Although I only just registered here, I've been lurking around these forums on and off for over a year. Mostly reading and researching and being overwhelmed by all the cute kitty faces.
I wanted to say thank you to many of the members here for helping me improve the lives of two very special cats. It's a long story, but early this year my step-grandfather passed away, leaving behind his cats. We (my mother, her fiancee Joe and myself) took over caring for them. We already have one cat and hadn't planned on adopting another, much less two more, but we just couldn't turn them out. Unfortunately a number of health and behavioral issues plagued the cats and everyone became frustrated. I spent many hours here reading through articles and threads in hopes of finding solutions. I'm pleased to say that the knowledge on this site is amazing and both cats have made significant steps toward becoming much healthier, happier members of the family.
Tiffany thanks you for helping us find a food that would not upset her sensitive stomach. She used to be throwing up daily, even while on a special food prescribed by her vet. It was both depressing and frustrating having to clean up after her every single day and being unable to help her. It took months, but I've finally found a food that agrees with her and she's only thrown up once since we started her on it (and it wasn't from the food).
As a side note, I'm starting to wonder if declawing may cause stomach issues as she is front-declawed (she was declawed long before we got her) and I've read more than one thread that suggests a correlation between declawing and sensitive stomachs. The same food that worked for the other case is also working for Tiffany. Something to research, perhaps.
Zippy thanks you for all the information about cats and scratching. Zippy came to the household as a five-month old feral kitten Joe pulled from a friend's attic and adopted. Unfortunately he was never properly socialized and was also terrorized by Joe's young niece and two nephews for several years. He became very skittish and destructive, tearing all their furniture to shreds. These days he's a much calmer, loving boy who rarely scratches furniture (he's never in his life scratched a human). I'm hoping to train him to use scratching posts in the future or barring that I'll try Soft Paws, but he's almost completely stopped already. I've long held a theory that it was a stress-related behavior and so far I seem to be proven right.
All three cats thank you for all the nutrition information as well. We feed a lot more wet food than we used to and also have much higher quality dry food. Both Zippy and Tiffany had some issues with dry skin, dandruff and coarse fur but these days they're both shiny and soft, though Tiffany has some lingering dandruff. Overall they all seem much happier and that's really what counts.
I do apologize about the long-winded post, I just can't help it when it comes to talking about my cats.
~DragonHeart~
I wanted to say thank you to many of the members here for helping me improve the lives of two very special cats. It's a long story, but early this year my step-grandfather passed away, leaving behind his cats. We (my mother, her fiancee Joe and myself) took over caring for them. We already have one cat and hadn't planned on adopting another, much less two more, but we just couldn't turn them out. Unfortunately a number of health and behavioral issues plagued the cats and everyone became frustrated. I spent many hours here reading through articles and threads in hopes of finding solutions. I'm pleased to say that the knowledge on this site is amazing and both cats have made significant steps toward becoming much healthier, happier members of the family.
Tiffany thanks you for helping us find a food that would not upset her sensitive stomach. She used to be throwing up daily, even while on a special food prescribed by her vet. It was both depressing and frustrating having to clean up after her every single day and being unable to help her. It took months, but I've finally found a food that agrees with her and she's only thrown up once since we started her on it (and it wasn't from the food).
As a side note, I'm starting to wonder if declawing may cause stomach issues as she is front-declawed (she was declawed long before we got her) and I've read more than one thread that suggests a correlation between declawing and sensitive stomachs. The same food that worked for the other case is also working for Tiffany. Something to research, perhaps.
Zippy thanks you for all the information about cats and scratching. Zippy came to the household as a five-month old feral kitten Joe pulled from a friend's attic and adopted. Unfortunately he was never properly socialized and was also terrorized by Joe's young niece and two nephews for several years. He became very skittish and destructive, tearing all their furniture to shreds. These days he's a much calmer, loving boy who rarely scratches furniture (he's never in his life scratched a human). I'm hoping to train him to use scratching posts in the future or barring that I'll try Soft Paws, but he's almost completely stopped already. I've long held a theory that it was a stress-related behavior and so far I seem to be proven right.
All three cats thank you for all the nutrition information as well. We feed a lot more wet food than we used to and also have much higher quality dry food. Both Zippy and Tiffany had some issues with dry skin, dandruff and coarse fur but these days they're both shiny and soft, though Tiffany has some lingering dandruff. Overall they all seem much happier and that's really what counts.
I do apologize about the long-winded post, I just can't help it when it comes to talking about my cats.
~DragonHeart~
