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Blinks fucked around with this message at 02:16 on Jan 10, 2013 |
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Jan 5, 2013 12:50
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- Age: 12 years - Sex: Female - How long have you had your cat?: 12 years - Is your cat spayed or neutered?: Yes - Is your cat indoors, outdoors, both?: Indoors - How many pets in your household?: 2 - How many litter boxes do you have?: 2 We got a new kitten a few days ago, and we're in the process of attempting to introduce him to our 12 year old female cat. I know how the process is supposed to go, and that it's too early for them to meet face to face, but I guess we suck because he's gotten out of the room we're keeping him in twice now, and our lady cat HATES him with an intense fury, more than I expected. I've seen her like that before at the vets when she saw other cats, but for some reason I didn't think it would be as bad this time, because she's lived with dogs before and been fine, I guess. Plus she almost never gets angry any other time. She's been fine when she can't actually see the kitten, it's only on seeing him she gets upset. I guess I just wanted to know if this level of hatred is normal, because at this stage I can't imagine her ever tolerating him. Plus his safe room is our bedroom because our apartment is pretty tiny, and I feel really bad that my lady kitty can't sleep in here like normal. Oh, and did we ruin the introductions by letting them see each other too early?
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Jan 5, 2013 23:49
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When I got my younger male cat years ago, the older female cat would hiss and fight him every time she saw him. It really seemed like she hated him, and it went on for about a year. For whatever reason, after about a year she settled down and started ignoring him. After 2 or 3 years, they were best friends and slept and played together all the time. I don't know how normal this is, though.
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Jan 6, 2013 03:29
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I've decided to get a cat. I've become too lazy and depressed, all I do sit around and I have no responsibilities to keep me disciplined. I need something to actually give me a reason to get up in the morning and take care of things. That, and I just want one. Plus, since I've finally decided I'll be sticking around for at least a couple years to finish an MS, I won't be in danger of having to move and giving up my pet, which is incredibly unfair to the animal. Thing is, I'm kind of allergic to cats.  Is there a chance that I'll become used to the dander, or would repeated exposure just make it worse?I'm thinking my ideal pet would be older, around 3 or 4 years of age. I wouldn't want them to be overly rowdy, and they can't be loud or destructive. I'm used to letting them roam relatively freely, as well. Cats tend to fulfill these, plus they're cute. I might be spoiled by the family dog off at my parents home, though, who is practically an angel - he doesn't make any noise, mostly just sleeps all day, doesn't destroy anything, is incredibly patient and hasn't been a burden for our family in any way. Those are the things I find most important in a pet. Does this sound fair? I know that preparation for getting a cat basically involves getting food, bedding, toiletry, health care, and education for the owner. I also kind of want a companion, cause it's too lonely being a NEET and not having Blake around anymore. I'm a good pet owner, I promise 
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Jan 6, 2013 03:34
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I'd suggest getting two cats - that way they'll keep each other occupied and won't be as loud or destructive. As for allergies, your mileage may vary, but I too am allergic to cats. My first three weeks with Ozma were by far the worst. After about two weeks, I had a bad reaction that swelled my eyes totally shut. I decided to push through it with my good friend benadryl and loratadine. After that, it got better. I'm not allergic to her at all. I can even rub my face in her belly. Granted I keep her brushed, have a good air purifier, and also vacuum. When we got Pizza Brother, my allergies flared up again, but not nearly as bad. Again, drugs, air filter, and time later, and I only get a bad reaction when he licks my face. I've always been more allergic to boy cats than girls though. I hope everything goes well for you, but seriously, do be serious about disciplining yourself - it's not a cat's job to make sure you get back on your feet. edit: if two cats are not an option, maybe ask the shelter about a cat who is not suited to living with other cats? Rat Patrol fucked around with this message at 03:51 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 03:46
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I won't rely on the cat for that, rather giving me a push to do so would help immensely. I'll consider getting two or a solitary cat, depending on the apartment rules.
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Jan 6, 2013 03:56
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I really disagree with Huntersoninski that someone like you, Pollyanna, looking for an older mellow cat who is like 3-4 years old, should feel as if you "should" get two cats, or that you're somehow doing the cat you adopt a disservice by not getting another cat for him/her to be with. There are lots of cats out there who either prefer to be an only cat or *need* to be an only cat (just like some cats are bonded pairs and *need* to be with one another), but then there are certainly lots of cats who would probably be happy either way and could adjust. Now, if you came in here saying you wanted to get a kitten, I'd certainly suggest getting two for the reasons Huntersoninski gave. But I think it's perfectly reasonable for you to want to get one cat, and I don't believe you should feel *any* pressure to adopt more pets than your comfortable getting.
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Jan 6, 2013 04:18
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kaworu posted:Now, if you came in here saying you wanted to get a kitten, I'd certainly suggest getting two for the reasons Huntersoninski gave. But I think it's perfectly reasonable for you to want to get one cat, and I don't believe you should feel *any* pressure to adopt more pets than your comfortable getting. Well I did advise discussing it with the shelter. Some cats just really need to be only cats, but being older isnt' the same as being antisocial. Cats are more social than I think is generally thought. If 2 isn't an option, like I said in my first post, he/she should make sure to get a cat that does not do well with others, rather than taking a cat that might be lonely without another cat in the house. edit: i mean hell, my sister has yet to adopt a cat younger than 3 and she's always gone in twos, and they've always been great. But one cat was thrust on her by crazy circumstances, and he'd definitely work just fine as an only cat. You just gotta find out what you can before you adopt. edit: again, I meant no pressure, but it's no myth that cats in general-but-not-always appreciate having company. Rat Patrol fucked around with this message at 04:26 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 04:23
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One of my cats has had Feline Herpesvirus since I adopted him from the shelter 4 years ago. Over the last year it's developed into moist sneezing. I've brought him to 3 different vets during this time and after doing blood work, they have all said that he's fine as long as he remains active and eating, which he is. The problem is that he's destroying my room with snot and the occasional booger. I've been giving him Vetri-Lysine treats to help curb the symptoms but I'm wondering if anyone else can recommend other treatments? The vets in my area have been unsatisfactory in helping me with this. One prescribed him an oral antibiotic that I can't recall the name of but it did not help at all. Again, aside from his rampant sneezing and watery eyes when he gets worked up, he's very active and playful with his brother and has a normal diet. Here is the main offender, Tank, aka "Booger Brains" CaptainAssholay fucked around with this message at 07:50 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 07:46
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Pollyanna posted:I've decided to get a cat. I've become too lazy and depressed, all I do sit around and I have no responsibilities to keep me disciplined. I need something to actually give me a reason to get up in the morning and take care of things. That, and I just want one. Plus, since I've finally decided I'll be sticking around for at least a couple years to finish an MS, I won't be in danger of having to move and giving up my pet, which is incredibly unfair to the animal. Is there a reason that you decided against getting a dog? I know this is the cat thread, but it sounds like you're really asking for a dog. Even the things that you mention as important in a pet are from a dog, and those traits aren't hard to find in dogs (and probably less common in cats). It also doesn't sound like you have allergy issues with dogs. With that said, this thread not only converted me from a dog-only and anti-cat person, but convinced me to adopt two kittens. It's been one of the best experiences of my life and I've learned that cats can be just as affectionate and fun as dogs (although in a completely different way), but it's really not the same level of responsibility or companionship as a dog.
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Jan 6, 2013 07:48
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My cat Ringo has begun to show rear end in a top hat tendencies after being pretty cool for a year, and now refuses to eat any wet food besides tinned tuna after I gave him some once as a treat. Any attempt to feed him regular cat food leads to him kicking dirt out of the pot plants, meowing a whole lot, and generally being an rear end in a top hat until he gets his way. I still feed him some dry food in the mornings (Fussy Cat grain free), which he's happy to eat. I'm fine with feeding him tuna instead of regular cat food, it's pretty cheap, but will he be getting proper nutrition from it? Ten Becquerels fucked around with this message at 09:14 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 09:11
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badgercopter posted:I'm fine with feeding him tuna instead of regular cat food, it's pretty cheap, but will he be getting proper nutrition from it? No, and too much human-grade tuna can actually be a health detriment. http://www.petmeds.org/petmeds-spotlight/is-tuna-bad-for-cats/#.UOk0mqxN-_w
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Jan 6, 2013 09:25
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HighOnBread posted:Is there a reason that you decided against getting a dog? I know this is the cat thread, but it sounds like you're really asking for a dog. Even the things that you mention as important in a pet are from a dog, and those traits aren't hard to find in dogs (and probably less common in cats). lolwhat An older cat is way more likely to be a low maintenance, non destructive, quiet lazy lump than any dog - typically dogs need to be made into the shut down doglump over time whereas most cats will adapt easily to the catlump role. My cats are relatively high energy and high maintenance for cats and they're way less obtrusive than any dog I've ever fostered or owned.
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Jan 6, 2013 09:45
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I've only got my one cat now, and I've been having to pill her twice a day for about 6 months now, and I just think it's hilarious how she's such a sweet, loving cat, but fights a bunch when I pill her, and then all is forgiven when I pet her after the fact. Cats are amazingly weird.
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Jan 6, 2013 10:02
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Hey all, I've posted a couple times in this thread about my rescue cat Charlie. I now have a new problem I found Charlie on the street in June of last year. She came up to me, meowed, and was fed and eventually adopted by me. Charlie has all of her claws, and I plan to keep it that way. The problem is when I first rescued Charlie she was malnourished and starving for attention. For three days we fed her, and loved her. Then she showed her true colors. Charlie is an rear end in a top hat. She has been sharing a house with three other cats, and dominates all of them, even though she is the youngest. She is spayed now, the other cats are all male and neutered. The other cats do not have their front claws. Charlie has been.... difficult. She uses her claws at whim on the boys and the humans. I feel like since she has all her weapons it sort of made her think that she is the boss (and she is). She does not play well with the other cats. She tolerates them, and sometimes she gets rough with them unleashing all her claw fury and we lock her up in the bathroom for a while to calm her down. Now the thing is, I moved to Japan. Charlie is doing the quarantine period with my old roomie (and all the other cats). She still has about 3 months left till she can come live with me here in the land of the rising sun. Here comes my actual question: I want to have two cats. Living with four taught me that they do better with a buddy. I will get a rescue, and japan doesn't do the declawing thing.... but I'm worried that Charlie will have trouble shifting. I plan to get the new cat a month or two after charlie arrives, so she doesn't have to acclimatize to too much stuff at once, but can anyone give me any advice to ease the process? I'm so worried that Charlie will continue being a bully, and with two cats with all their claws I'm worried about the blood bath 
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Jan 6, 2013 10:07
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Huntersoninski posted:No, and too much human-grade tuna can actually be a health detriment. Well, I'd better prepare the pot plants. Edit: The rear end in a top hat in question: 
Ten Becquerels fucked around with this message at 10:33 on Jan 6, 2013 |
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Jan 6, 2013 10:27
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badgercopter posted:Well, I'd better prepare the pot plants. Well, I don't know if this will work, but you should look into BFF canned cat food. The labels are cutesy as hell but it's actually a good product, and it's one of the two brands I feed to my cat. All their products are tuna-based, and their straight-up tuna flavor (which is the one my cat likes the most) is literally just chunks of tuna in aspic (jelly). But it's also got, like, added taurine and whatnot; the stuff they put in cat food that cats need. Now, I don't know that a cat *should* be on a diet of strictly this stuff, but it'd be a hell of a lot better than feeding your cat human-grade tuna for the time being, and hopefully he'll actually eat it and not go on a wrecking spree
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Jan 6, 2013 11:22
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kaworu posted:Well, I don't know if this will work, but you should look into BFF canned cat food. The labels are cutesy as hell but it's actually a good product, and it's one of the two brands I feed to my cat. All their products are tuna-based, and their straight-up tuna flavor (which is the one my cat likes the most) is literally just chunks of tuna in aspic (jelly). But it's also got, like, added taurine and whatnot; the stuff they put in cat food that cats need. Honestly it's only been in the last week or so that he's decided he hates his regular wet food, so I'm hoping a fishy wet food will be enough to make him eat it, I normally buy the meat cat foods because I hate the smell of fish. Either that or he'll have to get over it and eat just the dry food for a little bit while I find something he will eat.
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Jan 6, 2013 11:32
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duckfarts posted:Brushing is like overall maintenance, but to deal with the mats, you should use a dematting blade/comb: mistressminako posted:
Thanks you guys! I'm going to look into one of those matbreaking combs from a more local source.
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Jan 6, 2013 15:31
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badgercopter posted:Honestly it's only been in the last week or so that he's decided he hates his regular wet food, so I'm hoping a fishy wet food will be enough to make him eat it, I normally buy the meat cat foods because I hate the smell of fish. Either that or he'll have to get over it and eat just the dry food for a little bit while I find something he will eat. Well, that's basically just what the BFF stuff is - fishy wet food. Except it's fishy wet food which always has a base of real tuna, which is why it seemed like a good suggestion to make. The tuna is actually really high quality, too, for cat food - it didn't used to be, but like 6 months ago they must have switched to a new vendor or something because the quality of the fish they were using just got WAY better, and not just the tuna. The Tuna/Salmon flavor, for instance, used to be like 97% tuna with little tiny slivers of what looked like it *could* be salmon mixed in. Now the Tuna/Salmon flavor looks amazing, because not only does the tuna look way better but there are actual substantial chunks of real, orangey/pink salmon, and it all looks just as good as human grade food. Their other flavors are similarly improved, although my cat only likes the stuff set in aspic (jelly). Which sort of brings me to my next point - my cat is usually very very very strict about her wet food - she only eats the pate stuff and will not even condescend to sniff anything else. Except for the BFF tuna-based stuff. I don't know if it's due to the tuna, and the fact that cats apparently just LOVE tuna, but for whatever reason she is just all over it, even though it's not exactly pate (though it is set in jelly as I said before so it's pate-ish in a way. I should add I don't feed her just BFF - a diet that's like 95% tuna really probably isn't a good idea. But she does eat 1 small can of it every day usually, and otherwise I true to keep her on wellness/wellness core for canned food and for the very occasional dry food she gets. fake edit: I want to add that I'm doing this advocating for BFF because I think it's unfortunate that so many people dismiss the packagaing when they offer a really great high quality affordable product which is, as far as I can tell, fairly unique in the cat food market. And it sounds really really perfect as a solution to your particular problem, badgercopter, no offense.
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Jan 6, 2013 16:43
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Pollyanna posted:I've decided to get a cat. I've become too lazy and depressed, all I do sit around and I have no responsibilities to keep me disciplined. I need something to actually give me a reason to get up in the morning and take care of things. That, and I just want one. Plus, since I've finally decided I'll be sticking around for at least a couple years to finish an MS, I won't be in danger of having to move and giving up my pet, which is incredibly unfair to the animal. I'd be hesitant to classify a 3-4 year old cat as 'older', though I guess by shelter standards that might be true. At any rate, an indoor cat that's 3-4 will likely have 10+ years of life; you only mention sticking around in one place for a couple of years, and that giving up a pet is on the table if you have to move. 3-4 year olds are still reasonably adoptable. 7-10 year olds are not so much.
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Jan 6, 2013 16:46
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badgercopter posted:Honestly it's only been in the last week or so that he's decided he hates his regular wet food, so I'm hoping a fishy wet food will be enough to make him eat it, I normally buy the meat cat foods because I hate the smell of fish. Either that or he'll have to get over it and eat just the dry food for a little bit while I find something he will eat. If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they sell tuna with added vitamins that makes it safe for cats.
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Jan 6, 2013 16:51
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CaptainAssholay posted:One of my cats has had Feline Herpesvirus since I adopted him from the shelter 4 years ago. Over the last year it's developed into moist sneezing. I've brought him to 3 different vets during this time and after doing blood work, they have all said that he's fine as long as he remains active and eating, which he is. Would you be willing to try an internal medicine specialist? Your cat may need to have an endoscopic procedure where a camera is inserted into the nose to see what is causing the sneezing, whether it's simply chronic sinus irritation or damage from the herpesvirus flare-ups or something different, like a polyp, or maybe a fungal infection. They can also take biopsies of the nose tissue if necessary. Your vet should be able to refer you to the nearest internist. To help with the snot, you might try either saline drops in her nose (she will hate it) or having her sit in a steamy bathroom to see if that will help clear her nose out at all.
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Jan 6, 2013 18:07
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Dr. Chaco posted:Would you be willing to try an internal medicine specialist? Your cat may need to have an endoscopic procedure where a camera is inserted into the nose to see what is causing the sneezing, whether it's simply chronic sinus irritation or damage from the herpesvirus flare-ups or something different, like a polyp, or maybe a fungal infection. They can also take biopsies of the nose tissue if necessary. Your vet should be able to refer you to the nearest internist. I guess if I had no other options I'd look into it. As much as I hate to admit it, money is an issue and that procedure sounds more than I'm able to afford. I'll talk to a vet though and ask about it. I just feel like I've dropped so much money already on visits and lab work to just be told that my cat is fine and that he'll just have sinus issues his entire life. Thanks. I'll definitely try that bathroom trick and see if that helps him at all.
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Jan 6, 2013 19:45
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z16bitsega posted:If you have a Trader Joe's near you, they sell tuna with added vitamins that makes it safe for cats. I live in Australia, so sadly no, although Coles has started stocking Applaws now. I'm pretty sure they have a tuna/ocean fish variant.
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Jan 7, 2013 01:31
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The Friday before Christmas I noticed my cat was feeling very thin and it didn't look like he had eaten. I tried some canned food and he ate a little. My Christmas eve I knew he was sick, but with the holidays I thought I would have to wait till wednesday. Christmas day he did not use the litter at all and was under the bed all day. I found an emergency hospital and took him there that night. For the rest of the week I moved him from the emergency hospital to the regular vet every day. He was not eating and only taking fluids with an Iv. Sunday the vet put in a feeding tube and I feed him around the clock for the entire week. he urinated frequently but never had any stool. He was getting back to normal, coming out and being social able, and sleeping on the bed with me again. This morning he started vomiting, and the fith or sixth time he coughed up the tube. I was able to cut the stitching and bandage and remove the tube, then rush him back to the emergency office. I left him there with a pan to do blood work and Iv fluids for the night until the normal vet opened and we could talk about a surgical feeding tube. Two hours later the emergency hospital called to tell me that they didn't think he was going to live though the day. He is still there now, but they tell me he is in very poor shape. The blood tests showed liver shut down, and even on a heating pad he isn't staying warm. In a few hours I'm going to be driving out to take him back to the vets office, where we will most likely have him put to sleep. I think that it's my fault. I should have seen problem signs sooner. I shouldn't have waited because of the holidays. I should have done something more but I don't know what. He's only about four or five years old. He was born under my house and I've been taking care of him since he fit in the palm of my hand. I don't know what I'm going to do to bury him I don't have a yard. I am so lost and hurting right now and just don't know what to do.
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Jan 7, 2013 07:32
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Hindsight is always 20/20. You did the best you could and you went above and beyond what the average owner would do. Your cat is I'm sure grateful and thankful for having such a wonderful home and for having the chance to be loved. I'm sorry you are going through such a difficult time. I've been there and it blows. Those little mooching jerks really have a way of worming their way into a heart.
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Jan 7, 2013 08:35
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He made it through the day and night, the emergency vet didn't think he would. He's back wt the regular doctor getting pain medicine and fluids. He is hoping that with the pain medicine he might recover enough for the small intestine feeding tube, but I'm expecting a call to come and put him to sleep some time today. He was so weak he couldn't even stand up. I want to do everything I can for him but I don't know at this point if I'm just prolonging his pain.
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Jan 7, 2013 15:02
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Well, it sounds like he's putting up a legitimate fight, at least  If the doctors think he has a chance then he has a chance, although it's obviously dangerous to get one's hopes up in these situations. But if the professionals think that he could recover and you trust them, then you're not just prolonging his pain, and you shouldn't look at it from that point of view. All I can say is that it's clear you love him a great deal, which likely means that the feeling is mutual and the time you two shared together was really wonderful and special for him. If it all possible, try to keep that thought present in your mind throughout this whole process. And don't worry about burying him. You could always have him cremated (it's not expensive or anything) and then keep the ashes or scatter them as you see fit.
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Jan 7, 2013 15:56
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My husband and I split, and he ended up with our cat and I ended up with our doofy dog. I miss having a cat and want to add one back into the house. However, our dog is an idiot. I've been "test trialing" her with my boyfriend's cats to see how she's doing and it's not going great. She has basically no ability to understand "go the gently caress away". His eldest cat, Blanca, is an 18 year old hellion with no claws or teeth, and even though the dog is now terrified of her, she also won't stop trying to walk over and sniff her (and consequently ends up screaming in imagined agony after being 'clawed'). His other cat, Ravi, bolts and she tries to herd him which terrifies him. Any tips for integrating a household with an idiot dog? She lived in a fair amount of peace with our old cat, who was chill as gently caress, but even after 9 years she'd still obsessively follow him to sniff him whenever he moved. Even though she's a huge pain in the rear end, she was never remotely aggressive towards him. Is it better to try and go with a big fat puddly adult cat, or find a youngish teenagey outgoing cat that will possibly find it interesting instead of horrifying? My thought was to have a 'cat room' in the office initially that could be a sanctuary for the cat until it decided the dog wasn't horrific. Hopefully they could interact through the baby gate until the initial excitement wears off. I've also got cat trees and such stationed in most rooms so that the kitty always has an escape. Basically, I don't want the cat to think it's gone into some sort of hell state, and I'd like to not necessarily live in a way that I'd have to rotate out pets for the rest of their natural lives. Ideas?
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Jan 7, 2013 19:30
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So I'm house hunting, because I'm sick of renting. Today I get a call from my dad that one of his friends is trying to get pregnant again and is getting rid of her cat because OMG CATS KILL INFANTS  So he says my sister will take him in temporarily while I house-hunt and then I can take him. Flustered, I said okay, but I don't HAVE a house yet, and is this just another attempt to make me get a house faster and I don't know if I was ready to get a cat right away and aaauuuugghhhh. I've met this cat, and he's a pretty cool cat. He's about to lose his home due to superstition. But still... is this the right situation in which to adopt? Should I back out?
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Jan 8, 2013 00:00
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KnightLight posted:So I'm house hunting, because I'm sick of renting. It sounds like this cat needs you. If someone's stupid enough to think cats kill babies, they're probably also stupid enough to just kick the cat out or even kill it. You like the cat, he needs you, and you don't need to make it affect your house-hunting decisions. I say go for it.
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Jan 8, 2013 00:21
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marshmallard posted:It sounds like this cat needs you. If someone's stupid enough to think cats kill babies, they're probably also stupid enough to just kick the cat out or even kill it. You like the cat, he needs you, and you don't need to make it affect your house-hunting decisions. I say go for it. Just so I am aware, what sort of concerns are there with cats and babies? My Mrs is due in mid feb, I would just like to know of any obvious do's or don'ts when it comes to kitties and newborns. Me and the Mrs have both agreed that we would only get rid of Arthur if the baby was allergic to him, apparently it happens, or something drastic occured. He is a member of our family and I dont want him and his derpish ways going anywhere. He's my pal.
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Jan 8, 2013 11:04
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I always figured that the whole "cat sleeps on baby's face and suffocates it!!" thing was a myth, but my cat regularly tries to sleep on my face so I dunno. I'd be more concerned about a cat around a toddler, since cats can get pissed off with being prodded and handled very quickly and might scratch/bite (though obviously not kill). Especially if that toddler has sticky hands. Ew.
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Jan 8, 2013 14:21
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Blinks posted:Just so I am aware, what sort of concerns are there with cats and babies? My Mrs is due in mid feb, I would just like to know of any obvious do's or don'ts when it comes to kitties and newborns. Me and the Mrs have both agreed that we would only get rid of Arthur if the baby was allergic to him, apparently it happens, or something drastic occured. He is a member of our family and I dont want him and his derpish ways going anywhere. He's my pal. My brother and sister had to rehome their cat after their firstborn. Cat kept trying to sleep on my nieces chest. Which when it was a 20'ish pound cat wasn't so good. This was 20 years ago, so I didn't know any better, but I think as long as you take care to limit/supervise access until the child is old enough to not be suffocated, and likely even longer to make sure the kid learns some respect. I grew up with cats all my life and wasn't murdered, but I did have a lot of scratch marks when I was younger 
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Jan 8, 2013 14:43
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Quote-Unquote posted:I always figured that the whole "cat sleeps on baby's face and suffocates it!!" thing was a myth, but my cat regularly tries to sleep on my face so I dunno. Siochain posted:My brother and sister had to rehome their cat after their firstborn. Cat kept trying to sleep on my nieces chest. Which when it was a 20'ish pound cat wasn't so good. This was 20 years ago, so I didn't know any better, but I think as long as you take care to limit/supervise access until the child is old enough to not be suffocated, and likely even longer to make sure the kid learns some respect. I grew up with cats all my life and wasn't murdered, but I did have a lot of scratch marks when I was younger In all honesty, I had heard about the smothering thing and Arthur does love to sleep on the bed with us, most of the time in my armpit (weird, I know) or very occasionally on my chest, though I have been trying to stop him from doing that, being quite succesful. Me and V have spoken about Arthur not being alone with the baby. EVER. Well not until she is old enough, but you know what I mean. Arthur is a scaredy cat, when friends brought their newborn over he hid upstairs, and when they brought the same baby over at 6 months old, he just sat in the corner of the room occasionally getting closer but backing up when the baby made any movements. I think if that behaviour continues we will all be ok. I'm concerned though as when we first got him, as a rescue cat and we were moving house, we put him in a spare room upstairs in the house so he wouldn't be so jumpy. This is now the nursery and he keeps on pulling up the carpet and trying to dig his way in. As he was a rescue cat and we don't know his background I don't want to tap him on the nose or anything when he has been naughty, but I don't think he likes the idea of giving up what used to be known as 'Arthurs room'. He won't be allowed back into the room unsupervised, especially if the baby has just fed as I have read some other horror stories about cats smelling milk etc. He's a good cat, like I said, he's my pal and the only pet I've ever had (aside from budgies, hamsters and goldfish, which aren't interactive pets as such) and neither of us want to get rid of him. He is part of our family. Thanks for replying, I guess it is down to us to be vigilant
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Jan 8, 2013 15:24
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Blinks posted:Thanks for replying, I guess it is down to us to be vigilant That's basically it. Once the kid is a few months old and strong enough to be able to roll away/push the cat off, its less of a panic issue. And odds are the cat won't care about the baby. I have pictures of one of my childhood cats sleeping beside me in my crib when I was a youngin. Never had any problems, and apparently I slept a LOT better (yay extra heat :P)
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Jan 8, 2013 16:06
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I dunno where that myth came from, it's such an odd one. I remember when my little half-sister was born, we had this big Maine Coon tuxedo cat named Spooky who weighed around 20 pounds and regularly eviscerated groundhogs and woodchucks as easily as mice. Very, very dangerous hunter-cat who was a very gentle, if overly shy, indoor cat. Anyway, after the baby was born, Spooky took it upon himself to play a role. He basically became "The Guard of The Crib", or that's what we called him. He would never, ever go into the crib (because we told him not to and very demonstrable discouraged him the few times he tried initially) and I think he picked up on the fact that whatever was in the crib crying half the time in the middle of the night was EXTREMELY important to his humans. So he became the nightly guard, and for the next year and a half that was just where he slept - in front of the crib. It worked because he was the most silent of cats (meowed about twice a year, tops) and very trustworthy. He never went into the crib. But it was funny, because visitors who would come to see the baby would basically have to deal with Spooky first and gain his tacit approval or he would get seriously a bit aggressive. And a 20-pound Maine Coon can be a scary thing.
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Jan 8, 2013 16:25
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Cats are....... Cats. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/lifestyle/pets/8958012/Owner-surprised-to-find-cat-regularly-catches-bus.html
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Jan 8, 2013 17:11
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toplitzin posted:Cats are....... Cats. Awww~~! That is so goddamn fantastic. The Artful Dodger is such a great cat name, too. I love that he's just totally accepted there on the bus, and chills in random peoples laps. Cats really are... Cats. Or in this case you might also say something like... Ginger toms are gingers toms. Because almost all male ginger cats I've known (aren't all orange/ginger cats male? Google says it's 80/20 ratio of male to female, which sounds about right. It's not the same as Torties which are always female barring the odd male with the extra chromosome. Anyway! My original point was that most ginger toms I've known were really intelligent, adventurous, fearless, friendly, and all-around awesome. Even the ones who aren't unbelievably amazing still tend to be really good cats in their own right. I'm totally unbiased in this, incidentally - my own cat is a very common black/brown/tan "classic" tabby (although she's fairly uncommon in New England as the vast majority of brown tabby around here are mackerel and you see very few classic-style tabby cats). Although my dad owned an AMAZING orange kitty with all the attributes I described; he probably would also have ridden on buses if he could have. kaworu fucked around with this message at 18:18 on Jan 8, 2013 |
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Jan 8, 2013 18:14
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