Cat Lovers Thread

[AquaAthena]

Scorpions. We always had them in AZ. There are three kinds there, the smaller, the more venomous. One night, I went to refill the dry cat food dish and there, sprawled across the dry cat food was one huge dead giant desert hairy scorpion. I have a photo of him next to a rule: just under 6 inches.

The way I see it, one of the cats had come through the "cat widow" with the scorpion in his mouth and stopped to have a nosh. (I had a "cat run", an enclosed area they could access at will. I lived in rattlesnake/coyote country but they were safe and I didn't have to deal with a litter box.

A decision had to be made - scorpion or food. Scorpion - food.

The cat chose food and left the body there.

Another time, laying in bed late at night, reading and listening to foster kittens playing, scrabbling around on the floor. I leaned over and found one of these -

quite dead.

Yeesh. It's bite could have killed a kitten.

Note that these are not my photos.

I kept these bodies - and others - in my freezer for a long time and made them part of my school education program. I finally had to throw them out ...

 

[Mertex]

Scorpions. We always had them in AZ. There are three kinds there, the smaller, the more venomous. One night, I went to refill the dry cat food dish and there, sprawled across the dry cat food was one huge dead giant desert hairy scorpion. I have a photo of him next to a rule: just under 6 inches.


The way I see it, one of the cats had come through the "cat widow" with the scorpion in his mouth and stopped to have a nosh. (I had a "cat run", an enclosed area they could access at will. I lived in rattlesnake/coyote country but they were safe and I didn't have to deal with a litter box.

A decision had to be made - scorpion or food. Scorpion - food.

The cat chose food and left the body there.

Another time, laying in bed late at night, reading and listening to foster kittens playing, scrabbling around on the floor. I leaned over and found one of these -



quite dead.

Yeesh. It's bite could have killed a kitten.

Note that these are not my photos.

I kept these bodies - and others - in my freezer for a long time and made them part of my school education program. I finally had to throw them out ...

Is that a snake or lizard? We have scorpions in Texas, but they are not deadly...just annoying as all get out. There was one in the shower, my hub didn't have his glasses on while showering, thought it was a leaf and tried to sweep it into the drain with his foot, damn thing bit him and he says it hurt like the dickens.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

I have always owned cats. First of all, I may very well owe a cat my life. When I was an infant in Texas, our cat killed a huge scorpion in my crib. I have owned cats ever since.

I have had so many. There have been a few that are worth mentioning.

Fuzzball: a kitten that I found abandoned in the snow. I named it Fuzzball because until it became an adult, it's hair stood straight on end. It was the most gorgeous chocolate brown I've ever seen.

Fred the Battle Cat: an ugly ass stray that had a neck and shoulders like a bull dog. He came to me all beat up one day. I fed him and he stuck around until he was healed the disappeared for a couple of days, coming back all beat up and bleeding again. This happened off and on for a couple of years then one day he never made it back to me.

Siggy: the cat I have now. He's a Russian Blue and he's the biggest damn cat I've ever seen. He looks like a small panther. He weighs 25 pounds and is not fat. This cat is also smart as a whip, can open latch handled doors, and thinks its a dog. You should see the fangs and claws on this cat. I have little doubt he could kill me if he wanted to, luckily for me he's a huge wuss.

Siggy sounds like a beautiful cat....OMG - 25 lbs....we had a Main Coon for about 16 years, who weighed 22 lbs., and we loved him. He was very friendly, would come up to guests, smell their legs, then look up at them as if to say, "you can pet me" - all our friends loved him. He died Christmas of 2012. He was up in age and we knew that he was on his last days because he couldn't walk very good, his hair had lost its luster and he laid in the same place for hours. We went to Alabama for Christmas and I was afraid that he would die while we were gone, but when we came home, we found him in our bathroom....since he had trouble walking, my hub carried him back to the room where the litter box and food were....I saw him hobble over to the litter box. The next morning my hub found him dead in the litter box....he never made it out. It's like he waited for us to come home so he could die....we miss him.

Here's his picture...

He looks like the Maine coon we had put down for heart disease. He was a special needs rescue. He had a nerve-damaged front leg we had amputated. We adopted him knowing that we would have to do that but the alternative was putting him down and he really was a very special cat. I'll always miss him.

Now we have another Maine coon rescue - The Great Catsby. Trouble in a fur coat and his sister hates him.

He really is a problem child. So annoying, a real pain in the behind. And utterly adorable and lovable.

We're going on a long trip to France and thinking we'll separate them. The house sitter can visit with both every day but poor sweet Brodie won't have to put up with Bratsby.

 

[Two Thumbs]

cats are the spawn of Satan.

anyone that thinks otherwise has fallen under their spell.


true story

 

[Mertex]

Pat and Scamper. They were really best buddies. Pat was a stray and we took him in. Scamper treated him like a little brother. Scamper was huge!

Scamper looks a bit like Dolly.....she's sort of a calico, but has tabby stripes....that's so cute him putting his arm around his buddy.....wish mine were nice to each other like that....

I wish mine all got along. Dolly picks on all of them, being the kitten. Cali doesn't like anyone coming near her, snarls and bats at Dolly. Freakyfritz and Cali can't stand each other.....they give each other mean stares....and eventually one of them attacks and the other one runs. Boots, is pretty calm, she doesn't go near any of them, but Dolly picks on her, too.

 

[Mertex]

cats are the spawn of Satan.

anyone that thinks otherwise has fallen under their spell.


true story

Is that your avi talking?................

 

[Mertex]

i have 10.....and foster kittens......


one is sleeping on one arm as i type this......

Do you still have those adorable furry dark gray ones, or are these new ones?

We need pictures.......

no, they went up for adoption and were snapped up!!! Kitten season is on the way....so sooooonnn.....

They were so cute, it's no wonder they got snapped up......be sure and post pictures of the new brood.....

 

[AquaAthena]

Pat and Scamper. They were really best buddies. Pat was a stray and we took him in. Scamper treated him like a little brother. Scamper was huge!

Scamper looks a bit like Dolly.....she's sort of a calico, but has tabby stripes....that's so cute him putting his arm around his buddy.....wish mine were nice to each other like that....

I wish mine all got along. Dolly picks on all of them, being the kitten. Cali doesn't like anyone coming near her, snarls and bats at Dolly. Freakyfritz and Cali can't stand each other.....they give each other mean stares....and eventually one of them attacks and the other one runs. Boots, is pretty calm, she doesn't go near any of them, but Dolly picks on her, too.

She is so appealing to look at. What a good story..lol.

I was at the vet once ( a cat lover vet ) with Laci and the vet was telling me about his 4 cats and how he and his wife loved them all and everybody in the household got along except for one of the cats, who would never come near the others and would snarl and growl at them. That particular cat would only come near him or his wife, if the rest of the cats were in another room... Cats: what trips!

awww:

 

[syrenn]

Do you still have those adorable furry dark gray ones, or are these new ones?

We need pictures.......

no, they went up for adoption and were snapped up!!! Kitten season is on the way....so sooooonnn.....

They were so cute, it's no wonder they got snapped up......be sure and post pictures of the new brood.....

I will

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Scorpions. We always had them in AZ. There are three kinds there, the smaller, the more venomous. One night, I went to refill the dry cat food dish and there, sprawled across the dry cat food was one huge dead giant desert hairy scorpion. I have a photo of him next to a rule: just under 6 inches.


The way I see it, one of the cats had come through the "cat widow" with the scorpion in his mouth and stopped to have a nosh. (I had a "cat run", an enclosed area they could access at will. I lived in rattlesnake/coyote country but they were safe and I didn't have to deal with a litter box.

A decision had to be made - scorpion or food. Scorpion - food.

The cat chose food and left the body there.

Another time, laying in bed late at night, reading and listening to foster kittens playing, scrabbling around on the floor. I leaned over and found one of these -



quite dead.

Yeesh. It's bite could have killed a kitten.

Note that these are not my photos.

I kept these bodies - and others - in my freezer for a long time and made them part of my school education program. I finally had to throw them out ...

Is that a snake or lizard? We have scorpions in Texas, but they are not deadly...just annoying as all get out. There was one in the shower, my hub didn't have his glasses on while showering, thought it was a leaf and tried to sweep it into the drain with his foot, damn thing bit him and he says it hurt like the dickens.

Whip tail lizard which, interestingly, is always female because they're clones, the product of parthenogenesis.

I was once stung by a scorpion - jeez but that hurt. I would hate to get nailed by one of these centipedes though. I have tried to photograph them but they move very quickly and erratically. Very hard to get them in focus.

I've read that the sting of the tarantula hawk is just about the worst -

I used to see both the tarantula and the wasp around my house. The wasp is really big, really beautiful with those mahogany red wings and I always felt bad for the tarantulas.

 

[Coyote]

I consider myself more of a dog person, but I have and love two cats as well, and have had cats all my life.

I saw this posted on facebook and thought WOW - I so want a house like this for my cats!

Colorful Catification for Some Very Lucky Cats! ? hauspanther

 

[Mertex]

Pat and Scamper. They were really best buddies. Pat was a stray and we took him in. Scamper treated him like a little brother. Scamper was huge!

Scamper looks a bit like Dolly.....she's sort of a calico, but has tabby stripes....that's so cute him putting his arm around his buddy.....wish mine were nice to each other like that....

I wish mine all got along. Dolly picks on all of them, being the kitten. Cali doesn't like anyone coming near her, snarls and bats at Dolly. Freakyfritz and Cali can't stand each other.....they give each other mean stares....and eventually one of them attacks and the other one runs. Boots, is pretty calm, she doesn't go near any of them, but Dolly picks on her, too.

She is so appealing to look at. What a good story..lol.

I was at the vet once ( a cat lover vet ) with Laci and the vet was telling me about his 4 cats and how he and his wife loved them all and everybody in the household got along except for one of the cats, who would never come near the others and would snarl and growl at them. That particular cat would only come near him or his wife, if the rest of the cats were in another room... Cats: what trips!

awww:

That's so cute.....makes me want to get another kitten....but, my hub doesn't like for them to be outside....and we can't handle 5 in the house.

The only reason our "boy" cats are outside....when our neighbors abandoned them (they were Cali's brothers)....they were already beginning to act feral, and we tried bringing Tiger in the house....but he made such god awful noises, we had to put him back out. They get put up at night (shed with heater) as we have raccoons, opossums and other wild animals that could be rabid.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Pat and Scamper. They were really best buddies. Pat was a stray and we took him in. Scamper treated him like a little brother. Scamper was huge!

Scamper looks a bit like Dolly.....she's sort of a calico, but has tabby stripes....that's so cute him putting his arm around his buddy.....wish mine were nice to each other like that....

I wish mine all got along. Dolly picks on all of them, being the kitten. Cali doesn't like anyone coming near her, snarls and bats at Dolly. Freakyfritz and Cali can't stand each other.....they give each other mean stares....and eventually one of them attacks and the other one runs. Boots, is pretty calm, she doesn't go near any of them, but Dolly picks on her, too.

Same here. Catsby is the kid, just over a year old and raised as a wanted and loved kitten.

Brodie, thrown from a moving truck, meant to go over the bridge and into the lake but the asshole missed and she hit the concrete wall.

Very lucky that I spotted her, huddled and tiny and dying on the bridge. She was starving, loaded with every internal and external parasite and had a long rehab. Now, she's sweet, very affectionate and gentle and if you come into my house I'll show you the lump on my bed where she spends her days under the covers.

She's half his size and, mentally, just no match. So, we keep them apart if we're gone. That's not good either because he's such a people lover, very outgoing and needs company.

We toy with the thought of getting him his own pit bull puppy ..................

 

[syrenn]

I consider myself more of a dog person, but I have and love two cats as well, and have had cats all my life.

I saw this posted on facebook and thought WOW - I so want a house like this for my cats!

Colorful Catification for Some Very Lucky Cats! ? hauspanther

i am sure they would love it. I am not sure how 10 running in a train wreck would work out though...... lol

 

[Coyote]

I consider myself more of a dog person, but I have and love two cats as well, and have had cats all my life.

I saw this posted on facebook and thought WOW - I so want a house like this for my cats!

Colorful Catification for Some Very Lucky Cats! ? hauspanther

i am sure they would love it. I am not sure how 10 running in a train wreck would work out though...... lol

Consider it your own personal reality show

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Scamper looks a bit like Dolly.....she's sort of a calico, but has tabby stripes....that's so cute him putting his arm around his buddy.....wish mine were nice to each other like that....

I wish mine all got along. Dolly picks on all of them, being the kitten. Cali doesn't like anyone coming near her, snarls and bats at Dolly. Freakyfritz and Cali can't stand each other.....they give each other mean stares....and eventually one of them attacks and the other one runs. Boots, is pretty calm, she doesn't go near any of them, but Dolly picks on her, too.

She is so appealing to look at. What a good story..lol.

I was at the vet once ( a cat lover vet ) with Laci and the vet was telling me about his 4 cats and how he and his wife loved them all and everybody in the household got along except for one of the cats, who would never come near the others and would snarl and growl at them. That particular cat would only come near him or his wife, if the rest of the cats were in another room... Cats: what trips!

awww:

That's so cute.....makes me want to get another kitten....but, my hub doesn't like for them to be outside....and we can't handle 5 in the house.

The only reason our "boy" cats are outside....when our neighbors abandoned them (they were Cali's brothers)....they were already beginning to act feral, and we tried bringing Tiger in the house....but he made such god awful noises, we had to put him back out. They get put up at night (shed with heater) as we have raccoons, opossums and other wild animals that could be rabid.

Your husband is right and one more won't make any real difference.

Really. I've had many more than I have now and they're aren't any more trouble.

Build a cat run. Its easy and can be very cheap. Just make sure there's no way out at the top. Put in a cat door (or window) and let them come and go.

 

[Mertex]

I consider myself more of a dog person, but I have and love two cats as well, and have had cats all my life.

I saw this posted on facebook and thought WOW - I so want a house like this for my cats!

Colorful Catification for Some Very Lucky Cats! ? hauspanther

Wow....that is so neat, I know my cats would love something like that. We only have one cat pole....has three ledges, but they love the top one the best and whoever gets it first each morning will stay in it for a long time.....they actually try to beat each other to it....

We had dogs too, but the last one....an Akita either ran away or got stolen, and we decided it was way more expensive to keep dogs. We even had a kennel built for her, but she was an escape artist.....and got out...we never found her.

 

[Mertex]

She is so appealing to look at. What a good story..lol.

I was at the vet once ( a cat lover vet ) with Laci and the vet was telling me about his 4 cats and how he and his wife loved them all and everybody in the household got along except for one of the cats, who would never come near the others and would snarl and growl at them. That particular cat would only come near him or his wife, if the rest of the cats were in another room... Cats: what trips!

awww:

That's so cute.....makes me want to get another kitten....but, my hub doesn't like for them to be outside....and we can't handle 5 in the house.

The only reason our "boy" cats are outside....when our neighbors abandoned them (they were Cali's brothers)....they were already beginning to act feral, and we tried bringing Tiger in the house....but he made such god awful noises, we had to put him back out. They get put up at night (shed with heater) as we have raccoons, opossums and other wild animals that could be rabid.

Your husband is right and one more won't make any real difference.

Really. I've had many more than I have now and they're aren't any more trouble.

Build a cat run. Its easy and can be very cheap. Just make sure there's no way out at the top. Put in a cat door (or window) and let them come and go.

Cali is the only one of our cats that my hub lets out.....she will go to the door and whine until he opens it and lets her out....15 minutes later she is back whining to come back in. He won't let Dolly out, he's afraid she might wander off and get lost (we have acreage) - Boots is too frightened to even consider going out....and Freakyfritz is our son's cat and my hub would be so upset if she were to get lost. We're supposed to take her back to our son this summer, maybe after we lose her, I'll consider getting another kitten.....maybe......

 

[AquaAthena]

Scamper looks a bit like Dolly.....she's sort of a calico, but has tabby stripes....that's so cute him putting his arm around his buddy.....wish mine were nice to each other like that....

I wish mine all got along. Dolly picks on all of them, being the kitten. Cali doesn't like anyone coming near her, snarls and bats at Dolly. Freakyfritz and Cali can't stand each other.....they give each other mean stares....and eventually one of them attacks and the other one runs. Boots, is pretty calm, she doesn't go near any of them, but Dolly picks on her, too.

She is so appealing to look at. What a good story..lol.

I was at the vet once ( a cat lover vet ) with Laci and the vet was telling me about his 4 cats and how he and his wife loved them all and everybody in the household got along except for one of the cats, who would never come near the others and would snarl and growl at them. That particular cat would only come near him or his wife, if the rest of the cats were in another room... Cats: what trips!

awww:

That's so cute.....makes me want to get another kitten....but, my hub doesn't like for them to be outside....and we can't handle 5 in the house.

The only reason our "boy" cats are outside....when our neighbors abandoned them (they were Cali's brothers)....they were already beginning to act feral, and we tried bringing Tiger in the house....but he made such god awful noises, we had to put him back out. They get put up at night (shed with heater) as we have raccoons, opossums and other wild animals that could be rabid.

OOHHH, that is very, interesting "almost feral" ...hadn't thought of that aspect of my male cats, in the past, having to be outside, one way or another. Females often want to stay close to home and Laci is an indoor cat.

Man, if anyone wants to know about cats though, syrenn has all the experience. What a GREAT job she does for those little felines through the years, who would otherwise die. She used to send me pictures of them in various states of growth....from about one inch to one month old. So precious, they were.

 

[Mertex]

She is so appealing to look at. What a good story..lol.

I was at the vet once ( a cat lover vet ) with Laci and the vet was telling me about his 4 cats and how he and his wife loved them all and everybody in the household got along except for one of the cats, who would never come near the others and would snarl and growl at them. That particular cat would only come near him or his wife, if the rest of the cats were in another room... Cats: what trips!

awww:

That's so cute.....makes me want to get another kitten....but, my hub doesn't like for them to be outside....and we can't handle 5 in the house.

The only reason our "boy" cats are outside....when our neighbors abandoned them (they were Cali's brothers)....they were already beginning to act feral, and we tried bringing Tiger in the house....but he made such god awful noises, we had to put him back out. They get put up at night (shed with heater) as we have raccoons, opossums and other wild animals that could be rabid.

OOHHH, that is very, interesting "almost feral" ...hadn't thought of that aspect of my male cats, in the past, having to be outside, one way or another. Females often want to stay close to home and Laci is an indoor cat.

When the neighbors had them, they were kept outdoors....after they abandoned them, I didn't realize they had left them, till I saw one of them, by chance. I wondered what they were eating and went to check it out.... The neighbor had left a big bag of cat food, but the raccoons had torn it open and eaten all of it....when I took them some food, I had to walk away, because they wouldn't come near me, but as soon as I was some distance they dove for that food. It was a bit of a trick to find out where our neighbor had moved so I could contact her and ask her what she planned to do with the cats...that's when she told me that she was coming over "once a week" to feed them....once a week! I think they planned to some day get them, but I told her it was not good....they couldn't eat just once a week...that's when she asked me if I wanted them. By that time they were used to scavenge for food and being on their own, they would eat out of the bowl but didn't come close to us. That we were able to grab Tiger and try brining him in, was a bit of a trick. There were 3 of them....we lost Blackie about a year after we got them....he was the friendliest of the three. But like I said, the other two never were comfy being inside.

Man, if anyone wants to know about cats though, syrenn has all the experience. What a GREAT job she does for those little felines through the years, who would otherwise die. She used to send me pictures of them in various states of growth....from about one inch to one month old. So precious, they were.

I know....if I were to do that I would have a zoo....because I wouldn't want to give them back...I get too attached to them. Already my hub is getting melancholy about losing Freaky......