|
My mom just adopted a retired five-year old Burmese show cat and he's been an absolute doll but we have to clean his eyes (tear ducts) often. We've had Burmese before and their eyes only required a little cleaning once a day but Jimmy is more squishy-faced than the others we've had before and we often clean his eyes 2-3 times a day. So, I was wondering about the eye cleaners for the brachycephalic breeds (Persians and such) that I see in the pet stores. Would using one of those instead of a little warm water on a tissue or washcloth make a difference? Here's a picture of him   Click here for the full 448x604 image.
|
#
¿
Aug 27, 2009 04:31
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 6, 2024 01:44 |
|
|
This is Jimmy. He's a 6-year old Burmese  My mom adopted him two years ago and he's been a great little cat so far, but this Christmas we're driving to visit family in Seattle and it's about a 2 day drive if you take it easy and we're bringing Jimmy. He's a former show cat so the travelling shouldn't affect him too much, hopefully. But the problem is that two people just joined the trip which makes it a full car AND Jimmy  Ordered a Kitty Holster for him and will have him wear it a lot before the trip and try to get him used to leashing a bit. But our plans were based on having 3 people on the car, not sure what to do with 5 in the car and barely any seat space for Jimmy to chill on when he's tired of sitting in laps or is getting cranky.The litterbox will be under the passenger seat and we plan on stopping at some rest stops to let him stretch out a bit (he's a 100% indoor cat but don't want to leave him cooped up in the car for two days  ).Any tips for long car trips with a cat to help it make easier? We were planning to use a leash in car to limit his movement so he wouldn't try to hide by the pedals or something but if the litterbox is at the front, the leash idea won't work out. Is this going to be as terrible I think it will be?
|
|
#
¿
Dec 9, 2010 03:58
|
|
|
Due to an email from the pet sitting service that mom uses announcing that they still had availability during the Christmas, we've decided to leave Jimmy home but I've slowly been trying to convince mom to use the harness and leash that we ordered for the trip to train Jimmy to walk on a leash. She likes the idea and loves showing off Jimmy but is afraid that he'll become pushy about wanting to go outdoors. My old cat used to be an 100% indoors cat but then she went all Houndini and kept running outside every time we opened the front door and it was frankly getting annoying so we decided to let her become an indoor/outdoor cat and she basically just chilled in my neighbor's backyard or sat on fences but mom lives in an gated housing community with a feral cat population nearby and it's just not a good place for a house cat to go outdoors. She really doesn't want Jimmy to be constantly trying to escape to outside because it was such a pain when we had to deal with that with the old cat especially that it's a really bad idea for him to be outdoors on his own in this area. Right now, he just sees outside as that big room that the humans won't let him in so he's a little curious about what lies beyond the front door but not crazy. Has anybody else trained their indoor cats to walk and how did it turn out regarding their desire to go outdoors? I think she's gonna try do it anyway because she really likes showing Jimmy off and he's the first cat that she's owned in a while that's social even around strangers. But it'd be nice to alleviate some of her concerns.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2010 23:11
|
|
|
Every time I've moved to a new place with a cat or got a new cat, they always hid for the first few days until they got comfortable. I would let her be, but be sure she knows where the food/water and litterbox are and put some blankets around (especially where the sun hits) and if you have curtains or blinds, open them up in mornings to let some light through. Purchase some little toys if you haven't already, you can get packs of assorted balls/mice toys for cheap to find out which type she likes. My old cat went crazy for toy mice while Jimmy can't get enough of little tinsel balls.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 11, 2010 23:28
|
|
|
So I've had a really lovely male cat, Jimmy for at least 5 years. He's almost 10 now. When we got him, his former owner thought he'd be happier in a single cat household and it started out well but a few years ago he started showing signs of stress and the vet recommended calming collars and the like, possibly getting a friend for him. We've tried Feliaway and calming collars which seem to be working a little bit but not as well we'd like. The idea of getting another cat was tossed around for a while but we didn't really put an effort in finding one that would get along with Jimmy until recently when a breeder who was retiring offered up some adult cats for free to a good home. She posted it on a Burmese cat facebook group I'm in and she was close enough to us to make it a reality so we contacted her about a 5 year old female who she said got along well with male cats. She thought that Wendy would be a good fit for Jimmy and then picked us to be her new home  This all happened so fast and we've never had to bring a new cat into the household- only had single cats or bonded pairs. Wendy's owner is giving us all sorts of great tips (taking one of Jimmy's favorite blankets with us when we pick her up so she won't smell like her old home but of Jimmy instead and she gets a chance to get used to his scent before the actual meeting) but I have no idea what we need to get. Litter box is a must (luckily they both use pine litter) but what else do we need to buy to prepare for Wendy? I need to double check what the breeder is going to give us along with the kitty. I think we're going to have them both wear calming collars for the first month or so, don't want poor Jimmy to even get more stressed A room is already being prepared for Wendy to live in until they can be allowed to run around together without killing each other. We're picking her up next week, a few days before Christmas. This is going to be the best Christmas gift ever Jimmy probably won't agree  edit because it might be relevant: Wendy is a former queen, fixed now. Jimmy's sired some kitties before he got fixed (before we got him). No more breeding or showing (Jimmy mainly, Wendy was never a show cat), just lots of love and snuggling and they're both Burmese just because brown cats are so cute  Here's a photo of Jimmy just because he is so handsome and I love him lots. 
Tomato Soup fucked around with this message at 14:48 on Dec 14, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Dec 14, 2013 13:25
|
|
|
JayJay posted:Ohh gosh, Burmese are so handsome. We have a 10 year old Burmese at the shelter named Keeper and he's so vocal and loving. Thank you! I just really hope they eventually get along, Wendy's current owner says she'll take her back if they can't which is nice but I just really want to see catpiles Here's some more Jimmypics for you  He's pretty quiet, only gets vocal when upset which is different from the other Burmese I've had in the past but just as loving as others. Burmese have the best murderfaces  He is just so adorable oh god I am such a crazy cat lady but we're all crazy cat ladies here in PI right
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2013 14:54
|
|
|
9 lbs is pretty healthy and small (compared to other people's cats not a bad thing), she probably looks bigger because she's so fluffy. Jimmy is only a pound heavier than my old cat and he looks bigger in photos because he's blockier and she was more delicate-looking. But one pound is a big deal when they only weight like 8 pounds My point still stands though - at same weight, a Siamese is always going to look lighter than a heftier-looking cat like a British Shorthair. But if your vet says she's at a healthy weight then don't worry about it Most of people who go OMG YOUR CAT IS SO TINY to me tend to have longhaired cats or fat cats so
|
|
#
¿
Dec 15, 2013 16:38
|
|
|
Alpha1 posted:My three month old kitten likes toilet water. How can I fix this so I can get back to arguing whether to leave to seat up or down, because right now everyone's losing. Get a toilet seat that slightly slopes inwards. Jimmy used to drink from the toilet sometimes before we moved but then the new seat isn't level and when he tried it here, his paws slid into the bowl and he never tried to drink from the toilet again
|
|
#
¿
Dec 17, 2013 14:10
|
|
|
We pick up Wendy today. I am so nervous  I just hope she and Jimmy can be friends eventually. edit: Jimmy is not scared of carriers at all and will put himself in it when it's out and wait for us to get ready and take him out so when taking it out to use it for picking up Wendy, I had to put him in a room and close the door and take the carrier outside without him seeing it
Tomato Soup fucked around with this message at 19:10 on Dec 19, 2013 |
|
#
¿
Dec 19, 2013 16:40
|
|
|
^^^ That's great! And in Wendy/Jimmy news: no hissing at all, just curiosity (Wendy is kept in a room that's closed all the time) and Wendy is so incredibly friendly and sweet. Jimmy managed to barge into the room one time when someone was leaving and actually saw Wendy properly and froze up. He was quickly removed but he was all pouty after that. Going to try some site swapping today to see how it goes, I think. Her old owner had her professionally groomed and bathed before we picked her up so I think that may have helped a bit along with using Jimmy's carrier with one of his beds and favorite blankets when picking her up so she didn't smell 100% foreign but smelled like him instead. I just really hope they work out because I think I love Wendy already and I'll be heartbroken if we have to send her back
|
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2013 17:11
|
|
|
Eeyo posted:How much cold can cats tolerate? The heater in my house is out of commission, and may not be fixed for a bit. At best it will be above freezing during the day but dip well below freezing during the night. Is that too cold for cats? I guess their water freezing would be a problem. A while ago, we moved in the middle of winter and didn't have heat for a week. This was in norcal though so not quite as cold like you're talking. Probably around 40-50F. My cat just pretty much lived in a sleeping bag (no beds yet due to the move) for the entire week, only coming out to eat or use the litterbox. I would highly suggest getting a few cheap portable heaters and put their water dish nearby one so it doesn't freeze. Heck, put their essentials and a bed or two or favorite blankets nearby too. Drag out the sleeping bags too especially if you've got some really warm ones.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 22, 2013 17:11
|
|
|
muike posted:Do cat whiskers ever fall out? Like just a single one, not a whole bunch. And they can hurt if you step on one
|
|
#
¿
Dec 27, 2013 20:06
|
|
|
So Wendy just threw up a bunch of clear liquid, sort of sticky in my bed. I am just glad she didn't get any on me because she was sleeping in it with me at the time but I just changed the sheets earlier today  But does this mean anything bad? She's been using the box and eating/drinking as normal and hasn't been really behaving oddly but I'll keep an eye on her today. She's about 5 and half, btw. edit: here is a photo of her just because she's adorable when she's not being a twit 
Tomato Soup fucked around with this message at 15:58 on Jan 11, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2014 15:56
|
|
|
four lean hounds posted:Was it kind of yellow? That could be bile, which means (in my novice, not-a-vet opinion) that she's barfing up bile (maybe). Keep an eye on her, if she keeps barfing more than usual then I'd head to the vet. I can't really tell because the sheets are blue but there was a speck of white goop. It's not very stinky. I googled a bit and the comments are mixed but I'm just hoping that it's a prelude to a hairball later today because apparently some cats puke up some clear liquid a couple of hours before they puke up a hairball.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 11, 2014 16:29
|
|
|
Pine litter is the poo poo, I will never go back to clay litter again ever. And for the goons whose cats don't use the scratching posts - have you tried buying vertical ones? The S-shaped ones that are super easy to find at pet shops are good too. I had a cat who wouldn't touch posts but tore up the carpet until I figured out that he liked to scratch vertically and got him a scratching pad and one of those S-shaped ones and he's never tried to rip up the carpet again.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 13, 2014 01:33
|
|
|
My old cat was a foreign object eater but she mainly would eat string and the like, but she did eat a straw once when she was like two. It is really hard to completely avoid, keep the things that your cat prefers to eat out of its reach when possible but they'll find some stuff to eat anyway I caught her trying to eat drawstrings from clothes and shoelaces. If we saw her, we'd yank it out of her mouth and she would get pissy but be otherwise fine. Some things that helped (and she enjoyed playing with them alone) was providing some other things for her to chew on. She really liked tape and other sticky stuff so when we flew, we'd save the baggage tags for her and they would last her a little while and keep her happy. My current cats go nuts for tissue paper, they love hiding under it and will play with it alone. It kind of sounds like your cat would enjoy a dog buddy better than a cat since they tend to have more energy and is probably more willing to put up with being constantly pounced on all the time. Tomato Soup fucked around with this message at 22:17 on Jan 16, 2014 |
|
#
¿
Jan 16, 2014 22:15
|
|
|
Yeah, I've had cats who just decided that they were tired of their food after flipping out if we dared to change their food even just a little. I moved in the middle of the winter and had no heat for almost a week, my cat pretty much spent the whole time in a sleeping bag only coming out to eat/drink/use the box since we didn't have much furniture yet either and were using them until the beds arrived. And since Jimmy is a total diva about the cold (he thinks anything under 70F is freezing  ), he had that heated kitty bed that baxxy linked but he didn't really like the bed so we just used the pad and threw a blanket over it. Now since we have two cats and they were fighting over the tiny heated pad, we have two of this tucked under blankets. They love them and will spend most of the day lazing on them.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 21, 2014 21:43
|
|
|
This is perfectly timed because Wendy just horked up a hairball in my bed last night while I was sleeping in it. Was wondering why I kept smelling cat food, reached over and my hand landed in the hairball. It was rear end o'clock and I was way too tired to change the sheets so I slept on the couch instead and dealt with it in the morning when I woke up  Just wait until you move to find all of the places they've horked up hairballs or hid their toys. I had a cat who would bat her toy mice under the oven and when we found them, all of the fur had been baked off and they were just tailless little husks of leather (the first thing she'd do with the mice was to bite the tails off). Then the dried puke in places that I thought it was impossible for cats to reach or just hidden way under furniture. Anybody have any tips for dealing with territorial aggression? Jimmy and Wendy keeps randomly ambushing each other and Jimmy flips out when Wendy goes to use something or whatever that he considers to be his and starts a fight. I'm going to buy a gigantic cat tree soon so Wendy has a place to call her own since she likes to climb on stuff and Jimmy's not much of a climber.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 27, 2014 22:24
|
|
|
aghastly posted:My cat's favorite toy is literally a piece of fabric with the ends attached by velcro. None of the fancier, more expensive toys I've tried compare. I have a toy that's basically a piece of wire with a bee or something at the end but then the bee fell off and the cats still love playing with the wire. They like other toys but they go CRAZY for the wire. I have no idea why edit: when I say wire, I mean a thin stiff metal wire not some sort of string or whatever
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2014 18:03
|
|
|
kedo posted:I think one of my cats is becoming neurotic and I could use some advice. It sounds like Psychogenic alopecia. Jimmy has it and everything that you described matches up to how he was acting to a T. It started when he was around 8 too, he was fine and everything up to that point. At the time, he was a single cat so the vet suggested getting a friend to help with the boredom. But before we got Wendy, we tried using Feliway which didn't seem to work too well for us but then a calming collar worked well in calming him down a bit but it didn't stop it completely but we still use it today just because he seems less visibly stressed with the collar on. With Wendy here, he seems to be doing it less (even if they don't quite get on yet) so I think his main issue was boredom. He's pretty neurotic about routines and would get upset if we didn't do the usual morning routine in order or the like so try to keep to a routine as much you can (like the morning routine is that he gets brushed and some treats on his cat tree right after someone wakes up). If you have PMs, feel free to PM me about this.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2014 06:21
|
|
I don't want my kitty to be depressed.
|
I don't think the vet ever did food allergy tests but she ruled out flea allergy/skin issues because his skin wasn't red or anything. I doubt it's anything environmental as he started a couple of years ago and we've moved since then and he still does it sometimes. I'm not his favorite human so I was able to see how much his behavior changed when she wasn't there and if any of his routines were interrupted in some way, he'd start grooming himself most of the time after some fretting. Jimmy is a Burmese too and apparently they're a bit more susceptible to it than usual. I vaguely recall the vet mentioning that and Google confirms it. I'll ask about testing for food allergies the next time he sees the vet though.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 31, 2014 08:04
|
|
|
Braki posted:There's no good diagnostic test for food allergies. The only way to diagnose it is to put the animal on a strict hypoallergenic food trial for 2 months, then reintroducing the old food and see if the symptoms flare up again. gotcha, was hoping there was something better than that to test for allergies Jimmy is a former show cat so he was pretty used to a hectic schedule but when his owner decided to stop showing, we got him and he's been a spoiled indoor cat ever since then with no shows so I think that seemed plausible enough for the vet to say it was stress-related from boredom without trying elimination diets. It was his 10th birthday the other day and I took this picture to celebrate it No party hats so I had to make do with his toys.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 4, 2014 08:05
|
|
|
God Over Djinn posted:What is the best cat tree at around the $120-150 price point? Looking for something tall with lots of shelves but a relatively small footprint ideally. Again, a bit late but just got and built this yesterday. This is a $136 Armarkat from Amazon, it doesn't really have a small footprint but there are others that are smaller but I wanted the ramp. Wendy-approved. 
|
|
#
¿
Mar 4, 2014 13:13
|
|
|
Octolady posted:Both of my kitties currently have extremely stinky poops. They are on a fairly high protein food (Animonda Carny) which I assume is the cause, but I figured it was generally better to feed a high protein wet food? Are stinky shits just something we're going to have to deal with? Wendy had the stinky poop and worst farts ever even when her diet hadn't changed in a while (I typically have to change up dry food a few times a year when the cats suddenly decide they hate it and refuse to eat it) and I mentioned it at the vet during a routine checkup and she suggested probiotics. You can either use a powder and add it into their food or give them special probiotic treats. I do the treat thing because it's easier for me and the one time I tried the powder I accidentally used too much and she didn't poop for 3 days, oops. Her farts are less lethal now and I don't want to cry every time I clean her box so it definitely works. Here's a photo of the little twerp 
|
|
#
¿
Jan 30, 2015 10:24
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ May 6, 2024 01:44 |
|
|
So I went to a cat show today to look at the pretty kitties and shop a bit but ended up getting involved with a feline paternity scandal I have two purebred Burmese cats, Jimmy who is a retired show cat and Wendy who was only used for breeding before we got her. Jimmy cost us $200 from a breeder that we met at a show who wanted to gradually downsize her operations. Wendy was free and I found her via a Facebook post from a breeder who was getting out of business and was giving away adults for free. She even had Wendy's pedigree in the online database and seemed otherwise legit. Jimmy's breeders were at the show and when we mentioned the name of Wendy's cattery, they told us about an ongoing lawsuit against the breeder for falsifying pedigrees. Apparently she decided to go into early retirement when the scandal broke out and did a fire sale which was how we got Wendy. Now she's back in the game again. There were some other Burmese breeders at the show too and nobody had anything kind to say about Wendy's breeder, even calling her a con artist  Learned a lot about the issues that her cats had, both health and personality which explains a lot about Wendy. No health issues yet but I think I might take her to the vet and request heart & kidney testing so I don't get blindsided in the future. The heart issue typically pops up when the cat is five, Wendy is seven so they think that she's probably a carrier so she should be ok. They asked if I'd provide a DNA swab from Wendy for paternity testing and there's going to be a kit sent to me soon. All I have to do is stick a couple of swabs in her mouth then send them to UC Davis. I just have no idea how the gently caress to deal with all of this. All I wanted to was to look at pretty kitties This is Wendy and yes, we did buy the blankets because they matched the cats. 
|
|
#
¿
Aug 17, 2015 01:16
|
|