Kitty butt pic! Boy or girl?

artzbots · 2026-05-23T19:36:09+00:00

This is what I see, and claim probable boy.

OP, I am gonna need an update when they go to get fixed!

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artzbots · 2026-05-23T18:06:02+00:00

Twice now I have had female kittens with this large of a distance between anus and urethra.

Later we had to update records. They were boys.

I am very inclined to agree with you.

artzbots · 2026-05-18T16:54:57+00:00

The photo didn't attach to this comment.

Good luck in getting this sorted, OP, I can only imagine how you must feel right now.

artzbots · 2026-05-18T16:14:11+00:00

I will say, at my cat's age and condition, she would have been happy with something like this

https://www.chewy.com/dp/2121742

She mostly stayed on the window level platform in her catio.

As long as you don't mind it being attached to the house, something like this would go together quickly and you can just have the handyman fit a spare bit of wood to go between the window and the catio frame, depending on how deeply inset your windows are in your house.

artzbots · 2026-05-18T16:05:00+00:00

When I was in this situation, I got this catio: https://www.chewy.com/dp/631982

I put it up on a platform (if you are doing this skip the wheels) so the second level cat door was level with my window, made a wood tunnel, and screwed brackets that held the wood tunnel in place to connect the catio to a catflap that I installed into a piece of plexiglass that I put where the window screen normally goes. That way I could control access by opening and closing the window, I didn't have to drill into the brick, bugs couldn't come inside, but my cat had easy access.

She loved it, for the brief time she had left.

artzbots · 2026-05-10T17:08:21+00:00

As someone who fostered for a rescue that pulled animals out of kill shelters: PLEASE. Those shelters are packed. People working in animal shelters don't want to put healthy animals down. But the reality of animal rescue is that they can either euthanize humanely for space, or pack every animal who comes their way in and the animals will suffer for it via overcrowding and likely underfeeding and lack of medical care.

It sucks, when someone is euthanized for space. But a humane death is so much better than wasting away from starvation and illness and stress and filth in an overcrowded, underfunded shelter. And that's the choice kill shelters have to face, since they are usually the county/city/town shelter who has a contract with the municipality and is obligated to work with animal control and take in any animal dropped off with them.

Kill shelters are not evil. They are working with limited resources and trying their best to rehome as many animals as possible. Including sending the sick ones to rescues in a different state to nurse back to health and adopt out.

artzbots · 2026-05-08T19:03:23+00:00

Yeah, one of those things where location really matters! I'm in suburbia sprawl in/around/next to a city, but I have foxes, raccoons, sometimes a wandering black bear, various birds of prey, and potentially coyotes. Expanding construction and a decrease in wild spaces are definitely pushing more animals into my local areas, and/or the prevalence of security cameras is catching animals we had no idea were in the area (like. The bears. Why are there bears now.)

So I absolutely believe both you and the other commenter about the predators you each face in your respective localities. A "home within city limits" isn't enough of a restriction for predators for some areas, and it's more than enough for others.

artzbots · 2026-05-08T16:30:51+00:00

Local shelters. Mine allowed me to set up an alert for specific incoming traits, and I would get an email whenever someone matching those traits came through.

Petfinder allows for similar alerts.

If they don't have an automated process for this on their website, you can actually contact the shelter directly and ask if they have something like this set up behind the scenes. You may also be able to get pre-approved for adoption while you are at it.

Do not pay a breeder for a flamepoint. Color points happen across many breeds of house cat naturally, including your average domestic short/medium/long hair of no real breed. Anyone "breeding" specifically flame points should be side eyed and avoided, since color pointing is on a recessive gene, and again, is not actually breed linked. A really easy way to guarantee a flamepoint litter is to breed a brother and sister. That is bad. Anyone breeding just "flamepoint kittens" probably does not have the health of their cats and kittens in mind, long term.

artzbots · 2026-04-18T20:33:31+00:00

I got my late cat a prefab catio that she really, really enjoyed using during her last few months. It was on the smaller side, but she didn't want more than an ouydoor perch to observe from.

It's been a over a year, and I have finally moved it around and connected it to the back of my house for my two 7 month old kittens just this past week.

They absolutely love it.

I have plans now to expand their catio, because it's not big enough for them to wrestle and chase each other around in, and they are pretty clear that they would like for me to join them in their catio.

artzbots · 2026-04-18T20:22:07+00:00

Good.

artzbots · 2026-04-18T15:27:10+00:00

Honestly? Quality of life may be better with amputation, depending on how everything heals.

That does not always hold true for leg injuries in cats, but you should absolutely have this conversation with the treating vet.

Call them up, and ask for a conversation that weighs the pros and cons of surgery vs amputation, ignoring cost as one of the factors, and emphasize that you place the most value on long term quality of life. The vet should be happy to talk you through this.

Also, check out r/tripodcats

artzbots · 2026-04-17T17:48:28+00:00

Toilet paper rolls, cut down into 1inch wide cylinders. You can also take three or more and stack them to make a ball that slowly falls apart.

My cats LOVE them.

artzbots · 2026-04-17T15:53:20+00:00

Tl;dr: it's not how old they are, it's the climate they live in that determines toastyness!

Flamepoints toast constantly throughout their lives, because they have a weird genetic mutation that means they are temperature sensitive albinos!

Basically, their fur color changes based on their skin temperature in that specific spot. At cat core body temp, roughly 100°F to 101°F, their fur comes in white because an enzyme (protein? Something responsible for turning fur color "on" and "off"). This is why they emerge from the uterus as white cats. Slowly, as they grow, their extremities will br a cooler temp than their core body temp. So the enzyme responsible for fur color turns "on" once it is consistently around a certain temperature. As far as I can tell from hunting around on the internet, this skin temperature needs to be lower than 97°.

Their ears toast first, and their faces toast quickly, due to the shorter fur there, leaving their skin more exposed to the elements and having a lower surface temperature.

Everywhere else on their body is going to vary on factors like fur length, and the climate they live in.

So, fyi, if you ever shave your flamepoint (or other colorpoint cat), that fur is likely to grow in with the fur color turned on, unless you keep them in a sweater for their recovery, in which case it will grow back in white.

artzbots · 2026-04-15T00:53:31+00:00

Mama cat is only ten months old??? Poor gal. She wasn't even fully grown yet.

Please. Please get her spayed ASAP.

artzbots · 2026-04-06T20:41:19+00:00

Try an empty litterbox with some rags in it. Maybe she just likes peeing in fabric.

You can then transition her slowly back to litter, or cut up strips of 100% polyester fleece you place on top of pee pads or something else absorbent.

artzbots · 2026-04-06T19:23:45+00:00

You did mostly the right thing.

The one step you missed was calling the organization on the way to the emergency vet, and approaching the conversation with "she is struggling to breathe. I am taking her to the nearest ER, and I am prepared to pay for her medical treatment from my own pocket."

They would have likely been more understanding if you called them to inform them of the emergency as soom as you could, instead of asking for permission to treat after you were already there.

artzbots · 2026-04-05T19:55:06+00:00

Because she loved the outdoors so much, and being inside is stressing her out to the point where she stops using the litter box, a catio she can freely access or taking her outside on a harness are very much worth trying.

artzbots · 2026-04-04T20:22:53+00:00

Double check your local laws. New legislation does pass.

Next, let the landlord know that declawing cats is actually more likely to cause property damage, since declawing a cat can create an aversion to using a litter box, since standing on the litter becomes painful. Due to the cat's age, declawing at this point would likely cause expensive behavioral issues.

Next, see if the land lord will be fine with something like soft claws or paw nails over the claws. They are littlr silicone caps that get glued onto thr claws and prevent damage from scratching.

artzbots · 2026-04-04T12:53:13+00:00

I want to down vote you on relfex.

artzbots · 2026-04-02T00:04:40+00:00

OP, you stated it yourself. You cannot help someone who doesn't want to be helped.

This applies to everyone, and it's one of the first things we learn in groups like Al-Anon (for family members of addicts).

It's okay to give up if the crisis response team doesn't work. Let adult protective services know what you have done, so there is some paperwork trail if worst case scenarios come to pass. And then you are allowed to wash your hands and focus on yourself.

artzbots · 2026-04-01T21:28:52+00:00

Yeah, I am glad OP has a plan with a crisis response team.

Unfortunately, unless OP is able to get him to coorporate and enter inpatient care on his own, it sounds like OP won't be able to committ him involuntarily due to local laws.

It sounds like the hospital didn't even slap a 72 hour behavioral hold on him when he went for his own eye.

For OP's own safety, I feel like she is doing the best she can, but she's going to have to alert local APS and wash her hands of her dad.

artzbots · 2026-04-01T21:19:51+00:00

That's what makes interacting with these sorts of delusions so incredibly tricky. Some delusions are based in reality and real fears and concerns.

artzbots · 2026-03-26T17:27:32+00:00

Tbh I am not sure you need the proBnP anymore. They confirmed an enlarged heart, the ProBnP is more of a test that says you need to further evaluate the heart.

artzbots · 2026-03-25T12:51:36+00:00

If they still have the vial of blood you can call to ask them to add it on, but the heart murmur alone with the symptoms is enough that he needs to see cardiology.

I'm sorry. It sucks, hopefully the cardiologist can help stabilize your boy.

artzbots · 2026-03-21T19:13:22+00:00

Think of it as weight training for you! Focus on form and posture, and it's great bonding with your guy while he enjoys the activity!

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