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Cat Forum / Health and Behavior / April 2004Feces or vomit?
Hi all, I just woke up only to find that my 4 year old cat, Cherub, left something on my bed while I was asleep. It's shaped kind-of like feces, although flatter, smells like cat food, and has hair in it (coughing up a hair-ball maybe?) and is light/medium brown. Right now, I feed him Purina Happy Cat. His litter box is cleaned out pretty much everyday (I live in a small apartment, so I don't want him to stink it up. lol) so it's clean, not full at all. I did put a liner in his litter-box, and since then he scratches around looking for a spot in his litter-box, and jumps out and scratches everywhere else after having not done his business in the box. I'm confused. We moved one week ago and since the move, he seems to be already completely adjusted and comfortable, or so I think. lol If it were feces it would probably smell like it right? the shape is what's really throwing me off. Perhaps it only looks solid because it sat there for a few hours? lol sorry for all the questions.. just trying to understand what my kitty did. This is unlike him, although, 3 years ago, twice, he urinated on my brand-new bed, and hasn't done anything like that since. hmm.. All replies would help and be greatly appreciated=) Thanks, Lee-Anna > I just woke up only to find that my 4 year old cat, Cherub, left something > on my bed while I was asleep. It's shaped kind-of like feces, although > flatter, smells like cat food, and has hair in it (coughing up a hair-ball > maybe?) and is light/medium brown. Yep, that's a hairball. No biggie there. Recommend feeding your cat a hairball control formula, particularly Iams or Science Diet. One of the premium brands that you find at groomer shops (eg, natural life) works good if you can afford it. (Don't mind me, I'm put off by Purina when I looked at the indoor cat formula and found the first ingredient to be 'cellulose', which is something they use to make particle board and such. Also, the liner could be throwing your cat off - cats tend not to like the noise they make. Makes it more inconvient in the long run, but at least kitty isn't using everything else as a litterbox, no? =^^=  SignatureDennis Carr - ke6isf@spamcop.net | I may be out of my mind, http://www.dennis.furtopia.org | But I have more fun that way. ------------------------------------+------------------------------- Dennis Carr <ke6isf@spamcop.net> wrote in message > (Don't mind me, I'm put off by Purina when I > looked at the indoor cat formula and found the first ingredient to be > 'cellulose', which is something they use to make particle board and such. Cellulose isn´t exactly bad. It´s one of the major constituents of the cell wall of plants. Paper is cellulose. Anyway, every time you eat a fruit or a vegetable, you´re ingesting plenty of it. The thing about cellulose is that it is not digestible, it goes straight through. If kitty doesn´t have a problem with fibers, cellulose won´t do any harm. It´s even better over corn because corn is digested and is nothing but carbohydrates and kitties do not need carbs. The good idea about cellulose for indoor cats is that it has no calories so the kitty won´t put on weight - or at least shouldn´t. Yet I don´t like feeding cats that much fiber so I wouldn´t be crazy about a food with cellulose either. (...) > Cellulose isn´t exactly bad. It´s one of the major constituents of the > cell wall of plants. Paper is cellulose. Anyway, every time you eat a > fruit or a vegetable, you´re ingesting plenty of it. It (or variations thereof) is also added to various human foods, as a thickener. Wrt hairballs, I didn't find the hairball formula (dry) foods any more effective than feeding a mostly wet food diet. Steve. > (...) > > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > > Steve. Wet is definitively much better over dry! Really? I for some reason thought that dry was better for kitties. Better in general? or better to prevent hairballs? > > (...) > > > [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > Wet is definitively much better over dry! circa Sun, 11 Apr 2004 00:57:02 -0400, in rec.pets.cats.health+behav, Lee-Anna (sweetie_pie_105@hotmail.com) said, > Really? I for some reason thought that dry was better for kitties. > Better in general? or better to prevent hairballs? For years, people (including veterinarians) espoused dry food as being better than canned. However, long-term studies have shown the opposite to be the case. I've even seen theories that wet food is better for cats' teeth than dry because it's not as full of "filler" that promotes tooth decay. Regardless of whether or not wet *is* better for cats' teeth (and my cats' teeth look better with a primarily wet diet than they did with dry), wet food is much better in terms of moisture content and lack of filler material. Cats are also less likely to be obese with a wet diet, in my experience. Laura SignatureI am Dyslexia of Borg, Your a.s will be laminated. > For years, people (including veterinarians) espoused dry food as > being better than canned. However, long-term studies have shown the [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > in terms of moisture content and lack of filler material. Cats are > also less likely to be obese with a wet diet, in my experience. While all of this makes sense, and as I have posted, our fat girl is losing weight on canned food, my experience has included a cat that was fed nothing but dry (Science Diet) for her last 16 years of life. She died at age 20 and still had all of her teeth. (One had a small chip.) And, she was always at her ideal weight, although free-fed, and had no health problems at all her entire life. None. Her daughter, who also lived to be 20, had lost most of her teeth by age 15, and had been fed nothing but wet food. Neither cat had professional dental care. Having said all of that, I think that heredity plays at least as big a role in cats' lives as it does in ours, with regard to health and longevity. Maybe Gnarly's daughter Penny inherited her Papa cat's bad gums? She certainly did not inherit her mother's horrid disposition, so maybe. She was a sweet, sweet cat and I was pissed when my sister nonchalantly said "oh, Penny is missing a fang." I thought she should have noticed if she had dental problems. But that is another story. > Really? I for some reason thought that dry was better for kitties. > Better in general? or better to prevent hairballs? I didn´t know about preventing hairballs, just learned it from Steve. It´s better in general because usually it contains less carbohydrates (sometimes no carbohydrates at all) and lots of water which helps prevent urinary problems such as stones or crystals. Canned with no carbs such as Felidae is also perfect for cats with diabetes since blood glucose will not rise above normal if no carbohydrates are ingested - therefore, insulin wouldn´t even be necessary. The only problem with canned in my experience is that it favors tartar buildup so you have two choices: either brush your kitty´s teeth or give them a raw chicken wing every day. Just a note: if anyone has a cat with diabetes on insulin, do not change his food without veterinary supervision. > > news@stevethepsycho.co.uk (Steve G) wrote in message > news:<5c585d09.0404101201.42b01e7b@posting.google.com>... [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > > > > Wet is definitively much better over dry! If it smells like cat food and there is hair in it...its a hairball. peace, pam "Enjoy every second of your life...it may end at any time and you may come back as some loser with bad taste." -my friend JoeyJojo ***notice spam blocker*** >Right now, I feed him Purina Happy Cat. >His litter box is cleaned out pretty much everyday (I live in a small >apartment, so I don't want him to stink it up. lol) Just a suggestion, but have you ever thought of switching food? I'm asking because I used to feed Happy Cat (or Meow Mix) years ago...one day I realized that when the cats would throw up, it would leave a red-orange stain that *nothing* would get out of the carpet. Looking at the food, it's so brightly colored it's unreal. I figured all that dye couldn't be good for them. I switched back then to Nutro and couldn't *believe* the difference in the litterbox...much less volume and less stinky! (there are lots of premium brands besides Nutro, too),If you have to stick to grocery-store brands, Purina One is better than Happy Cat. Just a suggestion, but I still remember how amazed I was at the difference. (that was pre-internet days, I've since learned a lot :-) Sherry It's a hairball. Seems like a bit of a misnomer when you look at it. ;-) Cathy -- "Staccato signals of constant information..." ("The Boy in the Bubble") Paul Simon > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Lee-Anna From your description, it's probably a "hairball" - not really a ball, but more tubular in shape. Also, you mentioned that it smells like cat food, has hairs - a perfect hairball! I don't think your kitty has a problem with going outside the litterbox - she just had to barf up the hair/food blockage, and your bed was handy. Keep an eye on her, brush frequently, and keep us posted. Jim > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Lee-Anna Thank-you all for your help. Actually, where I moved, I now have a nice Pet Store just a two minute walk away, so my intentions were on changing his food to something better for his health=) I actually wondered if feeding a cat something like Happy Cat, or Meow Mix was the equivalent to feeding one a BigMac from Mc.Donalds. lol I guess it is after-all! ehehe I was worried that this would become a routine, doing his business on my bed if that's what it was. lol =) I'm very happy that I found this group =) You are all very helpful! Thanks again! Also, which formulas would you recommend feeding a 4 year old male cat? =) I feel silly, but I'm not familiar with what ingredients are good or bad, so I am happy to be able to turn to you all to increase my knowledge on kitty products=) Lee-Anna > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Lee-Anna >Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > >Lee-Anna Sounds like a typical hairball. Try giving him some Femalt, Petromalt or similar hairball remedy. Iams has dry food with hairbsll remedy which works well. Do you brush or comb him regularly? It helps prevent such big hairballs. Do you have Vet checks regularly? Hey all! Again, thank-you for all of your help=) I have replaced my kitties food with a house brand of cat food from the Pet Value store near me. It's for Hairball control and weight management (he eats too much) =) he loves it=) He's weird, prefers chicken over seafood. lol so chows down on it often and seems to be happy and fur-ball-less. lol haha Also, a quick question, I just moved into a one bedroom apartment from a 2 storey house, (we've lived in an apartment before, and he did the same thing) and he seems to be taking it quite poorly.. in other words, every chance he gets, he tries to make a mad-dash for the hallway and I give up, let him make a run for it, but he stops only 10 feet from my door, lays on the floor staring around, so I bring him back in, and he goes right back to it.. lol or at night, will sit at the door, cry and paw at the door forever. lol Any tips on how to distract him? The only thing that seems to work is giving him wet food (Whiskas Chicken).. like I said, he loooooves chicken. At night, I bring him to bed, he lays down for a bit, and I wake up to him pawing yet again. Help! I don't like sleepless nights! hehe Thanks=) Lee-Anna > Hi all, > [quoted text clipped - 21 lines] > > Lee-Anna |
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