quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

Long hair? Not sure what you mean.

Yeah. Long, as in long, and... Like the difference between a hippie and a Marine

Of our three current cats: One is a long hair, the newest is a short hair and the middle one is somewhere in-between.

Reason the question was asked is long hair cats require regular brushing. Cats seem to cycle through fur constantly--especially long hair cats. If you don't brush out the shedding fur, they'll ingest it as they clean themselves. Result: Furballs. Furballs result in one of two things: Cat coughing them back up or stopped-up cat. One is a mess. The other can get expensive. (See below.)

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:

My logic, which is what cracked up the doc and his assistants, is that if she is not gaining weight she must be pooping. Otherwise, if she is not pooping, she will be accumulating and getting bigger and heavier.

Made me laugh, too.

No, she won't "back up." She'll simply stop eating. If they cannot eliminate, either type, they'll stop eating and drinking, toxicosis will set in, cat will die.

My wife regularly analyzes our cats' elimination patterns and... uh... characteristics. I don't ask questions.

When I lived in Alaska, Splash started vomiting quite often. The MF'ers at Science Diet (supposedly premium cat food) put yellow dye in the food which is "awesome" on tan carpet, and Splash goes out of her way to make it to carpet to puke. Vet suggested I try new food by introducing a little at a time:

5 days - 75% old, 25% new

5 days - 50% old, 50% new

5 days - 25% old, 75% new

She either kept puking or refused to eat the new food. Finally, I decided to try grain free food that has no by-products (eg chicken byproduct meal) in it. The first grain free tried was Spot's Stew® Cat Grain Free Senior Chicken & Salmon, she loved it, the puking (non-hairball puking) stopped, and she has been eating this for several years now. It was available in Anchorage, Calgary, and Houston thru Petsmart, and even better it's available via Amazon subscribe & save.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

Shadow is a domestic short hair. All black, like her mom, which we have.

She is a willful little bitch, yes. Not the brightest cat, either.

The nighttime antics will be reduced if there is no positive reinforcement. Just tell her to get out and don't play with her. Pet her only when she is laying on the bed calmly.

Your wife surely knows all this.

No, she was never an outside cat.

And to you "haters", don't let V-Tail tell stories. She is a willful but playful and sweet cat. She loves affection. She also likes to be brushed.

Trouble is, she is territorial, and turned into a huge bully in the Paragon household of 5 cats. She would not allow her own mother to come out of my brother's room. She did somewhat the same to her sister (a black rumpie). But the last straw was when she and Smudge had a falling out. She bullied him to no end, and he is just a wuss. He was miserable, and so was I. Smudge is my buddy.

I tried the feliway and it did nothing. House is too small to separate them. Putting her outside was also out of the question.

She was the problem, so she had to go. A shelter was a no-go. V-Tail was nice enough to give her a trial run at taking over his home.

My cats vomit, too. Someone suggested that they are eating too fast, and to put some little balls in the food dish to slow them down. Dry food, I presume. They have gotten better since Shadow left. Hmmm.....

The offer to take her back, no questions asked, still stands.

We have had strongly dominant cats, males, in each case, but, luckily, so far, no bullies.

We do have an existing problem that is not severe, but, we do have to stay on it: The oldest cat, a female, doesn't "know how to cat," as a friend of mine at work puts it. The other cats move to play with her, she takes it as an attack, and reacts badly. They react badly, in turn.

And so it goes. Cats are a trip.

Paragon is right about correcting behaviour. Cats can be "brought to heel." Sometimes it takes a lot of repetition and a good deal of patience. Consistency is key.

quote:

Originally posted by Paragon:
Shadow is a domestic short hair. All black, like her mom, which we have.

She is a willful little bitch, yes. Not the brightest cat, either.

The nighttime antics will be reduced if there is no positive reinforcement. Just tell her to get out and don't play with her. Pet her only when she is laying on the bed calmly.

And to you "haters", don't let V-Tail tell stories. She is a willful but playful and sweet cat. She loves affection. She also likes to be brushed.

Trouble is, she is territorial, and turned into a huge bully in the Paragon household of 5 cats. She would not allow her own mother to come out of my brother's room. She did somewhat the same to her sister (a black rumpie). But the last straw was when she and Smudge had a falling out. She bullied him to no end, and he is just a wuss. He was miserable, and so was I. Smudge is my buddy.

I tried the feliway and it did nothing. House is too small to separate them. Putting her outside was also out of the question.

My cats vomit, too. Someone suggested that they are eating too fast, and to put some little balls in the food dish to slow them down. Dry food, I presume. They have gotten better since Shadow left. Hmmm.....

The offer to take her back, no questions asked, still stands.

What do you mean, "don't let V-Tail tell stories?" If everything I said is not the absolute truth, may lightning ... wait. Is this place grounded?

Nah, I don't think Cat is eating too fast. She is pretty dainty about it. Nibbles a bit, then comes back later to nibble again. Dry food, yes. Whenever Publix has a "buy one / get one" on Meow Mix, I grab a couple of bags.

As far as taking the cat back, I'm neutral on that question, but I think you would have to fight my wife, and she's pretty tough. More than once, I have seen her deliver a lightning fast kick to head height. Fortunately there was no human target involved, but it shows what she can do.

Re the night time antics, there is absolutely no positive reinforcement. No petting, no reward for that behavior. I have thought mean thoughts to her at those times, but I just ignore her. I don't know about cats, but I do know that the dogs I have had thought being ignored was terrible punishment. I think the night time highjinks are just part of being a cat, and somebody on this forum once said "Cats are basically assholes." More often than not when she leaps onto the bed in the middle of the night she is carrying one of her toys in her mouth. I'm not sure what's going through her little pea brain, whether she thinks it's play time, or maybe she thinks she's bringing us a gift.

She wants to play. She figures that if she is awake, you must be too.

Many times I have awakened in the morning to find a toy on the bed. Shadow or Smudge, depending on which toy it was....

She learned that toy-bringing thing from Smudge, BTW.

quote:

Originally posted by V-Tail:
Nah, I don't think Cat is eating too fast. She is pretty dainty about it. Nibbles a bit, then comes back later to nibble again. Dry food, yes. Whenever Publix has a "buy one / get one" on Meow Mix, I grab a couple of bags.

I bolded a possibility of what may be your puking issue. Meow Mix is full of grains, by-product meals, and dyes. Your cat's stomach may not be tolerating it.

Ingredient list for original Meow Mix:

quote:

Ground Yellow Corn, Corn Gluten Meal, Chicken By-Product Meal, Soybean Meal, Beef Tallow (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Animal Digest, Calcium Carbonate, Turkey By-Product Meal, Salmon Meal, Ocean Fish Meal, Phosphoric Acid, Choline Chloride, Salt, Potassium Chloride, Titanium Dioxide (Color), Vitamins [Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin Supplement, Vitamin A Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, Thiamine Mononitrate (Source of Vitamin B1), Riboflavin Supplement (Source of Vitamin B2), Pyridoxine Hydrochloride (Source of Vitamin B6), Menadione Sodium Bisulfite Complex (Source of Vitamin K Activity), Vitamin D3 Supplement, Folic Acid, Biotin, Vitamin B12 Supplement], Minerals [Ferrous Sulfate (Source of Iron), Zinc Oxide, Manganous Oxide, Copper Sulfate, Calcium Iodate, Sodium Selenite], Taurine, Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, Blue 2, Rosemary Extract.

Contrast that to the Halo grain free dry food I posted earlier in the thread:

quote:

Chicken, Peas, Salmon, Pea Protein, Dried Whole Eggs, Potatoes, Vegetable Broth, Pea Fiber, Chicken Fat (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols And Citric Acid), Flaxseed, Salmon Oil (Preserved With Mixed Tocopherols), Sweet Potatoes, Apples, Green Beans, Carrots, Alfalfa, Blueberries, Cranberries, Zucchini, Calcium Sulfate, Dl-Methionine, Potassium Chloride, Taurine, Salt, Inulin, Monocalcium Phosphate, Sodium Selenite, Ascorbic Acid (Preservative), Vitamins [Vitamin A Acetate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Vitamin E Supplement, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Choline Bitartrate, Niacin Supplement, D-Calcium Pantothenate, L-Ascorbyl-2-Polyphosphate, Riboflavin Supplement, Thiamine , Mononitrate, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Folic Acid, Biotin], Minerals [Zinc Sulfate, Ferrous Sulfate, Manganous Sulfate, Magnesium Sulfate, Copper Sulfate, Cobalt Carbonate, Calcium Iodate, Iron Proteinate, Zinc Proteinate, Copper Proteinate, Manganese Proteinate, Magnesium Proteinate, Cobalt Proteinate], Dried Lactobacillus Acidophilus Fermentation Product, Dried Bifidobacterium Longum Fermentation Product, Dried Lactobacillus Plantarum Fermentation Product, Dried Enterococcus Faecium Fermentation Product.

The good news is they need to eat less of the higher quality food which means:

you don't have to scoop as much poop from the litter

the price differential is less than it appears.

Check these feeding guidelines out:

Meow Mix: 1–1 ½ cups for 10–14 lb cat

Halo grain free dry: 2/3 to ¾ cup for 10 to 15 pound cat

I have a 2/3 cup measuring cup and give Splash 1 level scoop per day. 95% of the time she doesn't eat the entire bowl.

---

Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity

DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.

I hope things improve for Shadow. But the next time my daughter asks why she can't have a cat, I will show her this thread.

quote:

Originally posted by Dallas239:
I hope things improve for Shadow. But the next time my daughter asks why she can't have a cat, I will show her this thread.

Or, maybe you would like a closet cat? Nah, I probably wouldn't be able to get my wife to let it go.

Sure V-tail blame your wife. We all believe you.....

Probably got this meme from the cat thread from years ago on the rant forum.

quote:

Originally posted by Dallas239:
I hope things improve for Shadow. But the next time my daughter asks why she can't have a cat, I will show her this thread.

Cats don't necessarily behave this way.

We've got three of them in the house, right now. The main problem at night? Bentley, a male that is mostly Maine Coon, has decided I'm his best buddy and, therefore, the best place to sleep at night is against my legs. Which means when I go to move... You'd be surprised how heavy is eleven pounds of cat when it's sleeping against your lower legs.

They do become insistent when it's time for us to get up. Even then: They're pretty good about it. Relatively mellow in how they go about letting us know it's time to get up and feed them.

We have had two different males that have exhibited the carrying of toys about the house at night and howling. Neither of them did it every evening, or even most. Have no idea what it's about. Yet another cat mystery.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:
Sure V-tail blame your wife. We all believe you.....

To which my wife would reply: "You gotta sleep sometime sucker."

we've had cats for 30+ years. all cats puke, more or less sorta regularly. our vet says cats should never puke. i guess the vet has no cats. stupid vet.

Sometimes cats will puke if they over eat. Doesn't sound like yours is, but maybe meter the food rather than leaving the bowl for grazing.

quote:

Originally posted by ensigmatic:
They do become insistent when it's time for us to get up. Even then: They're pretty good about it. Relatively mellow in how they go about letting us know it's time to get up and feed them.

My friend was cat-sitting while his son was relocating.

The cat know when it was time for Martin to get up and supply breakfast. The cat also know that eyes closed means sleeping, eyes open means awake, so the cat would gently poke at Martin's eyelids to open them.

Cats are extremely intelligent, and more-so totally adept at training their humans. Or, at least mine is anyway...he told me to write this

I am not a vet.
Imho,
If she's eating, pooping, and peeing, and holding her weight, her coat looks good, her eyes bright, leave her be and monitor. Cats are so resilient. Esp if she's a dsh, which Paragon states.

I had a cat that lived 21 yrs- I bottle raised her (abandoned), spayed her, gave her her first shots, and kept her as indoor only. I left her be, she ate nothing special, moused regularly, and used all her nine lives over 2 decades.

My current cat has been w us ~3 years. So far, the same so far as spaying and initial vx. She's a Bengal and not handraised (I have allergies and hoped to diminish my allergic response with this breed), and I feed her Wellness. No other intervention except affection. She is not allowed in my bedroom due to the allergy issue, neither was the other. She's doing great.

My only suggestion would be to find a different closet for your little devil to inhabit during resting hours

quote:

Arriving home, she was unusually docile and friendly. Maybe something in the anti-nausea shot?

No, Closet Cat now associates being a feline hellion with having a glass tube shoved up the bum, and wants no more of that shit, thank you.

They do other things. We had a cat that came with the place I lived in many years ago. She would occasionally wake me up by dropping mice on me. Sometimes they were alive. THAT gets your attention real fast.

There's another way to find out if they have an intestinal obstruction. Get real close, and look into their eyes. If they have turned brown, that's a strong indication. Works with people, too.