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Archive through January 13, 2006

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: Hairball Haven: Cats (ARCHIVES): Archive through January 13, 2006 users admin

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Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 2:54 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
LOL belly dragging on the ground - now that's funny, but not really.

I know many owners think they are spoiling their cats with foods and snacks, but I think it harms more. I have to admit I am one of those owners.

Shadoe's 2yrs old and will eat just about everything. She won't hork (LOL) the food, but she is rock solid and shaped like a football. She is more like a little watermelon on 5inch legs. She can still jump high, even up atop 7foot bookshelves, but I am dreading what the vet will say.

Booboo is closer to 5yrs old and barely eats anything. She is miserable and picky and unbelieveably skinny. I have seen her eat maybe 2 tiny biscuits and she is done and walks away.

All of the same foods are out for both of them, so I have no idea which foods to cut out to get the fatso to lose weight. I think if I left only the foods that Booboo eats, Shadoe would just gobble it up.

Any suggestions on how to get a watermelon cat to lose weight and not starve the stick cat who just picks?

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 3:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
yep good question, like mine the two i dont see as everating, but my fatty football, if i take away the dish even if she just ate, she will whine like a bull horn, yeesh, so what i do is put about small nibblets in the dish at a time, yeesh, gonna be a long diet,lol, in fact she just came up, she knows im complaining about her,lol...

Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 3:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
Tater, that's a good idea about rationing her food.
Maybe if you put one cup of food in a covered container, then give her small bits through the day, she will get used to a set amount of food per day. It may take awhile for her to get used to getting tiny bits at many times, but at least you will know exactly how much she is eating each day.

It sure won't be easy, and it may be harder on you because you will have to be tough, but over time, she will be healthier.

I wonder if there is such a thing as Kitty treadmills LOL. I could get one and hang some tasty treat at one end and put the watermelon cat, Shadoe at the other end. Then tell her to run for it!

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 4:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Maris a private message Print Post    
My cat is always hungry and wakes me up in the middle of the night if he wants to eat and I mean he wakes me up, screaming. If he runs out of food he hits the dog dish. My dog, is practically anorexic, only eats when absolutely has to eat. Cat has to eat constantly all day long.

Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 5:03 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
Maris, if either of my cats attempted to wake me for food, I would start keeping a small water mister beside my bed!

I think the closest has been is Booboo sniffs at my eyelashes when I am starting to wake up. I had a cat once that used to hit my closed eyelids to try to wake me up.

I never give in so they stopped their attempts.

Maris
Member

03-28-2002

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 5:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Maris a private message Print Post    
My cat will keep going, what he does is use his paw and just keep banging the bedroom door, doesnt matter if he is inside the room or out but he will bang and bang away until I get up. He is 10 now so he isnt going to change.

Mamapors
Member

07-29-2004

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 5:57 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mamapors a private message Print Post    
One of my kitties scratches so hard to get outside when I am not home that she has ruined all of my carpet near the back door. I can't even imagine how long she must keep at it for the carpet to be as shredded as it is. Oh well. I love her dearly most of the time.

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 7:13 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
well i think i have a mad cat?one of them, last3 days i have woke , not feeling it, ut later when i look at my arms and legs i have sveral scratch marks, i didnt wake when it happened,i have pain 24/7 so i guess i didnt feel this pain more, but not i have dozens aof scratches, guess i will have to start closing my dog, i did and do enjoy listening to the cat chasing each other, like a hear of elephants, why i have always left my door open.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Tater when the vet put Eddie on diet food we had to change from feeding him when we got home from work to feeding him 1/2 right before bed, and 1/2 in the morning. One thing she told us to do that helped some was to put 2 or 3 ping pong balls [or more depending on the size of the dish compared to the amount of food]in the food dish. It helped Eddie think he had more food than he did, eat slower, work to get his food, and sometimes he just had a blast playing with the balls he forgot to eat that time.

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:26 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
kool good idea will try that,lol

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:29 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Hope it works but if it doesn't they should have fun with them. And ping pong balls aren't that expensive.

Biscottiii
Member

05-29-2004

Thursday, January 12, 2006 - 10:52 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Biscottiii a private message Print Post    
Slick advice that I will pass around Serate!!! Who would have thought something so simple would make such sense.

Hey Tater, you might want to remember to keep any eye out on those kitty scratches you got, too. Maybe do the ol' peroxide routine. Sometimes the kitty scratches can become infected (I got some real problems once upon a time). So, better to be safe than macho, lol (and a heeheehee to boot)!

Ol' BusyBody Bisc

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 2:13 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sunshyne4u a private message Print Post    
Hi there. I think this is My first time here in Kitty Korner LOL

My cats BooBoo and whiskers were both "give aways" that no one else wanted. BooBOO brown tabby is a Football shaped cat with a Loud demanding yowl when she wants something.

Whiskers is a gorgeous slim silver tabby who was extremely aggressive when he was young. I've seen him attack fullsized German shepard and know he took on the neighbor's Pitbull one time.

Any suggestions on how to get a watermelon cat to lose weight and not starve the stick cat who just picks?

This is exactly what I asked my vet. I am sure any of you with more than one cat already notice you need two litterboxes, two feeding dishes etc to keep them happy and not fighting for territory.

The trick is to feed them different foods at different times (one has diet). OR change them to a Natural raw Food diet where they can eat the kind of nonfattening natural food their bodies like best.

I changed to a new Kibble (1 yr ago) which was advised by the vet due to Football Cat's size. Science DIet Senior 7+....the cats wouldnt eat the regular Science Diet Senior 7. Anyways, Whiskers slimmed down to a nice normal weight but BooBoo is still pretty hefty.

The other kibbles I tried wouldnt make the cats feel satisfied. If I put out the perpetual feeder they would sometimes gork down two days worth in one day. Now that I feed them Senior 7+ they always have kibble left over from the 1/3 cup each of the them get in the am. They are eating way less and less hungry

BooBoo (16yrs old) seems more active and happy now.

Taterhead, as you already know I too have chronic pain. I find that my scratches often occur when I am picking them up or they jump off of me. I will notice the scratches only when they get 'itchy' irritated.

Maybe you arent being scratched at night.

***********

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 5:26 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
ur probably right, i toss and turn alot, in discomfort, i am thinking somehow rubbing on the bed sheet cause them?? i am clueless,i do know my immune system is not good anymore, i am gonna try the diet cat food recomeneded, i want my fatty to be happy but to life a long happy life, i have found a new toy for fatty at least a 2 liter diet coke bottle with just a little coke left in so when she bats it it will sloosh, se like this a a toy.lol. also what really tickles me, is when they each cat nap, and move around the other cat will grab their spot,lol.. the ole grass is greener theory i guess,lol. but its funny when one moves the other two will race to get the spot, and the spots change throughout the day,lol..you can see in their eyes they think they did something kool are sneaqky,lol

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 8:38 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
If anyone's cats are outdoors kitties, it is impossible to put them on a diet. There are just too many people like me who feeds all comers...cats, possums and raccoons alike. My good friend had her Meghan on a strict diet. All Meghan did was gain weight. That's right, she's in indoor/outdoor girl.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 12:22 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
My two kids are on different diets. Kassie eats Hill Science Diet RD (diet food), and Costa is now on Hills GD (geriatric, but only cause I can no longer buy the kidney disease food he used to eat for his cardiomyopathy -- long story but the two foods are very similar).

At any rate, I don't free feed the cats. They each have a custard cup (1 cup size) that came with a lid. I refill their cups once each day, right before bedtime. They eat anywhere between 1/2 and 3/4 cup of food a day. They tend to eat more when I'm working from home, as they will let me know when they want "foods". But when they eat during the day it's really only a nibble.

I've got placemats on the floor outside my kitchen, and each cat has his/her own place to eat. They know which place is theirs, and when I go to feed them first thing in the a.m., when I get home from work, or just before bed, each cat will wait patiently by his/her placement.

Kassie will always ALWAYS try to steal Costa's food, so I have to keep any eye on them. She will also sometimes try to butt him out of the way so she can get to his food, and he's such a nice little guy, he'll just move away. So I watch them both like an eagle to be sure she's really eating mostly diet food.

The only time this process differs is when I travel. I leave both of their bowls out and the pet sitter just refills each bowl when she comes in once a day. I know Kassie eats almost all of his food, and he'll eat some of hers. But there's no way to control them when I'm gone and a pet sitter is here for only an hour a day. I've written each cat's name on masking tape on the reverse side of the placemats, so the pet sitter knows which food goes where.

BTW, the *covered* custard cups are a necessity. Costa, early on, learned that he could jump on the counter and snack away. Since he's not allowed on the counter, he'd do it when I wasn't home. I quickly replaced the original cups with ones with lids. Now I just put the lid on when leaving for work, and they can't get into the food.

Yes, it took them a little bit to adjust. Actually, mostly it was Costa who needed to adjust, since Kassie has never been free fed. But they are very easy to train, and it's really cute to watch each one sit patiently by the correct placemat.

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 1:11 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
my two girls are as different as night and day except food. they're both on iam's active maturity with hairball stuff. they have a dispenser that lets them free-feed, and they only eat as needed. a nibble here and there till dinnertime. dinnertime is 7pm. and if you don't have it in the dish by then, they'll let you know. belle usually eats first. she's the big girl and kinda hogs the dish until she's done. but she usually only eats half of the pouch of wet food. and ariel comes in to finish it off. they both use the same litterbox, and i've never had any problems with them over that. but they are very territorial as to who sleeps where. ariel isn't allowed in belle's bed or on her pillow. ariel likes the cat tree hole, or the sofa.

Mamapors
Member

07-29-2004

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 1:48 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mamapors a private message Print Post    
My two girls share a litterbox and a food bowl. Not a problem for them (that I know of). My older cat sits patiently every night while the young one eats first, and then she goes in to get hers. I leave dry food out all the time, and they just nibble when they want to. Neither of them are overweight. But, they are not snuggly with each other and really only tolerate each other from afar. That part makes me sad.

Landi
Member

07-29-2002

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 2:01 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Landi a private message Print Post    
mamapors are you living at my house??

Taterheadtwo
Member

09-29-2005

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 2:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Taterheadtwo a private message Print Post    
i have 3 cats, and three coverd large liter boxes, but they seem to like to use one till it get a couple of drops then they will use the other two. and i have 3 water dishes, but 2of them like to drink out of my watr glass,more, i also drink same water? i have looked and it says it almost impossible to catch something form a cat, but i wonder if a acat can catch form a human if they drink thir water?? and when i go to the store i am switching to a deit food for all, so they wont think i am showing favortism, they get moddy if i dont show all attention equally. and lol lol i put someping pongs in the food dish, my fatty just muscled her way past them to get the food, didnt comeup for air for a couple of minutes,lol

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 4:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
The guy is an expert eater. He is highly skilled!

Fortunately, viruses are not transferable between cats and people.

Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 4:25 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
My two cats are complete opposites.
I have nine (yes 9) tiny bowls of different types of dry biscuits. One LARGE litter box. One bowl of water and one of milk.

Booboo - skinny black 5yr old shorthair. She eats ONLY Meow Mix Original and sometimes the old Seafood blend. She drinks water, only fresh cold water.
That's it; that's all.

Shadoe - 2yrs old grey shorthair and shaped like a watermelon. She eats .... anything. She drinks milk, water, coffee, pop, basically anything that she sees you drink - she wants to try some. She likes moist food (not much of it though), and kitty treats.

They both like catnip. I don't think they eat one cup of food combined in a day as I keep track of the amounts they have each day.

They both get along pretty well and do lie together and clean each other, but ONLY when Booboo allows it.
She has 'special' spots that Shadoe is NEVER allowed to touch; Booboo turns violently vicious if her 'house rules' are broken.
I think she figures that SHE was here FIRST, so that makes her the boss.

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 5:21 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sunshyne4u a private message Print Post    
i have looked and it says it almost impossible to catch something form a cat,

Oh my Taterhead. That isnt true. Yes the bad viruses and like Feline Leukemia Virus doesnt transmit to us but the parasites, bacteria do.

Because of my health problems I had some parasite screens done. Yes, I came up positive for antibodies to a cat parasite.

It is also possible to have Neurological problems (like we both have) from Toxoplasmosis caught from your cats. From the scratches on your skin, you can catch Pasturella multicida which can infiltrate and kill the fetus in pregnant women. (that is why they suggest No cats in the house when a woman is preg) Many animals, cats and dogs, carry salmonella as Normal Flora in their gut.

Parasitology and Microbiology are two parts of my Laboratory Science training.

I know a lady who caught a bad parasite when her cat drooled into her mouth when she picked up the cat for a petting.
*********************************************
they are not snuggly with each other and really only tolerate each other from afar. That part makes me sad.
Mamapors, my cats did the same thing until I did the "two of everything' deal. It looks like the younger cat has become the dominant cat and your older one has just given up. Because the litterbox was in the other room I never realized the dominant one would even 'patrol' the litterbox. Once I came home and my older cat had been forced onto the windowsill...even pooed up there. The dominant struggle continues until Each has their own box at their own place.

((just saying what worked for me and my experiences. Every animal has different personalities))
**********************************
If anyone's cats are outdoors kitties, it is impossible to put them on a diet. Ophiliasgrama you made me remember something.

years ago, My football kitty Booboo would come inside smelling of OldLady Perfume LOL!! I figured that she probably was being fed there too. She is old and inside almost all of the time now. Even if she goes outside she wants inside within half hour.

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 5:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sunshyne4u a private message Print Post    
For taterhead
http://www.cdc.gov/healthypets/animals/cats.htm
http://www.pawssf.org/library_yourcatyourhealth.htm

Sunshyne4u
Member

06-17-2003

Friday, January 13, 2006 - 5:36 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Sunshyne4u a private message Print Post    
BAD ME! I made a mistake. P. multicida is the dog bacteria. Cat scratch is caused by Bartonella or Toxo.