Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Quof]

Spoiler

Query.  I haven't had a cat in years, but adopted an adult cat 6 weeks ago.  At the shelter, I commented that they seemed pretty happy to be rid of her. "Oh, no, she's just an asshole with other cats. She's fine with humans."  Turns out, she seems to be an asshole in general, but it's kind of cool.  The shelter had no recommendations about food, so I just grabbed a big bag of "middle of the road" food in a quick trip to the supermarket.   She ate it happily.  I then bought a couple of bags of different, more expensive brands.   She seems to hate them both, and it's been a couple of days since the original food ran out. I might have a minute to get to the store tonight to buy the OG, but it will be inconvenient. She's not crazy enough to starve herself, is she?  If she is truly hungry, she will eat the other food until I get the stuff she likes, right?  Second query, when she arrived I gave her an old fuzzy blanket. She quickly made it her bed, loved it.  This week she hates it, is reluctant to even touch it if I put her toys in the middle.  I have washed it a few times already, so it's not that it smells or feels different. Any thoughts?

Spoilering my old post just in the interest of space.   

I updated on the blanket yesterday, it's all good.   

Now she hates the food.

I go back to "she's an asshole."

[supposebly]

28 minutes ago, Quof said:

I go back to "she's an asshole."

Maybe she's one of those who prefer different kinds of food and get bored with the same old same old. Mine alternate betweeen different types every few days. When I feed them the same thing for more than 2 weeks, they stop eating. My pet food store also tells me that alternating helps avoiding food allergies.

Or is it hot where you are? They tend to eat a lot less when it's hot.

[Quof]

1 minute ago, supposebly said:

Or is it hot where you are

It's warm, not record breaking as other posters are experiencing.  And certainly not enough to stop me from eating. 🙂

[MargeGunderson]

7 hours ago, EighteenTwelve said:

Lily is 15 today, which means she's officially Ancient and Venerable.  But she doesn't know that.  All she knows is it's just a bit hot out today.

That picture of Lily made me smile! She looks so cuddly. Happy birthday, Lily!

[ginger90]

[EighteenTwelve]

The mouse would be on the other side, if I had one.  Usually Lily has most of her front half on the laptop, either right next to or on top of the trackpad (she gets kicked off when she starts clicking on things by accident), because that's where the laptop is warmest.  But it's too hot for that.

[SuprSuprElevated]

19 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Thanks, y'all! I think I'm going to get the same one. We have very little space and are packed to the gills with two people and two cats in a two-bedroom 800-square-foot apartment with two couches in the living room. Here's Little Girl on the existing cat tree. Yes, we need to vacuum the tree and the floor.

The thing I hate the most about the carpeted cat trees, is the inability to keep them clear of cat hair.  I have used any and every method available, and my Onyx's black hair has rooted itself permanently in the top perch especially.  As much as I love my kitties, and will miss them terribly when they're gone, I will most definitely NOT miss the kitty condo.

[bilgistic]

10 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

The thing I hate the most about the carpeted cat trees, is the inability to keep them clear of cat hair.  I have used any and every method available, and my Onyx's black hair has rooted itself permanently in the top perch especially.  As much as I love my kitties, and will miss them terribly when they're gone, I will most definitely NOT miss the kitty condo.

My boyfriend loves vacuuming (which, go right ahead), and he manages to get a lot of it out of the cat tree carpet, but yeah, my two girls' black fur is pretty well embedded in there.

[Gramto6]

On 6/27/2021 at 7:35 PM, theredhead77 said:

Have you been in touch with your local feral community to get them fixed and vaccinated since the neighbors daughter isn't going to take them? There is a very short window a kitten can be adopted out of this situation.

Not yet, I haven't figured out how to corral them and get them in to the vet. Mama will come no problem, but the kittens scatter any time I come out the door.

[theredhead77]

Is the mom not the neighbors cat? Are the neighbors helping you at all with catching these babies and the mom?

If you contact your local trap and release they'll lend you a trap and give you tips how to get them. It usually involves some sardines. That's how we caught the feral babies in my old complex.

My pet sitters just share this article you may find helpful

https://fearfreepets.com/feral-kittens/

[MargeGunderson]

Princess Parker has been chewing her cardboard scratching mats. Like ripping out pieces of cardboard and eating them. We’ve had to take them all away. She will chew on anything cardboard, especially Amazon boxes. She has plenty of wet food, dried food and treats (and is eating all of them) so hopefully this is just a weird phase. 

This is what she thinks the regular scratching post is for

[theredhead77]

9 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

Princess Parker has been chewing her cardboard scratching mats. Like ripping out pieces of cardboard and eating them. We’ve had to take them all away. She will chew on anything cardboard, especially Amazon boxes. She has plenty of wet food, dried food and treats (and is eating all of them) so hopefully this is just a weird phase. 

This is what she thinks the regular scratching post is for

I also have a goat posing as a cat. He licks everything, will chew the cardboard off the the scratchers and is obsessed with everything plastic. Literally, everything. I keep a box of tampons near the toilet and I caught him, head in the box lick lick licking the wrappers. I put anti-scratch tape on my bed to deter the other one from scratching and woke up constantly to lick lick lick.

Right now his head is buried in a little container of cat grass I picked up today. Lick lick lick.

The vet says he's fine. 

And that is 110% what the scratching post is for.

Edited June 30, 2021 by theredhead77

[Mindthinkr]

@AgentRXS I just wanted to wish you a Happy Birthday. I hope you had a great meal, cake and spent the time with people you love. 🎂

      Cheers, Mindthinkr 

[Bastet]

11 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

This is what she thinks the regular scratching post is for

Well, you don't think they put that nice piece of wood up there purely for decorative and stability purposes, do you?  Silly human.

[Stats Queen]

On 6/29/2021 at 10:09 PM, Gramto6 said:

Not yet, I haven't figured out how to corral them and get them in to the vet. Mama will come no problem, but the kittens scatter any time I come out the door.

Between our neighbor and ourselves, we have trapped and fixed over 70 feral cats in the last 12 years. 
We own two traps and we have a local organization- Planned Pethood - who will fix feral cats at cost.

We have fixed and released so many cats, many close to my heart. Please DM me if you need any tips or advice.

Our feral cat population is under control now. However, our “White Queen” had 4 healthy babies and have been a source of much enjoyment the last few weeks. Today, there are only 3 kittens 😿

We trap the cats, fix them and then release them.

Some were our “pets” for years, others a shorter time. 
 

[Suzn]

Since this thread is all about pets, it might be a reasonable place to ask for advice.  Because I give to wild and domestic animal organizations, my mailbox is filed daily with donation requests.  Quite a few of them are covered with pictures that just tear me up and an increasing number have money in them.  I hate to see them waste their money that way and sometimes I give a small amount and return the money.

I give as much as I can afford, but can't give to all of them.  There are organizations I've supported for a long time and they have to take priority.

This is something that upsets me and I wonder what others do and what the attitude is about charities that give money in order to get donations.

 

[theredhead77]

I make a point to not give to any organization that guilts me. The ASPCA and sad animal porn will never see a dime from me. You can unsubscribe from their snail mail lists on their website or pay a nominal fee to a service that eliminates junk mail from your mailbox.

Edited July 3, 2021 by theredhead77

[Scarlett45]

The last few days have been hard for my Giant Blond Baby man also known as Cosmo. So many “booms”. There he is hiding under my desk. 
 

But this afternoon a little boy walking down my block said “look, it’s the polar bear dog!”

[theredhead77]

Poor sweet pup has no idea the world isn't ending (probably). I hate fireworks outside of professional displays. 

[Suzn]

13 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

The last few days have been hard for my Giant Blond Baby man also known as Cosmo. So many “booms”. There he is hiding under my desk. 
 

But this afternoon a little boy walking down my block said “look, it’s the polar bear dog!”

Poor Cosmo!  I'm so sorry he is having such a bad time.  I hope he will feel better soon after this weekend.

13 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I make a point to not give to any organization that guilts me. The ASPCA and sad animal porn will never see a dime from me. You can unsubscribe from their snail mail lists on their website or pay a nominal fee to a service that eliminates junk mail from your mailbox.

Thanks!  I think I need a different prospective about "sad animal porn".

[Gramto6]

On 6/29/2021 at 8:32 PM, theredhead77 said:

Is the mom not the neighbors cat? Are the neighbors helping you at all with catching these babies and the mom?

If you contact your local trap and release they'll lend you a trap and give you tips how to get them. It usually involves some sardines. That's how we caught the feral babies in my old complex.

My pet sitters just share this article you may find helpful

https://fearfreepets.com/feral-kittens/

Yeah mama is neighbor's daughter's cat but they have made no effort to help catch them or help with the food costs. 5 cats eat a lot!!

Thanks for the article. I have to find out if there is a TNR program here...MT is not really high in the pet programs... I love these little babies (don't know male/female and wouldn't mind having them come back after being fixed...I live on Social Security and can't afford to get 5 cats fixed/vaxed at the vet...

[theredhead77]

33 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Yeah mama is neighbor's daughter's cat but they have made no effort to help catch them or help with the food costs. 5 cats eat a lot!!

Thanks for the article. I have to find out if there is a TNR program here...MT is not really high in the pet programs... I love these little babies (don't know male/female and wouldn't mind having them come back after being fixed...I live on Social Security and can't afford to get 5 cats fixed/vaxed at the vet...

Every community has low cost spay and neuter. It Sounds like you're going to have to make an effort to find local resources or your local feral community otherwise you're going to have a lot more than 5 kittens on your hand. Kittens can get pregnant pretty young. 

 

@Stats Queenshared that they can help find resources too. Please do everything can to prevent an outbreak of kittens. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

Anyone in other states dealing with this mystery?  I've had to remove my feeders and tip the birdbaths over, to discourage congregating.  So scary and sad.

indiana/songbird-deaths

[ginger90]

9 minutes ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Anyone in other states dealing with this mystery?  I've had to remove my feeders and tip the birdbaths over, to discourage congregating.  So scary and sad.

indiana/songbird-deaths

Yes, here in Pennsylvania.

😔

[Scarlett45]

Cosmo was so afraid last night he wedged himself UNDER my bed. 

I woke up and just his snout and front paws were out and he was stuck!! I have a very high bed, but Cosmo is a big boy. 
 

When I first saw him I was terrified he was hurt under there (he was fine, we had a morning walk and he ate his breakfast). 

I had to lift the entire bed for him to crawl out!

[ABay]

2 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

Anyone in other states dealing with this mystery?  I've had to remove my feeders and tip the birdbaths over, to discourage congregating.  So scary and sad.

indiana/songbird-deaths

Not in CT so far, or at least nothing's been on the local news or the CT Audobon site.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Maybe this will help some of the stressed doggies.  Feel so badly for them.  Cats too.

[SuprSuprElevated]

Actually, there are an alarming number of states reporting songbird deaths.

why-are-songbirds-dropping-dead-in-maryland-delaware-and-west-virginia

"Reports of the unknown illness appear to have started in Washington D.C. in mid-May. It’s now being investigated there and in at least eight mid-Atlantic and central states, including Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana and West Virginia."

[SuprSuprElevated]

There is a theory that a class of pesticides being widely used could be the root of the problem with not only the honey bees, but this bird illness/death issue.  This is an old article, but I thought I'd share for those who share my love of bird feeding.

eonicotinoid-pesticides-bad-bees-and-may-be-bad-people-too

It saddens me to think my bird feeding days may be over, but I won't continue to offer them a product that might be killing them.  I'm going to research what I may be able to do on my own, Supr's own blend if you will.  I know that there is organic seed available, but I'm not wealthy so those don't look promising.

 

[Scarlett45]

10 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

My basic point is if you can find a way to either drowned out or at least lower the level of noise your dog hates by adding a different type of noise that doesn't affect your dog, your dog may be able to deal with loud unpleasant noises better.

I didn’t think of that thank you. I will turn the tv up to down out the “booms”. 

[Spartan Girl]

@Scarlett45 I thought of all the pets in my neighborhood when people were shooting off fireworks around here. If it helps, plenty of humans don’t like hearing them explode so damn close either. Hope Cosmo recovers.

[supposebly]

Our Canada Day official fireworks seemed to have been canceled this year again but a few idiots thoght to set off a few things last night. My Scully, while startled, recovers pretty easily and even seems to get used to them.

My Fox however spent most of the night, hours after the last bang in my closet hiding behind the suitcases. She seemed fine this morning until the person vacuuming the hallway outside my apartment started. She ran back to her regular hiding spot in another closet. This vauuming used to be endlessly fascinating to her and she would sit near the door listening.

I never really thought about this much until I got my own pets and see one of them getting traumatized. I do hope she gets better.

[KnoxForPres]

@icemiser69 You are 100% correct. And I hate you had to deal with that!   There is a moderately sound safe basement and I take Knox and we watch TV loud  and all is ok. It’s innate- while I did get her from a shelter she was a little bit and nothing with loud noises have happened to her directly she shakes and hates thunder etc.  

[Miss Anne Thrope]

8 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

Several years ago, there was a goldfinch in my backyard that was acting all wonky like that.  It was trying to fly and could barely keep himself in the air.  I just assumed that the bird might have collided with a window or something else (just a guess), but now after reading that article, I wonder if it was something else.

I love songbirds, I would hope that whatever the problem may be, that it gets resolved quickly.  I do have those window decals all over my windows to help protect birds from crashing into them.

 

Finches can catch an eye disease that can make them blind (and I imagine they don't last long after that happens), and they get a couple of other illnesses too.  I had one in my garden a few years ago with the crusty eye thing going on, which made me look into it. A lot of bad things can happen to our feathered friends, unfortunately.

https://feederwatch.org/learn/sick-birds-and-bird-diseases/

Edited July 6, 2021 by Miss Anne Thrope

[Stats Queen]

On 7/3/2021 at 10:37 PM, Gramto6 said:

Yeah mama is neighbor's daughter's cat but they have made no effort to help catch them or help with the food costs. 5 cats eat a lot!!

Thanks for the article. I have to find out if there is a TNR program here...MT is not really high in the pet programs... I love these little babies (don't know male/female and wouldn't mind having them come back after being fixed...I live on Social Security and can't afford to get 5 cats fixed/vaxed at the vet...

I don’t know if Planned Pethood or another organization has options where you live. 
Fixing 5 cats at the vet would be incredibly costly.

People that don’t fix their outdoor or indoor/outdoor cats make me mad. That is irresponsible pet ownership.

On 6/27/2021 at 9:35 PM, theredhead77 said:

Have you been in touch with your local feral community to get them fixed and vaccinated since the neighbors daughter isn't going to take them? There is a very short window a kitten can be adopted out of this situation.

Once they are over 12 weeks it is really difficult. 

[Nicmar]

On 5/6/2021 at 5:05 PM, Scout Finch said:

Heavy is the head that wears the crown...and the cat. It's a little difficult to work on my laptop, needless to say. (I'm 57 and I just wanted a crown for the heck of it, damn it! It was just delivered.) 

 

That cat is gorgeous. Calico or Torti? I can't tell. I have a torti her name is October and she swipes at all the other cats and my calicos in the past had that same feisty behavior as well.

[ABay]

CT Audobon Society urges removing birdfeeders and bird baths to prevent whatever's killing birds in the south from spreading here.

They say birds won't starve if the feeders are taken down ...but I still feel guilty. I guess what I'll do when I get home is dump all the seed on the driveway or lawn and store the feeders.

Edited July 7, 2021 by ABay

[ABay]

Giant 3d cat billboard!

[MargeGunderson]

That is both cool and freaky! I just shared it with my work colleagues.

Update - my colleagues loved it. 

Edited July 8, 2021 by MargeGunderson

[Moose135]

59 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

What happens when the cat needs to use the litter box?🐱🐈

That's going to be one enormous poop!

[KnoxForPres]

I’ve complained about it before and likely  I will  but Knox and her nails!  She’s like a master manicurist on the right- short and perfect. She neglects the left.  (I’m left handed so even more upsetting :)   

The vet and past nail trim attempts terrifies her so I’ve held off as she has to have minor sedation to get this done. I’m still holding out.  Is that dumb and get the girl trimmed?  She walks fine, no pain but whew they are long!  I fear she might offer me an Apple (did not capitalize that iPhone did lol) like the witch in Snow White!

I am not in the medical field but each time I think if something happened to her for a trim I just couldn’t deal with it. It’s equivalent I guess to what MJ liked- probably safe when used correctly. But if we were close before- the pandemic and me now being told my office will not reopen (didn’t expect and made me very sad) I just feel I can’t risk it on something like nails. No one-including you dear reader should understand this but oddly feel better getting out. 

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, KnoxForPres said:

The vet and past nail trim attempts terrifies her so I’ve held off as she has to have minor sedation to get this done.

Is she terrified even if you give her a happy pill and do it at home?  Hopefully she'd be at least less freaked out, and it would take less time, so less chance of the stress doing any real damage.

The stress factor isn't to be dismissed; you're right to evaluate whether it's worth it under the circumstances.  So I'd look at how stressful it is for her and for how long under the best conditions you can create vs. the problems/potential problems caused by not doing it.

I trim my cat's claws, because even with her scratching post usage they get long enough that she starts getting caught on things and I don't want that to result in an injury (slim chance, but not worth taking if I can reasonably avoid it).  She doesn't like it, so I wait until it absolutely must be done, to stretch out the time between mani-pedis.  But it doesn't stress her out too much; when I first got her, it did, as I could feel her little heart racing, but now she does a bit of wiggling and twisting to see if she can get away and is annoyed rather than scared.  So it's worth it in our case.

[supposebly]

Ok, that's a new one. Annual vet visit and my Fox, while quiet and scared, peed in the carrier on the way home in the car. I didn't know cats peed when scared. 

Scully, on the other hand, made a few new friends.

[MargeGunderson]

Oh, poor Fox! I hope he has forgotten the experience already. 

I learned that cats pee when scared the same way, but it happened on the way to the vet. The vet techs swiftly took my cat to the back, cleaned her up, and put a puppy pad in her carrier. She was so mortified that she forgot to be scared. She actually loved that vet, because he spent the first few minutes of each visit telling her what a pretty girl she was (in a voice you typically associate with someone talking to a baby) before getting down to business. She was a sucker for anyone who called her a pretty kitty.

Edited July 10, 2021 by MargeGunderson

[supposebly]

I think it was the car ride. She complained loudly on the way there. She was suspiciously quiet on the way back, so I actually assumed she got a little used to it. I guess, I was wrong.

Also interesting, the pee didn't smell like regular cat pee. Almost no smell.

She seems ok now. She chirped at me again, which she does when she's happy with me.

[Gramto6]

My late Baby Boo used to poop in the carrier on the way to the vet and pee on the way home. Vet trips were very stressful for the poor guy. 

[ratgirlagogo]

On 7/8/2021 at 12:58 PM, ABay said:

Giant 3d cat billboard!

I feel like such a hypocrite.  If this billboard were a 4-D rendering of somebody drinking a soda or driving a car, I would hate it.  But since it's  a CAT, I love it.

There's a livecam of it by the way, unfortunately from a bad angle:

Also Tokyo is 13 hours ahead of us so hard to catch it at the time they actually have it working.

[JTMacc99]

[Scarlett45]

On 7/12/2021 at 6:37 PM, JTMacc99 said:

Pure bliss!

[smittykins]

Unfortunately, the fountain experiment didn’t work.  Within a week, Shadow figured out how to pull out the center section of the top(where the flower normally sits).  Water all.over.the.floor.  So now we’re back to a regular water bowl. *sigh*

( @JTMacc99, I apologize for accidentally giving your picture the sad face.  I meant to give it a ❤️!)

Edited July 16, 2021 by smittykins