Okay first and the most recent,
(this is cat related to keep reading lol) My parents recently got back from Iowa from having Christmas with the grandparents and they brought back a dining room table and some chairs that my grandparents decided to give me for my apartment. The chairs don't belong to the table but they match perfectly to the table. Well they gave them to us because my grandma went and bought her a new dining room set (a table and 6 chairs) they are all handmade by German Imigrants living in the Amana colonies near Cedar Rapids, IA about 100 years ago. Well my Grandpa had a major stroke and couple years ago and the chair, though sturdy, weren't as wide as the chairs that went with their old table and my grandma was worried that grandpa may misjudge the chair and fall, so they decided to keep the chairs to their old table and give us the chairs that came with their new table. The chairs are beautiful, like I said they were handmade/handcarved over 100 years ago by german immigrants living in the Amana colonies. Here comes the issue, the seats of the chairs are made of wicker. Cat+wicker=problems. Chacho thinks that the seats of the chairs make good scratching posts. It makes me nervous, because these chairs probably cost about $300+ per chair, plus they're antique. I have an old rocking chair that's old but not as old, probably made in the 1940s or 1950s. (if you have ever seen the movie Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn, its the exact chair that's in her room when she first comes back home from Paris and she's talking to her dad about the Moon chasing after her. Its the chair she sits down in, except the one we have has a darker frame.) It too as a wicker bottom but we have been able to keep Chacho from scratching it by having a throw blanket folded up on it. The only thing similar that I can think to do to keep Chacho from destroying the chairs is by buying some cushions for them. The only problem with that is that Chacho likes eating string/yarn and since most of the cushions you can buy, tie on, I'm afraid he'll first, eat the strings then once the cushions aren't secure, knock the cushions off then preceed to scratch the wicker. (him eating the string is a whole other issue which I'm hoping he'll grow out of.)
So anyone have any possible solutions?
(this may belong in the health forum but it won't hurt putting it here too. If I need to I'll put this question in the heath forum later) Another problem that has been ongoing since we've brought him home is that I've noticed when scooping his litter box, that his poo seems to have very fine, long, almost invisible thread or string-like stuff that connects his turds together. He's been dewormed and it really doesn't look like worms or anything but it does cause him and us some issues because sometimes this fiber or thread keeps him from being able to fully poo it out so he has these turds hanging from his butt and to get these turds off he moves to the carpet and drags his butt on the carpet until he gets it off/out. This gets us angry (though I know its not his fault) because we have to clean cat poo out of the carpet. The thing is that its nothing he's getting from the apartment because the first time he pooed (which was only an hour or two after we got him home from the humane society) and his poo had the same thing. I'm not sure what it could be. I may just have to call my vet and ask her what she thinks but I'm really not too concerned health wise because he's still gaining weight, he's eating fine, he has regular bowl movements that looks healthy and normal (besides the fiber) and is a healthy, active 10 month old kitten. I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with anything like this before.
(this is cat related to keep reading lol) My parents recently got back from Iowa from having Christmas with the grandparents and they brought back a dining room table and some chairs that my grandparents decided to give me for my apartment. The chairs don't belong to the table but they match perfectly to the table. Well they gave them to us because my grandma went and bought her a new dining room set (a table and 6 chairs) they are all handmade by German Imigrants living in the Amana colonies near Cedar Rapids, IA about 100 years ago. Well my Grandpa had a major stroke and couple years ago and the chair, though sturdy, weren't as wide as the chairs that went with their old table and my grandma was worried that grandpa may misjudge the chair and fall, so they decided to keep the chairs to their old table and give us the chairs that came with their new table. The chairs are beautiful, like I said they were handmade/handcarved over 100 years ago by german immigrants living in the Amana colonies. Here comes the issue, the seats of the chairs are made of wicker. Cat+wicker=problems. Chacho thinks that the seats of the chairs make good scratching posts. It makes me nervous, because these chairs probably cost about $300+ per chair, plus they're antique. I have an old rocking chair that's old but not as old, probably made in the 1940s or 1950s. (if you have ever seen the movie Sabrina with Audrey Hepburn, its the exact chair that's in her room when she first comes back home from Paris and she's talking to her dad about the Moon chasing after her. Its the chair she sits down in, except the one we have has a darker frame.) It too as a wicker bottom but we have been able to keep Chacho from scratching it by having a throw blanket folded up on it. The only thing similar that I can think to do to keep Chacho from destroying the chairs is by buying some cushions for them. The only problem with that is that Chacho likes eating string/yarn and since most of the cushions you can buy, tie on, I'm afraid he'll first, eat the strings then once the cushions aren't secure, knock the cushions off then preceed to scratch the wicker. (him eating the string is a whole other issue which I'm hoping he'll grow out of.)
So anyone have any possible solutions?
(this may belong in the health forum but it won't hurt putting it here too. If I need to I'll put this question in the heath forum later) Another problem that has been ongoing since we've brought him home is that I've noticed when scooping his litter box, that his poo seems to have very fine, long, almost invisible thread or string-like stuff that connects his turds together. He's been dewormed and it really doesn't look like worms or anything but it does cause him and us some issues because sometimes this fiber or thread keeps him from being able to fully poo it out so he has these turds hanging from his butt and to get these turds off he moves to the carpet and drags his butt on the carpet until he gets it off/out. This gets us angry (though I know its not his fault) because we have to clean cat poo out of the carpet. The thing is that its nothing he's getting from the apartment because the first time he pooed (which was only an hour or two after we got him home from the humane society) and his poo had the same thing. I'm not sure what it could be. I may just have to call my vet and ask her what she thinks but I'm really not too concerned health wise because he's still gaining weight, he's eating fine, he has regular bowl movements that looks healthy and normal (besides the fiber) and is a healthy, active 10 month old kitten. I was just wondering if anyone else has dealt with anything like this before.
