# There's 21 cats in our house!



## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

Hi,
Just joined the forums. We have 21 beautiful babies. They are all in the house. They range in age from 17 to 1 1/2. We have a lot of special needs kitties. A lot of them are rescues. One is diabetic and must have an insulin shot every morning. One baby is completely deaf and another has seizures.
Our kitties are very important to us. We also have 5 dogs, 1 parrot and a fish tank.
Our kitties: Merlin, Angel, Imp, Itsy, Mama, Scooby, Baby, Sassy, Frankie, Gizmo, Shaggy, Harry, Rufus, Bashful, Boo, Tiger, Pumpkin, Baby Butterball, Mystery, Chloe, Kimba.
They all have their own stories we hope to share with everyone and we are looking forward to hearing about everybody elses babies.


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## kitkat (Sep 22, 2003)

Welcome to the forum! You literally have an animal house don't you? It's sweet of you to take care of so many but how do you do it? Sugar and Twinkie are enough for me for the moment.....


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

Thanks for the welcome. I have been a cat lover my whole life. Most of the time it is peace and harmony around the house but with 21 we have our moments of discord. It is definitely a house of love. Most people go on vacations.........we have cats!
Works for us.
There are times when it gets frustrating cleaning the house and 15 minutes later you can't tell but then you sit down for a minute and 5-6 little furry ones come sit on your lap and tell you they love you and you don't care about the house anymore.


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## Aonir (Aug 18, 2003)

Welcome to Cat Forum


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

Welcome!  I know you must spend a lot of time and effort caring for all these needy kitties. You have a great heart!


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## Annissa (Dec 9, 2003)

My kitty is diabetic, too. He gets insulin injections twice a day. I have a lot of respect for people who take care of special needs animals. 

Welcome!


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## karaokekat (Jan 14, 2004)

Welcome! It is great to see someone taking in so many cats with special needs... I would love to help out more (but my fiance is satisified with two cats at the moment). I hope you'll be able to find time to talk with us, with all those babies I am sure you will have plenty of interesting stories and advice.


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## Ioana (Jul 12, 2003)

Hello cybeeb - we are so happy you have joined us!
Looking forward to hearing stories and seeing all of your wonderful pets


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## CATTYBIRD (Jan 24, 2004)

Welcome to the forum! Twenty-one cats???? :shock: WOW! Right now I don't have any since I had to have my cat put to sleep yesterday. Anyhoo, how great that your taking care of so many special needs kitties. You sound like a very caring person.


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## PrincessClaire (Jan 16, 2004)

OMG 21 it is really good of you to take all those kitties in I would love to have lot and lots of kitties but I think my landlord wouldn't be to crazy about that, welcome to the forum


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

Thanks for all the welcomes!
This is a wonderful place!
Annissa- How long has your cat been diagnosed diabetic? Do you feed special cat food?
Cattybird- So sorry to hear of your loss. Losing a family member is never easy. Hope to hear of your new kitten soon!
I am originally from Pa. I moved to TN a little over 5 years ago. I brought with me 2 dogs, 4 cats, 1 parrot, 1 ferret and 1 rabbit. I still have one of the original dogs (or I should say my son does), the parrot and all 4 cats. The oldest is going to be 17 this year. Her name is Merlin. I hope to post pictures soon! She has a wonderful personality. Though I do notice she doesn't like to be bothered by the other cats as much.She still craves human companionship.
She had liver problems for a while but with treatment over many months she is back to normal.
What is the longest anyone has had a cat to live. My best is 18. Would love to hear about cats in their 20's!
Thanks


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## CATTYBIRD (Jan 24, 2004)

cybeeb, I had a calico named Marilyn Monroe that lived to be twenty years old. A black male that we had named BC that died three months before his twentieth birthday. We've been pretty good about having long living cats, except for some reason, our gray cats. Laughing Boy, our gray Maine **** cat only lived to be eleven, and our mostly Persian, Kitt, died last week at the age of fourteen.


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## Annissa (Dec 9, 2003)

Cybeeb, Sabby was diagnosed in August of 2002. I've been switching his food a lot since he was diagnosed. I'm having a hard time finding one that's good for both him and me. I started out feeding him Purina DM, but his poo smelled so bad while he was on it. I know it sounds silly, but anyone who's smelled a "DM BM" understands. They're horrible. So my vet recommended Eukanuba senior formula and he was on that for a while, but then other owners of diabetic cats told me that wasn't a good choice and that I needed a higher protein content in the food. So I switched to Bil-Jac dry and Sabby was OK with it, but wasn't thrilled about it. So I put him on Chicken Soup and he started throwing that up. Then Dr. Jean recommended Wellness canned. I'd heard good things about it, so I switched him to that and he did OK on it until last week when he was diagnosed with Irritable Bowell Syndrome. Now he's on canned I/d.

...and the saga continues.


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

Cattybird, you must take good care of your cats! We have all shapes and sizes, with 21 cats. They are such a joy. Most of our cats are in the 3-5 year range. We have one cat with seizures. He will be 5 this year. Tiger is the sweetest cat. One of the true innocents. I hope his life is not cut short with the seizures and the medications he has to take to control them but we will take everything we can get.
Annissa, it sounds like you are going through the whole store with cat food. Hopefully you will find the right one soon. Our diabetic cat refused to eat the dm food. For now he is on Special kitty dry and 9 lives canned. He is doing great. The only problem I have with him is that our vet wants us to check his urine everyday. To do that we have to pen him up till he pees. Sometimes this means overnight. But so far so good. About 6-7 years ago I had another cat with diabetes. He had to have shots twice a day. The vet I had then had diabetic clinic every month. Every month he had all his diabetic patients come in and spend the day and they would test their sugar. Our cat actually had his pancreas to start working again and he went off the insulin. About 6 months later he had a heart attack and died at the age of 14. Ironically both of our cats who have diabetes look identical. They both look like Sylvester, the black and the white. Completely different personalities but alike in looks.


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## RayOfAsh (Sep 22, 2003)

Untill now, i was the member with the most cats.


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## kittygirl04 (Jul 8, 2003)

It's so wonderful of you to care for all of those kitties. Welcome to the forum!


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

How many cats do you have?


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## Heather102180 (Nov 19, 2003)

Do you have any pics of them?


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

Yes,
Will try to post pics asap.
Thanks for asking!


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## jacky89 (Feb 7, 2004)

wow this is amazing! 21 cats with dogs, ferrets, rabits, and parrot? I would love to hear your stories? I was always curious about how cats would interact with dogs, ferrets, and rabits. I was going to get a ferret to keep my cat company but was afraid the ferret might litter all over the house. I also thought about getting a rabbit but rabits seems really dull and have to be kept in a cage.

BTW, how do you deal with the litter having so many animals? Do you have a bunch of automated litterboxes? Do you let your cats sleep with you?


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

The animals all seem to get along really good. Ferrets and rabbits can both be litter trained. We always just kept an eye on everyone when the ferrets and rabbit were lose to protect all. We have a room in our house designated the cat room. My husband built a "cat stand". It is about 8 feet long and 3 feet wide.and about waist high. This keeps the dogs from eating the cat food. It is carpeted on the top. On top we have 3 food dishes (actually plastic shoe boxes), a wicker basket and a kitty condo. Underneath the cat stand is a row of 6 litter boxes. We clean them once a day. When we got our first kitten (all of our other cats were mature) we realised they couldn't get up on the stand. So my husband built a ramp on the side for them. Now it comes in really handy as our oldest cat (17) uses it all the time. Our cat with seizures uses it too. His balance is terrible and if he jumps he doesn't make it. We also keep a crate in the room in case our cat has a seizure. When he does he has to be kept very quiet for 12 hours. And of course the cats have a basket of toys in there. Plus the rest of the house is strewn with toys. If only they would learn to pick up after themselves. Whenever we get a kitten they always sleep in the bed. Not until they are old enough do they get to stay with all the other cats. My husband can't sleep with all the cats in the bed. We have one cat in particular, Itsy, who weighs about 16 lbs. Pure muscle. No fat at all. He loves to walk on my husband all night long and wake him up so he can have someone to play with. So when we first go to bed the door is shut but then towards morning we open it and they all come in. I love to stay in the bed and just play with the cats. It's the greatest feeling in the world to have so much love.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

It sounds as if you have a great setup! The closest I can come to the morning's love fest is when I raised Siamese and woke up to a game of king of the hill. I was the hill, of course. Unfortunately, their favorite time to play was at sunrise! :roll:


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## jacky89 (Feb 7, 2004)

cybeeb, that's a very exciting and sweet home you have. I envy you


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## nerilka (May 17, 2005)

How did you aqquire them all?


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## cybeeb (Feb 5, 2004)

I moved to TN with 4 cats. One has passed away from thryoid problems at 17 years. A few months after I moved here I visited the local shelter and they had a cat who had been there 8 months. I couldn't imagine being confined for almost a year. We brought Chloe home.A beautiful solid black manx. Then our neighbor who had outside cats died and we adopted all them. But we don't believe in outside cats, so they all came in. One was found under a pickup truck on top of the spare tire at a grocery store. One was found by a dumpster at KFC. Two were found at a house being abused. A couple more from the shelter (we finally learned to stay away from there). Once we were asked to foster for the shelter, a mama and her babies. Right when it was time to take them back they all got sick. After we paid around $500 for medical expenses we decided there was no way we could take them back to the shelter and expose them to everything. So we kept all of them. The one stray we found was pregnant and too far along to abort. Even though she was too young to have them. The new mama and babies are all doing fine. THe older mama cat helped with the kittens. We have 2 deaf cats, 1 with seizures, 1 with diabetes, 1 that needs her bottom wiped everyday with baby wipes. I wouldn't trade it for anything! It's truly a wonderful blessed life.


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## Jeanie (Jun 18, 2003)

You have a good heart, Cybeeb.


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## Jockette (Feb 2, 2005)

Jeanie said:


> You have a good heart, Cybeeb.


I agree!!


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## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

[


> quote="Annissa"]Cybeeb, Sabby was diagnosed in August of 2002. I've been switching his food a lot since he was diagnosed. I'm having a hard time finding one that's good for both him and me. I started out feeding him Purina DM, but his poo smelled so bad while he was on it. I know it sounds silly, but anyone who's smelled a "DM BM" understands. They're horrible. So my vet recommended Eukanuba senior formula and he was on that for a while, but then other owners of diabetic cats told me that wasn't a good choice and that I needed a higher protein content in the food. So I switched to Bil-Jac dry and Sabby was OK with it, but wasn't thrilled about it. So I put him on Chicken Soup and he started throwing that up. Then Dr. Jean recommended Wellness canned. I'd heard good things about it, so I switched him to that and he did OK on it until last week when he was diagnosed with Irritable Bowell Syndrome. Now he's on canned I/d...and the saga continues.


.

Interesting. Soon after I started feeding my cats canned Wellness, my cat Spotty was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. I hope Wellness isn't the culprit. He also is on canned i/d for now since he doesn't find canned Eukanuba low residue any more palatable than the canned i/d. But I'm keeping him on the dry Eukanuba since omega 3 fatty acids are beneficial for for cats with IBD. Searching for a more palatable canned food. Going to try to some canned ivd diets, rabbit, venizon or duck. 

If you want to know why your vet reccommended Eukanuba for a diabetic cat it's because the carbohydrate blend that the Iams company uses is designed to provide a steady energy level and does not provide a rapid rise in blood sugar which is why many diabetic cats can actually eat Iams. Although high protein, low carb does make more sense for a cat with diabetis. Be careful of dry foods in general that may cause a rapid rise in blood sugar. 

Wow, looks like you really have a problem on your hands. good luck. 

To the owner of 21 cats, when you have so many, how do you ensure that the diabetic cat eats his prescription diet and doesn't eat the other cats food? With only 2 cats I have to ensure that Spotty, my IBD cat doesn't eat Rosie's food.


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## moggiegirl (May 15, 2005)

Oh that's right, you said he eats 9 lives. I'm just wondering how people with so many cats solve this issue in general.


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## roseeden (May 18, 2005)

OH I SO WISH I WOULD GET A HUSBAND LIKE YOURS!!! He is okay with 21 cats??? AMAZING!!!!!

QUOTE

For now he is on Special kitty dry and 9 lives canned. He is doing great

Wal-Mart commissioned the Mars Company to make the Special Kitty canned cat foods. SO THE SPECIAL KITTY SUPER SUPPER DINNER IS EXACTLY THE SAME AS THE NINE LIVES SUPPER SUPPER DINNER. They are made of the same ingredients and in the same factory. The only difference is the packaging and the Wal-Mart brand has less food coloring (which is actually a good thing).

Anyhow if you give your kitties 9 Lives canned food you can just give them Special Kitty canned food. It is EXACTLY THE SAME THING!!! Doing so would save you serious $$$ without compromising the kitties' nutrition needs. 

ANYTHING that is kitten food is going to be much more digestible than adult food

Also, if there must be fillers in the dry food, rice is the best. It is easily absorbed compared to corn. Dry food is made by "puffing" granules. If a dry food brand contains more than 40% corn then the cat is eating popcorn.There is nothing wrong with popcorn, but personally I would prefer my cats eating oceanfish and chicken liver.

Make sure you put a water fountain right next to the dry food for easy assess.

For me, I just LOVE kitten food. Even crap like IAMS have decent kitty food. I really prefer not to feed my cats IAMS, though, for religous reasons. www.iamscruelty.com

Correct me if I am wrong, but I think you can feed kitten food to a cat at any age.

For the people who are grad students like me, I personally actually like Wal-Mart's Special Kitty Super Supper Dinner canned food. This particular one is well worth the money. I spend half of my money after tuition, fees, and rent on my cats, but I know that others might not be able to dedicate as much as me so here is a cheap food alternative.

Personally I tries out everything and anything I can find for my kittens. The Wal-Mart brand is made by Del Monte in one of their factories in Montana that also makes Nine Lives canned cat food. I was told that the "Special Kitty" canned cat food is the same stuff that is put in the Nine Lives. I know that Nine Lives is CONSIDERED crap, but sometimes you can find something that is decent enough to last you two or three days at the end of the month when you only have $50 left. 

I am believe in hope and I believe that there are good and bad products in every brand. Walmart has pretty bad food but it is one of the few places that offer cat food in this town, and I tried every single kind of dry food, wet food, and treats they have. My kittens have a kitty buffet with rotating food choices made of eight brands of dry food, six brands of wet food, two brands of treats and sometimes Okaza spring water in a water fountain. I cannot say for sure what are the foods like out there in speciality pet stores but out of the foods I tried in Wal-Mart (and I have tried everything except the diet food and the senile food) Special Kitty Supper Supper Dinner canned cat food was surprisingly the best. I was pretty shocked because like MANY PEOPLE I thought Wal-Mart only made crap and I did not try it out until one month I was broke and had FIVE bucks in my bank account. 

I am a staunch believer that even the cheaper canned cat food is better than the more expensive dry cat food, especially for kittens. None of the brands you guys recommended are available in college station and currently I am without a credit card to order food online (I found it to be too much temptation to spend money if I have a credit card). 

As for the kitty food I might be wrong but I always thought overmineralization is a problem in both kitty and adult foods based on the bone meal content. Since both of my kittens are eight months old they can eat both adult and kitten foods, but I always find the kitten food even from the cheaper brands fare slightly better than adult food from the more expensive brands because they use brewers rice instead of corn. 

I really don't like it when they put corn in my cats' dry food. They are not easily digested by my cats and they taste just horrible [LOL but I taste all my cats' foods before I give it to them. The Special Kitty Super Supper Dinner canned cat food actually tasted pretty good. I make about $1600 a month. $800 goes to tuition and fees and $600 goes INTO housing.

Do anybody know what happens if you make a "trail mix" out of eight different brands from the beginning instead of just "switching brands"? I know that switching brands is very bad and very hard on the kitties digestive system but my precious kitties have been eating this "trail mix" since they were young and they seem vibrant and healthy. I guess rotating is the wrong word because my kitties just take what they want to eat from a bowl of mixed dried foods all the time. I want no toxins to be built up in their systems and since there are no holistic cat food available here I try to make do by giving my kitties variety. The blank one is so shiny that if I wear a brightly colored shirt the color would be reflected on his fur.

Also, I once heard a Vet say that the cheapest CANNED cat food is better than the most expensive dry food. Is that true? Currently I am feeding my kitties fancy feast canned food but there had been a time when I was under great financial duress that I ate McDonalds everyday and gave the kitties the cheapest canned cat food. I feel guility for doing that to them when they were so young and I try to make up for it but the cats now seem to be fine


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## Annissa (Dec 9, 2003)

moggiegirl said:


> Interesting. Soon after I started feeding my cats canned Wellness, my cat Spotty was diagnosed with inflammatory bowel disease. I hope Wellness isn't the culprit. He also is on canned i/d for now since he doesn't find canned Eukanuba low residue any more palatable than the canned i/d. But I'm keeping him on the dry Eukanuba since omega 3 fatty acids are beneficial for for cats with IBD. Searching for a more palatable canned food. Going to try to some canned ivd diets, rabbit, venizon or duck.
> 
> If you want to know why your vet reccommended Eukanuba for a diabetic cat it's because the carbohydrate blend that the Iams company uses is designed to provide a steady energy level and does not provide a rapid rise in blood sugar which is why many diabetic cats can actually eat Iams. Although high protein, low carb does make more sense for a cat with diabetis. Be careful of dry foods in general that may cause a rapid rise in blood sugar.


I'm so sorry! I've been checking into this thread every time a new post shows up, but it wasn't until this instant that I realized you were talking to me! I wrote that post well over a year ago and I even forgot it was here. :lol: 

The rest of the story goes as such: I talked to Dr. Jean and she recommended going back to Wellness when I finished with the I/d. I did and it's been smooth sailing ever since. The IBS never reared its ugly head again, Sabby's regulated, and completely off insulin injections.


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