Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Gramto6]

9 hours ago, magicdog said:

My Magic used to do that whenever she spotted something we couldn't see or hear.  She caught a vinegaroon underneath the couch.  Of course she was an AHT so they track and pounce on little things that move.  You should check the area for some sort of infestation.  It could be rodents.

Well that scared me for about 30 seconds...since I am in the Northern Hemisphere and temps are below freezing nightly, so not going to happen here. One of my ferrals is really domesticated and when I go out to  feed the birds it will rub my legs and tries every time to come in the house. I want nothing more than to scoop this kitty up and love it forever but I don't know what kind of "critters/vermin" are living on it that I don't want in my home. I am going to call my vet on Monday and see if I can take it in to be checked out and pretty sure it will go into  a carrier, get it neutered/vaccinated/cleaned. It is the sweetest kitty. And if I can get this one inside maybe I can get other orange one in too. I think they are siblings but orange is very skittish. One step at a time.

[magicdog]

3 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

I am going to call my vet on Monday and see if I can take it in to be checked out and pretty sure it will go into  a carrier, get it neutered/vaccinated/cleaned. It is the sweetest kitty. And if I can get this one inside maybe I can get other orange one in too. I think they are siblings but orange is very skittish. One step at a time.

I think that's great!  But keep in mind, if the cat is male, it will likely spray inside to mark their territory.  When I was growing up, our next door neighbors were friendly with an outdoor cat and decided to let him in the house.  Unfortunately he marked his territory and they had to put him back outside.  Maybe if he's neutered, it will be less likely?

[SuprSuprElevated]

18 hours ago, magicdog said:

My Magic used to do that whenever she spotted something we couldn't see or hear.  She caught a vinegaroon underneath the couch.  Of course she was an AHT so they track and pounce on little things that move.  You should check the area for some sort of infestation.  It could be rodents.

Yes, I had to look that up.  I can say with 100% certainty, that if a vinegaroon or any similar vermin chose to visit my home, I would be moving within days, lol. 

[Bastet]

9 hours ago, magicdog said:

Maybe if he's neutered, it will be less likely?

Of course.  The older they are when neutered, the greater the likelihood they will continue to "spray" indoors, but it's still far more likely they won't.  And there are techniques to settle them down and alleviate the urge to mark their territory in that way.  (And, thankfully, within a fairly short time after neutering, the urine is far less pungent, so any transition period is usually easily handled via patience and good enzyme-based cleaner.)

[Gramto6]

My late cat (also a rescue) was a male and neutered at 6 months. He did pretty good at first. Then when the older feral I am feeding now showed up they would spray at each other on both sides of the kitchen slider.  Not pleasant! I had to discourage the outside cat for a long time. When my cat died it showed  back up again and I've been feeding it for close to a year. It still hisses at me each time I feed it.

Hmmm, maybe I need to think about bringing in the younger cat. I sure don't want spray wars again! 

[BooksRule]

Do you ever find yourself apologizing to your cat (or dog) when you accidently do something to them doesn't doesn't really hurt them, but probably embarrasses them? (I'm pretty sure cats and dogs can get embarrassed at times.)  One of my cats loves to jump up on the desk when I'm sitting here at the computer.  She jumps up on my legs and then on the desk (where she then settles down for a short nap with me having to put one arm around her so that she doesn't fall off the desk onto my legs).  Anyway, I didn't realize that she was getting ready to jump up and turned to get up from the desk.  I turned and moved my arm just as she jumped and basically backhanded her in the face and knocked her back down onto the floor. She ran, and I hollered an apology. (I admit I did laugh to myself once I realized that she was okay.)  She came back and forgave me. It brought back a memory from years ago where I was getting out the bag of cat food and she came running across the kitchen floor (unseen by me) and reached me just as I opened the cabinet door to get out the cat dishes.  Wham!  She ran right into the open cabinet door just like one of the Stooges.  (she was okay, though.) Cats!

 

[Annber03]

Oh, yeah, I've definitely done that, too :D. One of our cats is constantly underfoot and never moves when we're trying to walk through the hallway or our living room or something, so my mom and I have both had moments where we've accidentally stepped on her tail as a result. And then our other cat loves to roll about on a little bench we've got, or sit on the back of the couch and chase her tail, and she'll get herself so wound up sometimes that she'll wind up falling off at some point :p. 

So then we're running over and checking on them and being like, "Are you okay?" or "I'm so sorry!" and petting them and all that good stuff :).

[Bastet]

A couple of weeks ago, Riley and I were playing with her favorite toy, which is one of those fabric strings on a plastic wand things, and she likes me to whip it around really fast; she runs and leaps and twists and all that good stuff for her nightly exercise sessions (which help with regular pooping on top of all the obvious benefits).

In a move we couldn't have choreographed if we'd tried, she zigged when I zagged in just the wrong combination so that I wound up smacking her in the face with the wand.  Unlike most accidents, this actually scared her; I was forgiven quickly, but when we went to play the next night she ran away, and she has been afraid of the toy ever since.  We've been playing with a rope instead (it takes a lot more arm/wrist movement from me to create the same excitement for her, but I could use the exercise).  Hopefully she'll soon forget about the wand trauma and go back to playing with it (although, she's still not over whatever traumatized her about fly swatters before she came to me; I can't even walk through the room she's in with one in my hand), but thankfully I had plenty of rope and twine in the garage to find just the right weight and length to fire her up.

But, yeah, it's a lot more often with cats where something happens that doesn't hurt them in the least, but they get the awkward Um, I meant to do that look and I have to work hard not to laugh at their misstep and subsequent embarrassment.

[Annber03]

8 minutes ago, Bastet said:

But, yeah, it's a lot more often with cats where something happens that doesn't hurt them in the least, but they get the awkward Um, I meant to do that look and I have to work hard not to laugh at their misstep and subsequent embarrassment.

I love it when they do that after they fall off of something and land on the floor. They just walk away all casual, like, "Yeah. I totally meant to land like that." :p. 

And then when you're laughing at whatever weird stuff they're doing, they'll stop and look at you like, "...what? This is normal."

[Bastet]

I love how it goes hand in hand: The ones who, upon being caught somewhere they're not supposed to be/doing something they're not supposed to be doing, look like Those damn aliens struck again; I told them this was against the rules, but they abducted me and placed me here against my will get visibly embarrassed when they fall off/run into something, while those who react to getting caught with a Yeah, and? What are you gonna do about it? look play those accidents off like How about that choreography, hm?

Edited December 22, 2020 by Bastet

[smittykins]

9 hours ago, Annber03 said:

I love it when they do that after they fall off of something and land on the floor. They just walk away all casual, like, "Yeah. I totally meant to land like that." :p. 

George Carlin:

”Have you ever seen a cat race across a carpet and crash into a sliding glass door?

*SMACK!* (Cat:)  ‘I meant that, I meant that, I meant that...That’s exactly how I wanted that to look...

F***IN’ MEOW!’”

[JTMacc99]

6 hours ago, smittykins said:

George Carlin:

”Have you ever seen a cat race across a carpet and crash into a sliding glass door?

*SMACK!* (Cat:)  ‘I meant that, I meant that, I meant that...That’s exactly how I wanted that to look...

F***IN’ MEOW!’”

There is no doubt in my mind that this cat walked away with the old "I meant to do that" look.

[MargeGunderson]

Yesterday Parker was next to the Christmas tree while Sophie was underneath it, chewing on a branch. Mr Gunderson shook the water bottle at Sophie (just shaking it is enough at this point) and poor Parker got scared by the sound. She jumped up, then hunched down, took a couple of steps forward, then ran around in a small circle because she didn’t know which way to go. She must have made 3 revolutions before she stopped, facing the same direction as she started with a confused look on her face. I cry-laughed for about two minutes as she went from confused, to embarrassed, then to a death glare before stalking off. I did not apologize, because it was the funniest thing I have seen in a while.

Edited December 23, 2020 by MargeGunderson

[bosawks]

Whelp, so endeth the early Christmas presents....

[Nicmar]

On 12/19/2020 at 12:10 AM, Gramto6 said:

Well that scared me for about 30 seconds...since I am in the Northern Hemisphere and temps are below freezing nightly, so not going to happen here. One of my ferrals is really domesticated and when I go out to  feed the birds it will rub my legs and tries every time to come in the house. I want nothing more than to scoop this kitty up and love it forever but I don't know what kind of "critters/vermin" are living on it that I don't want in my home. I am going to call my vet on Monday and see if I can take it in to be checked out and pretty sure it will go into  a carrier, get it neutered/vaccinated/cleaned. It is the sweetest kitty. And if I can get this one inside maybe I can get other orange one in too. I think they are siblings but orange is very skittish. One step at a time.

do you have outdoor shelter for the strays? I thought about getting one for neighbors cats that they let live outside. 😒

[Gramto6]

10 hours ago, Nicmar said:

do you have outdoor shelter for the strays? I thought about getting one for neighbors cats that they let live outside. 😒

They seem to favor living under my front deck up close to the house. I live in a mobile home and the heating vents run under the home so I assume they cuddle up to the walls and get radiated heat. They are thriving, I feel bad they are outside, but they all are very fluffy and bright eyed and man do they eat a lot!! 16# of dry food and more than 24 tins of wet food in about 6 weeks...yeah I spoil the 3 of them. 🐱

[Bastet]

On 12/23/2020 at 9:18 AM, Nicmar said:

do you have outdoor shelter for the strays? I thought about getting one for neighbors cats that they let live outside. 😒

I know a couple of people who love these Kitty Tubes for their ferals.  Alley Cat Allies rates various options.  And here's some information about what to look for/create in an outdoor shelter.

[tinkerbell]

 

Merry Christmas!

[Moose135]

Jake is patiently waiting for Santa Paws to arrive!

[Gramto6]

8 hours ago, Bastet said:

I know a couple of people who love these Kitty Tubes for their ferals.  Alley Cat Allies rates various options.  And here's some information about what to look for/create in an outdoor shelter.

Thanks for the links. So far they are all doing well and all 3 seem to congregate under the deck so it must be a warm cuddly spot. I will spread a tarp over the part they seem to like to keep in whatever heat they get there in. So far they all are thriving.  Just bought another ton of food for them!🐯 

4 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

 

 

Edited December 25, 2020 by Gramto6
double post

[bosawks]

Merry Christmas!

Edited December 25, 2020 by bosawks

[Moose135]

Jake loves his new stuffed fren Sebastian!

 

 

[bosawks]

Someone is “loving” his first socially distant and outdoor Christmas!

Edited December 27, 2020 by bosawks

[EighteenTwelve]

Quirk has discovered the kitchen, which includes the pantry, and the kitchen chairs, and the window that looks over the birdbath (also known as Food TV).  She seems to want to live on the kitchen chairs for a while, so I moved her litterbox into the pantry and her food dishes to the shelf where Snip used to eat.  Things are slowly getting more normal around here.  She's also discovered that getting her ears scritched is pretty OK.

[Moose135]

GF and I are in the Outer Banks for the week. Today, we took Jake to the beach for the first time. He loved it! Got to run and chase a ball around, although the "fetch" part still needs some work - we got a work out retrieving the ball after he would chase after it then return without it.

Notice the ball he left behind...

[Annber03]

LOL at his confusion over the game of fetch :D.

What a happy dog!

[Browncoat]

I love the shot where he's running towards you with the ball in his mouth!  So gleeful in all those photos by the water, but then so serious by the lighthouse.

[JTMacc99]

I tried to take a Christmas picture of Norm while he was sitting on my lap. He was smiling, the lights and stockings on the fireplace behind him. It was a perfect picture. 
 

He did not cooperate...

 

[ginger90]

Dubina is over it....

[MargeGunderson]

Dubina, you and me both.

[supposebly]

14 hours ago, Moose135 said:

Got to run and chase a ball around, although the "fetch" part still needs some work - we got a work out retrieving the ball after he would chase after it then return without it.

That's what my cats do. One of them at least chases the ball and kicks it around a bit and then sitting down beside it. The other just runs in the general direction of where the ball flies. And yes, I have to go and retrieve.... Neither of them comes back however.

21st century cats:

[Bastet]

Kids today.  Too glued to their electronic devices to play some good ol' pitch and catch.

One of my late "nephews" (friend's cat) would play an extended game of fetch, but every other cat in my life has looked at me like, "What am I, a dog?  If I'm in the mood when you feel the urge to hurl a little ball across the room, I play with it at its landing point; if you want to throw it again, you come pick it up and throw it somewhere else.  Lather, rinse, repeat, until I am bored."

[tiftgirl]

Shlamey would skewer her mouse with her claws, sit up on her butt, reach back and throw her mouse and run get it and come back to the same spot drop the mouse from her mouth and do the whole thing over again.

When she first did this, thinking to be helpful, I picked up the mouse and threw it.  She put her front paws on the ground, whipped her head around to look at me, and without moving her head after that, cut her eyes between me and the mouse down the hall several times, as if to say, You threw it, YOU go get it".

So, she played solitary games of fetch from then on.

[Annber03]

Yeah, we get the, "You go get it" thing, too, from our cats :p. Either that or, on the occasions when they do run after a toy, they...run right past it, and then look around all confused like, "Wait, where'd it go?" 

[theredhead77]

19 hours ago, Moose135 said:

GF and I are in the Outer Banks for the week. Today, we took Jake to the beach for the first time. He loved it! Got to run and chase a ball around, although the "fetch" part still needs some work - we got a work out retrieving the ball after he would chase after it then return without it.

 

 

I think he has some Great White Shark in him. 😄 What a happy puppers!

The kitten-cat plays fetch. He'll bring a ball when he wants to play and then play until he's done. The cat-cat will chase after a ball but doesn't get the bring it back to me. Once in awhile I'll toss a stuffed toy, he'll grab it and run off to kill his prey.

[SuprSuprElevated]

I have had two, yes two fetching cats in my life.  My first, Honey Bear, loved when I would flip a hair elastic across the room.  She would run after it, then proudly prance back with it in her teeth, drop it in my lap or at my feet, and await the next fling.

Next was Onyx.  She's one of my current girls.  Before she began to fail from her numerous issues, she would chase a crunchy yarn ball, or a soft yarn ball (about golf ball sized), or a rattle mouse, however far I could fling them.  Her favorite game was chasing it down the steps to the basement, only to tear back up with it in her mouth.  She would drag her Cat Dancer pole toy into whichever room I was in, so that I would flip it around for her.  This cat loved, loved, loved to play.  It breaks my heart to see her really unable to do so anymore.  I'll always have cat tower mouse baseball.  She would perch on the top curve, hunker down and wait for me to "pitch" the mouse, whereby she would bat it back.  Rarely did it go in my direction but still.  Truth be told, I think she was actually trying to catch the mouse one-handed, but I choose to believe we were playing mouse baseball.

Here she is with her favorite Cat Dancer toy, after a particularly rambunctious session.

Edited December 29, 2020 by SuprSuprElevated

[bilgistic]

The late Bilgisticat was a fetcher and Little Girl is now. They each just started doing it one day and fun times ensued. Such silly babies!

[Gramto6]

My late Baby Boo played fetch just like a dog when he was younger.  I'd toss crumpled paper, he would chase it and proudly bring it back to me.  Later he had a rubber "bouncy ball" that he loved It disappeared somewhere under something and I couldn't for the life of me find it. He used to sit in front of the stove ofen towards the end ... have had a mouse or two under there so thought that was what he was after. Almost a year after he passed I was doing a deep clean and way in the back under the stove was "bouncy ball!". I cried and felt guilty I didn't find it for him. To this day it sits on the windowsill with a couple other of his favorite toys I can't part with. He passed just before Christmas at 12.5 years old in 2018 and my heart still misses him.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Gramto6

[Bastet]

16 hours ago, Gramto6 said:

Later he had a rubber "bouncy ball" that he loved It disappeared somewhere under something and I couldn't for the life of me find it. He used to sit in front of the stove ofen towards the end ... have had a mouse or two under there so thought that was what he was after. Almost a year after he passed I was doing a deep clean and way in the back under the stove was "bouncy ball!". I cried and felt guilty I didn't find it for him.

I experienced something quite similar; my cat Maddie's favorite toy was - wait for it - a plastic cap that had covered a soap dispenser.  It was larger than most, and she batted it around, carried it with her (always meowing as she did), and brought it to bed with us numerous times.  Being a cat toy, it would often go missing and I'd have to figure out which piece of furniture it was under/behind.

I spent her final months periodically looking for Plastic Cap and just could not find it.  Mere days after she died, I moved a loveseat in preparation for shampooing the carpet, and there it was, just out of sight (I hadn't thought there was room under there, so I had just looked behind it, not moved it to check under).  It was in a little pile of her fur that also had a whisker in it.  I burst into tears.  But then I smiled, because I realized she'd known where it was all along, and even though she didn't have the energy to play with it like she used to, she'd cuddle with it back there.

[Bastet]

Sorry about the double post; the site hiccuped at exactly the wrong time.

Edited December 29, 2020 by Bastet

[MargeGunderson]

The late great Kitty Gunderson the Elder had favorite toys (all mouse-shaped) and her favorite one was a pink mouse with tiny multi-colored dots and yellow ears that we nicknamed Sprinkles. She loved that mouse! We couldn’t find it for months and thought it was lost. One day I went out onto my front steps to get the mail and there was Sprinkles, on the ground next to a bush. I have no idea how it got out there, as the cats were both indoor only. I brought it in, wiped it off (it was remarkably clean for being outdoors in the spring), and gave it back to Kitty Gunderson who was very pleased. When she passed we gathered up her special toys to save, and Sprinkles was on the top of the pile. 

[Annber03]

We saved a toy that our first cat loved, too, after she passed. It had some kind of a face that looked like that of a bunny, but then it was just this long green and yellow-striped bit attached to it, with a little white ball at the end. I'm not sure exactly what it was supposed to be.

But man, she loved that thing. She'd clutch it in her paws and lick it, like she was giving it a bath or something, and she'd cuddle by it sometimes and all that sort of thing :). My mom's got it stored away somewhere now.

And yeah, we lose a lot of kitty toys around here, too. I've lost count of the amount of times we've found them under the couch or behind some shelf or something, and this past weekend, one of the new toys we got our cats went under the stove. When my mom went to retrieve it, she found a whole bunch of other toys that somehow wound up under there. 

[bilgistic]

On 12/29/2020 at 3:36 PM, Bastet said:

I experienced something quite similar; my cat Maddie's favorite toy was - wait for it - a plastic cap that had covered a soap dispenser.  It was larger than most, and she batted it around, carried it with her (always meowing as she did), and brought it to bed with us numerous times.  Being a cat toy, it would often go missing and I'd have to figure out which piece of furniture it was under/behind.

I spent her final months periodically looking for Plastic Cap and just could not find it.  Mere days after she died, I moved a loveseat in preparation for shampooing the carpet, and there it was, just out of sight (I hadn't thought there was room under there, so I had just looked behind it, not moved it to check under).  It was in a little pile of her fur that also had a whisker in it.  I burst into tears.  But then I smiled, because I realized she'd known where it was all along, and even though she didn't have the energy to play with it like she used to, she'd cuddle with it back there.

Little Mama has a deflated "kicker" knotted fleece toy that she walks around with occasionally and meows while she carries it around. It's so funny! She's otherwise pretty quiet.

I kept a shoebox with Bilgisticat's and his late older "sister's" most-loved toys. I don't know where the box went when I moved, but I know I still have it. I also have some of their whiskers they'd shed that I'd find here and there, and those are in a box with their cremains.

I keep my girls' whiskers in a jar when I find them and my boyfriend thinks it's so weird. It's just like shedding fur or hair. People keep a lock of their kid's first haircut and their baby teeth! I know I will be glad I collected them, as I was with my late cats' whiskers. Theirs were white but my current cats' whiskers are all black.

Edited December 31, 2020 by bilgistic

[Moose135]

 

[Gramto6]

On 12/29/2020 at 4:30 PM, bilgistic said:

I keep my girls' whiskers in a jar when I find them and my boyfriend thinks it's so weird. It's just like shedding fur or hair. People keep a lock of their kid's first haircut and their baby teeth! I know I will be glad I collected them, as I was with my late cats' whiskers. Theirs were white but my current cats' whiskers are all black.

LOL, we cat parents are a sentimental bunch. I too have a baggie of whiskers from Boo and some of his nail sheds and a few clumps of fur. It sits under the tin with his cremains in it. Which still sits on his favorite blanket on his favorite chair.  I live alone (3 ferals that I feed outside) it makes me smile when I think of him sleeping there.

[Moose135]

Jake loves the beach, but he's not so sure about the waves.

It dawned on my why Jake will chase after a ball, but doesn't always bring it back - Aussies aren't retrievers, they are herding dogs. He chases down the ball, and gets it under control. Once it stops moving, his work is done. It's not his job to bring it back!

Edited December 31, 2020 by Moose135

[KnoxForPres]

On 12/25/2020 at 2:58 PM, Moose135 said:

Jake loves his new stuffed fren Sebastian!

 

 

I love Sebastian and Jake (and the site I think? Sebastian is from)

My mom got me a cute pillow from LL Bean that had a black dog that “looks” like Knox once did before she became gray. She promptly de- knitted (if that’s a word) the upper right hand corner at 10 years old. 

[EighteenTwelve]

I was going to sneak up on Quirk while she was napping yesterday, and try to trim a couple of her front claws.  She foiled me by not napping.  There were about 40 sparrows in the back yard and she was fascinated.

[SuprSuprElevated]

I have been the cat claw trimmer of record for every cat that has ever owned me, and I can tell you that in my experience, they have never gotten used to it to the point where they don't fuss and squirm to get away.  My current two have been getting my mani/pedi treatments for nearly 15 years now, with about a 99.999% pain free success rate, but it's still a bit of a wrestling match, lol.  I flip them on their backs and sort of wedge them between my hip and the arm of the chair, and make quick work of it, all the while reminding them what a good mommy I am for not declawing them like the "good old days."  They're not having it.

It's still less hassle than putting them in a carrier and taking them somewhere to pay to have it done.  Their love of car riding is even less than their love of mani/pedis.

 

Edited January 3, 2021 by SuprSuprElevated

[EighteenTwelve]

Lily will let me do hers.  She starts purring and rubbing her face on the clippers, and falls over in my lap, and that's that.  Snip would only let me if I gave her a happy pill first, and even then I'd do a couple, wait ten minutes, do another couple, wait another ten minutes, etc.