He had a good life. I'm sad, but I know you would have died within weeks if we hadn't rescued him. Instead he got more than 7 years of the good life.

He, not you, of course...

Awww....sorry to hear that Draug. As foster kitten parents, we often times have to deal with kittens dying suddenly, becuase they come home from the shelter sick. Sucks every time, but we know that the time they had with us was better than being caged. :(

Hey krellin I need your advice on something kitty related... here are the facts:

- Cats are brothers, 4 years old.
- One cat has been acting up lately, he's pooping/peeing not in the litterbox. He used to occasionaly do that if I didn't empty it completely and put in new litter often enough, but it's like all the time in the last few weeks.
- I clean box every day
- Cat had a serious urinary tract infection 2 years ago, but no problems since
- Cat is acting very defensive around his brother. Growls every time he comes close. Brother is kind of a dick and chases him around despite this - kinda torments him a bit really.
- Still very playful with me
- Still very affectionate with me
- Doesn't respond positively to discipline lately. If I catch him about to pee somewhere and yell at him, try to grab him up and put him in the litterbox, he grows/spits/hisses at me. He very rarely did this ever.
- Cat recently had his food ration cut (he's fat)
- about the same time as ration change his brother was diagnosed with diabetes so brother has been in and out of the vet a bit (they pick up strange smells I guess there)

Basically, though I'm keeping an eye out for symptoms of the resurgent UTI - he doesn't seem to be having any problem going.

All in all, this seems to me to be territorial in nature, it's like he feels badgered or hounded, but I don't really understand why this huge change in the last few weeks.


Does any of this sound familiar to you? I'm considering quarantining him when I'm not at home to give him a place to feel safe from molestation from his idiot brother until he re-establishes good habits with the litterbox. Does this work with cats?

YJ - my first guess was UTI, because that will cause them to go in various places (i.e. they associate the pain with where they pee, so they move around to avoid pain when peeing, or so we have been told). We had a cat that had this problem and switched her food to a food that was supposed to help with UTI, but might call for a vet visit.

What other changes have happened in YJ's house? We have had a cat that was *very* sensitive to changes in routine in the household and would get all bitchy and pee in odd places whenever anything in the house routine changed -- He was a *sharpshooter* too, little fucker. Wrote his initials on the wall, I swear.

The other cats are definitely probably part of the problem - we have one cat right now that is a rescue - always been a little skitish - and whenever she comes out, two other cats (brothers) love to torment her - they'll linger, call her "Bitch" and "slut" and smack her on the ass until she finally hides up inside the recliner, where, feeling safe, she will hide for days (and shit and pee). WE finally locked her in a bathroom for about two months until it finally got nice enough to throw her ass outside and hike her kitty skirt up on the corner. Bitch.

Seriously, though, catnip, kitty valium? Something to calm his nerves? I'm sure the other cats beating up on him is part of the problem, and if it isn't a UTI, it's "fuck you!! I'm gonna pee on your shit!" behavior. Been through it, and it sucks. If you can't keep the other cats off him, you might have to live with the quarantine option, or find a new home. No...I don't' want you cat.

Sorry to hear that, Draug. Growing up, I had a mini lop, which, despite the name of its breed, was roughly the size of a large cat. People are always surprised when you explain to them that rabbits can be very affectionate and have their own personalities.

Are your cats fixed? HAs the weather changed there? Because as soon as the weathe broke in Michigan, our two brothers are damned near impossible to keep inside - whenver the dogs go out, they're lurking behind the chair, couch, whatever to ry to get outside. (We try to keep them inside - one is a Siamese - beautiful, and we had a neighbor try to steal him last year) -- but fuck, they are cats, and they sit in the window and daydream about being outside all day, and they are going batshit crazy to get out...so I've given and and let the little bastards out. They *seriously* started going nuts and fighting with each other much more when the weather changed...so it's outside with them. (But we have a field and woods behind the house, so it's gotta be torture to just look and not actually get to play Mighty Hunter in the weeds...)

YJ - Buy 'em one of these: http://www.ebay.com/bhp/cat-tree-bed

MY parents bought us one for Christmas, and the cats *love* it, and it hilarious to watch them fight on the mighty cat tower.

Sorry to hear that, Draug. That's always sad.

What's for dinner tonight?

Hmmmm.....curious....when cooking one's bunny, do you surround it with it's once favorite veggies as kind of the ultimate honoring of the beastie and celebration ofit's life while creating yum yum feast? Like having a great old kegger for a dead Irishman?

Thanks krellin, I do have a vet visit scheduled. He's already on a special urinary diet so if he's still getting crystals I don't know what else to do. I just am hoping maybe making sure he has a safe place and lotsa love is the best I can do.

Kitty catnip. I always wonder...when I encourage to get the cats stoned, am I sending a bad message? lol (Then again, I hope they do try pot *safely* at the appropriate time..)

He barely weighed a pound when he died. No meat left on him. So distasteful as your jokes were, you couldn't have cooked him anyhow.

One good thing about living with non-human animals is they remind us often, in their dealings, that we are just that: animals.

I hope you don't miss him too much. Nothing lasts forever.

I mostly miss him when I do something for his sister like buy timothy hay or go down to clean the hutch and sweep up the room.