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#491
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"Alison" wrote cats, and holding ferals after neutering. I also manage feral colonies.. How do you stop bringing all the cats home? He's got to have an awful lot of just plain strength to deal with what he sees on a regular basis. I could never do it. I always respected your medical knowledge , if I needed to know anything I would ask you. I'm going to put these points together and post around my cat forums to give people an idea what to look out for. This is a really great idea. |
#492
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"Diane L. Schirf" wrote in message ink.net... Well, this is a good point. One Saturday, Hodge began the day his normal, irascible self. By 5:00 p.m., I noticed he'd been napping for what was an unusually long period for his 24- to 30-month-old self. Then when I touched him, he didn't snap at me. He didn't snap at me no matter what I did. (Like pet his lower back.) He seemed hot to the touch, too. So my date happened to arrive at 5:30 p.m., and we took him to the emergency hospital. He had a fever, undetermined infection; they gave him antibiotics, kept him on ice, etc., and the fever broke at 2:00 a.m. Diane, While trying to keep this civil and polite, I'd just like to make a point here. I/O cats don't spend all their lives outdoors (unless the owners are negligent, and that's an entirely different topic). Indeed, they spend most of their lives indoors with their owners, just like yours! The owners are just as likely to spot behavioural changes are you are. My cats follow me about inside just as yours do. They demand to cuddle on my lap in front of the TV just like yours do and help me with the cooking, just in case, just like yours do. One of them insists on sitting in the bath, tasting any water left over from my shower and watching me put my makeup on every morning. They're there, outside my bedroom door, every morning, waiting for me to go to the loo so they can then rush downstairs and sit in front of their food bowls to tell me they're empty. They spend a maximum of 3-4 hours a day outside. So behavioural changes *are* noticeable. Indeed, whenever I've had a problem with my cats, it's been because I've noticed their behavioural problems. With one exception. With the IBD, I spotted it because Cassius staring vomiting and had diarrhoea *inside*. Owners who keep their cats in at night will also have litter boxes available. Now, while it's true that my two prefer to go outside, if there's anything that's causing that to change, I will notice. |
#493
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"Ashley" wrote in message ... "Diane L. Schirf" wrote in message ink.net... Well, this is a good point. One Saturday, Hodge began the day his normal, irascible self. By 5:00 p.m., I noticed he'd been napping for what was an unusually long period for his 24- to 30-month-old self. Then when I touched him, he didn't snap at me. He didn't snap at me no matter what I did. (Like pet his lower back.) He seemed hot to the touch, too. So my date happened to arrive at 5:30 p.m., and we took him to the emergency hospital. He had a fever, undetermined infection; they gave him antibiotics, kept him on ice, etc., and the fever broke at 2:00 a.m. Diane, While trying to keep this civil and polite, I'd just like to make a point here. I/O cats don't spend all their lives outdoors (unless the owners are negligent, and that's an entirely different topic). Indeed, they spend most of their lives indoors with their owners, just like yours! The owners are just as likely to spot behavioural changes are you are. This is a gross generalisation, and as such, patently untrue. Please. Even YOU can do better than this. |
#494
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On Sat, 09 Apr 2005 12:05:29 GMT, "Phil P."
wrote: ...and that's very important. In addition to not noticing a urinary tract obstruction, a chronically constipated cat can develop megacolon - which often requires surgery to remove a large section of the colon. How long is typically too long? When I got Jay Jay, he had trouble adjusting to the food and had very bad diarrhea. The vet gave me meds, and it stopped that night. But then he didn't poop for 3 days. I knew he was eating less since I also had him a special diet. And I was checking the 3 litter boxes several times a day, not that it was that hard to notice - Jay Jay doesn't cover, and his is larger than the others (stinkier too). If a cat has the slight loose poos and poos outside the owner wouldn't see it . If it has diarrhea it won't be able to help but go inside on the carpet ot where ever. Not necessarily if the cat is accustomed and prefers to eliminate outdoors. Cats have the ability to voluntarily inhibit elimination until the time and place of their choosing. It depends on how bad it is and if there is any warning. Sometimes, it can be that bad, but most times, there is enough warning to get to the box. Jay Jay had diarrhea for 4 days. He hit the box several times a day. He only went outside the box once, and that was not an aim or timing issue. He was upstairs and still afraid of dogs at the time. There was no kitty litter upstairs, and I was at work. After that incident, I put a kitty litter upstairs for him. No more problems. He had extremely liquidy diarrhea, but he never failed to get it in a box. -- Meghan & the Zoo Crew Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com |
#495
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On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:38:55 +1200, "Ashley"
wrote: Diane, While trying to keep this civil and polite, I'd just like to make a point here. I/O cats don't spend all their lives outdoors (unless the owners are negligent, and that's an entirely different topic). Indeed, they spend most of their lives indoors with their owners, just like yours! I would have to disagree here. As you and others have stated, a good owner of an I/O cat only lets them outside while the owner is home. You already miss the time you are at work and asleep. If the cat is outside during part of the remaining time, then you have even less time with your cats than somebody who keeps them inside. -- Meghan & the Zoo Crew Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com |
#496
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On Sat, 9 Apr 2005 17:53:18 +0100, "Alison"
wrote: If a cat prefers to poo outdoors then in normal health circumstances or a bit loose , it can/will hold on if it wants but I'm still a bit doubtful that if a cat had the runs bad it can hold it over night. Overnight? I thought all the outdoor people said they have kitty litters in the house !?! Why would the cat have to wait overnight? -- Meghan & the Zoo Crew Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com |
#497
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"Meghan Noecker" wrote in message ... On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 08:38:55 +1200, "Ashley" wrote: Diane, While trying to keep this civil and polite, I'd just like to make a point here. I/O cats don't spend all their lives outdoors (unless the owners are negligent, and that's an entirely different topic). Indeed, they spend most of their lives indoors with their owners, just like yours! I would have to disagree here. As you and others have stated, a good owner of an I/O cat only lets them outside while the owner is home. I don't want to get in arguments here. But I'll just point out the obvious: if you work during the day and let them out only when you're home, and follow the recommendations not to let them out at night, then they are indoor cats. Definitions of "good" are subjective. As this group has shown! You already miss the time you are at work and asleep. If the cat is outside during part of the remaining time, then you have even less time with your cats than somebody who keeps them inside. On the whole, when I'm inside, my cats (or at least one of them) are there with me. When I'm outside, at least one of them is there with me, too. |
#498
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On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:07:16 +1200, "Ashley"
wrote: I don't want to get in arguments here. But I'll just point out the obvious: if you work during the day and let them out only when you're home, and follow the recommendations not to let them out at night, then they are indoor cats. That doesn't make sense. If they go outside, then they are indoor/outdoor cats. Just because they are outside less than 8 hours a day does not make them indoor only cats. -- Meghan & the Zoo Crew Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com |
#499
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"Meghan Noecker" wrote in message ... On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:07:16 +1200, "Ashley" wrote: I don't want to get in arguments here. But I'll just point out the obvious: if you work during the day and let them out only when you're home, and follow the recommendations not to let them out at night, then they are indoor cats. That doesn't make sense. If they go outside, then they are indoor/outdoor cats. Just because they are outside less than 8 hours a day does not make them indoor only cats. If it's dark when you leave and dark when you get home ... This happens in many places in winter. And who said anything about 8 hours? As I've posted here before, my cats would spend a max of 4 hours a day outside, probably a lot less. Most of the day they spend curled up asleep on a couch or a bed. But they come and go - it's not as if they go out and 3 or 4 hours later come back. |
#500
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On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 20:34:42 +1200, "Ashley"
wrote: "Meghan Noecker" wrote in message ... On Sun, 10 Apr 2005 16:07:16 +1200, "Ashley" wrote: I don't want to get in arguments here. But I'll just point out the obvious: if you work during the day and let them out only when you're home, and follow the recommendations not to let them out at night, then they are indoor cats. That doesn't make sense. If they go outside, then they are indoor/outdoor cats. Just because they are outside less than 8 hours a day does not make them indoor only cats. If it's dark when you leave and dark when you get home ... You didn't say the cats weren't going outside. And the conditions you mention are not year round, nor do most people work every day of the week. This happens in many places in winter. And in many places, it doesn't. You set up very specific conditions. A lot of people get off work before sundown, even in the winter. Many people work evenings and are thus home during the morning and early afternoon. Mosty people have at least one day off each week. And who said anything about 8 hours? If people work 8 hours and sleep 8 hours, then the remaining time is 8 hours or less. I was not suggesting that the cat was out for 8 hours, only that there were still 8 hours available in the day for the cat to go out and still meet the conditions of the owner home and awake. From the way yo described it (without the suggestion that it is dark while you are home, and thus the cat never went out), a cat would still be classified as indoor, even if they went outside. And frankly, if the cat is going outside, I would call it an indoor/outdoor cat (unless it is on a leash or kept in fenced & covered enclosure). To say that an indoor/outdoor is indoor only because it isn't out much is not true. -- Meghan & the Zoo Crew Equine and Pet Photography http://www.zoocrewphoto.com |
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