The fact that your second post is cat pics automatically earns a poscat.

 

Completely knocked out

 

 

I've had cats all of my life.

We have always tried to let the cats name themselves, either by something they do or some attribute they possess. For example, the left side of Harley's (Harlequin) face was completely different than the right side. TeeVee was fascinated with the television as a kitten. Haji was a black cat with a white spot on the of center his forehead. Speed was all thrust and no vector.

This is Muffin.



Note the "muffin basket" in front of her back legs. That's a recent pic. She's not quite two years old. Imagine her one fifth the size as a kitten, but that muffin basket being just as big as it is now. I thought she was some kind of feline-marsupial hybrid, or worse, some kind of mutant. As a kitten, when she would run she had some serious weight transfer issues. 90 degree full speed turns were comical. I'd never had a cat with a muffin basket before, and the "Muffin" moniker stuck. She's my garage pal. Crazy as any cat ever... she's not bothered by me rolling the floor jack around past her, but she's scared shitless of the vacuum in the other room. She's a talker, but doesn't mewl much. She cooz and squeeks.

Calling her Muffin allows us to refer to her as "The Muffinator" and just "Muff". We were searching for a playmate and my wife unit got a line on a rescue kitten that was part Maine Coon. We've always wanted a really big cat. She fell in love with the pics online and drove 240some miles each way to get him. She was told "He doesn't show well", which is polite for "We'll have to put him down if someone doesn't adopt him soon".

Soooooooo, this is Taz.



We had him for a while and still had not named him. He was a little older than "kitten" when we got him. He was pretty mean--played too rough, intolerant of Muffin, liked to destroy stuff. I said since we had a "Muff", I was going to call him "****" until they came up with a name. My wife didn't appreciate the humor. My son came up with "Taz", which is perfect, but I still refer to him as ****, and "Heeeeey, Mothafucka" sometimes. When he wants some luvin', he better get as much as he wants and get it right away, or he'll attack my feet and legs. Full bore teeth and claws. I tend to move away now when I want to stop petting him when he's in one of those moods. Biggest paws on any cat I've ever owned. I've seen him scoop water out of the bowl and drink it from his paw. Unfortunately, not the smartest cat in the drawer. He spent 75 hours in a tree last winter. I've seen him on mulitple ocassions jump onto something with too much forward motion only to slide off the other end.

I couldn't have a house without a cat.

 

The look I get every time I come home from work.

 

We may have a problem.

 

Ultrashield Rally Sport Muffin.

 

Foster kittens #22-24. We keep a few like this for a few weeks to a month and then they hop a flight to Kitsap, WA for adoption. All the neighborhood kids come over almost daily to play... it costs us around $2 day to feed'em and our dog loves kittens. If you have the space... ours it a concrete-floored lanai... it's some good feelz for almost zero effort.

 

Alright so my oldest dude (time flies.... i think i posted wayyyy back in this thread about him getting beat on by my old batshit Egyptian Mau) appears to have CKD. He's currently inpatient at the vet while they flush him to try to get his kidney values down before they "bother" investigating a swollen mouth/dental issue. The two issues can go hand in hand, so it doesn't seem like this is a death knell just yet, unless the levels don't go down by tomorrow evening.

Any anecdotes regarding prescription foods for CKD? I'm looking at putting at least the two male cats on it, the younger one as a preventative measure. Vet's expertise and my experience tells me that large male cats are especially prone to it. Mr Peach is turning 11 this year and spent most of his life around 16lbs of beef/muscle. Nimbus is 6-7 years old and probably a larger cat than Peach. I fear i probably did Peach a disservice by not pushing wet food as hard as i should have in his lifetime, but he never liked it.

Common trend i'm seeing is that a lot of cats seem to not like the food.

 

We feed our cats quality raw fish and other meats and add a little powdered supplement to it. Switched after paying for the removal of my big older boy's rotten teeth (bad teeth cause health problems). He's doing well since and stopped shedding so much. Other cat doesn't shed much at all after switch to real food.

Cats are carnivores and shouldn't be fed grains. They benefit from innards like livers, kidneys, and other organs.

 

Been meaning to post in here when I got my new kitten. This is Clyde, he just hit 4 months yesterday. He spends most of his time either beating up his brother or trying to beat up the bigger cats.

 

The munch went to the vet the other day. Bladder infection. After 10 days of meds she seems to be getting better.

Hoping for the best that old dude gets better, Ben.

 

Thanks boo thang.

The more i kinda put the pieces together of what's happened the last month or two, the more hopeful i become that the kidney levels are due to a dental issue that's been around for awhile.

 

Paying for the cats to have their teeth cleaned is expensive, but I think it pays off in longer, healthier lives. They seem to enjoy it about as much as humans do, but I think it helps.

 

Yep the whole pack gets their teeth cleaned every 2 years to the tune of about a grand.

 

our cat has never had a teeth cleaning. the vet looks at her teeth, pops off the hunks of tartar and we're on our way. this was over a year ago. she examined her on sunday and said to her shadower that the cat was a genetic anomaly because she's 16 and has immaculate teeth. and honestly other than her thyroid issue (radio cat to the rescue) and regular vomiting, she's looks like a little baby.

here she is at 15 and 3 months old:

 

We've had multiple cats over the years.. Cats that only ate wet food had horrible teeth, cats that ate only dry food or mostly only dry had perfect teeth. Just an observation.

 

I have been told by my vet that dry kibble is better for kitty teth than wet food, so yeah. My previous cats lived to 14 and 17 without any dental issues.

--Ian

 

I try to mix it up. Majority of wet food in the evening and majority dry food in the morning. Of course, he has his preference which is wet food, but hopefully the balance will keep him happy/healthy.

 

That's good to know. I remember our vet telling us (our cat is male) that we should try to mix in wet food regularly (not every meal) because male cats tend to not drink enough water, get dehydrated and then get UTIs.