Your daily cat and kitten news

[Manter]

ok so the situation with the cat-lady lodger has got bad. I have asked her many many times to stop feeding the cats when she is there, and she says she isn't, but she clearly is, just in secret. she keeps cat treats in her bedroom and when she's not there at the weekends, both cats try and open the draws she keeps them in. anyway, it's becoming more of a problem because:

a) I don't know how much food the cats have been fed so i'm feeding them less than i would because i don't want them to get fat, but i don't know how much she's been feeding them so they could - theoretically - be going hungry
b) pip, the big tom-cat, has become really aggressive. he is always whining for food and when you don't give him any he hisses and growls at you (which is pretty much the entire time)
c) he's started bullying winnie, the small girl cat, really quite badly, i assume because there is now competition vis a vis food.
d) he's stopped using the cat flap - i think this is because he can't get through it because he's put on weight
e) he is not affectionate with us at all any more. stays out of our room, sleeps in lodgers room, on her bed
f) oh and she's told me she's going to steal him (she said it in a jokey way, but still)

i don't know what to do really, other than say if she doesn't stop feeding them, i'll have to give her notice. really unpleasant situation to be in advice/thoughts welcome

p.s. for those who didn't see my original post, she has six cats at her home (she only says with us monday-friday), and i'm not joking, they are obese!

Yuk. What a nightmare.

I'd give her notice tbh.

 

[sim667]

For worming they have spot-ons nowadays, which can be done when they're asleep.

Really?

My cat's worming is well out of date because I just couldn't get pills down her. She gets the flea stuff monthly though.

 

[bi0boy]

Really?

My cat's worming is well out of date because I just couldn't get pills down her. She gets the flea stuff monthly though.

I use Profender, but there are others such as Advocat that Agent Sparrow mentioned. They might cover different worms - there is a nice table online somewhere comparing them all but I can't find it from my phone atm. I think they all need a prescription.

 

[sim667]

I use Profender, but there are others such as Advocat that Agent Sparrow mentioned. They might cover different worms - there is a nice table online somewhere comparing them all but I can't find it from my phone atm. I think they all need a prescription.

I have major problems with getting my cat to the vet

 

[izz]

ok so the situation with the cat-lady lodger has got bad. I have asked her many many times to stop feeding the cats when she is there, and she says she isn't, but she clearly is, just in secret. she keeps cat treats in her bedroom and when she's not there at the weekends, both cats try and open the draws she keeps them in. anyway, it's becoming more of a problem because:

a) I don't know how much food the cats have been fed so i'm feeding them less than i would because i don't want them to get fat, but i don't know how much she's been feeding them so they could - theoretically - be going hungry
b) pip, the big tom-cat, has become really aggressive. he is always whining for food and when you don't give him any he hisses and growls at you (which is pretty much the entire time)
c) he's started bullying winnie, the small girl cat, really quite badly, i assume because there is now competition vis a vis food.
d) he's stopped using the cat flap - i think this is because he can't get through it because he's put on weight
e) he is not affectionate with us at all any more. stays out of our room, sleeps in lodgers room, on her bed
f) oh and she's told me she's going to steal him (she said it in a jokey way, but still)

i don't know what to do really, other than say if she doesn't stop feeding them, i'll have to give her notice. really unpleasant situation to be in advice/thoughts welcome

p.s. for those who didn't see my original post, she has six cats at her home (she only says with us monday-friday), and i'm not joking, they are obese!

This is all quite horrible for you, I can't understand her motives to be honest but there we are, I think she's behaving in a way which is unacceptable and giving her notice would be perfectly reasonable.

 

[trabuquera]

Sounds like it's time for as quick and civil a termination of your lodger's contract as you can manage. She's obviously completely barking, has no boundaries, and is causing you and the cats stress and possible illness. So no need to keep having her in your home.

 

[CRI]

This absolutely. Make sure you document everything though - that you asked her not to feed your pets on x date, asked her again not to on y date, etc. Make sure it's all above board.

I'd be absolutely tamping though . To me it's worse than eating food from the fridge you've asked them not to eat, turning up the heating full blast when you've asked them not to, damaging property in your home repeatedly, that sort of thing. I mean cats aren't property in the same way, which actually makes it worse - not far from giving small children junk food when you ask politely that they don't. If they'd been fish in a tank and she'd done that, they'd be dead already. Your cats are already showing signs of damage to their physical and emotional health from her actions.

Get shut of her pronto. Asshole!

edit: she's the asshole, not you obvs!

 

[bi0boy]

I have major problems with getting my cat to the vet

I think most vets are happy to prescribe it without seeing the cat, as long as they have seen it at some point. They don't exactly need to diagnose anything, just establish that the cat is at risk, for example because it goes outdoors.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Agree with everyone else. You've repeatedly asked her to stop doing it, and she is ignoring you. It's having a lasting effect on your pets' behaviours and likely on their health. imo she gets one last very serious sit-down talking to, explaining that you are extremely concerned with the effect her continued behaviour is having on your pets, and that while she can do what she likes with her own cats, your wishes are to be respected at all times no questions asked, and if she cannot agree to this she will be given notice because you will not continue to have a lodger who causes upset to your living arrangements.

 

[Vintage Paw]

I think most vets are happy to prescribe it without seeing the cat, as long as they have seen it at some point. They don't exactly need to diagnose anything, just establish that the cat is at risk, for example because it goes outdoors.

Yep, the main thing they need is an approximation of the cat's weight so they can give it the right dose. It's not precise. For example, Peggy got the 'big cats' dose of 5-12kg or whatever it was.

 

[sim667]

I think most vets are happy to prescribe it without seeing the cat, as long as they have seen it at some point. They don't exactly need to diagnose anything, just establish that the cat is at risk, for example because it goes outdoors.

I might give them a call..... although they haven't seen her since she was 4...... must be 8 years now :/

 

[bi0boy]

I guess if you can weigh her before you call that might be useful. I normally use bathroom scales and weigh myself alone and then holding the cat. There's no way should would stay on the scales if you put her on there by herself.

 

[sim667]

I guess if you can weigh her before you call that might be useful. I normally use bathroom scales and weigh myself alone and then holding the cat. There's no way should would stay on the scales if you put her on there by herself.

I don't even have scales...... I have no idea how much I way (much more than I should, i know that )

 

[trashpony]

Yes the problem is that they medicate by weight. But Advocate has a much broader weight range than the alternatives which is why I use it. Annoyingly, Bubba K has dropped below the 5kg mark since he went walkabout which means they need different versions.

dolly's gal - I'd give her notice because you've asked her once already and she's ignored you. Someone who doesn't respect your boundaries in respect of your animals isn't going to respect them in other ways either.

I'm sure you can get another lodger who isn't batshit

 

[High Voltage]

Fuck me, but we've (that'll be me, I chose him) got a "special" cat

There are certain noises that get associated with cats - certain noises that can only be created by "something" being knocked off "somewhere"

So imagine, for a moment, the kind of noise a basket, fairly well laden with recently ironed clothes that has been placed on a small pile of old newspapers would make if knocked on the floor by an inquisitive cat

Then extend this length of time this noise would normally last to one that now starts in the bed room, carries on down the landing, turns 90 degrees left onto the stairs, then makes an immediate further 90 degrees left, then comes down the stairs, stops at the bottom of the stairs, make a further 90 degrees left into the living room then makes a full 180 degree turn and goes back up the stairs then . . . stops

During this time you and your SO are sat on the sofa, initially startled, then panicking about the major disaster of your roof falling in, then both doing a total double take as a carrier bag with cat attached comes down stairs, then laughing, then laughing even more when lady cat who's just about peeled herself off the ceiling after taking off vertically due to the kerfuffle, jumps up on the sofa and looks up at the stairs with her head tilted to one side looking the very personification of WTF

Casper got into a paper carrier bag with a new shirt in the bag, and got one of the handles caught around his leg, then moved and the bag followed up - causing him to try and escape the evil death bag trap - which then proceeded to chase after him and the faster he ran the fast the bag tried to catch him - eventually breaking free from is death grip (the handle broke)

Catching cats maybe easier than I thought

 

[fucthest8]

What's special about that High Voltage ? Seems like pretty regular cat behaviour to me. Put a rucksack on the floor and turn away for 45 seconds? It's full of cats. Doing some paving? Cats are all over that shit. Literally. You're going into the loft via a steep ladder? So are the cats. All these things happened to me on Saturday between 5 and 6.30 pm

 

[Orang Utan]

My old cat regularly rustled about in a cat dress

 

[Manter]

What's special about that High Voltage ? Seems like pretty regular cat behaviour to me. Put a rucksack on the floor and turn away for 45 seconds? It's full of cats. Doing some paving? Cats are all over that shit. Literally. You're going into the loft via a steep ladder? So are the cats. All these things happened to me on Saturday between 5 and 6.30 pm

You spend your Saturday evenings paving?

 

[sim667]

Im just having a debate on another forum, where many people are insisting 5-7 years is the average life expectancy for an indoor-outdoor cat..... that can't be right, surely?

 

[fucthest8]

You spend your Saturday evenings paving?

Just finishing off stacking the slabs ... besides, 5pm is afternoon, not evening

 

[fucthest8]

Im just having a debate on another forum, where many people are insisting 5-7 years is the average life expectancy for an indoor-outdoor cat..... that can't be right, surely?

Not my experience, but as an average due to higher rate of accidents perhaps? Especially in town.

 

[KeeperofDragons]

ok so the situation with the cat-lady lodger has got bad. I have asked her many many times to stop feeding the cats when she is there, and she says she isn't, but she clearly is, just in secret. she keeps cat treats in her bedroom and when she's not there at the weekends, both cats try and open the draws she keeps them in. anyway, it's becoming more of a problem because:

a) I don't know how much food the cats have been fed so i'm feeding them less than i would because i don't want them to get fat, but i don't know how much she's been feeding them so they could - theoretically - be going hungry
b) pip, the big tom-cat, has become really aggressive. he is always whining for food and when you don't give him any he hisses and growls at you (which is pretty much the entire time)
c) he's started bullying winnie, the small girl cat, really quite badly, i assume because there is now competition vis a vis food.
d) he's stopped using the cat flap - i think this is because he can't get through it because he's put on weight
e) he is not affectionate with us at all any more. stays out of our room, sleeps in lodgers room, on her bed
f) oh and she's told me she's going to steal him (she said it in a jokey way, but still)

i don't know what to do really, other than say if she doesn't stop feeding them, i'll have to give her notice. really unpleasant situation to be in advice/thoughts welcome

p.s. for those who didn't see my original post, she has six cats at her home (she only says with us monday-friday), and i'm not joking, they are obese!

I'm sorry but it's your home & your rules, she's ignoring anything you are telling her & it's affecting your cats' health; she needs to go

 

[StoneRoad]

I agree - your house, cats and rules.
If she can't do as asked, especially with the potential for adverse affects then a final talk / warning followed by kicking her out. I wouldn't normally suggest such drastic-ness - but if she says "I've no food/treats" ask her to prove it ! or just remove them anyway ... if she complains, "you didn't have any, so how could I take them", or I don't want mice ...

 

[Vintage Paw]

Peg did another sneaky kitchen floor wee.

My door mat is currently in the bath, which seemed the easiest way to try to clean it (it's one of those proper hard bristle door mats, impossible to clean like you would a carpet).

So, I figure stress of a new place, weird smells. She sniffs the back door quite a bit, so I reckon she can smell everything that goes on out there. There may be cats visiting, although I haven't seen any. It may be lingering Charlie smells. The bins are by the back door (literally nowhere else for them) so she might be smelling those. As I'm using the mat to wipe my feet when I come in, no doubt it's spreading outdoor smells on there, which might be exacerbating the issue, so the mat is staying gone for now, and shoes are getting cleaned off on some kitchen paper and the floor cleaned down regularly. When the door isn't in use, her tray is moving behind it, or at least a little closer to it, so as to hopefully encourage her to go in it rather than on the floor near it. She has been using her tray just fine as well, so it's clearly a stress behaviour of some kind.

Maybe this is just going to be one of her foibles. If it stays there in the kitchen then I guess that's just something I'll have to deal with. If it starts spreading out to the rest of the house where there's carpet, I may have to buy kitty nappies

 

[Vintage Paw]

In other news, she seems to like Charlie's old radiator hammock. The hammock Charlie was largely scared of. She's sleeping loudly in it atm. It catches the afternoon sun.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Oh, and cats getting caught in bags is one of life's more amusing things. I mean, it's half horrifying and half hilarious to watch. You want to help, you are worried they'll hurt themselves, but the image of them flailing around, charging around the whole house as this evil thing follows their every move... it's quite wonderful.

When I was young, my childhood cat Smokey did that with one of mum's bras - right down the garden she went.

 

[Vintage Paw]

Of course, Charlie had those moments as well, but more often than not it was poo that hadn't quite finished coming out that was chasing him around the house and that was altogether less amusing.

 

[Orang Utan]

Leeloo used to like the bagdress I think. She never seemed that fussed and didn't try to escape from it

 

[Vintage Paw]

Leeloo used to like the bagdress I think. She never seemed that fussed and didn't try to escape from it

She was an altogether more refined class of cat.

 

[Orang Utan]

She was an altogether more refined class of cat.

She still is!