I do have a dog and would like to know if there is anything I can use to keep the cats away. Is there a safe spray or anything? Please help!

My cat, Pookie, is about maybe 12 years old and has been acting really weird lately. Her stools have been really gross and diarrhea like, and she makes a sad moaning meow when I try to pick her up and tough her stomach. Also, she has a ton of scabs all over the back of her neck and she barely lets me touch her back.
I’ve also noticed that she’s been finding very odd places to get herself into to sleep. She’s made her way onto the kitchen counter and into a cabinet, on top of the fridge, behind the tv, under my rabbit’s cage and right now, she actually crawled into the cat carrier, which she hates and would normally refuse to go into. She seems really depressed and sick and before I take her to a vet, I would like to know if anyone has any ideas as to what it could be. Please and thank you, I’m really worried and about to cry, worrying about her. I can’t take her to the vet yet because my mom hasn’t come home from work and I would need to take the car. =[
Manny, if you had actually read what I posted, you would have seen this "I would like to know if anyone has any ideas as to what it could be". Nice job, douche.
Rachieh Lalal – I don’t think she’s that old because two of my other cats are about 17 years old and they seem fine and still act like kittens. But I don’t know =[

I had three cats. One was 10 y/o and had been with me since high school. The other two were taken because they needed a home. The two kittens were the only kittens in the litter. One was big and had 6 toes, and the other small with just 5 toes.
As they grew, the orange male with 5 toes, stayed small, and was super skinny. The female, white 6 toed, was big.
They were both fixed, and checked by a vet, given shots and dewormed.
One year later, the skinny cat was all bones, but ate the same as the other cats. Fatcat, as we called her, just got fatter. She didn’t eat anymore than the others. She was a fat, polydactal, cross-eyed freak of nature.
Suddenly Skinnycat got sick. Really awful, really fast. I found him laying upstairs, with a blank, unfocused stare. He looked like he had been dead for weeks, but was still alive. His gums were showing, and he made a horrible moaning-like sound. He was definitly on his way out. I brought him to the vet, and they uthenized him, and told me that they didn’t know what happened, and the tests to find out were very expensive.
One year later, I still have Fatcat, and Pat (the old lady of the house). Fatcat is 30lbs. She just lays sprawled out on her back on the kitchen floor, lazily swatting at your ankles as you walk by in hopes you’ll fill her food dish. Her whole life is focused on food. She does not get more food than Pat (who is a relatively skinny cat). I even give Pat food in a closed room, so Fatcat doesn’t eat her share.
The vet told me to cut Fatcat’s food down to about 1/4. I said I thought that seemed like so little. She only gets 1/4-1/2 a cup of food a day, now.
When I restricted her food, like they said, she went bonkers. She was eating the carpet, anything she found on the floor, including slivers of wood, plastic, or fuzz. She yowled and followed us around, and was just going insane. I gave in.
I gave all this info, in hopes that you can get the jist of the whole situation. All that I’ve experienced leads me to believe that in this case, genetics are what caused the abnormalness. I believe they were probably inbred and got some goofy genetics. One was abnormally skinny, while the sister was abnormally fat.
I think the vet is wrong to tell me to restrict her food. I think this is not something that can be helped. Why make her life miserable by taking away her biggest joy? Although, she has become quite a nuisance, and fills the litter box without covering, and often misses it because her massive body hangs over the edge. She also throws up, and has had bloody stool. I have taken her to the vet for those things, and they didn’t know – and it cost me 0 to hear what they didn’t know!

So….freak of nature? Bad genes? What would you do?

I have 3 cats and a dog all males I also have a 4 year old little girl.
My oldest cat is somewhere around 14 or so years old he was a stray we took in 10 years ago.
We are having a hard time with this and I will list the reasons why I think he should be put to sleep I made an apt. 2 weeks ago and cancelled last minute because I just couldnt do it.
Ok for starters
1.For about 5 years now he has had alot of itching on his head we have tried everything the vet can think of and nothing helps it is to the point now when he scratches his head he yelps in pain and you can tell it is itchy alot, poor thing
2.For the past year when he goes to the bathroom he has bright red blood in his stool and ALL of his poop is very runny which I am sure is not very comfortable, the vet said stress I had him cjecked a few times.
3.My dog and him used to be best friends they have been together from the start for the past 2 years everytime my cat is even in his sight my dog attacks him and sometimes to the point my dog will have fur in his mouth and my dog guards the kitchen so the cat cant get into the basement, not sure what is going on there really weird the change all of a sudden, maybe the dog senses the cat is sick, not sure? nothing has changed as har as alpha animal would be concerned.
4. for the past year the cat has been missing the litter box it started he would get right next to it and now it is wherever he wants to go and again it is the bloody slimy stuff which is VERY unsanitary to my family, my daughter is old enough to yell out MOMMY yuck come here quick but this is 2-3 times a day I think I am being very patient alot of people would have put there animal down along ago for this reason.
I have tried differnt cat foods, the vet said try a fiber diet etc… no help.
5. The cat has been throwing up for awhile now for awhile it was just once in awhile and it would be his catfood right after he ate and now it is at least once a day and it looks just like slimy poop, I notice he has lost some weight lately.
6. A big problem and with me probably the straw that broke the camels back is he has been peeing on things, on my husbands shirts, on my daughters blankets, on my shoes etc… I wasnt sure which cat was doing it and tonight we were watching tv and my daughter had a blanket on the floor and the cat comes up paws at the blanket my husband was about the yell at him and I said no let him do what he is going to do I want to see that he is actually doing it and sure enough he peed all over it right in front of us and it had nothing to do with he was too old or not able to make it to the litter boxes he just sat there and did it, I was mad!!!!! The worst smell in the world is cat pee especially from a male and I have thrown away ALOT of things some that I love because I refuse to have that smell in the house I dont care how much or how hard you clean it, it still smells and I dont know if you have ever smelled someone that smells like cats but it is gross and I will not be one of those people!!
7. All this poor cat wants to do is go outside and eat grass and lay in the sun and we wont let him out we dont want him to get hit by a car and there is a couple of stray cats across the street, my other cat got out (long story) a few weeks ago and one of the cats beat the crap out of my 18 pound strong cat so I dont want to chance anything.
So I guess by me just writing all of this has helped to make up my mind but the reason why I am having a hard time is
1. My daughter just loves this cat she loves all animals but this cat she just loves she can pick him up carry him around (gently) he sleeps on her lap he rubs up against her he just loves her too, the other too cats she likes too the one likes her ok and the one is scared but this one just adores her.
2. He still has a good appetite and still drinks water fine
3. He still gets playful at times like a little kitten his eyes get all big and he will chase after a bug or a toy.
4. He jumps around like crazy like nothing in the world hurts him.
and 5 he is just a very very nice sweet cat! the best cat I have ever had a nice little lap cat that isnt too buggy and still needs lots of love!
Soooo there is my whole story and I hope someone has the time to read all of this and not judge me but maybe give me some advice I really need it!
Thanks,
Connie
There is one option at the moment, my parents are moving from another state closer to where we live and my m om just loves this cat and she told me to wait on what I do and when they move which will be in a month or so that they might take the cat (have to work on my dad he says no) but the thing would be he would be an outside cat there, they have 2 cats and they are inside/outside cats and this new house has a barn type thing he would live in with a couple acres of land in the middle of nowhere which would be fine now but what happens when it gets cold? I know my mom and she would let him in if it got too cold but with the blood poop trails and the pee that wouldnt last long in there NEW house. I have taken him to a couple vets and they pretty much tell me the same thing about the blood and the itching I have changed his diet and done cortisone shots etc.
As far as my dog he is not aggresive what so ever that is what is so weird he one day just started going after this cat.
thanks

I have a 14 year old male cat. Here is his history:

I adopted him 6 years ago from a friend who couldn’t take care of him any longer. He is fixed. He was overweight and prone to urinary tract infections. 2 years ago, he was diagnosed with diabetes. A couple thousand dollars later, 2 insulin shots a day and special diabetic food, his sugars have been controlled, he lost weight and has gone into remission (no longer considered diabetic) and for a year has been off his insulin.

I had a baby 9 months ago. The cats (I also have a 3 year old male and the cats gets along great) were both fine when the baby came home. About 3 months ago, the cat in question started pooping on our bed and our guest bed. We have since barred him from both rooms, and he seemed to be doing fine…until now. I just recently discovered that for the past week, he has been peeing on my baby’s pkayroom floor tiles. There is no way to stop him. I am scared to death that my baby will contract something from his urine (I know the ammonia can be dangerous for babies) and to be honest, I cannot afford to even bring the cat to the vet anymore since he’s already cost me thousands and costs me over 0 a month just in food as it is. I am not working as I am off with the baby, so funds are extremely limited.

What do I do? do I put him down? Is it worth bringing him to a shelter? Would anyone really want to adopt a 14 year old cat with a history of UTI’s, diabetes, peeing and pooping on the floor/furniture and a 0/month food bill?
I love my cat, and this is an extremely difficult decision for me. I want to do what is best for him, and I know this would be to bring him to the vet. Unfortunately, my child comes first, and having the money to feed her is my priority. Since I cannot afford to pay a vet hundreds of dollars to diagnose him I(if there even is a diagnosis available), I’m really at a loss of what else I can do.
I love my cat, and this is an extremely difficult decision for me. I want to do what is best for him, and I know this would be to bring him to the vet. Unfortunately, my child comes first, and having the money to feed her is my priority. Since I cannot afford to pay a vet hundreds of dollars to diagnose him(if there even is a diagnosis available), I’m really at a loss of what else I can do.
Sorry about the confusion…the babie’s playroom is not her bedroom. She is never changed in the playroom, so there are no dirty diapers in this area. Also, this doesn’t expalin the pooping on the beds issue either.
Of course I have tried to see if anyone would be interested in adopting him, but nobody is. I live in a small community on an island with no humaine society, only 1 shelter. There are no foster programs in my community.
While I appreciate people are passionate about animals, please don’t compare a cat to a child, mother or any other human being. Asking me if my mother was dying of cancer would I put her down? Really. That’s going a bit far.

We have 2 cats, brother and sister and have never had any problems like this. We moved house recently and both cats have taken to going to the toilet inside the house, rather than outside like they used to. Our female hates, absolutely hates using a litter box, and our male would only ever use one if he couldnt get outside.

At our old place they used to go outside all the time, but in the new place they seem to prefer to be indoors. There is another cat in the neighbourhood but it hasnt been around our yard since the first couple of days that we were here. It is getting to the stage where the cats are peeing anywhere that we might sit – like the couch and bar chairs, or our bed (usually while we are in it, and usually on me!)

Any help would be appreciated

I rent a house and it’s my neighbors cats not mine and I do have a dog but she has to stay in her pen though I do tie her out.

My mother clasped her hands together, “Well,” she walked over to the where I was seated and sat down at the stool next to me running her hands through my hair.I shifted uncomfortably away from her resenting the fact she had touched me. My father gave me a stern look and I just rolled my eyes in protest.

“Do you remember Joyce Maude down at the country club?” Her smiled never left her face which was really starting to creep me out.

This piqued my curiosity, “You mean the really mean woman who smells like cat food all of the time and never brushes her teeth?” My lips curled with disgust.

My father gripped the edge of the counter his knuckles baring white and said with a haughty tone, “Charlene, I don’t want to ever hear you say that again, okay, Mrs. Maude is a good person with a good heart who helps out in the community.”

I rolled my eyes, “Well it’s true,” I blurted out. “She never brushes her teeth and she always smells like cats!” I shuddered with horror.

I continued, “And she is really mean, remember the last time we were at the country club and you were playing in the golf tourney with Mr. Ripperton?”

My mother was glancing back and forth between the two of us smile beginning to fade when my father said, “Yes, I do, and she made sure that all of the money that was included into the tournament was to be donated to various charities.”
I grunted and mumbled under my breath, “She also made sure you faulted on the last hole with all of her excessive coughing when it was your turn to putt,” blood still boiling with anger as I remembered my father’s saddened expression that day while Mr. Ripperton celebrated yet another Ocean Shores Tourney Victory.

“She was also sick that day with the flu,” my father said with reassurance. “Yet, she still managed to show up and give support to the otherwise—“

“It was her husband!”

His eyebrows raised then he continued, “Charlene Dawson I would have expected more empathy from you.”

I stared down at the kitchen counter, cheeks burning with frustration.

My father softened his gaze and said in a quiet tone, “Mrs. Maude is a very fragile and sick old lady and she does everything she can to make sure that people in disadvantaged neighborhoods are given food to eat, money, clothes, and a multitude of other things they may need so they may live a better life. I do not know anybody else who does more for the community than Mrs. Maude.”

He paused while my mother repositioned herself in her stool.

He continued, “If there is any one person on this planet whom I look up to the most it is definitely Mrs. Maude. I only hope to be half the person she is.”

He let the last few words bury themselves in the eeriness of silence.

There was a long pause.

My mother glanced at both us and when she was sure our conversation had subsided she spoke, “Anyway, Mrs. Maude told me that she was in search of a few good enthusiastic young teenagers who were job-hunting this summer and I recommended Charlene to take up the position as one of the care-givers.”

I sat still with bated breath and brushed my bangs out of my eyes.

——————————————————————————————-

Basically, I am moving really slow through my novel. I am introducing my characters first, so the action hasn’t really happened yet and wont’t til about 65 percent of the story is finished. Do you think I should implement more action scenes at an earlier time or is this fine?

Also, whaty do you think of this excerpt anyway?

18 male=]

I know I have a lot of years still ahead of me to grow and improve so I am taking my time with this writing thing and doing my best. This is actually the first novel I have ever begun to or plan on finishing to write. Based off of real people with slight characteristic tweaks=]

My Husbands Friend and the Best man in Our wedding is a good guy. My husband now 24 and his Friend who is 19 grew up next to each other when my husband moved from Russia to the USA.
Here is the Help I need.

Jr who is my husbands Friend lives in Complete Fifth with his 13 year old sister and Parents. They have 7 cats who Pee and Poop everywhere, In the Kitchen on the furniture Etc. Every time we go visit the Whole house reeks of piss and poop. There are filthy dishes with Bugs swarming in the Kitchen.The Daughters bed reeks of Cat peep and poop and is nasty. Her clothing is Dirty and there only Bathroom leeks and as mold everywhere.
I can’t Stand going into the house. Every time I do visit the daughter complains of being hungry and there is only dirty nasty food in the Kitchen so I end up taking her out.This family is a Nice family but has fallen on hard times. But I breaks my heart seeing the condition that the family lives in. I have invited them to my house for dinner but they cannot afford the gas to drive 20 miles. I have gotten the Daughter clothing and things she needs. My husband and I just bought our first house, Its is small but very clean and cozy. We have invited Jr and his Sister to stay with us but because of work and school it’s just too far.
My husband was only 12 when he met the family and things were different then.
I really want to help them but I don’t see how else I can. What Do I do?
I am only 22 and adopted myself from a similar situation. I am not sure how far helping will go.

My Husbands Friend and the Best man in Our wedding is a good guy. My husband now 24 and his Friend who is 19 grew up next to each other when my husband moved from Russia to the USA.
Here is the Help I need.

Jr who is my husbands Friend lives in Complete Fifth with his 13 year old sister and Parents. They have 7 cats who Pee and Poop everywhere, In the Kitchen on the furniture Etc. Every time we go visit the Whole house reeks of piss and poop. There are filthy dishes with Bugs swarming in the Kitchen.The Daughters bed reeks of Cat peep and poop and is nasty. Her clothing is Dirty and there only Bathroom leeks and as mold everywhere.
I can’t Stand going into the house. Every time I do visit the daughter complains of being hungry and there is only dirty nasty food in the Kitchen so I end up taking her out.This family is a Nice family but has fallen on hard times. But I breaks my heart seeing the condition that the family lives in. I have invited them to my house for dinner but they cannot afford the gas to drive 20 miles. I have gotten the Daughter clothing and things she needs. My husband and I just bought our first house, Its is small but very clean and cozy. We have invited Jr and his Sister to stay with us but because of work and school it’s just too far.
My husband was only 12 when he met the family and things were different then.
I really want to help them but I don’t see how else I can. What Do I do?
The mother makes about 200 dollars a week Working at home based day care. The Father works for Ford but was Laid off.
I am not sure of there whole background but they only have a HS education.
The cats are there lives and it would break there heart if they were let go.
They do make Money. The dad brings home about 500 a week.
They feed there cats dollar store crap. All the cats have worms and Fleas too. I bought my new dog by for a visit and he came home with Fleas. We keep a Accumulate house.

This is not meant to be accusative, only informative. I hear so much about how hard it is to be a stay-at-home spouse or parent, but I rarely hear details about what makes it so hard. I don’t pretend that it’s easy, but no one has ever taken the time to explain what they do.

So here’s another chance. Do they actually vacuum every day and cook three meals every day and do laundry every day? What are the chores that need to be done? Does everything really need to be done every single day?

For example, it’s my day off; I just cleaned the entire apartment (vacuumed the carpets, washed the bathrooms, wiped down the kitchen, dusted the furniture), and it’s not even 10 AM yet. If I were a stay-at-home spouse, I would be bored to tears until she comes home in 7 hours.

As a disclaimer, I don’t personally know any stay-at-homes, otherwise I would be asking them instead of Yahoo! Answers. No, I am not married, have four pets (2 cats, 2 dogs), no children, and I live with my girlfriend.
We both work (I have a traditional M-F, 8-5), and she works F-W afternoons & evenings.

Here’s are examples of absolutely USELESS responses: "Wait until you have kids, then you’ll know!" or "Why don’t you try taking care of my kids and see if you think it’s easy!"

I don’t suspect it’s easy, and I’m posting the question so that I don’t HAVE to find out everything by myself (isn’t that the point of Yahoo! Answers, anyway?).

I also don’t agree that it’s a 24/7 job (even if we had kids at home). My girlfriend and I both share household duties, but they’re split somewhat unequally based on what we prefer. I do the cooking (I enjoy it and I’m better at it), and she does the laundry (there was an incident where I had to use a mop and now I’m not allowed to touch the washer).
I imagine that when/if we ever get married/procreate that she may decide to stay home (I earn about twice as much as she does). But I’ve never felt that she should perform all the household chores by herself, only when I’m at work. When I get home, I expect to help out on chores that she can’t do or really didn’t have time for or really didn’t want to do (cooking, fixing car, taking out trash), as well as help take care of the kids.

So if her job is 24/7, then I would really have TWO jobs. An 8-5 outside the home, and the same job as her inside the home. Is this really that unusual to split the housework this way?

It’s true that I hadn’t distinguished between stay-at-home spouses and stay-at-home parents. That’s for you to disclose.

Maybe it’s because I saw how miserable my parents were when my father would come home from work and never do shit around the house while my mother worked part-time and took care of cooking, shopping and cleaning.
A lot of excellent responses already. My girlfriend and I have discussed this before, but I thought I’d reach out for input from those that have been there (her mother never stayed home either) to help alleviate my admitted lack of knowledge on the topic.

I also don’t mean to suggest that caring for children is easy or not-time consuming. I’ve babysat for kids before (ages 4-13) and it wasn’t difficult, but I concede that’s not all day, every day; they weren’t my kids, it was only for a few hours at a time, and none of them were infants.

Is it OK to bathe my cats once a month to keep them clean and remove loose hair? Should I bathe them more often?

Any *special* brushes or shampoos to help with shedding?

Tips on how to cut down on vomiting? With 3 cats I tend to clean up at least 2 hair balls a week and it always stains the carpet.

Cat grass? My cats ADORE it. Does it help – or make worse – hair balls?

Last question…………
How do I keep my cats off my bed, furniture and kitchen counter? When I am home I use a squirt bottle filled with water but as soon as I leave the house the sneaky little devils crawl in the bed, take over the furniture and wallow all over the kitchen counter!!! This is REALLY getting on my nerves. What can I do?

There is a large colony of cats nearby who rest on all the porches. Some residents are very upset because there are fleas left on the patio furniture. Sure, it could be the wildlife, but they are blaming it on the cats. Is there anything I can recommend that they do/use to control this flea problem? I would like to help everyone involved.

I consider myself to be a person that knows a fair bit on cats and there behaviour, i have done alot of reading and have had cats before.My new kitten is 8 weeks old and have had him for over a week now. Obviously being a kitten he is really adorable, he has the cutest whiskers and he curls himself up on my shoulder when i’m watching TV. My only rule is basically stay off the kitchen counter and don’t scratch my furniture. He has a scratching post and is SLOWLY learning to leave my furniture. The kitchen counter is a huge problem tho. Every time i see him on it i either spray him with water or pick him up and put him on the floor while firmly saying NO. He does not seem to get this. He justs run and jumps right back up and then hides behind the kettle as if i can’t see him. I never falter and always take him right back off or spray him again. I feel guilty about the spraying as he is sneezing now. Vet says he is fine. He is very strong willed. Does anyone have any other ideas?
Thanks for the advice. I tried the double sided tape and it seemed to work. He still jumps up tho but i think if he jumps often enough he will eventually start hating the idea of the tape on his paws and maybe stop. I completely understand that cats need to jump and like high places its just that i don’t like him on my kitchen counters as he has easy access to my stove and i’m afraid he will get burned. Also when i’m cooking i don’t like him grabbing the food from my hand so its best all round if he just stays off the kitchen counters at least until he’s a little older and has learned a few more manners.

ok so im heading to college next year to study vet.technology i will move out from my parents after college and i will want to get a pet of somekind
im not familiar with cats we have 2 dogs right now so im around dogs all the time

im gonna be looking for an apartment to live in and here in NYC it might be hard to find an apt that allows dogs ( well im sure there will be something in Manhattan but the rents there are crazy no way i will be able to afford it ) so do cats make good pets ???
like the only thing that im kinda worried about if that if i will leave the house the cat like go kuku crazy and star going and climbing all over the place on the kitchen counters , furniture etc… but isnt that what cats do anyways ???

ok so i know that i will need to have cat scratch posts , play pen or whatever is that called
and i know that spaying/neutering is important and thats all i know about cats
im thinking about maybe adopting an older cat from the SPCA i kinda have like few breeds that i really like one of them is sphinx cat i know that they are really expensive and are kinda high maintenance cats ,another one is persian , and the next two i dont know whats the name of the breed but one of them looks really similar to the siamese cat but without the markings and its a lot slimmer and taller as it stands on the hind legs and the other one looks like a regular domestic cat but it have like a blue-ish color

so does it matter what cat breed do you get or all they all the same ?