miranda

I've seen this argument entirely too often.

Cats should have kittens and/or go outside because it's natural.

Never mind overpopulation, never mind what can happen to kittens given away for free, never mind the multitude of ways a cat can die outside.

Being a pet isn't natural. If you want to watch a wild cat being a wild cat then watch Animal Planet or some other wildlife programming. If you want a pet, take care of it and treat it like a pet.

I wonder if any of the "natural" people feed a raw diet or at least all canned food? Maybe they just buy mice and let them run around until they get caught and eaten.

So anyway... what is so great about natural?

how can a place with cars around even be considered natural?

do people just not understand the kinds of horrible deaths that happen in nature all the time?

Who else is frustrated by this and how can we successfully explain that a pet cat can live a full and happy life inside and without ever reproducing?

(I suppose this is targeted to US only, and not to countries where letting cats roam is safer than here)

I never thought much of Spot's Stew based on the ingredients. I didn't think it was terrible, but it seems to have a lot of non-meat ingredients for a food meant for carnivores.

But I got some $5 off coupons for it and used them to buy the cans (2 $1.99 cans and 1 $1.29 at Petco made what seemed like a great deal). My cats LOVE their wet food and I have never seen them less impressed with a wet food than Spot's Stew. My "clean up crew" (the two who finish all the leftovers) did finish most of it but with everything else they eat it all. I was shocked that the food had whole peas in it and such large chunks of other veggies. Obviously no one ate the peas.

So - does anyone have kitties who love this stuff? and will they eat the peas?

If your cats love it you can sign up for the $5 off coupon here: http://www.halopets.com/coupon/

and there's a $5 off $25 Petco purchase coupon that could help too: http://www.petco.com/assets/google/feb09ads_wk1_84...

I think this looks sweet: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/mirandast...

But I can't imagine sleeping like this even if I could: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/mirandast... ... http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/mirandast...

What bizarre nap positions do your kitties seem to enjoy?

lengthy explanation of the situation...

My youngest cat is a bit aggressive. At meal times he routinely shoves his head into the bowls of the other cats and forces them out. Some find another bowl and some just give up entirely. Only my oldest bothers to either swat him or refuse to move.

He acts the same with grooming. Sometimes he will wedge himself between someone else's tongue and whatever part they were washing. This is usually successful and results in a free bath.

His adopted mother cat is getting fed up with him. She hisses and makes horrible noises sometimes when he comes to her but he loves her anyway and seems clueless. Eventually she gives up and walks away or goes back to snuggling with him. I'd guess that her mixed messages will make training even tougher.

Only my oldest is slightly consistent with him. But I have 6 cats and he takes food from the others. The two meekest ones who give up entirely love him dearly. He's not really a bully and I've never heard him hiss or growl. He's just so spoiled. He loves the fountain they have to drink from (they of course have a bowl too) and when it isn't on he hits it and will knock it over. I don't know if he's annoyed or just trying to make it work.

No one is going hungry but some do miss out on some of their tastier treats. I just don't know if I should train him not to take from the others or if I should let them deal with it. Part of me thinks I should step in but then I also think if the cats cared they would stop him. He's an 8.5 pound 7 month old. He doesn't seem to want dominance exactly and he doesn't seem to be a jerk on purpose. Apart from playing, he doesn't fight anyone and no one tries to fight him.

So I have to decide if it's up to me to teach him manners or let the cats handle it.

Has anyone had a kitty like this? How did you handle it and was it ever a serious problem?

Here he is:

With momma: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/mirandast...

With pals: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/mirandast...

Super Fred: http://i255.photobucket.com/albums/hh149/mirandast...

This is Fred: http://www.catster.com/cats/884958 (I'm terrible at updating that, he's a bit over 6 months old now)

I have never had a pointed kitty before but we found one this summer. He was tiny (5-6 weeks old) but his tail and nose were already orange. He didn't get any darker for a long time. Now it looks like he's getting some pale orange lines on his face.

I know it's the colder parts of them that get darker, so I did think he might change more since the weather is colder. But we're in SoCal, so it's not like it's going to get really cold - and he's indoor only. Are there any sort of guidelines on how drastically they change? Is their final pattern genetic, how much does the weather matter?

There's a pretty long haired, seal-point feral outside who has lots of markings - is that any indicator (weather-based, IDK if the cats are related) of Fred's final pattern?

When we found him I read about his pattern on various websites, so I don't need cut and paste responses. Mostly I'm curious about the pointed kitties others have, regardless of breed, and how they've changed over time. So I'd appreciate any experiences and pictures you can share about your own pointed cat(s) and how their patterns have developed.

I don't care particularly, I love him no matter what he looks like, I've just never had a pointed kitty before so I was curious. TIA!

I've been using Evo and my kitties are active and healthy but I could get Wellness cheaper so I've been trying to figure out if there's really a quality difference. I can only get Evo at pet stores that sell dogs and cats (I don't want to support those stores) or feed stores which aren't very close to me. Or I can go to Petco and buy Wellness Core and use their coupons: http://www.petco.com/naturalcampaign/petcooffer.ht...

Of course I'll keep driving out to the feed store if Evo is better, but I wanted some opinions from some of the knowledgeable people here.

Are there any quality concerns you've experienced or heard about that should stop me from gradually switching my kitties to Wellness Core?

My cats are happily switching over to Evo (and loving it) and my mother wants to put hers on something better too. But one of their cats has kidney problems so the protein content in Evo would be too much for him and there's no way to keep them out of each other's food. He rejected numerous prescription foods so now he's eating Purina One (boo!), a mix of urinary tract and sensitive systems. He's doing alright but he's fairly skinny and one of the other kitties is a little chubby. I want to help find a good high quality food that will work for them all.

They get some wet food. I was wondering about the Evo wet, since the protein content is much lower but they do need some hard food left out too.

So if anyone has experience with kitties with kidney problems, please share what seemed to be the best foods for them to help me with my research. Thank you!

I bought some of these this morning because one of my kitties needs 1.5 pills twice a day and it's getting harder to make him take them. So I bought these hoping they'd help. He ate them readily so I started feeling optimistic but he chewed them up well and managed to spit out both the whole pill and the half one. If it wasn't so tough to get him to take them it would have been funny.

In hindsight I don't know why I thought they would work.

I think I'm just going to crush them up, mix them in baby food and squirt it into his mouth with the syringe (no needle) I'm using to the liquid anti-biotics. I still have three and a half days of this left and I'm tired of feeling like I'm torturing him -- although this has to be better than the inflamed colon he's getting over.

Are there cats out there who fall for these things?

One of my kitties was unable to hold his food down so he went to the vet yesterday morning. They think it's Colitis. Based on the questions they've asked me and what I've read, it's acute Colitis. Most likely he ate something that wasn't food.

He's always been terrible about that. I've tried very hard to keep him from eating random junk even though he always tries to and for over 5 years he hasn't had a serious issue.

The vet did a barium X Ray and that's where they came up with Colitis. The first one I talked to said the barium made it through his system in 1 hour which she said was good but the guy I talked to today said the same thing only that it was bad. He was a real jerk and offered no chance for questions when I called. I'm hoping I get my kitty back today but without being able to ask anything I'm horribly nervous.

Can anyone tell me what to expect? I'm assuming he'll need a special diet but I don't know what. When I pick him up I will not leave until I get enough answers from the vet but it's still 3.5 hours before I'm supposed to call to see if I can even get him today and not knowing much is bothering me a lot.

Any stories of your own or any other knowledge you could share would be appreciated. Thanks!

There are entirely too many strays and ferals in my area and it's pretty urban so it's crowded and dangerous for these cats with little decent food. I've been feeding them, which has lead to me acquiring 4 new pets this year. Obviously I can't take in any more and they need to stop breeding at the very least. I met one tonight who I assumed was feral since he ran before but I said "kitty" and he came back and rubbed on me. He's a pretty orange tabby with an extra toe. Very cute. It makes me so upset that someone didn't bother to take care of him.

The problem is that even if I trap these cats, where do I keep them until it's time to take them in? They're only out when it's dark. I have a really open floor plan so I can't bring one in otherwise it would come in contact with my pets and I can't really leave it outside because I assume it would cry and the neighbors would complain. This is the problem that's bothered me the most. If there are any suggestions I'd love to hear them.

Any information you all can share would help a lot. I think I need to do something. I have read up some online but I'd like to hear some actual experiences before I start calling.

Thanks!

I'm looking for a new vet.

My cat is being spayed and they called to say she's in heat, which is an extra $50 charge. I was careful to make sure she'd go in after she came out of heat so unless she's getting no break at all she shouldn't be in heat. Her behavior over the last 6-7 days has been completely normal, nothing like her in heat behavior. Obviously I can't prove anything so I'm stuck paying but I was already getting fed up with this vet so this is the last straw.

Months ago we used another vet based on a family member's recommendation. We took my cat there when we found her and they told us she was not pregnant or no more than 3 weeks along. She had the kittens 4.5 weeks later, so she was 4.5 in then.

I looked at review sites but they mostly have 1 or 2 reviews and many seem suspicious (self promotion).

I'm hoping some of the answers here will give me a few ideas to help with my search.

Thank you!

If anyone knows a good vet in the east Los Angeles area please share.