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Cat Forum / General Topics / November 2006New to cats
I grew up with dogs. Had dogs - and kids - and THEIR cats. But I never had a cat of my own until last Halloween. I'm a widow, age 78, one adult son living with me, and we have a black Lab, Alfred. So last Halloween we shut Alfred in the back yard and kept opening the door to ghosts, witches, whatevers - and in walked an orange striped tom cat - and stayed. Took him one day to inform Alfred that HE was the alpha male of the house. Took him one week to master the dog door. And in the same week he managed to inform me that I was HIS. Vet said he was between 6 months and a year old, in good health, and needed neutering. Also he was a beauty and might be part Maine coon cat. (Size and fluffyness and bone weight.) He goes out and runs to meet me when I come back in the car. He mews at the front door until someone opens it and then wants to be petted, FIRST. Food later. Dog door from back yard if he happens to be there, but the petting is the same. I've NEVER had a cat that wanted to be petted. I've NEVER had a cat that wanted to sleep on my feet at night, at the chair next to me during the day, in the drawer of this desk when I'm working at the computer, on the rug in the bathroom when I'm there. (He stays out of the shower but jumps on the counter to investigate the faucet.) And I've NEVER had a cat that would come up during the night to snuggle under my chin and knead my shoulder. Heck of an age to get besotted by a darn cat! Twelve pounds of fluffy trouble. Into everything, brings me mice, grasshoppers and lizards - unfortunately alive. I named him Pumpkin. Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. Welcome to the wonderful world of being owned by a cat Sounds like he is training you well ;-) >I grew up with dogs. Had dogs - and kids - and THEIR cats. But I > never had a cat of my own until last Halloween. I'm a widow, age 78, [quoted text clipped - 22 lines] > unfortunately alive. I named him Pumpkin. > Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. Hi Nan! Thanks for sharing your story. I'm so pleased for you and Pumpkin both. Cats are WONDERFUL and I'm especially fond of even a little Maine Coon in the mix. I wish you long and happy times together! Roby >Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. You mean "slave" or "servant" of Pumpkin. BTW, I have fifteen cats, four of them red tabbies (orange stripes), and most of them are quite affectionate. The least affectionate, however is the oldest of the red tabbies. Actually, I have five with the trait - one female is heterozygous for the trait and therefore is a calico tabby. (Females have to be homozygous for the trait to be red tabbies - I have two of those rather rare types (sisters).)  SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) Remove "gearbox.maem" to get real address - that one is dead >>Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. > > You mean "slave" or "servant" of Pumpkin. You're a fool - I am not owned or a slave or a servant of my cat. I do provide food and water and a clean litter box, but that is far from being owned (or a slave or servant). > BTW, I have fifteen cats, You're insane. >>>Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. >> [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] >I do provide food and water and a clean litter box, but that is far from >being owned (or a slave or servant). You have much to learn. Once upon a time and place, cats were considered gods. The cats have not forgotten this. >> BTW, I have fifteen cats, > >You're insane. Maybe, but almost all of those can be considered rescues that didn't wind up in the local kill shelter. Only one was actually chosen; two were barn kittens slated for culling; two were "moving and can't take the cat" cases; one was pushed on me after taking up at a friend's house; at least two were abandoned; one came to dinner and stayed (fourteen years); one was an allergic family member case; the rest were mostly surplus kittens people couldn't find homes for. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) Remove "gearbox.maem" to get real address - that one is dead I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. Continue the good work with the rescues :-) >>>>Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. >>> [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] > (fourteen years); one was an allergic family member case; the rest > were mostly surplus kittens people couldn't find homes for. >I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. >Continue the good work with the rescues :-) One of the things I've learned over the years is that I shouldn't pay too much attention to people who don't have real names and real (though perhaps munged) e-mail addresses.. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) Remove "gearbox.maem." from address - that one is dead >>I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. >>Continue the good work with the rescues :-) > >One of the things I've learned over the years is that I shouldn't pay >too much attention to people who don't have real names and real >(though perhaps munged) e-mail addresses.. You're an idiot if you post your real info on usenet. >>>I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. >>>Continue the good work with the rescues :-) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > You're an idiot if you post your real info on usenet. Hey! Maybe he likes those breathing phone calls and weird people knocking on his door. But wait'll he catches a good one, like LunarOne.. then his opinion of that will change pretty daggon fast. Yo Ted! LunarOne (not the real nym.. I am skeptical of even posting her online nick) used to call and READ my posts to my answering machine. Then the snail mail started.. page after page of printed out threads where I posted. Then, after that got old, she actually called and told me that she was heading to South Carolina to pay me a visit. I moved. Got an unlisted phone number. And changed nyms on usenet.That was 4 years ago. It *still* gives me the creepy crawlies. Re-think your using your real info. -feverish (no, not my real name) >>>I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. >>>Continue the good work with the rescues :-) [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > >You're an idiot if you post your real info on usenet. And you are clearly illiterate ... or blind - get someone to read the .sig to you. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) Remove "gearbox.maem" to get real address - that one is dead >>>>I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. >>>>Continue the good work with the rescues :-) [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > And you are clearly illiterate ... or blind - get someone to read the > .sig to you. I am blind and my screen reader couldn't make sense of your post. Would you be able to rewrite it in clearer English please? Sorry to be a burden. charlie Well Ted that is my real name but a fake email too many of these idiots and trolls out here bad enough you have to deal with them here than in your mailbox >>I would not even worry about him Ted look at his other post. >>Continue the good work with the rescues :-) > > One of the things I've learned over the years is that I shouldn't pay > too much attention to people who don't have real names and real > (though perhaps munged) e-mail addresses.. >Well Ted that is my real name but a fake email too many of these idiots >and trolls out here bad enough you have to deal with them here than in your >mailbox Mine's fake too, but I do put instructions for constructing a real one in my .sig. Doesn't make much difference since the University exposes the employee mailing addresses to the world through a simple hack - the spammers already have that one. I have one I simply don't give out except to people I trust to keep it safe and keep their computers free of spyware, that is, I don't give it out much at all. SignatureT.E.D. (tdavis@gearbox.maem.umr.edu) Remove "gearbox.maem" to get real address - that one is dead >>>>Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. >>> [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > You have much to learn. Sorry, but I have a long way to go before I'm brainwashed. > Once upon a time and place, cats were > considered gods. Yep - but never by me. I have great respect for all sorts of animals, but they are not gods, although I do generally hold them in higher regard than I do humans. > The cats have not forgotten this. I just asked mine if she remembers this. She just stared at me blankly. >>>BTW, I have fifteen cats, >> >>You're insane. > > Maybe, but almost all of those can be considered rescues that didn't > wind up in the local kill shelter. And for that, you are to be commended. > Only one was actually chosen; two > were barn kittens slated for culling; two were "moving and can't take > the cat" cases; one was pushed on me after taking up at a friend's > house; at least two were abandoned; one came to dinner and stayed > (fourteen years); one was an allergic family member case; the rest > were mostly surplus kittens people couldn't find homes for. I still think it's a bit insane to care for that many cats. Hopefully you have the time, energy, space and money to do so. However, given the number of cats to the caretakers, it's not surprising that you feel owned by them. > I grew up with dogs. Had dogs - and kids - and THEIR cats. But I > never had a cat of my own until last Halloween. I'm a widow, age 78, > one adult son living with me, and we have a black Lab, Alfred. So last > Halloween we shut Alfred in the back yard and kept opening the door to > ghosts, witches, whatevers - and in walked an orange striped tom cat - > and stayed. My goodness! This is exactly how I got my first Siamese! I had a dog and a cat already. I opened the door to a bunch of trick-or-treaters, probably about 8 or so, and there was Charley in the middle of them. He walked in, right up to the dog (who was extremely friendly, fortunately), and pretty much took over the house. Since he was declawed and neutered, he had to be someone's lost pet, but flyers around the neighborhood and ads in the paper and local vets did not turn up his owner. Thus, he became head of the household. >Took him one day to inform Alfred that HE was the alpha > male of the house. Took him one week to master the dog door. And in [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > FIRST. Food later. Dog door from back yard if he happens to be there, > but the petting is the same. Charley was the official greeter of the house. He would always answer the door with me, and insist on being picked up by the visitor so he could "kiss" them on the cheek. If they ignored him, he'd stand up and poke them on the leg with his paw. He was the only pet I've ever had that didn't mind going to the vet's (other than the car ride, which he hated). He wanted to meet every person and animal in the waiting room. It never occurred to me until after he was gone that he would have been *perfect* at senior citizens' homes and such. > I've NEVER had a cat that wanted to be petted. I've NEVER had a cat > that wanted to sleep on my feet at night, at the chair next to me [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I've NEVER had a cat that would come up during the night to snuggle > under my chin and knead my shoulder. We had a routine at night. When I turned off the lights downstairs, that was the signal for the 3 animals to race up the stairs like maniacs, to take up their positions in my bedroom. The dog would sleep on the floor right next to the bed, Charley would burrow under the covers to sleep at my feet (why he didn't suffocate, I don't know!) and Jack, the first cat, would sleep next to me (under my chin if he could). > Heck of an age to get besotted by a darn cat! Twelve pounds of fluffy > trouble. Into everything, brings me mice, grasshoppers and lizards - > unfortunately alive. I named him Pumpkin. > Nan, new subject of Pumpkin. Cats are great. Sounds like you've got a winner. :) //Zino |
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