Some cat/kitten questions

[RacetrackReject]

So, I got my kittehs a scratching post thingie. They stared at it…for hours…but never touched. I took their little paws and rubbed it on the post. They said, “meow” while looking confused. I painted little bugs on the base. They swatted at the bugs and didn’t touch the post. I hung a wand type toy on the top, they ignored it. How do you get a cat to use a scratching post???

Also, the smaller kitten, a few months old, has had gas a lot lately and one day she threw up twice. Is that a normal thing for kittens?

[gypsymare]

Forget the post and buy this:

http://www.petco.com/product/106305/Scratch-Lounge.aspx?cm_mmc=CSEMGooglebase--Cat--Scratch%20Lounge-_-1177389&mr:trackingCode=7CF0EB15-8381-DE11-B7F3-0019B9C043EB&mr:referralID=NA

I’ve never had any luck getting a cat to use a post but they love this thing! A bit of catnip and they go nuts… then use it as a bed. It’s a bit pricey but they like the side a whole lot better than the single flat pad or ramp types.

They also adore my woven rattan type laundry basket. At least it’s not the couch…

[gypsymare]

It’s not normal for them to throw up. Round worms are very common in kittens and it takes several doses of wormer to eradicate them since the wormer only kills adults, not larva or eggs elsewhere in the body. Pyrantel pamoate, 50mg/mL solution at a dosage of 0.1cc/lb of body weight. Retreat 2-3 weeks after the initial dose. You can get it from a vet or without an Rx online. Primex Equine Liquid Wormer. When I worked as a vet tech for a small animal practice we used pyrantel labeled for equine use, drew it up in a syringe and sent it home with the owner to give the follow-up dose.

[Sunsets]

I wouldn’t worry too much about the puking, unless it’s constant. Cats do throw up quite a bit, especially if they are greedy-guts and really chow down their food. Make sure he/she has free feeding access and isn’t stuffing in the food because she is worried another cat will get it if she doesn’t.

As for the scratching, some cats are horizontal scratchers, and some are vertical scratchers. You usually can’t tell until your couch pays the price. That said, I’ve had very good results with a tall sisal wrapped scratching post. That or a good-sized stump or branch with the bark still on seem to be the most satisfying to claw. And when I say tall and sturdy, I mean it! Lots of cats scratch on a post unless they are sure they can claw as hard as they like without it falling over on them. We’re talking another piece of furniture here.

The post we have is about 42 inches tall and sturdy as heck. Our stumpy-tailed tabby goes all King Kong on it – clawing and climbing up to the top to perch like a gargoyle.

[VaqueroToro]

Vomiting in kittens is never a good thing, especially a very young one. They can get dehydrated/malnourished very quickly and it’s usually an indicator of something else that has gone wrong (worms, obstructions, dietary problems, etc). One hack up after getting curious and eating a bug is one thing, several times in one day or one week, not so much.

Each cat has their own ideas as to what would make a great scratching post. One of mine likes the upright carpet ones while the other prefers upright sisal. My folks’ cat likes to scratch on the ground so they have the ones that you can hook around a door knob lying flat on the ground. I agree that you definitely want something with a sturdy base if they like the upright ones.

[RacetrackReject]

The larger kitten is a vertical scratcher, says my recliner, so I thought he would like this. It is one of the sisal wrapped posts. Oh well, I guess I will try something different.

They kitten is on a deworming schedule as she still has one more set of shots to receive, so I don’t think it’s worms. I did separate her from the other kitten so that I could check her poop and it looked fine. Like I said, she threw up twice in 1 day and I wasn’t sure if cats just do that or not.

Thanks for the information.

[witherbee]

I second rubbing catnip on the post. Also take a feather on a string type toy and bounce it around on the post so that they jump around on it. I have both the cardboard ones that are horizontal and the sisal vertical scratching posts. I have 5 indoor cats and they NEVER have scratched my furniture. I make sure I replace the posts if they get too used up and I have plenty of the cardboard ones as well as some of the carpet type that are horizontal and vertical. I have 2 tall ones, 1 medium one and a huge cat castle that I won in a raffle.

http://i74.photobucket.com/albums/i245/wtryan/cat%20castle/046.jpg

[Holly_Jeanne]

what I use

Cute photo! I cut a landscaping post down to the size I wanted. Then I stapled a piece of carpet to it (which I got for free at a carpet store) and lean it up in a corner where it is secure. The cats don’t only scratch on it but they also run up and down on it and play. When the carpet gets torn up, I pull it off and staple a new piece on.

Oh, and on the throwing up, is it possible the food is just too rich for the kitten? I have a dog that must get a bland food or it upsets her tummy and I have a cat that had to go on adult food early on as he couldn’t handle the kitten foods.

[RacetrackReject]

[QUOTE=Holly Jeanne;6558136]
Cute photo! I cut a landscaping post down to the size I wanted. Then I stapled a piece of carpet to it (which I got for free at a carpet store) and lean it up in a corner where it is secure. The cats don’t only scratch on it but they also run up and down on it and play. When the carpet gets torn up, I pull it off and staple a new piece on.

Oh, and on the throwing up, is it possible the food is just too rich for the kitten? I have a dog that must get a bland food or it upsets her tummy and I have a cat that had to go on adult food early on as he couldn’t handle the kitten foods.[/QUOTE]

That is a possibility Holly Jeane as they are both on kitten food. I may try them on some adult or all stages food and see if that helps with the gas. Although, having said that, the kitten hasn’t been gassy the last few days.

The scratching post I have looks like it is a landscape timber with sisal on it…lol. It’s the right shape anyway. I tried laying it down last night and when I got up this AM, it was standing up, so someone did something with it.

Love the kitty castle. The black and white guy on top looks just like my ceiling kitty, Harley.

[findeight]

On the climbing/scratching front…Ikea and other stores like Tarjee have these woven basket type square things that you can stack for storage. Since they are open on only one side, they make great “hidey holes” you can put cheapo little pillows in (I get the chair seat covers) and they stack about 3 high.

Between the scratching opportunities, cubbies to hide in and the fact you can change the arrangement around as much as you want I’ve been pretty happy with them. I have some larger floor pillows and various small tables and plant stands to add jumping opportunities. Got some fake plants for hiding behind too. Whole thing can disappear if you need space or company is coming too and changing it around or changing rooms for it keeps kitties guessing and fascinated. Cheap too. Toss it out if they wreck it.

On the puking with gas? If it is temporary and kitty stays in the house? Probably just ate something it found on the floor somewhere under a piece of furniture. If it goes away in a day or two, you are fine. If not, you should go see the vet, could be alot of things and most are easy enough to remedy. Any symptoms beside the digestive upset like chills or fatigue need to see the vet ASAP.

If kitty goes outside at all, sooner for the vet might be a better choice then later.

[Catsdorule-sigh]

I read a long, long time ago in a magazine, wasn’t even animal oriented, someone wrote in about cats scratching things they shouldn’t. I followed the advice given and have never had a problem since- except sometimes when they stretch they like to extend the claws but a soft/firm “no” takes care of that. And we make sure to praise when they use the appropriate things provided. This was when we had a cat in a split-level house and the upstairs railings were wood and she took after those posts. Maybe it was luck but when we did what I’m going to describe, she stopped.

To paraphrase, cats need things they can get their claws into and they also need things they don’t necessarily get hung up on when they do. Carpet can do that sometimes. And they want to stretch to do it, a lot of the time. Most of the scratching posts you get in pet stores are just too small for them to get in a good stretch while they scratch. SO got a 4"x4" cedar fence post, not treated. Cut that at least 36" high, 42" is better I think and ours is that tall. Carpeted half of it and left the other half wood. Attached it to a base big enough and heavy enough to keep the post upright. They use both sides as they want and the cedar gets quite a work out. The thing is, the cedar is a soft wood so they can get into it and it doesn’t snag their claws.

We also have one of the cat play towers that is carpeted and has the sisal and they use that, as well as the cardboard units that are on a slant on the floor.

In other words, we make sure they have just about anything they might want scratch-wise, and they don’t use anything else. Also keep their claws trimmed. They don’t like it but they are more comfortable when its over. In fact, more scratching than usual is generally a sign I need to trim claws.

Give them something they can get their claws into without snagging and something they can stretch with at the same time. It’s just become part of the “decorating scheme.”

Both cats played “vulture” on the top of that post until they got too big to sit on it. They came off but the post never toppled.

[Sunsets]

As I mentioned earlier, our tabby girl likes to go “King Kong” on the post and hitch her way up to the top. Or take a flying leap to get halfway up and then scramble from there.

One day, our very large tuxedo kitteh decided that he, too, would run and leap onto the post. It’s sturdy, but not sturdy enough to withstand a direct hit from 19 pounds of cat at full speed. My husband, who was lucky enough to witness this event, said kitty had a perfect “Oh S----” look on his face as the post tilted over.

[Aussie_Dog]

I got a heavy, solid (70lbs) cat tree some years ago and even if all three cats leapt on it at the same time, with a combined weight of 27lbs, I don’t think it’d budge. It might jolt, but it ain’t fallin’ over. I don’t really remember how my girls reacted to it when I set it up, though I do have a picture of that first night with all three sitting on their own perches.

A couple of months ago, we ended up with a new kitten, strictly in a foster basis, and it took her a little while to figure out what the tree was for. She didn’t seem to understand how to climb it. We’d place her in one of the perches and she’d just sit there, maybe even fall asleep, and I think she even needed help getting off the first couple of days. But now she’s a crazy little monster who vents her excess energy on that poor tree. Leaping, climbing, hauling and falling, and of course, sharpening her nails. She also seems offended if another cat is already on it. She’ll harass said cat, swatting and poking, until the cat finally hisses and books it, taking a flying leap on a nearby couch. To be fair, Marcy’s not great with the girls to start with (seriously, I don’t know if she ever got socialization lessons, because she does NOT know how to speak “cat”), but she’s especially mean when it comes to HER tree.

Look around at as many trees as you can find, and don’t even rule out ordering one online. I got mine from a guy who makes them himself and sells them off his website, but I got mine off ebay, when he used to sell them there (he’d start it at $1, but the trees were hot commodities and never sold for less than $150). I got mine for $155, shipping was, I think, $40-something, and I can’t remember the customs fee (it might have been $44, or it might have been $70-something). All in all, I still think it was a great deal. It’s 6 1/2 feet tall and 70lbs. I had to put it together (the bottom half was already set up, it was the upper portion and the posts/platforms that needed to be assembled), but it was fun. Got it 7 years ago aside from some fraying, it still looks good. I work at Petsmart now and I can’t help but look at our trees with snobbishness. They’re overpriced flimsy wobbly things. Same with the trees at other places.

[RacetrackReject]

I have a bunch of those cube things that fold up. They are made out of nylon and you can fold them flat. I had bought them for my JRT when he was a pup and he still likes to sleep in them on occassion. The kitties LOVE them. My JRT also has a Discovery Kids tent with a tunnel connected to it. The tent is filled with soft toys and dog beds as well, so the kitties love it in there too.

The kitty routine is- eat at feeding station (on top of their large crate), first kitten goes in tent, gets in dog bed and cleans feet, then other kitten goes in and bites first kitten until he leaves and she climbs in the bed, cleans her feet, and settles in for a nap. Ousted kitty curls up on the loveseat or recliner for his nap.

I’m thinking about buiding them something that will mount to the wall, from floor to ceiling, with several different levels and ramps.