Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[Annber03]

Hee, yeah, that scene looks familiar. Our cat Lily LOVES boxes. Mitsi is slowly starting to take to them a little more...I think her hesitation, though, is mainly because she's afraid if she sits in a box, Lily will come along and chase her out of it. 

But yeah, I remember somebody posting a video one time somewhere featuring their cat chasing its tail and whatnot, and underneath the video, they wrote, "Why do I even bother buying cat toys?" :p. 

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, smittykins said:

Shadow concurs.

 

Ah, the dreaded Amazon box, where the flaps don't fold back into the box, as they're too long, lol.  The ball toy is still a fan favorite with my 16-yr old kitties.  Not as frequent, but I hear them going at it from time to time.

[SuprSuprElevated]

You won't believe some of these!

https://www.facebook.com/Realizeminds/photos/pcb.4921881531208189/4921879987875010

 

Edited January 28, 2022 by SuprSuprElevated

[Scarlett45]

Chicago is a snow globe today, I think this is Cosmo’s favorite type of weather. 

[Anela]

15 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

Chicago is a snow globe today, I think this is Cosmo’s favorite type of weather. 

My dog who lives for this weather, keeps running out there, jumping on the snow like it's a bed, and rubbing his head into it. I've tried to upload pictures, but it wasn't working (even on imgur). 

[theredhead77]

Have you guys read this Twitter thread? I was laughing so hard I was crying

 

 

[peacheslatour]

Hi. I'm new to this topic. Has anyone else ever had a Maine Coon? We've had a lot of cats but we're finding our Maine Coon kitten is presenting some unique challenges.

[Scarlett45]

To the tune of “Do you wanna build a snow man”(Frozen)…

 

Do you wanna build a cat tree???

5 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Hi. I'm new to this topic. Has anyone else ever had a Maine Coon? We've had a lot of cats but we're finding our Maine Coon kitten is presenting some unique challenges.

Hi! No I have not, but welcome and I love your avatar (you can probably guess where I got my name from). 
 

Did you get the kitten from a breeder or rescue? Have they been able to help you?

[Bastet]

8 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Has anyone else ever had a Maine Coon?

No (other than Bailey, the Turkish Angora [who showed up in my parents' yard as a dumped stray], we've only ever had mutts in my family), but a friend's sister - who lives in Maine, incidentally - has one.  Other than his size he's mostly a typical cat, on the smart end of the spectrum, and the kitten stage lasted a long time - he's still pretty mischievous at 10+.  But very affectionate, too, so they can't stay annoyed at the shit he gets up to. 

As I understand it, a Maine Coon who is exhibiting every possible breed characteristic there is will need extra attention - they want to be with you a lot, they want to play a lot, they want to explore a lot, they want to cuddle a lot, etc.  They're a lot.  🙂

[peacheslatour]

Quote

As I understand it, a Maine Coon who is exhibiting every possible breed characteristic there is will need extra attention - they want to be with you a lot, they want to play a lot, they want to explore a lot, they want to cuddle a lot, etc.  They're a lot.  🙂

She is a lot. Right now we're worried about her becoming obese. And her temper. We've never had a cat with a temper before. 

[luv2lurk]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

To the tune of “Do you wanna build a snow man”(Frozen)…

 

Do you wanna build a cat tree???

 

Thank you so much for posting these pictures Scarlett - I am SO happy to see the kitties enjoying their new tree. They have a great mom in their new furever home. And looking at the pieces, no wonder you waited until Friday to assemble!

Now curious minds want to know . . . is the empty box still lying around and do they go there to maybe rest after the tree?

Edited January 29, 2022 by luv2lurk

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, Scarlett45 said:

To the tune of “Do you wanna build a snow man”(Frozen)…

 

Do you wanna build a cat tree???

Hi! No I have not, but welcome and I love your avatar (you can probably guess where I got my name from). 
T

Did you get the kitten from a breeder or rescue? Have they been able to help you?

Thank you for the welcome! We did not get her from a breeder. We actually got her off Reddit. Some people in a neighboring state found her and couldn't keep the tiny baby. Not so tiny now.

[luv2lurk]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

Hi. I'm new to this topic. Has anyone else ever had a Maine Coon? We've had a lot of cats but we're finding our Maine Coon kitten is presenting some unique challenges.

Hi @peacheslatour- welcome to this topic! Not sure why it took you so long to find it but glad you are here!

I have zero experience with Maine Coon cats but based on what @Bastet wrote - sounds like they are like a tortie - just bigger. Temper is another matter. Will leave it to the experts here to chime in.

[Bastet]

24 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

Right now we're worried about her becoming obese.

I'm going to bore those who've heard me say this before, but since you're new to the topic I'm going to do it again: Don't focus on weight when determining whether a cat is overweight, but on body shape.  (This is particularly important when you're dealing with a breed who's inherently larger than all the cats you're used to!)

Don't worry about the scale, just look at the cat.  When viewed from above, you want to see a waist.  When viewed from the side, you want to see a little abdominal tuck.  And when petting, you want to easily feel (but not see) the ribs.  If that's not the case, and the cat needs to slim down, reduce caloric intake by 20% (don't buy diet food, just feed less of a higher-quality food). 

If you still have a kitten, who's going to grow into a big girl, don't go crazy feeding her, of course, but understand she's indeed going to be a big girl, and that she'll keep growing longer than your previous cats, not reaching full size until four-five instead of two.  Don't worry about it right now unless she's off the charts.  Just keep this in mind as the body composition you're aiming for when she reaches full size (personally, I think six is fine, not overweight, just the point at which to keep watch so that if the cat crosses into overweight, a calorie adjustment is called for):

[Scarlett45]

12 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

She is a lot. Right now we're worried about her becoming obese. And her temper. We've never had a cat with a temper before. 

 

12 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Thank you for the welcome! We did not get her from a breeder. We actually got her off Reddit. Some people in a neighboring state found her and couldn't keep the tiny baby. Not so tiny now.

Mainecoons can get BIG. You have to portion their food like you would a dog or they graze and graze. 
 

Does she have any other kitties to play with? Does she like toys?

 

The temper thing- wow I can only imagine. So glad you rescued her!

[bosawks]

Incoming!

[Scarlett45]

12 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

Thank you so much for posting these pictures Scarlett - I am SO happy to see the kitties enjoying their new tree. They have a great mom in their new furever home. And looking at the pieces, no wonder you waited until Friday to assemble!

Now curious minds want to know . . . is the empty box still lying around and do they go there to maybe rest after the tree?

My house rule is max two empty boxes at a time (I do a lot of online shopping) so I am going to let them keep the cat tree box and break down the other boxes for recycling this weekend. I will snap pictures when I can. 

[Moose135]

I remember some folks were having trouble finding their cats...

[peacheslatour]

2 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

 

Mainecoons can get BIG. You have to portion their food like you would a dog or they graze and graze. 
 

Does she have any other kitties to play with? Does she like toys?

 

The temper thing- wow I can only imagine. So glad you rescued her!

We did not know she was a Maine Coon before we rescued her. I wish we had because we would have researched about them. She loves toys, in fact she has a toy box that she chooses toys from to bring to us to play fetch, which she will do for as long as we'll let her. We have to make her stop when she starts panting. She loves water and gets in the shower with my husband every morning after which he brushes her. She sits in the kitchen sink and her own water dish. We have another cat but he is sixteen years old and I wouldn't blame him if he never forgives us for bringing this maniac into his genteel bachelor lifestyle. 

Can you tell we are kind of blown away? Anyway we just want to keep her healthy and she just wants to eat. All. The. Time.

12 hours ago, luv2lurk said:

Hi @peacheslatour- welcome to this topic! Not sure why it took you so long to find it but glad you are here!

I have zero experience with Maine Coon cats but based on what @Bastet wrote - sounds like they are like a tortie - just bigger. Temper is another matter. Will leave it to the experts here to chime in.

Oh yes. And she is a tortie. We've had torties before so we know all about tortitude. This one is like tortitude on steroids.

[Scarlett45]

12 hours ago, Bastet said:

I'm going to bore those who've heard me say this before, but since you're new to the topic I'm going to do it again: Don't focus on weight when determining whether a cat is overweight, but on body shape.  (This is particularly important when you're dealing with a breed who's inherently larger than all the cats you're used to!)

Don't worry about the scale, just look at the cat.  When viewed from above, you want to see a waist.  When viewed from the side, you want to see a little abdominal tuck.  And when petting, you want to easily feel (but not see) the ribs.  If that's not the case, and the cat needs to slim down, reduce caloric intake by 20% (don't buy diet food, just feed less of a higher-quality food). 

If you still have a kitten, who's going to grow into a big girl, don't go crazy feeding her, of course, but understand she's indeed going to be a big girl, and that she'll keep growing longer than your previous cats, not reaching full size until four-five instead of two.  Don't worry about it right now unless she's off the charts.  Just keep this in mind as the body composition you're aiming for when she reaches full size (personally, I think six is fine, not overweight, just the point at which to keep watch so that if the cat crosses into overweight, a calorie adjustment is called for):

I agree with you. My boy Blake was 14lbs in his hey day, and he was a 5 on this scale. 
 

Cavendish is an 8😟. It’s a work in progress he’s only been with me a month. 

[peacheslatour]

8 minutes ago, Scarlett45 said:

I agree with you. My boy Blake was 14lbs in his height at, and he was a 5 on this scale. 
 

Cavendish is an 8😟. It’s a work in progress he’s only been with me a month. 

Elizabeth has so much fur, it's hard to tell but she has a pudgy tummy.

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

she has a pudgy tummy.

Kitten tummy!  I love pudgy kitten tummies.  She'll stretch out.  🙂

3 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

Cavendish is an 8😟. It’s a work in progress he’s only been with me a month. 

You'll get there.  My "nephew" was an 8.5 when my friend adopted him, and it didn't take too long (it was 13 years ago, so I don't remember, but months, not years) to get him down to a 5.5.  (That was a loss of eight pounds - he needed to lose a whole second cat of body weight to get to the right size!)

[isalicat]

17 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

Hi. I'm new to this topic. Has anyone else ever had a Maine Coon? We've had a lot of cats but we're finding our Maine Coon kitten is presenting some unique challenges.

I don't have one presently, but my dear friend has two (brother and sister - Nicholas and Nadia) that I have spent a lot of time with. They are super smart, get into everything...What are your "challenges"? (You will need to brush them regularly and yes, they shed like mad.)

[peacheslatour]

14 minutes ago, isalicat said:

I don't have one presently, but my dear friend has two (brother and sister - Nicholas and Nadia) that I have spent a lot of time with. They are super smart, get into everything...What are your "challenges"? (You will need to brush them regularly and yes, they shed like mad.)

From the research we've done it appears that they don't begin to shed until they're about three to five years old, which is apparently how long it takes them to reach adulthood. The main challenge is her appetite. She's always hungry (yes, we had her checked for worms). Oh and her temper. She's a darling most of the time but if she feels like she's not being fed enough, she has tantrums. I've never seen anything like it before. You're correct she's very smart so I've been having Mr. Rogers style talks with her about "what to do with the mad that you feel". It seems to be helping.

Edited January 29, 2022 by peacheslatour

[Mondrianyone]

Boy, @Scarlett45, that is like the Versailles of cat towers! Three separate wings. It makes ours look like a little shack.

You need to throw a housewarming party for that!

[peacheslatour]

17 hours ago, Bastet said:

I'm going to bore those who've heard me say this before, but since you're new to the topic I'm going to do it again: Don't focus on weight when determining whether a cat is overweight, but on body shape.  (This is particularly important when you're dealing with a breed who's inherently larger than all the cats you're used to!)

Don't worry about the scale, just look at the cat.  When viewed from above, you want to see a waist.  When viewed from the side, you want to see a little abdominal tuck.  And when petting, you want to easily feel (but not see) the ribs.  If that's not the case, and the cat needs to slim down, reduce caloric intake by 20% (don't buy diet food, just feed less of a higher-quality food). 

If you still have a kitten, who's going to grow into a big girl, don't go crazy feeding her, of course, but understand she's indeed going to be a big girl, and that she'll keep growing longer than your previous cats, not reaching full size until four-five instead of two.  Don't worry about it right now unless she's off the charts.  Just keep this in mind as the body composition you're aiming for when she reaches full size (personally, I think six is fine, not overweight, just the point at which to keep watch so that if the cat crosses into overweight, a calorie adjustment is called for):

I saw a chart like this at a vets' office only #9 was titles "Lawd, he's a comin'!"

[Scarlett45]

They like it! They really do. 

[peacheslatour]

That's fabulous! Your tortie looks just like my namesake. 

[luv2lurk]

2 hours ago, Scarlett45 said:

They like it! They really do. 

Clearly they enjoy being able to look down at Cosmo!

[Scarlett45]

Cosmo was in my room/his room having dinner (his bed is in the office off my room), so glad he didn’t see this. 
 

He’s fine with the cats but don’t get near his bed. That’s HIS living room bed. 

[Bastet]

I'm awaiting the inevitable picture of the cats on that bed and Cosmo on the floor next to it.

[smittykins]

17 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I saw a chart like this at a vets' office only #9 was titles "Lawd, he's a comin'!"

The Chonk Chart!

[bilgistic]

Now that Erin has eclipsed 10 pounds (up from seven and change when I adopted her as a wee thing just over a year old), the vet said she couldn't feel her ribs. I told my boyfriend the the vet didn't squeeze hard enough. We've been trying to cut back on their food a bit. Her mother, Lexi, hasn't gained weight. I hope Erin's lost at least an ounce or two when she goes back for her dental cleaning. It was postponed due to the first snowfall we got.

[Jalyn]

Huck turned one!

 

First we had his cake and ice cream:

 

Then we had presents:

(yes, I'm mean and he doesn't get his barkbox toys when they come in the mail but when I want to give him something special)

And finally, we toasted his first year:

 

I had birthday hats, but didn't work with him early enough to get him used to it for pictures. 

[ginger90]

@Jalyn Huck looks like such a sweetie. 

[Moose135]

Happy Bark Day, Huck!

[Annber03]

Now that sounds like a party, right there :D. Glad Huck had such a lovely birthday celebration!

[Moose135]

This is so Jake!

[bilgistic]

Apparently, Erin needs to go to confession, too.

[MargeGunderson]

And Parker. She tried to pull that this morning, after she had a second can of food. She is shameless with her begging.

[peacheslatour]

22 minutes ago, MargeGunderson said:

And Parker. She tried to pull that this morning, after she had a second can of food. She is shameless with her begging.

My cats are also big fat liars. As soon as dad goes to work, it's like "Oh, we're staaaarving, he never fed us! Mooom, we're dying!"

[Annber03]

Our cat Lily will meow like crazy in the morning when it's time to be fed, and when my mom points out that there's still some food in her dish, she'll just look at her and meow again. Like, "Yeah, and? What's your point?" :D. 

[supposebly]

Maybe they're trying to tell me something...I just think they look guilty of something.

[Gramto6]

10 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

My cats are also big fat liars. As soon as dad goes to work, it's like "Oh, we're staaaarving, he never fed us! Mooom, we're dying!"

My ferrals do that too. Unfortunately they all are gray tigers so I am not positive I didn't miss one, or two, or three...some are much fatter than the others...may be the the "big fat liars"... LOL these guys are smart! 

[EtheltoTillie]

On 1/10/2022 at 5:22 PM, 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.

My dog was disappearing in our fenced back yard.  We couldn’t find her. We would call and she would eventually come back, so we thought she was hiding in the bushes. One morning she didn’t come to my call, and after about an hour we realized she was really gone and we found her running around the next yard.  Heart attack!  We realized she had been escaping under the gate through a shallow depression. I couldn’t let her out until I figured out how to refill and reinforce the depression. Enter Dig Defence, a set of steel prongs you hammer vertically into the ground below the fence to stop digging. We got the special model for the gate area, which has a gridded plate across the top, because that area has to remain bare where the gate opens and closes. The lawn guys have to be able to ride their mower across it. We refilled with a lot of gravel and a row of bricks across the area under the gate. It’s been holding up well for two years. 

On 1/20/2022 at 5:39 PM, Bastet said:

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:

 

Wow shoes for scale!  

Edited February 3, 2022 by EtheltoTillie

[EtheltoTillie]

Here is the miscreant, Trixie, for tax. Never mind. I cannot figure out how to post photo. Apparently my photo is too large. How do you all do it?  

[SuprSuprElevated]

2 hours ago, EtheltoTillie said:

How do you all do it?

What I use. shrinkpictures.com.  Now mind you, I'm on this site using a laptop, so this would probably not work, or perhaps be cumbersome if on a tablet/phone.  

 

[EtheltoTillie]

14 minutes ago, SuprSuprElevated said:

What I use. shrinkpictures.com.  Now mind you, I'm on this site using a laptop, so this would probably not work, or perhaps be cumbersome if on a tablet/phone.  

 

I use both a desktop and a tablet, depending on mood and location.  I will check it out. 

[bosawks]

Nope, this doesn’t make me nervous at all 😬

[Mindthinkr]

Mom, you are supposed to post whiskers pictures on Wednesday. You’re a day late. 
Excuse me, did you say treats? Sure post them anytime you want. Are there more treats? 😹