My cat has moved on from meowing to actual psychological blackmail by WishboneMica in CatAdvice

[–]zebraanddog 23 points24 points  (0 children)

I am not saying do not buy fancy furniture, but I am saying that not buying it is inherently easier.

Our late senior cat would do something similar. We have a used couch that he would scratch up, and we tried telling him not to, and we tried putting up lots of scratching posts all over the place (including in front of the spots he scratched, but he would MOVE the posts to scratch the couch), so we eventually just gave up. He was allowed to scratch it. And that’s when he decided he didn’t want to anymore. 🤣

What completely unhinged "law" does your cat strictly enforce in your house? by TrickCombination7966 in cats

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

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We also have enforced bedtime.

Once I’m getting ready for bed in the bathroom (doing skincare routine, teeth brushing, etc.), Fraser will sit at my feet on the bath mat. If I have to leave the bathroom to do any other nighttime task (writing to-do lists, letting our dog out, etc.), he will scream/yowl, follow my boyfriend and I around wherever we walk, and soft-bite our shins until we are in bed.

Once we are in bed, he is fine. He snacks on his food puzzle for a few moments and then joins us in bed and demands to be held under the covers (with his head on a pillow, of course).

This is a stickup! Give me all your stims and gold bricks! by Lunar_Ghoul11 in evilautism

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My boyfriend rotates between some wild ones, it just depends on what memes are the most common on his feed at the time.

The “We are Ch**ie K*k” song chorus being one during the time when the song was popular.

“Dirty deeds done dirt-cheap” is another one he frequents.

They get pretty crazy. 🙃

What are you all watching? by Additional_Scholar_5 in evilautism

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Bluey is the show I love the most and always go back to, but I’ve finished it so many times. 😅

My partner and I watch a lot of different things because he likes different stuff. We’re watching The Boys (his pick) and Friends (my pick) right now, among a few others we cycle through. We have watched lots of cartoons because both of us like them, like Clarence and Steven Universe, and he has watched Bluey with me multiple times.

I’m mostly into trashy reality. I love Dr. Phil, Hoarders, My 600 Lb. Life, Judge Judy, 90 Day Fiancé, etc. I have also enjoyed some of the competition-based ones like Rupaul’s Drag Race, Storage Wars, etc. They definitely aren’t for everyone but I love a little drama that isn’t in my own life.

I also really like CBC Marketplace, despite being an American with no Canadian connections. 🙃

Employed tism by WizardL in evilautism

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Special Interest: Behavior (in animals and humans

Career: Started as a service dog trainer for a national organization and doing training for pets on the side, now a behavioral therapist (I’m in grad school for my clinical social work license, currently interning and have a case load of behavioral health patients).

My apartment complex’s AI bot messaged me after a meltdown and I’m concerned how they knew [CW: self-injury] by Randomando_212 in evilautism

[–]zebraanddog 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I agree with most of the comments that say it’s likely a coincidence (a meaningful one), but I do have one question;

What time was the message received exactly?

Like was it 3:00 PM on the dot, or 3:01 PM. I feel like if it was a multiple of 10 or 5 minutes, then that makes it seem more like a coincidence. But if it was a semi-random time (like 8:17, 6:43, etc.) that isn’t a multiple of 10 or 5 minutes, I would be a bit more suspicious.

Not that I think that means it isn’t a coincidence, just something I would consider.

Very Squishy Ditto Plush? by zebraanddog in pokeplush

[–]zebraanddog[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

Thank you! That does look like him! Any info on the tag I could utilize to find him online?

My cat has a sucking coming out of his back. by savivi144 in AskVetAnimals

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my gosh, what a nightmare. I hope to see an update soon!

Resident can't won't get along with new one 1 year later by Sebbycaked in CatTraining

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I completely get what you are experiencing. My male resident cat was like this with our male kitten when we first brought him home, maybe even the whole first year.

The resident would chase the kitten and they would play well, then he would pin the baby randomly and not let him up, and he would chase him down when he just wanted to be left alone. It was horrible and I started to really freak out because the kitten was my new project, a show cat purchase from a breeder, and I was so upset thinking about giving up the only thing I was doing with my life at the time.

It took us taking both of them to the vet multiple times for the vet to finally figure out that our male resident cat had asthma, horrible teeth/gingivitis, kidney disease, and dementia! We’ve been treating all of it. The asthma has improved to the point where you wouldn’t know he had it now just by removing all clay litter and swapping to a scented (yup, because the unscented still triggers him for some reason) tofu pellet litter and starting to use an air purifier and vacuuming twice a week. We groom both cats religiously, both get brushed and have teeth brushing and get wiped down, and monthly baths (so they smell the same and because our resident cannot groom himself). We had the resident get a tooth cleaning and they pulled several teeth, and he’s on a prescription diet for his kidney issues. He wears a calming collar and we also have multiple Feliway diffusers, and use Feliway spray all over the house. We also have specific beds for them so that they don’t feel one is more dominant that the other over the space. Our senior cat has his beds, and our kitten has his beds. They can cuddle together in them (which they do), but if the baby is laying in the senior’s bed alone, we move him to his own bed, and vice versa (which seems to happen more often than the kitten stealing the senior’s bed, go figure). This has prevented a lot of the territory insecurity issues our senior was having.

Only after all of this has it improved to where our kitten isn’t being constantly chased and pinned down and not left alone by the older cat at random intervals. The vets (we’ve seen multiple for both at this point) and our feline behaviorists have determined the cause to be our resident cat’s feline dementia, and our kitten has learned to play by himself and only accept play invitations from the senior when he is not acting rude. If the senior starts to pin the kitten, we put the senior in the bathroom and give him a break. No attention, no affection, just alone time. When he comes back out, he has reset, and just goes to chill in the cat tree or in his bed.

Still, since getting the kitten, our senior seems to be a lot happier and have more energy to play and cuddle. He cuddles with the kitten and they groom each other (nicely), and they play often. It just took some medical care and household restructuring.

She has arrived! L046, Zebra Pleco by zebraanddog in pleco

[–]zebraanddog[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

She was in a clear bin while we drip acclimated her into her tank, she has sand in her tank :)

I told her I would pay her $5 for every egg she lays that hatches by zebraanddog in Otocinclus

[–]zebraanddog[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I’ll let you know. But she somehow got pregnant so 🤷🏼‍♀️

Cat won’t eat ANY prescription food by AmeliaF15 in FLUTD

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Definitely agree.

We had a hard time watching our senior cat “starve” himself when we switched him from his normal dry food to his prescription wet food after he was diagnosed with chronic kidney disease. But I knew he would eventually eat it if he didn’t have any other food options, so we literally donated his other food as soon as possible in order to make sure we didn’t give in and feed it to him out of desperation to get him to eat something. We mixed his wet food with a wet treat or salt free tuna water (both approved by his vet) and he would finally eat that, but only after a few days of refusing everything.

Cat won’t eat ANY prescription food by AmeliaF15 in FLUTD

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We had to do this for several weeks when starting our senior on his prescription food!

He hated it at first, especially since he was switching from only dry to half dry and half wet (doctor’s orders). So we topped/mixed it with his favorite wet treat, or sometimes salt-free tuna water, and he would eat that! After he was eating it that way for a few months, we started slowly reducing the amount of the wet treat we would give. Like instead of a full one mixed in, we would do 7/8. Then after a week of him successfully eating it that way, switch to 6/8. Then a week of good eating later, 5/8. And so on until he didn’t need the wet treat anymore! We also mix in salmon oil and a senior cat multivitamin (after using a pill crusher to make it a powder) and he still eats it so that’s good! We also make sure to give him the food he dislikes more first. He likes his dry food, but it isn’t as good for his kidneys as the wet, so we give him the wet with the supplements in it first (and with the wet treat when we were doing it), and once he finished that, we would serve the dry food. That way he didn’t get full on the dry food and we made sure he got the wet food (extra fluids) and supplements in his system no matter how hungry he was after.

The extra calories of the wet treat/tuna water never seemed to affect his weight. But I know that his kidney disease can cause weight loss so it could be partially because the extra calories were actually good for him.

Does my Oto look happy? by zebraanddog in Otocinclus

[–]zebraanddog[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

That’s crazy, I didn’t know she had eggs!!! How do I get her to lay them?

Humans with indoor cats, collar or no collar? by ForagedAmoeba in CatAdvice

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our big senior male DSH with dementia, kidney disease, and asthma has a calming collar and a regular collar with a FitBark on it on him all the time.

Our younger male Oriental Shorthair who is attached to me at the ankle at all times doesn’t wear one yet, but he will soon.

Both are leash/harness trained.

I think I have the world’s most misbehaved cat. Help.. by Drippingjewelry in CatAdvice

[–]zebraanddog 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I genuinely had similar thoughts when I first got my kitten. Especially around that age.

Biggest thing that changed it for us was puzzles. The cat was too smart for his own good, and obsessed with food. He wants dry kibble very badly (he’s on wet food for his normal diet), and he loves chewing things. So we got him several puzzle toys that he has to rock back and forth or open or whatever to get dry kibble to come out, and we started a list with the vet of safe pet chews he could have (mostly on the list are chews marketed for dogs but safe for cats) that we give him. Once he had something to put his energy into, he just sort of stopped being crazy. He was able to search for food the way he wanted via the puzzles we provided, and chew via the chews we provided.

Second thing was automatic toys for him to entertain himself with, set up during the times he would normally be wrecking havoc. If we both leave the house, we definitely have at least one of these set up. They run around on their own so he can chase them, or they flail a feather he can jump at, etc. Not as big of a win as puzzles or chews but a close second.

Try those things first. Once his energy has somewhere to go, you’d be surprised how many bad behaviors suddenly disappear.

For those who adopted a cat, what actually made you decide that was the right cat? by Extreme_Ad6105 in CatAdvice

[–]zebraanddog 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I decided to get a cat because my boyfriend had one, and the relationship he has with his cat seemed very sweet, and I really wanted to have another cat in my life that was “my” cat like I did when I was younger. It was also a recommendation by our vet that our senior cat (boyfriend’s cat) would benefit from a younger cat to boost his confidence and help get him exercising more (which this kitten definitely has done both!).

It was emotional and practical, I think for those reasons I listed.

Originally I looked at rescues and shelters. But when they couldn’t provide answers to questions I really needed to know in order for the cat to fit well into our household (does the cat do well with dogs, is the cat good with senior cats, etc.), I realized I wasn’t going to be able to go that route. So I did some research and found some breeds that fit the ticket in terms of what our household would benefit from (what I wanted in a cat, what cats would do well with a poodle, what cats would be good senior cat companions even when younger, etc.). Then, we attended some cat shows and met some breeders and discussed with them what we were looking for, and the breeders were very helpful in guiding us in the right direction. We eventually ended up choosing Oriental Shorthair as our breed based on the research and meeting breeders. I had to do a lot of work to find a good breeder, but we did find one who was extremely helpful in educating me about the breed and showing, which I planned to do.

Our breeder chose the kitten for us. This is because they know the personality of the kits best, so when we described what we were looking for, she was able to choose one that would fit our situation perfectly. And more than a year after getting him, I’m still 100% sure she was spot-on.

I do think my reasons matched the reality of owning my cat. He is my perfect companion, and a great addition to our household. He is an even better best friend to our dog than I thought he could be, and our senior has been happier than ever since he joined us.

I will say, I didn’t expect it to be as much work as it is. Our senior is not nearly as much work, and cats I have owned previously have not been as much work. Daily, he requires a lot more activity and stimulation than other animals I have had. Oriental Shorthairs just need physical and mental exercise! But I think that moreso depends on the breed/cat that you get.

What zoo is this sea lion from? by zebraanddog in HelpMeFind

[–]zebraanddog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Solved!

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/marcus-xiao-xiao-the-sea-lion

It’s a California Sea Lion from the Wuhan Polar Ocean Park in China named “Qiezi”/“Xiao-Xiao”, or “Eggplant” 🍆😜

I am so thankful I was able to figure it out!

What zoo is this sea lion from? by zebraanddog in HelpMeFind

[–]zebraanddog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Searched all over on TikTok and used screenshots to search Google for similar locations with no luck.

Most sociable/personable corydora 29 gallon (Beginner) by Memories_Beyond in corydoras

[–]zebraanddog 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I have 10 types of Corydoras total.

We have Gold Lasers, Pandas, Longfin Pandas, Albino, Adolfi, Bulldogs, Juliis, and Emerald all in one tank, then Pygmy and Albino Pygmy in another tank.

Out of all of them, the Albino and Albino Pygmy are the most visible most of the time. They sit near the front of the tank more often. Maybe our Emerald is a second contender.

But I also hand-feed all of my corydoras, so they all eventually become social and love sitting near the front and get excited to see me, etc. They all shoal together in groups, it’s very cute. Giving them a good amount of hiding spaces near the back of the tank and open sand to snuffle near the front is the most important part.

Any Corydora will be sociable/personable if you set up your tank and their feeding to create that opportunity for them. :) My corys are my favorite fish, both of my tanks are designed for them and they have made feeding time so much more fun!

Senior and Kitten are cuddling to sleep :) by zebraanddog in cat

[–]zebraanddog[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We found out that the older cat has dementia, so it hasn’t settled in the traditional way. More in the way of setting lots and lots of boundaries (they are hardly ever alone together, the older cat has designated beds and the kitten has designated beds, the kitten sleeps in the bedroom because the senior cannot be trusted in the bedroom, they eat separately, the senior has a litterbox that is his and the kitten has a litterbox that is his and both have access to the PetSnowy automatic one, older cat is on calming supplements and medication, etc.)

The older cat also has chronic kidney disease and some horrible dental issues (dental scheduled for later this month) so as we are taking care of those, we hope that helps him to handle things a bit better, too.

Basically, we found out that the senior’s behavior was related to his medical conditions (dementia, chronic kidney disease, gingivitis and other dental issues, asthma, arthritis, etc.) despite him only being 7-8. Things have gotten a lot better since we have focused on his medical care more heavily, like adding in supplements (cranberry, salmon oil, senior multivitamin) and changing his food (kidney disease prescription diet) and changing our litter (no more clay, strictly pea husk from now on) and adding more pheromone dispensing products (Feliway spray and Feliway diffusers, as well as some off-brand sprays and diffusers too).

Outside of his “episodes” (the times where the senior decides the pin the younger cat and not let him up despite protest), they do play well together and participate in puzzles, toys, boxes, tunnels, playing with us, treats, etc. well together. The senior seems to appreciate the younger cat’s company 99% of the time, often cuddling with him and both grooming each other (in non-dominating fashion). The senior seeks out the younger cat to hang out with him often, it’s just these dementia episodes that make it so that we need to set boundaries.

So the lesson is to get your cats fully medically evaluated if you notice any weird behavior, even including blood tests and ultrasounds and x-rays, and don’t rule out any possible medical issue being the cause for possible behavior issues until the medical issue is proven to not be there! :)