Cat thread

[Mrbloodworth]

Would love to hear how someone goes about brushing a cats teeth!

[Nebu]

Would love to hear how someone goes about brushing a cats teeth!

Why do you think that they invented platemail?

[tgr]

Would love to hear how someone goes about brushing a cats teeth!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wyudvKceI4A

[Engels]

Ya, that cat in the video? Not like my cats. Just having my hand on their scruff for over 5 seconds will spaz 'em out. Putting a finger close to their mouth will either make them think its a game of 'lets swat at funny finger' or they'll rear back give me that blinky stare that says,"do you feel lucky?". You know the one I mean, the one with their paw just raised an inch or two. The 'nothing personal, but I will leave beads of blood on a raised welt of a scratch on your forearm if you don't get with the program in 2 seconds' pose.

I know, he says that you need to adjust them over the course of a month to the process. I don't think I'm that disciplined. I managed to clip their nails once. Then they learned that I was up to funny buggers and haven't let me that close since. No, I don't hurt my cats. I have been known to shout at them over various cat infractions, but I don't think they're traumatized by it. I honestly think there are certain registers of the human voice cats just autotune out.

Don't get me wrong, our cats are very loving, attached animals that snuggle up to us any time scritches are made available.

The messed up thing is, I take them to the vet and the vet handles them like rag dolls. They are all obedience and calm. I'm like, wtf, if I tried to hold the cat like that I'd be on the rough end of a clawmower.

Edit: I think the term is 'pussy whipped'.

[LK]

http://theoatmeal.com/comics/kitty_pet

So true.

[Engels]

number one is happening to me as we speak

[Sky]

My vet makes me hold Bart down during nail clippings. We can't do it at home, and about half the time we can't do it at the vet. He's a giant bundle of muscles and pointy stabby things. I have to check his gimpy toes (#7s, the #6s are active toes) to be sure the nail is shedding properly, That will usually get me a couple giant bloody gouges, even if I do it while he's sleeping and just do a couple at a time.

Brushing his teeth? Heh.

Holding his scruff means you get an over-the-head bunny kicking claw of death maneuver.

[rattran]

Meh, find the feline toothpaste flavor they prefer, and start by letting them lick a dab from your finger. A few times of that, then rub it on their gums. After a few weeks of that, use the fingertip brush, them move on to the soft bristled cat toothbrush. Random likes chicken flavor, Oscar malt.

Not really that hard, but then I also get the cats used to nail trimmings, ear checking, baths when needed, and other stuff when they're small. Took 4 weeks to get the gf's 2 year old cat to realize resistance was useless though. He's a bit slow. And my feral is a 1 person cat, so vet visits are hard for her, but still doable with minor bleeding.

[Samwise]

Training them early on to not assume you're trying to eat them is key.

[Engels]

feline toothpaste flavor...hmm, well, my cats are broken. Both reject steak bits & salmon, but one loves oatmeal cookies and popcorn and the other enjoys mango.

[Samwise]

New record set for world's longest cat.  Just a hair over four feet.



I searched around for a picture of the cat in a more natural pose and could only find this video.

[Sky]

Bart the intrepid hunter, seeking his elusive quarry: the water bottle cap.

[Hawkbit]

That's awesome!  If I put a small towel or washcloth (dry) over one of my cat's backs, he'll freeze.  And he'll stay that way for up to 4-5 minutes, only moving his head.  It's odd.

[Bunk]

My arrangement with my cat is that I am allowed to sleep in my bed as long as I don't crowd her...

She apparently was not impressed when I took her picture in the dark:

[Paelos]

Do you move your cat with a small crane? 

[tgr]

That looks like it's just fluff.

[Bunk]

It's all fluff.

[tgr]

I still remember how TINY my oldest cat became when I had to give her a bath because she had issues due to some of her shit sticking to her fur. It was pretty hilarious.

[Sky]

Bart is "down" to 18.6 pounds (he's lost about a pound this year on his diet).

[Engels]

Blech, our guy cat is drooling copiously. We think its probably a cavity :/ Funny how this happened right after Bloodworth's cat had to have dental surgery. He will be carted to the vet on a public transport bus today (about 12 blocks, nothing too horrid). Keep fingers crossed for Burger please!

[Mrbloodworth]

:(

I hope for the best outcome. My guy is doing fine now, but I think he holds a bit of a grudge against me.

[apocrypha]

Fingers crossed for Burger! Zebedee had to have two gem teeth out last year and she's been fine since, recovered in no time at all.

Sputnik however has been diagnosed as diabetic, poor old thing, so they're now both on some food called Hills m/d prescription. And we're going to have to take regular urine samples from Sputnik, which will be entertaining.... 

[Ingmar]

It is seriously impossible to find boarding places with vacancies in late November, they've all apparently been booked since September. 

[Furiously]

Keep in mind that some cats have to be anaesthetized in order to have their teeth cleaned, and that can be dangerous itself, so there's a bit of risk management you'll have to do around that decision.

My childhood cat went in to get his teeth cleaned and have a cyst removed from his belly. (He was like 14 at the time.) Never woke up. Just had a drooling cat. On the upside, the vet didn't charge for anything. My parent's have not been able to get another pet since then it traumatized them so much. (I was away at college when it happened so I was somewhat removed from the whole thing. All I have are the good memories of the cat.)

[Sjofn]

It's all fluff.

Your cat is shaped similarly to our Lizzie. Our other cat, Jack, is the skinny-sort-of-siamese shape. They look ridiculous next to each other. 

[Trippy]

My arrangement with my cat is that I am allowed to sleep in my bed as long as I don't crowd her...

She apparently was not impressed when I took her picture in the dark:

She's got that "caught in the act" look in her eyes like she was reaching for something she shouldn't have been.

[Engels]

Well, cat doesn't seem to have cavities, and the blood tests were normal, so the vets are nonplussed. Gonna schedule a dental to have the tartar scraped, but that's it.

Weirdest thing happened, tho. Burger was gone from the house about an hour. When he came back from the vet, Binkie, his sister who he has lived with since birth for 5 years, went completely bananas and started hissing at him, feeling really threatened. This has been going on since 4 pm yesterday, with no sign of abatement. Anyone else have something like this happen? Cats that get along great suddenly have one turn on the other for no apparent reason?

[proudft]

He probably just smells like the vet!

[Reg]

Their father died and they're fighting over who becomes King of the Cats obviously.

[Engels]

Ya, I think its actually related to their childhood. They had a crazy mom from whom they had to be separated. I think that Binkie has serious PTSD that gets triggered over anything 'out of the ordinary'. She's still treating Burger as hostile, but a little less. She must be hoarse from all the growling and hissing by now. I'm hoping she'll chill out in another day or so.

[Brogarn]

Ya, I think its actually related to their childhood. They had a crazy mom from whom they had to be separated. I think that Binkie has serious PTSD that gets triggered over anything 'out of the ordinary'. She's still treating Burger as hostile, but a little less. She must be hoarse from all the growling and hissing by now. I'm hoping she'll chill out in another day or so.

Happened to us once. Best guess is the smell of the vet theory. The "offended party" got over it after a couple of days and went back to being tolerant.

On another note, the little guy is 7 months old and full of way too much energy. He fights with the older one pretty often. They get into these death matches that last for 20 minutes then I find them curled up cleaning each other. Cats...

[tgr]

Might not be the vet smell per se, but the smell of a different (and unknown) cat or animal.

[apocrypha]

Pfft, obviously Burger was bitten at the vets and is now either were-Burger or Burger-vamp. Either that or the vets are aliens/from the future, and have replaced Burger with an alien/cyborg copy.

[NowhereMan]

Your vet didn't happen to resemble Kurt Russell or speak Norwegian did they?

[Engels]

Pfft, obviously Burger was bitten at the vets and is now either were-Burger or Burger-vamp. Either that or the vets are aliens/from the future, and have replaced Burger with an alien/cyborg copy.

Binkie says you're onto something.