~ask The Cat Assistan ~

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

Having trouble with you feline friend? Behavioral issues, wanting to adopt or just have a question? Please do not hesitate to ask

I have been working at St.Julian's Cat Care for about 2 years now (yes we are a Feline only Veterinary Clinic located in Dearborn), and no I'm not on the job-trained Veterinary Assistant, I graduated from a Vet. Ass. program so I do know what I am talking about. The Doctor what I work for is simply the greatest, and she has taught me so much (but I am like a sponge lol so it's never enough). At the moment I am planing to in-roll into the Vet. Tech. program, so well see how that goes. I do have 3 kitties on my own,Brooklyn, Itssy and Kiba. Kiba and Ittsy were personal rescues. Itssy has feline leukemia and Kiba has a hole in his heart and a closed up ventricle. They were both going to be euthanised, so they came home with me.

Again I am not a License Veterinarian meaning I can't diagnose the condition of your pet.

If it's an emergency please contact your Veterinarian

THANKS!!!

[Onyx]

I do have a question!

I have 3 kittens who were all adopted about the same time, all from different cat parents, and one elderly cat, 11 years old. Two are very tame domestic kitties and one kitten was slightly wild but has tamed up nicely. All indoor cats. They all get along very well together except the one half wild kitten and my elderly cat.

For some reason they challenge each other and tend to fight, though it is not as bad as it was at first. I introduced them slowly and carefully but they still fought. Now the fighting has decreased to only a couple times a week, which is much better but I still hate them fighting.

Anything I can do to help the process of becoming friendly?

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

It seems that the new cats in the house hold are still trying to decide who is going to be the alpha cat.

There is this diffuser they sell at the Vet's office (it's like $35) it's called Feliway. What it does it releases "mother" cat phermoes to soothe the kittens and it works on adult cats as well(they can smell it to us it's odorless). It mellows them out making them more lovable, it's like kitty voodoo i swear it works as soon as 24 hrs. Give it a try, if it dosen't work you can always return it and get your $$ back.

Good luck with the new babies! :D

[Miranda]

Hi,

I adopted a wonderful 6 year old female cat from the Humane Society in Ann Arbor a few weeks ago. She had only been there a day when I saw her. She had fleas, tape worm and ear mites. Apparently, she was brought in with a shipment of cats from a farm. She was treated for all of these ailments and she was also spay the day after I adopted her, which is Humane Society policy... I would have done that anyway. I noticed a week after she was itching a lot , upon inspection, she still had a flea, more than likely more. I had her treated with Capstar and Advantage. We had great success with that. Now, I am noticing that she is very clingy, which we love but she will grab our wrists with her teeth and it can be quite hard or she has nipped at our faces, even though gently. Any ideas as to why she would do this? Thank you.

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

Some kittens that haven't been socialized enough some times develop play agression. They don't really know that their play bites actually hurt us. When she does this just tap her on the nose and say "No Bite " in a different angry tone(don't yell but let her know that she's in trouble) this will take some time (a week or so depending on how fast the kitten picks up). Make sure she has plenty of toys to play with as well so your not being the shreded toy.

If she still had fleas .. make sure that she was properly de-wormed. Usually when cat's have fleas they also have tapeworms. You can usually tell if the kitty is vomiting there will be a ribon like worm in the votmit or there will be rice grain segments by her rectum.

Let me know how everything turns out

[Miranda]

The cat is 6 years old, not a kitten. Does the same advice still apply? Thanks

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

The cat is 6 years old, not a kitten. Does the same advice still apply? Thanks

Sorry I call them kittens regadless, because they are someone's baby, bad habit. But yes do try the same :D

[Miranda]

Thanks Got it.

[Head Wreck]

hi. thie nieghberhood strays are making a mess in my garden when they step on the landmines.

is there any way of reducing the blood splatter to my white house?

[know_buddy_kares]

wooo i love cats! they're awsome! I'm good with them as well... never met a cat that don't like me unless they were ABUSED... and even then abused cats warm up to me real quick after a straight week.. yet i'm in germany unfortunately...

but OP, we should talk for sure... I love kitties!

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

hi. thie nieghberhood strays are making a mess in my garden when they step on the landmines.

is there any way of reducing the blood splatter to my white house?

Very cute but if you don't have a serious question please don't post here...

[BlackcaT840]

I'm temporaily at my parents house with my 2 cats. My parents has 3 of their own. Zeek, who is the only male, is about 5 years old and he's fixed. However, he's spraying all over the house. Now, I'm moving out of my parents house in a month. Will Zeek stop spraying when I take my 2 cats with me?

Also, Zeek is really beating up the oldest cat we have in the house. Her name is Taz. She's about 15 years old and fixed. Zeek intentionally seeks her out around the house, just to hiss and scratch her and chases her around the house. Any reason for that behavior?

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

Sounds like he's being very teritorial, again cat's that are used to being the alpha(the dominant ones) cats will seek out the lowest ranking cat the omega and try to start a fight just to make their ego better.

He's spraying because he's marking his teritory. Again feliway can help with that they sell at the Vet's office (it's like $35), but since your moving out you might not need it. Also take him to the Vet so they can do a urinalysis just to make sure it's not a UTI (Urinary T. Infection) or a blockage.. but since he beats up the other cat I belive it's a behavioural issue.

Also if ur thinking about cleaning the spots he sprayed in, take a black light and it will be very easy to find, to clean use URINEOFF again you can get it at ur Vet it's an enzyme cleaner that breaks the smell of urine and such so it will clean it right off. Let me know if you have any further questions :D.

[alaska sunrise]

Having trouble with you feline friend? Behavioral issues, wanting to adopt or just have a question? Please do not hesitate to ask

I have been working at St.Julian's Cat Care for about 2 years now (yes we are a Feline only Veterinary Clinic located in Dearborn), and no I'm not on the job-trained Veterinary Assistant, I graduated from a Vet. Ass. program so I do know what I am talking about. The Doctor what I work for is simply the greatest, and she has taught me so much (but I am like a sponge lol so it's never enough). At the moment I am planing to in-roll into the Vet. Tech. program, so well see how that goes. I do have 3 kitties on my own,Brooklyn, Itssy and Kiba. Kiba and Ittsy were personal rescues. Itssy has feline leukemia and Kiba has a hole in his heart and a closed up ventricle. They were both going to be euthanised, so they came home with me.

Again I am not a License Veterinarian meaning I can't diagnose the condition of your pet.

If it's an emergency please contact your Veterinarian

THANKS!!!

[Homicidalheathen]

My cat is a fat bitch. I love her to death but.....we tried putting her on a diet.......she acted like Naomi Campbell.

If we don't feed her on time, she holds my plants hostage. I am not kidding. She sits next to one and looks at it, then at you, then at it.....sorta like feed me or the plant get it!

Then she starts nibbling, even if you say something to her.

She eats paper too. I have lost 3 important pieces of paper because of her.

She will even go get something out of my purse!

She is a pig. She eats everything.......donuts......cookies.....my pot......

I want to put her on a diet but don't want to get rid of all my house plants.

We are worried about how big she is getting....she beats up the other cat and steals his food.

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

In a way I feel blessed that my cat's are good at free feeding and just eat a bit through out the day.

Do you feed your kitty at a certain time of the day?

The problem sometimes with the compulsive eaters is that some of these cat's were strays and they never knew when the next meal was coming to them so they just over eat. However obesity in cat's is serious as they get older, they develop diabetes and arhtritis, also they can't groom themselves and their fur get's matted (not to mention the rectum area ).

We carry 2 different kitty formulas that are suposed to change their metabolism and the nutreints in the food are different than the ones sold over the counter. Cat's unlike dogs, need more protein in their diet for energy and they don't metabolize the corn,rice and other wheat products that are in regular over the counter foods.

Try Royal Canine Calorie Control or W/d Science Diet (some Vet's won't prescribe the diets unless they see the cat, just so they can make a right diagnose). Once she's on this diet she can't eat any table scraps (feeding her this food is not putting her on a diet, it's just different kind of food). Ofcourse it seems like you would have to feed her all trough out the day .. so maybe like less of a handfull everytime she gives u sighn that she's hungry that way she won't over eat. And I belive that amounts a total of 1 cup a day, wich should be enough for an adult cat.

Just to let you know she will gain weight at first (that's just her building up muscle) and then she will start to lose the wight gradually, the process will take a while just like it takes us humans to lose weight. If she even looses a pound that will be great progress. It should be free just to bring her in for a weight check at the Vet's.

Some Vet's do not carry Royal Canine(all of clients seems to like this brand more than science diet) brand and have never heard of it,but they can order it for you so make sure that you ask.

You mentioned that she eats the plants as well?? Can you put your potted plants to a higher surface so she can't really get to them? Try that and see if it works, but be careful you dont want her to knock them over. And you can go online to make sure that the plants that you have in your house are not toxic, because belive it or not some plants if consumed can make you cat very sick or even worse she can get poisoned from the toxicity content.

I hope this helps Good luck!!!

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

She is a pig. She eats everything.......donuts......cookies.....my pot.......

Your pot.. as in Marihuana? If this is the case you need to hide ur stash because that's toxic to cats and dogs..

By the way I would like to get some updates from Onyx, Blackcat840 and Miranda .. see how their kitties are progressing

[Homicidalheathen]

Thanks! Wierd thing is she wont eat table scraps......but wants baked goods but only if she is sneaking them.....

Gonna try the new food and some more plant hangers

[bean]

My cat likes to pat my face after she gets into bed with me at night. Why does she do that?

Also, she sometimes jams her nose up one of my nostrils after I've come home from going out somewhere. Why does she do that?

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

She's trying to be affeconate.. Tells you that she misses you..

I get head butt from one and a pat on the face from the other..

[bean]

She's trying to be affeconate.. Tells you that she misses you..

I get head butt from one and a pat on the face from the other..

I kinda figured..the pat on the face thing has been recent, but I've been gone more because of school.

Thanks!

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

haha yeah my female talks to me when I get home from work *meow, meow meow* I think it means were have you been all day lol, when I pick her up to pet her she puts her paws on my face its cute (she has never used her nails)

[Morbid Side]

Ohh, I have a question!

How do you know if the cat you live with is a pharaoh? I don't get how my mom's cat eyes change from all sorts of red, green, yellow and blues. It is unique, but when I get up in the middle of the night to find glowing red demonic eyes targeting me, it sends shivers down my spin. At first, I thought it was the lighting, then I figured they looked like mood rings.

[EnViOuSPoPpEt]

Well your mother's cat is certainly not a reincarnated Egyptian pharaoh .. See the glowing of the cat's eyes in the dark has to do with the color of the light reflected back from the tapetum lucidum(translated from Latin it means "light carpet", and it's actually al network of light sensitive cells in the cat's eye) is related to the color of the cat's eyes. Cats with green or yellow eyes tend to reflect greenish light. Cats with blue eyes, such as Siamese, tend to reflect reddish light.

So no your mother's cat is not possessed.

And cat's eye color does change slightly due to the opening of the iris, but not drastically in color.

[pharoh]

I no longer see this cat, because the owner and I are no longer together, but I had huge problems with this animal.

At first the cat and I were buddies, I would be sleeping at night and she would come in and kneed my back or my butt (she had bad aim lol) while I was sleeping. She was prissy, but would come up and want/give affection to me.

Then it started going south.

At night she while I would be sleeping she would stick her nose right up to my face and stare at me.....I would wake up and she would be right there......staring at me.....I was like WTF? I never shooed her away, I would usually just roll over or something.

Owner and I had gone through some problems (may be part of the reason I know pets pick up on things), and she started poopin on the floor.....she knew she was doin wrong and would try to sneak away or whatever, but she would refuse the litter box. I tried to be tolerant of it for so long, but I finally would pick her up and put her in front of it and say NO very sternly and swat her on the tush. Literboxes were always clean btw, had multiple cats and literboxes, they got along well.

Well finally we moved to another location and she wouldn't stop it, one day I was at the computer and the little bitch came up to me and shit right under my foot and I stepped in it and tracked it all over....you can imagine at this point I was beyond pissed.

Any Ideas Cat whisperer lol