Pet(s): Photos & Discussion

[oliviabenson]

On 4/4/2024 at 5:44 PM, pinkandsparkly13 said:

This cat has been hanging around our house for the past month. It's been under the porch, and we've been feeding her. I'm pretty sure it's a girl. She's been coming around to us more and looks pretty fat lol. So we may get kittens at some point. We'll see how that goes. 

She was rubbing up on our chihuahua Otis when I let him out earlier. So she's coming around. I keep telling her to let me love her! Lol 

Any updates? Did She have kittens?

[pinkandsparkly13]

5 hours ago, oliviabenson said:

Any updates? Did She have kittens?

No not yet. She's still fat. Ha not sure how far along she may be. We've been keeping an eye on her. 

[Bastet]

On 4/3/2024 at 8:42 AM, Mindthinkr said:

Sadly BB has gone downhill and the hospice vet will be here later this afternoon to help him OTRB 😿🌈💔🙏🏻

I'm glad he was able to be euthanized at home, and especially that he had such a long life with you, but it is still so hard to have to say goodbye to them.  I've been thinking of you and your other kitty since this happened, and hope each day is starting to get slightly less painful.

[oliviabenson]

18 minutes ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

No not yet. She's still fat. Ha not sure how far along she may be. We've been keeping an eye on her. 

Please update if she has kittens! Or maybe she just gained weight lol.

[supposebly]

On 4/3/2024 at 9:42 AM, Mindthinkr said:

Sadly BB has gone downhill and the hospice vet will be here later this afternoon to help him OTRB 😿🌈💔🙏🏻

I'm so sorry to hear. I hope you will soon be able to think about the good times without being too sad. You did everything a great cat parent can do.

[pinkandsparkly13]

This is what she looks like today. She acts like she might come in the house if we let her, but I better not. Ha 

[peacheslatour]

2 hours ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

This is what she looks like today. She acts like she might come in the house if we let her, but I better not. Ha 

Looks like she picked you! Seriously, she's gorgeous! 

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

This is what she looks like today. She acts like she might come in the house if we let her, but I better not. Ha 

It's hard to tell from one picture to the next because she's positioned differently, but she does look bigger.  Whether or not she's pregnant, she seems to be a degree of open to you that would let you capture her and take her in to be spayed.  Is there a place near you that will do it free or low-cost for strays/ferals?  There are quite a few here, but the waiting list can be long, so it would be important to start asking around now about availability and procedures, so if she is pregnant you can get it done before she has kittens.

[annzeepark914]

I hope this link works.  The review is excellent but the comments under the article are wonderful!  All from cat lovers, sharing briefly their stories or memories of great cats.  Don't know if I can read this book (just reading the review made my eyes get a bit watery).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/04/14/caleb-carr-cat-monster-book-review/

[Gramto6]

44 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I hope this link works.  The review is excellent but the comments under the article are wonderful!  All from cat lovers, sharing briefly their stories or memories of great cats.  Don't know if I can read this book (just reading the review made my eyes get a bit watery).

https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2024/04/14/caleb-carr-cat-monster-book-review/

Sadly, behind a paywall so can't read it. 😿

[annzeepark914]

11 minutes ago, Gramto6 said:

Sadly, behind a paywall so can't read it. 😿

I need to figure this out because I already "gift" shared the link with my sister.

In the meantime, you might want to look up "My Beloved Monster" by Caleb Carr. It's about this author and the wildish cat he rescued from a shelter (it was a Siberian Forest Cat...one of the big "northern" cats like Maine Cooncats and Norwegian Forest Cats).  They both had very rough early lives, but he said they healed each other. 

Edited April 16 by annzeepark914

[Gramto6]

I found an interview with Carr on CBS Morning (thanks google!) that I watched. I think I'm going to have to buy this book! Amazing man and amazing cat!!

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, annzeepark914 said:

I need to figure this out because I already "gift" shared the link with my sister.

There's apparently no limit on the number of people you share the gift article version of the link with (only the number of articles you can share as gifts per month); the WaPo website just says you can share with "multiple recipients", but I've seen it on this site numerous times without anyone saying they couldn't access it as it had already been accessed by too many others.  So if you click on Share, then Copy Link, and post that link, not the regular one, here, we should be able to read it thanks to your generosity.

Edited April 16 by Bastet

[ebk57]

Cat book?

In case @annzeepark914is busy tonight, here's the article.  

[Gramto6]

Thanks @ebk57! Nice article! Having read it now and viewing the CBS segment I'd recommend both to any one interested in this story.

[peacheslatour]

11 hours ago, ebk57 said:

Cat book?

In case @annzeepark914is busy tonight, here's the article.  

Thank you, that was excellent. I really do wonder about the psychic bond we have with our pets.

[annzeepark914]

I entered my big B&W Maine Cooncat mix in Washingtonian magazine's Cutest Cat contest (entry fee? the annual subscription fee, but what the hey!) I sent out campaign style emails to my relatives asking for their votes, saying that Zoe will work for peace and tranquility on Earth 😸). I also added her campaign flag: 🏁...fitting for a Tuxedo cat. The contestants are so cute & I like that so many of them are rescues (some from alleys, some from shelters like mine). Whose slogan was "a chicken in every pot"? Zoe's is a Whiskers treat in every pot. 

Edited April 20 by annzeepark914

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, annzeepark914 said:

I entered my big B&W Maine c**** mix in Washingtonian magazine's Cutest Cat contest (entry fee? the annual subscription fee, but what the hey!) I sent out campaign style emails to my relatives asking for their votes, saying that Zoe will work for peace and tranquility on Earth 😸). I also added her campaign flag: 🏁...fitting for a Tuxedo cat. The contestants are so cute & I like that so many of them are rescues (some from alleys, some from shelters like mine). Whose slogan was "a chicken in every pot"? Zoe's is a Whiskers treat in every pot. 

So good to see the Cat Distribution System is still operating at peak efficiency! Best of luck to your darling Tuxie!

[peacheslatour]

 

New pic of Elizabeth. She's very solemn.

[annzeepark914]

@peacheslatour She's thinking, deeply. Such a beautiful cat.

[annzeepark914]

On 4/3/2024 at 11:42 AM, Mindthinkr said:

Sadly BB has gone downhill and the hospice vet will be here later this afternoon to help him OTRB 😿🌈💔🙏🏻

@Mindthinkr I somehow missed this post. I am so sorry that your beautiful BB has moved over the Rainbow Bridge.  People who don't have these wonderful 4 legged family members don't understand what a crushing heartache their loss is to us, their "parents".  Wow...20.5 years old. You were fortunate to have him for so long.  When our Maine CoonCat had to be helped OTRB, we were comforted by people (including the vet & staff) saying that we had a hand in our fur baby reaching 20.5.  I hope someone told you the same. As we know, grief is the price we pay for having love in our lives. I wish you lots of comforting, good memories.  💙😽

 

Edited April 19 by annzeepark914

[Writing Wrongs]

Now that Daisy has stopped scratching her hair off, it's growing back a reddish color which was surprising. I think it will look really pretty.

[Suzn]

On 4/18/2024 at 8:24 PM, peacheslatour said:

 

New pic of Elizabeth. She's very solemn.

She's such a beauty!

[peacheslatour]

6 minutes ago, Suzn said:

She's such a beauty!

She's a very bad girl! I took a shower a little while ago, so I stacked my clean clothes on the bed to put on when I got out. I came back into the bedroom and guess who was sleeping on all my clean clothes?

[pinkandsparkly13]

We think she might have had her kittens last week. She's been smaller since then. No telling where they might be under the house. 

[pinkandsparkly13]

On another note, our shop dog Foo Foo died today. She was 14/15. She showed up there in 2012, and the vet said she was 3 or 4. This picture was from last year after we got her hair cut. She's had her good and bad days this past year. But they think she might have been run over by a UPS truck today. 😐 

[peacheslatour]

1 hour ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

We think she might have had her kittens last week. She's been smaller since then. No telling where they might be under the house. 

What a pretty girl. I hope the babies are okay.

1 hour ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

On another note, our shop dog Foo Foo died today. She was 14/15. She showed up there in 2012, and the vet said she was 3 or 4. This picture was from last year after we got her hair cut. She's had her good and bad days this past year. But they think she might have been run over by a UPS truck today. 😐 

I'm so sorry for the loss of your sweet pup. Bless you for taking her  in.

[Mindthinkr]

I’m sorry to hear about Foo Foo. 😿🌈💔🦴

[Katrina Kate]

14 hours ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

We think she might have had her kittens last week. She's been smaller since then. No telling where they might be under the house. 

Her expression seems to say, “Wouldn’t you like to know?”

Then later, you hear a suspicious sound coming from your laundry basket. That has been indoors all this time, while she has always been outside. 

[supposebly]

14 hours ago, pinkandsparkly13 said:

On another note, our shop dog Foo Foo died today. She was 14/15. She showed up there in 2012, and the vet said she was 3 or 4. This picture was from last year after we got her hair cut. She's had her good and bad days this past year. But they think she might have been run over by a UPS truck today. 😐 

I'm so very sorry for your loss. Foo Foo looks very friendly!

[annzeepark914]

What a sweet face on FooFoo. I'm so sorry ❤️

[pinkandsparkly13]

Thank y'all so much. Foo Foo was great.  Everyone that visited the shop loved her. 

[Gramto6]

@pinkandsparkly13 so sorry about your sweet dog!

About the kittens, mama will bring them out to you when they get a bit older. My feral cats did that too went someplace secret (under the house) and when they were fluffy and getting around well on their own, one by one over a few days one would pop up from under the deck.  

[Anela]

On 4/27/2024 at 12:45 AM, Gramto6 said:

@pinkandsparkly13 so sorry about your sweet dog!

About the kittens, mama will bring them out to you when they get a bit older. My feral cats did that too went someplace secret (under the house) and when they were fluffy and getting around well on their own, one by one over a few days one would pop up from under the deck.  

That's how I got my cats. I made friends with a gorgeous stray, who came to eat food we'd put outside. She started to come to see me in the back garden, too, as long as the dogs weren't around. I lost my little dog (Emily) to cancer, that July, around the same time she disappeared to have her kittens. A month later, my dog Walter, started barking at a dog who would come out of the woods, and then he barked at something else... that cat, feeding two of her babies, behind our garage. The other dog was barking at them, I went outside the fence to stand in front of the cats. She took off, and I was trying to figure out how to pick up babies who didn't know me, and who were just starting to walk. They were Button and Cutie (who started out as "the pissy one", but he is the sweetest thing). During the night, she moved them into our garage.

I then found George exploring around the area I think they lived. My curious little one, who wasn't scared of me. He still reaches out his paw, to touch my fingers, or my nose. 

This is Cutie, when our dining room looked like a dining room. Before my mum died.

Button, who went missing in 2017. :(

George.

 

Edited April 29 by Anela

[peacheslatour]

I love black cats! They're the sweetest. 🌹

[annzeepark914]

Such cuties! They're so lucky they were in your backyard 🤗

[Bastet]

3 hours ago, peacheslatour said:

I love black cats! They're the sweetest. 🌹

Our one experience with a pregnant stray was a black kitty.  She started showing up at my parents' house when I was a pre-teen, and had only one eye so my dad called her "One-Eyed Jack".  We couldn't get anywhere near her, but could feed.  Fast forward, and it became clear she was a "Jackie" instead.  I don't know if my parents even knew a spay-abort was possible or just couldn't capture her, but she had SIX kittens under a neighbor's house.  With the consent of that neighbor and the help of another, we, when they were old enough, captured all the kittens.  We kept Jackie and one of the kittens, getting them both spayed, and the helping neighbor got the other five kittens fixed and found homes within their extended family for all of them.

Jackie remained semi-feral, but took pretty readily to having to be in the garage overnight (prime coyote time), and she eventually came to love being petted, snoozing on the beds/couches with the other cats, etc.  Cancer did her in, something we might have felt had we been able to touch her belly (the final frontier for a feral), but we're glad to have been able to change her life the way we did.

TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) is the way to go, to minimize the damage.

Edited April 30 by Bastet

[peacheslatour]

TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return) is the way to go, to minimize the damage.

 

I wish more communities had this option. It really is the best way to reduce the feral population.

[Bastet]

1 hour ago, peacheslatour said:

I wish more communities had this option. It really is the best way to reduce the feral population.

And to keep them safer; they still have predators to contend with, but they don't roam as far, the males aren't fighting each other in the quest for mating like they used to, the females no longer have the health risks associated with heat cycles and giving birth, everyone is vaccinated against rabies, etc.  If a colony gets fixed and vaccinated, and has a caretaker to provide regular meals, it's a dramatically improved life.

There are a lot of free TNR programs here in Los Angeles, but there are also a metric shit ton of feral cats, so they all always have a waiting list; we need even more (and we need the government to be providing more of them, not largely leaving it up to organizations struggling to fund these operations).  But at least we have the ones we do; look at how long @Gramto6 had to keep at it to find an organization who could help her ever-expanding colony.  Europe was way ahead of the U.S. on this, so there is decades worth of study available on this and the data is clear that, in addition to being the humane option, TNR is far more effective at reducing the number of feral cats in communities than the traditional catch and euthanize method. 

[peacheslatour]

48 minutes ago, Bastet said:

And to keep them safer; they still have predators to contend with, but they don't roam as far, the males aren't fighting each other in the quest for mating like they used to, the females no longer have the health risks associated with heat cycles and giving birth, everyone is vaccinated against rabies, etc.  If a colony gets fixed and vaccinated, and has a caretaker to provide regular meals, it's a dramatically improved life.

There are a lot of free TNR programs here in Los Angeles, but there are also a metric shit ton of feral cats, so they all always have a waiting list; we need even more (and we need the government to be providing more of them, not largely leaving it up to organizations struggling to fund these operations).  But at least we have the ones we do; look at how long @Gramto6 had to keep at it to find an organization who could help her ever-expanding colony.  Europe was way ahead of the U.S. on this, so there is decades worth of study available on this and the data is clear that, in addition to being the humane option, TNR is far more effective at reducing the number of feral cats in communities than the traditional catch and euthanize method. 

And here it is 2024 and people are still not having their pets fixed. It breaks my heart. That's how we got Elizabeth. Her mother basically left her on someone's doorstep because she was pregnant again and still a kitten herself.

[Anela]

Cutie got out, two days ago, as I mentioned in another thread. I left the door open for him, I was out calling and looking for him. I was out a lot, last night, and sat on the deck with my books and ipad, so that he could see and hear me, and whatever I was watching. I didn't know how far he'd gone, and if he was lost, or hiding. 

I left the door open, couldn't sleep, and when I finally did, this afternoon, he showed up by himself. I heard noise in the kitchen, thought dad was home, stood up, and Cutie was sitting on the floor, looking at me. 

I wish I'd managed to keep him indoors, in the past. 

[peacheslatour]

46 minutes ago, Anela said:

Cutie got out, two days ago, as I mentioned in another thread. I left the door open for him, I was out calling and looking for him. I was out a lot, last night, and sat on the deck with my books and ipad, so that he could see and hear me, and whatever I was watching. I didn't know how far he'd gone, and if he was lost, or hiding. 

I left the door open, couldn't sleep, and when I finally did, this afternoon, he showed up by himself. I heard noise in the kitchen, thought dad was home, stood up, and Cutie was sitting on the floor, looking at me. 

I wish I'd managed to keep him indoors, in the past. 

Ain't that the truth? We have to be so careful to make sure Elizabeth doesn't glide past us when we come in and go out.  I'm so glad your baby is back, safe at home. 

[Bastet]

11 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

We have to be so careful to make sure Elizabeth doesn't glide past us when we come in and go out.

I'm very lucky - Riley has zero interest in going outdoors, so she's not a problem around doors.  Maddie and Baxter would always trot out the door when I came in, so they could roll around on the driveway (yeah, I don't know), but then I'd say "Okay, come on" and they'd trot right back in. 

They were remarkable cats in that regard.  In the front yard, I'd go out with them and never be more than a few feet away (and only during daytime), but I could let them out in the backyard and they'd stay put without me there (but I still only did that during the day; at night, I was right there).  I was still usually out with them, but I could go back inside.  On the rare occasions they decided to go to the neighbor's yard, I could call out, "Come back here, please" and they would!  I was NOT used to that from cats.

Back before I knew they could be trusted without me staying in the yard with them the whole time, there was a day when they had fierce cases of cabin fever after many days of rain, so, once it was dry but still cold, I gave in and bundled myself up to sit on the patio to supervise their exploration of the yard.  I fell asleep, only for about half an hour, but woke up and panicked because they weren't there.  That's because they were back in the warm house, looking at me like, "Duh, Mom, it's cold out there."

The coyote population has grown so much here in the years since I had those two (poor coyotes, we've turned so much of their habitat into our housing, plus well-intentioned but horribly-misguided people feed them), none of that would be safe now, so they lived at the right time.  I'm so glad Riley wants nothing to do with the world outside our house.

[peacheslatour]

17 minutes ago, Bastet said:

I'm very lucky - Riley has zero interest in going outdoors, so she's not a problem around doors.  Maddie and Baxter would always trot out the door when I came in, so they could roll around on the driveway (yeah, I don't know), but then I'd say "Okay, come on" and they'd trot right back in. 

They were remarkable cats in that regard.  In the front yard, I'd go out with them and never be more than a few feet away (and only during daytime), but I could let them out in the backyard and they'd stay put without me there (but I still only did that during the day; at night, I was right there).  I was still usually out with them, but I could go back inside.  On the rare occasions they decided to go to the neighbor's yard, I could call out, "Come back here, please" and they would!  I was NOT used to that from cats.

Back before I knew they could be trusted without me staying in the yard with them the whole time, there was a day when they had fierce cases of cabin fever after many days of rain, so, once it was dry but still cold, I gave in and bundled myself up to sit on the patio to supervise their exploration of the yard.  I fell asleep, only for about half an hour, but woke up and panicked because they weren't there.  That's because they were back in the warm house, looking at me like, "Duh, Mom, it's cold out there."

The coyote population has grown so much here in the years since I had those two (poor coyotes, we've turned so much of their habitat into our housing, plus well-intentioned but horribly-misguided people feed them), none of that would be safe now, so they lived at the right time.  I'm so glad Riley wants nothing to do with the world outside our house.

Peaches (my namesake) was like that she had zero interest in going out, Nathan her BF seemed like he would go if given the chance but one day I was out weeding the garden, I was out there for about an hour and when I turned to come back in, he was just sitting in the doorway, no a paw outside. Elizabeth on the other hand is insane. She thinks she's the biggest, roughest cat in the world. I could see her challenging a coyote or a dog or a moving car. She's crazy and I would freak out so bad if she ever got out.

[SoMuchTV]

I’ve had a few escape artist cats over the years. One figured out a path to the roof, which drove the neighborhood birds crazy. Another went missing for several weeks. I only found him when I saw a “found” poster for an “older kitten”. (He was several years old at the time.) He was definitely none the worse for wear. 

I’m lucky that my current cats have no interest in the great outdoors. I could probably leave the front door wide open all day and they’d be hiding from it. 

[Suzn]

I had a cat who was always looking to get out . Once Ashley, aka Mr Brown, went at a dead run through an open door and got nearly to the fence before he stopped cold, literally in belly deep snow.  He looked shocked and turned around and marched, picking up each foot high, back to the house.  He didn't try again to get out for quite a while.

I now have Freya who has dashed out several times, but has never gone far and goes back in when told to.  She had a scare with a baby raccoon and hasn't gotten out since, but I wouldn't trust her.  Her brother, Loki has absolutely no interest in getting out.

[peacheslatour]

4 minutes ago, Suzn said:

I had a cat who was always looking to get out . Once Ashley, aka Mr Brown, went at a dead run through an open door and got nearly to the fence before he stopped cold, literally in belly deep snow.  He looked shocked and turned around and marched, picking up each foot high, back to the house.  He didn't try again to get out for quite a while.

I now have Freya who has dashed out several times, but has never gone far and goes back in when told to.  She had a scare with a baby raccoon and hasn't gotten out since, but I wouldn't trust her.  Her brother, Loki has absolutely no interest in getting out.

It was hard not to give you a "funny" with your description of Mr. Brown and the snow! It reminded me that Nathan did get out once. My husband was picking the paper up off the front porch and there was a squirrel out there too. Nathan took off after that squirrel, which of course vanished, he got about 8 feet down the walkway and stopped dead. He realized he was outside and slowly belly crawled back into the house.

[Suzn]

4 minutes ago, peacheslatour said:

It was hard not to give you a "funny" with your description of Mr. Brown and the snow! It reminded me that Nathan did get out once. My husband was picking the paper up off the front porch and there was a squirrel out there too. Nathan took off after that squirrel, which of course vanished, he got about 8 feet down the walkway and stopped dead. He realized he was outside and slowly belly crawled back into the house.

It was hilarious!  It sounds like Nathan had the same experience of reality hitting and stopping the excitement of adventure.

[pinkandsparkly13]

She had a kitten out today. 😻 These are screenshots from my friend's video. I wasn't  home at the time. Hopefully I can get some pictures for myself, because they didn't take any. This may be the only kitten she had. I've heard some meowing from inside the house the past couple days. 

[pinkandsparkly13]

We saw another kitten tonight. 🐈 Haven't seen the yellow one since last time. The kitten was climbing up on the door and the dogs were checking it out. Hah