what pets do you have?

Kendrick is part Belgian cat and part something else.  He is orange with some stripes, just celebrated his fifth birthday, weighs about 15 pounds and is too heavy and too active for me to pick him up.  He likes me and talks to Tom when I am missing for a few days.  By "talking to Tom", he is very vocal and probably asking where I am.  Kendrick is a good boy.  I'll find a picture to send to Bubble for posting.

Mary Ann

Bubble, you are a wonder!

We have seven cats here in the Shelter, and I have been chatting on about the oldest, Cree, a muted calico now 16, and in need of arthritis medication:

For all her 15 years with us she has cried in terror whenever we have picked her up. (Can you imagine what her life in that first year must have been like?) We pick her up only as absolutely needed, for grooming and medicating, speaking nonstop soothing stuff and releasing her as quickly as possible. But this duralactin capsule is way too big for her. We managed to get some into her by emptying the capsule into her evening wet food, and burying it as best we can. To answer someone, she is free to go out, but rarely does.

Off to write a duralactin review.

I've come to be a go-to permanent foster for felines with issues or an owner. Farrah is my fifth or sixth foster or one I've found myself with issues. One Siamese I literally stole from a group of boys who were stoning her. I've written extensively about Farrah, how she came to me after being found on a gravel pit, 47 miles from the nearest town.

There was her hiding for six months, her using no meows but her own language and her hyper-awareness. She doesn't rub against a person or objects to signify ownership and is afraid if bought outdoors unless she is in her carrier with me. She doesn't behave in what I've thought was standard cat behavior with humans, yet she is amazingly patient with me.

The vet has me putting her on a diet as she was gaining too much weight and she has been very inventive in showing me that she needs her treats! However, she is losing weight, albeit slowly. The photo below is her puzzle box. You can rearrange the inside so that it changes as your cat figures out how to get the dry kibble. I'm told it helps to satisfy the cat's predatory instincts and keeps them learning and enacting new strategies. You can see her paw inside feeling for kibble. She will be six in September and each day with her is a learning experience for us both.


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I get to keep trying until I get it right: here is Miss Cree, looking and feeling old. https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/gallery/?sa=view;id=570
Tonight she accepted more of the powder in her food; I have hope.

Sasha, Miss Cree is a cute cat, pretty.  I hope she continues to take her medicine.

Kendrick was forgotten when out yesterday and stayed out until 4:30 am.  He has been sleeping most of the day which makes me wonder if he slept during his escapade.  When I left for church this morning, he was sleeping so hard he did not even know I was in the room or that I left. 

Mary Ann

X marks the spot.

My pets now are the wildlife outside.

Sasha, Miss Cree, is adorable!  I love her three different colors and her white boots. Good luck with the arthritis capsules.  Giving a cat a pill, is a chore that I was never able to accomplish . . . with any success.   Hope we see some pics of your other cats also.

Patricia, Farrah is a beautiful cat!  Her puzzle box is fascinating . . . I've spent a lot of time in Petco over the years, and have never see that particular toy. I can see where it would keep her busy. Can she remove things from the top holes, or just from the sides?

Rick, your pets are the same as mine. The cottontail rabbits are my favorites.

Mary Ann, sounds like Kendrick must have had a busy night on the town, and had to sleep it off! I hope he has fully recovered by now.

Patricia, Farrah is delicious. Is her weight improving?

Mary Ann, here we have foxes and barred owls and rumors of coyotes, so when one of the cats goes off I often adjure her not to doze off out there. They usually stay visible in the yard, and come in at sunset.

RAMMEL, suits me to include those. H discovered a box turtle in the yard on Saturday, so she laid out a snack of tomato and cucumber peelings while the turtle backed off nervously . As soon as she came in, he/she set to with a will. She gave the critter seconds, and blessed if it didnt show up yesterday morning for more. And got it.

MarilynE, Im delighted to announce that some of that powder must be getting into that cat. She woke up this morning limber enough to give herself a good wash, nethers and all, and then went out for a circuit of the house in the rain.

Lets see what I can do about more pictures. (BTW, S&F was eating apostrophes over the weekend, so Im trying not to use them until the database settles down.)

Sasha, we have had raccoons here but I haven't seen any recently.  Whenever Kendrick has been out overnight, he's come back "clean", no bites or such, not even any burrs.  However, he is an inside cat and I do my best to keep him that way.  He doesn't agree with me and if left alone too long, he vanishes. 

Mary Ann

Here is the reason we have seven instead of the six we have room for. This lady was an infant threatened with extinction. Java has asthma.

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Marilyn, I bought the catbox from an online cat toy and supply store. Some online shops also have smaller puzzle boxes in plastic. The goal is that your cat has to work to get her food and this supplies the predatory need she has to hunt. The periodic zooms cats get are related to a buildup of these predator hunting instincts. There are holes in the top and sides of the box that the cats can use and once it is easy for the cat, you change the configuration again.

Sasha, at the bottom of an open post, is the words, Attachments and other options. Click on that link and further instructions are shown, To the right, you use the click down menu for size. I always use the inline full size image. On the left is choose file. This is where you go to where your resized and compressed photo is located. Or you can send the photo to me or to Bubble with S&F photo to post in the subject line.

Java is lovely! I had a reverse calico very similar in coloring some years back, Nikita was a true diva! I don't understand why people get a pet if it involves any type of work, they get rid of it. Is it supposed to be an accessory and sit quietly in a corner? I'm going to use a photo of hers in my explanation. I lost her in 2006.

Farrah's weight is improving. I no longer grunt in trying to pick her up and she no longer thumps when landing from a jump.

MaryAnn, we have no raccoons, heartworms, ticks, fleas or mosquito-borne diseases as yet. We do, for some reason, have a lot of diabetes and leukemia in both dogs and cats in this area of the state. There are a few cases of rabies in the S.E. portion of the state but are extremely rare here. The last reported case was a wolf shot in 2013, in Denali, before that was in 1992.



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 Just putting this out there....


https://www.thesprucepets.com/why-cats-are-better-than-dogs-554880?utm_campaign=househomesl&utm_medium=email&utm_source=cn_nl&utm_content=14031516&utm_term=spruceeats-signup

Kendrick fits many of the categories in the pictures.

Mary Ann

 

Patricia, that is one gorgeous cat. I showed the picture to Java, who was properly cowed. Did you ever see a cowed cat?

Resizing a picture taken with a iPhone is not impossible, but I’m 79, and would like you to see these cats while I’m still alive. The good news is that it takes really good pictures.

Sasha, Java looks beautiful to me, only darker where Nikita is redder. Nikita was short-legged and would walk underneath Thomas and another large cat, Beau instead of going around until she was about a year. She had the males letting her get away with everything; they were properly cowed so yes, I have seen a cowed cat. 

I saw her in a litter where the others were all basic calicos and when I picked her up to coo at, she reached out and bit my chin. That's when I knew we were meant to be.

Sasha & Patricia . . . A cowed cat . . . 

Such a busy week. This morning Java joined me on the bed and encouraged a 10 minute scratch. That's as long as she's stayed since she arrived. Oh, and, like Nikita, she signals her opinions by nipping faces. I paid her back for that by dematting her.

We're a week and a half into a three week expected heavy rain, so Farrah has celebrated by getting the zoomies. She accompanies this with a crisp bitten off sound at each change of direction. This morning she attempted a six-foot diagonal jump from the table to a shelf and overshot. After landing, she noticed me watching and shook her head and walked off as if to say, " I meant to do that."

Quote from: angelface555 on August 08, 2018, 07:10:20 PM
We're a week and a half into a three week expected heavy rain, so Farrah has celebrated by getting the zoomies. She accompanies this with a crisp bitten off sound at each change of direction. This morning she attempted a six-foot diagonal jump from the table to a shelf and overshot. After landing, she noticed me watching and shook her head and walked off as if to say, " I meant to do that."

I always loved the reaction of cats when they get "caught".  From " I meant to do that." to mind your own business, and much more.

Here's Midnight:

https://www.seniorsandfriends.org/gallery/118-090818170025.jpeg

I agree Rick, animals, and children seem to always "mean to do that!"Sasha. Midnight reminds me of the type of cat commonly called a munchkin, and I had a cat born w/o a tail once who was also black but tall and skinny.

How old is Midnight?

I wouldn't be afraid of Midnight - nor any other black cat! 

Mary Ann

It's wet, windy and rainy out there so all the birds are hunkered down. But Farrah keeps a watch in case.


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She has taken a few times off for some playtime.


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great pictures. Farrah is very photogenic.