Crazy Cat Lady Club - CCLC - Open for new membership

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy
Great website, Jenny. Thanks. I love the My Cat from Hell program but had never visited the site. There's a wealth of info that will take me some time to get through. I've already discovered some good Catification ideas.

And yes, poor little Ivan does have some anxiety issues, probably from his scary time in the wild and also from the dog. It should be said that while Joe is the sweetest dog imaginable, his head is the size of Ivan's whole body. Here's what goes on at my place.

Might as well add ours.

This is Jazz. Or as we call her, "Catnip Everbean."



ETA; this was Christmas where she saved us from the evil tree by continuously knocking it down.

a reply to: graceunderpressure

Hope you find some answers and resolution to the issue between your sweet babies.

Jackson Galaxy is so awesome, love when he opens his guitar case and it's full of cat toys. Looking at Jackson and all his tattoos, you would never know he's a crazy cat man, lol.

That video was pretty darn funny, the dog pulling the cat in the kitty bed around made me chuckle!

a reply to: pennylemon

Penny, thank you for the great advice. I'll try your "...calmly drop your arms to your sides or behind your back and look up and off to the distance" technique on both the cat and the boyfriend.

Ivan and Joe can sometimes sit in the same room peacefully, but they seem to have a "minimum safe distance" of a few feet before the growling and swatting ensues. Ivan has a quite a few places around the house where he can retreat and the dog can't reach him. I'm also building a cat perch into an indoor tree by our front window so that he can watch the world from his safe spot.

As for his claws, I didn't describe the issue adequately -- sorry. Ivan gets all his claws stuck in toys and things -- not just one claw -- and then I have to remove the ribbon or whatever for him. It's like he never learned to retract them.

Ivan's eyes were gold at first, and now they're turning green. His nose and paw pads are both gray, so I suppose he's a "Heinz 57" cat, and not a pure Russian Blue. I won't tell him that, though. Shhh!

Your angel cat sounds wonderful. What a sweetie.

a reply to: graceunderpressure

My cat does that to my dog, its kinda play he usually starts grooming him and then goes in for the kill. The dog if he really hated it would growl and bite back, he doesn't so I figure they are playing. When the cat goes to far, Elvis lets him have it and he backs off.

Some people don't get cats

a reply to: Spiramirabilis

Sounds like one for Jenny !

a reply to: beezzer

And ... She looks absolutely glorious in Her splendor !!!



Now you tell me ... !
Where ???!!!

a reply to: beezzer

Oh Jazz, What a face. I love the action photos, caught in the act.

How could it be that a giant sparkly toy in the living room is not meant for them ?

originally posted by: graceunderpressure
a reply to: pennylemon

Penny, thank you for the great advice. I'll try your "...calmly drop your arms to your sides or behind your back and look up and off to the distance" technique on both the cat and the boyfriend.

Ivan and Joe can sometimes sit in the same room peacefully, but they seem to have a "minimum safe distance" of a few feet before the growling and swatting ensues. Ivan has a quite a few places around the house where he can retreat and the dog can't reach him. I'm also building a cat perch into an indoor tree by our front window so that he can watch the world from his safe spot.

As for his claws, I didn't describe the issue adequately -- sorry. Ivan gets all his claws stuck in toys and things -- not just one claw -- and then I have to remove the ribbon or whatever for him. It's like he never learned to retract them.

Ivan's eyes were gold at first, and now they're turning green. His nose and paw pads are both gray, so I suppose he's a "Heinz 57" cat, and not a pure Russian Blue. I won't tell him that, though. Shhh!

I must warn you about the Arm thing, it works on cats but it may have the opposite effect on the boyfriend. That's the way it goes in my household anyway. and about Ivan belonging to the Heinz 57 royal family, I promise never to tell.

About Ivans claws, would it be possible to get a photo of his claws both in a relaxed position and with sleight pressure as if you were about to clip them ?

Penny

Fellow Cat Lady's and Gent's! I need help

I live in Napa and we just had that big earthquake on Sunday. My house is on the second floor of a 1930's building and let me tell ya, we shook violently with the walls swaying about 2 feet back east and west for 33 seconds. One of my cats was sleeping here (kinda hard to see her bed so I have a pink arrow pointing at it)



We have a cat door that goes to the flat rooftop and she ran out there during the quake. (she's always out there playing and catching bugs and birds.) She made it safely outside and doesn't have any physical injuries, thankfully. However, she's not behaving like her normal self and I'm worried about her anxiety and emotional well being. She always sleeps in her cat beds, we have 3 for her throughout the house but she has been napping under the bed since the quake. That's not normal for her, she never ever did that, ever.

I called her veterinarians office and they said I could try a kitty pheromone spay to help calm her. They also said I could bring her in and they could prescribe her Xanax. Do you guys have any other suggestions. I'm apprehensive about giving her anti-anxiety meds but I just want her back to normal, she's so scared you guys. It's breaking my heart.

My other cat is pretty much back to her old self. She is a talker and a loud talker at that, I love that about her. Since the quake her voice isn't as strong, it sounds quieter. That's really the only difference and every day her voice is getting louder. I wonder if she may have lost her voice from screaming in the quake.

Any suggestions lady's and gents?

a reply to: Jennyfrenzy

Wow Jenny, thank goodness you guys are relatively OK. It looks like it was really scary for everyone.

I took a look at the USGS page for your area and it looks like you guys are still getting quite a few aftershocks. It may be that your sweetie is waiting these out and will start to come out when she feels it's safe. I know there are folks who feel that companion animals aren't aware and reactive to the smallest changes signaling danger, but I do and usually let them do what they need to do and pay close attention.

When it comes to medicating, can I suggest starting slow. Give her time and if she, after the aftershocks have stopped for the most part and she still wont come out, try the pheromone first. It may also be that she now associates the old bed with a danger spot and sometimes getting a new one helps with that.

I live in Northern California as well and though we haven't had any damaging quakes in a while, I was living in South Cali when the Northridge quake happened. It scared the heck out of my youngest baby at the time. It took her at least a month to get over it, but once the shocks stopped and she could see that everything was going to be OK she finally did.

Have any other CCLCers been through this with their Sweeties ? I would love to hear how they reacted and how long did it take for them to return to their normal awesome selves.

Penny

a reply to: pennylemon

Waiting the aftershocks out is a good idea, thank you. Matilda, poor baby, ran under the bed this morning and about 40 minutes later we had a small aftershock, 2.6. It's just hard to see her going through this, I just want her to feel better. It's so sad

I'm going to follow your advice and give it a week or so. Think I'll run down to the per store and pick up some of the calming pheromone spray and see if that works. I hate the thought of her being on meds, hate hate hate it. If that's what it takes, I'll do it but worry she may become dependent on it, like if when we stop giving it to her will she become anxious again.

There are so many animals at the shelter right now, after the quake we saw several dogs running down the street. I wanted to help them but was apprehensive because they might be super scared, agitated and snap or bite.

You are right about her associating the bed to a negative experience. Last night my husband grabbed that cat bed to being it in the bedroom. We've been shutting the door at night so the cats are in a safe room in case we get another sizable one. When he picked it up Matilda (the anxious kitty) saw it and ran under the bed to hide and my other kitty, Izzy, well her tail got huge. We threw the bed to the bottom of the stairs and are planning on donating it to a local nonprofit that places pets in foster homes and forever homes.

Thanks so much for your advice

All your cat needs is some time.

About Ivans claws, would it be possible to get a photo of his claws both in a relaxed position and with sleight pressure as if you were about to clip them ?

I'll work on it, but there may be some bits of my mangled flesh in the pics. Hope you don't mind.

Seriously, thanks for asking. 'Will do.

borrowed from funny pics thread

originally posted by: DaphneApollo

and ...



I think he is a very handsome fellow !

a reply to: zazzafrazz

About Ivans claws, would it be possible to get a photo of his claws both in a relaxed position and with sleight pressure as if you were about to clip them ?

First attempt: While Ivan was in a relaxed state on the ottoman, I softly petted his favorite areas and waited until he rolled on his back, purring. Then, I gently reached across for my camera to snap a "relaxed" paw photo. OH MOTHER OF ALL THAT IS HOLY, in one swift motion, my devil cat propelled himself straight up and hung from my breast with all four claws, dangling there like a psychopathic Cirque De Soleil performer who's gone off his meds. Gosh 'O Mighty, that hurts!

'Will try again, soon. Lesson learned #1: do not reach across Ivan under any circumstances.

a reply to: zazzafrazz

Lol! So cute and funny!!!

Pinup Kitty Cats




And more pinup cats

a reply to: graceunderpressure

Are you ok?!?