Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Bastet]

Wonderful news about Captain!  I'm so glad to hear it.

Stress plays a role in cats' urinary issues, believe it or not (there's even feline idiopathic cystitis, where the inflammation that causes them to have trouble peeing has no medical cause at all [no crystals, stones, or mucus plugs, no infection, no cancer, but the same symptoms as if one of those conditions existed], and it's believed stress is the major factor), and daily play time - ideally with something that emulates catching prey - helps reduce stress.  The idea our pampered pets can be stressed seems outlandish, but it's A Thing.  Plus, an active cat tends to go to the bathroom more, and the best thing to do for a urinary tract is keep it moving so none of the gunk can form. 

Best wishes for continued good health and happiness for Captain; he's off to a great start!

[ABay]

That's great, @Jaded!

Aside: Both of my little demons are also black cats. 

[Treehugger]

@Jaded, this is wonderful news about Captain!  He looks happy, for a cat anyway, in the photo that you posted.  Loved hearing that Captain is enjoying the catnip mice and is spazzing out in the hallway.  This is great news to read tonight!

[Lisin]

@Jaded great news!

@stewedsquash (and anyone else who is interested) Zooey the tripod kitty is doing great. Shes pissed she's locked in the bathroom at night and has to wear the cone of shame when unsupervised but good news, she gets her stitches out tomorrow morning! No more isolation or cone! She already is getting around great. She can get on the couch by herself and up the stairs and up on the bed too! Here she is relaxing without the cone. 

[Bastet]

Adorable picture (and, this is quite probably freakish, but I just want to kiss that little paw that's sticking out).  I'm glad Zooey is doing so well, and will be released from the dreaded cone tomorrow.

I didn't want to tell a frivolous story until we got some good news on Captain, so:  Riley scared me for the first time Wednesday evening.  I'd been gone for about 24 hours, and when I came through the door I immediately noticed she had only eaten half her food.  Okay, sometimes she gets bored with the chicken and wants rabbit instead, so maybe that's it.  But then she was nowhere to be found, and didn't come when I called her; normally she's running and meowing to greet me when I've been gone longer than normal, and under normal circumstances she meows from where she is when she hears me say, "Mommy's home."  On the second pass through the house, I checked under the couch/bed in the office, which was her hiding place when I got her, and there she was.  She came right out, but was acting a little weird.  Then she wouldn't eat her rabbit.  She followed me to the bedroom, but instead of joining me on the bed for snuggles, she crawled under that bed. 

At that point, I was concerned, so I swept through the house again, this time looking to see if it looked like she'd gotten into anything.  Nada.  Back to the bed, and after about five minutes she joined me.  It was shortly after that I realized, by a few indicators, she was scared, not sick.  Not that I was happy she was scared, but I'll take that over sick!  It took nearly an hour for me to calm her down, and she wasn't completely normal until morning.  When I'd come home, I'd come from the cross street above, so when I headed down the street that morning to the cross street below, I saw for the first time that my neighbors across the street and a couple of houses down were getting a new driveway; the old one was gone, which meant Riley spent that day I was gone hearing a very long driveway's worth of concrete being jackhammered out and big chunks of it tossed into a truck/dumpster.  She'd have probably done okay if I'd been home, but apparently hearing all that (not to mention feeling the vibrations) without Mommy was enough to traumatize her such that the fear lingered even after the work was done. 

And the not having eaten the night before the day of the noise (she does almost all her eating in the evening/at night) probably was, indeed, being sick of the chicken - once she was calmed down, she devoured her rabbit, and she's eaten it normally ever since - and just a coincidence of timing.  So, all is well.

[DeLurker]

34 minutes ago, Bastet said:

 

Adorable picture (and, this is quite probably freakish, but I just want to kiss that little paw that's sticking out).

 

I kinda had the same reaction to that paw!

@Lisin - so glad to get the update on your sweetie!

[shanndee]

Thanks for the kind words everyone! I definitely will keep you posted on how Chelsea fares with the vet. We'll probably go for a check up in about 2 weeks.

I am very happy to hear that Captain is home and doing well. :D

@Lisin It will be such a wonderful feeling to see Zooey free of the Cone of Shame once and for all! It was only when Chelsea had her staples removed and lost the cone that we got to experience her true personality. Losing that front leg has not slowed her down one bit! She runs everywhere, and she jumps with incredible grace. She even manages to get on top of the highest kitchen cupboards in such swift movements I can't cut her off before she starts.

She seems determined to make me worry about her. Going up is easy, but coming back down is an awful lot of weight and impact for one leg to deal with. She'll know what disability is if she breaks that leg!

[shanndee]

 

 

This is Chelsea, before and after the Cone of Shame! (I hope this works...I haven't posted pictures here before...please let me know if it isn't right!)

Edited March 25, 2017 by shanndee
add photo& description

[Jaded]

I think I may have spoke too soon. This afternoon Captain has started to lick his man bits a lot. Sooooo I'm getting worried again. I feel like I'm doing something wrong since he seems to pee and etc. ok at the vet until he gets picked up and brought back home. I'm wondering if the litter I switched to a couple weeks before all this started has something to do with all of this too. :(

Edited March 26, 2017 by Jaded

[shanndee]

Oh, I'm sorry Jaded. Maybe your vet or a technician familiar with Captain can give you some advice on how to proceed / something else to eliminate from his diet or environment? Here's to hoping that excessive grooming is just a bad habit he picked up, and not a sign of ill health. Sending best wishes to you and Captain.

[Lisin]

15 hours ago, Jaded said:

I'm wondering if the litter I switched to a couple weeks before all this started has something to do with all of this too. :(

So so sorry! It probably couldn't hurt to switch back to the old litter. Or... this is crazy but I keep getting this add on my instagram for this litter  it's called Pretty Litter and apparently (this is from their site, honestly I have no clue if it works but...)

Quote

All cats are notorious for hiding any illness, so it's often hard to tell if they are sick or in pain. PrettyLitter makes it easy for you to know if your cat is experiencing a health issue before urgent medical care is needed, saving you money, stress and potentially your cat's life. Most common indications are:

Blue: ALKALINE Urinary tract infection, kidney issues.

Green: ACIDITY Crystal formations, urinary blockage.

Red: BLOOD Internal injury, poison ingestion.

Quote

So... apparently (if this is not bunk) the litter changes color depending on your cat's health. It may be worth a try if it gave you peace of mind. I promise I don't work for them. I just thought it was neat if it does work! 

[riley702]

Just a quick note. I have something pretty important going on in my life, but don't want to clog up the threads, yet wanted my pals in my most active threads to know. So, the link is here: 

http://forums.previously.tv/topic/26532-chit-chat/?page=98#comment-3121390

Please limit discussion to that thread, please. Thanks.

[theredhead77]

If you are a cat wrangler, you need this. It's amazing http://www.littergenie.com/

Has anyone here tried the new Arm & Hammer Slide litter? I use Arm & Hammer multi-cat clump and seal and I love it. No dust, minimal tracking, the minimal scent doesn't bother my allergies and I'm very hesitant to change.

[JTMacc99]

I can't use clumping litter because occasionally the dogs get access to the litter box. It's bad for them to eat the clumping litter. So we stick with plain old clay litter.  

[DeLurker]

My big dope gets into the cat's litterbox too.  Kind of relieved to hear he is not the only one prone to such grossness.

[EighteenTwelve]

I used to cat-sit for a friend of the family when I was a kid (poor Henry.  He hated everybody he lived with.).  Since then, clumping kitty litter and the Litter Locker have been invented, and I'm very glad to have both for my own cats. 

[Lisin]

5 hours ago, DeLurker said:

My big dope gets into the cat's litterbox too.  Kind of relieved to hear he is not the only one prone to such grossness.

We have our litter in the closet for just this reason. There's a kitty door in the closet that's big enough for the kitties but small enough that the big dope can't get in... but tripod kitty also hasn't figured that navigation out yet. 

We had to come up with this system because we use natural litter which is made from corn husks and apparently that combo (corn husks plus litter box contents) is delicious to the dope. We use these litter boxes that are basically big rubbermade containers with a lid and a hole cut in the lid so the cats can get all the way inside because we had a feral who would just sit on the edge of the normal litter box and do his business often missing the box completely... anyway, we didn't think the big dope noticed/knew they were litter boxes until one day he's being all lovey dovey on my husband and husband sniffs and says "OH MY GOD! Why does his HEAD smell so bad?!?!" Well, turns out he was sticking his whole head in the litter box and chowing down like we had made him a personal buffet. And his head was stinky. So into the closet the boxes went! 

[bosawks]

Please explain again how it wasn't you that ate my pillow....

[DeLurker]

His collar matches the blanket!

Needed to get a new collar for the cat but ended up with matching collars for the cat & dog (red).  Got the cat the smallest for chihuahuas and the largest for the Kook.  They look spiffy.

[shanndee]

But...but...Bosawks' dog is clearly staring at the real culprit! Look, right over there! Catch him before he gets away! :D

Here's another one of Chelsea, worn out from trying to fish the ping pong balls out of the home made whack-a-mole style box.

[DeLurker]

In today's edition of My Pet is a Butthead....

Kokuma will paw at the backdoor when he wants to go out.  The rule is that he needs to sit and stay, even if the door is open, instead of bolting right out the door.  Normally he paws the door, I come over and tell him to sit (if he is not already sitting), open the door and then tell him when it is ok to "go".  Every few days he gets the "you're not telling me what to do" attitude and he will refuse to sit.  Sometimes I walk away and sometimes I amuse myself by standing there to see how long it will take for him to comply.  He will look me direct in the eye to challenge me first, then get nervous and look a bit pitiful.  Next he will turn his head so he doesn't have to feel my steely gaze.  Eventually he will start to sit. but at glacial melting speed (pre global warming).  I can actually see his hind quarters and legs shake he doesn't want to do it so much.

Today's episode had a new dimension.  He walked, ever so slowly a couple steps away before sitting.  So I let him sit there for a minute or so (because I had already invested 5 minutes in today's Butthead Edition) with the door open.  When I finally told him it was ok to go, he plopped himself down.  I closed the door and left the room.

With Kook, part is a breed issue from what I understand.  He is 1/2 Great Pyrenees which is a very smart, but very independent dog.  If you give them a command, they know what you want - compliance will be based on if they feel like doing it.  Kook is probably a very docile compared to most GPs, but every so often he is the canine equivalent of a sullen teenager.

[ratgirlagogo]

On 3/28/2017 at 11:02 AM, DeLurker said:

My big dope gets into the cat's litterbox too.  Kind of relieved to hear he is not the only one prone to such grossness.

I had some friends who easily trained their three cats to pee and shit in the toilet.  But they had to abandon this plan and keep the toilet lid down because their two dogs became even more obsessed with drinking (and eating!) out of the toilet than they had been before.

[ari333]

13 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

 

Sorry. Can't get the quote box off. And I'm on the wrong thread. Ooops.

[Moose135]

16 hours ago, ratgirlagogo said:

I had some friends who easily trained their three cats to pee and shit in the toilet.  But they had to abandon this plan and keep the toilet lid down because their two dogs became even more obsessed with drinking (and eating!) out of the toilet than they had been before.

Years ago, my cousin had a Newfoundland who would drink out of the toilet.  I don't know if she learned the hard way or not, but she would wait, halfway out the bathroom door, until someone came and flushed it before she would take a drink.

Edited March 30, 2017 by Moose135

[bosawks]

Alli discovered a new skill today....

[DeLurker]

As I've reported here before, I use my trike sometime to exercise the Kook.  About half the time the cat, Sir Robin, will want to come too so I put him in the pet carrier and load him into the basket.  He likes to just hang out and snooze in the basket when I let him in the garage so I started to think of how I could secure him in so he won't have to go in the pet carrier (he doesn't mind it, but he'd get to see a lot more if he wasn't enclosed).

So I got a small cargo net - probably some use in camping or securing stuff if you have an ATV - and decided to give it a try.  A bit more gappy then I would like, but I can fix that with a trip to the hardware store.  Loaded up the cat for a short ride around the neighborhood and seemed pretty good with all of it.

It makes me very happy.

 

[ABay]

Brave, brave Sir Robin!

[ABay]

GAH! One of the beasts has peed outside the litter boxes the last 2 nights. He or she is going right next to the box, still in litter (boxes are on washing machine drip pans). I can't face yet another $700+ trip to the vet when girl cat was just there 10 days ago and has another appointment 5/2. I am hoping this is protest pee because I hauled a big piece of furniture out of the kitchen and moved one of the many litter boxes out there--that's not the one a cat is peeing outside--and cleared out some drawers and stuff, all on Sunday. I'm afraid to go home.

[ari333]

1 hour ago, ABay said:

GAH! One of the beasts has peed outside the litter boxes the last 2 nights. He or she is going right next to the box, still in litter (boxes are on washing machine drip pans). I can't face yet another $700+ trip to the vet when girl cat was just there 10 days ago and has another appointment 5/2. I am hoping this is protest pee because I hauled a big piece of furniture out of the kitchen and moved one of the many litter boxes out there--that's not the one a cat is peeing outside--and cleared out some drawers and stuff, all on Sunday. I'm afraid to go home.

What? You changed things? How dare you ! :-)

[Jaded]

2 hours ago, ABay said:

GAH! One of the beasts has peed outside the litter boxes the last 2 nights. He or she is going right next to the box, still in litter (boxes are on washing machine drip pans). I can't face yet another $700+ trip to the vet when girl cat was just there 10 days ago and has another appointment 5/2. I am hoping this is protest pee because I hauled a big piece of furniture out of the kitchen and moved one of the many litter boxes out there--that's not the one a cat is peeing outside--and cleared out some drawers and stuff, all on Sunday. I'm afraid to go home.

Captain peed on a bath towel I had on the floor last night and hopped in the litter box while I was cleaning it this morning. So your other cat isn't the only one who's probably heading to the vet. My friend is on her way to take Captain in. I feel so bad for him and other cats having issues with something as simple as going to the bathroom. They can be frustrating little furballs because of the way they can go from seeming off, then ok and back to off again.

[DeLurker]

More Sir Robin pictures - in the first he went on his first big trike ride since I got the cargo net more safely securing him in (plus his harness with the leash attached to the basket just in case he decided to make a run for it).  We went on a 2 mile ride yesterday and he seemed to like the ability to move around and poke his head up through the net so he could get a better view.  Most of the time he sat towards the front of the basket, head popped through net and watching where we were going.  He didn't seem stressed at all or make a sound until we got home.  He got a bit indignant when I took the Kook into the house first.

The second picture was him trying to pack himself into my daughter's suitcase.  She's going to Washington DC for a Japanese competition for high school students so we were trying to get everything situated.

 

[theredhead77]

On 3/28/2017 at 8:56 PM, shanndee said:

But...but...Bosawks' dog is clearly staring at the real culprit! Look, right over there! Catch him before he gets away! :D

Here's another one of Chelsea, worn out from trying to fish the ping pong balls out of the home made whack-a-mole style box.

I do that with my Amazon prime boxes too! The smart buggers figured out if they sit in the middle the tape will fail and they can get their prizes.

[Lisin]

I call this one "I know Murph. She's in your spot. But you know, you jumped on her and broke her leg and we had to have it amputated so maybe you should just let her have this one and find another place to sit?" (that's Zooey the (newly) tripod cat and Murphy, the culprit). 

[DeLurker]

@Lisin - Awwww...Murphy is lucky Zooey hasn't extracted revenge (yet?). 

[bosawks]

Alli making friends...

[Lisin]

9 hours ago, DeLurker said:

@Lisin - Awwww...Murphy is lucky Zooey hasn't extracted revenge (yet?). 

You're so right. They're actually great friends, which is how the break happened in the first place. Zooey plays rough! She's a tough kittie! They finally figured out how to make it work btw. 

[shanndee]

23 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I do that with my Amazon prime boxes too! The smart buggers figured out if they sit in the middle the tape will fail and they can get their prizes.

It is such an easy way to keep them happy isn't it? :)

Chelsea is really close to figuring out that sitting on it works as well...but so far she seems to prefer keeping herself busy fishing through the holes. We'll see how long that lasts...

[Maharincess]

As a joke, I sent an email to Amazon as my cat (I was bored) and told them how disappointed I was that my moms latest delivery from Amazon was in a bag instead of a box. A few days later I get a huge box delivered with a bunch of smaller, empty boxes in it and some treats and toys.  My cat gets more excited about Amazon deliveries than I do. 

@Bastet, how is Riley doing?  I haven't seen an update in a while. 

Granny Dog is doing great. Somehow her name has evolved and we're all calling her Apple now.  Its a long story. 

[theredhead77]

5 minutes ago, Maharincess said:

As a joke, I sent an email to Amazon as my cat (I was bored) and told them how disappointed I was that my moms latest delivery from Amazon was in a bag instead of a box. A few days later I get a huge box delivered with a bunch of smaller, empty boxes in it and some treats and toys.  My cat gets more excited about Amazon deliveries than I do. 

That's awesome! I also have the box from my one Blue Apron delivery. They love hunting in it.

[shanndee]

That is so awesome, I LOVE it!! 

Your email probably made a nice change from the ordinary and really brightened someone's day...but it amazing that they sent your cat such a great gift. Awesome. :D 

[Maharincess]

We still have her boxes. My bedroom is a huge loft thats the size of the entire downstairs, the half of the room on one side of the stairs is the pet area and I have her boxes on that side. If I can't find her, I always know to look in one of the boxes.  

I have an old computer desk on that side of the room with their supplies in it. I have their brushes, combs and scissors on the keyboard tray.  When my Kaylee was here all she had to do was hear that tray being pulled out and she would hide.  She didn't like being groomed.  

[JTMacc99]

My kitten comes out of whatever midday coma she is in when I bring in the groceries to climb in the bags. Unpacking goes like this: Cantelope in the fridge, cereal in the closet, cat, ice cream in the freezer...

[theredhead77]

3 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

My kitten comes out of whatever midday coma she is in when I bring in the groceries to climb in the bags. Unpacking goes like this: Cantelope in the fridge, cereal in the closet, cat, ice cream in the freezer...

My kitten-cat puts himself away in the freezer and the pantry.

[Bastet]

13 hours ago, Maharincess said:

When my Kaylee was here all she had to do was hear that tray being pulled out and she would hide.  She didn't like being groomed.  

Bandit (my parents' cat) is the opposite; he loves being brushed, and demands it several times a day (by hopping up on the "brushing station," which is a built-in dressing table in the master bedroom, and howling).  If you open the drawer the brush is in to get something else, he comes running in and jumps up there, expecting to be brushed.

13 hours ago, Maharincess said:

Bastet, how is Riley doing?  I haven't seen an update in a while. 

Very well, thank you.  She still doesn't like other people; she'll let them look at her from a doorway, and she'll sometimes let my mom pet her depending on the circumstances, but that's it.  The important thing is she is no longer afraid when people come over, just uninterested or annoyed, so if that's as good as it ever gets, that will be okay.  But, when it's just us, she's completely relaxed into a "normal" cat.  She still flinches sometimes at sudden movements close to her and occasionally runs away - for about two feet - if I'm moving too swiftly towards her, but by and large she just chills.  I can even pick her up and carry her out to the bonus room (it's attached to my detached garage, so we have to walk through the backyard) and she'll happily hang out with me there.  (It's where my nicest TV - and my bar - is, so I usually watch sports, movies, and TV shows I want to concentrate on rather than have as background entertainment while I putter out there.  Now that I can take her out there with me, I don't have to worry about "abandoning" her if I want to spend hours out there.)  That's the only circumstance in which I'm allowed to pick her up and carry her for more than a foot without a lot of wiggling (and then the claws come out).

I'm now allowed to touch (and trim) her back claws, but the front ones are still verboten.  We'll get there.  I'd also like to be able to put her in a harness so I can walk her out through the backyard rather than carrying her (and let her explore the backyard), but right now I wouldn't be able to wrestle her into one.  I put a collar on her for the first time last week to see what she'd do, and she was not amused.  I've never had a cat care about wearing a collar (I only put them on my cats when they're going outside, but my parents' cats have always worn theirs all the time), but with Riley new things must be eased into VERY slowly.

Oh, one other thing she hasn't completely come around on yet is the fireplace.  She's not scared of it, but she won't yet sleep on "the fire cushion" (where Baxter lived in winter, and where Riley thus far will only hang out if there isn't a fire going).  Hopefully one more winter will do it.  Here she is debating whether it's safe.

 

[DeLurker]

Kook sporadically will nap in front of the fireplace, but it is the only place he'll eat a treat.  No matter where he is given the treat, he'll take it to the same spot to snack on.

[bosawks]

Happy National Pet Day!

[Maharincess]

22 hours ago, DeLurker said:

Kook sporadically will nap in front of the fireplace, but it is the only place he'll eat a treat.  No matter where he is given the treat, he'll take it to the same spot to snack on.

Kaylee was also like that with treats.  We kept her treat cookie jar on the kitchen counter and when we would give her a treat, she would walk backwards about ten feet, drop the treat then lie down to eat it.  Same spot every time.   I sure do miss my girl.  

[DeLurker]

How long do cats stay mad at you?

Was carrying some stuff to the trash in the utility room and did not see the cat lying in front of it (he never has in the past).  Accidentally stepped on his tale.  He's glaring at me and won't let me make it up to him.  I feel horrible.

[Maharincess]

I got an email from the rescue today. They have puppies!!   I'm leaning towards male numbers 2 and 3. I have to meet them in person first. I'm going out there in a couple of weeks as they're new born right now.  Im so excited!!  My ideal situation was to get a puppy from the rescue. Which one would you guys pick? 

@DeLurker, a cat will stay mad until they get mad about something else, so just wait a couple of minutes. Lol. My cat hates any kind of change, even adding something like a throw rug sends her into a tizzy so she's going to hate me next week when my kitchen work is being done.  

Edited April 16, 2017 by Maharincess

[walnutqueen]

41 minutes ago, DeLurker said:

How long do cats stay mad at you?

Was carrying some stuff to the trash in the utility room and did not see the cat lying in front of it (he never has in the past).  Accidentally stepped on his tale.  He's glaring at me and won't let me make it up to him.  I feel horrible.

Forever.  Then when you're old enough to have brittle bones, said cat will "accidentally" trip you as you get out of the shower, causing multiple rib fractures.  Or, will knock over a wing chair in your path as you're making your way to the bathroom in the dark, causing you to fall on said chair and badly bruising (perhaps cracking - I never got x-rays) your sternum.   And I never even stepped on Babalu's tail!!!  ;-)

 

23 minutes ago, Maharincess said:

I got an email from the rescue today. They have puppies!!   I'm leaning towards male numbers 2 and 3. I have to meet them in person first. I'm going out there in a couple of weeks as they're new born right now.  Im so excited!!  My ideal situation was to get a puppy from the rescue. Which one would you guys pick? 

@DeLurker, a cat will stay mad until they get mad about something else, so just wait a couple of minutes. Lol. My cat hates any kind of change, even adding something like a throw rug sends her into a tizzy so she's going to hate me next week when my kitchen work is being done.  

They're all adorable, of course.  I like the markings on Male #3.