Important Help Us Help The Cats!

[kittens mom]

I'm so sorry that happened Sometimes people are really stressed and desperate for help when they come and post here, so the occasional short response is bound to happen - it's certainly happened to me a few times over the years. Don't let it put you off. Why not spend some time getting to know our articles? You'll learn a lot yourself, and you can always link to them when replying to others. Sometimes the articles say it better than we can ourselves, especially if we have no personal experience with the issue at hand

It's usually someone with a first post who tries to dictate who can answer and what opinions they don't want to hear. Usually looking for justification for declawing or not S/N their cats. I suspect several of being outright trolls looking for someplace to nest.

 

[sivyaleah]

I admit to being remiss about helping but, I have an excuse!
Getting married on the 24th. Been a bit busy!

 

[abyeb]

I admit to being remiss about helping but, I have an excuse!
Getting married on the 24th. Been a bit busy!

Congratulations!

 

[sivyaleah]

Congratulations!

Thanks!

PS - I hope I don't derail the thread by mentioning this. But, honestly, it's been difficult to keep up here the past few weeks.

 

[maggiedemi]

I've noticed that some people don't like the chit chat, they just want the answer to their problem. And they don't like to be told to go to the vet either. I better stick to the poop and pee threads, I seem to know a lot about that.

 

[cheeser]

I've noticed that some people don't like the chit chat, they just want the answer to their problem. And they don't like to be told to go to the vet either. I better stick to the poop and pee threads, I seem to know a lot about that.

Hey, those are pretty darned important specialties.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Sometimes they are the CRITICAL threads!

 

[arouetta]

I've been poking my head into the other sub-forums, but lately there really hasn't been questions that I have any knowledge about. Lately in cat health the posters are asking questions about super-serious problems, life and death problems, and I don't know anything about cats refusing to eat due to health problems, urinary problems or fecal problems not relating to behavior. If it were garden-variety stuff or feline cancer I could help but the current batch I'm clueless. Same thing with cat aggression in the Behavior section. Yeah I've been through it, but they pretty much worked it out themselves without my intervention. Heck I think that they worked it out themselves *because* I wasn't interfering with feline communication while they worked out the feline social issues to form a cat colony. Every now and then I had to step in, like the weird territory dispute the boys had recently, but people are posting about cats trying to kill each other or one cat being so stressed that serious health issues are being caused by feline aggression. That's way, way beyond me. And I haven't dealt with pregnancy or kittens or death since I was a young teenager and I don't belong in the Breeding thread because of my sense of ethics.

I'll keep poking my head in, just in case a problem comes up that I can talk halfway intelligently about, but right now there's nothing, and it's been that way for weeks.

 

[kittens mom]

I've been poking my head into the other sub-forums, but lately there really hasn't been questions that I have any knowledge about. Lately in cat health the posters are asking questions about super-serious problems, life and death problems, and I don't know anything about cats refusing to eat due to health problems, urinary problems or fecal problems not relating to behavior. If it were garden-variety stuff or feline cancer I could help but the current batch I'm clueless. Same thing with cat aggression in the Behavior section. Yeah I've been through it, but they pretty much worked it out themselves without my intervention. Heck I think that they worked it out themselves *because* I wasn't interfering with feline communication while they worked out the feline social issues to form a cat colony. Every now and then I had to step in, like the weird territory dispute the boys had recently, but people are posting about cats trying to kill each other or one cat being so stressed that serious health issues are being caused by feline aggression. That's way, way beyond me. And I haven't dealt with pregnancy or kittens or death since I was a young teenager and I don't belong in the Breeding thread because of my sense of ethics.

I'll keep poking my head in, just in case a problem comes up that I can talk halfway intelligently about, but right now there's nothing, and it's been that way for weeks.

A lot of those serious health question only have one answer. Your cat needs to go to the vet. Cats with a diagnosed issue usually have support threads where others who have the same issue all share information.
Sometimes sharing your personal story that is similar helps someone and it lets them know they aren't alone.

 

[Mamanyt1953]

This is where I really miss the feature that alerted us when people we follow posted. It was a way to scan for threads faster. And, that way, if I just posted a "you are not alone. More people will find this thread," then those who follow ME would automatically be aware of it. SIGH...it's my pettest peeve about the new site, although the rest of it, now that I'm getting used to it, is quite nice.

 

[KatKnapper]

Thanks for doing that. We all know how annoying obtrusive advertising is.

TCS platform should spam little kitties all over our screens, one for each little kittie born every minute outside of a loving home, then multiply it per State, per country and then the whole world. Oh wait that sounds like hostage malware doesn't it?

 

[Anne]

Sorry I'm late returning to the thread. I've spent the past couple of days in bed with severe back pain. Finally back at my computer for a bit today.

I'm having a very hard time with new format especially cuz I'm on phone...which is my main source I use to do anything...I really wish you could make it user friendly on phone like on computer...

Sorry to hear you're not liking the phone version Getting a good phone-compatible skin was top priority when we chose the site's template because more than half of our traffic is on mobile. Personally, I could hardly use the previous version of the site on my mobile and now it's much easier (though using a computer is always easier for me - I guess it shows my age ).

If you can tell me what you would change to make this more mobile-friendly, I promise to look into it and see what can be done. A thread in the Site Help forum on the topic would be awesome, or you can send me the feedback via a private conversation. Thanks!

I admit to being remiss about helping but, I have an excuse!
Getting married on the 24th. Been a bit busy!

Best excuse ever! Congratulations!!

I don't know anything about cats refusing to eat due to health problems, urinary problems or fecal problems not relating to behavior. If it were garden-variety stuff or feline cancer I could help but the current batch I'm clueless. Same thing with cat aggression in the Behavior section. Yeah I've been through it, but they pretty much worked it out themselves without my intervention.

I can absolutely relate to not wanting to jump in on a topic you don't know much about. If at all possible - and I realize it takes some work - finding the relevant article in the site and linking to it could go a long way. This is our cat health articles section -
Cat Health | The Cat Site
I just ran a quick search for the issues you mentioned and came up with these -
Why Has My Cat Stopped Eating And Is It Dangerous?
Litterbox Problems? Here's Why You Should Call Your Vet

I know people aren't coming here for us to search articles or Google things for them but that's infinitely better than no replies. When I come across a question I don't know much about, I search through the articles, then search through the forums and provide them some links. I always mention that I hope others with more experience will chime in as well.

Again, only if you're comfortable with that, of course. Sticking to topics you're familiar with is perfect too. I have a feeling that we'd be seeing a lot more replies if everyone did that. Thank you! And of course, as others have mentioned, most of the time health questions can be answered with a show of empathy and telling them to get to the vet.

This is where I really miss the feature that alerted us when people we follow posted.

Oh, we can still follow people. Have you tried that? I haven't done it yet but I'm pretty sure it means you get alerts about things your "followee" has done. The problem here is with these alerts only coming into your alert center onsite and not generating email notifications but they still work.

 

[IndyJones]

TCS platform should spam little kitties all over our screens, one for each little kittie born every minute outside of a loving home, then multiply it per State, per country and then the whole world. Oh wait that sounds like hostage malware doesn't it?

If we did that the site wouldn't load. Point being, obtrusive advertising tends to make people click the back button without even looking at the site. Either that or install adblock neither of which is ideal. Lurkers become members so we have to keep them happy or they will leave.

 

[Anne]

Please note that we do not have obtrusive advertising on the site. What you saw was a note intended to remind people to help cats. I put up that note and I can't see how you would consider that advertising. What's more, that notice does not show up for anyone who's not registered or even for users with fewer than 5 posts. It's directed at established members, to remind us all that we're here to help cats by helping cat owners.

I really don't see why you keep calling that advertising and I hope you managed to dismiss the notice by now?

 

[arouetta]

Anne I think IndyJones was replying to katknapper. Katknapper suggested an advertisement for spay/neuter that would be majorly obtrusive, probably crash the computer in the process.

 

[Anne]

I wouldn't call katnapper's idea obtrusive advertising either. Just obtrusive.

I believe the term was used earlier than that in the thread in reference to the floating message. I just wanted to clarify that I won't have obtrusive ads - pop-ups or interstitial ads - here on TCS. Ever.

This site relies on revenue from advertising to exist and I do my best to keep the overall experience as user-friendly as possible so no one will have to use ad blockers

 

[kittens mom]

It would be interesting to see a ticker estimating the number of kittens born who will never have a loving home. Of course it would only really hit home to those already trying to help solve the problem.
Every time I think of my stray Tera in her new loving home and my Froggy and Toady all of them so loved AND spayed and not making more babies it just makes me sad for all the little lives that never get a chance.

 

[maggiedemi]

I think a ticker like that would make me too sad though, to think of all the poor kitties. I'd want to go rescue them all...

 

[Mamanyt1953]

Sorry I'm late returning to the thread. I've spent the past couple of days in bed with severe back pain. Finally back at my computer for a bit today.

Oh, we can still follow people. Have you tried that? I haven't done it yet but I'm pretty sure it means you get alerts about things your "followee" has done. The problem here is with these alerts only coming into your alert center onsite and not generating email notifications but they still work.

Well, I'm a total nitwit. I didn't notice the alert button till you mentioned it! I know some of the others had mentioned it before, not being able keep up with people they are following. Do you mind if I post about it in "What's On Your Mind"? I think most everyone reads there.

 

[imjustacatmom]

I agree with M maggiedemi seeing a ticker like that would make me sad and I would feel manipulated as well...using something to make us feel bad about a situation where many cat parents on here are barely getting by with what they have...I believe that most of us are aware of strays feral etc...we do not need to be manipulated or guilt tripped...there are several member on this site that are doing wonders for their community and surrounding communities to help with these issues...if anything maybe we can start a forum recognizing these heros and maybe even do some type of drive that will help these members help out more and to bring an awareness that way