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Question for cat owners
#349654 - 01/28/16 02:55 PM
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All my life my family has either had cats, or my roommates have had cats. Over the past three years, I've really missed having a cat, and would like to get a cat. However, does anyone have any really good suggestions for how best to deal with the smell of the cat's litterbox? Are there any good self-cleaning litterboxes, or are they all the same garbage they were ten years ago? What's the best brand of food these days?
I really want to get a cat, they're awesome. Problem is, the boyfriend's in Australia until the end of February, and getting a pet without him around would be a really non-bro move.
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| Tomu Breidah |
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Purina Tidy Cat, in the yellow bucket....
[Re: MooglyGuy]
#349657 - 01/28/16 06:06 PM
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 That's what I use. No recommendations on a self cleaning box....
ETA: About food. Hmm... You'll just have to find something your cat will like. When I had 2 cats, I was feeding them Purina Cat Chow, Indoor Forumula. But my oldest cat - I had to have him put to sleep last year (he was around 15 years old). After that, my other cat seemed to lose interest in the 'indoor' (flavor). Now, she seems to like Friskies Seafood sensations.
There are some brands of pet food, like in a 50.4 oz bag, that cost around $12.00. That's probably the "best" food. But if I bought it and my cat didn't like it... I guess I'd be snacking on cat food. 
Edited by Tomu Breidah (01/28/16 06:38 PM)
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| Pi |
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Re: Question for cat owners
[Re: MooglyGuy]
#349661 - 01/28/16 07:33 PM
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> All my life my family has either had cats, or my roommates have had cats. Over the
> past three years, I've really missed having a cat, and would like to get a cat.
> However, does anyone have any really good suggestions for how best to deal with the
> smell of the cat's litterbox? Are there any good self-cleaning litterboxes, or are
> they all the same garbage they were ten years ago? What's the best brand of food
> these days?
>
> I really want to get a cat, they're awesome. Problem is, the boyfriend's in Australia
> until the end of February, and getting a pet without him around would be a really
> non-bro move.
For the litterbox you have two good options I know of, but the brands I can't tell. First are the "solidifying" crystal litterbox sands. They become lumps around anything wet, be it pee poo or whatever, and easily removable. They smell of nothing. But they are expensive. The other is the "litter spinner" or "rotating litter box". A coworker in practices had one and two cats and says it's awesome, easy to maintain, no bad smell, and best investiment on a long run.
As far as food goes... Don't go to pet stores. Go to veterinarians and see what do they have there. The problem is, you have to make your cat used to them. We've tried a couple and my cat just likes the same old Royal Canin Exigent for neutered she has been chewing for the past 14 years. I guess it also depends on the cat - other owners have told me they change food without any problem. When I do it my cat just eats a bit less and when I bring back the old food I see she eats it eagerly the first days.
The difference in cat food is the "completeness". For cat food being complete, it needs to have everything a cat needs as obligate carnivores which can't synthetize taurine and such. Veterinarian food (the premium brands usually only distributed at clinics) has the right amount, and high quality brands probably do too. The others probably have the minimum so they get the "complete food" name without being sued.
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GatKong |
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Tetris Mason
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Re: Question for cat owners
[Re: MooglyGuy]
#349666 - 01/28/16 08:54 PM
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So MooglyGuy, you're curious about a pussy cat?
[EDIT]I had a really funny opening line and what not, but, meh, didn't want to hurt any feelings if someone took it the wrong way, so everyone, please imaging for yourself a really humorous pun in a way that you find funny without offending yourself. Plus, my pun wasn't as funny as the one you just thought up anyway. That's hilarious![/EDIT]
Best litter box solution is to not have one. Teach your cat to go outside by putting the litter box outside. Eventually you won't even need to care for the box, he'll find other places to poop outside.
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Re: Question for cat owners
[Re: GatKong]
#349669 - 01/28/16 09:29 PM
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> Best litter box solution is to not have one. Teach your cat to go outside by putting
> the litter box outside. Eventually you won't even need to care for the box, he'll
> find other places to poop outside.
The same is true for people. If you go outside, your toilet will never need cleaning. This makes your housework much simpler, and saves money on cleaning supplies.
For either one, it helps if you actually have an "outside" and not a "hall" on the other side of your door. Though windows are a viable alternative.
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| Andrew |
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We have 5 stray cats that we took in and they share 4 litter boxes so we take the least expensive option.
For litter, we buy the cheapest store brand possible. But we augment it by adding Arm & Hammer Cat Litter Deodorizer Powder. Does a pretty good job minimizing smells. I really should remove the feces mid-week but usually too lazy to do so.
For the food, again we choose the least expensive store brand for both wet and dry. If the cat doesn't like it, level up to the next higher cost brand until you find one the cat will tolerate. But don't give up too easy. Cats often turn up their nose to a new food until they realize you're not bringing something else.
We made the mistake of starting with an expensive brand (Fancy Feast) when we had just the one cat, now she won't try most cheaper store brands. But the other four are happy with the cheaper selection. One way to nudge them to try is to add a couple of treats to get them to taste it.
Honestly I would stop all the wet food altogether but the wife caves in when the cats get all googley-eyed.
They are cute and each has their own personality but can get expensive.
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[ATTACHED IMAGE]
Edited by Andrew (01/28/16 10:19 PM)
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Re: Question for cat owners
[Re: MooglyGuy]
#349673 - 01/28/16 11:26 PM
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I've been told the litter robot is the best self-cleaning litterbox out there, but it is rather expensive (around $400 IIRC).
People have said it is worth the cost, though.
LN
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| Gor |
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Re: Purina Tidy Cat, in the yellow bucket....
[Re: Tomu Breidah]
#349675 - 01/29/16 01:24 AM
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> That's what I use. No recommendations on a self cleaning box....
>
>
I also use the Tidy Cat yellow bucket. It takes care of the smell just fine unless she takes a dump so rank that she's to embarrassed to stick around and cover it. It clumps well and creates very little dust when scooping. Not sure if it's available in Swedeland.
I bet you can't wait to make "I have to go home and stroke my pussy" jokes. 
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| redk9258 |
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Re: Purina Tidy Cat, in the yellow bucket....
[Re: Tomu Breidah]
#349677 - 01/29/16 01:40 AM
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>
> ETA: About food. Hmm... You'll just have to find something your cat will like. When I
> had 2 cats, I was feeding them Purina Cat Chow, Indoor Forumula. But my oldest cat -
> I had to have him put to sleep last year (he was around 15 years old). After that, my
> other cat seemed to lose interest in the 'indoor' (flavor). Now, she seems to like
> Friskies Seafood sensations.
>
> There are some brands of pet food, like in a 50.4 oz bag, that cost around $12.00.
> That's probably the "best" food. But if I bought it and my cat didn't like it... I
> guess I'd be snacking on cat food.
We had two cats. One 14, one 11. Both cats always inside. The 11 year old (Chip) had trouble after we first got him. He had trouble peeing and ended up on food that was about $50 for a big bag. Instead of trying to separate the cats during feeding time, we just let both eat the expensive food. Anyway Dec 2014, we took the cats to the vet for their annual vet visit / shots. The 11 year old absolutely hated riding in the car / being outside of the house. The 14 year old (Simba) had been drinking a lot of water and peeing a lot. The vet examined him first. While Chip was waiting for his turn, he was really freaking out, more than any other time we went to the vet. I picked him up to calm him down and he kinda growled and reared back. He then went limp in my arms. I stood up and let the vet and my wife know that Chip fainted. The vet grabbed him and ran in the other room to put oxygen on him. She gave him a shot to revive him (cannot remember what it was). Chip died. Seemed healthy for the last 10 years but could not take the stress of being at the vets office. Crazy.
Simba was diagnosed with diabetes. This is common with older cats. He gets food that is even more expensive and 2 shots of insulin a day. He is doing pretty good and is now almost 16.
Anyway, be careful with the food. The more expensive stuff can prevent problems that cheap food can cause (can't piss). This can save an emergency visit (expensive) or even their life.
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| Sune |
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Re: Question for cat owners
[Re: Pi]
#349856 - 02/03/16 08:52 PM
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> For the litterbox you have two good options I know of, but the brands I can't tell.
> First are the "solidifying" crystal litterbox sands. They become lumps around
> anything wet, be it pee poo or whatever, and easily removable. They smell of nothing.
+1. We always used this type when we had cats. You'll want to try out a couple different brands, some have their own smell when it "solidifies", which you may not like either.
S
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Cats are carnivores - you feed 'em raw meat yo!
[Re: redk9258]
#349873 - 02/04/16 10:37 AM
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Same with dogs.
As for all the vet hubbub, fuck that. They survive or they don't, fuck.
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Re: Cats are carnivores - you feed 'em raw meat yo!
[Re: Traso]
#349904 - 02/05/16 10:36 AM
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The thing is lean muscle tissue is not a complete food for a carnivore. When they catch prey they’ll be eating the stomach and a fair bit of fat. Cat/dog foods are supposed to provide them with what they’d be normally getting from the parts of the animal besides the meat.
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| Tomu Breidah |
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Re: Cats are carnivores - you feed 'em raw meat yo!
[Re: Traso]
#349910 - 02/05/16 04:37 PM
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> Same with dogs.
>
>
> As for all the vet hubbub, fuck that. They survive or they don't, fuck.
Lets see you stick by your own words the next time you come down with a serious VD or something.
"VD" I didn't even intend to go there, but I am replying to Traso, after all.
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| TrevEB |
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Re: Question for cat owners
[Re: MooglyGuy]
#349919 - 02/05/16 11:01 PM
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We've had the Litter Robot for 11 years serving 2 cats
Highly recommended.
It is totally worth the cost.
Empty the bin once a week instead of scooping every day.
I also built a cat bathroom using the space under the stairs.
We have a panasonic wall exhaust fan running 24/7 and a motion sensor light in the room. No smell of cats in the house at all.
https://www.litter-robot.com
By the way, the cat genie sucks.
Very expensive to run and it gets gross. Stay away
http://www.catgenie.com
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Re: Cats are carnivores - you feed 'em raw meat yo!
[Re: Vas Crabb]
#349972 - 02/07/16 02:57 AM
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> The thing is lean muscle tissue is not a complete food for a carnivore. When they catch prey they’ll be eating the stomach and a fair bit of fat. Cat/dog foods are supposed to provide them with what they’d be normally getting from the parts of the animal besides the meat.
That's why you don't buy 'em steak, but 85% or less ground beef. Some liver and stuff, now and then, too. I know this from people I've met whose animals were sick, and got better from changing to this diet. Of course, wild animals have no white fat, it's all brown, which is the best to have on ya and to eat.
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Re: Cats are carnivores - you feed 'em raw meat yo!
[Re: Tomu Breidah]
#349973 - 02/07/16 02:59 AM
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> Lets see you stick by your own words the next time you come down with a serious VD or something.
"VD" I didn't even intend to go there, but I am replying to Traso, after all.
I don't mind, though it's a little nebulous. Either way, I luves ya.
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| Tomu Breidah |
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No Problems, Only Solutions
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Re: Cats are carnivores - you feed 'em raw meat yo!
[Re: Traso]
#349985 - 02/07/16 09:30 AM
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> > Lets see you stick by your own words the next time you come down with a serious VD
> or something.
>
> "VD" I didn't even intend to go there, but I am replying to Traso, after all.
>
>
> I don't mind, though it's a little nebulous. Either way, I luves ya.
I had the thought, I shouldn't have criticized you. But I was trying to make a point and make a cheap/easy jab at the same time. 
Joking aside.... Pets getting sick is no small matter. I'm going to assume you've never had a pet, or, if you did, you didn't get so attached to it. It has been said (and I can agree/empathize with this statement) Pet are like family. Last summer I had a cat to get very sick. He was around 15 years old anyway. But to have seen him deteriorate, and become helpless.... It's very heartbreaking.
I did have to have him put to sleep... Dug the hole to put him in and buried him too.
If I was to make a list of 'Difficult Life Moments' That'd rank up there with the time my mother was dying of cancer.
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That's what I use. No recommendations on a self cleaning box.... 
