Cats, cats, cats

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  • spookiesmom
    spookiesmom Member Posts: 8,178
    edited March 2018

    ๐Ÿ˜น๐Ÿ˜น๐Ÿ˜ธ๐Ÿ˜ธ.

  • riley702
    riley702 Member Posts: 575
    edited March 2018

    Hello! Just found this thread. My kitties are Lucy and Swiffer (both girls, both rescues). Here is Lucy as a baby and last year (she's almost 7):

    image


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    This is Swiffer (4 months younger), being imperious (demanding that nightly can of wet food!):

    image

    When I was diagnosed as Stage IV, my brother and his wife asked me to move in with them and I agreed. They have 3 cats (foster fails) and a Golden Retriever and a Chihuahua. Last fall, my SIL, Paula, and I started getting a wild hair for a new kitten. Paula had always wanted a white girl cat. She found a lady on Facebook whose neighbors had moved out and left behind 3 pregnant white cats in an old barn. She started feeding them because they were starving and got 12 kittens from them, 8 of them white. On the way up to pick up the kitten, my SIL confessed she'd called the lady that morning and told her she'd take 2 girls. We decided on the names Pearl and Opal. They were SO scrawny as their moms were malnourished most of their pregnancies. She then showed us another of the kittens, who is a seal-point Siamese! We snatched her up, too, and I named her Wren and claimed her as mine. So we ended up with a kitten from each of the moms. They're 5 months old, now. The white kittens were so sick, we're sure they would have died without help. We wormed them, and besides dry and wet kitten food, gave them as much kitten milk replacer as they would drink. They are 4 to 5 times bigger now. About a month in, as they developed more fur and meat on their bones, we realized that Opal was actually a boy. We renamed him Finn, and he's an absolute goofball. Pearl is the most loving cat ever, constantly purring and snuggling. Her face lights up when we approach and she runs to us. Wren is more serious but definitely a smart little girl, figuring out how to open things, carry off things, climb up and hide from the others. And then dive-bomb them when they walk underneath!

    The kittens when younger (Finn is in the middle):

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    Pearl, who comfort-nurses on blankets:

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    Wren has striped whiskers:

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    Finn in the back, now has a longer face and nose:

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    They've had all their shots, and Finn got his "trouble nuggets" removed at 4 months. The vet wants to wait closer to 6 months for the girls. My brother had a fit when he met the kittens, but he has mellowed considerably and Wren is his favorite to carry around.

  • eastcoastts
    eastcoastts Member Posts: 352
    edited March 2018

    Wow, Riley, what a beautiful group of cats you have! I would love to have three new kittens. JOY! (That's why I foster--so I can have kittens all the time around me.)


  • spookiesmom
    spookiesmom Member Posts: 8,178
    edited March 2018

    what pretty fur kids. This is a meme my DD sent. image

  • celiac
    celiac Member Posts: 1,260
    edited March 2018

    riley - What a bounty of beautiful fur babies! Thanks for sharing.

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,932
    edited March 2018

    I would rather have 3 kittens than only one. We get a lot of people in the shelter who are looking for a companion to their cat. Most humans don't want to play as much as most young cats.

  • TaRenee
    TaRenee Member Posts: 406
    edited March 2018

    Riley your Swiffer and my Merlin could be siblings! I donโ€™t have a great picture of him with his majestic grey mane but it is so similar to yours. He is only 2 and doesnโ€™t do sitting still for mommy to take pictures so I catch him when I can.image

  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 1,667
    edited March 2018

    Lovin the kittehs. ๐Ÿ˜บ๐Ÿ˜บ๐Ÿ˜บ๐Ÿ˜บ.

  • Olesya
    Olesya Member Posts: 109
    edited March 2018

    Hello cat loving ladies.

    I'm a happy owner of a Bengal cat. She's been my therapy throughout my bad chemo days.

    Yesterday a thought occurred to me: how does chemo affect cats/dogs? What I mean: if we ought to flash toilet X2 with closed lid for 48 hours post treatment, to ensure that all the chemicals are out and not affecting the other household members.how dies it affect animals that are sleeping on you, licking your skin, etc. Any thoughts on that?

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,932
    edited March 2018

    Hmmm. Good question. It might be worth a call to your vet. I wouldn't think sleeping on you would do anything but licking you might.

    Congrats on having a Bengal. They are really cool. The shelter has a room with a huge wheel, like for a hamster but about 4 ft high. The only cat I've seen really use it was a Bengal and he went to town. Really fun to watch.

  • micmel
    micmel Member Posts: 10,057
    edited March 2018

    image

  • riley702
    riley702 Member Posts: 575
    edited March 2018

    TaRenee, he DOES look like Swiffer! She doesn't like posing, either. She wasn't too happy about annual vaccines and flea meds, but Lucy doesn't care. I've been going over them both daily with the Furminator to pull out that winter undercoat and they LOVE being brushed. Had a little game with Swiffer this afternoon. I was hanging up laundry from the dryer and left a pile of underwear and work socks (compression knee-highs - can't recommend them enough if you're on your feet for hours) on the bed. When I turned to the socks and underwear to start folding them. Swiffer was on top of them, and we played a little game where I'd slide a sock or pair of underwear out from the bottom of the pile and she'd try to stop me. It got harder the smaller the pile got, but she was hugely enjoying it. The game was officially over when I felt under her to make sure nothing was left.

  • TaRenee
    TaRenee Member Posts: 406
    edited March 2018

    Riley, if I did that with Merlin I would be shredded. Heโ€™s two. He bites when he plays. Purring the whole time. Grabs my wrist and chomps down. Very rarely does it break skin, but it hurts! Iโ€™m trying to teach him not to do that. My last cat, a sweet girl Persian Himalayan mix, only ever bit the vet. I wish I knew what to do with him. But heโ€™s purring the whole time, he really doesnโ€™t mean it to hurt. He has super fangs tho. Sigh. Crazy cat. I love him so much

  • eastcoastts
    eastcoastts Member Posts: 352
    edited March 2018

    We love the crazy ones more. SillyHeart

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,932
    edited March 2018

    TaRenee, Try to make a hurt kitten sound when he hurts. If it doesn't make him stop, it might make him a little gentler.

  • Kahnartist
    Kahnartist Member Posts: 11
    edited March 2018

    I am so bummed to have to stay in the hospital for my diep flap on Friday. I will miss my boy so much. I have a neighbor feeding and doing the litter, but I am going to miss him! I think I just heal better with animals aorund me. I will get through it, but it really does add another layer of stress to this fun.

    image

  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 1,667
    edited March 2018

    Wren, you are definitely a cat whisperer!

    Kahnartist,your boy is beautiful.

  • eastcoastts
    eastcoastts Member Posts: 352
    edited March 2018

    Kahnartist: He's gorgeous!!!

  • Olesya
    Olesya Member Posts: 109
    edited March 2018

    Wren44 - don't ahve a wheel, but have seen them online....

    this kitty used to be a farm kitty, roamed outside for miles. Loves to hunt. then we moved to town, it was heart breaking to hear her meow,asking to go outside. i didn't want to do it initially, as it is a special breed, plus cars, etc. we build an enclosure, the cat was happy for a while. then she managed to escape several times through the door. I panicked initially , as she didn't comeback for 6 hours.

    then she was back, and there was no way i could keep her inside anymore. so i relaxed. she knows her way home and she is much happier now.:))

  • TaRenee
    TaRenee Member Posts: 406
    edited March 2018

    Wren... oh my gosh it worked! I think it scared him. You really are a cat whisperer. Hope it gets him to calm a bit. But he sure let go fast! And this is the look I got. See those little fangs? But look at that face! He was looking at me like What The Heck Mom!image

  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 1,667
    edited March 2018

    TaRenee, his eyes look like they are ready to pop out of his head!

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,932
    edited March 2018

    That is how kittens tell each other they've gone too far. I learned it in a kitten class. We discourage letting kittens play with hands.

  • feelingfeline
    feelingfeline Member Posts: 5,145
    edited March 2018

    Oh what a beautiful picture Heart

  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 1,667
    edited March 2018

    I have a friend who was adopted by a cat. I donโ€™t want to say Miss Kitty is a true feral because she is extremely friendly and does stay in my friends house for part of the day and snuggles with her humans at night. Problem is Miss Kitty wonโ€™t use her litter box for its intended purpose. She prefers to roll around in the box like itโ€™s a sand box. Not sure if she is having accidents still but my friend would like to get her to use the litter box. Any advice I can give her?

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,932
    edited March 2018

    There's a litter called cat attract. I've never tried it but it's been recommended. Two boxes might help. We get cats into the shelter who like to stay in the litter box. Usually we give them another box with blankets to see if we can get them to switch. The kitty may not know what the box is for. Putting dirt in a box might give her the idea. We've done that at the shelter with cats that don't seem to understand the litter.

  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 1,667
    edited March 2018

    Thanks Wren. Iโ€™ll pass your info along.

  • feelingfeline
    feelingfeline Member Posts: 5,145
    edited March 2018

    image

    This is Elliott, the photo was taken by his foster carer. We are picking him up tomorrow, weather permitting (there is a snow forecast). He is 12 weeks old. We actually applied for a cat rather than a kit as we know kittens get homes easier than cats, but the cat charity matched us up with Elliott as we already have a cat Arthur (age 4.5) and Elliott is currently being fostered in a home that has 6 cats and shows no stress being around new cats. We have been told to keep Elliott in a separate room at first and only gradually introduce him to Arthur to give Arthur time to get used to the idea.

  • eastcoastts
    eastcoastts Member Posts: 352
    edited March 2018

    Exciting, feelingfeline! A new kitten. What joy!!!

    Elliott is so adorable.

  • kathindc
    kathindc Member Posts: 1,667
    edited March 2018

    Aww, Elliott is such a cutie. Love the name

  • wren44
    wren44 Member Posts: 7,932
    edited March 2018

    What a beautiful kitten! We always segregate our fosters at first. We found our cat playing patty paw under the door with one foster. Decided they would get along fine. Have fun watching them play.