Cat Chat 2

[linkin]

So, little Pumpkin has been getting into a lot of trouble lately. I expect it from kittens as young as she is, but I swear she's going to make me sprout gray hairs at this rate!
I'm looking for a bit of advice, though, since I've been having trouble with this particular little munchkin where I haven't had trouble with other kittens.
What is the best way to get a kitten to stop going after food? I mean human food, specifically. She's been trying to shove her nose and paws into my food, and that's obviously not healthy for me or for her. I've tried distracting her with toys, giving her a small spray with the water bottle, and trying to keep food out of her reach. But she just won't leave it alone. Anyone know what I can do?

I've been having this problem with my kitten as well, I swear she's worse than the dogs.

The best you can do is gently push her down whenever she gets near to where your food is, and a small water spritz isn't a bad idea either. Try to eat in places that are harder for her to get to, and after you do get her down from wherever you're eating, firmly scold her. Give her no positive attention, so touch her as least as possible, and don't make eye contact unless you're scolding her. And then when you're done eating, and have put away the dishes and washed your hands, give her some good attention. Playing, petting, anything that she likes. It'll take a while, but training kittens not to do things is a slow process.

[Thalassic]

So, little Pumpkin has been getting into a lot of trouble lately. I expect it from kittens as young as she is, but I swear she's going to make me sprout gray hairs at this rate!
I'm looking for a bit of advice, though, since I've been having trouble with this particular little munchkin where I haven't had trouble with other kittens.
What is the best way to get a kitten to stop going after food? I mean human food, specifically. She's been trying to shove her nose and paws into my food, and that's obviously not healthy for me or for her. I've tried distracting her with toys, giving her a small spray with the water bottle, and trying to keep food out of her reach. But she just won't leave it alone. Anyone know what I can do?

Whenever my cats do something they shouldn't, I make a loud "pshhh" noise at them. Usually that's enough to get their attention, and if they don't stop, I pair the noise with blowing in their face. Eventually they learn to associate the noise with the unpleasant feeling of being blown in the face, and will stop when I catch them doing something bad.

With any method like that, you just have to be persistent and not allow them to do certain things sometimes, and punish them other times. If they aren't allowed near your food, then don't allow them near your plate when you are done eating, or when it's empty. The simpler you make this to them, the easier it will be for them to understand.

[Sixx O'Clock]

Thanks for the tips, I'll try them out and see how it works out. c:

[blazesong]

@Lunarsnow
Also @blazesong @Rachley

I actually did a quick google search yesterday and found the page with that article as well! It's very informative! c: Thank you for sharing.

I'm still a little bit stuck on "Litter 2" that I posted, however. I couldn't find anything mentioning anything similar to my particular situation (of my understanding, at least).
Summary here (photos a few pages back):

>A blue mackerel tabby female gave birth to a litter of kittens by an unknown father.
>Most of the kittens were also blue (some solid, some mackerel tabby, 1 female blue ticked tabby)
>One kitten was a male black (brown) ticked tabby. (Yes, I am 100% sure that he was a male, as I had him neutered)

My understanding is that base color genes must be either the color or the dilute of the color of a parent. It is also my understanding that males get their base color from the mother.

That being said, how does this work in this litter? How is he black & brown? How did he get a brown coat with black stripes if the mother was grey/blue?
Am I missing something here?
(I also have more pictures of the male black/brown tabby in question, if needed).

ignore the brown, thats just from the tabby marking rather then the coat. if the cat didnt have tabby it would be black.


i might do some reserch into wich genes are sex linked traits as i can't remember

[Lunarsnow]

Dilute is a separate gene that isn't sex linked. So the mom can pass the blue and the dilute, or just the blue; same with red. That's why calicos/torties are either blue and cream or orange and dark grey/black/brown. The dilute affects both colours because it isn't sex linked. From my understanding, at least; somebody can correct me or clarify if I'm wrong.

Yep, as far as I'm aware if one parent is dilute then the kittens can be either dilute or non-dilute but if both parents are dilute then all of the kittens have to be dilute. (and then of course if neither parent is showing dilute they may be carriers of the gene and some kittens may turn out dilute if both parents are carrying the gene)

So in the case of the grey mother and black tabby male kitten, the father was probably black tabby as well or an orange tabby rather than cream or grey since the kitten was not a grey/blue tabby!

Cat genetics are a wild ride haha

[Shiba~]

My cat is werid

[fluffycat6]

We bought orijen 6 fish kibble for the cats and of course Max won't eat it. He won't eat anything unless it's unhealthy Even when we mixed it in with the old food he wouldn't eat it and now Skittles won't eat it either, at least Patches and Ruby like it. Any advice on how to get them to eat healthy food?

[Sixx O'Clock]

We bought orijen 6 fish kibble for the cats and of course Max won't eat it. He won't eat anything unless it's unhealthy Even when we mixed it in with the old food he wouldn't eat it and now Skittles won't eat it either, at least Patches and Ruby like it. Any advice on how to get them to eat healthy food?

More often than not, it seems like cats prefer less healthy cat food a) because it's what they're used to, or b) because the less healthy food simply smells/tastes better. It could also just be that some of your cats don't like that particular flavor of food for one reason or another. I would recommend trying to find a different flavor of food and see if that has anymore success.
Alternatively, if your cats like wet food, you could try mixing some of that in with their kibble and that might spark their appetite.

[Eremite]

We bought orijen 6 fish kibble for the cats and of course Max won't eat it. He won't eat anything unless it's unhealthy Even when we mixed it in with the old food he wouldn't eat it and now Skittles won't eat it either, at least Patches and Ruby like it. Any advice on how to get them to eat healthy food?

When I switched foods I had to use tough love. A healthy animal won't starve itself, put the food down and if they don't start eating after 15-20 minutes pick it back up still next feeding time. My one male went 'on strike' for almost two days before he caved and realized the new food was pretty dang awesome.

[liv :)]

I'm probably going to be getting a harness for Pepper this weekend! I'm so excited, I'm sure Pepper would love to do some (supervised) outdoor exploration.

My only concern is that she might be uncomfortable wearing it or refuse to let me put it on. Any suggestions for helping me get her used to wearing a harness?