Pets chit chat thread

[Bjorn]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Our kitten, Magpie, was hit by a car and killed. We are crippled with grief. Everyone who knew her cried at the news, because she really touched everyones life. She was more than just a cat. We'll never be able to replace her.. not the way she sat at the table with us, on her own seat, or purred and suckled on our dressing gowns or jumpers, or the way she would sit in the same spot at the end of the yard. Or how she loved water... We can get another cat, but it won't ever be the same. JP loved her like a child, and he found her at the roadside. He's traumatized and blames himself. I guess this is just the first tragedy of many, we'll face as a couple. Makes me hate the world so much. Where were my so-called gods when this happened? Why did she come into our world just to be taken from us like this? I'm so angry, and confused and lonely.. i hate waking up, because when I do, I remember, and it's like losing her all over again.

I will take you with me into prayer tonight. I will be sending "wings" to your cat just in case there is a spirit world, and some much needed love for you. Know that you both were benefited from each other's existence. Maybe I'll send some pink love wings at her or something, because I'm a silly sappy witch.

Anyway. -HUGS-





(is it just me, or does death seems to be hungry as of late? )

[Jembru]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks for the condolences everyone. I recently looked into whether or not it is cruel to keep a cat indoors. I always just assumed that a cat needs outdoor time. Well, even PETA, yeah, those guys, think it is BETTER to keep a cat indoors. The RSPCA, isn't for or against, the PAWS website has such a strong article about why all cats should be house cats, that I felt wholly responsible for Magpie's death, for letting her out

We're definitely getting another kitten. JP wants to wait at least another month, so we have time to properly grieve. He's probably right, but everything reminds us of Magpie: nothing was untouched by her. There's a stocking in our Christmas decorations with her name on, that I'm dreading seeing again... I just want something to focus my love on, so I can stop crying.

[volcaniclastic]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks for the condolences everyone. I recently looked into whether or not it is cruel to keep a cat indoors. I always just assumed that a cat needs outdoor time. Well, even PETA, yeah, those guys, think it is BETTER to keep a cat indoors. The RSPCA, isn't for or against, the PAWS website has such a strong article about why all cats should be house cats, that I felt wholly responsible for Magpie's death, for letting her out

We're definitely getting another kitten. JP wants to wait at least another month, so we have time to properly grieve. He's probably right, but everything reminds us of Magpie: nothing was untouched by her. There's a stocking in our Christmas decorations with her name on, that I'm dreading seeing again... I just want something to focus my love on, so I can stop crying.

I'm so sorry this happened, Jemma.

I don't know if you were a member when it happened to me, but I used to have two cats. They're both inside-outside cats, and in the summers, I let them come and go as they please. I was inside the house, cuddling both of them, and one went out to play. 15 minutes later, I got a call from my landlord asking "if I had an orange cat" ...I dropped the phone, ran out the house barefoot, and was uncontrollably sobbing by the time I made it across the street. Someone had hit him (on my sleepy tiny street), and my landlord put him on the curb so he wouldn't get hit again. Almost no blood, must have died on impact.

I cried unconsolably for six hours on my kitchen floor, until a friend came over and carried me to bed. I mean, my cat was right there, 15 minutes before it happened! I don't know what you did with Magpie's remains, but my friend and I took him out to the country and built a funeral pyre for him. I said some prayers, and sprinkled sage into the fire, and we stood there until we were sure all that remained was ashes. We let the fire burn itself out, and we left. I found it really helped - I didn't grieve as much after that.

Maybe that is a possibility for you, also?

It's sad, but it does get better. And I still have Cedric, three years later, and I still let him outside. It makes me nervous as balls when he goes near the road, but I let him come with me across the street that day, and I let him sniff up my other cat, so he would understand why the house was now a house of one. He was really upset for a while, and he got over it too. It helps that he's afraid of cars.

The decision to let your cat out is a personal one. I let Ced out, because I can't say no to the damn little guy. But if you live near a busy street, or have raccoons, or any kind of predator, I would be more wary. I only let him out in the daytime here, and only because I live at the end of town, on an unpaved street. When he lived for a year at mom's house, he was inside only because she lives near the highway. For us, at night, we have predators that will eat little kitties, so he comes in after dinner.

But either way, it isn't cruel. What is cruel, however, is letting them outside, and then deciding they should be inside. I'm afraid you have to pick one or the other.

Hope you guys feel better, soon. And I'm really sorry about Magpie.

[B. de Corbin]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Our kitten, Magpie, was hit by a car and killed. We are crippled with grief...

I'm sorry, Jembru. That's always so rough.

[Amelia-Mary]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

(((bigcuddlesJembru))) I'm so sorry I hope you can move on from the grief shortly, I can imagine she will definitely stay in your hearts forever <3

[Clive]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Sorry about your kitty cat, Jem. *hugs*

I don't think I've mentioned yet that I have to give my pets away before I moved. I can't afford the necessary preparations to take my Melody dog to Hawaii and my Archie bird wouldn't survive the flight. A family my dad knows has already agreed to take my dog in; I took her over there yesterday, and there are some problems. They have four dogs already, one of which wouldn't stop trying to rape Melody, and another of which tried to rip her face off. However, the owners of the dogs are confident that the aggressive dog is just a grumpy old boy and will eventually warm up to Melody. They seem to be trustworthy and responsible pet owners, so I'm not too worried. I would feel more comfortable, however, if they would agree to have the horny beagle neutered.

As for Archimedes "Archie" Bird, I have a friend who owns a macaw and once raised parakeets. I need to talk to him about taking my bird in.

[Jembru]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks again everyone! @V: I actually read your post to JP and we sat and cried together. It was very touching, and I think we needed to kow we're not alone in being traumatized by this.

I'm not sure if this is such a good idea or not, but it's kinda too late; I saw I kitten I really wanted and had a 2-day frenzy over trying to contact the lady homing her. After a lot of hard effort from my sister (she kept calling for me while I was sleeping), we finally had confirmation that this little kitty is ours. We colletc her on Friday.

When JP came home on the evening of day one of this frenzy, he found me crying, surrounded by carrier bags of cat toys, a tray, kitten food and a scratching post, because I'd got too excited that I'd get her. The advert was taken offline, so I assumed I'd missed her and was really upset. I had even saved a photo of her to my PC to show JP. Then we checked again and by magic, the advert had been resubmitted with a message from the seller saying that it keeps being removed for no reason.

Well, in the end, I got her, but almost as soon as it was confirmed, I felt horrible for getting a new cat so soon. I just can't be pleased. I don't get the kitten:- I cry, I do get the kitten:- I cry..

She is very pretty. Kind of blue-grey with pale ginger patches now and then (like a washed out tortoise shell). She also part long-haired and the tufty hair on her head makes her look a lot like Yoda, which was maybe her biggest selling point! She'll never replace Magpie, but nothing can replace her. At least now we'll have someone to love and cuddle.

We'll definitely keep her as a house cat. It won't be easy, because people here often think it is cruel to keep a cat indoors (while researching, I discovered that attitudes vary between countries and regions). It's not nice being accussed of being cruel to your cat, but I think we have good grounds, and she's such a rare colour that we could risk her being stolen. We plan to get her used to her basket early, so we can take her to my mum's and JP's mums (who has other cats), so that she gets to explore other places and meet other cats, while always coming home to our cosy flat. Hopefully this will help prevent her from getting bored all cooped up in doors.

Clive: I'm so sorry that you have to re-home your pets. It's not a choice anyone makes lightly. It must be very hard to say good bye.

[Clive]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

I'm glad you got a new kittie, Jem. She sounds beautiful.

It turns out that I may not have to leave my Melody behind after all. Our move has been delayed by a month, so my parents have decided that we have time enough to get her ready. This means I'm hitting the street looking for a part-time job so I can help pay for the process. Archie still has to stay, unfortunately.

[Lilium of the Valley]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

My cat waits until i walk by his cat tree to claw at my head...every frikken day!!!!!!!! lmao
not to mention his jealousy towards the computer :P for certain reasons lol

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

She is very pretty. Kind of blue-grey with pale ginger patches now and then (like a washed out tortoise shell). She also part long-haired and the tufty hair on her head makes her look a lot like Yoda, which was maybe her biggest selling point! She'll never replace Magpie, but nothing can replace her. At least now we'll have someone to love and cuddle.

We'll definitely keep her as a house cat. It won't be easy, because people here often think it is cruel to keep a cat indoors (while researching, I discovered that attitudes vary between countries and regions). It's not nice being accussed of being cruel to your cat, but I think we have good grounds, and she's such a rare colour that we could risk her being stolen. We plan to get her used to her basket early, so we can take her to my mum's and JP's mums (who has other cats), so that she gets to explore other places and meet other cats, while always coming home to our cosy flat. Hopefully this will help prevent her from getting bored all cooped up in doors.

I'm sorry for your recent loss, Jembru, and please don't feel guilty for getting a new kitten. Sometimes they come to us, with or without our input.

I just wanted to chip in to your questions over indoor vs outdoors for cats. I'm a vet nurse (vet tech for those in the US) and a cat lover/owner and I am absolutely an advocate of indoor cats or enclosed cat runs. Without question. There is nothing cruel about it and people who say that it is cruel just don't understand cats. There are some cats who don't adapt to being totally indoors and who require outdoor enclosures (which is my recommendation anyway because it's better mental and physical stimulation), and there are some cats who end up in a family that they don't suit and would be better off somewhere else (not necessarily outside) but if it's done properly then there is nothing cruel about it.

I also want to say that there's nothing cruel about having an outdoor cat that you then make indoors. Most cats will adjust surprisingly well if it's done properly. My cat was 9 years old when we changed him to being indoors with an outside enclosure and he never had problems. He's a lot happier and safer now and is 16 - he wouldn't have made it to this age if he was still outdoors. The clinic cat at the clinic I work at was an injured stray of 2-3 years old when he came to us. He's now 11-12 and is one of the happiest clinic cats you'll ever see (some clinic cats suffer anxieties over sharing their space with patients - Flynn doesn't).

The key there is that it must be done properly. Cats don't get bored being indoors if you give them things to do. Scratching posts, shelves to climb on, toys, hidey holes etc. The thing to remember is that if your cat likes to climb, you MUST give it something to climb on. If your cat likes to hide, you MUST give it something to hide in. Some cats live indoors without any modifications at all... some cats need some special furniture and/or changes to the house to keep them happy. Problems don't occur because a cat is indoors and it's 'cruel', they occur because we aren't giving them the correct environment and mental and physical stimulation. Cats can have anxiety problems from being around other cats, small children, dogs, from not having appropriate hidey holes or escape routes, from lack of mental stimualtion, from visitors, from workmen, from loud noise like the vacuum cleaner etc etc. You just have to accept that your cat is an individual with a personality and preferences and make sure that you can share your space happily. Like having a room mate who hates your loud music. If you want to live together you have to compromise.

Here in Australia there are many companies that make cat enclosures, either permanent structures, transportable ones or temporary things that can be attached to rental houses without damaging the facias and things. You can even get enclosures that build onto balcony windows or run along the outside of the house from window to window. You can even get little UV protected boxes to put in windows so that your cat can sunbake without fear of skin cancer. We have all sorts of dangers here in Australia to worry about... cat fight abscesses, cars, FIV, FeLV, skin cancer on ears and noses, fatal snake bite (it's Australia... pretty much all of our snakes are venomous and they can live in the suburbs), cane toads (in some states). Not to mention the thought that outdoor cats damage our native wildlife (which is debatable but that's a whole other issue). About the only thing we don't need to worry about here is rabies. Cat enclosures are an absolutely brilliant thing and I will never have another outdoor cat in my life. I look at it like this... we keep our dogs locked up in backyards by themselves (dogs, who are social creatures and need a lot of social contact as well as physical and mental stimulation) to keep them safe, why shouldn't we afford our cats the same protection?

Having said that I don't actually think it's cruel to let them outdoors. It's just not as safe. You didn't cause your kitty's accident by letting her outside. No one causes the death of their cat by letting them outside, its just a risk that we take with outdoor cats. And it's up to each individual to chose whether or not they accept those risks. Personally I don't and I recommend that my clients don't, but some people accept the risks and that's their prerogative.

Lastly, cats are generally solitary creatures and don't actually like to socialise much with cats that aren't part of their colony. So taking your cat away from it's house into another cat's house is actually not a great idea. Some cats can cope with that, others get a great deal of anxiety about it. It could cause more problems than good, so just be careful of that. Cats aren't like dogs.

Anyway... that was a bit longer than I intended. Forgive me if I sound a bit opinionated but I love animals and I understand them... it's my job to protect them, to heal them, to keep then healthy and to educate my clients about how to do all that. I work with animals both physically and spiritually... I'm passionate about animals and about facilitating their happy and healthy relationship with people.

*climbs off her soapbox*

[Jembru]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks so much Rae'ya! You've helped to ease some of my anxiety. There is a friend of the family who makes hutches and runs for small animals, who might be willing to make us something especially for Dolly (she came home on Friday and we called her Dolly). We've moved the book case magpie used to use to get onto the wardrobes, so I might invest in a tall cat tree that she can use to climb up there.

We talked about maybe trying to get her used to wearing a harness. I'm just worried that even if she takes to it, once she goes outside sometimes, it will make her cry at the doors to be out.

I'm also worried that the lady has given her a kitten too young. For some reason, I was convinced the advert said 8 weeks, but she doesn't look 8 weeks to me. Maybe I should put up a picture. She's eating well and using her litter tray at least. She never cried for her mum or brother, but if we both leave the room, she starts calling out and sounds really distressed.

Anyway, thanks again for your helpful message. I'm going to show it to my partner too.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Post up a pic and I'll see if I can tell if she's 8 weeks or not. This age is about the only time you can tell just by looking how old a cat is lol. They normally wean at 4 weeks so if she's eating well then she's over that. Is she eating dried kibble or just soft stuff?

They all cry when they're alone at first. Puppies do the same thing, unless they've already been in a shelter or something. When you think about it, she's just gone from always having someone with her (mum, other kittens, people) to suddenly being left on her own. That's a scary thing for a baby. It's quite natural for a young animal to call for their mother or siblings when they're alone - just survival instinct. Mums don't kick kittens out 'in the wild' until they're about 4-6 months old, so it's quite against their nature for us to be giving kittens away at 8 weeks old. They learn independence and socialisation in those first 6 months and are giving special 'get out of jail free cards' by other adult cats. Once they're sexually mature then they are treated like any other cat, and are fair game for fights, hunting and territory disputes. We just have to encourage her to grow up a bit faster than normal. She'll get the hang of it, but there are a few things you can do to help. In the room where she's alone, put a warm snuggly bed, maybe with a hot water bottle in it. A metronome or ticking clock can also be comforting for them, as can the radio on low. She should grow out of it, but try not to pander to the crying too much. Don't go in there and pick her up and cuddle her, because that will encourage it to turn into attention seeking and you'll teach her to be a noisy cat. Just go back in, say something short and simple and in a normal tone of voice to let her know that you're there, otherwise ignore her for a minute, act as though you didn't hear any crying at all and try to think of ways to keep her comforted when you leave. Maybe put her in her bed with a teddy bear or something that she can snuggle into. Remember that it's probably the first time she has ever been alone in her life.

As far as an enclosure goes, wait until you know a bit of her personality before you think about getting one built, especially if it will be small. Small is actually not an issue as all, as long as it's built on the correct plane. Some cats prefer vertical space to horizontal space... generally if she's a climber then she needs vertical space. Watch her over the next few weeks - if she's always trying to get up on the couch or climbing the curtains or something then she needs vertical space and it doesn't really matter how wide it is. Shelves that go up with little tunnels and ramps and things. If she stays on the ground or the bed is the highest she ever goes then some horizontal space with maybe just a low shelf and a hidey hole would be fine. The worst thing you can do for a vertical-plane cat is not give them space to climb up!

Scratching posts... not all cats like the carpet covered ones. Cats have a personal preference for what they like to hone their claws on. Mine likes vinyl. The clinic cat likes carpet. Some like rope or leather or whatever. So if they wont use the fancy cat post you bought, but like to claw the couch, get your post re-covered lol. Also, a scratching post needs to be tall enough for the cat to stretch out completely at full length. So those short ones actually aren't that great. Again, they don't actually have to be vertical, because some cats like to stretch out along the ground. My cat goes horizontal along the ground and scratches at the vinyl low down and so we actually have a 'scratching chair' out in the cat-run rather than a scratching post for him to poke holes in.

Harness training can be helpful if you want to give short visits outside under supervision, but not strictly necessary. Some of the problem with half indoor-half outdoor cats is that while they've been inside, someone else has come and marked their yard. That encourages anxiety and cat fights. I've recently converted one of my patients to totally indoors for this very reason. He would come inside and fight with the other cat and spray urine around the house out of anxiety, partially because every time he went out he had to re-stake his claim on his yard, and every time he came in he had to re-stake his claim on his house. Making it consistent was part of the treatment plan, along with some pheromone diffusers and retraining. Lots of people go 'well he doesn't like to be inside' and make their cat totally outdoors, in which case the cat is 'cured', but it's rarely that they don't like inside, just that they don't like the inconsistency. Having a cat door helps with that, plus single cat households don't experience it quite as much as multiple cat households. One of my colleagues used to have her cats out on a harness before they had a cat enclosure built, because they were in a snake area. She would peg them out on a long lead and let them stay for an hour or so. Only one of her three cats actually enjoyed this, the other two didn't like it so she stopped doing it for them. Also remember that they usually prefer garden to lawn, so if you do it then take her into the garden and the shrubs to play rather than expecting her to play on the lawn like a dog.

Crying to go out/for food/whatever, you can train them out of. Apart from Oriental breeds, who are difficult to train out of 'talking' because it's part of their nature, it's easy enough to do. Just ignore it. It sounds mean but seriously, ignore it and they'll stop doing it. My cat used to cry for food every single day whenever you went in the kitchen until someone fed him (and would then try to con a second dinner from someone else). It used to drive us nuts. When I became a vet nurse and learned about these things I retrained him not to, by setting a consistent dinner time and having everyone ignore the crying. It took a few weeks but he doesn't cry for his food anymore. He also doesn't bother trying to wake me up for breakfast anymore because I ignore him and roll over. My lorikeet is the same - he's quiet as a mouse for me but he cries for attention with my husband, because my husband gets frustrated and tells him to be quiet and goes and looks at him. Ignore it, don't look at them, don't speak to them, pretend you can't hear it. Then spontaneously reward the quiet behaviour. It's the same thing I teach all the puppy-parents in my puppy classes lol. Just remember that the crying she's doing when you leave the room now is a little different, because it's the natural contact request of a baby looking for it's security. So that's not simple attention seeking but it can become attention seeking as she gets older if you handle it the wrong way.

[Jembru]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

Thanks again for your post! I think I'll keep referencing them actually. Well, we've actually never had visiting cats to our yard. Even the little boy Magpie always followed around, never came into the yard and instead waited outside the gate for her. It has high walls, and even when my roommate still lived here with her rabbit and guinea pig, cats never visited. Magpie got out by jumping on a window ledge and then onto the garage roof that was about half a foot lower than the wall, so maybe other cats haven't worked that out and just see a yard they probably couldn't get out of. We wondered if blocking off this route would keep Dolly in the yard, but don't want to try in case it doesn't work. While it's possible to get a cat with a taste for outdoors, used to indoor life, it would surely be better if we never have to do that. So many hard decisions to make...

She's very well litter trained, always remembering to go when she wakes up, and she is on both dried kitten food and wet. We give the dried in a little dish separately.

I've uploaded a video to youtube so you can see her better than in a photo.

Please excuse the vile carpet. The cigarette burns were my ex roommate, honest! ^^ I asked the landlord for a new one but he said if we want a new carpet we'd have to pay for it.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh also, should I be worried that she cries whenever she has a poop? I've thinking of taking her to visit a vet if it still happens when　I'm next off work.

[Rae'ya]

Re: Pets chit chat thread

It's a bit hard to tell without getting a good look at her face but I would guess that she looks about 6-8weeks old, She doesn't strike me as younger, and if she's chewing on dry food happily then she is at least 6 weeks. I don't think she's over 8 weeks.

Oh also, should I be worried that she cries whenever she has a poop? I've thinking of taking her to visit a vet if it still happens when　I'm next off work.

Yes, I would be worried. That's not normal and it shows that she has pain on toileting. Don't panic - it's not necessarily life threatening, but it shows that there's something not quite right. It could be as simple as the food that she eats not creating the right consistency of faeces, which is causing pain when it passes. This is especially true in very young puppies or kittens, due to food and digestion changes, and their small size. I normally tell people feed them the best quality food you can afford, because there IS a big difference between the expensive vet stuff and the cheap off-brand stuff - but always make changes slowly over a week or two. Stick to a good quality cat food (kitten food at this age), and don't give her extras, except maybe some chicken wing tips when she's a bit older for dental care. She looks a little pot bellied, which despite popular belief is actually not normal in kittens and puppies and is often a sign of worms or of cheap pet foods. Have you wormed her? A worm burden could also be causing her issues with toileting. Otherwise from what I can tell she looks to be a good weight, but then I can't be sure without actually touching her because I can't see beneath the fuzz. I really want to ask you what her poos look like, but that's kind of... weird, isn't it? lmao. Who asks that on a pagan forum? A vet nurse, obviously.

Either way, if she's 6-8 weeks old then she's due for her first vaccinations (yes, I'm an advocate, even for indoor cats as cat flu is airborne and can be caught through open windows or doors). Even animals who are not vaccinated should have regular check ups - for kittens and puppies that means when you get them, at least twice before desexing time. For adults that means every single year. Sometimes we pick things up in health checks before you see signs at home, and sometimes what people think is normal is actually not normal at all and there are things we can do about it.

[Jembru]