Feline Pine Forums

how do i get my cat used to it new surroundings

2010-03-18T16:57:35-05:00

i just got a new cat how can i get my cat used to it’s new surroundings

Physical exercise

2010-03-18T07:03:34-05:00

Physical exercise is any bodily activity that enhances or maintains physical fitness and overall health. It is performed for various reasons. These include strengthening muscles and the cardiovascular system, honing athletic skills, weight loss or maintenance and for enjoyment. Frequent and regular physical exercise boosts the immune system, and helps prevent the “diseases of affluence” such as heart disease, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes and obesity.[1][2] It also improves mental health, helps prevent depression, helps to promote or maintain positive self-esteem, and can even augment an individual’s sex appeal or body image.[3] Childhood obesity is a growing global concern[4] and physical exercise may help decrease the effects of childhood obesity in developed countries.

jamaica holiday
Bird Off

Sedentary lifestyle

2010-03-18T07:02:39-05:00

Sedentary lifestyle is a medical term used to denote a type of lifestyle with no or irregular physical activity.[1] A person who lives a sedentary lifestyle is known as a couch potato in pop culture. It is commonly found in both the developed and developing world and characterized by sitting, reading, watching television and computer use for much of the day with little or no vigorous physical exercise. A sedentary lifestyle can contribute to many preventable causes of death.

jamaica holiday
Bird Off

Recreation

2010-03-18T07:01:31-05:00

Recreation or fun is the expenditure of time in a manner designed for therapeutic refreshment of one’s body or mind. While leisure is more likely a form of entertainment or sleep, recreation is active for the participant but in a refreshing and diverting manner. As people in the world’s wealthier regions lead increasingly sedentary lifestyles, the need for recreation has increased. The rise of so called active vacations exemplifies this.

jamaica holiday
Bird Off

What is the Best Way to Discipline a Cat That Was Abused?

2009-11-19T15:50:47-05:00

I’m sure I talked about when we found Courage here but I’ll recap so people who haven’t read the post won’t have to search for it.

The summer of 2008, we found a small 3 mo. old kitten crying on the top of his lungs at a wayside rest area. I talked to a landscaper working there about the kitten and during the conversation, he said he had to yell at some morons who decided to entertain themselves by kicking at the kitten and chase him when he ran. Courage was so terrified of our feet at first, we had to hide them with a sheet in order to be able to walk in his direction without him bolting and hiding under the bed in terror. Courage and I hit it off from day one but he was so fearful of my husband, it took several weeks to get him to start trusting Terry.

I don’t think that incident was the only time he was abused because of how he acted after we brought him home. The morning after his first night with us, he was sitting on the couch when we walked out of the living room. The second he saw us, he shot off the couch and acted like he fully expected to be beat for it. It took a good two months to convince him we don’t care if he sits on the furniture. Heck, we don’t care if he sharpens his nails on the couch. That is why we took my sister’s shabby couch and gave away our fairly nice one to someone who needed it. Our cats are more important than some object that can be replaced.

For the most part, Courage has healed mentally from the abuse he suffered. Somethings will be with him for the rest of his life I think, such as his phobia of strangers.

We recently added a rescued kitten to our small family. We introduced them gradually and when they finally got see each other face to face, it was instant best friends for them. In fact, I have never had an easier time introducing a new cat to a resident cat. The problem I am having with Courage is he gets carried away when him and Cinder are wrestling each other and gets a little too rough. When she squeals in pain, I yell in a deep voice “Hey” to warn them they better stop. Courage isn’t being aggressive towards her…he wants to play with her like a kitten but the problem is even though he isn’t much more than a kitten himself, he is a HUGE cat with lots of strength. Even his doctor is amazed at how big of a cat he is, especially his huge paws.

Sometimes Courage gets so excited when playing with her, I have to put him in a time-out to get him to settle down. His time-out room is our bedroom. I put him gently on the bed, make sure the curtains are open, then sit on the other side of the door and check on him every few seconds to see if he settled down enough to be let out again. The time-outs never last longer than 60 seconds.

The behavior I want to discipline him for started a couple days ago. When I go to put him in a time out, he grabs my ankle with his front paws and bunny-kicks my foot with his back feet so hard, if I don’t have shoes on, my foot would be shredded and I’d have to go in for stitches.

Squirting water on him does not work. He loves water and doesn’t mind in the least being wet. Other people have suggested I flick him on the nose with my finger but I really don’t want him to experience pain from my hand, especially after what he had been put through as a young kitten.

I tried grabbing the scruff of his neck firmly and press him to the floor until he stops, but it doesn’t seem to be getting the message across. Another person told me I was scruffing him wrong and in order to properly scruff a cat, I need to pick him up by the scruff of his neck while supporting his hind legs with my other hand. Courage does have a bad hip because he was shot with a pellet gun. He had a bad limp when we found him. We were on vacation when we found him and weren’t able to get him to see the vet until we got home again. I did move that leg in different directions to see if he was in extreme pain from his leg, but he didn’t react to it and I pressed my fingers gently down the leg he was limping on to see if he had a broken or cracked bone, but no reaction from that either so we waited until we got home so he could see my favorite pet doctor. The doctor didn’t find anything but a week later, a plug of hair and a scab fell off that leg and I saw a plastic pellet close to the surface that popped right out when I touched the skin around the sore to get a better look at it. The vet can’t find physical damage but sometimes Courage will end up sitting down when using the litterbox, plus he has a funny gate. I don’t think picking him up by the scruff of the neck while supporting his legs with another hand is safe for him.

Does anyone have any suggestions on how to discipline him (that doesn’t involve pain) when he takes his frustration out on my ankle to let him know that behavior is unacceptable?

Wellness

2008-05-14T20:42:02-05:00

Our cat Memeow was one of the cats poisoned by the IAMS food, since we nursed him back to health, he won’t touch wet food. I brought him Wellness brand dry on recommendation from a co-worker and he loves it. He also gets Chicken baby food, yes that’s right. It’s real chicken and cheaper than cat food. He turns his nose up to any other wet. He had a hard time with the poisoning. He had surgery and everything and do you think IAMS would do anything, no. Even though my vet backed me 100% and i had the food at home, they did nothing:(

My cat is grieving

2008-03-27T04:44:38-05:00

I had two cats until a few weeks ago. My boy cat went outside early in the morning and was attacked and killed by coyotes. My girl cat is inconsolable. She calls out the door to him several times a day. She walks around the house sniffing where he had been. Now, shes been trying to get out, I think to look for him. She never went outside before. Shes a little girl. It is so sad to watch her and she is lonely. She wont let me out of her sight and calls to me to be where she is. She hardly ever talked befor and I dont know what to do for her. She is part wild, I adopted her when she was only a few days old and just fed her with an eyedropper and nurtured her to live. It was hard for here to accept the boy kitty - she really dislkes change. What can I do for her. Why do cats get depressed and how can I help her.

handcreams and anti-bacterial stuff

2010-01-16T20:08:50-05:00

Hi!!, I´ve a question that has been bother me since a while. In my home, all my family use all the time a anti-bacterial soap with a anti-bacterial gel, and my mother and I use a lot of handcream, so my kitty smell good all the time, because we can´t avoid touch him when he is close to us. This is bad for my cat? the chemicals from de handcream and ati-bacterial gel could damage the skin from my cat?

thanks,
lcnavac

disposing of cat waste

2008-09-22T13:26:06-05:00

Forgive me if this has been discussed elsewhere. I looked around the site and did not see it posted. I am a new cat owner and am confused about whether or not it is okay to dump cat waste in the toilet (we do not have a septic system). I am using Feline Pine and can shake most of the pellets off the scoop, so most of what I am flushing is just the cat waste. However, I have been seeing many conflicting instructions as to whether or not it is okay to do this. I really don’t like the idea of disposing of cat waste in plastic bags which will then go into landfills. Can anyone provide a clear explanation?

puppies and kittens funny and nice video:)

2009-10-02T09:52:43-05:00

Hi Everyone!

There’s this video that I found in you tube that made me smile…:) It’s funny!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uF6mmaawyws

It made me wonder how they came up with that great idea.. Their behaviors to each other somehow taught me that puppies and kittens can be together..

It’s sooo cute!