Cat People... please convene!

[wishful]

Octavia - Hmm that is weird. I know that when I first go to fill up the waterer (after cleaning) it does make a god-awful noise until the water gets up to the right level and then it''s almost like it goes silent.
Maybe try a different brand. There are quite a few. There was another one I saw at petsmart that actually spit water out more like a faucet. I was thinking of getting that one too - just to have an extra.

Good luck! I hope you find something that works!

 

[Lynn B]

I have the Drinkwell Platinum and (except for cleaning the dang thing) I love it. Well, I love it because Boo loves it!

It is very quiet when the filter is in it, but my filter got old and needed thrown out and I never replaced it (even the manual says it can be safely run without a filter). But I do notice that it''s a wee-tad noisier without the filter. WITH the filter, it''s basically silent.

Either way is fine with me, though. And Boo does LOVE it. I know it has increased his water consumption considerably!

 

[AmberGretchen]

OMG Lynn, that picture is too cute for words

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/2/2008 9:14:58 PM
Author: AmberGretchen
OMG Lynn, that picture is too cute for words

Awwww, thanks, AG... I appreciate that! I was kinda afraid that his beautiful blue eyes looked a little droopy-drowsy!

 

[wishful]

Ditto - I think Boo is one of the cutest kitties I''ve ever seen! (well - except for my babies of course!! lol)

I think I may need to splurge and get the waterer for my guys....the love the faucet so they''d probably love this.

 

[Octavia]

Oh my goodness, I just saw this...how adorable! Boo is just too handsome for words

 

[Lynn B]

Awwwwwwwww, you guys are making me (and Boo!) blush!

Thank you all for the sweet, sweet words! He really is soooooooo cute and adorable, I wish you guys could see him in person!

 

[Babyblue033]

Boo is absolutely adorable!!! *DIES* I''m sure he''s even cuter in person

 

[Lynn B]

Awwwww, thanks! He is sooooooooooo adorable... he makes me so happy just to see him walking, sleeping, grooming, eating, playing... just *being*!

Here''s of picture of me and him... (please forgive the horrible PJ bottoms!!!)

 

[Skippy123]

Lynn, you and Boo look so cute!!! Ah, cuddly kitty

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/5/2008 1:25:46 PM
Author: Skippy123
Lynn, you and Boo look so cute!!! Ah, cuddly kitty

Awww, Skippy, thanks. After I posted the picture I realized I had cold sores on both my top and bottom lips... OY!

Oh well, hopefully no one''s lookin'' at ME, anyway... Boo''s the adorable one!!!

 

[iwannaprettyone]

*threadjack*

skippy I miss your sweet face in your avatar....gorgeous studs though!

Threadjack over.

 

[wishful]

Lynn-

I have a question! How much (or how badly) to Ragdolls shed? I''m thinking that down the line when my guys go (I know...how bad is that to think?!) I might "go Raggie". They look soooo incredibly sweet and cuddly -just the way I like em''.

Thanks!

 

[Octavia]

Aww, Lynn, Boo looks like he''s as much of a momma''s boy as my sweet baby is (meant in a good way, of course!). He''s about 3x bigger than my little guy, though!

 

[Lynn B]

Date: 6/5/2008 8:00:37 PM
Author: wishful
Lynn-

I have a question! How much (or how badly) to Ragdolls shed? I''m thinking that down the line when my guys go (I know...how bad is that to think?!) I might ''go Raggie''. They look soooo incredibly sweet and cuddly -just the way I like em''.

Thanks!

Well, Wishful, I *wish*

I could tell you that Boo doesn''t shed. Oh believe me, I wish I could tell you that!!!

But Raggies DO shed, in spite of what you may read on the internet. In the spring, Boo shed his winter coat and we were running the Dyson almost everyday. It''s slowed down considerably now, but we find little tufts of "cotton" all over the house and we keep a lint roller in just about every room!!!

Boo''s fur is very, very soft and silky, feels like bunny fur, not cat fur. It''s very wonderfu and luxurious feeling, and it IS easy care, in that it doesn''t mat like Persians or Himmies or Maine Coons. So that''s nice, as those mats can be the PITS! We brush him once a week or so, and that''s all the "maintenance" he needs.

So, yes, the shedding is a pain... but he''s OH SO WORTH it!!!

 

[AmberGretchen]

OMG Lynn that picture is just too cute for words!!

He''s so giant and snuggly-looking and he''s making the EXACT same face that Ollie makes when he''s held like that in that same position. I have to see if I can get a picture - the resemblance between them really is so uncanny.

FYI, Ollie doesn''t shed hardly at all. We have two DSH girls, and they easily shed 10X as much as Ollie does. His fur does feel like Lynn describes Boo''s feeling though - super soft and like rabbit fur (I sometimes call him my little bunny, especially when I''m forcibly snuggling him and compulsively stroking the rabbit like fur

). Seriously though we are bad - we almost never brush him but he really hardly sheds at all, especially compared to our girls.

 

[Rosa]

Hey kitty-lovers,

My 14 yr-old and still very frisky kitty is on Nutro - Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management and seems to be doing really well. He had gotten up to almost 16 lbs a few years ago, and I was really scared he would get diabetes or some other obesity-related disease.

He SLOWLY lost 3 lbs. but needs to lose another 2 lbs to be back at his ideal weight (the vet said 10-11 lbs.)

I need to try to exercise him more, which is not easy b/c we live in an apartment.

How do you all keep your kitties slim? One thing my vet said is that just as Americans have gotten fatter, so have our cats and dogs! She said you are supposed to be able to clearly see a waist on your pet, which means my cat is still a little too chubby.

I try throwing toys for him to fetch, using catnip, laser pointers, carrying him down the long hallway in our apartment bldg and then running him back. It all helps but not quite enough.

Any other pscopers with "fat cats" at home (and no, I don''t mean hubbies!)

 

[Deelight]

Date: 5/18/2008 10:08:44 PM
Author: Lynn B

Date: 5/18/2008 5:12:24 PM

Author: Babyblue033

Personally I'm just not a big fan of dry food period. I think one of the biggest problems our cats have is not getting enough water in their diet, as their ancestors did from hunting preys. So many cats have kidney issues in their old age and I believe at least some of that can be prevented simply by feeding wet food (or RAW, even better!).


I do keep Wellness Core (grain free) dry food around because I have a cat who has trouble maintaining his weight (who's a dry food junkie

) but I feed it more as a treat than main meal.


EVO 95% meat food looks wonderful, but it'll be quite a hit to my wallet trying to feed 5 mouths

I know what you mean about the dry food/drinking thing, but we have a fountain and I honestly think Boo is a very good drinker. My vet tells me that cats on wet or moist food have the worst time with their teeth, and he really recommends dry. I'm not adverse to wet food, or even considering raw, but for now, dry is working well for us... so I just want to make sure he is eating the highest quality dry food possible.

I have to disagree with the wet food not causing problems with cats teeth, our oldest furbaby (see avvie) refused dry food as a kitten and developed a horrible tooth problem his back tooth had become inflamed and discolored and was festy, they almost had to pull it out. We had to put him on SD T/D to help clear it up and it worked since that worked and luckily we did not have to have his tooth pulled since then we have only feed dry with the occasional wet food as treats (meat, canned etc) and absolutely no problems with his teeth and the youngest again no problems.

I finally managed to find one store that does not ONLY sell Science Diet around here, and that was a struggle as the pet chain it is from sells kittens and puppies from animal farms

. But I have found since switching to Innova I don't have the problems of a begging kitty anymore and they seem really happy and content on it .


Lynn, Boo is just adorable how cute is he drinking from the fountain , I have to see if I can find one here.



ETA: Rosa I have a fat kitty but I seriously doubt I could encourage him to move much at all he is serious lounger, sounds like what your doing though is a good start

 

[RoseRed]

Hi everybody! I really want to say how much I appreciate all the info in this thread. I realize that I haven''t done enough research about my furbabies diet...just did as the vet suggested w/Science Diet. But, I don''t think my kitties are as healthy as they could be. So, may I beg a little help from all you cat parents out there?

First, the background. We are the very proud parents of 3 furballs; Sebastian, DSH, almost 8yrs, Sophie-Alice, DLH (although we do think she has some Ragdoll in there somewhere) 7 yrs, and the baby Jasper, DLH, 4 yrs. All of them are rescue. But thankfully they all get along. Well, truth told Jasper does stalk Sophie-Alice quite a bit...because she is the QUEEN of the household! lol. (Always tease the DH that he greets her first over me. it''s true

) But there''s no real battles and they all are really sweet and affectionate.

The problem is the feeding! I''m about to lose my mind dealing with the two oldest''s appetites! Both of them have become quite plump over the past few years and the vet had us put them on a diet. But they haven''t lost any weight and I get the feeling that the kibble is just not satisifying their needs. (which seems to really be backed up by the info in this thread) After reading the link posted by Spike (www.catinfo.com) it makes sense that carbs may be the culprit. (And I definitely worry that they are not drinking enough) So, I know I gotta change them to a higher quality food, that''s plain. My question is about wet vs dry food. Everytime, we''ve fed them wet food their appetites seems to get worse. We are worried that the problems will get worse. ie, sitting by the food bowls for hours, waking us up in the middle of the night, opening the cabinets constantly (this is really annoying because they thump!) and stealing the baby''s food. Jasper is just not much of an eater so the other two sneak into his bowl when I''m not watching. (which on a high shelf) To be fair, they are already doing some of this now which is why I''m begging for advice! But, the DH especially is worried about changing their diet.

I know quite of few of you do use dry food with very good results but have you noticed any appetite differences between the two types of food? And is all this pointless and I''m worried about nothing because of the poor quality of Science Diet?

 

[AmberGretchen]

Hi RoseRed - I''ve just seen this post and will respond in more detail tomorrow, but the basic jist of my answer will be that yes, it is worthwhile to switch to a higher-quality food of some kind, but the wet vs. dry vs. raw etc...issue is one that I don''t think there''s sufficient evidence on (and my vet agreed when I last saw her). But feeding a high quality food, limiting meal time, and measuring the amount you feed, are all very important. More later - must go to bed tonight.

Oh! And we must see some pictures of these rescued babies

 

[spike13]

Date: 6/6/2008 12:37:28 AM
Author: Rosa
Hey kitty-lovers,


My 14 yr-old and still very frisky kitty is on Nutro - Natural Choice Complete Care Weight Management and seems to be doing really well. He had gotten up to almost 16 lbs a few years ago, and I was really scared he would get diabetes or some other obesity-related disease.


He SLOWLY lost 3 lbs. but needs to lose another 2 lbs to be back at his ideal weight (the vet said 10-11 lbs.)


I need to try to exercise him more, which is not easy b/c we live in an apartment.


How do you all keep your kitties slim? One thing my vet said is that just as Americans have gotten fatter, so have our cats and dogs! She said you are supposed to be able to clearly see a waist on your pet, which means my cat is still a little too chubby.


I try throwing toys for him to fetch, using catnip, laser pointers, carrying him down the long hallway in our apartment bldg and then running him back. It all helps but not quite enough.


Any other pscopers with ''fat cats'' at home (and no, I don''t mean hubbies!)

We had a real chubber. He as almost 20 pounds at one time. First thing we had to do was work him off the endless food dish. Then we had switched him to canned because it was easier to portion control. Especially since he didn''t like canned as much. Now that he''s used to it he''s gaining some weight back.

We also got a kitten to help play with him. It worked in that there was more activity, but now that the kitten is older they''re both too busy sleeping in the sun to run around.

 

[AmberGretchen]

Agree with spike13 that the portion control and only setting it out at regular times is KEY. We use a measuring cup as a scoop to make sure our kitties aren''t getting too much of their kibble.

I also think switching to a higher-quality food should help - try to find a place that will sell or send you samples of several varieties (see earlier in this thread and links for suggestions of kinds), and see what your kitty likes.