Pet Advice Thread.

[Codex]

Dear pet magician person

My ragdoll incessantly, yet lazily, talks to me. I read that they're just chatty, he has all his food and water, and his vet says he's in good health. I tried playing with him but I don't have the energy to keep chasing him around the apartment like a crazy person.
How do I tell my ragdoll to shut it without hurting his feelings?

 

[The Cat]

Dear pet magician person

My ragdoll incessantly, yet lazily, talks to me. I read that they're just chatty, he has all his food and water, and his vet says he's in good health. I tried playing with him but I don't have the energy to keep chasing him around the apartment like a crazy person.
How do I tell my ragdoll to shut it without hurting his feelings?

I have a ragdoll too, for going on 11 years now. He is now meowsing chattering through the house. They're just exceedingly vocal. If your cat is like mine, any attempt to tell it to shut it, will be met with meows and cat chatter, I think it has to do with the siamese in them. It is fun to just chat with them though. Careful though sometimes any communication with him is viewed as an invitation for snugs.

 

[Codex]

I have a ragdoll too, for going on 11 years now. He is now meowsing chattering through the house. They're just exceedingly vocal. If your cat is like mine, any attempt to tell it to shut it, will be met with meows and cat chatter, I think it has to do with the siamese in them. It is fun to just chat with them though. Careful though sometimes any communication with him is viewed as an invitation for snugs.

I know. I mean I'll be honest. I love the attention lol it's just a total distraction when I'm working from home, and this blue eyed angel is trying to get my attention while I'm on a conference call. I use every ounce of self control I have and most of the time, I still fail to pay attention to the call. I can't resist

 

[The Cat]

I know. I mean I'll be honest. I love the attention lol it's just a total distraction when I'm working from home, and this blue eyed angel is trying to get my attention while I'm on a conference call. I use every ounce of self control I have and most of the time, still fail to pay attention to the call. I can't resist

Yeah, when there's writing to be done sometimes they have to go into the cat room >_> The cute abides.

 

[Amberiat]

Dear pet magician person

My ragdoll incessantly, yet lazily, talks to me. I read that they're just chatty, he has all his food and water, and his vet says he's in good health. I tried playing with him but I don't have the energy to keep chasing him around the apartment like a crazy person.
How do I tell my ragdoll to shut it without hurting his feelings?

Ragdolls are irresistible, I swear one day I'll get one and it will inevitably steal my soul.

 

[The Cat]

Ragdolls are irresistible, I swear one day I'll get one and it will inevitably steal my soul.

The Snuggle is real.

 

[prplchknz]

My cat has started hissing at strangers when they try to pet her. I wish she wouldn't. But she is slightly skittish, especially with noise though she loves being petted so it makes no sense. But after she hisses once and realizes they're not gonna hurt her she let's them scratch her butt. Any ideas on what to do. She's a cat so I doubt there's much that can be done.

 

[Maou]

Perhaps open the blinds to keep them curious and occupied? Getting someone they can play with helps too.

 

[Deprecator]

My cat has started hissing at strangers when they try to pet her. I wish she wouldn't. But she is slightly skittish, especially with noise though she loves being petted so it makes no sense. But after she hisses once and realizes they're not gonna hurt her she let's them scratch her butt. Any ideas on what to do. She's a cat so I doubt there's much that can be done.

Guests who gravitate towards a cat can put them out of their comfort zones and result in hissing; always let the cat approach the guests on the cat's own terms. You could try giving a special treat to guests before they enter, and then maybe eventually if the cat wants to approach she'll associate new people with the treat.

 

[prplchknz]

Guests who gravitate towards a cat can put them out of their comfort zones and result in hissing; always let the cat approach the guests on the cat's own terms. You could try giving a special treat to guests before they enter, and then maybe eventually if the cat wants to approach she'll associate new people with the treat.

I could give them ice cubes (her favorite) yeah she usually hides upstairs when there's more than 2 people here.

 

[cascadeco]

[MENTION=10808]bechimo[/MENTION] [MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION] [MENTION=5494]Cassandra[/MENTION]

I've posed this question on facebook and got some plausible explanations for it -- which include stress/anxiety as well as perhaps an element of trying to be more dominant/mothering. But might as well open the arena to others who might know more!

I recently got two new cats - a 2+ year old (Poppy) and a kitten (Colibri) who is now around 4 months old. Both from a cat shelter.

I got the 2+ yo first, a little over a month ago, and she had a week to become somewhat acclimated to my home. She demonstrated what I saw to be some anxious behaviors -- excessive/'lonely' vocalizing at night, most notably, and occasionally mid day when she wakes up two rooms away from wherever I am and then she'll just start meowing. That has since decreased with time but still occurs - such that I now think it's partly just her personality but also probably still some anxiety still as well. Since she has seemed to become less anxious with time I haven't yet gotten anxiety meds, but I'm still open to doing so.

The kitten came 2nd, exactly a week later, and I think I did a good job of separating initially and then slowly introducing/integrating, as they're now just fine with one another -- they play together, and the older one grooms/cleans the kitten. So all is good on the shared-space front. I haven't hear any hisses for probably 3 weeks now.

However my question is around Poppy's cleaning/grooming -- in my opinion it seems almost obsessive-compulsive --- notably because Poppy's fur gets *wet* (ha - I actually forgot to include this detail in my facebook post ) from the amount of cleaning she does to herself and to Colibri. I've had a cat before, and her fur very, very rarely got WET from cleaning. But after Poppy cleans herself the area is wet to the touch, and of course with Colibri she looks like she got doused with water wherever Poppy concentrated the cleaning. I was/am mostly curious and maybe mildly concerned (though not overly) because inevitably and understandably Colibri can only take so much cleaning before she gets fed up with Poppy and starts trying to get away, or it converts to playing (which I've been told can be typical), her ears go back, she might vocalize in protest, and so on -- eventually she gets away and that's that, Poppy just goes back to whatever she was doing prior.

Thoughts? Anxiety?

 

[Lexicon]

[MENTION=10808]bechimo[/MENTION] [MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION] [MENTION=5494]Cassandra[/MENTION]

I've posed this question on facebook and got some plausible explanations for it -- which include stress/anxiety as well as perhaps an element of trying to be more dominant/mothering. But might as well open the arena to others who might know more!

I recently got two new cats - a 2+ year old (Poppy) and a kitten (Colibri) who is now around 4 months old. Both from a cat shelter.

I got the 2+ yo first, a little over a month ago, and she had a week to become somewhat acclimated to my home. She demonstrated what I saw to be some anxious behaviors -- excessive/'lonely' vocalizing at night, most notably, and occasionally mid day when she wakes up two rooms away from wherever I am and then she'll just start meowing. That has since decreased with time but still occurs - such that I now think it's partly just her personality but also probably still some anxiety still as well. Since she has seemed to become less anxious with time I haven't yet gotten anxiety meds, but I'm still open to doing so.

The kitten came 2nd, exactly a week later, and I think I did a good job of separating initially and then slowly introducing/integrating, as they're now just fine with one another -- they play together, and the older one grooms/cleans the kitten. So all is good on the shared-space front. I haven't hear any hisses for probably 3 weeks now.

However my question is around Poppy's cleaning/grooming -- in my opinion it seems almost obsessive-compulsive --- notably because Poppy's fur gets *wet* (ha - I actually forgot to include this detail in my facebook post ) from the amount of cleaning she does to herself and to Colibri. I've had a cat before, and her fur very, very rarely got WET from cleaning. But after Poppy cleans herself the area is wet to the touch, and of course with Colibri she looks like she got doused with water wherever Poppy concentrated the cleaning. I was/am mostly curious and maybe mildly concerned (though not overly) because inevitably and understandably Colibri can only take so much cleaning before she gets fed up with Poppy and starts trying to get away, or it converts to playing (which I've been told can be typical), her ears go back, she might vocalize in protest, and so on -- eventually she gets away and that's that, Poppy just goes back to whatever she was doing prior.

Thoughts? Anxiety?

Wow that’s definitely strange. I wouldn’t know what would cause that... but Amargith might.
Either way, hopefully it’ll be something that stops as the kitten gets older/larger in size..

 

[cascadeco]

Wow that’s definitely strange. I wouldn’t know what would cause that... but Amargith might.
Either way, hopefully it’ll be something that stops as the kitten gets older/larger in size..

Yeah, once Colibri gets bigger she might be able to assert herself more easily/ establish more of a boundary. The grooming starts out all cute and sweet, and Colibri even started in recent days grooming Poppy at the same time ... so it's not like it's a negative thing initially for either -- it just becomes too much for Colibri, whereas I'm convinced Poppy could keep going on for an hour. We'll see. Haven't seen Amargith here for ages but maybe she'll stop in some day.

 

[Lexicon]

Yeah, once Colibri gets bigger she might be able to assert herself more easily/ establish more of a boundary. The grooming starts out all cute and sweet, and Colibri even started in recent days grooming Poppy at the same time ... so it's not like it's a negative thing initially for either -- it just becomes too much for Colibri, whereas I'm convinced Poppy could keep going on for an hour. We'll see. Haven't seen Amargith here for ages but maybe she'll stop in some day.

We must conduct a seance to summon her!

 

[cascadeco]

We must conduct a seance to summon her!

I know little of such doings... I will leave that up to you and Cricket!!!

 

[rav3n]

Barring a medical condition like fleas, skin condition, etc, since the kitten's new, it's possible that Poppy is still recovering from the rehoming of her to your place and the intro of a new kitten. Most cats don't like change and who knows if Poppy was bonded to another cat who was adopted away (vocalizing at night), hence the hysterical bonding with the kitten. I'd give it more time.

Check for bald spots anywhere on her body. If she has a bald spot or lesions from overlicking, that's serious OCD and likely, will require intervention.

One of my late cats used to look wet when he groomed areas of his body but the amount of saliva didn't meet the level of hypersalivation since he didn't drool, etc. He was super chill and perfectly healthy so that was just him being a clean freak. He always smelled and looked great.

 

[cascadeco]

Barring a medical condition like fleas, skin condition, etc, since the kitten's new, it's possible that Poppy is still recovering from the rehoming of her to your place and the intro of a new kitten. Most cats don't like change and who knows if Poppy was bonded to another cat who was adopted away (vocalizing at night), hence the hysterical bonding with the kitten. I'd give it more time.

Check for bald spots anywhere on her body. If she has a bald spot or lesions from overlicking, that's serious OCD and likely, will require intervention.

One of my late cats used to look wet when he groomed areas of his body but the amount of saliva didn't meet the level of hypersalivation since he didn't drool, etc. He was super chill and perfectly healthy so that was just him being a clean freak. He always smelled and looked great.

Thanks for your input! Thus far Poppy's fur is gorgeous and sleek, no bald spots. (and no drooling)

Regarding Poppy's history, I do know that she was transferred from a NM shelter to this one at the tail end of March, with two kittens of her own on tow. Perhaps she has not recovered from that eventual separation (no idea whether she was fostered initially with them or not, or whether kittens were separated immediately). But I obviously don't know of any prior bonding or bonding that might have occurred at this shelter.

But yes I think her overall recovery/adjustment is continuing. I will definitely see how things go with more time and will keep an eye out for bald spots.

 

[The Cat]

[MENTION=10808]bechimo[/MENTION] [MENTION=5159]Lexicon[/MENTION] [MENTION=5494]Cassandra[/MENTION]

I've posed this question on facebook and got some plausible explanations for it -- which include stress/anxiety as well as perhaps an element of trying to be more dominant/mothering. But might as well open the arena to others who might know more!

I recently got two new cats - a 2+ year old (Poppy) and a kitten (Colibri) who is now around 4 months old. Both from a cat shelter.

I got the 2+ yo first, a little over a month ago, and she had a week to become somewhat acclimated to my home. She demonstrated what I saw to be some anxious behaviors -- excessive/'lonely' vocalizing at night, most notably, and occasionally mid day when she wakes up two rooms away from wherever I am and then she'll just start meowing. That has since decreased with time but still occurs - such that I now think it's partly just her personality but also probably still some anxiety still as well. Since she has seemed to become less anxious with time I haven't yet gotten anxiety meds, but I'm still open to doing so.

The kitten came 2nd, exactly a week later, and I think I did a good job of separating initially and then slowly introducing/integrating, as they're now just fine with one another -- they play together, and the older one grooms/cleans the kitten. So all is good on the shared-space front. I haven't hear any hisses for probably 3 weeks now.

However my question is around Poppy's cleaning/grooming -- in my opinion it seems almost obsessive-compulsive --- notably because Poppy's fur gets *wet* (ha - I actually forgot to include this detail in my facebook post ) from the amount of cleaning she does to herself and to Colibri. I've had a cat before, and her fur very, very rarely got WET from cleaning. But after Poppy cleans herself the area is wet to the touch, and of course with Colibri she looks like she got doused with water wherever Poppy concentrated the cleaning. I was/am mostly curious and maybe mildly concerned (though not overly) because inevitably and understandably Colibri can only take so much cleaning before she gets fed up with Poppy and starts trying to get away, or it converts to playing (which I've been told can be typical), her ears go back, she might vocalize in protest, and so on -- eventually she gets away and that's that, Poppy just goes back to whatever she was doing prior.

Thoughts? Anxiety?

My cats do this sometimes, it's like social grooming, and I think they get a bit lost in the good vibez; theyre all orphans. these three are also very exlusory of the other cats that are outside the triumvirate.

 

[rav3n]

Thanks for your input! Thus far Poppy's fur is gorgeous and sleek, no bald spots. (and no drooling)

Regarding Poppy's history, I do know that she was transferred from a NM shelter to this one at the tail end of March, with two kittens of her own on tow. Perhaps she has not recovered from that eventual separation (no idea whether she was fostered initially with them or not, or whether kittens were separated immediately). But I obviously don't know of any prior bonding or bonding that might have occurred at this shelter.

But yes I think her overall recovery/adjustment is continuing. I will definitely see how things go with more time and will keep an eye out for bald spots.

It's possible she hasn't adjusted to having her kittens taken away so she maybe anxious about this kitten being taken away, now that they've bonded. Some cat mothers even bond for life with one of their kittens, if they're allowed to remain together to adulthood for the kitten.

Best of luck. Things will likely resolve themselves over time with emotional healing. Oh, one thing. When cats haven't been able to blow off enough physical energy, it can make them anxious and stressed out.

 

[Amargith]

Barring a medical condition like fleas, skin condition, etc, since the kitten's new, it's possible that Poppy is still recovering from the rehoming of her to your place and the intro of a new kitten. Most cats don't like change and who knows if Poppy was bonded to another cat who was adopted away (vocalizing at night), hence the hysterical bonding with the kitten. I'd give it more time.

Check for bald spots anywhere on her body. If she has a bald spot or lesions from overlicking, that's serious OCD and likely, will require intervention.

One of my late cats used to look wet when he groomed areas of his body but the amount of saliva didn't meet the level of hypersalivation since he didn't drool, etc. He was super chill and perfectly healthy so that was just him being a clean freak. He always smelled and looked great.

This.

Fwiw, I think you re spot on. Its likely the stress from the move is likely a big factor, barring medical conditions.


@cascadeco

Id give it more time too. Also, its not uncommon to see temporary wet spots after they ve given themselves a thorough bath, but in this case it seems rather frequent. Id guess its a temporary coping mechanism, unless she has a history of this with previous owners.

Some thing you can do to help her, is give her other things to do (interactive play especially), and distract her with food or other pleasant things if she gets too intense with the washing.

(This can also actively pre-empt her developing stereotypical behavior as you ll catch it early and keep the habit from forming. Licking releases opoids which are soothing, and it becomes addictive. It establishes a habit which perseveres long after the effect of the opiods wears off and is harder to break the longer it goes on)

For now, there is no real need to worry, imho. Just keep an eye our for medical issues, OCD and automutilation if she keeps at it.

Typically they ll go for the flanks, paws or tip of the tail, if memory serves, but any bald spot would be troubling and should be checked out.

If it turns out to be psychological in nature, your vet can prescribe something like Clomicalm to help her cope better and break the habit through therapy.