Any cat owners out there ?

[Rags]

My 20lb black cat has his fronts declawed, and I take him outside with me occassionally. He still climbs trees like there's no tomorrow, and he sometimes gets ahold of a bird or two. I have no doubt that my cat would be able to fend for himself, but he's an inside cat who is very happy that way and loves to sit on my lap while I type

Rags

[Maggi]

sorry if it was suggested before, but what if you use that dry food to play with your kitten ?

What I mean is that, instead of putting it into her bowl, just take one and throw it into her direction, while she's watching you ...

She'll instantly try to catch it and usually after that, cats start at least licking on their victim and most of the times they even eat it. She'll love that game !

Doing that you could 'teach' her to get used to it as food, at least that's how I taught my cat to accept a 'no name'-brand of dry food ...

If it fails, you could try to cheat with very tasty cat's candy (you know those vitamine pills etc) that you throw every now and then in between throwing 'dry food'-bait.

Good Luck !
Maggi

[EchoWars]

Cool stories...

I watched a lengthy special on some cable channel about cats. A vet neurlogist spoke at some length about cats having 2 to 3 times the nerve endings clustered about the claw roots that humans have on their fingertips, and claimed that cats had evolved in such a way that dexterity and balance were reliant on the use of these nerve endings and functional claws. After listening to him, I decided to never declaw a cat. As far as the 'cat-stuck-to-the-rug' syndrome, about once a week (for the past 19yrs), she had gotten the sharp claw tips trimmed. Still, in 19 years she has managed to finish-off a couple of sofas.

Tuna...bad...maybe a little every now and then.

[CHHAS]

If tuna is bad for the cat, how about other kinds of canned fish ?

[EchoWars]

What is it...potassium levels?? Sodium levels? I forget, but it is present in all fish and leads to feline urological syndrome or FUS. My cat had never had it, so my knowledge of it is pretty much limited to 'it's a bad thing'. Cat's may love fish, but fish get their revenge.

[Bohrn]

Tuna lacks an enzyme called taurine that they need in thier diet. All else about it is good. Plus declawing is not just burning off the nails,it is breaking off the first knuckle!!! Least that is what our vets have told us. We just clip a bit now and then.

------------------
AsusP3B-F,P3 880 Slot1, 256mgsPC133,G40032megSH, Diamond MX300,13.5gigs of HD's,52X CDrom,WinME, PD 5.41 w/ 6.10ICD,Altec Lansing ATP3Subwoofer,
Envision 17",Terrayon Cable modem w/D-Link nic,1 grey cat,1 black cat & 1 calico

[Greebe]

Here's a detailed article on FUS

http://www.netpets.com/cats/reference/food/FUS.html

[KvHagedorn]

Re: Declawing as cruel..

Not as cruel as getting your nvts whacked off! Man, if looks could kill.. when I picked him up after that..

Also, not as cruel as whacking them with the newspaper every time they go to ripping up the antique furniture!

Not as bad, either, as having to go to the Dr. and get 12 stitches in the back of your hand because you were holding the cat and she suddenly realized she was going to the vet, and went nuts. (This happened to my aunt with her cat recently)

Front claws are just a menace if you keep your cat indoors, and I would only have an indoor cat..

[Johnny Ray]

EchoWars.....19? Wow. That's pretty impressive.

And my blurb on declawing: if the alternative is euthanizing, then by all means get them declawed. But keep in mind it's really "de-fingering." There claws are really remarkable units. I have two cats, of which one is a real barn cat that I "tamed", and I have a lot of expensive antique furniture. They are both entirely house cats. They have never clawed anything but there "Catnip Scratching Post." It's made from ultra-corse woven hemp, and they love it. If you provide them the ultimate scratching post, they won't use anything else. The cheap ones made of carpet won't do....

And as others mentioned, try to stay away from tuna. You'll create a tuna-junkie that won't eat anything else, and that's bad. Several folks here have made suggestions for good dry food. Mine get dry in the morning (special for old cats) and wet at night.

And a minor correction; taurine isn't an enzyme. It's a small organic compound (only 2 carbons!) derived from breakdown of the amino acid cysteine, so protein derived, but not an enzyme.

Good luck with the kitten. For me they've really been worth the effort (hey, I brought one from Hawaii back to the Mainland).

John

[Kaj]

Cats are cool.
And as Gurm already mentioned: cat+laserpointer=double fun.
A friend of mine has two cats; one kitten and one older cat (three years or so). Everytime I lite that spot, they go after it as if their lives depend on it.
And they go on for hours, and just can't figure out why they can't get hold of that darn spot.

When you point it on the wall, they will jump after it. If you switch it off while pointing at the wall, they'll sit down and wait, while keeping an eye on the area where the spot disappeared; "cuz hey; maybe that red thing will come out of wherever he crawled into."

[CHHAS]

A laserpointer is definitely on the 'to-purchase' list

[az]

did you know that there's actually a patent on training pets with laser pointers? forgot where i read it, must have been in c't or on the register.. scary, isn't it?

AZ

[Greebe]

Kaj, Gurm=laser in this thread?

We've both mentioned it before (awhile back).

[Kaj]

Woops, sorry Greebe.

[Chris B]

had about a gazillion cats myself, and this is what I think..... If the cat won´t eat the dry cat food, she´s not hungry. It´s as simple as that. There is no harm in pouring a little water on it to soften it up a little, but do not mix it with any kind of fish or meat, cause you´ll be doing it for as long as the cat lives!