Topic: Ken is behaving weirdly (Read 4302 times)

Michelle (furbabystar) · « **Reply #21 on:** January 22, 2011, 22:31:52 PM »

Quote from: tab on January 22, 2011, 21:55:56 PM

Very sorry if Ive offended and if you wnat me to go I will
love
Tab

Don't be so silly you big plonker

Kirst · « **Reply #20 on:** January 22, 2011, 22:08:26 PM »

Of course we don't Tab - everyone has different points of view and I guess sometimes we forget that not everyone is as clued up as we are and not everyone knows just how many unwanted cats and kittens are out there. Idf we can inform without judging and offending then Purrs is doing what it is meant to.

tab · « **Reply #19 on:** January 22, 2011, 21:55:56 PM »

In a way I agree with the OP. I knew nothing about cats when I got my first cat Mogs. I know I made a load of mistakes like bringing Amber in, plonking her in front of Mogs and saying hey heres a friend.
Over the years of being on cat chat and then purrs Ive 'met' (both personally and internetly) some wonderful people and learnt so much.
I think some times peeps dont realise how little people know about subjects. I mean yeah ok you might have said the same thing 10 times but if it wasnt to me how am I supposed to know?

A little lee way is a great thing. Obviously if an OP is an obvious spammer or winder upper (cant think of a good term) thats one thing but as a forum maybe we should give people the doubt of being ignorant. Just cos you know something doesnt mean that everyone else knows or beleives the same things....

Very sorry if Ive offended and if you wnat me to go I will
love
Tab

JackSpratt · « **Reply #18 on:** January 22, 2011, 16:23:10 PM »

Can I just get this back on track now? I think the point's been made re: allowing breeding but the point to this thread is concern for Ken and I really hope that the OP returns to let us know how he got on.

Michelle (furbabystar) · « **Reply #17 on:** January 22, 2011, 12:59:37 PM »

I am glad godmanchester asked for 3 forms of ID, good on that shelter as it shows they are doing their job correctly. I cannot believe you found this too much effort !

And just to ask ....

How are you going to let your females become pregnant ?
Just let them out to become pregnant by the local FIV tomcat ?

I stand by what I said it my first post, I find your actions irresponsible...

Susanne (urbantigers) · « **Reply #16 on:** January 22, 2011, 11:17:24 AM »

I do hope the OP does come back, or is at least reading this, and can eventually understand why people on here feel angry when someone says they are allowing their cats to have a litter. Many on here deal daily with the heartache (not to mention the financial burden) of unwanted cats and kittens. It sounds as though you've had a bad experience in the past with rescues but they are not all like that. Naturally rescues need to be sure the cats are going to the right home otherwise they could end up back in rescue or being abandoned. I came up against a bit of a brick wall (and a few unpleasant people) when I was looking for rescue kittens 13 years ago, esp as I wanted indoor cats. But I eventually found a suitable rescue and adopted 2 kittens. If all the relatives who want a kitten adopted a rescue cat that would be 9 cats less in rescue. Where there's a will there's a way.

re Ken - I can completely understand that worry about taking an older cat to the vet for fear of what you will be told. But it does sound like a thyroid problem which, as you know, is treatable.

As to the kittens - who is going to be the father if the males are being neutered when they are 6 months? Do you hava a male cat lined up or are you going to just let them go out and mate with any random tom? I hope not the latter as any random tom out there is as likely as not to be FIV+ and may well pass that on to your girls. And I have to comment on your mention of rescues charging a fortune - believe me, it will cost you more to let your girls have kittens (if you do it right) than it will to get a cat from a rescue. And if there are problems you could be looking at hundreds of pounds for vet treatment.

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #15 on:** January 22, 2011, 11:00:10 AM »

Quote from: trigger on January 22, 2011, 10:39:21 AM

I too would like to see far less kittens born into this world, and far more cats taken out of rescues, but the way this forum is being policed these days has - for me - stripped the heart from it

Please explain what you mean

Kay and Penny · « **Reply #14 on:** January 22, 2011, 10:39:21 AM »

I'm afraid I agree with the original poster

I too would like to see far less kittens born into this world, and far more cats taken out of rescues, but the way this forum is being policed these days has - for me - stripped the heart from it

sanctimoniousness rarely achieves its object

JenGeorgieBob · « **Reply #13 on:** January 22, 2011, 10:06:42 AM »

Apologies for being sanctimonious...

JackSpratt · « **Reply #12 on:** January 22, 2011, 09:46:23 AM »

High horses? Sorry, this has got to be said.....every day a large number of these people watch kittens no older than six months either die or be PTS because a home can't be found. Sometimes the cats are even younger, and an old cat has massive difficulty finding a home. Peoples opinions on your allowing your kittens to breed was made abundantly clear last time you posted about it; maybe you should have taken that on board and refrained from mentioning them if you didn't want polite responses steering you away from the idea. There's a whole post on the dangers a female is exposed to if she isn't spayed; and some of those dangers increase with every season she comes in to. I apologise if this is abrupt, but the number of cats needing homes are rising rapidly and any kitten born purposely is taking a home away from another that already exists and needs somewhere. Yes, rescues do checks, but surely you can understand that is necessary to ensure a safe home? And I agree that some rescues charge too high an adoption fee, but if you look long enough you'll find one that is reasonable and understands that sounding out a person is more important that money.

With regards to Ken, good luck at the vets. He sounds an awesome old man and I'm sure a lot of folk on here were sad to read you weren't going to post again as we wouldn't find out how he went at the vets. (I didn't realise you meant Woody and not Ken when you said the vets might say it was his age. It might well be, but it doesn't mean they'll say the same. I think it's a natural worry though, that we all get when our cats get older. We're scared of the inevitable "there's nothing we can do to help" conversation.)

Again, apologies if this sounds like I'm judging you. It's more that I've become very involved in raising awareness in the last few years of overbreeding in companion animals and the number of cats and dogs being PTS purely because no homes can be found and there aren't any rescue spaces is horrifying. If you need actual figures to illustrate the matter I'm sure I can get them from one of the rescues.

The GFP · « **Reply #11 on:** January 22, 2011, 01:30:22 AM »

some of the replies here are not very nice and are rude

i said "partially i dont want to take him there in case they say he is ill and is too old to do anything about it like last time" that does not mean i wont take him that means im not looking forward to being told again that there is nothing they can do and just to let nature take its course

i will be taking Ken to the vets but i meant that last time with Woody they said he was too old to do anything

Also when i wanted kittens i went to 4 local shelters and found that it was easier to get a mortgage than it was to get a kitten, wood green in godmanchester were very cold and uncaring and wanted 3 sets of bills with my details on before they would even consider letting me have any and in general ive found 3 of the 4 local places to be overly unhelpful

I know this forum is based around shelters & re-homing but to be constantly told to not let my cats have kittens is not very helpful, ive had lots of friendly advice here and also a lot of people telling me to goto shelters, yes shelters do a great job but they also charge a fortune and treat you with suspicion and like a criminal for wanting to take home and look after a cat or cats that others have discarded

the underlying attitude here by more than a few is not nice when i dare mention letting my cats have kittens so im not coming back which is a real shame as i came here to share my life long love of cats and some treat me like im a trying to do harm to cats, i came here to talk about cats not be lectured to by people, ive lived with cats for 38 years and take the utmost care of them

i suggest you ring wood green godmanchester and see how you think their attitude is when enquiring about cats

really some need to come down of your high horses

snarf · « **Reply #10 on:** January 21, 2011, 18:22:23 PM »

Quote from: The GFP on January 20, 2011, 20:45:47 PM

and so they all have homes as between them they want 9 kittens (my brother wants 4 & next door want 2)

I think its not very well known by the general public but many cats are put to sleep by rescues that just cannot find homes for them. i remember a story awhile ago about the RSPCA putting to sleep litters of black kittens as homes could not be found for them. So its not just a case of other cats needing homes, its life or death and if more people neutered their pets, so many would not needlessly die

I think you also need to research the birth complications and costs that you might face- c sections may be required and complications arent uncommon that result in death ( of kittens and/or mums). its not something i would have known about before getting involved in rescue

Re Ken, Sounds like Hyperthyroid to me too, its not expensive to treat and a blood test to diagnose

Gill (sneakiefeline) · « **Reply #9 on:** January 21, 2011, 14:42:17 PM »

I have to agree with the others........this is a forum dedicated to rescue and the amount of cats and kittens that need homes are plenty sufficient for your family and friends to rehome from the many that need good homes.

Gillian Harvey · « **Reply #8 on:** January 20, 2011, 21:56:59 PM »

Quote from: The GFP on January 20, 2011, 20:45:47 PM

i know about the thyroid problems as my family have them too

another vet visit, partially i dont want to take him there in case they say he is ill and is too old to do anything about it like last time

If you know about thyroid problems then you know they are treatable. Untreated hyperthryoidism can result in high blood pressure and heart failure, so you definitely need to get him to the vet for a check.

I agree with the others about neutering both the males and females asap.

Michelle (furbabystar) · « **Reply #7 on:** January 20, 2011, 21:03:49 PM »

Well I'm not sorry if I sound harsh.....
You won't take your cat to the vet because you are worried it's ill ......YOU ARE JOKING ????
You are totally failing that cat by not at least trying to get it the treatment it so rightly deserves.
If your cat is suffering from Thyroid it could easily be managed with medication !

And secondly ....
You are going to breed your kittens because you know people who want one ??
Let them go and get a kitten from a rescue....for goodness sake man, what is wrong with you !!

Feline Costumier · « **Reply #6 on:** January 20, 2011, 20:57:55 PM »

I don't want to come across in any way harsh or rude but.........................

Your cat needs to see a vet, regardless of your own fears to let him suffer isn't fair on him. What if it turns out to be something treatable at the moment but because you've left it he ends up going downhill to the point of no return all for the want of a trip to the vet?

As for the kitten breeding. Well, you only have to look in the rehoming section here or talk to any rescue to know that there are many more cats and kittens that there are homes. By allowing your girls to have litters you are depriving others of much needed homes. Factor in the health risks to your cats (there are no benefits in allowing them to have one litter), then this is also irresponsible.

Lastly, male cats can become sexually mature very early and your boys could very easily get one of your girls pregnant now. Your girls are too young and small to carry a litter safely and of course there is the risk of birth defects if this did happen.

I know you can't have the kittens done yet and until they are of age they should be indoors and separate.

It's the responsible thing to do as a pet owner.

JackSpratt · « **Reply #5 on:** January 20, 2011, 20:56:11 PM »

If you're unhappy with your vet, go to a different one. Seriously, a 16 year old cat that is losing weight despite eating needs a check up.

With regards to the kittens, the vet's wrong. (I don't say that often. But in this case I know it to be true.) My youngest two had their ops at 5 months and I've known cats come into sexual maturity at 4 months. (A female who started calling - if that happens to you, your boys WILL take advantage of the situation.)

I'm sure your kittens and Ken are loved; we'd love to see the videos of them.

Janeyk · « **Reply #4 on:** January 20, 2011, 20:55:07 PM »

Yep definitely sounds like it could be thyroid and can be quite easily treated but definitely needs checking out and sorting. Do let us know how things go.

The GFP · « **Reply #3 on:** January 20, 2011, 20:45:47 PM »

i know about the thyroid problems as my family have them too

another vet visit, partially i dont want to take him there in case they say he is ill and is too old to do anything about it like last time

as for the shmittens the vets said they cant do the boys until they are 6 months old which will be feb 15th 2011 and the girls are going to have 1 litter each and then have the op as ive got family that want kittens and so they all have homes as between them they want 9 kittens (my brother wants 4 & next door want 2)

everyone who comes to my house are amazed at how well they shmittens have grown and how friendly they are considering they were from wild farm cats and how well ken gets on with them as he washes them and occasionally plays with them

i video them all the time and have 100's of photos already and have a film of all 4 kittens fighting (quite roughly at one point) then they all fall asleep on each other almost instantly, its hilarious

JackSpratt · « **Reply #2 on:** January 20, 2011, 07:26:02 AM »

Ken needs a vet visit. With his age and that behaviour it's possibly a few things but the one that sprang to mind is hyperthyroidism. Basically, it's possible he'll need a blood panel to confirm that.....good luck with him!

And the kittens sound lovely. Hope you're keeping them separate if they're still unneutered though.

The GFP · « **Reply #1 on:** January 20, 2011, 03:54:57 AM »

Hello, firstly the kittens are now 5.5 months old and are flourishing and the two males are massive espically the ginger one as he seems to hoover up every morsel of food that the others leave

The 2 girls are very slim and have very long tails and very large ears compared to the boys

Anyway back to my point

Ken the 16.5 year old male ginger cat is now behaving very strangley in the last month, all his life he got 2 pouch of food (felix 100g pouches) a day and for 16 years was fine

as the kittens need feeding 3 times a day we feed them at midnight, 8am & 5pm

now we feed him 3 pouches a day as he occasionally leaves food for later but the kittens eat it so he might be loosing 1/4 a pouch a day at the most so he is still getting 1 to 3/4 of a pouch a day more plus the kittens have dry, wet, dry as their 3 meals a day so there is always iams in their bowls for him to nibble on

but he is getting skinny and he rear half seems to be getting boney (he was always a fat cat)

now ill feed him and he will eat 90% of it then ill go in the kitchen an hour later and he is meowing for food so i shush him out and say NO

then every time for the next few hours he will act like he wants food when he can not be hungry

it seems since we have started feeding him more he has got skinny & wants food all the time

he was wormed about 2 months ago with the kittens, ive changed his food to senior pouches too

basically he is being a pain in the ass all day every day

any ideas

Author Topic: Ken is behaving weirdly (Read 4302 times)