Hi there :)

I've frequented this site in the past but I hadn't made an account until recently. Forgetting to introduce myself, I jumped right into asking for some suggestions, oops.

Hello everyone, I am happy to officially be a part of the site. I'm a mother of three furbabies, two cats and a chinchilla. 

Kitty is a 6.5 year old white DSH. I rescued him at 5 weeks old a nursed him back to health. Something unique about him is he's got heterochromia, meaning he has two different colored eyes. Watching them change as he grew was great, my only regret being that I didn't get as many kitten photos of him as I wish I did.

He broke his leg at a year old so that was a huge ordeal, but he's doing great now. There are occasions where you can tell something happened but generally you wouldn't know. With all he went though, he's developed a bit of a hatred for the vet and a fear of bald men(the vet who fixed his leg was bald, left him with a complex Lol). He gets downright nasty when I bring him to work, which makes things a bit difficult. While he'll make no move to bite me, he has no problem lashing out at my coworkers. 

Overall he's your typical cat. You pet him on his terms and only as long as he wants. He kneads all the time, literally all the time. Blankets, pillows, your face... Whatever he can get at. It's not nice to pick favorites but... He's the best animal I've ever had the privilege of caring for.

Next is Crowley, a year old tuxedo DLH. He was found outside of a AAA building and brought in by a client who frequently rescues strays. I couldn't resist, so he came home with me Halloween of last year. He's a feline trashcan and will eat anything he can. It doesn't matter if it's food or not, if he deems it edible he will eat it.

He's named after a character in Supernatural. Anyone who knows the show... He fits his name. He's by far the naughtiest cat I've ever had, and his endless energy does not help his case. Kitty is well behaved and I never had to worry about certain things, but Crowley is a completely different story. Every single day, I'm astonished at the mischief he gets into. Apparently he's found a way around zip ties(because I was forced to tie all my food cabinets shut otherwise he would eat everything). Not sure if I'm annoyed or impressed. 

Overall he's a pest and he drives me crazy, but I love him anyway. 

Bean is my chinchilla, who I inherited from my brother on Thanksgiving 2014. He got him for his children but soon realized it was a terrible idea, so naturally I had to take him. There's no way I could let him take him back to Petco. He's cost me a fortune and an emergency trip 2.5 hours out of my way... But he's alright. I spent weeks feeding him every two hours, medicating him, and keeping him alive. I thought I lost him several times but he held on. I'm grateful that he made it and to those who helped me during that crisis. 

There are photos of both my kitties on my profile, but none of the chinchilla. I'll post some if you guys like but I've rambled enough already.

I look forward to becoming a part of this site, thank you for having me.

A big welcome to TCS!     We're very glad to have you - the more the merrier!  You have two beautiful kitties and I think it's interesting how they are such opposites in personalities.  I love Kitty's eyes.  It sounds like Crowley might be pushing things a bit - if he becomes a problem, you might post on the Cat Behavior forum.  He's a very handsome lad, though.  As for Bean, of course we want to see photos.  It sounds like he's the one with the nine lives. 

Thank you! 

Nothing fazes Crowley. Sounds don't work, I can deter him with food but that just rewards him. You can dump a bucket of water on him and he isn't bothered by it. It might distract him long enough to stop what he was doing for two seconds, before going right back to it. I don't do the water approach unless he's pesting the chinchilla, otherwise I just deal. He's honestly an endless annoyance but he makes up for it when he decides to stop being the spawn of satan. :') Being only a year old, I'm sure he'll calm down eventually. Hopefully haha. 

I'll have to post some photos of Bean then! Yeah, it was quite the ordeal. Chinchillas are fragile when they start having digestive issues and it can quickly go south. I caught him having a seizure and that's what warranted the emergency trip out of state. I hadn't gotten home until 1am and had to pick him up the next day. He was on meds and more feedings for a while after that but eventually it sorted out. 

A reply to one of my threads hasn't been posted through yet but this one was. I also replied to another post and a comment on my photos, but I don't think those went through either. Do all my posts still need approved or is it selective? I'm still trying to figure it out haha.

Yes, Crowley should calm down as he gets older.  You've got the right attitude - just sit back and enjoy the chaos.     (He has been neutered hasn't he?  If not, that will help calm him down.)

 I'm glad you don't use the water approach as a routine punishment.  It can cause resentment in cats.  As an alternative, some people recommend putting coins or beans in a can and shaking the can when you want to interrupt a cat's behavior.  I worry about this because the cat might turn on the person who shakes the can, but it does work for a lot of people.  Another approach is to spray a burst of canned air.  The sudden sound often stops the behaviors.  

As far as I know , there shouldn't be any restrictions on what you post.  This wasn't in the In My Opinion (IMO) forum was it?  There are some restrictions on that one:  you have to be a "Young Cat" and have posted 20 times.  If you continue to have a problem, post a query under Site Help.  http://www.thecatsite.com/f/44/site-help

Looking forward to Bean's photos! 

He's neutered. I'm just not used to a kitty having so much energy. He's calmed down a little already but he's still absolutely crazy.

Noises do nothing, a bomb could go off and he wouldn't even blink... So the cans are out. I've also got to be careful not to scare Bean too much. He's pretty desensitized to sound as well but he gets spooked if he's startled enough.
I can't have him pesting the chinchilla for safety reasons. He's usually decent at not bothering him but there are nights where he's determined to get at him. Bean doesn't help either, he instigates. That's why I'm hoping to move where I can have a separate room for the cage. I'll also be able to start him on raw then as well, without fear of making Bean sick over it. One day it will happen!

I replied to my first topic about Crowleys food issue, but it doesn't seem to be appearing. I got the note that said it needed approved so I dunno. Maybe I'll wait it out and see if it appears anytime soon.
I also replied to an article featuring Kitty, but I didn't notice that go up either.

I don't know what's going on with your posts so I flagged your post to let the Mods know you're having problems.  They'll explain what's going on.

It must be nerve wracking when Crowley goes after Bean.  You're absolutely right that the best solution is to keep them separated. Are you going to be moving any time soon?

Smidgeyy said:

I replied to my first topic about Crowleys food issue, but it doesn't seem to be appearing. I got the note that said it needed approved so I dunno. Maybe I'll wait it out and see if it appears anytime soon.
I also replied to an article featuring Kitty, but I didn't notice that go up either.

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Part of what happens is that when a new member puts a link in one of their first posts it gets caught in our spam filter and won't show up in the forums until a moderator has a chance to validate it. That could take a few minutes or a few hours depending on when a moderator is online. Once you've had a post held for whatever reason the spam filter seems to work on the premise that everything you post might be spam. It takes something like 10 posts being validated by a mod before your posts start appearing immediately.

I've made you a "trusted member" so all of your posts should go through now. Also, as far as I can tell, all of the posts you've made so far have been validated. Check your other threads to be sure you can see them now.

Thank you for the help! I'm actively looking for places, but you know how that goes. Most don't allow pets and those that do are ridiculously expensive. Unfortunately, my area is not cheap if I want to stay within half an hour from work. Even an hour out is still expensive. It's more of a waiting game to find a suitable home than anything. 

GoldyCat - I had a link in that post, I actually posted it twice and neither of them showed up. Perhaps it was because I was on my phone when I posted it and it just didn't go through. Most of my posts were appearing rather quickly and I posted the missing one yesterday morning. Who knows, I'll just reply again haha. Thank you for your help, I appreciate it.

EDIT: Okay I'm just being silly, apparently my posts did go through. :') I just didn't see them because others had posted since, I think. My bad haha