Cat thread

[Rasix]

I'll save the thread a downer story.  Tomorrow is going to suck.  

Having to make practical decisions about the lives of your animals is not fun.

[Engels]

Sorry to hear it :/

[rattran]

That's when having a good vet helps. Having someone who understands and can give good advice about what's best for the animal is a great thing, but damn rare from what I've found. Condolences.

[Fraeg]

I'll save the thread a downer story.  Tomorrow is going to suck.  

Having to make practical decisions about the lives of your animals is not fun.

Wish you the best, not a lot that I can think to type that isn't completely generic, sorry to hear

[Lantyssa]

Having been there a few times, I'm sorry you need to go through this.

[apocrypha]

That sucks Rasix :(

Take strength from the fact that you can make rational decisions and that you can provide better treatment than they would get without you.

[Hawkbit]

Sorry to hear, Rasix.  It's been two years and I *still* feel like I'm not over my first cat.  Miss him bunches.  I hope you can have the best of outcomes.

[Sjofn]

I'll save the thread a downer story.  Tomorrow is going to suck.  

Having to make practical decisions about the lives of your animals is not fun.

No, no it is not. I'm sorry to hear you have to make one. :(

[Sky]

Yeah, if you've had a lot of pets, you've had a lot of downer stories. Never gets better.

Always better to have cool pets and deal with the inevitable, imo. I've had some real horror stories thanks to some pets, but I wouldn't be without Bart the magnificent.

Speaking of the boy, he's a champion spotter. He alerted me to the mice in the wall, which I got rid of. Then I preventetively trapped the garage where they came in, and last night (a month later) he was pointing the back door, I opened it up and there's a mouse in one of the traps. Pity the mouse that gets in the house. I'm still dealing with the stupid Orkin people, and they were telling me how I wouldn't know if there were critters in unseen spaces in the house...I respectfully disagreed.

[Bunk]

Having been through the whole decision thing multiple times, I feel for you Rasix.

Sometimes there are positive stories out of vet trips - We got a dog when I was younger, still leaving at home, that we hadn't really planned to get. Shilo was a great dog, but he was as big as horse. We don't know what all he had in him, but we know there was Chow, and he ended up looking like a barrel chested blonde shepherd, that weighed 140 lbs.

So this moster of a dog loved running the fence of my parents yard. Two years old, he's running the fence one day, and pop goes his MCL.
Vet tells us they can repair it with an artificial ligament for about $2k, but figures it will likely break within months. The vet suggested that we might have to put him him down.

The family debates for a while, decide not to do the surgery, but decide to give the dog a chance to see how he handles the injury. Two weeks later he's up and hobbling around on a gimpy leg happily. Eleven years later, he was still running the fence with a funky three and half legged lope.

Sorry about bringing dogs in to a cat thread. Shilo's been gone about five years now, but I still keep a picture of him here on my desk at work. Works well to brighten the day when I get in one of those kill the customer moods.

[Sjofn]

We only have had to make that call once so far (our bunny Usagi) and it was both easier and harder than I thought it would be. Easier in that we could tell it was Time, harder in dealing with it (guilt issues on my part that I don't really need to go into). I agree with Sky, though, shitty as it is (I imagine it's harder for pets that are cooler than rabbits :P ), I'd rather have awesome pets and deal with the hard parts 'cause the good parts are so good.

I suppose that's what some people say about having kids, but whatever, cats > babies.

[Ingmar]

Finally took some pictures of the new one:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/13756345@N05/4028467524/

She's about 6 months old now I think.

[voodoolily]

Is her name Gilly 2? Like there was an original Gilly that is no longer with us?

[Ingmar]

Is her name Gilly 2? Like there was an original Gilly that is no longer with us?

No, just half-assed numbering of the 3 pictures I just added.

[jth]

I have two cats, the younger one is a 5.5 year old male named "Leijona" (Lion in English), pictures:

And the older one is a 7 year old female named "Viiru" (Stripe/Streak or something like that in English):


Viiru, the older cat, got diagnosed with cancer (lymphoma in nasal cavity) in October 2006. The vet that did the biopsy recommended euthanasia since Viiru was in a really bad shape at that point (estimated 2 weeks to live), but another vet at the same place told me there was another clinic that had done chemotherapy successfully in similar cases. So I went to the other clinic, their estimate was 6-9 months to live with chemo (if it works) and I decided to try it. Long story short, it's now almost exactly three years since the diagnosis and Viiru is in perfect health.

Viiru has been a special cat in other ways too. I got her from a cat shelter 2003 spring, she was a completely wild cat back then so no-one else wanted her. Took about 9 months until she was comfortable enough to be in the same room with me, and about a year until she let me touch her. Now she's quite tame, except when she's in the kitchen or in the bathroom (where the litterbox is) a slightest movement from me sends her to hiding, because those places are kind of dead ends she doesn't want to be "trapped" in.

[jth]

The younger cat (Leijona) is pretty amazing too. He fetches rubber foam balls like a dog would do, he can spend up to 20 minutes looking for them if you throw them to difficult places. And whenever I put the cat toy basket on the floor, he goes around and collects all cat toys and places them back into the basket. 

[Viin]

Both of your cats are trying to compel me to go out and kill a couple of puppies. Through their pictures. Creepy.

[Sjofn]

And whenever I put the cat toy basket on the floor, he goes around and collects all cat toys and places them back into the basket. 

Aw!

I'm glad you had a happy ending to Viiru's story. It's pretty amazing what they can do for pets these days, and how well some pets respond to it.

[Sjofn]

I took some Grown Up Lizzie pictures and Ingmar uploaded them! This one is my favourite:

[Brogarn]

Fast lane a bit sleepy.

[LK]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tcxhOGyrCtI&feature=player_embedded 

[Sjofn]

Fast lane a bit sleepy.

Yeah, she's obviously one of those annoying people that drive too slow in the fast lane.

[Brogarn]

Fast lane a bit sleepy.

Yeah, she's obviously one of those annoying people that drive too slow in the fast lane.

Actually I was making a really stupid joke that I'm a bit ashamed of now that I'm reading it again. If you start at the bottom right it says "Fast Lane" then up another line for "ABIT" then the sleeping kitty. I don't get high, but maybe my coffee was spiked at the time.

[Signe]

Do people spike your drinks very often?  Because if that happened to me on a regular basis, I think I'd be worried about my sense of humour. 

[Sjofn]

Fast lane a bit sleepy.

Yeah, she's obviously one of those annoying people that drive too slow in the fast lane.

Actually I was making a really stupid joke that I'm a bit ashamed of now that I'm reading it again. If you start at the bottom right it says "Fast Lane" then up another line for "ABIT" then the sleeping kitty. I don't get high, but maybe my coffee was spiked at the time.

Ha, I just thought you only making a joke about the WELCOME TO THE FAST LANE part. <3

[LK]

Halp!

I went to the pound to look at cats. I want to get two.

One cat, we'll call Snow, is absolutely great, loves me from the getgo, smart, etc.

There are two other cats. One is lively, playful, little on edge but nice. Other is a ball of fuzz, sort of emotionless but shows promise of improving. Scaredy cat but would make a great third pet...

Problem is, Snow doesn't like other cats that much from the limited time I held her outside her cage. Hisses up a storm in a "he's mine, BITCH" sort of way.

It did that with the pair I was thinking of getting. What would be best? Give it a chance? I don't know much about cat psychology, but it would be great to have 2+ cats that got along. The pound is full too, so they'd LOVE if I took the cats.

All of them are 10 months to a year old.

[rattran]

Some cats do not like other cats. Some do immediately, and some will adjust over time. And some will still be occasionally attacking and trying to kill and eat the others after 6 years. Might want to see how the other two cats get along, or try bringing one of the other cats to see 'Snow' at her cage. If you're willing to put in the time to play with them, and have enough room to give them all separate facilities (having their own food/water/litterbox seems to help) I think you can get most cats to get along.

That said, when I added my third cat (Dagmar), she got along fine with my first 2. Added 2 more kittens in 2003, and she's still trying to kill and eat them today.

[Arrrgh]

Halp!

I went to the pound to look at cats. I want to get two.

One cat, we'll call Snow, is absolutely great, loves me from the getgo, smart, etc.

There are two other cats. One is lively, playful, little on edge but nice. Other is a ball of fuzz, sort of emotionless but shows promise of improving. Scaredy cat but would make a great third pet...

Problem is, Snow doesn't like other cats that much from the limited time I held her outside her cage. Hisses up a storm in a "he's mine, BITCH" sort of way.

It did that with the pair I was thinking of getting. What would be best? Give it a chance? I don't know much about cat psychology, but it would be great to have 2+ cats that got along. The pound is full too, so they'd LOVE if I took the cats.

All of them are 10 months to a year old.

I think the get two cats rule is more about getting two kittens from the same litter. They're already used to each other and you don't have to worry about them not liking each other. Adopting a solo adult cat is fine.

[LK]

I'll try that. Thinking about them animals being euthanaized makes me physically nauseous. There's a cat that's been there since April, a 7 year old, that I worry about. The shelter's really small, and there are so many small cages... not much play space or anything like that. Funnily enough, a lot of them look like bobcats.

As much love and attention as Snow was showing me, I might take the two others just because I know they get along and it'd be one more pet out of the pound.

The two kitties have similar coloration to cats I had when I was a child, which is affecting my decision-making process.

[Signe]

Get all three!   

[Mrbloodworth]

Halp!

I went to the pound to look at cats. I want to get two.

One cat, we'll call Snow, is absolutely great, loves me from the getgo, smart, etc.

There are two other cats. One is lively, playful, little on edge but nice. Other is a ball of fuzz, sort of emotionless but shows promise of improving. Scaredy cat but would make a great third pet...

Problem is, Snow doesn't like other cats that much from the limited time I held her outside her cage. Hisses up a storm in a "he's mine, BITCH" sort of way.

It did that with the pair I was thinking of getting. What would be best? Give it a chance? I don't know much about cat psychology, but it would be great to have 2+ cats that got along. The pound is full too, so they'd LOVE if I took the cats.

All of them are 10 months to a year old.

Sounds like who is the alpha is being worked out. Should be ok over time.

[Sir T]

Yeah get all three and let them fight out who is boss cat between them. They will settle down over time.

[rattran]

Or one will still be trying to kill and eat the others years later. I'd get all three, but that's why I try to never go to destructive shelters. I can't stand to see the cats waiting on death row.

[LK]

I tried the one cat to Snow thing. Snow didn't mind the male, but the more passive cat it hissed at. I read online that it's a territory thing.

I plan to get all 3 though.

Edit: I'm pretty much all stocked up. Grooming and nail clipping, one litter box (massive though, but there isn't any space for more), three water / feed dishes, three beds, some catnip, all electrical sockets protected, lots of space (no furniture in my apartment yet  ).

Once I get the paper work I'll be getting these kitties a home. I only hope they do their part and get along.

[Samwise]

I don't think I've ever seen cats in the same house actively antagonizing each other if they don't get along.  After a while (like a year or two) they tend to figure out they're not going to get rid of each other and they just try to pretend the other cat isn't there.  If you have the "alpha" cat scenario rather than mutual antagonists, it'll maybe cuff the other cats if they invade its space to remind them who's boss, but it's unlikely to spend all its time chasing them around the house.