What kind of cat?

velvetrabbit · 03-02-2004, 05:40 PM

Ok, so it's been tickling the back of my brain for a little while now... and I finally got around to posting about it!

Our cats were purchased from a petstore, so we have no way of knowing what breeds are in their backgrounds or whatever (although we are pretty sure that one of them has siamese in his background because he's quite the talker, has the siamese face, and if he weren't overweight, would have the siamese leanness/sleakness)... However, we have no clue what my baby, Malibu (Bu for short) could be. As you can see in the following picture, his tail is bent in several places (5 to be exact), which makes for good laughs when he wags it in 3 different directions. It was bent, probably before he was in the pet store... and when we got him, the vet estimated him at about 4 weeks...

It may be hard to tell from the picture, but he's actually kind of small, and stocky, which made us think possibly manx in his background... but I don't know enought about breed characteristics to tell for sure, and I know some of the ladies in another thread suggested he has siamese in him because of the crocked tail, but I don't believe it... not when the other one has so much more of an obvious siamese background...

The cats did not come from the same litter, as mine is 2 weeks younger than the other one.

As well, both of our cats have these huge paunches... Is it just because they are indoor cats? My aunt has had many a cat before and she says that she doesn't remember any of her other cats having paunches before, with the exception of one, but his wasn't nearly as big as these guys...

In any case... suggestions are welcome!

Candycane · 03-02-2004, 05:45 PM

The paunch is from being overweight usually. Although some people I have talked to say that it is a confirmational flaw. In my cat, Max, he had weight issues before but now is at an optimum weight. He still has the paunch but it is more loose skin than anything.

Syd has never had a weight problem and doesn't have the paunch. I'd think that in your case (since you said one of the cats was overweight anyway), it is a matter of weight.

velvetrabbit · 03-02-2004, 05:52 PM

Thanks, Candice... that's what I thought, tho that doesn't help explain why his tail is crooked

We've been trying to get them to lose weight, but when we (as a family) don't have good eating habits our selves, it's hard to make sure the cats eat well. And I've noticed that with Bu, his is more of a loose skin thing, though it has this weird stand-up-straight-fur on it... though his "brother's" feels more like fatty stuff...

Candycane · 03-02-2004, 06:04 PM

IMHO, before starting any diet with your pet, they should have full bloodwork done. We discovered that my dog had hypothyroidism after checking him. It's not overly common in dogs and cats but the bloodwork will ensure that your pet is healthy enough to be on a diet.

After that, I would suggest a high quality lite cat food (after clearing it with your vet). The vet may offer a veterinary formula but IMHO, the ingredients are poor quality and you will get the same results with a higher quality food. If your cats are anything like mine, they are beggars. Do not give into this.

They should get 2-3 set meals per day. There should be lots of interactive playing. My cats enjoy going outside on their harnesses...it really gets them excited.

Maybe you could try letting your cats walk you?

Just a guess but the crooked tail could be from a breech birth or an injury early in life.

velvetrabbit · 03-02-2004, 06:15 PM

We have let the cats out on a harness.. they don't like it very much!

My cat has this insane fetish with light... he'll come from anywhere in the house if he hears the fridge door open because it makes a light on the floor... My brother has a laser pointer on a keychain, and when he rattles the keychain, Bu will come running... but he won't for any other keychain sounds.... When someone goes to unload the dishwasher, he's there, underfoot, chasing the light... And these are just the times when we don't purposely provide light for him to chase

... I would say that he's a very active cat, given that he is an indoor cat only. It's the other one that is lazy, won't get up unless there's something interesting out side or one of his "fav" people on the other side of the door

....

Thanks for the food/diet recommendations Candice, though I think it will be more important to get them used to eating regularly at set times instead of having access to the food bowl (which is what I actually meant by "eating well"). The reason we did it that way was because no one was home during the day to feed them if they were hungry, but we didn't take into account that if they were fed regularly in the morning and the evening, that it would have been a better course of action.... but I guess we all can make mistakes....

Candycane · 03-02-2004, 06:22 PM

My cats are fed at 6:00am, 5:00pm and 11:00pm. When no one is home during the day, they usually just sleep.

Even when there is someone home, they sleep all day. At the 11:00 feeding, I have been giving them a quarter of a can of wet food as a snack and to help them sleep. It tides them over until the morning when they get fed again. My cats try to convince me that they are starving (even 5 minutes after they have eaten!) but the best thing to do is ignore them. Feed them in an isolated spot that doesn't get much human traffic. My cats would start whining anytime someone got remotely close to their bowls. So, we switched their feeding from the kitchen to the bedroom.

velvetrabbit · 03-02-2004, 06:29 PM

see, our cats have only been allowed in the front half of our house (there's a door in the middle) since they got fleas in the fall (stupid bf's parent's cat got fleas and they didn't do anything about it until the fleas were hopping all over their house

, and of course since the rabbits are at the farm, I was spending a lot of time there....), which means the cats basically only have the kitchen, the dining room and the front room (all really one big room, with a half wall and a line between the kitchen floor and the front room carpet), and the bathroom (which is SOOO tiny, I bet there are closests bigger than it!). So, the food is in the kitchen, same as the litter box, which I heard putting the food and box close together can cause problems.. but our house has such a lack of space... everything is wide open, there are a total of three closets in the entire 4 bedroom house, and only one is in a bedroom!

We're trying to save up for a new house, but until then, our poor cats have to suffer with no space....

suzoo · 03-02-2004, 06:31 PM

He looks like a Domestic Cat to me... the crooked tail is a mystery but very cute (could very well have been an early injury or birth defect)... A Manx refers to cats with NO tail or just a stubby tail... so that doesn't fit.
He looks like a real sweetie! :P

velvetrabbit · 03-02-2004, 06:34 PM

thanks, suzoo

I like him

he's crazy, actually, loves to play with the tabs off of milk jugs, and juice bottles.... He fetches too... when he's not chasing after some light on the floor...

See, as far as the injury goes, the tail doesn't feel like it's broken, just ... bent , i guess is the only word I can think of... the ends of where it's crooked are rounded.

It could be tho. Just thought I would see what others thought of it...

suzoo · 03-02-2004, 07:24 PM

I've actually never seen a tail so crooked before... I've seen many with old breaks but its usually only in one place... so thats why I'm not sure how that could happen...
Oh well, if it doesn't bother him.. then it just makes him original and easily distinguishable if he ever got lost