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Ok I have a question I haven't been able to get answered with google and then a question that I'd like to know about. It's a 3-4 month old kitten that's currently on Innova. It's an indoor cat, but lives with a cat who likes to stay outside half an hour a day and sit under the porch and a dog who goes outside to poop. Anyway. 1. The vet says for the entire life of the kitty I have to buy Multi Advantage. When we got him he had a ton of problems, fleas, mites, and worms and still has mites (we're putting 4 drops of tresaderm in his ears twice a day). It looks to be for fleas, worms, ticks, and mites but he's a mostly indoor cat. They said that I have to get it for every single month for the rest of its life. I don't mind blowing $18 more a month on the kitty to keep it healthy, but if it's not needed then I don't want to bother. It doesn't hang outside but one cat does love to go outside and sit under the porch for a bit and paw at the doors to get back in after he's amused himself enough. Oh and the kitty had mites cause we rescued him from a house where there were a lot of kittens in dire need of care. 2. The vet said soft paws don't work and come off easily and that declawing is the only option. She said that declawing comes standard when they neuter them and they prefer not to neuter without doing a declawing too and they rarely don't declaw cats. She also said trimming the nails won't work because they'll be sharp within a day, so you'd have to trim them everyday. I can kind of tell that she's pushing the procedure for the money which I don't want to do or she's just stupid. The big thing is, I can get like 4-5 years worth of Soft Paws for a declaw and if they really do stick I'd prefer to do that. Can cats really sharpen their nails within a day? So in summary, do I need to buy multiadvantage every month of the cats life and do soft paws work and can cats really sharpen their claws in a even after you trim them?
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Jul 25, 2009 03:15
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 11:49 |
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HondaCivet posted:Declawing as a standard? What the fuuuuuuuuck? For the MONEY??? They have a combo package, you get charged more for the neuter if you don't do the declaw. It's like $60 for the neuter and $140 for the declaw or together as a package you get the neuter for $40 and the declaw for $120 (or $160 total saving you 40 bucks). They said it's hard to remember someone who doesn't get the combo because it just makes sense cost wise and it's the right thing to do for the animal. She actually got testy with me when I said I didn't want to do it and would rather just cover them or trim them. The kitty doesn't mind if I expose his claws. He just looks at me while I press on them. The cat isn't doing anything with the claws yet, but I live in a house with someone who doesn't want to run the risk of getting their furniture torn up and wants to be sure the cat doesn't start to shred curtains or sofas. Yuriki fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jul 25, 2009 |
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Jul 25, 2009 04:23
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PLEASE get a second opinion.
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Thanks for all the comments. So I can just get a flea and heartworm medicine and save a little bit of cash? That sounds good. Well, I kind of figured she was a 'lil crazy when she told me that you shouldn't feed cats wet food because it'd cause urinary infections and that it won't have his teeth past the age of 3 and the only food I should feed it is Purina Pro Plan. I told her I was feeding it Innova and she told me it might die because that food doesn't meet the proper inspection that Purina gives all of its food, but she'd be there whenever it got sick because of my poor decisions. I shrug'd that off as corporate shilling though. I'll probably drive 20 miles or so to go to a different vet from now.
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Jul 25, 2009 04:59
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ChairmanMeow posted:This vet is thread worthy, that is batshit I made a thread here to avoid making GBS threads up this thread about pyschovet anymore and from the Pet Nutrition thread it seems like a lot of other people have lovely vets who recommend the craziest poo poo.
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Jul 25, 2009 07:40
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Lawen posted:Any first hand accounts of how well Soft Paws work? Put 'em on the front and they last longer (hind claws don't matter). When Oreo gets to be a real rear end in a top hat we throw 'em on and they last awhile. Make sure they're the right size, otherwise the cat will bite them off. If you do it right it'll last about two months. If they're good big they'll last 2 weeks - a month. I bought a laser pointer and the cats go freaking crazy for it. Oreo likes to tear up all of his toys and roll them under the couch, but the laser pointer drives him and the other cat bonkers. I've never seen the kind of paranoia and speed when it comes to a red dot on the ground. I throw one of his balls down when I'm done so he doesn't get too frustrated that there isn't nothing at the end to catch, which seems reasonable right.
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Sep 26, 2009 21:34
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I'm going to go get my kitten neutered soon since he'll be six months old or thereabouts. Anything special I should know/look out for after it's done? Do they just stitch em up and it's done or will there be bandages or something similar?
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Sep 28, 2009 02:00
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pandafan posted:Cat eating hands. Kittens do that because that's how they play. You have to yelp at her and let her know that's bad and you won't tolerate it. It works because my kitten stopped doing it after a bit of being firm, yelping, and just ignoring him for a bit. Don't chastise her or be mean btw and avoid petting their tummy especially if they're new to you. You need to let her know it's not cool, but in a good way. Stuff is in the op about that. Spaying will help smooth out her behavior too. Get that poo poo done soon. quote:Claws and small living space You need to clip the nails and give her a scratching post for her to scratch on, otherwise she's going to keep on screwing things up. See the 1000 posts around about scratching posts. If it's too much of a problem you can get the softpaws (info in the op) and they work well enough. As for a small living space, make sure she's got vertical space/climbing area. If you can get a nice cat tree and put it in the corner you'll do a lot more for the kitty than having more horizontal space. I've known people with kitty cats in shitbox apartments who gave their cats lots of vertical space and the kitties seemed quite happy and had a lot more room to play in. quote:What food do you use? Eukanuba Kitten food, and some Max Cat wet food. I've been thinking of switching to wet food though because I keep reading that its better. Go read the pet nutritional thread on what to feed your kitty. There is better food for the same price than that if you want to feed her well.
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Oct 17, 2009 23:49
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While off the topic of free feeding, what's up with cats and laptops? My kitten will do ANYTHING to get on the laptop's keyboard and lay down on it. I can do a lot of things to get him off, but he loves that keyboard. I also see a lot of pictures with cats on laptops, so I can only imagine it's a common cat thing.
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Oct 30, 2009 04:57
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Dangbe posted:I read through the first couple pages of this post and didn't see anything about the financial responsibilities of owning a cat. I am planning on adopting a cat in the very near future and I want to know about how much money the cat will cost me a month. This is not including any of the initial investment, just litter, food, whatever else I may have to purchase on a regular basis. Also about how much is it for a vet visit? Litter is about $8 for a big bag of it at Wal-Mart. It will last you a long, long time and is really a non-factor as long as you scoop regularly. It'll last you a few months with regular scooping. Cat food, it depends on what you buy. If you want to do your cat good and buy a premium food, it can be about $20 to $50 a 15lb bag which lasts 2-3 months depending on how hungry your cat gets. It might last more, I just know my two cats go through a bag in about 1.5 months. So that'd be $10 to $25 a month. Cheaper cat food can be anywhere from $5-25 a month, but may cause health problems later. Go to the pet nutrition thread and read it, for real. Call your local pet stores to see what they carry and the price. Vet visits for an annual checkup are about $30-$50 dollars. If your cat gets sick expect $50-$100 bucks. If it's an overnight thing, expect $200ish and if it's an emergency surgery/really bad/etc. expect $1000. Well, that's what my vet charges, but you can call around to vets and they'll be rather upfront about the prices. The emergency charges are a "probably will never happen, but could" kind of thing and you need to have the money available to get an exam if your cat starts getting sick, at the very least, at all times.
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Nov 2, 2009 20:29
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Fire In The Disco posted:My cats' favorites are the kind on fishing poles (including the BEST TOY EVER MADE, Da Bird), so it's often just me replacing beat up toys that hang from the pole. I went and picked one of these up in petsmart today and my kitten goes nuts over this thing. It's the first toy so far that's made him do flips and twirls in the air as he was playing. I had to put it down because he got too excited, it's that good. The old, fat, lazy cat that's not even mine even started jumping for this thing and he'll barely move to anything else. That is awesome.
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Nov 7, 2009 01:19
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Tiko posted:Any tips on preparing for bringing home a new cat? I want it to be him/her to be as comfortable as possible while getting used to new surroundings Go read the pet nutrition thread to learn about good food and be sure to find out what the humane society is feeding their cats and buy a bag of that too. You need to transition a cat off of one food and on to the other in a two week period of time or so. Look at the lists of poison for cats and look at aspca's list and cross check to see if you have anything in your house that the cat can get into. There is a lot more advice that I'm not an expert on, but I was a first time pet owner and thought the shinny super expensive bags of food at the store were the best because the vet was so adamant about it. I was so wrong  Cats can jump really high too. My kitten was able to hop up on my table and knock a lot of expensive electronics off. I didn't get mad at him, I just made sure nothing is on the edge of the tables anymore. At 7 months he can jump on every table in the house and halfway across the rooms so remember that.
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Nov 16, 2009 10:18
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I have the original one, got it at petsmart for way way cheap (like 15-20 bucks) and it works just fine and has the added benefit that Oreo can knock the top off of it when he wants to be a bigger rear end in a top hat than normal reminding me to tape it down. Although, higher capacity is pretty important with multiple cats IMO and if they all drink from it. Oreo drinks from it exclusively and Tigger (who is about 8 years old) drinks from the normal water bowl. Oreo will run it low in a day or two and it'll start making its gurgling sound. "Low" isn't all the water, but more of what's enough to make the water level go below the drain, which doesn't seem to be a lot. If more than one cat was going to drink from it I would get the bigger model for sure.
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Nov 21, 2009 05:44
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Any holiday cat advice? Tree setup tips, things that are common around the holiday but really bad for cats? I put up a 5 foot tall tree today and placed all the ornaments off the base of the tree, but I'm curious if there is more I should do to prevent him from trying to climb it and crash it to the ground.
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Nov 27, 2009 21:07
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spatula posted:When my kitten gets neutered will he be less annoying? I mean, they have to chill out a little bit once you cut their balls out, right? Serious question. My kitten got his snipped about, hrm, a month agoish, and he's still as big of an rear end in a top hat as ever. I just figure cutting their balls out just makes them hate you a bit more. He spent the morning meowing to wake everyone up and is now taking to pulling down every wreath in the house. He still play fights with Tigger, too, but afterward they cuddle and clean each other.
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Dec 2, 2009 19:16
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I don't know about your cat, but mine hides socks in this cheap cat tent he has. He also will hide his toys in there, except for a dolphin keychain thing which he runs around the house with and keeps near him the majority of the time. As for anything that rolls on the floor, rubber or plastic, he will lose them and I'll never see them again. If your cat is like mine and he loses a toy he likes, he'll try to paw under wherever it rolled. I stopped buying mine any small toys that he can lose unless I'm around to watch him play with it because of that same problem. He's got larger rolling balls if he has to play with something and they're too big to fit under anything.
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Dec 4, 2009 04:22
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madlilnerd posted:gently caress our kitten has started peeing in the corner of the lounge. Has your kitten used the litter box before? If it's not a medical issue then you need to put the little one in a litter box and rub her paws into the litter nicely to show that she can dig into it. I think that's in the OP. quote:This whole getting a new kitten thing is causing a lot of friction in our house, actually My kitten would bite the poo poo out of me when I first got him, but if you follow the advice in the OP and yelp at her and leave her alone then she'll get the hang of it. Kittens bite, they're going to do it, and they're not bad kittens for it. You just have to teach them that it's not OK and it hurts you. Kittens are assholes and will climb and sit on everything. It's a ritual now to gently pick Oreo up and put him in the floor then wash my hands multiple times while cooking. It's just a fact of life.
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Dec 21, 2009 04:55
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The first time Oreo went for DA Bird, he jumped in the air over and over and over again in a frenzy and got out of breath and was going to to keep jumping, I just put it down until he calmed down. Tigger, the fatty, tried his best to jump and tired himself out too. It's a shame that I accidentally let him catch it a few too many times. I laughed so hard everytime he'd catch it, put it in his mouth and then run like the wind with it. I need to get some refills for it, it's seriously the best toy ever. I wish it was way more durable though, he ripped it apart in a week or two because he'd jump high enough to catch it sometimes and when he did it was his.
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Feb 16, 2010 05:51
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Oreo, my kitten, is coming up on a year old but he's built a habit of clawing at cardboard boxes. I'm thinking a nice scratching post would make him happier and less likely to tear into cardboard. What's the best inexpensive scratching post? I'd like something that wasn't too much money, but nice enough it'd last and keep him happy.
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Feb 22, 2010 05:06
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Engineer Lenk posted:What about cardboard cat scratchers? The doublewide ones are about $8 at Trader Joe's. That sounds right up his ally, how sturdy at they usually? If they last awhile before he can tear them all the way up then that's perfect, but he gets pretty aggressive on his cardboard and $100 wouldn't be a bad investment if it lasted for years. If you were to build your own, what would be best for the scratchy part (like a certain kind of carpet or something)? I can grasp the basic concept of building it with the wood and it might be an interesting project. Also Oreo's only friend is Tigger, an old fat cat who just wants to cuddle while Oreo wants to take socks, scrunchies, hair bands, and all of his toy mouses and put them in his cat house (this cardboard box he WILL NOT tear at).
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Feb 22, 2010 05:41
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| # ¿ Apr 25, 2024 11:49 |
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Cardboard scratchers work wonders. I got one for Oreo and they tore the box it came in to hell and back, then they nudged the cardboard part near the staircase. Him and Tigger fought over who got to sit on it, he won, then Tigger nudged the box down the staircase with Oreo on top. He ended up surfing down the staircase. It's still intact too after lots of brutal scratching and fighting over who gets to sit on it.
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Mar 28, 2010 11:01
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