#cat safety

[catsofyore]

Don’t forget when picking out Valentine flowers: every part of the lily plant is DEADLY to cats. Even a few grains of pollen can be fatal. Do not mess around thinking you’ll put them in a “safe” spot - keep them out of your house. 🌸 More info.

[safesliverdog]

Making a stand-alone post for this because it is very important.

Get familiar with animal body language, especially dog & cat, as they’re the two most common household pets and the animals you’ll most likely come into contact with on a regular or semi-regular basis.

Cats can seriously fuck you up, they can cause deep scratch and puncture wounds that are hard to heal and are very prone to infection & disease. Dogs can straight up kill you.

Biting is usually a last resort*.

There are so many stories about dogs biting people “out of nowhere” when in reality, the dog showed signs of distress or discomfort, but they either went unrecognized or ignored.

Animals cannot communicate with words like we can, but they DO THEIR BEST to communicate their feelings with us. It’s up to us to learn what they’re trying to say and respond appropriately.

You wouldn’t walk up to a strange person and get up in their face and start tussling with them and petting them and hugging them, don’t do it to a strange animal. These are living beings with their own personalities, likes, dislikes, and discomforts.

And for the love of god, please remember that not all bites are purposeful or aggressive. I’ve been bitten on accident for many reasons. I got bit when I accidentally stepped on my late childhood dog’s tail when he was sleeping. My other childhood dog gets mouthy when she plays and doesn’t know her own strength. I’ve been bitten when giving a dog a treat because they didn’t know how to take it gently from my hand.

I work at an animal shelter. Dogs get surrendered for accidental/non-aggressive bites all the time. A dog got surrendered for biting the owner while having a seizure. A dog got put on the euthanasia list for accidentally biting a child who was eating directly in front of their face in an attempt to get the food.

The dogs that do not tolerate everything are overlooked or considered “dangerous” or “unfit for adoption.” If they “act out” one too many times, that’s it for them.

Most of us don’t go around looking to start a physical fight, but if someone came up behind me and hugged me out of nowhere or started grabbing my face or tugging my ears or whatever, they would get absolutely decked. Animals are the same way.

My point is, read up on animal body language, TEACH YOUR KIDS to respect animal body language, and don’t instantly demonize them if they show discomfort or distress.

*some animals genuinely do have mental/behavioral issues and will bite very quickly or unprovoked.

[littleblackraincloudofcourse]

just a general psa to anyone watching mr kill, or who comes across kaye's little emo boy cat speech while enjoying dew otherwise

the average life expectancy of cats triples when taken in, going from a 5 to 7 year average for feral/stray cats to 15 to 20 years for pets/housecats

also, in the event of death or disappearance, the cats would be more likely to be cared for if they were known to belong to the deceased/missing as opposed to their carer being unknown

feeding them is kind but if you can, please take the cat in

[saurussy69]

My baby is doing better 😊 took her to the vet yesterday, then I gave her two different needle shots (which I have to repeat few times)

She started eating soon after the shots yesterday and now she eats normal, I still have to give her water with the syringe though

[rjalker]

PSA:

Cats are not supposed to breathe through their mouths.

Unless they're actively sniffing something and then opening their mouth to analyze the smell (what people joke as being "oh you think I smell bad?"), or have just been VERY energetically playing, your cat should never be breathing through their mouth or panting.

If your cat has been breathing funny and starts breathing through their mouth, they need to go to a vet immediately.

I am saying all of this, because I fucking know this, but my mom, who I rely on for being driven to places, knows nothing about cats, and made me waste time confirming with the vet that this was, in fact, an emergency when our little kitten, who'd already been brought in for breathing problems 3 hours earlier, suddenly started breathing through his mouth in clear distress.

And then mom, despite never interacting with this kitten, was lying based on nothing and convinced her husband that "he's been struggling to breathe his whole life" like WHAT?!?!!?!??!!??!?!?!??

[challahbeloved]

REMOVE THESE OFF YOUR CAT POSTS NOW

I’ve now had two different kittens have it wrap around their leg while playing and end up dangling by their leg, freaking out.

The first incident was with a low-to-the-ground scratcher. One of my girls plays hard, and it sprung back and wrapped around her leg. She dangled for half a second before I grabbed her (I’d luckily been right next to her watching). The elastic string had to be cut to get her down.

After, I removed all hanging things on almost all the posts. But there was still one full post I hadn’t removed from because my 7-year-old cat who is almost sedentary would casually knock it around, and it was in “her room” that others don’t often go, so I felt conflicted taking it away from her.

Welp. My 6-month-old boy kitten must’ve been playing with it. I was still sleeping in the other room. Luckily my brother had just used the bathroom and was in the hall when the cat screaming started and was able to yell for help loud enough to wake me up and send me running.

It was wrapped around his back leg.

We once again had to cut the elastic string off while it was still attached to the post.

Once could be a freak accident.

Twice with two different cats, two different posts, and months apart is a major risk to me.

PLEASE, especially if you have very active cats that really like playing with those, you need to cut them off.

[redfuzzysocks]

Am I the only one who got anxiety by LWZ leaving these meds on the floor near Yugio?

[cringeartisthebestart]

URGENT PSA FOR ALL CAT OWNERS!!! (Trigger warning: this video talks about cats dying terribly)

This video showcases the DANGER of this litter box! It is being sold by many different companies under many different names, but they all are death traps for your cat. I AM NOT USING HYPERBOLE, THESE MACHINES KILL CATS! Please, if you are thinking of getting this machine, DO NOT GET IT! If you currently have it, THROW IT AWAY IMMEDIATELY and get one of the other litter machines mentioned in the above video. I know these machines may be on the cheaper end, BUT THEY ARE NOT WORTH YOUR CAT'S LIFE!

Again, I would like to put a massive trigger warning: this video is about a faulty product that results in the DEATHS of cats. It talks about cats being killed. So, if that is too much for you, please don't watch it. But just be aware of the dangers of this product.

PROTECT YOUR CATS, DON'T GET THIS MACHINE!