[r_nairtvm]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Ram, I posed the question to the big cat in my home (or rather I live in her home) and she has instructed me that she will make a pickle out of my snake and send it to you :-)

Thank God and Big Cat that you are still around!

Originally Posted by carboy

When cats are unwell, they reduce their food intake to minimum or even stop. Whenever my cat stops eating for more than 18 hours, I take him to the vet & within an hour of getting back, he starts eating.

Yes, most animals do this. My dogs used to go and eat a specific type of grass (the ones we offer to Lord Ganesh during pujas) from the yard when they are at this phase, and resume their normal food ones they are OK.

Best Regards & Drive Safe

Ram

[Sherlocked]

Just witnessed a heart breaking incident:
A pet dog got run over by a car near my locality just a while ago. Poor dog was lying down on his stomach, couldn't even move and stand. He was just breathing. The owner, a senior citizen was also in a state of shock. It even caused a huge pile up of cars as it was a narrow lane. But thankfully, at least half a dozen people offered to take the injured champ in their cars to a vet, and even in the pile up, no body honked or showed any restlessness. But looking at the poor fellow lying in that state sure made my eyes wet, even as I write this.
Hope, he recovers fast.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by digitalnirvana

Sorry to hear that blackasta. I pray she pulls through, but it sounds grim. Hopefully it is not parvo

The vet suggested that thankfully it's not parvo. Although it is sheerly my negligence that I procastinated on getting her vaccinated, which is the first thing I shall do once she gets fit.

She is still on IV (twice daily), but can now get up on all fours, walk and drink on her own. The diarrhoea is still there, but the vomiting has stopped.

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

......Amen. I am a dog guy wanna be but the big cat in my life doesn't like dog, cats or birds so I am a fish guy. Maybe I should ask her about snakes

You know Narayan, like most folks in this thread - each with his/her affiliation - we too have had pets for a while now (boxers in our case). And most of us are familiar with the mongoose & snakes scenario at first hand. And this is the first time I am reading about the cats & snakes analogy! This is why I love this thread - one learns a good deal about how the other half lives!

[digitalnirvana]

@blackasta don't beat yourself up over it. We all make mistakes and look back in agony. You are a good person in taking care of them. Hopefully once she is stable get her and her siblings vaccinated. Rooting for her and for you to succeed!

[ninjatalli]

Cat slaves,
Is there any litter material that I can just throw into the garden/soil after it has been used extensively? Or any eco-friendly local soil based litter available?

Or if you have been able to get your cat(s) to accept natural soil as a litter material, please do let me know how you went about it.

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Or if you have been able to get your cat(s) to accept natural soil as a litter material ... ... ...

Cats will accept whatever they accept! Or what they are given as kittens and get used to.

I do not recommend natural soil. Indoor cat-litter is a rather disgusting thing, but litter technology does help. It seems to be quite good at smell masking, so long as the cats are good at actually burying. It clumps together and restricts spread, making it easier to remove as pieces when necessary. Natural soil/sand is just going to turn into a tray full of disgusting mud.

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Cats will accept whatever they accept! Or what they are given as kittens and get used to.

My question was not with respect to what is better for my cats. They have been happily using the different brands of litter I have got; including a eco-friendly (I think that used shredded paper pellets mix) that I could source back in the US.

It's a pet peeve (heh) of mine that I have to throw out a few kilos of used litter every few weeks; if I could do anything better (ecologically) on that.

Option 1: I get litter that is safe to use in my garden (or are all litters ok to be mixed back with the soil since the primary component is clay and silica)
Option 2: I use a soil based or a mixed option that can be safe to go back in my garden

Back in Bombay we lived in a flat in the middle of the urban city so the soil aspect never came up. But since here we have a large garden, so why not if possible.

[Thad E Ginathom]

I understand your requirement, just pointing out why soil would not be a good choice indoors. Apart from answering that specific point, I'm afraid I only have a "I don't know" for you! <Blush>

<off at a tangent>

Are your cats likely to become garden cats? Mind you, I used to have an elderly cat that spent all day outside, but would come in to use the cat litter tray. Frustrati:

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

Apart from answering that specific point, I'm afraid I only have a "I don't know" for you! <Blush>

Lol - that's fine. Google baba is being very vague; only references I could find are somewhere in a different continent entirely.

Are your cats likely to become garden cats?

Don't think so, and am not sure I want to.

Back in 2014, we had a semi-indoor cat who could (or so we thought) handle his place outdoors so we let him go outside. He did well for a while but then we lost him in an accident that we had no control of.

These two are fully indoor cats; and I seriously doubt they will be manageable or could handle an outdoor life. Maybe a few year(s) later once they become more docile and less active (as elderly cats do).

[Thad E Ginathom]

Originally Posted by ninjatalli

Don't think so, and am not sure I want to.

I think that is wise. Even in London cats die in road accidents. Here in Chennai (Don't know how this compares with Mumbai) they have more and worse hazards. I have lost two out of a family of three kittens this year to dog attacks, and I have lost cats to both traffic and (strongly suspected) tribals.

My cats all came from the outdoors. They are now happy, though, to spend many hours of the day indoors. My wife is getting more accepting of this. My equation is that the more time they spend indoors, the less time they are in potential danger.

Next time (err, there isn't going to be a next time!), I might be able to persuade my wife to let the pregnant cat give birth indoors. But... actually, she was still pretty-much an outdoor stray then.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by blackasta

The vet suggested that thankfully it's not parvo. Although it is sheerly my negligence that I procastinated on getting her vaccinated, which is the first thing I shall do once she gets fit.

She is still on IV (twice daily), but can now get up on all fours, walk and drink on her own. The diarrhoea is still there, but the vomiting has stopped.

Good news is that both vomiting and the diarrhoea have stopped since yesterday morning. The dehydration is almost 90% gone.
She is now able to retain the fluids passed on via IV.
Also, she is drinking ORS water, able to take and retain oral medication, and has taken clear chicken broth this afternoon.
Have to still keep her in quarantine and under medication for another few more days before she can be let out on her own.

Looks like she's dodged the bullet this time !

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by blackasta

Good news is that both vomiting and the diarrhoea have stopped since yesterday morning. The dehydration is almost 90% gone.
She is now able to retain the fluids passed on via IV.
Also, she is drinking ORS water, able to take and retain oral medication, and has taken clear chicken broth this afternoon.
Have to still keep her in quarantine and under medication for another few more days before she can be let out on her own.

Looks like she's dodged the bullet this time !

That's good going! And the vet's advice is sacrosanct - never forget giving the vaccination shot(s) in time/

[ninjatalli]

Originally Posted by Thad E Ginathom

My equation is that the more time they spend indoors, the less time they are in potential danger.

In my opinion, that's the best combination. They know the outside world from birth; and they appreciate the benefits they get indoors from us.

We have a third (local) cat who is exactly in that setup here at Chennai. Although he's lost a few "benefits" thanks to the two indoor cats who have well and truly occupied the house

Next time (err, there isn't going to be a next time!), I might be able to persuade my wife to let the pregnant cat give birth indoors. But... actually, she was still pretty-much an outdoor stray then.

haha - that's an interesting experience, especially once the kiddos open their eyes and start moving around! Have had the joys (and the pains) of experiencing that!

[shashanka]

Originally Posted by esoticoreventon

Hello all. I'm taking Caesar, my golden retriever on a single day trip. Would have preferred to leave him at home, but I can't leave him so taking him along. I'll just be traveling from Chennai to Ambur and back again and the round trip would be around 300 Kms. Any precautions to be taken? Will have to buy the doggie seat belt tomorrow. I'm planning on taking a break every 90 minutes. The weather shouldn't be too hot as it's December. He has arthritis and has been adviced rest, but he is improving a lot. Please suggest any other pointers.

Hello escoticoreventon (that's a real mouthful...is it ok if I shortened it to escoti), We've been travelling with our pets for over a decade now and for fairly long distances, Mumbai-Lucknow (1300+ km) & back many times over the years. We made sure that they got a chance to relieve themselves every couple of hours or so - their restlessness is a giveaway of their discomfort. And also lots of water along the way. The one real worry is if the pets are not good travelers, in which they will get nauseous after a while. I don't know about Caesar, but we have been fortunate - none of ours suffers from travel sickness.
Don't worry, just go along - your one-way travel distance is small (150 km) & should be a good pointer for the future.