Typical "Shelter" Kitty?

On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:34:35 -0400, T
wrote:


Be careful. We had been free feeding for the longest time when we
adopted Cosimo. He was a big kitten to begin with but he blew right up
because he'd out-eat the other two cats.


Same thing when I got Jay Jay. He was turned in by a lady who was
tired of returning him to the neighbor. He was food crazy when I got
him, so I had to pull the kibble even though we had always free fed
all of our cats.

He was 12.5 lbs when I got him and gained quickly. Part of it was that
he was still growing. He turned out to be a Ragdoll, so he was younger
than what we were told. He got up to 20lbs by the time we found the
right weight loss plan for him.

Larger kibble, so it took him longer to eat and satisfied him better.
He went down and settled at 17 lbs which seems to be right for him. He
is hefty, but not hanging down or sticking out like before. And if I
dig through his fur, I can feel a little bit of rib in there.

Once he settled down, I was able to return to free feeding. He has
kibble available 24/7 and gets canned food twice a day. I think it
took about a year to transition him and have him settle down and trust
that another meal would always come.


My first cat Randy used to have his nose in the bag of food, or be
waiting by the bowl as the food fell out of the dish.


Jay Jay sits by the feeding station when it is time for the canned
food. And he comes and sits on the keyboard tray to let me know when
the kibble is low (lonely kibbles cannot be eaten, they must have lots
of friends).

We just discovered a treat he likes (bonita flakes). He has never
shown interest in any kind of treat, but he loves these. So, I am
using them to entice him into being a lap and bed kitty. I know there
is a cuddle boy inside, but he is still a bit cautious since he was
trained off furniture by the previous owner. He is also wary of my bed
since it is a waterbed. But he has been a brave boy with the bonita
flakes as incentive.

Response from Meghan Noecker :

We just discovered a treat he likes (bonita flakes). He has never
shown interest in any kind of treat, but he loves these. So, I am
using them to entice him into being a lap and bed kitty. I know
there is a cuddle boy inside, but he is still a bit cautious since
he was trained off furniture by the previous owner. He is also
wary of my bed since it is a waterbed. But he has been a brave boy
with the bonita flakes as incentive.

What's not to like? Dried fish flakes are yummy.

*making mental note to see if Gabby likes them too*

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

In article ,
says...

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"Peg Caldwell-Ott" wrote in message
...

Pemberton has never vomited--yet!! VBG

They pick their moment.


It is usually about 4 am when you have only have about 3 hours of sleep and
you have to get up in an hour




And of course they're very strategic about the whole thing and they'll
vomit right in your walk path.

In article ,
says...
On Thu, 27 Sep 2007 19:34:35 -0400, T
wrote:


Be careful. We had been free feeding for the longest time when we
adopted Cosimo. He was a big kitten to begin with but he blew right up
because he'd out-eat the other two cats.


Same thing when I got Jay Jay. He was turned in by a lady who was
tired of returning him to the neighbor. He was food crazy when I got
him, so I had to pull the kibble even though we had always free fed
all of our cats.

He was 12.5 lbs when I got him and gained quickly. Part of it was that
he was still growing. He turned out to be a Ragdoll, so he was younger
than what we were told. He got up to 20lbs by the time we found the
right weight loss plan for him.

Larger kibble, so it took him longer to eat and satisfied him better.
He went down and settled at 17 lbs which seems to be right for him. He
is hefty, but not hanging down or sticking out like before. And if I
dig through his fur, I can feel a little bit of rib in there.

Once he settled down, I was able to return to free feeding. He has
kibble available 24/7 and gets canned food twice a day. I think it
took about a year to transition him and have him settle down and trust
that another meal would always come.


My first cat Randy used to have his nose in the bag of food, or be
waiting by the bowl as the food fell out of the dish.


Jay Jay sits by the feeding station when it is time for the canned
food. And he comes and sits on the keyboard tray to let me know when
the kibble is low (lonely kibbles cannot be eaten, they must have lots
of friends).

We just discovered a treat he likes (bonita flakes). He has never
shown interest in any kind of treat, but he loves these. So, I am
using them to entice him into being a lap and bed kitty. I know there
is a cuddle boy inside, but he is still a bit cautious since he was
trained off furniture by the previous owner. He is also wary of my bed
since it is a waterbed. But he has been a brave boy with the bonita
flakes as incentive.

A waterbed! I've had bad experiences with cats and waterbeds. Angie is
not allowed in the bedroom. I still have a minor allergic reaction
though mostly it's just itchy eyes.

It's odd though, one cat that we had named Emily didn't trigger a
reaction. I miss that cat.

I think in the case of Angie she's so new that I have to acclimate. We'd
had Emily since she was a six week old kitten with ring-worm and real
worms.

In article ,
says...
Response from T :

We suspect her prior owners were college kids. There's one other
behavior which supports that suspicion. She loves the smell of
pot. If someone lights up a joint outside she'll run to the
window.

Sure, someone outside, huh? ; )

No, seriously though, I thought all cats had a predilection for plants
in general. Or is that an entirely catnip concept?



Seriously - it's a regular thing in the city lately. The cops only bust
the big time dealers but the regular users they leave alone. And I can
only see it getting enforced less and less since we now have medical
marijuana in RI.

I think cats do like certain plants. Angie went absolutely insane over
the catnip plant I had, until she got greedy one day and managed to kill
the plant. Oh well.

The pot/marijuana thing is interesting though. My other cats wouldn't
respond to it at all.

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:02:48 -0400, T
wrote:

In article ,
says...

"cybercat" wrote in message
...

"Peg Caldwell-Ott" wrote in message
...

Pemberton has never vomited--yet!! VBG

They pick their moment.


It is usually about 4 am when you have only have about 3 hours of sleep and
you have to get up in an hour




And of course they're very strategic about the whole thing and they'll
vomit right in your walk path.


I just stepped in a hairball a few days ago. Ick.

Although I must say, I would rather they puke in the walkway than on
my bed. Fiona would pick the spot where all my blankets were folded
back and layered so that she could hit all layers on one shot.

And Maynard tried to puke ON me once. I was sleeping on my stomach,
and I awoke to that sound that signals a hairball coming. I realized
he was on my back, and there were no covers between us. I had the
thought of puke on my shirt and no way to get out of it, and I flipped
him onto the floor. I did apologize, but I was relieved not to be
wearing it.

On Sat, 29 Sep 2007 23:05:38 -0400, T
wrote:

A waterbed! I've had bad experiences with cats and waterbeds. Angie is
not allowed in the bedroom. I still have a minor allergic reaction
though mostly it's just itchy eyes.


Yep. I've had it over 15 years now. During the first year, I did have
a couple pinprick holes that were easy to fix. Since then, nothing at
all.

I do keep a blanket below my sheet so that there is a little
protection for the matress. But the cats don't usually run around
with sharp claws on the bed. I do kepe them trimmed, and most of the
time on the bed, they are sleeping or cuddling.

Response from T :

In article ,
says...
Response from T :

We suspect her prior owners were college kids. There's one
other behavior which supports that suspicion. She loves the
smell of pot. If someone lights up a joint outside she'll run
to the window.

Sure, someone outside, huh? ; )

No, seriously though, I thought all cats had a predilection for
plants in general. Or is that an entirely catnip concept?



Seriously - it's a regular thing in the city lately. The cops only
bust the big time dealers but the regular users they leave alone.
And I can only see it getting enforced less and less since we now
have medical marijuana in RI.

I think cats do like certain plants. Angie went absolutely insane
over the catnip plant I had, until she got greedy one day and
managed to kill the plant. Oh well.

The pot/marijuana thing is interesting though. My other cats
wouldn't respond to it at all.

The few stories I have heard about marijuana were of dogs eating it
and cats bathing in it.

I could see the headlines now, "Local Man Charged With Intent To
Distribute To Animals." Or even "Man Claims 100 Pot Plants Were
Medicinal Cat Remedy."

"Your Honor, my cat needs this weed for the proper cat-ification of
his cat-like, cat-ness. Without it he will surely suffer a cat-
astrophe."

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

Response from T :

I think in the case of Angie she's so new that I have to
acclimate. We'd had Emily since she was a six week old kitten with
ring-worm and real worms.

Excuse my ignorance on the matter. What do you mean, "...and real
worms."?

I assume you meant the intestinal kind as opposed to ringworm (the
fungal infection).

--
-Lost
Remove the extra words to reply by e-mail. Don't e-mail me. I am
kidding. No I am not.

Suddenly, without warning, T exclaimed (9/30/2007 12:35 PM):

A waterbed! I've had bad experiences with cats and waterbeds. Angie is
not allowed in the bedroom. I still have a minor allergic reaction
though mostly it's just itchy eyes.

It's odd though, one cat that we had named Emily didn't trigger a
reaction. I miss that cat.

I think in the case of Angie she's so new that I have to acclimate. We'd
had Emily since she was a six week old kitten with ring-worm and real
worms.


Not necessarily. I've had Meep 11 years now, and just recently
developed an allergic reaction to her. Didn't even realize it until
this vacation - a week with no itchy eyes or runny nose, as soon as I
get home, both start up. Damn. Where's that Loratadine?

jmc