Cat Lovers Thread

[Gatefan1976]

How can I do that safely? I have thru streets on both sides of the building, a pool, and there are single family homes with fenced yards that I cannot access if Siete decides he wants to explore them. Im just to afraid something might happen to him. I let him out inside the inner court of the building, but there is no yard there and there is already another cat out there from another neighbor and she is much smaller than Siete.

I have a cat harness, but I have yet to get Siete to allow me to put it on him. But Im gonna try.

Talk to your neigbours with fenced in yards and see if they will let you have seite go for a visit?
End of the day however, if you let them out, they will go where they want, that's just a risk you will face. Cedric has come home with all kinds of cuts and scratches sometimes, some requiring a trip to the vet to sew up, again, just the risk you face when you let them out.

 

[Overmind One]

Talk to your neigbours with fenced in yards and see if they will let you have seite go for a visit?
End of the day however, if you let them out, they will go where they want, that's just a risk you will face. Cedric has come home with all kinds of cuts and scratches sometimes, some requiring a trip to the vet to sew up, again, just the risk you face when you let them out.

Yep, and I cant face it. I think I would cry like a baby for days if something happened to Siete after letting him out. But there is a large Catholic church across the street with a big green lawn. I couldnt do it without a cat harness and feel that Siete would be safe. Dante does not even want to go outside, since he was banished outside for a year. He shows curiosity, but not a lot. Fisher...I think he might even run away. But he does come when I call him.

At least the Sun is starting to track across my bed again as we approach Summer, so they get to bask in the Sun and be safe inside.

 

[Illiterati]

I'm more into their safety than anything else. There are a lot of cat haters out there who can't seem to keep from capturing and/or killing other peoples' cats. They do it either because the cat's crapping in the flowerbed or they feel that the evil kitties are killing off the local wildlife.

That's in addition to cars. I knew someone whose cat was killed because he curled up in the engine compartment of the car because he wanted to get warm. Just too terrible to consider.

 

[Overmind One]

I'm more into their safety than anything else. There are a lot of cat haters out there who can't seem to keep from capturing and/or killing other peoples' cats. They do it either because the cat's crapping in the flowerbed or they feel that the evil kitties are killing off the local wildlife.

That's in addition to cars. I knew someone whose cat was killed because he curled up in the engine compartment of the car because he wanted to get warm. Just too terrible to consider.

I read a lot about indoor cats, and all of them recommend the same things they need to be happy:

• Vertical space ('cause cats like to be up high, and will get exercise getting up there)
• Places to hide
• Places to sleep
• Places to explore
• Litterbox rule (# of cats + 1)
• Toys (a large selection is preferable, putting out just a few at a time)
• Daily play sessions (at least 10 minutes)
• Regular feeding times
• Brushing and physical presence (bonding stuff).
• Green stuff (houseplants, carefully selected to not be toxic to cats or other animals) cat grass.

I have all these bases covered except for the bolded. I play with them when it strikes me, but sometimes I just dont feel like it. They play with their toys, but everybody says they need to interact with their humans regularly to keep the bond strong. The cardboard houses are collapsible and I can easily move them around the apartment in different rooms or places, and toss a few treats inside for them to find. . Im a busy guy and Im doing the best I can for these guys. I say they have it made living with me. Spoiled as hell.

 

[Illiterati]

Our feline kids' food bowl is on top of a tall bookshelf, so they can eat without being molested by the dogs. They have to jump onto a stool and then the counter to be able to jump to the top of the bookshelf.

Jeff surprised me the other day by showing me that he has no problem jumping to the metal frame for the bathtub's sliding glass doors.

They can also run through the house to chase one another (feline and canine) when The Evil Mood takes them. We do have a balcony (we're on the 4th floor) so the cats can go out there. Neither of them are foolish enough to attempt to walk on the edge of it, even with the hummingbirds tempting them (we have hummingbirds but have never had a feeder. They come by once a day as though to say Hi and perhaps observe humans in their "Natural Environment". Jeff is fascinated by them, but not so much that he'd forget himself. Go figure.).

It all works out for the best.

We only have the one litterbox (tall with a lid with a hole in it so they can be "secret" about things).

 

[Backstep]

I read a lot about indoor cats, and all of them recommend the same things they need to be happy:

• Vertical space ('cause cats like to be up high, and will get exercise getting up there)
• Places to hide
• Places to sleep
• Places to explore
• Litterbox rule (# of cats + 1)
• Toys (a large selection is preferable, putting out just a few at a time)
• Daily play sessions (at least 10 minutes)
• Regular feeding times
• Brushing and physical presence (bonding stuff).
• Green stuff (houseplants, carefully selected to not be toxic to cats or other animals) cat grass.

I have all these bases covered except for the bolded. I play with them when it strikes me, but sometimes I just dont feel like it. They play with their toys, but everybody says they need to interact with their humans regularly to keep the bond strong. The cardboard houses are collapsible and I can easily move them around the apartment in different rooms or places, and toss a few treats inside for them to find. . Im a busy guy and Im doing the best I can for these guys. I say they have it made living with me. Spoiled as hell.

Remember, cats are like kids.

 

[Gatefan1976]

Remember, cats are like kids.

Yeah, they both know how to take care of themselves if they are allowed to.

 

[Backstep]

Yeah, they both know how to take care of themselves if they are allowed to.

And can occupy themselves all by themselves. Like kids the toy is meh while the box the toy came in is awesome.

 

[Gatefan1976]

And can occupy themselves all by themselves. Like kids the toy is meh while the box the toy came in is awesome.

Not all by themselves, but mostly yeah.
The toy is a "set object", it's a pony, or a bear, or a Skylander, the box however can be *anything*. My eldest loves boxes, she turns them into houses, or stages, or spaceships to tell the stories with her ponies, or bears, or Skylanders. If the toy is the character, the box is the world to play in.

 

[Backstep]

An Oregon man has contracted the plague -- a disease that killed a third of Europe's population during the Black Death pandemic in the 14th century -- from a cat bite, public health officials have confirmed.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/16/oregon-man-gets-the-plague-from-cat-bite

 

[Illiterati]

An Oregon man has contracted the plague -- a disease that killed a third of Europe's population during the Black Death pandemic in the 14th century -- from a cat bite, public health officials have confirmed.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/16/oregon-man-gets-the-plague-from-cat-bite

And the cat probably contracted it from an infected flea from an infected rodent, just like in the bad old days.

And the story is from 2012.

 

[YJ02]

Some of you here are psychic! I just returned from Lowes with two medium moving boxes (18x18x18), an Exacto knife kit and contact paper to make two movable, collapsible cat houses. I left this morning and have not seen this cat thread until now, and there it is!

Damn good thing cats don't have opposing thumbs...

 

[Gatefan1976]

They don't need em, they have claws

 

[Illiterati]

Damn good thing cats don't have opposing thumbs...

They don't need 'em, they have human servants.

 

[Overmind One]

An Oregon man has contracted the plague -- a disease that killed a third of Europe's population during the Black Death pandemic in the 14th century -- from a cat bite, public health officials have confirmed.

http://www.torontosun.com/2012/06/16/oregon-man-gets-the-plague-from-cat-bite

OMG...but that is yet another reason to keep cats inside. The mice and other rodents they eat can carry disease and parasites and humans are suceptible to many of them. Cats do not carry plague, but mice and rats do and they can give it to humans or other animals.
--- merged: Feb 3, 2014 at 9:48 PM ---

They don't need 'em, they have human servants.

Dogs have masters, cats have staff.

 

[Illiterati]

Yes, OM1, we are Renfields for cats.

LOL

 

[Illiterati]

 

[Overmind One]

Yes, OM1, we are Renfields for cats.

LOL

I had a longtime friend over for the first time today. He is a dog person, and had a Golden Retriever and a Border Collie (my favorite dog). He remembers when I had my dog, and that is in fact how I met him. He was shocked to see Siete waiting for me at the window by the door, meowing loudly in his demanding way. My buddy says "Cats only like you because you feed them". WRONG! I come inside, and Siete does his "Im so glad to see you" thing, I go to the food and serve up dinner for the three cats (at this time, he only saw Siete and Fisher and Dante were hiding from him). I go in the room to feed the cats and Siete follows me, and when my buddy saw the other two cats he was like "Damn, dude! You have three of them?". I told him the story, but the main thing was Siete just looked at his dish and looked up at me and kept meowing. Then he lifted his paw in that way that says "Pick me up!". He nibbled a bit of his food, but that is not what he wanted. He just wanted me to hold him. He was purring so loud my buddy is now convinced otherwise. Also, Siete likes him. The other two cats never came out of their room.

Why do people who have never been owned by a cat assume they dont love their humans? Sure, if they were suddenly without their humans, they could survive on their own or seek out other humans to fill their staff. But once it has been decided by the cat that you "belong" to them, they show overt love. Dante can sleep anywhere in the house he wants to, but he chooses to be leaning against me, snuggled under my arm or in the crook of my neck and seeks me out wherever I am in the house. Fisher does the same thing, and when I am busy he tries to plant himself as close to me as possible without eliciting my "Please get off my computer!" response. Siete needs to be ON me if Im laying down, or near me. Food has nothing to do with it.

 

[Illiterati]

Jeff gets into bed at night next to me and takes up "his" side of things, but always close to me. Pix will eventually jump onto me and fall asleep stretched out across me. The dog sleeps under the covers next my leg.

 

[Overmind One]

Jeff gets into bed at night next to me and takes up "his" side of things, but always close to me. Pix will eventually jump onto me and fall asleep stretched out across me. The dog sleeps under the covers next my leg.

Notice how Jeff not only shows love to you but ALSO to her dog Abby? Before I had Siete and when he was living with his dog Bella, Siete would seek her out and groom her. He would rub on the dog like he rubs on me. Cats do show love, but the caveat is that they actually have to feel love for those they display affection to. Dogs will wag their tails and love on anyone, including somebody who tortures or hurts them. Cats dont give unconditional love. You treat them badly and they will remember and avoid you. Siete was like this with his former owner Sherry. She would forget to feed him, or leave him outside after being let out and forget to let him back in, etc. When I moved in, he adopted me and basically became my owner. He totally ignored her after that for the entire year I was with her. He slept with me every night and was waiting for me at the door when I got home from work. I was the one who fed him and gave him the kind of attention he needed. But Im sure he loved her too at some point. Sherry is getting up in age and she could not really do it. So, Siete "upgraded" . Sherry still is amazed how different he is with me. He still does not like her anymore and avoids her when she visits.