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Archive through December 19, 2005

The TVClubHouse: General Discussions ARCHIVES: 2005 Dec. ~ 2006 Feb.: Hairball Haven: Cats (ARCHIVES): Archive through December 19, 2005 users admin

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Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 6:19 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Cats will go into heat continually until they become impregnated or until the entire season passes. You can spay them while they are in heat but it usually costs more. I'd made Kassie's appointment for her six month birthday, and the little brat was just starting to go into heat (the doc had to call me up to let me know that it was gonna cost a bit more cause of it).

To placate a kitty in heat? Well, yeah, there is one way. But unless you want more kitties... :-)

Seriously, nope. Good luck! (You could try Feliway or some pheromone soothing stuff.)

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 - 7:45 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
When I got Critter she was about a year old (had had kittens recently) and I got her from the pound where she was "available" meaning not long for this world if someone didn't adopt her.

24 hours later we were fighting for her life, big time! Very sick. I wasn't about to turn her back in just couldn't.. I'd just felt ready to adopt a cat after losing my last lab (at age 15 plus and Redstar, yse I do understand that weighty responsibility, very hard), had also lost a friend to AIDs and one to suicide very recently and I just couldn't give up on this little black furball. But she certainly wasn't ready for surgery right away so finally I scheduled her for declaw and spay while I was away for 8 days. I would have boarded her at the vet at that point in her life since she'd been there and been saved with a huge effort on my part and theirs.. and of course she came into heat! First feline heat for me to endure.. ACK. But she did "go out" or at least stopped acting so loud and obnoxious and fretful.. Dogs are so different.. in most cases going through a heat cycle was about protecting them from males but labs are for the most part happy as clams during their seasons. (I had one who was simply a brazen hussy.. she'd back up to a fence or males, flip her tail aside (that is known as flagging) and drive everyone crazy..

Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Wednesday, December 14, 2005 - 3:09 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
Cats in heat are all different. Some are noisy and some are not. I am pretty lucky with two fairly quite cats. Shadoe is almost silent about the whole thing. If I did not see her walking around with her belly flush to the ground and her tail trying to touch the ceiling, I would never know. The both talk abit more while in heat, but that's about it. Oh yeah, when I am waking up, if Shadoe jumps on me with head facing me, she is not in heat. If I wake up looking at her back end, I know she is in heat.

I have always been advised that it is much preferable to wait until the cat's current heat has passed before fixing the animal. I am planning to get them both fixed in the new year.

It is pretty important to fix the animal if you do not intend to breed or have kittens because the heat cycles often get closer together and more extreme until a point where some cats may remain in perpetual heat. I shudder at the thought of a cat howling etc 24/7. Also being in heat is hard on the animal's body.

I do not believe in delawing; you never know what will happen in the future, and the claws are the animal's only defence. I would no more declaw a cat than I would have the fingers or hands amputated from a human.

Bandit
Member

07-29-2001

Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 7:49 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bandit a private message Print Post    
I agree, Shadoe. I could never declaw a cat, and I have never declawed any of mine.

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 4:44 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
Just to warn you all... I'm gonna try and take some decent pix of my Xmas tree tonight. It's a cat tree... Every ornament on it is a cat of some sort. (Some even made specially and that look like Costa and Kassie.) I've put a few tiny white balls and small pink balls to fill in some holes. But... a cat tree! :-)

Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Thursday, December 15, 2005 - 8:32 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
I can't wait to see this! I'll show it to our new kitten (hope it doesn't give him ideas)!

Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 12:58 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
Costacat, if I were a cat, I am not sure I would like to see a tree with cats in it only to be told I could NOT join the other cats in there.

And to make it worse - there are cats in there that look like me!

Nope, I would be in that tree checking it all out like a sneaky alley cat.

Redstar
Member

07-08-2005

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 5:54 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Redstar a private message Print Post    
Good news! Natalie has gone out of heat: no more crying, no crouching, no sticking her butt in my face. The spay is scheduled for Monday.

One benefit of these long days of misery is that she is much more comfortable with me and with Emma. She even came and sat in my lap with Emma for a half hour during the finale of The Apprentice.

Emma loves to be in contact with me, but she doesn't really like to be petted. When I'm gaming online, she wants to be held on her back in my free arm - I call her my "bebe." I even bought one of those sling-style baby carriers at a garage sale for times when I'm typing!

(For some reason I keep using French to baby talk her. Of course, her name is Emma le Plume. It would help if I actually knew some French instead of kind of making it up. I guess I'm going to have to locate that book I bought years ago - "French for Cats." Hilarious. I'll post some phrases once I find it.)

When I tell her it's bedtime, Emma races to the bedroom so she can cuddle with me under the blankets until she gets too hot, then sleep on top of me. She also loves to sit either beside me or on my lap in the reclining loveseat. But more than a minute or two of petting seems to mostly annoy her, unless it's a belly rub, which she enjoys and will tolerate for a longer amount of time.

Natalie, on the other hand, DEMANDS petting. She's one of those head-butting kitties - and WOW it's incredible how strong she is!

Costacat
Member

07-15-2000

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 7:12 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Costacat a private message Print Post    
I bought a slightly smaller tree this year (6'). And it's lower to the ground. And I've already got presents (in bags) around the edge. So the cats walk up and sniff the tree, but leave it alone. So far, anyways. The ornies that look like them are up high; the unbreakables are lower down.

I'll be gone all evening at a holiday party, and not returning till tomorrow a.m. So we'll see! :-)

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 7:22 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
Well, I put the tree up yesterday. Just the tree - no decorations! Right about that time an ice storm started and our critters always go bonkers when the weather changes. Well Misha was going NUTSO! There was a TREE in her house AND ice was pelting the windows! I thought she was going to leap right into the middle of it and as I'm yelling "NO!!" I'm running for the camera! LOL I have to go through what I took and see what looks good to post. Now while Misha is going nuts, Kellie slunk into her bed with her head down and you could just about hear her thinking - HEY.. I'M BEING GOOD!!! LOL After Misha settled down, then Kellie was under the tree. DH was telling ..don't pee on it..it's not that kind of tree! LOL I told him not to worry, she doesn't lift her leg. Guess she got some sap on her head though. Silly critters!! :-)

Red - I understand how hard it is to lose one of your furbabies. I still think of Jade after 3+ years and miss her. I'm glad your other babies are getting along better. I used to zip Misha inside by hoodie when she was small and I was typing. She doesn't "quite!" fit anymore, but recently I've tried to zip her in to settle her down and I managed once to get her in all the way. The other times she was biting my hands too much and I had to give up! Now with Misha you never know if her bites are play bites or she's getting mad at you. Usually they're play bites. And..she looks for skin! The worst is when you're in the bathroom and she thinks it's a good time to jump up for a bite! Accck!! LOL

Ophiliasgrandma
Member

09-04-2001

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 8:20 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Ophiliasgrandma a private message Print Post    
Watching, with my age and gravity it wouldn't be too high a jump for Misha to get a good bite of a tasty, tender spot. LOL!

Gina8642
Member

06-01-2001

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 10:15 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Gina8642 a private message Print Post    
Soon I will be home and get to see my kitties. They don't look too lonely without me.

max and cutie

Shadoe
Member

11-04-2004

Friday, December 16, 2005 - 1:47 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Shadoe a private message Print Post    
Gina, I am sure I don't need to tell you that they likely did not notice that you weren't around.

Your coming home reminds them that you live there too.

Serate
Member

08-21-2001

Saturday, December 17, 2005 - 9:05 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Serate a private message Print Post    
Moondance I haven't been on line in a while but am so glad to hear that Samson was feeling better. Hope he continues.

Fred's back to his normal self. My brother caught him and Barney sleeping together. He titled this picture "Peckerhead Fred". Said they slept like this for a couple of hours.



Bonzacat
Member

07-08-2003

Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 10:06 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bonzacat a private message Print Post    
Serate - that is just an amazingly cute photo! Was Super-Glue involved? I just love it!!!!!

So glad to hear that Fred and Samson are both doing better!

Saxywildcat
Member

05-30-2005

Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 8:23 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Saxywildcat a private message Print Post    
I love that photo. Thanks so much for sharing it!!!

Supergranny
Member

02-03-2005

Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 8:49 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Supergranny a private message Print Post    
Fred certainly looks good. And we can see he has personality plus...any cat that can convince a dog to be his own personal pillow!!

Seamonkey
Moderator

09-07-2000

Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 10:37 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Seamonkey a private message Print Post    
Seems to me Fred has TWO personal pillow doggies!

Watching2
Member

07-07-2001

Sunday, December 18, 2005 - 11:59 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Watching2 a private message Print Post    
ROFL!! Oh my gosh.. I was going to comment to everyone who posted, but I can't stop laughing at that picture of Perckerhead FRED!!! LMAO... I'll come back when I can stop laughing! Too cute and hysterical!!!!

Gina - Your kitties look just fine and they wouldn't let you know if they missed you anyway. LOL Well..sometimes, they just can't help themselves!! Then they'll get their cool again!

Whoami
Member

08-03-2001

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 12:41 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Whoami a private message Print Post    
Your kitties definitely miss ya Gina. But they will probably try to play "cool cat" and feign indifference.

It reminds me of my senior year in HS, and the trips I took, and how my cat Tiger (the spitting image of Fred, BTW) handled them....

Through the various programs I was involved with at the time, I took 4 different trips that year. Two weekend trips, and two week long trips. Here's Tiger's reactions (and my interpretations of his thinking process), and the duration of each trip....

Trip #1: Weekend long duration....I came home and Tiger glowered at me and gave me the silent treatment for several days. It was clear he was incensed that I would dare to leave him that long. Never mind the fact that the rest of the family was still home. But, I was his human and I had left the home without his approval.

Trip #2: Week long duration....I came home and Tiger rushed to me, clung to my lap and fawned his undying affection to me. I'm sure he was thinking, "crap, the silent treatment really backfired, and she ended up not only leaving again, but for a longer time! If I totally suck up to her, she's bound to stay home from now on."

Trip #3: Weekend long duration.....I came home and Tiger looked at me with complete uncertainty. I'm guessing he was thinking, "the silent treatment didn't work. The mush and cuddle her to death thing didn't work. I'm not really sure what to do now to get her trained correctly."

Trip #4: Week long duration.....I came home, said my hellos, Tiger slowly turned his head to look at me, squeezed his eyes shut in a slow motion blink as he turned his head back to whatever had held his attention before I came into the room, and said (in a perfect Morris imitation), "oh, you were gone? I hadn't noticed....."

Mameblanche
Member

04-13-2005

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 10:50 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Mameblanche a private message Print Post    


So... now you know who really posts as MameBlanche. LOL. Yep. It's Scooter. When she's not in her 'come and get it while its hot', position. And Bandit said, 'I'm ready for my closeup'... so I couldn't refuse such an adorably funny face.

Jinksy
Member

09-28-2005

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 11:11 am   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jinksy a private message Print Post    
Mame- Absolutely adorable pictures! Bandit's face in that closeup is too cute for words. And Scooter caught in the act of posting at TVCH is a hoot. Great shots, Thanks for sharing.

Bandit
Member

07-29-2001

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 1:53 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bandit a private message Print Post    
OH.....I LOVE THEM!!!

Those pictures are darling, Mame. I used to have a big fat calico for years when I was a kid. We couldn't come up with a name for her, and my mom was watching the closing credits for David Letterman. There went a name of a gentleman by the name of Pete Fatovich. She said that that name reminded her of the cat. The name stuck.....Fatovich!

Bonzacat
Member

07-08-2003

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 4:04 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Bonzacat a private message Print Post    
I love Bandit the Posting Kitty and simply adore Scooter in her upside-down smile for Mom pose. They are beautiful!!!!


Jimmer
Member

08-30-2000

Monday, December 19, 2005 - 4:41 pm   Edit Post Move Post Delete Post View Post Send Jimmer a private message Print Post    
Cute story Whoami. Those are really sweeties Mame!