My cats have issues

erinbwomack

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Okay i have 2 cats, i got them both (sisters) at 2 weeks old and bottle fed them and everything. They are two years old now and incredibly sweet and affectionate (other than not liking children very much).

I spent the summer in a different city, they came with me but i wasnt home very much but they are fine but acting a little stranger than normal.

I am back home now, spending as much time as i can with them but Mia, has always been the most "snuggly" i guess, but now she wont let me out of her sight at ALL...and she constantly kneads on me...my legs whatever she can get to...if i am lucky enough to get a few seconds of break from that she kneads on soft blankets nad stuffed animals. She has always been somewhat like that, but never to this degree.

Bella, the other cat has always been a little less needy but now hardly will leave her basket. They used to play ALL THE TIME at ALL HOURS together which has calmed down a lot too i guess because they are getting older.
The other problem with bella is she is very large, like 14 pounds and 10 or so would probably be ideal for her - and she has a large pouchy thing that hangs from her stomach - is this normal? Also, she will lick/bite you if you touch the right spot on her tail bone...at the base of her tail - is that normal?

Is there anything i can do to help bella loose weight and encourage them to play with each other more and as much as i love her and her friendlyness, but make mia a TINY TINY bit more okay with letting me use the computer or sit for a few minutes when i am home?

HELP

Thanks
ERin

Sorry for the long post i am new and had a lot to say

Also! How do i add a signature? I want everyone to be able to see my cats!
 

mrod1

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That pouchy thing on Bella is probably fat. Is she spayed? My cat after she was spayed gained a lot of weight. I used to free feed her with dry food, and she got that pouchy thing. I don't have her any more she was stolen
(i think whoever took her thought she was pregnant). With Buddy, my male kitten (who doesn't go out after what happened to my girl), the vet told me to feed him a wet food only diet, premium foods no by products. The commercial store brands like Whiskas are equivilant to Junk Food. I still give him a little dry food if I go out, but I feed him 3oz of wet food 3 times per day, since he is under the age of 1. The vet did tell me that within the next couple of months to reduce his food to 2 times per day. Dry food is no good, since it is full of carbs. If you go to the vet, if they prescribe dry food, ask for their reasons, since some of their decisions are based on what manufacturers tell them. Even the diet dry foods don't work well, I know from experience of trying it, and my cat just gained more weight. You should go to the vet and see what he/she thinks, but it does sound like Bella is gaining weight. My vet said that after a cat is fixed their metabolism slows down. You can also help slim her down and get her more active by playing with wand toys or a cat dancer, it might also help with the issue of her not being playful. Also, my female that had gained weight and a painful spot on her back to, it was because she could not clean herself there, and the hair little by little was matting and pulling at her skin, which hurt her, but get it double checked by your vet, and if that is the case once it gets better, just groom her daily.

Mia sounds like she just really missed you and is probably a little bit more needy than Bella, I am sure she will give you time later, right now all she wants is lots of love and attention.
 
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erinbwomack

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yes, she was spayed, i am planning on taking them to the vet later this month - her hair doesnt look matted or anything like that on her painful spot but i do think she cant reach it...will get vet to double check, thanks!
 

isis

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Wierd, I've always heard that wet food is more fattening because it has more, well, fat in it... I feed my cats dry food only (on vet's orders, better for Isis' FLUTD, unless it flares up, then she's on prescription c/d wet for a while), and they are both normal weight, and quite muscular...
 

jennyr

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They were obviously a bit stressed and need time to settle down again and be assured that things are normal. My Ellie is a very affectionate, needy cat, and when I go away I get the same reaction you are having. I just have to let her go through it, and gradually she calms down.
 

StefanZ

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The pouchy on belly is partly fat - but many cats do have a pouch there quite naturally. Mother Nature gave them a place there to have extra reserves if need be. A old memory from the time as desert-animals. Fat or not, in any case it isnt anything abnormal or sickness.

There, behind in the beginning of the tail - do you mean? Yes, they are very sensitive there. Most cats likes very much to be stroked and carefully patted there, in her it is almost too much...A human would probably get orgasm after a short stroking session...
 

batgirl2good

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Keep us posted on all this, OK? I would like to know, too.
My cats are 13.1 and 13.4 pounds. The heavier one eats only dry food, and I have cut him to1/2 cup total a day, spread out. (That is Humble.)
Shenandoah gets 1-2 cans of Fancy Feast, the little ones.
I also try to spend time playong with the Cat Dancer and Cat Charmer every day. HOW MUCH time for exercise daily?

Thanks, Bobbie
 

decadenz

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Hiya, alright my little boy (coming 3 months old) has that pouchy thingie too. It feels like loose skin dangling somewhere between his back legs. When we pick him up, the area looks pinkish, but he's not in any sort of discomfort when we touch his tum. I wonder if that's the remnant from ancient times Stefan is talking about? He's not fat y'know.. rounded yes, but he's getting lanky, not tubby. Have no idea if that pouch is normal or not.

Erin: Your kitty sounds like she really misses you and doesn't like you to leave her alone! Poor girl... you probably have a very busy schedule and cannot spend as much time with her as she would like...
 
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could she be in pain of maybe fallen and injured her back?
that could be why she is less active and has gained weight. if she isnt playing with your other cat as much any more your other cat may be lonely and missing the attention from her so is asking for more attention from you instead. also this may be why she is overly sensertive with her tail?
 

mrod1

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Originally Posted by Isis

Wierd, I've always heard that wet food is more fattening because it has more, well, fat in it... I feed my cats dry food only (on vet's orders, better for Isis' FLUTD, unless it flares up, then she's on prescription c/d wet for a while), and they are both normal weight, and quite muscular...

Only the commercial pet foods such as Whiska's and Friskies or Fancy Feast, are concidered fattening because it is = to junk food. Premium cat foods such as Nutro wet, and many others that contain no by products are good and healthy. You never heard of a cat in the wild eating kibble
They are meant to eat meat. My vet says that dry food is more fattening than wet because it is loaded with carbs, which turns to sugar and can cause a cat to gain weight. Cats that are on dry food exclusivly are also at a greater risk of developing diabetes. I would feed a raw food diet, but it is difficult, especially since I work and have 2 small kids too. But, giving healthy premium foods is good for kitty, and I prefer it over dry food, and Buddy seems to pefer his wet food to, he doesn't care much for dry food.
 

StefanZ

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Originally Posted by erinbwomack

Also, she will lick/bite you if you touch the right spot on her tail bone...at the base of her tail - is that normal?
There is perhaps another possibility other then she extra sensitive and extremely enjoying.

I now now in a veterinay book cats who has parasiter - fleas - behave sometimes so. Does she growls simultaneously+ (they sometimes do).

Do look thoroughly around if she may have fleas? Do she scratches unusual much?

(All cats, even 100% healthy cats, do scratch sometimes - it is very typical for cats. Im therefore talking about scratching much...).
 

isis

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Originally Posted by MRod1

Only the commercial pet foods such as Whiska's and Friskies or Fancy Feast, are concidered fattening because it is = to junk food. Premium cat foods such as Nutro wet, and many others that contain no by products are good and healthy. You never heard of a cat in the wild eating kibble
They are meant to eat meat. My vet says that dry food is more fattening than wet because it is loaded with carbs, which turns to sugar and can cause a cat to gain weight. Cats that are on dry food exclusivly are also at a greater risk of developing diabetes. I would feed a raw food diet, but it is difficult, especially since I work and have 2 small kids too. But, giving healthy premium foods is good for kitty, and I prefer it over dry food, and Buddy seems to pefer his wet food to, he doesn't care much for dry food.
D**n vet! I just got my kitty back from the vet today. There are two vets that have helped her at the clinic, and the last one was the one who recommended the dry food only. This vet was shocked that he had told me to feed them dry only... She has prescribed a weight formula wet food, and says that they should both be switched to wet. WHY would the other vet tell me dry food?!! I am so angry! And aside from that, I found out that the meds he gave her last time would't even have helped for the problem she was having (which is just as well, as I COULD NOT get her to take them anyway. I'm pretty peeved right now.

My vet also told me to stay away from the cheap brands, mentioning especially Fancy Feast by name, and all no name brands. My kitties gobble up the wet. And it makes more sense to feed the wet anyway! My kitty's urine is too concentrated, so she needs more liquid! I'm just shocked and disgruntled that the previous vet (at the same clinic!) had it so backwards!
 

tortybunches

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As for the patchy belly flap -- I haad a friend who had an older, fat, cat, and it had the same thing going on -- His mom used to tell me we gain it in our ass, they gain it in their flap .. lol.


Originally Posted by erinbwomack

Also! How do i add a signature? I want everyone to be able to see my cats!
This is what I do, and I don't know if it's the easiest way, or not. But -- It works for me.


1. Go to User CP at the top menu bar of any page. Click.
2. Look to your left and see the option that says Edit Signature. Click.
3. Now, opening another page of your internet browser.
4. Go to www.imageshack.us.
5. You should have the Catsite page open, and then this imageshack page open also. Two different windows.
6. Click the BROWSE button on the ImageShack page.
7. Find the picture you would like to use in your signature.
8. Double click the picture, or click OPEN.
9. Click HOST on the ImageShack page.
10. On the Catsite forums, you'll see an image like this above the area where you can type.

11. Click that image, and a box will open.
12. Go to the imageshack site -- where you have different urls to choose from. Choose the bottom url, or the url that is noted to be called "Direct link to image."
13. Copy this url. (Example : http://img564.imageshack, etc, etc.) Copy by highlighting the url and just the url only, and right clicking and selecting copy)
14. Go back to the little box that opened when you hit the little image on the catsite forum. Right click on this box and select PASTE.
15. Then click ok. You should see some code in the area on the catsite forum where you can type. It'll have [ IMG ] tags around it.
16. You can click preview on the catsite forum .. and look at what you have made.

questions? Message me, or write back here. I don't know how confusing I made that ... but I just saw that no one esle had jumped up -- lol.
14.
1
 

arlyn

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Originally Posted by Isis

I'm just shocked and disgruntled that the previous vet (at the same clinic!) had it so backwards!
Don't be too terribly hard on that vet, as a rule, they do not teach a lot regarding nutrition beyond basics in veterinary school, unless they opt to learn more.

Feeding a primarily dry food diet is the old school of thought, very likely that this was an older vet?, or perhaps the prof. they learned nutrition basics from was of the old school variety.



As for the biting when you touch the base of her tail...

I have known/had a lot of cats that would react the same way, some are just super sensitive there.
Some of my cats that had always been "elevator butts" when scratched there got that way at 2-4 years old.
Still, a good idea for a vet to assess.
 

ravyn

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Just a little random fyi, its called a slack belly.

Just like doctors, there are good vets and bad. I've run into my share of both. Remember...you're paying them...so they work for YOU, not the other way around. If you're not happy with them, tell them so, and go somewhere else.

Slack bellies are common in cats. I'd say four of my eight cats have them, two boys and two girls. Three of the others don't because they're too young to have developed them, and the last one doesn't just because I guess her body isn't built that way (she has a very odd body type). On my kitties, they don't feel like anything at all but pouches of loose, empty skin. Personally, I think it gives them a bit of character
 
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