For Cat Lovers Only X - Post Pics, Ask Questions, Comments, Etc.

[indra]

Ok so I have to share this story.

Saki has this little puff ball that I call his baby, because he goes crazy every time I pull it out, he walks around with it in his mouth, carries it from room to room, even fetches it when I throw it, brings it back and he guards this thing with his life

Well the other day it disappeared. I searched the entire apartment, up and down for literally 2 hours and I gave up. The next day he comes waltzing in the living room with the thing in his mouth!! OMG like this cat is crazy. He obviously has a very good hiding place for it

Loki has a special toy he loves. It's a lime green catnip filled mouse and was his first ever toy. He's had it for nearly four years now and loves it so much I made sure to bring it with us when we moved. I won't see it for a while and will think it's finally been lost but then I'll see him tossing and chasing that lime green mouse around. I'm pretty sure he keeps tabs on it.

 

[MsPurrl]

That is a weird lookin toy

The picture is the way they look when they are new. That one currently has no arms, no legs, no tail, and only one ear!

They also are available in lime green and "electric pink."

 

[indra]

They also are available in lime green and "electric pink."

Oooh! Loki might go for a lime green one.

 

[Gluey]

Love is......

There's nothing more special to me than an animal having complete trust in you, and 'blobbing'.......

Ginga's had a growth spurt!!

 

[sue4u2]

Hey guys, thought I would start early asking for advice since I'll be going out of town to a family renuion for 4 days during memorial day weekend.
There is no way I can afford to board Bela and Lovey and the 2 kittens for 4 days.
My son is coming over to feed them and I've asked a neighbor I trust, to help out.
Main concerns are Lovey is outdoors during the day and I let her in at night when I get in and in/out on the weekends.

Bela and Lovey get along better, but only because Lovey can escape outside when she's had enough.

Mostly Lovey doesn't bother the kittens, just hides from them but she has had a couple of slapping matches with Jack and Maxie when they come bounding up to her like kittens do.

I have to go because I'm driving my Mom and we've already set up everything with the relatives and my sister and I have reserved a room. (and of course I want to go)

Other main concern is Bela's appetite. If alot of food is left out well quite frankly - she will eat it all.
Her and Lovey and or the kittens - could get into it over the bowls.
What do all of you suggest, to get prepared?

 

[Sicy]

gluey that is such a cute kitty and he looks so comfortable.
Just wondering if that is a flea collar on his neck... I just ask because flea collars can actually be harmful to some animals plus they're pretty useless. Safety collars are best and for flea treatment, advantage, frontline or revolution are the 3 most trusted forms of treatment.

Sue, I guess all you can do is have faith in the people taking care of them, and make sure you leave specific instructions as to what is supposed to go on, and that you trust that these people will follow them. If you haven't 'kitten proofed' your home yet, I would make sure that's done before you leave.

 

[Gluey]

gluey that is such a cute kitty and he looks so comfortable.
Just wondering if that is a flea collar on his neck... I just ask because flea collars can actually be harmful to some animals plus they're pretty useless. Safety collars are best and for flea treatment, advantage, frontline or revolution are the 3 most trusted forms of treatment.

Really? I chucked it on him as he had a couple of fleas....I usually use advantage on my older cats......Thanks for letting me know, I'll take it off and use the real stuff....can't have anything happen to my baby boy!

 

[Sicy]

If he's over 8 weeks old you can safely use advantage on him (the orange ones)

 

[LarryMullen's POPAngel]

Mia left me a nice little Mom's day gift yesterday morning... A big pileof puke right next to her food dish.

 

[Liesje]

For fleas you can also get Capstar tablets that will kill them (if you are between applications and have to wait). If you have seen adult fleas, you may also want to treat your home. Topical flea products do not kill eggs, the only thing that kills eggs is an insect growth regulator like Nylar. You can get sprays, powders, or "bombs" for treating the home.

 

[Gluey]

Thanks for that Sicy & Lies

I regularly bomb the house - with one dog and now 3 cats it's either that or be sucked to death!! I'll get some more advantage today (had run out anyway!) and do him.....I never use a flea collar, but he was so damn tiny when I got him I didn't want anything to 'engulf' his system if you know what I mean....he's about 12 weeks old now, so he'll be fine.....

 

[Liesje]

I actually think treating my house with Nylar has been better than the topical flea treatments. I'll always use Frontline plus on my dogs b/c they go outside regularly and ticks are a concern, but if after this summer there are still no signs of fleas on the animals or indoors, I might take the cats off Frontline again and just treat the house and porch once a year (the product I use is good for 365 days). In 3 years I never once put any flea preventative on my cats until I found a flea on Kenya, never had a flea on a cat. Apparently cat fleas are more common than dog fleas, but like to be on dogs and even though she was the only one infected, I put Frontline on everyone and have been since (except for a few winter months). The more I read, the more it's apparent that the eggs are really the problem and if the eggs are not stopped with an IGR, you will have to always keep up with topicals b/c the eggs are continuing to hatch into larvae and may even reach adult stage. The topicals only stop the cycle at this stage, but often they lay eggs again before they die. I'd rather kill off all the eggs. I just hate putting poison on my animals' backs, you know?

 

[VintagePunk]

I just hate putting poison on my animals' backs, you know? [/B]

I used to feel the same way about using Frontline on my dog, not just on her behalf, but because of people petting her, in particular, my young nephews who would visit. It's very difficult to make sure that a young child's hands are washed every time they pet an animal. I voiced my concerns to my vet, and he told me that after the first day, there's really no more harm in the product than you would have from a food-grade insecticide. That made me feel better about it.


We took the cat and the three kittens we're keeping into the vet today for a check-up and their vaccinations. The vet estimated that Kitty is still young, around a year old. The only minor thing with her is, she has a patch on her neck and going up to behind her ears where she's lost her fur over the past few weeks. I had noticed this, looked it up and found nothing alarming, so I decided to just wait for the appointment. The vet agree that it probably wasn't anything, the skin isn't inflamed or irritated at all, and it even appears that the fur is starting to grow back. Just something to keep an eye on. Otherwise, she's very healthy. She goes in to be spayed in just over a week. It was supposed to be 10 - 14 days after the vaccinations, but they had an opening in 8 days, so they said that's fine.

The kittens are very well, too. They all weigh in at just over a whopping 3 lbs. They go back for their boosters in a month. I discussed the remaining kittens with the vet, and she and I agreed that there's no rush to get them checked, and that if I don't find them new homes within a month, I'll bring them in then. She seemed to feel though, that if I take ads with pics to post in their office and other offices too, I should have no problem finding them homes.

And....the big news....they have names now! Kitty is simply Kitty. We've been calling her that for nearly 5 months now, and although not terribly original, it's sticking, nothing else feels right. The male chubby tux, I've gone with the name I've had in mind for him for a while now, Jack (Sue, he can be Canadian Jack ). Since this morning, the calico is Abby. Angie was also in contention for her, but Abby ultimately won. The brownish tabby (who we actually found out today IS a Torti, was it WHA who said that weeks ago?) wasn't named till minutes before we left for the vet's, and for her, we decided to go with Zoey.

At this point, I know Jack is Jack, because I've been calling him that in my head for weeks now, but the two girls, I still have to stop and think of which one is which.

I'll try to post new pics tomorrow, since we have to make the flyers for the other kittens.

Oh, and, taking 4 cats to the vet was not nearly as chaotic as I was anticipating it to be. We bought a carrier, and borrowed another. Kitty was in one, the kittens in the other. There was minimal meowing in the car, and the rest of the time, they were pretty chill about it. VERY well behaved in the office. I was expecting some trouble with Kitty and with Zoey, but nope, totally fine! And the 4 of them have been sleeping all afternoon since. I should take them out daily, it's been really quiet around here ever since. lol


ETA - Sarah was just catching up on this thread, and pointed this out to me:

(Zoey JUST threw up the biggest wad of hair I've ever seen )

Yeah, really not original here, I guess. Although that's Sarah's baby, so she chose the name. But we even discussed the spelling this morning, and both of us decided we liked it better with the Y!

Again, just refer to her as Canadian Zoey.

 

[Sicy]

Haha YAY for Zoey!

 

[MsPurrl]

Exciting kitty news, VP.

I haven't posted pictures of my two ruffians for a while. Here they are, welcoming the spring sunshine (in between the crappy rainy days).

 

[indra]

Great job with the vet visit VP! Glad everyone is doing so well.

You know it occured to me that you now have cats from A to Z!

As for Kitty just seeming the right name for her...I certainly understand. My most recent cat is named Little Black Cat because that's what I called him for so many months before I grabbed him and brough him inside. It just stuck (even if he's not so little any more!).

 

[sue4u2]

vet trips are a trip - VP and sometimes Jack just fits ya know.

The sun bathing cats, MsPurrl. too cute.

I've always love Zoey ever since I learned Sicy said her cat's name, some time ago..

 

[Sicy]

Its funny though that's just her official name so I rarely use it. We call her Boo Boo

 

[VintagePunk]

Exciting kitty news, VP.

I haven't posted pictures of my two ruffians for a while. Here they are, welcoming the spring sunshine (in between the crappy rainy days).

Awww! Those are very large cats!

I was shocked at hearing their weights yesterday. Kitty is 9 lbs, and yet when I pick her up, she feels a lot less than that.

Abby and Jack (gotta get used to using their real names) are closer to 4 lbs, but Zoey is just over 3. In fact, despite our calling Jack Chubby Tux since he was tiny, Abby (calico) actually weighs a bit more than him. He's all fur. I would have guessed all of them to be much less.

I was a little concerned last night, they were all very sleepy and lethargic. Kitty started coming back to life around midnight, and Jack shortly after. The two girls were lying around all pathetically into the wee hours, though, and I thought they felt a little warm, too. Zoey climbed onto my lap and just wanted to lie there and sleep, and that's not at all like her, she's not much of a snuggler, and is very rambunctious. They were all fine this morning, thank goodness.

Indra, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's not overly creative. In fact, Sarah was looking on a cat name site, and it said that Kitty is the 4th most popular cat name.

 

[Sicy]

They got vaccinations right? It's normal for some cats to act all tired and lethargic for at least 12 hours after vaccinations. I was so upset after I brought Saki home from vaccinations a few months ago. He crawled under the bed and just wanted to sleep, it was so sad. I had forgotten what it does to them But they are usually fine the next day.

 

[VintagePunk]

They got vaccinations right? It's normal for some cats to act all tired and lethargic for at least 12 hours after vaccinations. I was so upset after I brought Saki home from vaccinations a few months ago. He crawled under the bed and just wanted to sleep, it was so sad. I had forgotten what it does to them But they are usually fine the next day.

Yeah, they did. I guess I was thinking of when I used to take my dog in for vaccines. She used to lie around for 4 or 6 hours after, but she'd usually bounce back by that evening. These guys just looked so little and pathetic and out of it. I was up most of the night checking on them.

 

[MsPurrl]

Awww! Those are very large cats!

Glad to hear your kitties are okay.

Callie is about five years old, and she is a little butterball--weighs about 11 pounds, as of her most recent vet visit in February. But she feels like a feather when I pick up Fergus: he is a huge--very tall, very long--cat. He's about three years old and will go for his check-up in July. I would not be surprised if he weighs 20 pounds! He is a load!

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Fat Cats!

Sherman is 16 or 17 lbs I think... We have him on a weight maintenance food but it doesn't seem to do much...

 

[VintagePunk]

I think a lot of it may be genetic. The kittens that are most similar to their mom seem to be developing a similar body shape - they're very long and lean, and lost their kitten chubbiness weeks ago. The way they're growing I wouldn't be surprised if they're taller and longer than her - maybe because they're male? - but I definitely think they're going to be slim like her.

 

[Lila64]

Otto is a big fatty We don't own a scale, but I think a long time ago when he went to the vet last, he was around 20. We him all the same

 

[elevated_u2_fan]

Fat Cats are more fun to pet

 

[Lila64]

 

[sue4u2]

Jack is the biggest of the kittens. But Bela is small so both of the female's are following after her, it seems.
Lovey is not petite but she eats differently like small but frequent meals. That's been hard since Bela will eat all left overs.
Lovey eats on the kitchen counter or I keep Bela locked up untill she's eaten at least twice. It's a real juggling act though and Lovey doesn't get all the food, I feel she needs.

 

[MsPurrl]

Our Callie has an eating disorder which must have resulted from something in her past before we got her from the Humane Society when she was about 2 years old--they'd picked her up as a stray and had her for a couple of months before we adopted her. Anyway, with most cats I've ever known, you can put a bunch of food down; and they will eat some, then go back later for some more.

Callie, however, will snarf up all that is put down, then urp. So we have to feed her just a little bit, every hour or so; and we have to segregate Fergus when he's eating, or else she will chase him away and eat his food, too.

 

[U2democrat]

^My grandmother's cat has a similar problem...we can only put a little bit of food out for her at a time otherwise she'll throw it up. I don't know why that is though, if she generally just has an upset stomach. She's also 15, but has been this way for awhile.