ENOUGH WITH THE negativity...............!

[Twila]

Well Stretch. I count myself among the fortunate.

I have 2 animal companions(cats) that were born feral. They were trapped at 4 months of age. Just on the cusp you might say.

They would have nothing to do with me the first few months of their "incarceration".

Chunkey was so tiny and ill when she first arrived that I wasn't given the luxury of waiting for her to come to me (which is my normal approach to wild cats) I was forced to give her medacine twice a day which involved searching for her.

She was locked in my bedroom 24hrs a day. My bed was actually mattesses on the floor. Couldn't have a bedframe because the cats would hide under there and never come out. Some how this little cat was able to find hiding places that defied location.

Once after tearing every drawer out of my dresser (in case she was inside the dresser) removing every thing of the floor of my closet (in case she was inside something) and much frantic searching (no point calling her. She was extremely unfriendly) I found her lying on the shoulders of a couple of sweaters hanging in my closet! Not only can the little creature hide in a nearly empty room she can float too!

This is how she came by the name Chunkey Monkey. She is now a lap cat. comes when called. Doesn't like other people other then myself.

K. Your turn

 

[Matty]

I too have two cats. One I got for my son, the other, Jake, moved in here about 5 months ago. We came home from work one day to find him sitting on the doorstep. Sweetest cat in the world, but I would not allow him in the house or my son to feed him as I assumed he had a home to go to. After a week of him sitting on the front step, and looking rather thin, he moved in! We took him to the vet to try and get the tattoo in his ear read, in hopes of finding his owners, but the Vet could not read it as the numbers were just too small. He also has some nasty eye disease which requires very EXPENSIVE surgery to have corrected, so we just keep them clean and under control and he seems fine.
Hes been such a wonderful addition to our home, as hes soooooooooo sweet and such a cuddler. You pick him up and he wraps his paws around your neck, nuzzles his head in and starts a -purring. My other cat was not over happy with the situation at first, and started "acting out" I guess you could say. Had to hide the TP as every day we came home, she would have it spread from one end of the house to the other ..shredded into fine little bits!

 

[Matty]

I too have two cats. One I got for my son, the other, Jake, moved in here about 5 months ago. We came home from work one day to find him sitting on the doorstep. Sweetest cat in the world, but I would not allow him in the house or my son to feed him as I assumed he had a home to go to. After a week of him sitting on the front step, and looking rather thin, he moved in! We took him to the vet to try and get the tattoo in his ear read, in hopes of finding his owners, but the Vet could not read it as the numbers were just too small. He also has some nasty eye disease which requires very EXPENSIVE surgery to have corrected, so we just keep them clean and under control and he seems fine.
Hes been such a wonderful addition to our home, as hes soooooooooo sweet and such a cuddler. You pick him up and he wraps his paws around your neck, nuzzles his head in and starts a -purring. My other cat was not over happy with the situation at first, and started "acting out" I guess you could say. Had to hide the TP as every day we came home, she would have it spread from one end of the house to the other ..shredded into fine little bits!

 

[Matty]

I too have two cats. One I got for my son, the other, Jake, moved in here about 5 months ago. We came home from work one day to find him sitting on the doorstep. Sweetest cat in the world, but I would not allow him in the house or my son to feed him as I assumed he had a home to go to. After a week of him sitting on the front step, and looking rather thin, he moved in! We took him to the vet to try and get the tattoo in his ear read, in hopes of finding his owners, but the Vet could not read it as the numbers were just too small. He also has some nasty eye disease which requires very EXPENSIVE surgery to have corrected, so we just keep them clean and under control and he seems fine.
Hes been such a wonderful addition to our home, as hes soooooooooo sweet and such a cuddler. You pick him up and he wraps his paws around your neck, nuzzles his head in and starts a -purring. My other cat was not over happy with the situation at first, and started "acting out" I guess you could say. Had to hide the TP as every day we came home, she would have it spread from one end of the house to the other ..shredded into fine little bits!

 

[Twila]

Matty. You never choose a cat. We silly humans would like to think so. But we don't. They choose us. We're their pets. not the other way around.

I have had numerous cats in my life time. Not 1 of them was of my choosing. I tried to choose one once. A big beautiful grey tom. He was lovely. I was about 10 or 11 years old. And I'd just stretched up and was reaching for him when I learned one of the biggest lessons of my life........

That lesson was to NEVER EVER under ANY circumstance try to pick up a 10lbs WILD cat while wearing a t-shirt. Ahhhh.. lesson well learned. And the skin grew back on my hands and arms in about 6 months.

The second biggest lesson of my life was that no matter how much experience. confidence. or control I think I have there is no way I'm going to be able to stop a cattle horse from going home if it wants to. I learned this lesson when I was 12. And the palimino I was riding decided she wanted to go home. I was very greatful that she allowed me to stay on her back for the journey. Either wise it would have been a very long walk.

So...Matty.....got pics to share of the cats that own you?

 

[Twila]

Matty. You never choose a cat. We silly humans would like to think so. But we don't. They choose us. We're their pets. not the other way around.

I have had numerous cats in my life time. Not 1 of them was of my choosing. I tried to choose one once. A big beautiful grey tom. He was lovely. I was about 10 or 11 years old. And I'd just stretched up and was reaching for him when I learned one of the biggest lessons of my life........

That lesson was to NEVER EVER under ANY circumstance try to pick up a 10lbs WILD cat while wearing a t-shirt. Ahhhh.. lesson well learned. And the skin grew back on my hands and arms in about 6 months.

The second biggest lesson of my life was that no matter how much experience. confidence. or control I think I have there is no way I'm going to be able to stop a cattle horse from going home if it wants to. I learned this lesson when I was 12. And the palimino I was riding decided she wanted to go home. I was very greatful that she allowed me to stay on her back for the journey. Either wise it would have been a very long walk.

So...Matty.....got pics to share of the cats that own you?

 

[Twila]

Matty. You never choose a cat. We silly humans would like to think so. But we don't. They choose us. We're their pets. not the other way around.

I have had numerous cats in my life time. Not 1 of them was of my choosing. I tried to choose one once. A big beautiful grey tom. He was lovely. I was about 10 or 11 years old. And I'd just stretched up and was reaching for him when I learned one of the biggest lessons of my life........

That lesson was to NEVER EVER under ANY circumstance try to pick up a 10lbs WILD cat while wearing a t-shirt. Ahhhh.. lesson well learned. And the skin grew back on my hands and arms in about 6 months.

The second biggest lesson of my life was that no matter how much experience. confidence. or control I think I have there is no way I'm going to be able to stop a cattle horse from going home if it wants to. I learned this lesson when I was 12. And the palimino I was riding decided she wanted to go home. I was very greatful that she allowed me to stay on her back for the journey. Either wise it would have been a very long walk.

So...Matty.....got pics to share of the cats that own you?

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Ah yes. Critters. Aren't they wonderful? No guilt, no guile, just perfectly straightforward "this is who I am." There are two cats here at Fallen Arches, name of Baxter and Gwen. Baxter's a Siamese-Persian cross, a castrated tom who's been declawed (and no, I didn't have that done, his original "owner" did that, an old lady who'd have had him put down when she moved into a care home, but we rescued him), and he's the crankiest sonofabitch bastard cat I've ever met, which makes it fun to tease him. Gwen's a generic spayed female. They're totally selfish, interested only in food, a backscratch, and a warm place to sleep (and who can't identify with that?), but they have the great virtue of being completely consistent. I lie down on my stomach on the bed to read, they'll come and curl up on the back of my legs and sleep. Not because they love me, I'm just Food Guy and that's a warm and comfortable place. They allow me to live in their house with them because I feed them and give them that warm place. I'm sure that if I died in bed and didn't feed them, they'd be eating me in a day or two. But that's okay too, I wouldn't be needing my body at that point anyway.

But they're also completely charming, because they're so totally predictable and honest about their feelings. You always know where you stand with a cat: you serve them. And if you can't tolerate that, don't have cats. What more could you ask?

Personally, I hate cats. Except for the ones I know.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Ah yes. Critters. Aren't they wonderful? No guilt, no guile, just perfectly straightforward "this is who I am." There are two cats here at Fallen Arches, name of Baxter and Gwen. Baxter's a Siamese-Persian cross, a castrated tom who's been declawed (and no, I didn't have that done, his original "owner" did that, an old lady who'd have had him put down when she moved into a care home, but we rescued him), and he's the crankiest sonofabitch bastard cat I've ever met, which makes it fun to tease him. Gwen's a generic spayed female. They're totally selfish, interested only in food, a backscratch, and a warm place to sleep (and who can't identify with that?), but they have the great virtue of being completely consistent. I lie down on my stomach on the bed to read, they'll come and curl up on the back of my legs and sleep. Not because they love me, I'm just Food Guy and that's a warm and comfortable place. They allow me to live in their house with them because I feed them and give them that warm place. I'm sure that if I died in bed and didn't feed them, they'd be eating me in a day or two. But that's okay too, I wouldn't be needing my body at that point anyway.

But they're also completely charming, because they're so totally predictable and honest about their feelings. You always know where you stand with a cat: you serve them. And if you can't tolerate that, don't have cats. What more could you ask?

Personally, I hate cats. Except for the ones I know.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Ah yes. Critters. Aren't they wonderful? No guilt, no guile, just perfectly straightforward "this is who I am." There are two cats here at Fallen Arches, name of Baxter and Gwen. Baxter's a Siamese-Persian cross, a castrated tom who's been declawed (and no, I didn't have that done, his original "owner" did that, an old lady who'd have had him put down when she moved into a care home, but we rescued him), and he's the crankiest sonofabitch bastard cat I've ever met, which makes it fun to tease him. Gwen's a generic spayed female. They're totally selfish, interested only in food, a backscratch, and a warm place to sleep (and who can't identify with that?), but they have the great virtue of being completely consistent. I lie down on my stomach on the bed to read, they'll come and curl up on the back of my legs and sleep. Not because they love me, I'm just Food Guy and that's a warm and comfortable place. They allow me to live in their house with them because I feed them and give them that warm place. I'm sure that if I died in bed and didn't feed them, they'd be eating me in a day or two. But that's okay too, I wouldn't be needing my body at that point anyway.

But they're also completely charming, because they're so totally predictable and honest about their feelings. You always know where you stand with a cat: you serve them. And if you can't tolerate that, don't have cats. What more could you ask?

Personally, I hate cats. Except for the ones I know.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

p.s. If I'd been castrated and had my fingernails pulled out, I think I'd be a pretty cranky sonofabitch bastard too...

 

[Dexter Sinister]

p.s. If I'd been castrated and had my fingernails pulled out, I think I'd be a pretty cranky sonofabitch bastard too...

 

[Dexter Sinister]

p.s. If I'd been castrated and had my fingernails pulled out, I think I'd be a pretty cranky sonofabitch bastard too...

 

[peapod]

Sorry stretch, I ment changing the topic was funny, guess that came out wrong, I love bats, I watched them all summer in the garden at dusk...and they do it all blind :wink:

 

[peapod]

Sorry stretch, I ment changing the topic was funny, guess that came out wrong, I love bats, I watched them all summer in the garden at dusk...and they do it all blind :wink:

 

[peapod]

Sorry stretch, I ment changing the topic was funny, guess that came out wrong, I love bats, I watched them all summer in the garden at dusk...and they do it all blind :wink:

 

[Twila]

p.s. If I'd been castrated and had my fingernails pulled out, I think I'd be a pretty cranky sonofabitch bastard too...

I've heard that having a cats nails removed is the equivelant of having your fingers cut off at the knuckle. So I imagine that poor old tom suffers from phantom pains and arthiritis in his toes. Poor guy.

I had a cranky cat too. Butch. Lived outside for 8 years. He would swat me walking by, swat me while I pet him, swat me because he could. He doesn't do that now. He lives on my couch and at my fireplace hearth. He doesn't do anything bad now. He's become quite the little cuddle bug really. Well maybe that's stretching it. He allows me to cuddle him. He purrs for me. Best of all, he allows me to cover him with a blanket. He has no desire to go outside anymore.

 

[Twila]

p.s. If I'd been castrated and had my fingernails pulled out, I think I'd be a pretty cranky sonofabitch bastard too...

I've heard that having a cats nails removed is the equivelant of having your fingers cut off at the knuckle. So I imagine that poor old tom suffers from phantom pains and arthiritis in his toes. Poor guy.

I had a cranky cat too. Butch. Lived outside for 8 years. He would swat me walking by, swat me while I pet him, swat me because he could. He doesn't do that now. He lives on my couch and at my fireplace hearth. He doesn't do anything bad now. He's become quite the little cuddle bug really. Well maybe that's stretching it. He allows me to cuddle him. He purrs for me. Best of all, he allows me to cover him with a blanket. He has no desire to go outside anymore.

 

[Twila]

p.s. If I'd been castrated and had my fingernails pulled out, I think I'd be a pretty cranky sonofabitch bastard too...

I've heard that having a cats nails removed is the equivelant of having your fingers cut off at the knuckle. So I imagine that poor old tom suffers from phantom pains and arthiritis in his toes. Poor guy.

I had a cranky cat too. Butch. Lived outside for 8 years. He would swat me walking by, swat me while I pet him, swat me because he could. He doesn't do that now. He lives on my couch and at my fireplace hearth. He doesn't do anything bad now. He's become quite the little cuddle bug really. Well maybe that's stretching it. He allows me to cuddle him. He purrs for me. Best of all, he allows me to cover him with a blanket. He has no desire to go outside anymore.

 

[Dexter Sinister]

Re: RE: ENOUGH WITH THE negativity...............!

I've heard that having a cats nails removed is the equivelant of having your fingers cut off at the knuckle. So I imagine that poor old tom suffers from phantom pains and arthiritis in his toes. Poor guy.

Yes indeed, the poor guy. He won't let anyone touch his paws, he hisses and bites if you try, so they're obviously sensitive. I would never declaw a cat, I think it's cruel and it leaves them defenseless. We can't let him outside except on a tether, and only when we're outside with him, because he seems to hate every other cat in the neighborhood (and they wander freely through our yard), and he's a scrapper, like most toms. But he doesn't understand that he doesn't have claws and can't protect himself, so we have to protect him from his instincts.