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Archive through October 23, 2005

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Sep. ~ Nov.: Hairball Haven: Cats (ARCHIVES): Archive through October 23, 2005 users admin

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Redstar
Member

07-08-2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 12:06 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Redstar a private message Print Post    
Hurrah for Bopper!

I'd never thought about leash training a cat before - we didn't do that when I was growing up, and when I tried to put a collar on Phoebe (years and years ago) you'd have thought I had put fire ants around her neck! In fact, I was terrified that Phoebe would hurt herself before I could catch her to take it off.

After reading the posts here, I may try it with Emma. She is outgoing, people friendly, curious, and hates to be cooped up. REALLY hates to be cooped up. She goes around the house pushing all the doors ALL the way open and SCREAMS if she gets shut in a room (or closet, or, heaven forbid, the kitty carrier!). It would be great fun to take her places with me.

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 12:43 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
Glad to hear Bopper is back home.

That Typo is something else, huh?

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 1:09 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
Yes, Typo is something incredible.

Bopper is now eating and drinking. He still prefers mostly mush, but we also picked up some senior cat milk and some flavoring that we can use to moisten his wet food.

He is now peacefully sleeping on a therma-mat in an empty cubby in Bill's desk. He'll also curl up in the carriers, so we haven't put those away yet. We just want him to feel safe.

Typo seemingly wants to take a nap...so, I'll be back later.

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 2:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
So glad to hear Bopper is doing well and what a character you have in Typo!! What a great kitty!

My problem with leash training a cat is, it makes them want to go outdoors even more and when my kids would take Misha out on our deck, I had to constantly watch her that she wasn't sneaking out. She's so quiet and she did make it more than a few times. At first she used to just plop down on the deck, then she'd go to the driveway and plop down and finally I found out in the back of the yard and next under the next-door neighbor's car. She promptly got a collar with bells on it! Even with that, she managed to sneak out not too long ago and we were so surprised to see her sitting on the deck railing looking at us! I just find it's easier to keep her (and my other cats before her) strictly as in-door cats since I didn't want to risk them getting out and who knows what! I think it's great if you all can train your kitties to just want to go out when they're on a leash. I wasn't so fortunate with mine. After she sneaked out with a bell on her collar already, I found some more to put on and she sounds like "jingle cat" walking around. LOL Maybe I should get her a Santa outfit this Christmas!

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 2:55 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
I won't be taking my kitties outside because I don't want to expose them to fleas nd other parasites and I'm pretty sure it would make them way more likely to break for an open door, even though I'm awfully watchful and tend to slither out a door sideways.. I'm a paranoid mom, for sure.

Supergranny
Member

02-03-2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 3:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Supergranny a private message Print Post    
So glad to hear Bopper is okay. Dealing with older cats can be a worry.
Our last two cats Lupe & Bo, both manx, were hysterical when we tried to harness and leash train. Lupe would stiffen her legs so here I was dragging her along and she was going boing...boing...boing. Bo went completely limp so I tried dragging and coaxing him along. On the stairs he would be so limp he would be the stair shape. I finally gave up but when ever we had company we would get out the leashes to put on the show. Ohhh I miss my cats!

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 3:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
Oh Tater - I had a terrible experience last summer with a stray. I fell in love w/him - he was obviously very young and it was the consensus of the neighbors that he had been abandoned when someone moved. Grrrrrrrrrrr! Anyway, I rescued him from a pitbull that was after him but I was afraid to bring him inside, plus DH wouldn't have liked that. The lady next-door and I fed him and he put on quite a bit of weight. My DD & later my DS both worked at our cat vet so I know the ladies who do rescue who work there. They were totally over-run with cats and had no foster homes available. Same story with all the other rescues. The one lady told me if I could find a foster for him, they'd take care of his vet work. I found a friend who would take him so I brought him into the vet for testing. The good news was he was FIV neg and FLK neg. I mentioned to them that I noticed he was sometimes unsteady on his feet and he had this goofy looking smile. The vet did a more intense eye exam and found he had hemorrhages behind his eyes. Without a great deal of testing, they couldn't be sure if it was from infection or injury so because he had neurological damage, he was deemed unadoptable and they put him down. I felt soooooo bad. It was a whole summer ago and I still think about him. There's a stump in the yard behind us and I often look back there thinking he might be there.

They thoroughly cleaned out and sterilized my carrier I had brought him in and fortunately, I had been very careful whenever I petted him to wash, wash and wash my hands and if he had been on my lap, I'd even change clothes. I just couldn't risk something being passed on to Misha. They weren't sure if it was an injury since he didn't seem to have any healed fractures, etc., but I still think it was something like shaken-baby syndrome or someone hit him hard in the head. Poor baby. I hope you have a much happier ending with the guy who was brought to you!

It's funny - years ago, we didn't know about all the vaccinations and diseases and we often just lucked out with the animals all being OK. They all went outdoors, etc. Some lived to a ripe old age, but when I lost my cat right before I got married to infection at age 7, I was convinced none of my kitties were going outside anymore.

Sea - Fleas are another reason I don't want my cat outside. We went through a terrible flea problem with indoor cats years ago. It was awful! Funny thing is, we do have a dog, but with her getting her flea treatments, I don't even have to put anything on Misha. I hate fleas!!!

Lkunkel
Member

10-29-2003

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 7:34 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lkunkel a private message Print Post    
For me, part of training Typo to a leash is to help him learn some inner discipline--especially since as my familiar he'll be around burning candles. He already will come to a stop if I say his name, but during some of the rituals, he needs to move with me.

With Punk, he was older when I started practicing, and he would sit in the center of the circle. Typo is just a baby, and he needs some discipline.

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 8:07 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
wow, i treid many times to teach mine top walk on a leash, they didnt mind the leash, but no matter what i did, treats, get down and wak with them,pull,lol they would flop down and not move and belloew loud, would make someone who came by thinking im toruring them,lol, so i gave up

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Thursday, October 20, 2005 - 10:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
Oh, Misha could sure use some discipline in the house so they could leash away with her here! LOL I was such a bad tired mommy the other day that I forgot I had locked her in her carrier right next to the computer when she got up on the entertainment center and started knocking things down in the middle of the night. DS went to school and I heard her cry and I went searching and couldn't find her. I figured she got upstairs and likes to howl outside the closed bedroom doors and she would come down eventually. Later I heard her crying again and I'm searching all over when I walk in the room and I'm thinking ....Oh NO!!!!!!!! I forgot I put you in your carrier!! She was very forgiving though. She ate and then snuggled w/me all afternoon. I know one of my unfurry kids wouldn't have been so forgiving!!

Redstar
Member

07-08-2005

Friday, October 21, 2005 - 10:43 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Redstar a private message Print Post    
Poor Misha! I made an outfit just for her:

pic

Now all she needs is a tiny tin cup to drag along the cell bars.

Supergranny
Member

02-03-2005

Friday, October 21, 2005 - 12:42 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Supergranny a private message Print Post    
How cute and what a good girl to let you dress her up.

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Friday, October 21, 2005 - 3:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
LOL Red. I love it!!!!

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Friday, October 21, 2005 - 4:02 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
Too funny!!

Pamy
Member

01-02-2002

Friday, October 21, 2005 - 4:46 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Pamy a private message Print Post    
Red! that is great!! hahaha I loved kitty costumes!

Lizziedi
Member

10-05-2005

Saturday, October 22, 2005 - 9:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Lizziedi a private message Print Post    
Hi all, I've been sick, but now back and just getting around to checking the boards. Again, thanks for the great welcome & thanks, Pamy, for the folder.

A lot has happened since I was last here. I'm so glad that Bopper has come through all of this. I am one of those people who refused teeth cleaning for fear of the anasthesia. My best friend's puppy, a 4 lb Maltese, actually died on the table from an overdose of anasthesia (he was revived, and is healthy to this day!) It was just this last year that my very excellent, patient vet explained to me that, with a well trained anasthesiologist, the risk is minimal. So, finally I had my older cat's teeth cleaned, and he came through with flying colors.

Shadoe-lovely cats. I had first thought that Shadoe was the smaller one. Laughed about "the shape of a football". That's exactly the shape of my older cat, Fig, when I look down on him.

Also gald to hear Costa is holding his own.

LOL at the Angelina Burrito and the Redstar's little jailbird in the above photo.



Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 5:05 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
I think Shadoe belongs in the weird topic; she truly has weird eating habits.

For any dish of moist food, she pushes chunks out of the dish and then looks around to find the ones she wants to eat.
Shadoe sorting her food

She then takes her 'find' down to the rug to eat it. You can see some crumbs from dry biscuits she had just eaten.
Shadoe eating on rug
It has to be a really special kind of food to get her to break this ritual.

Another thing she does that is odd is she paws at the floor on either side of the water bowl before drinking. Sometimes she will hook a paw around it and move the bowl to a better spot. I have seen cats dip their paw in water before drinking but what's with this floor thing? I don't have a pic of it; I just stare at her when she does this.

Redstar, I am not sure I like the look in Misha's eyes. I see the gears turning, Misha's thinking about how to get even.


Halfunit
Moderator

09-02-2001

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 5:46 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Halfunit a private message Print Post    
Loki thinks Misha and Shadoe are funny!





Goddessatlaw
Member

07-19-2002

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 9:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Goddessatlaw a private message Print Post    
OK once again advice needed. Maximus Pussimus, our little 10-month-old kitty who is actually turning out to be one bigass farm cat type-deal, is the sweetest love cat who never met a stranger. He is feral, so it's probably the last characteristic we expected from him, but he loves everyone and everyone loves him. No lap goes un-laid upon when he's around. Also, he's the world's most easy-going cat. I seriously have never seen him fuzz and hiss, even though he gets fuzzed and hissed at on the regular. He just looks at them like "whatever." Dogs are his friends. Kittens are seriously his friends, he is a real caretaker. Good good kitty most of the way around.

Here's the problem: Max is a relentless treat-hound the likes of which I've never seen. It's like having a shark in the house that never sleeps, forever trolling for food. He always has a bowl of hard food to nibble, which he doesn't he unhinges his jaw and swallow multiple pieces without chewing. If he thinks anyone has food in their hands, he loses his mind and will take off your hand getting the food from it you don't even have a chance to defend yourself. No other cat has a chance for food around him, the food is his end of discussion. If there is soft food available it is swallowed whole without tasting it. And worst of all, Max seems to think he is underfed. We can't keep him off the countertops (and yes, we've tried the "No" spray), and last night he actually figured out how to scale the pantry shelves to get to a loaf of bread (which he tore open and ate) and bags of cat food (which he also tore open and ate). He is freaking relentless in trolling for treats. We've tried "No" spray, we've tried water-bottle spraying, we've put foil on surfaces we don't want him on, we put him in the garage with no treats and lights out for punishment when we catch him. Nothing is working.

Does anyone know the number for a good cat psychologist? Or better yet, some advice on how to teach a feral cat that the meal in front of them is not their last? This is seriously turning into a problem, not just from the standpoint that he's frustrating the hell out of us, but he's getting fat and on his way to obese. Not because of the food we're giving him - from the food he's grabbing behind our backs. . Any help on this would be GREATLY appreciated.

In other kitty news, a little foo-foo of a four-week-old kitten came crawling out of the woods by our house about 6 weeks back. Baby orange tabby, looked just like PussPuss as a kitten. Tried to attach himself to the neighbor's labrador, thinking it was his mother. We took in the little foo-foo, found him a home and raised him for the next four weeks until he was eating on his own and able to fend for himself (his new home has a herding dog and an older kitty). Boy this little baby was fun to have around - he and Max played hide and seek, chased each other around, and generally had a very good time snuggling and licking each others' ears. Unfortunately because of our travel schedule, we weren't able to keep the little sweetpea or we'd have officially turned into the weird cat people next door. The new owner decided to name him something that rhymed with "Foof" since that's what we called him in the short term. His new name is Rufus Foofus LOL. Here's his picture:

Rufus Foofus

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 9:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
He looks a lot like our feral who we've been feeding for about 2 years. You don't touch Tomboy though; about 2 feet is as close as I can get.

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 9:24 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
We had a cat similar to Max. He was a great big guy and I have never seen anyone (person or pet) who loved food more. The guy was obsessed! There was no “cure” but like Max, he made up for it in other ways. Besides, you’ve got to love a guy who likes to eat!

Halfunit
Moderator

09-02-2001

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 9:41 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Halfunit a private message Print Post    
I had a cat who opened cupboards and ate food. My solution?



Good luck, Gal!


Hypermom
Member

08-13-2001

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 9:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Hypermom a private message Print Post    
Half, I'm LMAO at Loki's picture!

Red, I love Misha's outfit. lol

GAL, maybe your vet would have an idea about curbing Max's food habit?



Shadoe, my Mom's cat would do that with food also. It drove me nuts when I'd have her at my house during the winter. I tried putting her bowl up higher, but she would still paw out food.

DD emailed Anabelle's newest picture. She's getting big! She came to visit on Friday and wanted to play with my two kitties. One couldn't be bothered, but the other one batted and hissed at her for a bit. Then, they chased each other around for an hour or two. My DH thought he'd take a nap. Anabelle decided he didn't need one. She would jump up by his head and put her paws on his eye lids to wake him up. lol



Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 10:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
My skinny black cat likes to open cupboards too.
She's not after food; she just wants to annoy me.

In the middle of the night, she will hook her nails under the edge of a kitchen cupboard and pull. She likes how the noise of the door slamming shut each time makes me angry.
If she pulls too hard and the door stays open, her game is over and she just walks away. I should just open up all the cupboards before I go to bed so I can get a full nite's sleep.

About getting into food bags - I put all bags into closed hard plastic containers and then I stack the containers.

I think I would call a vet or animal hospital for some tips as letting him keep eating to the point of obesity will result is big health issues later.
For some reason, worms come to my mind.

Have you tried to train by time? Shadoe knows now when she can expect treats: there are 3 times a day that she can have a few treats. She knows I will just laugh at her if she asks at other times.
Also, separate food dishes and in different rooms
About the food you are eating, I have been trained to put a smal plate of the same food for Shadoe. That way she knows she has the same thing as I do. Maybe if you are giving, he won't think he has to be taking.

Animals are like sly tricky little kids; if you let them get away with something, they go for it! It's not easy, but repetition may help. You can't do much about cats going wherever they like - they don't care what you want. You can try putting him in a carry case or confining to one room when you are not around or when he has been naughty.

I believe that once the animal has that hunger search, that survival instinct in them, it's not going anywhere even with time.

Urgrace
Member

08-19-2000

Sunday, October 23, 2005 - 11:00 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Urgrace a private message Print Post    
Hmmm it sounds like Maximus may have worms. I know cats like to eat at their leisure, but this seems Maxed out!

Shadoe is just like my black cat Jujukitty!

However last night I could have wrung a pretty black fur neck. Juju decided to talk and talk up and down the hall last night around 1:45 am. I am guessing there was another cat prowling around outside the front window. Between the two of them I didn't get much sleep then or afterwards.