Cats

[libby]

A relative came to visit last fall and brought along the sweetest little black and white kitten -- big yellow eyes, friendly, frisky --  I was charmed and let him leave her with me;  now she's mine.

I've seen her go from sweet mischievous kittenhood to  heat -- which lasted about 5 days. Neither of us got much sleep. I felt so sorry for her. Her little behind seemed to have a life of its own. Luckily there are no stray male cats in the neighborhood. Her only visitor has been a female stray that several of us feed and watch out for. She and Emma (my kitten) meow softly through the glass storm door. I don't dare let her outsiide. She's small, looks kinda like what I think of as an Egyptian cat. She darted outside once and disappeared. About 10 minutes later I heard a loud yowl out back, ran to the door and saw a huge cat hissing at my little kitten, who was backed into a corner. The big cat ran away when I opened the door, and kitty was okay except for a small tear on one ear. She hasn't tried to get out since.

Now she alternates between sleeping, eating, racing madly about all three levels of my townhouse, and, when I'm not looking, trying to eat or play with my plants.  :rants, I try to stay one step ahead of her, but she moves at just about the speed of light, and can jump straight up for about three feet.

I can take all of it except damaging my plants. So. I'm going to call a local nursery and see if they have some catnip plants. If so, will place them on my sunny kitchen window sill and see if they'll keep her busy. I don't know if cats eat it raw or just try to roll in it. Guess I'll find out.

[Palehorse]

A relative came to visit last fall and brought along the sweetest little black and white kitten -- big yellow eyes, friendly, frisky --  I was charmed and let him leave her with me;  now she's mine.

I've seen her go from sweet mischievous kittenhood to  heat -- which lasted about 5 days. Neither of us got much sleep. I felt so sorry for her. Her little behind seemed to have a life of its own. Luckily there are no stray male cats in the neighborhood. Her only visitor has been a female stray that several of us feed and watch out for. She and Emma (my kitten) meow softly through the glass storm door. I don't dare let her outsiide. She's small, looks kinda like what I think of as an Egyptian cat. She darted outside once and disappeared. About 10 minutes later I heard a loud yowl out back, ran to the door and saw a huge cat hissing at my little kitten, who was backed into a corner. The big cat ran away when I opened the door, and kitty was okay except for a small tear on one ear. She hasn't tried to get out since.

Now she alternates between sleeping, eating, racing madly about all three levels of my townhouse, and, when I'm not looking, trying to eat or play with my plants.  :rants, I try to stay one step ahead of her, but she moves at just about the speed of light, and can jump straight up for about three feet.

I can take all of it except damaging my plants. So. I'm going to call a local nursery and see if they have some catnip plants. If so, will place them on my sunny kitchen window sill and see if they'll keep her busy. I don't know if cats eat it raw or just try to roll in it. Guess I'll find out.

Get her fixed or she'll go into heat a LOT! And you will end up with kittens at some point. 

Cats eat and roll around in catnip. Plus some of them act even wilder once they've got it in their system. . . so tred lightly.

I have been giving our cat flying lessons for about a decade now. 

[Sandy Eggo]

She sounds precious! Cats are funny animals. The very thing that frustrates us about them is the same thing that makes us love them. Not all cats are attracted to catnip. Our black cat mojo couldn't have cared less about catnip until someone rubbed it on her back. Now? She's a catnip addict. She can sniff it out and get to or NO matter where you hide it. She doesn't get wilder, just peculiar. LoL Our older cat Cora eats it. I don't notice anything different about her.

Good luck and congratulations on little Emma!

[libby]

She has been quite successful in training me. 

Just when I want to whack her because she likes to sink her claws into my leather easy chair, she does something that makes me laugh out loud. She's in my bedroom with me right now, and I just looked over to see what she was doing -- she's actually inside a green nylon anorak I bought from Lands End years ago. I left it wrong side out on a chair, and she's been struggling with it, first in one sleeve, then tangled up somewhere else.  Now she's quiet, maybe napping, or just watching to jump out at me if I make a move. 

[Palehorse]

She has been quite successful in training me. 

Just when I want to whack her because she likes to sink her claws into my leather easy chair, she does something that makes me laugh out loud. She's in my bedroom with me right now, and I just looked over to see what she was doing -- she's actually inside a green nylon anorak I bought from Lands End years ago. I left it wrong side out on a chair, and she's been struggling with it, first in one sleeve, then tangled up somewhere else.  Now she's quiet, maybe napping, or just watching to jump out at me if I make a move. 

Declaw, or spend 20 times the cost of doing so on replacement furniture. . . 

[libby]

Declaw, or spend 20 times the cost of doing so on replacement furniture. . . 

Believe me, I've done that (replaced furniture), but it wasn't a cat. It was my Old English Sheepdog when she was a puppy. I came home from work one day and one arm of a similar chair was gone 

[The Troll]

  I do love Tom cats, big lazy laid back loving Tom cats.  From kitten to an old laid back old man.  But they sure break your heart when they pass.   

[followsthewolf]

  I do love Tom cats, big lazy laid back loving Tom cats.  From kitten to an old laid back old man.  But they sure break your heart when they pass.   

We lost 2 of our "rescued" cats this year.

As if the loss was noticed by two other strays, they showed up right on cue.

They are both pissed off right now, because they made the "oh, sh*t" neutering visit to the vet.

[Anne]

 

That does tend to tick them off, doesn't it?

[Sandy Eggo]

My cats aren't declawed and we've done fine on furniture and walls. (I had a friend who had a cat that attacked door jams) The black cat we've had since she was a kitten. We keep scratch posts throughout the house and she uses those. I don't remember ever pulling her off the furniture. The black and white cat, we got her about a year ago and she's a few years old. She uses the scratch posts, one of those kitty nail filer things and pillows. The pillows thing is annoying because after a while you start to see stray feathers, but they're only a few bucks. I won't worry unless they start on the furniture.

All three of my animals are spoiled rotten.

[libby]

The shower curtain in my bathroom is full of cat claw holes.  She kinda goes crazy in there, jumping back and forth and sometimes hanging halfway up by her claws. She's on my bed right now. A few minutes ago I looked to see where she was -- she'd somehow managed to get between the top sheet and quilt and was racing around like a burrowing animal.

I've got to get her spayed. Is that out-patient procedure? She's been in heat twice, about a month apart, and it lasts for about a week.

[Palehorse]

The shower curtain in my bathroom is full of cat claw holes.  She kinda goes crazy in there, jumping back and forth and sometimes hanging halfway up by her claws. She's on my bed right now. A few minutes ago I looked to see where she was -- she'd somehow managed to get between the top sheet and quilt and was racing around like a burrowing animal.

I've got to get her spayed. Is that out-patient procedure? She's been in heat twice, about a month apart, and it lasts for about a week.

The ones we've had done stayed overnight, then back a few days afterwards to have the sutures removed.

[libby]

The ones we've had done stayed overnight, then back a few days afterwards to have the sutures removed.

Thanks. Gonna cost me. Good thing is there's a good vet's office in a neighborhood shopping center near my home. Emma probably won't 'speak' to me for a while afterwards.

[followsthewolf]

Yeah. They pout sometimes. Until they remember where the food and pets come from. 

[Sandy Eggo]

Libby - check with Spay/USA and Friends of Animals (google) they can direct you to low cost or free services. When we had the black cat spayed it was extremely cheap. I want to say it was under 70 bucks for the visit, procedure and complete shots and testing. They tested for feline HIV and Leukemia.