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Coping with Cats

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Re: Coping with Cats

#21

Post by stevewodil »

r00fus wrote: post #5

Regarding the litter and smell - being a relatively new cat owner I did a lot of reading and I came to 2 conclusions (note: I only have one cat, and she's 1) Litter needs scooping every day. Otherwise cat will rightfully be upset and do poop in the wrong place just to let you know. Recommended to have N+1 litters for the N cats, but small apartment = difficult to place/clean all of them. 2) According to many cat book…

I don't really understand smell complaints with litter. I have a cat that has VERY stinky poops and the litter box is in my bedroom (it's in a closet area that I removed the door from).

If he poops then I remove it immediately. Otherwise I collect any urine deposits at night before I go to bed.

Obviously the poop itself smells but I've never had a problem with litter smell and don't understand what people are doing wrong. Surely they just aren't cleaning the litter box enough.

Re: Coping with Cats

#22

Post by gumby »

grawprog wrote: post #8

It's an alright list, but that's some beginner level stuff. Where's things like -cat is obssessed with plastic bags whenever he wants attention and ends up wearing them like a cape trailing it through the house causing havoc. -cat likes to knock over your breakable things just cause it likes to see them smash -wake up at 2 in the morning to some weird noises only to find the cat spiderman-ing up the screen on the win…

Aren’t these all reasons for having a cat as a pet?

Intellectually it seems strange to have pets: after all we build homes to keep alien species out. Yet when I met a neighbor who didn’t have a pet it seemed weird and even somewhat of a personality disorder. Which is absurd: households with pets are in the minority. But I really can’t imagine living without dogs, cats and assorted other vertebrates.

Re: Coping with Cats

#23

Post by powersnail »

r00fus wrote: post #6
powersnail wrote: post #3

My experience of coping with cats: - Place the litter box in an accessible place - Scoop frequently - Set up routines with the cat - Plenty of toys, and sometimes play YouTube for cat - At least one thing that can be climbed

Yes, climbing is key - cats love vertical play and hang out. Routines are also very key. My cat is like a clock now. Never tried YT for more than 1m with cat - does that even work? Also how often do you refresh the litter box?

My cat can watch squirrel videos for half an hour. I find it works well when the tablet is vertical, not flat on the ground. He play with the progress bar as well (probably not intentional, but he did manage to fastforward until the squirrel came back in the screen again).

Every time I go through a unit (20 lbs) of cat litter, I dump the litter, clean and bleach the box, and rinse the hell out of it. Then, I place new litter. I'd say, approximately once ever 1.5 months.

Re: Coping with Cats

#24

Post by dsr_ »

RankingMember wrote: post #18

Something about the tone of this article rubs me the wrong way and makes the owner appear to see his cats as being solely for his own pleasure rather than for the mutual pleasure of being companions in each others' lives. One example: > [The furminator] was absolutely amazing at removing fur from the cats (on areas broad and unbony enough to support the comb), and they liked it, but it left them less soft. I did not…

The Furminator is for long-haired cats, and is not the only brush/comb you should have. I use it to remove excess fur, then I use a soft wire brush to groom and distribute skin oil. The Maine Coons love the Furminator, the Siamese don't like it and don't need it.

Re: Coping with Cats

#25

Post by kingosticks »

RankingMember wrote: post #18

Something about the tone of this article rubs me the wrong way and makes the owner appear to see his cats as being solely for his own pleasure rather than for the mutual pleasure of being companions in each others' lives. One example: > [The furminator] was absolutely amazing at removing fur from the cats (on areas broad and unbony enough to support the comb), and they liked it, but it left them less soft. I did not…

Was it not just a bit of a joke? I enjoyed it and it made my partner laugh (I think that's a first for a HN post).

And we didn't know about those grooming gloves, they look great.

Re: Coping with Cats

#27

Post by cameronh90 »

Regarding smell, consider trying a raw meat diet. I use Purrform (UK) but there are similar in other countries.

I was a sceptic, but since converting to raw meat diet, there is almost no poop smell except when I feed too many treats. Living in a small London flat, this has been a game changer.

Obviously there are risks with raw meat diets and they aren't the cheapest. Do your research, understand the potential issues, choose a quality vendor, make sure you keep up to date with parasite treatment. All that being said, my cat seems to enjoy the food more than any other high quality food I've tried, and is as fit and healthy as he's ever been.

Re: Coping with Cats

#28

Post by hyko »

Wish I’d been able to mitigate the content on this page whilst fully embracing the joy that visiting the URL brought me.

Re: Coping with Cats

#29

Post by sdflhasjd »

RankingMember wrote: post #18

Something about the tone of this article rubs me the wrong way and makes the owner appear to see his cats as being solely for his own pleasure rather than for the mutual pleasure of being companions in each others' lives. One example: > [The furminator] was absolutely amazing at removing fur from the cats (on areas broad and unbony enough to support the comb), and they liked it, but it left them less soft. I did not…

I interpreted this as a facetious remark grounded in a concern the brush is slighly harmful.

Re: Coping with Cats

#30

Post by fizzled »

r00fus wrote: post #5

Regarding the litter and smell - being a relatively new cat owner I did a lot of reading and I came to 2 conclusions (note: I only have one cat, and she's 1) Litter needs scooping every day. Otherwise cat will rightfully be upset and do poop in the wrong place just to let you know. Recommended to have N+1 litters for the N cats, but small apartment = difficult to place/clean all of them. 2) According to many cat book…

> 1) Litter needs scooping every day.

Blows my mind how many people let it go for days and days and then complain. Literally sub-20-seconds every morning to scoop into a small office garbage can (with a foot pedal) fitted with a plastic bag. The garbage can controls the smell, and every few days you toss the plastic bag in the garbage. Done and done.

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