The SayUncle Zoo
We got a new dog a few months back. Then, a bit back, we got another one.
Junior has always wanted a cat. Neither the Mrs. nor I were ever cat people. But Junior was persistent. So, we now have a cat. Well, I think we still have it. I haven’t actually seen it since about 6:00 yesterday.
We’re up to three critters.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:02 am
Get a flea comb and handle the cat a lot. The tamer they are the better pets they make. The Redhead and I have one that we adore, but she gets a lot of attention. Friends of mine I just visited have a 13 year old veteran pet that you can’t pick up, because they never worked him. He just lives with them, hissing and swatting if you get close.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:03 am
We had two cats. One was a feral beast adopted while it was pregnant and the other was one of its offspring. Neither was in any way friendly to any of us. They were not domesticated, they just used us for food and shelter.
One spring night I let one out. Later that night I heard coyotes howling nearby. The cat did not reappear over the course of the day.
That night, after long thought, I let the other one out.
We have two new cats now. They are marginally better than the first set.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:05 am
The point of the story is that cats, unlike dogs, are easily removed and easily replaced if their performance is not satisfactory.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:53 am
Two cats, one dog at la casa de Robb. The dog has settled in and the older cat (~10+ years), Bueller couldn’t care less about her.
The younger cat, Sloane, has a new nickname – Shadow-cat. Mostly because if, during a rare event she’s not under a bed somewhere, she’s lurking in the shadows trying to avoid the dog.
Interestingly enough, Bueller was like that when he was young. At the time we had two dogs and they loved to chase him, so for several years he lived under the bed only coming out to poop and eat.
Given time, I assume Sloane will come out of her shell. If not, she doesn’t eat that much and is free to keep the dust bunnies under the beds company.
June 30th, 2009 at 10:59 am
I’m way more a cat person than dog person, but the wife is allergic to cats. Dog it is. Until I get a place with a separate shop, then I’ll get a shop cat.
June 30th, 2009 at 11:14 am
When Patty moved in with me, she brought two cats with her both of which had lived their entire life indoors (something like 8 or 9 years). One wanted attention fairly regularly. The other one I _literally_ did not see again for 3 months; saw plenty of its hair on the rug and on the bed, just never saw the cat. She’s not an unfriendly cat, she just doesn’t have much need for attention and is quite happy to be left alone.
June 30th, 2009 at 3:26 pm
Had a couple of great cats when I took in the last 2 Siberians. Then I had two less cats, as Siberians have a huge prey drive, and the cats didn’t understand that ‘run and I’ll chase you’ wasn’t a game they knew.
Pissed me off. I liked those cats. Same happened with a third cat, two weeks after I took him in.
Since those two Siberians have left my foster care, I adopted two kittens, brothers from a litter, who are now about 4 months old. My ‘permanant resident’ dogs love them, although from time to time I find a lot of dog slobber on them. No serious wear, though.
Occasionally, I find them asleep on top of the Labrador.
Don’t let it get out of hand, though. My dad started feeding stray cats, and at one time I counted 30 in his back yard around the food.
Regards,
Rabbit.
June 30th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
Thing with cats is that there is something like a “window when they are kittens. If they handled by humans during that window they learn to tolerate humans. If they don’t, humans are only staff.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:37 am
Cat are the only species we know of that domesticate themselves. Some might quibble with the term. It means something like: “From a wild state, they will learn to tolerate the close presence of humans, especially when the latter makes food available.”
My cat, Priss, had never before lived indoors or in the presence of humans. She was completely feral before I took the opportunity of introducing myself over the body one of her smashed kittens in the middle of the road. Believe it or not: she was out there mourning. Within three days, she was living in the house. A year and a half later, she’s a total couch queen, and insistently affectionate, on her own time.
If she had to, she’d be back out there killing for a living (she does it now for sport) within a week.
I think they’re very interesting creatures.
July 2nd, 2009 at 10:56 am
[b]Billy[/b]
Based on my experience cats that are brought in off the street tend to remember what life is like on the ‘outside’ and really appreciate inside life.
We had a cat who’d been abandonded – a woman was involved based on how the cat reacted to strange women – and for the rest of her life she made sure I know I’d saved her. Been a few years but I still miss her.
July 2nd, 2009 at 7:35 pm
Granddaughter picked up a just born kitten in a motel parking lot, and I got the job of bottle raising a Maine Coon. Much smarter critter than most of the dogs around here. Then the youngest boy took in a stray, and moved. And then one of my employees gave me a tom.
And verdampt “dog lovers” keep leaving dogs at my farm. Right now, it’s four dogs and a cat here, but that varies. They are about as much trouble as any five other kids. I will miss them when they are gone. Like the kids.