Cat space and habits

ghouls11

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Hey I have 2 cats a male named Bellamy and a female named Octavia. I have questions mainly regarding behaviour so I’m just going to post them all here. They are about 71/2 months old right now. I have owned them since they were both around 5 months.

I purchased the cats rashly. Not a good way to begin the post but it’s the honest truth. I bought them from a couple of breeders who didn’t have the vet vaccination papers on hand but promised me they had all their shots respective to their age at the time. I paid 1500 for both. They gave me a fake looking health record which I accepted with a dumb smile on my face because I was so excited about the cats. I will post a picture of the health record ( they only gave me one for both cats) since I have gotten my cats they have been sick a few times. The male got consistent sneezing with a runny nose and a lot of flem would be found after he sneezed. He is now fine. The female had very teary eyes. She is now fine. Recently she has been coughing, it’s sounds harsh like a smokers cough. I want to get them vaccinated. But I don’t know which vaccinations to get and if I should redo the ones supposedly already administered. I have tried calling the owners and they don’t reply anymore. I’ve tried calling the clinic where they were supposed to be registered and there is no record of their history.
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When I purchased them I was living in a much larger house. They would roam around freely in the basement no problem. I have moved in to a new home the past few weeks and it is much smaller. I started by introducing them to the room with the litter box. I kept them contained there for about two days and gradually introduced them to the whole house. As soon as I let them roam free throughout the whole house they went crazy and get the zoomies. It wasn’t happening before in the smaller space. Obviously I understand that in a smaller space it’s harder for them to run around. I’m not sure if them run around stems from an anxiety or simply a need for play? What are your thoughts? I keep all their stuff (cat tree/ litter box/water and food) in the basement except for a cushion, and some toys which I keep on the main floor. Do you think that if I provided more options for play on different floors they’d behave different? What else should I buy for them as toys if so?

I recently switched from worlds best cat litter to exquisicat pine litter pellets because I really don’t like the smell of world best and my cats track the litter all over the floor. I had bought the pine pellets before so I didn’t think it’s be a problem. To my elegant surprise my female began to defecate and pee everywhere except in the litter box. I currently have them both contained exclusively in the basement until they both learn to recognize the cat litter. Am I going about this the wrong way should I switch litter to what they like?

Nail cutting. It’s hard to trim their nails. They absolute hate it. But I have kids in the house so when they pick up the cats I don’t want them getting hurt. The problem with the nail cutting is that I can only manage to get as far as cutting the nail but I’m not able to file it down. Their nails have been growing weird from underneath. There is even only nail where the pink flesh is exposed all the way through the nail ( yes I am cautious not to over it the nail) it looks like the nail is loosing its “hardness” from underneath .

Last concern is about food. They are picky. Unfortunately I got them into the habit of eating a mix of wet and dry food. I would like to switch them over to dry food because their poop is very runny. It also smells horrible. I’m not usually the type to complain but if they crap at 2 in the morning I have to wake up and scoop it because it is so bad. Mind you I also have a bunch of air fresheners and I clean the litter box twice a day and replace the entire litter once a week. Anyways For wet food I feed them either weruva paw licking chicken or hills perspective diet z/d which they love. I also crush a salmon oil soft chew into their food. For dry food I usually just buy wellness, whichever large bag they have on sale. They no longer eat the dry food if it is not mixed with the wet. Should I just buy them only wet food because they like it? I have tried numerous times to give them only dry food but they don’t eat anything. At their regular eating times they meow and cry as if they didn’t have anything to eat but they have dry food right in front of them. I still leave the dry food there for a couple of hours and give in by the second meal and mix their food.

Thanks for reading this extremely long post. I appreciate any thoughts
 

Furballsmom

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Hi! Welcome!!

Regarding the vaccinations and those claws, can you find a vet? With her cough it would be a good thing anyway. I think there are titer tests to see if they've already had a vaccine.

Try to find a cat vet, for the option Practice Type select Feline Only;
Find a Veterinarian and Practice | The Cat Community

simply a need for play?
This, yes. More toys might help, try a ripple rug but they'll still get the zoomies :). Just be sure you have breakable things out of away until they get a little older and you see whether they slow down a bit. I'd let them out of the basement if possible.

Go back to the litter they like. Or, here's a recent thread that could be useful;
Dust free cat litter suggestions?

Unfortunately I got them into the habit of eating a mix of wet and dry food.
Better to try a different brand of wet food, because when their tummies can digest/process the food more easily, their poop will result in a decreased odor. You could try Fancy feast, or Merrick Backcountry, or Natural Balance. Also, they don't have to have kitten food, they can have All Life Stages foods.
This might help;

Cat Food Deals Forum?
 

Sugar Plum

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Welcome to the forums! I think you'll like it here. I'm relatively new too. I love your cats' names, especially Octavia.

I'd start over with vaccinations if the clinic has no record. You can also get them to clip their nails and show you how. Since you have a male and a female, I'd also inquire about neutering sooner rather than later. Litter mates can mate. :( If you get them tested and treated for parasites, their stools will probably improve without changing up their food.

Try going to back to the old litter, at least temporarily, to see if litter box habits resume. Better the smell of litter than the alternative. Then add little amounts of your preferred litter over time and see if they notice.

I think they just like playing, but am definitely not an expert on kitten behaviour! My cat and kitten love jingle balls and Yeowww branch catnip toys. They like wand toys too.

Congratulations on your kitties. :D
 

FeralHearts

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Are you keeping them in a basement basement, or rec-room basement? I ask this only because you mentioned their respiratory conditions. Basements aren't known for warm and are often a bit drafty etc. Especially in the region we are in. (I'm south from you next to the boarder.)

(I noticed where about you are from on the card and it's not too too far from me so we share the same crappy humid summers and wet winters.)
 

abyeb

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Hi there! Regarding the vaccines, if the clinic that they were supposedly administered has no record of said vaccines, my guess would be that they haven’t been vaccinated. But, you should definitely bring this up with your vet to see what they think.
 

DreamerRose

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Yes, go to a vet and get them vaccinated and neutered. Let them out to let them run. This is perfectly normal, especially for kittens. I have a small house and my two regularly zoom around and wrestle with each other. Don't feed them the dry food. This can lead to crystals forming in their urine, which can be very serious for male kitties. Once you get the litter situation sorted out, they sound like very normal kittens to me.
 

She's a witch

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If not spayed&neutered yet, they need to be ASAP before it’s too late, and if they are over 7 months it’s already kind of too late.

Some cats won’t accept the pellets, it’s not pleasant on their paws and not natural for them, you may have no luck forcing your girl to do this. There are other natural litters that you may have more luck with, corn, walnut, grass seed litters. In general, forcing a cat to do anything is not a way to deal with I’m afraid..

You can request the titer test to see if they have been vaccinated if you’re worried about over vaccination.

Zoomies (running around like crazy) are natural and super adorable :) It has nothing to do with anxiety.

It seems they come from a very bad place, they probably have some parasites etc. They need a good vet and some tests, starting from fecal tests (PCR method if fecal flotation won’t reveal anything). usually cats from backyard breeders seem less expensive, but the cost associated with them often exceeds the price of a purebred cat from reputable breeder.
 
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