Help me with this cat (confessions from a cat owner)...

[Buddy'sParents]

he is driving me nuts. NUTS I tell you. :yikes: I.NEED.HELP. It's gotten so bad I don't even like him most days.

Issue #1. He has stopped eating raw. The buggar. Since he has stopped eating raw his poop and pee STINK. He has become a picky eater and I don't like it. I've add a probiotic/enzyme to his kibble, so I hope it helps, but I don't want him solely on kibble, I want him on raw. I've tried premade raw. I've tried giving him chicken necks. Beef. Gizzards. He will only eat ground turkey (and only sometimes at that!) and that is not a complete diet. If you feed raw, what do you feed your cat?

Issue #2. He will not eat canned food. I bought 8 different types of high quality canned food. I've tried two so far and no go. *looks pathetic as her money goes down the drain* What canned food are you successful with?

Issue #3. Cat litter. I tried to change to Swheat Scoop. No go. He pooped all over the dining room this morning and as soon as I put his old cat litter in his box, he peed for about 2 minutes. He went in the new litter the first day, but not the second? WTH is wrong with this animal? So, what good cat litter do you use? I'd like to use a decent litter, I'd prefer without perfumes or dyes, but Adobe may have another idea.

Issue #4. He is back to waking us up at night. Even though we play with him during the day and we changed his schedule. He doesn't care. Not only does he wake me up, but he wakes up the dogs. Buddy is pissed that he's not getting his beauty sleep. What kind of schedule do you have your cat on? Does your cat sleep through the night? Wait, he doesn't have to sleep through the night, but he sure needs to be quiet (I am a very soft sleeper) and his meow is enough to wake the dead.

Issue #5. These issues are making me not love him very much. It was already a conditional relationship, and now I'm so unhappy I don't even like him most days. I want to remember the sweet kitty we all fell in love with. We need help. Please. Magic wand anyone?

TIA for any advice.

 

[Gempress]

Can't help with the rest, but I have a suggestion for the night-romping. We have one bedroom that holds the food and litterbox, and Max is closed in there every night. He can romp and yowl to his heart's content without waking us up.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Well, he can run around, it's his meowing that is killing us. Even if we play with him really hard he often plays at night... it's just the.. meeeeOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWW.

 

[Maxy24]

Issue #1: I am not a raw feeder yet but I'm beginning to feed it to Willie, thus far it's been slow going. You might want to check out the raw feeding yahoo group rawcat: http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/rawcat/
Do you do prey model? He may just have gotten tired of the same old, same old. I know some people feed rabbit, quail and whole mice, rats or pinkies. Maybe letting the bag of meat sit in warm water for a little time before serving would make it smell stronger. You could try tossing a few kibbles around the meat to see if that will spark his interest.

Issue #2: I had tons of trouble getting mine to eat wet but that's because they were addicted/are addicted to dry food. I FINALLY have them eating EVO 95% meat chicken formula, it took nearly a year to get to this point although we did have stints of a month or two on Felidae and then wellness (though that's very over priced IMO) but they stopped eating them eventually. What helped was feeding wet more often. I started by only feeding every other dinner meal. When I switched it to ever dinner meal they really started to eat it, it was more consistent and they liked that so now they are 50% wet and 50% dry.
Things I've tried are sprinkling kibble on the food, putting fish oil on the food, cutting the food into bite sized chunks instead of smashing it up (which helped a lot actually), feeding on a dish instead of in a bowl (also helped), dipping kibbles in the wet food and offering one kibble at a time. Some people put tuna juice on the wet food. Just don't offer too much at once, split the can into many small meals and refrigerate but heat up before serving. This is a difficult one though, my cats were very hard.
I honestly tried every high quality and middle quality wet food I could find. I would put on down every night for them and judged whether or not to try it again the next night buy their reactions. Willie would almost always try it, if not I didn't bother with it, if he didn't at least taste it then it must be bad. Neko would occasionally sniff from a distance and walk away, sniff up close and walk away or lick a couple of times and walk away, if he did the second two I'd try again, if he did the first I would not. I also left it down over night to see if they ate it when desperate, they almost always did. If not i would not feed it again. Sometimes the overnight is what made them like it, they had to TRY it, so making them very hungry worked to get them to taste it at least, even if they would not like it, I knew they at least had reason to, they were not rejecting based on a whiff. I was very happy they chose EVO, neko actually chose blue spa but the veggies in it bugged me. I would put one hunk of EVO in with his blue spa and increased the EVO amount eventually I'd see the EVO gone and none of the blue spa gone, guess he changed his mind. He's really just neophobic, that's all.

Issue #3: Why can't you keep using the old litter? My cats have never been picky with litter luckily. I really like the Arm and Hammer Super Scoop I'm using now, make sure you get the scent free one, I can't stand scented litter. I also used cat's pride but it was not so good in the odor control department. When choosing a litter try and find one with the same sized granules as the one he likes, if he's really sensitive to change you might try slowly transitioning from old litter to new like you would dry food, adding more new litter and less old litter over time.

Issue #4: He IS Siamese right I would try and get him to sleep for as long as you can. I'm lucky in that, although mine "talk" to me all the time, they never scream at nothing, it's always at someone, so if we're asleep there is no meowing. My cats' schedules are 5pm teeth brushing followed by fur brushing. Then wet food or raw food dinner at 6pm. Then they run around like mad while we eat dinner around 7, then they nap on us while we watch TV. At 9:30-10:00 it's excercise time. Neko is the easiest believe it or not, and he will refuse nearly all toys. We rough house, play tag in between rough housing sessions and play fetch with a specific ball he likes. Rough housing with him is fun, he's a sneak when it comes to getting his nips in during the game. Lucky for me he knows the difference between play time and not play time. He starts nipping at me when I put my pajamas on because after that is when we play. With Willie mostly use a wand toys, I don't have enough room for too much running unfortunately but he chases after me and Neko when we play tag, he does not know how to play but he still *thinks* he's part of it, silly cat. Then a session of clicker training, not long at all, their attention spans are horrendously short. Then we go into my room, they go on the cat tree and start to calm down and might finish any food they hadn't already while I feed the other critters (lizard, hermit crab, fish). Then I go to bed and they join me. If i skip out on anything after dinner time they don't sleep, they run around like mad men and fight too roughly which makes Willie go on the lizard tank to escape Neko which makes me mad because the last thing I need is the lid breaking and a dead lizard so I have to keep getting up to remove Willie and kick Neko out because he's being a bully. So I try to do everything in the sequence. A schedule really helps, feeding and napping times are key I think, as well as a short cool down period before lights out.

I don't know if any of that helps, cats do things for so many reasons and react to things in so many different ways so it's hard to say what will work for your Adobe, this is just what has worked for my boys.

 

[Buddy'sParents]

Wow, thanks Maxy!

He is just on plain raw foods. I thought about the mice.. and uhm, I need to work on being able to feed mice to him. :yikes:

I would prefer a cat litter that is not scented and not as dusty. We use Better Way, which is a really well known brand and well-used brand here. I can continue to use it, but I'd prefer to find something else. The Swheat Scoop wasn't working anyways because Buddy was eating it and his allergies started acting up.

My eyes glazed over on the training your cats part! :hail: I guess I just don't have the patience. I should read up on it and learn some tricks.

Thank you so much for your post.

 

[vanillasugar]

Food issues: Have you tried sprinkling nutritional yeast on his food? Most fussy cats I've encountered cave and eat whatever is being served to them if nutritional yeast is sprinkled on top... tasty stuff right there. Also, have you fasted him at all? I personally wouldn't feel comfortable fasting a cat for longer than 24 hours (for fear of developing fatty liver disease) but skipping a meal or two might just give him that edge of hunger he needs to actually try eating raw or wet again.

Litter issue: I use Clump n' Flush. It's corn based, non perfumed (but has a nice natural smell), clumping and flushable. I love the stuff, and my cats do too... but they aren't particularly picky about what's in the box. May be worth a try if you're interested.

Schedule issue: Because of Buddy yeowling all night, the cats are now only fed once a day, right before bed. I find this worked well to keep him satisfied and QUIET all night.

As for issue number 5, cuddle up to him and spend a few minutes quietly listening to him purr. I promise that will make you feel better

 

[carljohnson]

Cat Toilet Training

Cats will come when you call them, and some will play fetch.

Cats must be socialized, from the earliest possible age, for the best results. It takes patience. LOTS of patience.

Earning their trust is the first hurdle!

They are very funny, friendly, intelligent, and affectionate. Observe them. Watch to see how they operate, and how their minds work.

It is true that cats do not have the same rabid desire to please as dogs do. But they can be trained! Use treats and affection.

They learn what you approve of, and what you don't. Some you simply have to speak to severely (or hiss at them!), others won't stop naughty behavior until you are within arms-reach )

A squirt bottle is a good idea for deterring undesirable behavior. All I have to do is pick mine up, and the cats FLY! )


All About Cat http://cats.about.com/
Video Lessons http://www.expertvillage.com/video/157785_toilet-train-cat.htm
Complete Cat Training http://cattrainingsecrets.net/completecattrainingreviewscam/

 

[Giny]

The romping at night made me think of what we used to do, way back, when Steve and I lived in apartment with 2 very excitable kittens. We were afraid that the people below would hear the running around at night so we crate trained them for night time. It was easier to crate train them then the dogs. Every night we'd give them treats once in there crate, it came such a routine that as they got older all we had to do is call them in for bed time and they would gladly run and jump in.

Though your cat is older, he might not adjust too well to the idea.

 

[xpaeanx]

I'm not a big cat person, so I'm just going to say "I wish you good luck!!!!"

(((((((sending good kitty vibes)))))))

 

[PWCorgi]

Didn't read the other responses as I'm going to be late for class, but here's what I got.

2. Try Evanger's Mackeral with Gravy. The stuff is NASTY, but most cats looove it. Another thing you can try is getting a can of Kitty Kaviar, people swear by it, sprinkle some on and watch the magic happen!

Finish this later, gonna be late

 

[Buddy'sParents]

The romping at night made me think of what we used to do, way back, when Steve and I lived in apartment with 2 very excitable kittens. We were afraid that the people below would hear the running around at night so we crate trained them for night time. It was easier to crate train them then the dogs. Every night we'd give them treats once in there crate, it came such a routine that as they got older all we had to do is call them in for bed time and they would gladly run and jump in.

Though your cat is older, he might not adjust too well to the idea.

:rofl1: You are too funny. Crate train? :rofl1: Adobe had to be in a crate for a couple weeks after his surgery so that he could heal without the possibility of a dog paw on his tummy... those were the worst weeks of cat ownership in this house.. he HATED it. *shudders*

I'm not a big cat person, so I'm just going to say "I wish you good luck!!!!"

(((((((sending good kitty vibes)))))))

Thank you.

Didn't read the other responses as I'm going to be late for class, but here's what I got.

2. Try Evanger's Mackeral with Gravy. The stuff is NASTY, but most cats looove it. Another thing you can try is getting a can of Kitty Kaviar, people swear by it, sprinkle some on and watch the magic happen!

Finish this later, gonna be late

Ok, thanks, will definitely try it!

Food issues: Have you tried sprinkling nutritional yeast on his food? Most fussy cats I've encountered cave and eat whatever is being served to them if nutritional yeast is sprinkled on top... tasty stuff right there. Also, have you fasted him at all? I personally wouldn't feel comfortable fasting a cat for longer than 24 hours (for fear of developing fatty liver disease) but skipping a meal or two might just give him that edge of hunger he needs to actually try eating raw or wet again.

Litter issue: I use Clump n' Flush. It's corn based, non perfumed (but has a nice natural smell), clumping and flushable. I love the stuff, and my cats do too... but they aren't particularly picky about what's in the box. May be worth a try if you're interested.

Schedule issue: Because of Buddy yeowling all night, the cats are now only fed once a day, right before bed. I find this worked well to keep him satisfied and QUIET all night.

As for issue number 5, cuddle up to him and spend a few minutes quietly listening to him purr. I promise that will make you feel better

I've added the enzymes and probiotic to his kibble so far. And he doesn't have a problem with that. This weekend I am going to split up the dosage and try some on canned food. I hope it works!

I've not heard of your cat litter, but I can try to find something that is equal to it around here!

I feed him a little bit in the morning and the bulk of his meal at night. He woke us up at 5a meowing like it was the end of the world and I had to feed him some food. Hmph. Silly cat.

 

[Kathy29]

I feel your pain. My foster kitty drove me absolutely nuts with her meowing and playfulness at night. You said playing with him doesn't help -- does that include a half hour play right before bedtime? And I mean literally right before you head to bed. That was what finally worked for both the foster and my own kitty when he was still young.

I've gotten them to successfully eat Wellness grain-free canned, EVO 95%, and Go! Natural. Sometimes I toss in a different brand on top of those here and there for variety and they have always just accepted it with no issues, so can't help you there.

Here's a helpful link written by a vet on getting kibble-addicted kitties to eat canned:
http://www.catinfo.org/#Transitioning_Dry_Food_Addicts_to_Canned_Food_
(The rest of the article is a good read, too.)

With the raw, I've found that sometimes it's a matter of temperature. My cat will sometimes walk away from the fresh dish I put down and go back to it ten minutes later and then eat. So I've found that warming it up by putting it in a bag and dunking it in warm/hot water or even adding a spoonful of warm water to the ground raw mix works well.

Good luck!