Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Mindthinkr]

7 hours ago, Nicmar said:

have a Squeaky also he's a all black kitty.

That was Big Boy. This is Squeaky. She is a third of his size. They are both all black cats from the same litter.

Their whiskers used to be black, but since they’ve aged (almost 17) they have turned white  

[Mindthinkr]

@bosawks Wow. I think that is the first picture of Ally that I have seen where she isn’t wearing a bandana. 
She really seems to enjoy being by the water...or in it. 

[bosawks]

A little 4th of July fly hunting.....

[MargeGunderson]

Alli looks like a statue in that picture!

It’s the first 4th of July with the new kitties, and I’m happy to see that neither seem particularly bothered by fireworks. 

Edited July 5, 2020 by MargeGunderson

[bosawks]

15 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

Ali looks like a statue in that picture!

It’s the first 4th of July with the new kitties, and I’m happy to see that neither seem particularly bothered by fireworks. 

I love those feet!

[AgentRXS]

On a scale of not being fazed to full out curiosity, my cats are displaying a level of annoyance usually reserved for when they hear me singing along to the radio or television. 

[Annber03]

Ours are pretty unfazed by them, too. Every so often if there's a particularly loud one, they might look up in curiosity, but then they just go back to doing whatever they were doing. For instance, one of our cats is currently curled up by our front door, laying next to our shoes and taking a nap :p. 

I love the new dog and kitty pictures :D!

[Anela]

My scared dog, walked out of the little bathroom, when we arrived home, after being gone for about an hour. Dad thought he would be okay, because he was indoors. Nope. I wish we could afford to soundproof a room for them. 

4 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

On a scale of not being fazed to full out curiosity, my cats are displaying a level of annoyance usually reserved for when they hear me singing along to the radio or television. 

I used to have a little cat named Elsie - I'd sing "All the Small Things" to her, since it was on the radio and MTV a lot at the time. After a while, every time that song came on, I'd see her little head pop up. I don't know if she liked it, or if she was on the lookout for me. 

[ABay]

11 hours ago, AgentRXS said:

On a scale of not being fazed to full out curiosity, my cats are displaying a level of annoyance usually reserved for when they hear me singing along to the radio or television. 

Girl Cat is indifferent to the fireworks but my singing along to 1776 distressed her.

[Bastet]

The cat my mom had when my parents got married would leave the house when my dad played Hank Williams, and go nap on the next-door neighbor's couch instead, where they listened to classical music.  Snob. 

[smittykins]

Back when Damn You Autocorrect was a thing(it seems to be dead now, unfortunately), I would be reading it and laugh so hard I cried, and China would look at me like “OK, Mom’s flipped now.”

[bosawks]

On 7/5/2020 at 9:01 AM, ABay said:

Girl Cat is indifferent to the fireworks but my singing along to 1776 distressed her.

Your next cat should be named John so you can get maximum benefit of singing, “Sit down, John!  Sit down, John!  For God's sake, John, sit down!”

[MargeGunderson]

Fellow cat owners, I could use your advice. I am moving my cats’ litter box from my office to the basement this weekend. Any tips for helping them make the adjustment? They already have one litter box there, which they do use, but less than the one in the office. They are very familiar with the basement, since my husband’s “office” is there, and I’ve put in a motion-detection light near (but not too close to) the litter box. They are young cats, 16-18 months, and have only been with us since March, so I’m hoping that they aren’t too set in their ways.

[Bastet]

I think because they already use a litter box in the basement, this adjustment will be an easy one; they'll realize the one in your office is gone, and the basement is now their sole bathroom.

I did that with Riley.  She came to me as quite the scaredy-cat, so for the first 8-9 months I had her, she had a litter box in my office (which I hated, but motherhood sucks sometimes) in addition to the one in the half bathroom, because the office was her "safe room".  It took much of that time for her to be completely at ease in the entire house even when I wasn't home, so that it was fair for me to take the office box away away as there could no longer be a situation in which she was afraid to go to the other side of the house (she was pretty good about it at six months, which is when I was able to get the bowl of food out of my office and have her eat only in the laundry room, so I gave her a little extra time to be sure). She really didn't react at all.

[bilgistic]

Apparently it's National Kitten Day. Here again are my four- and five-year-old kittens in the mirror image and foreground, respectively. Mama's expression cracks me up. She pretty much always looks like that--feigned interest thinly veiling complete apathy.

[bosawks]

I give you Alli’s new younger brother, Harper!

[MargeGunderson]

Alli looks like a proud big sis!

[supposebly]

Fox and Scully, waiting for more boxes to guard.

[Moose135]

Welcome, Harper! What a sweet pup!

[luv2lurk]

Alli looks worried  . . . wondering where Harper's bandana is

[Browncoat]

Harper is a cutie!

[MargeGunderson]

@Bastet, thanks for the reassurance that my cats would be fine with the new litter box location. We moved it to the basement yesterday afternoon and showed them where it was (they were not impressed). They are using it with no problems so far. We also moved their food dishes from the office to the hallway off the office (about 10 feet away) and that seems to confuse them more than the litter box. They kept walking past their dishes in the new location to go into the office and sit in front of where the dishes used to be. I’m sure that will stop quickly, but it was funny to see them look a little confused and then figure it out. I am so happy to have my office litter box free!

[smittykins]

22 hours ago, Bastet said:

 

I think because they already use a litter box in the basement, this adjustment will be an easy one; they'll realize the one in your office is gone, and the basement is now their sole bathroom.

 

After losing my cat Pumpkin in 2014, I decided to go down to one litter box*(I had one just outside the bathroom and one just inside).  After I got rid of the outside box, China wandered over, looked at me quizzically, and meowed like “Where’d it go?”

*I know that ideally, you’re supposed to have one box per cat plus one extra.  I’ve tried that with Shadow, but she ignored the second box.

[supposebly]

I have two litter boxes for the two cats. One of them might use the second one once a week to pee, maybe twice. For about a year, they used them both equally but since around January, it's just the one. I'm fairly certain, once I take it away, they will start peeing in that place. Or at least complain. They pop in once in a while, dig a bit and then walk away. The digging is just for fun. I cleaned it, disinfected it, replaced parts, I even used parts of the favorite one (it's a whole system). No change. At least the favorite one is in the laundry room, so I'm ok with it all.

[ginger90]

Elsie, adopted by my daughter’s family:

[supposebly]

So cute!

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, smittykins said:

*I know that ideally, you’re supposed to have one box per cat plus one extra.

Yeah, I've never done that.  Originally, I had two for Maddie and Baxter (one upstairs and one downstairs, in a townhouse), but when we moved into my (one-story) house, there wasn't a room in addition to the half bath that I was willing to have a litter box in.  They never showed any signs of being bothered by that (I scooped twice a day). 

6 hours ago, MargeGunderson said:

I am so happy to have my office litter box free!

I hear you!  I was fine having one in my office for the time Riley needed it, precisely because she needed it, but I was so happy that was temporary and may have done a little dance out of the room with it when I retired it.

[bosawks]

[Annber03]

6 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

I have always only had one litter box total for two cats.🐱 🐱 I have never had a litter box problem.  Two separate food bowls and one water dish.

This is how we do it, too. Occasionally Lily does still try and eat out of both dishes, though-she can be a greedy little thing sometimes. 

Quote

I do have to turn on the bathtub faucet in the morning for a little bit, because the cats do like drinking it straight from the tap.  I am not too thrilled with the cats dirty footprints left in the tub.

Ours wouldn't dare set foot in the tub if the water were running. They get freaked out when that happens and go tearing out of the room. 

[MargeGunderson]

We’ve never had a problem with just one litter box for two cats. That’s probably in part because we are obsessive scoopers, so it’s cleaned multiple times a day, plus entirely replaced once a week. We’ve also always lived in fairly small places, so they don’t have to travel very far to the box. This is the first time we’ve had it in the basement, though, since our last cats were much older we didn’t want them to navigate the stairs. The young whippersnappers have no trouble with them, and surprisingly don’t get into too much trouble down there (it’s a partially finished basement, but we also have several sets of shelves with stuff on them.)

[Mindthinkr]

I just came here to say that Squeaky just jumped up on the bed. Her bad breath preceded her. 

[bosawks]

Harper has claimed Alli as her own!

Alli is somewhat noncommittal...

[theredhead77]

2 hours ago, bosawks said:

Harper has claimed Alli as her own!

Alli is somewhat noncommittal...

Awwww! 

Edited July 15, 2020 by theredhead77

[Browncoat]

You’re gonna need a bigger bed.

[Nicmar]

On 7/2/2020 at 3:28 PM, Mindthinkr said:

That was Big Boy. This is Squeaky. She is a third of his size. They are both all black cats from the same litter.

Their whiskers used to be black, but since they’ve aged (almost 17) they have turned white  

My weakness is black cats, Love, Love them i own 3 Squeaky,Alice, and McCavity and i also have a tuxedo cat named Loki, and Torti named October

[smittykins]

This morning, while watching TV and browsing on my iPad, I heard this strange sound from my living room window.  I looked and saw A CAT clinging to the screen.  Shadow immediately noticed and jumped onto the windowsill, and they traded a few hisses and growls before outside cat lost its grip on the screen and dropped to the ground.(I tried to take a photo, but wasn’t quick enough.)

I occasionally hear meowing outside in the middle of the night(which usually grabs Shadow’s attention)and I’ve seen a chonky brownish cat a couple of times; once it was outside my front door when I came home from grocery shopping, but ran away when I got too close.  This one seemed a bit thinner, though.

 

[ginger90]

More Elsie:

[bosawks]

Harper about to take flight....

[ABay]

Sister Bertrille! Sister Bertrille!

[MargeGunderson]

Parker is practicing for her official photograph:

 

[isalicat]

5 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

When I was a little kid several decades ago, my parents had a cat that they let outdoors, and every time it rained he would jump on the screened storm door to let everyone know he wanted in.  A long haired sopping wet cat wanted in.  I couldn't blame him for that.

My parents should have kept that cat indoors at all times (as all cats should be indoors) he ended up dying from what the vet called feline aids.  If he was a strictly indoor cat he would have never gotten the disease and he would have lived for many more years.

Welluh, my torti kittie, Kali, was HIV positive and lived to 23 years of age. FIV (or the cat equivalent of Aids) is not at all a death sentence and cats that have it are generally non-symptomatic and don't need any treatment at all. When I went to be adopted by my current cat, all the cats at the local Humane Society were FIV positive so I did not take any of them home because I wanted a cat that could definitely go outside (we have a cat door built into our house and a very high walled back garden so its a super safe environment for a cat to lounge in the sunshine) - cats that are FIV positive can communicate the disease by biting another cat, so generally you want to either keep them in or make sure they are not going to encounter unfamiliar cats. My Kali lived with three other cats for her whole life and never gave any of them the disease and we had to let her go over the Rainbow Bridge because her kidneys finally gave out.

[AgentRXS]

Yes, deep puncture wounds is the primary source of FIV transmission from cat to cat. I love FIV positive cats--they usually have an extra roundness to their heads that makes them really adorable. 

At the shelter I work at, this was my favorite FIV cat ever. He used to jump up and hug me when I came in. I lobbied so hard for a rescue to take him and they did. I cried happy tears when he left. 

 

[smittykins]

Marmalade(of Cole and Marmalade fame)is FIV positive and a cancer survivor, and seems to be doing well(IIRC, he’s about 8  now).

ETA:  According to their website , he turned 7 on July 1.

Edited July 20, 2020 by smittykins

[bosawks]

Heatwave bonding....

[MargeGunderson]

In concession to the heat here, Parker and Sophie are keeping their distance:
 

Edited July 20, 2020 by MargeGunderson

[Mindthinkr]

@MargeGunderson    I’m jealous. I wished my kitties cuddled. They’re loners. 

[MargeGunderson]

@Mindthinkr, the OG Kitties Gunderson tolerated each other for 18 years.They rarely cuddled, and if they did it ended quickly and with growling and hissing. These two cuddle all of the time, and Sophie loves for Parker to groom her almost as much as Parker loves to groom Sophie. There is the occasional mock fighting when Sophie has had enough grooming and just wants to sleep. But 99% of the time they are best friends. They even cuddle under the sofa in my husband’s office, which we refer to as their boardroom, as they insist they are having Very Important Meetings in there. They are really such a delight. We really lucked out with two very sweet and patient (especially Sophie) girls. 

[AgentRXS]

1 minute ago, icemiser69 said:

Can they get it from an other animal other than a cat, or is it strictly a cat to cat transmission thing? 

Strictly from cat to cat. It is most common in unneutered male cats because they fight over territory and resources. I dont believe there is a dog equivalent of HIV.

[bosawks]

Sleeping puppy alert!

[Browncoat]

Puppy belly!!!!!