question about cats

do they call it "the catbox," or just "the box"?

I demand immediate nomination to the dumbest threads of all time HOF for this btw

poopzone

where the wild smells are

the "dry pool"

glitterbox (for glam-rocking cats)

narnia

i'm just kidding cats don't have names for things, they are cats

the max

glitterbox <--- omg lesbian bar

(sorry)

my cat calls it the shit pit iirc.

My cat always called it "the restroom."

la brea fart pits

frothy beach

la brea fart pits

omg thank you for this

the beach

The Isle of Piles

u r welcome

the island of dr more eau de toilette

The Crusty Lagoon

ton of mo guano bay

Superfund Box

the ~dunes~

"goin on walkabout"

Dingleberry Ranch

j0hn d you are thinking a lot about pooping these days

concept album??? ;)

THE D-SPOT

Dia-rear Pier

piddle sands

glitterbox <--- omg lesbian bar

looooool

the crap trap

Region 10

Like Enya, my ideas are waaay better if you're stoned

my dog calls it the lunchbox

the toybox, unfortunately

Chamber of Secrets

I use a buddhadome for my cats

just cat box

there is no justice, there's just cat box

sin bin

Dallas Book Depository

lol i like that one

concept album??? ;)

dear my friends, with this post our own gbx has reached the absolute threshold of references to my day job for the rest of the year, as established by the Let JD Chill act of 1908, not coincidentally the year of his birth. I thank you all for your careful attention to this so I can return to chilling pleasantly on ilx instead of having constantly to be thinkin about work while I am here, thank you.

You were born the year after generation beaver!

it was a rich time I tell you

i am sorry :(

wait jd has a job? how the hell does he have time to post here so much

oh god i guess that means i'm up to 14 huh

You should get black ones because apparently rescue shelters find them the most difficult to home.

i did think about black but i dont think would go so well with our decor

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.

...

my white cat stays pretty clean, but she's never really been outdoors.

You should get ragdolls because they're fucking amazing.

Look! Bob!

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3263/3162571601_fc1326ff3a.jpg
Bob & Yo La Tengo by sickmouthy, on Flickr

Black cats are awesome
http://farm1.staticflickr.com/75/167433678_da3251d5f8.jpg

Black cats are indeed awesome. Tuxedo cats are too.

But again, some cats like to be cuddle buddies and some cats want as little to do with you as possible. None of this has anything to do with what color coat they have.

is 3 really too many? they'd be able to go outside if they wanted to and i'm home most days

Three is where it really starts to seem like hard work to simply own cats. Two is ideal because they can keep each other company and use the same litter box. You don't want three cats in one litter box.

orange cats imo

I want a cat so much. ;_;

three isn't bad at all, but does require extra maintenance/litterboxes. go for cuddles over decor appropriateness.

We had one litter box with three cats. Cleaned twice a day. Now we have two cats but we still do twice a day cleanings. We've set the bar high with them, I think they would revolt if we did any less.

I wonder if i might be better off with a dog

i did think about black but i dont think would go so well with our decor

― coal, Saturday, July 21, 2012 11:48 AM (2 hours ago)

I don't see how black cat hair is any worse than sitting around on the furniture being a piece of coal

ha!

If you have a fenced-in yard big enough for a dog, get a dog. If not, you're gonna have to do a lot of walking, usually at inconvenient times.

FYI vet advised that idea litter box to cat formula is n+1, ergo we have three litterboxes for two cats. Cats prefer the smallest, shallowest box, and lie to hang their asses over it so shit lands on the floor instead of in the box.

they are really cute, though. One is gray, one is gray and white and looks to have some ragdoll in her.

i have heard the n+1 rule before, but it seems absurd to me. one cat does not need two litterboxes. it might like to have two litterboxes, i don't know, but they aren't required, especially not in a small space. two cats, likewise, can get by just fine with one, provided it's kept clean. i wonder whether this rule was devised with larger houses in mind.

We've only had room for two litter boxes one time in 12 years of co-cat-habitation so we're just scrupulous about cleaning the one.

ime orange tabbies have a reliably excellent temperment, friendly without neurotic dependency

Seconding this. I had an orange tabby for 16 years who was the sweetest cat imaginable. He was also a little weird- he would climb a tree to get on the roof of my parents' house so he could come in my bedroom window instead of using the door.

they are really cute, though. One is gray, one is gray and white and looks to have some ragdoll in her.

― quincie,

thats exactly the combo i was thinking! so if i got the same combination and had any problems i could ask on here about it

i think the dog idea was impetuous

I had an orange tabby once who was a total Marlon Brando cat, and would scratch and hiss and bat at everyone, including me, unless he was trying to get a first or second serving of food.

I don't see how black cat hair is any worse than sitting around on the furniture being a piece of coal

― in charge of refreshments tonight is (Abbbottt),

i understand about our image not being great but we're a lot cleaner than we used to be, i dont blame peoples attitudes for being stuck in the past but we have made notable strides in cleanliness

the clean coal lobby is on ILX now eh

a total Marlon Brando cat

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, WHO RUINED THIS FINE, UPSTANDING CAT?

I totally pooh-poohed the n+1 litterbox thing until one or more of the cats started pissing and pooh-poohing in places that were not a litterbox.

Now, except for the ass-out-of-box issue, no problemos.

BTW all three are in the basement, which is the best place for litterboxes.

Every day when I'm cleaning the shitboxes I wonder if "litter lung" is a thing.

our older cat is starting to have old cat maladies catch up to her.. she's had hyperthyroidism for a few years but its been mostly well managed. she also is somewhat in chronic kidney disease territory and over the last few weeks seemed to have flairs w/ that, including the symptom of losing the ability to fully use her back legs which was pretty scary in general but she otherwise seemed ok..until she didn't..and then wasn't able to hold down food for a few days

our vet was largely unhelpful, other than wanting to run thousands of dollars worth of scans, but we did get blood work done and one of the things i keyed on was how low her potassium levels were

we also were able via a vet urgent care to get her anti-nausea meds to allow her to begin to eat again

i had previously been famililar in passing w this site https://felinecrf.org which is a wildly good resource

by starting her on a potassium supplement, literally within a day or two she could walk again, and after 4-5 days she was pretty much back to stable/normal

the takeaway really is just like human health care you have to advocate/research for yourself and mostly just use the professionals as a guiderail to make sure you're not doing anything crazy

That’s really useful to know, I’m glad your cat is doing better now!

Aw we lost a dear fella to kidney disease a few years ago. Our vets diagnosed it fairly early on, so were able to prolong his health for a while through various interventions (diet mostly, at first). Eventually it caught up to him. Toward the end, we were giving him daily saline infusions just to keep him hydrated. He made it to 15, led a fine life for most of them. He died on Mardi Gras two years ago, which seems fitting because my wife adopted him when she lived in New Orleans.

my old man is 15 and has kidney issues too but its been stable fir a couple years now. he hated the low-protein wet food but he likes the equivalent dry food so we give him normal wet food supplementing the dry food. seems to be okay, hopefully.

Our cat - 16 years old - is doing an unusual food thing, at the moment.

He has gone really fussy, far beyond the meme-thing of "Here's some dry food and some wet food" - "No, I want the mysterious in between food."

Seems happy to snack for a bit on something then gets a bit screechy for something else. It's sometimes resolved by picking him and placing him back in front of the bowl or even putting him out of the way (on the bed).

Teeth seem okay and doesn't appear unwell for his age. Will eventually take him to the vets but they'll push for invasive tests (We've had vet experiences along the lines of "His lungs aren't great, we need to do expensive tests under anaesthetic" and the results have come back that "His lungs aren't great").

Anything obvious to be thinking about?

i’ve tried to trickle warm water on my boy’s food since cats naturally like their food warm from the kill and it works sometimes. Because he’s unusually thirsty because of the kidney thing he likes wet food with lots of gravy, too

Our elderly cat is similarly incredibly fussy, to the point where we’ve had scans and tests done that have basically come back with “she is very old and probably in some kind of pain but maybe just very old”. Our vet finally prescribed painkillers and mirtazapine, which works as an appetite stimulant in cats and dogs. Definitely works to get her to eat, but I don’t think she loves it.

WmC re: litterbox lung - avoid clay litter or any that are dusty (or wear an n95). And change litter regularly enough that you can't smell ammonia, that stuff is very not good to be breathing.

We have 18 cats in our care currently. So many litterboxes. So many plates of food. So many fountains.

18 cats ! oh my

Our 2 cats don’t drink water, neither one ever shows an interest. So we just make sure to put water in their food (but not too much or they won’t eat it!) Early on we tried fountains with them because we had cats in the past where this helped. No interest in fountains either. But we give them mostly wet food and like I said we put water in too. Just a quirk I guess. We do always have fresh water bowls out for them just in case. Feels like busy work because they never actually drink it, but we think it’s important to do just in case.

I had a cat a long time ago, who would lick the water out of the shower after i used it, but not drink water otherwise

All but 1 of our current crew is happy with fountains. The 14 year old calico from an owner death situation initially would only drink from a running tap in the bathroom sink or tub. But I finally got her drinking from a bowl set next to the sink tap, which feels like such a victory.

our two cats never showed much of an interest in water until the last year or two, for whatever reason. sometimes i think they just drink it out of boredom but i do enjoy hearing lapping up in the distance

we have some old, fussy cats as well and try to prioritize them eating anything that they actually are willing to eat, even if it isn’t necessarily the ideal food that’s best for, say, their kidneys. and if they like the junk better, we add some supplements.

dementia may be a factor too. if they do things like howling in dark spots, adding nightlights may help. there is also cat cbd, but much like with humans, i’m not convinced it actually does anything.

good luck <3

I switched from a fountain to just bowls of water because I can keep them cleaner, no filters to clean or change. When I had fountains I could kid myself into thinking their water was cleaner because it was moving around, but I didn't clean the fountains and change filters often enough. When it was just Jonesy in the house, I was a little lax about the litterbox, but after Teddy and then Bugsy came along, I got a lot more conscientious and keep all three boxes clean. I was mostly joking about litter lung — daily maintenance is tougher on my back.