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I went to visit my parents house today and my 3 family cats got so loving fat. They’ve been the same normal size for 10 years up to the last time I was here a few months ago, now they are literally twice that. November 2019  Today  It’s making me really upset
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Aug 4, 2021 13:50
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kw0134 posted:I feel like that may be an ear infection, particularly if you see any discharges from the ear or if he shows signs of not hearing well on that side of the head, which means vet time. He wasn't showing any signs of not hearing well and there wasn't any discharge, thankfully. I think maybe he had a hair stuck in an uncomfy spot or some wax somewhere unpleasant because once we gave him a squirt of some pet ear cleaner and a good rub inside and out once he would let us he's back to normal, no folding it down or shaking his head or such. 
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Aug 4, 2021 22:49
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a year and some change later https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8J91HNUVG0
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Aug 4, 2021 23:58
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Kitfox88 posted:He wasn't showing any signs of not hearing well and there wasn't any discharge, thankfully. I think maybe he had a hair stuck in an uncomfy spot or some wax somewhere unpleasant because once we gave him a squirt of some pet ear cleaner and a good rub inside and out once he would let us he's back to normal, no folding it down or shaking his head or such. I'd still get it checked out if you can, or at least keep a super close eye on it, poo poo in cat ears can turn into a lifetime problem if you don't completely get rid of it. The vet might just give you the same cleaning stuff you're already using but they can also clean way more effectively than an amateur (it's crazy how good at it they are). If it's mites or something they can give you a specific cream to put in kitty's ear too.
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Aug 5, 2021 00:05
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Len posted:Someone found a bag of treats last night tore it open and gorged themself on the entire bag Get a dog, you'll never have to clean up cat vomit again.
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Aug 5, 2021 00:47
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Facebook Aunt posted:Get a dog, you'll never have to clean up cat vomit again. That's the plan when we don't live in this apartment. I could easily say "oh a cat died" and just have three pets instead of my max of 2. But I didn't pay the dog deposit and I'm sure someone would snitch on me for suddenly having a dog
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Aug 5, 2021 01:00
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xzzy posted:I'd still get it checked out if you can, or at least keep a super close eye on it, poo poo in cat ears can turn into a lifetime problem if you don't completely get rid of it. The vet might just give you the same cleaning stuff you're already using but they can also clean way more effectively than an amateur (it's crazy how good at it they are). If it's mites or something they can give you a specific cream to put in kitty's ear too. Yeah, we're keeping a close eye on it but finances are tight and going now might mean not having cash for something else later, so we're being a bit cautious about spending it without it being an established problem he's having. Story of most american pet owners right now though, I'm sure. 
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Aug 5, 2021 02:02
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What age cat is best to get when you have a newborn (human) baby? We're expecting our first child in about 3.5 months. Unfortunately we recently had to put down one of our two cats (only 3 years old, gently caress lymphoma). Our other cat (2 years old) clearly misses his play buddy, and our attempts at playing with him are clearly not sufficient outlet for his energy. We have never not had two cats at a time. So we're looking at adopting another cat. Three months out from having our first kid isn't ideal, but getting a new cat when we're sleep deprived new parents sounds quite a bit worse. This will be our 5th adopted cat (over many years), 3 of which were kittens or fairly young, so we have some experience in this department. At first we thought a kitten would adapt best to a loud new baby--our unscientific assumption being that if it is raised around the kid, it will grow up finding it normal and less frightening. But maybe we're wrong and a young-ish (~1 year old?) would be a better happy medium between still young enough to have energy and adaptability, without the downsides of a kitten. I'm hesitant to adopt a much older cat unless the humane society/adoption org specifically says it has lived with kids and is good with them, though. Exposing the cat at a young age seems like the best bet to normalize living with the little mini-human. But I'm making a lot of assumptions here. If anyone has experience with this, I'd love to hear it.
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Aug 5, 2021 03:42
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I don't think there's any age of cat that is more or less unsafe for babies, just don't ever leave the cat alone with the baby (especially when your baby is sleeping). As to getting a companion for your cat, kittens are the safest bet as the cat will not be threatened by it, and kittens basically want to make friends with every cat they meet. Look for one that has passed the wobbly baby phase and is well into the hyper plays all the time phase.
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Aug 5, 2021 03:52
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I would recommend against a kitten because they're insanely energetic little demons with needle-sharp claws. Kittens do not understand moderation - they're fully on all the time. It could slice the baby to ribbons just trying to play with it and not understand what it was doing. An older cat would be far more chill and likely to be far more patient. If the baby grabs a handful of cat, it would most likely whack it with retracted claws to teach it a lesson rather than cause hurt. Our older cats always adapted well to our babies, getting very maternal with them. They seemed to know they were babies and treated them as such. One even helped our daughter learn to crawl. She would sit about 3 feet away, then let her struggle just close enough to get a touch, then calmly move a couple more feet off to encourage her to come get her. It was really cute.
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Aug 5, 2021 03:54
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Honestly I'd reconsider it altogether. A kitten will be too much work and introducing adult cats to each other is a real roll of the dice. You don't want to be dealing with a newborn and also trying to successfully introduce two cats.
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Aug 5, 2021 04:13
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Three months is a pretty decent amount of acclimation time, in most cases... 
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Aug 5, 2021 04:32
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Rotten Red Rod posted:I don't think there's any age of cat that is more or less unsafe for babies, just don't ever leave the cat alone with the baby (especially when your baby is sleeping). Sorry if I wasn't clear--I wasn't asking about the baby's safety. I was just wondering what age of cat would adapt best to life with a baby. Agreed that kittens are definitely best to introduce to an existing adult in our experience. It's why we have gotten kittens at times in the past. Deteriorata posted:I would recommend against a kitten because they're insanely energetic little demons with needle-sharp claws. Kittens do not understand moderation - they're fully on all the time. It could slice the baby to ribbons just trying to play with it and not understand what it was doing. All good points. I'm thinking maybe we should aim for "young but no longer a kitten" and hope it has sufficient energy to entertain our current absurdly playful 2 year old cat. Organza Quiz posted:Honestly I'd reconsider it altogether. A kitten will be too much work and introducing adult cats to each other is a real roll of the dice. You don't want to be dealing with a newborn and also trying to successfully introduce two cats. Unfortunately it's already looking like our existing cat is going a bit crazy without a play buddy. He's never in his life been a solo cat, and it shows. At worst he's been temporarily afraid of new people/animals, never aggressive, so we're hoping he will get along with a new cat within the ~3 months before the baby arrives. It's definitely a valid concern, though. We're in a bit of a pickle: leave our remaining cat to fend for himself and go crazy with boredom, or risk a new cat not acclimating.
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Aug 5, 2021 04:56
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incogneato posted:Sorry if I wasn't clear--I wasn't asking about the baby's safety. I was just wondering what age of cat would adapt best to life with a baby. Ah. As others said, adult probably. Kittens will try to play with the baby most likely, and that... Won't go well. Adults will be more chill.
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Aug 5, 2021 05:52
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Yeah. I'd go for a cat that's around a year old. Not quite a kitten, not quite an adult, lots of energy but no longer as crazy with the claws as a zoomie.
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Aug 5, 2021 12:30
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Have to take my girl in for a freaking enema this weekend. She's the naughty one too so this will be fun.  She's constipated, been pooping outside the litterbox and they're like rock hard lumps of coal essentially. the vet said to try metamucil powder mixed with her food for a couple meals to see if that helps but it's still happening and I'm still finding lumps of poo poo outside the litterbox so I made the appointment for Saturday. Do they sedate cats to do this usually?
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Aug 5, 2021 15:48
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If many cats will fight you on a nail clipping, I can't imagine a vet trying to stick a miniature turkey baster up a cat's anus without sedation.
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Aug 5, 2021 15:51
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Well I mean leela will loving bite them so I'm sure she will be sedated I just wasn't sure if that's the norm. That said I guess yeah most cats probably won't be cool with having a tube jammed up their rear end without sedation
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Aug 5, 2021 16:11
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It's honestly best that they're sedated. In our case, the vet managed to avoid full sedation and surgery because he was able to do some pretty aggressive manipulation of the colon to break down the blockage which would have been very difficult with the cat fully awake, even if he wasn't biting. Obviously every case is different but in my experience it's best to not waste time with laxatives and foods if you can just take them to the vet, sometimes you think you solved it because they poop a bit but the main blockage remains and the cat just feels like poo poo for longer. Once they get her unblocked, my main advice is to get diligent about making sure they're pooping regularly and switch her to a fiber rich food.
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Aug 5, 2021 16:23
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:Once they get her unblocked, my main advice is to get diligent about making sure they're pooping regularly and switch her to a fiber rich food. Will do, I appreciate the tip.
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Aug 5, 2021 16:32
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Ur Getting Fatter posted:Any international pet travel suggestions welcome. So I haven't traveled internationally with pets but one thing to understand about cats is they're not just small predators, they're also prey animals, and they get really stressed out when they get put into a situation where they don't know where they are and there's a lot of unfamiliar lights and sounds and smells. Your cat would be much happier and calmer staying inside the carrier with some familiar smells (like a used blanket or dirty t-shirt of yours) than taken out of the carrier for a "break". You probably want to cover the carrier with a towel as much as possible, it'll be less stressful the less unfamiliar stuff they can see. Thirding do NOT send cat as cargo, but you're already not doing that so good. I don't have any advice for the poop issue, unfortunately. Cats can hold it for 12-ish hours if they don't have somewhere to go but 24 hours is obviously too long to expect the poor thing not to have to take a poo poo. If they do poo poo in the carrier they are going to be NOISILY unhappy about it for the rest of the trip (speaking from experience) and no one is going to want to deal with that.
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Aug 5, 2021 17:09
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mistaya posted:So I haven't traveled internationally with pets but one thing to understand about cats is they're not just small predators, they're also prey animals, and they get really stressed out when they get put into a situation where they don't know where they are and there's a lot of unfamiliar lights and sounds and smells. Your cat would be much happier and calmer staying inside the carrier with some familiar smells (like a used blanket or dirty t-shirt of yours) than taken out of the carrier for a "break". You probably want to cover the carrier with a towel as much as possible, it'll be less stressful the less unfamiliar stuff they can see. Thanks for the insight, covering up his carrier is a good idea. Yeah, my plan is treat it like traveling with a baby and if he poops I clean/change out the diaper lining in the carrier ASAP. Given he's prone to constipation I'd rather deal with some dirty looks from other passengers than a constipated cat on arrival. My vet's suggestion was to give him a very mild laxative the night before and take away his food prior to the flight, so I'll probably do something like that.
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Aug 5, 2021 18:42
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I’m a new kitten owner and pretty scared/cautious. We are in a foster to adopt program with the shelter and she’s very sweet and a giant rear end in a top hat. She is 3 months old and we have been keeping her in the bathroom with all sorts of toys and food at night and when we are gone. Yesterday we set up the room we were hoping to keep her in instead, and she loved how roomy it was and played around a ton without a problem. We woke up and found all of the steel wool we had shoved in the baseboard heater access panels (stopping the mice from coming up from the basement) strewn about the floor. I have no idea how she got to them, they were shoved way the hell down by the piping. Also two days ago she hid behind the toilet until I finished peeing to jump in for a swim, so we had to attempt a kitten bath at midnight. Very fun. Anyway, I just wanted to share in the misadventures we’ve already had and try not to be so anxiety ridden over her. We play with her for hours every night and love cuddling. She can be handled like a ragdoll. We love her. We did notice she has one goobery eye and a little mole/scab on her nostril but they said they will check it out when she gets some shots on Sunday. Sorry to keep you waiting, here is pisscat   
Ball Tazeman fucked around with this message at 00:08 on Aug 6, 2021 |
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Aug 5, 2021 23:43
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Ball Tazeman posted:I’m a new kitten owner and pretty scared/cautious. We are in a foster to adopt program with the shelter and she’s very sweet and a giant rear end in a top hat. She is 3 months old and we have been keeping her in the bathroom with all sorts of toys and food at night and when we are gone. Yesterday we set up the room we were hoping to keep her in instead, and she loved how roomy it was and played around a ton without a problem. We woke up and found all of the steel wool we had shoved in the baseboard heater access panels (stopping the mice from coming up from the basement) strewn about the floor. I have no idea how she got to them, they were shoved way the hell down by the piping. Also two days ago she hid behind the toilet until I finished peeing to jump in for a swim, so we had to attempt a kitten bath at midnight. Very fun. Bolded the reason for your misadventures. Welcome to having a kitten.
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Aug 6, 2021 02:25
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Ball Tazeman posted:I’m a new kitten owner and pretty scared/cautious. We are in a foster to adopt program with the shelter and she’s very sweet and a giant rear end in a top hat. She is 3 months old and we have been keeping her in the bathroom with all sorts of toys and food at night and when we are gone. Yesterday we set up the room we were hoping to keep her in instead, and she loved how roomy it was and played around a ton without a problem. We woke up and found all of the steel wool we had shoved in the baseboard heater access panels (stopping the mice from coming up from the basement) strewn about the floor. I have no idea how she got to them, they were shoved way the hell down by the piping. Also two days ago she hid behind the toilet until I finished peeing to jump in for a swim, so we had to attempt a kitten bath at midnight. Very fun. Pisscat is a sweet and lovely angel operating exactly as she should! I have a pisskitten story, kind of: A former coworker was living in Vietnam and rescued a kitten from a Dumpster. She then took the kitten on a beach vacation with some friends, locking him in the bathroom whenever they went out. Well, it wasn't long before the poor lad got his head stuck in part of the toilet! He was alive--and fine--but the entire party was unable to get his head unstuck. Finally, one of my former coworker's friends broke the toilet in such a way that they were able to reach down into its depths and un-stick the poor little guy's head. Then, unfortunately, they all ran away, having paid for the room in cash and therefore unreachable by the hotel to pay for damages. No idea if this story is true, but I found it kind of amusing!
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Aug 6, 2021 08:08
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So I finally got the kitty from my dumb coworker who didn't want him anymore because he was moving into a "nice house"(its a trailer). However, it works out because ever since my cat and I moved in here, she's been alone most of the day and I can tell she's a bit bored so she needs a companion. So I brought Kneecap(the new cat) home yesterday, and took him straight to my room. He hid in the closet a few hours, then slowly came out(still confined to the overall room). He was a bit wary of me, but let me pet him, and eventually even rolled over for belly rubs. I'd say he's slowly adjusting and I'm not too worried about him. I know the basics here, keep the cats in different rooms for a few days. Today I brought Kneecap out to come into the rest of the house, and I have my cat Nona in my room right now(I alway swap litter boxes and stuff around so they have their own stuff with them). They've met from under the door crack, and very briefly when Kneecap snuck in while I carried Nonas litterbox in there. There was no fighting or slapping, but Nona definitely did the defensive fluff up maneuver thing and hissed once. Other than that it's not gone too bad. However, I really need this to work out. Because Kneecap is homeless, and my coworker most likely would just give him away to whoever or possibly even just abandon him when he moves if I gave him back, so that can't happen. I guess a little hissing and fluffy hair displays are normal, right? I know when my mom brought a dog she was sitting over, my cat Nona reacted the same way, but eventually settled down a bit. What should I do if they are just hissing a little and aren't fighting? Should I let them hiss it out, or should I immediately separate at any sign of negativity? I'm probably overthinking it. My grandma had a bunch of cats growing up, and I can remember occasional slap fights, but never anything serious, they would either get along or just stay out of each others way. But I would like to do everything I can to make this a smooth transition, especially since she needs a buddy to keep her company in the day. e: I read about the treats by the door thing to reinforce positive encounters, but the problem is my cat(and the new one from what I understand) are incredibly picky and don't care about treats or tuna or anything like that. The only thing I can think of is maybe catnip? But I dunno if getting them high is a good idea in this case. I have been playing and petting with one for a while, getting their scent on me, then going and playing with the other one. e2 each of them seem to be interested in the other cats litterbox. Should I try swapping those? Although I would hate for them to not use it because of that, but it didn't seem to scare them away with the contact they did have. Drunk Driver Dad fucked around with this message at 23:49 on Aug 6, 2021 |
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Aug 6, 2021 23:40
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General thread advice is to let them hiss a bit, not even break up little slap-fights. The cats need to figure each other out, and that's how they communicate. You only need to interfere if they start actually growling and seriously attacking each other. Congrats on your new cat!
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Aug 6, 2021 23:53
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Awesome, thanks. Is there certain amount of time I should keep them separated and let them adjust to each other's scents? Is a couple of days enough of that before I can let both of them roam with supervision? e: They had a short meeting at the doorway, Nona freaked out a little. There was no attacking, but Nona hissed a lot and ran off. I guess that is better than immediately fighting at least.  I feel really guilty that Nona is stuck in my room right now while a new cat is in here hanging around on her cat tower. But it'll be good for her in the long run. Drunk Driver Dad fucked around with this message at 00:52 on Aug 7, 2021 |
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Aug 6, 2021 23:56
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Last time I researched it the internet results said it could take 2-4 weeks. I've done it in a few days with minimal hissing. Growing up my parents tried to bring in a second cat and she spent a month hiding and making GBS threads everywhere, she just couldn't deal with a strange cat and a new home. So it really comes down to the personalities of the cats involved. If it seems to be going well, it's fine to let them interact.
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Aug 7, 2021 01:03
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For what it's worth, the one doing the hissing is the resident cat. I think she just thinks the new cat might be a threat. He's overall pretty chill, so hopefully she'll calm down a bit and it'll be fine.
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Aug 7, 2021 01:08
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Len posted:Someone found a bag of treats last night tore it open and gorged themself on the entire bag At least that makes sense, my torty eats herself sick at least once a week for no reason. Woke up this morning to a 6" log of barely chewed catfood spewed across the windowsill 
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Aug 7, 2021 01:19
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Drunk Driver Dad posted:For what it's worth, the one doing the hissing is the resident cat. I think she just thinks the new cat might be a threat. He's overall pretty chill, so hopefully she'll calm down a bit and it'll be fine.
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Aug 7, 2021 01:59
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Yeah. I still feel really guilty, he's in here chilling beside me on my desk while she's stuck in my room(although I'm letting them take turns each day who gets the room and who gets the rest of the house). But she's been super bored since we moved, before my brother and his wife and their dog lived with us so she always had someone around. All that said, for this cat to be in a completely new place, with new people he's remarkably chill. I don't think my coworker paid him much attention.  I also think he has some sort of breed mixed into him that isn't just regular domestic shorthair. His neck is really long and his ears are big with tiny tufts on top.
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Aug 7, 2021 02:28
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Post vet report: Not constipation which is good but probably more likely she just had some rough poops to pass. He didn't feel a lot blocking but they flushed her our with fluid and she's home now, she's exhausted and traumatized I think but she pretty much ran to the litter box as soon as she got out of the carrier so that's promising. He gave us some stool softener to mix in her food and basically said she should be alright once this stuff starts working.
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Aug 7, 2021 17:33
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What started as just a normal tray litter box has piece by piece devolved into this monstrosity
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Aug 7, 2021 20:33
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drunken officeparty posted:What started as just a normal tray litter box has piece by piece devolved into this monstrosity Try one of the litterboxes that are like a bucket with a cover on top:  For our cat, much less litter falls out with that type, and she seems happier using it. To be fair, it might not work for cats with mobility issues.
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Aug 7, 2021 20:53
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We also did very well for years with just big-rear end rubbermaid tubs with no lids. The higher walls just kept them from kicking litter out, and we put it on one of the mats you have already that traps the litter so they don't track it. But, as noted, doesn't work great if cats have mobility issues. We've since switched to litter robots.
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Aug 7, 2021 21:33
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I just throw a ridged door matt infront of the litter tray. It catches most of the kicks and you can just pour it back in.
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Aug 7, 2021 21:49
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One of our cats is so skilled at flinging litter I gave up trying to prevent it and resigned myself to sweeping it up every couple days. She's a cold adapted cat so has those extra tufts of fur on the feet and I think litter gets snagged in it and there appears to be no technology to defeat that. Wood pellet litter was the least messy we tried but there is no litter scoop that can sift that stuff so we went back to the clay based options. The wood didn't block smells as well either.
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Aug 7, 2021 22:12
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I have a covered litter box with a little plastic door, and Nona still somehow gets litter everywhere, I think it sticks to her paws or something. Anyway, today she pawed at the door crack with Kneecap right outside it for a few minutes. It wasn't until he stuck his face into the crack that she hissed, so that's progress I think.
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Aug 7, 2021 22:49
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