Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[bilgistic]

The quality of this is not good; I have to fiddle with the light and color settings so my cats' features are actually discernable in pictures.

This is how they were laying for a moment tonight. Little Mama showed her belly floof. She has just a bit of fur that has white tips on her lower belly. She lets me rub her belly and actually seems to like it, unlike pretty much all the other cats I've ever known.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

@Bastet that sounds like the kitten-cat invading the cat-cats space. True, the kitten-cat was here first but he has to bully his way into whatever the cat-cat is doing. 

We always tell Chester, "You know, Bandit was here first." 

The one time I brought Maddie over to my parents' house after Chester had arrived, he ran her off every time she came out of my old bedroom.  He is apparently one of those "Bar the gates behind me; I'm the last one in" types!

3 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

She lets me rub her belly and actually seems to like it, unlike pretty much all the other cats I've ever known.

I love when cats allow belly rubs!  Riley loves them, but when I first adopted her she was thin enough that there really wasn't much to rub.  The first time she flopped over and presented herself rubbing and there was a nice little tummy there, I teared up.  Bandit and Chester both like them, too (and good thing, because Chester, having had an ultrasound recently and having the world's slowest-growing fur [he still has bald patches from the IVs for his teeth cleaning in February], has a belly I particularly want to rub*), as did Maddie and Baxter.  It has been a long time since I had to respect a "Don't touch the belly" attitude.

*My poor cats - by which in this instance I mean those belonging to me, my parents, and the friends to whose cats I am Auntie - have to deal with my love for fur that is just starting to grow in following a shaving, as I squeal "Fuzzies!" and rub away.  Just as I often say, "You're lucky you're cute" as they do something obnoxious, they must look at me during such sessions and think, "You're lucky you feed us."

[EighteenTwelve]

I invented the Patented Double-Barrel LilyBeast Scritch because Lily likes to fall over on her side and have her back and her stomach scritched at the same time. If I try that with Snip, I can just about get past her armpits before she curls up and tries to bite me. I try it anyway just to remind her that she can be opinionated, but I’m in charge.

[DeLurker]

The Continuing Tale of Catty Face being a PITA:

So last night, CF decides it is time to go to bed and goes to the top landing of the stairs to meow to let me know.  He does that for a bit with no result, so he comes to the bottom landing and tries again.  When that is not successful, he wanders around the first floor meowing pitifully.  This all goes on for about 30 minutes before he gives up.

When I do go to bed, he comes upstairs with me and settles in right away without fussing aver Kook.  So I am like "YES!".  Until 2:30 when he decided he wanted me to go get Kook.  Meowing starts again, but this time I open the bedroom door and close it after him.  I assume he went downstairs to find the dog since the dog wasn't sleeping on the landing outside my door.  I go back to sleep.

About 30 minutes later, he is meowing at the bedroom door.  I don't get up and after awhile he stops meowing.  Instead, he goes into the bathroom and paws open the cabinet door and lets it shut.  Over and over again (he does this when he wants to make a point).  I get up and let him in the room.  He shows his displeasure with me by sleeping on the chair, facing away from me instead of on the bed like normal.

This is really new behavior all the meowing.  I don't remember him meowing at all the first 2 years I had him.  Every once in awhile he would sit at the top landing and meow to get my attention, but not often and not more than once or twice.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can stop this, short of letting him decide my schedule, please let me know.

[MargeGunderson]

Kitty belly rubs are the best! Kitty Gunderson The Younger likes them very much and can often be cajoled to roll over - of course I have to say "show momma your tum-tum" in a baby voice, but I'm willing to pay the price. The Elder has a very fluffy tummy that no one is allowed to touch. Occasionally when I'm holding her on her back like a baby I'll take a liberty and rub her tummy. If I'm lucky she won't notice for 5-10 seconds, and it's glorious. 

[Mindthinkr]

Sleeping Beauty

[bilgistic]

4 hours ago, DeLurker said:

The Continuing Tale of Catty Face being a PITA:

So last night, CF decides it is time to go to bed and goes to the top landing of the stairs to meow to let me know.  He does that for a bit with no result, so he comes to the bottom landing and tries again.  When that is not successful, he wanders around the first floor meowing pitifully.  This all goes on for about 30 minutes before he gives up.

When I do go to bed, he comes upstairs with me and settles in right away without fussing aver Kook.  So I am like "YES!".  Until 2:30 when he decided he wanted me to go get Kook.  Meowing starts again, but this time I open the bedroom door and close it after him.  I assume he went downstairs to find the dog since the dog wasn't sleeping on the landing outside my door.  I go back to sleep.

About 30 minutes later, he is meowing at the bedroom door.  I don't get up and after awhile he stops meowing.  Instead, he goes into the bathroom and paws open the cabinet door and lets it shut.  Over and over again (he does this when he wants to make a point).  I get up and let him in the room.  He shows his displeasure with me by sleeping on the chair, facing away from me instead of on the bed like normal.

This is really new behavior all the meowing.  I don't remember him meowing at all the first 2 years I had him.  Every once in awhile he would sit at the top landing and meow to get my attention, but not often and not more than once or twice.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can stop this, short of letting him decide my schedule, please let me know.

When she deemed I wasn't responding to her every whim, my late girl kitty used to pull open the kitchen cabinet doors just enough to make them slam shut over and over and over. I eventually put hook-and-eye latches on them. Unattractive, but they stopped the problem.

Little Mama likes to howl/meow at night in the living room–only at night and if she's alone. I'll walk in there and say, "Hey, shhh, stop the meows," as if she understands. Or I'll pick her up and bring her to the bedroom and she'll settle down momentarily until she and Little Girl start chasing each other around the apartment at breakneck speeds.

I have no answer because clearly my cats do whatever they want.

[theredhead77]

The kitten-cat has his 'you aren't rubbing my belleh' back arch-stretch glance / glare down pat. He will stare at me until I come pet him and if I don't he'll keep doing it until I do. If I comply right away I'm rewarded with licks but if I am delayed it's a bite for me!

The cat-cat watched, and learned this move and started implementing it this week. The cat-cat will also announce his presence after he awakes from his royal-cat-cat napnap and saunters into the living room to grace us with his presence.

Who says cats are stupid? They're fucking smart!

 

A friend of mine is coming to visit in a few weeks and I see many more belleh pets for the cat-cat (while the kitten-cat hides under the bed).

[bosawks]

Alli catching some rain drops!

[Mindthinkr]

15 minutes ago, bosawks said:

Alli catching some rain drops!

Alli has an enviable wardrobe! 

[DeLurker]

She really can rock the bandana.

[bosawks]

You should hear her when I buy one that clashes with her eyes...

[Moose135]

Australian Shepherds were originally bred as herding dogs, and many are still used for this work.  Denali comes from a herding line (rather than a show line) and she is always on duty - we joke that she sleeps with one eye open, ready to react.  If we are in different rooms, she will park herself where she can keep an eye on both of us, since she needs to know where everyone is all the time.

She is also a Velcro Dog - she will follow you around the house as you go from room to room.  And don't dare close a door with her on the other side - if she can, she'll push it open so she can see you, and if not, she'll sit outside the door until you open it.  Don't be surprised to find her in the bathroom with you if you leave the door ajar...

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

And don't dare close a door with her on the other side - if she can, she'll push it open so she can see you, and if not, she'll sit outside the door until you open it.  Don't be surprised to find her in the bathroom with you if you leave the door ajar...

Cats across the world ask, "Yeah, and? What else would one do in those situations?"

[bilgistic]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

Cats across the world ask, "Yeah, and? What else would one do in those situations?"

Paw under the door and yowl until being let into the bathroom, bat a toy across the bathroom floor, walk across their human's shoulders, sit in their human's lap, lay in the sink, play in/drink the trickling water from the sink's faucet, play in/drink the trickling water from the tub's faucet, play with the bathtub drain stopper, knock things off the back of the toilet, knock things off the counter, spelunk in the linen closet, hide behind the toilet, fight with the other cat in the empty tub, play with a toy in the empty tub, use the litterbox at the same time their human is in the bathroom, and run at top speed out of the litterbox, throwing litter everywhere...

[Moose135]

That's why I don't have a cat...

;-)

[Mindthinkr]

We can fix that...

Just change it to Moose’s starter kit. 

[theredhead77]

7 hours ago, Moose135 said:

That's why I don't have a cat...

;-)

https://www.boredpanda.com/not-my-cat-i-dont-own-cat-inside-house

[bosawks]

As a dog owner I can say that I've had a toy dropped at my feet while occupied on the commode on more than one occasion.   

[JTMacc99]

My cat destroyed (destroyed beyond repair, destroyed) the venetian blinds in my bathroom yesterday. Not exactly sure why she felt the need to launch her 9 pounds into them. but the only question I have now is whether or not to replace them with the same style, or if I can find something more cat resistant. 

Either way, she's on the shit list at the moment. 

[theredhead77]

37 minutes ago, bosawks said:

As a dog owner I can say that I've had a toy dropped at my feet while occupied on the commode on more than one occasion.   

As a cat owner I can say the same thing.

@JTMacc99she had to launch her 9lbs into them because CAT!

[bilgistic]

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

My cat destroyed (destroyed beyond repair, destroyed) the venetian blinds in my bathroom yesterday. Not exactly sure why she felt the need to launch her 9 pounds into them. but the only question I have now is whether or not to replace them with the same style, or if I can find something more cat resistant. 

Either way, she's on the shit list at the moment. 

Maybe just hang a curtain instead? You could use a fabric table cloth with a tension rod or extendable mountable rod, and clamp rings--no sewing required. I did that for a small window in my old condo.

The late, great Bilgisticat used to walk through the bedroom window blinds instead of behind them to lay in the window (nor would he lay in front of the blinds). I've patched several slats with clear packing tape. I learned to leave the blinds raised several inches.

The girls lay in the window, so the blinds stay raised a bit. I close the curtains at night because I can't handle even a few inches of dark night sky in which someone might see in. I don't know how people have big glass windows or walls without curtains.

[theredhead77]

My complex has 'parking lot kitties' that are pretty feral. There's a woman who cares for them, leaving food and water. Problem is, with days like today when it rains all day their food is floating in a bowl of water (and will eventually have roaches in it). Looking for suggestions  on some sort of way to protect the food without deterring the kitties from eating. I was thinking a Rubbermaid container on it's side but it would have to be a pretty large one and would probably be noticed by the leasing office.

 

[DeLurker]

7 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

My cat destroyed (destroyed beyond repair, destroyed) the venetian blinds in my bathroom yesterday. Not exactly sure why she felt the need to launch her 9 pounds into them. but the only question I have now is whether or not to replace them with the same style, or if I can find something more cat resistant. 

Either way, she's on the shit list at the moment. 

Catty Face will attest to the fact that flying intruders often hide behind the blind slates to mercilessly taunt a poor kitty who has no control over reflexive instincts honed for thousands of years. 

[walnutqueen]

7 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

My cat destroyed (destroyed beyond repair, destroyed) the venetian blinds in my bathroom yesterday. Not exactly sure why she felt the need to launch her 9 pounds into them. but the only question I have now is whether or not to replace them with the same style, or if I can find something more cat resistant. 

Either way, she's on the shit list at the moment. 

Vertical blinds.

[JTMacc99]

All good suggestions. I’ll browse through Lowe’s this weekend and see what I find. 

[theredhead77]

58 minutes ago, JTMacc99 said:

All good suggestions. I’ll browse through Lowe’s this weekend and see what I find. 

I recommend a cat.

[AgentRXS]

5 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

My complex has 'parking lot kitties' that are pretty feral. There's a woman who cares for them, leaving food and water. Problem is, with days like today when it rains all day their food is floating in a bowl of water (and will eventually have roaches in it). Looking for suggestions  on some sort of way to protect the food without deterring the kitties from eating. I was thinking a Rubbermaid container on it's side but it would have to be a pretty large one and would probably be noticed by the leasing office.

She really shouldn't be leaving food out all day. Outdoor cats don't graze all day like housecats do, its so much better to get them on a set feeding schedule.Also, leaving food unattended attracts bugs and wildlife. I would recommended talking to the woman to see if she can come 2x a day to feed them or something.

[bilgistic]

Re: cats and the bathroom: I just opened the bathroom door that was ajar (from inside the bathroom) to see the girls sitting in front of the door, side by side, looking up at me. It made me laugh. They usually have no problem coming into the bathroom and walking all over me when I'm in there, so I don't know why they felt like sitting outside the privy this one time. I wish I could've gotten a picture.

[JTMacc99]

10 hours ago, theredhead77 said:

I recommend a cat.

Ha!  They were  all good suggestions until that. May I remind you that at two kids and eight pets, the number of lives I’m responsible for keeping alive is maxed out.  

[Mindthinkr]

6 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Re: cats and the bathroom: I just opened the bathroom door that was ajar (from inside the bathroom) to see the girls sitting in front of the door, side by side, looking up at me. It made me laugh. They usually have no problem coming into the bathroom and walking all over me when I'm in there, so I don't know why they felt like sitting outside the privy this one time. I wish I could've gotten a picture.

I suspect that they have been reading this over your shoulder! 

[theredhead77]

16 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

She really shouldn't be leaving food out all day. Outdoor cats don't graze all day like housecats do, its so much better to get them on a set feeding schedule.Also, leaving food unattended attracts bugs and wildlife. I would recommended talking to the woman to see if she can come 2x a day to feed them or something.

She's a woman who lives in the complex and has been doing this longer than I've lived here. I'm trying to get TNR people to come out but they have been no-shows so far.

14 hours ago, bilgistic said:

Re: cats and the bathroom: I just opened the bathroom door that was ajar (from inside the bathroom) to see the girls sitting in front of the door, side by side, looking up at me. It made me laugh. They usually have no problem coming into the bathroom and walking all over me when I'm in there, so I don't know why they felt like sitting outside the privy this one time. I wish I could've gotten a picture.

The kitten-cat will plop down outside the bathroom door when I shower. I suspect if I opened the door for him to come and go while I was in the shower I'd need stitches.

[Jaded]

On 8/1/2018 at 9:09 AM, DeLurker said:

If anyone has any suggestions as to how I can stop this, short of letting him decide my schedule, please let me know.

Mr. C has been trying to get fed before it's his feeding time, waking me up in the morning extra early in an attempt to get fed and waking me up from naps for no reason. I was having an actual good nap earlier and he started his yelling which I tried so hard to ignore. When the yelling didn't get me up he tried jumping from a set of plastic drawers I have beside my bed where the fan that blows on me sits and landed on my stomach. He's 10 to 11 pounds so when he does that it can hurt like hell. That made me have to go to the bathroom so when I went back to sit on my bed he started to nibble on my knee which was the last straw and I did something I rarely ever do which is give him a tap on his back side area. It wasn't hard and I do feel bad.

I've been overly tired more times then not lately because my sleeping started to be dictated by my cat a couple months ago. As soon as he has me up if I don't feed him he'll just go to sleep in front of me like he's rubbing it in. I slept almost all day last Sunday and was shocked he even let me. It was like my body was trying to catch up on some missed sleep. I have no idea what to do to stop this behavior. He was estimated to be three when I got him but over the last year he's started sprouting grey hairs. I've started to wonder if everything has something to do with him getting older or if he's going a bit mental and not liking to be alone when awake now. I keep telling him I can't stay awake beyond my limits to suit his schedule like he actually understands.

I'm so frustrated I dedicated two paragraphs to describing his behavior.

[DeLurker]

@Jaded - I feel your pain.  Not sure if any of this is proper cat advice, but maybe things to consider:

 

1 - Waking you up to feed him.  I feed Catty Face a good quality dry food since he drinks a  lot of water.  When he was waking me up to feed him, I tried adding a feeding time in the evening before bed so he can free feed if he gets hungry in the middle of the night.  It is in my bathroom up on the sink cabinet to keep Kook out of it and since he usually sleeps in my room anyway.  That pretty much took care of that problem.  Overall, he gets the same amount of food everyday, but now the feeding schedule is modified a bit.

2 - Don't feed him immediately when you wake up (whether he has woken you or not) so he doesn't get rewarded for unwanted behavior.  I make my coffee first because that really is a necessity for me, but it also establishes the household pecking order.*

3 - Try to regularly give him a play session as part of the bedtime/evening routine.  Really get him going until he is panting.  I have a feather wand toy that works for CF, but he only likes the ones with real feathers.  I have to do this while the dog is on his evening walk or with my bedroom door closed because my big silly dog wants to play too, but I'll sit in the middle of my bed and use the toy to get the cat running from side to side and leaping up and down off the bed.  I do put it away in a drawer when not playing so he doesn't get too familiar with it.  If the cat show I sometimes watch is right (My Cat from Hell), the play session should come before any food gets put out for him.

4 - If he is still being a pain in the ass, set up another room where he can be safe and comfortable, but can't pester you and close the door.  He'll let you know he protests such action, but after a few times he should get the message.

CF's meowing has decreased substantially so I am getting better sleep. 

 

* I sort of adopted my brother's cat about 7 years ago.  Pumpkin would literally bang his head repeatedly on the bedroom door in the morning to get my SIL to feed him and as soon as her car pulled in from work, he immediately would start to pester her to feed him.  This had been going on for years because he was 14 when I started to take care of him.  When I ended up with him, he tried the morning routine a couple of times with me but did not get his way so he gave up entirely. 

[theredhead77]

All week they let me sleep through the night. Last night the kitten-cat decided it was time to have a play against my back at 3am. 

[Jaded]

Mr. C has a wand toy he likes which is the Cat Catcher with the mousie on the end and the clear plastic glitter handle (that's a pretty looking bonus). He's not as into the feather ones. I still have to put catnip on the mousie one to really get him going with it. I'll try playing with him more later in the evening near his 2nd feeding time. I feel like 3 3oz cans a day would be a bit much. I like My Cat From Hell too and that other show Jackson did with the lady was ok too. I'm hoping one of the two or both have new seasons eventually. I looked to see what was on Animal Planet today and it was a marathon of some pool show.

Mr. C is on a wet food only diet with the occasional treats due to his urinary issues and having blocked twice within a year so the free feeding thing isn't really an option. He gets 2 3oz cans a day of wet food with chicken chunks and broth because he hates pate and will not eat at all to avoid it. He's also not a fan of the seafood varieties of wet cat food. I've never tried feeding him anything like duck though. I don't feed him as soon as I wake up especially if he's woken me up. If he lets me wake up myself I'l usually wait a half hour and if he wakes me up it's an hour or more to the point where he goes back to sleep due to getting tired of waiting. He's the first cat I've had that doesn't rub up against the legs when looking to be fed. Instead he likes to make sure he's in front of me so I can see how hungry he is. He can be an odd little fellow but he's my odd little fellow and I love him.

[NutMeg]

On 8/2/2018 at 8:05 AM, bilgistic said:

Paw under the door and yowl until being let into the bathroom, bat a toy across the bathroom floor, walk across their human's shoulders, sit in their human's lap, lay in the sink, play in/drink the trickling water from the sink's faucet, play in/drink the trickling water from the tub's faucet, play with the bathtub drain stopper, knock things off the back of the toilet, knock things off the counter, spelunk in the linen closet, hide behind the toilet, fight with the other cat in the empty tub, play with a toy in the empty tub, use the litterbox at the same time their human is in the bathroom, and run at top speed out of the litterbox, throwing litter everywhere...

Yeah, what's the deal with that? Mine started doing this quite recently, and none of my previous cats did. Anyone knows what could be the reason?

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

I feel like 3 3oz cans a day would be a bit much.

It depends on how many calories per can and how much Captain weighs (general rule is 20 calories per pound of body weight [per day]), but in all likelihood, yes, that would be too much.  If you were going to add a just-before-bed meal, you'd want to divvy up the amount he already gets a little differently rather than adding more.

The only cat I've ever had wake me up for food was Baxter, and he didn't start doing it until he was about 11.  I would just ignore him, but some mornings it took him a long time to accept that and go back to sleep.  It could be very frustrating, but at least he was mostly trained.  When I stay at my parents' house, Bandit and Chester both try to wake me up (in fairness to them, they are used to getting fed hours earlier with my parents [although they also ate dinner later with me the night before, so the time in between meals remains the same]), and no matter how many years I've been taking care of them, the first morning of each trip, I have to go through the, "No, remember we are on a different schedule when I'm here" routine for probably a good hour before they give up and go back to sleep.  After that, they settle in.  But fast forward to the next time my parents are gone, and we start over again.

1 hour ago, Jaded said:

He can be an odd little fellow but he's my odd little fellow and I love him.

So sayeth every (good) pet owner ever.  They certainly all have their quirks!

[DeLurker]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

They certainly all have their quirks!

But so do we.

[bilgistic]

My girls are hungry, hungry, hungry! They eat four or five meals a day during which they each have a quarter of a 6.5oz. can of food. They act like they're starving to death if they don't eat every four hours. I feed them immediately before I go to bed.

I fed them at 1pm yesterday and they were wanting food again at 3:30. I told them it had been only 2.5 hours (because they can tell time) and they had to wait until I got home from my appointment in an hour and a half.

Little Girl is slim and trim. She's 7lbs. and change. Little Mama is stocky, but under 9lbs. My sister says she has a "mom bod". They're two and three years old, so still young with high metabolism, I guess.

[Bastet]

9 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

My sister says she has a "mom bod".

LOL! 

Baxter had a saggy stomach, and I think was miffed he couldn't blame it on having had a litter of kittens.

10 minutes ago, bilgistic said:

They act like they're starving to death if they don't eat every four hours.

This is Bandit and Chester during the day, only they rarely wait that long to ask for more -- whenever they wake up from a nap or come in from checking out the yard, they must have a snack.  Bandit (who eats canned food) you can only feed a little bit at a time, or he'll scarf down too much at once and it will come back up.  And then Chester (who eats raw food) picked up the habit of eating all day long from him.  So now there's a lot of meowing in that house during the day.  At least they're quiet at night (most of the time - Bandit gets into an overnight ornery mood from time to time that involves "talking" [and he has no inside voice], but little Chester just quietly plays with his toys when he's awake in the wee hours [we know because they're in different places than they were at bedtime]).

[Merrilin]

::waves::  I'm new here!  Here's a couple of my cats, KC kissing Leo.  I have 3 cats & 1 chihuahua who thinks she's a cat.


 

[bilgistic]

Here's Little Girl snoozing in praying mantis pose last night.

[Merrilin]

This is how Toonces sleeps; looks pretty uncomfortable to me:

[Bastet]

4 minutes ago, Merrilin said:

This is how Toonces sleeps; looks pretty uncomfortable to me:

Welcome, @Merrilin.  Louise (one of the family cats when I was a teenager) would have approved:

 

[walnutqueen]

3 hours ago, Merrilin said:

::waves::  I'm new here!  Here's a couple of my cats, KC kissing Leo.  I have 3 cats & 1 chihuahua who thinks she's a cat.


 

Welcome, @Merrilin!

[Merrilin]

Thank you!  :)

[MargeGunderson]

Question for those owned by cats: recommendation for a cat brush? Kitty Gunderson The Elder hates to be brushed. Given her advanced age, she needs more than a little help. She has medium hair, and very thick; she also sheds like crazy. She dislikes the Furminator and those grooming gloves. I’d like to find something that I could brush her with every day while she’s napping. That would be preferable to the current once a week torture session. Any suggestions for brush types? Also, anything for after I’m done brushing her, to get off all the loose fur that she deposits for the next few hours? I think I get it all with the brush but if I pet her I come away with a handful of fur. 

[theredhead77]

6 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

Question for those owned by cats: recommendation for a cat brush? Kitty Gunderson The Elder hates to be brushed. Given her advanced age, she needs more than a little help. She has medium hair, and very thick; she also sheds like crazy. She dislikes the Furminator and those grooming gloves. I’d like to find something that I could brush her with every day while she’s napping. That would be preferable to the current once a week torture session. Any suggestions for brush types? Also, anything for after I’m done brushing her, to get off all the loose fur that she deposits for the next few hours? I think I get it all with the brush but if I pet her I come away with a handful of fur. 

I bought one by Hertz that has tiny balled tips on the end of the bristles. To get all the loose fur I use a basic, unscented Swiffer cloth. I run it over the kitties after I am done brushing them and it really collects a lot of the fly away fur

[MargeGunderson]

17 minutes ago, theredhead77 said:

I bought one by Hertz that has tiny balled tips on the end of the bristles. To get all the loose fur I use a basic, unscented Swiffer cloth. I run it over the kitties after I am done brushing them and it really collects a lot of the fly away fur

Genius! I was thinking about a lightly damped microfiber cloth, but your way sounds even better.