I Have Six Fasting Cats and Don't Think I'll Survive the Night

[REP]

Four of my cats are going to be sterilized tomorrow, and they have to fast overnight. The other two don't have to be fasted, but I don't have any place to keep them separate, so they're fasting, too. I'm afraid to go to sleep ... they may be domestic, but they never stop being carnivorous hunters ...

[derrald]

1. lol

stick vinegar around you as you sleep, cats run from the smell of vinegar like a fly away from lavender.

[SOteric]

2. ...and nevermind those dreams

about turning into a giant kosher dill.

[Dookus]

3. uh oh...

hide the knives, lock your door and prop a chair against it.

[inthecorneroverhere]

4. I know...meow, meow, meow, meow!

Just pick up the food bowls and ignore them. Close the door between you and THEM.

I promise you, they won't eat you. You'll never hear the end of the whining though, unless you close the door and shut them out. :silly:

They're gonna whine, until they go into the hands of the Vet Tech.

[REP]

7. There is No Door To Close!

We all live in a large studio. Where I am, they are. They're asleep for the moment.

[Lady President]

5. No advice,

but much sympathy. I have two cats and a fly in the house and that's enough to make me almost insane. I think you're probably just going to have to catch up on your sleep tomorrow.

And, a big :thumbsup: for having your babies fixed!!

[baffie]

6. About your fly friend ....

You didn't ask, but I'll share because I hate to think of you suffering that way, and you can tell me to shut up if you want... Just a little anecdote FWIW...

I had a huge number of flies in my house a couple of years ago, which I couldn't kill because 1) I can't be around insecticides - it reduces my functioning ability for several days, and 2) if I smacked them my cats would freak out, and one of them was sick so I couldn't risk traumatizing him.

But they were driving me crazy.

A friend suggested I chant Nam Myoho Renge Kyo that the flies would leave. I was desperate so I tried it. Then I thought, "OK, now they're going to grow arms and open the door and leave? Yeah, right."

The next day, all of the flies were gathered on two different windows. I opened those windows, and they left. Ever since, if there is a fly in my house, it sits on the window until I let it out.

Again, FWIW...

[BritishHuman]

12. I haven't killed a fly for ages....

Flies only have a really simple brain - a few thousand stimulus-response pairs at best. I figured out several years ago that you can herd them out of a window by waving your arms around in the right way; since then I've honed my technique so that I can usually get them out in one go.


I must look like a complete dick while I'm doing it, though.

:hi: :hi: :hi:

[Rhiannon12866]

8. I applaud you also for having your kitties neutered

There are too many kitties looking for homes, some even on DU. I am just replying to sympathize. I have two dogs. It seems that one or the other is always at the vet's, needing dental work, X-Rays or tests. It is impossible to fast one without fasting the other. If one is not allowed water after 10pm, I have to pick up both dishes. My boy prefers to drink out of any other dish than his, anyway. I also have a cat. Anyway, I have been through this, numerous times, and you just have to harden your heart for about half a day and tell yourself that you're doing it for them, which you are. They will be so much better off and I am trying to make sure my guys remain healthy. Sometimes, though, I will slip the one not facing the tests a little something, or put down the water dish. I just make sure that the other one is asleep, as I would never take chances. Good luck and Godspeed!:hi:

[REP]

9. I'm a Veteran Sterilizer

I have had countless cats speutered; it's just that I haven't had to do mass fastings and speuterings for a while! The last time I had new (and fertile) cats, I had a bigger place! My Siamese, who doesn't have to go but it is fasting with the rest, is complaining her head off about it.

I'm a big believer in sterilization - I had my own tubes tied last year, and I'm having an ablation in two weeks. Unfortunately, the girl cats require more radical surgery, but at least I'm not lying when I tell them I've had it done to me.

[REP]

10. Shameless Kick

Because I've been up all night with these hungry cats!

[ronnykmarshall]

11. So it's morning now....

How did you survive the nigth?

Rep? Rep? Are you there?? OH MY GOD!!! THE CATS ATE REP!!!!!!!

:crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy::crazy:

[Rhiannon12866]

13. Not only that, but you shared your incredible expertise

about animals, for half the night, with a poor guy who was trying to rescue an injured skunk!:o

You are the best, REP, and I hope your kitties are all okay, and you! They are lucky little furbabies to have found you and we are all fortunate to have you on this board!:D

[Rhiannon12866]

15. I enjoyed this

So it deserves another
:kick:

[WillParkinson]

14. Uh-oh...

For thou art crunchy and taste good with ketchup.

Hope it all goes well! I hope my kitty doesn't cause too much trouble.

[TEXASYANKEE]

16. REP - Are you there?

Hopefully your kitties came through the surgeries with flying colors. Being the slave of 4 female cats, I've been through the fasting process a time or two (or, even worse, having them all on prescription ((ie, tasteless)) food because I can't feed one cat the blah stuff and the rest of them the tasty stuff) so you have my sympathy. I hope the news is good today.

[Rhiannon12866]

19. I'm going to have to go through this next week

I only have one cat, but she needs dental work and will have to be fasted because they will anesthetize her. I'm going to feel really horrible when I do this because I rescued this little girl from the outside after feeding her for a few months. She was abandoned and so very hungry, so I always make sure that she has plenty to eat.:-(

[indigo32]

17. I'm sure it is was a long night LOL

I DO sympathize. But what your doing is important and I applaud you for it. :)

[m_h_lovecraft]

18. Always with a salacious eye

I'm pretty sure my cat, a Bengal (not the tiger, the domestic shorthair) is always sizing me, my wife or the dog up as a potential crisis meal. I always feel lucky that she's a small animal, because the way she practices a by-the-back-of-the-neck take down on the dog, a Boston Terrier, is both cute and somewhat chilling.

[HEyHEY]

20. It's you or them....

Do you own a crowbar?

[inthecorneroverhere]

21. starving the cats, oh how terrible! LOL

If I go on vacation, sometimes I need to fast them for 6 or 8 hours just to get them to come in the house LOL.

NB: I live in a rural area and feel OK letting them run most times. Don't let them outside if you live anywhere there's much traffic.

[Rhiannon12866]

22. I live in a rural area and have never let my cats outside

They are in danger of being run over, but there are also hawks, foxes and coydogs quite nearby. My cats are happy with their toys and litter boxes, sitting in and looking out the bay window. My little rescued girl has had to deal with all this up close and has no desire to go any further than taking a peek out the door and returning to the kitty house in this room where she knows no one will bother her and she is safe.

[Rhiannon12866]

23. I live in a rural area and have never let my cats outside

They are in danger of being run over, but there are also hawks, foxes and coydogs quite nearby. My cats are happy with their toys and litter boxes, sitting in and looking out the bay window. My little rescued girl has had to deal with all this up close and has no desire to go any further than taking a peek out the door and returning to the kitty house in this room where she knows no one will bother her and she is safe.

[Rhiannon12866]

24. I live in a rural area and have never let my cats outside

They are in danger of being run over, but there are also hawks, foxes and coydogs quite nearby. My cats are happy with their toys and litter boxes, sitting in and looking out the bay window. My little rescued girl has had to deal with all this up close and has no desire to go any further than taking a peek out the door and returning to the kitty house in this room where she knows no one will bother her and she is safe.

[Rhiannon12866]

25. I saw this happen on another thread, but thought it must be a mistake

Nope, I hit ``post'' more than once because things have been so slow that I've sometimes have had to start over. Sorry about this. I wanted to post this reply, but was hardly that effusive that I meant for it to have appeared three times in a row.:shrug:

[REP]

26. How Weird!

I started this thread ten days ago... and here it is again. Everyone is now sterile and their incisions ar completely healed. I'll be going in for my surgery next week, so maybe I'll post about how I'm fasting with six cats watching...

[Rhiannon12866]

27. With my very screwed up triple post, you may have missed that I

am facing fasting my poor little feral girl, probably next week. This was bad enough with my dogs, but how do I explain this to a cat that was once practically starving?! I give her all she wants to eat to make up for her bad times. She gets canned food twice a day and dry, with treats included, is always available. I just cannot imagine fasting this poor little kitty. She just will not get it. I guess this post is back because you are such a wise woman regarding animals. You know cats and skunks. Any advice for me?:shrug:

I am so glad your kitties are recovering. What surgery do you face? I can identify. I had ``female problems'' and it took three separate surgeries to finally cure me. I hope this isn't serious. I know it can be really frightening. My first surgery was major and I was scared to death.
:scared:

Let me know if I can help. I wish I could cat-sit.:-)

[REP]

28. I'm Having Happy Surgery

I'm having a uterine ablation. Once that's done, I'll have a fully customized, unusable uterus.

About your feral girl - don't worry too much about traumatizing her; after all, she's going to be fed as soon as she gets home. Try playing with her (if she likes it) or giving her catnip or anything else she likes to reassure her that you love her, and also to distract her. She'll probably get ketamine as part of her anesthesia, which makes them trip a little, so by the time she sleeps it off, she probably won't even remember being fasted.

Fast the dogs, too.

My cats weren't as put off by the fasting as I thought they'd be; in fact, they didn't really seem to mind. Remember, cats haven't been domesticated that long, and the eating whenever they feel like it is new. Even an excellent hunter may not eat every day, and 8-12 hours is not much at all - even to cat!

[Rhiannon12866]

29. If you don't mind my asking, why are you doing this?

Believe me, I'm not just asking out of curiousity, as I have had three surgeries in that area, myself, and considered the one you are planning. I had fibroid tumors and had two myomectomies at Mass General in Boston. Most recently, I had a procedure called embolisation, which cured me. I had it close to home; I was away from my guys only a little over 24 hours; but the main advantage was that it worked. I am no longer anemic and can keep up with my guys.

I am worried that my cat will be freaked out, since food is all I have been able to give her. I called my vet's office today, and you must know how close I have become with them. I was told that my kitty can have no food or water after 10pm the previous night. I knew this must have been the case, or wouldn't have asked. My dogs have no idea that this little cat exists; I have not yet subjected her to them, though my dogs are fine with cats. My worry is just that she will feel she's starving again and will be so traumatized when I bring her home. The last time she hid behind the couch for three days, trying to appear invisible as she did when I first brought her in, and she wouldn't eat then, either. I know that some people just keep their cats in the house, but I definitely want her, as I did my dogs, to be examined, as well as treated. I have become far too involved with my vets.:shrug: