Author Topic: Cat questions (Read 9504 times)

PeteNYNJ · « **on:** August 22, 2007, 11:13:46 pm »

So I have had my wonderful Stewie for about 6 months. Suddenly, he hates his wet food. I have tried different types but he seems to hate them all. He loves his Kitten Chow dry but is this enough to keep him healthy?

I ask this because he begs when I eat so I think he is hungry. Any ideas?

He also watches TV a lot more lately - maybe he wants some fast food?

libvet · « **Reply #1 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:21:00 pm »

I don't see why not. I feed all four of my cats Purina One and they seem to do just fine (one maybe TOO fine, but she's sweet even if she is a tad overweight). Other than that, I bought one of those cat bowls that recirculates the water and they just love it.

On edit: Cats are funny that way about begging for your food even if they just ate a whole tuna by themselves, they'd beg for whatever you are eating.

AlanBama · « **Reply #2 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:23:54 pm »

Pete,

I'm not sure, but it's probably healthier to have him exclusively on dry food. I wish I could get Fang to "go dry", but she still insists on having both. She gets one can of Fancy Feast (the 42 cent kind, and as an occasional treat, the 74 cent kind) plus her IAMS dry.

She drinks very little water, which concerns me.

Right now, she's playing "Chase the flashlight beam" ....she hasn't figured out where that little bright spot is coming from......

Alan (who has a dumb cat, but she's pretty)

David_CA · « **Reply #3 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:26:13 pm »

Pete,
We have five cats. I've had a total of about 15 in my life. One hint: NEVER feed a cat wet food. If he doesn't like it, he's doing you a real favor. It's smelly, doesn't last long once put out, it's expensive, and my vet recommended not feeding anything but a high quality dry food. We leave food out all the time for our cats. Weight isn't an issue for them, as we have a pet door. They spend a lot of time outside running around and keeping in shape, just like one of their daddies (me!). The other nice thing about a pet door is NO LITTER BOX!

Kittens are often attracted to tv's. I think it's the motion they see. Most outgrow it later, but we have one orange cat (dumb as a stump, but sweet) that still watches tv. They often beg when their owners eat. I think it's partially because our food is aromatic and also because he sees you doing it. I almost always give our cats a treat of what we're eating on the floor after we've finished eating. That way, they're rewarded for good behavior and learn they don't have to beg.

I've read that kittens and grown cats tend to think of their owners as mother cats. They try to prove their hunting skills to us, eat when we eat, etc. I read a bunch of it a while back and it's pretty interesting. Has he been fixed yet? That always settles 'em down! Also, I would never declaw a cat. If you're considering doing that, please read up on it before - it's more like cutting off their finger tips. Have fun with him and take lots of kitten pics!

David

milker · « **Reply #4 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:28:31 pm »

My vet said that the best food doesn't usually smell yummy. But when hunger strikes they will eat it, and it will be good for them. I was concerned that my dog didn't JUMP on food when I was giving her bowl, compared to the frenzy she's about when she get treats. You can always mix wet food with dry food but I hear that dry food is better, so something like 80/20% is a good thing. They get the yummy smell from the wet food and eat the good dry stuff.

Then again cats are pretty good at separating the wet and the dry food

Milker.

Lisa · « **Reply #5 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:29:12 pm »

It is actually a good thing that he likes only the dry food. It will keep his teeth clean longer, and will help to prevent gum problems.
I love the name Stewie.....but it really makes me think of the evil little kid on Family Guy who is always trying to conquer the world.

Sweetie sends kisses to her new cousin Stewie, and to her other cousin Fang.

aupointillimite · « **Reply #6 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:30:56 pm »

Stupidhead 1 and Stupidhead 2 only get dry food.

They get tuna when I open a can, but only a little.

The only thing worse than stupid cats is stupid cats with diarrhea.

AlanBama · « **Reply #7 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:31:33 pm »

Fang turned two this summer. She still tries to "stalk" me around the apartment....I keep wondering when she will grow up!

Buckmark · « **Reply #8 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:32:09 pm »

Quote from: PeteNYNJ on August 22, 2007, 11:13:46 pm

I ask this because he begs when I eat so I think he is hungry. Any ideas?

Stewie begs when you eat, because he is a cat.

Our 4-legged friends always want what we are eating.

I think dry food should be sufficient. I have dogs, not cats. Dreamer (the hound) and Fargo (the heeler) only get dry food. And the occasional table scrap.

Henry

PeteNYNJ · « **Reply #9 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:35:49 pm »

It is all so confusing... I am trying to be a good Cat daddy since I never had cats

Some info says "make sure you give them wet food - it is full of protein". Other sites say " dry food only". My vet is indifferent (to a fault) and I have tried both letting him decide.

I got him fixed last week (thank god) because it made him come back to the sweetie he was as a baby. Right before he was fixed he displayed lots of "horny teen" behaviour - challenging me for dominance, hissing, up all night, vocalizing. Now he has his little fake mice that he loves (but drive me nuts because he constantly loses them under the couch).

Water scares me because he seems to only want water if it is in my glass (he sticks his head in which grosses me out but at the same time makes me love him).

He is now behind the TV = a forbidden place because he knocks my tivo off everytime and I know think he does this to get me to pay attention to him.

Ok - I sound like a crazy cat lady but I love him so....

PeteNYNJ · « **Reply #10 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:37:25 pm »

Stewie is named after Stewie from Family guy

"Can we get a kitty?" in his accent always made me laugh

libvet · « **Reply #11 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:45:33 pm »

Quote from: PeteNYNJ on August 22, 2007, 11:35:49 pm

Water scares me because he seems to only want water if it is in my glass (he sticks his head in which grosses me out but at the same time makes me love him).

Cats like their water extra fresh. I finally bought that 50 dollar cat bowl with the waterfall because I felt sorry for DeeDee sitting in the utility sink licking the faucet despite their being a full bowl of water close by or Chatterbox running to the bathroom every the toilet flushed so he could watch the water.

aupointillimite · « **Reply #12 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:48:35 pm »

Quote from: PeteNYNJ on August 22, 2007, 11:37:25 pm

Stewie is named after Stewie from Family guy

"Can we get a kitty?" in his accent always made me laugh

That's the one where Brian runs away!

PeteNYNJ · « **Reply #13 on:** August 22, 2007, 11:56:00 pm »

My favorite one...although I like Brian

I have had dogs all my life - even one dumb one we had to pretend we were eating his food to get him to eat it. He was lovely and I miss him

englishgirl · « **Reply #14 on:** August 23, 2007, 02:40:46 am »

my new kitty refuses to eat her own dry food but keeps stealing the dog's dry food...?? (and he lets her!!)
answers on a postcard please

Queen Tokelove · « **Reply #15 on:** August 23, 2007, 03:05:21 am »

I feed Lucifer dry food mainly but every now and then some soft food. I can just feed him and fix myself something and he will come beg for it. I have come to find that he likes pepperoni, shrimp, steak,doritos, chips, and even olives. I can't get him to drink out of a bowl, he seems to prefer the toilet which I don't get for the life of me or drinking from the water faucet. At times he tries to be aggressive but I have to show him who is the alpha pussy of the house. At the moment he is Sir Humpalot cause likes to grab my house shoe and put it in his mouth while he humps his teddybear....Now what is that about?

fearless · « **Reply #16 on:** August 23, 2007, 03:22:37 am »

My cats eat dry food almost exclusively, with a little wet stuff thrown in every now and then.
I've heard/read that dry food tends to have a higher protein, lower fat content.
So long as the brand you use has the Association of American Feed Control Officials (AAFCO) tick of approval it is cool for your kitty cat.

I must be lucky as my cats are not interested one bit in people food. Strange, I know, as all my previous cats would pester me until they got some of what I was having. My current two don't pester and won't eat my food even if I try to give them some.

Queen,
One of my cats does the same. Well, not from the toilet, but she insists on licking the water in the bottom of the shower when I'm finished. You need to keep the water in their bowl fresh (ie change it daily) and they say not to keep the water bowl directly next to their feed bowl!!! I have a couple of bowls placed around the place - in the backyard and on my balcony.

RapidRod · « **Reply #17 on:** August 23, 2007, 05:10:20 am »

Dry is all that my cat gets, except when I go get a bucket of chicken and she sits in line with the dogs and waits her turn. She doesn't care for milk, just make sure she has fresh water. She doesn't care for warm water in the bowl she wants cold water. She'll come and get me to change her water.

Nadine · « **Reply #18 on:** August 23, 2007, 05:43:32 am »

My cats eat only dry food, I've heard that's best for them...too much fat in the canned food. I have tried giving them canned food, they don't even seem to like it.

One of my cats insists that I turn on the faucet in the bathtub, she feels she's too good to drink water from a bowl! (and she is

)

David_CA · « **Reply #19 on:** August 23, 2007, 09:58:56 am »

Be careful about letting them drink from a glass. We had a kitten once that was called Calico Kitty (we were stoners in college and couldn't remember what we named her). Her brother was Orange Kitty. I'll bet you can guess what they looked like.

Anyway, we came home one day and couldn't find C.K. anywhere. We finally heard something behind the sofa. It was C.K. with her head stuck in a glass. My ex's room mate had left a mostly empty glass of milk on the coffee table and C.K. decided it was for her. I don't know how long she'd had her head in the glass, but it had to have been for a good while; it took us about 10 minutes to find her and at least 5 minutes to get her head out. I thought we were going to have to break the glass, but somehow, my ex broke the seal between her wet neck and the glass (condensation from her breath) and got her head out. C.K. was never the same afterwards. The vet said she likely had brain damage from lack of O2. She was a really good kitten up until that happened. Afterwards, she'd crap anywhere, most often in the middle of the floor and try to cover it up with carpet fuzz. This was a brand new apartment with very light colored carpet, which was ruined. We ended up naming her "Shitty Kitty" after that. We finally gave her to the animal shelter where they get pets adopted. I told them about Shitty Kitty's problem, that she was really sweet, but needed to live outside.

As to the dry food, the oldest of our current cats is 11 and loves her dry food - it's all she's ever had and she's very healthy. She'll beg for more even when the bowl's full. We keep the food in a 5 gallon bucket in the laundry room. She'd stand with her front paws on it when she wanted more food. She's very 'trainable', so I taught her to drum on the lid with her paws when she wants food. It's really funny. You might also want to get a laser pointer - you'll likely be as entertained by watching the cat as he will be by chasing the red dot.

David

bear60 · « **Reply #20 on:** August 23, 2007, 11:26:41 am »

Our vet has informed us that feeding our rather huge...20 plus pound cat, Buster, too much dry food is not a good thing because the Purina we give him has more calories in it than the "wet" food we give him. I suppose there is a low cal dry food but I dont know. So, he eats about a can of wet food a day but only gets a small serving of dry food.
She said give him more wet food than dry food. Its hard to say what you need to do to encourage wet food consumption......give the kitty a small serving of dry food a day and thats all...and hope he will go for the wet food.
Note:( there is a big difference in tuna for people and tuna cat food).

GSOgymrat · « **Reply #21 on:** August 23, 2007, 11:32:06 am »

I love cats. My partner doesn't love them and has vetoed us having one. Years ago I said okay to no cats as long as he said okay to no children.

My previous cats have always eaten only dry food. If you never give them wet they don't know what they are missing.

Oceanbeach · « **Reply #22 on:** August 23, 2007, 04:04:03 pm »

I have never had a cat but they seem nice. My alcoholic friend has been busted at least 3 times for drunk driving in the past 30+ days and I was the one to feed her pets and try to find homes for all. Her cats are beautiful solid black and very young. I couldn't find homes for them, so they live with me now. I have been feeding them since the first arrest and they love Purina One.

I have had a dog since my AIDS diagnosis and for years the two words which invoke a response at my house have been "car ride". Kaiser (as in Permanente) is now thrilled with three simple words... Here Kitty, Kitty

Have the best day
Michael

RapidRod · « **Reply #23 on:** August 23, 2007, 04:16:24 pm »

Quote from: GSOgymrat on August 23, 2007, 11:32:06 am

I love cats. My partner doesn't love them and has vetoed us having one. Years ago I said okay to no cats as long as he said okay to no children.

My previous cats have always eaten only dry food. If you never give them wet they don't know what they are missing.

LOL, Ask Nadine and Lucas what I think of cats. If it weren't for my one dog, HotShot, that cat would be gone. Then I wouldn't be dealing with five kittens. (which will all soon become farm cats.)

PeteNYNJ · « **Reply #24 on:** August 23, 2007, 04:31:12 pm »

Attached is a picture of the little monster.

[attachment deleted by admin]

David_CA · « **Reply #25 on:** August 23, 2007, 04:44:42 pm »

Pete,

How cute! I had a cat that looked like Stewie back in '96. He was named Louie after my previous boss / friend who had died from AIDS complications a couple of months earlier. He was a great cat, but disappeared one day.

David

Queen Tokelove · « **Reply #26 on:** August 23, 2007, 10:05:04 pm »

Fearless~~~

How you doing? *wink wink*...I have tried changing water everyday and even putting ice cubes in his dish. He will not drink out of it. Just sniffs and moves on...

AlanBama · « **Reply #27 on:** August 25, 2007, 12:09:43 am »

Fang-zilla is mad at me today. I left her alone for too long, and was late putting her dinner out.

I was in Birmingham, and bought a new sweatshirt for SF...went in there a few minutes ago and she was wallowing on it.....

come to think of it, her eyes do look kind of like Linda Blair's in "The Exorcist"...

Queen Tokelove · « **Reply #28 on:** August 25, 2007, 12:22:20 am »

Yeah, Lucifer got loud with me because by the time I came in his food dish was almost empty. He never lets it get totally empty but when it gets low he gets loud....

AlanBama · « **Reply #29 on:** August 25, 2007, 12:30:05 am »

here's little "Linda" :

[attachment deleted by admin]

Queen Tokelove · « **Reply #30 on:** August 25, 2007, 12:53:32 am »

Fang and Stewie look like they could be related......

BT65 · « **Reply #31 on:** August 25, 2007, 07:55:05 am »

I absolutely adore my cat. I adopted her from a place around here called the Pet Refuge. They take in unwanted/stray animals and don't put them to sleep like the human shelter does. My cat's name is Poppy. I did not name her. (People I know well thought this was hilarious as I am a recovering addict and we all know where heroin comes from). Pet Refuge named her.

I don't feed Poppy wet food. Dry is better. I feed her Iams weight control, because she is a tad overweight and that puts cats at risk for diabetes and heart disease. She has a sweet tooth also. I change her water every morning and put an ice cube in it. I'm so glad she doesn't drink out of the toilet. I know that seems to be a habit with a lot of cats.

For those of you who posted cat pics.........AWWWWWWWW.

PeteNYNJ · « **Reply #32 on:** August 27, 2007, 10:26:16 pm »

Ok, me again - the crazy cat lady

He is fixed now but he still runs around like a crazy man every night. He goes full speed around the corners of my apartment. I live on the 6th floor so I am afraid he will jump out the window. Is this normal? Any ideas?

Pete

David_CA · « **Reply #33 on:** August 27, 2007, 11:20:16 pm »

Quote from: PeteNYNJ on August 27, 2007, 10:26:16 pm

Ok, me again - the crazy cat lady

He is fixed now but he still runs around like a crazy man every night. He goes full speed around the corners of my apartment. I live on the 6th floor so I am afraid he will jump out the window. Is this normal? Any ideas?

Pete

It's normal. He may be fixed, but he still has some testosterone in him. More importantly, he's still a kitten. They're hyper. They act crazy. They attack anything that moves. They generally have pretty good sense about not jumping out of places too high for them. Still, perhaps a screen or something secured well over the window would be safer and give you peace of mind. If you do put something up, make sure it won't fall, as kittens will climb anything and you wouldn't want him to climb a screen that was just propped up. Also, I used to hang a string from a tack centered over a doorway. I tied a piece of thread to it and tied a Bic pen to that. It was about 15-18" or so off the floor. My first cat would play with that pen for hours at a time. Play things like that will help him work out some of that hyper energy.

David

PeteNYNJ · « **Reply #34 on:** August 28, 2007, 10:50:38 am »

Fang and Stewie do look a lot alike!!!

David_DC - great idea about the pen - I will do that when I get home tonight. He is ammused for hours just playing with a pen on a table.

I wish I was that ammused by a pen

David_CA · « **Reply #35 on:** August 28, 2007, 11:22:30 am »

Quote from: PeteNYNJ on August 28, 2007, 10:50:38 am

I wish I was that ammused by a pen

I'm more amused by a PENis than a pen!

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