72
votes
How can I keep our cats from endangering my pregnant wife?
First of all, please calm down. Your question sounds as if any interaction with your cats would potentially endanger the life of your unborn child, but that is not the case.
It's not the cat itself ...
Elmy♦
- 28.6k
39
votes
My fish are disappearing :(
The most reasonable explanation is that it died and was eaten by the other fish / snails. Note that some snails are carnivorous. Many fish are cannibalistic if the opportunity arises.
Some leftovers ...
- 1,945
24
votes
Can a cat, who only lives in a (small) flat, be happy?
We have a few existing posts about how much space a cat needs, I have included some below. Your area is large enough for a cat. But even a larger space will not be sufficient without enough enrichment,...
- 29.2k
20
votes
Accepted
Cat in a electronics hobbyist house
As background, my husband has a similar electronics hobby and I sew. We lived in a house where we did our hobbies in the living room for a few years, but eventually moved into a house large enough ...
- 20k
15
votes
Discouraging cat from scratching couch
You're going in the right direction, with your efforts to make the couch unappealing, and provide scratchers as alternatives. You just need to experiment a bit more to discover the right combination ...
- 15.2k
14
votes
How can I keep our cats from endangering my pregnant wife?
If my wife is pregnant, she may need to spend her days lying down on our couch - and with our second bedroom set aside to become a nursery, where will we keep the cats?
Why can the cats not be around ...
- 850
13
votes
Accepted
Discouraging cat from scratching couch
I totally understand your frustration. Cats are very independent, complex creatures. I imagine your cat is very happy, you’re providing it everything I would suggest and then some. Seriously, give ...
- 2,348
12
votes
Accepted
Can a new cat owner, with no experience handling animals, be expected to successfully restrain a cat using a towel?
As keshlam mentioned, you shouldn't need towel approach for such basic things as ear or eye drops. At least if your cat is not very aggressive and/or very scared.
What I'd suggest instead is the 'peg ...
- 1,127
10
votes
Accepted
How to dissuade my cat from jumping on my bed?
Cats like their comfort, so this is a tricky one. Also, they don't respond well to negative training, since they are not pack animals. In this regard, they are as crafty as old men.
You could cover ...
- 1,361
10
votes
Accepted
How can I make my cat use her house during winter cold?
Cats do enjoy warm surfaces and there are a few options to entice her into her house.
Depending on what her house looks like, you can add a heat lamp, just be careful the lamp does not touch ...
- 12.5k
10
votes
Does my cat hate me now
Cats do not hate but they get scared at times when unexpected things happen and might need a bit of time to get over it.
Cats learn from experiences in the same way as you and I do and sometimes it ...
- 18.8k
9
votes
Accepted
How can I keep my dog in my back yard?
Personally, I'd be wary of leaving a dog outside alone without a physical fenced boundary. Even if the dog knows to stay inside, others (dogs and humans) don't. That said you have several options.
...
- 2,500
9
votes
Accepted
What are some ways to increase space for cats in a small house?
Use vertical space.
Keep breakables out of spaces the cat has access to, behind door or behind glass or at great heights (some cats can jump to the top of a fridge, so that's a minimum). You can ...
- 10k
9
votes
Accepted
Neighbor's cat coming back for kitten
The main reason the mother comes back for her kitten is that the kitten is not weaned. That is, it is not finished with drinking her mother's milk and is not ready to handle the bigger world. If that ...
9
votes
Can a cat, who only lives in a (small) flat, be happy?
It is totally dependent upon the age at which you adopt the cat and current environment of the cat if the cat is an adult cat.
If you are adopting an already grown up cat habituated to outside life, ...
- 4,182
9
votes
Will a single chicken ruin my lawn?
Chickens always scratch the ground while foraging for seeds, which damages the grass. If you mow the grass too short, it will be very vulnerable and the chickens may finish it off. However, if you let ...
Elmy♦
- 28.6k
8
votes
Accepted
Could roses be used to fence a dog in?
No,
First hedges grow much denser than rose bushes, and thorns are not an effective deterrent for a dog. Even a fence is not always a good means of containing a dog, who is determined to leave. I ...
- 29.2k
8
votes
What size gaps need to be kitten-proofed?
A good way of doing it would be having a room set up where there aren't any places the kitten could get stuck. Say, the bedroom with the bottoms of dressers blocked off.
That way, as you introduce ...
- 15.5k
8
votes
How to dissuade my cat from jumping on my bed?
Sometimes the best path is protection. A fitted sheet can be used on top of the bed, when the cat might have unsupervised access to the bed (new or gently used). This will keep the bed clean when you ...
- 29.2k
7
votes
How to stop cat from going to a risky area
There are few answer here suggesting scents, oils, or other additives that you can apply to discourage your cat from an area.
If you decide to attempt to use an additive to discourage any animal from ...
- 29.2k
7
votes
Accepted
Are there alternatives to electric fences that use GPS instead of buried cables?
A basic search online against "GPS electric fence" using any given search engine reveals several brands of electric fences using GPS technology vs. using wireless technology. Here is a video ...
- 9,067
7
votes
Combined invisible fence with bark collar?
Please, please do not buy either of these products. They are illegal in many countries and are widely accepted as problematic by behavioural experts worldwide. They can cause a lot of suffering and ...
- 1,409
7
votes
Accepted
How can I deter my cat's unwelcome guest from coming inside?
I think there are a few things you can try:
If Taby seems docile (sounds like it is), consider taking it to a local vet or shelter to scan the cat and see if Taby is microchipped. If Taby has a ...
- 2,348
7
votes
Accepted
Hound/Retriever keeps escaping
Your dog needs mental and physical stimulation!
The question should not be, "how can I physically trap and contain my dog?", rather, "why is my dog doing this, and how can it be ...
- 1,518
6
votes
How to stop cat from going to a risky area
There's a few things that will work for cats, though you'll have to try them to see what works on her.
Tinfoil - the look of the light reflections when they step on it scare them. Try putting it ...
- 1,245
6
votes
What is the right height & width for a cat's tunnel?
The most popular cat tunnel on amazon has a 9.5 inch diameter. Cat doors on amazon seem to all be in the 7-9 inch range as well.
I have a 15 pound cat, and got her an 11 inch diameter tunnel. She can ...
- 191
6
votes
Accepted
How should I build a cat tree?
I think you can make something nice and reasonably cheaply, especially if you can reclaim materials (nice way of saying find usable trash). This is also based on you having access to a few basic tools,...
- 4,474
6
votes
Accepted
How to keep a cat out of a crib / bassinet
On the one hand, there is a strong possibility that once the baby (noisy stinky thing that your cat will think it is) begins to occupy the bed, the cat will no longer want anything to do with the bed. ...
- 1,487
6
votes
Accepted
What is the minimum space to keep a cat in an outdoor enclosure?
This is my answer to your question. There is no wrong/right answer to this question.
A cat needs a place where it can keep dry and comfortable, some type of house with a roof over.
It needs space to ...
- 18.8k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible