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--- Cats! (http://www.gatchamania.net/threadid.php?threadid=2814)
Posted by Berg Katse on 29-01-2010 at 02:26:
As I type now, I have a cat laying in front of the monitor, soaking up the heat from the LCD display. She's a calico, and in my experience, they're a bit touched.
My two youngest went to the vet today and were given clean bills of health! Yuri, though only 2, has the urinary tract disease, so we had to put him on medicated wet food and high quality dry food. He's lost weight (a big factor in urinary tract problems) and he's had no problems since it was first diagnosed in September, when he had crystals in his urine (poor thing). Our vet was very impressed, because getting a cat to lose weight has to be a slow process, because the fat has to come off very slowly (or they'll suffer liver failure), and be replaced with muscle mass. They're orange tabbies, and last March we adopted a tailless burnt orange male a year or two older than them. The three of them are always together--I call them my "ginger men".
Males tend to be more affectionate and lazier than females, and they tend to want to be around each other so they can bother each other. My females come to me when they want attention, and will hit my arm with their paw so I know. Some of them love to be brushed, and it's a good idea to get them used to it, because it prevents long haired cats from getting matted (my calico's fur is so fine she's got to be groomed twice a year because there's no way to get her fur untangled), and it reduces shedding and furballs!
Right now, I've 18 eyeballs boring holes into me. It's feeding time. If I ever die in this house, all they're going to find are some heavily chewed bones.
Katse
Posted by meridianday on 29-01-2010 at 10:51:
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Yay! Another rat fan!
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by meridianday on 29-01-2010 at 11:02:
Well, they arrived yesterday evening - an hour late, because one of them would not be caught to be put in a box to travel 
The two males had a bit of an explore before hiding, whereas the female hid straight away - on top of my daughter's computer in the computer desk - and didn't come out for at least 5 hours.
Elwood (the male with less white, I am trying very hard to remember which one is which but if you can't see under their chin they look the same) seems to have decided that he likes living upstairs, and he's let us stroke him a few times. Jake is a noisy little devil, who is not interested in being stroked yet, and woke me up before 6am meowing, presumably for his brother, and didn't shut up until everyone else had got out of bed too. Honey has quite a squeaky miaow, and is being very shy, but she had a wander around after I got up this morning, looking at me every time she went past with this sort of "what are you doing here?" expression. I've got to give her some medicine because she's got cystitis, and I can't find her 
Shall try looking again in a bit.
They have found the litter trays overnight - as a person who has never had to attend to a litter tray before, I am astounded at the amount of poo they left for us! I had put the shoes and my handbag in safe places before going to bed, just in case...
I haven't noticed anything shredded yet, which is a very good thing.
So, that's the first night with them out of the way.
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by lborgia88 on 29-01-2010 at 12:57:
It sounds like they're going to settle in okay to their new home. Exploring, hiding or meowing in the night are all pretty normal, from what I've seen, for cats in a new place. They'll be acting like they own your place very soon!
I hope Honey gets well soon. Trying to give cats medicine can be a tricky business, though some are more difficult about it than others. I was taking care of my sister's cats once, and one needed to be given a liquid antibiotic twice a day, and I had to grab her when she was least expecting it, wrap her up in a large towel so that only her head was protruding (so she couldn't thrash or claw me up), hold her still by pinning her between my knees and my chest, and then use both hands to get her to open her mouth so I could squirt the medicine in!
Posted by Madilayn on 29-01-2010 at 13:42:
Love the names! Now you only have to worry about Jake and Elwood suddenly appearing in dark glasses and doing the kitty version of car chases around the house. (and yes - that massive thundering sound is the kitties. You will soon find that kitties have two modes - silent or herd of thundering wildebeast)
Congratulations on becoming a kitty-slave.
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"When I'm old, I don't want them to say of me, "She's so charming." I want them to say, "Be careful, I think she's armed." -G. Stoddart
Posted by clouddancer on 29-01-2010 at 17:00:
I say they sound like a herd of elephants. It is amazing that such small creatures can make so much noise - when they want to.
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Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 29-01-2010 at 23:03:
Cats have magic powers. There's the pounds-per-kitty-paw power, in which the cat's weight varies according to whim. A 10-pound cat can feel as if it weighs much more than that.
Another power is 'multiple cat sounds', in which one cat sounds like four.
They can transport themselves into the dangedest places, and you will never know how it happened.
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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features
Posted by green on 30-01-2010 at 03:43:
When I first got a cat, my aunt gave me an article to read to Zeek, just so he would know his responsibilities in our relationship. Cats can read, but when a human is around to do it for them, why bother?
Meridianday, at the behest of my three masters, I pass it along to your three...
RULES FOR CATS WHO HAVE A HOUSE TO RUN.
1. DOORS: Do not allow closed doors in any room. To get door opened, stand on hind legs and hammer with forepaws. Once door is opened, it is not necessary to use it.
Avoid swinging doors at all costs.
2. CHAIRS AND RUGS: If you have to throw up, get to a chair quickly. If you cannot manage in time, get to an Oriental rug. If there is no Oriental rug, shag is good.
When throwing up on the carpet, make sure you back up so that it is as long as the human's bare foot.
3. BATHROOMS: Always accompany guests to the bathrooms. It is not necessary to do anything - just sit and stare.
4. HAMPERING: If one of your humans is engaged in some close activity and the other is idle, stay with the busy one. This is called 'helping' otherwise known as 'hampering'. Following are the rules.
A. When supervising cooking, sit just behind the left heel of the cook. You cannot be seen and thereby stand a better chance of being stepped on and then picked up and comforted.
B. For book readers, get in close under the chin, between eyes and book - unless you can lie across the book itself.
C. For knitting projects or paperwork, lie on the work in the most appropriate manner as to obscure as much of the work or at least the most important part. Pretend to doze, but every so often reach out and slap the pencil or knitting needles. The worker may try to distract you; ignore it. Remember, the aim is to hamper work. Embroidery and needlepoint projects make great hammocks in spite of what the humans may tell you.
D. For people paying bills, working on taxes or Christmas cards, keep in mind the aim - to hamper! First sit on the paper being worked on. When dislodged, watch sadly from the side of the table. When activity proceeds nicely, roll around on the papers, scattering them to the best of your ability. After being removed for the second time, push pens, pencils and erasers off the table, one at a time.
E. When the human is holding the newspaper in front of them, be sure to jump on the back of the paper. They love to jump.
5. WALKING: As often as possible, dart quickly and close as possible in front of the human, especially on stairs, when they have something in their arms, in the dark, and when they get up first thing in the morning. This will help with their coordination skills.
6. BEDTIME: Always sleep on the human at night so they cannot move around.
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Exaggeration misleads the credulous and offends the perceptive. ~Eliza Cook
Posted by Madilayn on 30-01-2010 at 04:11:
I have an addition to your bedtime list - if you're not sleeping on the human, sleep between their legs.
Start at ankle level, then slowly during the night move up, so that they are eventually doing the splits in bed and can't actually move at all.
It's great fun to watch them try to get up and out of the bed without your cooperation at this stage...
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"When I'm old, I don't want them to say of me, "She's so charming." I want them to say, "Be careful, I think she's armed." -G. Stoddart
Posted by green on 30-01-2010 at 04:20:
Don't forget the golden rule to bedtimes. Even if you are sleepy yourself, make sure you run up and down the hallways just as the human is dropping off. If you can possibly manage a leap to land near their head at the end of your dash, this is a bonus. Them jumping makes sure their hearts are working and they will be available to feed you in the morning.
If there are more than one of you, choose positions around the human to ensure they cannot move from the twisted position you mould them into. This is particularly amusing as they cannot shift all of you at the same time should they become aware of your game. Once moved from your position, return to it as they are dealing with one of your colleagues. This can continue on as long as you have the energy to do so. Or are thrown out.
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Exaggeration misleads the credulous and offends the perceptive. ~Eliza Cook
Posted by UnpublishedWriter on 30-01-2010 at 07:31:
If human will not pay attention to you, head for the nearest table, nightstand, dresser, etc., and start knocking things off. Bonus points if you do it while within reach of the human.
(My kitties do that a lot.)
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Benefits, not features; benefits, not features
Posted by green on 30-01-2010 at 13:57:
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Thankfully only my male does that. The girls are too busy demanding food and attention to think along the sneakier lines.
However, no doubt we are scaring Meridianday with this, so to put her mind at rest - you CAN train a cat (to a point).
My three do NOT climb all over me while I'm on the computer, nor will they actually jump onto the converted kitchen table that serves as the desk. There is plenty of room for them, but they know they aren't allowed to.
They don't scratch my furniture - the water bottle taught them that one quickly.
Painting my cell phone charger's cord with Tabasco sauce taught them not to chew on it.
They don't climb over me anymore while I'm in bed - I tend towards being grouchy when a furball commando rolls into the back of my head in the middle of the night - but they do sleep on it. On their side. If they move too close they find themselves on the floor.
The trick is to be firm and consistant. Cats are better than kids when it comes to sniffing out weaknesses in your resolve.
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Exaggeration misleads the credulous and offends the perceptive. ~Eliza Cook
Posted by meridianday on 30-01-2010 at 14:14:
Perhaps I need one of these.
http://www.thinkgeek.com/homeoffice/supplies/b640/
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny." Posted by clouddancer on 30-01-2010 at 14:44:
These are great. Thank you for the good laugh girls. I wish I could think of something to add but I can't think of anything else at the moment.
__________________
Don't sweat the petty things and don't pet the sweaty things.
Posted by lborgia88 on 31-01-2010 at 00:44:
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"No batteries required -powered by wishful thinking"
That's for sure!
Posted by meridianday on 31-01-2010 at 09:57:
Elwood has decided he likes me! He's come to me for a fuss several times this morning. Jake decided yesterday that he likes OH, now scaredy shakey just Honey needs to decide she likes bratlet and we shall have a moggy each...
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Mallanox : "My mother was Irish and my father was an alien. I was an only child and I dress funny."
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