I need help making a decision!

[superpop]

I tested Mookie more and indeed the TV being on(it's our only TV) in the living room seems to be the root of Mookie's weird behaviors!

Mookie sat on my lap on the couch in the living room 3 times and as soon as I turned the TV on with the remote he bolted for the bedroom each time.

Help?

 

[nerdrock]

Just with time, he'll get used to it eventually. 

Have you figured out if it's the tv being on, or the sound from the tv? You could always try to leave it on for a little bit on mute, then put the volume very low and slowly turn it up over the course of a few days (obviously not when you're watching it). It might help to condition him to it. I had a foster dog once that was afraid of the tv if I wasn't in the same room with him and petting him while it was on. If I left to get a drink or some food, he'd flip out and hide in his crate. I conditioned him to it in a few days, which is good because we leave our tv on when we go out so that the dogs don't have to hear everything that's going on outside (and bark at it as a result). 

 

[ldg]

Did the foster mom mention you shouldn't use OTC meds to treat tapeworm? You can buy Droncit at a pet store? I was under the impression you can only buy Droncit from the vet. To take care of tapeworm, it only takes one dose.

I don't think I've heard of tapeworm causing vomiting. That might be from round worm - different parasite. :dk: Droncit won't take care of round worm.

You might want to call foster mom and ask her when Lady PurrPurr and the kittens were last treated with... what? Revolution? Frontline? Because they most likely need to be treated again, so you need to know the timing of that (Revolution kills most internal parasites EXCEPT tapeworm. Revolution also supposedly kills fleas, but Frontline kills external parasites (fleas AND ticks) much better).

Tapeworm can only be gotten from a host - cats cannot pass this to you or to each other. This means either they HAD fleas, have fleas, or ate a mouse or something.

As to Mookie being scared of the TV, I think nerdrock gave you excellent advice. He'll get used to it pretty quickly. Or just let him bolt and hide, and he'll also eventually get used to it anyway.

Cats are first and foremost territorial, so as far as little Mookie is concerned, his whole world has just been turned upside down. He'll likely be skittish for a little while. :heart3: It's OK, he'll get into the swing of things! It's good to let them hide sometimes and just be. :rub:

 

[superpop]

Did the foster mom mention you shouldn't use OTC meds to treat tapeworm? You can buy Droncit at a pet store? I was under the impression you can only buy Droncit from the vet. To take care of tapeworm, it only takes one dose.
I don't think I've heard of tapeworm causing vomiting. That might be from round worm - different parasite.

Droncit won't take care of round worm.
You might want to call foster mom and ask her when Lady PurrPurr and the kittens were last treated with... what? Revolution? Frontline? Because they most likely need to be treated again, so you need to know the timing of that (Revolution kills most internal parasites EXCEPT tapeworm. Revolution also supposedly kills fleas, but Frontline kills external parasites (fleas AND ticks) much better).
Tapeworm can only be gotten from a host - cats cannot pass this to you or to each other. This means either they HAD fleas, have fleas, or ate a mouse or something.
As to Mookie being scared of the TV, I think nerdrock gave you excellent advice. He'll get used to it pretty quickly. Or just let him bolt and hide, and he'll also eventually get used to it anyway.
Cats are first and foremost territorial, so as far as little Mookie is concerned, his whole world has just been turned upside down. He'll likely be skittish for a little while.

It's OK, he'll get into the swing of things! It's good to let them hide sometimes and just be.

Okay well this seems to be conflicting with what we have been told by the vet/foster lady.

We gave them Tradewinds dewormer which used to be prescription but is now over the counter.  It is tape worm and they do all have it.  One of the cats she is still fostering pooped out a couple full worms today and we did find the little white rice sized bits of worm in Lady PurrPurr's and Mookies poop and Shirley found it in her cats too.

Anyway it was not fun giving the medicine at all but we got it down in both of them.  Mookie bit my boyfriend's finger and drew blood.

As far as the puking. That has not happened at all today so maybe Lady PurrPurr was just puking because of stress.  The diarrhea has continued though but should hopefully stop soon now with the medicine.

As far as Mookie and the TV goes he has calmed down quite a bit from yesterday to today.   He seems to be adjusting.  The TV is on right now and Mookie is in the living room sleeping in his bed.

 

[ldg]

If Tradewinds has the same active ingredient, I'm sure it'll be fine. There are a number of medications for treatment of parasites that used to be only available through the vet that are now available OTC (Frontline is one of them), so it's quite possible it's effective. :nod:

And the diarrhea can be due to the worms AND stress. It should clear up soon. :cross:

Glad to hear Mookie's doing better with the TV already! :bigthumb:

It can be difficult to pill a cat until you've had to do it a few times. Just FYI, for the future, the best way to do it is to give them a tempting wet food, place the bowl in a corner. Sit behind kitty with your knees in a "V" while sitting on your heels. Sit down right behind the cat. When you go to pill them, their natural tendency is to back up - there will be nowhere to go. Hold them still with your legs. If you're right handed, hold the head with your left (over the top - you'll see, the bone structure is such that it's easy to hold the head). Push with your middle finger at the back of the mouth - it'll open. With your right hand, push the pill in from the right side, quickly, over the hump in the tongue. Once it's over that hump, hold the mouth closed and stroke the throat or blow on her nose, and she'll swallow it. :nod:

Hopefully there won't be the need for many pills, but once you've done this a few times, you'll find it easy, and you'll be able to do it quickly.

Please keep an eye on that bite! Cat bites can get infected very easily, so make sure he won't need antibiotics. :nod:

 

[superpop]

Okay so the cats seem pretty adjusted now. There has been no vomiting since my last post almost 2 weeks ago and their poop has been "normal" for over a week and Mookie isn't scared of ANYTHING anymore and never hangs out under the bed.... and has turned into a terror!(but in the end he will probably turn into a lap cat like Lady PurrPurr.....he enjoys sitting on laps and being petted but only for like 3 minutes at a time and then he's off to play)

He has jumped on many tables and knocked down many nic-nacs(not sure how that is spelled? LOL) but he is now seeming to get it.   I started snapping my finger at him and saying "No!" in a stern voice and then picking him up and talking sternly to him even though I know he doesn't know what I am saying.  Then that quickly progressed to me just snapping my finger and saying "No!" to where he would jump down on his own accord and he is going to those tables and shelves less and less so I think it's working.

My major concern right now is the way they play with eachother...

Usually right about 10 PM they start wildly playing and chase eachother all over the place and run up and down the stairs chasing eachother and then they stare eachother down and one of them pounces on the other and then they wrestle....that would be fine if not for Lady PurrPurr making loud noises acting like she is she is being hurt and then hissing at Mookie.  There have been a few times where I had to grab Mookie and chastise him and then I put him down and then Lady PurrPurr pounces on him just a few seconds later even though she was growling and hissing at him just a minute earlier.(Mookie is much more active in general than she is though)

At first it seems like they are both "playing" and then it seems to progress with Lady PurrPurr getting pissed off at him and hissing. I would not intervene if not with Lady PurrPurr's loud noises and hissing but I feel bad for Mookie after chastising him for that when Lady PurrPurr just comes right back around and pounces on him.

Other times they cuddle up together and clean eachother and Mookie still tries to suckle even though Lady PurrPurr has no milk but she still lets him.

I just don't want them to injure eachother and the way they wrestle and bite eachother and kick eachother in the face with their hind legs I worry about that happening and am not sure if I should be stopping it or not???   If they are just playing why does Lady PurrPurr hiss at him???

 

[ldg]

:lol3: They're playing. I'll give you more body language to look for, but this sounds JUST like our Ming Loy. She is ALWAYS the instigator - but as soon as someone responds, she acts like they're killing her and she's dying. We used to intervene - and now we know... she's like that little kid that puts her foot out to trip someone, immediately pulls it back and looks all innocent. The person tripped gets up and shoves the kid that tripped him - and the kid that did the tripping starts screaming her head off. And no one got hurt or was in any real danger of being hurt.

Watch Mooking playing, especially when you use a wand toy with him. Does his tail ever puff up - look like a huge bottle brush? Does he hiss? Because when most of our kitties get really involved in play, they'll hiss at the toys, and/or their tails will bush up. :lol3: So it's a normal part of play - even though hissing is used to communicate a warning as well, and the "tail bush" is a defensive mechanism that makes them look bigger when involved in a confrontation. They also happen naturally during play.

What would indicate a serious battle would be

1) Ears FLAT BACK - it makes the cat look very menacing. It's not just ears down - that they do to protect them from feet/claws/mouths. No, this is flat and turned to the back;

2) the back ridged - it is very easily identifiable, as it looks like your cat has a mohawk all of a sudden. :nod: If you have to ask "is that a ridged back?" it isn't.

The tails can be confusing, because during play they can be down and twitching. But if they are "tails up" then there is just no DOUBT it is play. A "tail up" kitty is a friendly kitty, always.

But sometimes they can get a little rough during play. We usually "interfere" just by making a loud noise, like clapping, or just yelling "HEY!" you two, calm down! Or stomping really loudly on the floor as we start heading toward them.

If they're really in a fight, you need to throw something over them to stop it, because you WILL get hurt if you physically try to break it up.

So I'm pretty sure what you're dealing with is play that's just getting a little... over-exuberant. :lol3:

 

[rafm]

I agree with LDG, Sounds like they are just playing. Sounds like they are great friends, they just like to play hard.

 

[superpop]

UGGGHHHH!   I thought I was done with this thread but no!(although this doesn't have to do with Lady PurrPurr or Mookie who are both fine...more on that later)

I went out for a cigarette tonight and a cat with no collar that was skin and bones was meowing in the yard and didn't seem "feral" unlike most of the cats around here because when I called for it every single time it responded with a meow but it wouldn't come to me.(unlike Lady PurrPurr this cat seems "skittish" but still non-feral") and then after 10 minutes of trying to get this cat to come to me(this is after midnight by the way) I went in and woke my boyfriend up and we got some dry catfood in a bowl and went out and poured it outside while calling for the cat who still would meow in response but after we went in the cat didn't come over to eat so we opened a can of tuna and scooped half of the can into the bowl and now this is over an hour later and the bowl is untouched. (such a waste!)

Anyway I doubt we will be seeing this cat often like Lady PurrPurr who was friendly and not scared of people from the start but we'll see...

As for Lady PurrPurr and Mookie....

I don't even know where to begin with how naughty(ESPECIALLY Lady PurrPurr....Mookie seems to actually learn unlike her) they have both been but it's continually and slowly getting better.

Mookie is at times an adorable fluffball who wants nothing more than your attention and at other times he wants nothing more than to attack and bite and scratch at your feet out of NOWHERE!

Lady PurrPurr is starting to become "fat"(which is funny considering she was skin and bones when we first encountered her) and we don't know how to stop it because they both eat kitten food and Mookie still needs to eat kitten food for another 6 months!

----------------------------------------------------

Anyway it looks like the stray cat we tried to feed tonight won't eat.  

We only used half a can of tuna and right away covered up the the rest of the tuna and put it in the fridge. 

We let Lady PurrPurr and Mookie split a can of fancy feast ever Thursday night as a treat(they each get their own bowl and we don't let them steal from eachother's bowl)

Anyway I am just kinda bummed about the cat food and the tuna that was wasted for this new stay that didn't eat it.(I guess we will just dump it tomorrow  for other scavengers to eat)

But now there is a covered half can tuna sitting in the fridge and I don't want it to go bad now that it's opened so can I let them eat the rest of the Tuna from the fridge instead of a can of Fancy Feast?

 

[ldg]

That much tuna isn't a good idea, but as it isn't something you'll be doing regularly, I say go for it. They'll love it! :lol3:

How old is Mookie? He's got his adult teeth in, right? Cats that like biting usually LOVE straws. The fastest way to train him not to attack your feet is to scatter a box of bendy straws around the place, and keep some handy. When he attacks your feet, lean down and blow a short, sharp puff of air directly in his face and say "no." Then hand him a straw. Redirect the attack from your feet to the straw. If he goes for it, praise him, and encourage him to play with the straw. If he keeps attacking your feet, give him another short, sharp puff of air directly in his face, say "no" and either walk way ignoring him completely... or stand still for a little bit, if you can, so your feet aren't "fun" and completely ignore him.

Do your schedules allow for switching them to timed feeding rather than free feeding? Because that's the best way to control how much (and what) she's eating. :dk:

 

[superpop]

That much tuna isn't a good idea, but as it isn't something you'll be doing regularly, I say go for it. They'll love it!

How old is Mookie? He's got his adult teeth in, right? Cats that like biting usually LOVE straws. The fastest way to train him not to attack your feet is to scatter a box of bendy straws around the place, and keep some handy. When he attacks your feet, lean down and blow a short, sharp puff of air directly in his face and say "no." Then hand him a straw. Redirect the attack from your feet to the straw. If he goes for it, praise him, and encourage him to play with the straw. If he keeps attacking your feet, give him another short, sharp puff of air directly in his face, say "no" and either walk way ignoring him completely... or stand still for a little bit, if you can, so your feet aren't "fun" and completely ignore him.
Do your schedules allow for switching them to timed feeding rather than free feeding? Because that's the best way to control how much (and what) she's eating.

Sorry for the slow update.   

Mookie is probably around 6 - 6.5 months old right now.  He has been getting better with about attacking feet lately and stops when we say "no" to him.

I have no idea if Mookie has all of his adult teeth or not?  I've never found any of his baby teeth(although the vacuum cleaner probably has)

As for feeding....we could do timed feeding but not sure how much and how often to feed them?  They get dry food but they do get to split a can of fancy feast once a week which Lady PurrPurr usually gobbles up as fast as she can and then tries to push Mookie out of the way and eat his but we don't let her.

NOW FOR A RANT!!!  I just need to vent....about the Mexicant family across the street AGAIN!!!    A few months ago we noticed they got a puppy. (

)

We continued seeing the kids with the puppy for weeks and when the kids saw use there was no longer little temper tantrums from the little boy of "Where's my kitty?!?!?!"(probably because he didn't care about the "kitty" anymore because the family now had a puppy to NEGLECT)

Unsurprisingly we have not seen any evidence the puppy still exists in over a month now(It's probably DEAD or in a shelter somewhere) and tonight I brought out the recycling bin and that little boy all of a sudden started his tantrums again. (although this time it was plural:  "Where's my kitties?!?!?!?")

I ignored him at first but then I muttered "Oh God!  Shut Up!" to myself(I didn't think it was THAT loud) and of course he heard me and and he said "No you shut up!  Where's my kitties?!?!?"  and I responded with "WHERE IS YOUR PUPPY???" and then walked away.

I hate this family so much!

 

[superpop]

An update since it's been a long time.

Even though I didn't  originally want them I have become accustomed to having both Lady PurrPurr(or "PurrPurrTraitor" as we call her after she has been naughty) and Mookie who is a hyperactive mostly adorable ball of fluff who is absolutely terrified of our ceiling fan.(we had some VERY unseasonably warm whether here in Minnesota earlier this month where the windows were open and then the fan was on.)  Lady PurrPurr isn't scared of the ceiling fan in the slightest but Mookie is scared to death of it.   It's been off for over a week now so no problems but soon enough this will have to be dealt with because I don't want Mookie to be scared of it.(will deal with this as the time comes....I've already googled issues with cats being scared of ceiling fans)

Lady PurrPurr has tried to sneak outside on a few occasions(moving large objects through the backdoor which takes time) and she has succeeded a few times for all of a few seconds but she always pauses once she is outdoors and then she gets scooped back up and brought back in.  She also sits on the window sills and "cries" when we are outside in the backyard because she wants to be there too.

Mookie has no desire to "escape" outdoors but he is an oddball of fluff.  I swear he is part "dog"!  Mookie will be sleeping in another room and if I call his name 3-4 times he will come running out to the couch to me.(Lady PP will NOT...she will just stare daggers at me and will act all "***?" if I beg her to come to me)  Mookie also plays "fetch" with his stuffed mice toys!   He will literally jump off the couch and get his mouse and run it back to you and drop it for you to throw again 10 more times!

Nail clipping isn't easy because both of them yank their paws away unless they are extremely tired,  Mookie is easier because he exhausts himself with his hyperactivity and if he is really tired he is almost in a coma!  With Lady PP it's more difficult and clipping has to be done 2-3 nails at once over a week long period.

---------------------------------

Back onto the Mexican family across the street....SERIOUSLY I need advice!

It turns out the little dog they got a few months ago is still alive and now runs across the street into our yard and all over the block before the Mother goes and gets it. (I guess the idiot Mother would rather have the dog get hit by a car while her children watch rather then invest it a chain?)

The kids were hitting it with a branch today!

The little brats run around everyone's yards around the whole block so I don't even know why I am even slightly surprised that they ran across the street and up our driveway into our backyard and saw Lady PP and Mookie sitting on their perch in front of the window when we were gone shopping. We got home from shopping 

There is no way they could have seen the cats from the front of the house without a stepladder to reach the windows and they have ran through our backyard before and when we got home the youngest 2 brats screamed they knew we had their kitties because they looked in our windows!

I wish the Mother spoke fluent english because I want to tell her ass off at this point and I want her to UNDERSTAND!

I'm so sick of this bullshit!   Do I have any sort of legal recourse against them as far as a "restraining order" and how can I keep their dog that they don't care for from becoming roadkill?

 

[ritz]

I would call animal control about the dog.  Take pictures of the children hitting the dog and show to the animal control officer.  And, is there a Lease Law in your county/state?  Proof of rabies vaccination?

Put a sign (in Spanish) on your lawn saying "private property; no trespassing"; and then take pictures of the kids in your lawn.  Not sure what the laws are in your state, but I'd also want to call Child Protective Services; if the children are out unsupervised (is there a curfew law?) at night, then they are in danger.

What about the (real) owner of the property?  If the house is that bad, I'd either talk to the owner or call who ever in your county/city/state is in charge of code enforcement; I'd hazard a guess that the house isn't up to code and could be condemned. 

In all/any discussions with the county/city/state, emphasize that the adults do not speak English, so an official who speaks fluent Spanish will be assigned to the case.

And do this NOW; this stuff takes time.

Finally, I would get Lady PP and Mookie microchipped.

 

[superpop]

Just wanted to give another update.

All the cats now have permanent homes!

Obviously as you already all know we have 2 cats and Shirley has 2 cats, and now another family adopted the other 2 cats!   In the end I am happy that all the cats were adopted in pairs.

Anyway....Mookie has become a little angle sent from heaven to me.   I adore that ball of fluff so much.  He Is definitely MY cat!  He is no longer scared of the ceiling fan either.  I stood on a chair with the fan off and held Mookie and lighty pushed it and then progressed to pushing it harder and then it progressed to him being on the ground with it on low and then it quickly progressed to the point of him not even caring if it was on high. Mookie also thankfully seems to be done teething now!( He chewed a hole through one of the sheets on the bed a few months ago)

Lady PurrPurr annoys me still and I think if we had a party with 150 people Lady PurrPurr would be in the thick of it trying to get attention from EVERYONE because that is just how she is but she does annoy me with her aggressive food/outdoor issues which she still has and probably always will considering she used to live on the streets.   I certainly have to put myself in her "paws" though and understand why she is the way she is.  I do like her but Mookie is my favorite.  It does even out though because my boyfriend Matt favors Lady PurrPurr over Mookie.  Lady PurrPurr is HIS cat the same way Mookie is mine.

------------------------------

As for the family across the street....

Some progress has been made.   The kids no longer scream at us anymore after a drama with that family and some of the other neighbors(seriously NOBODY likes this family on our block....they are the bad apples of the block!)

I still do want that dog taken away from them though because they are not even fit to take care of a gold fish!   I have tried to document their abuse and neglect of the dog they have with our digital camera but by the time I run and grab the camera it's always too late.   I  will keep trying though and hopefully I will eventually be able to document the abuse and neglect for the ASPCA!

--------------------------------

Edit:  I forgot to mention anything about our pet Ball Python named Snickers for a long time.   As mentioned many months ago I was scared of locking Lady PurrPuur in a room for 15 minutes a night while we handled Snickers.(at that point I had no idea we were getting Mookie as well)

Anyway....they totally are fine with being shut into this room for 15 minutes almost every night while we hold Snickers.   This is their favorite window room anyway with their cat tower and not once have they ever scratched at the door wanting out.   So at least my fears about shutting Lady PurrPurr into a room for 15 minutes were unfounded even though my fears of her always wanting to go outside did in fact turn into a reality.

 

[rafm]

Most Cats that have lived on the street always have a desire to go back out. However, as you are the human and are aware of the dangers, you have to do what is best for her, and in your situation, it's keeping her inside.

As to the neighbors abuse of the dog.....it is not your job to document the abuse. You are putting yourself in harms way, which you shouldn't do. The SPCA or animal control will do the investigation if you simply make the call. For the sake of the animal, please call on them NOW. Investigators have more power and authority to force changes or remove the animal, let them do their job.

I'm very happy everyone got homes, you did a great job with the kitties! As to LadyPurrPurr, sometimes a cat likes one person over another. Our Claire loves my DH, let's him pet her, will come to him when she wants to eat, will talk to him....me, the one that saved her and her litter mates, yeah, she stares me down from across the room, runs when I reach out to pet her, etc. but, since she doesn't like me all that much, I'm really happy she is so comfortable with DH. I guess it's just the way it goes sometimes. :lol3:

 

[superpop]

2 things:

1. The MexiCAN'T OWN KITTIES  family across the street MOVED!   They are gone and we never have to deal with them ever again!

Now for the bad news:

2. Mookie and PurrPurr somehow got ear mites again! (They had them before living on the streets but now they are indoor kitties and I am perplexed to how they got them again)

This was discovered over a month ago and they have been treated and are both ear mite free now but I don't get how the hell it happened?  We keep a clean house and they don't get to go outside at all!

I have 2 guesses...

1 being that the windows they love to sit in are opened on nice days instead of running the central air.   The other is that we have some houseplants that get moved indoors/outdoors during the summer months depending on the weather.

How can we prevent this from happening again next summer?

 

[feralvr]

How can we prevent this from happening again next summer?

You can treat them with Revolution - the spot-on treatment. Talk to your vet about this. You can give Revolution monthly all summer long. If I were having an issue with ear mites and nothing else was working, I would do the Revolution three weeks apart for two doses and then go to monthly. http://www.marvistavet.com/html/body_ear_mites.html You have to get the product from your vet. It does work for ear mites.

 

[superpop]

Here is a cute little video of Mookie being aggressive with a new toy!

He was growling at both us and PurrPurr over this mouse for the first hour and then after that he wanted us to "throw it" for him and was not growling at us over the toy but was still growling at PurrPurr over it for a week or so.

Now it's just a regular stuffed toy like the 15 others all over the house and neither of them care about it except on sporadic occasions.

 

[minka]

LOL! :lol3:
Most cats usually have a favourite toy, sometimes something totally random, and they love love LOVE it. Sometimes for a day, sometimes forever.
The best method for curbing "toy boredom" as I call it, is to do a toy rotation. So 5 toys would be out right now, while the others are put away. (If you want, you can also put the 'away' toys in a tub of catnip to make them more fun ) Then in a month or so, put the 5 toys away, and take out 5 'new' ones. :nod:

 

[superpop]

Just a quick update that has nothing to do with any of the cats.

Last night we went shopping and stopped off at Walmart to get 5 free nail polishes using coupons for our best friend lesbian couple.(Seriously everyone should be close friends with us because we get so much free stuff and give it to friends or donate it!)

ANYWAY...when walking to the store from the car a lady pushing a stroller surrounded by young kids dropped a toy from the stroller and then my boyfriend instantly saw it and chased her down in the parking lot to give the toy back.....It was the MexiCANT OWN KITTIES family who moved a long time ago!!!

He recognized them instantly face to face but they did not recognize him because we were both wildly bundled up and they were not.   

It shames me to say that once we figured out who the were we both were angry and wish we had instead took that dropped toy from the parking lot and tossed it in the garbage! 

-------

Is that WRONG?   I still have so much ANGER towards this family because they did the WRONG thing and we did the RIGHT thing!(and because of the way they treated us during the process of doing right by the cats)