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Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




Photos!



"You can't see me! I'm a puddle of darkness."




"Ack!"


The wooden spoon has some treats on it. We haven't yet got to the point where she'll eat in front of us or let us touch her, but she did eat them after I left the room. (So far she only eats a whole bowl of food at night while we're sleeping.)

Also, last night we left the door of the room open so she could explore the apartment. We left a small bowl with some treats on as a test of whether she actually went out. They were gone in the morning!

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TehRedWheelbarrow
Mar 16, 2011



Fan of Britches
yay!

:3:

Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

Aw, what a good inky void. She'll get there!

coolusername
Aug 23, 2011

cooltitletext
I've been fostering this cat for 6 months and he still hasn't found a home cause no one wants an ugly abandoned adult boy, and I leave the country next year. I don't know what I can do and if he goes back to the foster home they'll have to basically keep him in a pound situation for god knows how long. He's so affectionate and attached to me and I don't want him to get thrown on the streets again.

How do I get this cat adopted?

Neddy Seagoon
Oct 12, 2012

"Hi Everybody!"

coolusername posted:

I've been fostering this cat for 6 months and he still hasn't found a home cause no one wants an ugly abandoned adult boy, and I leave the country next year. I don't know what I can do and if he goes back to the foster home they'll have to basically keep him in a pound situation for god knows how long. He's so affectionate and attached to me and I don't want him to get thrown on the streets again.

How do I get this cat adopted?

Sounds to me like he already has been. Take him with you overseas.

coolusername
Aug 23, 2011

cooltitletext
Can't, I'm traveling for my job and I wouldn't even finish getting him through Australian customs before I'd be moving on again. I'm not in a career where I can keep pets with me long term.

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




coolusername posted:

I've been fostering this cat for 6 months and he still hasn't found a home cause no one wants an ugly abandoned adult boy, and I leave the country next year. I don't know what I can do and if he goes back to the foster home they'll have to basically keep him in a pound situation for god knows how long. He's so affectionate and attached to me and I don't want him to get thrown on the streets again.

How do I get this cat adopted?

You're fostering through an organisation, right? Just explain the situation to them. It definitely happens that people lose the ability to foster due to moving / landlords / whatever. They should be able to transfer your foster to another foster home (assuming he doesn't get adopted).

Also I assure you people will adopt ugly cats. Pretty much the only cats that are hard to adopt are ones that pee everywhere.

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




In other fostering news, my partner and I were out at a party in a park on Saturday, and a woman wandered by with a cat carrier containing a 1yo mother and two kittens. My partner intercepted her and talked with her a bit, then came to where I was talking with another friend of ours (who has also fostered for the same org). So we all go over to the kittens. Turns out the woman has a whole lot of animals, but is super poor and can't afford to keep them, or to get all of them spayed. This was the momma cat's second litter. The woman had just been to the SPCA, who told her they weren't taking cats at this time (wtf?), but she'd already said her goodbyes to them, so she was just wandering the park looking for people to give them away to.

So yeah, we were straight into foster-mode and figuring out how to get them into the system. We currently have our very shy foster, or we would have offered to take them. Fortunately our friend didn't have any current fosters, so was all "welp, guess I'm fostering again". She took them home, got them into the operations centre the next day for a health assessment, and has been posting tons of photos on Facebook and Instagram.

She also had to do a FB post along the lines of "Stop trying to adopt these cats, they're not ready. Go adopt one of these ones from the same organisation that are ready."

lol

Elranthan
Jul 10, 2005

Wut?
there is a suspicious lack of photographic evidence of these "kittens"...

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




Elranthan posted:

there is a suspicious lack of photographic evidence of these "kittens"...

OK fine, you made me dig these images out of Facebook.






(It was worth it. Enjoy the kittens!)

Elranthan
Jul 10, 2005

Wut?
:3

Pander
Oct 9, 2007

Fear is the glue that holds society together. It's what makes people suppress their worst impulses. Fear is power.

And at the end of fear, oblivion.



Lead out in cuffs posted:

You're fostering through an organisation, right? Just explain the situation to them. It definitely happens that people lose the ability to foster due to moving / landlords / whatever. They should be able to transfer your foster to another foster home (assuming he doesn't get adopted).

Also I assure you people will adopt ugly cats. Pretty much the only cats that are hard to adopt are ones that pee everywhere.
Aside from bitey or peeing cats, black bonded pairs have been devilish to adopt out and it seems like we always have a set at the center waiting for a home. One pair, just absolute sweethearts, took drat near 9 months to adopt. It's easier to adopt out terminal or FIV positive cats than black bonded pairs.

spookygonk
Apr 3, 2005
Does not give a damn

Lead out in cuffs posted:

OK fine, you made me dig these images out of Facebook.






(It was worth it. Enjoy the kittens!)

/Grown man makes squeee noise.

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

Maybe people are worried they won't be able to tell two black cats apart? That is kinda weird.

I signed up for cat fostering with the local humane society but they keep sending me available puppy information instead (even though I specifically signed up for cat/kitten and said I couldn't manage dogs in my application...) which is a bit disheartening. I should probably try contacting them again, even though they haven't responded to my other emails. :sigh:

drrockso20
May 6, 2013

Has Not Actually Done Cocaine

mistaya posted:

Maybe people are worried they won't be able to tell two black cats apart? That is kinda weird.

I signed up for cat fostering with the local humane society but they keep sending me available puppy information instead (even though I specifically signed up for cat/kitten and said I couldn't manage dogs in my application...) which is a bit disheartening. I should probably try contacting them again, even though they haven't responded to my other emails. :sigh:

reminds me a little of this classic pic;

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




mistaya posted:

I signed up for cat fostering with the local humane society but they keep sending me available puppy information instead (even though I specifically signed up for cat/kitten and said I couldn't manage dogs in my application...) which is a bit disheartening. I should probably try contacting them again, even though they haven't responded to my other emails. :sigh:

It's worth trying a phonecall. I know our foster coordinator (and the organisation in general) are perpetually busy and overworked.

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




Bathsheba progress: she now responds to treats, and will half-emerge from her pillow fort to get them. She also sometimes comes out to her food bowl while I'm in the room and on the computer. We've also seen/heard her coming out to feed during the day.

Baby steps, but steps nonetheless!

que sera sera
Aug 4, 2006

I just took in a couple of stray 5-6 week old kittens yesterday. I set them up in a roomy closet type area. So far they are still hissing at me if I get too close but they are also venturing out of their hiding places to eat while I’m in the room now. It appears that one of them is using the litter box and the other is using the carpet. Is this the kind of thing that works itself out eventually or is there something I should be doing?

TeenageArchipelago
Jul 23, 2013


que sera sera posted:

I just took in a couple of stray 5-6 week old kittens yesterday. I set them up in a roomy closet type area. So far they are still hissing at me if I get too close but they are also venturing out of their hiding places to eat while I’m in the room now. It appears that one of them is using the litter box and the other is using the carpet. Is this the kind of thing that works itself out eventually or is there something I should be doing?

in terms of them not liking human contact, this video might help:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcD8DrJKejQ

because of how young they are, it shouldn't take too long

for the litter issues, someone else might be a better help. That said, this is probably better suited for the general cats thread

OtspIII
Sep 22, 2002

My girlfriend and I just got a new pup!



She's a real sweety we got from a rescue just last Thursday--a three year old Australian Cowherd/Bluetick Coonhound mix, and overall she's been great. It sounds like she's been through some tough spots (apparently the shelter she was at gave her a late term abortion and then immediately neutered her, all less than a month ago, so I have no idea where her hormones are even at right now), but she's an incredible sweety with very few behavioral issues. This is our first dog, and we've been doing mountains of research for the last many months, but we do have a few questions for the thread!

She's been really calm the vast majority of the time that she's in the apartment--she seems completely housebroken and is pretty easy to train. She's had one act of destruction--she was laying on the couch with my girlfriend's macbook and seemingly just casually severed the white power cord that was dangling in her face. That's not ideal, but we feel pretty good about keeping it from happening again with a mix of training and some dogproofing the apartment.



The first of the issues we're struggling with, though, is that her prey drive is pretty over the top when she goes outside. She gets hyperfocused on squirrels (and to some extent pigeons and cats, not at all to anything her size or bigger) when we take her out for walks. Generally this just takes the form of a laser focused stare on any squirrel within 100 feet that she's noticed, to the point where she'll full blown even ignore treats put directly in front of her nose as an attempted distraction. If I notice in the moment she sees the squirrel I can usually distract her, but once she gets in the zone it's pretty unbreakable. She's only lunged once or twice, at squirrels that were just a few feet away, but it's still something we're worried about.

She'll also go pretty nuts at any fly that comes in the window. The first time she saw one she caught it pretty fast and we were so surprised that we ended up praising her (and then immediately realized that was probably a mistake). She hasn't shown any destructive behavior so far when left alone, but we are worried about what could happen if she gets too wild flychasing around the apartment while we're gone.

What's the general consensus on how to deal with prey drive heavy dogs? We're ramping up her training on 'stay' and 'look at me', but is her squirrel fixation something we should be trying to minimize? Or is this just part of having a hunting/herding dog and is letting her stare at squirrels and chase down flies just some enrichment? She certainly does seem at her absolute happiest bouncing around the house snapping her jaws at a fly.



The second thing we're worried about is her licking. She's pretty reserved and quiet so far--even bordering a bit on morose. Like I said, she's a rescue, so we aren't too worried about this so far, and it seems like it's getting better day by day. That said, she has been doing a lot of self-grooming, in a way that feels a little unhealthy. To the point where she'll be playing with a toy or something and, like a switch is going off inside her, will just suddenly snap and stop and go into a bit butt, tail, or paw licking fit. Our running theory is that it's probably just anxiety, which is to be expected in a rescue who's been in our home for less than a week, and that it'll go away with time. It hasn't really been lessening, though, and we're starting to wonder if it could be something else. She was at the vet just before we got her, but is there something we should be doing about this to make sure it's not something medical or pest related?

Chaosfeather
Nov 4, 2008

OtspIII posted:

My girlfriend and I just got a new pup!



The only one I feel qualified to talk about is the licking, so I hope someone can field the prey drive.

Unfortunately licking can be a lot of things - as you mentioned it can be from anxiety. She's had a lot happen to her recently, and even though you two are providing her a good home and she is probably happy, it's still a lot for anyone to go through, much less a dog.

It can also be a way to relieve itching, as in she has itchy skin from allergies or skin sensitivity in general. This could be environmental, it could be seasonal, it could be both. A visit to the vet would be good for this - most of the time if something isn't mentioned (like excessive licking or hot spots) and they don't catch it in their general review of the dog they will miss it. If you make a vet appointment specifically for this at the very least they can try to treat for it if it's an allergy issue, and if she has no relief after treatment then you know it's not this.

Subset of medical - it could be a parasite of some sort. A vet visit will help treat that and if she has bugs or critters on or in her that's a relatively easy fix. Fleas are a pain in the rear end, mostly because of all the furniture cleaning you have to do, but they are just as treatable as long as you are willing to give your pup flea control. Once again if you put her on regular flea control and she continues her licking habit, you'll know this isn't the issue, but it's a good idea to keep your critters protected from bugs anyway.

It also can be behavioral - a bad habit that she's developed from her old home, like an adult chewing on their nails. In small amounts it doesn't hurt her but we don't want it becoming a sore and turning into something medical. This would require training, much like the prey drive thing, and would be difficult but I imagine it's also just as solvable. It will just take some time and patience, and I would expect her to relapse if she gets extremely stressed.

Congratulations on the new addition to your family and I hope you three have many happy years together ahead of you!

ComicsandSlushies
Feb 22, 2013
I'm on my phone so I cant post pictures, but today I was finally able to grab the stray cat I've been planning to take in.

Hes been living under my trailer for the last month and I finally have the funds to get him fixed

Problem is the appointment with the vet to get him fixed isn't until next Friday, I dont want to risk anything happening to him in the next week so I got him locked in my bathroom, hes a little freaked out but seems to be calming down. My other cats seem to be happy to leave him alone with the youngest one sniffing at the door as he passes.

Anyone got any tips for keeping him happy until next Friday?

Gorgar
Dec 2, 2012

Spend a bunch of time with him. Hang out in the bathroom with him a lot. Bring a book, phone, whatever. Make sure he's got a comfy warm rug to lie on and/or a cat bed, some toys, catnip and otherwise.

You'll get sick of the bathroom, but he'll appreciate it. It's a big transition moving inside, make sure he knows he's got a friend in there.

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

So the shelter finally got back with me about fostering! Unless something major comes up I should be getting a 4 pack of kittens on Friday! Ahhhh!

Here's the picture the shelter sent me. :3:

Antivehicular
Dec 30, 2011


I wanna sing one for the cars
That are right now headed silent down the highway
And it's dark and there is nobody driving And something has got to give

mistaya posted:

So the shelter finally got back with me about fostering! Unless something major comes up I should be getting a 4 pack of kittens on Friday! Ahhhh!

Here's the picture the shelter sent me. :3:



Congrats! These kittens are about to drop the best album of 2019.

Safari Disco Lion
Jul 21, 2011

Boss, if they make us find seven lost crystals, I'm quitting.

mistaya posted:

So the shelter finally got back with me about fostering! Unless something major comes up I should be getting a 4 pack of kittens on Friday! Ahhhh!

Here's the picture the shelter sent me. :3:



That little calico is gonna be trouble. Get lots of footage of it. :yayclod:

Ofecks
May 4, 2009

A portly feline wizard waddles forth, muttering something about conjured food.

I want to hug all of them at once (could really use that today, not doing well)

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Sm15s2HCUQ

(not mine, just seemed apropos)

Lead out in cuffs
Sep 18, 2012

"That's right. We've evolved."

"I can see that. Cool mutations."




Lead out in cuffs posted:

Welp, back on the fostering train again.

Last week we took into our care a little black kitty, they reckon about a year old, who was found with nine (!) kittens. The folks who rescued her have been taking care of her with the kittens, but they're big enough to be getting independent, and she really need a bit of space (they have a lot of cats at their place, being the local cat rescue people in that neighbourhood, and there being a feral cat colony in a nearby park).

Her name is Bathsheba, although I'm tempted to be calling her Batshub-niggurath, the black cat of a thousand young. Her talents so far include making blanket forts and staying in them for 12+ hour stretches. She's intensely shy. So far we're just happy that she comes out at night to eat and use the litter box, and that she's occasionally let us get near enough to give our fingers a quick sniff.

I'll post photos once she's actually up to being in a place with decent light.

Lead out in cuffs posted:

Bathsheba progress: she now responds to treats, and will half-emerge from her pillow fort to get them. She also sometimes comes out to her food bowl while I'm in the room and on the computer. We've also seen/heard her coming out to feed during the day.

Baby steps, but steps nonetheless!

Further Bathsheba updates:
  • Three weeks ago I got her playing with a wand toy on the bed (though never far from her pillow fort).
  • Two weeks ago she started coming out into the living room while we were awake, and playing with the toy out in the open (when we're still).
  • Later that week she started coming into our bedroom around bedtime to hang out, with a lot of purring/rubbing/kneading (but still not OK with touch).
  • This week she's been letting us touch her face gently while eating treats.
  • Yesterday she let me stroke her, and let me continue even after the treats were done (and clearly enjoyed it).

She's still skittish and likes to hide behind furniture, but she's actively hanging out with us, and is (sometimes) enjoying being petted. This is from spending 18 hours a day hiding under a pillow. So much progress in just six weeks! We'll need to be setting up her online dating foster profile soon.


Click for video

PS: that's her favourite toy, most likely because it simulates a bird / moth. She's such an efficient huntress.
PPS: 'scuse the cat litter all over that rug. She's also unusually efficient at spreading it everywhere.

biosterous
Feb 23, 2013




That cat is gorgeous.

If you weren't on the other side of the country I'd want to scoop her up in a minute

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

Kittens!

They came pre-named by the shelter so introducing the Fall Starbucks Lineup of:
Orange Male - Pumpkin
Calico Female - Spice
Mackerel Tabby (probably) Male - Latte
Traditional/swirly Tabby Female - Cinnamon

I'm going to be lazy and include a gallery but here's a taste of Spice being scrumptiously cute:

mistaya fucked around with this message at 07:29 on Nov 4, 2019

Gorgar
Dec 2, 2012

Those look to be very excellent kittens.

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

While very excellent they are also extremely stinky, even when I empty the litterbox 2-3 times a day. I'm trying to decide what the best course of action to deal with the smell is, since I don't want to just shoot febreeze all over the kitten room. I hope the terror poops are temporary as a result of dewormer because hoooo boy otherwise. Maybe the litter they gave me isn't very strong at de-scenting since it's for babies?

They swarm my feet when I go in the room now and even little Latte, who is clearly the most careful of the bunch, lines up for pets. Spice is gonna make someone super happy. If you are petting the bunch you have to reserve one hand for Spice and split the remaining hand between the other three. She's the only one who wants pets every second you're in there with her. Cinnamon is the trouble maker, she's always the one who instigates all the play and the others follow her around. Pumpkin is both the laziest AND the fattest, he's always licking the empty food bowl. :3:

Also man I'm having a lot more allergy troubles than I expected. I barely react to my own cats anymore but it's been 10 years since I got them. I have to wear a cotton mask to go into the kitten room without sneezing and choking up. At least I have one though!

Marchegiana
Jan 31, 2006

. . . Bitch.
One of those tower allergen air purifiers helps with both the dander and the smell in the kitten room. I've found that I have similar issues (my cats don't cause a reaction but sometimes new kittens can set off my allergies), it does calm down some after time but when I first get a new set of kittens I often have to break into the zyrtec again.

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

Thanks! I ended up getting one of those disc-shaped citrus smelling things for bathrooms/pets and it worked a treat. Also allergies seem less bad today, which is good, I was super dying yesterday. But ya'll don't want to hear about me, have some kittens.

Cinnamon is the shoulder queen:



Latte sneaking some snuggles in while the rest of the bunch plays:



Spice is the cutest thing alive:



Pumpkin... Decided to be an orange blur in all my pictures and I dare not wake them all up again so have some Feeding Frenzy showing off his fat orange butt:

TeenageArchipelago
Jul 23, 2013


mistaya posted:

Thanks! I ended up getting one of those disc-shaped citrus smelling things for bathrooms/pets and it worked a treat. Also allergies seem less bad today, which is good, I was super dying yesterday. But ya'll don't want to hear about me, have some kittens.

Cinnamon is the shoulder queen:



Latte sneaking some snuggles in while the rest of the bunch plays:



Spice is the cutest thing alive:



Pumpkin... Decided to be an orange blur in all my pictures and I dare not wake them all up again so have some Feeding Frenzy showing off his fat orange butt:



pumpkin is trying to live up to his name and I am here for it

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

So I just found out they all have fleas, which was... I suppose I should have expected this, but I don't believe they've been treated at all since they were too young. I gave one a dawn bath and tried to get them all off with the flea comb but they were stuck so close to her skin that the comb was not getting them, even when I was combing over 4-5 fleas. It was freaking me out a bit. I used a tweezers to get all the hard stuck ones on her neck and shoulders but there were some on her legs I don't think I got off and I'm sort of panicking about it because she was shivering so hard so I ended up stopping to give her a break.

I've watched a few more videos about it but they make it look a lot easier than it was for me, probably because they have some experience.

Otherwise they've been very cute though I have a question... the door to the kitten room opens outwards, and the kittens have learned to camp the door when they hear me coming. Which has led to a few chases, and now that I know they are covered in fleas I'd really like to keep them in the quarantine zone until they're properly treated. Does anyone have a good method of preventing spawn-camping kittens from running out the door en-masse? I tried throwing a shirt over them, which almost worked. Maybe a towel or a blanket would do it.

But then it'd have fleas on it. :supaburn:

Marchegiana
Jan 31, 2006

. . . Bitch.
I actually have a baby gate on the door to my kitten room, it doesn't stop them from climbing it but it's at least enough of an obstacle to slow them down that I can grab them before they get far. I got a hand-me-down gate for free that doesn't actually secure a doorway for a kid but it's enough to stop a 1 pound kitten.

Also I didn't want to jinx it but I was going to say before that usually when new kittens give me a bad allergy attack it's because they have fleas, so I guess that holds true for you too! My flea regimen is baths every 3 days, flea combing as tolerated, daily room vacuuming, and using a pyrethrin flea spray on carpets/baseboards/drapes/etc.

mistaya
Oct 18, 2006

Cat of Wealth and Taste

I was considering a baby gate but this is starting to get more expensive than I had originally planned... I wonder if I can ask around and find out if someone has one in a garage somewhere.

I watched a couple more videos and managed to get the other three bathed much quicker and less painfully. Well except when Cinnamon got ahold of my arm once. Unfortunately Pumpkin's flea infestation is all on his FACE which was like the most :gonk: thing I've personally ever held in my hands. I did the ring of soap on their necks so that wasn't fleas fleeing to his face they were just all living there. I spent half an hour picking individual fleas off his face while his fur dried and I had him burrito'd but I know I didn't get all of them. Poor Pumpkin! :(

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Neddy Seagoon
Oct 12, 2012

"Hi Everybody!"
If they have a baby gate and no kid, don't accept it - it clearly didn't work :v:.

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