I need advice ~~~any and all~~!!!

I am going to be permanent (?) foster mom to my best friends cat. Kylie is a beautiful long haired white "barn cat". She is very sweet and very pretty. Kylie doesn't like my friends boyfriend, she hides under the bed when he is there. Now believe me, I have told her that animals have a 6th sense about this stuff and she should follow her cat's advice and those of us on the dog board, have discussed it also. But Kylie is so unhappy that I agreed to take her even if its temporary. I told my friend you get me the kitty litter box and help me find a place to put it where the dog won't get it and we have a deal!!! Well, we went on a shopping spree tonight a KMART and she bought me kitty litter, automatic waterer/food dish, cat food, treats and toys and a poop scoop!!!Everything except the cat box!! We went to 3 different stores and couldn't find one! So she is going to WalMart tomorrow to get one and I have to work 2nd shift tomorrow so I think that on Sat we will do the switch!!! I have never had a cat, I had an outside cat when I was 5 but he died after less than a year and that was a long time ago!!
I hope her other cat Max doesn't get to lonely. She is in the process of buying a house, and wants to get a puppy then so maybe he will have a playmate. She said that if her and her boyfriend don't work out she will take Kylie back. We shall see. Kylie is so unhappy when the boyfriend is there, I just hope that this doesn't make it worse for her, she has never been around dogs, since she was a kitten. And Shaianne, my greyhound doesn't know she is getting a sister!!! She has been the spoiled spotlight child for 2 years and this may be a rude awakening for her!! Wish me luck!!! I hope I am doing the right thing for Kylie's sake.
I have some questions: If your response is too long please email me at [email protected]
1-What is the best kind of food? Jodi feeds them dry Cat Chow Kylie is long haired so I was wondering about a hairball formula? We bought hairball treats that she says work well.
2-What is the best kitty litter? Jodi bought me Tidy Cat, she said that it is the best, but I was wondering about the scoopable kind, or the crystals, or Arm and Hammer??
3-Do you scoop it out once a day or every other day or what?
I thank everyone from the bottom of my heart in advance. I will keep you posted. Pam told me that now I will start posting over here and really never get anything done.
http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif

I feed Shiloh dry Iams and occasionally a can of wet Iams for a treat. I REALLY recommend the crystal litter. I've been using it for a year now and I love it. It masks the smell quite well. Before I started using it, I had Shiloh using different sorts of natural kitty litter. The pine stuff really starts to stink when they pee on it. The reason I don't like Tidy Cat is it is so dusty and I don't like Shiloh to breathe that stuff in. If you pour some in the box, and put your head down to that level, you'll choke on the powdery dust floating around. Its a matter of personal preference though I guess. As far as cleaning it, Shiloh makes me scoop it out every day. If I don't, she sits there meowing until I do. Sometimes if she goes more than once in the night, she'll wake me up to clean the litter. Not fun http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif If you use the crystals, its real easy to just scoop it out every 1-2 days and then the litter stays pretty clean so you don't have to change the whole thing out as often.

(I replied to your post about this on the dog forum too http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif )

[This message has been edited by aly (edited June 15, 2001).]

We have three cats, or better yet, 3 cats have us. Ha ha ha

We free feed Nutra Max Cat dry, and we give some Fancy Feast canned food as a treat.

We use scooping litter for our box. We use to have 2 boxes, but getting some new furniture made use need to go to one box. I try and clean the box twice a day, with 3 cats, it is used a lot. As far as litter, we have used a few different kinds of scooping. We have a hooded litter box, with the vent at the top open.

My dog sometimes uses the litter box for a between meal snack...yuck.

Good luck with your new addition. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

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Recently adopted by 3 cats: Jackson http://www.plauder-smilies.de/tiere/catmilk.gif , Rosie http://www.plauder-smilies.de/tiere/catsmiley.gif , Fluffy http://www.plauder-smilies.de/cat.gif , a dog: Eli http://www.plauder-smilies.de/dogrun.gif , some fish http://www.plauder-smilies.de/fish.gif , and my fiancee: Lynn (Vi Co Bi) http://www.plauder-smilies.de/remybussi.gif

I also do Nutro Natural Choice and some Fancy Feast every few days-they have great flavors(according to Charlie). Nutro makes a canned hairball formula, which I give him on occasion. He also loves the Whisker Lickins chicken flavor treats. He can spot that orange bag from a mile away!
I skim his kitty litter every day (well, sometimes I miss a day, which he's never happy about). I use scoopable litter. I started with the flushable kind, but I couldn't find one with good odor control, so I gave up on that idea.
Good luck and let us know how it goes. http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

Now the countdown to Kylie's arrival begins! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif I feed both my cats IAMS dry Less Active formula, but that's just because Trevor is "a little hefty" http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif and actually they aren't very active unless you call sleeping an activity!! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif I used to give them canned IAM (they love ocean fish) and occasionally Fancy Feast. It is higher in calories so I stopped it except for very special occasions but they loved it!

I scoop daily and I have two boxes. Believe it or not, sometimes they seem to use one box for "liquids" and the other for "solids." Sorry to be so graphic! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/redface.gif I use Pet Valu's own litter brand. (Pet Valu is a chain around here but I don't know if it is national). It is scoopable and seems to have less dust and the granules are a little larger.

Yes, Staci, you will be posting a lot more and getting less done! I just realized that I have gone over 1,000 posts so I am well on my way to being a blabbermouth!! Having both cats AND a dog has made me that way! http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/smile.gif

It's too bad that a boyfriend who is not even serious enought yet to be considered permanent is causing a permanent upheaval in little Kylie's life that may do more damage than a visitor she doesn't like.

Pepper hides every time Chuck comes over. In fact, she knows when he's coming and starts slinking around looking for a hiding place in mid afternoon! He's the only friend of mine or my son's that she hides from. Why? Who knows, but I know two things for certain - it is not a "warning" about Chuck (can anyone on this board imagine Chuck mistreating a cat) and I would not even dream about giving her away because she doesn't like one of my friends!

This little girl is going to need some extra tender loving care, because she will not know why this is happening to her.

The best thing to do as far as litter and food is to use what she's used to, to keep as many constants in her life as possible right now. After she gets into her new groove you can start switching brands if you desire.

Bless you for taking in this little girl who is suddenly finding herself orphaned just becuase she doesn't care for someone who visits her house.

[This message has been edited by 4 feline house (edited June 15, 2001).]

The boyfriend lives there 95% of the time, and for details that are too private to discuss http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/frown.gif it is just better that I take Kylie. He doesn't like her either to say the least, but he tolerates the other cat, and its just better to get her out of the situation, rather than wait until she gets hurt or worse. Half of our town is trying to get my friend to get rid of her boyfriend, but she is looped into the cycle after less than 5 months. I just wish she would take her kitty's advice on this one. Kylie is sooo unhappy, it is killing my friend, and she knows I will spoil and love her to the best of my ability. And she can come and see her anytime she wants, which helps her. I just hope that Kylie doesn't think its worse with the dog. Shaianne and I have to have a talk tonight about it http://PetoftheDay.com/talk/biggrin.gif I have to 'splain it to her!!!
Thanks for all your advice and concern and KEEP IT COMING!!! I AM GOING TO NEED ALL THE HELP I CAN GET!!!