Curious About A Lot of Things...

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Hi Krazyaboutkatz, thanks for your reply!

As I mentioned to Freedom, I didn't want to jump in on conversations, as a newbie, sounding like an opinionated know-it-all. I'm glad there is knowledge and/or willingness to learn about the better care of cats amongst the members here, and that the forum isn't just about all the cute things to do with our pets.

Thanks for the compliments on my album. I love to take pictures, I drive many of my friends nuts because I've almost always got my camera in one of my hands and take all kinds of pictures. Since "the girls" ,as I lovingly refer to my kitties, are always around, I get a lot of pictures of them, especially on days when they are in the living room and we have good light coming in so I don't need to use the flash.

I don't think I'll spend any time in the dog house! I don't like controversy but I will explain both de-clawing and diet to folks who ask.

I wish I'd have learned to be an indoor-only cat parent many years ago and not waited til 2005! All my previous kitties would've been gone by now anyway, but hopefully they would've lived much longer lives than they did. I vowed after our Sunshine, the only one to die of natural old-age causes, passed in 1998, that any future kitties would be indoors only, if I didn't want to deal with a litter box 24/7/365, I wouldn't get cats again. Alas, now I have 4 with 6 boxes! We were catless between 1998 and 2005...our intentions were to let our then-aging Jack Russell Terrier live her last years as Queen of the House before adopting/acquiring another cat, but alas, Philly showed up crying in the woods across from our house in 1005, about 2 years before our JRT's end.

I did a lot of research on foods in conjunction with urinary issues trying to keep Tiger Lily healthy...but since her cystitis was being caused by stress, and the stress was the other cats, diet wasn't a lot of help. She'd be okay for a few months, but then the cystitis would recur. It just wasn't fair to try to keep her with us because WE wanted to, it was needed for her health and complete healthiness, to find her an only-pet home. Thank goodness it didn't take long to find one and she did not sit in the adoption center for a lengthy time. She went to an adoption center where she would've lived her whole life if the right folks for her didn't come along, so even if she hadn't been adopted, she was in excellent hands and would not have been euthanized. But the one thing I learned is that cats with urinary issues do need to be on canned/wet food.

[Freedom]

Check out this book, I found it at my library:

The Whole Pet Diet, by Andi Brown.

She explains which foods -- and herbs -- do what, gives ideas on feeding and includes recipes.

I learned quite a bit from the book, and eventually bought a copy.

While you have some "enforced" free time, may be worth a browse for ya!

[aTailOf2Kitties]

I have 2 litterboxes and 2 cats. It's working fine so far.

They get Purina One sensitive systems dry (I give them a spoonful each of el-cheapo canned mixed in once a day)

Strictly indoors (although I ocasionally put a leash and harness on them for brief forays outdoors)

My cats are not currently declawed but I'm not against it. There must be a good reason for it though. My last cat was declawed when I adopted him. My current 2 don't scratch on anything they're not supposed to, so it's not an issue. I just trim their claws about once a month.

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

Freedom, Thanks for the book recommendation!

[Momto4FemaleFelines]

ATailof2Kitties, Thanks for a reply.
We're all entitled to our own opinions.
We can only hope to keep an open mind and at least look at or listen to other ideas on different subjects.
I've learned the hard way we can only feed what we can afford. I don't like feeding the "el cheapo" foods, but I have to for now...I supplement with some eggs now & again as we have a source for free eggs. And I sneak in the better stuff on occassion.
Our cats' bodies just weren't meant to digest grains, so it's good to try to stay away from corn and other grains.

[katladyd]

I have 2 cats and 2 litter boxes. For my household, that is working fine. I am against declawing. If your furniture means that much to you, don't have pets. I feed Purina One for urinary tract health. My boys do great on it!! I feed a little (1/2 of a small can) of Fancy Feast twice a day. I love the idea of letting my boys outdoors, but in today's world, I won't do it. It is too dangerous for cats outdoors these days. If I lived in the country, maybe.

[Ladybug70]

Hi Pat -

I have 2 indoor kitties (littermates) and, believe it or not, they've always had one litter box (a very large, covered box with multi-cat clumping litter). I know, crazy, right?! Of course being brothers, they're used to sharing and seem to have no issue with it (they've never peed/pooped elsewhere). We just clean it out often.

Our Blackie had urinary tract blockage almost 5 years ago so we've used Purina One Urinary Tract Health kibble ever since for both boys and they like it (we've tried others, including SD and they're not thrilled). We provide cat treats (soft food) every now and then. Of course, all that has changed recently with Blackie's CRF issues so we're temporarily trying out anything that he'll eat for now... and Toby is reaping the benefits with little treats on the side.

I've had numerous indoor/outdoor kitties out in the country and in smaller towns when growing up. They all seemed to thrive and loved the freedom but they always came home with injuries from various kitty battles (and one rogue porcupine). I'm living in San Diego now so it's really not safe to have kitties outdoors at any time because of the threat of coyotes, cars, etc. The boys instinctively want to be outside and sometimes I feel bad for them being cooped up all the time. But we have lots of window perches and are blessed with mild weather so we can have windows open for them to sniff the air and watch/listen to birdies in the big trees right outside our house. We also take them on supervised visits to our large, enclosed patio a few times a week.

I've never believed in declawing indoor cats. In fact, we don't even trim our boys' claws (the only times have been when they visit the vet). I figure if they are going to be neutered and indoors all the time, I might as well let them keep SOMETHING. They are good boys and use their scratching posts.

Your kitty pics are great!

Purrs,
Lisa