#catissues – Page 3

It’s Been Too Long

Happy Spring!

The last few weeks have been crazy. Thanks to Covid-19, there isn’t much of anything on my schedule. I’m certainly not going anywhere, but somehow I’m keeping pretty busy. I started a garden, and I’ve been keeping a personal journal of all that is going on, so maybe that is why I haven’t been inspired to write here, but I’m back!

I can’t wait to see what kinds of new creatures I meet as the local wildlife discovers my new garden. I put an outdoor camera on the garden so if there are any visitors I can catch them in the act!

The other night we found a small, lovely poop in my son’s bedroom as we were all heading to bed. This wasn’t the first time. We had been blaming Cali the dog, but we had started keeping her downstairs to keep that from happening and it still happened. Must be a cat?!? Yikes. I really freak out about the cats not using their litter box. So of course, I couldn’t sleep. Midnight, 1AM, 2AM, I’m up, stressed, why is this happening?

About 3AM, I had a revelation! It was all my fault! I had been messing with the cat litter boxes trying to find a solution to our tracking problems. I rushed downstairs and cleaned the litter boxes and returned them to our regular clumping litter. That was a couple of nights ago, and the problem has definitely cleared up. I was really enjoying the paper pellet litter and the pine litter, but I guess the cats didn’t like it as much as I did. Time to figure out a new plan. I’m not sure I will be able to find a litter that doesn’t track around the house and isn’t pelleted, but I’ll be on the look out. Does anyone have a cat litter that they really like?

The bearded dragon is doing well. I’ve managed to keep her well fed with greens and bugs even though my shopping is limited these days. She’s fat, happy, and having a nice spring shed.

Hector is Hector, what can I say? She’s still taking over the house, strutting around with her beak in the air, chasing cats, and destroying any cardboard that she can find. She is definitely enjoying all the out of cage time with me being home so much. She actually mumbles at me when I close her cage during the day if I have to lock her up. I bought her some lovely freeze-dried chop from Texas Freeze Dried Naturals. She didn’t eat it very well last time I tried it, but this time I’m using it to stretch the fresh chop I make. I’m adding a bit of the freeze dried to her fresh food every day so that I can use less fresh, and she is actually eating all of it. Old birds CAN learn new tricks!

I bought a handheld steam cleaner a couple of weeks ago. I had heard they were useful for cleaning bird cages, but hadn’t bothered in the past. I saw one on sale for about $30 on Amazon and thought it was worth a try. It was great! If anyone is interested, I bought a Bissell Steam Shot. It comes with brushes for scrubbing, and it is simple to use. I rolled her cage out on the back porch and went to work one sunny day. It isn’t a miracle cleaner. I still had to do some scraping, but it definitely got the cage cleaner than it has been in a very long time. I’m also finding the steamer handy for cleaning showers and bathtubs, bonus!

Cali has been super annoying lately. I’m not sure if it is because we are home, if the weather is nicer, if her allergies are bugging her, if she is bored? She barks at every little noise. I’m trying a couple of different things with her and it seems to be helping. First of all, I’m trying mandatory walks every single day that the weather permits. I’m also keeping treats around the house and working on basic training again. She knows some tricks and I’m trying to teach her more. She seems to be doing a little better. I’m not sure if it is the discipline of the training or the exercise, but whatever it is, I’ll take it! I need to put a haircut for her on my schedule.

Puck’s urinary issues seem to have cleared up, but I’m still wary. I’ve got him on the prescription diet, but it is super expensive with three cats in the house. There isn’t really a good way to feed him alone, so all the cats are getting it. I’m switching between the prescription food and a couple of non-prescription urinary health foods. I found a Purina dry food that I realized is making one of the cats throw up! I won’t be buying that one anymore. Bean also throws up, hairballs are the issue. I’ve been using a paste I bought which seems to help, but he still has occasional problems.

I’ve been researching cat diets, and I feel like my best bet is going to be putting all the cats on a raw food diet. I thought about making it myself, but with everything in various stages of being open or not lately, I didn’t want to have to try to track down healthy, fresh raw meats. I’m also worried about making sure they get all the right nutrients.

My research led me to Primal brand raw foods. They seem to be well respected and easily available. I like the idea of a commercial food because I’m worried my homemade food won’t be nutritionally complete. My local pet store sells both freeze dried and frozen versions of Primal raw food, so I’ve ordered a couple of different types to try. Hopefully I can pick it up today or tomorrow. Puck seems to be allergic to any type of fish or seafood, so I’ll be trying turkey and pork varieties. I’m hoping the cats like it, and maybe it will help keep Puck stable and help with Bean’s hair balls. Primal is expensive, but now that I have to use prescription food, it is actually cheaper than that, so worth a try. I’ve been feeding the cats a bit of canned food twice per day, plus free choice dry, so my thought it to sub in one meal a day of raw food and see how it goes. Of course, I’ll update here!

Bean is getting so big! I’ll have to see if I can get an approximate weight on him. He is just about 9 months old now. I’m 99% sure he is now our largest pet! Cali weighs about 11lbs, and I’m pretty sure Bean is heavier than that now.

Let me know what you and your pets are up to. Stay well.

Cat Stuff

The weather has been crazy, sunny and spring-like one day, cold, windy, rainy the next. We’ve been taking advantage of any and all sunny days to open up the house and get some fresh air in. The kitties love to hang out near the screens, sniff the fresh air, and occasionally keep an eye on a chipmunk or two.

On the colder days, they all like to find a cozy spot to snuggle up.

I’m still experimenting with litter boxes, and now with cat litter as well. The Breeze Box is working out well for me as my extra/upstairs box. the litter doesn’t track, and it doesn’t smell. The two most important things to me. I still don’t think that box would work out for me if I only used Breeze boxes, but maybe it would. If I see them on sale again, I might buy another to try downstairs with my other boxes.

I keep three boxes downstairs, and all three were traditional tray boxes with clumping litter. As Bean is getting bigger, I was finding litter everywhere. Not only in the large trays I keep under the boxes, but spread into the carpet in the hall, up the stairs, just everywhere. If I didn’t vacuum every day, the hall was turning into a sandbox. My first experiment was to try a paper pellet litter. The litter I chose is: Purina Yesterday’s News Non Clumping Paper Cat Litter, Unscented Low Tracking Cat Litter.

The key to me was the “low tracking” part. It has been ages since I’ve used a non-clumping litter, but it was worth a try. I’m using the paper litter in just one of the three boxes. I didn’t want to overwhelm the cats. They started using it right away, but like the upstairs box, they are only using the new litter to urinate.

So far, I really like this litter. It is definitely not tracking. Once every couple of days I find a pellet or two on the carpet, but other than that these pellets mostly stay in the box. I bought a new litter scoop: and it is working out well. I’m finding the non-clumping litter to be much easier to deal with than I had imagined. Every day I run the scoop through it, pick up any chunks, and that’s it. About every ten days, I dump the entire box, wipe it out, and refill it, super easy. The new scoop is also working really well for my clumping litter. It has bigger holes, so I don’t have to scoop and shake, shake, shake. I just scoop, wait a second, and the clumps are ready to be dumped.

My only hesitation with this new litter is that the cats aren’t using it to poop. I’m trying to decide if I should switch another box to this paper litter, or maybe try another kind of litter in one of the other boxes, maybe a pine litter.

I definitely think that the pelleted litters are less tracking for us, and although I’m kind of shocked about it, I also think I want to move to a non-clumping litter. The way my boxes are set up, it is super easy to dump them every ten days or so, and it makes daily cleaning easier. I guess I’ll have to see how my litter costs are and if it is much more expensive to dump the whole box so often.

I definitely don’t love it when the pets beg, but when we eat in front of TV and Puck gets up on his hind legs like this, it is just too cute!

My other cat issue is that one of them has been throwing up hairballs pretty regularly. I think it’s Bean, but I’m not 100% sure. I’ve tried home remedies, like coconut oil, but haven’t had any luck. Last week, I tried a commercial product and it seems to be helping. Funny thing is that Bean is the only one who will eat it. I’m trying to brush him more, and using the hair ball remedy as well. Hopefully that will fix that problem.

Hector is quiet this morning, the Dragon is sunning herself. I should take advantage of the quiet house and get some work done. I’m putting together info on pet water fountains, and will have that posted soon. I seem to always be experimenting with new pet products to solve different problems. What are you experimenting with these days?

Boredom

With many all over the world home more now, what are you doing to combat boredom for yourself, and your pets? Our dog is definitely getting walked more often. She’s also enjoying more time on her own in the yard when the weather is nice. Yesterday she went out and sprawled out on the deck in the sunshine.

Cali got a hair cut and bath a couple of days ago. She’s looking better, but I still need to even up her face a little bit and get those stray hairs away from her eyes. I hate when she has hair over her eyes.

The dragon is getting more out of cage time. Sometimes she sits on my shoulder while I’m working. It hasn’t been warm enough to take her outside for some sunshine yet, but hopefully soon. Unfortunately, floor time is tough for her with three cats in the house. I did bring her upstairs with me when I folded laundry yesterday. I was able to let her run around a bit in the closed laundry room, cat-free! Well, not quite cat-free, I kept seeing paws appear under the door.

Hector D. Byrd is having a great time! I open her cage when I get up in the morning, and it is only closed for short periods of time when I have to go upstairs or outside. Yesterday while I was on my computer she climbed down to the floor and started running around (she doesn’t fly) and laughing. The second I would turn to look at her, she would freeze and look at me.

A couple of nights ago, Hector joined us for family game night. She likes to be part of things. Another thing she likes to take part in is family dinner. We have been having family dinners pretty much every night since we are all home together now. Our dinner table is just a couple of feet from Hector’s cage, and she loves when we have dinner at the table. Since birds are social creatures, they love to eat with their flock. Hector will usually go eat something when we have food. She always has pellets in her cage, and depending on what we are eating for dinner, I will save her some veggies, or potatoes or very occasionally a baked french fry. Last night while we were eating, Hector was chirping and whistling and hanging out. My son left dinner a little early for an online meeting, and after he left Hector got down from her cage and walked over to me. I picked her up, put her on the back of my son’s chair, and she hung out with us and ate a fry. She was so happy! Our daughter was less happy. She is not a fan of birds!

The cats have been bringing their toys all over the house, Bean loves to chase anything that makes noise, ping pong balls, bell balls, and especially a toy mouse that makes a weird electronic chirping noise. That last one wakes up the entire house when he decides to play with it in the middle of the night! We have been trying to teach Bean to play Fetch, Puck plays, but Bean just grabs the toy and takes off with it. He can’t seem to figure out the bringing it back part.

I’m trying to come up with new ways for the cats, and especially Bean, the kitten, to amuse themselves. I’ve seen some interesting cat feeders lately where the cat has to do something to get the food out of the feeder. I found a brand called Catit that has some really interesting looking feeders. I’m hoping they will send me a unit or two to review. I’ll keep you posted.

Speaking of the cats, Puck seems to be doing well. He is acting normally and not spending extra time in the litter box. I’m feeding them canned food formulated for urinary health twice per day, and they also have dry food that is for urinary health now. I’m glad the little guy seems to be getting some relief. He is such a sweet kitty!

Is there any cat owner that doesn’t hate the litter box? With three cats and four litter boxes, it has been a battle lately. The Breeze box I have upstairs is OK. I made the mistake of buying some Amazon pads instead of the Breeze brand ones, and they don’t contain the smell nearly as well. I will use them up to not waste them, but I have to change them twice as often as the Breeze ones. I’ll be happy when I run out!

My other three litter boxes are just regular boxes with clumping litter. I don’t know what is going on with them lately, but there is so much cat litter on the floor! The cats are tracking it everywhere. I’m thinking of switching to pine litter to see if the bigger chunks spread around less. Either that or I need to find a new kind of box. Something has to change because I’m finding myself vacuuming almost every day to deal with all the litter.

Stay safe everyone. Enjoy the extra time with your pets, and let me know what you are doing to keep them and yourselves entertained.

Extra Time to Write

Bean has been checking his crystal ball, but no news on when the Corona virus will clear up. We all hope everyone is staying safe and well. On a positive note, I’m hoping the extra time at home will give me more time to update this blog. Let me know if there is a topic you would like covered.

Before I get into an update on my own creature friends, just a note to spread the word that reliable sources say pets can not carry Corona virus. I’m seeing to many stories about pets being dumped at shelters because people are scared. Keep your pets close and let’s get through this together.

Hector is a bit tired of having people around all the time. While she likes attention and activity, she is a little upset that her routine has been messed with. She is dealing with our later breakfast time, but she would definitely like some more quiet time. I’m often finding her with her head curled up trying to nap on top of her cage.

Wena, the bearded dragon, is doing well. She’s been shedding like crazy and eating a ton. Thankfully I can still get live insect shipments delivered for her. Her body has mostly shed, but her head, back legs, and tail still need to go, lots of baths for her.

Bean isn’t always nice to Logan, but Logan can also be the cranky old lady. I do still catch Bean chasing her at times, but the other day I caught the two of them snuggling. Logan didn’t seem to mind Bean using her as a pillow. Nice to see them getting along!

Cali and Bean love to greet me when I come in the house even if I’ve only been gone a few minutes to grab the mail or put out the trash. Both are VERY happy to have people around all the time.

Our sweet boy Puck isn’t doing very well right now. I feel so bad for him. He still seems to be suffering the effects of the cystitis he was diagnosed with a couple of weeks ago. Maybe it is my fault. I’ve been trying some non-prescription urinary health cat foods, but not the prescription one, after yesterday when I had to call the vet again, I’ve got him on the prescription diet, and now he is also on pain killers again.

The problem is that we have three cats in the house, and the prescription food is super expensive. One tiny little 3oz can costs about $1.50. The other problem is that Puck doesn’t love canned food. He will eat a bit, then leave. This morning I mixed his canned food with a little extra water, and he actually seemed to really like that, and the extra water is supposed to be good for him. I invested in the prescription dry food as well, but it really isn’t sustainable to keep all three cats on this prescription food. The dry food is $40 for a 7lb bag, vs. about $20 for the 7 pound bags I used to buy.

This morning, Puck got his special prescription canned food, and the other two cats split a big can of the non-prescription urinary health food. Puck seemed to eat as much as he wanted before he left. Someone suggested a chip-reading feeder. I’m thinking about trying one, and setting it up so that Bean and Logan could eat from it, but not Puck, and then I can try to keep Puck eating only his prescription canned food. Of course the chip-reading feeders are also pretty expensive. Maybe I can find a couple of them to review and check out.

If anyone has any other ideas on keeping Puck healthy without spending quite so much on prescription cat food, I’d love any new ideas.

Stay well everyone, and enjoy your pets!

Puck Update

Wednesday, poor Puck was still acting a little weird. He was spending extra time in the litter box, although he didn’t seem to be uncomfortable. Other than extra time in the box, he was his normal, cuddly self, but I was worried about the extra time in the litter box. The vet had said that the next step was a urine test, so I went ahead and did that.

I managed to collect a urine sample. That Breeze litter box I got a few weeks ago, made it super easy. I took the pad out of the bottom tray, cleaned everything well, and left Puck in a room with that box for a couple of hours. Then I was able to collect a sample from the tray and bring it to my vet.

The urinalysis showed no signs of infection, so the only thing to do is feed Urinary tract health food, and hope this settles down. As of today, he seems to be doing OK. I need to work out this whole food thing. The urinary health food is fine to feed all three of our cats, probably even healthy for them, but it is crazy expensive! I normally pay about $20 for an 8 lb bag of dry food, this prescription food is about $75 for a 14 lb bag. The prescription canned food is also very pricey.

Purina makes a non-prescription urinary health formula that is just slightly more expensive than regular cat food, so I think I’m going to try that. My vet has been out of the office this week, so I plan to check in with him on Monday and see what his thoughts are on the non-prescription urinary health food. The other problem with the prescription formula is the cats don’t really seem to like it, and I’m not sure they will keep eating it long term.

Puck-Date

It’s been a busy cat week here! Tuesday evening, my son and I found Puck sitting in the litter box. He looked miserable and was spending a lot of time in there. I noticed his urine was dark, almost a bit bloody looking. I texted a friend who is a vet tech, and she suggested we get him to the emergency animal hospital in case he had a urinary blockage.

The Emergency vet rushed Puck back immediately to be checked for blockage, but thankfully there didn’t seem to be anything to worry about. They checked him over, and decided it was probably Cystitis. He was sent home with a pain medicine, and a drug called Prazosin for urethral spams.

Yesterday morning he already seemed a bit better. I scheduled a follow up with our regular vet, and we just got back from that appointment. Our regular vet confirmed a diagnosis of Idiopathic Cystitis. We did an X-ray to make sure there wasn’t a stone, or crystals, but everything looks perfect.

We decided to take a conservative approach. Basically, we know this will most likely happen to the poor cat again in the future. It’s probably some how related to stress, and thankfully, studies show that it happens less frequently as cats age. Our plan is to put him on a prescription canned food and see how he does. If it happens again, we will do more testing if needed. He may need to go on a prescription dry food along with the canned food. With three cats in the house, prescription food will be pricey, but we will deal with that if/when we have to. For now, Puck seems better, and we’ll be happy with that.

PetSafe Drinking Fountains

Do you use a Pet Fountain for your dog or cat? I started using one a few years ago, and I won’t ever go back to a regular water bowl, especially for my cats.

Years ago, I lost a cat to kidney disease. My vet told me it was very common because most cats don’t drink enough water. I switched to a diet of canned and dry food for my cats so they would get that little bit of extra moisture from the canned food, and I switched to a fountain.

I have two PetSafe fountains that I switch between. One is the Drinkwell Seascape Fountain, shown above with Bean, and the other is the Drinkwell, 2 gallon model.

Both fountains work great. I actually use them both and switch off between them. They both work in essentially the same way, they have a filter which circulates the water from the bowl, and then spits it out through the fountain. The 2 gallon model has a spout for the water to come out of, and the Seascape model uses a large ceramic globe or ball that the water comes out of the top and pours down over the sides. I like to switch between the two fountains to keep the cats interest up. They seem to really like to lick the water off the ceramic globe of the Seascape, but they also enjoying playing with the water from the spout on the two gallon model.

Maintenance is easy. Each fountain contains a foam filter and a carbon filter. It takes me maybe ten minutes total for a thorough cleaning. The process is very similar for both. The foam filter fits around the pump and collects larger debris such as cat hair, and the carbon filter freshens the water. I clean my fountain about once every ten days, and usually change the carbon filter every time. There are times I’ve rinsed the filter and it has looked OK, so I’ve used it for a second cycle. The foam filter is very easy to rinse and reuse. I probably only change my foam filter once every three months. Both types of filters are easily and inexpensively available on Amazon. Here’s the insides of the Seascape fountain:

Seascape Fountain – foam filter and pump

Carbon filter assembled and attached to foam filter and pump

The Two Gallon fountain is similar inside:

Housing goes over the pump and filters – the lever in the middle adjusts water flow

The Seascape is slightly easier to clean, simply because of the material it is made from. We have lots of minerals in our water and they build up quickly on surfaces. I find it easier to clean the ceramic bowl of the Seascape than the plastic of the other fountain. As you can see in the picture above, I definitely get some mineral residue.

During the week, I simply add fresh water to the bowl as the level depletes. The nice thing about the plastic fountain is the bigger capacity. The Seascape fountain holds about 70 ounces, while the other, holds about 2 gallons. I’ve got three cats and a small dog, so the capacity of the Seascape works for me. I don’t mind refilling it daily. When I had my yellow lab, it was definitely helpful to have the larger fountain, and even then, I put out a large water bowl along with the fountain in summer because he would go through a lot of water. Honestly, I found my Lab preferred to just drink out of a bowl most of the time. The cats always seem to prefer the moving water from the fountain.

Aesthetically, I like the look of the Seascape better. The ceramic feels more finished. I also prefer the spherical design of the Seascape better than the spout design of the two gallon model.

Another small detail I like better about the Seascape model is that it is easier to pick up. The two gallon model has straight sides that go right to the floor, so it is harder to get a finger under it to lift it, and the sides are straight. The Seascape is a bit curved at the top of the bowl, so it is easy to pick up. It also feels sturdier than the plastic fountain when I have to move it with water in it.

Overall, I think they are both great fountains. If I had to chose only one, I would chose the Seascape because the capacity is enough for me, and I like the look of it, but if you need the bigger capacity, the Two gallon works just great.

Do you use a fountain for your pets? What features do you like? You can check out these two fountains at www.petsafe.com or look for them on Amazon.