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If you possibly can, please keep your cats as indoors only. It is much much safer for them. If you want to have outside time, they can get used to a leash but it'll never be like walking a dog.
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Jan 12, 2021 20:32
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Thanks for the advice on my poor meow-less cat. He is standing up to the new resident a bit rather than skulking away when she behaves like a coked-up tornado with fur and claws. Hopefully time and no further changes will bring his meow back.
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Jan 13, 2021 11:06
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currently having intense panic attacks over being alone with my post-abdominal-surgical cat. it went well but i’m really bad at dealing with stuff like this alone. he’s hosed up obviously. and of course, covid makes it fun bc i can’t have any friends come over and spend the night with me or anything. anyone have any advice or words of comfort for a nervous cat guardian goon?
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Jan 14, 2021 02:32
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jimmychoo posted:currently having intense panic attacks over being alone with my post-abdominal-surgical cat. it went well but i’m really bad at dealing with stuff like this alone. he’s hosed up obviously. and of course, covid makes it fun bc i can’t have any friends come over and spend the night with me or anything. Leave your cat alone and let him heal. You don't really have to do anything for a while. Your vet should have given you some advice. The only thing to watch for is infection at the incision. Otherwise, keep him from licking it (cone him if necessary) and give him time to mend.
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Jan 14, 2021 02:38
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Deteriorata posted:Leave your cat alone and let him heal. You don't really have to do anything for a while. Your vet should have given you some advice. thanks. they didn’t really give me too much advice other than medication stuff and yeah, not letting him lick. he has a cone but he hates it so i got him this random soft collar off amazon that is shaped like toast? lol. it seems to be doing the job well enough. they told me to monitor him for discomfort, etc but i’m not sure how tf you do that when he’s obviously like, just gone through something extreme. he doesn’t even really seem to be sleeping, just sitting with his eyes half open most of the time.
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Jan 14, 2021 03:24
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Hes miserable because he has a cone on and he just had surgery. Him just laying about and not doing anything is good because thats what you would do to make sure you dont pop a stitch. If he eats, poops, and doesnt look like hes infected hes fine. Remember to clean the rim of his cone.
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Jan 14, 2021 05:18
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yeah i think there's just too many vets in my cat's kitchen — he has his home base vet, who referred him to an internal medicine vet, who had to refer him to a surgeon. and all those people come along with their office staff, so it's a lot. some of them are like "eh he's fine," and others are like "monitor him very closely" and when i ask for what, the answers are so amorphous. thus the nature of cats i guess. anyway he seems to be doing a bit better today. on tuesday they gave him an appetite stimulant that he turned out to be extremely sensitive to, so he just screamed and screamed all night. that was fun. now he just stares off into space all day.
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Jan 14, 2021 19:57
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Your buddy is doing exactly what he should. When my adult cats have had surgery, a few days of "sitting and doing nothing" was normal.
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Jan 14, 2021 20:39
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So update on the older cat and young kitten that I posted about roughly a month ago or so: They have no problems eating near each other generally. We got a very large very nice cat hutch for the kitten to hang out in over the holidays for no more than an hour or so downstairs, with all his favorite toys and food and water, which the older cat considers her territory. At first, the older cat was a real jerk and would hiss and bap at the cage, so we'd take the kitten away after just a little bit (since it doesn't really seem fair for him to be stuck getting hissed at), but after doing it every day and ending it with feeding we got to "mostly ignoring" the kitten when he was downstairs in the cage. The older cat would sometimes run up to the cage and stare him down, but she'd usually back off afterwards and just go do something else which was a marked improvement! Starting last weekend, when both my wife and I are available, we started removing the gate from the top of the stairs and letting him come down on his own terms. At first he was VERY nervous about the new space and would run at the slightest hint of movement or noise. After a few days of that he comes down basically immediately and hangs out on our cat tree/playing with toys all day, he even uses the older cat's water fountain when he feels like it. I'd say it's a huge improvement from the first day we brought him home generally. The older cat however still seems to want to chase him off. When she sees him she usually just watches for a little, but inevitably she'll run up and chase him around the downstairs until he runs back upstairs. Sometimes she won't follow him upstairs, but if we're not there she sometimes does which is weird because she seems to think that's his territory. Interestingly there's no hissing or yowling, there's the occasional loud meow when she doesn't notice him and then suddenly does but that's about it. Her tail occasionally poofs when she's chasing him around, and once she was sorta bapping him a bit with her paw till he moved and then they both bolted to opposite ends of the house in shock. I honestly can't tell if this is a good thing or not. Ears aren't going back, and the kitten basically comes right back downstairs everytime he gets chased away so obviously he doesn't really care, but I can't tell if they're seconds away from a fight or just kinda playing or something in between. If you put food down the older cat will eat pretty close to the younger kitten even downstairs, though put it too close and she's no longer interested and did hiss once.
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Jan 14, 2021 22:40
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Elvis_Maximus posted:So update on the older cat and young kitten that I posted about roughly a month ago or so: Chasing each other around is called "playing." It's good.  Cats like to roughhouse. It's normal social behavior. What you've been observing is them just testing the waters to make sure signals are being understood. Neither of them wants to start any poo poo, they're just curious about each other.
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Jan 14, 2021 22:47
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Deteriorata posted:Chasing each other around is called "playing." It's good. Right, and unlike in cartoons, RL cats don't necessarily all speak exactly the same language. If you only speak English and your new room mate only speaks German there is a lot of overlap there but it is still going to take some time to work out the house rules.
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Jan 14, 2021 22:54
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Changed the cat's food. Cat made a soft poop. Pop got stuck in cats fur. Cat became very excited and dragged her butt all over the living room, while evading capture. Caught cat eventually and washed her in the sink. Cat did not like it but is now clean. Sink is slightly clogged with cat fur. It is midnight. Morale of the story: don't change a long hair cat's food.
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Jan 15, 2021 00:50
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Deteriorata posted:Chasing each other around is called "playing." It's good. Glad to hear it, I definitely feel like they're doing a lot better! There was a little hiss from the older cat during a particularly intense chase, the kitten went upstairs and took a nap, then once I went to check on him decided he wanted to come down and play more with the cat tree so I guess no harm done really! And I understand even cats that have known each other forever might hiss every once and awhile when play gets crazy
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Jan 15, 2021 01:44
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Hissing is the universal "quit it" signal from a cat and means nothing other than "I'm done with this/you." It's not hostile nor unfriendly, it's not as if cats have any sense of "politeness," when they are finished with an activity they'll let all the participants know in as direct terms possible. If that has to be reinforced with a bap on the nose, thems the breaks. Cats communicate between themselves very physically. As long as the claws not out, it's fine.
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Jan 15, 2021 04:37
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kw0134 posted:Hissing is the universal "quit it" signal from a cat and means nothing other than "I'm done with this/you." I wish our cat Bishop understood that. He chases Rexie relentlessly and she wants none of it, but no matter how much she hisses and occasionally screams he just comes after her harder  (he's playing, little dude just can't take a hint).
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Jan 15, 2021 04:58
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So my tiny kitten still has diarrhea and I am awaiting back the response from the vets from the very expensive tests I had run, apart from that he is healthy and growing and active though. Today he decided to pop up over one of my computer monitors to say hi and it was loving adorable.
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Jan 15, 2021 15:28
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BaronVonVaderham posted:I wish our cat Bishop understood that. He chases Rexie relentlessly and she wants none of it, but no matter how much she hisses and occasionally screams he just comes after her harder
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Jan 15, 2021 21:26
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We brought in my fiance's grandparents' cat, Bella, almost two years ago, and they don't really get along that well still. They can sleep on the same couch/bed, but Bella hisses, growls, and sometimes swats at Shuffle just for existing. He just wants to be friends.  But it looks like she got a lucky hit in last time she swatted at him for the crime of being a cat in her presence, and I think it's infected. It's oozing red/white stuff, but not too badly at all, and now I have to call early tomorrow and try to get an appointment at the vet. He's almost eight years old. Is there anything topical I should put on this? It's almost time for his annual checkup anyway.  
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Jan 16, 2021 01:32
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Why do cats loving suck?
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Jan 16, 2021 11:15
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That honestly does not look too bad and will almost certainly heal up by itself with no sign it was ever there. Cleaning it with salt water would help with any possible infection but also be displeasing for your cat. One of mine got a bunch of injuries like that least year by battling neighbourhood cats and whilst she was unhappy for a few days she turned out completely fine and the vet did not bother proscribing anything.
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Jan 16, 2021 11:40
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Patrat posted:That honestly does not look too bad and will almost certainly heal up by itself with no sign it was ever there. Cleaning it with salt water would help with any possible infection but also be displeasing for your cat. You're right, I woke up early today to take him to the vet, but it looks much better. It's a little red scab and some scattered fur where the wetness was. But he has runny eyes normally (probably allergic to cat fur) so that was probably contributing to it looking scary.
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Jan 16, 2021 15:02
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Uncle Piss Salad posted:Why do cats loving suck? Cats are great. Some individual cats are gremlins.
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Jan 16, 2021 15:55
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Why do cats jump when you look at them over an edge, like this: https://mobile.twitter.com/ShouldHaveCat/status/1347928871186952193 It's one of the most reproducible behaviors my cat has, and it's real funny. She doesn't play or attack after jumping, just walks away or maybe lies down for a nap.
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Jan 16, 2021 16:02
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pidan posted:Why do cats jump when you look at them over an edge, like this: You're their prey, you just spotted them so hiding is no good any more. Might as well pounce before you run away.
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Jan 16, 2021 16:39
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truly amazing that my cat who had abdominal surgery on monday is already mad at me for being trapped in a room all day. and acting bored af. i wish i had that resiliency. he's almost 11 too! thanks for all the support cat goons.
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Jan 16, 2021 18:46
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Life on The Cat Ranch continues to be peaceful and pleasant  Actually, I can't think of a time period in my life when I've felt quite this... happy and contented. I sincerely believe that my cat Jackie, who just turned 14 years old this month, feels more or less the same way - I can't recall her seeming quite so relaxed and at peace with the world.She's even getting along extraordinarily well with the other cats - both Murfy the big athletic Savannah Cat who tangled with a 100+ pound mountain lion this past fall, and Dutchez the aloof and queen-like long-hair female chonk, and now Jackie's the only cat who both tolerates (and is tolerated by) the feral Insurrection Kitty (we adopted him on January 6th and he's still unnamed). Murfy does act like a bit of a punk trying to provoke Jackie sometimes, prodding her for weakness. But to her credit, Jackie has really handled everything just amazingly well. It's actually really amazing to see. The reason why I adopted Jackie in the first place was because she had extreme difficulty handling the other cats she was living with at my dad's house. Either that wasn't *really* the issue or she's learned a great deal since then about how to not get hosed with by other cats who might be prone to "bullying" behavior. Probably the best thing is that she's finally lost even more weight, and is now almost like a totally normal cat shape! She has a WAIST now, my Jackie! At this point she's down to almost 10 pounds, which is a full 9 pounds lighter than the massively corpulent 19-pound behemoth unable to lick her own butt I adopted 10 years ago. I think that's a pretty cool transformation for anyone to go through. She's SO much happier, healthier, more playful and more social, and just nicer all-around to everyone. It's extremely gratifying to me, especially since I've come very close to almost giving her up on a couple occasions now; I'm very glad I didn't.
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Jan 17, 2021 06:15
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I just realized it's been almost 5 months since I scooped a litterbox last. Holy poo poo this lifestyle
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Jan 17, 2021 17:41
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Litter robot for life. Next level up is getting automatic feeders
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Jan 17, 2021 23:03
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Spikes32 posted:Litter robot for life. Next level up is getting automatic feeders I'm torn between those and microchip ones
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Jan 17, 2021 23:10
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Well wishes for my elderly boy. Lifelong upper respiratory issues, but today was rougher than usual for him, spitting up a bit of foamy mucus stuff once or twice. Medicators already know to keep an eye on him, so I'm sure he'll be okay, but the poor boy's been through a lot and I still worry. Well wishes for everyone else's, too.
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Jan 18, 2021 00:34
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Anyone managed to get an extra greedy cat monster to stop constantly trying to steal other cats food? Our newest rescue Doc wolfs his food down in seconds, whereas our other cat Holly goes back and forth for a longer period. We do actually have a microchip feeder for her, but he just sticks his head in while she is eating and she walks away. Which is weird, because in most other situations she will bap him on the head or chase him around if he's invading her space/she's had enough. We currently feed him in another room and close the door - he cries pitifully the whole time but he is incorrigible if we let him anywhere near her while she eats - any ideas?? I swear we are feeding him a normal amount of food so he can't be actually hungry.
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Jan 18, 2021 02:23
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Robot Mil posted:Anyone managed to get an extra greedy cat monster to stop constantly trying to steal other cats food? Our cats do that all the time. Sometimes separating them is necessary, but usually just active policing and chasing off the greedy one until the others finish is sufficient. Our cats seem to learn that they get in trouble for stealing from the others and hold off until the others (or we) leave. I don't know what to suggest for you. I'd do exactly what you're doing.
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Jan 18, 2021 02:27
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Deteriorata posted:Our cats do that all the time. Sometimes separating them is necessary, but usually just active policing and chasing off the greedy one until the others finish is sufficient. Our cats seem to learn that they get in trouble for stealing from the others and hold off until the others (or we) leave. Yeah if he's around when she's eating, we literally have to stand next to her food bowl and actively move him away/block him every single time she opens it to eat, he has not learned so far lol.
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Jan 18, 2021 02:42
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SkyeAuroline posted:Well wishes for my elderly boy. Lifelong upper respiratory issues, but today was rougher than usual for him, spitting up a bit of foamy mucus stuff once or twice. Medicators already know to keep an eye on him, so I'm sure he'll be okay, but the poor boy's been through a lot and I still worry. sending my best vibes to this boy!
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Jan 18, 2021 02:54
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Robot Mil posted:Yeah if he's around when she's eating, we literally have to stand next to her food bowl and actively move him away/block him every single time she opens it to eat, he has not learned so far lol. I'm about three years in to doing this with my cats so uh I hope you're in it for the long haul! Usually a sharp "FINN!" will get him to back off and sheepishly eat the food in his bowl but I definitely have to hang out in the kitchen while they eat. Finn has stomach problems and barfs most of the time if he eats normal cat food so he can eat it if he wants to but he'll likely barf. He still tries.
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Jan 18, 2021 03:03
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If the worst thing about caring for our cats is putting up with one of them crying for 15 minutes when we won't let him steal food its ok! Holly really likes us to be near her when she eats anyway (preferably scritching her butt) so I guess they'll just need some meal time babysitting! Does mean if we ever go away (ah travel, I remember you) we'll have to arrange more intensive cat sitting I guess.
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Jan 18, 2021 03:23
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OK, I have a very serious question to ask you guys - we recently adopted a new cat (the fourth one) here - a little white feral boy that bounced in and out of the shelter a couple times before running away and ending up at our place, where we eventually trapped him with his running buddy and took him back to the humane society. His buddy was a well-liked barn cat whose owners missed him and went to fetch him, but the white feral boy's previous owners didn't even want to come and get him! So we went back and my roommates officially adopted him, and we've been slowly socializing him with a certain degree of success ever since then. He's a *very* good-looking cat, here he is looking adorable:  We don't have a name, though! It just so happened that we officially adopted him on January 6th, so we've been trying to come up with something that has something to do with the insurrection on that day - though that's not an absolute MUST. We were thinking about 'chaos' as a name, since it's suitable both in terms of his relatively wild personality and the day we adopted him, but it hasn't stuck and has more or less been rejected. I think we could use some suggestions, at this point, it's kinda absurd that we still don't have a name for him!
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Jan 18, 2021 09:02
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If you want to commemorate the capitol riots, you could name him Shaman. Otherwise, January 6 is Three Kings day, and any of Caspar, Melchior and Balthazar would make a nice cat name.
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Jan 18, 2021 09:07
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Len posted:I'm torn between those and microchip ones I'm a big fan of the microchip ones. We splashed out when we got Maple & Peanut, even though they were fairly pointless over the infra-red ones because they were both eating the same food, so we just programmed both of them into both bowls. But now Peanut's gone and we're looking at getting a kitten, as Maple is about to transition to adult food, they'll be very useful. It helps that Maple is self-regulating and free-feeding, so the automatic aspect is not super relevant. Our friend has an automatic one she loves for her guzzle-monster. On that subject, we're getting a new kitten! I think this gets asked a lot, but tips on introducing them? The kitten will be 13-ish weeks, coming from a foster home with 4 sisters, and Maple is 10.5 months and has been alone since Peanut died in November. Maple's reaction to neighbourhood cats she's met from the garden has been "Hello? Friend? Play?" rather than hostility, which is a good sign I think. We've transitioned Maple out of the spare room (cat room) to sleep downstairs in the living room, and will start the new kitten off in the cat room. Possibly leave the Maple-smelling blanket in there? And Maple can have the kitten-smelling towel from the carrier (she already had a good sniff of my coat which was covered in 5 kittens' worth of ginger fluff). Then let the kitten get used to the massive change in venue before slowly introducing them? Not sure how this step goes.
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Jan 18, 2021 09:13
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| # ? Apr 27, 2024 04:34 |
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Seconding Caspar as a good name.
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Jan 18, 2021 14:46
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