OT: NEED Cat Owners Advice!!!

Think of it this way. Declawing is taking the last bone in your finger off (P3, the one with the nail/claw on it) at the joint. So if you look at your finger after declawing it would have only one joint and not 2. It is very painful and in some cases can actually cause the cat chronic pain for life. There are methods that make it less painfull with less chance of chronic pain such as using a laser and more importantly good use of regional limb perfusion with a local anesthetic prior to surgery along with, of course, additional pain control. A nice alternative is soft paws that can be applied (glued with super glue) over the claws every few weeks. Some cats will adapt to scratching posts and never will be much of a problem destroying things sharpening their claws. Some can become big problems with their scratching behavior.
With all that being said many times cats can and do go on to live normal happy lives after being declawed so if that ends up being the only alternative between the cat having a good home and going to the pound opting for the declaw is a very logical choice IMO. It's a very controversial subject among cat owners and veterinarians and in the end you have to make your own choice. I hope that helps and if you have any more questions please ask:)

Chris

Bah... what do you know about any of this stuff?

:D :p

Brandon
 
http://cgi.ebay.com/32-MONTH-SUPPLY...emQQptZLH_DefaultDomain_0?hash=item3ca05f1044

Have you seen the frontline kits on ebay for flea control? I have been using this same kit and have had no problems at all measuring it out. I hate the over the counter stuff and paying vet prices for single doses was way to expensive with multiple pets. We have deer ticks awful here in the woods and it works as good as the advantix I was buying at retail designed for cats only and way cheaper!

Naturally if your Vet clinic was local Fishdoc I would buy my supplies from you ;) And my vet did advise me not to do this for fear of overdoseing the animal but the 1 Ml syringe is so easy to read it would take a pretty dumb person to mess it up.
 
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Zef, ocelots are beautiful cats. Very cool you were able to keep one. Aren't they endangered though? Did you have to have a permit?



I didn't but my uncle did. And he gave her to me when he got a tiger that wasn't likeing dumboo. Oh that's was her name.And she was 22years old when she passed and I even have pics of me with her when I was a baby and she was 2 yrs old then me. And would always sleep with me when I was over. She was a big part of my childhood. I feel so lucky and greatful for that. She was my best friend.

And yes they are still on the list. But I've seen them for sale here In Nashville before. At Petsmart ad borad in rivergate.So I thoght they was off the list. I just check a min ago. And there still on only 65in the wild of texass 216 world wide. So I think I'll pass for now on getting one. But she will alwas be a part of me. I'll just stick with the rare corals. Lol
And man his tiger use to sharpin his claws on a brick well. and that was something to see. My uncle had to redo his wall every six months. I was always scared of him. He was cool as a cub till he got over 150lb. Now duff the tiger lives in the Detroit zoo and is a father of 10 tiger all over USA zoos.
 
Zach, those are way cool!!!! I'll be checking those out for sure!!!

Angela, my vet was recommending revolution to me for the kitty since it prevents heartworm, fleas, ticks, ear mites, etc etc. But my dogs are on Frontline Plus. I do not buy them through my vet, WAY more cost then online purchase. I usually purchase a 12 month supply for each of my dogs at a much lower cost. I wonder if they have the measuring one for dogs as well? That would save me way more. Frontline does not say they would prevent those stuffs like Revolution says it does. I wonder if it would do the same even though it doesn't say so??? Maybe Fishdoc knows? (Feel free to chime in) Those are really cute pictures of the kitten with the parakeet. But my kitty would jump it and attack. He does it to my hands and feet. Also he goes after the Chihuahua as well in the same manner...lol My kitten is a Maine Coon(sp?) so he's going to be a big kitty.....

Zef, I would be terrified of that tiger as well....That's why this is my only cat! lol
 
Angela, I just went to re-read the stuffs for frontline, that kit says very little difference in ingredients for dogs and cats. So does that mean I can use that same exact kit for my dogs just with the proper amount? If that's the case, that would save me a fortune....Buying that stuffs for 3 dogs and a cat isn't cheap....lol
 
Yea, it comes with a guide per pounds of dog and all cats are straight up .50 ml over 8 weeks. I also find it easier to apply for some reason from the syringe over the snapped top vile thingy. I am not sure but I think this stuff gets mites? I would think so. I am also curiouse but if the kitty is only going to be an inside cat heartworm and ear mites would be much harder to come by but I gamble on the heartworm for the cats and they never have ear troubles so I am lucky. I did keep my dog on heartworm though and that can get very $$$ with more than one dog as in your case but our freinds Mastiff got heartworms and it was very very expensive to treat. You can get a 4 pack even cheaper, $40ish, without the "kit" once you have the guide and equipment.
 
Cats are smart and will learn quickly.

I tried the water bottle to stop two of our cats fighting, but the only thing they learned was to run away when I started reaching for the water bottle and continue fighting elsewhere. So, I had to put a little bit of the fear of god (i.e., me) in them (a talking to and a tap on the butt). The talking to of course required me to catch them... which of course had me chasing cats around the house like a madman for a little bit. But once they realized that I would chase them until I caught them, they learned to stop fighting. If I could find a water bottle with a 30' range that can shoot around corners, though, I'd be in business.
 
Mikey,

I have lived with cats all my life, and my opinion is don't de-claw. My stepmothers cat (he lived to 14) was de-clawed and she was a very serious plant person. Plants got knocked over because balance was always off a bit and slipping occurred much more easily.

Defense is another reason.

AS for the birds, yours are too big to worry too much about, and, since it is a kitten, you are integrating early. I would be more concerned with an adult cat..the kitten will not view the birds as food and will be growing up with them.

I have never had a cat want to scratch furniture if you give them a good scratching post/play tree. It is easy enough to get them to understand THAT is their area by rubbing a little catnip into the carpet or fuzzy covering. there is also a spray (i have trained several cats this way) that smells bad to them, is non toxic and non staining to keep theme away/off furniture. Usually no more than 3-5 months was all I had to use it.
 
I would not declaw them unless it was absolutely necessary. I tried the softpaws on mine but we had problems getting them on since they would let you put a few on and then get aggravated and start yanking their paws away and finally just run off. Some of them wouldn't get glued on good since they would pull away so they would come off easily. We tried it on our older cats so if you started early I think he would get used to it easier. They do work good if you can get them on good and they stay on.
 
For the water bottle thing to work, you have to hide the water bottle. They'll eventually figure out it's you spraying them, but by them they are conditioned. :)
 
I got the cat condo today. Wow, it's big. So awesome. For $120 it's the best deal I think out there. Far superior to what is in the stores and 1/3rd the price. I'll take some pictures later for you.

My cat doesn't give a rip about water. I tried the spray thing a few times - and she just stared and then licked the water off. She sometimes pats her water in her bowl with her paw and will always dip her paw in whatever you're drinking - so you have to keep a close eye on beverages. She got a good taste of jack daniels once :lol: Always, always covers her food bowl with a receipt. Very strange little cat. I really like dogs, but the personality of some cats can't be beat.
 
Mikey,

I have lived with cats all my life, and my opinion is don't de-claw. My stepmothers cat (he lived to 14) was de-clawed and she was a very serious plant person. Plants got knocked over because balance was always off a bit and slipping occurred much more easily.

Defense is another reason.

AS for the birds, yours are too big to worry too much about, and, since it is a kitten, you are integrating early. I would be more concerned with an adult cat..the kitten will not view the birds as food and will be growing up with them.

I have never had a cat want to scratch furniture if you give them a good scratching post/play tree. It is easy enough to get them to understand THAT is their area by rubbing a little catnip into the carpet or fuzzy covering. there is also a spray (i have trained several cats this way) that smells bad to them, is non toxic and non staining to keep theme away/off furniture. Usually no more than 3-5 months was all I had to use it.

We got the catnip spray. We even bought fresh catnip, he doesn't seem to want to touch it for some reason. For now anyway....
 
I got the cat condo today. Wow, it's big. So awesome. For $120 it's the best deal I think out there. Far superior to what is in the stores and 1/3rd the price. I'll take some pictures later for you.

My cat doesn't give a rip about water. I tried the spray thing a few times - and she just stared and then licked the water off. She sometimes pats her water in her bowl with her paw and will always dip her paw in whatever you're drinking - so you have to keep a close eye on beverages. She got a good taste of jack daniels once :lol: Always, always covers her food bowl with a receipt. Very strange little cat. I really like dogs, but the personality of some cats can't be beat.

:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:

Don't get me started on beverages! My macaw started licking from my wine glass one day before I caught him doing it. He was pretty wild the rest of the night. He was one drunk bird....He laughed and acted really funny, it cracked me up.... We do not have anything like that around any of the animals after that cause they'll learn real quick to go after it....lol

So far I know he doesn't like to get wet, but he's not afraid to go back to it either. He's not bothering the big birds, I need to bring him to the Parakeets and see how he reacts.
 
Zach, those are way cool!!!! I'll be checking those out for sure!!!

Angela, my vet was recommending revolution to me for the kitty since it prevents heartworm, fleas, ticks, ear mites, etc etc. But my dogs are on Frontline Plus. I do not buy them through my vet, WAY more cost then online purchase. I usually purchase a 12 month supply for each of my dogs at a much lower cost. I wonder if they have the measuring one for dogs as well? That would save me way more. Frontline does not say they would prevent those stuffs like Revolution says it does. I wonder if it would do the same even though it doesn't say so??? Maybe Fishdoc knows? (Feel free to chime in) Those are really cute pictures of the kitten with the parakeet. But my kitty would jump it and attack. He does it to my hands and feet. Also he goes after the Chihuahua as well in the same manner...lol My kitten is a Maine Coon(sp?) so he's going to be a big kitty.....

Zef, I would be terrified of that tiger as well....That's why this is my only cat! lol


Frontline only takes care of fleas. DON'T use Advantix on cats (Angela mentioned it in one of her posts). It can kill them! Permethrin's are toxic to cats. It's also not a good idea to use Advantix on dogs in the same house with cats. If you want something with similar action to Revolution in cats Advantage Multi might be a good option.

Also NO ONE should ever get a tiger:) There are about 140 something of them in a rescue facility close to Knoxville that people and small circuses thought they wanted as pets. It's really sad what typically ends up happening to big cats that people buy as pets.

Chris
 
We got the catnip spray. We even bought fresh catnip, he doesn't seem to want to touch it for some reason. For now anyway....

I believe that some cats are not genetically pre-disposed to getting "high" from catnip. One of our cats is batty about it. Another likes it, but doesn't get defensive of his stash. The 3rd one couldn't care less.

From what I have heard, most cats in Australia are not reactive to catnip.
 
Frontline only takes care of fleas. DON'T use Advantix on cats (Angela mentioned it in one of her posts). It can kill them! Permethrin's are toxic to cats. It's also not a good idea to use Advantix on dogs in the same house with cats. If you want something with similar action to Revolution in cats Advantage Multi might be a good option.

Also NO ONE should ever get a tiger:) There are about 140 something of them in a rescue facility close to Knoxville that people and small circuses thought they wanted as pets. It's really sad what typically ends up happening to big cats that people buy as pets.

Chris

I use Frontline Plus on my dogs. I don't use Advantix. I'm gonna get that package deal like what Angela is getting.
 
I believe that some cats are not genetically pre-disposed to getting "high" from catnip. One of our cats is batty about it. Another likes it, but doesn't get defensive of his stash. The 3rd one couldn't care less.

From what I have heard, most cats in Australia are not reactive to catnip.

I know my cats love catnip. They start trippin' out and then all of a sudden it's like they just crash and out of it. I haven't gave them any in months though.

I wonder if catnip has any effects on humans....if you smoked it... :lolspin:

Steve
 
I know my cats love catnip. They start trippin' out and then all of a sudden it's like they just crash and out of it. I haven't gave them any in months though.

I wonder if catnip has any effects on humans....if you smoked it... :lolspin:

Steve

:lolspin::lolspin::lolspin::lolspin:
 
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