He was really a terrible cat. Any time something changed (new cat, new kid, the weather) he'd shit on my side of the bed or on anything he thought needed to be shit on. Peed on my head twice at least. Once he got his collar hung up and Justine reached down to help him and he sunk his teeth into her thumb up to the gumline. Cost $5000 and a week of 3x daily IV antibiotics to keep her thumb. But he was sweet to the kids. We had him declawed because our pediatrician was really upset that we had a kitten and a young preemie baby... but even without claws he'd bring in birds and rabbits (usually alive) and squirrel parts.
Location: 543 miles west of Paradis,1491 miles eas Gender:
Posted:
Jan 8, 2020 - 6:17pm
My condolences to you all and thanks you all for sharing him along with the rest of your animals with us all. Thanks for the memories, Dinger. How many stitches was it Justine?
Just an old man. Started losing weight a few years ago (he was pretty chonky) but was otherwise healthy. Vet never diagnosed anything specific but I assume his kidneys gave out. Spent the last 18 months or so being very scrawny but still going outside and doing cat stuff. Got unsteady on his feet and started falling off the counter last month and things just spiraled. It was time.
I know you lurved the Dinger and I thought of you two when I was going thru pictures...
Thought I had a photo of you or Buzz with him but it's just Buzz flipping me off... :-P
Godspeed on your next adventure, Dinger, and thanks for raising those kids!
Just an old man. Started losing weight a few years ago (he was pretty chonky) but was otherwise healthy. Vet never diagnosed anything specific but I assume his kidneys gave out. Spent the last 18 months or so being very scrawny but still going outside and doing cat stuff. Got unsteady on his feet and started falling off the counter last month and things just spiraled. It was time.
I know you lurved the Dinger and I thought of you two when I was going thru pictures...
I did lurve him. He is one of the reasons wanted an orange cat. at first glance, I thought the first photo of your post was something buzz took of ButtNut.
Happy Trails to Dinger! Say hello to Apple, Mac and Tosh over there at the Rainbow Bridge.
Just an old man. Started losing weight a few years ago (he was pretty chonky) but was otherwise healthy. Vet never diagnosed anything specific but I assume his kidneys gave out. Spent the last 18 months or so being very scrawny but still going outside and doing cat stuff. Got unsteady on his feet and started falling off the counter last month and things just spiraled. It was time.
I know you lurved the Dinger and I thought of you two when I was going thru pictures...
Thought I had a photo of you or Buzz with him but it's just Buzz flipping me off... :-P
It's a good idea to only feed cats twice a day. If they're used to meals whenever they beg, it may be a challenge to resist, but be patient - or at least feed them smaller portions. Also, buy quality food from the vet. Although it is more expensive, it is also more filling and healthy, so in the long run you'll save money on vet bills. :)
On a pet forum I'm a member of (catoftheday.com), there are advice about all sorts of things concerning cats... and dogs. This is what one said about pumpkin:
"My vet suggested using canned pumpkin or Metamucil in his food to help him feel fuller."
Fortunately, I learned LONG ago about the dangers of "free feeding" house cats. My cats eat twice a day, on a schedule, dry food in the morning, and wet food 12 hours later.
I suspect that the big male is eating more than his share, which is why the smaller female has begun to beg.
We feed twice a day too. Wet followed by a bit of dry in the morning and just dry in the evening. These rescue cats can develop obsessive appetites.
We had problems with spatial separation when we had 3 cats. We were constantly lifting some cat bowls off the floor. Good exercise for the human owners. The smaller Norwegian Forest Cat female ate on the dining room table.
Now our ~17-year old Ragdoll howls us into waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning if she does not have enough food. (This is all our doing, no doubt.) So I have tried to devise a strategy where we feed smaller amounts of dry during the day and I will give her one more portion of dry at 11 in the evening.
We suspect that when she 'overeats', she tends to throw up more frequently. Very little of the vomit actually consists of groomed cat hair.
We've found that automatic feeders for the dry portion of their food has stopped the early morning shenanigans. The food is presented to them while we sleep, and it works wonders. Unfortunately, this is the meal they have that is unsupervised, allowing the possibility of the one cat over eating, and the other going hungry..... We have to be able to sleep, though!!
Fortunately, I learned LONG ago about the dangers of "free feeding" house cats. My cats eat twice a day, on a schedule, dry food in the morning, and wet food 12 hours later.
I suspect that the big male is eating more than his share, which is why the smaller female has begun to beg.
We feed twice a day too. Wet followed by a bit of dry in the morning and just dry in the evening. These rescue cats can develop obsessive appetites.
We had problems with spatial separation when we had 3 cats. We were constantly lifting some cat bowls off the floor. Good exercise for the human owners. The smaller Norwegian Forest Cat female ate on the dining room table.
Now our ~17-year old Ragdoll howls us into waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning if she does not have enough food. (This is all our doing, no doubt.) So I have tried to devise a strategy where we feed smaller amounts of dry during the day and I will give her one more portion of dry at 11 in the evening.
We suspect that when she 'overeats', she tends to throw up more frequently. Very little of the vomit actually consists of groomed cat hair.
"We suspect that when she 'overeats', she tends to throw up more frequently. Very little of the vomit actually consists of groomed cat hair."
I've heard that cats will overeat because they've evolved to deal with times when food isn't regularly available. Feast now to ride out famine later. And yeah, vomiting ensues.
Apparently their stomachs are about the size of ping-pong balls, so it's not too hard for them to overeat. I flipped through a cat-care book and came across the suggestion that you should feed them 6 meals a day. Imagine hopping on that treadmill when you had 3 cats.
Fortunately, I learned LONG ago about the dangers of "free feeding" house cats. My cats eat twice a day, on a schedule, dry food in the morning, and wet food 12 hours later.
I suspect that the big male is eating more than his share, which is why the smaller female has begun to beg.
We feed twice a day too. Wet followed by a bit of dry in the morning and just dry in the evening. These rescue cats can develop obsessive appetites.
We had problems with spatial separation when we had 3 cats. We were constantly lifting some cat bowls off the floor. Good exercise for the human owners. The smaller Norwegian Forest Cat female ate on the dining room table.
Now our ~17-year old Ragdoll howls us into waking up at 4 or 5 in the morning if she does not have enough food. (This is all our doing, no doubt.) So I have tried to devise a strategy where we feed smaller amounts of dry during the day and I will give her one more portion of dry at 11 in the evening.
We suspect that when she 'overeats', she tends to throw up more frequently. Very little of the vomit actually consists of groomed cat hair.
SO, I have heard that adding pureed pumpkin to a cat's food will help with constipation.....but, more recently, I have heard that it will help a cat who constantly begs for food to feel "full" for longer after he or she eats. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Thanks!
Domestic pets usually persist in begging for food, because the strategy works. The problem here is likely the huMAN feline parents. Cats are not supposed to constantly eat. In the wilds, some of them will go days and weeks without eating.
Sigh. Today's North Americans. Cannot say no to their children, cannot say no to their pets. My wife is like this with the cats, well now just one cat, the coyotes got the other two. It takes a concerted lobbying campaign to get her to reduce food portions. Love through overfeeding.
Are there several water bowls out? Is the water recycled and topped up often?
There is special canned wet food for cats that has 1.5% or 3% fibre content. Might help in this case. The fibre carries water and lubricates the intestines. Expensive but daily portions can likely be effective with very small helpings. Fill out the diet with less expensive dry food. We had an unrelated digestive system problem with our elderly rag doll Dossie. Her stools were loose and she would howl when defecating. The high-fibre canned wet cat food — available only at vet clinics — solved that problem. An earlier experiment with hair-ball dry cat food lead to loose stools and a howling kittie. It is apparently high in fibre too. I do not pretend to understand why so do not ask.
Thanks to our local vet I now have a better understanding of why cats cough up fur balls and why it is just a normal healthy activity: why we should avoid anthropomorphizing our pets.
Fortunately, I learned LONG ago about the dangers of "free feeding" house cats. My cats eat twice a day, on a schedule, dry food in the morning, and wet food 12 hours later.
I suspect that the big male is eating more than his share, which is why the smaller female has begun to beg.
SO, I have heard that adding pureed pumpkin to a cat's food will help with constipation.....but, more recently, I have heard that it will help a cat who constantly begs for food to feel "full" for longer after he or she eats. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Thanks!
Domestic pets usually persist in begging for food, because the strategy works. The problem here is likely the huMAN feline parents. Cats are not supposed to constantly eat. In the wilds, some of them will go days and weeks without eating.
Sigh. Today's North Americans. Cannot say no to their children, cannot say no to their pets. My wife is like this with the cats, well now just one cat, the coyotes got the other two. It takes a concerted lobbying campaign to get her to reduce food portions. Love through overfeeding.
Are there several water bowls out? Is the water recycled and topped up often?
There is special canned wet food for cats that has 1.5% or 3% fibre content. Might help in this case. The fibre carries water and lubricates the intestines. Expensive but daily portions can likely be effective with very small helpings. Fill out the diet with less expensive dry food.
We had an unrelated digestive system problem with our elderly rag doll Dossie. Her stools were loose and she would howl when defecating. The high-fibre canned wet cat food â available only at vet clinics â solved that problem. An earlier experiment with hair-ball dry cat food lead to loose stools and a howling kittie. It is apparently high in fibre too. I do not pretend to understand why so do not ask.
Thanks to our local vet I now have a better understanding of why cats cough up fur balls and why it is just a normal healthy activity: why we should avoid anthropomorphizing our pets.
SO, I have heard that adding pureed pumpkin to a cat's food will help with constipation.....but, more recently, I have heard that it will help a cat who constantly begs for food to feel "full" for longer after he or she eats. Does anyone here have any experience with this? Thanks!
Just stumbled across this pic of our previous cat, Tobin while going through my flickr stuff. He was my music listening partner. He would lay down next to me on the arm rest of the sofa and just be there with me. There was no space that he would not try and fit into. 25 lbs of Maine Coon. Miss you old buddy. .
Cute. My youngest daughter had never seen a Maine Coon until she was in Hawaii, and now she wants one.
Just stumbled across this pic of our previous cat, Tobin while going through my flickr stuff. He was my music listening partner. He would lay down next to me on the arm rest of the sofa and just be there with me. There was no space that he would not try and fit into. 25 lbs of Maine Coon. Miss you old buddy. .
Just stumbled across this pic of our previous cat, Tobin while going through my flickr stuff. He was my music listening partner. He would lay down next to me on the arm rest of the sofa and just be there with me. There was no space that he would not try and fit into. 25 lbs of Maine Coon. Miss you old buddy. .
