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Looks like we're getting a kitten this coming weekend, I'm equal parts excited and nervous/apprehensive about it. I grew up with a dog and fish, currently have shrimp (yes as pets) and have taken care of a cat here for just over a week recently. I'm used to having to think about pets and that kinda thing and want to make sure I do this right. I read the entire OP (thanks for all who contributed), but I still have this background anxiety about it because it's so many unknowns. I have a few questions. My main concern is probably stupid but I live in the top floor of an apartment with multiple windows which are open a majority of the time. I can't get the thought of the cat falling out of the windows out of my head and it's horrifying me. I know they're descended from apex predators, are used to hanging out in trees or whatever, but is there a good way to ensure there aren't any horrible accidents this way? There are windowsills right by the windows that are plenty wide. The adult cat I was taking care of during a recent heat wave just hung out on the sill watching crows, I wasn't that worried because I figured adult cats will have their poo poo together. It'll be an indoor cat. I've bought:
Will also be picking up a carrier. Here's a screenshot of everything, please give me any feedback you might have. All of this stuff can be returned and my pride at buying something bad/dumb is less important than having the right thing.   About the cat: It's a Black Cat, I guess short hair. I'm not 100% sure how old it is - my partner's cousin's cat had a litter. Yes I've asked about why the cat isn't spayed, and I've offered to pay for the procedure, we'll see what happens. As it stands, I don't know the age (will learn that before we pick it up). Without going into the situation too much, there's going to be limited information and I don't know that much of anything will have been done in terms of what you're supposed to have done for a kitten in terms of vaccines/deworming/etc. I'm trying to mentally prepare myself for this cat to have fleas as well although it's been inside 100% of it's life. I don't know if there are other animals in the household that go outside. It's not a breeder cat or anything like that anyways. After having read the OP I'm wondering about two cats - basically my partner is going up there to look at two and then take one home or something, I'm not sure if two littermates are 'available' or whatnot. I have to say that I'm very reluctant to have two because:
Food: I've read a lot about the obligate carnivore thing, and I've heard a lot about cats having renal dysfunction. I work in (human) healthcare, in critical care where we do things like monitor urine outputs, look at those kind of labs related to the kidney, do continuous dialysis in ICU, that sort of thing and so I really want to maximize the renal health as much as possible because I'll be stressing about it no matter what. How many times a day should you feed? How do you 'dose' the amount of food for a kitten? Is there a downside to purely going wet food seeing as that gives the most hydration per caloric intake? I read about avoiding the carbs in dry food as well for liver health. Why does anyone use dry food then? Is a wet/dry mix the best? Should I rotate brands of food to reduce the chances of allergies developing? How much of this is just cat preference? I'm still looking up what needs doing at different ages, is there a good guide for this where it's broken down like the service intervals for a vehicle? I'll know more about the kitten's age hopefully well before this coming weekend so I can plan this stuff. Should I be making an appointment with a vet for an initial assessment? The plan is to bring the cat down, we don't have a small room (like a laundry room etc) that isn't the bathroom so maybe we'll keep the cat in one of the bedrooms for a few days with the litter in the same room and see how that goes? What should the game plan be re: fleas? What should I be on the lookout for? If the cat wants to sleep under a bed or whatnot should I just let it be or should I be placing it in the cat bed in that playpen? I'm sure I'll have more questions. Any advice is appreciated.
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Aug 18, 2021 14:46
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xzzy posted:Cats are pretty good at not falling, they know the landing hurts. But they are predators and if there's an open window and a bird zooms past instinct can take over and off they go. I personally wouldn't leave a window open if it doesn't have a screen. Thanks for this There's no screens on any of our windows and there's no way to mount them - super old single pane sliding windows. Right now there's AC units in the windows and the open space is blocked off but I guess I'll have to figure something out. Fair enough about the collar. It's just super ingrained into me that the collar is necessary from owning an outdoor dog. I guess the microchip is all you need? What age do you get kittens microchipped? Cat sitting: Hmm, alright. We were hoping that the cats would 'get to know each other' and be able to spend time in each other's places. Is this impossible due to the nature of cats? I'm certain my whole place currently smells like the previous cat we were looking after so it'll be a familiar scent if nothing else. Feeding: Alright, wet food it is. I guess I need to look at the food thread that's referenced in the OP, or are there some great recommendations for The Best Wet Food for cats? I'd say money is no object but I'm sure there's $3000/mo cat food. Let's say I'm comfortable spending $100-150/month on cat food. e: Organza Quiz posted:Absolutely do not leave a cat with open windows that don't have flyscreen, the cat will fall out of the windows. Jesus, alright. Maybe I can find some way of attaching a screen from the inside of the windows.
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Aug 18, 2021 15:12
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Thanks everyone for the helpful posts. I've read every single one, won't bother quoting each in this post but it's super appreciated. We'll probably use a collar at least initially and see how things go. I'll find out how to secure the windows. I learned just now the kitten is 8 weeks old. Where does that put me in terms of timing for vaccinations and such?
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Aug 18, 2021 21:36
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InvisibleMonkey posted:We got Katya a fancy collar with a custom engraved QR code pendant but at some point we decided it was useless to keep it on her. She doesn't like it, it mats her fluffy manes and makes it difficult to comb them through, and she only goes into the backyard anyway. We never even got Kimchi one, just a chip when she got spayed (at 5 months btw, the earliest the vet would do it). Yep it has the break-away feature. Lord Zedd-Repulsa posted:Velocibacon, I would highly recommend Nature's Miracle for poo/pee/puke cleanup instead of what was in your screenshot. I also recommend getting Da Bird as most cats and kittens greatly enjoy it. Cool, thanks.
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Aug 19, 2021 21:56
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What are some good brands for wet food? Anything to avoid? e: I called a local vet today to just check in and see what the process was for new cats, timelines for stuff, etc. Seems good. Also looked at pet insurance which we'll be doing once we know the breed (it's going to be domestic shorthair probably). I somehow gave the person answering the phone there the impression I was anti-cat-vax by asking about what the vaccines were against and I didn't clue into this until they were almost pleading with me about it. Getting less nervous now about it. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 03:29 on Aug 20, 2021 |
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Aug 20, 2021 03:26
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Deteriorata posted:They're all "good" in that the nutritional content is regulated by the FDA and all will provide proper nutrition, regardless of price. Sweet, thanks. Additional question - what kitty litter material for a kitten? The pellets?
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Aug 20, 2021 03:33
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Have now put together the little home base for the kitten for the first few days/week of it living here.  It's bigger than I thought it was going to be - has a bed, interactive toy, litter, and cardboard scratch thing in there. Does the thread think the litter being that close to where the cat plays/sleeps is going to make it not want to use it?
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Aug 21, 2021 04:25
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Organza Quiz posted:That looks pretty small for an eight week old kitten? They really need like a room at least. I would not put litter that close to anything. I don't have anything like a mud room or emptyish room, just two pretty packed bedrooms and a living room. The bathroom is far too small for a kitten to be in. I was under the impression it's better to keep things smaller so they don't get overwhelmed, is that not the case? Or is that too small? I was already thinking that the litter is too close, we have a bigger plastic litter box but it's got fairly high walls and we aren't sure how easily the kitten is going to be able to get in and out of that. The litter material is walnuts apparently. Hope that's okay at least.
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Aug 21, 2021 04:34
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Oh man that thing wouldn't even fit in our bathroom, it's tiny. But alright we'll play it by ear about the space for the cat. We mostly wanted something we could keep closed that would be safe for a kitten if we all need to be out of the apartment at the same time over the next few weeks before it may be safe to let the cat explore by herself.
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Aug 21, 2021 15:04
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I suppose I owe everyone pics of the kitten that we picked up today - thanks for all the help and advice!     She got a bath with baby shampoo when she got home but hasn't really been scratching and nothing is showing up when we use a flea comb on her so maybe we lucked out. She's super full of energy and loves playing with the toys we picked up for about an hour and then she passes out hard for another hour. It'll be interesting to see what kind of cycle she settles into. She drank a *lot* of water and had a lot of food (she seemed to eat without any rush so not worried that she's gorging herself) and hasn't used the litter yet, we moved it out so it's spaced a good distance from anything and have put her in it a few times but she just paws at it and looks at us and walks out of it. I guess she'll tell us when she needs it or she'll just use it herself.
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Aug 23, 2021 04:51
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^cute kittens!Organza Quiz posted:Oh right the bath reminds me, one thing that is a good tip which I don't think has come up yet is that you should handle her and play with her paws and open her mouth and look at her teeth and look in her ears as much as possible while she's tiny. Get her used to all of that stuff now while she's small and malleable! Yep I've been handling her paws and she has no issue with it. Will handle her mouth (?) soon enough.
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Aug 23, 2021 13:59
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Yesssss the cat pooped and pissed (in the litter). Relieved.
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Aug 23, 2021 18:43
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How often do cats poo poo and piss? Is this a once a day thing? Some new behaviors - today the kitten started pouncing on everything. When we first got it, she would play with her toys but today she's been prowling and then pouncing on them. Sometimes she'll fixate on a random spot on the wall and then get all bunched up before launching at it and then immediately moving to some other area. I love her. Also I noticed today after she's fed she tries to cover the food tray up like you'd expect to see a cat do with litter. She didn't try to cover up her piss/poo poo in the litter.
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Aug 24, 2021 07:52
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MarcusSA posted:Like it depends. How often do you go? Huh I would have figured once a day. I usually go a few times a day to be honest with you because I work shift work and drink liters of coffee every day. e: have some more cat photos I've been sending them to everybody I know anyways   This cat alternates between these two states seemingly every 1.5 hours and there is only about 5 minutes of transition between them. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 08:15 on Aug 24, 2021 |
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Aug 24, 2021 08:11
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Oh ya for sure. I just thought the thread would appreciate it.
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Aug 24, 2021 13:45
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Beautiful cat and great tower. Might have to look into that.
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Aug 25, 2021 17:20
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https://i.imgur.com/NxJ1Fkq.gifv https://i.imgur.com/gqDFmQ9.gifv Cat's favorite place, a laundry storage bin. She enters via the hole on top and exits through the side holes there that she's poking her head out of. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 13:47 on Aug 26, 2021 |
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Aug 26, 2021 13:41
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kw0134 posted:Also, time to start trimming those claws. Those look like daggers! Really? She's 9 weeks old I thought the trimming was a thing for months later? She lets me handle her paws and extend them and everything already so it shouldn't be too big a deal. Glad you guys like the cat, I've absolutely fallen in love with her. Its physically painful to not be at home now. First vet visit later today.
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Aug 26, 2021 17:25
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kw0134 posted:Nail trimming is harmless as long as you don't hit the quick (the little pink triangular area at the base.) If it's so small that you're not comfortable doing it, then that's fine to wait, but just exposing the claws is one thing, you'll have to make her get used to being held and a weird metal thing going after her fingers. Personally I made a mistake in clipping one kitten early but not his sister, so the one is fine with me clipping his nails but the other absolutely will not tolerate it. Alright, thanks. I'll look up some tutorials and buy the tool. She's extremely good about not getting us with her nails, it's only ever happened when she's going after a toy but hits our legs.
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Aug 26, 2021 17:53
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She often uses her cardboard scratch thing, will that end up sorta dulling/trimming her nails also?
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Aug 26, 2021 18:00
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Went to the vet today for the first time with Quill, she had negative blood tests for feline aids and leukemia, and both of the shots (the mandatory + the optional), had her inspected and she got a clean bill of health. Hearing her in the next room as they did all that stuff was one of the more upsetting things to me in years, I knew it was all in the plan but hearing her mewling as they did it really broke my heart and comforting her after in the carrier as she looked at me was really rough. I knew I really cared for this cat but I didn't realize it was like this already. I don't understand how anyone could work in animal care - I work in human healthcare in the acute care areas and have seen the worst imaginable stuff and none of it has really made me this upset which is crazy. mistaya posted:Max has never needed her nails trimmed, weirdly enough. She's very conscious of them and hits the scratcher regularly. I check on her whenever I do Sam but she's always fine. Sam will start sticking to the rugs if I don't trim him once a month or so. I can always tell when he's due for a trim by the sound of him walking on the rugs. (They both knead but Max will knead with no claws and Sam kneads like he's slicing french fries so that's another reason.) Yeah I had a dog before this, will definitely get the right thing. Mostly that dog's nails were fine because she was on the pavement enough which is why I asked if the scratching would dull her nails.
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Aug 27, 2021 04:40
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Aw the vaccines hit her hard. She didn't really eat dinner last night and it's 9AM today and she hasn't had anything either. She's been curled up in her favorite spot (that laundry bin). Letting her rest and keeping an eye on her in case she needs some help getting out of the bin to have some food/water.
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Aug 27, 2021 17:11
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 She's starting to get a bit more active, looking around and stuff. She still hasn't eaten or drank anything, now it's 1:30pm. She last had food/water around 7pm yesterday. I know animals don't seek out food when they're not feeling well, just wondering what to expect here. Is she going to not eat for 2 days or something because that's going to gently caress with me. She also hasn't been moving basically at all, doesn't seem to want to walk. She's moving herself around in bed but not walking around. WombatCyborg posted:Any advice on getting an adult cat in a harness? Former outdoor cat so he's been missing going out but seems to haaaate putting on a harness, not sure how to get him into the idea. I would think as soon as they start to associate the harness with being able to go outside again they'll grow to like it? I dunno I'm cat-new.
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Aug 27, 2021 21:36
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She's eating now! Yay.
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Aug 27, 2021 22:10
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Question - with the deworming liquid on the back of the neck, how long are you supposed to leave that on for? It's just dried on there and I don't see it coming off naturally unless we wash it off. It was Profender if that makes a difference? I'm not super bothered by it and I want her to get a full dose, we just weren't told anything about what to do with the stuff.
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Aug 29, 2021 04:05
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Boogalo posted:It's supposed to go against the skin and under the fur so it gets absorbed. If you just put it on top, then it'll just be crusty for a bit and go away. It'll always look slick after applying but dissipate in a few hours. The vet put it on but there was a very new/green vet assistant helping, I'm wondering if she hosed up. Its definitely on the fur... http://imgur.com/a/iskfuWT Sorry phone posting but that's a photo. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 05:52 on Aug 29, 2021 |
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Aug 29, 2021 05:49
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Martman posted:I may be making this up but it feels like cats often get into routines where one gets on its back and the other tries attacking from above. It's just kinda... one of the ways cat games work I think. Almost like when people practice wrestling moves. Play cat games; win cat prizes?
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Aug 30, 2021 08:29
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Sorry Lady Demelza that's heartbreaking. Hoping it all goes as well as possible for your foster cat. So I got a cat tree and it has one of those hammocks and... she loves it. She barely wants to leave it even to play, it's amazing.    
VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 03:30 on Sep 2, 2021 |
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Sep 2, 2021 03:19
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Arsenic Lupin posted:What brand is the tree? It's this one.
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Sep 2, 2021 04:19
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I feel so lucky because my kitten is perfect. https://imgur.com/ikd2gaO.mp4 VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 17:52 on Sep 9, 2021 |
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Sep 9, 2021 17:23
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Is this the right place to post cat pics/videos or is there a pic megathread that I'm not seeing? Should I be posting this instead into the black cat thread? https://i.imgur.com/iVFGRsR.mp4 https://i.imgur.com/Ej4f9XB.mp4  Yeah I tuck my cat in shut up (I work nights half the time and I come home and sleep most of the day after and she curls up against me it's the best) I can't believe it's only been 2 weeks. She's amazing. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 04:35 on Sep 10, 2021 |
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Sep 10, 2021 04:31
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 Thanks to whoever showed us the amazon box castle system. Just added the second box and she LOVES it.
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Sep 13, 2021 04:30
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Alright, so things are going really well with Quill, she's just about to come up to her 4 week mark where I'm going to take her in for the next round of vaccinations (she'll be about 12-13 weeks old). She's really gained a lot of agility in the last couple weeks but she's also been loving up a bit, she gets into Mustafa situations where she's holding onto the edge of something and dangling 3-4 feet off the hardwood floor and meowing for us to come pick her up. Usually this happens when she's messing around on top of ikea organizers with plants on them. She's been too interested in the plants so we moved them to a different room - before this we were spraying her with water when she got up to no good but honestly she doesn't seem to give a poo poo. The other day I came home and there was soil on the floor from where she was digging in a planter. It's not the end of the world but I do love these plants and have had several of them for 10+ years. I know before someone recommended that spray can of air that has the motion detector in it, so we'd put that on the organizer and then it'd spray air at her if she jumped up - my issue with it is I don't want her to be startled when she's 4' up above hardwood and on a hard-edged wooden slippery organizer thing. It's easy to imagine her falling awkwardly onto her side or hip (or falling between the organizer and the wall, onto the weird radiator that lives there) and I straight up can't take the chance. What's the next best thing to do? I know there are products that you spray on plants that cats don't like the taste of but I haven't really seen her eating/biting any of our plants. She puts her face up to them, paws at stuff, etc. For what it's worth she's been incredible, I spend almost every night/morning cuddling her, I can't believe she's real and in my life. I give her extra love every time I read something sad about someone else's cat on here. I don't know if that means anything to you guys going through this but it feels like all I can do. kaworu posted:Well, I finally was able to bring Jackie in to the vet today - had to call back several times this week worried. Jackie had a big lump on her side that appeared on her Monday, a few days after she had a BIG fight with Murfy, her roommate the fierce Savannah cat who is less than half her age and has more than twice her strength. Oh no! Are they planning on starting antibiotics as well? If she's got a big abscess and a temperature it would be indicated in humans for presumed sepsis. VelociBacon fucked around with this message at 11:02 on Sep 18, 2021 |
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Sep 18, 2021 11:00
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Poor Jackie!
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I'm taking Quill in for her next round of vaccinations this week or next. I'm mildly concerned that she didn't really 'get' the dose of dewormer that was given, because it seems to mostly have been all over her fur. I wouldn't expect it to be dangerous to give two dewormer doses even if she got 100% efficacy from the first one but is this a weird request? She's been doing really well, she seems to double in cat ability every 5 days. She's extremely agile now, alternates between being a snuggly cute cat that wants I've noticed in the last week she'll now look around a lot, she looks up and seems to plan acrobatics before attempting them (before she'd just jump around at/on whatever was in front of her). She now has her tower right up against the windowsill and loves to watch the activity outside. She's knocked over the Monstera that was in another room, didn't eat any of it though. I'm really really hoping she'll just leave it alone because that plant means a lot to me.
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Sep 20, 2021 08:37
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InvisibleMonkey posted:I really like our Petkit Eversweet (?) 2, the reservoir is stainless steel and you can lift it right off the base for easy cleaning. It's pricey but worth it imho. Hey, just was wondering which one of these you have/liked? Anyone else feel free to chime in also. 
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Sep 27, 2021 19:38
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Lord Zedd-Repulsa posted:I got that same fountain with stimulus money and will add to the love. It even tells you when the filter needs to be changed! It's the quietest water pump I've ever owned. Thanks, it's not really available on amazon and I can't find it locally so I'll keep trying.
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Sep 28, 2021 04:55
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I need a suggestion for how to make my screenless horizontally sliding windows safe for the cat. The opening is 46" tall, 23.5" wide. The frame is not magnetic and I do wonder about making magnetic screens and using tape-on magnetic strips around the perimeter of the windows, however I don't know if that would be strong enough and I don't want to gently caress around and find out in this instance. Right now I'm leaning towards making a screen and installing it basically onto the sill just inside the window.
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Sep 29, 2021 03:39
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Just wanted to catch you guys up since I've been posting photos mostly in the yospos cat thread and the Black Cat thread. Quill is now 13 weeks old, has been with us for 5 weeks. She's on track for weight, she's really happy and loves exploring around the apartment. Everything is going really well. Thanks as always for all the help you guys gave me before.
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Oct 3, 2021 00:07
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Kitfox88 posted:Yeah, he's acting like his normal self again according to the overnight emergency place and his normal vet, namely yelling at every person who passes by for pets and scritches because he's an absolutely spoiled little gently caress, thank goodness. We'll get him back sometime Thursday morning presuming nothing else happens, and we're switching from free feeding dry food to twice a day wet food and probably getting an active fountain of some sort to encourage him to drink. He's pretty picky and not very food motivated, are there any suggestions for wet food that a cat who's prefered Friskies seafood sensations food for the past year might like? And suggestions for a decently easy to maintain fountain as well, hopefully. Wet food: whatever royal canin the vet recommends Fountain: I asked about this a few pages back and the petkit eversweet 3 was highly recommended. It's available on US amazon but here in Canada I couldn't find anywhere to buy it that didn't have a 3 week lead time so I went for the eversweet 2 which looks quite good also.
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Oct 5, 2021 14:02
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Thanks thread - picked up the petkit eversweet 2 (actually 2S, 2nd gen or something, it's slightly different?) and after a very confusing few minutes for Quill of figuring out what the gently caress is this wet thing in the living room, she's been drinking more water than I've ever seen. Like, literally will sit there and just drink water for 20 seconds straight. It's such a relief to see it!
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Oct 7, 2021 03:21
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