kokosfriend
Nashville, TN
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Joined: 09/06/2004
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Oh Spot - that sounds terrible! Hope you get better soon
Barb and the 4 chocolates
Barb and the 4 chocolates
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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The culture's taken, and we should have results by Saturday. As soon as we got Spot back home, he dashed out of the carrier and around the house, only to be waiting at the north door as we came in the laundry room door. He got his treats, did a quick patrol, and went straight to his tree for a long nap. After all, that mid-morning vet visit did upend his routine...
We have quite a number of does in the meadow, along with Solo, Spooky and Han. Not sure why they all decided to hang out in our meadow -- it's a bit early for fawns. Well, they're all fun to watch.
Speaking of naps, I suddenly seem to need one myself. Later, y'all.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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RTompkins3
Jefferson, MD
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Joined: 02/24/2005
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I hope it is nothing major - I've been following this from the beginning. Prayers and hopes go with you.
Ralph (W1KDK) and Cathy
2015 LifeStyle LS38RS 5th Wheel
HMC USN(Ret)
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Joined: 12/21/2004
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Hopefully when the culture comes back they can prescribe the correct stuff.
I wondered when he kept peeing inappropriately...
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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The culture came back clear. Spot does not have a medical reason for peeing all over the place. So now we work on behavior -- either he modifies his behavior, or he lives outside. He's not stupid, just pigheaded, but he does eventually learn, or in this case, relearn -- or else. The next few weeks/months will be interesting...
Our regular cabbage bolted, thanks to the two cold fronts that blew through the last few weeks, so it went into the compost. The Napa cabbage did fine, and we harvested all three heads on Saturday. Lesson learned: plant the napa cabbage at least a week apart.
Then we realized we didn't have all the ingredients to make kimchee, so we made an 80 mile round trip to the nearest Asian grocery. But we now have six quarts of kimchee fermenting. Unless we can figure out a way to preserve it via freezing or canning, we'll be eating a lot of kimchee the next few weeks. We'll start by freezing some, since that's really the only way I know of to stop the fermentation.
Four heads of broccoli have been blanched and frozen, and we'll see if the weather allows for more harvests. Everything else is still growing.
WLToo finally did the second coat of paint on the gate, so we'll be ready to tape off the area around the Texas star and paint it gold as soon as the weather clears up -- afternoon thunderstorm chance.
Mama Doe Lassie decided to closely sniff what I was holding -- her corn dish. Bleah - deer snot on my hand. I think my neighbor pets her, because she does not have a problem with direct human contact. This human has a problem, though -- not interested in sharing deer fleas or ticks.
I see the hummingbird feeder needs a refill. Later, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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It's been right lively around here lately. Hoo boy...
Started when Dr. Suzie called and said while Spot doesn't have an infection, he might have an odd little syndrome whose name I forget, but makes him want to go a lot. She recommended cranberry concentrate supplements. Hmmm. I can't get a Batril pill down his throat, but supposed to do cranberry supplements twice a day? I'll be chatting with her tomorrow to get more details and then decide.
Personally, I think it's pure behavior. I've already been modifying some of it, and he only acts out now when he wants something (usually to go outside). Why he changed his "go outside?" request from sitting at the door to this peeing everywhere behavior is a puzzle, considering that we almost always let him out when he sat at the door.
The last three days probably were a setback, since my cousin arrived with her dog, Meg, for a visit. Meg, you may recall, was the unfortunately victim of Alex' psycho kitty attacks at her first visit. Well, we brought Meg inside temporarily so she wouldn't try to follow her husband's truck when he and WLToo went to town. Alex went up on his high safe place and glared, but otherwise didn't bother her.
Spot, as usual, ignored her, until he was outside on the pool deck, and she invited him to play. Well, a doggie play invitation was basically Greek to Spot, so she strolled over to where he was still ignoring her. Startled, he jumped off the pool deck and vanished, so she went swimming again and came back to play with the humans. Spot turned up in the crotch of the live oak tree next to the pool and stayed there, until the guys returned and distracted Meg. Then he dashed back into the house, where we spent the evening reminding him that the only appropriate pee place was his Litter Robot.
Then he scared the snot out of us on Friday night. He was still outside after dark, so WLToo took the flashlight to see if Spot was out in the meadow. He was, but so was someone else. WLToo asked me to look through my binoculars, and I saw Spot and a small gray fox sitting about six feet apart, calmly looking at each other. WLToo called, and Spot strolled back to us, while the fox stayed put. They were about the same size, so it may be that they mutually agreed to leave each other alone. Apparently, it's not uncommon around here for the cats and foxes to have come to this kind of accommodation. We'll be watching closely, though, and bringing him in at sundown, which will probably mean a longer re-training period before he stops peeing in the wrong place.
Yesterday, Meg strolled into the open door, saw Spot in the bedroom door, and sat down near him. The next ten minutes saw Spot edge toward her, then away, then toward, then away, all in ultra slow motion. She sat quietly, interested in making his acquaintance, but he finally decided to stroll elsewhere. He went out the south door, since she was sitting near the north door. Alex had gone to his high safe place the moment he saw Meg.
A while later, Spot turned up at the north door and wanted back in, but Meg was right there. So he began to slowly ooze his way into the house. All was fine, until Meg shifted suddenly and startled him. Spot immediately smacked her on the nose, without claws, but didn't do anything else. Meg jumped back and yelped softly, out of surprise, and then all heck broke loose.
Alex appeared out of nowhere, in full psycho kitty mode, and launched a full out attack. As soon as he did, Spot turned into "Me, Too," and joined him in a double team attack. My cousin is disabled, so it was up to me to sort it out. I got Meg away and outside, but the cats broke past me and continued the attack outside. I chased the cats away from her, and she went down the hill and sat under the juniper tree below the pool, while Alex stood at the top of the slope and made "And Stay Out!" noises.
By the time I got both cats back inside, they were unbelievably cocky. Two cats on one labrador, and the dog lost... Poor Meg. She honestly does like cats, and if Alex hadn't started the fight, I do believe she and Spot would have come to an arrangement.
Meg stayed under the juniper about a half hour, until the guys came back from wherever they'd gone, then got some sympathy from them. She was unhurt physically, thanks to her thick coat.
The rest of the day and this morning until our guests departed, Alex and Spot were on guard at the windows, calling Meg names every time they saw her. I fear for Alex' life now; he's too stubborn to understand that any other critter he may decide to attack just might not be as submissive -- like that gray fox -- and one day/evening may be his last, like I fear happened to Bobbi Socks, who was also way too brave for her own good.
Add to all this excitement a bad case of costochondritis, and I'm beat. Could barely help WLToo take down the vinyl shades off the sliding doors, and could not even make it to the gate to admire his work when he painted the Texas star gold in our now dark green gate.
In fact, I need a nap. Later, y'all.
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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When going in the box becomes associated with pain... as it did... this kind of behavior will often result. He doesn't have the same understanding that you would, that "well, that was from the infection and it's gone now, so it won't hurt if I go in the box." All he knows is that when he went into that box and peed it HURT and so it is associated with pain. Then he tried peeing other places, and everywhere he went hurt! Imagine how stressful that would be for him, lacking the ability to understand what was going on.
You are looking at it from a human perspective. Stubborn is a human term and it really doesn't apply to cats nearly as often as people think it does. Cats form associations and they will cling to them it's true. But that's not because they intend to be difficult. It's just because they operate a lot more on association and instinct than people understand.
So do people, actually. But it's a little different as we do have the ability to use other types of information and logic when something isn't working for us, that Spot can't access.
Changing the appearance and smell of the box can help if you can't change the location. Putting a diffuser close to the box can help him feel more relaxed as he approaches. Cat attract herbs (google that, you can get them on Amazon) can help a lot, and there is a flower essence blend that I know of just for litter box avoidance.
Another option is to get a large wire dog crate and put a bed and a litter box in, and keep him in there for a few days to a couple of weeks, until he becomes re-oriented to the box.
You can get treats designed for urinary issues and also for calming, which might help a lot. He's clearly not in a happy place and anything that will help him feel calmer is a good thing. I can look up the links if you'd like.
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WandaLust2
TN
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Joined: 11/14/2008
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If he's forced to live outside, you'll not know if his urethra blocks. He can die a painful death.
Mrs. WandaLust. Retired. Middle TN
1999 Fleetwood SouthWind 32'
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Spot never stopped using his litter box. When we yelled at him, he immediately went to the box.
His conduct has been steadily improving, even with the dog being here. Today, I stopped him from getting into the bathroom sinks, and he did just fine.
I've tended to cats my whole life, and Spot is not all that unusual. He is stubborn, but learns fairly quickly, once he decides to learn. Alex is the king of passive-aggressive, and has been a far greater behavioral challenge over all these years.
We did notice a few months ago that Spot does not like the scent of catnip. Whenever he gets near Alex' catnip pads, he tries to pee on something near them, and each time we bought Alex a scratcher and put catnip on it, Spot peed on it. So all the catnip pads are on Alex' safe spot, a chair side table that Spot never gets up on, and the scratcher doesn't get catnip on it. Spot's safe spot is a table near the TV, that Alex never gets up on.
The two of them have been quite chummy today. Perhaps the double team effort against Meg helped them bond a bit more. Certainly Spot has been very gentle when trying to get Alex to play, but the difference between an 8 pound and a 15 pound cat means a lot, especially to old Alex.
WLToo just fixed salad. Later, y'all.
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M GO BLUE
Southgate, MI
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Joined: 01/29/2001
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Wanderlost wrote:The rest of the day and this morning until our guests departed, Alex and Spot were on guard at the windows, calling Meg names every time they saw her. I fear for Alex' life now; he's too stubborn to understand that any other critter he may decide to attack just might not be as submissive -- like that gray fox -- and one day/evening may be his last, like I fear happened to Bobbi Socks, who was also way too brave for her own good.
First I really enjoy reading your posts about your two cats...
But the above can really get one wondering what you are thinking some times...if you believe Bobbi was taken away by a fox and now you see Spot in a similar situation whay aren't you trying to solve the situation?
I would rather have a pissed off cat from being kept inside then to have another "Bobbi" incident...
But to each their own...
2005 Chevy Silverado 3500 dually CC/LB Duramax/Allison
2008 Jayco Designer 35RLTS fifth wheel
Onan 5500W Marquis Gold gas generator (HGJAB - 1038D)
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