Cat Chat Feline Forum

by the way, the cat in the corner of the photo is not the guilty party.

Hi, I have a garden cat who is a playful ankle biter. The other day, while I was hanging laundry, he swiped at my lower leg. He didn't appear to have broken the skin or draw any blood -- so I forgot about it. Yesterday morning, I noticed I had a short line of what looked like 4 little bug bites on m...

Thank you for all the added replies! One thing I've got plenty of is olive oil, since we live in an olive oil producing garden. She's looking and feeling much more normal. Huge appetite, wants to go outside again to sit under the apricot tree, friendly - but still wary of being caught. I'm sure I ca...

Thanks for the good advice. If I can find some unperfumed wipes, I'll switch to those. But good to know she is not likely to get sick grooming herself. I'll try to help her along without freaking her out. Fortunately she has not got long hair, so hoping it will shake itself out soon. She's sleeping ...

Hello, Is it ok for a cat's health for them to clean their fur of the remnants of an episode of diaorrhea? Sorry to present such a gross problem but my beautiful cat had to take a trip to the vet today, and was so upset being transported that she had an episode of diarrhea en route, in the box. Not ...

Can you put a doormat into the litter tray?

What kind of doormat is it that the cat likes? Is it a washable one? Could you purchase several?

I formerly had two male housecasts who were adopted as kittens at the same time -- they might have been brothers, I wasn't sure. Anyway, they got along fine but at least six times a year, they did exactly what your two cats are doing. Generally it was the larger of the two who always started it. I h...

Hi OHWS, Sorry to have misinterpreted your post. I am quite far from having any authoritative insight in to cat behavior. I have cared for a couple of cats, and that's it, so I certainly should emphasize I put my remarks in that context. What is troubling me about this story is relying on the hope t...

It sounds to me that your cat doesn't understand playing and social interaction. I have adopted a feral cat who has only learned to be petted because he has now watched my domestic cats being petted, and has gotten curious as to what this is all about. I need to be careful around him still, however,...

Thanks. Tooth removal is still an option, but not right now. I took the cat back to the vet's office, where there is a rotatatng staff of vets, and this time the same vet who had seen my cat in January was on duty. Upon examination, he said that the cat's oral inflammation was less than what he had ...

I am in Italy (and so is the cat!) so our choices for paste will be pretty limited. I am afraid anchovy paste -- the most likely available -- would be too salty. She is already thirsty from the steroid shot given to her. There are pet stores here, so I can probably find hairball or vitamin pastes sp...

Thank you for your sound advice. I actually forgot to buy the paste when I was in the store! But if do buy some, I will check the ingredients for sure. I have an appointmet to go to the vet tomorrow. I will probably be able to take the cat (she is not easy to catch on schedule), but even if not, my ...

If the feral cat is an outdoors cat, then I think it is not a great problem. The tick, dead or alive, will just rejoin the local tick population when it falls off, without significantly increasing the outdoor tick risk that is already present in the area anyway. But I would keep the cat out of the h...

I appreciate your advice, and will let you know how it goes, but one of the features of stomatitis is that the cat is wary of eating anything. She now has to be tricked and coaxed into biting into her favorite foods, because the pain has been significant. She will sometimes stare at her food bowl fo...

Thank you. I will be buying some sort of fish paste this afternoon. I have also found some unused, sterile suppository plungers here in the house, still wrapped in plastic. The half pill fits into them, so I am thinking about using that as well, to get the pill well down the cat's throat. Will watch...

Thanks. I am concerned that if she gets surgery, the conditions for it are optimal. These strong pills are meant to clean out her mouth infection to make tooth extraction safe and effective, I think. To prevent recurrance or complications. So I'm not sure there is an equally good substitute that can...

It really is the size and hard-coating of the pill that is the problem. This cat has allowed me to give her other pills -- and even with this pill, I can manually open her mouth and poke in the pill, and she lets me grip her face for a minute or more before totally stressing out. With other pills, i...

Perhaps this is overly cautious, but I would not be happy to simply let a tick drop off a house pet, even if it appears dead. Ticks drop off "hosts" to lay eggs or seek a larger mammal host. That is not something you want in your house! Even if the tick is dead, if it is carrying bacteria ...

I have considered asking for another medicine. But from my online reading, it does seem that Stomorgyl is the standard anti-bacterial preparation for stomatitis cases in advance of dental surgery, and it does not come in another form (not even an injection). On the Italian cat forums, I have found a...

Thanks for your reply, which caused me to look up the drug -- Stomorgyl -- on the internet, which I am so glad I did! The instructions I have are all in Italian, so I didn't bother to pick through them, and instead just took the vet's instructions to dose the cat every day with half a pill. On the i...

Where I live in Italy, it is my understanding that the ticks found on cats can also carry Lyme disease. I use Frontline, but if you have already used another product, then don't try Frontline without further advice.

Hi all, seeking your sage advice once again: I have a cat who has been prescribed half a pill of antibiotic every day. When I got the pills from the pharmacy, it turns out they are big pills, even when cut in half. In the past, I have had perfect success "pilling" this cat, but the pill wa...

Don't know if this will help but I formerly had two devoted brothers, inseparable pals since kittenhood, but whenever I would take one or the other to the vet separately, the return home always provoked hissing and howling, paw swipes and chasing from the stay-at-home cat to the poor cat who was alr...

Hello everybody! Belated Happy New Year and hoping you are enjoying carnevale , wherever you are! Just wanted to update this thread and -- speaking of carnevale -- ask another question. First of all, beautiful Miuccia did get taken to the vet for her odd snorting and avoidance behavior around food, ...

So the cats are officially in the doghouse now. They wrecked my landlady's outdoor nativity display! :o It's not clear which cats are the culprits. Apparently, one or more tried to get into my landlady's house, and the 2 big dogs inside spotted them and gave chase, whereupon one or more cat leapt in...

Also: Are you someplace where you can purchase predator urine? I have heard it works. You can see from these testimonials (true?) that mountain lion urine is said to work against domestic cats, but this vendor is in America: http://thepeemart.com Most likely your cat will not want to go outside eith...

Adding to the chorus that I have discovered in the past that water is a great deterrent and changer-of cat behavior. You might want to invest in some kind of toy water-squirter in case a plant-mister doesn't throw far enough or it's difficult to find the hose and getting it going at night. You can e...

Muiccia is now eating dry food -- as long as she can sit on the sofa and eat it. She's being very Goldilocks: The table is too high, the floor is too low. The sofa -- exactly in the spot where I usually sit -- is just right . :D How did I fall for this again? :roll: The ebony cat has wandered off fo...

So I was awoken before dawn this morning by the rather noisy sound of a recycle bag being torn apart, and small tins being chased around the kitchen. So Miuccia was still very hungry. :twisted: Alas, I had given her the last packet of the food she had gobbled up last night, so the only thing I could...

Yes, I have experienced cats toughing it out, and they are true stoics. I am still wondering if either Miuccia has developed an allergy to something in the brand of cat food, or maybe just expeirenced psychological trauma when the other cats kept dashing into her formerly totally private, secure spa...