Cats and Kittens Blog

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21

Yep - fleas will do it! I forgot that little detail. We rarely see them here since our cats never go outside. The only times we’ve had any critters make it to the kitty koats was when other pet owners came over to visit with a couple hitchikers on their pant legs. It’s only happened twice and we ended up calling an exterminator both times just to get ahead of the flea reproduction cycle. We tried all kinds of sprays at all kinds of intervals but somehow the little buggers found a way to propagate and we had to pay someone to come over and fumigate the joint. My hubby is also allergic to flea bites - they tend to ‘spread’ and form a rash.

Otherwise we have never noticed or been told about any cat odor in the house, but then we haven’t had too many accidents around the place either - none that haven’t been cleaned up anyway. We’ve been very fortunate to have kitties with excellent manners and (mostly) good aim, but our little steam cleaner has also been a godsend at times - especially when they get older and/or sick. But I think I know what you mean by that odor - and I know that cat pee is very difficult to eradicate - especially if it’s on-going.
There have been times in the winter that I’ve come inside the closed up, heated house from the fresh air outside and noticed a dank odor upon entry - especially if we’ve just cleaned out the litter or someone has had an accident. I guess have babies around would be a problem in that respect!
Did you know that cat urine can be seen under black (UV) lighting? I found that little tidbit useful knowledge when we had a new kid on the block a few years ago. Poor Sam was both a recovering stray AND an only male in this Queendom - so he pretty much had to run a gauntlet of 3 hissing females just to get to the litterbox. He showed us that he didn’t appreciate that situation and we showed him another home where he’s been the King and spoiled rotten!

I’m also allergic to some cat fur - not dander, but that soft fly-away stuff my cats always seem to have! I remember when I first realized that I might be allergic to ‘our girls’ and mentioned that to my hubby - yes, my true love and soul mate for the last 33 years - the love of my life and my bestest friend of all… I said “I think I might be allergic to the girls” and he quipped right back - to me, not the cat - and with no hesitation whatsoever: “We’ll miss you”.
I guess a girl should know where she sits in the grand scheme of things. Apparently I’m a close 4th in a household of 4!
Hang in there, pinky - and all the other digits too!

22

I can’t even imagine trying to bathe our kitties at all, let alone weekly! I hope you can get something to control the fleas besides literalling picking them off the critters! Isn’t there something that will work on the young’uns? A spray? Collar? Nanobots? :slight_smile:
Great news about the fledglings using the cat box and eating ‘real’ food. It will be fun to see what colour their eyes end up being.
And if that’s Heidi lurking outside your door, I hope Edward has now learned a little bit about Kitty Kourtesy and “How Not To Traumatize an Already Completely Terrified Critter”! Thanks again for the update.

23

Kookie sounds like such a sweet little one. I don’t suppose there’s any such thing as a kitty contraceptive?!! I imagine you’ve already thought of all the possibilities, like neutering the fellas and keeping her in. I hope Kookie’s eye heals up soon. The kittens do sound like fun. Give each and every one of your kitties a pat from me.

24

Yes, my adult males are already neutered, and she’s usually pretty easy to keep inside, but I still have to neuter the male kittens. There is a vet near me that specializes in cardiology. Their initial consultation costs $133. Eye treatment and heart ultrasound are extra and they wouldn’t give me a quote for that over the phone, of course. They don’t take payments; all bills are due at time of pickup. Of course I’d like to know how much all this is going to cost ahead of time to make things more convenient. I guess her heart murmur isn’t deadly under normal conditions, but I will definitely be watching her more carefully from now on to make sure it doesn’t look like it’s getting worse.

25

I have a cat, now 10 years old with a LOUD heart murmur – you can hear it if you put your ear against his chest, and you can feel it if you hold him. Sounds like a washing machine. But I was able to have him neutered with no problem. On the other hand, my vet says no rabies shot for him because cats with heart defects can die from rabies shots. So we won’t tell the authorities, because the law says all cats and dogs must be vaccinated against rabies.