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Post by anaira on Jun 7, 2010 3:22:31 GMT
:-*They're all gorgeous! I wanna snuggle them all, Taz looks just in the mood for a head-rub. I love Joey too, we have a cat with similar markings near us. ETA: this expains 'weesilvie'; I have wondered what was about that name! For some reason, I used to think 'weevils'.
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Post by Pigjes on Jun 7, 2010 6:05:18 GMT
Great pics!!!
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Post by weesilvie on Jul 5, 2010 19:38:59 GMT
Especially for Pigjes and 3piggles.... The one oon the left is the old one, the size of a good sized regular cat carrier. The one on the right is the one that arrived from Zooplus last week - at least twice the size!
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Post by 3piggles on Jul 5, 2010 23:29:07 GMT
Ooheee, that's a big 'un!!! They can have parties in that one. You may want to establish a list of usage rules before they start inviting the friends over when you're at work!!!
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Post by Pigjes on Jul 6, 2010 6:21:51 GMT
That's a house!!!!!!!! Thanks for taking a pic!!!
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Post by Jeannine on Jul 9, 2010 16:34:14 GMT
oh such cute kitties!!I love Silvie's tabby markings.
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Post by popcornpiggie on Jul 10, 2010 22:50:18 GMT
They are so cute! I wish I wasn't allergic to cats otherwise I would have lots! They are so purrrrrrrrty.
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Post by weesilvie on Sept 5, 2010 16:50:07 GMT
Reaching out to all you feline fanatics for advice!
Was at the vets with Silvie yesterday - nothing serious, just a check up because she's on prescription drugs for her arthritis. Anyway, found out she's put on over half a kilo thi syear! I knew she'd have put on some, but had no idea it would be that much. She should ideally be under 5 kilos but she was 5.6. Not good.
Since moving, she's been a bit less active - probably due to be a little bit less comfortable and confident with her outdoor environment and getting used to the other cats around. After 7 or 8 years in Scotlnad, she had the measure of them all. There are loads of lovely cats round here - lovely for me, but probably quite intimidating for her. My point is that she doesn't get out and about as much as she should, meaning she gets less exercise, which isn't helping her weight.
So, what novel ideas do you have for me helping her get more exercise? I'm going to get another one of those feather-on-a-string things from our favourite cat forum shop. I had one but it went with Taz to my mum's cos she loved it and has destroyed it! There are so many really good looking cat toys that she waves a paw at once and then completely ignores!
My sister suggested I take her out for a run on a lead! Silvie's never had a collar so she really doesn't like the harness when I try it. I might try the harness and lead thing again when I let her out for the first time when I get to my new house.
I don't want to just keep chasing her around the house cos I'll just end up annoying her, and I don't want that.
Clearly I'm also trying to feed her less - I have now taken to weighing her food out with the digital scales to make sure I stick to it! Around 30g of Hills light for her breakfast, 25g of a pouch or tin for tea and another 25g at bedtime. And only very rare treats. Poor Silvie tells me that I'm starving her!
We're also back at the vets again on Tuesday for a 'senior health check' - gets her blood and urine tested, which checks the state of all her major organs. Hope those tests come back good!
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Post by belmorais on Sept 5, 2010 20:39:09 GMT
My cats loved to play with a ball made of wool, wool for knitting. We always made sure to stitch it before the cats got it or there would be wool all over the place. This is something cheap (maybe you have some leftovers or you can ask someone for it and if not check at a knitting shop for any leftover balls, those are usually cheap as they just want to get rid of it).
I will keep my fingers crossed for Silvie.
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Post by Pigjes on Sept 7, 2010 5:36:26 GMT
You could stack/glue/tape a series of 10 inch pipes of about 2 inch wide into a triangle tower and hide the pellets in some of the tubes, so they have to locate the pellets first, get their paws in to get them out. That is a lot better than just pooring pellets in a bowl. It's completely washable too. for a disposable set just save kitchen rolls of cardboard.
Similar idea: buy plastic cups and glue them on a plastic board. Hide a few pellets in some of the cups, so the cats have to get them out. Disposable idea: save toilet rolls and glue them on paper.
If you have a hamster rolling ball or dog treat ball lying around, those make great pellet balls too.
One of my cats, when I still had some, used to go completely nuts over a fake mouse on an elastic on het cat post top level. She's slap it silly, lol. When you passed by, you sometimes got twanged by a falke mouse, lol!
One of my other cats loved cardboard boxes, closed off but with one opening cut out. Looking for a pellet in a dark box ix a lot better exercise than eating from a bowl.
One of my cats loooooooved a flashlight in a dark room, trying to chase the spot on the floor. We used to laugh ourselves silly when she she did that.
Besides that, many online stores sell nifty brainy cat activity centers to keep them busy. The best trick is to not feed them in a bowl, except "wet" food, to make them work for it.
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Post by weesilvie on Sept 7, 2010 10:49:36 GMT
Hey Pigjes
Loads of ideas there - thanks. I do have a treat ball and she takes absolutely no notice of it. Despite being a cat, she's not the smartest I'm afraid, bless her! I like the idea of the plastic cups on a board though and the tubes in a heap. I have read about those, but fear they might elicit the same response as the treat ball! Oh well, certainly worth a try!
Home alone today, no Silvie - she's at the vets getting her 'senior health check', aka blood and urine tests to make sure she's doing fine. Awfy quiet, even the pigs are asleep. My house without Silvie in it is all wrong, don't like it! But it does mean I can actually use my laptop on my lap istead of Silvie being there!
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Post by 3piggles on Sept 8, 2010 22:17:07 GMT
We built a set of steps/cubbies for storage, and the cats went up and down the steps, slept on the steps, and absolutely love it. It was just a series of boxes stacked so we could store stuff in them, and the could climb on them. I think because they were different sizes, and the cats had to jump up to a few, the cats got a lot of exercise. Because they were up high with pillows to lie on, they loved going up the stairs, so they got a lot of exercise. You can do it with staggered shelves, too, as long as you don't mind Silvie getting into the stuff on the shelves. You can also tack carpeting or sand paper on in places for her to sharpen her claws.
I had a friend who got some wide pipe and ran it around a room. It was sections at different heights to the cats went through one to a landing, jumped up to the next, etc., and back.
There was a whole article in one of my pet magazines about such set ups in tiny apartments in NYC, and there were some great ideas. Those cats got all the exercise they needed without ever going outside.
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Post by weesilvie on Sept 13, 2010 21:37:12 GMT
Not good news following the 'senior' check up. Silvie apparently has hyperthyroidism. At least I think its hyper as opposed to hypo - form my internet rifling today hyper is much more common. We've to go see the vet on Wednesday morning for a chat.
Treatment looks like being lifelong medication, on top of the arthritis stuff she already gets, or surgery. I don't really fancy either option! Although she is pretty young for this - internet said 95% of cats with this condition are at least 10 years old, most are over 12. Silvie is only 8. So she should be able to deal with surgery and anaesthetic OK. Still don't fancy it though!
I'm off to my favourite cat forum now to see what else I can find out about this before I go and annoy the vet on Wednesday. Needless to say, Silvie is getting lots of extra hugs!
Edit Weds pm
Spoke to the vet this morning and she was lovely - I'm feeling a bit more relaxed about it all now. We have three options - tablets for the rest of her life, surgery or radioactive iodine. I don't fancy tablets for ever more as it took two vet staff to give her a worm pill last week! I'm definiteky interested in the iodine as it's non invasive so carries much less risk. I'm seeing if Silvie's insurance will cover it. If not, then surgey it is, which I am Ok with if I need to be. Will keep you updated.
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Post by Pigjes on Sept 19, 2010 18:47:57 GMT
Having choices is great though, I hope you will get through the options soon!
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Post by weesilvie on Oct 24, 2010 17:10:29 GMT
Great news - PetPlan have approved the iodine treatment! Now I'll need to wait until I've moved house (next week) and registered at a new vet before going ahead
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Post by newpig on Oct 26, 2010 11:36:54 GMT
That's great news as it seems like a great treatment. Fingers crossed.
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Post by Pigjes on Nov 3, 2010 7:37:37 GMT
That's great news!!! Good luck with the move!
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Post by lonestarpiggies on Nov 4, 2010 0:13:09 GMT
All 3 of my cats were recently diagnosed with hyperthyroidism; the vet says he's never had a case where all the cats in the household have it. I know it's not caused by diet, etc., but it makes you wonder what the odds are that all 3 have it! They all are taking pills to regulate it, so I'd be interested to know how the iodine treatment goes. Good luck!
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Post by Jeannine on Nov 9, 2010 2:10:33 GMT
kitty hugs!
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Post by 3piggles on Nov 15, 2010 22:26:32 GMT
I hope the house move went smoothly, and you are all settled in. Any luck finding a good vet for Silvie? I was just wondering how she was doing.
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