Troublesome cats - enjoy!

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Troublesome cats - enjoy!

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1pinkozcat
jan 1, 2013, 9:35 am

I found this ariticle when i was trying to explain smurgling to a non-cat person and I have come to the conclusion that Parsifal is a decidedly mixed up cat. I think that he has all of the conditions listed ... and then some.

http://www.messybeast.com/moggycat/ailment.htm

2letterpress
jan 1, 2013, 7:43 pm

At last, diagnoses! I'm bookmarking that link for the elucidation of non-cat friends. "Don't mind him, it's just a bout of snudging with a mild dose of non-specific insect infestation. Cleans up in a jiffy".

3fuzzi
Redigeret: jan 1, 2013, 9:16 pm

:D

Moonpie suffers from "Irritable Bowl Syndrome"...

4dkhiggin
jan 1, 2013, 11:05 pm

Gin has a baaaaad case of the Greeblingz. When we hear her thunder through the house, down the hallway and up the stairs, we always say the tiny buffalo are running...she makes that much noise!

5J_ipsen
jan 2, 2013, 12:00 am

4> Ha! We call Felix our "sofa bison" . When he gets his crazy 5 minutes (aka greeblingz) nothing is safe...

6NorthernStar
jan 2, 2013, 3:39 am

Oh dear, MacDuff seems to be suffering from Collapsible Legs and Greeblingz, plus a mild case of Snudging. Both Angus and Macduff have been suffering from Seasonally Affective Door Into Summer Syndrome since the first snowfall, although the intensity is starting to wane after 2 1/2 months and some -30 degree weather. Angus is also affected by Irritable Bowl Syndrome. And I thought they were perfectly healthy cats...

7Betty30554
jan 2, 2013, 8:24 am

Misha and Pandora obviously suffer from Greeblingz, with attacks several times a day. Heaven help you if you are trying to walk through the house during one of their attacks.

8AnnaClaire
jan 2, 2013, 11:23 am

>4 dkhiggin:, 7

My sweetie also has attacks of the Greeblings. She'll zoom from one end of the apartment to the other and back, before turning on a dime -- a stunt sometimes executed using the couch as a springboard -- before roaring up the stairs.

If one of us humans is downstairs and the other up, we'll usually give a warning of "MADKITTY!" (with much the same delivery of "incoming!!".)

9Seanie
jan 2, 2013, 4:57 pm

We had an episode of greeblingz @ 2am this morning!!!

10Betty30554
jan 2, 2013, 10:23 pm

I must admit, though, that cats in the grip of an attack of Greeblingz are a wonder to wach.

11AngelaB86
jan 2, 2013, 10:31 pm

Hypatia has snudging in the worst way, and a mild case of greeblingz.

12pinkozcat
Redigeret: jan 2, 2013, 10:46 pm

Parsifal has a new one which isn't listed.

Instead of coming into bed with me by the normal cat channel (sliding down the back of my neck and along my back) he has taken to trying to dig his way through halfway down the bed and at 2.00am it is not his most welcome activity; but despite severe discouragement he comes back for another try. Perhaps being a Western Australian cat he thinks that mining is the thing. Perhaps it should be named Twiggyitis.

I can't shut him out because his sister sleeps in her igloo in the bedroom and needs access to the litter tray.

13AnnaClaire
jan 3, 2013, 12:03 am

I just saw a video featuring a mild case of Greeblingz on YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DDDiuz2oCWA

14staffordcastle
jan 5, 2013, 1:29 am

We always called Greeblingz the "Evening Crazies".

15debavp
jan 5, 2013, 11:49 am

#14 us too !

16Betty30554
jan 9, 2013, 2:32 am

#14,#15 Same here

17Betty30554
jan 9, 2013, 3:54 am



Misha - The Face of Mischief

18pinkozcat
jan 9, 2013, 5:13 am

What an incredibly beautiful cat!

(I had to do a bit of tweaking to see the detail, though.)

19fuzzi
jan 9, 2013, 6:59 pm

Lovely cat.

20Betty30554
Redigeret: jan 10, 2013, 8:36 am

Thank you. I call her my "rotten baby" because whenever I sit down (even at my desk), she gets in my lap, hooks a claw in my shirt and drapes herself down my lap to take her nap. Seriously, she anchors and stretches down my lap, then kicks her back feet out. She was sort of feral when I got her, and it took me about 4 days before I was able to pick her up. (Now I can't get her down.) Full-blooded Tonginese, she is such a lovey mess. It's hard to see, but her whiskers are banded. I've never before had a cat with black and white banded whiskers.

21nhlsecord
Redigeret: jan 10, 2013, 2:59 pm

My Pip anchors herself to my knees whenever she decides to stay, so my knees are constantly scratched and bleeding. Whenever I see her intentions, I grab a sweater or blanket to put under her claws and she growls an opera at me until I can get her out of my skin. She was wild also, when she came here and it took WEEKS just to let me put my feet up on a chair she was sitting on, let alone get her on my lap. We love her fiercely, the little rat, for 13 years now. There are pictures on my profile. I'll try to add her here.



My beautiful puddle of browns!

22anna_in_pdx
jan 10, 2013, 10:58 pm

She's so cute! And it's a great pose.

:)

23Betty30554
jan 11, 2013, 9:52 am

Beautiful!

24fuzzi
jan 11, 2013, 10:18 am

Neither of my cats are lap cats, although Java will occasionally decide it's time to be petted, and lies on my stomach (in bed).

He's a big baby.

nhlsecord, love your puddle!

25nhlsecord
Redigeret: jan 11, 2013, 1:02 pm

Thanks, all of you! We love her too, claws and all.

ETA this story: soon after Pip decided my lap was safe (and she was still quite small), I was sitting with her in my lap late one night, reading. She started out curled up asleep against my belly. After a while I put my feet up on a nearby chair. She stretched out, dug her claws in at the spot on my legs that was as far as she could reach, pulled the rest of her body up to that spot, and curled up again. Regardless of the pain, I stayed in that position over the couple of hours we were together there until she managed to sleep-claw her way all the way over to my feet and down on to the chair.

It occurred to me that I was watching something historically significant- an evolution and a migration, a land bridge from one continent to another, appearing, used, and disappearing all before my eyes.

I did say late at night, right?

26Betty30554
jan 12, 2013, 7:52 am

nhlsecord, Wonderful story.

27guido47
Redigeret: jan 16, 2013, 12:01 am

"Evolution in action is oft best seen in one animal"

Err. I think I just made that up :-)

Loved your thought process and the story.

28nhlsecord
jan 16, 2013, 9:35 am

guido, I agree with that statement, totally. I'm an observer of life - everything is a history lesson :)

29AngelaB86
jan 17, 2013, 11:39 am

When the greeblingz attack, do your cats go on snudging rampages? When Hypatia starts galloping around the house, she only takes breaks to aggressively mark everything she can reach. I can almost hear her screaming, 'Mine! Mine! Mine!'

30AnnaClaire
jan 17, 2013, 11:44 am

I don't really see post-greeblingz snudging. That said, our sweetie does have smurgling attacks in response to the strangest things (what, do I pee catnip?), though these seem unrelated to greeblingz outbreaks.

31pinkozcat
jan 17, 2013, 11:27 pm

Parsifal needs to have a cuddly before he smurgles. As soon as he starts to nuzzle me I put him down on his blankie - but he likes to work at my computer while he smurgles. I'm not sure why but it is almost like a permission thing.

32Mr.Durick
mar 6, 2013, 3:56 pm

Cats can be jerks it says here.

Robert

33fuzzi
mar 6, 2013, 6:48 pm

Hahaha! Good stuff.

35Murphy-Jacobs
apr 7, 2013, 6:08 pm

Mr.Durick -- ok, that made me choke laughing.

I currently have 16 lbs of indignant fur laying on my toes because 1) I want to sit in my chair 2) I want to use my computer without 16 lbs of cat draped across my hands 3) the cat treats are on the shelf above my computer 4) he's only had treats 3 times today and just had dinner, so he's STARVING 5)I won't let him play with my Godzilla toy.

Horry does indignant with real style. I do not know why my toes are targeted. I do know that when he REALLY wants my attention, he uses my thigh as a support for a really big stretch -- complete with claws. I have the cuts. If he can't reach my thigh (as in, when I'm standing in the kitchen) my butt will do. I've got marks there, too.

And he's not the only cat in the house...

36Mareofthesea
apr 7, 2013, 6:25 pm

35: I know the feeling...

My desk didn't survive the last house move. Since I've been lazy and don't really want to buy & drag another one into the house, I've been using a low table and cushions on the floor for my laptop desk. Tabitha has discovered if she uses my arm or shoulder as a stretching post, she WILL get my attention. She starts out with little taps, and moves onto the full-claw-I-want-your-attention-now-stop-what-you-are-doing phase. I also keep treats above me, which could be the problem.

37Murphy-Jacobs
apr 7, 2013, 7:04 pm

I had to leave my desk, during which time Horry climbed onto my computer to get said treats. Treats are now tucked out of sight (but as soon as I TOUCHED the bag, cats poured in from all directions). He set the zoom on my screen to 250 and it took me a while to get it back to normal.

38nhlsecord
apr 7, 2013, 7:36 pm

My cats do everything they possibly can to walk across my keyboard without touching it while I am doing everything I can to yell without making any noise because if I scare them they will hit every key trying to get away.

Don't ask me to explain that.

39Murphy-Jacobs
apr 7, 2013, 7:37 pm

You don't have to. I understand perfectly.

40MerryMary
apr 7, 2013, 8:47 pm

As do I.

41guido47
apr 7, 2013, 9:19 pm

"Lizzy" will carefully step over the keyboard, except when, for no known reason, she will park her bum on it. The first time I got "magnification of the screen (XP) I didn't know how to normalize it. Forgotten again but at least I now know to RTFM.

42Murphy-Jacobs
apr 7, 2013, 9:45 pm

Horry makes no attempt to step over. Puck, on the other hand, being smaller, will take the lap route but sometimes taps keys just to prove she can.

43krazy4katz
apr 7, 2013, 10:09 pm

Willow, my boy cat, loves to play with (how shall I put this?) freshly used shoes. If people come into our house and take off their shoes, the shoes are never in the same place when they go to put them back on.

He is such a goofball.

44MerryMary
apr 7, 2013, 10:11 pm

If I get after Pepper too much for keyboard strolling, she gets even by taking the side route across my chest. Yes, the Booby Trail. And she always walks a little heavier when she's irked. With a little claw here and there. Mostly there.

45krazy4katz
apr 7, 2013, 10:12 pm

Hah! They are such devils!

46Murphy-Jacobs
Redigeret: apr 8, 2013, 12:28 pm

OH yes, the Booby trail!

I have the wounds to prove it. They are also a favorite nap spot -- regardless of what I'm doing. I've actually considered getting a sling for my youngest cat, since she wants to be there the most and makes it very hard to do things like type or fold laundry. A sling would solve everything. A Kitty Bjorn.

Watch out:

Here comes Kitty Fluffy Tail
Stomping down the Booby Trail
Skritchedy, scratchedy, don't get in her way!

47nhlsecord
apr 8, 2013, 1:56 pm

I have a lovely big scar that marks the Booby Trail. It was left by Sandy, who is big and very strong. I was holding him when somebody made a sudden move. He launched himself from my chest, leaving a very angry streak on my skin that didn't bleed at all but left a big scar anyway. Never seen THAT before!

48anna_in_pdx
apr 8, 2013, 2:18 pm

Huh. Our cats seem to prefer Chris' chest/tummy to mine. I guess I am just not that well endowed. They do all three enjoy my lap though and one of them (Samantha) seriously digs in whenever startled. Samantha does not hone her talons enough so they are not fully retractable and she always clicks when she walks. Meaning, when she digs in, it is even worse than with most cats. I regularly have gouges in my legs and have to dump her whenever I am wearing nylons.

49anna_in_pdx
apr 8, 2013, 2:19 pm

Our Buzz (about a year and a half old) got hurt this weekend - he got out, and I found him on the porch in the a.m. with a sizeable gash on his back paw. He is limping around and the wound looks clean, so we are observing carefully but have not taken him in to the vet.

50Murphy-Jacobs
apr 8, 2013, 2:33 pm

Poor Buzz!

When I first started dating my now husband, he had two cats -- Wesa and LaGuz. Both were front paw declawed (because of an apartment where had lived previously). Wesa was the youngest. While visiting him, I was holding Wesa and petting her when she decided she saw some invisible creature or something and LAUNCHED from her seat on my lap/tummy -- tearing open the dress I was wearing and my stomach underneath it with several bloody gashes. They didn't scar (miracle of miracles, because I scar easily) but she ruined the dress. Her back claws never fully retracted and she was notorious for her grab-and-launch behavior.

Currently, we keep our kitties clipped. I have many, MANY scars from an errant claw. I've had claws snag in my eyelids twice. In fact, very early this morning, while I was on the toilet (where they know I am helpless), my youngest decided I was the quickest route to the towel shelf above my head. I have a 1 inch slice right between my eyebrows.

I remind myself daily that I LOVE these critters. Then they do something cute or lovable, and I know.

51al.vick
apr 8, 2013, 2:36 pm

I have a few scars I treasure because they are from a cat that has passed on. Their behavior on the "booby trail" led me to exclaim, "ohh, pointy, pointy paws" But no lasting scars from that passage.

52nhlsecord
apr 8, 2013, 3:26 pm

I've had nurses look askance at my shoulders from all the scars and scratches there. I can always tell which nurses are cat peoplebecause they don't ask. The scars are mostly from happy cats, but big Sandy as launched from there many times too. All the time he's purring in my ear, he's making plans on how to get away. And he has really big muscles that don't tense in warning.

53lturpin42
apr 8, 2013, 5:22 pm

The cat and the toddler regularly try to push each other off my lap. Jealously. It's kinda cute, except, well, when it isn't. Like when I'm trying to type on my computer. Or sit on the toilet.

54nhlsecord
apr 8, 2013, 5:37 pm

Cats and the Bathroom: our throne is right close to the door. Sandy can get his paws under the door a little bit(amazing how big they get with claws out - I hope he doesn't do that to company). In order to stop him from tearing the door apart, I keep a plastic straw there, his favourite toy, to throw down so he can try to grab it. If that doesn't work, I give him a page from my word puzzle book to rip up.

My oldlady cat, Pip, has the sharpest claws I've ever dealt with, but Sandy is the most supremely designed murderer I've ever shared my skin with.

55Murphy-Jacobs
apr 8, 2013, 7:07 pm

I have long ago given up any pretense to having the bathroom to myself.

In our old house, our bedroom and bathroom were a "suite" design with no door of any kind between them. The toilet was in a little alcove at the far end of the room, around a corner. There was a door right next to it which originally opened onto a porch (the house was designed for a pool but we didn't have one) and eventually into a back room. When no guests were in the house, that door stayed open. Thus, a continual pageant of cats (and dog) would go by while one was "busy". If you did close the door, you were beleaguered by constant demands to open the door (from both sides) and, of course, they could always come at you from the open side.

So, I'm just really used to it.

56anna_in_pdx
apr 8, 2013, 7:28 pm

Yes, mine tend to fight outside the door on purpose while I am taking my morning shower, occasionally crashing into it. However, if I let them in Belle immediately gets up to drink out of the sink and makes my routine just about hopeless, so it stays closed unless I am (a) finished and (b) not in a rush so I can turn it on and off for her.

57fuzzi
Redigeret: apr 8, 2013, 8:18 pm

(46) Here comes Kitty Fluffy Tail
Stomping down the Booby Trail
Skritchedy, scratchedy, don't get in her way!


Hahaha! Good one.

Moonpie was declawed on his front paws before I got him, but Java has razor-sharp scimitars on his front paws and trowel claws on the back. I use fingernail clippers on his claws to keep my legs, tummy and arms as free from scratches as possible (he like to leap across me as I sleep, not OVER me).

58Murphy-Jacobs
apr 8, 2013, 8:38 pm

When I take a shower, it's not uncommon for a furry face to slide the curtain aside to stare at me. The dog wants to join me (he loves water). The cats are convinced, as always, that I am quite insane, and can I please clean the litter box RIGHT NOW?

59Seanie
Redigeret: apr 8, 2013, 11:17 pm

#48 anna_in_pdx - I guess I am just not that well endowed.
Lol, the breeder I got my Taj & Tilly from was a very well endowed lady & all the kittens (& even adult cats) at her house LOVED to perch on her 'shelf'. I was quite worried that my 2 would feel deprived once they came home with me, but they make do with what I've got quite happily :)

Scars - I too have a launch scar on my chest! I wear it with pride, lol :)

Bathroom kitties - my 2 love to come in to the toilet (room) while its in use. I don't mind so much when they just use me as a pathway to the window sill, when they want to sit on my lap & smooch me while my pants are around my ankles its not so cute, lol, but if I close the door, the screaming for me to let them in is definitely not cute!!!

Taji jumps from the vanity to the top of the shower & sits on the frame while I shower, then waits for me to be perfectly positioned when I get out so he can use me as a ladder back down. Then Tilly sits on the bath tub & waits for me to bend over to dry my feet, she expects kisses on her lil head while I'm down there, its very cute :)

60nhlsecord
apr 8, 2013, 11:16 pm

Our golden retriever used to sneak into the bath tub when I was having a shower. Scared the s**t out of me to find him there behindme, grinning proudly. The cats expand by 3 feet if there's any indication they arebeing guided to water filled receptacles except for the fascination of flushing toilets. We used to have a cat named Golly who insisted on standing between C's legs when C was standing at the toilet. Improved C's aim.

We also used to have a cat named Shadow who dive bombed C's privates from the rafter above the bed - way above the bed. No scars from that encounter, just a nervous man. So we'd better have a new name for that trail.

61nhlsecord
apr 8, 2013, 11:20 pm

Actually, Booby Trail might be suitable for that one too, for a different reason ;-))

62pinkozcat
apr 9, 2013, 12:47 am

When I am sitting on the loo my boy-cat, Parsifal, likes to climb into my trousers and yes, I have been idiot enough to step out of them and put on another pair so that he can stay in his 'nest'..

63NorthernStar
apr 9, 2013, 2:24 am

OK - here is my most embarrassing/annoying cat story:

One of my cats, Angus, likes to jump on my back when I am bending over towelling off my legs after a shower. He proceeds to roll around on my back and purr. I have scars from one time when he slid off and used his claws to catch himself, and it has been close a few other times. It is impossible to straighten up with a large, clawed animal precariously positioned on you. I've learned not to turn my back on him, so it rarely happens now unless I'm not paying attention. Usually when I'm already running late.

I also have a good scar on the inside of one elbow, where a former cat, Badger, (when he was a tiny kitten and brand new to my family) launched himself across the room when I tried to introduce him to the dog.

I'm a big believer in keeping the cats' nails clipped. Saves pain, bloodshed, snagged clothes, and furniture. Although sometimes clipping them involves some of the above.

64pinkozcat
apr 9, 2013, 3:12 am

My two Bombays get their nails clipped regularly and always get a small reward afterwards. If I do their back feet (they don't need doing as often) then they get an extra reward.

I try to do it every week so that they are used to having it done. Parsifal is very good about it but Poppy is reluctant to have her right dew claw clipped but is getting better about it. I must have gone too close to the quick at some stage.

65nhlsecord
apr 9, 2013, 3:00 pm

Can cats still get up on furniture if you clip their claws? My old Pip has to dig in and climb because her legs aren't too good any more. I'm pretty sure I could clip her nails (her dew claws are really awful) but I'm just as sure Sandy would never allow it. He's just too strong and smart and a wee bit scary. Maybe I'mjust getting old.

66nhlsecord
Redigeret: apr 9, 2013, 3:07 pm

#63> I used to have a cat (Hayseed) who liked to climb up my bare legs. She once jumped onto my bare back when I was washing my hair at the kitchen sink! Nearly put the tap right through my skull! C had to separate us while I stayed head down in the sink so the blood didn't get all over.

Really, after reading all the stuff I've written, it's no wonder people think I'm crazy.

ETA not to mention the results of trying to help a wild cat get up the wood pile. Boy, did he ever have good reflexes, and did I ever get hell from C and the hospital!

67pinkozcat
apr 9, 2013, 8:39 pm

#65 It depends on how often you clip the claws . I do it once a week usually but I have leather couches and even then they can inflict a certain amount of damage. The back ones get done about once every four weeks.

But they are young cats and are usually running full tilt after each other as they skitter across the backs of the couches.

Their breeder advised me to do it weekly so that it is part of their routine and it was good advice.; my daughter has to take her cat to the vet to have it done.

I use human toenail clippers - very strong and easy to see what I am doing. You have to be careful to just clip off the tips because if you get into the 'pink' part it will hurt and you will get scratched. I'd suggest getting the vet to do it first time to get them to a reasonable length and go from there.

Even old (especially old) outdoor cats need their claws clipped because otherwise they catch in fabric and get twisted and sore.

68AngelaB86
apr 10, 2013, 1:10 am

I've been medicating Hypatia lately (allergies), with liquid meds, the devil's work. Hypatia's punishment for this the other night was to curl up on my bed, where (because of the sloppy way my bed was remade on laundry day) my sleeping options were: 1. Curl up in the fetal position; or 2. Lay spread-eagled around her. I went with two, to avoid sore back and joints in the morning. Normally her night routine involves lots of circling and poking me, but that night? She didn't move an inch until morning. Brat.

However, if anyone is interested in convincing kitties that following you into the bathroom is a bad idea, I recommend using the bathroom as a staging ground for medication. She's lost all interest in the room.

About claw-clipping: Clipping claws should only keep kitties from 'clicking' across the floor, and sticking to furniture. We have to do it because Hypatia never learned to sharpen/shorten her claws on a scratching post (or anything, really). It doesn't stop her from extending her claws when she wants to climb something.

69Helcura
apr 10, 2013, 1:34 am

My Bombay used to claw the heck out of me, so I started a new rule - "If I feel your claw, it gets clipped." I put nail clippers all over the house and the minute a claw touched my skin I grabbed his paw and clipped just that claw.

Interestingly enough, he started to keep his claws in, though he still poked and patted and prodded when he wanted something. Now, some years later he will occasionally forget and get a claw clipped, but most of the time he never claws me at all. As a result I don't bother to clip his claws regularly any more and he has some rather handsome talons.

Now here's the weird part - he totally claws my roommate.

So, you can train a cat, but it won't necessarily choose to generalize that training to someone else.

70guido47
apr 10, 2013, 1:40 am

Strange you mentioned "clicking" across the carpet.
I had no problems clipping Lizzys claws until about 6 years ago a, stupid, ex-friend, decided to clip them. She must have cut into the quick. Lizzy didn't say aword. Although she bled onto my ex-friends white jeans.
After that I had to do one nail at a time, when Lizzy was asleep. For years I could hear Lizzy in the house, click, click,click.
Recently after her last Vet visit (where she had her last tooth pulled) the vet also did a good job of cutting her nails. I'm not sure if she associates nails with dentistry, and has decided that nail clipping is the lesser of 2 evils, but I can now do a whole paw before she complains.

71Seanie
apr 10, 2013, 2:21 am

I'm the chief claw clipper at The Cat Corner (lol), mostly because my skin is so sensitive & I'm the first to get scratches... What I find amusing/irritating is the number of cats who will happily let me clip away - until there is only one claw left to be clipped, then they stress & struggle ??? I guess its better than struggling earlier, but its so often just that last claw that they get upset about & its not always dewclaws either...

72guido47
apr 10, 2013, 3:06 am

Hi Seanie, what I did notice with the Vets was how fast they did it.
I suspect the cat didn't have any time to notice it was being 'molested' :-)

Me, clip, "are you OK..." clip...end of story.

73al.vick
apr 10, 2013, 12:30 pm

"clicking" across the carpet? I used to call my cat "velcro kitty" just before we clipped her claws cause she would stick to the carpet. It was kind of sad and kind of amusing. That's when I knew I had let it go too long. She was a dear about it and just let me do though. I used human finger nail clippers too.

74Murphy-Jacobs
apr 10, 2013, 12:47 pm

Most of our cats let us clip the claws. We use the pet clippers scissors style (we have a small set for the cats and a bigger one for the dog, but both work on cats) because they have a "guard" on the side of the blade to keep us from clipping too high. My job is to hold the cat while my husband clips. He's really good and pretty fast. We don't usually hear clicking toes, so we judge by "snaggy" incidents -- cats getting caught on fabrics. Also, any time a toenail snags human flesh. (And yes, my husband knows all about cats and his privates. He's got great reflexes, too).

However, Horry, our big monster, is highly resistant to the whole clipping procedure, and I swear grows extra "escape" legs (the ones usually reserved for baths). I have to hold him WHILE STUFFING TREATS INTO HIS MOUTH so that he's too busy being a pig to put up much of a fight. We usually do two sets of paws at one sitting. I sometimes get gnawed on. However, since my right thigh is COVERED in tiny scratches because he likes to "stretch" using my leg as a scratching post, it's important.

Even baths won't keep our cats out of the bathroom, but then, we don't submerge. We have those shower heads on a long hose and those work pretty well for wetting and rinsing. I won't say the cats LIKE it, but it isn't trauma. It's just one of those annoying things humans do and there had BETTER be treats afterwards.

My cats also play in my bathtub. My shower curtain (which is fairly new!) has holes in it from various claw attacks.

75suitable1
apr 10, 2013, 12:51 pm

I only tried to give a cat a bath once. Never again!

Claw trimming is a two-person job in this house, too.

76Murphy-Jacobs
apr 10, 2013, 1:08 pm

I've bathed cats many times. Sometimes ya just gotta. It's easier with the shower head-on-a-hose. (I have a very mild cat allergy which, at certain times, will cause my skin to break out on my throat and chest. Bathing the cats seems to remedy this, as the itching and redness does away within a day or so after the bath. Since we moved to SC, we've only had to bathe cats who 1) get into sticky stuff 2) have skin problems of their own so I suspect it was a Florida + Cat things for me.

77pinkozcat
apr 10, 2013, 1:13 pm

Talcum powder and a good brushing will often get rid of sticky stuff.

78anna_in_pdx
apr 10, 2013, 3:05 pm

We have one cat (our black cat Samantha) who's a British Shorthair and has a heavy downy undercoat, and during the spring she sheds like mad and has a lot of dander. We've washed her in the past for this reason. Fortunately no one in our household is allergic but I have lots of relatives who can't even come into my house because of her. I brush her (which she enjoys) but she hates being washed so much, and it is usually a two person job, so I've stopped doing the washing as the problem is usually sort of gone by summertime.

79tardis
apr 10, 2013, 4:05 pm

Only time I ever had to bathe any of my cats was when Tucker got sprayed by a skunk. Yuk. It was the middle of the night and all I could think of to use was tomato juice, which I had on hand, but ended up with a still-stinky cat with sticky fur. Had to bathe him again to get the tomato juice out and then again with a special "get rid of skunk smell" product to finally get rid of most of the smell. Tuck was one of the easiest cats to handle, but that was not a happy experience for any of us.

80lturpin42
apr 10, 2013, 5:03 pm

I've never had to deal with a skunked cat, but my hubby has. His solution? Summer's Eve powder. Not kidding. I'd make a joke about that, but this is a family site...

81Murphy-Jacobs
apr 10, 2013, 5:14 pm

The cat we lost last year, Ophelia, had diabetes and, as a result, occasional digestive problems and problems with her legs. These would come and go, but sometimes she would, quite honestly, poop on herself. No choice but a bath. She complained a little, but made no real attempts to get away. Of course, she was the same cat who not only insisted on drinking from my bathroom sink, but would stick her head under the drip until her head was soaked, so I don't think water was something that bothered her.

A cat I had long ago was mostly outdoors and would wander about in the rain without any problem. She wasn't hard to bathe either, as long as you did it fast and she got a piece of cheese at the end. Listening to her growl while she chewed (while I was drying her) was hysterical.

It was easier to shower the cats when we had a standing, glass sided shower stall. There was always a little protest and complaint, but as soon as they realized it was mostly just "rain" and we didn't wet their faces, they just pouted and waited for the treats (always ended bath days with treats).

82nhlsecord
apr 10, 2013, 9:46 pm

We once had a skunked cat. One good thing - actually the only good thing- about tomato juice is that you don't notice how much blood you're losing.

And Guido, I firmly believe that cats know you are nervous. If C and I are both looking at a cat seriously, the cat immediately crouches and plans. Vets aren't nervous. And have you noticed that they do things quickly enough that you maybe don't get nervous either?

But wait! When our Tilly (Attila the Hunness) went for her appointments, the gauntlets were nearby but I'm the one that got the fangs. And the antibiotics.

83fuzzi
apr 11, 2013, 11:54 pm

I start my cats on claw clipping as soon as they come home with me.

Java knows that when I pick him up and roll him onto his back on my lap, it's clipping time. He doesn't struggle, but his body language is his protest. He gets clipped when he scratches me, always unintentionally.

They KNOW if you're nervous about clipping. When I get dirty looks, I just stare back as if to say "Go ahead, try it!" They never do.

84Helcura
apr 16, 2013, 1:33 am

If you have to bathe a cat, one method that saves skin is to put a window screen in the bathtub, put the cat on top, then spray/douse cat with water. They will put their claws out and get stuck to the screen, usually long enough for a hasty shampoo, sans blood and chunks of flesh from the shampooer.

85NorthernStar
apr 17, 2013, 1:32 am

Some good tips here on bathing cats, but I hope I never have to use them. I do like the screen idea. Fortunately this is something I've never had to deal with, save for once helping tardis with Tucker after he got skunked (although she was pretty much finished with the tomato juice when I got there). I did help with the second attempt the next day. He was such a gentleman about those baths, even though he was clearly not having any fun.

86Mr.Durick
okt 29, 2013, 6:45 pm

 

87Pebblesgmc
okt 31, 2013, 1:39 pm

Awwwwwww:)