Oh, for the love of cats

Comments

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    Oh, I am an expert at petting cats. (Hey, everyone should be good at something!)

    I will miss my beasties and daily views of this forum while I am away dealing with my mom's critical health situation.

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl best wishes for your Mom. Hope she makes a speedy recovery with excellent results.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl Ditto the best to you and your mom, and her speedy recovery.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @greyfurball @silvertipgrizz Thank you for the best wishes. If Mom survives, she will be very disabled. She is ready to go.

  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,615 admin


    You know, I sense your wisdom in accepting what may come. My mom lived to 93. At the end, I was shocked, but not surprised. Lucky mom, she died peacefully in her sleep. She knew how to love and how to die!

    It's still tough losing a parent. My heart is with you.

  • Marjory Wildcraft
    Marjory Wildcraft Posts: 1,615 admin

    I am a serious cat lover (uh, and just how much of my life have I spent playing with, petting, or caring for kitties? - let's not think about that or the hours watching stupid cat videos on YouTube with my daughter).

    I was surprised when I got something new out of the article. When introducing tow new cats to each other, rub one cats scent gland areas with a cloth and then transfer that smell to the other cat by rubbing the cloth on the other cat. And vice versa..

    Cars are famously not liking it when you bring a new cat home. I'll have to try this next time I'm in that situation.

  • shllnzl
    shllnzl Posts: 1,820 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @Marjory Wildcraft Thanks for your kind thoughts. We are close to nature so we understand that there is an end to every living thing. Personally, I mildly grieve even for the wild ones around us.

    I learned a whole lot about cat behavior from Jackson Galaxy's show My Cat from Heck shown on Animal Planet. He is very informative re introducing cats to each other. It is amazing how much bad cat behavior is directly related to the humans it is living with. A surprising number of people claim to want/love a plant or animal yet cannot be bothered to learn its physical and mental needs.

    I get my extra dog behavior info from the show Pit Bulls and Parolees shown on the same channel.

    Tanked is just fun even if you don't have a fish tank. There are lots of veterinarian shows too. (Okay, it is obvious that there is at least one reality channel that I watch.)

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    I love cats too. They have been my sweet companions since I was very young. Live would be horribly empty without them.

    I didn't know that about the scent gland 'sharing'.. Great info.

    I also used to watch my cat from Heck.. some of the cats, the really angry few kinda scared me lol. The more we know about them, the easier it is to love them. Each one with their own personality.

    Don't forget to have 'note cards' for each of your fur babies, in case something were to happen and you needed to find them a new home or whatever. That way the next person who would care for them will know their eating habits, fav foods, foods they don't like, play time activities...I throw dry cat kibbles for my indoor cat ever eve before i go to bed. She loves it, chasing them wildly and it is so obvious she loves the game, the changes in her 'toy obstacle course' from time to time so she doesn't get bored. And she lets me know every evening she is ready by her body language as if she was saying, 'hurry up, I want to chase the toys'.

  • greyfurball
    greyfurball Posts: 591 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl bless you for being able to accept the cycle of life and understanding more days is not necessarily the perfect solution.

    In my family I am the only one who believes this and it has been a point of contention every single time we lose a family member. My brothers don't even tell me sometimes there is or has been a problem (I live farther away than the rest of my family) because of this. Even though I don't say a word to them, both of them know my philosophy is not or never will be the motto" they have to hang in there, there might be a cure tomorrow, next week, next month etc."

    Quality of life is and will always be my motto and "hanging in" will only be an option when it truly is an option.

    So bless you for giving your mother the space to allow herself to determine her own destiny.

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @shllnzl caring and healthy recovery for your mom.

  • silvertipgrizz
    silvertipgrizz Posts: 1,990 ✭✭✭✭✭

    @teachercaryn

    did you see my comment to you regarding the vid you asked me for? Just wanting to make sure you saw it,

  • blevinandwomba
    blevinandwomba Posts: 813 ✭✭✭✭

    Thanks for the fun article, @silvertipgrizz . I've figured out by trial-and-error over the years how my cats like to be touched, but it's interesting to see the reasons why.

    @shllnzl I'm praying for you and your mom.

  • Ruth Ann Reyes
    Ruth Ann Reyes Posts: 577 admin

    I think I'm going to get a cat. :)

  • SuperC
    SuperC Posts: 952 ✭✭✭✭

    @silvertipgrizz oh no! I did not get the vid. Please can you resend it?

  • Karin
    Karin Posts: 272 ✭✭✭

    Interesting article! I have to say that our male cat loves being rubbed at the base of his tail, while our female kitten doesn't. Both of them are ok with tummy rubs for short periods of time, altho the male prefers more of a "chest rub". Having had our female since about 3 weeks old (she was a stray/feral abandoned by the mum), I figure they like their faces from nose to between the ears stroked as it reminds them of being a kitten at the nipple and having their mummy cat lick them there. Always puts our female into a mini-trance! And every cat I have ever had LOVES their cheeks and along their jaw stroked :) Our male cat is also a little unusual in that he will wind his tail around my legs and almost use it to stroke me - have never seen another cat use his tail in such a manner - they might do a "tail swipe", but he really does a "tail caress" lol