Cat Chat 2

[Winstalgia]

If 15b LBS is overweight for a cat, Then Chip is overweight.

[鸟的翅膀]

If 15b LBS is overweight for a cat, Then Chip is overweight.

It's not really that simple. Cats tend to vary a lot in size and phenotype, so fifteen pounds can be healthy for one particularly large cat, but fat for another, smaller one. I used to have two tomcats and they weighed six-seven pounds each at an ideal weight while my aunt's cats, for example, would probably be skin and bones at the same weight and they're females. Imo it's better to go by the cat's actual body condition as opposed to looking exclusively at the numbers.

[Winstalgia]

I'd say he's right in between a 6 and 7, then?

[Dream~]

So... we were in for a big surprise today when we called the vet out to vaccinate our cats.

We'd had a new cat (or kitten, she's not full grown yet), and at the time we had absolutely no idea if the new cat was a he or she, and we knew that we would want to spay/neuter asap. I've had lots of experience with very young kittens.... we've had to raise several litters of kittens from stray cats that have come up, once we had two litters at once and the last litter (Shadow and Pepper) were in bad health when we found them.

And so, as we were looking for the new cat to have vaccinated and checked out, we stumbled across new kittens. At least four of them, and I would say that they are 3-4 weeks old (same as last litter we found accidentally). I have absolutely no idea how they were missed... either way, they are in fairly good health. They are all (so far), gray and brown tabbies.
Hopefully we can find them all good homes once they are old enough to leave their mother. It is likely we will keep one, since you can't help but get attached.

We plan on getting the mother spayed in a week or two, and she will have to be confined for a little while after that. My current idea is to use the outdoor kennel that I had to keep my large great pyrnees mix dog in for around 6 weeks when she got hurt. It has a roof and would provide the kittens and mother room enough to be comfortable in while keeping them safe. Of course they would have to have adequate food, water, bedding, toys, litter box, etc.
We won't be taking them to a shelter or rescue, we plan on raising them and finding them homes. We one time in the past had to take some kittens to a rescue/shelter as we had never had a cat before, and suddenly had two litters at once. We did our best and raised them till they were at least 8 weeks old, and then brought them there in hopes of them finding good homes, since we didn't feel we could find good homes for so many kittens. We've taken care of a couple of litters since, thankfully not multiple at once though. It's sad, but we have many stray cats around us, and kitten season is starting yet again
(I'll post pictures of kittens once I get a chance! Thankfully they are very friendly at this age, and the mother is super relaxed, though she is so very tiny.)

[ぽうひ]

Update on Chu (not sure if anyone remembers...): just found a flea crawling across her fluffy chest. Yeesh, we don't have the money for this. What a pain! Even after dousing her in dawn dish soap 3 times, they still survived. Ugh... how annoying. I started to wash her tonight but my mom wouldn't help me, so I've got to wait til morning. T_T
I guess now we have to get flea collars, flea bomb the house, wash the kitten... Erghhhh...

[Dream~]

I have a question. Is there a way to make cats learn not to get on vehicles? All of our cats do, and we get muddy paw prints everywhere, and it apparently eats away at your cars paint as well. And if so, how long would it take to teach a cat/kitten?

[Lunarsnow]

Update on Chu (not sure if anyone remembers...): just found a flea crawling across her fluffy chest. Yeesh, we don't have the money for this. What a pain! Even after dousing her in dawn dish soap 3 times, they still survived. Ugh... how annoying. I started to wash her tonight but my mom wouldn't help me, so I've got to wait til morning. T_T
I guess now we have to get flea collars, flea bomb the house, wash the kitten... Erghhhh...

Yeah since you've had her for around a month (did I remember right?) and she still has fleas you're definitely going to want to treat the house because some (whether adults or not) have most definitely fell off her and are still around. Then you should treat the house again in 3 months or so to kill off the ones who's eggs and cocoons may have survived the first round. Having Chu on any kind of flea prevention (collar, oral, or topical) is crucial to getting rid of them since if she's only getting dawn baths then she's still a safe place for the little pests to hop on in between baths and then they'll keep re-infesting the house and then her and then the house and to infinity. Fleas suck, good luck!

[Thalassic]

I have a question. Is there a way to make cats learn not to get on vehicles? All of our cats do, and we get muddy paw prints everywhere, and it apparently eats away at your cars paint as well. And if so, how long would it take to teach a cat/kitten?

Well an easy fix would be to just not let them outside. No muddy paws, and no getting on vehicles. Plus the bonus of them being much safer and at less risk of danger.

[Dream~]

I have a question. Is there a way to make cats learn not to get on vehicles? All of our cats do, and we get muddy paw prints everywhere, and it apparently eats away at your cars paint as well. And if so, how long would it take to teach a cat/kitten?

Well an easy fix would be to just not let them outside. No muddy paws, and no getting on vehicles. Plus the bonus of them being much safer and at less risk of danger.

I truly wished that all of our cats could be strictly indoor cats, but unfortunately my brother has severe allergies to cats and so that is not an option.
So the cats are all outdoor cats, though they have plenty of food, water, shelter, and anything else that they may need. We live on a ranch, practically in the middle of nowhere, and they are allowed in other buildings such as the barn, and a couple of others. They also help out a lot because we have pretty bad rodent issues. Unfortunately we have many stray cats around here, and people like to dump cats here. All of my cats were either strays that we adopted, or (like now for example), when we find kittens and take care of them and their mother.
Anyways, I'm not trying to start an indoor-outdoor cat argument, just asking a question.

[Lunarsnow]

I have a question. Is there a way to make cats learn not to get on vehicles? All of our cats do, and we get muddy paw prints everywhere, and it apparently eats away at your cars paint as well. And if so, how long would it take to teach a cat/kitten?

I honestly can't think of anything. You could spray them with water when you catch em but that'll just probably teach em to not get on the cars when you're around which they probably don't do much of anyway. Putting cirtus on the car would probably damage the paint more than mud could. Tin foil would probably just blow off the car and I don't think double sided tape would be good for the car either especially not in the amount to make a difference.