Is exchanging a cat for a kitten because it isnt cute anymore considered abuse?
Its not abuse but that lady sounds like a brat!!! I mean how would she feel if her husband exchanged her for a younger more attractive wife?! The cats are not furniture at a yard sale or webkinz cards!!!!
What's the healing time after you bring your cat home from the vet after being diagnosed with FLUTD?
I'm going through the exact same thing NOW with a cat, only I put him in isolation to make sure he is peeing etc (have few cats). The poor guy was on liq. Clavamox and not pred., but another for 10 days. He's still in isolation in a room, although peeing,... in fact lots since I add water to his wet tuna. Suppose to be on C/D, S/O. S/D only. Afraid to let him integrate with household case he reblocks from eating other foods. If he is licking his bottom still, my guess is that he is still forming irritating crystals. Try to get a pee sample ( I just did, by lining the litter box with plastic, have to get a 2nd sample for testing too) and take to vet to analyse and/or send out for re-check. He must not have any dry that's not PH balanced and food must be low in Magnesium. Will be interested to know what your other replies will be.
Will fostering kittens have a negative effect on my resident cats?
Hi, im really interested in fostering cats and kittens, I waanted to know if anyone thought that this could be bad for my resident kittens, in the sense of if i have these kittens for 8 weeks or whatever the term may be, my 2 cats could get really attached too them. Will it make them sad everytime i have to give the fostered kittens back? does anyone have any experience with this? im guessing im just looking for re assurance
Has your cat ever gone missing and eventually come home? For how long?
Oh, yes! Many years and several cats ago…I was in Jr. High school. We had three cats, two brothers and a sister. “Plain Jane”, “Bear” and “Al. E. Cat” (Hey, I was in 5th grade when he was born… “Al E. Cat” sounded terribly clever in 5th grade).Jane and Al were “mostly outdoor” cats with indoor privileges. Bear really wanted to be an indoor cat, but we made him go out at night.One day, Al didn’t show up for breakfast. Or dinner. This wasn’t TOO unusual, and all of them had either missed meals, or come and gone when we didn’t see.The next day, and the next, passed and we started to get worried. We started walking the neighborhood, looking for him.After a week, we were starting to accept that he may not be coming home.After TWO weeks, we were mourning him, but still looking around the neighborhood.After three weeks, we stopped looking, and gave Jane and Bear extra hugs.After a month, one fall day, Al shows up, yowling piteously, his fur bedraggled, his claws beat up and some broken, very thin, and all the whiskers on one side of his face cut or broken off.He scarfed down a whole bowl of food by himself, slurped up a quart of water, rested a while, inside, purring so loud it shook the house… then he scarfed down more food, and more water.He finally had to pee, and went outside… but strayed exactly four feet from the back door, did his business then welded himself to the back door and yowled until we let him back in.We let him sleep inside for a couple days, while we made sure he was recovering.He put his weight back on, and got his fur back to it’s healthy grey and white.We never figured out what happened to Al… Best we can imagine is he got locked under a house, or in a garage, or some such, without food (but with water, or he’s never have survived), and didn’t get found for nearly a month.He didn’t stray far again. In fact, after we moved out to the country, taking Al, Bear, and Jane with us, Al always stayed close. Years later, Jane disappeared, and never came home. So did my best buddy, Bear. Al was with us for a couple years after his brother and sister disappeared. He developed a tumor on his leg and… well… He didn’t suffer as much as we did on his last day, and his last trip to the vet.
I adopted a cat yesterday who is hiding under the bed, didn't use the litter pan, or drink any water all of last night. Is this normal? Will he be ok?
I hear this question a lot and recently our friends from the U.K. adopted a cat from a shelter near Nottingham. This was an abused cat that’s been previously returned twice to the shelter, but the lady of the couple fell in love with this all white beauty and took her home.Weeks went by and she would still hide under their bed all day long, barely coming out to eat and poop when they weren't around. Her husband had all but given up after a month and wanted to return her.We stepped in and recommended to try this “Scaredy Cat” herbal remedy distributed by a famous TV personality here in North America. I had previously used the same treatment on our of our 4 kitties that came down with stomatitis a couple of years ago while she was still a kitten. The antibiotics worked and she’s recovered from the inflammation in her mouth, but as a result she had gotten skittish from being chased to take her medication twice a day and also became rather depressed. Yep, cats can suffer from all the same mental and physical ailments that befall humans.So, we did 2 things, we tried this herbal remedy and also rescued another kitten her size from the shelter. She was always like “the middle child” ignored most of the time by her 2 older brothers one black & one ginger coloured cat, so we thought we’d make it an even 4 and get her a female playmate.Both have worked out incredibly well. She’s now the most cheeky & playful cat together with a slightly younger sister and she’s even buddied up to the 2 male cats in the household. The positive effects have so far kept any reoccurrences of stomatitis at bay and we have a happy clowder of 4.Going back to our friends in the U.K. after applying this herbal remedy to her coat and a couple of drops into her food, she started to gain confidence within days. After 2 weeks, (into month 2 and 3) she now sleeps with them in their bed and has become very playful and outgoing.Moral of the story is, do NOT give up. Ever! The more scared shelter cats are returned the more likely they will be euthanized. It’s not their fault some humans can’t understand them, but it requires patience & love to gain the trust of most pets, but especially felines. I fight a lot on social media to dispel myths and falsehoods about cat guardianship. Please know, there’s no such thing as a bad cat, only misunderstood ones and incompatible humans.Finally, always adopt, don’t shop!
I've been feeding a stray cat for a year now but I will be moving this month. What is the most humane way to get it to fend for itself?
It was truly nice of you to feed the cat for a year.Is he/she healthy? Is she/he living in the country? Is there plenty of prey to catch and eat, and a fairly safe (no heavy traffic, hostile people and animals, toxins, etc.) environment in the area?If not - the sad reality is that cats in such situations often don’t do well fending for themselves. They can suffer hardships and die young.If you have had friendly and affectionate interactions, she/he may be bonded with you (love you), and be grievously distressed over being abandoned. Cats have intelligence and emotions similar to a young child.Is it possible you can take the cat with you?If you are certain you cannot take the cat with you, the best thing is to find a good person who will take over and provide him/her with a loving forever home. Or at least will continue to provide the regular meals.Even if this cat has not bonded with you as a family member yet, he/she must deeply appreciate the food you provide, and knowing she/he has a supportive friend. If you know any of your neighbors well, and think they would be reliable - can you buy a good amount of cat food, some food and water bowls, and arrange for the cat’s continued care? Maybe over time, the neighbor will also succumb to her/his cute face, and adopt the kitty. Tell them the benefits of having a mouser on patrol. If that doesn’t work out, you can contact a good No Kill shelter and make arrangements for the cat’s care.A person who wants to rescue a feral cat can often borrow live traps from humane societies, animal shelters and rescue organizations. And a No Kill shelter or rescue organization may be able to have the cat neutered or spayed, and rehomed.I hope everything works out well for you both.I answered - “I’ve been feeding a stray cat for a year now but I will be moving this month. What is the most humane way to get it to fend for itself?”
How do I reclaim my cat after giving him up to a shelter?
How old are you? If you are a minor concerned about your cat then I will try not to be too harsh.Honey, owning an animal is almost like having a child. The owner has legal rights to the animal. (Like parents have parental rights to their child.) The animal shelter is not a store. (I volunteered in one for a few years.) It is like a Child protection organization/adoption center for animals. (In my country child protection and animal protection used to actually be the same organization before they split.) So when an owner gives their animal to a shelter they are terminating their “parental rights.” Much like putting a child up for adoption with the local child protection agency. Once their rights are terminated the agency (shelter) becomes the animals guardian until they find a family to adopt the cat. So they are not “Fixing him up for free and reselling him like a piece of shit.” The staff are paying 1500 out of their own pockets (shelters are non-profit) and then finding him a family. Until then they are raising your cat. Trust me (if they are willing to pay 1500 out of pocket) then they are keeping him safe, treating him well and giving him lots of love. (It’s not jail for animals. It’s like an orphanage with loving staff.) Unfortunately, since your step-dad ended his owner rights he has no legal way of getting the cat back.Your parents can try to go in and speak to the shelter staff. They are pretty reasonable people and they want what is best for your cat. If you explain that you were having money problems and were desperate they MAY give your parents their owners rights back. But since they were willing to give him up in the first place (and they may do that again if your cat is in an other accident). They might not. And they are not obligated to because legally (right now) they are your cat’s parents.In either case you can call and get updates. A lot of owners who give up their animals call and ask how they are doing. Sometimes (depending on the shelters rules) we can even give pictures. They do discourage visiting though because it can cause stress on an animal. But call and see.