The Cat FAQ/Megathread: buying a second, clean broom just to use on him

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Cat FAQ/Megathread: buying a second, clean broom just to use on him

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

I'm posting to ask for help parsing a suggestion from my vet.

I just adopted two cats from a county shelter. The shelter had fixed them but gave them only one shot (nobivac-1), so I took the cats for two vet trips for shots and boosters, the booster trip was last weekend.

The cats are inside-only and the vet estimated their age at around two years old each, which agrees with the shelter's estimate.

During the booster visit, the vet applied medicine to their fur between their shoulder blades and said one application was free for new cats. I don't know if it was Revolution, but it was applied the way I remember applying Revolution to my childhood cat.

At the end of the appointment, the vet strongly suggested I get a monthly supply of that medicine and apply it every month. I'm also getting follow-up emails pressuring me to subscribe to monthly drops by mail.

The cats are indoor-only and wear flea collars just in case I track something inside. I've heard bad things from relatives about Revolution in particular, so I'm a little suspicious that the vet is trying to give me more services than the cats would really benefit from. I checked with some shelter volunteers I know, who said that drops seemed excessive for indoor cats.

So, goons: am I being sold a bill of goods? Or should I go for it? If there's a material benefit to the cats, I'm not worried about the expense.

Sadly the vet had no treatment for one of the cats whining loudly whenever the other one won't play with him. Cats will cat.

# ¿ Oct 31, 2018 17:11

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 21:07

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Ok, that's a pretty quick consensus. I'll check the vet price and either do that or buy topical treatment elsewhere. I'll also ditch the flea collars.

Thanks!

# ¿ Oct 31, 2018 17:51

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

My Ssscat works like a charm when it's in place. I had thought that eventually it would teach them to avoid the area, but no. When I remove it, they go right back. If I want my idiots to avoid the area, I need to keep buying refills.

# ¿ Jan 30, 2019 02:31

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Synthbuttrange posted:

Are they deterred by the spray or the beep? Mine just run like hell when it starts beeping, so I just left it on an empty can. :v

It works with a regular can of compressed air too if you buy those from office stores for cheaper.

Mine doesn't beep, I don't think. It just sprays. Thanks for telling me about regular cans though, I'll have to try that!

# ¿ Jan 30, 2019 02:54

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Sydin posted:

So the caveat to all of this is that sometimes, cats are just going to cat. If the cat wants to scream its head off at 5AM on the regular, sometimes there's just not much you can do.

I'm very lucky my cats don't meow for food. Instead, Silas meows loudly whenever he wants to play. Bring the wrong toy? That's a meowing. Wants his adopted sister to wrestle? Meowing. Adopted sister slinking away because he either won or was too rough? Meowing. Are you in a room other than the room he wants you to be in? Meowing.

Like Sydin said, cats gonna cat.

# ¿ Feb 22, 2019 16:22

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Can anyone recommend a good water fountain? One of my furry little idiots has a UTI, and among other things I've already implemented (e.g. wet food, all the prescribed medicine for the UTI) the vet recommended a water fountain. I had tried a cheap one which sounded like a jet taking off, so I'd like to get one that's reasonably quiet.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2019 01:36

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Synthbuttrange posted:

https://www.catit.com/shop/flower-fountain/

Ordered; thank you.

# ¿ Mar 15, 2019 01:57

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Strongly consider getting two bonded cats from a shelter; they will amuse themselves while you're at work. One cat may get bored being home alone all day - solitary confinement is not fun.

I have two cats and it's pretty much the same amount of chores as one cat. The shelter will thank you because they don't like to split bonded pairs. Mine weren't even bonded when I got them, but they bonded quickly after taking over my apartment.

# ¿ Jun 21, 2019 01:36

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Bioshuffle posted:

My three year old boy has been doing something new. He keeps on trying to escape. He's usually content sitting back as we come in, but he's been waiting for the door to open and dashes out.

He usually saunters down the stairs and hangs out until I pick him up, but there are tons of dog walkers in my apartment, and I'm scared he'll run off.

What can I do to deter this new behavior? Our downstairs neighbor has been feeding squirrels and we've been getting a regular visitor to our balcony. Could this be the reason he had a newly found interest in the outdoors?

Can anyone recommend a good secure harness? I even gave thought to keeping a water spray bottle by the doo, as a last measure. He has a sister to keep him busy, and we make time to play with him. Any ideas?

I have an ssscat by my front door, about a foot away. It has a sensor and shoots a puff of air. The cats won't go within three feet of the door. When I get home, they wait for me in the living room. When you need to replace the can of air in your ssscat, you can use a normal air duster can which is bigger and cheaper.

# ¿ Sep 17, 2019 15:02

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Cat Wings posted:

Ty keeps on chewing through my shoe laces. He isn't eating them at all, just biting them into pieces and then leaving them. Aside from hiding my shoes, is there anything I can do to the laces to make them less chewable by my dork?

Bitter apple spray? That's what I used to teach one of my idiots not to taste test computer cords or charging cables.

# ¿ Oct 1, 2019 21:17

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

gey muckle mowser posted:

One of our kitties has a lot of urinary issues too and we use the prescription Hills urinary dry food too, they both seem to enjoy it. They are much more picky about the wet food though. There aren't many other options out there, Royal Canin makes similar prescription foods but for urinary stuff I think it's just cans.

My vet prescribed Royal Cabin SO for my furry morons, I get it in both can and kibble form. They have prescription treats, too. I would think it's a similar formulation to other urinary prescription food.

# ¿ Dec 10, 2019 16:01

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

I'm feel lucky I got two cats at the same time. They weren't bonded but the shelter staff held one of the cats from cage to cage and I picked a pair that didn't hiss at each other. It took them a few months to start playing together, but now they play every day, groom each other every night, and form cat puddles.

# ¿ Feb 5, 2020 17:18

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

When my vet put one of my morons on Royal Cabin S/O, she said it was fine for the other cat to eat as well. Lucky for me they both love the prescription food way more than the frou frou food I was buying previously.

# ¿ Feb 8, 2020 16:26

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Rotten Red Rod posted:

Some people swear by it but I found it to be a huge waste of money that did nothing at all.

Definitely mixed results as you can see from other goons, but it works like a charm on my two fuzzy morons.

# ¿ Mar 20, 2020 14:28

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

yellowyams posted:

Is it a terrible idea to get a cat next month if I'm planning to move somewhere much smaller within a year or two? I was originally going to wait on it after how painful it was losing Bella, my sweet kitty of 20 years recently but it turns out not having anything to care about or take care of is unbearable and I don't think I can last a whole year like this. But at the same time, I would be devastated if the new cat couldn't adapt to a smaller space after getting used to a bigger one and was never as happy again. Is there any way to avoid this? I was planning to get a second cat after the move to help the first cat stave off boredom but that brings me to my next question, is there any way to ensure that a cat will be chill with other cats if they're going to be the only cat for a while? I know it would be easier to just get a bonded pair now which is what I want to do but I'm not living alone until the move so that's not really an option.

Apologies if these are dumb questions, I was in elementary school when my family got Bella so I have basically no experience with adoption. And this is maybe the dumbest question but uh how do you pick? Do you go to a shelter and they let you spend time with a cat and decide, or do you just look at pictures they show you or do they just pick one for you or what? How do I make sure my cat and I are a good fit for each other?

I would suggest getting two at once, ideally a bonded pair. I got two at the same time and it helped a ton because there were no territory issues. They were not bonded at the time but got along fine at the shelter. Having two is much better than having one: they play with eachother so well that they don't even like to play with me very much! If your apartment only allows one cat you may want to wait until you move.

# ¿ Mar 22, 2020 13:38

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Cats have brains the size of a walnut and I've found they take a while to adjust to anything, but they do adjust. Taking it slow will help, as others have said.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2020 16:47

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Boris Galerkin posted:

Honestly I could never keep a cat that would choose to stay in a single room 24/7 and doesn't interact with me. I get that they are independent animals and all but it takes a non-zero amount of time, effort/energy, and money to take care of one so if I'm not getting anything in return then I just don't see a point.

Do you take this attitude for people, too? Cats are often timid and take time to trust people. You seem to want these good things to happen tomorrow, and they are probably not going to happen tomorrow. It requires time, patience, and care, and you might have delays because cats are not dogs and you have to interact with them differently than dogs. There's a lot of good info in the OP about how to do all of these things. You really do need to let the cat be in the driver's seat when it comes to interacting with people. And for intermixing two cats, the OP advice is still the best I've seen. It took months for my two cats to bond with eachother, and months for them to hop onto the bed. One of mine still hides whenever a person visits, and I've had them for a year and a half.

Some cats, like goons already said, are just hermits. Some cats go on walks with leashes. One of mine plays fetch. She didn't do that during the first year I had her. If you're expecting instant kitten piles and cuddles, I think you're going to be disappointed. If your basis for a relationship with a pet is "what have you done for me lately", I uh think you are going to have a hard time building that trust over time.

# ¿ Mar 23, 2020 18:54

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

I. M. Gei posted:

Our cat — who has never once been outside nor even expressed interest in going outside in his 11+ years of life — suddenly (within the last ~12 hours) seems to be trying to position himself to run out the door whenever it’s open, and we are terrified that he could eventually succeed.

Why might this be?

How can we prevent him from wanting to try again?

No idea about why. As far as prevention...

I use an Ssscat by my front door and it has worked like a charm. You can also put the Ssscat device on a normal can of air duster, which saves a lot of money on refills. I've been on the same can for the last six months or so.

# ¿ Mar 30, 2020 16:10

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Fleta Mcgurn posted:

No bathmat down, no pee. Hmmm...does Luna just need a hobby?

It sounds like Luna has a hobby already.

# ¿ Mar 31, 2020 14:16

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Two feliway multicat dispensers in a thousand square feet turned my cats from acquaintances to cuddle buddies over a few months. Maybe it would have happened anyway, maybe not.

# ¿ May 25, 2020 18:41

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

A second cat to play with

# ¿ Jun 13, 2020 22:53

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Katt posted:

I guess I should wrap up this adventure. Had my cat Molly put down last week. When they gave her the anaesthesia injection and I held her. She kicked me across the wrist so hard that she broke off her claws. Slicing my wrist open and nicking my radial/ulnar artery. What was supposed to be a sombre moment with candles and peace instead became an apologetic vet-nurse scrambling for bandages while I told her it was fine and tried to catch the dripping blood with the palm of my hand and dumping it in the sink so it wouldn't get on the floor (holding the wrist over the sink didn't occur to me at the time) While Molly looked on mostly bored and getting tired.

I killed Molly and she called my treason.

I'm not even mad. The ridiculousness of the whole situation helped me to hold the tears back.

A week and a half later the triple scar is pretty nasty and looks like I tried to kill myself using a hand cultivator and I'll probably have to explain it to every other doctor I visit for the rest of my life. Some people have pet tattoos to remember them by and I have this.

That is harrowing. drat.

# ¿ Jun 18, 2020 22:11

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

My cats also eat from plates and haven't had any issues.

# ¿ Jul 1, 2020 21:54

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Frog Act posted:

anyone got hot tips for convincing cats to get along?

There's this from wayyyy back in the thread. A few goons have recommended these steps I think. It sounds like you may need to separate them for a while and take it slowly.

In addition to these steps, Feliway Multicat worked like a charm for my two idiots, but other goons have tried it with no success so your results may vary. I had kitten piles after six months.

Eggplant Wizard posted:

Seconding what nonanone said about torties not being a breed. That can't possibly make a difference in allergies.

1. Always unless you know she has a history of not getting along with other cats.

2. It might be easier to introduce a younger cat to her so she does not feel threatened. I say this based on my personal experiences, which have always been that queens are pains in the butt about other cats. This is only based on four though. Your tortie might be nice.

3. We definitely need an introduction post. I will do my best, but I have less experience than most so I'll be mostly parroting stuff I've learned from PI. Please add/edit as necessary.

Introducing a new cat to your other cats

When you bring a new cat into your household, both it and your other cats will probably be upset. You would be too if someone thrust a roommate on you. You can minimize the stress by making the introduction gradually.

Stage 0: Acceptance of terms
There will be lots of hissing. This does not mean you are doomed.

Stage 1: Seclusion
Keep the new cat separate from the other cat(s). Make sure it has all the necessities- food, water, litter, attention. Choose somewhere you can hang out with new cat and get to know it, but not your other cat's favorite hangout, either. The cats will all know the others are there, but this stage allows them to get comfortable with there being other scents around. Try switching out each cat's bedding so they can sniff at it. You might also try giving them their meals on either side of a closed door, so they associate food with the new cat's smell. You can switch the cats out to explore each other's areas and get used to scents & places that way, too.

This stage can last a couple of hours to a week or so. You will have to use your judgment on when to advance. If both cats seem comfortable and curious, rather than totally anxious, continue on.

Stage 2: Supervised introductions
Pretty much what it says. Let the cats meet. There will almost certainly be hissing and maybe even some swatting. It's okay to laugh when their tails puff up. You can let these introductions last as long as you like, depending on how the cats interact. The rule of thumb is not to separate them unless (a) you can't be present to supervise anymore or (b) violence erupts.

Violence is not swatting and hissing and puffing up, or even growling and yowling, necessarily. If blood is drawn or the yowls seem to indicate pain rather than aggression, then it's absolutely time to separate them and return to stage 1 for a while.

This stage might last as little as one or two meetings, or it could go on for weeks. If it drags beyond a week please ask and see if we can make some suggestions to make things go more smoothly.

Stage 3: Kitten piles
As the introductions go better and last longer without incident, you will feel comfortable leaving the cats alone, and from there they'll probably soon reach a level of toleration, if not immediate kitten piles. Kitten piles may never happen, honestly, and that's not your fault. If they do, great!

# ¿ Jul 9, 2020 14:18

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Frog Act posted:

thanks for this! this is basically what we've been doing - secluding them with intermittent contact that we supervise carefully. they're separate 99.9% of the time right now and my cat is still pretty spooked and spending a lot of time under the bed, but it sounds like we're going in the right direction but need to be more consistent with our supervised contact.

They haven't been bad because we've been there to break them up, but it's mostly just hissing and paw slaps. we definitely haven't seen any blood or claws and they seem to mostly just hiss angrily and growl at each other. I suppose we should let them try to work it out, but whenever we try my cat runs under the bed and the other one tries to chase him under there. a few times they've both sat under the bed staring at each other angrily but they didn't attack, the attacks seem to be a result (perhaps) of prolonged periods of non-contact between them, almost like the aggressor forgot the other one was around despite constantly smelling his smells. the more aggressive one also likes to sit in front of the closed door of the other one's room and meow and scratch like he wants to get in, but he's upset and shaking a bit when he actually gets in here.

last thing I want to do is incentivize him to attack when we're not paying attention, especially because we want to, one day, be able to leave the house with all the doors open and not have to worry about it, so i guess i'll stay away from a spray bottle and continue to scoop him up / put him in his bedroom when he attacks.

yeah, it's frustrating having to constantly move cats between our two rooms, switch rooms every night, keep an ey e on doors, etc. maybe later today i'll just do what we've done in the past and put them both in the common areas under our supervision and see if they can hash this ridiculous cat grudge out a little bit. i'm also going to buy some feliway, at this point anything is worth trying.

For what it's worth, I switched to the generic feliway because it was much cheaper than the branded version. I also made sure to get the multi-cat kind because there's another kind though I forget what that one is for. I have two diffusers in a 1000 sq ft apartment and have to refill about once a month.

# ¿ Jul 9, 2020 15:51

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

turd in my singlet posted:

my cat has been acting up a bit this spring, occasionally throwing up and having some odd behaviour changes. we took her to the vet and the only thing they found was that her blood sugar was high so they diagnosed her with diabetes and gave us some special cat food. it's been a couple weeks and it seems to be working but the food is expensive as hell. they sold us this Purina veterinary dry food which is $42 for a 6 lb bag; we had been feeding her Iams Healthy Senior dry food which is $20 for 16lb. is it really necessary to spend 5x more for diabetic cat food? it seems exorbitant

I am not a vet, but the information in the old pet food OP recommended sticking with prescriptions.

Crooked Booty posted:

READ THIS DISCLAIMER OR YOUR PET MIGHT DIE: If your veterinarian has recommended a prescription diet in order to manage a medical condition, do what your vet says!
This means foods like Hill's C/D, K/D, S/D, anything/D; Royal Canin SO, LP, MP, HF, DS, etc.; Purina NF, UR, DM, etc.; or any other diet prescribed to manage things like bladder stones/crystals, kidney disease, diabetes, etc. These diets are scientifically tested and proven to help manage the condition your pet is suffering from, and the foods recommended in these posts will almost certainly do harm to your pet. See the FAQ for more info on prescription diets.

I believe we have a vet thread and you may want to ask there. The advice I've always gotten is to take food prescriptions seriously, and I would be very reluctant to sub it out for a cheaper food. My two morons are on Royal Canin SO (only one needs it, but the vet signed off on them both having it) and it's expensive but cheaper from Chewy than the vet. It was only a little bit more expensive than the fancy foods I was buying them before. Being inconsistent with the food led to another ER trip, so it's prescription for life for them now.

# ¿ Jul 12, 2020 17:54

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Kitfox88 posted:

Mostly just how talkative he is, and the sudden burst of it, but if him suddenly meowing a ton and seeking constant pets isn’t a sign of something bad then I don’t mind too much.

Seems most likely it's a sign of him thinking he's not receiving sufficient pets. My cats have two kinda of meows: summoning each other to thunderdome, and trying to get the butler to do something. A lot of the time idiot #1 is meowing it's because he wants me to follow him to a spot he's picked and pet him there.

# ¿ Jul 16, 2020 18:40

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Cowman posted:

Here's our new kitten and he's a total brat! He climbs all over everything and claws the poo poo out of us. Despite all this I still love the hell out of him and am looking for suggestions. We're trying a squirt bottle for when he's being naughty and climbing things he shouldn't or getting into the couch which could be dangerous for him. He also likes to attack us when we are loving on him because he's just so excited to have a home.

We're thinking of getting him a tall cat tree to climb since he adores climbing things. What's a good cat tower that's got plenty of things to play with but will also let him get really high up? Cheaper is better but I don't want something that would fall apart if we look at it funny.

The other thing is how do we get him to stop clawing us at every opportunity? When he starts attacking us when we pet him we usually just put him down and ignore him or try to redirect his attacking to a cat toy if it's nearby.

He's a real sweetheart despite all this.

Is a second kitten an option? That's the usual recommendation. The only thing that can keep up with a kitten is another kitten. And introducing kittens is iirc much easier than integrating adult cats.

As far as cat trees, a lot of people buy Armarkat, I think. You can also build one from 2x4s, carpet, and rope easily. After my hand-me-down cat tree started to fail, I built one that's ugly as hell but is still standing.

# ¿ Jul 19, 2020 14:40

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

In addition to those, you can try an ssscat. Normal air duster cans can be used for refills. I have one by my front door and it very quickly trained both cats.

# ¿ Jul 24, 2020 03:31

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Bioshuffle posted:

I'd love some more information on this. Which kind of air duster cans do you use? I tried to do it myself, and the can wouldn't fit snug.

Whatever the bulk pack from Costco was a year ago... You have to remove the plastic spray nozzle, then the ssscat clamps onto the can.

# ¿ Jul 28, 2020 22:59

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Scoop her up in a towel or blanket and wrap it around her. Wear thick clothing and gloves. Put the towel bundle in the carrier. She'll get free on her own.

I've never had to do it, that's just what I've been told, so take it for what it's worth.

# ¿ Aug 29, 2020 19:27

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Len posted:

I've had to take it apart once and that's because rear end in a top hat drug some paper into the thing and it got stuck mid cycle creating a jam

That cat managed to DOS a litterbox by causing a paper jam. That cat rules.

# ¿ Jan 20, 2021 00:35

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# ¿ Apr 28, 2024 21:07

Sarern: Nov 4, 2008; Won't you take me to
Bomertown?
Won't you take me to
BONERTOWN?

Len posted:

Our AC went out yesterday so it's currently 86 degrees in this apartment it sucks and I hate it. I've put ice in their water and plan to wait until the rental office opens tomorrow to see what their eta on a new unit is before looking into bugging out.

I don't want to that at all but my partner seems adamant that the heat will kill us all. But the prospect of packing the cats, some food, a litter box, and some litter just seems like an unfun time

Are you in the Pacific northwest? If so, it's going to get much hotter than 86 and bugging out is not a bad idea. If 86 is the high, that seems less dire.

# ¿ Jun 27, 2021 20:45

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Pet Island > The Cat FAQ/Megathread: buying a second, clean broom just to use on him