Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, luv2lurk said:

I had seen those, but wasn't sure if a cat would use it.

It depends on the cat.  Some cats prefer horizontal scratchers like that.  Some prefer vertical, some like both, and some rely exclusively on furniture/carpet.  🙂

Riley uses her vertical scratchers every day, but the horizontal one maybe once a week. 

[peacheslatour]

28 minutes ago, Bastet said:

It depends on the cat.  Some cats prefer horizontal scratchers like that.  Some prefer vertical, some like both, and some rely exclusively on furniture/carpet.  🙂

Riley uses her vertical scratchers every day, but the horizontal one maybe once a week. 

And Elizabeth never uses the cat tree one, she uses the horizontal one ten times a day. Aren't they a kick? Nathan prefers the carpet.

[ginger90]

This is the one my daughter bought. The picture is from the ad. 

[Scarlett45]

Blake has his spot on the Christmas tree. 
 

Cross your appendages for my decorations this year. Cavendish likes reflective things, and Lady Reese likes to chew cords…..so let’s see how my decorations do!

[Jaded]

[Rlb8031]

13 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Cross your appendages for my decorations this year. Cavendish likes reflective things, and Lady Reese likes to chew cords…..so let’s see how my decorations do!

We stopped putting up a tree when I got my bonus cat, Lyon. My original pair Pandamonium and Imposition liked to knock the decorations off the (artificial) tree. We quickly learned to only hang things on the top 2/3rds of the tree and dress the bottom with lights only. Plus, presents could only go out Christmas Eve because the bows were just too enticing. Fast forward ten years Impy passed, and we got Lyon from the ASPCA. His first Christmas, he decides that launching himself from the top of the piano into the MIDDLE of the tree is the best plan of attack. All I could see was coming home to an electrocuted cat, so that was our last tree. It's been at least 8 years since I've had one.

[SuprSuprElevated]

1 hour ago, Rlb8031 said:

Pandamonium and Imposition

I may have peed a little!  🤣

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Rlb8031 said:

We stopped putting up a tree when I got my bonus cat, Lyon. My original pair Pandamonium and Imposition liked to knock the decorations off the (artificial) tree. We quickly learned to only hang things on the top 2/3rds of the tree and dress the bottom with lights only. Plus, presents could only go out Christmas Eve because the bows were just too enticing. Fast forward ten years Impy passed, and we got Lyon from the ASPCA. His first Christmas, he decides that launching himself from the top of the piano into the MIDDLE of the tree is the best plan of attack. All I could see was coming home to an electrocuted cat, so that was our last tree. It's been at least 8 years since I've had one.

Last year was Elizabrth's first Christmas. We had to move the cat tree, which is in front of her favorite squirrel and bird watching window to put the Christmas tree up. Well, that was not to be abided.She declared war on that tree and started trying to climb it, knock the ornaments off and worst of all, she chewed on the lights. Not the cords but the actual bulbs. We had to take it down and we bought a 3 footer that we keep on the coffee table in front of a different window. She sniffs it now and then but she has left it alone. Whew!

[Annber03]

We were really lucky with our first cat, she never bothered our tree at all. One time an ornament got bumped off the bottom of the tree and she batted at it a bit with her paws, but that was about it. Otherwise, all she wanted to do was lay under the tree. She LOVED when we got the little tree skirt out, the moment we put it under the tree, boom, there she was, happily chilling on it. She always looked so confused after the holidays, when we put away all the Christmas decorations and put away the tree skirt :p.

We haven't had a tree in years, though, so I have no idea how the two cats we have now would react to one. They're generally pretty well-behaved, though, so I like to think they'd be good about it for the most part. 

[peacheslatour]

21 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

We were really lucky with our first cat, she never bothered our tree at all. One time an ornament got bumped off the bottom of the tree and she batted at it a bit with her paws, but that was about it. Otherwise, all she wanted to do was lay under the tree. She LOVED when we got the little tree skirt out, the moment we put it under the tree, boom, there she was, happily chilling on it. She always looked so confused after the holidays, when we put away all the Christmas decorations and put away the tree skirt :p.

We haven't had a tree in years, though, so I have no idea how the two cats we have now would react to one. They're generally pretty well-behaved, though, so I like to think they'd be good about it for the most part. 

Elizabeth is the first cat out of many that I've had in my life that reacted like that. I had one when I lived at my parents house that would knock the glass balls off the tree and bat them into the stone entryway and smash them. Oh, my dad would get so mad.

[SoMuchTV]

30 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

She LOVED when we got the little tree skirt out, the moment we put it under the tree, boom, there she was, happily chilling on it. She always looked so confused after the holidays, when we put away all the Christmas decorations and put away the tree skirt :p.

I’d have been tempted to leave the tree skirt out year round. But then it wouldn’t have been special, I guess. 

[Annber03]

51 minutes ago, SoMuchTV said:

I’d have been tempted to leave the tree skirt out year round. But then it wouldn’t have been special, I guess. 

My mom actually considered doing that, but our place is small and crowded and we just didn't really have a lot of room to leave it out. That's one reason of many we haven't bothered with a tree in many years, we just don't have the room for it anymore. 

We need a bigger place :p. 

[ABay]

The first year I put up the big tree, the cat kept getting on the table but I put down some 2 sided tape and she's never bothered it since.

Last year I went all out, I mean, I could read by the lights on the trees and garlands. This year, I'm not feeling it so I only put up a little tree with a few ornaments from my last trip since I hadn't put them away and they were convenient.

[SuprSuprElevated]

[SuprSuprElevated]

[Scarlett45]

I moved the cat tree to the south corner to make room for the xmas tree, and I am keeping it there, I think the way the sun hits is more pleasing for Lady Reese, she has been enjoying it more often. Not that she didnt like it before, but I see her up there more often now.

[SuprSuprElevated]

😆

[oliviabenson]

From reddit 

[Scarlett45]

1 hour ago, oliviabenson said:

From reddit 

They look majestic and regal. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

11 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

From reddit 

We can haz box?

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

We can haz box?

Heh.  Based on every cat I've ever had, they probably wouldn't phrase it in the form of a question. 

[oliviabenson]

The one on the right is plotting someone’s murder 🤣

[theredhead77]

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

Heh.  Based on every cat I've ever had, they probably wouldn't phrase it in the form of a question. 

[Mindthinkr]

[Scarlett45]

In my effort to try and get holiday pictures for my card, Cavendish thinks his hat is a toy. 

[Guest]

23 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

From reddit 

I think the cat on the left with the big ears and the ‘who me?' expression had locked the other cat in the coal chute and only let him out in time for picture-taking.

[supposebly]

Does anyone have any good cat butt cleaning tips? My Scully has a very short neck and flat face and doesn't always quite get in "there". I catch her with a wet paper towel when necessary, but I am wondering if anyone has a good way to do that without losing a lot of blood in the process. She's quite squirmy and runs when she sees me holding the paper towel.

[Scarlett45]

On 12/6/2022 at 9:24 PM, supposebly said:

Does anyone have any good cat butt cleaning tips? My Scully has a very short neck and flat face and doesn't always quite get in "there". I catch her with a wet paper towel when necessary, but I am wondering if anyone has a good way to do that without losing a lot of blood in the process. She's quite squirmy and runs when she sees me holding the paper towel.

Can you take her to the groomer for hygienic trims?

[supposebly]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Can you take her to the groomer for hygienic trims?

Probably. It's not serious and I do get her. I was just thinking once she's old, we might need some actual grooming sessions.

[bilgistic]

On 12/6/2022 at 10:24 PM, supposebly said:

Does anyone have any good cat butt cleaning tips? My Scully has a very short neck and flat face and doesn't always quite get in "there". I catch her with a wet paper towel when necessary, but I am wondering if anyone has a good way to do that without losing a lot of blood in the process. She's quite squirmy and runs when she sees me holding the paper towel.

It might be helpful to sit on the floor with her and use a warm, wet rag instead of paper towels. That will feel more "natural" to her. You can always bleach the hell out of whatever rags you use, or maybe cut up an old t-shirt and toss it out when you finish.

Try starting to clean her when she's not poopy, so she can get used to it. Give her treats (if possible) and lots of praise and pets!

[Bastet]

53 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

It might be helpful to sit on the floor with her and use a warm, wet rag instead of paper towels.

That's what I did with Maddie; she had a "poop cloth" that had been a diaper cloth when I was a baby.  She'd sometimes get poop stuck in her "tailfeathers" and I'd have to remove it and then clean her up.  She didn't love it, certainly, but the warmth felt good enough she went along with it.

That's what we used on Chester (my parents' cat with IBD, who'd sometimes have an accident), too -- warm, wet cloth.  He loved anything and everything warm, so we used to joke that he'd shit himself on purpose just to get cleaned up.

[supposebly]

Thanks, everyone for the advice re butt cleaning. 😊

I guess I'll try to make this a regular thing with an actual rag instead of only coming after her when necessary. She holds grudges.

She's still staying away from the cat carrier that we used for the last vet visit. In April.

We're having another one in 2 weeks. I'm sure the next grudge against me and the cat carrier will be even longer. Such drama.

😾

[SuprSuprElevated]

10 hours ago, supposebly said:

She holds grudges.

😾😅

[SuprSuprElevated]

[Mindthinkr]

Has anyone heard from @bosawks? Been a long time since we have seen Harper and Alli sporting their holiday bandanas. 

Edited December 10, 2022 by Mindthinkr

[Jaded]

[Mindthinkr]

[SuprSuprElevated]

[beckie]

I have what I hope isn't a stupid question. I've had cats for most of my life and haven't had this happen before. Anyway, my cat ( the younger one) loves to stand by our front door and meow and meow. Wouldn't bother me, but lately he's started doing it just as I drift off to sleep. I have a really tough time getting to sleep so it wakes me up and I usually can't fall asleep again, or get really poor sleep. Doesn't make for a good work day.

Does anyone know how I can stop him from doing this nightly so that I can get some sleep?

[Mindthinkr]

8 minutes ago, beckie said:

I have what I hope isn't a stupid question. I've had cats for most of my life and haven't had this happen before. Anyway, my cat ( the younger one) loves to stand by our front door and meow and meow. Wouldn't bother me, but lately he's started doing it just as I drift off to sleep. I have a really tough time getting to sleep so it wakes me up and I usually can't fall asleep again, or get really poor sleep. Doesn't make for a good work day.

Does anyone know how I can stop him from doing this nightly so that I can get some sleep?

Is he an indoor/outdoor cat? Have you checked all the usuals (food, water, clean litter box)? Try stimulating him with play an hour bedtime to wear him out and give him plenty of attention. I hope you can figure it out soon. Sleep is a necessity. Best wishes. 

[Bastet]

Ideally, you need to figure out why he's routinely meowing at the front door, so -- assuming there are no medical issues causing excessive vocalization in general that simply happen to include meowing at the front door, but that's not what I'm getting from your post; that this is a location-specific behavioral issue -- you can at least train him out of doing it at bedtime.

Is he begging to go out (either because you sometimes let him outside, but not always, or because he was formerly an outdoor or indoor-outdoor cat who's now indoor only, and he's protesting the rules)? 

If he's not wanting to be let out, is the front door partially glass he can see out of, so he's stimulated by what's going by in the outside world and reacting to that?

While trying to figure it out, or maybe even regardless of the conclusion if it's just the bedtime meowing that bugs you, I agree with the above suggestion -- try to tucker him out before you get in bed, so he'll be ready to sleep (or at least be quiet) at the same time, whatever his issue is, and you can drift off into deep sleep.

I hope you get some good ZZZ's soon!

Edited December 13, 2022 by Bastet

[beckie]

We live in an apartment and sometimes take them out at night. We do that because the yard isn't fenced in, and we live on a busy street and the traffic isn't as bad at night. However, the cat in question, won't actually go outside. He'll go to the door and kind of debate, but usually he stays in the hallway. Which is fine. 

But it's like he expects us just to let him out into the hallway whenever he wants. It's a small building and there's people constantly coming up or down the stairs, which scares him. So I can't figure out why he constantly wants out. Before he was neutered, I thought he and my other cat were smelling female cats, but now I have no clue. 

I have no problem with taking them outside. It's just that he seems to really want to do it, just when I'm settling in to go to sleep. 

He's been an indoor cat for as long as we've had him. We got him at six weeks old. 

[Scarlett45]

More photos from my photoshoot attempt. The best one of Lady Reese ended up BLURRY!

[SuprSuprElevated]

[Anela]

This is my cat Cutes, who reverted to living as a feral, and one of his little friends. I've wanted to do TNR with those that don't belong to me, but are my responsibility, since they live on our property. There's a clinic that has had an anonymous donor say they'll pay for TNRs, this month, so they're free for non-pets that will be released, but I don't have a trap. I haven't seen his other little friend, and I'm starting to get worried. This little one now knows me well enough, that they walked up to eat with him, when I was sitting there, but they kept walking away and coming back again. It knows my voice, and it was talking to me, but was hesitant. I'm sure it could be someone's pet one day, like mine. Excuse my language, but I am fucking exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically. If I can get Cutes back in, I'm thinking about asking a local rescue woman, who lives up the road, if she can help me with the other two. I also need to set things up, so that he can't get out again. 

[SoMuchTV]

5 minutes ago, Anela said:

This is my cat Cutes, who reverted to living as a feral, and one of his little friends. I've wanted to do TNR with those that don't belong to me, but are my responsibility, since they live on our property. There's a clinic that has had an anonymous donor say they'll pay for TNRs, this month, so they're free for non-pets that will be released, but I don't have a trap. I haven't seen his other little friend, and I'm starting to get worried. This little one now knows me well enough, that they walked up to eat with him, when I was sitting there, but they kept walking away and coming back again. It knows my voice, and it was talking to me, but was hesitant. I'm sure it could be someone's pet one day, like mine. Excuse my language, but I am fucking exhausted mentally, emotionally and physically. If I can get Cutes back in, I'm thinking about asking a local rescue woman, who lives up the road, if she can help me with the other two. I also need to set things up, so that he can't get out again. 

I'm no expert, but I thought in places that had TNR programs, they would have traps to lend out.  Or maybe your municipal animal control department, if you have one of those?  Best of luck!  Hope you can stop the cycle!

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, Anela said:

but I don't have a trap.

Here, the city shelter will loan them out.  There are also TNR organizations that make them available.  Plus, people who work in animal rescue around here and keep one or two on hand are always willing to lend one for this purpose (I see posts asking and offering on NextDoor a lot). 

[SoMuchTV]

49 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Here, the city shelter will loan them out.  There are also TNR organizations that make them available.  Plus, people who work in animal rescue around here and keep one or two on hand are always willing to lend one for this purpose (I see posts asking and offering on NextDoor a lot). 

Jinx!

[meep.meep]

I've been able to borrow one from a local pet store.

[JTMacc99]