Friendly Cats

I have to brag on my cat today. I've never owned a cat that was as friendly as he is with other animals. My Sylvester is 5 years old and every cat he has ever lived with has loved him and thinks he is their best buddy.

My first cat Mijo was 9 when I got Sylvester as a kitten. After 1 day of grumping around about this new furball, he became an instant mommy and was always looking out for his baby. Mijo was afraid of dogs but went after a big one once because Sylvester got cornered. It was an amazing sight. He won the fight and instantly started grooming Slyvie and checking him for injuries.

My sister moved in with me and brought her cat, Bailey, with her. Mijo and Bailey went through constant power struggles but Bailey was instant friends with Sylvester. Most cat books say it takes time to introduce cats to each other, but Sylvie and Bailey have been friends from second 1. (BTW, all three were males, so I was a little worried, but there really weren't too many issues.)

Recently I lost Mijo to cancer and I wasn't looking for a replacement, but ended up with a 9 year old Calico female named Sarita. I have actually known her since she was a kitten and she has always hated any animal. I have never seen her get along with any other living creature except for humans, but she needed a home so I took her in. In short, she's a total bitch when it comes to any other 4 footed creature.

Sylvie, of course, was fascinated by her. He would start walking up to her and then would go into a submissive pose when she would start hissing. He would wait her out and try to look as submissive as possible when he inched closer.

After 4 weeks of living together, they are both playing together. They run around the downstairs. She is actually rolling over on her back and kind of doing a chirpping meow to get him to play with her.

I am just stunned by Sylvie's ability to be friends. He is such a sweet cat. He's my baby!

He sounds like a great cat mpal! I have 3 cats myself (and a bird and a dog and a couple fish
Any pics of your cats?

Of course I have pics! I do have some on my pc, but I don't have them uploaded to one of those photo sharing sites.

Brief descriptions: Sylvester got his name from the cartoon, so there's a good idea of what he looks like. He has food issues and is determined to be a fat cat. He has lived on diet food all of his life and still has managed to weigh in at 18 pounds. He should be one of those long, sleek cats but looks like a little black pear when he's sitting down.

Mijo was all black with a white diamond on his chest. He was a tom cat all the way and weighed in at 12 pounds without being overweight. He was very muscular. Yet he was a really sweet cat. He could get along with any person and he actually loved moving. He loved to explore new things.

Bailey is part siamese and has the coloring and mouth of one but not the bone structure. He is a big old tom cat weighing in at 18 pounds. He's very moody too. Although I've never met a cat that's so sensitive to a person's mood. He mostly ignores me and dotes on my sister, except for when I'm sick. I pinched a nerve in my back recently and spent a couple days in bed. He spent most of those two days snuggled next to me even when my sis was at home. He just wanted to make sure I was ok I guess.

Sarita is a delicate little calico weighing in at 7 pounds. She's one of the prettiest ones I've seen. Her markings are exceptional. We're still working on setting up a routine and I'm still getting to know her.

Ohhh, I love cat stories.

A good place to post your cat pics is www.photobucket.com. I'd love to see some.

Theres pics of my Kitty under the thread "Testing photos."

Harry K-B

Took my cat to the vet tonight for his annual check -up. He's an 11yo(?) black and white rescue that I've had since last September. He's my first cat, and since I am a dog person, we came to the understanding that he had to try to be the best dog he knew how (and he has kept his side of the bargain in his best feline manner!). He loves tummy rubs, always wants to be in the same room with me, and I am now well trained to wake up at his first meow at sunrise to provide breakfast.
He is declawed, and I'd noticed he seemed to have develeoped a "cut" on his paw that didn't heal for two weeks. The vet said whoever did his declaw operation didn't do a good job and left a piece of claw-bone there, which is regenerating, leading to a fistula. The bottom line is that poor Harry has to go back to the vet on Monday to have his surgery, and I have to once again cat-wrestle him into the carrier while he meows pitfully all the way to the vet. (Guilt, the gift that keeps on giving!)

http://www.imagestation.com/album/?id=4287080729&congratulation_page=Y

I didn't have as many pics on the computer as I thought. There are only a few good ones. Let me know if the link doesn't work. I don't have any of Sarita yet. I have to get my roll of film finished off before I'll have any of her.

Bronx,

I'm sorry to hear about poor Harry. The vet left a piece of claw in Sylvester's paw too. It isn't as bad becuase his has healed over and is still there. The new vet told me to just keep an eye on it because it doesn't seem to be giving him any troubles. I just have to make sure it doesn't in the future.

I never would have had either Mijo or Sylvester declawed but the landlord made me. I either had to get rid of the pets or find a new place. Mijo wasn't afraid of dogs until he lost his claws, so it made me mad.

Cute cats mpal! (yes, the link worked, even though it said you have to join, it showed your cats' pics)

I adopted Kitty from a group called Niagara Action For Animals. And we had to sign a contract saying we would not declaw her. I guess people are realizing that it is a health risk because the paws can get infected. And if the cat is released into the wild, it will have no way to defend itself.

Hearing that yor landlord made you get your cats declawed makes me mad!!!!! I cut Kitty's nails whenever I cut my own and she has a stratching posts. I have had no problens with her tearing apart the carpet in our apartment.

Declawing cats is kind of a touchy subject with me. Especially after I read the literature NAFA gave to us about it.

Harry was also adopted from a rescue group. He had been found near a funeral home - just hope someone's relatives weren't trying to revive the old Egyptian practice of mummifying cats with their owners
He had already been declawed when I adopted him, and he still loves to "scratch" on everything he can get his paws on, claws or not. I think it just feels good to him, and it sure has been easier on my sofa. (And yes, he does have a scratching post as well)

Kara Bear said:

I adopted Kitty from a group called Niagara Action For Animals. And we had to sign a contract saying we would not declaw her. I guess people are realizing that it is a health risk because the paws can get infected. And if the cat is released into the wild, it will have no way to defend itself.

Hearing that yor landlord made you get your cats declawed makes me mad!!!!! I cut Kitty's nails whenever I cut my own and she has a stratching posts. I have had no problens with her tearing apart the carpet in our apartment.

Declawing cats is kind of a touchy subject with me. Especially after I read the literature NAFA gave to us about it.

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Don't believe everything you read. My declawed cats are just fine. As a matter of fact, one was so shy any loud noise would send her running for cover. I have 3 cats and they stay in a seperate room, because for one thing, I also have a bird. The cats get to join the family when I can keep an eye on them. After Sam (the shy one) was declawed, she wasn't as shy anymore. I can't really explain why. She's as likely to be the first one in, now, when before she was always the last, if she even bothered to come in at all. They were all about 3 years old when we had it done. (we had a child on the way in case you are wondering why we had it done)
Our next door neighbor's cat is declawed, and he's an outdoor cat, and he still kills birds and mice. They can still climb trees too.He's been declawed for at least 5 years now, and he's an older cat. Still strickly an outdoor cat. Still very much alive, still doing his business in my garden. :sheesh:
Perhaps some vets actually know what they are doing. Perhaps there's more than one way to do this type of procedure. I don't know, but I do know its not as bad as the horror stories would have you believe. At least not in our case.

I've always had cats. My last three died years ago at the age of 15, 17 and 18. Now, my hubby and I feed and sometimes adopt strays. I can't stand to see a hungry animal. We have a dry cat food dispenser on our front porch open to all cats, those who have owners who need a quick snack, but mostly strays. We have a lot of toads in and about our yard and they love cat food. Almost every night you'll find a big fat toad smack in the middle of the cat food dish, as wide as he is long just munching away.....42

I have two, one is a basic orange tabby who is 15lbs., a pound kitty adopted at 6 mos. He's about 8. His big sister is a calico, who are always female. Some genetic thing. She can be a witch. She was here from 6 weeks on, another pound kitty, and tolerates no other creatures. Her like for humans is based on feeding. Otherwise she doesn't tolerate people or petting very much. She is truly anti-social.

I think the description of Bijoux's calico's behavior is what kept me from having a cat for such a long time. I had "cat-sat" friends' Siamese cats and the only time they would acknowledge my existence was when it was time for food. Like I said, I am a dog person, but Harry has proven himself to be the best of both worlds - though he still may get a puppy baby brother or sister someday.

Bronxgirl, my calico is the sweetest friendliest cat you'd ever get to meet. Of my 3 we call her the people cat. Her greatest wish is to simply snuggle up on my shoulder and bury her head in my hair. (I think I may have ruined her day when I cut it short though,) She's also the only one of the 3 that plays with cat toys.

I wasn't sure so I checked on this first. There is such a thing as a male calico. They are rare but it does happen occasionally. From what I could find out, these rare males are always sterile. Another neat thing about calicos is that they will sometimes dip their paw in the water dish and then lick the water off their paw. I saw Rascal (our calico) do this once and was amazed to find out this was a typical behavior of calicos, even though the calico is not a specific breed.

The first time I saw Harry use his paw to drink out his water dish I was floored!. Of course, now that I've"upgraded" his water dish to a model that runs filtered water continuously down a ramp into his bowl, he doesn't do this as often. Yes, he is happily spoiled rotten!

Pati said:

I wasn't sure so I checked on this first. There is such a thing as a male calico. They are rare but it does happen occasionally. From what I could find out, these rare males are always sterile. Another neat thing about calicos is that they will sometimes dip their paw in the water dish and then lick the water off their paw. I saw Rascal (our calico) do this once and was amazed to find out this was a typical behavior of calicos, even though the calico is not a specific breed.

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I knew there were male calicos, but I didn't know they were sterile. Male calicos can be quite expensive if you're looking for one. The last price I heard was $500 and that was 15 years ago.

I just checked again, lol, and I was wrong again

This site says that non-sterile male calicos are even rarer than male calicos.

Harry K-B update

Being the good little neurotic cat-mother that I am, I had to call the vet to check, and he's doing fine after his surgery. He can come home with me tonight. Hopefully he'll let me sleep, since last night he insisted on letting me know that he did NOT appreciate having to skip dinner in order to have his surgery this AM.

Bronxgirl,

Glad to hear that baby is ok. I don't find a phone call to the vet neurotic. I have taken a long lunch and gone out of my way to pick up my baby from the vet. Slyvie can be so neurotic that I hate to leave him in strange places. His last nervous episode left him with bald spots on his stomach and legs which are just now growing back in. He looked kind of strange for a while.

Harry is home, but the effects of the anesthesia haven't quite left him. He is staggering around like a drunk, but he is his "mother's son" - he is sitting by his food bowl and chowing down.(LOL)
Also, when the vet was doing the operation, apparently Harry was trying to grow a complete new set of mini claws in one spot. He cleaned out the debris, and Harry has to take antibiotics for a week. I've never tried to give a pill to a cat, so this will be an interesting experience for both of us.