[Closed] Cat advice.

talk to cats protection/animal rescue/etc, you would be surprised what some little old lady will put up with. I work with someone who took on, knowingly, a dog with a skin condition, lots of needles, special food etc. My mum took on a cat that had issues, but some were covered by the charity so they could find him a home.

TBH with something special like a maine coon, I'd be surprised if you couldn't re-home him, especially at such a young age even with baggage

Horrible situation to be in, but putting to sleep a reasonably healthy cat is not a great option.
We have an older cat that got stressed and start peeing on everything (2x sofa's, our bed!), though once the source of the stress was removed, she settled down. Not exactly the same situation, but it became a source of frustration to us, causing us stress.

Commiserations for the position that you find yourself in.

This is, despite healthy levels of micky-taking, a damn good place to ask for help with difficult issues.

Have you spoken to any rescue centers regarding the position you find yourself in to see if there is anything that they can do ?

Local centre arsed about; I get the impression they weren't interested - to be fair I don't blame them.

I'm going to go away for a bit as typing that appears to have broken something in me now.

Here he is getting confused by simple focusing, and then doing a line of grass. I don't know how people make harder decisions in life; this one is battering me and it's 'just' a cat.

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I feel for you bearnecessities. Talk to a Maine Coon breeder - they may know someone who would want him. I must admit that we keep the cat in the kitchen and dining room when we are out and I don't feel guilty about it - even when we go away. He gets let out and let back in and a bit of attention when we are on holiday plus his food. He never seems too bothered by this - well apart from going me a welcome home nip on our return!

All that will happen is I will add to the burden of the homing places (even allowing for a generous donation) and the poor sod will end up caged up somewhere; which I won't let happen.

I have no idea where you are but I'm sure this place would help you if you weren't too far away

http://www.foalfarm.org.uk/

TBH if I was a cat at Foal Farm I wouldn't want to be rehomed. The level of care cats receive and their enclosures and housing is quite staggering imo.

Maybe [url= http://www.maine-coon-cat-club.com/rescue ]these guys[/url] can help?
Circumstances change (hey that's life) but you owe it to your buddy to find him a good home. He's a cutie--even with his issues there's plenty of kind-hearted cat-crazy folk out there who'd spoil him rotten

One thing I can tell you, don't bother with the RSPCA.

I did a site visit to the office over in Doncaster once. The phone rang constantly, and the vast, vast majority of calls were "can you take a cat?"

Whilst I was there, someone turned up with a box of three cats, dumped them on the doorstep, and nobbed off. The RSPCA had nowhere free to put them so one of the staff ended up taking them home for the weekend.

OP - Have you tried something like [url= http://www.entirelypets.com/feleldif.html ]Feliway?[/url] They can work wonders for some cats.

I feel your pain as I have a small (5.5 lb) female cat that likes to poop on the floor (fortunately, hardwood floors!) and piss on soft upholstery sometimes. Really infuriating when you find cat piss on the bed when you're ready to go to sleep! 👿

Edit - and I've discussed euthanasia with my vet. One of the vets that I talked to had to euthanize one of her own cats because it kept pissing on her shoes! Maybe it got the idea from some threads on here...

Ok, pulled myself together now. That was all a bit weird.

Thanks for replies.

RSPCA - agree, basically "sod off". Again, I don't blame them; he's homed currently and in no danger and they have bigger priorities I'm sure.

Rehoming charities - no success and I won't let him be kept in a cage. However that farm that EL posted looks fantastic; I'm 300 miles away but will be ringing them in the morning to see if they'd accept a cash bribe. I'd love to think he could go to a place like that.

It's not right to wipe the life out of something that has done no wrong apart from the cards he has been dealt, I know that, but at the same time, he's not living the right life here - he needs affection and linoleum, and I want to make sure wherever he goes, it's not worse than the life he has now.

He's a 75% Ragdoll for the record, and a 25% maine coon. If anyone can take him on and give him a loving home, I will him personally deliver him [b]anywhere[/b] in England/Scotland/Wales and supply lots of the cat food he needs; if you're tight on budget I will regularly subsidise his food (which is circa £30 per month)

he's not a cute kitten

But he is a cute looking Tom cat.

I would try all your local homing sites, including the local RSPCA centers, ours unlike Cougar's are very good and we have had two great cats off them, both of which came with, what some thought were issues.

Is he a good hunter and do you have any local farms?

The farm I used to work on took in cats that no one else wanted, must have had 20 or so, all were looked after well and had a great life.

Good luck

He would make an ace hunter. He's full of energy, and will clear your house of spiders.

I also thought about the farm thing, but the problem is the diet. He only lives by eating Hills C/D Wet Food. Not something I could envisage a farmer being arsed with. Otherwise it';s a perfect solution.

This is really screwing me up. Look at him - he's beautiful 🙁

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Can't you change your domestic situation to accommodate him a bit more?

Can't you change your domestic situation to accommodate him a bit more?

I'm sure that's a well meaning comment, but shacking up with someone so they can look after my cat probably isn't the right approach for anyone involved!

This is what Rinky the mad pooper looks like at my house helping me set up my fatbike tubeless.

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Edit - she is special needs as she has irritable bowel syndrome and has to take prednisone pills. Fortunately, she is usually easy to get to give pills to.

My cat has just had a huge standoff with another cat, screaming, hising claws and spitting, thankfully there was glass door betwen them, so she cant go out tonight, so she has just been sick all over her bed, now wants food and is padding round like a caged tiger and she is about 16, cats are for life sadly.

We have an 8 year old tomcat and love him to bits, however if we started to get huge vet bills or he started crapping all over the place; I'm afraid I would just have him put down (even though it'd break my heart).
I eat meat and therefore accept that I am responsible for the death of several hundred pigs, cows and sheep; therefore why should I be sentimental about a single cat?
I don't wish to be unkind, but it is a valid point of view IMO

I am not promising anything but here are a few questions:
has he had the snip?
does he mind other cats?
does he mind dogs?
do you let him use a cat flap?
is he used to traffic?
have you more pictures?

Another one to try is Lothian Cat Rescue. They never turn animals away and never put them to sleep. They have long term "Freemasons" who have earned the long stay and their freedom around the pens.

Mrs Rickmeister used to volunteer there and its a great spot.

Tough call for your circumstances but the sleep option must be the last one shirley....

I eat meat and therefore accept that I am responsible for the death of several hundred pigs, cows and sheep; therefore why should I be sentimental about a single cat?

How about because you don't form a relationship and bond with the pigs cows and sheep ?
Plus presumably you don't eat cats.

sorry I'm not familiar with his condition, but as a slightly bizarre suggestion, why not try to see how he likes different kinds of cat litter...fullers earth, sand, gravel, earth or even the bits of paper left over from a document shredder.

Cats can be quite particular in that respect!

Hope that helps 😮

our cat developed terrible wind and was then crapping around the house.

He had been 'diagnosed' as requiring sensitive food a long time ago and has been on it for ages.

After he went missing for 4 days I decided to switch to feeding him raw chicken to keep him happy in his final years (!) and now he has no wind and doesn't crap in the house.

If we do feed him proper cat food, of the various types we have tried as people say he won't get everything he needs from just chicken, he almost immediately gets the wind back and if we keep him on it long enough will crap in the house again.

So try him on some chicken (often get the stir-fry stuff from the co-op) for a while and see how it goes.

OP you would seem to have a cat that would be better living outside. Can you not think about this? I have only had moggies before, but on a few occasions I have lived in cat free rented accommodation and the cat has had to live outside unless I was home.

I used a cat kennel - sounds daft but they do exist. A bit like a solid rabbit hutch, the entrance doubles back on itself to create a cosy interior lair. You can soon train the cat to use this (feed him in there and add an old wooly jumper of yours) so he has a safe place. I have also used a cat flap in a shed or garage with a cardboard box bed which also works.

When you are home to supervise, the cat comes in, when you are away he stays out. It is perfectly feasible to leave them overnight with this system, especially as he is fed dry Hills cat food, just leave a double portion... He might eat it all in a day, but he won't starve.

Maybe there is a reason that this won't work for you, but got to be worth a try.

TurnerGuy may have something there...

Our walk-in stray, Eddie has a fragile back end and we tried a few things with diet. Looked into the composition of the catfood and some of it has less than 4% meat.

Cats are designed for meat eating, so its dried food breakfast and tuna in the evening... and a happy cat...

I decided to switch to feeding him raw chicken to keep him happy in his final years (!) and now he has no wind and doesn't crap in the house.

If we do feed him proper cat food, of the various types we have tried as people say he won't get everything he needs from just chicken,

You need to feed him [i]some[/i] cat food. Cats can't synthesise taurine and will go blind without it. It's added to cat food.

You need to feed him some cat food. Cats can't synthesise taurine and will go blind without it. It's added to cat food.

we have found some waitrose stuff he will eat but it still gives him explosive wind and the evidence of it upsetting his bowels is on the floorboards in the living room right now awaiting me cleaning it up...

(He has just farted twice as I type this...)

Raw turkey also causes him to fart...

I heard an item on Radio 4 just the other day that was about cats - the bit i remember is that its only relatively recently they we have worked out exactly what cats dietary requirements are - modern tinned cat food gives the cat everything it needs apparently but it appears it doesn't suit some cats!

We've got a cat with the same issues yours has OP. We knew she was a bit knackered when we rescued her but that didn't stop us taking her home. It took us months to get her to stop pissing all over the house and stabilized on her fancy food, but we got it cracked and she even gets on with the other two cats reasonably well now. Most cat owners are mental and will put up with all sorts of nonsense if they can, so don't lose hope yet.

You need to feed him some cat food. Cats can't synthesise taurine and will go blind without it. It's added to cat food.

Really? How do strays get their taurine?

Edit: it would appear that it's found in most mammals and birds, so strays get it from the stuff they catch.

So the op needs to let the cat live outside and feed it some chicken fillet.

Red Bull.

How do strays get their taurine?

Strays will very likely be lacking in sufficient levels of taurine. It's not usual for strays to be unhealthy. Apparently spiders are a rich source of taurine though.

I guess you've tried already but in case you haven't, have you tried any Ragdoll Rescue places? They're familiar with Ragdoll problems (you already know Ragdolls can be a bit loopy). Google ragdoll rescue.

might try putting some redbull in his bowl - see how it affects him 🙂

As Rickmeister said, try Lothian Cat Rescue. He might get locked in a pen for a while (it is not just a cage) and he either gets re-homed quickly or he will be allowed to roam. The people who run the charity are the nicest people, very experienced and have dealt with worse cases than your cat. I know because I use to volunteer for them cleaning pens at weekends.
I am appalled by hearing about you saying your local rescue centres aren"t bothered. I have encountered one like this in Edinburgh and it makes me furious.
Anyway, don"t lose hope, as others said, there are people, who take on cats with problems. I would, but we have 3 of our own already, and also live in Germany, so a bit far for you to come 🙂 Good luck !

Sorry for delays & cheers again for replies. I never got chance to make the calls this morning, but will also call Lothian thank you. I just want to make sure he's taken somewhere that he'll be cared for and not trapped in a cage.

Thanks again for all the advice, really. I was in a freaky dark place yesterday and I just hope one of the two places mentioned can take him.

Re: other posts - he's on wet food, not dry (dry contributed to the issue). This neccessitates regular feeding. I can't make him sleep outside/in the garage. It's not a problem with litter training; he's fine with it - just presented with a lovely mattress or a bath, or now carpet, he will randomly and without reason that I can decipher, drop his guts.

He's had the snip, he's chipped (155bhp), other animals? Can't really say; he bahaves how I'd expect any other cat to. Stares, paws it, usually gets disinterested. However, I wouldn't want him anywhere near a busy road. He's pretty savvy I think with traffic, but he stays close to the house.

He's patient:

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Clean:

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Obedient:

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Did I mention patient?

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Nadgers.

If I didn't have 4 of the things already I'd have him...... However I am this > < close to turning in to a mad old cat man.

He looks lovely I'm sure a fellow stw'er will have him

Oh and do they local cats protection etc etc. I know they have specific adopters for cats with Cat aids etc. there maybe someone out there who look after cats with similar problems

he looks cool. I'm not going to let the OH see this thread!

What about trying the vet school at Edinburgh uni? Some of our friends (vet students at Bristol) used to look after cats will all sorts of problems (normally involving poo)

How about setting up an electrified carpet so he gets a little shock every time he soils it - eventually the negative reinforcement might stop him...

Please don't call Edinburgh Cat and Dog home Seafield road...

I'm sure they do a good job but I recon its tough for them as the place was full of Staffies and similar sort of dogs that just got "stuck" there...

Our experience with a semi feral cat we caught and took there was not good as they didn't seem to be able to cope with any special cases.. The cat we took it to them would have been put to sleep if our vet didn't go there herself to take him on...

Good luck, there is a home for your cat out there !

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You had the chance to solve your problem right there.

There was a cat at on of the vets the OH half works at that kept blocking so the owner couldn't afford the constant bills. The surgery took him on until they found a suitable owner and he ended up living in the dental room for over a year. He was a lovely cat and coped very well being confided to one room most of the time (he got played with lots by the staff when they could). I was quite surprised how well he coped and we would have had him ourselves but he would block whenever around other cats.

Could you confine him to the kitchen/utility room (if you have one) with maybe a cat flap to outside and see if a neighbour or one of the pet feeding services could feed him when you are not there?

Or the blood donor cats at the uni live in a cool custom shed so could you do get a shed and turn it into a cat den for him? Build him an elevated bedroom, put in some hanging toys, ladders etc and a cat flap so he can come and go and make the floor easy to clean down like a wet room. Anyone you got to feed him would then only have to go to the shed not into the house.

+1 for "Try Feliway". It's a synthetic copy of cat pheromones and helps them feel less stressed/anxious. I sold a fair bit when I worked in a pet shop, and it [i]often[/i] helped.

EDIT: This crapping on the floor - is it a normal stool or loose?