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Mamapors
Member
07-29-2004
| Monday, January 30, 2006 - 3:39 pm
Thanks Sea--a trip to Petsmart is in order. I am going to try a diet thing before I rush her off to the vet. Now that I think about it, it could be she is not chewing her food well. It is always the dry good that makes her throw-up, not the wet food. Good advice!!
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Mameblanche
Member
04-13-2005
| Monday, January 30, 2006 - 7:23 pm
Sea, the cat I was referring to Georgie Girl, was 13 1/2 when she died from her kidneystones. Her sister Pitzy Mitzy made it to 19 years. And my current girls Bandit and her daughter Scooter are about 11 and 9. All my girls have been indoor kitties...
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Monday, January 30, 2006 - 7:50 pm
And all the better for being indoor kitties, too!
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Monday, January 30, 2006 - 11:35 pm
Just popping in for a couple quick comments. Re: the Barfing Business. My girls still barf at times but nothing like before. I feed them wet food but it seemed to be the dry food creating the issues. Then my Niece pointed out that the dry Chef's Blend I was feeding (and kitties REALLY liked) was different colors and full of dyes. She had me switch to Purina Original formula, which after a couple of days they took to without complaint, and it seriously cut down on the problems. Simultaneously I give them that Eukanuba Hairball Relief pellets nowadays, but started that a couple years later. It was switching to the boring undyed dry food that instantly made a difference from what I saw. As far as the kitty litter, I use Johnny Kat regular litter and we've had very good luck. Can't stand the Tidy Cat because the smells of perfumes drive ME/MYSELF nuts (and one box is in my bedroom), even if it is cheaper. - - - BUT!!! I read several years ago that there's serious problems with that clump-type litter. That cats still lick their paws and they can get that clay material (that provides the clumping factor) accumulating in their systems. It just doesn't pass until there's an obstruction. Not wanting to scare anyone, but perhaps someone else knows more about the issue and able to discuss it here. I DO know the regular type kitty litter is a pain in the buttinksy and totally inconvenient, though. If I had a nickel for every 5-lbs of kitty litter I've bought in my life...I would be a VERY RICH woman! Bisc
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Sunrvrose
Member
08-13-2001
| Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 12:04 am
Biscottiii, I don't worry about the clumping litter problem. My cats have to walk thru 2 rooms, on carpet, before they tend to flop and groom. I figure any dangerous particles are gone by then. I am an Arm & Hammer Super Scoop believer. I actually have 3-5 cats using the litter box every day. I sure prefer a perfume scent to the scent of kitty poo-poo. I hate Johnny cat clay litter and any other clay litters. On another note...I crack myself up every time that I go to the store for kitty litter and cat food. I get a kick out of commenting to the cashier, "I'm payin' to put in in, and I'm payin' to put it out."
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Costacat
Member
07-15-2000
| Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 8:36 am
Just FYI... all of the "problems" described with clumping letter are, for the most part, anecdotal. Although there have been no scientific studies to prove either way, it is generally accepted that grown cats have no problems with clumping litter however kittens should use regular "sand" litter. And, in behavioral tests, cats prefer the clumping litter over the sand litter more often than not. Finally, never ever keep your cats food or water bowl(s) near the litter box. Keeping them separate will reduce the risk of transfer. And anyways, would YOU want to eat where YOU go to the bathroom? 
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Biscottiii
Member
05-29-2004
| Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 9:13 pm
Costa ~ Keeping them separate will reduce the risk of transfer. And anyways, would YOU want to eat where YOU go to the bathroom? Transfer of what? Don't know anybody that would likely stick food w/poo next to each other, unless they lived in a one room studio apt. That's what kitchens were invented for - to provide space for kitty dishes. Even in a studio apt scheme, the precious pussycats would likely be served in crystal dishes up on top of the dining table. Good to hear that the clumping stuff wasn't really an issue. I read that not long after that clumping type litter came out I believe. Bisc.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Tuesday, January 31, 2006 - 9:52 pm
Mama.. my litter boxes won't be found at Petsmart.. they are Rubbermaid tubs.. they have handles and even lids.. the lids make nice mats to hold food and water bowls with a lip that helps catch stray dry food Think Target, Wal*Mart, KMart, etc.. OK.. I know they are easy to find but online? Going crazy here. Here is a similar, but more expensive model Previous Item Next Item Related Titles Latching Storage Tote 22-gallon tote with latching handles reduces likelihood of spills if tipped over. Base and lid opaque to hide contents. Durable polyethylene is shatterproof to zero degrees. 17-3/8w x 18-1/2d x 26-3/8h. Blue

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Jimmer
Member
08-30-2000
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 7:40 am
Wow .... those look pretty deep for the cat to get in and out of!
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 11:41 am
Yes that is deeper than what I use.. also way more expensive.. honestly, what I use can be found in any Target or Kmart.. all three of ours are blue.
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Hypermom
Member
08-13-2001
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 12:45 pm
My furry grand baby, Anabelle, is getting big! She's already twice the size of one of my cats. She does crack me up when my DD brings her to my house. She plops down by my cats and just watches them. They hiss at her and walk in slow motion around each other. lol

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Mizinvanccouver
Member
02-22-2003
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 12:54 pm
Hypermom-Anabelle is GORGEOUS! What a beautiful coat she has...adn the tail...so pretty!!! Thanks for sharing.
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Mameblanche
Member
08-24-2002
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 2:21 pm
Pretty kitty!
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 2:51 pm
Reading and skimming through the thread... Baby, I have two cats that turned 19 last Sept. Their grooming and using the litter box correctly gradually went downhill, but it was gradual. Many times a week now I find puddle spots on the puppy pads surrounding the boxes (they have 3 side by side). (1 clumping and 2 crystals). They are both in kidney failure (no pain) now, one has been for a few years (her labs do not get worse though). This means they drink and pee a LOT. Between the boxes I keep clumping litter. Sometimes there are piles on the outsides of the boxes too, usually stuck to the top a bit. They think because their paws are in the box that their butts are too. I don't have lids, at one point back when they had one or two boxes, I took the lid(s) off for some reason. I was afraid to put it back on, that the lid would scare them away from the box and they'd find some place else to go and be forever compulsed to go in that new place! As I said though, this was very gradual. The one cat is not doing so well. The vet today told me we may be nearing the end with her. We think she probably has been having seizures at times. She threw up an immense amount of water today. The vet says she probably has a brain tumor. She isn't in pain, but something neurological is going on that isn't good. The vet was nice enough to see her today on her day off. I'm sad but hopeful. The other cat got very sick a couple of mos. ago and made it through and is just fine and dandy. So many people told me to put her to sleep. All it took was a bunch of med and she got better. I don't know if it will be the same with the one that is sick now. Different types of sicknesses too. Oh, incidentally, other than their teeth (and lab work) and a couple times they've been sick, the vet said she'd never know they were so old. Also, one of the ladies that works there had a cat live to 25. I've know lots of cats living many many more years than 3 or 9.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 3:59 pm
Happymom, it just breaks my heart how one day they are a nice fresh kitten and it seems like the next day they are making plans to go ahead and meet us at the rainbow bridge. Time flies!
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 4:42 pm
Time does fly. I was just telling my kids that I wish they could have known them as kittens or at least I wish we'd had a video camera back then. The weird thing is that they don't age like dogs. Our dog is so gray in her face that was once so black you couldn't see her eyes in photos, but our cats look just the same...the one still has her kitten face! She never lost it. She does seem a little better than this morning. At least she's not throwing up. (She is on med. to control that.) She did have subQ fluids. She still looks way off though and her pupils aren't as reactive as they should be. Poor little kitty.
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Ophiliasgrandma
Member
09-04-2001
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 4:58 pm
I am so sad for you. We always have their ageing in the backs of our minds, but when the time actually arrives, knowing that it was coming doesn't make it any easier.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 5:13 pm
Aw thanks. It is comforting me that you wrote. I appreciate you.
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Seamonkey
Moderator
09-07-2000
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 6:57 pm
{{{Happymom}}} Believe me, I treasure every day with Critter at her age. The box I use may be discontinued but it is a Rubbermaid Roughneck tote Roughneck and if that is the right one (no dimensions shown) and that is really the price for 12 of them.. maybe I should snap them up.. but I have three.
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 8:10 pm
Thanks for the hugs Sea. It's my Cashmere who looks just like your Angelina, if I remember correctly. I just checked on her, she's breathing. They sleep so soundly when they're old. She is also deaf or mostly deaf. I do worry about her sister too. I hope she's not freaking out with how weird Cashmere is acting at times.
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Watching2
Member
07-07-2001
| Wednesday, February 01, 2006 - 9:37 pm
{{{{{{{{{Hypermom}}}}}}}}}} I lost by beloved Jade to kidney failure 3 yrs ago and I still miss her. She was 16 at the time. When I got her to the vet, well, I just wanted to get her there before she died at home. Don't think I could have handled that, but he said there was really nothing he could do except try to extend her life for another few days and then she'd be back in the same state. She was having tremors w/her neurological system shutting down. I just couldn't let her suffer one min. more, but it was one of the hardest things I can remember doing, at least in the last few years. It was only the last few months when she would pee outside of her box and only a couple of times. The last day I left her on my bed to take my son to school and she had wet on it while I was gone. She also drank a lot and was getting super thin but acted fine up until that last weekend and then she went down fast. She was wheezing and I sat in the bathroom with the shower on like I did w/the kids when they had bad colds, etc., to give her some relief. The vet said she was so thin he didn't know if he could even get in a vein to treat her. I felt bad that none of the kids were home to say goodbye, but I couldn't let her suffer. I was mess for days and barely made it home from the vet. Uggh.. I hate thinking about it. My dog is getting very old and had a spell last fall but so far, she's ok. I dread the time coming for her. Actually, my dog has some gray on her muzzle but nothing like I've seen other dogs and my cat just got darker with age (she was a sealpoint Siamese) and never did look elderly either. You have my thoughts and prayers.
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Hypermom
Member
08-13-2001
| Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 7:57 am
Miz and Mame, thanks! She's a very fun and funny kitty! She keeps my old lady's hopping when she is here. ((((Happymom))))
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Happymom
Member
01-20-2003
| Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 9:23 am
Hypermom, thanks. Watching, I wonder if Cashmere's going through what Jade went through. I am so sorry about Jade. I don't know that Cashmere is shutting down though. I have some questions for the vet. Last we checked, sometime last fall I think or just before Christmas, her labs hadn't changed...her kidney failure hadn't advanced at all over the past yr-18 mos, I think. I am waiting for the vet to call. Cashmere seems a little better than yesterday. She did drink some water last night and some tuna water this morning. I slept about 3 hrs. last night and was afraid of how she'd be this morning. My youngest daughter had such a hard time falling asleep last night. Anyway, her eyes look more with it and she is walking wobbly instead of collapsing like she did last night...her back legs just wouldn't cooperate. The vet and I don't think she's in pain. We think something is going on in her brain and affecting her balance and one side of her body more. She mentioned a possible brain tumor. We probably aren't going to find out for sure though. I was able to hold her for a couple of hours last night and clean her up some and get some of the mats out of her fur. She is normally too restless to be held for long. She was just so weak last night. I'm glad she's some stronger now. She was also on phenyl barbitol for a few days and I think she's a little clearer headed now that she's not had any for about 36 hrs. I'm rambling. Hypermom, Annabelle is so beautiful and she sure does look big!
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Calamity
Member
10-18-2001
| Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 1:03 pm
Cashmere Happymom: Thinking and praying for you and your kitty cats. I know what a difficult time this must be for you.
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Watching2
Member
07-07-2001
| Thursday, February 02, 2006 - 11:01 pm
Happymom - So glad you realized my mistake with the "mom names!" My dog had a really bad spell last fall that scared me so much I called DH home so we could take her to the vet. She couldn't keep her balance and was vomiting all over and then she just went and layed down under a bush and I needed DH to get her out. I was so afraid she was dying. The vet said it was something "like a stroke" but not a stroke and was very common in older dogs. (Maybe something similar happens to cats, too?!!) He said we'd just have to wait it out and see if she got better. He said she wouldn't really "GET" better but she would adjust. For 30 hrs or so I was a wreck. I hated leaving her even though I had been waiting for months for my nephew to get leave from Iraq and we were going to a party for him! Some timing, huh? Anyway, my kids had left the party earlier than we did and when we got home we couldn't believe the difference in her! He had diagnosed her right off because you could see her "eyebrows" where she has brown spots on her black, twitching up and down and she was holding her head to the side. She was so much better, ate some and didn't get sick and the twitching totally stopped. It almost seemed like a TIA (mini stroke) like people have and then she got better. For how long I don't know, but it's been quite a few months now and she loses her balance occasionally, but nothing like she was. Maybe it's not a brain tumor at all. I hope so anyway. Please keep us posted! Cashmere, HappyMom
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