The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2019

Some time ago I mentioned that my elderly cat Capucchino, age 19, will not use any kind of litter box although she has a LitterRobot that she had been using when it first came into the house when she was about 3 years old but that she abandoned after about 5 years in favor of the floor or any other place she thought of, but no litter box of any kind. The other cats were using the LitterRobot just fine and one had not come to me until he was 12 years old and took to it immediately. I finally hit on puppy pads for her. Fast forward some 10 years or so: surprise, surprise: lately, after enticing her a few time by putting her into the LitterRobot and then feeding her treats afterwards she got in by herself and promptly got a reward. That went on for a week at which time she went right past the puppy pad and into the LitterRobot to do her business, then strolled right past me without even a look at the treat I had in my hand. Wow! She has been using the LitterRobot ever since, there are no more puppy pads on the floor anywhere. Is this cat weird or what? It has been over a month and there have been no more accidents or otherwise. Shall I hope that she has gotten over whatever made her despise the LitterRobot to begin with? the LitterRobot at the end of the hall with the puppy pad at the left front, Capuccino is in the LitterRobot you can just see her head sticking out she saw the flash and turned her headafter a hard day using the LitterRobot she is now asleep

Alicia88 Can your cats read the calender? If they can then you are a super Mom. If they can’t then you’re safe. Today IS there birthday!

Happy Birthday for two whole days Conner and Murphy! Yay! Wow! A two day celebration with love yesterday followed by a tuna ending today! It can’t be much better than that.

segelkatt That is amazing! It’s hard to figure out what triggers some thoughts in our kitties but the treat bribes were a brilliant idea! I know you must be relieved the she is in the robot being relieved after such a long time. Yay Cappucchino! Great job getting theses photos too!

Jcatbird said:

Alicia88 Can your cats read the calender? If they can then you are a super Mom. If they can’t then you’re safe. Today IS there birthday!

Happy Birthday for two whole days Conner and Murphy! Yay! Wow! A two day celebration with love yesterday followed by a tuna ending today! It can’t be much better than that.

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LOL, they've also got gifts on the way from Amazon. Had to wait for money before I could buy them. We don't know Mickey's birthday since he was found on the street, so we're just celebrating his at the same time.

Roller toy


Refillable catnip beaver

Refillable catnip squirrel

Refillable catnip rat

Alicia88 said:

I'm a horrible cat mom. Yesterday, Connor and Murphy turned 3. I thought it was today. I was late with their "Happy Birthday" cuddles. They're getting tuna today.

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You missed their birthdays? By a whole day?! How will they ever forgive you?!

Margret

segelkatt , at a guess, once you got her back into the Litter Robot she forgot why it was that she didn't want to use it any more and old litter training took over. Though I admit that I'm at a loss for why she would be spurning treats. Perhaps she's asserting her dignity - "Adult cats shouldn't need a bribe to use the litter box, how dare you offer one. Hmmph!"

Margret

I had often heard not to put a cat into a litter box, that their own senses would tell her what to do there. I had tried it before, even with treats in my hand, with no results, she would jump out in a panic and hide. This time I had seen her walking back and forth across the puppy pad so I think this is what happened: she was just about ready to pee anyway, I scooped her up and put her in the LitterRobot, so once she was in she just did what's natural and what for she had come into the hall anyway and then received a treat for that, oh joy, I'll have to do that again, maybe I'll get a treat again which of course is what did happen. Of course I had to catch her going to the bathroom so I could reward her and have her looking for treats. But as I could not watch her 24/7 she also learned that she did not get a treat every time so now she does not look for it. I'm just glad that I have a nice clean floor again. Not true that an old dog or cat cannot learn "new" tricks, in her case to re-learn one.

So, I've seen a few of you in here talk about natural remedies. Does anyone know anything about cbd oil? I've heard it can help migraines. I'm talking about the stuff that doesn't have thc in it. I don't want to get high. It's legal so I'm interested. But I haven't weaned Aedan yet and I can't find anything about whether or not it's safe for breastfeeding. Everything says there haven't been enough studies on it.

I'd be very leery of using CBD oil while breastfeeding, and no matter what you use you need to get it okayed by both your doctor and Aedan's.

Well, I just received a notice from eBay that they think I received the book light and have closed the case. Time to file a PayPal grievance.

Margret

I don't understand rap music. I've started playing a game where you have to say which song or artist is playing from a clip of music. A lot of people are challenging me on rap music and so I'm hearing a lot of it but I just don't see the appeal at all. I'm trying to but I just don't get it.

Alicia88 said:

I'm a horrible cat mom. Yesterday, Connor and Murphy turned 3. I thought it was today. I was late with their "Happy Birthday" cuddles. They're getting tuna today.

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Trust me, they'll be far more interested in the tuna than in the actual day they got it!

segelkatt said:

She has been using the LitterRobot ever since, there are no more puppy pads on the floor anywhere. Is this cat weird or what?

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She may be weird, but it's a wonderful weird! As my father often said, "Who knows from cats?"

My neighbor is getting a car this weekend! She already came over to tell me that she will be happy to run me to the store anytime, so long as we get home before the school bus drops off! YAY! Fresh veggies all month long!

Margret said:

I'd be very leery of using CBD oil while breastfeeding, and no matter what you use you need to get it okayed by both your doctor and Aedan's.

Well, I just received a notice from eBay that they think I received the book light and have closed the case. Time to file a PayPal grievance.

Margret

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I've been googling and everything says there haven't been enough studies. So I called his pediatrician's office. They said there haven't been any studies done so they don't know. So I'm not gonna do it. I'll be done breastfeeding soon enough and I've dealt with the migraines for this long; what's a few more months? I can see if it helps later.

I gave the girls their dinner tonight. Nutro Max duck. They both usually love it. As soon as the dishes were on the table, Lily jumped up to investigate. Then this happened:

I got THE LOOK
I said, "eat your dinner, sweetie."
The LOOK became the GLARE
Me: "What's wrong Little Girl?"
Lily: Glaring continues.
I was making my dinner. A tuna sandwich on toast with chicken noodle soup on the side. (This was not about the tuna. I gave them some when I made the tuna salad and they didn't touch it- they normally don't but I offer it anyway). I was going to put a slice of cheese (muenster) on the toast so I offered her a little piece.
Lily: NO. I don't WANT that.
I said, "look sweetie! It's good. Mama likes it" Then I ate a small piece while she watched. Then I offered her another small piece which she ate. She ate a few more so I put some tiny pieces all over both dishes of food. 1/3 of the slice ended up on my sandwich.
Then she got REALLY mad and left the room. I had the audacity to put the cheese on the food instead of hand feeding her every bit. I also had the nerve to offer her a piece that she dropped onto the tablecloth.

Oz has been settling in really well in our home. He was having fun playing with the dog a bit earlier today. He is completely obsessed with the gerbils and will watch them for hours.

Weirdly introductions with the other cats have been really simple. He can walk around with all three of the other cats out and nothing really happens. A tiny bit of hissing if he gets too close, but mostly they're all getting used to each other.

I'm currently trying to figure out how much to feed him, since it seems like he is starving all of the time! But I guess he is only 10 months old, so he's a growing boy.

At ten months, you may do better with 3 meals a day, if you can manage that with other cats in the house. In human terms, he's about 12-13 years old, and I've never met a boy that age who wasn't perpetually starving! Figure out his daily needs, and try it in three feedings.

Mamanyt1953 said:

At ten months, you may do better with 3 meals a day, if you can manage that with other cats in the house. In human terms, he's about 12-13 years old, and I've never met a boy that age who wasn't perpetually starving! Figure out his daily needs, and try it in three feedings.

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All the cats actually eat four small meals a day. I've been giving him a bit extra with each meal to see if that helps, and he has been licking everyone's bowls clean as well. They get a tiny serving of dry food at 5am (this is a Carrot compromise). Then wet food at 1pm, raw food at 8pm, and wet food again at 2am (husband works nights).

Oz may also just be really food motivated. He tries to grab the bowl out of your hand before you can even set it down. Its hard to tell with a kitten.

marmoset said:

I don't understand rap music. I've started playing a game where you have to say which song or artist is playing from a clip of music. A lot of people are challenging me on rap music and so I'm hearing a lot of it but I just don't see the appeal at all. I'm trying to but I just don't get it.

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I believe it's an acquired taste. So is hard rock. And opera.

Kat0121 said:

I had the audacity to put the cheese on the food instead of hand feeding her every bit. I also had the nerve to offer her a piece that she dropped onto the tablecloth.

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NewYork1303 said:

But I guess he is only 10 months old, so he's a growing boy.

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Definitely a growing boy.
Well, I did some online research about BlueCare Express, the company that didn't deliver my eBay purchase but said they had.
Bluecare is rated "Bad" with 2.8 / 10 on Trustpilot.

There's definitely a pattern here:

• eBay seller selects BlueCare Express to ship their product.
• BlueCare Express reports that the product has been delivered, either "into the hands of a resident" or to a specific location (back porch was mentioned), when they never rang the bell, knocked, or spoke with the resident at all, or in the case of the back porch when the house doesn't have a back porch.
• Buyer contacts BlueCare Express Customer Service and gets no response.
• Buyer complains to seller that they haven't received the product.
• Seller sends them to eBay for resolution.
• eBay accepts the tracking data that says the item was delivered.
• Buyer is up sh!t creek without a paddle.

I will never buy anything on eBay again without a guarantee from the vendor that they don't ship with BlueCare Express, and I recommend that to everyone else, too.

Margret

I have now filed my PayPal dispute, and PayPal has so informed the vendor. The vendor has until the 15th to resolve it (I know what they'll do - just keep posting that same lying tracking number) and on the 16th I call PayPal Customer Service back and they escalate it to a claim.

Margret

I'm so annoyed with my sister. The other night, we ran into her at Wal*Mart. She had Serenity (my niece) give Aedan a kissie. Not 5 minutes later, she says, "She's had a stuffy nose." That's great, DD. Let's spread the germs. Now Aedan's all stuffy and snotty and doing a bit of coughing. And I'm just feeling bleh.

I've had this real bad 'virus' for about 2 weeks. I figured that there is nothing anyone can do about a virus so why go to the doctor. Today I'm feeling really good, except for the horrible cough that just won't go away. So I figured, I can now drive the 25 miles to the doc's and I have a bad pain in an upper rib, so I went to get a decent cough med and an x-ray.
I have pneumonia.
I don't get sick often - almost never, but when I do, I do it well.

On the up side, she said my lungs look fantastic for someone who's smoked 40 years. And I'm down to 4 a day, so before long maybe I'll quit. (we'll see how that goes)
Still waiting on the radiologist to see if I broke something.