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Ongoing issues with new kitten and older cat
- Thread starter gotlembas
- Start Date
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- #42
I discovered all his throw up incidents this morning right as I was about to head to work, but I left some food for him and have his cat cam set up so I can monitor him. I was able to get him into the vet this afternoon so I just hope he'll cooperate with me trying to get him into his carrier, since he's still pretty skittish. He had a breakthrough a couple days ago and randomly decided it was more than okay to give him lots and lots of pets (yay!!!) but he seems to be hot and cold with it. I'm hoping that when I get home he's in a mood to let me touch him because I'll have a total of 1 hour to get him to his appointment
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- #44
Thank you! I went home to visit during my kinch break and found at least 5 more instances of the clear stomach liquid and went to try and obtain a stool sample to take to the vet only to discover he hadn’t been going #2, so I’ll talk to the vet but it worries me he might be suffering from constipation.
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- #45
Okay, the update. Turns out he had a huge amount of dried, matted poop stuck to his butt that was literally preventing him from going. I feel awful that I didn’t know, but they shaved his behind and gave him a cream for the redness the matted poop caused. Problem now is that he keeps wriggling out of his cone and I’m terrified he’s going to lick the cream off and poison himself. i’ve already had to put it back on him twice now!
Otherwise, he is in good health, albeit very very scared after his vet visit, and he hates me now that I had to syringe feed him gabapentin he was prescribed. He wasn’t a fan of the cone or his shave, but when I tried to put the syringe in his mouth to give him his gabapentin he actually tried to “box” at me (no claws out though). I’m so sad this whole ordeal happened because he was making a ton of progress and I’m worried I’m now back to square one.
Otherwise, he is in good health, albeit very very scared after his vet visit, and he hates me now that I had to syringe feed him gabapentin he was prescribed. He wasn’t a fan of the cone or his shave, but when I tried to put the syringe in his mouth to give him his gabapentin he actually tried to “box” at me (no claws out though). I’m so sad this whole ordeal happened because he was making a ton of progress and I’m worried I’m now back to square one.
Maybe this will help with giving him medicine there is a way for liquid meds a little later in the video by making a parfait of sorts. But gabapentin is extremely nasty. If you can ask your vet to get a compounded version in a pill form or even a chicken flavored liquid..
Also if you have a regular collar you can put his cone on then put his collar on inside where if he tries to wiggle out of the cone it actually stops at the collar I've done this with my cat or you can try to turn the cone around like this because a lot of cats just don't like the fact they can't see that well..
Also there are alternatives to the regular cone here is one kind
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CB5TLBKX/?tag=thecatsite
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- #48
Thank you both for the tips and kind words! I'm definitely going to be checking out getting him an alternative collar. He managed to keep it on through the night, thankfully, but it's only a matter of time before he finds some way to wrestle it off again. Last night he used his water fountain to help get it off, sneaky little Pippin!
But the good news is that this morning when I went to check on him, I took the cone off so he could eat and in typical Pippin fashion he wanted to wait until I left for work to eat, but he wanted lots of pets! So thankfully he wasn't traumatized enough that he went back into full-on hiding mode and still sees me as a safe person. I'm not gonna lie, I was afraid he'd hate me after having to feed him the gabapentin, but it seems he's recovered from that ordeal okay. The vet did say I didn't need to give it to him 24/7, only as needed, so thankfully he won't be having to eat the nasty stuff all the time. It was most definitely needed after the vet yesterday though, and I do think it really helped him calm down.
But the good news is that this morning when I went to check on him, I took the cone off so he could eat and in typical Pippin fashion he wanted to wait until I left for work to eat, but he wanted lots of pets! So thankfully he wasn't traumatized enough that he went back into full-on hiding mode and still sees me as a safe person. I'm not gonna lie, I was afraid he'd hate me after having to feed him the gabapentin, but it seems he's recovered from that ordeal okay. The vet did say I didn't need to give it to him 24/7, only as needed, so thankfully he won't be having to eat the nasty stuff all the time. It was most definitely needed after the vet yesterday though, and I do think it really helped him calm down.
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- #49
Hi again everyone! I have some a growing introduction question for Pippin and Arwen.
There aren't any rooms I can separate them in so I've had to jury rig it by placing a baby gate between two sections of my apartment, but the Arwen keeps attempting to hop the gate and has been successful a few times when I'm not looking so currently until I can figure out what to do she's staying in a large playpen. She has a bed and hidey hole, her litter, plenty of stationary and motion sensor toys, and water accessible to her in there, but I worry there's not enough room for her to run around and get her energy out. I play with her when I come home from work plenty and she's allowed out of the playpen since I can be home to supervise her and make sure she doesn't jump the gate to go terrorize Pippin.
I feel really, really guilty for having to keep her in the playpen for the day and while I sleep, but I haven't been able to construct a gate yet that she hasn't been able to hop over. It's a work in progress and I'm going to head to the hardware store after work today to find something to construct a taller gate that she can't climb or hop. It's been exhausting--each time I'll think I've expertly built an escape-proof gate, and she'll prove me wrong yet again!
In the meantime, Arwen is still growing more desperate to meet Pippin and restless from being in the playpen. I've been doing my best to scent swap, and they've seen each other a few times through Arwen's mesh playpen, but she's very hyper and will often scare him by running up to the edge of the playpen wanting to play. Last night I held her up to the gate so she could see over it and Pippin was sitting below looking up at the two of us and meowing his greeting meow. I took this as a good sign and brought her a little closer while still holding onto her and then he hissed, so I immediately took her back over the other side of the gate for him to cool off. Despite the warning hisses, she's still desperate to be friends with him and I'm feeling increasingly guilty for having to confine her to her playpen. The only, only other room that could work is my bathroom, but it was Pippin's original safe room and he still likes to go in there very often to decompress if he's scared by something. He does have another favorite hiding spot out of the bathroom, but I'd feel bad taking away his safe room from him. Basically, they both need rooms, but I only have my bathroom and my main studio area with a gate between each half. Should I go all-out on constructing a 100% escape-proof wall or should I begin to keep Arwen in the bathroom while I'm gone (especially since it will smell like Pippin) and let Pippin out to have the entire main area of the apartment?
There aren't any rooms I can separate them in so I've had to jury rig it by placing a baby gate between two sections of my apartment, but the Arwen keeps attempting to hop the gate and has been successful a few times when I'm not looking so currently until I can figure out what to do she's staying in a large playpen. She has a bed and hidey hole, her litter, plenty of stationary and motion sensor toys, and water accessible to her in there, but I worry there's not enough room for her to run around and get her energy out. I play with her when I come home from work plenty and she's allowed out of the playpen since I can be home to supervise her and make sure she doesn't jump the gate to go terrorize Pippin.
I feel really, really guilty for having to keep her in the playpen for the day and while I sleep, but I haven't been able to construct a gate yet that she hasn't been able to hop over. It's a work in progress and I'm going to head to the hardware store after work today to find something to construct a taller gate that she can't climb or hop. It's been exhausting--each time I'll think I've expertly built an escape-proof gate, and she'll prove me wrong yet again!
In the meantime, Arwen is still growing more desperate to meet Pippin and restless from being in the playpen. I've been doing my best to scent swap, and they've seen each other a few times through Arwen's mesh playpen, but she's very hyper and will often scare him by running up to the edge of the playpen wanting to play. Last night I held her up to the gate so she could see over it and Pippin was sitting below looking up at the two of us and meowing his greeting meow. I took this as a good sign and brought her a little closer while still holding onto her and then he hissed, so I immediately took her back over the other side of the gate for him to cool off. Despite the warning hisses, she's still desperate to be friends with him and I'm feeling increasingly guilty for having to confine her to her playpen. The only, only other room that could work is my bathroom, but it was Pippin's original safe room and he still likes to go in there very often to decompress if he's scared by something. He does have another favorite hiding spot out of the bathroom, but I'd feel bad taking away his safe room from him. Basically, they both need rooms, but I only have my bathroom and my main studio area with a gate between each half. Should I go all-out on constructing a 100% escape-proof wall or should I begin to keep Arwen in the bathroom while I'm gone (especially since it will smell like Pippin) and let Pippin out to have the entire main area of the apartment?
Can you get another baby gate and stack them one where you currently have it and then another one above that one it would be twice as tall then
Or can you get this extra tall baby gate
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XPV4L6S/?tag=thecatsite
How big is the bathroom? If it is kind of on the smaller side I wouldn't confine either of them to the bathroom if you can help it.
Or can you get this extra tall baby gate
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XPV4L6S/?tag=thecatsite
How big is the bathroom? If it is kind of on the smaller side I wouldn't confine either of them to the bathroom if you can help it.
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- #51
The bathroom is pretty small, unfortunately--it's a half bath since I live in a studio. The issue I have with the current gate is that it's not wide enough to go from wall to wall, so I have a weird jury-rigged setup of the gate and the box it came in spanning from one wall to the other and some plexis taped to the gate and box and then covered in a blanket because it has bars that both Pippin and Arwen could slip right through unfortunately. It's a pain to get through myself since I have to essentially dismantle the thing just to come and go through my kitchen area so I'm on the hunt for something that is both easier for me to get through and will also keep the kitties separated from each other
Despite all my efforts for the current gate, Arwen frequently climbs up the blanket and over the other side!- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #52
Lol I can picture it now because we have a sheet that blocks off the hall way in the winter and when we first brought Gabby home she decided it was time for her to get the zoomies and climbed the sheet to the ceiling lolThe bathroom is pretty small, unfortunately--it's a half bath since I live in a studio. The issue I have with the current gate is that it's not wide enough to go from wall to wall, so I have a weird jury-rigged setup of the gate and the box it came in spanning from one wall to the other and some plexis taped to the gate and box and then covered in a blanket because it has bars that both Pippin and Arwen could slip right through unfortunately. It's a pain to get through myself since I have to essentially dismantle the thing just to come and go through my kitchen area so I'm on the hunt for something that is both easier for me to get through and will also keep the kitties separated from each other
Do you know the length from one wall to the other by chance? Even an estimate?
That is what I was thinking a room divider or the really long baby gates..
Amazon.com
Amazon.com
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BBG634MZ/?tag=thecatsite
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- #54
It's about 7.1" from wall-to-wall in the entryway area, making it an awkward fit for a gate, but that extra long one looks like it could work since it's retractable! It looks like I might be able to stack two maybe on top of each other, which would solve the problem indefinitely
That was what I was thinking. Good I really hope it works out. I figured the retractable one would be better. You will have to let us know how it goes.It's about 7.1" from wall-to-wall in the entryway area, making it an awkward fit for a gate, but that extra long one looks like it could work since it's retractable! It looks like I might be able to stack two maybe on top of each other, which would solve the problem indefinitely
at least this way you won't be feeling bad for cooping one or the other one up in the bathroom or playpen. This would make it more fair for the both of them.- Thread Starter Thread Starter
- #56
I looked into the gate and was a little worried about how they'd stack with needing to be nailed into the walls so I actually ended up ordering a large room divider and hopefully I can just tape or otherwise fit it to the walls. I really appreciate the advice and helping me bounce some ideas! I had a feeling the bathroom was probably not a good ideaThat was what I was thinking. Good I really hope it works out. I figured the retractable one would be better. You will have to let us know how it goes.
Pippin loved it when he first got here because it's small and cozy for him, but for Arwen...yeah not a good space for her to get her zoomies out or climb like she loves to do
No problem. Do you have a picture of the room divider you ordered so I can think of things to do right at the wallI looked into the gate and was a little worried about how they'd stack with needing to be nailed into the walls so I actually ended up ordering a large room divider and hopefully I can just tape or otherwise fit it to the walls. I really appreciate the advice and helping me bounce some ideas! I had a feeling the bathroom was probably not a good idea
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- #58
I do! It's this one here: Amazon.com
I'm imagining that I could stick heavy things on either side to weigh it down, or try and tape each side to the walls and just remove the tape when I go in and out.
It looks like it would butt up against the wall perfectly so honestly you could put something on both sides to prevent from getting knocked over maybe 1 tote on both sides. If that makes sense? Like the room divider would be sandwiched between 2 totes on an end where it meets the wall and again half way ? This way the end that it isn't sandwiched you can move it easier to go through the room?
I'm sure once you actually get it you will figure out what will work best.
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- #60
That's exactly what I'm imagining! Something heavy enough to just prevent them from moving it should suffice. Pip is more of a freeze in place or flee kinda guy, he's never showed interested in wanting to fight Arwen, he just does more of the I-don't-like-this-get-away-from-me hisses or otherwise he'll flee. So thankfully I'm not too worried about them fighting necessarily, I'm more worried that Arwen will unintentionally bully/terrorize him just by not knowing how to take a hiss for an answer lol.
