cat tails

[kellinator]

Well, I have a fun little problem.

I may have mentioned before that Katie's mom was killed when she was three weeks old and she was bottle-raised. I'm realizing now that while this made her very cuddly, it also means she missed a few important kitty lessons. Like how to clean yourself.

This week, Katie has been smelling extremely foul... like cat piss and cat poop. First of all, let me interrupt myself to explain that Katie loves pooping. It's her hobby. Every morning when I scoop the litter box, she comes running, hops in as I'm still cleaning it, and poops in my face. And this cat has the foulest-smelling poop imaginable. And she LOVES to poop. Like, once I woke up in the middle of the night and found her sitting in the litter box, like it's her favorite place to hang out or something.

Why can't she have a normal hobby like Heidi?

Oh yeah, Heidi's hobby is beating Katie up...

Seriously, these two. I have no idea if they like each other or not. Occasionally they'll groom each other, but usually that turns to fighting within thirty seconds. I have learned that when I'm not around they're fine, but most evenings when I walk in the door they hear me coming and get into Ass-Beating Position with their little furry paws around each other's throats. I think they're doing it for attention. "Quick, Mommy's coming!" But I digress.

So, this morning the disgusting reached whole new levels, which means I'm going to have to bathe Katie and worse, I'm going to have to trim her back fur since she apparently can't be arsed (pun intended) to keep poop out of it. Bathing her might not be the end of the world because she likes water and often jumps up on the side of the tub to investigate, but I have no idea how I'm going to give her a haircut. This may end in gouges...

In better kitty news, Heidi has decided that being aloof is for the birds and she wants love. She especially likes to give head nuzzles. This, as you would probably guess, is utterly adorable.

Comments

[kmeghan.livejournal.com]

i sometimes just have to give alistairs rear end a little trim.... the long hair gets kinda funky. i just wrap him in a towel and trim him up.

[dwivian]

Cat tails?

Piano!

http://www.kirchersociety.org/blog/?p=116

[heathrow.livejournal.com]

With our medium-haired cat, we have to get her bottom shaved once every 6 months or so. It's just best for all involved.

[teague.livejournal.com]

http://www.catfaeries.com/feliway.html

I have been singing the praises of this stuff. You can get it at Petsmart, or a local vet. I use it in my home. My Mom uses it. I have other friends that use it. If fighting is a problem, it works pretty well. Of course they may just be playing rough. Usually the difference between real fighting, and playing is contact. If it looks like someone is trying to claw and bite the fur out of the other, it's a fight. If they are wrestling, and bunny kicking, it's more than likely play. That sort of thing is only a problem if one of them is playing, and the other is going, "GET THE HELL OFF ME, YOU CRAZY BITCH!"

The bathing is a very common problem with kitties that were taken from their mommy too soon. The good news is that there might be a trick out there to teaching them. Our orphans learned to bathe when our Grande Dame finally got fed up, and began holding them down for force bathing. These baths were usually pretty amusing as the kittens were often squirrely and disrespectful of their fostern, and she was usually frustrated and ready to smack them senseless. Barring Heidi taking up the task, you might try asking your vet, or the cat community you belong to about it.

[the-missy.livejournal.com]

We tried one of the Feliway wall plug-in things in an effort to stop two things -- frequent catfighting, and how one of the cats would sit and sorrowfully cry in the living room at midnight. It didn't help with either of those things.

K, when we bathe our cats, it's definitely a two-person job. One to hold the cat firmly in the tub, the other to do the scrubbing and rinsing and such. I don't even want to think about the woe if I tried to do it alone.

[http://users.livejournal.com/___flight_risk/]

and how one of the cats would sit and sorrowfully cry in the living room at midnight

Awwwwww. :(

[polychromatic22.livejournal.com]

We got some feliway for our house. We had one cat (named Lily, female). Charlie and Amanda moved in with two cats (Fizban {sp?}, male, and Jade, female).
When they first got here, Jade stayed under their bed, and Fizban came out fairly soon and started playing with Lily. Lily liked it and had fun, and was really enjoying Fizban. Then Jade came out a week later. Jade would have *nothing* to do with the fact that Fizban was playing with a girl who was not her, thank you very much, and has been on a crusade of terror against Lily since then. Jade would chase Lily into our room and beat the crap out of her on the way (Lily actually got an absess and was wonderfully taken care of by the clinic Amanda works at). So, we got TB in a bid to even things out and give Kat a cat. TB is a boy, and the first thing all the cats could agree on is that they hated him. Eventually, Fizban has completely come around, and TB and Fizban are best buds, Jade thinks he's kinda fun, and Lily still hisses at him, occasionally. We are alternating Locking one or the other of the two girls up in either my room or Amanda's room, depending on which girl it is (Jade, her's, Lily, mine).
We got the Feliway. It has calmed the cats, somewhat, but Jade still sees Lily as a Threat, and Lily still doesn't understand why Jade won't leave her alone when she isn't fighting back. No house tranquility yet...

[ladylabyrinth.livejournal.com]

Another friend of mine had the same bathing problem with her cat. The vet's advice was to get a wet paper towel and soak her bottom with it whenever you notice she's just had a BM. Even if she likes water, no one likes a wet bottom, and that's supposed to encourage her to clean herself off. After a while, she'll associate the BM with having to turn around and clean up, so...

but that doesn't work for every cat. Just thought I'd throw my $.02 in.

[polychromatic22.livejournal.com]

This sounds genius. Awesome.

[kth-dragon.livejournal.com]

Wow, that's a great idea! My roommate had that problem with a cat, and used baby wipes on her... the cat hated it, and now we don't have a stinkbutt cat that drags it across the carpet anymore (skidmarks on carpet = BAD). Yay! But of course paper towels are a lot less expensive. Wish I'd thought of that earlier.

[jesshelga.livejournal.com]

My kitten, E. Edward, was abandoned by his mother and has the same loving the pooping/not so much with the cleaning his "act" issues. Last night, much to my shock and awe, I watched him clean his "act" for, I'm guessing, the first time (like your current position, I was forced into butt baths). It was like watching a child take its first step. *tear*

Does Katie also enjoy playing Flying Squirrel, wherein she leaps to your shoulder from long distances? I'm beginning to suspect she and E. were separated at birth.

[tkappleton.livejournal.com]

Your kitties sound hilarious. My uncle and Aunt have a black cat named Zorro that also didn't learn to clean himself. He gets frequent tub baths and also gets some clumps of fur shaved off (electric razor) ocassionally because he doesn't like brushes or gloves.

As far as bathing, if your girls are fairly small you should be able to handle it fine. My boy gives me a bit of trouble and the bathroom and myself usually end up soaked. My girl just lets me flip her and move her around all I want but she has the big sorrowful eyeballs trained on me the whole time.

[piratejenny.livejournal.com]

Hee, bathing kitties! What fun! It might not be as bad as you fear, though, especially since she seems to like water. She also might be okay with the haircut bit. If not, I think the easiest way might be to pin her down on the floor (maybe Heidi will help) with one hand and try to cut with the other. Often if you hold them down by the back of the neck (or--and yes this is weird, but it worked with Lance when I had to cut his nails) sit with the cat in your lap and actually grab the scruff of her neck in your teeth, it'll still them.

Adorable head nuzzles!

[ardentdelirium.livejournal.com]

my friend had a boycat who wouldnt wash his ass, so everytime she saw any grossness on it (she, grossly, looked for it) she'd spray him witha water bottle (set to diffuse, not a stream) and he's wash his but to dry it off, usually getting rid of the gross in the process

[not-hothead-yet.livejournal.com]

I once had a cat who continually rubbed up against a gas heater, singeing his tail fur in the process and creating an unholy stench of burned hair. I solved this problem by cutting all his tail fur off. He rubbed up against that heater one more time and that was it.