Does your Cat (or any pet) misbehave since caregiving your loved one?
Have you been required to take care of your loved one's pet after they have passed? Does your pet have cute antics that entertain your loved one?
And finally, has the cat or dog transferred their loyalty to your Mother?
I did a "no-no" the other day putting a small trash bin beside Rocky's automated litter box. Afterwards I found she wasn't using it but was using another place in the house that, to say the least, was not suitable as a litter box.
Before I figured it out, R said she could be taken to his friend's farm for an indoors/outdoors life if needed. I didn't like that alternative as her coat mats and no one there would brush her. She was a matted mess when I got her from the farm originally. Pumpkin's coat was longer but never matted. Rocky' has a thick coat with a very fine undercoat and she mats and gets very uncomfortable. That would be no life for her. Wasn't sure what to do until I suddenly I realized that she didn't like the trash bin beside her box. She is the fussiest of any cat I have had re her litter. It has to be in the right place in the room etc.
I moved the trash bin and set up another litter box near her old one both with new microcrystal litter which she loves and put her in the basement for a couple of days. I visited her to check things out and play a bit and she was fine and used the new litter and also the old box. After a couple of days she was hiding in corners which signifies distress so I let her out and all has been well.
She has always had a reason for going outside her box - it's not clean enough, Pumpkin left us, I gave Pumpkin's stuff away, it's not in the right location...It's for me to figure out.
I will have two litter boxes in the condo and they will be phased to get clean litter at different times. Hope she adjusts quickly. All my other cats would use their boxes regardless. Sigh! 🐱
I thought I had put extras in a basket. Found that basket yesterday, no rubberbands. Then just a bit ago I was rummaging in a kitchen drawer that holds odds and ends that I thought I would need since I have so much packed.
RUBBERBANDS! Probably 8 or 10 of them! Ming has been napping all morning. I am sure that she will be wound up a little later!🙀🙀😹😹😺😺
https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/video/bear-in-colorado-takes-selfies-with-wildlife-cam/
Wish I could post a short video!
He's so sweet. My little nurse I call him. :)
Speaking of exercise, her active times of the day are when I am doing my 9,000 steps in the house. She will chase me for awhile, then lie on the bathroom counter and paw/bat at me when I go in there to turn around! LOL!
One of my cat’s favorite spots was hiding inside a a paper grocery store bag! She would stay in there and peer out. It was so cute!
But he loves brown kraft paper, like the paper that Chewy uses for packing. I smooth it out with my hands, then I roll it up with the openings at both ends large enough for him to get into. That is his man cave. He will hide in it and wait for the other cat to walk by, then zoom out he comes and the race is on.
Or put out a pile of white tissue paper. Put a catnip toy under the crumble paper. The cat will jump into the paper, hide in it, crawl under it. But after a week, he will have that all shredded. Rinse. Repeat.
She is one of those cats who are not attracted by catnip. She gets more excited by lettuce lol. She did enjoy the laser light for a while till she figured out it was me moving it then that was game over. She loves little mouse type toys and also the cat springs/coils. After I have moved I will look for some new toys for her.
Once in a while she quite likes lying on my chest and watching the cursor move while I read or post with the laptop on my knees. Its a nice cuddle for me too.
I was running a stream of water for her in the downstairs bathroom when she wanted a drink but I forgot to turn it off a few times so now I have put a small bowl there and refresh the water a couple of times a day. They like fresh water. Spoiled kitty I know! She liked to dunk her head under the stream sometimes but she can do without that.
The other day she ate lettuce - the leafy part. She likes sweet potatoes and other veggies like corn on the cob.
This morning I was greeted with a "song" that I hadn't heard before. it as a combination of chirps, trills and a sort of tweet/gurgle https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7000907/.
It was very musical and the most complex I have heard from a cat.
I've given up with the laser light toy. She tracked it back to my hand and isn't interested any more. It's no good putting it away and trying later. She has a very good memory. Same problem with cat videos. There isn't that big a selection of really different ones and she is starting to lose interest. Fortunately she sleeps a lot - more than any other cat I have had.
Also fortunately she plays with toys on her own and sometimes brings them to me to throw for her to chase. It may be a bit of a challenge finding things for her to do in the condo. But she is a lovely pet and we are still developing our relationship.
My cat looked like your Lilah. We were blessed to have such sweet kitties.
I am getting the "death stare" It starts before 5 pm for her treats which I usually give her about 5:30 but I caved early tonight. Then she starts staring again wanting her computer time upstairs. If she keeps this up I will set up the computer with a cat video and let her have it early tonight all by herself. I've out stared her for now but we will see.
So much for routine!
As for vets. I'll tell you something that someone told me once. Those big, spacious veterinary offices that have all the gadgets and rooms for this and that and a huge staff are not always the best choice because being huge places they have huge bills to pay and therefore charge more and quite often are a lot more impersonal. When I had to have my Daniel put down I was very disappointed in the care he received. We eventually had him put down at an emergency vet hospital. But we have since found a nice vet. The place is small and old and thinly staffed but they are like family. We always stay and chat with them before we leave. When it's Henrick's time to go I'm sure they'll do us good.
Again, so sorry for your loss Ali.
The better part of love is the strength and compassion to act when our pets need us most.
Goodbye Lilah, sweet cat.
l wish we could post pictures of all of our fur babies on this site.
One of the cutest photos that I have of my cat was of her sitting inside of a grocery bag looking out! It was a favorite hideaway spot for her.
I accidentally dropped the bag on the floor and she got inside and turned around inside of it. She loved hanging out in bags. So funny!
Another time, I was getting socks from a drawer and I didn’t see that she jumped inside of it. I closed the drawer and she started meowing. I had no idea where she was.
I kept following her meowing and opened the drawer and she popped out of it like a Jack in the box!
She destroyed all of the satin balls on my Christmas tree one year! Yep, in the middle of the night when we were sleeping she jumped in the tree and had a blast playing with the balls! We came downstairs to red satin thread all over our living room floor!
I would love to hear stories about your Lilah when you feel like sharing.
Cats have the cutest personalities.
If you’re not satisfied with your vet’s service, don’t hesitate to look for a different vet.
It’s important to be comfortable with the vet who is treating your animals. Veterinary care is expensive. I didn’t have insurance for my pets. Some people do choose to purchase insurance for them. I suppose that you would have to research different policies.
I didn’t keep my pets cremains either. My daughter chose to keep her dog’s cremains. I know that she paid extra for them. She will most likely do the same thing with her current dog.
I loved all of my animals but I have no desire to have their cremains. I have nothing against anyone who does want them. It’s not something that I am interested in though.
I hold their memories in my heart. I don’t need their physical ashes in my home.
I'm not happy with my vet because I feel the signs of a growing stomach mass should have been evident to them. By the time she passed, Lilah looked awful with a volleyball belly, while the rest was bones.
I tried to find what was wrong with her a couple of times in the past six months and paid for labs, etc. But it was RIGHT THERE. I feel they should have been able to discern that her abdomen was tight and distended, with a few lumps in different places, while the rest of her was getting thinner.
I'm not putting any future pets or myself through subpar care again. And from what I read online, the $700 service fee today for basic euthanasia is too much. I would pay anything I could for my pets, of course. The issue is I think I have a lazy and too-expensive vet office. Appreciate any opinion you want to give.
*I've been rereading this thread today, remembering my own kitties' journeys and all of your pets, too—very sweet and funny stuff. I'm laughing a lot, thank you.
*As I went back to the bookmarked place in the thread history, I found my posts from the summer of 2021 when Divo had sores and an ER vet dx'd hyperthyroidism. And even though D had been to the regular vet many times, they never said anything about that. I answered my question here; thank you. I'm done with that vet.