Conference misery::feline_v1

    Hi Sandy,
    
         I've found my cats urinate twice a day (they are indoor, and
    sometimes I work from home so I can watch).  They defecate once or
    twice a day.
    
         I don't think it's abnormal for a cat to hold his bowel movements
    for a day and then do "a lot"; I notice with myself that I tend to go
    once a day but sometimes skip a day (how's that for person ;-) ).
    
         I would say if the cat skips more than a couple of days for bowel 
    movements or more than a day for urine, that would be something to be
    to be concerned about.  Certainly if the cat is straining for either
    and cannot do, *that* is definitely a vet-visit.  
    
    					- Andrea

    
    	This is quite normal for my cats.  They stay in all day (and sleep)
    and go out all night.  The litter box is always available to them,
    but it is rare that I get any "business".  
    
    	In the cold weather, they often choose to stay in.  I give them
    the option of doing either.  If it's real cold, I stay up at night
    until they come back in before I go to bed.  My cat, Sammy, has
    stayed out on nights as cold as 15 degrees.  He's none the worse
    for the wear, although I worry when he insists on doing this.  :^)
    
    	I think outdoor cats "prefer" to go outside, because they like
    the dirt (in lieu of litter) -- at least mine seem to.
    
    	-Nancy
    
    

    Tigger goes out in all sorts of weather.  Sometimes I try to persuade
    him not to go, but that only delays the inevitable, and I don't like to
    get up at 2am on a cold night to let him out :-).  If I don't let him
    go, he'll just trash the bedroom until I relent.  Actually, I don't
    like getting up at 2am on any night :-).  Of course, if I wake up and
    it's blizzarding, I go to the door and call for him, but he's hardly
    ever there, and I stay up and worry for a while.
    
    We used to be able to go a couple of months before changing the litter
    box when Tigger was an only child.  Now, things are a bit different
    :-).
    
    Jill

    Strange as it may seem, cats like doghouses, too.  My housemate's
    indoor/outdoor cats took advantage of the doghouse when they didn't
    make last call for bedtime.  I keep fresh hay in the doghouse, and on
    rainy, snowy, cold nights that a cat didn't get inside at night, it
    would burrow down in the hay and spend the night in the doghouse.
    

    
    There definitely are cats that can keep it in all day.
    
    I used to have an indoor/outdoor cat, and no litter box (he never used
    it).  In the depths of winter, he would stay in all day while I was at
    work, and all night while I slept.  He would go outside for only 15-30
    minutes in the evening and do his business.  He never had an accident
    inside.  He could go for nearly 24 hours!  It was pretty amazing.
    
    Valerie

    Well, when I go away to a show, I swear Shadow doesn't do ANYTHING
    for two solid days!
    

    Thanks for all your help.  I have a few more questions.
    
    	Early last night Chief was outside and wandering around from
    neighbor to neighbors house (Last weekend he went across the street
    into the model home since their door was open!).  Anyway he ran into
    one of the female cats in the neighborhood, that I think is neutered
    but I am not sure.  This cat would lay on its side and "wiggle" closer
    to Chief, but once Chief approached her finally she would "push" him
    away. Is this play, mating, or a war game?  He is almost 6 months and
    I am going to get him neutered sometime in Novemember.  I finally got
    him with food and brought him home since it was dark and I was tired
    of worrying what would happen.
    
    	My next question involves FELv. My neighbor has a 3 year old cat
    that is indoor only.  The other day she found a small kitten by her
    office.  She put it in a box and brought it into her house (it stayed
    in the box) while she tried to figure out what to do with it.  Her
    cat never touched it (definately did not like it though!) but did look
    into the box.  She called me and we took it to the pet store down the
    road that takes in kittens, including stray or found.  They  gave her
    all the shots, but did not test for FELv.  My neighbor is now afraid
    that her cat could have caught it if the kitten has it by any chance.
    She wants to run to the vet today and start the shots.  She needs to
    know if her cat could have caught it.  The kitten was in their house
    for less than 1/2 hour.  Is it passed through the air?  How long does
    it take?  Will getting shots now help if her cat was exposed?  
    
    				thanks for all your help.
    				Sandy

    Sounds like Chief and the female were engaging in kitty "foreplay". 
    The actions you describe mimic what males and females do before they
    begin to mate.  There is a period where the female will roll around and
    tease, but will rebuff the male for advancing.  When the female is
    ready she will no longer rebuff the male.  Best to keep your boy inside
    until he is neutered to prevent this from happening.
    
    FeLV is not an airborne virus.  The virus is very fragile outside the
    host and cannot survive in the environment.  Cats get it from direct,
    prolonged contact with the infected cat.  This usually involves a
    transfer of blood, saliva, urine, feces etc, not just shared airspace. 
    If your friend's cat didn't share a food or water dish with the kitten,
    or a litter pan, or didn't engage in fighting or grooming with the
    kitten, then it is probably not in any risk of getting FeLV.  
    
    If your friends cat had engaged in that type of behavior (described
    above) with the kitten, then the shots would not protect him from
    getting FeLV if given after the fact.  The FeLV shot takes time to
    build immunity, and that immunity must be developed before any exposure
    takes place in order to be effective against FeLV.
    
    Also, rushing out and testing your friend's cat for FeLV right now
    would not be effective either.  If he was going to get FeLV from the
    kitten, any test taken now would not reflect the effects of the recent
    exposure.
    
    Hope that I explained this in a way you could understand.  It can be
    very confusing.
    
    Jo