definitely a kitten. Besides the storms a ton of folks walk their dogs often off leash in the area so this wasn't a safe place to leave it outside and they've been on their own for a few days. They absolutely adore my voice and the sight of other cats, but they're still pretty freaked out by a big human. I'd say they're at least 6 to 8 weeks old since it's still a tiny thing but eating solid food and using a litterbox. No collar. Since I found them technically 2 hours before Christmas Eve it's going to be a minute before I can take them to a vet, so they're living in quarantine in my bathroom with food water and their own box. They tolerate me more now, but they're not exactly ready to curl up in my lap. Treats got them to at least sniff my hand and tolerate being near me as long as I don't move and they have a clear path of escape or shelter. I have enough room for 3 cats, and had 3 until my oldest died about a month ago, but I wasn't planning on adopting a new cat. We'll see if I'm just providing some temporary fostering or a forever home after I get them to a vet. Right now based on seeing each other behind barriers the kitten adores my other cats and purrs and comes over to them, one of my cats is just as curious and while confused by the stranger doesn't seem to mind them. My other cat is not happy about her guest. Your reward for reading or scrolling past all that: Kitten in the bed my cats have ignored for nearly a year.
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Dec 25, 2023 08:45
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Countblanc posted:Sorry for somewhat monopolizing this thread the last week, but I thought I should provide some closure to the new cat saga. You're already putting a big amount of money out there to improve a creature's quality of life and keep them alive. Being able to honestly evaluate what you can and can't give them is a mature and difficult thing. I'd also reach out to the shelter you rescued them from, and see if they have experience with this care, especially if your main vet agrees with the prognosis. Whatever direction you go, I'm sure you'll have their best interest. I have slightly better kitten update news: the stray in my bathroom is an absolute cuddlebug. I came to the thread for advice on keeping them safe and sane but this morning I got to pet them for the first time, and they were way into it (as long as they couldn't see my head) and over the course of 3 hours that evolved into sitting in my lap, and even licking my beard. I noticed some small scabs and signs of fleas, but nothing troubling. They were content to let me hand groom them, which is good. Even let me touch their toes, tail, and belly.
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Dec 25, 2023 22:34
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boneration posted:We said goodbye to Miss Malarkey today. Seven days of kitty ICU was enough to learn that they could not diagnose her, and a horrific regimen of medications just to keep her alive was not something I was willing to put her through. Thankfully the condition was not painful and we were able to discontinue treatment for a day so she could come home and have a couple nights and a day of love and snuggles. My heart is shattered and my other little girl is wondering where her sister is. I'm sorry you and your kitty had to go through that, but at least you got to say goodbye. You did the right thing instead of making them suffer longer under a terrible quality of life.
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Dec 29, 2023 00:24
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Test results came back, and Nana the kitten is free of FIV and feline leukemia, so I did some introductions to my household and it's going pretty well. He's in love with my other cats, they tolerate him much more having heard him crying from the bathroom and smelled some of his scents. No flare ups or agression besides a little hissing when he stayed way too close when the other cats went to eat food. Any thoughts on whether I should keep him locked up at night or when I leave the house? I'm leaning towards putting him back in the bathroom for a while with both situations and also giving him some wet food in private, just because he's so tiny and I could see him accidentally getting hurt or being bullied out of eating. Here's some pictures of the first day of Nana actually living with Spooky and Ripley   
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Dec 30, 2023 02:34
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I'm so glad Jet is doing okay. I just lost a senior cat last month who started slowing down but then lasted another 3 years with a very good quality of life, so he might have some life yet. It's smart to keep doing that review, just because it's easy to normalize things, especially since cats can be so blaise about everything. Like in my last weekend with that cat she tried to play it cool when she became too unsteady to walk.
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Dec 30, 2023 20:30
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Obnoxipus posted:My cat has, in about the past week, gotten really into playing fetch?? Like, REALLY into it, to the point where if you go downstairs for any reason, she will follow you and scream repeatedly until you give in and throw one of those elastic hair ties around for her to slide across the floor after it and then to trot back to you with it in her mouth so you can throw it again. Not sure if this is going to be the rest of my life or if it's just a phase, but good god, she is obsessed. Enjoy it while it lasts! I had a cat who became obsessed with fetch for about a year and then forgot about it. He was also an incredibly dumb but sweet boy who didn't always grasp the mechanics behind fetch and would sometimes drop the toy before trotting back and waiting patiently for you to throw the toy still located on the other side of the room.
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Jan 4, 2024 00:57
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KariOhki posted:My calico hasn't grasped fetch, but will "kill" toys and bring them to me. Sometimes just one, sometimes she'll go back and forth for a while bringing me a bunch (getting a treat every time of course). She even has a specific meow for "I caught something and I'm comin' with it" which was very helpful in my old apartment when the mice would come in during the winter. Yeah I have a big girl that caterwauls and brings a toy up for me to examine when I'm upstairs in my office. She then lays down purring for pets and approval of her hunting skills. I'm lucky I don't have any pests for her to catch. She only does it during the day if I'm working from home, no other times or places in the house.
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Jan 4, 2024 02:09
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Cats really are the best pet. Animals are great in general, but these weird little goofs have the best energy. They're also destructive assholes that keep you from having nice things.
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Jan 4, 2024 03:03
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Wow that's a unique opinion. I don't think I've met anyone who doesn't melt from purring -though I can understand the licking thing. One of my boys shows his affection by grooming and will sit there drooling on the same spot or licking the same spot of your arm raw. Is it a sensory thing? I don't think you'll make them upset by avoiding their licks, but yeah purring helps them physically, and bunting/scent marking also helps with bonding.
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Jan 10, 2024 06:02
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Macksy posted:Asked in the vet thread, but thought I'd ask her if maybe for a faster response. I accidentally took a half tab of 12.5mg zeniquin(animal antibiotic for my kitty) and just thought i'd ask if that's something that is gonna be a problem or not? I dont know how bad an animal medicine is for a humon. Does the package have a hotline to call? Like the distributor -assuming you still have like thr box and not just the bottle with your prescribing vet/clinic. IANAD, but it's also common to feel kinda sick if you take an antibiotic and certain medications like birth control are less effective for a window afterwards. So if you're on anything and have a primary care physician, it might be worth calling them and just confirming if that accidental dose might reduce your medication's efficacy. Also I thought I'd ask here, since googling mostly gets me results about infections, rot, feces, or overactive glans smells, but have y'all ever had kittens with a stronger musk than other cats? My new little buddy Nana smells way more than my other cats. It's definitely in his skin or fur, he seems to groom himself, but about 1 day after his flea baths it's come back. It's not strong, but say holding him you can smell it vs how you'd have to bury your face in another cat to smell them. He's still intact/my vet still wanted to wait another month or two to fix him. He's roughly 8 weeks old. He's a healthy boy, and we already dewormed him just to be safe since he was rescued from outside. Some pictures of how much he's grown since the 22nd when I lured him into my house with the promise of food and other cats:   
Coolness Averted fucked around with this message at 09:00 on Jan 11, 2024 |
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Jan 11, 2024 08:58
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cash crab posted:does anyone else have cats that, instead of greeting you, both run to the nearest scratcher and start going to town while making pointed eye contact Two of my cats get up and stretch when they see me, and one always scratches a bit at the carpet whenever she stretches, but they don't make eye contact.
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Jan 13, 2024 08:23
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Will she still go for you if the phone isn't near you? My at-a-glance take is her cat brain imprinted on a noise from a phone video scared her and climbing you stopped it, so now if she hears other phone videos starting she assumes the bad sound is gonna start and the only way to stop it is to climb up and bite your face.
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Jan 17, 2024 20:47
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Cat brains are really weird about fixating on something they perceive when something happens and then making an association between them. It's why negative reinforcement is heavily discouraged, they can be just as likely to associate you with the bad feeling and not associate being yelled at or chased with clawing furniture or attacking another cat -even if that's the only time it happened.
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Jan 17, 2024 21:08
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Wii Spawn Camper posted:My cat struggles so hard to get her lil paw out of my grasp that I either have to hold it in an iron grip, which I’m sure is painful for her, or let go. She twists her entire body around and I’m too worried she’s going to get hurt so I let go. She plays me like a fiddle Yeah, my cats have always been a two person job to groom their nails so someone can scruff them as the other cuts. Otherwise they squirm like they know you'll release their paw rather than hurt them. One even lets me touch his toes and expose his nails (on the front paws at least) if we're just cuddling, but the moment he sees a clipper come out he wants to move.
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Jan 18, 2024 23:44
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I think it might be that particular multi-treatment that's prescription only. Because most flea drops are over the counter -here in California at least. IANAV but it would be worth asking them -especially if your cat is indoor only, about switching to an OTC version of advantage. It might be something like "We're being safe because a high percentage of cats brought from Europe have heartworms," or "Due to Chicago's weather and the particular mosquitos we have, your cat is likely to get infected, so I strongly recommend it." It also can be a dog specialized vet who just happens to also accept cat business but treats them like tiny dogs, and something trivial like this is a better time to learn that. E: Though I've also got a slightly jaundiced view, since my mom's new vet doesn't seem to know a lot about cats and makes some boneheaded calls like "Oh this male that was nuetered at 3 years old is overweight because he's 15 pounds, and that's when the chart says a cat is overweight!" when he's got a healthy bodyshape, and more muscle mass than a male who was fixed younger. Also I've got an amazing cat specializing clinic down the street from me, but they're not accepting new patients for stuff like general check ups, so I'm stuck with less specialized vets. The clinic I go to is fine, but I just wish especially as my cats get older that I could stick with the cat vet. Coolness Averted fucked around with this message at 00:02 on Jan 22, 2024 |
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Jan 21, 2024 23:50
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Apartment/Condo living yay! My indoor cats get fleas here and there, but it's not like I need to keep them on advantage at all times, just some summers they need a month or two and then there's no problem for a few years.
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Jan 22, 2024 04:38
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Yeah it's always cool when a cat is able to acclimate to stuff from kittenhood so just lets you do it. I'm hoping I'm touching my little guy's paws enough and otherwise handling him to keep him easy and chill. He seems mostly to tolerate everything. He's been in my house for a month, and it just melts my heart that in <30 days he went from hissing at me from a hiding spot behind the toilet, to only ok with me petting him if he couldn't see me, to running up to me in the mornings with his tail up, and always wanting to sleep leaning against me or one of the other cats.
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Jan 22, 2024 04:52
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VelociBacon posted:No I think it's a valid point that if you're stretching your budget for one it's probably not worth it. It's something that benefits the owners and not really the cat, I would argue. This person is probably not entertaining distinguished guests in that living room. You never know, it is an election year after all 
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Jan 28, 2024 05:15
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I dated someone whose family did that a long time ago. It works, but two big flaws: cats gently caress up toilet seats with their claws and would also sometimes miss and make a mess of the seat. So unless like you have a bathroom to dedicate to it and/or uniquely hate cleaning cat boxes but are okay cleaning cat waste off of your bathroom floor and toilet I don't see a big benefit. On the topic of litterboxes and cats having quirks, I had a covered box a while ago, complete with a little staircase to collect sand, and one of my cats would just poo poo on the staircase and refused to enter the enclosed space, so we eventually removed the lid and had a weird form factor litterbox with a side staircase the cats wouldn't use. I also still have a big dummy who insists on putting his paws on the rim of whatever box he uses and peeing on the side of the box. Normally that's fine. However, it means any box needs more than his weight in sand lest he tip it over and if he ever scoots enough sand towards the side he's deciding to pee on he might stand at an angle where he's pissing out the box. It also meant that when I kept the small box I got for my new kitten in the bathroom the kitten lived in for his first week at my house, I got to come down one morning to find my large adult son catapulted the litterbox across the bathroom floor and then pissed on the floor.
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Jan 28, 2024 22:14
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Kramdar posted:I think the cat carriers that are made out of cardboard that you can get Petco or Centinela and what not are great because all of our cats think we’re just putting them in a box and they are just excited to go into a box until the lid shuts and they go ah crap. and they’re actually really good sized, all of our cats fit comfortably in them. That's not a bad idea, I'd normally never think to buy those and my cats love boxes and bags
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Jan 31, 2024 07:15
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 Ah also a good thing to keep in mind
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Jan 31, 2024 07:43
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I don't think a cat is going to asphyxiate in that box short of a gas leak pouring into the entrance or something. 1 entrance is usually fine, but if you're really concerned about CO2 just remember it's heavier than air, so provide a channel for it low in the box/below the cat's head when it sleeps, but yeah open entrances are fine. My friends just built a box like yours for a stray that's been hanging out in their backyard during the rains -sans the insulation flap. Though this is also CA with lows in the 40s at worst. Though looking at it on their critter cam, their poor strat is also likely pregnant, which adds extra wrinkles.
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Feb 7, 2024 19:32
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mawarannahr posted:Thank you all. For now I have gone with a hooded litterbox inside this rattan enclosure for about $70 (kind of pricey but it's the only one I liked. brand name honiokaka): I love the way that looks but my cats absolutely destroy anything rattan, it's one of their favorite things to claw, so I can't have it.
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Feb 8, 2024 21:01
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They're my cats' favorite treats and were also the only ones a cat I had for 18 years would eat other than those fish slurry gogurt pouches that have become big in the last few years.
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Feb 21, 2024 09:10
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While we're on vet chat, just a reminder that it's important to get your cats regular visits, especially as they get older. While there's some stuff that can start overnight there's also issues that can develop overtime or be so gradual you don't notice, but the vet does. My old 15 year old boy has been growing dehydrated and I didn't notice, but at the vet today they instantly did when he went in for his vaccine refreshers and checkup. I'll hear back about bloodwork soon, since he seemed to be eating, drinking, and using the catbox fine. So we want to make sure all of his organs are functional. However, I suspect he wasn't eating as much as usual, since he's been ravenous about snacks lately and the cat bowls haven't been emptying as quickly, like 25% or so has been left over when usually they'd be fully empty by meal time. Just giving him a bowl of wet food with a little bit of water over it today -and ensuring he was the only one who ate it- already has has him seeming less dehydrated. Similarly the amount of water my older cat who just died last year was consuming went unnoticed because of the multicat household, but after she was gone it was very easy to see that she'd been the one draining the water bowls and fountain. Now I'm worried he could have been eating far too little and it was masked by the other cats eating more lately. Coolness Averted fucked around with this message at 03:43 on Feb 24, 2024 |
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Feb 24, 2024 03:40
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Yeah, I had a girl in college who had only lived in busy households with at least a person and usually a 2nd cat. As we all finished up school and got more regular job schedules and the person with the other cat moved out she seemed lonely and bored. Since she was only 2, we got her a kitten and she hated it. Luckily no fights, but she very clearly prefered doing her own thing. Eventually she learned to get along and there wasn't any fighting, but she never really enjoyed having another cat in her house after she had the brief taste of having a house to herself. That little kitten I brought home was obsessed with her until the day she died and is currently being pestered by a new kitten, so circle of life I guess.
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Mar 12, 2024 22:53
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Yeah I'd suggest seeing if you can wrangle the emergency person to at least promise to check in and make sure water, food, and box are ok every other day. It only takes 2-3 days without eating or drinking to cause permanent damage which could be fatal. No judgement on your situation, but it's important to be aware of how fragile your little furball can be.
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Mar 13, 2024 03:29
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yet!
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Mar 14, 2024 05:02
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They're very cute moochers
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Mar 14, 2024 16:12
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Yeah cats also can sublimate or fixate on stuff too. So it could even have been "cat that was pissed about being outside took it out on the other cat leading to a single fight, and now one or both associate the other with fighting and being pissed -causing a feedback loop. Do they still act friendly but occasionally have outbreaks? Are there usual places where it happens?
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Mar 20, 2024 03:31
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Obnoxipus posted:A relative who lives across the country (USA) passed recently and left behind a 15-year-old cat. I told my partner, when she asked, that it probably wouldn't work to take the cat in, considering that we'd be moving her across the country, she's not super young, and we already have two cats in a small house (one that does not like the other and one that is still full of kitten energy one year in), but I know she used to live with this cat and loves her, and I feel like the worst kind of person turning her down. Was I wrong to say no to this cat? I'm gonna be the 3rd internet stranger to say it's a bad idea, but I'd approach it as "What's the plan B?" And are you and your partner prepared for the worst case scenario -having to rehome any 2 of the 3 cats? Especially in a small home a disruption like that could exasperate current difficulties.
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Mar 25, 2024 04:23
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He's eating the wet food and uses the litterbox, right? I wouldn't be too concerned if those are true. You can also test if he's dehydrated by gently grasping some of his skin (a little like you'd scruff him or gently pinch some skin) if it slowly smoothes back out he's dehydrated, if it quickly goes back to normal he's fine. The fact the cat doesn't immediately dart back to the hiding spot or panic and flee or hiss when you scoop them out is also a good sign. He's still getting used to his new home and you. The cat I've had for 4 months still gets spooked if I move and darts and hides when I get home, but also will come and sleep in my lap and runs up to get pet if I get up at night to use the restroom. He's still getting used to a new home, and might just like sleeping in hiding spots.
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Mar 27, 2024 22:35
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Make friends with other cat owners or talk about swapping foods and treats that don't work out with your friends who have cats. 2-3 of my friends and I do that.
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Mar 28, 2024 06:15
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Bringing in other people is perhaps the one area I haven't been able to ultra socialize my new kitten so far. He's only met other people once or twice -other than vet visits. They were also the boisterous sort who sent him into hiding. He's still got a bit of a bump at the injection site from his 2nd round of vaccines, which concerns me, but it still hasn't been a full month, and it doesn't seem to be growing, when I take him in to get fixed next month, I'll still have the vet take a look to make sure it's not a sarcoma
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Mar 29, 2024 07:17
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