Cat stairs/ramp advice?
mokanee
14 years ago
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calliope
14 years agomazer415
14 years agoRelated Discussions
HELP!!! New cat mommy advice? Anyone???
Comments (7)Sunshineboy, that is an adorable picture! 4 adult cats napping so close together like that is quite the sight. WG, that is very exciting. I don't have much advice to add, and I hope your cats adjust well to their new home (once they get there). Three outdoor males - those voles aren't going to stand a chance! :) I am a cat lover and owner for 20-odd years, and have 2 spayed, vaccinated females, both rescued as kittens. One is strictly indoors, the other has limited outdoor privileges. SHe usually goes outside for a few hours a day in nice weather, but is a "fair-weather" cat so she rarely goes out in the winter. She is a good huntress and eats most of what she catches, so I worm her every fall when her hunting activities wind down. Not sure if I should be doing it more frequently?? Somewhere I read that male cats wander in much larger territories than female cats, which tend to stay closer to home. This would hold true in my experience. My little female rarely wanders beyond the boundaries of the property, but I had a male for 19 years who was obsessed with prowling the neighborhood, even on the coldest winter nights (and managed to beat the odds and live a long life despite his outdoor activities). I must confess I worried SICK about that cat for over 18 years, but he died of old age on the kitchen floor. Cars and dogs/coyotes are amongst their greatest outdoor hazards. Hopefully your cats will have some street smarts! Are your new cats going to live in the barn? They will probably need an adjustment period in the barn to get used to their new home. How will they get in and out of the barn? My sister has 3 large Coon brothers who are indoor/outdoor and she has a cat door in her garage and they go in and out of the house at their choosing....See MoreStair striping and refinishing advice
Comments (18)Be careful of poly-anything, whether water or oil based. Besides being shiny and artificial looking, the finish has to be sanded off--there is no solvent for it. Try the Craftsman Blog and 1912 House for pointers on floor and woodwork refinishing. I think Tung Oil (Waterlox Original) or Shellac are both appropriate for a historic house like yours, and have the advantage of being very easy to retouch or to refinish. Tung Oil soaks into the wood and Shellac is a coating. Congratulations on being so patient with the refinishing of your stairs. They are lovely--I think stairs of this period with the spindle type newel post are lovely and elegant. I spent a summer trying to strip down the stairwell of my 1903 house. What a mess--multiple layers of failing paint down to the original layers of thick red oxide primer and heavy layers of varnish for a false grained finish. I tried to salvage what I could, but it was just too thick and sticky to save any of the graining. I eventually gave up and got it to a stable surface and repainted....See MoreCat with arthritis? Problems moving.
Comments (157)Just wanted to give an update. Monkey is still hanging in there. About 3 weeks ago, it wasn't looking great as his lump had grown very rapidly in the prior two weeks, so we tried another chemo. He did well for the last 3 weeks. Good energy, purring. But in the last day or so, I've noticed some of his prior behaviors coming back. The pacing/restlessness and the strange litter box behaviors. I'm a little nervous that the brain involvement is beginning again. We were scheduled for his next chemo next week, but I called and we moved it up to today. I'm hoping it will help this latest issue. I'm also going to see if we can start him on some pain meds to keep him comfortable. I'm a little worried this is the beginning of the end, since I saw this exact progression before his radiation to the point where we almost put him to sleep. I always knew that the treatments were only buying us some time but admittedly part of me was in denial after seeing him respond so well. But I'm at peace with the situation as I know I tried everything I could and sometimes these things just happen. If you have any spare good thoughts, I'd appreciate them for Monkey and my family that he will feel a little better, and if this is the last stage, that he won't be in too much pain and that I will know when it's time. It's so hard because I want to spend time with him but he doesn't really want attention or affection right now. :(...See Moreportable ramp advice needed
Comments (18)Thank you for your wise words, sushipup. I think it's just what I needed to hear right then; she had a bad weekend and the last thing on my mind was how to get her in and out of our house; I couldn't even help her get adjusted on the couch. The fellow from the medical supply place came out and said that one 6 foot ramp and one 4 foot ramp ought to do it for us. The front is 2 steps, then a path, then one step up to a big square front step, and then the step into the house. We'll have to use the 6-footer twice and then the 4-footer, but the 6-footer is easy to move. He said we will probably need 2 people to push the wheelchair up, though, and the walker might not work at all. But that is do-able, I think. At most she will be coming over once a week; probably less. It's just much easier for us to go to her for anything that doesn't have to be at our home, and, when she feels up to it, go out to accessible locations. I'd be more inclined (no pun intended) to put in a permanent ramp if our house weren't so inaccessible once you get inside -- i.e., ramp or no ramp, this house would just never work for anyone who needed accessibility. Good enough for the occasional visitor -- she'll be able to access the dining room, kitchen, sitting rooms, and powder room -- but not the bedrooms, full baths, or sunken family room, which is open to the kitchen, though, so she can still be part of whatever goes on down there, and if it's like a party or something, we can actually wheel her around to the patio door off that room. Thank you all so much for helping me. All advice very, very welcome!...See Moreannzgw
14 years agoilovepoco
14 years agorivkadr
14 years agomokanee
14 years agoSaintPFLA
14 years ago
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