Dogfriend: My cat doesn't just love me, she wants to make love to me

I agree a cat should have another cat as a friend. ALthough there can be hissing and spitting at first, they usually grow to like each other and play together

When I brought Doc home, I expected a cat fight. Instead, the old cat immediately bonded and started grooming him. They're best pals

 

We acquired our "free" cat because she couldn't get along with the other cats in the household. The original owners* were keeping her in the bathroom 24hrs a day to keep her away from the other cats. In our household, she spends most of her time by herself, but late at night she calls out to make sure we are there. She avoids the dogs as much as possible.





* No one really owns a cat.

 

Yeah, we have a couple of grand invested in our "free" cat. Most vet trips are a minimum of $200. And there was the time that we took her in to get tested for heartworm (Digby had to be treated for heartworm after we adopted him). The vet convinced me that the cat has a heart murmur and needed a $500 test to determine why. The result of the test:............................. they don't know why.

 

A strangely appropriate banner ad showed up when I viewed this thread... ^_^

 

Well, any pet can be "free" if you never take it to the vet, ignore it, never feed it, etc. I always tell folks it's wise to budget $100 per pet per month, for quality food, routine meds (Drontal and Revolution), and the yearly vet visit

Some vets have a good thing going. They think nothing of dropping a $200 bill just to have you walk in the front door. That makes sense if you own a large animal, say a horse, but a cat or small dog?? No

 

For some reason, the vet seems to charge more for injections for the cat than for our dogs. And we have had more emergency visits with the kitty. Once for eating a poisonous plant, once for a bite at the base of her tail, another time when GF nicked her chin with scissors while trying to trim her (cat wounds get infected easily). But the dogs can cost $ also.

Our previous dog Penny was pretty low maintenance, but had a few bills over the years:

At 7 she was diagnosed with Luxating Patella (dislocating kneecap) - $700
At 11 she got some Cancerous tumors on her belly - $1k
At 13 she got Pancreatitis - one week at vet - $2k
A few months later, recurrence of Cancer - We elected to put her down - $250

Dingo escaped the yard 2 months after I adopted her, and got hit by a car before I could find her - ruptured disc in her lower back + other injuries - $2k

Digby was diagnosed with heartworm 6 months after we adopted him - $700

But the cat is the winner if you include the money spent on grooming and vet visits.. .

 

Context-aware ad servers. It caught the words "cat" and "love."

Yipes! When I had Leonardo it was nothing like that. I think it was probably $20 or $30 for his rabies shot, and certainly under $100 the time he managed to get a sewing needle through his tongue. Mostly he just ever had his rabies shot, once a year at first, once very two years later. They de-wormed him when I first got him, but it was never necessary again. Circa 1975.

 

I guess I have a good vet. They cover a large area and actually have most of their practise on large animals, eg cows, horses, swine, etc. The cats actually like going to the office, they can sniff the vet.

One time, the vet *clearly* had been with horses. Both cats had their mouths open, eyes closed, and were sniffing the entire time. I don't think they ever felt the needles go in

Per cat, my typical yearly vet visit is around $110. That includes the exam, and the recommended vaccinations. Last year I agreed to allow the old cat, BooBoo, to be given lab work, that was an additional $120

I spend around $25 a month on Revolution, and another $20 every 4-5 months on Drontal. Most pets tolerate Revolution and Drontal well, its better to do a prophylactic dose than wait for infestation, which can cost one hell of a lot more to treat

For example, a certain forum member had a cat with a roundworm infestation. The worm actually wiggled out the cats butt. I will happily pay $25 a month to prevent THAT

 

Heartworm in dogs is much more serious than in cats. Usually, heartworms are fatal to cannines

From kittens, you can easily train a cat to tolerate claw trimming, bathing, brushing, etc. Matter of fact, most cats *like* to be brushed.

If you bath them as kittens, they don't fight later on. If you have an adult cat who has never been bathed, get a pro to do it

 

My cat is super low maintenance. He's 15-16 and all I've ever had to do are yearly visits and a flea collar. He is an outdoor cat and I know he mixes it up but he never has so much as a scratch. He eats what is put in front of him and uses whatever litter you put in his box.

He is as close to a 'free cat' as you can get. I think he is just a physically and intellectually superior being. Too bad he had his nuts whacked off and couldn't pass along his super genes.

 

The Revolution drops work better than a flea collar. Some over the counter products can actually harm your pet, as DavePH found out the hard way

 

Maybe its just Persian cats that make the vets cashier's eyes light up - ka-ching!

 

Yes, also its much more rare in cats. The vet(s) told us that basically you would treat a cat with heartworm with the same meds to prevent heartworm. We have the kitty on Revolution.

We have the dogs on Heartgard because the our primary vet thinks it is more effective for heartworm than Revolution. We were very lucky that we caught Digby's heartworm - it was only because we had missed his med for 2 months - you are supposed to get them retested if you miss for more than 1 1/2 months. The test will show adult heartworms but not juvenile ones. It takes a few months from initial exposure to development of adult worms, so he tested clear when first adopted but tested positive a few months later. He has been clear for a couple of years now. Its a rough treatment - best to keep up on the meds to prevent it.

We aquired the cat when she was over 2 years old, so no chance to train. The previous owners* had the front paws declawed (don't do this to a cat) so there is no front nail trimming. She likes to be brushed, but it is tough to stay on top of it. She needs to be brushed out at least once a day. It costs about $60 every 2 months to have her brushed and bathed. Usually we have them give her a "lion cut" in the summer because it lasts a few months.

One of the previous vet bills was from the GF trying to save some $ by trimming the cat at home. She accidentally cut her under the chin and we had to take her to the vet for a round of antibiotics. Doh!

 

Yes, luckily cats don't get it as often. The medicine is toxic to dogs also, but they can give a dose that will kill the heartworms but not kill the dog. It is an arsenic based medication. Digby had to go for two rounds of injections, plus we had to keep him on tranquilizers for a couple of months to keep him from exerting himself. The danger is that the dead parts of the worms can break off and clog an artery.

 

Fish tank predates the cat. Only one fish left now, he(she?) is 13 years old. Used to have 5.

Cat water fountain is an essential cat amenity now. Cat would only drink from the bathtub spigot when we first got her. We had to let the water drip from the spigot continuously. Now she drinks and bathes herself in the cat water fountain, but still will visit the bathtub and look longingly at the spigot.

We got rid of that cat bed because she stopped using it. Now she finds dark clothing (preferably freshly laundered and folded) and uses that instead.



We actually have two cats, one is much quieter...