Cat thread

[Ingmar]

Ugh, sorry to hear about Oscar.

[ghost]

Had to have Oscar put to sleep today, pancreatitis came back, and he had cyst spots on his other kidney.

I feel awful.

You're having a rough go of it, it sounds like.  Hope things start looking up over the holidays!

[Lantyssa]

I'm sorry.

[Viin]

Had to have Oscar put to sleep today, pancreatitis came back, and he had cyst spots on his other kidney.

I feel awful.

Sucky. :(

[Paelos]

Sad panda about Oscar. 

[Engels]

Blech on both counts. Hope the lost cat comes back. One of ours left for a week then showed up sunning herself behind a flower pot as if nothing happened. I worked on my ulcer.

[Sjofn]

Sorry for your loss, rattran. :(

Hope the lost cat manages to find their way back!

[rattran]

Thanks, it's rough. I've lived with that cat longer than either of my parents, or anyone else. At least I got a few extra months with him, and lots and lots of 1on1 time. Still a hard decision to have to make, and one I hope none of you have. May all your pets and childrens outlive you!

[ghost]

I have a dachshund that came up limping today, and that is never, ever a good sign with them.  And it was a front leg.  Of course this damned dog is the best dog I've ever had-  she's like a little sweet golden retriever dachshund that loves kids and all people, contrary to the behavior of most dachshunds.  We've already had to do an eye surgery that was super expensive and some other stuff, and I am anticipating a big bill on this one, too.  Stupid pets.  They should live as long as we do.  Then it would be much easier. 

[Furiously]

Yes - they should stay puppies and kittens forever.  Only housebroken.

I still see a picture of Schmoo and get sad.

[apocrypha]

Sorry to hear that rattran :(

Sputnik's diabetes hasn't responded to diet change so we're trying to get her to take insulin-sensitisers atm, although it's really difficult getting her to eat any food with microscopic pills ground up in it. Fussy little bugger. She's also got to have a tooth out so we're quite worried about her right now.

She's obviously got some peripheral neuropathy which makes her seem very frail 'cos she's a bit unsteady on her legs, so we're probably unnecessarily concerned about the (hideously expensive) surgery.

I'll say this now... anyone with a young pet, get it insured now! You can't get insurance once they're over 10 years old and vets bills are just obscene.

[Furiously]

Also, when the pound says, "Has had all their shots." Imagine it's Nerf's landlord telling you that.

[Sjofn]

Thanks, it's rough. I've lived with that cat longer than either of my parents, or anyone else. At least I got a few extra months with him, and lots and lots of 1on1 time. Still a hard decision to have to make, and one I hope none of you have. May all your pets and childrens outlive you!

When we had to put our rabbit Usagi down, I seriously considered getting a parrot so I would never have to do that again.

[Brogarn]

Sorry rattran. I understand the pain completely.

[Nerf]

I cried like a little girl when the dog I grew up with died almost 10 years ago, and even several years later I'd get a bit misty if I walked over to where her grave was.
My grandmother dying didn't hit me as hard as that damned dog dying, but at least she went peacefully, she had heart issues and died in her sleep under the kitchen table. (Dog, not the grandmother)

Someone needs to start inserting tortoise genetics into dogs and cats, because losing them is just too damned hard.

[Bunk]

It is the big dilemna of getting pets, knowing that you will have to deal with that some day. Fact is though, its worth it.

I've gone through putting down four dogs, one cat and one rat, and having a dog and cat each hit by cars. It sucks and hurts like hell every time.
Everyone one of those pets made my life happier and no amount of miserable grief would make me want to give back the experience.

[Sky]

I lost the cat that was our kitten when I was born (she lived for 11 years), then the next batch I grew up with (the last two lived to 13 and 15). Sucked so bad every time. Now I've got Bart, who is hands-down the best cat I've ever had, so another tragedy in the making. The years we have with them make it worth it, but it's impossible to remember when the dark days arrive.

There was one kitten I had that I later learned was hit by a car. My mother slipped and mentioned it to my fiancee, first I knew of it after 30 years. Since our first cat was also hit by a car, Bart is strictly an indoor cat, even though I wish I could let him out to hunt.

[Hawkbit]

Need advice:

We adopted a black and white tomcat a few years ago that was shot with an arrow and brought into the shelter.  From what we know, he was a stray that someone was feeding.  He's about 7 or 8 years old, guessing by teeth size/wear.  Since coming to us, he went from about 11 lbs to 17lbs.  He's pretty damn fat...

About six months ago he started in at night waking us up around 6am.  He gets on our dressers and knocks things off, talks, whatever he can do to wake us up.  Now it has progressed to 10pm, 1am, 2am, 4am, 5am, 6:30am... I have literally been woken up 5-6 times tonight and I'm typing this in a haze of anger and exhaustion. 

Our biggest mistake is that we give the behavior attention.  At first we thought he was hungry, so we would just feed him.  But that doesn't stop him... it's totally attention.  We will generally use a water bottle to squirt him, and that chases him off.  It has escalated to catching him and putting him under the shower to soak him, giving him something to do for a few hours so we can rest.  Corporal cuddling doesn't work either.  It's not that he wants to get up and play, or be fed - he just doesn't want us to sleep. 

------
Things we've tried that don't work:

Putting him outside - Can't do it, coyotes and sub zero temps.  Last time he got out he lost six lbs in a week, he just can't fend for himself. 

Closing our doors - The other cats can't get in or out, then they all sit and scratch up our carpet outside the door. 

Giving him food - It's not about food... it's totally about attention. 

Keeping him up all day - not feasible to spend that much time dealing with this. 

Cage at night in the basement - he will piss in the cage and cry all night. 
-----------

We're about to take him back to the shelter because I haven't had a decent night's sleep in a long, long time.  I'm just trying to figure out some other options to try before we do that - I absolutely do not want to give him back, but I'm at my wit's end. 

Any thoughts?  Thanks!   

[Reg]

My cat goes through stages like that occasionally and the only thing I've found that works is to completely ignore him while he screams in my ear. It's not easy but you absolutely have to deny him the attention he's seeking.

[rattran]

2 things, has he been to the vet for a check recently? That was one of the first behavioral changes in Oscar, pain was keeping him up at night, so he wanted me up to pay attention. Second, does he have enough toys/stimulation during the day? Do the other cats interact with him, cat furniture, chasing/hunting toys, etc. The introduction of toys that squeak/chirp quietly when touched might help, things to keep him stimulated some in daytime.

I got some 'tweety thing' toys from petsmart, when any of the cats touch one and it chirps, they all get interested and go hunting up the others for a while.

[Reg]

Oh yeah, you definitely need to consult a vet first to be sure the howling isn't being caused by a physical problem. In our case he assured us that there was nothing physically wrong with the cat which actually made solving the problem harder. Ignoring a cat when it wakes you out of a sound sleep by howling in your ear isn't easy but after a while he settles down.

[Hawkbit]

In my case, he's not howling.  He's just being a dick.  Knocks books off the shelf, does his "rrr!" noise that he always makes.  I'm positive that it's not a physical issue, though he is due in the next month for shots, so I'll have him looked at soon anyways.  I swear, it's simply that he wants someone awake with him.  He is not a cuddly cat... likes being petted and scratched, but doesn't want to curl up with us.  He's a watchcat - better at guarding the house and being aware of things than our German Shepard. 

Stimulation:  He's not a very active cat.  He plays with my other male cat; they chase around the house for about an hour everyday.  Otherwise, he's just not into toys.  No laser pointers, no mice, no catnip.  Just not into it.  That's a lot of the weight he has put on.  He's just not interested in playing, and as much as I hate the thought, I think he should have stayed an outside cat. 

I'll pick up some tweety toys and see if that helps, and I just got them a Frolicat (15min timed automated laser poiner) for Christmas that is keeping them somewhat occupied. 

Thanks again, and if you think of anything else, let me know please.  We're taking everything off our dressers and bookshelves today... goal being that if he wants attention he at least can't knock things over. 

[Oban]

Have you tried expressing his anal glands?

[Hawkbit]

All clear.  We'll see how tonight goes, we just moved all the extraneous shit from our bedroom.  Moving next year anyways, so all good.

[Ingmar]

I do think getting him checked out is a good idea, cats tend to mask symptoms of illnesses very effectively so often slight behavior changes are the only thing you have to go on.

[Reg]

How's the cat doing, Hawkbit?

[Hawkbit]

Eh... still a dick.  It's more manageable now, though.

We pulled every single thing out of the room that was loose on a desk or shelf.  So he took to playing with a piece of paper on the dresser mirror on night one.  We pulled that and now he doesn't know what to do, so he talks instead of knocking stuff over. 

It seems less now.  Both nights he only woke me at 6 or 7am, so we're keeping our fingers crossed.  We've been pretty decent about ignoring him and both nights he gives up after 20 minutes. 

Thanks again for the info/ideas, all. 

[Azazel]

Had to have Oscar put to sleep today, pancreatitis came back, and he had cyst spots on his other kidney.

I feel awful.

Fuck.

I'm sorry to hear that, man. Our cat is old and getting sick, and we've been getting ready for her to go for awhile now. Her brother died about 15 years ago and that still chokes me up. Take care.

[Azazel]

Anemia, renal failure with half of the "your time is up" symptom list, some kind of unexplained pain in her mouth that's making it very difficult for her to eat, so we're food processing everything into smoothies for her. We'll keep her around until she either dies in her sleep or seems to be at the point where the suffering outweighs her quality of life. 18 1/2 years old, and she beat (for now) 5 bouts of cat cancer. I wish my own genes were as strong as hers. I've spent the past year or two worried that I'll come home to find her dead on the floor just out of nowhere since she's so old, but it looks like it's going to be a little more drawn out (or not). Thought she was dead just now, since she didn't seem to be breathing and was cold, but she woke up and asked me what I was doing. I feel fucking terrible.

[Margalis]

Why is this thread 90% about cats getting sick and dying. What the fuck, this is like the most depressing cat thread of all time.

[rattran]

One my the GF's cats 'Little Bastard' He's an asshole cat, but cute.

[Azazel]

Why is this thread 90% about cats getting sick and dying. What the fuck, this is like the most depressing cat thread of all time.

Sorry about that. If I could change the circumstances, I would.

That's a cute one, Rattran.

[Margalis]

I'll tell a happy cat story.

My mom adopted a stray cat and one day when she was taking it back from the vet she stopped the car for some reason and it jumped out, miles from her house. She looked around for a while and couldn't find him so she eventually gave up. Two weeks later the same cat nonchalantly strolled into the front lawn like a boss, none the worse for wear.

[apocrypha]

One of my cats, Zebedee, has, in her old age, gone as soft as shite. She now rolls on her back and lets me tickle her tummy! Like, all the time! Purring all the while.

Previously attempting that would have meant a trip to A&E for some stitches and a transfusion.

[Hawkbit]

One my the GF's cats 'Little Bastard' He's an asshole cat, but cute.

We have a cat that looks exactly like that - about 12 lbs.  His name is Ivan the Terrible, because he's an asshole cat too.  Super cool looking though, love the wild cat markings look.