Robyn my husband asked me to write you and see if you have any suggestions for how to deal with our cat who suddenly after almost 4 years with us cries and scratches at the door half the night wanting to get outside. He has been a total house cat since we took him in and this just started a month or two ago. We have put cardboard up to keep him from doing more damage to the door frame and have had to baracade that at night he is so determined. Thanks for any help from you and your wonderful readers.
I have no helpful suggestions here, but I suspect someone out there does – if you have a suggestion, please share!
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I’m at work and just got an email from a customer whose email signature includes this quote…
“One cat is a companion, two cats are entertainment, and six cats can bring down a government”
I thought of you.
I love that so very, very much!
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I have a question for you. We have recently adopted a kitten (named Eloise Sparkles Red and Blue, thanks to my four year old daughter!) and she gets along well with our ten yer old cat and our huge eleven year old dog. The problem is that she likes to steal food. She got a waffle right out of my daughters hands the other day and growled and swiped at us when we tried to take it back and tell her no. That’s just one example. How can we show her who’s boss?
I had no useful advice on this topic (I suspect that the cats understand that I do NOT share my food!), but there were some definitely helpful hints in yesterday’s comments – I’d love to hear any additional suggestions y’all have.
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Could we see another pic of Rufus soon? Many thanks.
I think you mean Rupert? (I’m glad I’m not the only one who mixes up the two names!)
I was very very difficult to get these shots of Rupert, because he is SO hard to find, but I persevered for you!
That was a joke, actually, because I don’t think Rupert has been off the property since he showed up. He’s always either hanging out on the side stoop, the driveway, snoozing under the blue coop (which is visible from the side door), and as soon as we step outside, he’s there to keep us company. He’s such a sweet boy.
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I have a question for those of you who’ve had a cat spayed. Maggie has fully recovered: her spay incision looks like a scar, no stitches visible at all after a month, but she has gained a layer of fat on her tummy, almost like quilting. I avoided picking her up for a long time because I didn’t want to hurt her tummy, but recently I did pick her up and was surprised by the heft she’d gained. My husband put it bluntly but accurately: “She’s got titties.” She feels like a nursing mother. Is this a normal post-spay reaction? It feels like fat, not milk, but it’s in a distinctive lumpy configuration. She’s due for booster shots, and I was going to ask the vet about the weight she’s put on, but thought I’d ask here first.
There were some responses in the comments the other day (see them here), but I had no helpful advice to add. I hope you’ll let us know what you find out at the vet, Noelegy!
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Wait a minute — Cap’n Floof is in a basket where? Does he get the run of the house now?
Cap’n Floof and General Grumps (Norland) get the run of the house during the… well, whenever they want it, really. They’ll occasionally venture into the guest bedroom to hang out with the rest of the Taters, and sometimes prefer to spend their nights in there, but if they want to come out, they can. They both like to sleep with me, which is nice – they’re snugglers, but not obnoxious about it – but I am not fond of the 4:30 am slap fights they both enjoy so much, one of them perched on my feet and the other one perched on my hip. They’re learning to respect the can of compressed air, though, I’ll tell you that.
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Brandywine looks like she could have some Oriental Shorthair in her with the big ears and small face. I love torti cats…their coloring is so amazing. How many kittens does that make in-house now?
She does have that big-eared look, doesn’t she?
We currently have… 12 fosters at the moment. Um… right? 6 Taters, 6 ‘Maters. Yeah, 12. I could be wrong, but I think that might be the highest number of fosters we’ve ever had at one time.
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On Wednesday night at 11:00pm we opened our front door to find two cute little fluffbabies on our doorstep. It’s YOUR FAULT that I brought them in to my house, dug the old cat carrier out of the attic, moistened some cat food with my husband’s half & half, and made a litter box out of a box lid. It’s all YOUR FAULT that I took them to the vet the next day and spent $175 (which I don’t have) for their exam, initial vaccines, leukemia testing, and boarding over the weekend. I was on my way out of town and the rescue group that Petco referred me to said they had no room. What else could I do? It’s YOUR FAULT that these two darling cute kitties are wreaking havoc in my house right now. My friends and family think I’m crazy, and I know I am. There are MANY things I need to spend $$ on besides 2 baby kitties I can’t keep. But, if I try to explain to them that it’s YOUR FAULT, then they’ll really know I’ve lost it. So – I just smile & say “Thank You” when they tell me that was the stupidest thing I’ve done in a while. I don’t dare tell them that some lady I’ve never met has so much influence on me, she made me do it.
Oh, suuuure. Everyone always blames the pusher! 😉
Seriously – thank you for taking in and caring for those babies!
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I can’t think of a more cat-friendly place to talk about this. My adult daughter ran over one of her cats today in the driveway of our house and killed him and she is so heartbroken.
This is a cat she rescued that had been put in a dumpster and he honestly was one of the most loving cats I’ve ever known. She is devastated that he is gone, but worse, that she did it herself, albeit accidentally.
Can anyone offer a word of advice for getting over a loss like this, when it’s unfortunately by your own hand (or car in this case)?
Oh Sharon, I am so sorry. I can only imagine how heartbroken she is, and I’m sure it’ll take her some time. She needs to remember how lucky he was to be rescued by her, and how lucky he was to be so loved for the time he was with her. I agree with Holly, accidents happen, and I bet he would absolutely forgive her for this. (Holly and Doodle Bean had some kind words of wisdom, too.)
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Yeah, I want to know too – how do you manage to get anything done with the Taters and now these new little cupcakes? Really.
I honestly never ever ever get as much done around the house in a day as I intend to when I get up in the morning. I spend an awful lot of my day looking at and kissing kittens, believe you me!
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Did I get this from someone posting it on here?? if not then you’ll love this. if so, sorry for reposting
I love the Baby Stompers! Can you tell us more about exactly how he stomps? Maybe a stomping video?
How do you control the butt biting? I have a problem with that in my house and one of the cats has to be separated from the others because of it. He’s the one being bitten. It’s like he finally freaked out over it and decided he’s done with the cat who has been biting his butt. We have Feliway all over the house, but I think the biting would probably continue if I let him near the biter for any length of time.
The Baby Stompers is being a bratty brat and won’t cooperate with my attempts to get his stomping ways on video. I can tell you that he walks with great purpose. The past couple of days he seems to know when I’m about to open the guest bedroom door, and he’s waiting RIGHT there, and the instant I get the door open, off down the hallway he stomps. I don’t know where he thinks he’s going, but he appears to have a destination in mind, and so I have to chase him down and pick him up, and he complains at me.
HE IS SO FREAKIN’ CUTE.
As for the butt biting, I usually don’t do anything about it unless it appears that one cat is bullying the other – I let them work it out themselves, so I don’t have any helpful hints. Readers? Got any suggestions?
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By tested negative, you mean Cicero tested negative for FIV and feleuk, right? What would happen if he had tested positive? Would you just have to keep him separated from the rest of the Taters?
Yes, he tested negative for Feline Leukemia and FIV. If he’d been positive, we would have had to continue to keep him sequestered, and then retested him in the future. He would have been so lonely!
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OMG. Cicero’s story is slaying me. I was seriously praying he would be negative and nearly cried with relief. How are you ever going to let the little guy go? I couldn’t do it. Something about him being all by himself when found, and he is such a good baby, and the stomping around. God. I don’t envy you and Fred the day of sending him to be adopted.
I just said to Fred last night that I don’t know how on EARTH we’re ever going to let him go. He has such personality! But I’m determined that love him as long as we have him, and I suspect that when he goes, I will be crying buckets and buckets of tears!
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Remember little gray Gracie in Texas, whose picture I posted at the beginning of the week? She has a home, and you can see her here!
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I cannot get over Agata’s gorgeous brown eyes.
Baby Stompers would like you to know that he was NOT hiding from the vacuum cleaner at ALL. Vacuum cleaners don’t skeer him!
Pretty, pretty girl.
This would be Kennebec, attempting to suck on my finger. That boy will suck on anything – he’s particularly fond of the other kittens’ tails, and sometimes they’ll actually put up with it. When I catch him at it, I redirect him to a small blanket. It is so sweet, but so sad to see him sucking on that blanket.
Stompers, headed for some snuggling.
This is his “You must kiss me” look.
General Grumps keeps an eye on the troops.
“BABY STOMPERS SHOW YOU WHO BOSS IS.”
::smack::
“SEE? BABY STOMPERS THE BOSS OF YOU!” Agata, Fianna, and Kennebec put up with Stompers’ shenanigans so very patiently.
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Pardon the blurriness of these pictures – my good camera should be here later today, so the quality of the pictures should improve! Or maybe not – those ‘Maters just never stop moving.
Caspian says “Unhand me!”
Wellington says “You make kitty scared!”
Dingwall Scotty says “Why you abuse me so?” (I was trying to get a shot of the white on his chest and belly!)
Sungold says “You mind? I’m going to check out the food. You mind your own bidness, lady.”
If you look behind Brandywine, you can see Dingwall Scotty’s one-white-toed foot sticking out. He was literally laying UNDERNEATH her, his feet sticking out behind her, and his head sticking out in front of her. He was nursing and didn’t even seem to know he was being squashed. Crazy boy.
“Do you see what I put up with?”
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Bath time for da Corbs.
I sure do love this beautiful boy.
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Previously
2011: It is, let me tell you, utter madness.
2010: “C’mere, Elweird, you have shmutz on your head.”
2009: These guys were like “Hey! More room to explore!”
2008: No entry.
2007: Maxi does love her some Booger.
2006: No entry.
2005: “I haff come to suck yoor blooood.”