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  #21  
Old 01/12/14, 01:46 PM
bostonlesley
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I agree 100% with feeding wet food if your cat isn't fond of water.. Barney drinks a ton of water... When he's not playing in it
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  #22  
Old 01/12/14, 02:55 PM
 
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Location: Adirondacks
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Originally Posted by bostonlesley View Post
I agree 100% with feeding wet food if your cat isn't fond of water.. Barney drinks a ton of water... When he's not playing in it
Don't want to alarm you but if Barney has recently become a big drinker you should have him checked out. When my LT started that, she was diabetic.
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  #23  
Old 01/12/14, 02:59 PM
 
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: Southern Oregon
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And most cats LOVE toilet water! And when outside my cat drinks from the stream. When we lived in town we discovered from the neighbors that she was drinking from their koi pond. You can buy fancy water circulators as I'm sure they prefer fresh running water, but that seems extravagant to me.
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  #24  
Old 01/12/14, 03:30 PM
bostonlesley
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Originally Posted by Cindy in NY View Post
Don't want to alarm you but if Barney has recently become a big drinker you should have him checked out. When my LT started that, she was diabetic.

Barns has always loved water.. Thinks he's a dog..
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  #25  
Old 01/12/14, 05:08 PM
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Location: Southeastern VA
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My vet recommended wet cat food when my cat developed urinary problems. Cats don't drink much and they concentrate their urine. Wet has more water.

I also started with wet (along with dry) when one of the older cats started losing weight. It turned out she only had 3 teeth left and couldn't eat the dry stuff.

I did discover that my cats don't like a dark water dish so they now have a clear dish.

As for milk, mine will drink condensed with no problems. My sweet Little Bit would just die if I didn't give her the cheerios milk. I think it was the sugar.

You have a young cat so enjoy. Hopefully you never have any health issues (you or the cat).
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  #26  
Old 01/12/14, 06:05 PM
 
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: Michigan's thumb
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Raw is best, but most people don't want to do it. I feed the dogs raw, but the cat won't come inside because of the dogs and eats in the shed. Because of this, I won't put raw out for him. He gets Taste of the Wild. If feeding kibble, get a best quality with no grain. You can add a bit of water to the kibble to make sure he is getting some water.

Cats should not be given pasteurized milk, they can't digest it.
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  #27  
Old 01/12/14, 06:14 PM
 
Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Kentucky
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Feed good quality dry is the best. Cheap food with lots of dye will give them stinky poop.
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  #28  
Old 01/12/14, 07:16 PM
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: So. WI
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One of the most important things is to wash the water dish everyday. Our cats will sit and look at the water dish if the dog has taken a drink or there is any leaf matter/etc in it. Clean water is so important. Enjoy your new addition and once you pick a litter for the box realize that some cats will resist a change if you decide to buy what is on sale instead of their regular litter. Despite jokes to the contrary, cats can be every bit as devoted and loving as dogs.
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  #29  
Old 01/13/14, 03:08 PM
 
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Florida
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a couple months ago I was given two intact male brother barn cats - now 9 months old. They seem to get along well. Will this change or is it a case by case thing? They seem very content sticking close by the house and do not seem to wander. My biggest complaint is that one of them likes to use my sand filled chicken coop as a litter box and the other is pooping under the porch. I have started throwing coffee grounds and orange peels under there. They do have a littler box in the barn that they use occasionally.

I am a dog person and know nothing about cats learning,..
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  #30  
Old 01/13/14, 03:30 PM
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Try to find something that doesn't smell totally awful after it's digested.

That way, their little paws won't smell so bad when they play with their litter fritters.

Oh, and that way you won't have to hold your nose so much when you have to carry it back outdoors to the trash.
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  #31  
Old 01/13/14, 03:57 PM
 
Join Date: Apr 2011
Location: South East corner of NM
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Hope you have your new cat for a very long and healthy time! My poor MIL just wouldn't listen to anyone about not giving cats milk. She would empty out the fridge and not only give them milk, it was bleaky milk. (shudder) I always felt sorry for the cats that hung out around her house. They were always so thin, except when pregnant, and had such nasty poops, EVERYWHERE. I just hated to mow her grass! LOL
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  #32  
Old 01/13/14, 04:06 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cindy in NY View Post

Be sure to keep a water bowl out for him or her. Cats tend to not drink enough so it's a good idea to give them a mix of dry and canned water.
Wisconsin doesn't sell dry water. What could I use as a substitute? NY has everything. That's so unfair.
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  #33  
Old 01/13/14, 04:12 PM
 
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Location: Washington, USA
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Originally Posted by vidpro23 View Post
a couple months ago I was given two intact male brother barn cats - now 9 months old. They seem to get along well. Will this change or is it a case by case thing? They seem very content sticking close by the house and do not seem to wander. My biggest complaint is that one of them likes to use my sand filled chicken coop as a litter box and the other is pooping under the porch. I have started throwing coffee grounds and orange peels under there. They do have a littler box in the barn that they use occasionally.

I am a dog person and know nothing about cats learning,..
NEUTER THEM. They will begin to wander shortly. Un-neutered males have a much shorter, rougher and brutish life than altered males. Not to mention adding to the feral and otherwise unwanted cat population (which is substantial!). If they are left unaltered and they begin to roam, they can retain the habit even after they are fixed. Fix them as soon as possible.

They will most likely be buddies for all their days!
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  #34  
Old 01/13/14, 04:26 PM
 
Join Date: May 2002
Location: Adirondacks
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Originally Posted by Feather In The Breeze View Post
Wisconsin doesn't sell dry water. What could I use as a substitute? NY has everything. That's so unfair.
Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain or is it the other way around??
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  #35  
Old 01/13/14, 04:33 PM
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Originally Posted by Cindy in NY View Post
Sometimes my fingers get ahead of my brain or is it the other way around??
Oh No, remember, every time you make someone smile, that is a good thing and an angel gets her wings or some such.
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  #36  
Old 01/15/14, 11:26 AM
 
Join Date: May 2004
Location: Oklahoma
Posts: 2,375
Personally, I keep "Taste of the Wild" dry food down for my cat, along with a bowl of water (water changed daily). I then feed her ground raw food once a day. This is either ground chicken quarters (bone and all) or ground meat that has ground egg shell added (1 tsp per pound of meat) to provide the necessary calcium. I always grind some heart into the raw diet to provide the taurine that cats need (or you can add the contents of a taurine capsule if heart is not available). The last few months she has decided that hunting is fun, and she eats at least most of what she catches.

I never offer her milk, other than the first couple of squeezes from each side when I am milking the goats.

Mary
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  #37  
Old 01/15/14, 01:09 PM
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Lehigh County, Pa.
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Well - the cat was spayed on Monday - by a vet service that the schelter uses - yesterday I notice a lump on one end of the incision - this morning it looked like it got bigger - about the size of a marble when the cat is standing - so I made an appointment with a vet close to my house to take a good at it - will see him this afternoon - hope it isn't anything serious
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  #38  
Old 01/18/14, 02:12 PM
 
Join Date: Jan 2013
Location: So. WI
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Just checking in to see how the kitty is doing? Does she have a name yet?
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  #39  
Old 01/18/14, 02:33 PM
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Someone has to eat table scraps
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  #40  
Old 01/18/14, 05:10 PM
 
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: Lehigh County, Pa.
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The vet looked at ANNIE - felt the lump and said it was probably fluid - to be sure she did a catscan to make sure - the vet said that when the overies were removed there is space where fluid often gathers - in time it will be absorbed - warm compresses will help it to do this - otherwise the cat is doing good - a real cutie - a domestic longhair -
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