I decided to make something similar to the Catsifier for tiny terror to suckle on. This pillow has an elastic band on the back of it, as it’s actually one of those arm pillows students use to lay their heads on at their desks. I found the nipples that come with the small pet nursing bottles to be too hard, so then I found this tourniquet rubber, which is more pliable yet also pretty robust, to sew onto the cat pillow belly. I had it all in a cute pattern, folded on itself into little teets, but trial runs it seemed too fat, so I cut them in half and eliminated half of them. Kitty got the idea right away, and was munching/slurping away, but then decided that earlobes were much, much better and made a bee-line straight for my head. My poor ears are raw and actually have something like road rash on them.
Sorry this blog is turning into cat trials and tribulations – hopefully this, too, will pass…
Went and got another litter box, which she immediately used and now prefers to the other one. It’s another vegetable colander, only deeper, so everything is contained really well. Plus, I left the strainer part in, so the liquids can drain through. Brilliant!
Only not so brilliant. It didn’t deter my little vampire from peeing on the mattress pad and sheet I’d had on the floor in lieu of my destroyed bed. I think she does this when she’s HAPPY, God damned it.
I shut her out of the living room all night, to give my poor earlobes a break, and slept on the couch. Only she cried and flung herself at the door all night…
I don’t think big spaces was ever much of an issue (Rachel – my entire apartment would fit in your living room) and it was fine for a whole week there, too. But now small spaces are an issue and she’s not having it. It really sucks because I LOVE sleeping with cats – it’s the primary benefit of having them, in my opinion. I need to find that bitter apples flavored spray and put it on my earlobes, but don’t think I’ll be able to in Korea. I’ve been in a dozen pet stores, and the selection of stuff is limited or incomprehensible to me as it’s in Korean. I did find something I believe might be an enzymatic cleaner. I’ll try the pepper sauce I guess – how funny is that – if my raw flesh can handle it. I also don’t know what kind of antiseptic to get/ask for/ be able to find at a Korean yak (pharmacy). I really don’t know what to do about the bedding. I’ve done everything all the message boards say to do.
Hell kitty is sleeping right now. She’s had a rough night yelling at me to open the door.
Hello Korea ! 
I don’t think I’ll do the tabasco sauce thing – that just seems mean when all she’s doing is loving. In my continued research, one person suggested aloe juice, straight from the plant. That stuff’s pretty gross. When we were in Jamaica, we were told it was an effective bug repellent, and our rasta friend told us to rub it all over ourselves. It smelled okay when we put it on, and it was a little sticky, but then it turned into this dirty-looking orange film and it smelled really repulsive. It’s not only a bug repellent, but also birth control! I wonder where I can find an aloe plant? A little behind my ears might be tolerable. Maybe if I just smell bad the desire will go down. Another suggestion was Vick’s vapor rub. I wonder if tiger balm would work, since that’s readily available? But really, from all accounts it sounds like the cats who do this and who are as DRIVEN as mine is seem to be the ones who do this their whole lives. Yayy. I guess it could be worse – I read of one person who’s cat suckled her armpit…
One hopeful thing I read was of a man who would re-direct the cat with a treat. The vet told me not to give her treats yet, but I think this is a pretty critical time and if I cut the treats up extra small it hopefully won’t imbalance her diet too much. Only I’m convinced my cat is extra obsessed, so I can see her getting her treat when I pull her away and then making a mad scramble for the prize earlobe again. Anyway, it’s worth a shot.
I’m wondering if the cat has a urinary tract infection, so I’m going to take her in tonight. There’s lots of solid matter but very little liquid, and I saw her urinating on the newspaper instead of in the box yesterday;
But the quantity hitting the sheets seemed quite substantial, so that would seem NOT indicative of uti…but I suppose I should rule it out.
Great. More money, and that means Mr. Vet will be hitting on me more…I went past his shop to see if there was another brand of pet nurser yesterday, and was in-and-out, but he saw me leaving and ran outside after me and asked why I didn’t stay longer…
Next post will NOT be about cats, I promise…
I have a question for you but I rather ask it through email. If it is ok can you send me your email address. My email address is dryflyingwithcaddis@gmail.com Thank You
no problem. check your email.
took kitten in to check for urinary tract infection and first vaccination – clean bill of health. however, we have achieved dry bed and sleeping buddy. i think it’s a combination of letting her gnaw on me for awhile, but not for long. spraying the bedding thoroughly with that enzyme/febreeze-like stuff and every time she stepped foot on it to throw her in the cat box. despite the vet’s advice to wait until July before giving treats, I break off and give her a tiny bit of treat after each time I see her use the box. close off my bedroom except when I’m in there. anyway, it’s getting better – just have a lot of reinforcing to do on all fronts. it’s seriously taking all my free time, watching her like a hawk, keeping her preoccupied, and attending her needs. it’ll be nice once she grows out of this kitten phase. but i think she is going to be a very loving lap cat once she does.
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Next day – wake to kitty peeing on bed again, and here I thought it was all solved! I found another site that suggest putting a rough surfaced blanket on the bed instead, and that will help. So going to try that.
I want to make a catsifier too but I am not sure what should I use for the “nipples” part… My kitten is getting bigger now though he’s only 7 months old.. Having him on top of my stomach every time he wants to suckle, nights or early mornings is ughhh~~~heavy!! And he still scratches and bites except when I shoot him with small water spray :P
I also bought new litter box for him. It suits him better now that he’s growing bigger. Previously, he even poop outside the litter box just because the sand “splashed” out from the box after he happily jumped out when he finished his business inside.. *shaking my head*