|
Post by september on Aug 4, 2021 10:02:26 GMT -5
"What's that? I didn't hear you the first time!" (or 2nd, 3rd, 4th 5th...) This hibiscus is the only large potted plant I left in the house over the summer, because the deer chewed it down to sticks the last two years I put it out. Both kittens have been at it, and Maize actually climbed higher up into the branches this morning, if she still was not such a light weight it would all have come crashing down to the floor. It's just a matter of time. I may put some aluminum foil over the dirt and see if that is less attractive to them, but I'm not holding my breath.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 4, 2021 10:24:40 GMT -5
They are so cute, even when being mischevious!
Do you have a cat tree for them to climb? Having something bigger and taller for them to climb might not work, but it could.
They are too young for catnip, but at 6-8 months of age, most cats respond to catnip and you can use that to lure them to the cat tree instead of your hibiscus.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2021 12:31:35 GMT -5
September, maybe take a stool sample and have it checked for worms. Whip or tape or round worms can cause a lot of those symptoms too. Hope all is good and that he catches up soon . They both sound wonderful.
I don't think it would hurt your plant, but what about some vinegar diluted way down in water and sprayed on the pplant? She might find it off putting and find other mischief to get into. <smile>
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Aug 4, 2021 12:43:24 GMT -5
Chile/Shelley not only reacted to catnip yesterday, she ate some leaves. May have been that it was fresh from the garden. I always leave a couple plants just for my cats.
I suspect that my kitten is going to put on some weight soon. Didn't take long to find that what she had been eating is not her favorite. Probably was eating just enough to survive. Anything left over from my missing Shadow is gobbled down almost to the point of gorging. Favorite snack already is vanilla ice cream!
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by september on Aug 4, 2021 12:50:46 GMT -5
@imp , the shelter manager did worm him on Tuesday along with his shots. He did say that there was a different kind of wormer available in case this one did not do it all. Problem with the stool sample is unless I saw him doing it and took it right away, I wouldn't know which cat it was from. I am going to try to rig up some kind of platform on my tomato scale that I can weigh him on. If he doesn't start gaining soon, I will for sure take him to my own vet. Good idea on the vinegar, I might do that! Laura_in_FL ,I have catnip growing all over outside, once it goes to seed you can't get rid of it. They were not impressed with the green leaves so far. I suppose drying intensifies the crazy ingredient. Someone did give me a cat tree at one time, but my old cats never used it much, preferred the furniture! Don't think it's around anymore, too bad, I think Maizie for sure would use it. I dread bringing my citrus trees back in, they are more top heavy than the hibiscus, and any climbing will for tip them over. They are table top plants, but I will have to keep them on the floor for a while until the attraction fades, but won't have to worry about that until frost.
|
|
|
Post by hairymooseknuckles on Aug 4, 2021 15:58:38 GMT -5
paquebot, My babies love ice cream! They go nuts is we pass by Braum’s! It was so funny....my wife took the kids riding one day. She just happened to pull though to get her an ice cream and they literally went nuts on her. She called me and said “you’ve been taking the kids to Braum’s. I busted out laughing!
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2021 18:11:38 GMT -5
Only one of my cats liked ice cream and Tuffy only liked Butter Pecan. For that, he would darn near try to take it from your mouth ! Faye thought he would not eat it and then on, it was 1 bite for Faye, one bite for Tuffy. If she tried to skip him, he would bat her nose and holler !
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Aug 4, 2021 22:16:40 GMT -5
Oddly enough, about 4 cats ago was also Tuffy but a female. She had to have her share of ice cream every time I had it. She was also the only cat that I ever had that would eat popcorn as long as it had butter on it.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by hairymooseknuckles on Aug 4, 2021 22:39:40 GMT -5
paquebot, My baby girl loves Popcorn, but she likes just about anything! Early one year, I was needing some fish food so I could start back up feeding my catfish. I generally quit feeding in November and start back up in Feb. It’s a far piece over to the fishery. Baby Girl wanted to ride. I picked up a couple 50 pound sacks and loaded them in the back. It started sprinkling and I didn’t want a mess, so I pulled over and put them in the back seat of the pickup. I didn’t think no more about it. I stopped to gas up and while I was pumping gas, baby girl tore into a bag and was going to town! You could thump a quarter off her belly. I actually think she would have continued to eat till she popped had I not stopped her. She’s an eater for sure!
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Aug 5, 2021 7:25:06 GMT -5
I read somewhere that cats can be either nibblers or gobblers and we have one of each. Our one cat is petite and can have dry food available at all times. She will delicately eat 5 or 6 pieces and then walk away. Our other cat will clean out the whole bowl if allowed and naturally she is overweight at 16 lbs. The other one weighs about 8 lbs.
We try to limit the bigger one's food but she is constantly begging.
|
|
|
Post by september on Aug 5, 2021 9:57:14 GMT -5
brownrexx , I foresee that for my kittens too. Maizie eats til she is full and then goes and does something else. Luke eats a smaller amount and then gets distracted but will eventually come back and eat a little more. I have to close him in the bedroom when I give him chicken or wet food, or she will finish hers and rush over to push him away from his. He really loves that chicken though, he wanted 2nd helpings again this morning. I have only enough left for one meal for him. I think his activity and eating are up in the last few days. Today will probably be a zoo, my sister and niece are coming to stay for 3 days, niece is bringing her Great Dane. He is a young dog, but has two cats of his own, so he probably will not be a problem, but I'm sure my cats will be terrified. I hated to tell her not to bring the dog because I see her so rarely and she can't easily schedule time off from work. At some point my son will be bringing his dogs over anyway, so at least the first exposure will be with a dog who lives with cats.
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 5, 2021 10:27:55 GMT -5
september, back to the catnip, young kittens are almost never attracted to it. Only post-pubescent kittens and adult cats are - somewhere between 6-8 months old is when they usually begin to be interested. (I don't know why.) So it's premature to draw any conclusions about your kittens' reaction to catnip for a while yet. And about 30-40% of cats are never interested in catnip. hairymooseknuckles, I used to have a cat, Valerie, who LOVED and would really get aggressive over Chili Cheese Fritos. Only that flavor sent her completely wild. She did enjoy other cheesy corn chips like Nacho Cheese Doritos, but she didn't go wild over them. That same cat also went nuts for dried apricots. Obviously we limited her portions on both - the salt content of the Fritos is bad for cats, and all the fiber in the apricots would mess up her tummy. I have had a bunch of cats be interested in fish food to varying degrees. One of the major ingredients in most fish food is fish, so that's no surprise. I guess it appeals to dogs, too!
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Aug 25, 2021 17:49:00 GMT -5
Word today that I may end up with two cats if all goes well. My missing Shadow had not been seen since 9 June. All thoughts have been that she was taken in by someone who didn't want to report her or let her go. She has now been spotted several times this week in the same area as before. Appears to be in good shape so she's been eating well. Now just have to find out who has her.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
|
Post by september on Aug 25, 2021 22:11:52 GMT -5
Martin, I hope you are able to recover her! If the voles are anything like at my place, she has been able to feed herself well without help! Culpepper's last summer, he spent lots of time in the garden waiting patiently in the best hunting spots, he ate what he wanted leaving little gut piles, and then did recreational hunting. My chipmunk and vole populations are definitely up since he died.
|
|
|
Post by september on Aug 25, 2021 22:12:42 GMT -5
duplicate
|
|
|
Post by Laura_in_FL on Aug 26, 2021 7:32:27 GMT -5
Good luck finding Shadow, Martin!
|
|
|
Post by september on Sept 11, 2021 23:50:13 GMT -5
Turns out I have some devoted tennis fans! Although truth be told, any little running figures on the screen will do.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 12, 2021 17:17:46 GMT -5
So charming at this age makes you forget the scratched ankles a bit, LOL. Both your kittens are so prettily marked.
|
|
|
Post by september on Sept 12, 2021 20:36:43 GMT -5
@imp , Luke has a foot fetish, he is always walking in between and ahead of my feet setting me up for a stumble or fall. Even getting his tail stepped on a few times has not stopped it, then he does the stomach up flip and grabs on for a brief foot wrestle. Luckily, the bites and scratches have been mostly minor. Their most destructive behavior involves climbing up the window screens, usually in search of some imagined or real insect. Screens are made so cheaply these days with plastic mesh, I'm afraid they will claw in large holes as they gain weight! The other day a wasp got in the house somehow and Luke was playing with it. I went to get a paper towel to squish it in, but by the time I got back he had eaten it.
|
|
|
Post by paquebot on Sept 12, 2021 22:00:28 GMT -5
My Chile is also a foot-attacker but no damage to me so far. My missing Shadow was just the opposite and was afraid of feet at first. Made me wonder if she were kicked by previous owner. On Facebook, saw socks that were printed like a big cat's paw. Some cats freaked out and ran.
Martin
The truth is more important than the facts.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 9:17:12 GMT -5
LOL, I find it amusing that we all have our preferences and opinions of pets. I could live without a cat (and do) quite happily. On the other hand, I could have a dog around as a tool, and i'd be quite happy with a herd of cattle, some sheep, goats, fowl of any kind, even a pig or two. At the moment geese are as close as I can get---I tried to adopt a stray cat, More out of pity for the cat and her wild kittens. Varmints got her kittens and I suspect the neighbor's rat poison got the cat, leaving me with a sack and a half of cat food. That'll teach me.
|
|
Deleted
Posts: 0
Joined: January 1970
|
Post by Deleted on Sept 13, 2021 9:18:18 GMT -5
sorry, double post
|
|
|
Post by september on Sept 17, 2021 10:07:10 GMT -5
My old cat was too sedate and sophisticated to play with toys much, but the kittens are making good use of all the old stick and string toys. I was at Menard's yesterday and saw one of those battery operated flopping fish on sale. Against my better judgement, I bought it. The first time I set it loose, the cats were frightened and hated it! It's too big, and too noisy! But after a while Maizie was bold enough to touch it with her paw, which set it off again. Didn't take her long to figure out she could just tap it and then stand back while it wiggled. Luke just stares from afar and will only sniff it when it stays still for a while. Maybe they will wrestle with it eventually, but for now it looks like it was a waste of 7 bucks.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Sept 17, 2021 14:48:53 GMT -5
They look like the cats have so much fun online. I wondered about that.
|
|
|
Post by spike on Sept 17, 2021 16:06:39 GMT -5
Our youngest son has 2 cats. One would be insulted and the other would attack that fish lol They have such cute personalities!
|
|
|
Post by september on Sept 17, 2021 22:32:55 GMT -5
Maybe mine will play with it once they realize it won't hurt them. Wish it didn't have such a loud buzz, I think that's what turns them off.
Tonight I was successful in getting Luke's claws, front and back feet clipped with a nail clipper while he dozed in my lap. He was limp as a noodle. Partly to protect the furniture, and partly to protect me from quick takeoffs and play grabs. Maizie is not a snuggler and goes off to sleep by herself most of the time, so getting her claws shortened will be a challenge. You have to be sneaky, although my old cat got used to it and would just grumble with discontent while he was being clipped.
|
|
|
Post by brownrexx on Sept 18, 2021 8:08:04 GMT -5
Claw clipping is a 2 person chore at our house. The cats don't fight it but they need to be held by one person and clipped by the other. My husband is the clipper and he takes off his glasses and bends close to the cat. One time recently a formerly docile cat whipped out her paw and gave him a big whack on the head. It was very unexpected and had never happened before but you can never tell with cats.
|
|
|
Post by spike on Sept 18, 2021 9:49:40 GMT -5
Cats just crack me up. They have death talons on their fuzzy little paws, razor sharp teeth in their cute little faces, are efficient killing machines but only weigh about 10 pounds so you have to pick them up and snuggle them. No wonder they snap out from time to time. " I AM DEATH! I AM DESTRUCTION! Stop kissing my head! PUT ME DOWN!"
|
|
|
Post by september on Sept 18, 2021 10:10:55 GMT -5
Although my furniture always got shredded, I never clipped any of my cats claws until Culpepper, he would automatically rip on any corner that he strolled by. He sneered at such a thing as a scratching post. I kept my sofa and loveseat covered with blankets large enough to cover the armpieces unless we had guests. At least it also kept my furniture clean and looking new longer! At one point I had Jim cut me 2 1/2 ft pieces of an oak log, with about a quarter section removed, so I could butt it up against the places that were being scratched the most. I thought he would use the tree bark like he did outside, but it was meh! and he found other spots to wreck. I wish I had that log now, these cats would probably find it a novelty since they can't go out yet.
|
|
|
Post by september on Sept 18, 2021 10:14:06 GMT -5
spike , I remember reading somewhere that the reason we are attracted to cats is that they are the size of a human baby that is just the right size to snuggle, plus the round eyes and button nose are also human baby traits that bring out our cuddling instinct.
|
|