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Cranberry

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BooksRule

BooksRule

7 hours ago, ABay said:

I bright Sasha home for the last time this morning. The ashes are in a small box with a tree of life on it, and there's a certificate. I was holding it together until I saw a card with a paw print and realized that it's her paw print and then I fell apart.

I'm so sorry for your loss. I should be getting a call in the next few days about my Alice's ashes.  I asked for the paw print too, and I know that will be tough to see.

It was so strange getting out just one cat food dish last night instead of two.  My other cat woke me up about 5 times during the night to meow and purr in my face.  I don't know if she misses her sister, but I think she's aware that something's different. 

I got a very nice sympathy card from the vet in today's mail.  He said some nice things and included a clipping of a newspaper article that he had written a few years ago about how important it is to grieve for our pets.  Everyone at work today who had heard about it (mainly through my posting some of Miss Alice's best photos on Facebook. She was a beauty in her healthy years) were very sympathetic. 

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bosawks
bosawks

Happy 9th birthday and 6th gotcha to Sweet Alli!

JTMacc99
JTMacc99
EighteenTwelve
EighteenTwelve

Speaking of which...everybody, meet Quirk.  Congenitally cross-eyed, had to have her tail amputated when it got run over, and makes little squeaky noises like a dying smoke detector.  I adopted her on

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secnarf

secnarf

1 hour ago, BooksRule said:

Okay, here's something a little bit lighter in tone.  Go to google, and type in the word cat.  Then click/tap the pawprint icon that shows up (I think on the right), then continue to just click/tap around the page/screen.

You're welcome.

I did this with the sound on - both Ginny and Luna came to investigate and then were looking around for the other cats!

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Gramto6

Gramto6

(edited)

 

26 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

I tried pig and horse!  Pig at least makes sounds when you click 

Elephant made a sound too. Actually lion did to, just tried it again.

25 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I don't get any icon with any of those animal types.  Maybe it's something my ad blocker considers an ad?

In the right hand corner there is a description box (part of the text, don't think ad blocker would go into the text to block) with several small photos of the animals, cat and dog have a paw print in the lower right corner of the box this is what you click on. The others have a microphone which when you click it, you hear the sound the animal makes.

Edited by Gramto6
typo
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Bastet

Bastet

11 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

In the right hand corner there is a description box (part of the text, don't think ad blocker would go into the text to block) with several small photos of the animals, cat and dog have a paw print in the lower right corner of the box this is what you click on. The others have a microphone which when you click it, you hear the sound the animal makes.

Oh, I see now -- I have to actually hit enter on the search term and then it will appear.  I was expecting something to pop up just from typing "cat".

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BooksRule

BooksRule

While I was at lunch today, I got a call from the vet's office to say that Miss Alice's ashes were ready any time I wanted to come by and pick her up. It was very nice and respectful. Everything was in a dark blue bag with handles (like from a nice shop).  Her ashes were in a very nice wooden 'casket' (I guess that's the term), and there was a plaster (?) imprint of her pawprint ( :( ) with a ribbon so I can hang it up if I want.  There was also a certificate of cremation.  I was okay until I got to the little clear plastic envelope with some of her fur that they had clipped for me.  It was so sad to see that, but I was glad, because I didn't know they were going to include that and I had been a little upset with myself because I hadn't thought about saving some of her pretty rust-colored fur.  

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Bastet

Bastet

(edited)

Yeah, this has not been a good time for the fine folks here in the pet thread. 

I'm sorry to hear about the death of Pokey Jones, @Bookish Jen.  I'm glad it wasn't an unexpected, sudden loss, as I know the additional trauma of that, but no matter how much we know the end is near, that end still hurts like hell.  You will indeed miss him forever - because you'll love him forever, as you said - but you won't always hurt like you do now.  My thoughts are with you, as this initial stage of grief is brutal.

Edited by Bastet
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Scarlett45

Scarlett45

Cavendish and Lady Reese caught a mouse today!!!!

I have not seen a mouse in my unit since 2021 (just Blake was alive then and he was 18, not catching anything), I do have an exterminator service for the building (my mom and my sister live downstairs), occasionally a trap will go off down there. But I was watching tv, and I saw them both running around, I thought it was a toy but they were both too active. 
 

Sweet Jesus I told Lady Reese to drop it (I didn’t want her to eat the nasty thing), but it was still alive. I managed to follow her with a plastic bag and when she dropped it for me I wrapped it up and took it to the alley. 
 

I am so proud of them! Good job at your domestication purpose feline friends. 
 

Edited to add a photo because it’s so cute. 

IMG_9089.jpeg

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Bastet

Bastet

I'm glad she dropped it for you and they didn't have a chance to eat it.  Around here, so many ignorant or heartless people still use poison to kill rats and mice, not only causing the rodents an inhumane prolonged death, but turning them into potential agents of death or serious illness for animals up the food chain who might consume them.

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secnarf

secnarf

On Thursday, Ginny goes for the procedure to take a look and see what is causing her sneezing/bloody snot issues.

She also has a history of GI issues (vomiting and diarrhea) and has been on a special gastro diet. A little while ago, we opened a new bag of that dry food, noticed that neither cat was eating it and Ginny started vomiting again. Gave them Iams sensitive stomach in the interim. Ginny stopped vomiting. Tried a new bag/lot of the gastro food, and she still vomited, every time I got past ~50% of the gastro food. Spoke with the vet at length today. We made a plan to give Ginny the Iams until Thursday when she has her procedure, and at that point try a fully hydrolyzed formula to try to "reset" her GI tract and give it time to recover (along with B12 injections), with next steps being stool testing and/or metronidazole.

After the lengthy phone call, I decided to shower. When I came out, Ginny had left me a lovely present - pooped on my bed. The plus side, not diarrhea - perfectly formed stool. The down side, is that I thought we were past this and I have no idea what to do next or how to cope with it. It's just one issue after another and while the rest might ruin me financially, using my bed as a litterbox might be the thing that does me in. I can't imagine giving a cat up - especially for a reason like this - but I don't know what else to do. I have a very small apartment. I have two litterboxes, I do not have physical space for a third - even the second one was pushing it. The cats love being in my room and if I lock them out, that's also further restricting the time I can spend with them. I just don't know what to do. She is so sweet. But I don't know how to cope with this, if she starts doing this routinely again.

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Scarlett45

Scarlett45

I am so sorry all you’ve been through @secnarf- if it helps you at all, my bedroom has always been a “cat free zone”. Occasionally they will run in here, and hide under the bed or climb on top of the dresser, but Lady Reese is a cord chewer and Cavendish wants to knock everything over, so absolutely not. 
 

Keeping my bedroom/office space “cat free” allows to me to protect my electronics (monitors and computer) as well as have trinkets that aren’t “cat safe”. I’ve loved system and I spend plenty of time with my cats (I only use my bedroom/office for work and sleeping). We have cuddle and play time in the living room. It also helps Cosmo to know this is “his space”. 

For the time being, can you toss an old sheet (I keep an old sheet for the pets) tossed over your bed to cover it until you can figure out the issue? If she does it again you can place the stool in the toilet, toss the sheet in the hamper and just get in bed without having to strip and remake it. 

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secnarf

secnarf

My apartment is small enough that the bedroom is roughly 40% of it by area. It's a huge part to deny them access to, and with work, most of my time at home is while I am asleep - I would feel terrible spending only 5-6 hours with them per day. Also it has the best window in the condo, complete with a little bench in front, as well as a wide windowsill. The girls love to watch the sunrise every morning.

ScreenShot2023-08-27at10_46_56PM.thumb.png.eb3779f8c481c5a084a230bda101de49.png

I already keep them out of my bedroom while I am at work or if I'm gone for the day - not if I am just going out for a short period of time, although that may change. When she was doing this repeatedly when I first got her, once she even pooped on the bed while I was actually laying in it.

I have a cover that I got on Amazon that is "water resistant" (as she has also peed on the bed in the past) that I keep on the bed at all times, unless I am sleeping or it is in the wash. It does make clean up easier. Problem is, I only have one of them, and they're not super cheap. I may invest in a second one though, especially if this keeps up - I find the problem comes when I have to take it off to clean it, and then that leaves my bed without protection and hence I need to keep them out of the room. Aside from protecting the bed from bodily fluids - including bloody snot - it actually does a great job at keeping my bed underneath free of cat fur.

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Scarlett45

Scarlett45

9 hours ago, secnarf said:

My apartment is small enough that the bedroom is roughly 40% of it by area. It's a huge part to deny them access to, and with work, most of my time at home is while I am asleep - I would feel terrible spending only 5-6 hours with them per day. Also it has the best window in the condo, complete with a little bench in front, as well as a wide windowsill. The girls love to watch the sunrise every morning.

ScreenShot2023-08-27at10_46_56PM.thumb.png.eb3779f8c481c5a084a230bda101de49.png

I already keep them out of my bedroom while I am at work or if I'm gone for the day - not if I am just going out for a short period of time, although that may change. When she was doing this repeatedly when I first got her, once she even pooped on the bed while I was actually laying in it.

I have a cover that I got on Amazon that is "water resistant" (as she has also peed on the bed in the past) that I keep on the bed at all times, unless I am sleeping or it is in the wash. It does make clean up easier. Problem is, I only have one of them, and they're not super cheap. I may invest in a second one though, especially if this keeps up - I find the problem comes when I have to take it off to clean it, and then that leaves my bed without protection and hence I need to keep them out of the room. Aside from protecting the bed from bodily fluids - including bloody snot - it actually does a great job at keeping my bed underneath free of cat fur.

Investing in a second one might be worth it, OR an extra large mattress cover as a back up. 
 

I had a similar issue- When I adopted Cavendish and Lady Reese, they had been returned to the shelter after a week for not using the litter box, what I have discovered in the 1.5 they have been with me, is that Lady Reese DOES use the litter box, she just sticks her buttocks out of the other side🤣 (it’s big enough, and I have three), so I just bought double of the incontinence pads my Mom and sister use (the disposable) and place those underneath the litter boxes along with the mat. I only have to change those about once or twice a week. 

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SoMuchTV

SoMuchTV

14 hours ago, secnarf said:

I have a cover that I got on Amazon that is "water resistant" (as she has also peed on the bed in the past) that I keep on the bed at all times, unless I am sleeping or it is in the wash. It does make clean up easier. Problem is, I only have one of them, and they're not super cheap. I may invest in a second one though, especially if this keeps up - I find the problem comes when I have to take it off to clean it, and then that leaves my bed without protection and hence I need to keep them out of the room. Aside from protecting the bed from bodily fluids - including bloody snot - it actually does a great job at keeping my bed underneath free of cat fur.

 

5 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Investing in a second one might be worth it, OR an extra large mattress cover as a back up.

Or, if you just need something to cover things up while the good cover is in the wash, how about a thin plastic "drop cloth" from the paint section?  Or an old shower curtain?  Or a plastic tablecloth from the dollar store?  (Don't ask.)

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EighteenTwelve

EighteenTwelve

When your 17-year-old cat tries to climb up your leg because you're standing at your kitchen counter disassembling a rotisserie chicken, you can be certain she wants chicken more than you do.  (Lily turns into a piranha where chicken is concerned.  Quirk sits under the kitchen table hoping she doesn't get chomped by accident.)

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SuprSuprElevated

SuprSuprElevated

(edited)

@secnarf, I don't know if what I'm going to say is wisdom, but it's my experience and thoughts about what you're dealing with.

My Onyx was defecating outside of her litterbox with relative frequency as a result of her kidney disease (constipated from chronic dehydration, and she blamed the litterbox for her discomfort apparently). Because her stools were tortured, gnarled and dried up nothings, it didn't create much of a cleaning problem, though certainly not ideal. This went on intermittently for 12-18 mos prior to her death, maybe once every 2-3 wks. Fortunately, she didn't pee outside of the litterbox, but I am quite confident in telling you that if she did, DH and I would have had to have a very difficult conversation much sooner than we did. Much as we love our pets, we deserve to not have to deal with the nastiness of incontinence, chronic vomiting, etc., but mostly, mostly, our pets also deserve to not have to deal with these things. As my vet explained many years ago about Jessie, my first CKD kitty, she doesn't want to pee or poop outside of the litterbox. It makes her very unhappy as well. It's not natural for them either; not how it's supposed to be. It was then that the unhappy decision was made to release us both from that sorrow.

I don't say these things to encourage euthenasia, but to somehow let you know that if it comes down to that, it isn't because it is the worst thing that can be done. It often is the best thing.

I wish you the the peace and strength to make the decisions that are best for your little family, whatever they are and whenever they need to be made. 

Hang tough 💪🙏🧡

 

Edited by SuprSuprElevated
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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

Quote

My Onyx was defecating outside of her litterbox with relative frequency as a result of her kidney disease (constipated from chronic dehydration, and she blamed the litterbox for her discomfort apparently). Because her stools were tortured, gnarled and dried up nothings, it didn't create much of a cleaning problem, though certainly not ideal. This went on intermittently for 12-18 mos prior to her death, maybe once every 2-3 wks. Fortunately, she didn't pee outside of the litterbox, but I am quite confident in telling you that if she did, DH and I would have had to have a very difficult

My Peaches went through that too. She had cancer of the intestines, which we didn't find out until the day we put her down. My advice is get X-rays as soon as you suspect anything. Some vet may be reluctant to do them because of the expense but I blame our vet in a way because he never even suggested them until it was too late. Insist if you must!

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secnarf

secnarf

5 hours ago, SoMuchTV said:

 

Or, if you just need something to cover things up while the good cover is in the wash, how about a thin plastic "drop cloth" from the paint section?  Or an old shower curtain?  Or a plastic tablecloth from the dollar store?  (Don't ask.)

Both cats - but especially Luna - try to eat anything plastic. I had to remove plastic garbage pail liners, and even when I have the garbage bag out to gather everything before taking it outside, Luna is chewing it to pieces. I might get away with shower curtain type material but I don’t think it would be big enough. 

4 hours ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

@secnarf, I don't know if what I'm going to say is wisdom, but it's my experience and thoughts about what you're dealing with.

My Onyx was defecating outside of her litterbox with relative frequency as a result of her kidney disease (constipated from chronic dehydration, and she blamed the litterbox for her discomfort apparently). Because her stools were tortured, gnarled and dried up nothings, it didn't create much of a cleaning problem, though certainly not ideal. This went on intermittently for 12-18 mos prior to her death, maybe once every 2-3 wks. Fortunately, she didn't pee outside of the litterbox, but I am quite confident in telling you that if she did, DH and I would have had to have a very difficult conversation much sooner than we did. Much as we love our pets, we deserve to not have to deal with the nastiness of incontinence, chronic vomiting, etc., but mostly, mostly, our pets also deserve to not have to deal with these things. As my vet explained many years ago about Jessie, my first CKD kitty, she doesn't want to pee or poop outside of the litterbox. It makes her very unhappy as well. It's not natural for them either; not how it's supposed to be. It was then that the unhappy decision was made to release us both from that sorrow.

I don't say these things to encourage euthenasia, but to somehow let you know that if it comes down to that, it isn't because it is the worst thing that can be done. It often is the best thing.

I wish you the the peace and strength to make the decisions that are best for your little family, whatever they are and whenever they need to be made. 

Hang tough 💪🙏🧡

 

I’m finding it hard with Ginny to gauge her quality of life. It can’t be fun for her, with her breathing issues, bloody snot, vomiting, diarrhea etc. But she seems so active, loves to play and cuddle. I think I would have a hard time considering euthanasia without a life limiting diagnosis. 
The last time she pooped on my bed, shortly after I got the pet cover, it was bloody and she seemed clearly distressed while doing it. This time, it was the only normal stool I have seen from her in a long time. I wish I knew the cause for her using my bed - is she stressed about something? In pain? Feeling sick with the food changes?

As an aside - my childhood cat was diagnosed with CKD at 17 and died a year later. Even at the very end, to our great surprise, she never once went outside of the litterbox. At that point, it would have been understandable, even expected, given how unwell she was and her dementia on top of that. We were almost waiting for that to happen to show us all that it was time, but not once did she have an accident. Even  Echo, who died from lung cancer, never had an accident even at the very end. This is definitely a new experience for me. 
 

Part of me is also worried there are some inter-cat issues between Ginny and Luna that are causing this. Because again, given my space limitations, I really don’t know what I would do if that is the case. 
 

With any luck, the new food will help - we will start that after her procedure on Thursday. 

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JustHereForFood

JustHereForFood

Does anyone have any tips or advice about moving with a cat? We are planning to move to a different flat (same city) sometime in Autumn and I'm worried that it might be a stressful experience for our cat. She has been living here for the last 9 years and she was only 2 and a half months old when we got her, so I'm not sure how much she remembers from her previous home. Apart from few times when she stayed with my aunt while we've been on holiday, she has always been here (indoors only). I know that I am going to be very emotional when we move, as this has been the only place I've lived in my whole life, but at least I have been a part of the decision process and had time to prepare myself mentally. I started to talk to her about it and I know she can understand me when she wants, but I don't think she understands what moving is right now. I just don't want her to get depressed in the new place.

The previous owners of the new flat had a dog, but they no longer live there and we have repainted everything and only keep minimum of their furniture, so I hope any smells from the dog will be gone by the time we move there. The new flat has a balcony which our old doesn't and one more room, but the rooms are smaller, so the total amount of space is about the same. My room is going to be smaller, so I won't be able to have an extra bed that I have now (long story) which the cat sometimes uses during the day (I don't let her in my bedroom for the night), but I'm planning to get her an armchair at least. And of course, the view from the windows is going to be completely different and she loves to look out, so I don't know how she is going to take that.

Does anyone have experience with this? Thanks in advance!

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Bastet

Bastet

They do fine; other than cats who like riding in the cars, the trip from one home to the other is the hardest part, and you're doing a local move.  Presumably you're moving a lot of your furniture, which will put familiar-smelling stuff in the place of new smells.  Most importantly, she'll have you and your parents (I assume that's who you live with). 

She'll sniff around and explore, and maybe be a little jumpy or anxious at first, but depression is unlikely.  Whatever she feels, she will adjust in time, and possibly quite a short time.  (Between my own cats and those of friends who've moved with cats - some of them numerous times - not a single one has ever had a significant adjustment period.)  She'll find new favorite spots, and be interested by the new things she sees outside the window, because she has the comfort of the familiar - her people, most of all, and some of her old things. 

Just remember she is affected by your emotions, so try to be cheerful around her when you first move; if it seems to her like you feel this is a positive change, she'll go along with that.  (Not that you have to pretend 24/7, just try to have any big moments outside her presence at first.)

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peacheslatour

peacheslatour

Quote

They do fine; other than cats who like riding in the cars, the trip from one home to the other is the hardest part, and you're doing a local move.  Presumably you're moving a lot of your furniture, which will put familiar-smelling stuff in the place of new smells.  Most importantly, she'll have you and your parents (I assume that's who you live with). 

When I was a young wild girl, I had a Siamese cat who went everywhere with me. She lived in numerous different apartments with different roommates, all over the city. She even lived in my car with me for a time. She was with me when I met my husband and she came with me to live in his house. She went to work with me every day and sat under my desk. When I was pregnant with my son, I got the feeling that my poor old cat was just hanging on to meet my child. She died a week after he was born. Wow, I haven't thought about her in years. Thank you, Bastet, for jogging that memory. ❤️

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