Cat thread

[schild]

I don't really get people who spend big money on 'lifestyle' ego pets when there's so many that desperately need a home.

Not that I need to go out and find pets, they seem to adopt em no matter what I do. 3 damned kittens here now, I've found homes for 2 of them.

I have a theory, cats smell the other cat on you and identify with it as friendly cats. You don't want to meet the cats that stay away from you.

[Signe]

Although that's a gorgeous cat, I agree with Rattran.  I'm not saying that people shouldn't help with wildlife rescues, either.  I think that's great if you can make that sort of committment and give the animal a good home.  I can't make the sort of commitment and take the kind of responsibility entailed to rescue wildlife or even feral cats.  I won't, however, have any pet that's not a rescue.  Except maybe one of those giant chimps that you can dress up like people because we know what wonderful pets they make!

[apocrypha]

More importantly, rattran has a Young Ones era Alexei Sayle avatar which is just 

And Lant: good point, thanks.

[CharlieMopps]

My dog (see avatar) is better than your cats 

also, he is the perfect cat fence. He's a border collie and our cats are not allow to go anywhere in the house without his permission (save the top of the fridge, he's too big to fit up there) He's faster, can jump higher and is a lot smarter.

If you've never seen a border collie heard cats, check youtube... it's pretty funny.

[Signe]

I love Border Collies.  They are amazingly smart and too too cute.  I've also never met one that was unfriendly.

[Jeff Kelly]

I love Border Collies.  They are amazingly smart and too too cute.  I've also never met one that was unfriendly.

They're too smart for their own good. They are guard dogs and if you don't challenge them they will start to shepherd anything. The border collie of friend of mine started to shepherd liitle kids because he was bored. Another collie herded horses.

[rattran]

I have a theory, cats smell the other cat on you and identify with it as friendly cats. You don't want to meet the cats that stay away from you.

Could be, and this little calico (named Signe now) follows me everywhere now. Except when I've left site, it hasn't been more than a few feet from me for days. Which is kinda nice, I sleep much better with a cat curled up next to me. I'll miss her once I find her a home.

[Triforcer]

I love Border Collies.  They are amazingly smart and too too cute.  I've also never met one that was unfriendly.

They're too smart for their own good. They are guard dogs and if you don't challenge them they will start to shepherd anything. The border collie of friend of mine started to shepherd liitle kids because he was bored. Another collie herded horses.

I'd bet you'd regret not having a border collie the next time you are trapped in an abandoned well or mineshaft. 

[Signe]

[Samwise]

If I were going to blow money on a purebred cat, I'd get one from this guy, who bred this Guinness record-holder:



That cat is four feet from nose to tail, and weighs a healthy (not fat) 35 pounds.   

[gryeyes]

Is it trained for battle?

[MahrinSkel]

I'm pretty sure it came with the reflexes hard-wired.  Trying to train it would just take away the edge.

I love Maine Coons.  They are to normal cats what normal cats are to dogs: You have to work hard to earn their respect, all feeding them gets you is them not pissing in your shoes.  In the after-time, there will be human mutants, giant cockroaches, and Maine Coons ruling over both while they hunt the wargs for sport.

--Dave

[NiX]

[Sky]

My cat would have that into a pile of shredded bits in about fifteen minutes.

[Xuri]

A cat-thread? I want in.

Cats > dogs. Dogs are trained pets, slaves to human will. A dog comes when you whistle/call because he feels compelled to do so, and the humans punish them if they do not comply with their wishes. Cats are independent, they come and go as they please. A cat may come if you call, but there's a 50% chance that it will just ignore you and continue doing nothing at all. Until there's free food to be had, of course.

I miss my cats; Mother and son. Here's a pic of them playing in the yard back when the son wasn't twice the size of the mother:

[Mrbloodworth]

A cat-thread? I want in.

Cats > dogs. Dogs are trained pets, slaves to human will. A dog comes when you whistle/call because he feels compelled to do so, and the humans punish them if they do not comply with their wishes. Cats are independent, they come and go as they please. A cat may come if you call, but there's a 50% chance that it will just ignore you and continue doing nothing at all. Until there's free food to be had, of course.

I miss my cats; Mother and son. Here's a pic of them playing in the yard back when the son wasn't twice the size of the mother:

[Oz]

I've seen a guy at the mall near my house a few times with this beast of an cat on a leash (Southern California malls are mostly outdoors, so tons of people bring their dogs for a walk...and I guess cats).

Yeah i always saw Egyptian Maus at the pet stores at teh spectrum in Irvine...blew my mind how much $$ they were, BUT they did have fur that was soft like a rabbit's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Egyptian_Mau

[Samwise]

Oh hey, pictures.

Here's Leibowitz, the polydactyl and very good-natured cat that we adopted from the street as a kitten when I was in high school.  (He'd yowl outside my bedroom window at night hoping for food and/or shelter; after about a month of me not getting any sleep we finally took him in.)  He's getting on in years now but still lives with my mom.  She tells me that when her rabbits had a litter a few years ago, she carefully introduced one of the babies to Leibowitz so that he'd know they were part of the family and not to be eaten.  The effort of restraining himself was so stressful (MUST... NOT... EAT... TINY... THING) that he wet himself.


In the foreground being pesky is Ed the pirate kitty, aka "orange cat," aka "Little Stalin," a more recent acquisition of my mom's (courtesy of my aunt who runs a kitten foster home).  He had some sort of eye infection when he was little and now sees in mono.  His hobbies include bullying the Newfoundland (roughly ten times his size, not pictured here).  Better picture of Ed:

[Bunk]

Hate to say it man, put that cat is now creepy looking. He needs himself an eyepatch. Yarr.

[Sky]

I think he looks fucking great! Arr, avast ye, I'm comin' aboard!

My boy had a great night last night, poppa had a couple Black Forest brews, his favorite.

[stray]

Not a rat, but my cat doing her job with a lizard. 

[rattran]

Signe the calico turns out to be owned by a family of hippies with a bunch of dogs. She seemed scared of the dogs, but did run over to the little girl, then back to hide behind me. I let them take her, and mentioned I'd be over to visit a few times.

If she comes back, I'ma tell the hippies to go fuck themselves.

[apocrypha]

So we slowly swapped the cats over to this Orijen stuff, from IAMS, over 2 weeks, and they love it!

The food itself doesn't smell rank, like IAMS did, and the cats breath is like a million times better. I'm sure I'm imagining it because it's not been long enough I reckon, but I keep thinking their coats feel smoother and sleeker too, but like I say, probably imagining that at this stage.

Felt really good throwing away ~2.5kg of smelly IAMS too 

[Signe]

When I started feeding my cats raw meat, gently cooked fish and a little no grain dry, the difference in their coats was really quick.  They also don't shed as much.  Lister, especially.  I give them a little dab of hairball remedy on the nose and/or a bit of yogurt, too.  They're very spoiled!   

[Sky]

If my cat's coat got any nicer, some swarthy canadian would show up and try to take his pelt.

[apocrypha]

Zebedee gets some yogurt every day - she insists on licking my bowl clean after I've had my breakfast oats/fruit/yogurt. Sputnik's not bothered and she's big and fluffy so regular combing to keep hairballs down is necessary anyway. Might have to try some hairball remedy if she has problems with this new food, but we've just sown fresh cat grass for them so they'll have stuff to munch on outside soon :)

[Engels]

my male cat eats broom straws. we've found pokey poop and 4 inch long hairballs comprised of straw.

[Le0]

cat are so awesome, I wish we could get one for our flat, but I'm alergic to them apparently :(

[rattran]

cat are so awesome, I wish we could get one for our flat, but I'm alergic to them apparently :(

So, make friends with someone with a cat, and pet it for small amounts of time each day. Then wash up. You'll acclimatize. I'm currently trying this with all the dogs around here, I'm to the point where I only cough a bit, and my eyes don't water as much.

Or do what I did, get a fluffy kitten, and live in an enclosed space with it for 6 months. Weekly baths for the cat kept the dander down a bit, but it was mostly just getting used to it.

[Bunk]

Weekly baths for the cat ...

 

[Trippy]

Weekly baths for the cat ...

An oldie but a goodie:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9QwK5EHSmg

[rattran]

Weekly baths for the cat ...

 

If you start when they're small, keep the water warm but not hot, and make it a game, it's not a problem. The cat in question would sit in the shower and chase shampoo bubbles. Didn't like immersion, but was fine with a shower.

[Mrbloodworth]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUNmLuNdiL8&feature=related

[Samwise]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUNmLuNdiL8&feature=related

I'd seen about half of these before, but still... 

I think the cat chasing the bear was the best one.

[Merusk]

I need a better camera.. or at least one with motion stab. technology since apparently my wife has the DTs.

This is Perseus, he decided my wife's bag looked comfy.