The Things We Do For Love

[JMJimmy]

I clean up after them. I must be insane to take on that task

 

[mystymaine12]

I feed mine all on separate plates in the AM so each gets their fair share. 5 plates! Then I have to wash them because I am not going to throw away 5 styrofoam plates at once. They sit there now until they get their own plate. They eat at different times in the eve, so it is not an issue then. Burt, my going on seventeen year old, insists on drinking out of the RO spigot, so every morning he is drinking at the sink. I am just amazed he can still jump up on the counter.

Oh I do that as well, now I only have 2 cats, but the ritual doesn't change, as well as they have their special place to eat so I have to put each plate in different rooms so they can feel Special (Which they are)

 

[Shane Kent]

My cats are indoor-only cats but I do allow them out for supervised outdoor visits on our property. I feel a little bit guilty forcing them to stay inside so it helps to ease the guilt by allowing them out occasionally. I would imagine my neighbors think I am a little bit crazy as I follow them around like I am waiting for them to poop or something. When one of them gets out of view I run around like a nervous Nellie until I locate them. It must look strange to my neighbors. They must wonder why I let them outside if I am so afraid of losing them. I do it because I love them and they love to go outside.

 

[mightyboosh]

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mightyboosh - This site desperately needs an AntiPurraise Button. Bob just read your, "duck fillets," remark, thank you very much NOT.



I'll bet Oliver would really enjoy some nice Jamón Ibérico. @alejandra rico will back me up on this - cats love ham as a snack, and La Tienda has it on sale right now, Oliver:

Reserva Jamon Iberico de Bellota Ham by Fermin

Sorry Bob. It was an evil duck who committed terrible deeds, not a nice one like you.

 

[lyrajean]

The list goes on and on... Let's face it we're all kitty slaves. They let us think we're their owners, but in reality it's all part of their plan for world domination.

Recently we had to change Aya's treat brand. It allowed me to take advantage of the new treat dispensing toys which she really has taken a liking to. Now every evening at 6pm she finds me to let me know its kitty snack time. I have to get the treats and dispense them into her toys and place them on the appropriate place on the floor so she can have fun. Needless to say she gets her wet food at 4pm, so its not that she's starving.

In the middle of the night, god forbid I've rolled over onto my side. She jumps on the bed and gives me a firm tap with the paw or tugs on my blanket with her teeth sometimes accompanied by a meow that I swear means, "Roll over and spread 'em!" (she likes to sleep in my crotch). Cats...

 

[Purr-fect]

Where to begin......

Arnold and greg have been neutered, but no one told them, so they dont seem to think they are.

Arnold has a "girlfriend" ( big soft blanket), that he can be quite "intimate" with. Often as soon as we turn off the tv to go to bed, he will jump up and visit "blanky". His "visit" can last a good ten minutes. If we leave him, he will leave blanky and follow us to bed.....but I know what he wants.........so I sit and wait while he does his business, even though im tired and have to get up at 5am.

I often spend up to 2 hours outside with them. I dont have the time to spare and many things get postphoned, but I know how important their "outside" time is to them.

I spend about $10.00 daily on their food.....about the same amount I budget for my own food...lol

When im petting arnold and I walk away and he reaches out and grabs me and pulls me back.....I come back....everytime....even when im busy.

I fill my old socks with catnip and turn them into cat toys.

I run around the housd with gerg and arnold chasing me.

At 3 in the morning when I get up to go to the bathroom and greg comes running thru the house and throws himsdlf at my feet to be petted, I stop and rub his tummy and pet hi for 10 mins....even though I want to go back to bed.

When arnold pins me under the bed sheets, I lie in an uncomfortable position so I wont disturb his sleep.

I wash their butts..... a nasty job as they have very fluffy britches.

We bought a 6 foot tall cat condo made from 2 foot square sheets of plywood and it sits in our living room....looks ridiculous. .but the boys like it so it stays.

They slowly destroy our handmade carpet and expensive leather livingroom furniture (all bought used, but difficult to replace), but its ok cause they never ever scratch anywhere but on their scratching posts. The furniture and carpet gets damaged cause they chase each other around the house and they are having fun and they are happy. ?..its ok its just "stuff". ..and i laugh so much my face hurts.

 

[gingeravocato]

Continue to buy her more cat toys because the other 17 have seemingly vanished.

 

[msFriday]

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mightyboosh - This site desperately needs an AntiPurraise Button. Bob just read your, "duck fillets," remark, thank you very much NOT.



I'll bet Oliver would really enjoy some nice Jamón Ibérico. @alejandra rico will back me up on this - cats love ham as a snack, and La Tienda has it on sale right now, Oliver:

Reserva Jamon Iberico de Bellota Ham by Fermin

.

You're right about the ham! Indy is not much of a lap cat at all (he would lay on the sofa beside me, but not on my lap). Then he discovered that my husband had HAM in his sandwich (we sit on the sofa to eat a lot), and all of a sudden he is Daddy's LAP CAT! During the meal he lays patiently on Daddy's lap; at the end, he gets his share of the ham!

 

[losna]

Sinbad likes to be 'captured' and carried to his food. I put his food bowl down, and he eats a few bites, then walks over to wherever I happen to be and staaaaaares at me. I am then expected to get up and chase him across the house until I manage to catch him, and carry him back to his food. He also insists on family time in the weight room every day, and will herd my husband and I down there around 8:30 every night. Husband works out, and I must sit on the couch making a tent with my knees and a blanket so he can curl up underneath and snuggle me.

I also leave the vacuum cleaner out in a corner of the living room, because he likes to snuggle it.

Bêlit wants to be snuggled after she eats. If I don't present myself and pick her up, she just finds me wherever I am and climbs into my lap, or onto my shoulders if she can climb to them, no matter what I am doing. Other than these after meal snuggles, she won't climb onto someone unless actually invited with a pat, she'll just sit at your feet and beg until you tell her it's ok to climb up. She also parks herself right in the way, in the middle of doorways, across the hall, etc, and demands a scritch toll from passer bys.

This one isn't me, but my husband - he wakes up a half hour earlier than he otherwise would, because Tempest likes to have a morning nap with him. So he gets up, eats breakfast, showers, then naps with her for a half hour before going to work.

 

[Shane Kent]

I must sit on the couch making a tent with my knees and a blanket so he can curl up underneath and snuggle me.

I do that for my cat Taz, he loves his knee tent very much. I always assumed there was another knee tent out there and now I met it

 

[losna]

I do that for my cat Taz, he loves his knee tent very much. I always assumed there was another knee tent out there and now I met it

Yes, Sinbad loves his knee tent so very very much. He will make a request for one quite often by leading me to a blanket, and pawing at the edge, then shoving his head against it as though trying to crawl underneath.

 

[Shane Kent]

@losna

When I click on your link for the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats it doesn't take me to the article. It takes me to

https : // thecatsite . com / ams /

Without the spaces though. I put the spaces in so it wouldn't generate a link.

 

[losna]

@losna

When I click on your link for the-ultimate-yet-simplified-guide-to-introducing-cats it doesn't take me to the article. It takes me to

https : // thecatsite . com / ams /

Without the spaces though. I put the spaces in so it wouldn't generate a link.

Ah, thanks. The forum change a little while back must have broken it. Should be fixed now.

 

[Shane Kent]

Ah, thanks. The forum change a little while back must have broken it. Should be fixed now.

Works now.

I think that article is amazing. I used that information to take my work cats home and merge them with my home cats to form a happy feline family. Now they are all my home cats. It worked out extremely well for me

 

[Belle Bosse]

What haven't I done for my cat Chantelle..!
Her introduction to me was at 6 am with my husband thrusting this tiny, dirty, skinny kitten into my hands saying take care of this smelly little flea bag..! And headed back to work. He had just rescued the kitten off the highway 5 kilometers out of town on his way to work.
I suddenly had to improvise her immediate care when I was not set up for any pets.
Kitten was cold... turned off the air conditioner.
Kitten was covered with fleas and ticks... warmest place was down the front of my shirt... so that is where she went, fleas and all.
Kitten was hungry and thirsty... diluted some coconut milk in hot water and soaked some adult cat biscuits. Cut down a spring water bottle for a dish.
Kitten needed somewhere warm while I went into town and bought the basic items and some flea powder or flea shampoo... she was allowed to have the laptop keyboard for warmth. She rang husband at work the next day on Skype and later reprogrammed my computer...
I had to search and ask for flea powder or flea shampoo and did not know the words in French... funny ha ha... but got the shampoo in the end. And the kitty litter and kitty food.
Change of diet and kitty got sick going from cockroaches to kitten food, so cleaning up vomit and runny poos.
Kitten needed somewhere to sleep... had dirty laundry basket for first night till bathed... then slept between our pillows.
Kitty had little French songs made up and sung to her. She knows several French words and loves "lait coco"

Being kept inside she needed entertainment... so she'd find a fly to chase that was out of reach and both of us would chase it round the flat, mop or broom in hand, the kitten riding on my shoulder telling me where to go...
She'd be into making porridge in the morning and climb my legs if she wasn't picked up and cradled in my left arm. She'd supervise husband dishing up by riding his shoulder till he sat down to eat.
She played "goalie" for coloured little tennis balls sent one after another towards the couch from the other end of the room. She rarely missed.
She wanted to play out side and do kitty things but hungry roaming stray dogs were plentiful in that area. She learned to use a puppy harness so she could go out doors and play in the back yard under guard. She chased one young dog out the gate and had it on its back begging for mercy because it got too close to where I was standing. She brought a runt puppy inside to be fed and was protective of it.

We could not find a responsible home for her in New Caledonia... so she immigrated to New Zealand when we returned home.
She befriended a Hedgehog and guided home to be fed. She adopted a bewildered, hungry young cat, (dumped or abandoned), and because of Chantelle's friendship, we adopted him into our family. She finally had the companion she longed for.
We could not find someone to care for our cats over a Christmas break... so we took them camping. They loved it, so went camping with us each long weekend or holiday. They'd be in the car if we mentioned "camping". Our favourite camping spot is now their permanent HOME.

 

[mightyboosh]

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I don't do much of anything "special" for mine. They all have their favourite flavours, of course, and I oblige them with canned food three times a day in a varying menu, and they do all like different treats... Moo Shu, Lance and White Tip like fowl - braised chicken or thick cut deli turkey, or pheasant when available; Friday, Clawed-Ya and Peanut like seafood treats - shrimp or a little lump crabmeat; Puff, Oz and Bob prefer roast beef (also thick sliced from the deli, or "leftovers") and Scottiecat likes poached egg and gravy-laden treats (our grocery store keeps roast beef jus on hand thankfully).

Of course, many of the windowsills have been widened and topped with carpeted cat perches, and there are rugs near the heaters and fireplace in Winter. The house is now set up as seven heating zones, so that they can have the sunporch, second floor hallway and the windows in two guest bedrooms open in Winter to listen to the birds in nice warm spaces, and I do keep birdfeeders filled outside the windows on the north side of the house, so the cats are always entertained.

They have playtime as often as they seem to wish, and playmates galore, of course. I grow catnip in the main garden through Autumn, and then root cuttings for Winter to be grown under sodium lamps in the basement. They have their own sofas and upholstered chairs, and tables placed at strategic locations to watch the squirrels, chipmunks, groundhogs, foxes, deer and raccoons as they amble through the property. Their veterinarian is a close Friend, and so they're all seen regularly, and stay in fine fettle. They have countless toys which are rotated into and out of a toy chest, so they're never bored, of course, but that notwithstanding, they don't require much beyond daily combing and brushing, and changing their litterboxes twice a week, and so they really don't need anything "special."

Well, I did build a four bedroom home on the estate for my last two ferals, but they're destined to come into the main house within the next few weeks, and then it will be a delightful guest house. Not that any "guests" would actually visit anyone with ten cats, of course....
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The above is tantamount to cruelty. You have not done enough! I was particularly appalled to hear it was only a four bed house not a five or six which would have been the minimum in my book. And the upholstery, I only hope you had them done in the finest nappa leather or imported fine silks from the orient. As our old teachers used to say, 'You must try harder.'

 

[1CatOverTheLine]

The above is tantamount to cruelty. You have not done enough! I was particularly appalled to hear it was only a four bed house not a five or six which would have been the minimum in my book. And the upholstery, I only hope you had them done in the finest nappa leather or imported fine silks from the orient. As our old teachers used to say, 'You must try harder.'

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You're right, of course; it was dreadful forcing them into such close quarters, but at least it was constructed to match the other five buildings, so it didn't offend their æsthetic sensibilities.

 

[Tornado Tammy]

Gosh where do I start ? I'm at her beck and call !!! Every morning she likes to sit on the window sill so I have to pull blinds up a little so she has a good view - she has just started making a noise when she wants this done. It's not great as we are in a ground floor flat so passers by may be able to see me if I'm still in bed!!! I also have to keep the door open if having a bath as she likes to walk around the edge and try and scoop my toes out above the bubbles. She also likes watching me on the toilet so again I leave the door open !!! I have no privacy to appease her

If I don't close the door, my Tammy likes to watch me on the toilet as well! She jumps up and sits on my knee! The only problem with that appeared when she jumped up at the side, and her wee claws went into my bare bottom! Ouch! She's also fascinated of course with the toilet roll, which I now keep in a round plastic container with a screwtop lid! I've been experimenting with making one that will fit on the toilet roll holder!

 

[mightyboosh]

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You're right, of course; it was dreadful forcing them into such close quarters, but at least it was constructed to match the other five buildings, so it didn't offend their æsthetic sensibilities.

mmmmm....... OK then but you're on probation.

 

[raysmyheart]

I will allow Speedy to sleep on my stomach while I am laying on my back. Then I fall asleep. Although I wake several times during the night to say I should move my Speedy, I hate to do it. Finally, I will wake and my neck will be so stiff and sore from lying in the same position, I can barely turn my head. Although I know this can't be healthy for me, I hate to tell Speedy to move. She seems so comfortable. When I finally must roll onto my side, Speedy nestles against my back and we sleep peacefully for the rest of the night.