Greetings all.. I am new here. I have a question and hoping someone can help. My cat is 12 years old and seemingly very healthy. She's never been outside, only living in luxury buildings in Manhattan and even after we moved to the suburbs she is scared to stick her head outside. So she's never picked anything up and never got into a fight.
So here's the problem, well, one of the many problems but the one that is bugging me enough to sign up to a forum. She spends her life either sleeping or waiting for me or my wife to walk into the kitchen, where she eats. She knows when we are going to the kitchen or bathroom. If I get up to go to the bathroom, she follows me in because she will only drink from the faucet. She will drink from a bowl only if it's bottled water and has to see the bottle opened - I have tried tricking her by putting in tap water and she won't touch it. It's weird because she doesn't realize the bathroom is tap water. If I go to the kitchen, she meows incessantly and is so annoying that I have to feed her or else I will go insane. I am good at ignoring her but I can't starve the poor thing. I give her a little bit of food, and I've tried every brand, but she always eats very fast and throws up almost immediately. She isn't skinny, but she's not fat. She's very lean and athletic. She takes good care of herself. Mean as a rattlesnake 90% of the time, but when she needs something she's sweet as pie. Like if you say her name in a deep voice she makes this weird sound once. If you ask "are you my good girrrrrrl?" she jumps up and head butts you very hard. That's the extent of her kindness though. So getting back to the food situation, the puke has destroyed the carpets, and it's just getting annoying finding dried up puke everywhere. What's more puzzling is the fact she still manages light at least two, often three, giant smelly bombs in her litter box each day. I don't understand where this is coming from. She has more bowel movements than me and I am 177 lbs, she only weighs 14.5 lbs.
When she was in Manhattan, those people who sit at booths at Petco told me to stop using Fancy Feast. She didn't have dry food until she was 4. She would have 3 cans a day and never threw up. But they told me it wasn't good for her, so I switched to dry, and after a lot of effort she finally gave in. First she would eat the Meow Mix and the junky brands, but then started eating the healthier stuff. Like I said, I've literally tried every single brand on the market. She prefers sushi-grade salmon and will not throw up if I give her a half-pound of that, but I cannot afford her demands on a regular basis.
So my question is, (other than the obvious "why do I own this cat?") , well because she has destroyed every couch, pillow, blanket, scratched my kids and wife, pretty much the worst cat in the world... she walks around the house like she owns it, disappears and I assume she is somewhere sleeping 80% of the day then makes an appearance when she wants to eat.. she wouldn't dare eat a mouse so I know she didn't pick up a disease eating any - we've had a few over the years get in the house, but she chooses to play with them and subsequently maim them to the brink of death then lets them go, and they end up dying in to walls and stink up the house so I have to hire people to dig them out.. but getting back to the story at hand - my real question is this: Is she puking to tell me the dry food I am giving her is simply not to her liking? I kind of think not, because when I buy store brands, she won't even touch the bowl. Or is there something wrong with her? I've read it is normal for cats to throw up but this is nearly every time I feed her. Should I go back to Fancy Feast? It took over one year and a lot of money wasted on food to get her to eat dry. I feel like I am giving in if I switch back, plus so many experts have told me Fancy Feast is like McDonald's for cats.
I cannot give this cat away, she's spent 1 night at my friends while I was on vacation and my friend called me and made me come back to get her because she was acting psychotic and meowed all night non-stop. She wouldn't acclimate before driving the new owner crazy, plus for some reason I do love her and so does my family. She is nice sometimes and loves to lick my kids baby dolls so she has some motherly tendencies despite having her spayed when she was a year old.
Also, please don't judge me because of the fact she's scratched my children. I used to clip her nails religiously but by the time I was done my hands looked like they had just been through a blender on maximum puree setting, so after a few years I realized it defeated the purpose. By the time my wounds healed, her razor sharp saber-talons would be back so I figured it was better off to roll the dice there and hope I didn't get mauled next time I decided to go near her. So yeah I guess the point is if I gave her to a nice owner, within a week poor cat would end up in a kennel and I just can't do it. I figure I have about 12-15 more years left with her so I will have to make the best of it. When I am in my 60's I plan to finally get a very nice couch. I bought her a beautiful scratching post and put it right next to the coach legs and she still goes for the couch. She has never touched the scratching post. It's been in the house for 5 1/2 years now. She also ruined every single chair, area rug, carpet manicuring herself on top of the puking. I was going to have her de-clawed but I heard that is very mean as well and they don't like that. Another question, sometimes I just let the puke sit there if it's on the hardwood floor. I reward her if she decides to puke there - but I don't clean it up if the food looks fresh. Not because I want her to go back and eat it, but sometimes I am just too lazy to get up right away - so sometimes she comes back and eat it up. Is that good, or should I pick it up immediately? For some reason she seems to keep that previously eaten or "certified pre-owned" food if you will, a lot better.
One more thing, when she jumps out in front of me out of nowhere when I am about to go into the kitchen, sometimes I end up stepping on her and even when I go to put the food in the bowl she is already there so I can't even get the food in there without pushing her aside but she keeps getting there so fast, well when I step on her she screeches so loud and attacks me, are there any ways I can avoid this? She seems to be "leading" me as if I don't know where the bowl is.
Thanks for your help. Any feedback that could possibly help my situation would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, a concerned cat owner.
So here's the problem, well, one of the many problems but the one that is bugging me enough to sign up to a forum. She spends her life either sleeping or waiting for me or my wife to walk into the kitchen, where she eats. She knows when we are going to the kitchen or bathroom. If I get up to go to the bathroom, she follows me in because she will only drink from the faucet. She will drink from a bowl only if it's bottled water and has to see the bottle opened - I have tried tricking her by putting in tap water and she won't touch it. It's weird because she doesn't realize the bathroom is tap water. If I go to the kitchen, she meows incessantly and is so annoying that I have to feed her or else I will go insane. I am good at ignoring her but I can't starve the poor thing. I give her a little bit of food, and I've tried every brand, but she always eats very fast and throws up almost immediately. She isn't skinny, but she's not fat. She's very lean and athletic. She takes good care of herself. Mean as a rattlesnake 90% of the time, but when she needs something she's sweet as pie. Like if you say her name in a deep voice she makes this weird sound once. If you ask "are you my good girrrrrrl?" she jumps up and head butts you very hard. That's the extent of her kindness though. So getting back to the food situation, the puke has destroyed the carpets, and it's just getting annoying finding dried up puke everywhere. What's more puzzling is the fact she still manages light at least two, often three, giant smelly bombs in her litter box each day. I don't understand where this is coming from. She has more bowel movements than me and I am 177 lbs, she only weighs 14.5 lbs.
When she was in Manhattan, those people who sit at booths at Petco told me to stop using Fancy Feast. She didn't have dry food until she was 4. She would have 3 cans a day and never threw up. But they told me it wasn't good for her, so I switched to dry, and after a lot of effort she finally gave in. First she would eat the Meow Mix and the junky brands, but then started eating the healthier stuff. Like I said, I've literally tried every single brand on the market. She prefers sushi-grade salmon and will not throw up if I give her a half-pound of that, but I cannot afford her demands on a regular basis.
So my question is, (other than the obvious "why do I own this cat?") , well because she has destroyed every couch, pillow, blanket, scratched my kids and wife, pretty much the worst cat in the world... she walks around the house like she owns it, disappears and I assume she is somewhere sleeping 80% of the day then makes an appearance when she wants to eat.. she wouldn't dare eat a mouse so I know she didn't pick up a disease eating any - we've had a few over the years get in the house, but she chooses to play with them and subsequently maim them to the brink of death then lets them go, and they end up dying in to walls and stink up the house so I have to hire people to dig them out.. but getting back to the story at hand - my real question is this: Is she puking to tell me the dry food I am giving her is simply not to her liking? I kind of think not, because when I buy store brands, she won't even touch the bowl. Or is there something wrong with her? I've read it is normal for cats to throw up but this is nearly every time I feed her. Should I go back to Fancy Feast? It took over one year and a lot of money wasted on food to get her to eat dry. I feel like I am giving in if I switch back, plus so many experts have told me Fancy Feast is like McDonald's for cats.
I cannot give this cat away, she's spent 1 night at my friends while I was on vacation and my friend called me and made me come back to get her because she was acting psychotic and meowed all night non-stop. She wouldn't acclimate before driving the new owner crazy, plus for some reason I do love her and so does my family. She is nice sometimes and loves to lick my kids baby dolls so she has some motherly tendencies despite having her spayed when she was a year old.
Also, please don't judge me because of the fact she's scratched my children. I used to clip her nails religiously but by the time I was done my hands looked like they had just been through a blender on maximum puree setting, so after a few years I realized it defeated the purpose. By the time my wounds healed, her razor sharp saber-talons would be back so I figured it was better off to roll the dice there and hope I didn't get mauled next time I decided to go near her. So yeah I guess the point is if I gave her to a nice owner, within a week poor cat would end up in a kennel and I just can't do it. I figure I have about 12-15 more years left with her so I will have to make the best of it. When I am in my 60's I plan to finally get a very nice couch. I bought her a beautiful scratching post and put it right next to the coach legs and she still goes for the couch. She has never touched the scratching post. It's been in the house for 5 1/2 years now. She also ruined every single chair, area rug, carpet manicuring herself on top of the puking. I was going to have her de-clawed but I heard that is very mean as well and they don't like that. Another question, sometimes I just let the puke sit there if it's on the hardwood floor. I reward her if she decides to puke there - but I don't clean it up if the food looks fresh. Not because I want her to go back and eat it, but sometimes I am just too lazy to get up right away - so sometimes she comes back and eat it up. Is that good, or should I pick it up immediately? For some reason she seems to keep that previously eaten or "certified pre-owned" food if you will, a lot better.
One more thing, when she jumps out in front of me out of nowhere when I am about to go into the kitchen, sometimes I end up stepping on her and even when I go to put the food in the bowl she is already there so I can't even get the food in there without pushing her aside but she keeps getting there so fast, well when I step on her she screeches so loud and attacks me, are there any ways I can avoid this? She seems to be "leading" me as if I don't know where the bowl is.
Thanks for your help. Any feedback that could possibly help my situation would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely, a concerned cat owner.