Cat Chat 2

[flyteck]

sorry to go a bit off topic here, but could anyone help explain what my cat is doing? we have two — 9y female and 5y male, both fixed. they tend to get along well enough, even if they annoy each ther from time to time.
anyway, the female just had a vet visit without him where she stayed at the vet for a few hours, and since she got back, he’s been really upset with her. hissing a lot, always keeping an eye on her, the works. it’s been a day and a half or so since she got back and the smell is probably mostly gone, and none of us really know why he’s upset. any thoughts? thanks so much! c:

Has she been to the vet before? It could be the smell (it might last longer) or he might just be confused about where she disappeared to. I wouldn't worry much unless it continues for more than a few days.

[Diagnose]

Jumps into conversation with pictures of my cat.

Just look at him! He's so precious.

Picture one.
Picture two.

Honestly, tabby cats are my favorite breed.

[Winstalgia]

Jumps into conversation with pictures of my cat.

Just look at him! He's so precious.

Picture one.
Picture two.

Honestly, tabby cats are my favorite breed.

aaa the second image is precious,,

Tabbies are great

[Stumpy.]

Aah, Susie has been so snuggly lately. I love my old lady. <3

She's doing really well for how old she is,(10) and is pretty active. Well, about as active as cats get.

She's kinda aloof about my dogs, though. She loves Gizzy, but can't tolerate their licking. It's super funny to watch her just sit there in disgust as the tiny pups come over and sniff and cuddle her.

The only thing cuter than that is seeing her play with Gizzy. She'll run around with her, and gently boop Gizzy with her paw. <3

[VampireMessageNinja]

She's not that old yet, don't worry
I grew up with a pair of cats that turned 18 this year, the female died two months ago but the male is still enjoying himself.
Our cats always got along fine with most of the dogs. But one we got when he was already an adult and he had been used to chasing cats all around. We got most of that out of him, but he still did it occasionally.

[Brynmala]

10 isn't old, its only middle aged you can consider a cat 'old' when it gets to 13, and plenty go on to 18 or more. A friend of mine has a cat that will be 21 this year.

I have two 11 year olds and one that may be 11 but may be quite a bit older - we rescued her last year but her age was only a minimum guess. Don't write your cat off because she isn't a kitten any more!

[AtlasHyperion]

This is Frost. He's technically my brother's cat that he got with his ex-girlfriend, but post break-up when everything was getting sorted out, they realized that she couldn't keep another pet where she was living, and since he was finding a place to live, he didn't have the means to keep the cat, so I got stuck with him. He's cute but really energetic and likes to attack ankles - not really a surprise, just kind of annoying. He's a little over two years old and he's adopted, but he doesn't seem to have any past trauma affecting him like my dog does.

Anyways, I had a question for all you cat people out there on his behavior. I know he's young and the wiggles are just a fact of life for a while, but he's also got a lot of bad habits that spray bottles aren't fixing. He claws at the couch, he jumps on the table while people are eating, he sits on the dog whenever he feels like it, and telling him to stop or pushing him off of things or spraying him with water aren't really doing anything. I was wondering what suggestions you guys have to fix some of those behaviors?

Also, I'm training him, as per my brother's request, to be an outdoor cat, but it's difficult, because he's always trying to bolt out the door and I want to encourage him to go outside with me, just not without me. He likes spending an hour or so outside, but I have to follow him wherever he goes and sometimes I have to crawl through the undergrowth a bit to herd him back into the yard and out of the woods. I'm not worried about him taking off and never coming back, but I am worried about him getting out the door and getting into trouble, or having to defend himself against other cats or animals and being completely incompetent because he has no survival instincts or fighting experience. Any suggestions on making his transition to indoor-outdoor cat a little smoother?

[Jun.]

Anyways, I had a question for all you cat people out there on his behavior. I know he's young and the wiggles are just a fact of life for a while, but he's also got a lot of bad habits that spray bottles aren't fixing. He claws at the couch, he jumps on the table while people are eating, he sits on the dog whenever he feels like it, and telling him to stop or pushing him off of things or spraying him with water aren't really doing anything. I was wondering what suggestions you guys have to fix some of those behaviors?

Also, I'm training him, as per my brother's request, to be an outdoor cat, but it's difficult, because he's always trying to bolt out the door and I want to encourage him to go outside with me, just not without me. He likes spending an hour or so outside, but I have to follow him wherever he goes and sometimes I have to crawl through the undergrowth a bit to herd him back into the yard and out of the woods. I'm not worried about him taking off and never coming back, but I am worried about him getting out the door and getting into trouble, or having to defend himself against other cats or animals and being completely incompetent because he has no survival instincts or fighting experience. Any suggestions on making his transition to indoor-outdoor cat a little smoother?

How much time do you spend with him daily, and what kind of toys/equipment do you have for him to play with? He could just be bored, which is a pretty easy fix. You just have to keep him busy. If you don't have time to play with him a bunch every day, you can set up things for him to do on his own. For example, if you've got fish, set up a place where he can sit and watch them, or have a table/platform for him to sit by a window and bird watch. If you can, get a cat climbing wall type thing or put some cat trees around the house (with plenty of scratching posts). Make little forts or tunnels too if he likes those (my cat absolutely loves tunnels). Do whatever you can to make sure he's not bored, and he should stop doing the bad habits for the most part.
As for going outside, I can't give much advice since I don't have any outdoor cats, but you could try taking him out on a leash and train him to come when you call (cats are super easy to train if you've got treats they like).

[AtlasHyperion]

How much time do you spend with him daily, and what kind of toys/equipment do you have for him to play with? He could just be bored, which is a pretty easy fix. You just have to keep him busy. If you don't have time to play with him a bunch every day, you can set up things for him to do on his own. For example, if you've got fish, set up a place where he can sit and watch them, or have a table/platform for him to sit by a window and bird watch. If you can, get a cat climbing wall type thing or put some cat trees around the house (with plenty of scratching posts). Make little forts or tunnels too if he likes those (my cat absolutely loves tunnels). Do whatever you can to make sure he's not bored, and he should stop doing the bad habits for the most part.
As for going outside, I can't give much advice since I don't have any outdoor cats, but you could try taking him out on a leash and train him to come when you call (cats are super easy to train if you've got treats they like).

Thanks for all the advice! I spend about half an hour a day playing with him - he has a mouse toy on a string that he's close to demolishing, and he chases it around the house himself without anyone having to help a lot. I'll nag my brother until he brings over the scratching post he has. He's got a spot by a screen door that's open now that it's warmer to watch the birds, and when the doors are closed I leave the blinds up for him so he can sit on a ledge and look out the window. I'll look up some information about leash training and find some treats for him - he's got some special dietary requirements, so he has to have fish-based food or he gets sick, but I'll do my best to find something. Thanks again!

[Sixx O'Clock]

How much time do you spend with him daily, and what kind of toys/equipment do you have for him to play with? He could just be bored, which is a pretty easy fix. You just have to keep him busy. If you don't have time to play with him a bunch every day, you can set up things for him to do on his own. For example, if you've got fish, set up a place where he can sit and watch them, or have a table/platform for him to sit by a window and bird watch. If you can, get a cat climbing wall type thing or put some cat trees around the house (with plenty of scratching posts). Make little forts or tunnels too if he likes those (my cat absolutely loves tunnels). Do whatever you can to make sure he's not bored, and he should stop doing the bad habits for the most part.
As for going outside, I can't give much advice since I don't have any outdoor cats, but you could try taking him out on a leash and train him to come when you call (cats are super easy to train if you've got treats they like).

Thanks for all the advice! I spend about half an hour a day playing with him - he has a mouse toy on a string that he's close to demolishing, and he chases it around the house himself without anyone having to help a lot. I'll nag my brother until he brings over the scratching post he has. He's got a spot by a screen door that's open now that it's warmer to watch the birds, and when the doors are closed I leave the blinds up for him so he can sit on a ledge and look out the window. I'll look up some information about leash training and find some treats for him - he's got some special dietary requirements, so he has to have fish-based food or he gets sick, but I'll do my best to find something. Thanks again!

To add a bit, you might want to consider getting deterrents if his habit of jumping onto places he shouldn't be is getting bad. The main reason spraying them with water doesn't always work with cats is because they know that you are the one holding the bottle, and by extent, they know that you won't always be there to tell them off. Deterrents fix this problem by automatically spraying water or air whenever the sensor detects that the cat is nearby. Just set one up on the table, counter, or wherever else you don't want him to be, and it should help quell the problem. They're also helpful for stopping unwanted scratching behaviors. Set one up in front of or next to whatever furniture he's scratching up.