new thread
I know there are cat lovers among our group so I thought I'd share photos of the new additions to my family.
One of our two cats died in June at almost 17 years old. His death left not only a hole in our hearts but he was also very good friends with our Siamese cat who is 9. After his death, the Siamese would howl most nights to the point of waking me up. He definitely was not happy being an only cat.
We began our search for another cat soon after the one cat's passing. It was harder than I expected to find available kittens and the process involves a lot more red tape than it used to. We did locate a pair of kittens, brothers, being cared for at a nearby shelter. Their caretaker really pushed for us to take both as they were very close to each other. I explained that we would only be able to take one given our space limitations.
She brought both over for us to choose. My wife spent 5 minutes with them and whispered to me that we should just take both! It didn't take much convincing as they were both super friendly and adorable. So, we're now up to 3 cats.
Our 9 year old cat has now fully accepted them and it only took a few days so we're happy about that. The howling at night has stopped.
This is a picture of them when they were about 8 weeks old shortly after being rescued. That's Billy on top and Bodhi below.
This was taken shortly before they came to us, Billy on the left and Bodhi on the right:
and here they are on my lap. They love to be held and are extremely affectionate:
The post isn't actually totally off topic as I've found that they are very interested in playing with the ends of my long hair while we're sitting on the couch. :)
It strikes me as a nice way to have your hair combed - by the cat's claws! You seem to do well to tie it up... We have two Charteux cats, but they are adults (8 and 7 years old).
I am much more of a dog person than a cat person if I have to take care of them. Dogs seem to be lower maintenance than cats on the whole, plus I find dogs make much better pillows and afghans ;). Enjoy the cats :)
Thanks. I like dogs and have owned two in the past. I found them to be much higher maintenance than cats. Put out a litter box, food and water and cats can take care of themselves for much longer than an unattended dog.
I did an image search for Charteux cats. What striking eyes they have! It seems most have those piercing orange eyes combined with beautiful gray coats.
I love cats!! CONGRATS on the addition of your new family members. I myself have 3 cats. Moxxie, Harry, and Weasley are their names.
Thanks! I take it you get to sleep next to yours. I used to but my wife finds that it bothers her allergies. I think I detect a Harry Potter theme in their names!
Hey Jason,
Congrats on the addition of the two (2) new members to your family!
I'm glad that everyone in your family, your wife, you, and your cat are all accepting of each other. God bless you all.
I'm glad that your two (2) new cats like to play with the ends of your hair. It seems like a perfect match.
Your long haired bro,
Raymond
Hi Raymond,
Thanks! Our new additions definitely feel like family members already.
Jason
Hi Jason,
That's a great pair of kitties you picked up recently.I think you made the right decision to adopt both of them since they are basically bookends and it also would have been a shame to split them up.Cats are cool with having their own unique personalities.That's nice they are very affectionate and that the new ones and your older one are accepting each other.You'll enjoy many years of pleasure with the three of them and hopefully a very long time before having to face the possibility to loosing any of them.Good luck with your new additions :) Cheers
Mârk
Hi Mark,
Thanks. Yes, I hope to not be in the market for another cat for a very long time. It's nice that they have reasonably long life spans. Of course, we grow very attached. I still miss cats that died many years ago. They are each special.
I forget, do you have two now? I'm not sure if you replaced the one that passed.
Jason
Hi Jason,
As of now I have just two cats but used to have three.Sadly almost five years ago my oldest cat got very ill and ultimately had to be euthanized but I held off for months before doing it.Then two weeks after that my second oldest got sick had to face the same fate:( Both those cats were together for years and it was very sad when all this went down.I waited a few months before I picked up a new kitten for an adoption held at a Petco store.Thankfully everyone is keeping healthy:)
Mârk
HI Jason,
We have two cats that are 20 years old. They have slowed down some. We have always had a dog too. When the last golden retriever died at 9 years in 2009, my wife looked around for a female puppy when she eventually found a litter to take a look at. There were two females left. She just could not leave one of them behind. Just can’t separate them. So we have two golden retrievers. They haven’t mixed well with the cats. So we keep the cats outside at night, with the objective of hunting for mice, rats, and gophers. They slice through the hair of these rodents with their claws and eliminate them. There just isn’t a problem with mice and rats around the house.
On of the golden retrievers has just been diagnosed with small cell lymphoma. Is lethargic, doesn’t eat much, and losing weight. We will use a drug to try to keep her alive for another year.
Don
Hi Don,
That's impressive that you have two cats who are both 20 and can still hunt effectively. I used to have outdoor cats but live on a busy street and had one hit so after that I have determined to keep them inside.
My cat that died recently was 2 months short of being 17. I had one die two years ago at the age of 13 which is pretty young for a cat. In both cases, their final demise was quick and they were able to die at home, the last one actually dying while I was right there comforting him as best as I could.
Jason
Congratulations on the new additions to your family.
It sometimes seems to me that cat lovers are a decided minority.
Honestly, there's nothing sexier than a man who enjoys the companionship of cats.
I had a variety of pets growing up. When I was around 16 my family found a stray kitten on our porch and began to feed it. It would wander off, but was back every morning for food. Soon we adopted it. He was made into an indoor cat (declawed) although I thought he should've been an indoor/outdoor cat. His name is Milo and now he's probably around 8-10 and is extremely fat. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him in a good five years since I moved out from my parents'.
I'd love to finally have a cat of my own, once I can finally afford one. I've taken care of all of my friends cats at one point or another.
Cheers! :)
Thanks! I've always loved cats and have had them since I was very young. I've found they're pretty cheap to keep as you don't have to pay yearly licensing fees.
I would mention though some jurisdictions require rabies shots and other stuff. In the long run though owning a cat is not cheap.
During the 19 years I owned my Cinnamon I tracked that it cost about $7,000 over the course of those 19 years between vet bills, food, vet visits, etc.
There are jurisdictions who require cats to be liscensed.
I guess it depends on the cat. The cat that died in June was never sick until near the very end of his life so other than neutering him, my costs were very low.
Don't forge the cost of food, vet visits, grooming appointments,
medication, getting the cat chipped, cat litter, etc.
Some places require cats to be licensed, get rabies shots, etc.
I would mention that cat law can be very complicated in these cases. Lawyers will tell you that stray cat may in reality be
"owned" by up to six families, none of whom know about the other.
He was made into an indoor cat (declawed) although I thought he should've been an indoor/outdoor cat. His name is Milo and now he's probably around 8-10 and is extremely fat. Unfortunately, I haven't seen him in a good five years since I moved out from my parents'.
Indoor cats live longer than outdoor cats. Between getting hit by cars, attacked by wild animals, stolen, etc. outdoor cats live much shorter lives. (On several nights around here each year you can
hear a pet of some kind (dog or cat?) screaming as it gets attacked by a wild animal of some kind (a wild turkey?)
Hey Jason,
Your kittens are really cute. I have one cat, which I had not planned on getting, but he has turned out to be the sweetest pet I've ever had. He was a feral cat that almost died (in a coma for a couple of days). The only drawback is that he sheds a huge amount of hair ;)
I posted a story about him and some photos on my website, if anyone is interested (see link below).
Story about my kitten
Have you checked with a vet on that? Cats do shed hair in warmer weather, but they may also shed hair if they are sick,
are stressed, or get into a fight with another cat (or animal).
If there is a large amount of shed hair it may indicate an underlying issue.
Hey Long Hair in Albany,
Thanks for the information/questions. We get him checked out by the vet regularly and he is in good health. He seems to have some residual brain damage from the accident, as he does not have very good balance, so he does not climb or jump up on tables or counters, which is fine with me. I keep him inside all the time, as I'm concerned that if he wandered off he might not find his way home and there is almost no stress in his life. I think it is just the natural shedding of hair that some cats have. His coat is full and smooth and his hair looks healthy. His only problem is struvite crystal formation, so we have to keep him on a special diet.
Actually there probably is, stress that there are strange noises
outside, stress that he is alone when you leave the house.
If he does get lost have you had him chipped? It's a good idea even if he is an indoor cat, you never know when someone will leave a door open, a fire will occur, etc.
Thanks!
Your cat is beautiful and it's wonderful that you were able to rescue it.
Sorry to hear that. He'll be waiting for you at Rainbow Bridge.
More than 12 years ago I had a cat who did that. One of our cats I found dead in the middle of the night (heart attack?). He was close to my Cinnamon, he would cry for this cat.
I had a cat that died earlier this summer. She was ten years old and stopped eating. Came to learn her heart and kidneys had were giving her problems. They could treat either the heart or the kidneys, but not both. So we had no choice, we ha to let her go. (Ironically she saw the heart doctor the week before and was doing well. This all happened in the course of one week.)
Animal shelters have millions of cats and dogs looking for homes. And they do screen applicants. In this day and age they have to.
Our last adoption was a black kitten.
You do have to be careful though, cats will chew on hair and possibly damage it. (Cats love string and will be attracted to hair for the same reason.) I always make sure to move the hair away from in front of the cat.
Hey Jason,
What great pics of your 2 new adorable kittens!!!!
Yes, it is true that whenever possible, it's good to keep sibling kittens together (our 2 girl cats, which were just 6 weeks old when Even moved up to San Francisco 9 years ago, are a good example of him deciding to keep those 2 sisters together). And I'm so happy to hear that your older cat has stopped howling now -- OMG, animals grieve just like people do, they are so much happier whenever they have more companions, rather than less.
And you are correct: in my opinion, you are NOT "off-topic!" Heck, my favorite cat, Charlotte (AKA "Fufu", the long haired one) has a thing for hair-ties: she will not only chase after them down the stairs, she will actually play "fetch" with them, bringing them back to me! (Sami, her sister, has zero interest in hair-ties... maybe it's because she is short-haired? - LOL!)
Great post, Jason, thanks so much for sharing!
- Ken
Hi Ken,
Thanks! Wow, those kittens of yours must have been tiny at 6 weeks! That's great that you were able to keep them together and that they can stay bonded for life.
The shelter lady actually brought these kittens as well as another brother of theirs, an orange kitten, to us early last month. She recommended not taking kittens as young as they were then due to us having a 3 year old. We agreed plus we knew we'd be going away for a week in July so it made sense to not take them then. I said we'd still be interested if they were available later. I contacted her when we got back from vacation and while the orange one had been taken, the two black and white ones remained. It turned out two parties were interested in them but they both ended up not taking them so we were in luck and got them so everything worked out for the best.
In different circumstances, I would have loved to have had them at the younger ages but I'm happy with how things unfolded.
That's funny how one of yours like to chase hair ties and the other doesn't. That's something I love about cats - how different and unique each one is with their distinctive personalities.
Take care,
Jason
Hi again Jason,
I've just been corrected by Even, my partner -- Charlotte (AKA Fufu) and Sami were just over 2 months old when they moved up to SF, that was a misstatement I apparently made that they were 6 weeks old. They were born in his landlady's back year on July 4th, down in Southern CA. He moved up to SF on Sept. 10th, with his 2 adult boy cats and the 2 little girl kittens; but even so, they were indeed quite tiny when they move up here!
The 2 older boy cats have passed on now, both of them died at age 13, but 2 years apart. 3 out of his 4 cats that moved up here from SoCal were hand-raised and bottle-fed -- rescued kittens from a feral momma cat that gave birth under his landlady's back yard porch (the girl's history); while the history of one of the boys several years earlier was also a rescue kitten, saved from under a wood pile after the feral momma got killed by a dog.
Eve worked at PETCO during this time, so they allowed him to bring in his baby kittens to work in order to bottle-feed them every 2 hours (!!)... I didn't know them when they were that tiny, but I sure fell in love with them when I helped Eve move up north here!
- Ken