Need advice on kitten purchase.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

     Oh Stevo - what a perfect picture you paint!

I hope Chckles is now fully restored (dignity-wise) and has allowed more kisses just to seal the deal.  Is she still using the door herself? 

Is Sally showing any sign of eating, now we're officially into April?

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Chuckles is a real cat 

[caledonia]

OMG I read the bottom of that first and saw the bit about the mouse and thought you had found a mouse chuckles has brought in and quote 'the mouse was fine and you popped it in snakes tank' and I honestly thought you had a live mouse brought in by Chuckles and were feeding it to the snake!!! Phew.... So glad I was wrong!!

That serves me right for not reading from the top... 

I've been lucky with flea treatment and they have always been good getting it on the back of their neck! Good luck trying... She is onto you lol

[stevo]

Well, operation worm & flea was put into action this morning.  The beast was not impressed!

After a small amount of being messed around at Pets at Home, wasn't their fault really (the credit card readers had gone down and everyone was busy)  but I ended up leaving with no medication or speaking to anyone about anything so I wasn't too impressed either, I did get a couple of heat lamps for the snake tank though.

Anyway on the way home I stopped off at Asda to pick up a prescription from the pharmacy, while queuing I noticed that they had some pet medication behind the counter.  Turns out the pharmacists assistant had two cats herself so I had a quick chat with her instead.  I ended up buying some Drontal & Ectoline (or something like that any road).

I'll be honest, I didn't even try to give Chuckles the worming tablet directly (that would have been a total none starter  ).  I quickly weighed her by picking her up and guessing, not ideal but shouldn't be too far out.  Crushed up just over half of one of the tablets and mixed it in with some duck and turkey food, it said 1 tablet for every 4kg's,  meh, she's only small,  I estimate around ~3kg.  She's eaten half the food so far, I'm sure she'll finish it off over the next couple of hours.

Then the fleaing (you know, the easy part)     I got this white pippette thing, cut the top off (too close to the base I might add) and tried to apply it along her back.  Well, she was having none of it.  I first tried while she was eating... nope.  Then tried picking her up... nope, then the chase began, you could practically hear the Benny Hill music playing!  We went from room to room until she finally tried to hide behind the blinds in the front room on the windowsill.  I had to kind of grab her, pull her through the blinds (them vertical blinds, not horizontal  ), put her in her bed on the chair and sort of hold her down over the shoulders - by now I think she had figured she wasn't getting away so she didn't put up much of a fight and I finally managed to get the contents of the pipette as close to the skin on her back in a few places.

I don't think she was overly impressed by the whole experience - not too traumatised though 

Chuckles has currently left the house in disgust (I did get a quick kiss though before she left  ).  Its the first time I have seen her use the cat flap to go outside herself, she can get back in fine but usually prefers to exit via the front door... or is that just while I am usually at home to open it for her 

You don't get any of this with the snake...  oh  just remembered I put a mouse in the microwave to defrost last night, its still there!!!  brb.   

It's ok, panic over.  The mouse was fine!  Just put it in the snake tank but Sally babes is just looking at it.  Might be a bit too early in the year for her to eat, she usually waits for the clocks to go forward before eating but I've not tried her with a mouse for a few weeks so we'll see how we get on 

Chuckles is back inside now and normal service has resumed - on guard on the windowsill   

[Skiddaw]

  Love it!

Our Munchkin prefers to vomit from a place of advantage rather than whilst on the floor. Rather usefully, this often results in him crouching on the draining board and vomiting into the kitchen sink  which makes clearing up easier than it would otherwise be.

[Susanne (urbantigers)]

Vomit. 

Get used to it Stevo (and it might help you remember to pick your clothes up off the floor). Especially in springtime cats moult, groom and swallow copious amounts of fur, which all churns up in their tummies and the next thing Bleaghhhh! This can go on for days/weeks until the furball comes up so it's important to a) be nice to her when she's puking and b) do not worry, just clean up and support her emotionally. Eventually the furball will come up, and be left in a puddle of sick looking like a partly digested grey mouse. 

You can reduce the occurence of furballs by grooming her more often, and there are special prepared foods that help furballs pass through the gut, but once you understand this is the cat's natural way of ridding themselves of the inevitable, you can support/mop/cuddle/relax until the next one.

Just have a quick inspection of the puddle. Now she's going out regularly she may be eating grass which they do instinctively to stimulate the vomit response to instigate retching. Again, once it's out she'll stop vomiting and will be fine, honest. There may be grass in the puddle, if so, this is exactly what is happening and you can relax in the knowledge she has a furball and is dealing with it herself.

Then teach her where the kitchen towels are. 

I keep a kitchen roll in every room, sometimes you can get a couple of sheets underneath before they hurl. 

If the vomiting continues for two weeks or more, or there is sign of blood or she appears to be losing weight/losing appetite etc, then do see your vet. But vomiting is the one thing most cats do that most owners fail to understand and so many avoidable vets visits ensue. Come back to us with graphic descriptions if it continues, we'll try to help. 

Worm 6 months, Flea 6 weeks (in flea season). Easy. I like Effipro pipettes.

   Love it!  I would add that cats are not only great vomiters, but they have mastered the art of bringing up furballs about a foot from the bed during the night - perfectly positioned for the unwary human to step in when they sleepily drag themselves out of bed at the crack of dawn for feeding duties.  Constant vigilence!

[Liz]

We use a mixture of Millibex and Drontal here due to our mob ranging from 2.5kgs Miss Storm feral to 9kgs  Master Star Norweigian Forest and all the weights in between

For flea treatment we use Program injections twice a year and have no flea outbreaks, the dogs are on Program tablets monthly to keep them all the same and the outside ferals get a spot on about every 6 months if they go in traps

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Lovely cats and also love that wall 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Mine have a health check and their once a year dose of stronghold goes on then, I buy online with a prescription from vets,,,,,,that has to be paid for too groannnnnnnnnn.

Their once a year worming also happens at the vets either millibax or a spot on for non-pilling cats which is 2 out of 3, think its droncil?

Lupin is a pyranah sp? so cant be pilled, Sasa is semi-feral and likewise and big innocent Misa allows the vet to pill him with big eyes and a totally surprised look lol.

If I see a flea on anyone then they get a stronhold at home but that is exeedingly rare.

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Stevo, like Sheila I also use Animed direct. I usually get a packet of four Advantage for fleas and Drontal for worming. Their prices are very good especially as they do free delivery.

[Mymblesdaughter]

As Shelia says don't worry to much about being late with the worming and flea treatment. I only treat mine for fleas over the summer and they are fine over the winter. Also I only worm mine once a year. As Chuckles hasn't been going out until recently it's unlikely she has worms. The vet told me it's cats who go out and catch lots of mice that tend to get worms. Also they get them from having fleas. None of my cats have ever had worms. I personally don't like over medicating my cats or myself. 

[sheilarose]

It's not a precise science, Stevo. Don't fret. She's only been going out for a couple of weeks and the flea season hasn't really begun in earnest yet as it's still so cold. I must admit mine haven't all been flea treated this year, I tend to focus on the boys who go out to hunt. My oldies tend to stay indoors (where we have 12 month indoor spray control - Indorex, in case you want to get a can in?) that helps to keep them at bay. We haven't had a flea outbreak for some years now.

I get all my pet meds from Animed Direct these days as they do free delivery and it's always very quick (sometimes scarily quick, it's like they can read my mind!).

As Louise says it's a matter of shopping around for the chepaest prices on the reputable sites, and often VetUK do discounts (sign up for their e-mail alerts). Some sites do food and litter as well as meds, so work out which one will give you the best value on a bulk order.

I steer well clear of anything with "Dud" Martins on the box. Especially dangerous are the flea collars. Especially ineffective are the worm tablets and most of their flea treatments.

Pets at Home have the full range of good meds if there's on near you, and a vet you can speak to if you're unsure, but you'll get better prices on line. They also deliver but have a minimum £29 order value before free delivery kicks in.

For flea and worm treatments you need to know what she weighs, as this affects what doseage you buy, so if you can't remember, pop her down to your vet and ask for a free weight check, most will happily do this if you ask nicely. 

The wormer you've been given paperwork for is likely to be Milbemax. This is a prescription only wormer and can be bought from your vet, and covers all types of intestinal parasites. My vet uses this one and recommends no more frequent than every 6 months (a pragmatic vet is worth his weight in gold, the manufacturer of course wants you to increase the frequency, but so long as she's not out eating wormy mice etc she should be perfectly fine with twice yearly worming). Or use one of the many non-prescription wormers such as Panacur available on-line.
Again, check the weight before you buy, don't want to be dosing her on Horse wormers now, and an easy mistake to make if you're ordering in a hurry. 

I tend to take my cats for a yearly MOT at the vet. He doses one Milbemax each time, then I only need to worm them myself 6 months later either using a tablet bought from him or a combination of spot-on wormers and tablets from the on-line shops (dependent upon the personality of the cat! Some will not allow me to tablet them, others are more compliant, a matter of personal safety if you catch my drift?)

Poor Pebbles. Sad. Wrong. Enough said. 

[LouiseJ]

You'll need to get on the net and shop around I'm afraid as you'll mainly find Bob Martins in the supermarkets - see comments below.
Medicanimal, Vet UK, Zooplus will all start to appear in your favourites list. Most will do an introductory offer a f will be cheaper than the vets.

Sounds like you've met your match 

[stevo]

Your supposed to flea every 6 weeks !?     .... Right, we're currently about 6 weeks overdue then.

As for the worming treatment, I found the paperwork last night and it said that it needed repeating every 3 months and should have technically been done on the 12th of this month, I'm sure you get some leeway though.  The make/brand was Milleebee or something, forgets now and the papers at home.  Looks like I had better get on the ball.  Do they sell the stuff I will be needing at Asda's or something?  I could go to Pets at Home after work though.

Some cats however prefer to go out of an open door as it gives them a much wider view of any potential doginess which may be directly outside the back door - like marauding unneutered toms who might want to muscle in on her territory, so it's not all a try-on.   

Makes sense.  The flap opens directly facing next doors garden and a dog lives there and the fence is broken, there is also a big marauding unneutered tom knocking about - we know he's unneutered as he knocked next doors Pebbles up last year.  Sadly the kittens were born early and none survived 

About the vomit.  Last night was vomit free and she's eating fine and generally causing havok around the house.  If she is gonna keep throwing up everywhere she needs to learn to get it down the toilet!

and it might help you remember to pick your clothes up off the floor

Never!! 

[sheilarose]

Allison's right. The clinical instruction if you use topical flea products containing fipronil (trade names Frontline, Effipro etc)  is every four weeks.

I choose to extend this to 6 weeks as I find this to be adequate in our household, saves me money and some amount of pain with seven cats to dose 

Sam will likewise yell at the front door for me to open it rather than use the flap in the back door. He's perfectly capable of using the flap, just prefers to have his slave do the dirty work for him when she's in, and he likes to use the front door instead of the tradesman's entrance. 

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Great update Stevo  It sounds like you and Chuckles were made for each other 

BTW, my Toby will sit for ages by the back door waiting for me to open it even though he's perfectly capable of going through the catflap 

I tend to worm my two every 4 months and do their fleadrops every 4 weeks. I have to keep on top of it with the fleadrops because Molly has a flea allergy so one bite from those pesky things can set my girl into a frenzy of scratching and overgrooming.

I would check out prices online for worming and flea treatment. A lot cheaper than the vets.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

As always, very sound advice from wor Sheila.     Especially the support/mop and cuddle bit.   

[sheilarose]

Vomit. 

Get used to it Stevo (and it might help you remember to pick your clothes up off the floor). Especially in springtime cats moult, groom and swallow copious amounts of fur, which all churns up in their tummies and the next thing Bleaghhhh! This can go on for days/weeks until the furball comes up so it's important to a) be nice to her when she's puking and b) do not worry, just clean up and support her emotionally. Eventually the furball will come up, and be left in a puddle of sick looking like a partly digested grey mouse. 

You can reduce the occurence of furballs by grooming her more often, and there are special prepared foods that help furballs pass through the gut, but once you understand this is the cat's natural way of ridding themselves of the inevitable, you can support/mop/cuddle/relax until the next one.

Just have a quick inspection of the puddle. Now she's going out regularly she may be eating grass which they do instinctively to stimulate the vomit response to instigate retching. Again, once it's out she'll stop vomiting and will be fine, honest. There may be grass in the puddle, if so, this is exactly what is happening and you can relax in the knowledge she has a furball and is dealing with it herself.

Then teach her where the kitchen towels are. 

I keep a kitchen roll in every room, sometimes you can get a couple of sheets underneath before they hurl. 

If the vomiting continues for two weeks or more, or there is sign of blood or she appears to be losing weight/losing appetite etc, then do see your vet. But vomiting is the one thing most cats do that most owners fail to understand and so many avoidable vets visits ensue. Come back to us with graphic descriptions if it continues, we'll try to help. 

Worm 6 months, Flea 6 weeks (in flea season). Easy. I like Effipro pipettes.

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

    Gill !

Do you know Stevo how lovely it is to see you've typed she's a little cracker and you wish you'd had one years ago?  It just shows how very closely you've bonded with Chuckles, and it's so nice to read. 

Gill's right too - steer well clear of Bob Martin products - they cause way too many reactions and deaths, and it's horrendous to read many of the experiences of people who've used these unwittingly.  Not scare stories - documented accounts.  Stick with something from your vet like Stronghold or Advantage.

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Kocka used to sit at the flap inside and out going flap flap flap!

If that didnt work from outside she would get on the kitchen window sill and sharpen her claws down the window..........that makes one move cos its like chalk screaming on a blackboard!

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

    I love Chuckles updates.  I particularly like reading that we're not the only ones woken at 4 - 5 a.m. for play sessions 

Having said that, I think it's a much nicer way of waking up than by the alarm clock. 

You bet your boots if she can get in through the flap, she can out through it too    Some cats however prefer to go out of an open door as it gives them a much wider view of any potential doginess which may be directly outside the back door - like marauding unneutered toms who might want to muscle in on her territory, so it's not all a try-on.   

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

Yes  a good flea treatment like stronghold maybe, although frontline was good its not working in parts of the country anymore.................stay away from Bob Martin products. There are many differentb wormers but again go for one that your vet would use.

Chuckles sounds wonderful 

[stevo]

Yeah, me and Chuckles are doing fine 

The flap has been in for a week or so now and I've not seen her use it to go out yet!  She can get back in fine but she likes to have the front door opened for her so she can stroll out.  Whether she's been sneaking out during the day when I'm at work is anyones guess but she's always sat on the windowsill waiting for me to come home.  We'll have to see where she is tonight cos she went out the front door this morning as I was leaving for work, last seen heading up next doors path.  Its the first time I've left home and she's not been in the house 

She's been going out at the weekend, I think Saturday she managed about 30 mins before coming back in and Sunday I let her out the front door and I think she just wandered round the side of the house and came back in the flap in the back door, must have been outside for 5 mins max.  The remainder of the day was spent flitting between the bed on the chair and the windowsill.

Last night was a bit iffy though - I was going to sleep and I heard this hacking noise, turned the light on to find Chuckles had been sick all over my shirt/bedroom floor.      Grim    Not sure what was wrong with her as she was looking fine, we had just had a play with the duck on a string for a good half an hour or so and she was leaping around all over the shop.  I did find a packet of cat cheese treats (they came in that stocking thing I bought when I was getting all the stuff for her from Pets At Home) she ate a few (5 ish) of them about an hour before.  Not sure if they were the cause but I don't think I'll be giving her any more.

Picked us up some packets of Chicken & Ham to snack on, we're both partial to some wafter thin ham from the fridge 

Sunday and Monday morning!  playing screwed up paper football, 4am Sunday morning - woken up to cat crashing round the bedroom chasing a screwed up paper bag, bless her though, she let me have a lie in until 5am on Monday, knowing I had to get up for work at 7.  I've now hidden (or binned) all the paper balls.

She's a little cracker, I wish I had got one years ago 

Oh, while I remember - Do I need to do something like worm or flea treatment after I had her 3 months?  I'll have to root out that paperwork that they gave me at the rescue, I'm sure there's something on there about it.

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Stevo, just wondering how you and Chuckles are doing?

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

You'd have thought a cat flap was a simple, functional thing, wouldn't you?     To some cats of course they are.  To others they're complex and baffling, or the object of great mistrust.  Trust a cat to take a convenience and turn it inside out. 

The first cat we ever had would never use the flap unless we propped it open for her with a plank of wood.  Her cries were pitiful if she somehow managed to knock over the plank of wood and couldn't get in... 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I had to completely seal the flap off cos thats what Lupin did from the inside when it was on in only!

All that time down on my kneees cleaning the red and green bits so they moved 

[jezebel]

Years ago I had a Tortie who never got the hang of pushing and always preferred to put her paw in and pull the flap towards her!

[Teapot]

Just read through the whole thread. Chuckles is lovely So glad to hear that she figured out the catflap ok. Our cat Minx never quite figured it out... Or if he did he preferred to make a lot of noise and make us open it for him

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Well done to Chuckles for mastering the catflap 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Really pleased to read this Stevo - was just thinking about you both at the weekend, and wondering if you'd reached any decision about the flap.  Two of our neighbours have just put theirs in over the weekend too.

It did take Ross a while to work out - and sometimes I still here a soft "click-clikc" as he pushes his nose in and paws it - it opens, but he doesn't twig and so sits there looking at it, and it locks again.  But he manages well enough.  And Dickie has no problem, but then no cat flap has ever proved a bar to him   

Very pleased too that your back door isn't too spoilt by the insertion of the flap. 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

That was really quick for Chuckles to learn and hope she has really learnt and wasnt a one off accident, she certainly knows where she lives 

I just love her name , makes me grin each time I read it 

[sheilarose]

Glad she's sussed it, Stevo. Eight quid - wow, well done your Dad. 

That tunnel sometimes foxes paw pushers, so it's good she's got a brain in her head. 

Unlike my Tufty who seems a little challenged in the brains department and still hasn't figured it out after two years (although he does have the added challenge of Sly waiting in ambush for him on the inside)  .

[Kay and Penny]

well done Chuckles -  sorry to read you didn't manage to fool your Dad into opening the door or flap for you, so you had no choice but to do it yourself - but full marks for a nice try

[stevo]

Well, I eventually went for one of the SureFlaps on recommendation from this forum.  Looks like an alright piece of kit 

Been installed in the back door by my dad, we removed the bottom pane of glass and replaced with wood and installed the cat flap in that.  All in all the "new" back door ended up costing me £8 so I'm happy with that and to be honest now the door actually looks ok-ish!

We got it all fitted and finished yesterday morning.  Chuckles was a bit suspicious of the flap to begin with but with some encouragement she mooched over for a sniff.  She looked a bit clueless about how the door operated so I held it open for her and she slipped out, stood around for a few seconds then tried to get back in.  Poor little thing couldn't open the door, she almost had it once but went with the paw rather than the head and it locked again.  I ended up holding the flap open so she could get back in.

After a quick mooch around the kitchen and door she negotiated the flap again and out she went, disappearing  round the back of next doors shed.   About and hour or so later I went to get a drink, I could hear Chuckles crying at the back door.  Poor little thing was sitting there wanting to come in but obviously hadn't managed to figure out the flap 

Took a good 10 minutes of kneeling behind the back door looking out of the flap window waving a piece of wafer thin cooked chicken about but she finally managed it!    Then spent the remainder of the day lounging around the front room with me 

Got up this morning - well was forced to get up by someone standing on my pillow staring at me    Had some breakfast and we tackled the flap again.  She was just sitting at the back door meowing looking out the flap window.  After a quick bit of tuition she exited the house and went exploring 

About 45mins after she left I was coming downstairs and heard a click,  looked in the kitchen and she's managed to tackle the flap all by herself!   We had a quick cuddle    and she's now snoozing in her bed on the chair 

Good stuff 

[Sue P (Paddysmum)]

Love the pictures Stevo - especially the one where, as you say, she's checking out the pizza delivery menu    And doesn't she look quite the diva in her little bed? 

[sheilarose]

fantastic pics, looks like she had a great day, Bella is happily popping in and out as and when, going to look into getting a microchip cat flap ourselves as cant use the magnetic bit or ours as worried she'd lose her collar and get stuck out.

You'll also possibly find the magnet catflaps are a false economy. I was paying a small fortune for replacment collar magnets, totalled over £100 quid and still never seemd to have any spares. Then the neighbour's cat got his own magnet and we were back to square one. 
They used to come home with all nasty pieces of metallic junk stuck to them as well. 

[girlinleeds]

fantastic pics, looks like she had a great day, Bella is happily popping in and out as and when, going to look into getting a microchip cat flap ourselves as cant use the magnetic bit or ours as worried she'd lose her collar and get stuck out.

[Tigerlily (Allison)]

Lovely pics Stevo. Glad the first trips outside have gone well. 

[Kay and Penny]

the frequent popping in and out again is just what you want when introducing a cat to the big bad world

lovely photos, and such excellent colour co-ordination - which came first, the bed or Chuckles?

[stevo]

Well, mixed results with the mornings programming, got them re sizing but the quality isn't the best.  Can copy and convert 1 pic every half a second or so now    Exciting stuff 

Here's the results.

The two inside pics are from when she came back in before to warm up, one where she's either standing guard or checking out the Pizza Perfect menu.  The other is in my pear tree in the garden (does that sound posh?  cos really, its not)