Cats and CPAPs just don't mix ...

[Madalot]

Hershey thinks he rules the roost so every now and then the girls have to put him in his place and banish him to the barn.

We have a cat named "Hershey" as well, but it's a girl. She came from the Humane Society and is solid chocolate colored (thus the name Hershey). Based on how shy and skittish she is, we think she was abused before the Humane Society got her. She is terrified of people, even us a lot of the time. You have to be very careful how you approach her or she'll just run. She loves other cats, so she does well here with 4 others for company.

[Slinky]

Our Hershey is white w/a couple of chocolate body spots and skull cap.

In time your Hershey should come around - at least for you folks. Our Tigger just this year for the first time is venturing out and doing some socializing w/the Triplets and is finally somewhat less terrified of Max, the Border Collie/Spaniel mix. The thing is he wouldn't hurt her - but - she runs and he has to chase her if she runs. The other cats don't and he doesn't bother them at all. Tigger is much more comfortable w/me now and even allows my daughter to give her a pat now and then. Its been 3 years, going on 4 years, since Tigger moved in, however she got here that tiny. Tigger isn't "quite right". There's something anatomically wrong w/her rear end and tail carriage, always has been. We're pretty sure she was born that way as we've never seen any sign of injury and the vet thinks it is congenital.

[Madalot]

In time your Hershey should come around - at least for you folks.

She's actually showing signs of improvement recently, which is good. My husband has reported that the last two nights when he's gotten his shower, she's gone into the bedroom with him and jumped on the bed, begging to be loved on. If he approaches her, forget it. But she will approach him now and lets him do anything to her...

We've had her about a year...

[vtfran]

Argh, the cat stepped on the big round button not once, but twice last night. .

I found a cap to put over the button so it can't be depressed...I'm waiting for the cats to learn to knock it off so they can get shut it off. I've had to lay there until they settle down before getting up as well...don't want them to think the food dish emergency is something they really have control over.

[BleepingBeauty]

Thankfully, neither of my cats bothers with my xPAP equipment. I could never kick them out of the bedroom, so I'd have to find another solution if that was a problem. FWIW, I "free-feed" all of my pets. Their bowls are always full of dry food, so they don't bug me to feed them, ever. The cats get wet food as a treat occasionally, but always mid-day.

All of my pets have been rescues. Godiva was found in my backyard when she was about five weeks old, crying like a little banshee. I had two grown cats at the time and didn't plan on adding another, but she stuck to me like glue, and I couldn't give her to anyone else.

Turtle was available for adoption from my vet's office. (He got his name from the vet because he would hide under his kitty bed until someone walked by his cage, when he would stick his head out from underneath it to see who it was and beg for attention. He's a total mush - loves the love. ) I met him right after I'd lost Chico at the age of 17, but Turtle looks so much like Chico that I immediately dissolved into tears when I saw him. I was still way too raw from the loss, and I just wasn't ready to adopt another cat yet - nevermind one that looked so much like Chico. A few months later, when I was ready for another kitty, I called the vet's office and was surprised to learn that Turtle was still there. I took him home that day, and he and Godiva have become best buddies.

Neither of them goes outside. There are too many predators here (coyotes, owls, mountain lions) to risk it. (I'm devastated enough when I lose a pet to aging or health issues; losing one to another animal's need for food would saddle me with more guilt than any Jew should have to deal with. My mother fills my quota very nicely. )

Woody was adopted from a local rescue six years ago. He was just a pup, found wandering the streets. I hadn't had a dog since I was a little girl, and I was nervous about training a puppy. But he's really smart and well-behaved and has turned out to be a great addition to my family.

Turtle likes to curl up right next to my head, sometimes sharing my pillow with me all night. He seems to like the exhaust from the mask. Godiva used to sleep with me all the time (usually on my legs), but she LOVES Woody and curls up with him in his (open) crate every night. In fact, she sometimes sprawls out so much that the dog can't lay down until she moves. (She weighs about 14 pounds, and the dog is nearly 50 pounds. What's wrong with that picture? LOL)

Turtle, kickin' back:


Godiva:


Woody's adoption pic on PetFinder (who could resist that adorable face?):


And here he is all grown up:



Rescue is the only way to go, IMO. And ALWAYS spay or neuter.

[Bons]

I guess the one good thing about PR machines is that the on/off button is on the side!

We have two rescued dogs. After our last lab died, the husband lasted a week on his "no more dogs" kick and then went to the pound. I said, "anything but another lab". In the very last pen, there was Charley, underweight by about 20 pounds, compeletely bald, and swollen from an infection from being neutered. What idiot would take him on? He cleaned up really nice, but after 11 years with us he still won't go near the basement steps.... he spent six months confined in a basement, in his own excrement, with a little food tossed to him now and then. I made the mistake of teaching him to fetch my shoes for me, so now if I'm on the computer and he wants to go for a walk, I can end up with three pairs of shoes tossed onto my lap.

Libby is disabled due to excessive kicks to the head and hips. Our daughter talked the husband into her while he was grieving the deaths his beloved pet rats. After 4 years with us, she's finally stopped cringing when we harness her for walks. She's still afraid of almost everthing, and brings a teddy bear to bed with her every night, and grabs it if she gets upset during the day.

And we have two rescued cats as well. Bud is bulemic. When we made the mistake of leaving him with a self-feeder a few years ago, we came home after a few hours to discover three pounds of food eaten and puked up. So now he's fed a little bit three times a day, with the food scattered around on a large plate so he can't eat it too quickly. The other cat is a grazer, so she and her food dish are closed in a room together whenever we're gone for a few hours at a time so Bud can't get at it.

[tschultz]

As one of the human servants domesticated by 6 cats (yes that is six) I can say that no real problems. All except for one the cats is a rescue and like most are spoiled rotten. So far the only issues with the cats and xPAP have been the first night when one got on the bed in the middle of the night and started slapping "that hissing thing" attached to my face. We have one other that does sleep on the bed next to me but the others all shy away until I take the mask off and get up in the morning. We always free feed the dry food and quite a while ago switched to giving them wet food treat around 9:00PM which pretty much eliminated the "let's bug the humans so they feed us" in the mornings. I do have a small plastic coaster that I sit upside down over the ON/OFF button just in case anyone decides to walk across the machine either at night or day.

[archangle]

I wonder if there's any statistical correlation between apnea and CCLS? (Crazy Cat Lady Syndrome.)

[Tcamillemars]

I have one cat who loves to put her paw over the exhalation vent on the mask, and another who thinks it's pretty fun to chew on the hose. Luckily my 3rd cat hasn't paid any attention at all. BTW, if you don't have a spare hose, wrap the damaged part with Saranwrap or similar, and then seal it with duct tape. Works in a pinch.

[Bright Choice]

So I'm feeling really pretty good this morning in spite of the cat. And we're off to go skiing one last time ..

I'm loving the cat stories. Our little Molly is a shelter cat too - and is absolutely as sweet as can be!

Where do you ski?

We headed out for what was to be out last ski day at Buttermilk - too much rain there so we headed to Snowmass. After 2 runs they shut down the whole mountain because of the threat of lightning. But, lots of new snow so a powder day at Snowmass tomorrow. Next Sunday closes the season for us.

[Crazy Cat Lady]

Love, love, love to hear about so many cat lovers here and all of the rescued cats and dogs.

We have 7 at home rescue cats and 4 rescued dogs. At "The Cat House", a separate place about 2 miles from our home, I have about 65 cats and at another house sanctuary across the street from the Cat House I have about 20 cats. Both sanctuaries are fenced with Purrfect Fence which allows the cats to roam, climb trees and still be safe and they are able to have indoor and outdoor access.

I noticed that some mention giving their cats milk. Actually cow's milk is not good for some cats, causes diarrehea. Whiskas makes a great
"Catmilk" especially for cats and kittens. (Note: not for newborn kittens, you need something like Just Born kitten formula.) I buy it the grocery stores, Petco or Longs. Makes
it easy to add worming medicine if I have to. http://www.petco.com/product/8747/Whisk ... FOOD+(XML)

[sleeplessinaz]

Hi--I have 4 cats of various ages---all rescued ones and spayed. None of them ever bother my CPAP machine, mask or anything --so I guess I am lucky.

Carrie

[Beachmeezer]

I've been fortunate here. 6 cats and 2 dogs with access to the bed at night and one big hubby and everyone works around our machines at night (hubby has a CPAP too). No one messes with hoses, machines etc. Even my freaky cat doesn't mind the machine and still snuggles up at night. - Kim

[robysue]

FWIW, I "free-feed" all of my pets. Their bowls are always full of dry food, so they don't bug me to feed them, ever. The cats get wet food as a treat occasionally, but always mid-day.

Well, if Mr. T ate like a normal cat instead of a puppy dog, he'd have food in hi bowl all day too. But whatever we put in his bowl, he'll demolish in 2 to 5 minutes flat. And it's dry food. He also came to us well trained (in a dog sense): Understands and usuallly obeys sit, stay, up, and down. And loves to play fetch. He's an indoor cat exclusively now. Hubby got him for me as a Christmas present (my specific request that year) several years ago and about two or three years after our previous cat named Ilya Purrkovitch Meowskii died at the ripe old age of 17 1/2 of kidney failure.

Similarities between Mr. T and Ilya start and end with size: Both big cats. Ilya was a tuxedo cat that may have been half Siamese (one litter mate looked Siamese). Ilya had the widest and weirdest vocal range of any cat I've ever known. Mr. T's howling is solely confined to "Feed Me" and "Toss a Paper Ball for Me". Ilya would vocalize just to keep you company. But Mr. T is inherently smarter in many ways---gets into things Ilya never would. And gets into binds due to curiosity that Ilya never would. Funniest Mr. T pickle is when he jumps from the toilet seat to the top frame of the glass shower door lands just fine: But he's too big to comfortably turn himself around. So he has to howl for a rescue. He repeats this exercise about every six months or so.

So I'm feeling really pretty good this morning in spite of the cat. And we're off to go skiing one last time ..

I'm loving the cat stories. Our little Molly is a shelter cat too - and is absolutely as sweet as can be!

Where do you ski?

We headed out for what was to be out last ski day at Buttermilk - too much rain there so we headed to Snowmass. After 2 runs they shut down the whole mountain because of the threat of lightning. But, lots of new snow so a powder day at Snowmass tomorrow. Next Sunday closes the season for us.

During the year we ski at Holliday Valley in Ellicottville, NY. It's about 75 minutes south of Buffalo and actually has both a national market as well as a local one. We learned to ski at a place called Kissing Bridge, which is closer to Buffalo, mainly caters to day trippers from Buffalo and southern Ontario. Switched to HV mainly because we've been involved with a group called AFS. One of the main folks with WNY AFS has convinced HV to let the exchange students ski for free for four weekends. And so we wind up providing transportation for exchange students on Sundays and do our skiing at the same time. The "Sunday Night Weekly Pass" is a pretty good deal for us.

We were at Gore Mountain earlier in the week for two days. Snow high on the mountain was in pretty good shape for this late in the season.

Today at HV, the weather was warm, somewhat sunny and the rain held off until tonight. And right now it is snowing, but I don't think we'll pick up much.

[Bright Choice]

Ok, before I hook myself up for the night I thought I'd tell one of our funny cat stories:

We had a cat by the name of Lucky. He was a big Norwegian Forest cat. One of our kids had a slumber party and the next morning my husband straightened out the rec room. By evening we began looking for Lucky - he was not to be found anywhere. Later in the evening it began raining and Lucky always came in out of the rain so we knew something wasn't quite right. We searched high and low and he was nowhere to be found. Then... my husband remembered that he had flipped up the sleeper sofa before he began his exercises in the rec room. Opening the sleeper sofa, there he was, poor poor cat. He was totally flattened, his body looked like a pancake, his head was misshapen and his tongue was hanging out and it looked like a piece of beef jerky. We put drops of water on his tongue, nursed him back into shape and were thankful that he still had six lives to go!

The next day I told the story to a friend. My friend said: "You need to rename your cat, his name should not be 'Lucky", he should be named 'Damn Lucky'!"

We truly were thankful that Lucky was ok. We love our cats and would have been heartbroken if anything had happened to him.

(Sorry if I am breaking the rules on this site, but how could I tell this story without the "d..."?)