Cat Lovers

[swarfrat]

Working on the elevation part - project going in the shop but currently buried by other pressing projects & time. This is something the two females in the house disagree on. Of course the dominant female who doesn't like the idea of tall cat furniture disrupting the decor, but she also resents finding the sub-dominant female perched on any elevated surface that she can reach (Kitchen counter, dining room table),  destroying furniture, etc...

 

[swarfrat]

Just FTR, between the pheromone diffuser and collar - one or both of em worked like a charm. Right now she's still mad at me for the last trip to the vet, but before that she was markedly improved. It took her 24 hours with the collar before the pheromone thing overcame the freaking out from wearing a collar. 

Now... I wonder if this stuff sticks to jewelry style necklaces... :evil4:

 

[SalsaNChips]

I have three cats. Doodad & Ponce (brothers) and Moonbat (alpha queen).

No pictures of them with my guitars yet -- but I'm sure there will be. Doodad especially, he is very musical and loves to listen to me practice.

I do however have a picture of Doodad with my drum set. Yeah, I play drums, my original instrument, started way before I picked up a guitar in the late 70's. Here he is chillin' out on the drum throne (FYI,  Hart Dynamics 6.4 TE Pro electronic set w/Roland TDW-20 and the greatest thing since anti-histimines):

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

I had one pass on Friday.  This is my 3rd sleepless night.  I've had (human) family members pass I didn't grieve this hard for.

He was 13, and the kitten of a cat I still have today who is just as healthy as ever.  I know the day he was born.  It was April 1, 1999.  The date being the source of a suspected prank by my girlfirend, now wife.  She didn't believe they (he and his litter mates) were born that day and thought I was pulling her leg.

I was PM'ing with Max the details and don't care to again, but the Cliff's notes version is that he was in and out of the vet's office for the last few months with declining age realated health and died on his own terms at home.  I got to be with him when he came into and left this world.

This is the third day without him, and the house is less like a home.  You don't realize how often you say a pet's name or alter your routine to account for their presence until their absense.  It's been easier to be away from home.  At 36, I'm hardly an old man, but I've had this guy since I was 22!

 

[Cagey]

My condolences to you. I know it's difficult. Outside of physics, pets are one of the few honest things we can count on reliably. Our little friends are anchor points that leave us drifting when they go away, and it's gut-wrenching.

 

[stubhead]

I have an 13-year-old who's definitely hearing the footsteps... he's gotten all swaybacked and his back feet are pointing out, their hips start to go (I imagine it's as painful as human's). And his bushy tail is all scrawny now. He can still make his jumps - 26", not the 36" kitchen counters. I know it'll be soon, I just hope it's quiet. And I've also know him since around 7 weeks old. I also have the 8-year-old, so it might not be too bad. He's had a good life, which is about all the consolation you can get.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

My brother-in-law is done with pets because of 2 childhood Great Danes that he watched go blind and arthritic, and were eventually put down out of mercy.  My mindset is that any joy has far outweighed the mourning.  In a way, I see it as a blessing that we outlive our pets simply because we are able to care for them in their ailing years, instead of us willing the burden of pet to someone else that you know won't care for them like you did.

 

[stubhead]

I think about that first little wild cat kitten, and that first little girl that he hoodwinked into bringing him home... "Mommymommymommy can we keep him?..." Boy did he ever luck out. There are a lot of farm cats (and hunting dogs) around here. And somehow people manage to separate them from the pets - only the lucky ones make it indoors. If I had too much money I could easily be one of those people with 88 cats.

 

[SlartiBartfast]

I had one pass on Friday.  This is my 3rd sleepless night.  I've had (human) family members pass I didn't grieve this hard for.

He was 13, and the kitten of a cat I still have today who is just as healthy as ever.  I know the day he was born.  It was April 1, 1999.  The date being the source of a suspected prank by my girlfirend, now wife.  She didn't believe they (he and his litter mates) were born that day and thought I was pulling her leg.

I was PM'ing with Max the details and don't care to again, but the Cliff's notes version is that he was in and out of the vet's office for the last few months with declining age realated health and died on his own terms at home.  I got to be with him when he came into and left this world.

This is the third day without him, and the house is less like a home.  You don't realize how often you say a pet's name or alter your routine to account for their presence until their absense.  It's been easier to be away from home.  At 36, I'm hardly an old man, but I've had this guy since I was 22!

I had a Maine Coon that was 15 years old that I had to put down back in June, and a few weeks later, my sister's Maine Coon also died from old age. We were both pretty devastated.

It's really hard losing a pet, and I know exactly what you mean about having to readjust to them not being there anymore. Sorry for your loss, "Super Turbo Deluxe Custom."

 

[SlartiBartfast]

I'm a sucker for main coone's. they are super-sweet, kind, gentle. they don't talk that much, are about as big as a bengal, maybe even bigger

main coone, thats my cat! (and I have a british shorthair in house, but thats my ex gf's cat, not mine).

Maine Coons are special for me too. Raja was my best friend through thick and thin for a looong time. He passed back in June, but I just discovered this thread, so I'm posting now  :icon_tongue:


Raja2 by Joe Vajgrt, on Flickr


http://www.flickr.com/photos/58591016@N04/8200952082/ by Joe Vajgrt, on Flickr

 

[SlartiBartfast]

I just adopted a bonded pair of kittens from a local no-kill animal rescue here in Portland. They were cell mates in county lockup, and they're little wild men. They were named Calvin and Hobbes already, and since I love that strip and the names suit them well, they stuck. 


Calvin by Joe Vajgrt, on Flickr


Hobbes by Joe Vajgrt, on Flickr

 

[m4rk0]

I had one pass on Friday.  This is my 3rd sleepless night.  I've had (human) family members pass I didn't grieve this hard for.

He was 13, and the kitten of a cat I still have today who is just as healthy as ever.  I know the day he was born.  It was April 1, 1999.  The date being the source of a suspected prank by my girlfirend, now wife.  She didn't believe they (he and his litter mates) were born that day and thought I was pulling her leg.

I was PM'ing with Max the details and don't care to again, but the Cliff's notes version is that he was in and out of the vet's office for the last few months with declining age realated health and died on his own terms at home.  I got to be with him when he came into and left this world.

This is the third day without him, and the house is less like a home.  You don't realize how often you say a pet's name or alter your routine to account for their presence until their absense.  It's been easier to be away from home.  At 36, I'm hardly an old man, but I've had this guy since I was 22!

sorry to hear that Gary! was it the Russian blue? you probably remember that we had to return our Russian Blue a while ago, and we still miss him... my kid is still upset about it, and he wasn't even with us for a year!! so I can only imagine how tough it is after 14 years..

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

Your Maine Coon looked very photogenic.

The bonded pair, even though a little wild, at least they have a partner in crime.

The one that passed, he was the 2nd oldest of my four.  He was a security blanket for a stray that adopted us 10 years ago.  When traveling, they could share the same carrier, and it wasn't uncommon to find them grooming each other and napping together.  She's been aimlessly pacing looking for him.

 

[Super Turbo Deluxe Custom]

sorry to hear that Gary! was it the Russian blue? you probably remember that we had to return our Russian Blue a while ago, and we still miss him... my kid is still upset about it, and he wasn't even with us for a year!! so I can only imagine how tough it is after 14 years..

No, the Russian Blue is this one's mother.  She is 14 and no one has told her.  She hasn't got that old age extra indifference or slowed down her routine any.  No special foods or preventative anything for her yet.

This is her and the one that passed from about 6/99.

Here's the big boy with my mother-in-law's Great Dane.  She always loved him because he was nice to her dog.  Kind of calmed her down.

Though we have four (edit:  had four), these were the main 3 for the longest time.  Him with his Russian Blue mother and the Tabby that was his lover.  The newest is stray Siamese that adopted us 3 years ago, not pictured.

 

[AutoBat]

Today is the day I've feared most. I have to say goodbye to one of my two cats, both of whom we got a month after being married, and they were 1 month old.
So 11 years later my black & white cat Simon has liver and spleen cancer, as well as severe anemia & kidney failure.
His life has impacted ours far more than we would have ever imagined.

My yellow/orange cat Sampson (his littermate) is doing well and only recently has discovered that something is up.

 

[alterbridgefan]

Today is the day I've feared most. I have to say goodbye to one of my two cats, both of whom we got a month after being married, and they were 1 month old.
So 11 years later my black & white cat Simon has liver and spleen cancer, as well as severe anemia & kidney failure.
His life has impacted ours far more than we would have ever imagined.

My yellow/orange cat Sampson (his littermate) is doing well and only recently has discovered that something is up.

Condolences to you and your wife. I've had to let go of two so far, I also had them for 11 years, and I am slowly preparing to say goodbye to my cats, both of whom are 1 year older than me at 15, and slowing down.

 

[Cagey]

My condolences to you both. Few things are more difficult.

 

[AutoBat]

Thank you. We just back from the vet. He was very brave to the very end.

 

[Great Ape]

I've had to do the same thing, for the same reason...it's a sadness quite unlike any other. My best to you two, and to Sampson, of course.

 

[SlartiBartfast]

Sorry to hear that, AutoBat. I hope you, your wife, and Samson are all doing relatively well given the circumstances. It sounds like Simon led a long and happy life, though. My condolences.