Turning Fat Cats into not-so-fat-cats-anymore

I get the lecture every single time I go to the vet's office: my kitties need to lose weight. I know this, and I do try, but in a multi-cat home, it's hard to monitor how much everyone is eating individually. Tiger's weight, at his largest, was 22 pounds. He's now down to 16 (which is still big, but significantly more slender). I was forced to be diligent with his weight after he was diagnosed with diabetes (which we found out when he went into diabetic shock, laying in a puddle of his own urine and almost comatose two summers ago), as well as the early stages of kidney failure due to his diabetes.

Besides the obvious buy weight control food option, here's what I did:

1. Smaller cat bowls. Just like when we make a meal for ourselves, humans have the urge to fill the plate completely. Smaller plate = smaller meal. So I applied this to the kitties. Being as I have 4, I went out and bought them colour coded bowls - the tiniest bowls I could find (they're actually itsy bitsy glass ashtrays), and feed them about 10 pieces at a time, but numerous times per day (4-5 times). I feed them larger amounts before bed so that I can get a good night's rest without hearing Cody's desperate "I'm starving!" wails at 3:40am. When you feed them less more often, you're actually tricking them into thinking that they are getting more food. And, isn't that the ultimate goal of domesticated cats everywhere?

Fabric Softener

Slightly off topic, but not terribly so as I've caught my boys chewing on dryer sheets before and I wash and dry my kitty blankets regularly to remove the fur: Fabric Softener. My Mother in law gave me a brochure of Norwex environmental Cleaning Products, which she absolutely SWEARS by now. Awhile ago, I bought dryer balls at a discount store (not Norwex brand, but they do sell them), mainly for cost-effective reasons. However, after reading the Norwex package, I'm so very glad that I did. In this package, there was a fact sheet about some of the chemicals found in dryer sheets (the information was compiled from the fabric softener MSDS sheets). Scary stuff:

Alpha-Terpineol

Causes CNS (central nervous system) disorders... "highly irritating to mucous membranes" ..."Aspiration into the lungs can produce pneumonitis or even fatal edema." Can also cause "excitement, ataxia (loss of muscular coordination), hypothermia, CNS and respiratory depression, and headache." "Prevent repeated or prolonged skin contact."

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Benzyl Acetate

Carconigenic (linked to pancreatic cancer). "From vapors: irritating to eyes and respiratory passages, exciting cough." "In mice: hyperanemia of the lungs." "Can be absorbed through the skin causing systemic effects." "Do not flush to sewer."

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Benzyl Alcohol

Causes CNS disorders ..."irritating to the upper respiratory tract" ..."headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drop in blood pressure, CNS depression, and death in severe cases due to respiratory failure."

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Camphor

Causes CNS disorders. On EPA's Hazardous Waste list. Symptoms: "local irritant and CNS stimulant" ..."readily absorbed through body tissues" ..."irritation of eyes, nose, and throat" ..."dizziness, confusion, nausea, twitching muscles and convulsions". "Avoid inhalation of vapors."

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Chloroform

Neurotoxic. Anesthetic. Carcinogenic. on EPA's Hazardous Waste list. "Avoid contact with eyes, skin, clothing. Do not breathe vapors ...Inhalation of vapors may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, irritation of respiratory tract and loss of consciousness." "Inhalation can be fatal." "Chronic effects of overexposure may include kidney and/or liver damage." "Medical conditions generally aggravated by exposure: kidney disorders, liver disorders, heart disorders, skin disorders." "Conditions to avoid: Heat..." Listed on California's Proposition 65.

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Ethyl Acetate

Narcotic. On EPA's Hazardous Waste list. "...Irritating to the eyes and respiratory tract" ..."may cause headache and narcosis (stupor)" ..."may cause anemia with leukocytosis and damage to liver and kidneys". "Wash thoroughly after handling."

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Limonene

Carcinogenic. "Prevent its contact with skin or eyes because it is an irritant and sensitizer." "Always wash thoroughly after using this material and before eating, drinking ...applying cosmetics. Do not inhale limonene vapor."

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Linalool

Narcotic. Causes CNS disorders. ..."respiratory disturbances" ..."Attracts bees." "In animal tests: ataxic gait, reduced spontaneous motor activity and depression ...depressed heart activity ...development of respiratory disturbances leading to death."

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Pentane

"Danger - Harmful if inhaled ...Avoid breathing vapor." "Inhalation of vapors may cause headache, nausea, vomiting, dizziness, drowsiness, irritation of respiratory tract and loss of consciousness. Repeated inhalation of vapors may cause CNS depression. Contact can cause eye irritation. Prolonged exposure may cause dermatitis (skin rash)."

Most brands of dryer sheets, if you look at the directions, tell you to remove the sheet immediately from the dryer when the cycle is completed. One even goes so far as to state "do not let come in contact with clothes".

The dryer balls work wonders! And their products containing enviro-friendly anti-bacterial agents are a great alternative to chemicals. I love the idea of cleaning and not causing long term harm to all the beings in my house and the environment.

Fats Cats and Litter Boxes

To put it bluntly and honestly, my cats are, well, fat. My oldest as well as the biggest at 15 years old, Tiger, is 16 pounds, down from 22 pounds at his largest. Besides the health issues he's been dealing with due to his weight (I'll save that one for a different post - I swear, sometimes it feels as though I'm running a kitty nursing home), we encountered another issue: finding a moderately priced litter box that he could fit into. He's really tall, and has what I like to lovingly refer to as "power pees", where I can only imagine that he saves it until he's bursting at the seams, then releases it as quickly and forcefully as possible. Because of this, he tends to pee over the litter box if the lid is not on, and so forcefully when it is on that it flows freely through the seam, leaving a puddle behind and eventually underneath the box.

I swear, only my cats.

So, after having many eye-rolling teenage employees at various pet stores look at me with that "I hope I never turn out to be like her" glance as I thoroughly inspected each latch and depth on each litter box they had in stock (I entertained the idea of taking Tiger's bum-to-floor measurement and bringing measuring tape with me), and if by rare chance, I found one that was suitable, turning it down because I was not willing to spend $50 on a cat toilet (I'm nothing if not cheap), I gave up. I gave up and spent another couple of years scrubbing the varnish off the floors and the paint off the walls around the now symbol of my failure: the litter box. I thought to myself each and every time: "It shouldn't be this hard. There's got to be someone else out there with a tall, pain-in-the-ass, power-peeing cat". I would then, of course, immediately go and snuggle up with Tiger, guilt clouding over me, all the while telling him he's well worth the trouble and thankful once again that he cannot speak English. It was a vicious cycle.

Then one day, at the local hardware store, I was smacked in the face by a display of plastic totes. Tall enough to cover him right up, short enough for all of them to jump in and out of, and all for $4.99!

Insane with glee, I paid for those totes while chatting up the teenage cashier. And as I walked out the door, I looked back to see her eyes roll upward.

They've worked perfectly, and without a lid, I remember to clean them more often.

Sometimes, it's the little things.

De-furring the furniture

My husband and I's friends, a couple, always wear black. I always look for their expressions when they come over and are about to sit on the furniture. They give it a quick, hopefully unsuspecting, but fruitless sweep before they descend. And they always leave fuzzy and coated in white.

One summer, I worked as a house cleaner. A horrible and thankless job (I give SOOO much credit to house cleaners everywhere! You are a stronger person than I!), but I did leave with one piece of valuable knowledge: how to easily and effectively wipe fur off furniture. There are many vacuum cleaners on the market today that promise to soak out the fur, and although I have never spent the money on these products, I've never had to. The secret is this: a simple, dampened facecloth. Rub your furniture and the fur roles off in clumps.

Amazing and cheap!

These hot and lazy days

As we're in the midst of a hot and humid heat wave, my poor fur-coated, overweight and already prone to laziness boys are writhing on their backs on the floor, their fur waving in front of the fan. As we don't have air conditioning, I went out looking for a suitable water dish yesterday, one that would stop Tiger (with diabetes, so he's all over the water all the time) from quacking at me for fresh cold water every time I went into the kitchen. What I was really looking for was the beer mugs that you freeze, only bowls. You would think that SOMEONE out there would make these for such exotic, rare desserts like ice cream, right?

I've purchased two of the cat water fountains in the past, and found that unless you're using distilled water, these things become more of a nuisance than anything with all the lime and calcium build-up; bugs and fur in the water; and the cost of the replacement filters.

So after giving up completely, I went to the dollar store. I had an idea. I bought three tupperware-like containers that promised not to leak (and made in Canada-which was a bonus), returned home and filled them 3 quarters full of water. I then put the lids back on and stacked them in the freezer. When the water needs to be changed, I'm taking one of these out of the freezer, filling the last quarter with tap water and letting the ice melt while they drink.

So far, so good, although they were a little unnerved about the crackling of the melting ice at first; Cody ran away from it. But they seem to be getting used to it and I feel a lot less guilty about leaving them stuck up in a hot, stuffy house all day long.

Cheap and Easy Ways to Stimulate their senses

So we all know that keeping kitty entertained and active is important for her health, mind and happiness, right?
After spending countless dollars on toys and items that promised to be the cat's meow, no pun intended, here's the very simple, and very inexpensive, list of what I've found works to keep them stimulated when I am home and when I'm spending my days selfishly away from them at work:

1. Twist Ties. These things are amazing when it comes to playing fetch, or watching them bat it around. Cody knows the drawer that we keep them in and runs over with what we call his "squeak" meow (the same squeak he lets out with he sees a bird) at the sound of peeling one of them off the batch. These are great for self-entertainment, or tie a bunch of ends together and flick it against the floor to play with kitty. We rely on these so much that when I conduct my yearly take-the-stove-out-from-the-wall-to-clean-the-nastiness-behind-it day, I can be guaranteed to find at least 50 ties in amongst the fuzz.

2. In a long, somewhat shallow rubbermaid tote, plant cat grass, rye grass, lettuce and catnip, and place on the floor. In my house, the cat grass goes first and in fact, my kitties wont even let it grow before it's gone. These are all greens that kitties like and help with their digestive system. This also emulates being outdoors, which stimulates kitty's senses. As an added bonus, my cats now leave the rest of my house plants alone.

3. Make re-usable catnip bags (aka "slobber bags"). I was buying these regularly at $2-3 each, just to have them soaking in slobber an hour later and not touched again for a week. Then, feeling kind of disgusted that after sitting there for a week, collecting the fur balls from the corners of the room and crusty with dried saliva, my kitties were again chewing on them. So, if you have a sewing machine, grab a pair of old, thin clothing (say a pair of pajama pants that are starting to fall apart), sew up a little bag, and sew Velcro into the opening as the fastener. That way, you can empty the catnip, wash the bag and use it over and over again. If you knit or crochet, this works too, just make sure there's not too long of a string hanging from it the bag, so that you can be sure they wont swallow it. Nothing gets my kitties moving (or, uh, rolling on the floor) like these bags.

4. Put a bird feeder near a window where the kitties normally perch. I like to think of this as television for them. Or torture, whatever works.

Any other suggestions and tricks, and I would LOVE to hear them!

My cats wont stop peeing all over the house, and I still love them

So your little furry loved one keeps expressing...well, something...by his/her urine around the house and although she looks up at you with adorning eyes and cuddles with you while you sleep, you are at wits end, wanting to shake the reasons for the urination out of her. You want her to speak english and tell you why she is doing this, but at the same time you DON'T want her to speak english, as you don't really want to hear what she has to say when she witnesses you doing things in the privacy of your own home that you would never dare allow another human to witness (how many times my little boys have sat and watched me in my most humbling moments in the washroom, waiting in anticipation for that fascinating moment when the toilet flushes).

So you don't know what to do? Well, here's some tips from someone who feels your pain (and frustration!). Out of my 4 kitties (all boys), 2 of them like to 'express themselves' with their urine. There is nothing worse and more humiliating than sitting down on your couch before you realize it's been blessed. After reaching my breaking point and spending TONS of money on vet visits and products, i decided to put my techniques from years of working with developmentally challenged individuals into play.

So here's what you do, and it's going to take a lot of work and investigation:

1. IDENTIFY THE REASON
This is where all the time and work occurs. As you probably well know, there could be a THOUSAND reasons why kitty is doing this. What you need to do is narrow the problem down. First off, I suggest taking kitty to the vet for a check up to see if there's anything medically wrong. I'm going to assume that kitty is spayed or neutered (as any pet should be!), as unneutered male cats will spray around the house. Urinating around the house could be a sign of diabetes (especially if your kitty seems to be "leaking", rather than peeing and if kitty appears more lethargic than usual), or urinary tract infection, or anything really, plus 20 more diseases that humans can get.

If everything at the vets checks out, or if you'd rather investigate before going to the vet's office:
START A WORKSHEET - these are used in group homes and have proven to be quite effective. The idea behind these sheets is that the person (or in this case the kitty) is TRYING TO COMMUNICATE WITH YOU in the only way that she knows how.
So here goes, start the sheet out as follows:
A B C Record Sheet
A - Antecedent, or 'what happened right before they peed?' Any changes in the house, even minor? Visitors? Change in work times? Movement of furniture? etc. This could be a rather lengthy list until you start to notice a reoccurring pattern.
B - Behaviour, or 'what did kitty do?' Where did they pee? On what did they pee? Where did they pee? Was it right in front of you or did they try a sneak attack?
C - Consequence, or 'what did you do?' Did you scold them? Rub their nose in it? Ignore them? Clean the litter box?

Keep this chart going for a while until you notice a pattern. I've used them on my own kitties and eventually was able to identify that Jasper's picky about clothes left on the floor or untidy blankets on the couch as well as men in the home with deep voices (?), and Tiger is picky about my working overnight shifts, a less than clean litter box and overnight guests in general. This all took time to figure out, so please be patient with Kitty. And remember that they are trying to communicate something with you and don't know any other way of doing so.

Interesting side note: Humans will communicate with their bodily functions as well if they feel that they have no other means of doing so. For instance, in institutional settings (ie. jails and such), it is rather common for the acting out behaviour to involve feces when they feel that all other power has been stripped from them. Just be happy that you're not dealing with that!

2. Once you've Identified the Reason, CHANGE YOUR SURROUNDINGS.
If you've identified that kitty is urinating when you're not home for extended periods of time, play with them when you are home. It is more likely boredom than anything else. Create a kitty perch by one of your windows to keep them mentally stimulated while you're not home. Put a bird feeder right outside your window if possible. Leave the radio on when you go out, the sound of human voices is often comforting to a lonely cat.
If the reason is due to a full litter box, force yourself to clean it regularly. Some cats insist on it being cleaned up to 3 times a day. A lot of work, but much better than cleaning it off your couch!

3. CLEAN the urine spots well. Many cats don't like scented products and will urinate on top of them to cover it up. As well, cats like to pee on spots where they can smell that they've previously peed. I find that the only thing that works is diluted bleach. If you're worried about the colour in your fabric, either make it an extremely diluted amount, or use colour-safe bleach. I usually don't suggest chemicals, but seriously, this is the only cleaner that has ever worked in my home after spending sooo much money on other products. Beware of bleach though - keep them away from the area until it dries. As well, scrub the litter boxes with bleach and add new litter once dry.

An example of the ABC Record Sheet (Click to enlarge):


A few tips to remember:

Cats are not dogs. the Dog Whisperer techniques will not work on cats, as they are not pack animals. Do not try to show them who's boss, as it will likely lead to more acting out behaviour and possible aggression. Instead, as hard as it is when you're frustrated, try to look at their behaviour as communication, and then try to correct the situation as best as you can to make things easier on them.

Beware of some things your vet may 'offer' you. Like I said, I've spent thousands on trying to get Tiger to stop doing this (especially when it was a daily occurrence!). I've been sold the Felaway spray (which is supposed to mock feramone scent in cats and thereby make them feel relaxed). I sprayed it on my bed and within 10 minutes there was a fresh warm puddle, no joke! At $70 a bottle, you would hope that it would work better than that. I've also had Tiger on anti-depressants for an anxiety disorder (and yes, they make these for cats!). No result.

Cats do not like having their food near the litter box. Some are more sensitive to this than others. A Cat's sense of smell is stronger than a human's. How disgusted would you be eating in the same area that someone was taking a number 2?

Where they pee is just as important as the fact that they are peeing. Is it on the bed, on your side of the bed? This would obviously mean that the communication they are trying to make is with you and no one else; whereas if they peed on the couch in the living room, the communication is made to anyone who will listen.

And remember: YOU ARE ALL YOUR CAT HAS. You have your work, your friends, nights out, family, etc., but your cat has you and only you. This is the reason that any change in the house, regardless of how minor, can be so stressing on them. I try to remember it as this: I imagine if I woke up one day and my home was suddenly in Australia. Everything inside the house was the same, but as soon as i walked out that door everything was different. This would be the equivalent of something as simple as a furniture change to your cat; the world as they know it is suddenly turned upside down.

Your cat may, no matter what you do, still periodically urinate around the house. But if you identify the reason and take reasonable steps to correcting it, it will become less and less. My guys still do, but it's usually when I've been getting lazy about the litter box or use a new scented spray around the house. But I tell you - once every couple of months is much more tolerable than once a day like they were doing!

Let me know if these worked for you, or if you have any other suggestions, I'd love to hear them!
Good luck!