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We check for fleas all the time and never find any - but now you say that, maybe she pulls them off herself and that's part of her fur pulling thing. I will have to look into this more. It would be amazing if front lining her stopped it!
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I'm sure you have checked already and that she's Frontlined regularly, but can I just mention the F word? - F for fleas, that is. If the fur is sparse on her back towards the tail, the little devils could be congregating there and irritating her skin, but you might find them hanging out in her armpits.

Overgrooming, it's true, can also be a sign of stress - I'd try a special cardboard box somewhere secluded to help her feel really secure first. A lot cheaper than $200 anti-depressants! Plus fewer side-effects.

My psychiatrist SIL used to use Feliway diffusers to calm things down between her Norwegian Forest cat and his smaller, younger, common or garden variety "brother." She thought it helped. I think they're supposed to boost oxytocin levels or something?
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She doesn't gnaw skin thank goodness! But she has a baldish butt! Our vet said they could pout her on antidepressants but it's not a proven science and they're over $200 per month. Normally she's not too bad thank goodness! She used to suck the end of her tail too 😄
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@LonelySoLonely - when I finally took George to the vet for the hair-pulling and skin-gnawing (about 2 or 3 weeks out of hospital for me), they said it was like when teenagers engage in "cutting"....they start under stress but continue because it gives them some weird enjoyment. They gave George a depo provera shot (yes, the birth control), which they said would interrupt the enjoyment he got from doing it. It actually worked!  But I really was worried about the skin-gnawing....he was a mess, poor thing!
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You can never be allergic to cats lol

@dorianne my little catto was a rescue cat and she pulls her fur out. It's heartbreaking but she is a very happy catto other than that. Your cat was very enlightened; they know.
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My father developed a nasty skin rash soon after retirement. His GP tested him for allergies, and warned him that even though there'd been cats in the house forever it was possible to become sensitive to allergens you'd never had trouble with. But he knew who my mother would turn out onto the streets if this did prove to be the case, and it wouldn't be the cats.

The culprit was eventually identified as a Virginia creeper he'd been cutting back - new hobby, he'd never spent much time in the garden before.
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Also, any negativity, yelling, screaming in the home can upset any pet.
If that is happening, it may be a person's choice to live that way, but
get the pets a better place to live, or change it. imo.
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About 10 years ago, I was so sick with a kidney infection that I almost died in my bed at home. I didn't know I was that sick (the ER doc told me it was a bladder infection and sent me home!!!), but my beloved cat George (rip) did. He was in the bedroom closet, ripping his fur out and gnawing on his skin from the stress! He'd never done anything like that before, or since.

I prefer to think enlightened!!! We were tight, me 'n' George....
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The nurses said your temp goes up just before you're going to go and cats like warmth so they go snuggle that person. I prefer to think they're enlightened. Also, my cat just snuggled up to be...haha
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When a resident died at hoca earlier in the year, the house cat laid upon his db

The daughter who arrived minutes after his passing wasn't too pleased
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Me too Dorianne!

Did you hear about one care home in the states where the resident cat knew when people were about to die and would go to their room and sit on their beds till they died?

I imagine you would be terrified every time that cat walked past your door. "Keep going, keep going" Whew!!!
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@Gershun - I've been thinking about a combo senior home/cat rescue lately. The kitten has been so good for mom. And dang it, if there was a facility like that, I'd start making the payments for my bed now!
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Speaking of cat cuddles............my one cat just finished doing that kneading thing they do on my stomach. I was feeling constipated but now.......not so much. Who'd of thunk it.
I was listening to Christina Aguilera doing a medley of Whitney Houston songs whilst kitty was kneading. Christina just smashed it on the American Music Awards.

So, forget Metamucil. Just get a cat if you don't have one already and point them to your stomach. You'll be regular in no time. Great idea for senior homes?
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Also, I haven't spent much time around chickens, but pigs, on the other hand....pigs are ruthless jerks.
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@Countrymouse - lol, I don't have a fever but I may have been a teensy bit warm-feeling. Though I am at the hot flash age, so theoretically he should be at my side all the ti....wait a minute, I THOUGHT HE JUST FOLLOWED ME AROUND OUT OF LOVE!!! ;-)
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Dorianne you are going to think me very cynical indeed at this rate, but did you by any chance have a slight fever with your cold? Extra cozy human...

Cats do enlightened self-interest more charmingly (and therefore successfully) than any other species. I used to think they were pretty ruthless with it, too - but that was before I got to know chickens.
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I started getting a cold on Friday. Today I've spent most of the day in bed, so far, but Bruce actually LET me sleep! Which is so not like him! He's never seen me sick before, but I guess he figured it out?

Kitten snuggles are the most awesome thing when you're not feeling well. :-D
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Lol! Send, at least the squirrel didn’t make a nest in it. We have red squirrels out in the country/farm areas of town. I haven’t seen them in the residential areas.
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Sharyn,
Very funny that. The puppies must have thought it was a bag of their kibbies.

Wondering if the squirrel will mess with the bag of potting soil still on my front porch?
This morning I looked out and gasped......it was gone! The whole bag!
dH had moved it.
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The puppy shenanigans has begun! We have our dd’s puppy staying with us for a week. This morning, along with our puppy, they broke open a large bags of top soil and it is spread all over the patio, Lol!
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When I wanted to find one of my cats I would just run the can opener and he would come running. He always fell for it but then he was not that bright.
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Dorianne, you are so right about the food bags. I would open up a bag of popcorn and out of the corner of my eye would be a cat :)
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@Lonelysolonely: yup, definitely not deaf then!

Carmella used to appear out of nowhere anytime any food source made noise....WHY do they make the Temptations bags look and sound the same as snacks-for-people bags???? WHY?
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I often put tin foil hats on my head to escape her mind control hahaha

We have two pet rats as well. They were my son's birthday present this year. I couldn't wait for him to wake up on the day, so I woke him and dragged him out of bed, and when he saw what they were his sleepy eyes lit up and he said 'my children!'

World domination mind control cat doesn't kill them even though they run around on the lounge. She never tried to kill the guineapigs either. They lived in an open enclosure on the lounge floor and it didn't occur to me that cats might like to hunt them. It didn't occur to her either!
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There was a lovely Garfield strip, holding his paw behind his ear and saying "do I hear the unmistakeable sound of a strip of lasagne being delicately laid on a bed of bechemal sauce?" and then high-tailing it to the kitchen.

I'm not sure it is acute hearing, Lonely. I think it might be mind control?
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@Dorian my cat is Siamese and not even remotely deaf. She can hear the difference in the sound of the fridge door opening to get steak out versus the fridge opening to get a bag of carrots out from the top storey of the house.

She's snuggled into the back of my knees being her usual lovely little self. Wish I could put her photo up.
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Diary of a Caregiver's Kitten, Day 44. Lol.

Mom pooped herself and threw the dirty clothes (AND the incontinence pad) straight into the washer. I didn't realize it and ran the machine. I am still up - I've been so busy, I have no clean underwear for tomorrow. But I couldn't run the washer, because first I had to re-rinse mom's clothes, run a "clean wash," and then re-wash mom's clothes! Then it was safe to wash mine, lol. I still can't go to bed till I get my dang underpants in the dryer, at least.

So basically I'm awake on "cat time." "Crazy hour," as my dad used to call it. I used it to teach Bruce how to play fetch! And he actually figured it out pretty well....once he realized I'd keep throwing the toy, he came scampering back like a dog with a stick! Now he's busy killing the mouse over and over again, at my feet.

He should sleep well and not at all try to gnaw on my nose tonight. 

And I just heard the wash finish! Yay! Good night everyone!
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It will be okay Henrick, I have not forgotten you!  Daniel too!

I think Cwillie has to go to the town square to see Willus, the town mascot.  Best kind of pet to have---from a distance. (joking).
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Feeling like a bad squirrel parent-feeding Ratatouille rice crispy treats. It makes him hyper from the sugar. As if he could get anymore hyper. His chest and underside is not beige, nor tan, but a pure camel/caramel color.
Luckyku, do you think I should put out a bowl of water, maybe with liquid pet vitamins in it? And I must treat for fleas, already, on the porch. Getting itchy already.

If I die of the bubonic plague, lol, I have asked hubs to login to tell you all g o o d b y e !
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I'm sure there are MANY I didn't list with all the great people on Agingcare.
I sure don't want any of the other's to be jealous! Thanks Gershun for reminding me about Henrick.Sorry if I upset him.
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