What kind of kittens do you have over there, anyway? I've never had to do more than hide the can opener.chrisoff wrote:I would suggest keeping the cans in a cupboard where the kitten can't get to them
Cat Problems
I never had to portion the cat food for none of my cats. There was always food on their plate, be it wet food for my first cat and/or dry food for my last. They only went to dine when they were hungry, usually they also did hunt mice when they were out and never gotten fat. I am not sure if this is the best method but I thought if they learn that there is enough food whenever they want they may not try to eat always everything empty. Cats of friends I know who have fixed feeding times and portions always beg and steal food they find around incl. the dog's food in their households.
Brigitte
Brigitte
Wenn die Klügeren nachgeben,
regieren die Dummköpfe die Welt.
(Jean Claude Riber)
regieren die Dummköpfe die Welt.
(Jean Claude Riber)
-
Cynth
- Posts: 6703
- Joined: Tue Nov 30, 2004 4:58 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Iowa, USA
Errr....Brigitte, I notice the cat in your avatar looks just a tiny bit, just a little......plump. 
Is this how your other kitties look too? 
Just kidding, of course!
. I hope that wasn't all done on the preparations for a single meal! I can just see it in my head now---it would be some sort of cartoon with cool old jazz in the background.
Both of our cats would certainly get into food we left out to see if it was something they liked. They remove Saran wrap so it has to really be put away good if we aren't supervising. Lilly goes for granola bars and we found one of those on the floor one morning---Jim had left them to cool uncovered in the kitchen. Flora would get into more or less anything from what I can tell.
Is this how your other kitties look too? Just kidding, of course!
Oh dearLambchop wrote:
One of mine ate a chunk out of an uncarved roast turkey when my back was turned. Another ate a huge hole out of the middle of a sheet pan of gingerbread. They've lapped gravy and butter, done four-footed leaps into mashed potatoes, attacked green beans, excavated salads to get at the dressing, licked sauce, and dragged pieces of chicken off the table and over the floor into another room where they could feast undisturbed.
. I hope that wasn't all done on the preparations for a single meal! I can just see it in my head now---it would be some sort of cartoon with cool old jazz in the background. Both of our cats would certainly get into food we left out to see if it was something they liked. They remove Saran wrap so it has to really be put away good if we aren't supervising. Lilly goes for granola bars and we found one of those on the floor one morning---Jim had left them to cool uncovered in the kitchen. Flora would get into more or less anything from what I can tell.
Last edited by Cynth on Sat Aug 18, 2007 8:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
Diligentia maximum etiam mediocris ingeni subsidium. ~ Diligence is a very great help even to a mediocre intelligence.----Seneca
-
CountryKitty
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:04 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Western Kentucky
You've NEVER had a cat before?! 
Bless your heart. They are fairly different from most other pets, so I don't blame you for being confused.
Definitely check into the worms possibility. Some you can see in her droppings in the litterpan (tapeworms have segments that break off, full of eggs and come out the rear end--theyare about the same size as and sorta look like a grain of rice).
Whether to leave food out or put it up--there's no set-in-stone answer. Cats, like people, are all different. I've only ever had one that would overeat (he looked pregnant at one point, so I now feed him once a day), so leaving out food all day worked fine most of the time.
Training them is possible, just different from dogs. Mine have all been taught to stay off tables and counters and away from human dishes. If you tried to put them on a table or counter, they immediately jump off, and if they try to join me on the couch and see I have a bowl in my hands they immediately back away from my lap to sit at arms length.
Dogs are pack animals and want to please their pack leader (you), so a harsh word or light swat usually does the trick. May take a lesson or two, but they get it. Cats on the other hand, are solitary hunters with no social graces to speak of and are just geared toward their own survival NOT cooperation with a pack-- so it takes a different approach.
They have to associate the things you don't want them to do with something unpleasant--like the shock of suddenly getting hit with a blast of water (Squirtguns really do work quite well). A SPANKING DOES NOT WORK! Cats will swat at each others behinds in play--grab arse is a real favorite with them--so even if you make it sting slightly and scold, they really sort of think that you were trying to play with them.
Another method of training: I'm too busy doing other things with my hands (housework, crafts, schoolwork, internet surfing) to keep a squirtgun loaded and at hand--I'd wind up putting it down to carry stuff into another room. However, cats only slap at each others faces when angry, and usually are growling at the same time--so when I see them doing something wrong I usually wind up picking them up by the scruff, giving them a very light slap on the forehead with my fingers and saying the word 'Cat!' in a harsh tone of voice. Faster than hunting for the gun. And after a few times, all it takes is the word 'Cat!' in the same tone of voice to make them stop in their tracks. Um, that's a few times for getting on the counter, or a few times for climbing the curtains--a few times per any specific offense EXCEPT eating your food. The food is a reward of sorts and that takes longer to train them out of. But you eat 3 times a day, so you may wind up giving several lessons in one day. Give it a week or 2 to break her of begging for food no matter what mehtod you try. And definitely don't give her food from the plate--if you have leftover chicken and want to give it to her, DO NOT let her eat from your plate or give it to her while you at at the table--after you are done eating carry your plate to the sink and then pick up the morsels you want to give her and carry them to HER bowl. She must not think of your plate as hers or she will keep getting into it!
Did you say she was 6 months now? Time to expect her to get a visit from the Puberty Fairy. Might start crying a lot, wanting out, twitching as tho' she itches. Had one that would assume the breeding position if you petted her during her first heat. Some are known to yowl. A visit to the vet would be in order--gotta have her checked for worms anyhow, right?
Good Luck with pussikins.
Bless your heart. They are fairly different from most other pets, so I don't blame you for being confused.Definitely check into the worms possibility. Some you can see in her droppings in the litterpan (tapeworms have segments that break off, full of eggs and come out the rear end--theyare about the same size as and sorta look like a grain of rice).
Whether to leave food out or put it up--there's no set-in-stone answer. Cats, like people, are all different. I've only ever had one that would overeat (he looked pregnant at one point, so I now feed him once a day), so leaving out food all day worked fine most of the time.
Training them is possible, just different from dogs. Mine have all been taught to stay off tables and counters and away from human dishes. If you tried to put them on a table or counter, they immediately jump off, and if they try to join me on the couch and see I have a bowl in my hands they immediately back away from my lap to sit at arms length.
Dogs are pack animals and want to please their pack leader (you), so a harsh word or light swat usually does the trick. May take a lesson or two, but they get it. Cats on the other hand, are solitary hunters with no social graces to speak of and are just geared toward their own survival NOT cooperation with a pack-- so it takes a different approach.
They have to associate the things you don't want them to do with something unpleasant--like the shock of suddenly getting hit with a blast of water (Squirtguns really do work quite well). A SPANKING DOES NOT WORK! Cats will swat at each others behinds in play--grab arse is a real favorite with them--so even if you make it sting slightly and scold, they really sort of think that you were trying to play with them.
Another method of training: I'm too busy doing other things with my hands (housework, crafts, schoolwork, internet surfing) to keep a squirtgun loaded and at hand--I'd wind up putting it down to carry stuff into another room. However, cats only slap at each others faces when angry, and usually are growling at the same time--so when I see them doing something wrong I usually wind up picking them up by the scruff, giving them a very light slap on the forehead with my fingers and saying the word 'Cat!' in a harsh tone of voice. Faster than hunting for the gun. And after a few times, all it takes is the word 'Cat!' in the same tone of voice to make them stop in their tracks. Um, that's a few times for getting on the counter, or a few times for climbing the curtains--a few times per any specific offense EXCEPT eating your food. The food is a reward of sorts and that takes longer to train them out of. But you eat 3 times a day, so you may wind up giving several lessons in one day. Give it a week or 2 to break her of begging for food no matter what mehtod you try. And definitely don't give her food from the plate--if you have leftover chicken and want to give it to her, DO NOT let her eat from your plate or give it to her while you at at the table--after you are done eating carry your plate to the sink and then pick up the morsels you want to give her and carry them to HER bowl. She must not think of your plate as hers or she will keep getting into it!
Did you say she was 6 months now? Time to expect her to get a visit from the Puberty Fairy. Might start crying a lot, wanting out, twitching as tho' she itches. Had one that would assume the breeding position if you petted her during her first heat. Some are known to yowl. A visit to the vet would be in order--gotta have her checked for worms anyhow, right?
Good Luck with pussikins.
-
Will O'B
- Posts: 1169
- Joined: Thu Apr 15, 2004 12:53 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: The Other Side Of The Glen (i.e. A Long Way From Tipperary)
- Contact:
Re: Cat Problems
Give a cat a fish and you feed it for a day. Teach the cat to operate a can opener and you feed it for a lifetime.super_woodwinder wrote: Diet cans of food don't work, because she finds them and EATS THE WHOLE CAN!!! This is probably a typical problem... but I've never had a cat before...
Post edited to correct a spelling error. "c-a-t" was always one of those words that gave me problems...and still does, apparently.
Last edited by Will O'B on Sat Aug 18, 2007 2:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
Pay no attention to that man behind the curtain!
-
anniemcu
- Posts: 8024
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2003 8:42 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: A little left of center, and 100 miles from St. Louis
- Contact:
So that's what wrong with you...chrisoff wrote:This thread and others just once again reminds me that I am currently without a cat. Starting to put serious thought into going round the local rescue charities and remedy that situation.
I have never spent long without a cat. Even when I was living in my vehicle ('nuther life) I had a cat... they seem to find me... I'm not sure I've ever had to go get one. (... hmmm so that's what's wrong with me...)
anniemcu
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
-
super_woodwinder
- Posts: 4
- Joined: Fri Aug 10, 2007 10:37 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Fond du Lac
my kitty
well, an update about my kitten. I'm really trying to get the info around to everyone in the household, but one person in particular IS NOT getting it. He works at Petsmart, and thinks he knows everything. He's only stocker mind you. So I told him to stop buying the diet cans, because I wanted her to eat something different, and he started yelling at me! Saying "What do YOU know about cat food?" and all that stuff. So today when I came home, THE CAT WAS EATING THE DANG DIET CAN!!! He spited me! maybe I'm just venting, but really what CAN I do? I really dont' know anything about cat food, but i'm not about to tell him that... Otherwise I checked her poo, and there isn't any... worm-looking things in there... But it WAS hard to tell because that same man bought CLUMPS OF STEEL liter too.... which my boyfriend is allergic too. So, I don't know, maybe Cupcake just loves food? Oh, and I tried that picking her up and giving her a light tap on her face, and it only took twice before she sat about 3 feet from me and just watched. She didn't even meow!
"it was me! i was the turkey all along!"
-
kkrell
- Posts: 4837
- Joined: Mon Jul 29, 2002 6:00 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 8
- Tell us something.: Mostly producer of the Wooden Flute Obsession 3-volume 6-CD 7-hour set of mostly player's choice of Irish tunes, played mostly solo, on mostly wooden flutes by approximately 120 different mostly highly-rated traditional flute players & are mostly...
- Location: Los Angeles
- Contact:
If the brand is Science Diet, that can be OK, but it should say for kittens, or kittens and adult cats. Kitten food is a little more rich, which is why adult cats and dogs love it. But it should not be another brand that says "Senior Diet", which is for older, less active cats, with things like urinary tract problems.
Use canned instead of kibble. If you really want to get into better nutrition for cats, try either a raw food or prey model diet. You can have some convenience for raw food diets by using these frozen brands:
http://www.primalpetfoods.com/
Organic ingredients
That is what my rescue cat is getting, and he has thrived on it. I have not yet been able to convince my household cat to give it a try.
A more readily available alternative (not organic) is:
http://www.naturesvariety.com/
The Prey model feeders either mix their own meats and organs, or buy frozen mice, rats, chicks, etc.
http://rawfed.com/
http://www.rawfedcats.org/
Kevin Krell
Use canned instead of kibble. If you really want to get into better nutrition for cats, try either a raw food or prey model diet. You can have some convenience for raw food diets by using these frozen brands:
http://www.primalpetfoods.com/
Organic ingredients
That is what my rescue cat is getting, and he has thrived on it. I have not yet been able to convince my household cat to give it a try.
A more readily available alternative (not organic) is:
http://www.naturesvariety.com/
The Prey model feeders either mix their own meats and organs, or buy frozen mice, rats, chicks, etc.
http://rawfed.com/
http://www.rawfedcats.org/
Kevin Krell
-
anniemcu
- Posts: 8024
- Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2003 8:42 pm
- antispam: No
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 10
- Location: A little left of center, and 100 miles from St. Louis
- Contact:
Re: my kitty
A Kitten should NOT... I repeat NOT... that's NOT be fed diet cat food!!!!!!!super_woodwinder wrote:well, an update about my kitten. I'm really trying to get the info around to everyone in the household, but one person in particular IS NOT getting it. He works at Petsmart, and thinks he knows everything. He's only stocker mind you. So I told him to stop buying the diet cans, because I wanted her to eat something different, and he started yelling at me! Saying "What do YOU know about cat food?" and all that stuff. So today when I came home, THE CAT WAS EATING THE DANG DIET CAN!!! He spited me! maybe I'm just venting, but really what CAN I do? I really dont' know anything about cat food, but i'm not about to tell him that... Otherwise I checked her poo, and there isn't any... worm-looking things in there... But it WAS hard to tell because that same man bought CLUMPS OF STEEL liter too.... which my boyfriend is allergic too. So, I don't know, maybe Cupcake just loves food? Oh, and I tried that picking her up and giving her a light tap on her face, and it only took twice before she sat about 3 feet from me and just watched. She didn't even meow!
Any vet worth their salt will back you up on that.
anniemcu
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
---
"You are what you do, not what you claim to believe." -Gene A. Statler
---
"Olé to you, none-the-less!" - Elizabeth Gilbert
---
http://www.sassafrassgrove.com
-
Cass
- Posts: 211
- Joined: Wed May 30, 2007 10:13 am
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Lancashire, UK.
I'd take her to the vet ...just to be checked out. Putting a kitten as small as this on diet food, is a definite no no. At this age, they need a tremendous amount of calories because they are growing so fast. You will only do her harm by putting her on a diet....I'm getting quite worried about her....please take her to a vet if you are unsure about whether she has worms (sometimes, you can't see them in their stools), or unsure about what to feed her. A heavy burden of worms, or a poor diet can kill a kitten. No joke.
Cass.
Cass.
Cass.
Time flies like an arrow....
....Fruit flies like a banana
Time flies like an arrow....
....Fruit flies like a banana
-
CountryKitty
- Posts: 240
- Joined: Sat Nov 26, 2005 1:04 pm
- Please enter the next number in sequence: 1
- Location: Western Kentucky
Ditto the trip to the vet. I should've mentioned that some worms leave no signs in the droppings (too small)--I'm in the country so tapeworms picked up from small prey are the most common for me. The vet can do a check for other kinds and can give you the best advice for your kittens food because he'll be seeing her whole condition.
Bonus--Get him to write down his advice for a good solid catfood for her, and a comparable litter to which your honey is not allergic---Spiteful Stockerboy can't argue with that many years of veterinary school and hands on experience. (I'm sure he means well, even if he goes about it the wrong way.)
Bonus--Get him to write down his advice for a good solid catfood for her, and a comparable litter to which your honey is not allergic---Spiteful Stockerboy can't argue with that many years of veterinary school and hands on experience. (I'm sure he means well, even if he goes about it the wrong way.)