Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, Suzn said:

I can still get sucked into the hunt for a "missing" cat who suddenly appears out of thin air saying "were you looking for me?".

With one of the cats I grew up with, we never did find his hiding place in the 18 years we had him.  We'd be looking all over the house for him, 99% sure he hadn't gotten out, but wanting to be certain, looking under and behind things, opening closet doors, calling his name, and then one of us would turn around and he'd be sitting in the hallway like "What?"  We have no idea where he was during those times.

[Scarlett45]

13 minutes ago, Suzn said:

You'll always miss Blake - the well-loved kitties are never replaced, but it is wonderful to start adventures with new cats to get to know.

Yes. Scarlett (in my avatar photo) had been dead over two years when I bought my current home and moved in, and I would think to myself “she would’ve liked it here”. Every pet we love leaves a mark on our hearts. 

[Elizzikra]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

Buy yourself 2 gallon bottles of white vinegar from Costco or Sam’s club. Get a old spray bottle- fill 2/3 with vinegar and 1/3 with water. Spray that sofa down initially EVERY night (the vinegar smell dissipates I promise). After about a week of that you would only have to spray it about once a week (like a last thing before you head up to bed type thing). 
 

It’s cheap, non toxic, won’t discolor your fabric. Vinegar will get smells out of ANYTHING. I have spent my life as a caregiver to disabled persons who are incontinent and wear diapers- white vinegar is one of my best friends. Nothing in any home I have lived in spells like urine. You can also toss a cup of white vinegar and baking soda into your washing machine when you wash the sofa covers. 
 

Let me know how it goes. 

OMG - thank you! I am going to try this and report back!

[Annber03]

1 hour ago, Bastet said:

With one of the cats I grew up with, we never did find his hiding place in the 18 years we had him.  We'd be looking all over the house for him, 99% sure he hadn't gotten out, but wanting to be certain, looking under and behind things, opening closet doors, calling his name, and then one of us would turn around and he'd be sitting in the hallway like "What?"  We have no idea where he was during those times.

LOL, our cats do that sometimes, too. They'll disappear somewhere and we don't know where they went and then all of a sudden, boom, there they are. 

I remember not long after we got our first cat, there was one morning when my mom had gone to work, and I was home for the day. Usually, our cat would spend the morning running about and playing and whatnot, but that particular morning, I realized after a time that it was unusually quiet and I hadn't seen her running about.

So I started looking for her, checked the usual places and all that. When I couldn't find her after a time, I started to panic a bit, thinking maybe she slipped outside when my mom left for work or something. 

Finally, just when I was about to go check outside, her furry little white head peeks out from underneath our couch, and she's looking at me like, "...what?" She looked all bleary-eyed, like she'd been taking a nap under there, and seemed annoyed that I'd disrupted her sleep :p. 

[JTMacc99]

4 hours ago, Suzn said:

I can still get sucked into the hunt for a "missing" cat who suddenly appears out of thin air saying "were you looking for me?".

Ugh. Carl never put me through that BS, but Luna did exactly that a couple months ago. I was so upset. Thought she somehow got outside or something. And then, "Hi! What's up! I'd like some food please."

[smittykins]

That happened to me a few years ago at my last apartment with China, my previous cat.  I had a lady come help me clean every other week as I’m disabled, and when she took the garbage out, she left the front door open just a crack.  After she left, I realized that I hadn’t seen China in a while, and I walked through the apartment calling her name, and I couldn’t find her.  In a panic,  I called Mom saying “I can’t find China!” As soon as I said that, guess who came strolling out from the dining room like “You looking for me?”

[Suzn]

I love the stories of the cat hunts!  The things is that you can be almost positive that they haven't gotten out but that tiny doubt compels you to search.  That moment when you are starting to get really upset,  you are so relieved when they nonchalantly appear.

[SuprSuprElevated]

[Browncoat]

Cats are secretly time travellers.  They go into the future, and appear when you finally catch up to them in regular time.

[Mindthinkr]

 

Honestly BB, I was here first. Find your own pillow. 

 

Edited January 11, 2022 by Mindthinkr
It wouldn’t let me add the caption on my first try.

[theredhead77]

6 hours ago, Mindthinkr said:

 

Honestly BB, I was here first. Find your own pillow. 

 

Um. They're replicating in real time now.

[Scarlett45]

I’m learning about what Cavendish and Lady Reese like. 
 

Cavendish likes PENS! He spent twenty minutes swatting at me when I was trying to make notes in a book for work. Silly goose. 

[Bastet]

I'm still struggling terribly with Bandit's death (as are my parents, of course, living in that empty house, and with the memory of seeing him in the street); it's just so different.  With our sick cats who we'd been able to have euthanized once the disease won, we'd done all we could, the time had come, and the death was peaceful.  This death wasn't inevitable, though; if we could hop in a time machine and change the slightest little thing by seconds, a perfectly healthy cat would still be cuddling and talking for probably five years.  Instead he lay alone and dying in the street.  It's torture, and not one of us feels the slightest bit better than we did nearly a month ago.

But I know I'm lucky to have Riley, and I also take joy in the astounding cuteness of the other cats in my life.  Here are my niece and nephew; the little goober on the left is the infamous Trouble, and in her ongoing attempts to distract him throughout the day so she and her husband can get some work done, my friend set up Bird TV in another room.  Another nephew didn't care, but these two were into it (for a while, at least):

 

[Annber03]

I totally get that about Bandit. It's tough to lose a pet in general, but to lose them under those kinds of circumstances...yeah. I would imagine that'd take a long time to get over, if one ever really could. 

I love those two kitties :D!  So cute! love it when cats sit and watch TV. Our first cat used to do that all the time, the ones we have now don't really seem all that interested in that sort of thing. Mitsi might occasionally look up upon hearing a noise on TV, but that's about it. 

[Bastet]

7 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

love it when cats sit and watch TV.

Most of mine have paid no attention, but Bandit loved to watch horses (good thing he lived with my parents; I hate most westerns, but they'd watch some).

And Mitsie (speaking of your Mitsi; great name!), one of the cats I grew up with, would dash behind the TV (back when it was a free-standing large piece of furniture) trying to figure out where race cars had gone when they drove out of frame.  We didn't watch car racing, but one time it came on after a sport we did watch and we weren't in the room to change the channel; she was so hilarious looking for those cars, we continued to occasionally tune it in for her.  (And then when we'd turn it off, we'd give her a toy to chase and destroy, to distract her with having caught something after all those elusive cars.)

[bilgistic]

Lexi was entranced with the truffle pig in the very odd Nicolas Cage movie, Pig, which we watched last weekend.

[Annber03]

56 minutes ago, Bastet said:

Most of mine have paid no attention, but Bandit loved to watch horses (good thing he lived with my parents; I hate most westerns, but they'd watch some).

And Mitsie (speaking of your Mitsi; great name!), one of the cats I grew up with, would dash behind the TV (back when it was a free-standing large piece of furniture) trying to figure out where race cars had gone when they drove out of frame.  We didn't watch car racing, but one time it came on after a sport we did watch and we weren't in the room to change the channel; she was so hilarious looking for those cars, we continued to occasionally tune it in for her.  (And then when we'd turn it off, we'd give her a toy to chase and destroy, to distract her with having caught something after all those elusive cars.)

Hee, she already had that name before we got her, but yeah, I like it for her, too. It's cute and fits her :D. 

Our first cat would try and look around the TV to see where cats went, too. And my mom told me about this one time when she was absolutely fascinated by this one cat show my mom had turned on - but she got bored whenever they'd cut to some person being interviewed and talking about the cats on the show. Finally, she apparently got so bored with the humans constantly butting in and interrupting her time watching the cats that she actually turned and faced away from the TV :D. 

I also remember having a late night show on once where this animal trainer had brought some various animals on, and one of them was this poofy sort of bird with a LOT of feathers. It was waddling across the stage floor, and our cat stood up on her hind legs and started frantically pawing at the TV, as though she were trying to catch the bird. 

Edited January 12, 2022 by Annber03

[Moose135]

Jake's first time experiencing snow! It took him a few minutes to figure out what it was all about, but he had a blast!

[Browncoat]

Love the booties!

[Scarlett45]

58 minutes ago, Moose135 said:

Jake's first time experiencing snow! It took him a few minutes to figure out what it was all about, but he had a blast!

Awww Jake! I’m surprised he went for the booties so quickly. 
 

I can tell he really likes the snow. 

[AgentRXS]

That 2nd picture of Jake was the absolute most adorable picture! 

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

I’m surprised he went for the booties so quickly. 

We let him try them in the house first, and it helps that he is very food motivated. GF put his back ones on first and walked around the house with treats. When he followed her, he got treats. She kept walking and treating until he was walking "normal." Then she added the front boots and did the same. 

[MargeGunderson]

The pictures of Jake are the cutest thing I’ve seen all day. Please don’t tell my cats I said that.

[Scarlett45]

So- today I came out of the bathroom and saw tiny little amounts of kibble outside of the utility closet (where I store extra things). I examined this bag and saw it was a tiny bit shredded and still almost full. So I am guessing Lady Reese who loves to chew on bags got into the cat food! If it had been Cosmo I am assuming 1. He would’ve ripped it all the way a part, 2. Dragged out of the closet, 3. There’d be no cat food left. 
 

Since the bag was opened I poured into the sealable bin I typically put the cat food in.  
 

These new cats are so curious. Photo because Lady Reese is so cute. 

[bosawks]

Alli’s reaction to booties is to behave like she’s been shot….

[Scarlett45]

Amazon gave me this photo reminder from January 20, 2012- Scarlett (July 2014) and Mr Norris (June 2020) (in my avatar photo). Awwwwww- I miss them. 

[JustHereForFood]

Oh my God.

 

 

[MargeGunderson]

Well, I’m never sleeping again.

[bosawks]

I’m almost positive that’s a wendigo.

[MargeGunderson]

It looks like an evil Easter bunny costume.

[Bastet]

The cat we had when I was born weighed 26 pounds.  I had no idea he was so close to a record.  (He was overweight, obviously, but he also had a large frame - my parents got him as a kitten [he was born to their friend's cat] and he had big paws even then.)  This is what he grew into:

 

[bilgistic]

The resident cats at our vet are ginormous purebred Maine Coons. When sitting on a waist-high table, they meet me at eye level. They're so snuggly, too!

[smittykins]

I’ve read that Maine Coons can take up to five years to reach their full size.

[supposebly]

I wonder if these huge cats can chase away intruders? Or will they just snuggle up to them?

I think they're gorgeous. Although the food bill must be enormous. My two cats don't weigh that much together!

[Scarlett45]

Cavendish thinking he owns my bed. 

[Moose135]

17 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Cavendish thinking he owns my bed. 

You mean he lets you sleep in his bed...

[Gramto6]

My mama feral cat when she manages to sneak into the house, after she eats she goes straight for my bed and curls up there. Three times now, she's been an outside cat for a couple of years, no telling what kind of  critters she has in her fur... If I could actually catch her I'd take her to the vet, but I suspect there is another litter under my deck...

[Bastet]

Can you - once the kittens no longer need her for breastfeeding, if she has a new litter she's caring for - start feeding her inside a trap, without setting it, to get her used to it, and then arm it?  You'll need to have a pre-arranged vet appointment scheduled for shortly after feeding time, so she can be taken right away to get spayed, vaccinated, etc.  (For whatever time she does have to be in the trap, it generally helps calm them to cover it with a blanket or similar.)  In my area you can borrow traps from the shelter, and there are TNR programs who also have them available (and provide low-cost or free spay and neuter for ferals), but I believe you've said you're in the boonies where such resources are limited.  Are you on Nextdoor or a Facebook group for your neighborhood?  Maybe you can fundraise that way and TNR the colony one at a time. 

Anyway, it's sweet this one has learned the joy of sleeping on a bed.  We took in a feral cat and one of her kittens (finding homes for the other five) when I was a kid, and she eventually domesticated quite impressively (especially because we had no real idea what we were doing).  We could never hold her, or pet her belly, but in time we could pet the rest of her, and play with her (she had little foam soccer balls she loved, and started summoning someone to come out and throw one for her).  We only had her several years before she got sick (cancer) and had to be euthanized; when my mom took her in, Jackie let her hold her right up against her chest and kiss her head.

Edited January 22, 2022 by Bastet

[ginger90]

Such a sweet picture, @Scarlett45 !

[Moose135]

We had some light snow last night and Jake got to play a little this morning.

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[Mondrianyone]

He looks like a dancing Lipizzaner stallion in the first shot! What a beautiful boy.

[Scarlett45]

6 hours ago, Moose135 said:

We had some light snow last night and Jake got to play a little this morning.

[

 

 

 

He seems to love the snow. He hasn’t had much time in the snow before?

He is  such a handsome boy in his coat and booties!

[bilgistic]

6 hours ago, Moose135 said:

We had some light snow last night and Jake got to play a little this morning.

[

 

 

 

Twice in a week! What fun for him!

It dusted at my sister's house outside of Augusta. She's had snow only one other time in ~15 years.

[SuprSuprElevated]

 

[Leeds]

On 1/21/2022 at 5:47 PM, Scarlett45 said:

Cavendish thinking he owns my bed. 

"Thinking"?  I "think" you mean "knowing".  He is a cat, after all.  :-)

[Scarlett45]

When I saw this my heart sang “do you wanna build a cat tree??” To the tune of “Do you wanna build a snowman” from Frozen. 
 

I am giving blood Saturday morning so I might put this together after that, or likely Friday evening. 

[luv2lurk]

5 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

When I saw this my heart sang “do you wanna build a cat tree??” To the tune of “Do you wanna build a snowman” from Frozen. 
 

I am giving blood Saturday morning so I might put this together after that, or likely Friday evening. 

Try not be be disappointed when the kitties decide they like the empty box better . . . I have lived with a tortie for 20 years - a new box is the best toy!

[bilgistic]

My girls have already scratched their new (July 2021) cat tree down to the wood (MDF). I bought it from the same manufacturer as the first one we had, but it had different, sparser carpet—more like a shag—so I figured it was going to be destroyed soon. Better the tree than the furniture. I guess being the sucker I am I'll get them a new one. No one wants splinters!

[Scarlett45]

3 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

Try not be be disappointed when the kitties decide they like the empty box better . . . I have lived with a tortie for 20 years - a new box is the best toy!

Yes. Cats love string and boxes best of all. But they like climbing in the mantle so I think they would get use out of the tree. 
 

 

3 hours ago, bilgistic said:

My girls have already scratched their new (July 2021) cat tree down to the wood (MDF). I bought it from the same manufacturer as the first one we had, but it had different, sparser carpet—more like a shag—so I figured it was going to be destroyed soon. Better the tree than the furniture. I guess being the sucker I am I'll get them a new one. No one wants splinters!

These are my first cats I have had without front claws, so maybe it will be okay? I’ll likely set it up Friday after work- I will take photos. 

[smittykins]

23 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

Try not be be disappointed when the kitties decide they like the empty box better . . . I have lived with a tortie for 20 years - a new box is the best toy!

Shadow concurs.