Hi! I have four cats. My one cat, thumper, got this gecko toy that we just call "lizard" probably 2 years ago. Well it has since disappeared in some black hole of my house, I have no idea what he did with it. I have looked everywhere I could think of. I've also looked online for this and I can't find it anywhere! Does anyone have any ideas where I might be able to get another one? He was very attached to this, much like a little kid with his blanket. I feel so bad! Thank you in advance for any help.

I have an automatic litterbox and I’m looking for options to keep the litter, well in the litter box, funds are tight so trading this out for a different one is currently not within budget. I’ve looked at some shields but cannot find the right one. It’s a Robotail auto litterbox

we brang our kitten home around 26 hours ago and she hasn’t pooped. at first she wouldnt eat, drink or go to the toilet however this morning she started drinking some water and had some wet food/ chicken but not a lot i would say just about a pouch. she’s peed 3 times but not pooped!, i’m starting to get worried as it’s been over 24 hours and i’ve tried massaging her belly and the warm compress (stimulus) so i’m unsure how long to leave it till it’s very worrying. our normal vet appts arnt open till monday so only option if needed is emergency vets which can be quite expensive. she also seems a little younger than 9 weeks just due to her weight or she’s the runt!. any advice would be greatly appreciated, thankyou

update: have taken her to the vets today all in good health no medical reason! so waiting another day or so for her to go before taking her back !

Hello! I will be moving away for studies soon and was considering adopting an indoor cat to keep me company and help with my mental health.

Issue is I have 2 housing propositions, both 1 room apartments and I’m trying to weigh the pros and cons.

One has an extra dressing room I was considering using as an office, but the only windows available in the whole space would be 2 skylights, so I’m worried the cat would not have access to natural cat TV. On top of that, the bathroom is very tiny and I would have to place the litter in the main living room or in a corner in the dressing/office. This one is 28m2.

Other one is a 20m2, but has a large proper floor to ceiling window. I could also make a few arrangements to give the cat more vertical space. There would be enough room for the litter in the bathroom so no issues for that.

My question now is whether the extra space from the first apartment, or the extra enrichment from the second would be better to keep the cat happy. I would assume the big window would be more lucrative for the cat as well as a lot of vertical space, but I am open to more opinions.

Pictures here: link (first place will be emptied, second one comes furnished with what is shown)

Thank you!

Guys I need specific, litter brand type cost, other equipment if it’s an auto scoop what type is the best, what’s cleaners to use, and anything and every for the least amount of smell possible

Hi everyone please help me

My history

According to my parents, my digestive problems already started during infancy. Throughout childhood I continued to have gastrointestinal issues, but during the last 5–6 years everything has become dramatically worse.

My symptoms now control almost every aspect of my life. I can barely leave the house without constantly planning around toilets. Every meal feels like a cycle of eating, abdominal pain, cramping, diarrhea, temporary relief, and then it starts all over again. I had to pause my university studies because of my condition and my quality of life has become extremely poor.

There is also a family history of inflammatory bowel disease, as a close family member has ulcerative colitis.

Current symptoms

• Chronic diarrhea (usually 5–10 bowel movements every day)
• Diarrhea almost immediately after waking up every morning
• Constant abdominal pain and cramping
• Burning pain in my abdomen, especially when fasting
• Constant hunger, but eating often causes an urgent bowel movement within minutes
• Severe bloating after every meal with a hard, tight abdomen
• Difficulty gaining weight / underweight
• Bright red blood in my stool on and off (especially after frequent bowel movements)
• Occasional blood in my urine
• Severe fatigue and lack of energy
• Brain fog and poor concentration
• Sleep disturbances because abdominal pain wakes me up
• Very vivid dreams almost every night
• Tinnitus
• Back pain and occasional kidney pain
• Constant runny nose throughout the year
• Eczema on my hands and face that sometimes cracks, bleeds and oozes

Diagnoses / findings

• Positive hydrogen and methane breath test consistent with both SIBO and intestinal methanogen overgrowth (IMO).
  • Hydrogen increased from approximately 12 ppm to 58 ppm within about 80 minutes (peak around 92 ppm).
  • Methane reached approximately 55 ppm.
  • During the breath test I developed bloating, abdominal pain, diarrhea, nausea, fatigue and brain fog.
• Lactose intolerance
• Vitamin D deficiency
• Folate deficiency
• Gut microbiome imbalance / dysbiosis
• Elevated total IgE (181 kU/L)
• Confirmed house dust mite allergy, mainly against Der f 2 (9.91 kU/L) and Der p 2 (9.33 kU/L), with additional sensitization to Der p 1 (0.54 kU/L)
• Confirmed cat allergy with a strong sensitization to Fel d 1 (36.86 kU/L), the major cat allergen
• Positive Can f Fel d 1-like (10.14 kU/L), thought to represent cross-reactivity rather than a true dog allergy
• Scoliosis

Investigations I've had

Over many years I've undergone:

• Multiple colonoscopies
• Multiple upper endoscopies with biopsies that did not provide a clear diagnosis
• MRI enterography (Sellink MRI), which showed no evidence of Crohn's disease or intestinal inflammation
• Several abdominal ultrasounds
• Numerous blood tests, most of which have been unremarkable
• Stool tests including calprotectin, pancreatic elastase and M2-PK, all essentially normal
• SeHCAT scan
• Various food intolerance tests
• Comprehensive allergy testing
• Testing for mast cell activation syndrome (MCAS), which was reportedly unremarkable

Despite all of this, no single diagnosis explains everything.

Treatments I've tried

I've tried many different treatments over the years, including:

• Rifaximin for SIBO (no meaningful improvement)
• Budesonide (temporary improvement of diarrhea)
• Mesalamine preparations (Pentasa)
• Other gastrointestinal medications
• Various probiotics
• Ginger and artichoke extract for motility
• Vitamin D
• Folic acid
• Glutamine
• Curcumin
• Krill oil
• Beef liver supplements
• Boswellia
• Ginger

None of these have produced lasting improvement.

Prednisolone response

For about one month I've been taking 16 mg prednisolone daily.

This produced one of the most interesting responses I've ever had.

• My eczema on my face and hands disappeared completely.
• Initially my diarrhea also completely resolved.
• Unfortunately, after some time the bowel symptoms gradually returned despite continuing the medication.
• I now again have frequent diarrhea and intermittent bright red blood in my stool.

The dramatic improvement of my skin and the initial improvement of my bowel symptoms make me wonder whether there could be an immune-mediated process that simply hasn't been identified.

Cannabis

Cannabis is one of the very few things that consistently helps.

It significantly reduces my abdominal pain, cramping, burning sensation and the immediate urge to have a bowel movement after eating. It doesn't cure the problem, but it makes the symptoms much more manageable.

What has been ruled out?

As far as I know:

• Crohn's disease has not been demonstrated.
• Ulcerative colitis has never been confirmed.
• Multiple endoscopies have not shown a convincing explanation.
• MRI enterography has been normal.
• Stool inflammatory markers have repeatedly been normal.
• Routine blood work has largely been unrevealing.
• MCAS testing has not shown convincing evidence for mast cell activation syndrome.

What confuses me

One thing that really confuses me is that I clearly have significant environmental allergies (especially cat and house dust mites with elevated total IgE), chronic eczema, and a constantly runny nose. However, these findings don't seem sufficient to explain the severity of my lifelong gastrointestinal symptoms.

The fact that my eczema disappeared completely on prednisolone and my bowel symptoms initially improved as well makes me wonder whether there could be an underlying immune-mediated disorder that hasn't been identified yet.

My question

Has anyone experienced something similar?

I'm especially interested in conditions that can cause:

• lifelong gastrointestinal symptoms beginning in infancy
• chronic diarrhea despite mostly normal routine investigations
• positive SIBO/IMO that doesn't respond to antibiotics
• steroid-responsive skin disease and temporary steroid-responsive bowel symptoms
• intermittent rectal bleeding
• eczema together with environmental allergies
• elevated IgE
• chronic fatigue and brain fog
• inability to gain weight

Pictures: https://imgur.com/a/condition-since-3-years-LQXp3Ro

At this point I'm wondering whether there could be an underlying immune disorder, eosinophilic gastrointestinal disease, immune dysregulation syndrome, inflammatory condition, primary immunodeficiency, a mast-cell-related disorder that wasn't detected, or something else that has simply been overlooked.

I'd really appreciate any ideas, similar experiences or suggestions for diagnoses that may be worth discussing with my doctors.

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this.

So my kitty won’t stop eating plastic, she ended up having an operation last year cause she got some foil stuck in her belly! I read online to get her these crinkle toys and she loves them! But I’m so worried she’s going to swallow them again! Has anyone had these toys before are they safe for plastic eaters!

Picture of culprit and her toy!

Just moved into a new apartment and kind of struggling on where to put my litter box? I don’t have much closet/bathroom floor space, so I’d be a bit difficult to keep it in there. No actual hallway either, its much more open than my last apartment. I was thinking about buying a litter enclosure and dual using it as a console table/litter cabinet for the tv, but wanted to know if anyone has a suggestions on what to buy?

My cat is also large so he does use an XL hooded litter bc he tracks litter and has a habit of knocking over unhooded boxes

Please let me know if you have any recs! Thanks :)