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Newspaper shreds is the traditional kitten litter. It stinks like hell and it's unlikely any of us even get a newspaper anymore, but that's what I always used. So not suggesting it, just reminiscing.  Wood pellets is what I'd use these days.
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Aug 20, 2021 12:07
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We need a Meyers Briggs test for cats.
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Aug 22, 2021 00:08
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That's why we only buy the small cans. I hate the extra waste but at least the metal is theoretically recycled, and it results in less food waste. Once a cat decides they don't want to eat it the battle is lost.
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Aug 22, 2021 15:33
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Nothing worked for us so I kept buying those tiny scratching posts and setting them up anywhere I saw bad habits and eventually the cats get the hint.
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Aug 22, 2021 16:17
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I don't think so, cats basically forget about other cats after a short period so the next time you introduce them you're starting all over. The exception is bonded cats, they'll get kitty depression if their best friend disappears. This mostly happens between kittens but I it can happen between adult cats. Though if these two have already met each other and not gotten along you probably have no chance of that. Your best bet is when moving in together keep each cat in their own room for a week or two, taking turns allowing one to explore a common area. It'll suck for that period but it'll get them used to smelling another cat. In general they'll learn to tolerate each other's presence even if they never turn into friends. But it might also turn into hissing and pissing so you should have a plan if they can't cohabitate.
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Aug 24, 2021 21:31
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Sounds to me the cat is okay with the kid and you just need to wait for the child to be trained to not bum rush fuzzy things. Cats and dogs just need (supervised) time to figure each other out. Their play styles are completely different but there's no innate hatred to overcome, they just need to get familiar with each other's limits.
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Aug 25, 2021 15:44
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We have an ever evolving box fortress, basically we keep everything amazon (or chewy) sends us and routinely redesign and rotate old boxes out. The cats love it, they get a new jungle to creep around in every week or two. Eventually a box gets too ratty and it ends up in recycling.
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Aug 25, 2021 17:25
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Our cats go apeshit over purebites freeze dried treats, especially the ones in catnip (neither have a strong reaction to catnip either). Our run of the mill treats are purina whisker lickins. Not the best brand but they've been universally popular with the five cats we've given them to.
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Aug 25, 2021 18:29
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Who needs the sample? Because the vet will do it with a syringe if they need it.
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Aug 25, 2021 20:27
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Yeah, lovely vets exist and it sucks but it's good that you moved on because they aren't worth it.
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Aug 25, 2021 21:12
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Trimming is good to get them used to the process because at some point in their life you'll have to be able to do it, but if the nails don't bother you there's no health reason to trim them. Like, I only trim the nails of one of our cats because she loves to knead on my forearm and I get tired of her cutting me up. The other one is super responsible with her claws so I let her go all natural.
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Aug 26, 2021 17:58
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VelociBacon posted:She often uses her cardboard scratch thing, will that end up sorta dulling/trimming her nails also? It won't dull them at all, that's how cats keep their nails sharp. Their claws are kind of like a stack of paper cups, they claw things to peel off the outermost layer and reveal a fresh sharp nail underneath. So yeah untrimmed nails will get quite long and pointy. But if the cat doesn't make a habit of turning you into hamburger there's no requirement to trim them. They're self maintaining (except for very old cats, they tend to do their nails less and they get extremely thick and gross so it's good practice to help them with a trimming).
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Aug 26, 2021 18:08
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We bought that pyramid ball track and it got about 15 minutes of use before it was never touched again. The bog standard purple ball track with a scratch pad in the middle still sees occasional use.. they loved it as kittens but now that they're 4 years old they only smack the ball when they're extremely bored. The most successful self-entertainment toys we've found is a ripple rug and 1 inch tinsel balls with the tinsel pulled out. Smaller tinsel balls are a no-no because they can swallow them. The cool cyber cats deer fur mice are pretty popular too. The buffalo fur ones are bottom tier but still see action. One or two kick sticks are useful to have around too. But it always depends on the cat, each one will have their own favorites so get used to trying random poo poo for a few years and regretting the decision because kitty doesn't care.
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Aug 26, 2021 19:10
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Allowing cats to graze is generally not recommended. I'm not in the "that's how they eat in the wild so it's the only option!!" camp, but dry food is more calorie dense and allowing a cat access to it whenever they want is a great recipe for a lazy fat cat. Wet food is lower calorie and better on their kidneys long term so the smart move is to do whatever you can to make sure most of their eating comes from it. Leaving kibble out all day is just gonna keep them full and then they'll treat the wet food like nothing special.
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Aug 29, 2021 21:15
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Our cats' wrestling is hilarious. Of the two one is clearly the bigger, dominant cat but the little one always starts the wrestling matches. I assume it's some kind of test to make sure the dominant cat can still hang. So they wrestle and kick for a little bit, then the bigger cat gets too aggressive and overdoes it, causing our smaller kitty to cry out, disengage, then sulk on her tower. It plays out the same way every time but she keeps trying.
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Aug 30, 2021 15:00
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My cats avoid keyboards, never taught them or scolded them for it they just decided it was better to walk around. One of them loving loves youtube as well. Guess it's good to be lucky! https://i.imgur.com/8AcZQbD.mp4 Laptops are another matter, they like the warmth so will happily plop on top of the keyboard.
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Sep 1, 2021 16:11
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The power of a 12 pound adult cat to commandeer half of a queen size bed is a mystery science hasn't solved yet. So if kitten keeps sleeping with you now is the time to start looking at upgrading to a king.
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Sep 6, 2021 19:14
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Yeah, it takes a few days for cats to start to feel comfortable in a new place. They need to process what's going on and convince themselves something horrible isn't going to eat them. I wouldn't put a ton of effort into making sure every comfort is within paws reach, hunger is more powerful than being scared and when she needs it she'll come out to eat. Unless she's extremely timid and it gets into 4 days and she's still not coming out, then you get to worry about dehydration. You'll also probably have to deal with not using the litter box if it's that bad so hopefully she starts to come out of her shell soon.
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Sep 8, 2021 16:06
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explosivo posted:Goddamnit, I have to take the bad kitty in again today because we've been finding rock hard shits outside of the litter box again. She was doing well since the last visit but I stopped giving her the medicine after a couple weeks passed and she was back to normal. It's always such a production getting her to the vet and while at the vet that I'm just anxious all day leading up to it. Maybe I need a gabapentin for myself too One of our kitties was like this, but in the other direction. She'd get a horrible case of the runs, we'd take her to the vet, he'd prescribe probiotics and a dry food to fix things up and it things would improve for a while and then we'd try to get back to normal and she'd get the runs again. Long story short, some kitties need a special diet and you might have to deal with that it's going to be a permanent concern. In our case we slip a tablespoon or so of high fiber kibble into her meals. It also turns out she loves crab grass so when I put her on the leash for walks she eats a bunch of it and that seems to manage it too, we ease up on the kibble at that point because too much fiber and she starts crapping diamonds. So as time goes on feel free to experiment with the diet and see if you can find something that works.
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Sep 8, 2021 16:38
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You basically have to startle them so bad they become scared to try it. Which is basically giving them PTSD and pretty cruel, so I live with the fact a cat's gonna do what a cat wants to do. Sometimes identifying what they're actually trying to do (look for food, get someplace high and safe, knocking things off ledges) and putting alternatives into your house can help.
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Sep 9, 2021 15:20
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When our resident princess does something naughty we get absolutely nothing. She struts off to her next activity and won't make eye contact as if to say "I don't answer to you."
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Sep 9, 2021 16:34
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One of ours has managed to associate lounging on her back as a way to get dinner so around the same time every night we'll find here somewhere in the middle of the floor just chilling out. She never announces it, she'll silently flop over and wait for someone to notice. Of course it gets her dinner immediately so she has successfully trained us.
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Sep 10, 2021 17:17
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We have a four year old that still does those mega stretches. She's around three feet long from nails to tip of the tail when she does it.
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Sep 11, 2021 21:05
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I call it the long long cat and get that commercial jingle stuck in my head for an hour. Also Penny likes tummy rubs. https://i.imgur.com/riZTIHq.mp4 And no comments on the carpet, I tracked mud into the house and hadn't brought the vacuum out yet. Honest..
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Sep 13, 2021 14:15
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:Hey, just FYI my cat also had those black spots in his chin and they turned out to be stress acne. It wasn't a big deal, but at the time I thought it was just dirt and I kept rubbing it off him and just made it worse. Yeah, we've asked the vet. In her case it's because she has a really short snout and gets food on her chin. We have some cleaning stuff to help with it but she doesn't tolerate that well so it's a lose-lose no matter what we do. Thanks though!
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Sep 13, 2021 16:59
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If you have a small local owned pet store maybe try buying a single can of everything they keep in stock, rapid fire food options and see if anything works. Our local is mostly dog oriented but they have a big enough selection of higher end cat foods that worked well for us when we had a kitty get sick. If you're lucky they'll give a bunch of samples for free. The last resort is to find some high calorie food and force feed. It sucks for everyone but we've done that too and it works enough to keep health from getting worse.
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Sep 16, 2021 00:00
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There's quite a few designs out there, from ones that look like normal backpacks that you stuff your cat in to framed cages. We tried a well rated one from kurgo, the g train. It's a really nice backpack but intended for small dogs that will be content to poke their head out of the hole and chill out. Our cat saw the open hole as nothing but opportunity to jump out, and with the lid closed she's basically been confined inside a formless sack.. she can't see out and we can't see her. Option 2 we bought was a petsfit comfort. It's a worse backpack, but has mesh on four sides and has a nice frame. She still hates the car ride with a burning passion but does okay with the carrier itself, our biggest issue is once we let her out of the pack to walk around she doesn't want to go back in. But we still lug it because it seems like a bad idea to not have a safe place for her. Other than that she loving loves going out on a leash.. I wouldn't call it a "walk" because it's an endless cycle of taking 10 steps, sniffing everything in the area, then walking back in the other direction. With training they can apparently be walked like a dog but I've not figured it out yet.
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Sep 16, 2021 14:50
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pidan posted:but I don't think it works with just any cat. It absolutely doesn't. We have two that were harnessed trained as kittens, both tolerate them really well. But one freaks out if you try to take her outside, the only thing in the world she wants is a quiet place to sleep in the house. The other one fancies herself as an outdoor cat and will start bawling at me every day at 5pm for her nightly escort around our back yard.
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Sep 16, 2021 16:03
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Try compressed air sometime, one of our cats gives no poo poo about it but the other reacts so strongly she'll sprint to the nearest hiding spot wondering where the gently caress the mega loud hiss came from. It's a little better than hitting them with water because if you do it behind your back or with your hand around a corner they don't directly associate it as punishment coming from you (which is bad because it comes with the chance of making them scared of you instead of the thing you don't want them to do).
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Sep 17, 2021 04:15
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Popete posted:My cat who was previously diagnosed with congenital heart failure, tonight he's limping on his back leg and breathing heavier but doesn't appear to be in severe pain. I'm worried it could be a blood clot and should take him into the emergency vet. I never got a satisfying answer for what was going on (the vet's best guess was a viral thing but nothing showed up in blood work) but we lost a 19 year old kitty earlier this year where she suddenly lost the use of one rear leg. A few days later she lost the other one and we had to put her down because there seemed to be no options and we were opposed to letting her suffer. She seemed frustrated but was likewise showing no pain (but cats are good at hiding pain). No way for me to know if it's similar to what you're seeing, I'm no doctor and our cat had no heart issues. Just thyroid and early kidney issues. So I guess I got no useful advice other than if you think it needs a doctor, take him to one.
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Sep 17, 2021 05:36
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Our vet puts profile pics of the cats into their records and it gets printed out in the corner of all reports and bills for that kitty. One of ours' picture is of her sulking in a sink. It's adorable.
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Sep 17, 2021 10:59
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I believe that sparse area of fur is technically whiskers. Some cats will have actual whiskers over their eyes (and thus, no sparse "fur") but ones without will have that semi-bald patch.
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Sep 27, 2021 16:30
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We had a void cat with no discernible eyebrow whickers, but had big old semi-bald patches. Cat anatomy is as big a mystery as cat behavior.
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Sep 27, 2021 16:44
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Anyone know of anyone ever having success getting an adult cat used to riding in a car? Or have tips? We have one that adores going outside on her leash and it'd be nice to develop her into more of an adventure cat. Going into it my plan was to drive her to a small local park and see if the reward of going on a walk would help her tolerance. But it only made her more scared of approaching the car, and ifs turned into a case where car rides more than ten minutes have her start panting/hyperventilating because she get too wound up. So everything's on hold until I figure out another approach. The best I got is to let her into the garage and explore the car on her own terms and see if that helps.
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Oct 8, 2021 00:45
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Deteriorata posted:Put her in a carrier to take her to the park. You seriously do not want a frightened cat running around free inside your car. She does it in the carrier! I'm not a monster.
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Oct 8, 2021 01:03
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Abby was a master of getting out of the cone too, the vet gave us an infant onesie to wrap her in which kind of helped but she got out of that too. The best solution we came up with was a harness that was for dog, not cats. The material was stiff enough she couldn't flex to get at the sutures. She was miserable the whole time but got through it.  It was a daily ritual to take all that stuff off her to let her groom while at the same time keep her from the sutures. Seemed to help.
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Oct 9, 2021 00:57
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The cat amazing stuff is pretty good, and it's cardboard so not a massive loss if kitty ends up ignoring it. I'd start with the classic if you choose them, the big one can frustrate a cat that hasn't figured out how the game works yet. How well either model works depends how motivated by treats they are. We also got a "Trixie activity fun board" on Amazon that was cat popular. It's not much of a puzzle though, they figure it out extremely quickly. It's a solid product though.
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Oct 12, 2021 06:32
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Some noise the cat reacts strongly to helps too. For us it was a compressed air can. Every time we opened the door we'd spray some air and she'd bolt off back into the house. Eventually she'd post up about ten feet from the door and just watch us.
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Oct 16, 2021 16:21
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Chasing a cat outside is about the worst thing to do anyways, they're evolved to be really good at getting away. Be chill and calm and it works a little better.
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Oct 16, 2021 16:55
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 17:12 |
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Tulalip Tulips posted:but definitely no cat beds. Have you tried the cardboard bowls? Eg: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0753DQT5F?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title We have a kitty that gave no shits about beds until we got that. My guess is the scratch friendly cardboard was the bridge she needed. She chills in it all the time. Won't use any other cat bed though (just laundry).
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Oct 19, 2021 15:09
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