Cat Channel / Cat Behavior / All About Cats

Teaching an Old Cat New Things

imtripodsmom — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 22:46:10 GMT

From time to time, my cat Tripod throws up, usually food, either because her tummy is upset/hairball, or she ate too fast. Because our apartment has light colored carpet, plus the fact nobody likes to have "floor muffins" all over the place, if there's any way to keep her from dirtying the carpet, I try it. So for the last few years, whenever I hear her heaving, I grab her and plop her into the litterbox. I have had the experience of having to chase down a reluctant Tripod who is continuing to spew all over the place. And I have also had her spew on me.

But today, a wonder occurred--I was in my room, and heard the familiar heaving sounds. Anxious to prevent another carpet stain, I looked to see where Tripod was--she was in her litterbox in the bathroom! She'd heaved in the box, though some had been caught by the overhanging portion of the box liner. But there was none on the floor--all in the box and liner! I cleaned up the portion in the liner, and scooped litter over what was in the box. I told Tripod she was a "funny girl".

So, what do you all think? Did Tripod finally figure out that if she's gonna ralph, she'd better be in the box, or it was a coincidence? As long as I've had her, I've seen her figure things out by herself with some things taking longer than others. I wish I'd had a video camera from the time I got her and recorded all her moments--that would be quite a tape!

Recently I got her some treats, and Tripod has this thing of choosing which packet of treats she wants first. I put the pouches of treats down in front of her, and ask her which one she wants, while tapping each packet lightly with my finger. She sniffs the packets, and facemarks the one she wants. I tried getting pictures of her doing this, but I couldn't get them to up;oad from my camera. In order to save the battery, I had to remove it from my camera and thus lost the pictures.

Hopefully, I can get another opportunity to not only get a picture of her choosing her treats, but maybe even a mini movie of her washing her face "one-handed".

Wierd Peeing Habit

kurtney17 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 19:37:17 GMT

I have a 2 yr old male silver tabby. He has a very strange way of peeing. He shakes his butt and pees against the side of the litter box, most of it goes outside of the box. Has anyone else experienced this? Is there a way to correct it?

Naughty Cat!

Maruul — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 07:05:23 GMT

Lately Cheshire has gotten a rotten streak about him. If I pet him, as soon as I try to pull my hand away he swats and claws it. And he knows it's bad, because as soon as he does it he cringes and folds his ears back like he's waiting for me to strike him (which equals a flick to the head). I just don't get why he's doing it. Also, if I rest my hand on him he'll reach over and bite it (which earns him another flick).

Come to think of it, he could be stressed out. Mom's been redecorating, and it's been stressful to all of us. The carpet's gone and everything's been moved. Could that be it?

Odd things kitty does

Maruul — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 05:05:12 GMT

Surely my cat isn't the only odd one out there, right? Most or all cats have weird things they do. Let's share them, shall we?

Cheshire, or as mom calls him, Psycho-Kitty, has some major energy issues, and this can be quite entertaning. Every once in a while he seems to forget that that tail is his. You can tell when one of these "episodes" is about to start because he'll start "hugging" the couch, ears back, while staring wide-eyed behind him. Then... The Chase! Whenever mom sees this about to start she says "Uh-oh. Someone put a tail on him again." Just a few minutes ago he was doing it on the top of the couch rather than the seat, and he kept ending up upside-down against the wall.

bathroom trouble

aprilharvey32 — Tue, 22 Jul 2008 15:06:13 GMT

I was wondering if anybody knew why my 2 year old tabby loves to go with people when they are in the bathroom? He can be dead asleep and wake up as soon as he hears that bathroom door open and runs right in, but when he is in the bathroom with you he just lays on the floor and sometimes rubs up against you. Please help what does this behavior mean and why does he do this?

Thanks,

April

Bully-Cat?

Kitty_Purrs16 — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 11:19:37 GMT

Hi, I have a problem.

I have three cats (you can read my introduction post to learn more about them)

Well, our most recent cat, Peaches, from the shelter is really big and he has claws--the others don't. He could easily hurt my other cats--and I think he knows that. Yet he continues to play rough with them. I'm worried because all three cats mean so much to me and I wouldn't want anything to happen to them!

Please help me!! I don't know what to do. The people at the shelter said that he would adjust in a month or so, which is fine for me, but I just want to be sure that there is nothing more to do.

Itchy whiskers?

PeaLoki&Gabe — Mon, 21 Jul 2008 05:45:24 GMT

Loki Gabe and pea all rub their whiskers like they're massaging them or something. They don't go any further than their whiskers, so i'm not sure if they're trying to work out a loose whisker or something.

Anyone have a thought?

Kitty wants to be outside - was happy indoors, not anymore?

6catmom — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 08:01:02 GMT

My husband and I rescued a Russian Blue-looking kitten in June of 2004. He was only maybe 4-5 months old. He was hovering in the corner of a car wash bay just bawling. My hubby owned a quick lube next to the car wash and fed, who we now call Sammy, hot dogs until I could come and check him out and take him to our home. At that time we had 2 other cats, one older female and a male Maine Coon of about the same age as the new kitty. Sammy and Harley hit it off immediately ... the older female cat, well that's another story, but she's old and likes to keep to herself. We have since added 3 more to our family ... 3 more female rescues. Everyone pretty much gets along except Sammy likes to yell and hit most of the other cats if they get too close or if he's mad ... like throwing a temper. He loves to sit in the windows and cry, very loudly I might add, if I'm outside. I've had him outside many times and he just loves it. I've been amazed that 4 of the 6 that have been outside stay near me and just roll around on the porch and will stay close by. But I've had to resort to the harness and lead for Sammy because every once in a while he'd dart around the house ... never away from us, just scary for me. So this past winter, spring and summer I've been taking him outside about once every 2 weeks in the winter/spring and about once a week in the summer. Here's the problem. He wants to be outside all the time now. He cries at the windows, at the doors, paws at the screen door trying to get out. I'm becoming convinced that he either 1/ wants to be outside full time or 2/ wants to be out of this house full of cats!!! Sammy is neutered and very healthy. I'm upset at his indoor behavior of crying and hitting my other "kids" when I won't let him out. (We only have feline kids, no humans allowed!) We've discussed outdoor fencing/enclosures, but haven't done anything like that yet. I really don't want to let him go or find him a new home with no cats. What insights does anyone have on this? I don't think he's happy inside my house and that tears me apart. Thanks in advance to all you cat lovers, like myself, out there!!!

Cats and dogs together

Luci's Mama — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 17:15:55 GMT

Please answer my questions if you read this! My parents are in the middle ages now and they own a cat that is very sweet. But the other day they saw a cocker spaniel that they fell in love with. I was wondering if it would be O.K for them to get it and if so please leave a convincing paragraph to persuade them to get it. Thank you and have a nice day.

Cat tearing screens to get out

CuteStone — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:22:21 GMT

My cat Tony was a stray who was living in our barn. When I discovered him and realized how nice he is I had him neutered and kept him in the barn. But he eventually found the way to our house which is a half mile from the barn. He wanted to come in the house and we let him as it was winter. Everything went well until this summer. He began tearing the screen at the bottom of the doors to get out during the night when we are sleeping. I have not been able to catch him when he is doing this. He also tears and punches out the basement window screens. Is there something that could be sprayed on the screens to repel him?

Scratching

Luci's Mama — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 12:10:42 GMT

We have provided my cat with a scratching post and it won't touch it but it chooses to scratch on my leather couch. Also it chews on my furniture. What can I do to get it to stop?

Indoor cats, outdoors.

Cynthiaa89 — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 22:48:59 GMT

I am not sure how one should do this kind of thing, so that is why i am asking my fellow cat lovers opinions. I am currently trying to introduce my cat(Kirara) to the outdoors. she has been an inside cat her whole life. She is only a year and a half. How should i be going about this?

Cat escapes

tiger_ferdy — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 09:31:48 GMT

We have two cats, both of which are trained to go outside on harnesses and leashes. One of them always escapes from his harness. My daughter, and I am afraid one day, he won't come home, or he'll get hit by a car (we live a couple streets away from a main road). He is getting braver and braver as to where he goes. Should we be concerned about this? Stopping letting him go outside isn't an option as he would be bored out of his mind staying inside. Should we just let him go outside whenever he wants? Or should we find a better harness that he can't escape from?

NOISY - NAUGHTY CAT.....PLEASE HELP!!

autumnleaves1 — Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:56:07 GMT

We have recently adopted a female Bengal cat. She is gorgeous to look at, but I'm sad to say (being the cat lover that I have been all my life) is NOT an enjoyable cat to have. We already had another female cat when we brought her into our home and other than a bit of hissing and showing each other "who's who" in the very beginning, they get along very well. I can't believe that I am saying that I am about ready to put her up for adoption, but it's gotten that bad (and I am not a quitter when it comes to cats).

First problem: she cries most of the time. If you look at her she cries, talk to her she cries, pet her she cries (although when you pet her, she cries and purrs simultaneously), if she's sleeping on her favorite chair in the kitchen and you walk into the room, she immediately starts to cry. It's almost like the cry a Siamese has, but it goes right through me and my husband. Once she starts, she won't stop, well at least for about 10 minutes or more. My husband has about had it with her and wants her gone. I keep telling him I'll break her of that habit, but as of now, I've only been able to curtail it a bit. I have used my trusty water spray bottle and it has helped, but not enough.

Second problem: Now I am finding every morning, that she has been urinating on my stove!!. I have NEVER come across this in my life. (if my husband knew, she'd be out the door in a heartbeat). We have two littler boxes and I've seen her use both; the one she came with and the one I had for my other cat. The boxes are cleaned daily. Her urine is ruining the finish on my stainless steel stove. I've bought the "NO" spray and have sprayed my dining room chairs to keep her from clawing them and that worked, so I even spray the top of the stove before going to bed.......it doesn't stop her!! I have to get up every morning before my husband and scrub and disinfect the stove.

I'm now starting to realize why the woman I adopted her from had no problems dropping her off at my home, not a tear shed (no emotions at all and left rather quickly), mentioned that perhaps she may urinate where she shouldn't being she is in new surroundings, etc. and that she cried alot, but insisted it was because of too much commotion in her home and being that it was just my husband and me, she was sure that would stop. I explained that I have raised cats all of my adult life and know most of the feline idiosyncrasies, and not to worry, we would handle it. WELL, I am NOT handling any of this well at all and I am now about to give her up myself. She had just been brought to the vet prior to our adoption and had a clean bill of health.

PLEASE...does anyone have any advise? What am I doing wrong? I'm very frustrated and a loss as to what to do. I hate to give up on her, but I'm afraid that is just around the corner.

Thanks!!!

Sad Tomcat

Tribble4ever — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 06:02:43 GMT

Hi,my names Sharon and I have a beautiful Tom cat called Tibby.He's a long haired black and white 'son of a farm cat' moggie , but soppy and very loving.Have loved reading all the messages in the forum so thought I would tax a few brains.

My Tibby is neutured ,so calm and placid loves to sleep a lot even though he's only 6!One slight problem I have is that 'cause he's so soppy, he get's terribly bullied.There's a particularly vicious Tom cat next door to us,he's also neutured,and at every opportunity will attack my poor pet and Tibby will always come off worse.I am now at my wits end over what to do,he is starting to get so despondent and sad it's breaking my heart.

Has anyone else had this problem?If so has anyone got any suggestions what I could do?

play

>^_^<15m — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 07:46:16 GMT

please select click on the boxes or if your cat plays with someting other then please reply to this

Needy Cat

buffwoman — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:35:57 GMT

My cat is an odd one. He's most definitely a mutt, but I think he's part Maine Coon and Part Norwegian. So it might explain some of his behavior. Anywho what he does:

Mahonri from time to time will get up from his napping place and come to me meowing a purrful type meow and start nudging my foot or whatever part of my body he can get at, which is sweet, but sometimes he'll give a little bit of a bite if he doesn't get the attention that he wants. Occasionally he bites too hard. Some other things he does when he wants attention is come into the same room as me, get real close and put his back to me, waiting for me to notice him. Other times he'll knead the couch or blanket and meow at me. Again, these are not distressed meows, just, "Hey, you! Look at me." meows.

The other thing is that he won't sit on my lap. On rare occasions he'll lean up against me if I'm sitting on the couch. One time when I was half asleep, I found him curled up by my stomach under the covers. But when I woke up and he saw that I was awake, he left. I have another cat who is content to sit on your lap even if you don't pet her. I don't quite get it. Wouldn't he feel like he was getting the affection he desired if he just sat on my lap? I do pick him up and pet him and he purrs and I can feel it (but not hear it) but he keeps making like he wants to leave. So I let him leave, but he still wants me to pet him. Is he just one of those cats that likes attention, but doesn't like being held?

Very Serious Problem re: Moving

whbos — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 22:45:31 GMT

Sorry if this turns out to be long.

I'm moving out of state in a few weeks and I'm left with few options. I have to live with my brother and mother in another state. My living conditions where I am now (with a roommate) have gotten ugly and out of control. It has gotten extremely violent since he found out I'm leaving this summer (July) because he totally depends on me. The problem is we have six cats, one a 14 1/2 year old cat (Pooky) that is suffering from kidney failure. He is given IV fluids several times a week, but his condition is getting worse.

To make a long story short, Pooky lived with my mother before for two years and he tore up her furniture and walls so he's not invited back. I don't think he'd make the trip on the road anyway. He's being euthanized in less than two weeks mainly because he's suffering so badly and losing a lot of weight. He also has arthritis and it takes him about five minutes to lie down. I hate to see him like this.

To make things easier for the other cats, I'm having a "mobile vet" come to the house to do it and then allow the other cats to view Pooky when it's over. Pooky went through not knowing what happened to his two other partners six years ago when they were killed. One of my roommate's cats is very close to Pooky and I don't want to traumatize him or the others more than I have to.

The second part of this bad situation is that a few weeks after the Pooky situation, I will be packing up all my things and leaving the state. With me I'm allowed to bring one of my cats, a Seal Point Siamese that would be traumatized if he was left behind. The other cats, including my roommate's, will also be traumatized because I'm the one that has fed and cared for them since they were acquired as kittens.

I feel out of observation and my roommate's irrational behavior that he will not care for the cats left behind. One of mine, the only female cat in the household, is very close to the Siamese I'm taking with me. I wish I could take all of them, but I can't. It's either this way or the street and I'm lucky to even bring one.

I think my reasoning about the roommate has a lot of merit because since I moved in with him four years ago, he had probably fed them four times at best. Due to health issues, he is not supposed to clean litterboxes so that is a problem. I tried to find a roommate for him, but he is not cooperating. He drinks excessively and is frequently "out of it" whereas he might not get out of bed until 6pm.

Since I have one cat that is mine that cannot go with me, should I take her to a shelter even though I'd hate to see her in a cage. She is my "special case" because she was abused by previous owners and it has taken me nearly two years to get her to be social. Putting her in a cage will set her back completely. On the other hand, if she and the others are not properly cared for (spoiled by me) will they suffer from improper care?

I'm in a series of dilemmas over the Pooky thing as far as his departure so close to the Siamese cat's departure as being traumatic to the other cats. The Siamese is close to some of the other cats, but is primarily very independent. I've also heard that animals have a short-lived grieving period. Then there's the dilemma that am I using my roommate's past behavior as a bad cat caregiver to decide whether to leave any of the cats in his care.

There are other issues as well. My roommate is on a fixed income, I already mentioned he has an alcohol (and prescription drug) problem, he has commented numerous times (which I told the police) that he will commit suicide if I leave, and he has caused violence against me that sent me to the emergency room a month ago which I'm still recovering from. He also has mental issues. My brother said I should wait until he goes out, pack my stuff and just leave. However, I feel a strong commitment to make sure the cats are going to be taken care of.

Should I talk to someone at the humane society about bringing all of the cats in even though three are not legally mine? Should I reveal that my roommate has serious mental and emotional problems that could prevent the cats from being taken care of? If I have to decide to take the cats out of their home, I have to leave the household immediately otherwise I will be subject to additional physical trauma (I have a broken rib now) because he will likely go off.

I don't believe he would ever intentionally harm the cats because he loves them. I do believe that the cats are not his number one priority. His alcohol, drugs, and his immaturity are. If anyone has ever read the book, "The Peter Pan Syndrome," they might have an idea of what my roommate is all about. He's a 47-year-old man going on 10 and it's a nightmare, and after many discussions with his worthless doctors I've gotten nowhere.

Okay, any ideas? If not, I'm leaning toward placing all of the remaining cats in the shelter. My local shelter, where I was a volunteer for several months, is a no-kill shelter but I know it's cat season and they probably have more than they care for.

any cat like to bend down to the toilet and check the water

tsnowice — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 11:30:58 GMT

My Co Co was about 1 1/2 year old, he did it few time, bent down and check the water, now he does not do it anymore.
And my new kitten, is 7 months old, she does like Co Co, but only wait until I flash, and check the water swirling, and she was much younger, I had to put down the seat, make sure she would not flash away. Now she is bigger, but still has the interest to look. This kind of behavior only happen to dogs, right???

introductions...

LicoriceLove — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 18:05:38 GMT

I have a rabbit and just rescued a cat. I don't know how cinnamon (the rabbit) will react to the cat(licorice, as u probably know.) I don't think it'll be a problem, since cinnamon's bigger than licorice, but i'm not sure. anyone have advice on how to handle it?

Cats playing or fighting?

Natacat — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 11:35:49 GMT

I adopted my first male cat, Sasha, whos is 2 now, 1.5 years ago and about two months ago I got a 9-year old female cat. They went through an adjustment period and now seem fine. At times they come up to each other and sniff noses, etc., even walk in pairs. However, usually in the mornings Sasha would jump on the other cat and start to bite her and as response, she hisses at times and tries to hit him with her paw. Is this normal cat behaviour? Are they playing?

New Cat + Leather Couch = Angry Mom

Sarahsparrow — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 18:41:14 GMT

So, we just got this new cat (who we still haven't named because 4 people can't agree on anything). He's about a year and 3 months and when we first got him, he was terrified of everything. He's gotten better, though he's still jumpy, but that's not the issue. At about Midnight every night, he goes INSANE, and regains his sanity at about 6 in the morning. He starts whipping around the house, tearing up and down the stairs, and unfortunately, across the leather couch. When he runs across the top of the couch, his claws get caught in everything, making little, but very bad looking holes in the leather. His claws need trimming, but as of right now, we can't get him to hold still long enough to do that, and I think it's sheer velocity that's causing the damage.

How do we train him to NOT run on top of the couch? We don't want to use those sticky pads or something like that because we have another cat whose favorite sleeping spot is up there, and he causes no problems. Besides using a spray bottle, we have no ideas and my mom can't go through another incident like that. He did as much damage in one night as my other two cats did (one of them is gone now) in about two or three years.

Any ideas? I'm probably forgetting important details, but I'd be extremely appreciative of any advice.

Heartworm med aversion

carolgrifnhfl — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 10:31:15 GMT

After 5 months with no problems, our cat suddenly won't chew and consume her monthly hearatworm tab. Any ideas or suggestions? Thanks.

nine year old scaredy cat

Seri — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 08:59:23 GMT

I have a nine year old black cat and I recently picked up a 1 and a half year old stray that had kittens. My black cat gets irate when my new cat is around and she acts like she's terrified by the kittens. Whenever they come over to try to play with her, she starts flicking her ears and before long, hisses and runs away. These kittens are just over a month old and there are only three of them. Is it normal for my nine year old to be acting this way? She's really been worrying me.

appetite change

tsnowice — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 13:47:15 GMT

I have three cats, ding dong is 6, and very picky or she is typical cat, only eat cat food, mainly dry food, sometimes can, very few kind from fancy feast. Then co co is 4 , he used to be eat anything food, any cat can food, and human food, and dry food, now he is very choosy only eat certain kind - is that true, when cat get older, they taste bud change? ginger is 7 months, so far she is the most east one, eat anything, "cross the finger" she would not choosy like co co or ding dong. anybody has the same experience like this?

New cat introductions

macaque50 — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:26:42 GMT

So, we have had a male and female cat for about 2 years now. They are buddies. Recently, we took in a stray who we had neutered. After he was neutered, he lived with my sister for a while, so we could reintroduce him as a neutered cat. He's been confined in his "safe" room for about 3 weeks now. Tonight, we let him out and our female cat just about went ballistic (hissing, chasing, swatting at him, etc.). Of course, we separated them again, but are concerned about them ever getting along. Any tips on how to make their introductions smoother or to keep them calm? Any help would be greatly appreciated as we certainly don't want either of them to get injured. Thanks!

Male feline to Female feline aggression

crazycatmom — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:30:17 GMT

I have a male cat that I've had for 14 years (a british blue). I have a 10 year old part siamese female. About 5 years ago, I brought in a tabby male. Up to the time I brought this male in, I never remember having any trouble out of the bb male, but, since I brought the male tabby in, periodically, the bb male will bite my siamese female if he wants her spot. What can I do about this aggression toward my female. All are spayed and neutered.

Thanks in advance.

help 2 females..1 yr old and 8 yr old

attitudes mom — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 19:42:18 GMT

My 8 yr old is a mamas girl. She is a bit flighty and was quite anti-socital when she moved in with my boyfriend and I. I did bottle feed her so there is a bond there. We recently adopted Cali from a no-kill shelter and she is a about a 1yr mix..with some definite Siamese in her. In our ignorance and excitement of getting her we let the cats get together right away. Toots is a lover not a fighter and Cali goes right after her. We do have feliaway in
both the living room and bedroom where Attitude stays.This stuff worked wonders for Attitude when we brought her to our house..we also do little visitations with each other but Attitude is so afraid of Cali that its not funny and Cali wants to hunter her down it seems. Cali is caged when we go to work and Attitude can come out if she wishes, then when we come home Cali can come out. Can anyone give me some direction or tips here. The vets think we are doing the right thing....i dont want to stress either cats more than i have to...i just want them to co-exists

midnight snack

mlsz — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 22:10:07 GMT

midnight snack
marlene tried earlier this morning 2 help me get a snack i wanted but couldn't reach. she got up on a plastic chair several times 2 get it but it got away. she saw it at 4am on the ceiling in our living room. she was looking 4 me. i was sitting on the back of her computer chair.she went up on the plastc chair as before and grabbed it this time. what a yummy snack a moth makes in the middle of the night.

Come visit me, nic robertson.

06/21/2008 10:09.19 PM

Finally found an escape proof cat harness!

Cat_Lover — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 10:24:30 GMT

After trying almost every cat & small dog harness there is, I finally found one that my older cat, Millie, can't slip out of. It's called the 'Come with Me Kitty Harness' by Premier. It includes a 4 foot long bungee leash for jumping or running cats and has a no choke feature. The harness gets tighter if they try to back out of it. Here is Millie modeling her new harness: (it is a bit loose in these pics because I hadn't finished adjusting it yet)

It fits nice and snug behind her front legs and is the most adjustable harness I've ever seen(if fits both my cats nicely and they are very different builds). This is also the only harness I've tried with her that she doesn't 'slink' when its on, which makes me think it doesn't put as much pressure on her shoulders.

First thing Millie did when I took her outside was to jump up on our 4 foot retaining wall. I didn't have to worry, because I was in complete control. We love this harness!

I put this in the behavior section because it is just so important for cats to get daily excersize & mental stimulation. Now Millie can safely explore the outdoors!

I just got 2 Russian Blues yesturday please help....

Shortsquirt816 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:41:57 GMT

I just got 2 Russian Blue cats yesterday. There names are Pie and Spree. Pie is 5 and Spree is 4. THe problem that I am having is Spree will only eat shredded white chicken breast and thats it. After a while that will get expensive, I would like another alternative. They both were sitting on my steps and I walked by and they both hissed at me don't understand that. If anyone can help me that would be appricated, thanks a lot.

tabby cat stalker

cj — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 01:39:19 GMT

I have a tabby tortie white female desexed 5 year old scared e cat! She is generally inside at night but likes to lie outside on a nice day. In the neighbouhood there is a youngish tabby that has become obsessed woith her. It is well fed and has a bell but stalks Lucy and she is really scared. Hissing snarling etc have no effect, the young intruder just wants to be friends. My neighbour has problems with the tabby using her cat door and accessing her house. Is this a friendly little cat that wants a friend? A male that loves my female who is just plain scared. I just don't know what gto do short of caging Lucy, however this seems extreme because she doesn't leave her patch ( being a scared e cat) and I don't want to harm the interloper.

help, my cat won't let me near the litter box

snowysmommy — Thu, 22 May 2008 16:15:03 GMT

I've been searching the net everywhere for some help. My three year old cat Snowy will not let me near his litter box (to be cleaned). He gets very aggressive, hisses and spits and growls at me. This has only happened twice but he has never shown any aggressive behavior before. Snowy is a very social, friendly and loving cat. He is the only pet in the house so he has his own litter box (an automatic litter box), I haven't used a different litter brand, changed locations, nothing is different. His litter box is in a spare bedroom, which I seldom use as an office, however today I was sitting at the desk for all of two minutes and he did not like me even being in the room. I've had Snowy since he was a kitten and I've never seen him act like this before. Does anyone have any advice?

Changing sheets

PeaLoki&Gabe — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 06:24:16 GMT

does anyone else have cats that have to "help" change the sheets on the bed? All three of mine think this is absolutely the best game around. Loki my 3 year old male almost never comes into the bedroom but he'll follow me up and help me with the feather topper, the mattress pad and such. Of Course after fluffing the feather topper they have to walk on it and mash it down.

but the best part is the cuddles after it's put back together and everyone's tired from the game.

Nail trimmers vs. nail sanders. Also, sander with cord more powerful?

artmaven — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 10:42:40 GMT

My two new (adorable) kittens, Louie & Prima, are making a bloody mess of my legs and arms as they dig in their needle-like claws during play. Would appreciate advice about nail sanding versus clipping. With previous cats, I was afraid of clipping. However, research about sanding seems to suggest cordless sanders are noisy and ineffective. btw, they are 9 weeks old and I will be trying Soft Paws when they are big enough.

Thanks

Does anybody elses cat do this?

momof5cats — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 08:44:28 GMT

I have a 5 year old cat named Dora. She likes the strangest thing. She wants me to turn on the kitchen faucet and she loves to drink straight from it. I have never seen a cat do that. Does anybody elses cat do this?

Kitten is jumping on and climbing up my leg!!!!

jewelthief — Sat, 31 May 2008 17:34:33 GMT

My kitten, who is about 9 weeks old, constantly jumps up on my leg and starts climbing. At first it was cute, but now she has ruined several pairs of pants not to mention scratching up everybody's legs. Any clues as to stop this behavior?
At first I would pull her off and reprimand her lightly, but this doesn't seem to work and only adds to her not wanting to be held or picked up.

crazy nights

larthawyn — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 07:44:30 GMT

I have two cats, one female 5 year-old domestic long hair (Sassy) and one male 2 year-old maine coon mix (Arty). For the past 8 months or so, they have been doing things that wake me up in the middle of the night (around 3am) - Sassy chews on anything she can get to (mainly my books and my bookshelf) and Arty will drag his paw on my wooden closet door (like he is using a scratching post but he is declawed) causing it to make lots of noise. This happens EVERY night. I've tried everything. I've locked them out of my room only to have Sassy tear up the carpet outside my door in order to get in. I've removed the books from the bottom two shelves on the bookshelf so instead Sassy will chew on the actual bookshelf or resort to pulling my dvd's off the rack and chewing those to pieces. I have piled blankets and baskets in front of my closet door in order to prevent Arty from pawing at the doors. I have even played with the two of them for about an hour or two before I go to bed in the hopes that they will be too exhausted to try anything but NOTHING has worked. They've never done this before, and they are the only two cats in the house. I always make sure that their food and water bowls are full before I go to bed just in case that is the problem, but it never is. When I get out of bed after they have been doing this for what seems like forever, Sassy will act as though she hasn't been ransacking my room and leads me to where the treat cupboard is. Sometimes I will give them some treats (don't worry, they are the healthy teeth-cleaning kind and you're supposed to give 3-5 a day). I'm just wondering what is going on with them that they feel the need to do this EVERY NIGHT. Any help would be much appreciated.

My cat's behavior/health mystery solved!

sjde — Mon, 02 Jun 2008 13:30:55 GMT

I am writing this in hopes of helping someone else who may be searching for answers. I have a 14 yr old male cat who had been acting strange in two different ways.

The first behavior was going on for 7 years before we found the problem. For seemingly no reason, he'd hiss and growl and spin around like something was attacking him from behind. We thought it was something called feline hyperesthesia. A new vet suggested his anal glands be expressed, though it's not done for cats as often as dogs. That was 1 1/2 years ago and it stopped the problem! They weren't infected but was thicker than it should have been.

The second was a change in vocalization. It went on for 2 years. I mentioned it to the vet but it was hard to describe. I called it moaning. Some might call it howling. I wondered if it was dementia. Or if he was in pain. He has some kidney issues. Another cat we had that lived to 18 did it in her later years. I knew thyroid problems can cause vocalization but his TSH was normal. Then he started eating a lot more and not gaining weight and urinated outside the box twice. The vet suggested we do a more specialized thyroid test--free T4-and sure enough, he is hyperthyroid. He's been on meds a month and is MUCH better.

Sue

Is he lonely?

luinge — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:36:40 GMT

Hi Everyone, I was wondering if someone can help me out.

We have a cat named Magnum. He's 9.5 years old long hair that we adopted almost 3 years ago. When he was at the humane society he was used to being around other cats, and they said he got along with other animals well. He was fixed when he was young they told me. We also have a rabbit, Chuck, who gets to run around the apartment during the day. Magnum and Chuck have always gotten along surprisingly well. They like to snuggle together, groom each other, and play tag (tag is very cute!)

He has always been very vocal, but the last few weeks he's been uping how much he "talks". Recently the guy across the hallways (apartment) got 2 kittens. Other than the new kittens nothing else in his daily life has changed. He doesn't want as much attention from my husband and I, he seems a lil distant with Chuck, and he wants to always sleep in our bed or he stands at our main door. We took him to the vet and got tests done, but the doc said he's is very good health for his age. I think he might want to see the other kittens across the hall.

Do you think he's just loney? Would another cat be good for him? Would getting a another cat make it worse, make him stress out, or would he then have someone to talk to?

I just don't know what to do, I want him to be happy.

Thanks sooo much for your input!