Tell some stories about the cats in your life. v.2

[exl2398]

Originally Posted by cathairetic

ex12398, I have the same problem. My closet has shelves up the sides and away from the doors and my cats would get up on these shelves and you couldn't see them! Once, back in the 1970's, we had a lovely little black cat named Pandora and one day she disappeared. We looked and looked and couldn't find her for days! She had gotten into a cabinet in the kitchen and was shut in. Why she didn't meow to be let out I don't know but she was a couple days without food or water and she pooped in there. That of course was not her fault. Poor Pandora! I was so thrilled to find her.

poor kitty! i would have been beside myself if I couldn't find my kitty for days...!

[cathairetic]

Originally Posted by exl2398

poor kitty! i would have been beside myself if I couldn't find my kitty for days...!

Well, we knew she hadn't gotten outside. She had to be somewhere in the house!

The above-mentioned Cecil often disappears for a day, usually because he is under a bed on top of a box and we can't see him. Our tuxedo cat, Marlowe, has it in for Cecil. I guess he views him as a rival male but the real ruler of our house is Charlotte, our tortoiseshell. She has a real tortie attitude and if Marlowe gives her any grief she retaliates immediately! She usually gets along fine with Cecil who is a real sissy but then he was not socialized as a kitten so he can't help it. Cecil loves me and he loves my 16 year old grandson, Kory. We are the two people in the world he doesn't run from. I make sure Cecil gets to sleep with me with the door shut so he has some Mommy time by himself.

[exl2398]

cathairetic, I love your kitties. they sound so cute

[rini17]

Originally Posted by cathairetic

This is version 2 of the thread: The introduction is below. Please continue posting.

I have always had cats.... well, at least since I was four. I wanted a dog but my mother knew that we couldn't have one in a one room apartment so, when she heard of a litter of kittens that needed homes, we went to pick one out. I wanted a girl cat that would have kittens. My mother, all-wise, picked out a cute grey and white tom kitten and named him Alice. I didn't know the difference for a long time. By then I was used to calling him Alice. My uncle referred to him as 'Al.'

Now that I am an older woman, I have had many, many cats over the years. Our back garden is a cat cemetery and they each have their own headstone with name, dates and a personal comment. They have been my best friends, better than people most of the time. Most of them lived to be at least fifteen years old, many older. Some died young from cancer.

Right now we have just three cats: Charlotte (after Brontë), a tortoiseshell female, Marlowe who is a tuxedo cat and named after the English poet Christopher Marlowe, and Esmé, my 15 year old tortie point Siamese. I thought the name Esmé sounded classy for a classy cat.

What stories can you tell about your cats?

I got my cat, Kit, in a similar way to how you got Alice. My sister got me Kit as a late birthday present, which was a happy surprise. One of her friends, Summer, had been driving home and saw something moving by the side of the road. Someone had dumped a litter of kittens in a pond by the road side!! Summer took all of them home, and she started giving them away to her friends. Kit was the runt of the litter and is black with a little bit of white. Actually she has a little goatee, it is so adorable.

[cathairetic]

Another fun story:

Yesterday morning I took Marlowe to the vet because he had tapeworms. He also needed his annual immunizations and his senior wellness profile done. So Marlowe is weighed and he has lost more weight. That was also one of my concerns. He might be developing thyroid disease. He is at least 11 years old, probably a few years older than that actually. The vet gives him his immunizations. Marlowe hisses. He gets his Droncit for the worms. Marlowe growls. Then the vet takes him back to the surgery area to shave his throat area so he can draw some blood. I can hear the razor buzzing. Silence. Then more razor buzzing. Then silence. I hear this horrible wailing sound and I know Marlowe must be suffering something terrible. I feel awful for Marlowe.

After some minutes of waiting the vet pops his head around the consulting room door and says with a sigh, "I thought we were winning the battle," meaning himself and two vet techs, "but Marlowe has won the war." It seems Marlowe was tearing up anyone who got near him. So they had to put a mask on him and knock him out to take blood.

An hour or so later my husband picked him up on his way home from his Men's Brealfast outing. I had tossed our checkbook into Marlowe's carrier so the bill could be paid. Marlowe slept away the rest of day, probably dreaming of bloodied hands and fleeing vet techs.

[TWZRD]

Bless Marlow's heart! My cats usually don't mind the blood taking (my vet never shaves unless there's a wound). It's the pills and fecal samples that get us into trouble.
Anyhow, if it is thyroid, I recommend the cream that goes in the ears. My late calico was a real corker who could hold a pill in her mouth for 20 minutes and up before spitting it out. As punchy as she was, she did enjoy her nightly lap sit, where her itchy ears got massaged with first witch hazel on a piece of paper towel, and next her thyroid med. It also stopped her picking at her ears, which she would sometimes scratch bloody because of allergies. Also with the cream it's easier to dose with odd or fractional mg's or alternating amounts, with is sometimes what it takes to get it all regulated,

PS. Does anyone know why posts to this thread never count toward your post total?

PS. Does anyone know why posts to this thread never count toward your post total?

[cathairetic]

TWZRD, I believe that only posts in the Harry Potter forums count now. If all my posts to COS forums were counted over the years I would likely have hit over 20,000 by now. I have lost a lot when certain threads are removed and when policies change. I used to be staff when the forums were first started but now I am totally out of the loop. Post to the Ask the Staff thread and see what they say.

Thanks for the heads up on the cream for thyroid disease. The only time I had a cat with this we took him to a special clinic outside Washington, DC where his thyroid was destroyed with radiation. He had to stay there over a week and he got home we were told not to let him get too close to us for a week because he was still radioactive. I think he was on pills after that. It's been a while. He was very intelligent and I do believe he understood that he had to take his meds to be healthy. The cats I have now loathe, hate and abominate pills of any kind. I can only get one down with difficulty and then it might be spat out later... as you noted.

[VickyLynnPotter]

I've had a few cats before now. Once I got a cat from my Aunt, a little tabby tom that was covered in fleas-eventually that became his name, Flea. He never used the litter box or ate any of the food we gave him. At some point my Dad gave him back to my Aunt. Another time we got another tabby tom, but rather than got, we found him, under the house. He was a feral cat, only about two months old. He got the name, "Fuzzywutzel Psychopants," Fuzzy for short. He was a fuzzy little psycho, running around the house getting into everything. Sometimes, when we weren't looking, he would jump on the counter and lick the butter. He would eat french fries and cheese, and chase after balls and marbles. When my parents got divorced, at some point my Mom took the cat because my Dad threatned to take it to the pound, since we were not really taking good care of him. After about a year he ran away, or stolen or something. See, my Mom let him outside earlier that day and he never came back. A few months to a year later, we purchased a little tabby girl and named her Tinkerbelle. We still have her now, in fact, she is sleeping on the bed right behind me. She is quite clumsy for a cat, and very spoiled. She prefers Fancyfeast gushy food rather than Meowmix gushy food, and boy does she complain when we don't give her the right food, or a good variety of it. To see pictures of her, go to LyraLovegood's profile.

[cathairetic]

The vet called me and told that Marlowe's tests all came back normal. Thank goodness. He is sort of worried about his weight loss and told me to bring him in to be weighed in a month. If he has lost again, he will look for some hidden cause.

I noticed this morning that Cecil is really soft and 'fluffy' now even if he is a shorthair. Everywhere he had licked himself naked from the flea infestation is now furry and healthy.

How about if we post what we do for our pets at Christmas? That would be entertaining. So far I have never had a cat to climb into our Christmas tree even when it is a real one. Our cats just have a regular day in their lives but have to smell all the luscious things cooking and baking. I will give them some extra treats.

[TWZRD]

Glad Marlow's blood tests looked good. Hope they figure out why he's skinny -- or else he just gains a pound.
The Christmas idea is good. This Christmas was the first white one we've had in 17 years, and the first with enough snow to really look nice in maybe 40. So, even though our Thomas is packed for Siberia he refused to go out the whole day. That meant we had to work extra hard to entertain and exercise the booger. We drug the "squirrel" we got him for Christmas last year (brown furry toy with a very long tail on a long string). We rolled all his balls -- he'll chase two or three before he lies down and just watches them roll by) and threw the pink gingham mouse I got him two years ago.
This year I didn't get him a toy, but his cat sitter brought over a pouch of treats, so even though he doesn't need to eat more, this years entertainment included getting some new and interesting food. Then I sat down in an oversized chair with the paper, and he climbed on my lap (and the paper) so we could have a nice nap together.

PS Reason I asked about the post count -- sometimes I would post at HP type discussions and they wouldn't count either, until I complained.

[cathairetic]

My oldest daughter and her family came the night before the snow got bad because they read the weather report. So they were snowed in with the rest of us. This was the first Christmas here since 1947. We get snow in Jan, Feb and March usually. Sometimes April. Anyway it is really deep and none of the cats were wanting to go outside. They ran to the door when the security system alterted them to an open door but upon seeing the snow they decided to stay inside where it is warm! We have 5 foot icicles hanging from the eaves and from some of our shrubbery. The grandchildren built a snowman. The roads are awful because the city doesn't have a lot of snow removal equipment.

Our 40th wedding anniversary celebration was supposed to be on Sunday but everything was shut down because of the snow so the kids called the inn where it was scheduled to be held and moved it to Wednesday (tomorrow). That is good because my son did not heed my phonecall about the weather and decided to wait until the morning to come and found himself snowed in at his inlaws' house in North Carolina so now they can be present and accounted for.

I wanted to take the cats and throw them off the front porch (mean) to see them make a hole in the snow... but I didn't. That would teach Marlowe not to run outside.

Marlowe's weight is normal but his constantly losing is the worry to the vet. Marlowe has lost a pound over the last year. So if he keeps losing that will be worrisome. He plays alot with his toys, as do Charlotte and Cecil so nobody is depressed or feeling bad. He does have a bad tooth that needs to be removed and we will see to that in January.

I hope everyone has a Happy 2011!

[Fawkesfan1]

I've been dealing with my two cats having a case of static electricity every now and then... and it stinks having either of us get zapped by it. Are there any safe ways to help get rid of the static electricity from their fur?

[cathairetic]

Originally Posted by Fawkesfan1

I've been dealing with my two cats having a case of static electricity every now and then... and it stinks having either of us get zapped by it. Are there any safe ways to help get rid of the static electricity from their fur?

Get rid of your carpets? I don't know except don't pet the cats to excess as that probably builds up an electric charge. However, I have been sitting on my throne in the smallest room when a cat would push open the door and as I touched an ear on the cat we both were zapped. The floor in the smallest room is tumbled marble. ??? Try googling your problem and see what you get.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by cathairetic

Get rid of your carpets? I don't know except don't pet the cats to excess as that probably builds up an electric charge. However, I have been sitting on my throne in the smallest room when a cat would push open the door and as I touched an ear on the cat we both were zapped. The floor in the smallest room is tumbled marble. ??? Try googling your problem and see what you get.

I'd do that... but sadly it's a townhouse. And the carpets are rather old, I think that may be part of the problem. Thanks .

[cathairetic]

FawkesFan1, I googled the problem and these ideas came up...

There are a few options. One is to use a humidifier in your house. The added humidity will help keep static electricity from forming.

Another is to blow gently on the cat before you pet him. That will have the same effect as a humidifier, but very localized. This doesn't work totally well, though.

Another is to hold on to a "ground" while you are petting the cat. The ground will bleed off the static charge as it is created by rubbing your cat. A ground is any electrical connection to the ground (literally). The round hole in modern outlets is a ground. Water pipes or your faucet makes a good ground. It cannot just be a piece of metal that isn't connected to anything. Grounded appliances like your dishwasher would work. (Any appliance that has a three-prong plug is grounded.) I wouldn't use your computer or other expensive electronics.
Static electricity is generated by unbalancing the molecular construction of relatively non-conductive insulators such as plastics and paper.

The ability of material to surrender its electrons or absorb excess electrons is purely a function of the conductivity of the material with which you are working. Air is able to conduct well when there is little moisture in the air. In the wintertime, relative humidity often drops below 20%, at which time conductivity becomes high.

A solution: get a humidifier.

***

Since I rarely get zapped it must be because we have humidifiers running in the winter otherwise we both get dried out sinuses, etc. I wouldn't try Static Guard or a dryer sheet on a cat because they lick themselves and could ingest dangerous chemicals.

[TWZRD]

The easiest thing I know to combat "static kitty shock" is to dampen your comb/hand/etc before you stroke the cat with it. I always give my kitty's plastic comb a little sprinkle of water from his water bowl before I comb him in dry weather. If the prickles start again, I just add more water.

[Fawkesfan1]

Thanks you two . I'll have to try both of these solutions myself and see if they help.

[cathairetic]

I adopted another cat!

What is really funny is that my husband never noticed this. She was in our house for a week before I finally told him about her. He said he never saw her. He must have been blind!

I wanted a friend for Cecil since Marlowe likes to pick on him and chase him. The new cat's name is Linnet and she is around 9 months old now. She is a very, very small cream tabby. She is a purr machine and she and Cecil play with toys together and play chase. I think it was a good decision.

She was picked up as a feral cat/stray in Mathews, VA last May and taken to the animal shelter where they determined she was pregnant, so she was sentenced to immediate death. The man who had picked her up was impressed with her loving personality and called the local animal rescue to see if they could come right away and save her life.

They did.

She had her kitten, a male that looks like her. He is around three months old now but cannot be put up for adoption yet because he has an eye injury.

Linnet was spayed and got all her shots, etc. and was put up for adoption in July at the local Petco. I got her after she had been there a month. She must have matured early to have been pregnant at such an early age.

Cecil is a huge cat and Linnet is so little that it is comic to see them together. She doesn't take any c**p from Marlowe and just avoids Charlotte for the time being since Charlotte is slow to accept her. She's not afraid of anything or anyone. It's a good thing she is an indoor only cat because I can just see her getting into all kinds of trouble outside because of her curiosity.

So now we are a four cat, five litterbox family and Revolutio only lasts 3 months instead of four months.

[APolaris]

Last year, we held a barbecue in the backyard. My dad's girlfriend at the time went inside and tried to offer my Russian Blue mix a morsel of strip steak. She backed away, turned around, ran away, and hid in the litterbox. Then we figured it'd be easier if we weren't around, so I put the piece at the lip of the litterbox. A minute later we came back to find the piece still there... and Duchess huddling back in the corner of the litterbox, glaring at the meat and shaking!

For a while I thought she was improving, as this year she began to venture near me and purr when it wasn't nighttime, but then I tried to offer her a kitty treat. Which of the following would be your reply if I offered you your favorite dessert? a) Eat it. b) Politely decline. c) Walk in the opposite direction, rub your face on the wall a few times, then suddenly arch back, run like hell, and hide under the bed. Three guesses which option Duchess chose.

[Fawkesfan1]

Originally Posted by cathairetic

I adopted another cat!

What is really funny is that my husband never noticed this. She was in our house for a week before I finally told him about her. He said he never saw her. He must have been blind!

I wanted a friend for Cecil since Marlowe likes to pick on him and chase him. The new cat's name is Linnet and she is around 9 months old now. She is a very, very small cream tabby. She is a purr machine and she and Cecil play with toys together and play chase. I think it was a good decision.

She was picked up as a feral cat/stray in Mathews, VA last May and taken to the animal shelter where they determined she was pregnant, so she was sentenced to immediate death. The man who had picked her up was impressed with her loving personality and called the local animal rescue to see if they could come right away and save her life.

They did.

She had her kitten, a male that looks like her. He is around three months old now but cannot be put up for adoption yet because he has an eye injury.

Linnet was spayed and got all her shots, etc. and was put up for adoption in July at the local Petco. I got her after she had been there a month. She must have matured early to have been pregnant at such an early age.

Cecil is a huge cat and Linnet is so little that it is comic to see them together. She doesn't take any c**p from Marlowe and just avoids Charlotte for the time being since Charlotte is slow to accept her. She's not afraid of anything or anyone. It's a good thing she is an indoor only cat because I can just see her getting into all kinds of trouble outside because of her curiosity.

So now we are a four cat, five litterbox family and Revolutio only lasts 3 months instead of four months.

Aww. Congrats cathairetic .

My little one, Zelda, is still a little skittle (as in she runs away from people at times), but she's come a long way. I finally was able to brush her teeth recently. As in her entire mouth, including her molars . I'm so proud of her, got no real hisses or any scratches from her either.

As for my older cat, Jupi, she's been a really good mother to Zelda. She lets Zelda play around with her and stuff and she's shown her how to be an overall good natured cat .