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Conference misery::feline_v1

Title:	Meower Power is Valuing Differences
Notice:	FELINE_V1 is moving 1/11/94 5pm PST to MISERY
Moderator:	MISERY::VANZUYLEN_RO

Created:	Sun Feb 09 1986
Last Modified:	Tue Jan 11 1994
Last Successful Update:	Fri Jun 06 1997
Number of topics:	5089
Total number of notes:	60366

2201.0. "HELP! 5 a.m. wake up!" by JOKUR::AMILLER () Fri Feb 03 1989 13:18

    
    I need help!  My Himalayan LuLu is driving me crazy! The last few
    nights especially.  On the button at 5 a.m. she scratches the
    wooden poles of my furniture.  If I put her outside the room she
    meows loudly and others are sleeping (she stays in my room every
    night).  She has a scratching post that she uses when she feels
    like it, and I put it near the wooden pole so she would use the
    post instead ...it's not working!! 
    
    Also, she was in heat about 2 weeks ago for the first time, and
    I think it is happening again - is this possible?
    
    Lastly, I was feeding her Fancy Feast can food for the last since
    she was born last February.  She loves Iams kitten food too, so
    I would also give her Iams occasionally.  However, over the last
    few weeks she wouldn't eat all day, and when I'd open a can for
    her she'd either eat a tiny bit and walk away or not touch it at
    all.  I finally decided just to give her Iams - period...is this
    safe, or does she need something else.  She doesn't appear to be
    ill.  
    
    Any comments would be helpful...thanks, Amie

T.R	Title	User	Personal Name	Date	Lines
2201.1		FSHQA2::RWAXMAN	A Cat Makes a Purrfect Friend	`Fri Feb 03 1989 13:32`	13
	Do you plan to breed LuLu? If not, perhaps you should think about getting her spayed. Her "craziness" could be due to the fact that she's in heat and is very uncomfortable with the lack of gratification. It could also be attributed to her sudden disinterest in food (probably has kitty sex on her mind). My cats will purposely scratch the wicker bedroom furniture when we are sleeping because they know how much it irritates us and we'll wake up and give them what they want. Not the best way to handle the situation by giving in but it's better than 3:00 a.m. discipline sessions. They sure do have us trained, don't they?!
2201.2		STAR::BARTH		`Fri Feb 03 1989 13:37`	7
	Iams is an excellent food and is completely adequate as an only food. Yes, an un-mated female will just keep going into heat. Sounds like its time for her to be spayed. Karen, Tristan and Tenzing.
2201.3	Moisture and Taurine too	MORGAN::MISSELHORN		`Fri Feb 03 1989 13:50`	12
	Last night at the vet we learned that cats should be given tuna, tuna juice or clam juice once or twice a week to keep their taurine levels up (preventing heard disease). Also, this vet recommended a primarily moist food diet because the dry food doesn't contain enough moisture for keep cat's urinary system flushed out enough (see notes on FUS and Kat Kare, Meow Mix Alert and Taurine--all in the 2194-2199 range). She preferred C/D or Science Diet to IAMS although I've also heard good things about IAMS. (Dr. Albert has 30 cats and does quite a bit of research on cat nutririon.)
2201.4	thanks...	JOKUR::AMILLER		`Fri Feb 03 1989 14:59`	10
	Thanks for the responses. I wanted her to have one litter, but I need to find a male blue-point Himalayan. I know I am going to get responses about letting her have kittens, but I do want one litter and then I will have her fixed. I guess if this is the reason I am up every morning, she should have kittens soon and I can have her fixed. Thanks for the cat food advice although I did hear the urinary system thing applied only to males ...I don't know for sure.. Amie p.s. Know where I can find a male for her?
2201.5		FSHQA2::RWAXMAN	A Cat Makes a Purrfect Friend	`Fri Feb 03 1989 15:18`	16
	You can begin by acquiring a list of Himmie breeders -- and fast! In fact, the list should have been compiled and breeders contacted before she even went into heat. Any good, reputable, breeder will not let you breed her to their stud if she is of pet quality since they are working on improving the breed, not selling mass quantities of kittens. I don't mean to sound snotty or rude; it's just that I own two pedigreed cats and would never dream of breeding them because I bought them as pets and signed a contract. My breeder is working hard to keep the breed pure and mating cats of only breed quality, nothing less. If you pick up a copy of the Want Ad, you will usually find a listing of Himmie breeders trying to sell kittens. That would be a good starting point. Or try calling some breeders who advertise in the back of Cats and Cat Fancy -- there are tons.
2201.6		YOSMTE::CORDESBRO_JO		`Fri Feb 03 1989 15:19`	9
	Contact the breeder that sold her to you, she should be able to give you some advice about breeding her. Is she at least a year old? If not, you should be prepared to just put up with her seasons until she is. Cats that are in season will often not be interested in food for the duration. As long as she is not bred, she will come into season every couple of weeks. JO
2201.7	more thoughts on breeding your himmie	YOSMTE::CORDESBRO_JO		`Fri Feb 03 1989 16:32`	17
	The breeders that advertise himmies in the paper for $50 are what the rest of us (snotty breeders ;^}) call "backyard breeders" and they will probably not be as picky about breeding your cat for you. I don't condone breeding her if she is not of the right quality, but I don't want to make the assumption that she isn't of the right quality. If she is breeding quality, her breeder is the best place to go. She will be sure to help you select a stud whose pedigree would make a good match with hers, and who will help to produce nice kittens. Out here in California, himmies have fallen prey to "backyard breeders" more than any other breed. We (the "snotty breeders" ;^}) tend to view them on the same scale as the people in Canine view puppy mills. Jo