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lindar
Apr 21, 2008 21:24:11 GMT
Post by lindar on Apr 21, 2008 21:24:11 GMT
Hi I am Linda, a fosterer for Gateshead. I have got around to joining forum after chatting to some of you at recruitment day. I am a novice in cat protection eyes having been a fosterer for 16 months but I am learning fast. I have 2 cats of my own Oscar a 13 year old ginger tom and I have just adopted Archie who I had fostererd since December. (white and ginger) He is about 6 with one ear canal missing as he had it removed as he had a cancerous tumour. He is too fat !!!as I have decided to keep him indoors because of his partial deafness. Anyone got any good ideas to trim his waist?
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lindar
Apr 21, 2008 21:41:05 GMT
Post by Chris - Cats Protection on Apr 21, 2008 21:41:05 GMT
Hi Linda !
Welcome to the forum !!!
It was wonderful meeting most of you guys on Saturday, unfortunately there wasnt much time for socialising which was a shame, but maybe one day soon we will put that right.
Well, poor Archie, he has been through the wars, but has now fell on his paws......
Putting a cat on a diet is never easy, especially when there are other cats around, and at 6 years of age, its hard to get him to exercise if he says No, its nap time...lol
However, its not impossible. Firstly I would look at what you are feeding them all on, if its wet food, with biscuits for a top up meal, then I would change the biscuits for one that is lower on fat, which doesnt necessarily mean a 'light' variety. It could simply be one with rice base instead of wheat. Royal Canin do a range called Persian 30 which is great, and their sister company James Wellbeloved, also do rice based food.
That also applies if you use a dried food.
Then I would look to ensure that all wet food is white meat based.
It will be a slow process, but will work.
Lovely to have you as part of our forums ! And enjoy fostering, we urgently need more people like you
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lindar
Apr 21, 2008 21:46:05 GMT
Post by lindar on Apr 21, 2008 21:46:05 GMT
thanks chris, having previously had a cat that developed diabetes probably due to weight and age I need to be tough. I can also here Archie snoring in the next room while I type this!!!!
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lindar
Apr 21, 2008 22:09:45 GMT
Post by fyona on Apr 21, 2008 22:09:45 GMT
Hi Linda, lovely to have you here, and look forward to hearing about your fostering, I think you foster carers do a wonderful job. Look forward to hearing more about Oscar and Archie. Does Archie like to play, or does he just like to lie down and have a good snore
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lindar
Apr 22, 2008 9:02:09 GMT
Post by lindar on Apr 22, 2008 9:02:09 GMT
Hi Fiona, Archie is getting used to play. he has come from a background of never living in a home so its all new to him. He does love his cat nip mice and chasing Oscar!!! poor boy
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lindar
Apr 22, 2008 11:37:18 GMT
Post by susan on Apr 22, 2008 11:37:18 GMT
Yay!!!! we have a new member from the recruitment day ;D
Welcome to the forums Linda. Have a look around and post away, especially pictures of your fur babies ;D If you need any help on that just let us know.
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lindar
Apr 22, 2008 16:38:48 GMT
Post by fyona on Apr 22, 2008 16:38:48 GMT
Well chasing Oscar sounds a good form of exercise, should keep a few ounces off Archies waistline he he. Well that is if Oscar likes that game of course.
A laser light is a good form of excercise here, and a stick with a furry long bit and a feather on the end keeps my cats entertained, and yes there is nothing lke a good chase, mine sound like a herd of elephants when they get started.
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lindar
Apr 24, 2008 21:12:46 GMT
Post by lindar on Apr 24, 2008 21:12:46 GMT
susan I would love to send some photos of Archie and Osacr as well as my foster cats Maggie and 5 babies but I am not sure how to send on this site. Can you give me some step bt step instruction. Linda
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lindar
Apr 25, 2008 17:18:50 GMT
Post by fyona on Apr 25, 2008 17:18:50 GMT
I think Susan is going to put some instructons together, I know how you feel Linda, it does come across as confusing, in the meantime you can go into photos of your cats where Chris has put a link in and download a free photobucket account, photobucket does resize but I am not sure it will be very accurate but you can give it a go, take your pictures and then upload them onto your computer,there is a lead with your camera one end fits into the computer the other end the camera and turn your camera on, I just store mine in my pictures, then you should be able to upload them from photobucket into your album, this gives you the code IMG where you can just click on it and copy and paste the link into your post, you can preview your post before sending, and you should have a picture, we will have you posting pictures lol, just ask any questions should you get stuck.
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lindar
Apr 25, 2008 21:49:44 GMT
Post by susan on Apr 25, 2008 21:49:44 GMT
Ok, heres how we do it. First of all register with photobucket.com/ It's a free service and you can stores hundreds of pictures ;D My pictures to load into Photobucket are either in my picture file or the documents file on my pc. Once registered, go to the main page. Click on the uploading options and choose message board, which will resize all of your pics (640 x 480) Theres four boxes that are underneath your pictures in Photobucket, and you want the last one with the IMG codes. Left click on it to highlight it, then right click and click where it says "copy". Take your mouse onto the thread your going to be posting the pictures on (this one), left click on the edit button at the top left hand corner and that's where the box drops down and you'll see "paste". Left click on "paste" and the link will go onto the thread, then hit submit and the pictures up! ;D If you just want to upload one photo, just click browse and find the folder on your computer and then click upload. If you want to upload more than one, click "add more images" and it will bring up several browse boxes for you. In each one, select a file and when finished, click upload. If that's still complicated, don't worry because weve all been there. Just e-mail them to me and i'll put them up for you ;D To do that you just right click on the actual picture, then when the box opens it'll have "e-mail to". Click on that and it should appear in the e-mail ready to send, and then just type in my e-mail address susan.mckinley@sky.com ;D
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lindar
Jun 8, 2008 18:04:08 GMT
Post by lindar on Jun 8, 2008 18:04:08 GMT
I have a foster cat who was very stressed when I got her as she had literally just had a litter ( she is about 2 and also has a history of biting the vet and me)I have the scars to prove it. 12 weeks down the line she is a different cat, she has been spayed a week a go but still gives a nasty scratch when you least expect it. She is very unpredictable She still has 3 of her babies which are to be homed soon Any advice?
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lindar
Jun 9, 2008 12:42:48 GMT
Post by fyona on Jun 9, 2008 12:42:48 GMT
I think you are doing a great job Linda, andl it seems over twelve weeks she is improving, do you think she has always been a stressed cat or is it more so with her having kittens and maybe trying to protect them and being in a different environement?
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lindar
Jun 9, 2008 17:49:39 GMT
Post by Val on Jun 9, 2008 17:49:39 GMT
I have a queen at the moment that I have called Breeze. She was living under some skips and had three babies. The charity who rescued her managed to get the kittens quite easily but couldn't catch Breeze. So, they had to release the kittens. Breeze then moved the kittens to under a shed. Feeding was withheld and she was easily trapped a couple of weeks later. But it took the charity ages to catch the kittens again. This unfortunately made them almost 8 weeks old so Chris is now trying to socialise them in her 'Cat Shack' and is having a bit of trouble still with one of them.
The lady who rescued Breeze and her kits was picking up the kittens one day and one of them cried. Breeze came in like a bullit and quite badly bit the person who rescued her on the knee. I kept this in mind and twice she has had a go at me but as I saw it coming I was able to pull my hand away and nothing happened.
She screams when she sees another cat and runs to attack immediately. No problem, thought I. She is in kitten mode. Think again. She is just a bad tempered lady who wants her own space. She trips you up walking between your legs, falls at your feet for you to stroke her but do not try to touch her tail. That is when the trouble starts.
I hope she will calm down even more as time goes by. Her babies were taken away from her about three weeks ago and she was spayed 11 days ago so there is still time.
Keep trying with your queen. Watch her movements for signs that she is about to strike. The tail is usually a good indicator. If it is swishing just keep away. Does she have a go when another cat or dog is nearby. Breeze couldn't care if the dog looks through the cage but if Bruiser comes up to see his Mam cleaning out the kennels, all hell breaks loose.
Your cat may calm down when her kittens are homed. If she was only spayed a week ago she will still have hormones so she may get better. Hope so anyway. Good luck.
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lindar
Jun 10, 2008 22:21:47 GMT
Post by lindar on Jun 10, 2008 22:21:47 GMT
hi Fyona and Val thanks for the sound advice. hopefully she will settle more once kittens rehomed. I am sure her initial aggression was because she thought I was going to harm her babies. She has also come from a horrible household so she has not been loved Linda
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lindar
Jun 13, 2008 10:23:27 GMT
Post by susan on Jun 13, 2008 10:23:27 GMT
Bless her, it's going to take a while for her to gain some trust Linda this may sound stupid, but it really helps. A couple of times a day go and sit on the floor for about 20 minutes or so where the foster cat is and read out from a newspaper or magazine, but reading it out softly. The cat will get to know your voice better and this helps to de stress them
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