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The Ferret King posted:Alternately, what dry kibble is best if we have to switch to dry food? Thanks thread.  Why I like it: my cat is a landwhale (25 lbs in November) and when I fed him other dry cat foods that were lower in calories, he would inhale his serving in 10 seconds and then cry for hours for more. Acana is higher in calories (Homestead Harvest is 429 calories a cup), but I can feed my boy less food and he eats it more slowly over the course of the evening, and his howls of hunger have stopped. (And this is with him now eating 250 calories a day -- 75 calories of wet food twice a day, plus 100 calories of this dry food -- which is a significant calorie deficit for a cat of his size.) He'll get weighed at the vet in a couple of weeks, but he's visibly less rotund than he was 2 months ago, which is awesome. Looking at that website above, it looks like while the quality of the ingredients for Acana is excellent, the nutritional value is a little lacking (unless you live in Canada) -- just something to consider if you are going to switch to dry food only. For wet food, I feed my cat Merrick Purrfect Bistro pate in beef flavor (they have a large variety of flavors, but beef is lowest in calories and luckily my cat's favorite flavor). It's hard to find in stores, but Chewy.com has always carried it.
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Jan 26, 2022 22:14
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Any tips for leaving Latte on our first trip since we got her? My sister is coming over daily to feed/play/clean and we are leaving a radio on and some of our shirts around so she can smell us.
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Jan 26, 2022 22:50
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I got my cat last year and he’s fluffed out substantially this winter (medium hair). These last few months, every few weeks or so, I come home to skid marks on the floor and I have to hold him hostage in the bathroom to pull turds out of his butt hair… It’s not diarrhea. His poops are pretty solid but they seem to get tangled up in the dense hair around his tail and haunches. He’s not as thorough or frequent at cleaning himself as the last cat I lived with either. Is the solution to brush out his haunches more thoroughly? Or get him a sanitary trim? Is that something people do themselves or do at the vet or?
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Jan 27, 2022 19:57
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I brought mine to a groomer, she trimmed his butt and all was well
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Jan 27, 2022 20:06
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Crocobile posted:I got my cat last year and he’s fluffed out substantially this winter (medium hair). These last few months, every few weeks or so, I come home to skid marks on the floor and I have to hold him hostage in the bathroom to pull turds out of his butt hair… A butt trim is easy to do yourself, a groomer might do it more neatly but nobody cares about your cat's butt but you. Put a comb between the skin and the scissors so you don't accidentally nick the skin.
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Jan 27, 2022 20:16
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It's the reality of having long haired cats that no one warns you about. When they get the runs it is horrifying to clean up. Ours doesn't like it but has gotten used to the rear end cleanup when it's needed. I think she's figured out we're helping.
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Jan 27, 2022 20:20
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xzzy posted:It's the reality of having long haired cats that no one warns you about. When they get the runs it is horrifying to clean up. My long haired cat used to have the runs when she had a hairball brewing until she hit 3 or 4 and it hasn't really been a problem since 
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Jan 27, 2022 20:26
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Crocobile posted:I got my cat last year and he’s fluffed out substantially this winter (medium hair). These last few months, every few weeks or so, I come home to skid marks on the floor and I have to hold him hostage in the bathroom to pull turds out of his butt hair… You can do it yourself if you can get the cat to hold still enough for you. IMO the best process for it is to get a cheap beard trimmer, put a short guard on it, and just buzz the problem areas. Fast, easy, no fussing about with combs and scissors, and you can operate the trimmer with one hand so you have a free hand to hold the cat. Just don't mix up the cat butt trimmer with one people use on their face.
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Jan 27, 2022 20:44
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Facebook Aunt posted:A butt trim is easy to do yourself, a groomer might do it more neatly but nobody cares about your cat's butt but you. Put a comb between the skin and the scissors so you don't accidentally nick the skin. My cat's deathly afraid of the clippers, he'd never let me get near him with it, so the deft experienced hand of the groomer was required. Even with her, she said he was so scared and wriggly she'd never be able to clip any more than just his butt.
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Jan 27, 2022 20:53
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Christ, my cat will not put her head in this microchip reader far enough for it to read before she runs away because it's not doing anything. The training mode it has doesn't really work with other cats since I can't really leave it unattended because the other cat really wants to eat what's in there and the training mode just seems like manually pushing a button to open it in stages. Too bad he's not the one I need to feed from this thing  Edit: Her begging for food has been really grating lately. It's all hours of the day and sometimes she'll decide to not eat after bothering me about it or randomly turns on a flavor of food and refused to eat it anymore. My gf has been getting frustrated with her which only freaks the cat out more when she tries to feed her so it's getting to the point where she refuses to be fed by my gf now too. I'm trying to be patient with this auto feeder but I'm getting frustrated because she's not picking it up. I realize that in order to stop the begging I really need to endure the begging and not cave by opening another can of food to try and keep her quiet so I can get some work done but it's really, really hard when I'm the one she primarily bothers about this stuff. explosivo fucked around with this message at 21:09 on Jan 27, 2022 |
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Jan 27, 2022 20:55
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explosivo posted:Christ, my cat will not put her head in this microchip reader far enough for it to read before she runs away because it's not doing anything. The training mode it has doesn't really work with other cats since I can't really leave it unattended because the other cat really wants to eat what's in there and the training mode just seems like manually pushing a button to open it in stages. Too bad he's not the one I need to feed from this thing Wish I had some good advice here, every cat I've had has just sorta.. started using it no issue once I showed them how to open it Unfortunately Pavarotti has such a good understanding of it, and Sage is still afraid of him, so he immediately will try and run over if he hears Sage eating and will stick his head in from the side to snag food. I might need to make a back plate or something to prevent him from getting in as easily
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Jan 27, 2022 23:16
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xzzy posted:It's the reality of having long haired cats that no one warns you about. When they get the runs it is horrifying to clean up. Ug this  My tuxedo will get dingleberries stuck back there every once in a while. In worst-case scenarios I'll find a small grape-size turd in random parts of the house that I assume are just sticking to the fur, eventually drying and falling off. Elvis_Maximus posted:Wish I had some good advice here, every cat I've had has just sorta.. started using it no issue once I showed them how to open it It's possible but you're gonna have to work for it: Unrelated, a very rude cat:
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Jan 28, 2022 01:01
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xzzy posted:It's the reality of having long haired cats that no one warns you about. When they get the runs it is horrifying to clean up. Katya is definitely a bit lazier about his butt cleans and hates any attempt to help him clean up. He sat on my lap and left some skid marks right before I had to head out for work and I needed to change.
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Jan 28, 2022 03:11
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I need a gut-check. Our 17 year old female siamese mix with chronic pancreatitis was recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism. 3 weeks ago we started methimazole at 2.5mg twice a day. 1.5 weeks ago we noticed she wasn't eating as much and was doing her nausea lip-smacking, but didn't have her usual pancreatitis flare up signs, so we consulted the vet. Per the vet, nausea is a common side effect of methimazole but often goes away, and the vet wanted us to give her usual anti-nausea medication (Cerenia) for 2 weeks and then try tapering off. Her 2-week bloodwork came back great for kidney and T4 levels, and her coat has definitely lost its greasiness and her stools are firmer again. This week, she's scratched her skin up at the base of both ears. I needed to take her in today for a B12 shot (cf chronic pancreatitis) and the vet gave the scratches a mini-exam. Definitely seems to be itchy skin, almost certainly an allergic reaction to something. We got Animax antibiotic ointment to keep the scratches from getting infected and instructions to add 1/4-1/2 a tab of plain Zyrtec once a day for a few weeks. I asked whether it could be the methimazole, since it's the dead of winter here and there aren't many allergens out right now, and she's on flea preventives. (The cat does have spring pollen allergies-- but they present as watery eyes and have never done anything like this before.) The vet didn't think at this time it was the methimazole causing the itching, since the rest of her skin doesn't seem to be swollen or irritated. But... my sister has food allergies and a friend has oral penicillin allergy, and an upset stomach and itchy skin are how those present. And Doctor Internet says that's how methimazole allergy can look in cats, especially the itchy ears part. We have another full exam scheduled in 3 weeks, but I wonder if I shouldn't try taking her to another vet for a second opinion on the methimazole before then. I mean, if the zyrtec helps, and her nausea goes away, I guess we're alright. It's just really hard to sit and wait for results when my brain is telling me something isn't right. In the meantime, I've been looking up alternatives for the methimazole since she's not a candidate for surgery. We'd either have to see if she'll tolerate Hill's y/d low-iodine food, or see if she's able to be boarded for a week a few hours away for radioiodine therapy. effika fucked around with this message at 03:33 on Jan 28, 2022 |
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Jan 28, 2022 03:30
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Crocobile posted:I got my cat last year and he’s fluffed out substantially this winter (medium hair). These last few months, every few weeks or so, I come home to skid marks on the floor and I have to hold him hostage in the bathroom to pull turds out of his butt hair… Welp, I was relieved when I read this post because we've never had to clean Katya's butt (even though we very occasionally find a random turdlet that presumably travelled out of the box as a dingleberry) but of course she had to prove me wrong today. Went to the vet to get her shot, everything seemed to be running late so there was a longer wait than usual, and on the way back she dropped a smelly soft-serve load in her carrier.  She is normally a rigorous groomer but I did wipe her butt as well as I could since it was kind of a mess, I guess there's a first for everything. I'm guessing this just happened because of stress?
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Jan 28, 2022 16:38
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I trimed my old mans front claws yesterday and me and the wife got one of his armpit mats out. Teamwork makes the dream work. Pretty fiesty for a 5lb cat covered in 10lbs of floof. He made noises we've never heard before.  awful awful noises
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Jan 28, 2022 21:35
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One of my cats is spending a lot of time in the litterbox. It started last night - she would go in there and squat for a few minutes, then come out, then go in again. She eventually managed to pass a good amount of pretty normal looking poop, with one bigger and dryer piece. But this morning she's doing the same thing - so far she got one tiny pee spot out and maybe a couple tiny poops (or I might have missed them when I scooped last night). Otherwise, she seems to have pretty much normal energy levels and appetite. Is this a vet now situation or a wait and see situation? I need her to be healthy, she's my cookie inspector. 
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Jan 29, 2022 17:51
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Any straining or panting? I had a constipated cat once. Cost me $1000 at the emergency vet cause she was zooming all over in and out the litterbox, panting, dry heaving, etc.
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Jan 29, 2022 17:59
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Rust Martialis posted:Any straining or panting? I had a constipated cat once. Cost me $1000 at the emergency vet cause she was zooming all over in and out the litterbox, panting, dry heaving, etc. Yikes, maybe some straining? But overall she seems pretty chill about it, and once she's out of the box she acts normal. Ed: I went ahead and called her vet, they recommended to monitor for 24 hours and see what happens. Apparently they're completely booked until mid-February though, so it would be an emergency vet visit. UnbearablyBlight fucked around with this message at 18:16 on Jan 29, 2022 |
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Jan 29, 2022 18:06
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Ok, more of the $1000 poop story Late at night, cat zooming, straining box, panting, dry heaves, etc. I look it up, classic signs of poisoning. I start going nuts thinking what I left out the cat could have eaten. Call emergency vet, it's 11 PM, they say "yeah sounds like it could be poison, can't really say over the phone" so I take her in. They put her in an oxygen tent to slow her breathing, give her valium to calm her down, and as they're about to ultrasound her, she takes a massive dump. And all is now well on Cat Island. They come out and explain "she was constipated". I pay $1000. We go home. I recall it was like December and snow all around. If she stops peeing completely, this would be very bad as it could be a urinary blockage but that happens mostly to males. It's like $2000! Struvites. Yay.
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Jan 29, 2022 18:27
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Takes No Damage posted:Ug this This is an extremely riveting video. I didn’t expect to watch the whole thing, let alone with such a strong sense of anticipation.
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Jan 29, 2022 18:52
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I AM GRANDO posted:This is an extremely riveting video. I didn’t expect to watch the whole thing, let alone with such a strong sense of anticipation. Same. I'm not sitting through 20 odd minutes of this twee influencer couple farting around with cat merch, I said to myself. Queue cats being cute and me getting invested in whether they'd actually figure out how to block that one fatass from stealing all the food  Unrelated:
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Jan 31, 2022 10:45
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Quill has a little bit of a limp on her front left leg. She's still playing and walking around on it. GF is extremely concerned, I don't like to see it either but think it's worth seeing how it looks in 1-2 days, what's the play here? We think she may have landed funny on it when she was leaping to attack us for what it's worth.
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Feb 1, 2022 06:26
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VelociBacon posted:Quill has a little bit of a limp on her front left leg. She's still playing and walking around on it. GF is extremely concerned, I don't like to see it either but think it's worth seeing how it looks in 1-2 days, what's the play here? How long has it been? How bad is it? Sometimes cats jump wrong and have a bit of pain just like people. But it could also be something more serious. I'd gently pat the foot to see if it feels strange. If it feels broken or she howls at touching it I'd bring her to the vet right away. Otherwise I think waiting a day or two to see if it goes away by itself is ok, assuming your cat is otherwise healthy.
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Feb 1, 2022 08:13
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VelociBacon posted:Quill has a little bit of a limp on her front left leg. She's still playing and walking around on it. GF is extremely concerned, I don't like to see it either but think it's worth seeing how it looks in 1-2 days, what's the play here? One of my cats is always getting baited by his brother Morpheus into doing bad jumps (Morpheus is fast and agile, Calabraxas is solid and a little clumsy) when they're playing and ends up limping for a couple of days every month. We generally don't worry unless he's vocalizing discomfort, not playing, not eating, or it lasts more than 3-4 days. I did purchase a cat-safe, liver flavored anti-inflammatory though, and give it to him whenever it happens.
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Feb 1, 2022 09:47
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pidan posted:I'd gently pat the foot to see if it feels strange. If it feels broken or she howls at touching it I'd bring her to the vet right away. Otherwise I think waiting a day or two to see if it goes away by itself is ok, assuming your cat is otherwise healthy.
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Feb 1, 2022 10:40
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Hey, thread. I've got a cat that needs pills once a day for the next month and if I grind them up in her food, she won't eat the food. There was some discussion a while back about pill injectors, but I can't find it now. Any one want to share some recs for good, less expensive ones?
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Feb 1, 2022 18:05
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Melomane Mallet posted:Hey, thread. I've got a cat that needs pills once a day for the next month and if I grind them up in her food, she won't eat the food. There was some discussion a while back about pill injectors, but I can't find it now. Any one want to share some recs for good, less expensive ones? Searching for "cat pill injector" on Amazon gives a ton of results, all very inexpensive. Not sure why you're having trouble finding one...? I still stand by my personal method of grinding up the pill, dissolving it in water, and squirting it into the cats' mouth with a syringe. That's the only way I've been able to pill some of my cats who are VERY adverse to pilling. (Check with your vet first that that's ok to do with this specific medication.) Also, very relevant and timely video from the Kitten Lady: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BTpjkihVQbs
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Feb 1, 2022 18:40
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Searching for "cat pill injector" on Amazon gives a ton of results, all very inexpensive. Not sure why you're having trouble finding one...? The thread discussion was what I could not find. I wanted to know if there were any brands that were better than others that goons would recommend.  :
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Feb 1, 2022 19:17
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Ah, gotcha. It's on this page: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3169030&pagenumber=926&perpage=40
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Feb 1, 2022 19:32
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Suzie just eats her blood pressure pill like a lady.
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Feb 1, 2022 19:33
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My 10 month old who was having litter box problems is now on a course of antibiotics for a probable bladder infection, and so far it’s been pretty easy to stuff the pill in the back of her mouth by hand, then immediately present her with a churu for good behavior/to encourage her to swallow. Older cats might be a different story though.
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Feb 1, 2022 20:08
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Devorum posted:One of my cats is always getting baited by his brother Morpheus into doing bad jumps (Morpheus is fast and agile, Calabraxas is solid and a little clumsy) when they're playing and ends up limping for a couple of days every month. Antivehicular posted:Also check for color (maybe not possible on a black cat) and warmth in that paw, to make sure blood flow is okay -- cold or pale paws can indicate there's an obstruction. We had a car develop a pronounced limp that turned out to be a blood clot in that limb. Thanks! She seems a lot better today. Honestly even yesterday she was jumping around and stuff so I don't think it's that serious.
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Feb 1, 2022 20:18
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Rotten Red Rod posted:Ah, gotcha. It's on this page: https://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?noseen=0&threadid=3169030&pagenumber=926&perpage=40 Thanks, exactly what I wanted!
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Feb 1, 2022 23:46
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Y'all, my cat is too fat, and I don't know why. Maybe someone here could.....weigh in.  In November, I took him to the vet and he weighed 25 pounds. For the past two months, he has been on a strict diet of 250 calories -- 75 calories of high quality wet food twice a day = 150 calories, plus 100 calories of high quality dry food (measured) once a day. No treats. No people food. He is now my only cat and he's indoor-only, so I know he's eating only what I feed him. 250 calories a day. At 25 pounds, every cat calorie calculator I've seen says maintaining that weight requires a minimum of 430 calories, so he's been eating at nearly a 200-calorie deficit for two months. In addition to that, I've been working at home for the past five weeks, and I've kept him active by playing with him many times throughout the day. So he's been more active than usual for over a month. Well, he got weighed again at the vet on Tuesday: he's still 25 pounds, and the vet said he actually gained a few ounces (she didn't tell me the amount).  The vet didn't seem concerned (he's otherwise healthy, with no signs of diabetes), but she didn't offer any explanation as to why he wasn't losing weight. All she said was that cats do not get hypothyroidism unless it's caused by medical intervention (e.g, removal of the thyroid gland), and that pituitary tumors causing an overproduction of growth hormones occur almost always in elderly cats and they cause disproportionate growth -- meanwhile, my cat is proportionately large throughout his body, and he's always been large. Here are a few pictures of him next to my average-sized, 11 lb cat (RIP Raphael ), so you can see how big his frame is:   (In that third picture, you can see that even his skull is bigger than an average-sized cat's.) The vet said she did not want me to restrict his calories any further, but that I should increase his physical activity. Unfortunately, starting next week I will no longer be working from home, so now I'm seriously considering adopting a kitten (and taking time off from work during the introduction period) to keep him active during the day. But here's my question for you guys -- would you happen to have any ideas as to why he's not losing weight (and actually gaining weight) despite eating at such a big calorie deficit? Are there any other medical problems I should ask my vet to screen him for? Rabbit Hill fucked around with this message at 19:20 on Feb 3, 2022 |
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Feb 3, 2022 19:17
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Muscle weighs more than fat? Looks pretty beefy there! But i have no sound advice for you sorry
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Feb 4, 2022 00:26
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Can you feel his ribs? It could just be a big cat and he's not fat at all. For an average cat 25 pounds would be a giant ball of blubber and he looks slightly chunky to me, but not morbidly obese. Some breeds do get that big, maine coons are the most common example.
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Feb 4, 2022 01:16
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He might just be a big cat, and this is his equilibrium. If there's no other health concerns and your vet isn't worried, maybe this is just the size he's meant to be.
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Feb 4, 2022 02:51
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This it a huge loving cat. Maybe a little chunky but doesn't look extremely unhealthily so.
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Feb 4, 2022 05:36
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Maybe try weighing him a few times throughout the day? I'm not sure exactly how much cat weight can vary by time of day and stuff, but the vet might not be concerned 'cause it might just be a matter of water/food/poop weight, that kinda thing.
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Feb 4, 2022 06:05
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