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I'm so tired of this cat constantly stabbing me. She doesn't even want to hurt me I think, she's just an idiot child with knives attached to her fingers. Like, today she jumped on my hip from the floor and made two huge claw marks in my hip fat. Yesterday she bit me when I took away a wire she was chewing, and later jumped from my arm leaving five little prick marks. Our claw cutter tool arrived today so I hope that will help. So far I've cut one claw but she hates it and I'm scared of her too lol
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 10:56 |
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 08:03 |
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Do one claw at the time when she's chill and give her lots of treats for it, also start yelling "Ow!" when she hurts you. This combo worked for us, now I can clip Katya's nails in like 2 minutes without any fuss and she's much better at retracting her claws because she learned we don't like it when she slices us up. Also, be careful while clipping her nails, there's nerves and blood-vessels in there so only cut off the sharp tip.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 11:08 |
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pidan posted:she's just an idiot child with knives attached to her fingers. This is the thing really, kittens are tiny assholes with no regard for the amount of damage they can do. You've just got to train her not to use her claws or teeth on people(and your stuff in general) and that'll take time and patience and probably more broken skin. Trimming her claws will help a lot too. There's lots of advice out there on training cats not to scratch and bite and dealing with cats who don't like having their claws trimmed but the earlier you start the more you can get her used to the process and maybe even be chill about it. Also, an update on my last post re: the curtain-climbing. She's not doing it quite so often since we started throwing her out of the room, but now she's gotten wise and as soon as she drops off the curtain she scurries under the bed where we can't reach her to throw her out :/ Crafty little beast. We're probably going to escalate to keeping the water spray bottle in the bedroom, she hates that thing. floofyscorp fucked around with this message at 11:15 on Jun 4, 2020 |
# ? Jun 4, 2020 11:12 |
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5 out of 6 ends of a cat are pointy that's pretty much the only way they can interact with the world. You can hamper it somewhat by putting claw caps on after a trim but we've had mixed luck there and it's more hassle than it's worth rear end in a top hat interacts with me and my fiance differently too, I was okay with the points and rough play because he was small and cute (bad idea because now he's big and cute) so he gives me the tooth and claw all the time. She would tell him he was done and stop petting or playing with him when he would get pointy and he seldom hunts her Bean came to us declawed and the only time she bites is when you've been petting her for awhile and go to stop
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 12:15 |
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InvisibleMonkey posted:Also, be careful while clipping her nails, there's nerves and blood-vessels in there so only cut off the sharp tip. Yeah I really hope you’re not trying to cut the whole thing off.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 13:06 |
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HungryMedusa posted:Fair enough. I know a lot more about dogs than cats so I’m more worried about the kitty. If my dog needs more training or to be locked away, I understand how to do that more that what NOT to do for the kitten’s sake, if that makes sense The cat will be fine as long as the dog's fine! Especially if he has a whole half of the house he can hang out in without the dog bothering him. But if he's raised with the dog from a tiny kitten then he'll probably want to be buddies with the dog. Despite media portrayals cats aren't naturally scared of dogs or anything, they just register as weird socially awkward (i.e different body language) not-prey.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 13:34 |
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We managed to cut all of our kitten's claws, and she's much improved. Still does everything she's used to doing, but she can now jump around without accidentally shredding everything she touches. She was also pretty chill about the clipping itself, when we caught her in a quiet moment and sweetened the deal with some treats. She's such a nice cat! InvisibleMonkey posted:Do one claw at the time when she's chill and give her lots of treats for it, also start yelling "Ow!" when she hurts you. This combo worked for us, now I can clip Katya's nails in like 2 minutes without any fuss and she's much better at retracting her claws because she learned we don't like it when she slices us up. We knew to only cut the pointy bits, and it seems to have worked pretty well. There was also a warning on the nail clipper packaging instructing to avoid the pink roots. It works the same way in humans! Thank you very much for all the help and reassurance! I'm pretty anxious about all kinds of things with this new cat. Trying to make myself less anxious and more in tune with nature was a big part of my motivation for wanting a cat in the first place. But as you see I'm taking some time to adjust. Look at this sweet little cat:
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 17:26 |
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What a sweet fluffy baby!
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 18:16 |
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pidan posted:Thank you very much for all the help and reassurance! I'm pretty anxious about all kinds of things with this new cat. Trying to make myself less anxious and more in tune with nature was a big part of my motivation for wanting a cat in the first place. But as you see I'm taking some time to adjust. That cat is extremely cute. One thing you can do when she's laying all sleepy like that is just kind of massage her paws, lightly press to extend the claws and all. It will get her used to having her paws touched and pressed while she's in a super chill state and less likely to turn into a blender. I did that with both of mine when they were young and they both purr when I clip their nails. Most of the time. SixPabst fucked around with this message at 18:43 on Jun 4, 2020 |
# ? Jun 4, 2020 18:41 |
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This little scat cat butthole wants to be glad she's cute because waking up at sunrise in the summertime is not ok when the response is to leap on and shout at the humans who rather like still being asleep at 4am. Also she yakked a huge hairball in front of me when I was in a supervision session with one of my staff today. Will shedageddon never end?!
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 18:43 |
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SixPabst posted:That cat is extremely cute. This is good advice, we've started doing it with our tiny ones. Speaking of blenders, today Maple approached me from the left on the sofa, while my Macbook was at full-speed fans on my right. I picked her up to pop her on my lap (which she normally likes), except in this instance I was moving her closer to the scary screaming box. Kitten leaps vertically out of my arms like a crazy helicopter. Sorry Maple! She's forgiven me though
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 19:08 |
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pidan posted:
Of course! What a sweet baby. A beautiful kitty! I had to spring for the insanely overpriced pro-ject cover for our record player btw, Katya can't be trusted with moving parts.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 19:51 |
Bobstar posted:This is good advice, we've started doing it with our tiny ones. these picture disc gimmicks are getting out of hand
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 19:53 |
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InvisibleMonkey posted:I used felt placemats because I'm a shallow bitch and wanted it to look nice, there's also sisal rope for scratching though, let me go back and find a pic. How did you attach the rope? Wood glue, staples, some other thing?
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 20:52 |
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Hello Sailor posted:How did you attach the rope? Wood glue, staples, some other thing? I think I used a staple-gun to tack down the ends, glue would work fine but if you're planning on replacing the rope eventually def try to just glue down the ends.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 21:44 |
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Bobstar posted:This is good advice, we've started doing it with our tiny ones. My fiance was making shrinky dinks yesterday evening and she opened the oven to a cloud of smoke. The smoke alarm went off and poor Bean went into high alert mode, wide eyes, arched back, hissing at the ceiling. It was very sad and after we made the evil box stop she got a couple treats and a handful of pets
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 22:24 |
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InvisibleMonkey posted:I think I used a staple-gun to tack down the ends, glue would work fine but if you're planning on replacing the rope eventually def try to just glue down the ends. What's that old computer up there? One of those Apple SE's or something?
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 22:26 |
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SixPabst posted:What's that old computer up there? One of those Apple SE's or something? Correct.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 22:44 |
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Cugel the Clever posted:Augh. In the year since I've adopted my now ~2-year-old kitty, she's been remarkably vomit-free. Until tonight. Watch her hydration level and her litterbox trips to make sure she's eating/drinking/eliminating normally. Those might give you some peace of mind about her condition while you're waiting to see if it happens again. For stain removal, I use Ecos for Pets Stain & Odor Remover. It's a clear liquid without a floral smell and it works well on our carpet. I've also tried Nature's Miracle, which used to work great but now smells like the fake flower department at Michaels x10, and I've tried Ecos Stain + Odor Remover (not specifically labeled for pets) but that didn't work on pet stains at all. Other people have recommended Anti-Icky Poo for pet stains, but I haven't tried it since Ecos for Pets works fine for me. For anecdata about possible causes, here are all of the reasons my cats have thrown up, that I know of:
If it keeps happening, though, definitely vet time.
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# ? Jun 4, 2020 23:55 |
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LoreOfSerpents posted:barfy kitty tips
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 06:16 |
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The skin around where my cat stabbed me in the hip became quite red and itchy, so I did go to the doctor today. He said it's not bad, it became red because I'm allergic to the bandage. I then asked him a lot of questions, which he answered thusly: - you should immediately go to the doctor for a deep cat bite, those should be treated with antibiotics. - a cat scratch of any kind can be treated like any other wound, you don't need a doctor unless it looks very bad. - you should keep your tetanus vaccines up to date, every ten years is good enough. - even if the scratch is mostly under the skin, you shouldn't prick it open with a needle like you would for a splinter. Just wash it, put iodine on and leave it alone. - cat allergies can be treated by an allergist.
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 10:59 |
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pidan posted:The skin around where my cat stabbed me in the hip became quite red and itchy, so I did go to the doctor today. He said it's not bad, it became red because I'm allergic to the bandage. I then asked him a lot of questions, which he answered thusly: Yes, that is all sensible. You don't need to put a bandaid on tiny things like that either...
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 13:58 |
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Aleta literally puts my finger in her mouth and gently gnaws on it when she's feeling shmoopy.
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 14:27 |
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Generally a cat doesn’t bite deep unless they’re absolutely terrified- it’s very different from a love nip or a “hey, stop petting me” kind of bite. If they sink their teeth in enough to be “deep”, you’ll know. My mother still has issues with her hand ten years after a stray cat bit deep enough to infect her tendons.
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 15:02 |
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pidan posted:- cat allergies can be treated by an allergist. I went through a three-year course of shots to desensitize me to animal dander and I highly recommend it if you are allergic. It's like night and day.
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 15:11 |
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Len posted:5 out of 6 ends of a cat are pointy that's pretty much the only way they can interact with the world. You can hamper it somewhat by putting claw caps on after a trim but we've had mixed luck there and it's more hassle than it's worth You know, I feel the need to point out that there are exceptions to all rules... Take my cat, Jackie - she's got 26 total individual claws on her front and back paws combined, and I only trim a few of them to avoid ingrown claws on her 'thumbs', the rest are fine just shedding every now and then, as far as I can tell. So that's quite a lot of pointy ends - she's also deeply clumsy and notoriously uncoordinated, like she's the kitty who never lands on her paws when she falls - hell, if she lands on her paws after a *jump* then I am seriously impressed. Thing is, despite all that Jackie seems to have really good control of keeping her claws 'in' when playing, or perhaps just being gentle? We play all the time and she will *look* like she's going to town scratching and biting the HELL out of my hand, angry meows and rabbit kicks and clinging to my arm with her whole body. But it's all an act - she never comes close to drawing blood, and only leaves little white lines that go away in about a minute and a half. She's never trying to harm me in any way, as she seems to know it would mean the end of play, and thus seems able to like... pull her scratches, I guess? Jackie's the only cat I've ever known who behaves this way with 100% consistency over years and years, but she's also totally weird and unique in about a dozen other (awesome) ways. The only times she ever even broke my skin has been by accident, when she's fallings off my lap or a bed or something, and instinctually tries to dig her claws into the blanket/bed/whatever to hang on, and winds up finding my leg instead - that kinda thing has happened a few times and it has REALLY seriously loving hurt like a sonofabitch, so I know she is entirely capable of deeply harming me if she wants to. I've been hanging out outside with Jackie a lot more lately, and she has been getting TONS of complements - it's very cool. Especially out here in LA, where she looks super-different from all the other cats. Her size, coloring, features, etc... She's part Maine Coon and is just enormous, in a way that I don't think is nearly as common out here. I guess it's pretty self-obvious but there's a lot more Maine Coons in Maine/Northern New England than other places, not just being bred and as pets but feral ones and you see them quite often in shelters, too. I grew up with two Maine Coons we adopted from shelters as kittens. Maine Coons are much more likely to be polydactyl (like Jackie) as well, I think something crazy like 25% of them have an extra digit. So anyway, people are utterly besotted when they see Jackie and it's just very fun - I've never really seen Jackie receive complements like this before. Everyone is very taken with just how BIG she is without being excessively fat, as well as the size of her paws - and then she's also the friendliest and sweetest thing ever, even to dogs. They also find it adorable how well-trained she is, since she heels to me and comes when called like a good dogg-I mean kitty. I mean, 80% of the time she does. Cats are never totally reliable about that sort of thing. edit: I will just never stop feeling like... utterly spoiled as to how great Jackie is, as a cat. She is just really and truly perfect - it almost bothers me in a way, how perfect a cat she is. Like, if it were JUST that she had wonderful claw control and never scratched or bit me hard, that would be one thing. But there are SO many other things. She almost never gets into trouble, for example - she chewed a wire once when I first adopted her, and I sternly told her not to do that again. To date it's been 9 years since then, and she's never done it again. kaworu fucked around with this message at 21:34 on Jun 5, 2020 |
# ? Jun 5, 2020 16:14 |
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InvisibleMonkey posted:Of course! What a sweet baby. Haha, I feel like I might have to do that. We kitten-proofed the house to the extent that they shouldn't hurt themselves, but I am now realising what a "grown-up" living room this is, in terms of things they can hurt. Having the super well behaved 8-year-old Jimmy was a false sense of security! They'll grow up eventually though
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 21:40 |
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Has anyone's cat ever had issues with hairball control kibble? For context, Xander is a domestic medium hair who's never had a big problem with shedding or hairballs. He'll occasionally hork some hair up, but it's infrequent. However, after his surgery, I got him some hairball kibble in case he needed some digestive help while he recovered. He seems to be fully recovered (aside from still getting his upper lip stuck under his lower fang because the upper one is gone, and then he walks around wheezing like a pug, and it's so undignified ), but for the past week he's been screaming at me like I'm starving him unless there's wet food in his bowl. Kibbs? Wants nothing to do with them. He's also been barfing up clear fluid for the past couple of weeks. No hairballs. Just...spit. Maybe I'm barking up the wrong tree, but the only thing that's changed since the surgery is giving him more wet food and switching in hairball kibbs. Furry idiot photo tax:
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# ? Jun 5, 2020 22:01 |
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Thanks to the people who responded to my question a few pages ago. I'll try to keep an eye out for younger cats now, though it's been a little difficult. When yall adopted a cat did they stand out to you among other cats or did you just go with whatever? It's been a challenge looking at pics of cats I haven't formed any sort of bond with yet and picking one. I guess I'm scared that I'll pick wrong and the bond won't form or it'll be a weak one and I wouldn't want that for me or the cat.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 00:17 |
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I scoped 5-6 cats out online and went with a list but few battle plans survive past the point of first contact. I spent about 4 hours at the shelter and ended up with none of my original picks. The cat will pick you just as much maybe even more than you picking it. You'll know. If you're not sure of anything, talk to the shelter staff or volunteers. They're there to help and it is in their best interest for their catfriends to go to the right home.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 00:45 |
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Normally my advice would be to go to the shelter and meet some animals and see if any of them immediately have that "the one" aura, but it's a little harder with the plague and all. For Max I was a first time pet owner and if I'm honest she was the prettiest cat at the shelter and I was like "I need her, where do I sign" right then and there. (Anytime I take her anywhere for like the vet and stuff people comment on her, she is stupidly pretty.) For Sam I had a long conversation with the shelter workers about finding a cat that would co-habitate well with Max (she is a bit of a hissy bitch) and I was also looking to home a black cat since they have a harder time getting adopted. I have no regrets at all about either of them. Sam took a few months to really open up to the humans but after he did he turned into the biggest most ungainly snuggle bug. Which is what the shelter workers told me would happen, and I'm very glad I listened to them. I think the best thing to do is be honest about what energy level/amount of engagement you want out of your pet, tell the shelter workers, and have them match you. Some people want a pet that is on their lap 24-7 and some people would hate that. Some people want lots of playtime and would feel disappointed if they didn't get it and some people want a more self-sufficient animal that won't tear up the carpet if you don't spend an hour with the feather wand every night. Some animals never shut up and some barely ever talk. What kind of cat would fit best into your home and life? There's a cat that's just right for you, and it's okay to be choosy when you're making a (hopefully) decade-long commitment. Like Boogalo I looked at a bunch of pictures online but didn't pick any of the cats I'd seen pictures of. You just gotta get in there and pet some cats yo.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 00:57 |
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yellowyams posted:Thanks to the people who responded to my question a few pages ago. I'll try to keep an eye out for younger cats now, though it's been a little difficult. When yall adopted a cat did they stand out to you among other cats or did you just go with whatever? It's been a challenge looking at pics of cats I haven't formed any sort of bond with yet and picking one. I guess I'm scared that I'll pick wrong and the bond won't form or it'll be a weak one and I wouldn't want that for me or the cat. Norris was sitting in the cage of the cat I'd wanted to adopt, as that one had been adopted while I went home for my check book. He reached through the bars to grab at me as soon as I went to get a look at him. Didn't even take five minutes, I just knew he was meant to be mine. My babycat, 14 years later.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 01:07 |
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I don't think I could pick a cat from a shelter. All cats are cat friends and I love them forever. Some cat friends only want you to pet them with your eyes which is fine but sad, others demands all the attention My preferred cat finding style is opening the door and finding a cat outside. We've brought in so many cats during my life that way, I assume most were the neighbors cats? Like we're pretty sure rear end in a top hat was someone's kitten who snuck outside and then realized he hated the cold and wet and wanted back in, but I took him and he I got Bean from a co-worker who was going to put her down for literally no reason beyond "I hate my fiancees cat"
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 01:11 |
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Len posted:I got Bean from a co-worker who was going to put her down for literally no reason beyond "I hate my fiancees cat" Who the gently caress does this. I hope that co-worker gets COVID.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 01:14 |
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BaronVonVaderham posted:Who the gently caress does this. I hope that co-worker gets COVID. Oh the story is actually worse. He was getting deployed overseas and told her if she could find a home for Bean she could get rid of her. She told him she did but set the appointment to put her down for the day he left I told her we would take the cat, texted my fiancee and said "we're getting another cat" and then we got a cat Audrey later got rid of the guys dog and cheated on him while he was deployed, and he married her anyway
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 01:23 |
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Amending that to "hope they get COVID, then spend a month on a respirator ,but recover only to be hit by a bus as they leave the hospital".
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 01:24 |
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I found my cat at the shelter by finding one who barely seemed interested in me and looked depressed as hell. We took him out of the cage, he cuddled up against my neck purring, and that was that.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 14:01 |
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We were looking for an indoor cat and were told to call the rehoming centre every so often as they don't tend to get many coming through. A friend was visiting from overseas and was interested in looking at cute animals so we rang the RSPCA on the offchance, turns out they had one indoor cat left from a few that were rescued from the same home. When we went, one of the workers said she was "nervous" but her colleague corrected her to say "shy". When we saw her enclosure she was hidden under a blanket on her bed and let out a small tiny mew when they uncovered her for us to see but still stayed very much hunkered down. We gently put a hand in to let her sniff and she immediately rolled over to display her belly and let us give her some gentle fuss. That's when I said "Can we please have this cat!" She spent three days finding various hiding places and generally being scared of the new home, then one evening we were chilling in 'her room' seeing if she'd come out to say hi. She started nuzzling us and climbing onto our laps and coming up to our faces, and ever since then she has just grown and grown in confidence. She is a total fusspot, pretty clingy, and her favourite place to be after her traditional sleep behind a drawer from 8am - 3pm is on top of or as close to a human as it's possible to get. Wednesday is our perfect cloud baby and we lucked the gently caress out getting the perfect cat for us. My life is so much better with this creature in it.
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 14:58 |
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We set out to find a cat that fit our life-style so I spent weeks sorting through adoption ads for an inside cat that would be fine on its own, wasn't a kitten or a senior (didn't want to up the difficulty-grade too much as we were first-timers) and wasn't completely feral. It was harder than I thought, outside cats are the norm here and lots of shelters just didn't have any cats that fit the description. Also people are flaky as hell so the first few online conversations I had didn't go anywhere. Finally we found Katya (then named Honey) who was just flown in from Romania where a kind Swedish woman runs a shelter and rescues animals who are abandoned or grew up on the streets. She was found wandering around a landfill, got a full medical check, all her shots, neutered, and even a whole-rear end passport. Ironically it was my bf, who was initially a little sceptical of the whole idea and insisted we shouldn't make any hasty decisions, who fell in love immediately on meeting her. She was a fearless little fluffball who climbed in his lap the second he crouched down and he was like "she's coming home with us". It's been a little over a year and we still feel so lucky we found her, she's our perfect baby angel even if she's being a little poo poo and tries to out-smart us at every turn
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 17:07 |
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# ? Apr 27, 2024 08:03 |
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And yes, he's still her favourite. https://twitter.com/invisiblemonkey/status/1255742472040349696?s=20
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# ? Jun 6, 2020 17:56 |