posted on January 5, 2001 07:14:24 PMCute pic of Missy!
Good job Powerhouse!
Thanks femme!
You know, even though they can get on my nerves (like playing under the Christmas tree) and I hate litter boxes, I love them all! I have a lot of fun watching them and how they interact. They always either crack me up or totally enthrall me. Pogo is such a great learner & manipulator. She'll sit back and watch, then decide how to go about it. She pretty much has everyone eating out of her hand now. She really loves Gunther (the dog) and has been trying to cuddle up to him for months. He has no idea what to do with that and gets up to move. Last week I woke up and there they were, cuddled up together on the bed. Too bad I didn't get that picture! They all like to sleep with Mommy and not so much Daddy. So when I'm in bed alone, they all pile on the bed with me. It makes rolling over quite difficult.
Here's some more pics:
Charlie loves giving kisses:
See the three little sets of ears?
Great baby pictures, ya think?
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
posted on January 5, 2001 07:45:30 PM
Wow, what great photos!
And this is the perfect place to get some opinions from fellow cat lovers.
We also live in an area where cats frequently get dumped. A stray adopted us when we first moved here 15 years ago and she just passed away last year. Over the years we have neuteured many of the strays and found homes for the ones who would let us.
We didn't ruch to get a new kitty because I just always assumed another one who needed us would show up. Strangely, the only cats we've been feeding lately are truly feral ones who want nothing to do with us humans.
That is until October when a beat-up gray and white big Tom cat showed up. He's an odd one. He's very comfortable around us and when the weather turned cold he even started spending time in the house. But he is the biggest scaredy-cat ever. He jumps at every noise or if you're carrying something as you walk by him he slinks away like he's terrified. Forget rattling a plastic bag or tearing apiece of foil off the roll!!!
He knows how to use the litter box but prefers to be let outside. He'll wait at the door just like a dog. Some nights he'll decide to go prowling the entire night and other times he'll stay in the house several days in a row.
So, do I try to get him to the vet's to get neuteured or is this going to be too traumatic for him? I'd love to have the vet get a look at him. He's been in his share of fights and came home with a bloody ear more than once.
I always kind of thought letting a cat outside was kind of irresponsible (especially since we live on a busy street), but is that just how this big guy (we call him Pepper, tho he has no idea why?!) is going to be and that's that?
And what do we do when we go on vacation? We're supposed to go to Florida for a week in March. I have a neighbor that will feed him if we leave him outside, but that seems so unfair now that he's used to coming inside.
Well, if you're still reading this novel, Thank You! This cat just has me really stumped. And, to top it off, he's been a perfect gentleman in the house - very well behaved!
I think it's great that you try to help these poor little animals!
I would say to just call your vet first and ask them what they think if you should have him neutered or not. They would know best. My vet has always told me that cats should either be indoor or outdoor animals and I have to agree. All my cats are indoor pets and I do not let them out at all. This keeps them from coming home with bloody ears from fights with other animals, from getting hit my cars, from getting rabies and who knows what else is lurking out there.
Also, when you let animals in and out of the house all day, who knows what they are bringing into your home that you don't know about. Mainly for me, it's a safety issue. I love animals and I like to see them SAFE and sound. It breaks my heart to see an animal dead at the side of the road.
I have a cat (Jasper) like yours - who is nothing but a scaredy-cat. He's afraid of his own shadow! If anyone comes over, he automatically runs and hides under the bed! All I can think of is animals like this must have been abused in the past. I don't know what else could make them this way.
Anyways, keep us posted on what the vet says about your cat. I think it's so nice to hear all the people on this board who love their pets and take such great care of them!
posted on January 5, 2001 08:03:16 PM
Thanks ExecutiveGirl!
I agree 100% about the indoor/outdoor issue. Our other former stray was totally an indoor cat. I have a feeling this guy will never accept that. I am going to talk to the vet and hope he can help!
posted on January 5, 2001 09:24:15 PMmapledr: Get him neutered, and have the vets give him his shots while he's at it. It's not traumatic for a cat (we had a similar situation: Birm decided to move in with us after living outside all his life - the vet says he's 9-10 years old).
There's no sense in increasing the population of stray and feral cats in the world, and obviously that's what unfixed cats do - make babies. Lots of them.
posted on January 6, 2001 12:22:25 AM
MOUSESLAYER ~ I had to show you what Yoyo will grow up to look like ~ this is Abby ~ she looked just like your kitten when she was a kitten ~ she was so ugly she was cute. My first husband rescued a Momma cat and her 3 kittens from a abandoned dumptruck ~ we found homes for Momma cat and siblings but noone would take this little kitten ~ so we kept her ~ she turned into a beatiful cat ~ but boy does she have an attitude! She has been with me for 14 1/2 years!
posted on January 6, 2001 12:24:59 AM
Oh I so totally agree on the keeping them indoors issue! We used to have indoor/outdoor cats, but after so many not ever coming back home and three die from Feline Lukemia, I'd had enough. The most amazing thing about our brood is that the former strays are the ones least likely to ever skulk around the door. Charlie (yes, she's a she) regularly tries to go explore, but Gunther doesn't let her get far! He's so smart, he knows what the cats can and can't do.
mapledr, if the vet does agree that he should be neutered (and he probably will, after blood testing to make sure he won't have a problem with the anesthesia), my best advice is to never let him back out after he comes home from the surgery. He may decide he likes it better that way and will thank you with many more years of love
ExecutiveGirl, you know the funny part is that my nickname has nothing to with my love for cats or computers (you know, computer mouse?). My tag line for awhile said I wasn't a cat , but I like my new one better. It's kind of a funny story how I got it. Anyone want to hear it?
Edited to add that Tom is a scardy cat too. And he also is the brightest bulb in the string. But I tell you, he's always telling me in his little ways that he's grateful we took him in
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
[ edited by mouseslayer on Jan 6, 2001 12:33 AM ]
posted on January 6, 2001 12:40:50 AM
Fifteen and a half years ago I was leaving my church ~ when I heard what I thought was a baby crying in the woods. I went in the woods to rescue what turned out to be a 4 week old black and white kitten that was full of ticks, fleas, very thin and had the end of his tail freshly cut off ~ so he was bloody aswell.
I wrapped him up and took him home ~ I was getting married in just 3 short weeks ~ so my parents were horrified that I had brought what my dear mother termed a bloody flea bag home. My father told me that there was no way that the kitten would live ~ and that it would be a waste of money to take it to the vet. My father and I cleaned him up and bandaged him. We fed him and kept him warm. My mother would not allow the little flea bag in the house, so we would sneak the little kitten in the house after she went to bed and put it out early in the morning until she went to work, then we would let him back in.
My father and I were both determined to make this little kitten's last few days better then his life had been to that point. This little kitten began to improve and even managed to win over my mother. When I packed up and left home to set up house with my new husband, my parents were both upset that I actually thought I was going to take their cat!
Well needless to say.........I packed the kitten and took him with me.......here is a picture of him I took tonight......15 1/2 years later.
[ edited by katzname on Jan 6, 2001 12:42 AM ]
[ edited by katzname on Jan 6, 2001 01:48 AM ]
posted on January 6, 2001 12:52:02 AM
Ok, it doesn't take me much encouragement
When I joined the SCA (a medieval reenactment group) many years ago, my friends helped me with my name. Well, we came up with Lorelei pretty easily since my name is Lori. But we needed more. So we sat around and put on our thinking caps. They asked me if I had any other nicknames, but none suitable for the time period.
Then somehow the story got told. When I was younger, I used to go on frequent roadtrips. For some reason, everytime I went, I would encounter a mouse in the road. Unfortunately I got them every time too
The first one was quite a hair raising experience too. Me and 2 of my friends were at our local mountain preserve toodling around one night. My one friend loved bumps in the road, she called them whoopdy-doos. So she saw one and I gunned it. We fly over the bump and the next thing I hear is, "Look out for the mouse!" Sure enough, there's this tiny mouse zipping across the road. Well, I was far too close and going to fast to avoid it (not too mention narrow winding roads). So we just stared, transfixed at this mouse as we went over it. (I actually think we missed that one, it was between the wheels.)
Then I hear, "Stop sign!" Wha?! I didn't think we were that close to the end of the road! So I slam on the brakes and my mom's, notoriously horrible at stopping quickly, truck squeals and starts to fishtail. I manage to get keep it under control (no small feat for a 16 year old new driver!) and get it stopped, in the intersection of course. Well, we were near the bottom which meant near the ranger station. So we hurry up the road a bit, park, hop out and try to act like we've been there awhile. Needless to say our hearts are pounding and if the ranger had come to investigate, he would have seen right through us.
My friends, after much rolling on the floor and wiping the tears from their eyes, then decided uponmy new name: Lorelei the MouseSlayer! And it has stuck ever since, 11 years later.
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
posted on January 6, 2001 12:56:36 AM
Oh I forgot to say thank you for showing me what Yoyo will grow up to look like katzname! I sometimes wish we had kept her too he was sucha little pistol and sweet as pie like her sister. Pogo spends a lot of time on my lap while I'm on the computer. She gets very insistant on it!
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
posted on January 6, 2001 02:40:14 AM
Well, in digging around in the basement for gunther pictures for the dog thread I found more kitty pics! I know, you're all jumping for joy You all can tell me to stop at anytime
A portrait of Yoyo on her last day here:
I love this picture and will someday get it framed
Rascal guarding the door of the kitty tent for Pogo. You can see her foot:
Momma cat supervising her baby's first playtime with the big kitties:
Buddy showing the baby the ropes:
KD got it!
And she wasn't gonna let go neither!
Sigh, I used to have several web pages for these guys, but I lost it all and just haven't had the drive to rebuild them yet. I'd have such a hard time deciding what pics to use now that I have a good camera!
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
[ edited by mouseslayer on Jan 6, 2001 02:45 AM ]
posted on January 6, 2001 02:57:32 PM
I love the picture of YoYO on her last day with you! Abby is a one woman cat ~ since I am the one she loves, it does not bother me ~ the other humans in the house have tried for years to gain her love, but it is only me. She has brought me so much happiness and I just love the way the other humans still try to win her over............my husband gets so jealous ~ he wants that cat to love him so bad ~ but the harder he tries.....
Kitty Sam ~ or Sammykins as he is most often called loves everybody ~ and anybody ~ esp if you come to my house and don't like cats.....he will be all over you for sure then.
posted on January 7, 2001 08:31:11 AM
I was just giving the dog lovers time to catch up ~ a have a million pictures ~ after I spend some time with my dear husband.
posted on January 7, 2001 10:40:22 PM
Ah yes, I knew I hadn't gotten them all yet!
Rascal discovers the dishwasher. KD decides now is a good time to pick on him:
Can you tell I love taking pictures of Pogo? She's a natural! (By the way, her and Rascal are in the hamper. They loved sleeping in there for some reason. More than once they got buried at night when changing )
Another one of Pogo. This was her first time playing with the 'feather wand'. She wasn't very stable
Off to the basement to see what else I can scrounge!
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
posted on January 8, 2001 08:56:36 PM
hi, enjoyed all the cat stories, how easily they worm their way into our lives and we'd be brokenhearted without them. we had 5 and absolutely were not going to take any more in.. then my sister-in-law came to the door with a very newly born(hadn't even been cleaned by the mother who must have met her demise during labor)calico who stole our hearts and time as she needed constant care those first few days.she is now 2 1/2 years old and a whopping 4 pounds. she, molly(named after being so small like a molicule)runs this household of 5 veteran cats and 2 adults. the only time she doesn't appreciate her human mom and dad is when we go play with the neighbors bengal tiger and 2 cougars. we have to shower several times just to hold her again.diane
posted on January 8, 2001 09:16:29 PMDiane, oh that poor lucky baby to have found her way to you! The first cat we ever had since I've been around was Matilda. A stray momma cat had 2 boys and Matilda during the summer in our yard. We had a lot of rain that summer and our yard kept flooding. Everytime she got flooded out, momma cat would move the boys and not the girl. Finally she found a new home altogether and left behind the girl, who was all of 3 weeks old at the time. I still remember even though I was only 2 at the time, my brother going out in the yard to rescue her. The yard have to have had at least a foot of water! We bottle fed her and then she helped raise me Everytime I would cry, she would pester me to pet her until I stopped. Then she would go away knowing I was ok. She lived to be 16 and my brother still misses her
~~Angels fly because they take themselves lightly~~
