Pets chit chat thread

[Heka]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

I second you on the weather at the moment. WTF.

Unfortunately there's no way around this one, Heka. You gotta keep him warm. Does the local pet store have at least a cheap aquarium heater? If you can keep it at least 22C consistently then he'll probably get by, but consistency is also important... the constant up down, up down of adding hot water is not great for them either. Otherwise I don't know... insulate the tank maybe? Move it to an area where there's more environmental warmth, like near the heater?

Either way, drop the water content a bit so that it's easier to keep warm in the short term. As long as he's got twice the depth of his body of water he'll be okay in the short term and frankly warmth is more important at this point.

A shallower water depth will also mean that a light above his tank will add some warmth. Even a desk lamp can make a difference, though it has to be safe to leave on over a period of time, and not so great to leave on overnight as that will mess with his day/night cycles, and you have to monitor the temperature closely to avoid overheating because desk lamps just get hotter and hotter and hotter until the plastic covers melt.

Hubby and I keep waiting for spring to show up... it arrives for about a day then disappears again. It's still raining off and on down here. In October.

The nearest pet store is in Port Augusta. I'm in Leigh Creek............

I'm trying not to make the changes too huge. I just get really worried when it drops below 20. And I havemt got it over 24 yet. I'm trying to keep the changes gradual, and give him outside warm time everyday! Today was warmer, so less tank stresses, well, less than yesterday. And he ate today. Really positively too! Was trying to eat the food before it had soaked up much yet! I thought that was a good sign!

Won't shallower water just get cold quicker too? So when it hits 11 tonight, it's more likely to be 11 in the water, rather than say 16? (It hasn't got below about 15 yet). That's what I'd be worried about with shallow water... I guess I could try insulating... I just dunno...


Water heater is on it's way though. 4-5 days he said, so praying for Monday! I'll just keep doing my best till then.......


And yeah, pretty much fuck this weather. Why in balls am I wearing tights in mid October? And a jumper? I don't think well get much spring, it's gonna jump straight to summer! Should be 35 here in Saturday, them 38 Monday! Won't get lucky though, it'll get cool again soon enough........

[Lilium of the Valley]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Alrighty so Kitty Arlowe is a Maine Coon, meaning he has long fur. Usually they aren't known to have lots of matting issues. But mine loves getting wet while playing with any water source he can get his paws on and then doesn't want to be brushed. So he has a ton of knots. He doesn't let me brush them out, nor cut them out with scissors, I would end up cutting him, hence he doesn't hold still. I got clippers but he wont let me do this either. On top of that he fights back and scratches etc, him being a Coonie, he is frikken huge and really heavy and strong. So there is no way I'm getting this done on my own. Are there any other long hair cat owners who have this dilemma on their hands?! Tips on how to avoid knots?! Kitty hair spray? detangler?! ANYTHING really lol I'm at a loss what to do with the poor thing. This has to be uncomfortable for him. T-T help, pwease.

[Optimistic discord]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Alrighty so Kitty Arlowe is a Maine Coon, meaning he has long fur. Usually they aren't known to have lots of matting issues. But mine loves getting wet while playing with any water source he can get his paws on and then doesn't want to be brushed. So he has a ton of knots. He doesn't let me brush them out, nor cut them out with scissors, I would end up cutting him, hence he doesn't hold still. I got clippers but he wont let me do this either. On top of that he fights back and scratches etc, him being a Coonie, he is frikken huge and really heavy and strong. So there is no way I'm getting this done on my own. Are there any other long hair cat owners who have this dilemma on their hands?! Tips on how to avoid knots?! Kitty hair spray? detangler?! ANYTHING really lol I'm at a loss what to do with the poor thing. This has to be uncomfortable for him. T-T help, pwease.

Maines do love the water, and their strong personalities can really make it tricky to groom/treat them (though not as bad as some Bengal cats I've known).
You can get hair detangler solutions/sprays , but you will still have to groom him to get the clumps out.
My technique for grooming reluctant cats is to do a little once a day (or even once every other day), by little I mean maybe a few seconds while petting. Just to try and increase his tolerance for it. In some cases I've started with a little manual massage of the clumps, not even real grooming, then over time introduced combs/brushes ( to non-matted hair first). I find its all about building up to it.
Maybe try getting a plug-in calming vaporizer to try and take the edge off his reluctance?

You can also take him to your vet and get him sedated and groomed if its a real problem, at least then you can start the gradual grooming afterwards when he has a non-matted coat.

[Corvus]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

My kitty is overgrooming so she's slowly going bald. We've put anti flee stuff on her and she's being given antihistamine pills in case it's something physical but it doesn't seem to be helping.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Alrighty so Kitty Arlowe is a Maine Coon, meaning he has long fur. Usually they aren't known to have lots of matting issues. But mine loves getting wet while playing with any water source he can get his paws on and then doesn't want to be brushed. So he has a ton of knots. He doesn't let me brush them out, nor cut them out with scissors, I would end up cutting him, hence he doesn't hold still. I got clippers but he wont let me do this either. On top of that he fights back and scratches etc, him being a Coonie, he is frikken huge and really heavy and strong. So there is no way I'm getting this done on my own. Are there any other long hair cat owners who have this dilemma on their hands?! Tips on how to avoid knots?! Kitty hair spray? detangler?! ANYTHING really lol I'm at a loss what to do with the poor thing. This has to be uncomfortable for him. T-T help, pwease.

What Optimistic Discord said. Though I would say if he is already matted then get hom sedated and shaved first, then start with the slow grooming stuff. Do NOT try to brush out any matts ot knots as it hurts and will just reinforce his dislike of grooming. Then start with a daily routine of stroking with flat hand, then with fingers tented like a comb, then use a Zoom Groom (they are a massaging rubber brush a bit like a horse curry comb but softer), then up to a slicker brush. Start each stage in an area he doesn't mind being touched then work up to the other areas, leaving his sensitive belly til last! As OpD said, start with just a few seconds and build up. The trick is to stop each session BEFORE he gets upset, and build in slow, small steps.

My kitty is overgrooming so she's slowly going bald. We've put anti flee stuff on her and she's being given antihistamine pills in case it's something physical but it doesn't seem to be helping.

Overgrooming is usually anxiety related in cats. If you've ruled out parasites then the other common options are allergies or anxiety. Unfortunately, many general practice vets don't really understand anxiety in cats or how to recognise it, let alone treat it. Does she have other symptoms? How many pets do you have and what species? Is she indoors or outdoors? What's her routine? Her diet? Tell me as much as you canpossibly think of and I'll try and work out if it's worth you taking her to another vet.

[Lilium of the Valley]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Maines do love the water, and their strong personalities can really make it tricky to groom/treat them (though not as bad as some Bengal cats I've known).
You can get hair detangler solutions/sprays , but you will still have to groom him to get the clumps out.
My technique for grooming reluctant cats is to do a little once a day (or even once every other day), by little I mean maybe a few seconds while petting. Just to try and increase his tolerance for it. In some cases I've started with a little manual massage of the clumps, not even real grooming, then over time introduced combs/brushes ( to non-matted hair first). I find its all about building up to it.
Maybe try getting a plug-in calming vaporizer to try and take the edge off his reluctance?

You can also take him to your vet and get him sedated and groomed if its a real problem, at least then you can start the gradual grooming afterwards when he has a non-matted coat.

Thanks so much for the quick reply. I will definitely try this as soon as I get him to the vet, so they can get the matts out first. Thank heavens it isn't too bad yet, I just really do not want to see it get any worse. Plus I really wanted to find something that will prevent it from happening over and over again.

What Optimistic Discord said. Though I would say if he is already matted then get hom sedated and shaved first, then start with the slow grooming stuff. Do NOT try to brush out any matts ot knots as it hurts and will just reinforce his dislike of grooming. Then start with a daily routine of stroking with flat hand, then with fingers tented like a comb, then use a Zoom Groom (they are a massaging rubber brush a bit like a horse curry comb but softer), then up to a slicker brush. Start each stage in an area he doesn't mind being touched then work up to the other areas, leaving his sensitive belly til last! As OpD said, start with just a few seconds and build up. The trick is to stop each session BEFORE he gets upset, and build in slow, small steps.

Thanks to you as well!! I really do appreciate all the advice I can get on this. I didn't try to brush him now of course with all this matting going on because I didn't want to hurt him, it's bad enough when I get a "rat" in my long hair and have to brush it out, I don't even want to begin to imagine how horrible it would be for him lol
So yeah that was out of the question. I'm going to make an Apt. with his vet, get him shaved and then start a slow and gradual process on getting him to deal with his necessary grooming. Mommy is putting her foot down lol

Keep your fingers corssed guys, hopefully I get to keep my hands....and they will not be clawed to shreds.

[kijani]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Hey guys! So I changed my SD prospect's name to Vincent (his father was Picasso) and today he learned 'go get it!' and has been running back and forth in the same spot in the living room bringing a squeaky toy to my girlfriend. I am experiencing cuteness overload and all of the lol's right now.

[Corvus]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Overgrooming is usually anxiety related in cats. If you've ruled out parasites then the other common options are allergies or anxiety. Unfortunately, many general practice vets don't really understand anxiety in cats or how to recognise it, let alone treat it. Does she have other symptoms? How many pets do you have and what species? Is she indoors or outdoors? What's her routine? Her diet? Tell me as much as you canpossibly think of and I'll try and work out if it's worth you taking her to another vet.

One day we just noticed she was going bald, then we noticed she was grooming more often. She's about four years old, been spayed but I'm not sure her breed. She's an indoor cat and only been outside once. We thought it might be changing the powder we use in the litterbox so we switched back to baking soda but she's still doing it. We have two dogs (a basset hound and a chiwawa/doxin/something mix) addition to the cat but she'd been living here for a few months without problems previously. She spends most of her time sleeping but since she's a cat I didn't think it was odd. She usually spends her time laying on the floor or sleeping in the arm chair, sometimes she sits in the window. She was eating dry food for years then we moved in and my step mom insisted on giving her wet food too. The cat loved it but she complains now if she doesn't get it but that was before she started the grooming. I think she's been getting a little chubbier the past few months too.

[kijani]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

The weight gain could be the food, I would bet. I do hope you figure out what's wrong, though. It always sucks when there is something wrong with your pet. You can't just ask them what it is and it's really frustrating. Hope you figure it out and she gets to feeling better soon. Good luck.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks to you as well!! I really do appreciate all the advice I can get on this. I didn't try to brush him now of course with all this matting going on because I didn't want to hurt him, it's bad enough when I get a "rat" in my long hair and have to brush it out, I don't even want to begin to imagine how horrible it would be for him lol
So yeah that was out of the question. I'm going to make an Apt. with his vet, get him shaved and then start a slow and gradual process on getting him to deal with his necessary grooming. Mommy is putting her foot down lol

Keep your fingers corssed guys, hopefully I get to keep my hands....and they will not be clawed to shreds.

You'd be surprised how many people go down the route of trying to brush out the knots. And then wonder why their cat tries to eat them lol.

Let us know how things get on!

One day we just noticed she was going bald, then we noticed she was grooming more often. She's about four years old, been spayed but I'm not sure her breed. She's an indoor cat and only been outside once. We thought it might be changing the powder we use in the litterbox so we switched back to baking soda but she's still doing it. We have two dogs (a basset hound and a chiwawa/doxin/something mix) addition to the cat but she'd been living here for a few months without problems previously. She spends most of her time sleeping but since she's a cat I didn't think it was odd. She usually spends her time laying on the floor or sleeping in the arm chair, sometimes she sits in the window. She was eating dry food for years then we moved in and my step mom insisted on giving her wet food too. The cat loved it but she complains now if she doesn't get it but that was before she started the grooming. I think she's been getting a little chubbier the past few months too.

Is the baldness mainly on her belly and groin? You said that she's been living there a few months prior to the dogs... how long has she lived you you in total and how long have the dogs been there? How long ago did you move in? What I'm getting at is have you all been living together her whole life or have there been recent additions or changes to the living arrangements?

In the meantime, try to change as little as possible and keep her routine as 'normal' as you can. I'm trying to figure out if you may have an anxious cat on your hands, and unfortunately that means lots of seemingly irrelevant questions lol.

[Shahaku]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

My pup needs her rear dewclaws removed... one is real floppy, barely attached, and the other one doesn't even have a pad, just a nail sticking off her leg. Trying to decide if we should wait until we spay her at six months. Cheaper that way, but the vet said they could embed more or some such. Aw the joy of a puppy.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

We got a new kitty. We decided not to wait for a few reasons. One is that I have a slight cat allergy and I was worried that if we waited longer, it would take me a while to build up the immunity again (I've always been able to build up natural immunity and only discovered I had a cat allergy at all when I went to university at 18 and came home for my first break after moving away and was allergic to my childhood cat). The biggest though was that it was just too quiet and empty in the house and we were really struggling with it.

Anyway, the new cat came yesterday. When we met him he was really friendly, but he's freaking out at the moment and having trouble adjusting. It hasn't been that long though and he has a new space -and- new people to get used to. He has been seriously defensive at times almost to the point of aggression, so we're trying to leave him alone until he doesn't feel threatened anymore.

Does anyone know anything we can do to ease his transition? Or should I just continue to leave him alone? My only worry is that he hasn't eaten or used his litter box since he came over last night, though I suppose he will do so in his own time.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

My pup needs her rear dewclaws removed... one is real floppy, barely attached, and the other one doesn't even have a pad, just a nail sticking off her leg. Trying to decide if we should wait until we spay her at six months. Cheaper that way, but the vet said they could embed more or some such. Aw the joy of a puppy.

We normally just do them at the same time as desexing. There's no reason to do them separately unless they are catching or getting caught and injured. They don't get more attached or anything like that... either there's bone or there's not. I wouldn't bother doing them separately unless there's a problem... plus it would be better to let her grow a bit before an anaesthetic. Paediatric anaesthethics are relatively safe if you know what you're doing, but there's no point doing one unecessarily.

Anyway, the new cat came yesterday. When we met him he was really friendly, but he's freaking out at the moment and having trouble adjusting. It hasn't been that long though and he has a new space -and- new people to get used to. He has been seriously defensive at times almost to the point of aggression, so we're trying to leave him alone until he doesn't feel threatened anymore.

Does anyone know anything we can do to ease his transition? Or should I just continue to leave him alone? My only worry is that he hasn't eaten or used his litter box since he came over last night, though I suppose he will do so in his own time.

There's a few things you can try...

- Make sure his litter tray is somewhere quiet, private and darkish. And away from anywhere that may have sudden noises or activity (laundries are terrible places for litter trays... the washing machine kicking into spin cycle is terrifying for a cat on the loo!)
- Feed the exact same food he was getting before. And make sure that you're using the same litter substrate he was getting. You can change these later... but keep them the same for now.
- if he wants to stay under a bed that's fine... put everything he may need in the same room so that he doesn't have to venture far. You can move it all later.
- Don't push him... he's scared and lost and this isn't his house yet. It'll take him a bit of time to settle. In the meantime leave him alone.
- Get a Feliway diffuser if he's not settling. These plug into a power point and fill the room with a synthetic 'happy cat' pheramone. They are fabulous and make a big difference to anxious or scared cats. Lots of people find them a bit pricey but they are worth it. You'll probably only need one... each refill lasts 4 weeks and you plug it into the room they spend the most time in. I would love it if everyone who got a new cat or moved house with their cat used one.

[DanieMarie]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

We normally just do them at the same time as desexing. There's no reason to do them separately unless they are catching or getting caught and injured. They don't get more attached or anything like that... either there's bone or there's not. I wouldn't bother doing them separately unless there's a problem... plus it would be better to let her grow a bit before an anaesthetic. Paediatric anaesthethics are relatively safe if you know what you're doing, but there's no point doing one unecessarily.



There's a few things you can try...

- Make sure his litter tray is somewhere quiet, private and darkish. And away from anywhere that may have sudden noises or activity (laundries are terrible places for litter trays... the washing machine kicking into spin cycle is terrifying for a cat on the loo!)
- Feed the exact same food he was getting before. And make sure that you're using the same litter substrate he was getting. You can change these later... but keep them the same for now.
- if he wants to stay under a bed that's fine... put everything he may need in the same room so that he doesn't have to venture far. You can move it all later.
- Don't push him... he's scared and lost and this isn't his house yet. It'll take him a bit of time to settle. In the meantime leave him alone.
- Get a Feliway diffuser if he's not settling. These plug into a power point and fill the room with a synthetic 'happy cat' pheramone. They are fabulous and make a big difference to anxious or scared cats. Lots of people find them a bit pricey but they are worth it. You'll probably only need one... each refill lasts 4 weeks and you plug it into the room they spend the most time in. I would love it if everyone who got a new cat or moved house with their cat used one.

Thanks for your reply! I have a couple of questions:
-We live in an apartment. It's a large apartment (for Germany, at least), but there is a lot of furniture here and we have limited space for some things. The only place we really have in the house for the litter tray is in the bathroom, unfortunately right by the washing machine. We don't have another space for it, unless its right in the middle of the living room floor or something like that. We just did laundry though, so we can avoid doing it for a couple of weeks (we both have a lot of clothes!) Is there anything else we can do to make this easier? Or should we maybe put the litter tray somewhere else temporarily (we can live with it in our way for a week or two!)
-He has chosen to hide himself in a cabinet in the middle of the living room. I realize now that we should have started him off in the bathroom, which was actually the original plan, but the former owners seemed to want to see him out and exploring the apartment a bit (I think it made them a bit more comfortable with leaving him). So, we just let him out and left him to explore. The living room is unfortunately the room with the most traffic and the least amount of space for cat things. However, I really don't want to move him if he feels comfortable there. Do you think he'll be ok with his litter in the bathroom (really not that far, just down the hall) and his food in the kitchen? I might move his food behind the sofa, because there's a bit of space back there. I can maybe put his litter in the corner of the room there as well...it can't go there for good but it should be fine for now. Would that work?
-He's lashed out at us a few times. Last night when we went to bed he was hiding under the bed and was NOT happy that we were there. He scratched my boyfriend when he tried to get into bed. We had to chase him out because he was just under there growling and we didn't really have anywhere else to sleep, but I'm afraid that maybe that shook him up a bit. Aside from that, he was hiding under the sofa in our upstairs room (we have a two-floor maisonette apartment) and tried to swat Hannes. He also growled and hissed at me when I came out of the bathroom last night. It seems to have stopped now, but if he does it again, how should we handle it? I don't want to scare him and I think he's doing it because he feels threatened, but I think it's important to somehow assert myself (I used to get bullied by my childhood cat...seriously). For now I'm just sort of avoiding him and giving him his space, but if we accidentally surprise him and he lashes out again, what do we do?

I'll give it a few days and if he's not easing up I'll definitely get a Feliway diffuser!

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks for your reply! I have a couple of questions:
-We live in an apartment. It's a large apartment (for Germany, at least), but there is a lot of furniture here and we have limited space for some things. The only place we really have in the house for the litter tray is in the bathroom, unfortunately right by the washing machine. We don't have another space for it, unless its right in the middle of the living room floor or something like that. We just did laundry though, so we can avoid doing it for a couple of weeks (we both have a lot of clothes!) Is there anything else we can do to make this easier? Or should we maybe put the litter tray somewhere else temporarily (we can live with it in our way for a week or two!)
-He has chosen to hide himself in a cabinet in the middle of the living room. I realize now that we should have started him off in the bathroom, which was actually the original plan, but the former owners seemed to want to see him out and exploring the apartment a bit (I think it made them a bit more comfortable with leaving him). So, we just let him out and left him to explore. The living room is unfortunately the room with the most traffic and the least amount of space for cat things. However, I really don't want to move him if he feels comfortable there. Do you think he'll be ok with his litter in the bathroom (really not that far, just down the hall) and his food in the kitchen? I might move his food behind the sofa, because there's a bit of space back there. I can maybe put his litter in the corner of the room there as well...it can't go there for good but it should be fine for now. Would that work?
-He's lashed out at us a few times. Last night when we went to bed he was hiding under the bed and was NOT happy that we were there. He scratched my boyfriend when he tried to get into bed. We had to chase him out because he was just under there growling and we didn't really have anywhere else to sleep, but I'm afraid that maybe that shook him up a bit. Aside from that, he was hiding under the sofa in our upstairs room (we have a two-floor maisonette apartment) and tried to swat Hannes. He also growled and hissed at me when I came out of the bathroom last night. It seems to have stopped now, but if he does it again, how should we handle it? I don't want to scare him and I think he's doing it because he feels threatened, but I think it's important to somehow assert myself (I used to get bullied by my childhood cat...seriously). For now I'm just sort of avoiding him and giving him his space, but if we accidentally surprise him and he lashes out again, what do we do?

I'll give it a few days and if he's not easing up I'll definitely get a Feliway diffuser!

Honestly at this point I think you need Feliway. If he's stressed enough to be that fear aggressive then he could use the help. Chances are he'd settle anyway but it will go smoother and quicker if we can de-stress him. I would also set a room aside for him and just lock him in there with as little disturbing as possible. What he's telling you is that he's scared and you going near him freaks him out and is a negative experience for him. Every time he has that reaction is reinforcing that.

Also, it takes 48 hours for the stress hormones to drop in cats. They aren't like dogs and humans, who can be left alone to calm down for a few hours... cats escalate and actually take 2-3 days to 'calm down'. If he keeps getting new stressors because every time he moves to a new 'safe haven' you intrude on him, then his stress levels are going up and up. You mentioned an upstairs bedroom... can you lock him in there with his food and tray and just leave him? Give him a good few days with just sticking your head in twice a day, then build up from there.

He's not trying to bully you, he's just freaked out. Fear does some crazy things to cats, and can turn the smoochiest cat into a psychotic killing machine. Try not to take it personally, though I know that's hard when all you want to do is love him