Cat Problems

“I've got this cat, Roscoe, mane coon type. He's 10 years old, very big, about 22 pounds or so, neutered. I know cats can live many more years than 10, but because of his size, I have always kind of assumed that he wouldn't necessarily see 18. Because of his size, he can't jump up on the chair or the couch and pretty much exists on the floor level. He is still very alert and oriented as always.

He has always been good about using his litter box. But lately he doesn't use it religiously. I am really tired of cleaning up the piles of yuck and the puddles of piddle. Is this the beginning of the end? Is there anything I can do to change his behavior?”

“is he strickly an indoor cat?, i'm assuming he's a boy?...does he eat only dry food?...the reason i ask is if all three are yes they they are very prone to urinary tract infections, but with him having fecal problems too it might be more(i'm assuming "piles of yuck" mean poo?)...regardless, it'd probably be best to just get him to the vet”

“See the Mr. Hyde cheap thread. There was some good advice there. It could be a bladder infection, it could be cat alzheimer's. They're both easily treatable.”

“We had that happen. Ours wasn't a medical issue but a behavioral one. We did everything to make him stop from treating the spots he went in to getting one of those self cleaning litter boxes so it'd always be totally clean for him. We eventually had to put our cat to sleep. It was sad and not a choice anyone was happy about but Abby was going to be crawling quickly and we couldn't leave the cat peepee flooring down and didn't want him to continue his peeing everywhere. I think our cat's issue was our dogs. He was mad when we got them (although he ruled the roost) and he showed us. It sucked, the whole ordeal.
I hope your situation turns out better Ruby.”

“ya got to bring him to the vet to find out if it's a behavioral or physical issue.

really have to find out this first.”

“Thriftyhiker, all the answers are yes. And yes, piles of yuck means poo.

Treebait, thanks. I'll check out that thread.

Sass, that is what I was thinking that he is approaching that time of life where I have to make the ultimate decision.”

“Thank goodness it's only poo and not shlt. LOL!”

“It's runny shlt, all right. The only good thing is that it's on a linoleum floor so I don't have to clean it up out of carpet.”

“Runny poo? He may need dewormer or an antibiotic for gut bugs. Vets usually prescribe a course of Flagyl for just about anyhting these days.”

“your cat may need to change to a high fiber diet, as we did. our cat ,pepper in on W/D (hill's brand-get it at the vets). that cured the runny poo and for his pee problems we got a second liter box. also pepper does not like it when my sons room is messy, we will sometimes pee on his clothes.”

“I'm just waiting for bit to show up with his wisdom he shared on another cat thread...”

“That's ma boy!”

“i recall this little gem from you nigal LOL:


Nigal
2:47:20 PM
8/22/05
ignore this user”

“"when my sons room is messy, we will sometimes pee on his clothes.”
cyndeee
9:50:05 AM
12/06/05"


Poor son!!!!!!!

Hee hee, I just couldn't resist.”

“Actually the light is redundant as is the laser sites. If you are on good terms with kitty he should come right up to you within good point blank range. If not, no cat can resist a fresh can of tuna to close the range. Also stay aware of what is behind kitty for over penetration as well as splatter.”

“btw- just joking.”

“You all make jokes about this, but my grandma follows through. The family still gives her a hard time over the way she handled litters of kittens years ago. They got tossed into a 5-gallon bucket of water and held under. Her cat problems were solved.”

“I'm trying to think of a round where you wouldn't get overpenetration on a cat. A .17 caliber pellet maybe?”

““I'm trying to think of a round where you wouldn't get overpenetration on a cat. A .17 caliber pellet maybe?”

Sha, maybe if you're having your kid do it. Glaser safty slug.”

“Trust me, this doesn't hurt my feelings one bit. As much as I love Roscoe, I have been tempted to take him out myself at times. But I'm too much of a softy.”

“Well, sure, if you're slipping on $100 bills on your way to your car in the morning.”

“My brother's retarded cocker spaniel once lifted his leg on his laptop. He was inches away from shooting it.”

“...have been tempted to take him out myself at times. But I'm too much of a softy.”

my wife's the only one standing between me and our cat...that little bastard has hit my sleeping bag and my tent”

““Well, sure, if you're slipping on $100 bills on your way to your car in the morning.”

Beats slipping in cat shlt on the way to the car.”

“Yes but you can't buy Glaser Safety slugs with cat #&%!$. Although it would be nice if you could.”

“Birch's uncle has a cat gun. He's got a farm and needs the cats to keep the vermin away. He tried fixing his barn cats once but the neighborhood is full of barn cats and they moved in and promptly had several litters. So, the cat gun it is.”

“OK ,I'm eating lunch ,and the runny poo is getting to me

Good look with the cat ,Ruby”

“Not anymore!



Specially designed to make cleanup a cake walk!”

“Wouldn't that make it stick to your underwear though?”

“Yeah but who wants to clean those?”

“Oh poo!
Here's the answer to Ruby's problem:
http://www.vapoorizer.com/
last edited: 12/06/05 12:41:34 PM”

“The 'OTHER' white meat.”

“Oh Stovey, if only that were true!!”

“My part Maine Coon kitty died at 18...he had a huge stomach tumer which was found too late...if your cat has had a behavior change and you can afford it, take him to the vet for a physical...the x-ray showed the mass in my cats abdomen..it's sad..I love Maine Coon kitties...they are just so cool..mine also couldn't jump up on the bed or the couch after he was 16..I think it was arthritis...poor kitty...good luck, Ruby...oh, gotta picture of your cat? here's mine:
http://community.webshots.com/photo/125566599/179693513Siparz
last edited: 12/06/05 7:06:22 PM”

“My cat was going out of his litterbox because he was getting stones from the cheap cat food I was feeding him. The cheap stuff is high in ash. I feed my cats IAMS now.”

“Mata - nice pic! One of my cats sticks his tongue out too, but I don't have a picture of it!

My cats get Eukanuba, because its fun to say. :)”

“I have four cats.

Minnie who dislocated her hip a couple of days ago. She's 1 1/2 years old and is scheduled for hip surgery next Tuesday ($660).

Stinky (11 years old)who ended up at my house as a result of a failed adoption (in other words it was me or the gas chamber) is now restricted to the kitchen and outside because he decided that he liked to spray on the furniture in the living room. He has asthma, allergies and bad teeth. The Vet fixed him up good about six months ago for $500.

Herbie (almost 10 years old)who had a urinary tract infection that got really bad about 5 years ago - first he was leaving small puddles all over because he was having trouble getting it out. He ended up almost dead due to kidney failure before I figured out that he wasn't just being bad. He went to the animal hospital and came back as good as new $500 later (the Vet capped the cost at $500 because I couldn't afford more at the time and he felt Herbie would survive if treated). The Vet told me to feed him IAMS or Hill Science Diet. He likes IAMS, so he and the rest of the family have been eating it ever since and we haven't had anymore urinary tract infections.

Little Girl who is/was wild. She's four years old and loves to catch gophers. She's never had any health issues. She's a good girl.

I would take the cat to your Vet and see what he/she recommends. I really like my Vet and tend to take his advice. He will recommend treatment if it has a good chance of working and giving the pet a good quality of life, but does not push to keep a pet alive at all costs.
last edited: 12/06/05 10:31:06 PM”

“How do you treat dead cat? No easy solution, I'm sure. Found one of our 5 kitties dead in front of the garage on Sunday, only 2 1/2 years old. I gave him a layman's exam - nothing visible in the throat, spine was intact, no visible wounds (except 2 teeny ones on the edges of his lips). He looked fine when we last saw him earlier in the day. Complete mystery to us.

It hurts that he was the most loving of all our cats, and our one daughter's favorite. Followed me around our woods like a dog when I went for walks. He's still sitting in a box outside, ground has been frozen all week and there's 6 inches of snow coming tonight. Don't know when I'll get the ugly job done.”

“oh that's sad, techntrek!!

do any of you people have pet insurance? if/when i get a pet, i was wondering if that was worth it.”

“Sorry to hear that tech. It's never easy but it is good that your kids have a good grasp on the cycle of life.

I thought one of mine was going to die today. Sugar has this thing for plastic grocery sacks. She gets in them and will drag them around the house. She somehow got her head through one of the handles of a bag containing a big cookie tin. She freeked out and the more she freeked out the more that tin clanged around and the made her freek out even more. I saw this white blur go streaking through the house. She didn't know where the hell she was going but she wasn't going to stop until she was away from this plastic bag that had somehow turned on her. I finally caught her under the couch were she had the bag clear down around her fat tummy. She had this wild look in her eye and I'm not sure she'll be right for days. LOL!”

“Nigal out cat LIttle Bit does the same thing once in a while. THe poor thing is a buff colored blur that I expect to drop dead at any second of a heart attck when she gets her fat little belly stuck in the bag handles.”

“LOL, thanks for the laugh, Nigal. Needed that. I had a full mental movie going with that one.”

“That's what makes cats so great. No two cats are the same and they are very funny. Someday I'll tell you how my other cat caught himself on fire. LOL!
last edited: 12/08/05 11:29:00 AM”

“kinda like squirrels”

“Nigal, my cat just did the same thing earlier this week. I about want to pee my pants when I see a cat do that - its so hilarious!


Lyra, I had pet insurance on one of my cats. My vet told me to do it, because she is a "lemon". The vet told me the other one wasn't worth the money. Vet also said that the insurance isn't worth it just for the vaccines, so don't get it to cover that. The best company out there is VPI. Just google it.

Insurance on my cat got screwed up, so I no longer have it. I let it lapse, and they required the vet send the last exam report. Somehow they found out that she'd been treated for excessive licking (due to her really bad teeth!) and they wouldn't cover her for that anymore. So, I don't have insurance on her. If I hadn't let it lapse, I'd still be insuring her.”

“techntrek - Snakebite? My family has lost several pets to that.

I sure do miss Miss Priss, worlds bestest kitty.”

“I thing it's time for another trip to the county animal shelter.
Last time I went they had NO animals for adoption. All had either been destroyed or moved to another out of state shelter due to the hurricane.”

“stovie, winter time is very slow at shelters. I have picked up a few animals this week. wait till spring and sadly, they will be full

so tech, you found a dead kitten? hmmm 2 1/2 is to old for SCD same as SID but for cats.

as far as getting rid of the body, when I come upon a DOA ( by the department of health I am not allowed to put them on my truck) I bag it and tell the owner to call the local garbage company and tell them they have a dead animal and put a big sticker on it saying "dead animal" and put it out on the street. our garbage trucks send out special trucks to pick up dead animals on the streets.

it is sad to have to deal with that.”

“what kinda truck do you drive maple??”