Cat behaviorist and crazy beard enthusiast Jackson Galaxy makes some good points against fancy cat breeding.
Btw, this is the cat breed that sparked the rant:
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“When you do [the cat "I Love You”] right they should immediately become more relaxed.“
*slow blinks at the cat and the cat blinks back already content and purring*
Damnit, I broke her.
More Informed Cat Care
Resource post (everything from cat behavior, diet, to other stuff like keeping cats from scratching things they probably shouldn’t be scratching).
Today, one of the kittens- a two year old cat named Bergie- suddenly passed away at the vet’s office this morning. Inside his bladder was a mass blocking his kidneys. I can’t even type that without crying and it sucks. There’s no words for how much this really, really sucks. Out of all the cats, he was the most calm. Bergie hid from strangers but stole my seat whenever I got up. With humans, he knew how to play without claws and always won when he wrestled with the other cats. Sometimes he was even a jerk to Ripley, another shy cat and my icon, and he rubbed his wet nose on people when he was being petted. I’m not even sure what breed he even was- his eyes were brown and his fur was ridiculously soft and he had white socks. I never expected him to be gone, not really. No one said what the mass was, but I’m guessing that it was a stone or crystal. Male cats are more susceptible to them. Especially when fed kibble. I don’t know. Maybe it was cancer. No matter what, I feel sick over this. Guilty (though it wasn’t my decision when he was sick enough to go to the vet) and frustrated (probably nothing will change for the rest of the kittens, despite this).
So this post has two purposes. The first one is this: if your cat is sick, no matter how inconvenient it is, how costly it is- they need to see a vet. They hide their pain, no matter how bad it is. Even when slowly going into kidney failure, Bergie was only lethargic and unresponsive, and occasionally tried to vomit. That’s it. Symptoms that could have been a hairball but ultimately were not. Bergie was in incredible pain and because he was a cat, I let myself be convinced that it would clear up by morning. Your cat’s life isn’t worth that gamble. Please don’t make my mistake. Take your cat to the vet, even if it seems minor.
Secondly:
It costs exactly $1080 per cat from a mid-range dry food (IAMs, what he was eating) to a low priced grain free wet food (Simply Nourish) over the span of a year. That’s worth keeping a cat alive, and it’s cheaper than the vet bills. Please, if you care about your cat’s quality of life at all, at least consider it. This is a preventable problem. Bergie wasn’t even five yet. Make this event actually change something, somewhere, in the universe for the better.
After this post I’ll be changing my banner and getting back to the regularly scheduled cute cat photos. I just need to make this post before I do, because I know cat owners all want the best for their animals. More than anything else, that’s what unites us. But it’s us who get tasked with the choices of their care, and it’s us who pick the cheaper option because it’s cheaper. That makes us, the humans, responsible for the consquences from those decisions. As a lot of petblr has be saying lately, surviving isn’t thriving. Sometimes it isn’t living at all.
Finally, give your cats some extra love for me. I’m going on vacation and I might kidnap mine and take them with me so they’re not lonely. We’re all they’ve got, and it’s important we remember that.
Anonymous asked:
Any tips for petting a nervous cat? My friend's cat is really snuggly and sweet with her, but swats at just about everyone else since she's not used to them. Is there anything I can do to get the comfortable enough for me to pet her or should I just leave her alone?
askscalestails answered:
A healthy amount of respect is pretty important, if the cat tells you to back off, back off! I’m afraid I don’t know of any specifics, but when getting the nervous cat here used to me I would crouch and offer my hand, when she came to sniff I would slowly pull my hand away (toward me). Essentially I was trying to let her know I was not approaching her and meant no harm.
Followers?
Food, treats, and watching the tail and growls helps. Also, play with the cat a little to drain some energy and get the cat to trust you more, and maybe that will make it easier to approach her.
Anonymous asked:
Hey! I was wondering if you knew of any blogs about cats (is catblr a thing lol) I'm looking into getting one in a year and would love to learn some stuff so I can be prepared!😄
scalestails answered:
Actually no, but I’d love to follow some cat blogs! Anybody know of any?
Everything directly cat related I could find in alphabetical order because, well. I don’t really have a reason. Add more, if you know for any!
@calico-dan
@catcolors
@catsindoors
@catsofinstagram
@duderedcat
@feliscanis
@flickas-freezer
@fuckyeahfelines
@irl-neko-atsume
@mostlycatsmostly
@pangur-and-grim
@refurbthecat
@thesilverpaws
@thurstonfluff
Semi-related:
Some important stuff! Tuxedo cats are reportedly the least adopted, not black cats, which is interesting. Kittens are also the more adopted over adults than even dogs. The article also mentioned how behavior was a determining factor, reinforcing that people need to talk more about how their cats behaved differently once they got comfortable.
The weird thing was when listing how many cats were adopted vs how many are bought from a breeder, about half came from “other sources,” which sounds incredibly ominous. Where are half the cats coming from???
My roommate lives in my living room on the futon..
I want to sleep with my door closed, so I bring the cat (3 year old male) Pumpkin into my bedroom, its connected to the bathroom where his litter box is.. He won’t stop clawing at the bottom of the door (bedroom door), and meowing CONSTANTLY.....
I think first a cat scratcher (even just a piece of cardboard) by/on/near the door, and following a play, eat, groom, sleep schedule could help a lot. Have meals set up around 15 (or as many minutes as he’ll go) play session, so that by the time he’s finished the meal he’s exhausted and will sleep when you sleep. To get this to work, when he meows at night don’t give him any attention at all. No scolding, not petting, no feeding or letting out. After anywhere from a few nights to weeks of this, he’ll probably stop. I’d play before a morning meal too.
- Me: *is moments from going up to eat and Do Other Things of Importance*
- Cat: must sits
- Me: aw, come on
- Cat: *purring and squinting*
Lately, my 9 month old cat has been acting strange. He’s been reclusive and antisocial, when he’s usually in your face all of the time and always affectionate. I’m not sure if he’s been eating as much lately. He’s also been very, very vocal (more so than usual) and he’s sensitive to being petted. For anyone with a cat, or who has had experience with them, do you know why he could be acting this way all of a sudden? His moms are worried!!
I’d take him to the vet! Sudden changes like that are worrying, but I’d also think about changes to his environment or events that could have happened to make him act this way. I would think about not free feeding (slowly transitioning to meal time by leaving less and less food out at a time and putting the food out at regular meal times) to make sure that he’s eating as much as he needs to, and to be able to know when to check on his litterbox habits.