The "what's On Your Mind?" Thread -2018

[kashmir64]

Had a horrible dream last night. Instead of adopting Onsa and Samai, I had returned them to the shelter. I finally (after months) couldn't take it anymore and called to see if they got a home. Found out they were still there and they had been in a cage since I returned them, and they wouldn't let me adopt them now.

When I awoke, Samai was in my face. I just grabbed her and held her tight. From now on, when I question myself whether I did the right thing (at night between 12-3 am), I will just remember this dream and remember how I felt without them. It was awful.

 

[arouetta]

So, do you guys think this will actually work?

 

[kashmir64]

So, do you guys think this will actually work?

If I tried to teach my cat to jump through my arms...there would be lots of blood, and no jumping.

 

[debbila]

I loved this video. It just might work! They do love those treats. I'm going to try it. I taught my kitty to ' shake hands ' by showing her the treat laying in my hand, at the same time as saying shake hands. When she put her paw up to get it, I praised her and let her eat it. I did this over and over, only letting her have it when she put her paw up on my hand.

Anyone else going to try the trick in the video?

 

[Margret]

So, do you guys think this will actually work?

Oddly enough, when I tried to play it in your post, arouetta , I got an error message, but when I clicked on the video in kashmir64 's quote of your post it played just fine. Aren't computers fun?

I think it's entirely dependent on the cat. That and what kind of treat you use, and whether or not the cat is addicted to the treats or merely likes them. If addicted I would expect it to result in a trip to the emergency room.

I may try this with Jasmine at some point, wearing a heavy shirt with long sleeves, shortly after a claw clipping, if I can find a treat she actually likes... No, probably not!

Margret

 

[Margret]

@Mamanyt1953 texted me this afternoon. The inspectors followed the path of wisdom and stayed away yesterday, so the SFS is safe for now. She's feeling enough better today that she was able to get up and make some tea for herself (and the fact that she wasn't able to yesterday means that she was really, really sick) and feed the Bit family, and she has a doctor's appointment tomorrow. And her ribs ache from all the coughing she's been doing, but she definitely appears to be on the mend.

Margret

 

[arouetta]

Even after the treat was no longer offered as a training tool, some of the video ran just long enough to show the woman giving a treat after completion of the jump before it was cut off to move to the next step. So the training method definitely is geared towards gaining the cat's cooperation through his stomach.

@Mamanyt1953 needs to get well. At least the shelter is still undiscovered.

 

[Margret]

@Mamanyt1953 needs to get well.

Definitely.

Margret

 

[Margret]

From now on, when I question myself whether I did the right thing (at night between 12-3 am), I will just remember this dream and remember how I felt without them. It was awful.

Ah, yes. The dark hours, when we feel totally alone, and as if the sun will never come back. Yet somehow it always does.

What a horrifying nightmare. It sounds like your subconscious got fed up with the midnight angst and decided to do something about it. Sometimes we need to be hit over the head with a brick before we see the obvious.

Margret

 

[Alicia88]

I actually was hit with a brick once. I was laying in the grass reading a book and DD - 2 years old - was mad that I wasn't playing with her so she hit me in the face with a brick.

 

[kashmir64]

Ah, yes. The dark hours, when we feel totally alone, and as if the sun will never come back. Yet somehow it always does.

What a horrifying nightmare. It sounds like your subconscious got fed up with the midnight angst and decided to do something about it. Sometimes we need to be hit over the head with a brick before we see the obvious.

Margret

Actually, between 12-3 am is not the dark hours. It's the very loud hours (crash, bang, thump) when I wonder why on earth I ever got 2 kittens.
But lately, Samai has been almost leechy (new word), and hasn't left my side for more than moments this past few weeks. The bond we had when I decided to keep her has grown tremendously. And now that she has almost quit drawing blood every time I look at her (not completely, but almost), I love her even more. And the dream had the feelings I have for her and Onsa now, not then, which made the dream even worse.

 

[Margret]

I actually was hit with a brick once. I was laying in the grass reading a book and DD - 2 years old - was mad that I wasn't playing with her so she hit me in the face with a brick.

Ouch!

When I was a kid there was a place in the mountains that had small cabins for rent, and we used to stay there when my dad was fishing. They had a place where you could play horseshoes, and one day my brothers were playing (without proper safety instructions, about making sure no one is near where you're aiming) and my youngest brother hit my middle brother in the forehead with a horseshoe. Oddly enough, my middle brother is the family genius, despite taking a horseshoe in the forehead as a young child.

Actually, between 12-3 am is not the dark hours. It's the very loud hours (crash, bang, thump) when I wonder why on earth I ever got 2 kittens.
But lately, Samai has been almost leechy (new word), and hasn't left my side for more than moments this past few weeks. The bond we had when I decided to keep her has grown tremendously. And now that she has almost quit drawing blood every time I look at her (not completely, but almost), I love her even more. And the dream had the feelings I have for her and Onsa now, not then, which made the dream even worse.

How old are the kittens now?

I remember once after a tooth extraction being given a pain medication that had the weirdest side effect. First it put me to sleep, then it gave me nightmares, but with no emotional component at all. It was very disturbing. I told my dentist about it and he made a note on my chart never to give me that drug again!

Margret

 

[kashmir64]

How old are the kittens now?

Just turned 10 months. Samai is now 13 lbs.

 

[Margret]

13 pounds at 10 months?! No wonder there are all those thumping noises in the middle of the night! That is one big kitten!

Margret

 

[kashmir64]

And none of it's fat. She's on the thin side.

 

[Margret]

Do you think there's some Maine Coon Cat in her recent ancestry?

Margret

 

[kashmir64]

Do you think there's some Maine Coon Cat in her recent ancestry?

Margret

Siberian

 

[Alicia88]

Chubby little legs make me want to SQUEEEEE!

 

[Graceful-Lily]

Does anyone have any experience with cat asthma? Felix is starting to show symptoms so he's going to see his doctor tomorrow.

He's been doing something like this:
I'm also taking out a credit card just for the vet bills because this is his second health issue in the past year.

 

[arouetta]

Graceful-Lily Thank you for posting that video.

I wish it had audio too, but the movement was exactly what Shadow was doing at the end. Strange thing, she never seemed the least bit disturbed by it. She was totally relaxed during the "WHUH WHUH" sounds and the chest jerking and after she acted normal for her. (Then again, she acted normal for her until 24 hours before her death.)

But what that video does do is validate my dislike of the vet practice I took Shadow to. Based on my description alone of Shadow's episodes, not seeing one, the vet said it was most likely not a breathing problem and pushed for a very expensive ultrasound of the heart. That same visit she told me Shadow was very very sick and immediately brought in an estimate for diagnosis that was over $900. When I said I couldn't afford that, she pushed hard for some bloodwork, she said she wanted to know what was going on with Shadow's organs and to have any information I needed to authorize a $170 test.

I was in shock and okayed it, but while I was left alone and waiting for the results I had time to really think about things. She was 20 years old and had mammary cancer, she was purring non-stop at the vet and kept trying to get in the carrier, both of which were totally unlike her, and even if we found out what was going on, she wasn't likely going to recover. How much more quantity of life could she have left, and how many uncomfortable and painful things would we have to do that she wouldn't understand to get an additional 3 months, maybe 6 months? When the vet came back and pretty much said the results were clear as mud, I asked if tracking down a cause was even worth it, what length of life could we even get if a cause was discovered. She then immediately said "Well, I'd rather you put your money to palliative care." Gee, couldn't you have said that 170 dollars ago?