[music_man]

my super furry himmy got a haircut today. it did not physically hurt him in any way as far as i know(i can't ask him). he just sat there and let the groomer snip away. i know they do not normally need that, but he is "unusually" furry. even for a himmy. he was literly walking on his fur. he had "tails" on his paws. i realised he had second thoughts about his "new doo" when we arrived back home. i told him "you look very handsome, and smell nice too!". the thing is, this really hurt his feelings. he is very depressed right now. i told him "i am so sorry, i was only trying to help you". honestly, i feel worse then he does. he is such a spunky little guy it hurts me to see him all sad.

i just felt like sharing this to get it off my chest,ok?

music_man

 

[Uncle Erik]

One of the best things I've done with my cats is give them a heated basket.

A few years back, I had a persnickety but adorable gray tabby (since lost to cancer

) who would never use any kind of bed or blanket I prepared for her.

That is until I made the heated basket. I came across some $10 heating pads at Target and it occurred to me that one of those might be accepted by the cat. So I bought one and spent another $10 or $15 on a wicker basket.

I put the heating pad in the bottom of the basket and folded up a well-worn bath towel on top. I cranked up the heat and let it warm up for about an hour. Then I took the kitty and headed for the basket. She sensed that this was yet another lame attempt at making a bed for her. She was apprehensive until her paws hit the warmth.

Then, she seemed happy. She stepped around, gave me an approving look, and settled in. And she stayed.

The heated basket proved more popular than I expected. It also kept cat hair off the furniture! It has something like a cat tractor beam that just pulls them in.

I run a heated basket for my two current cats and I've convinced others to try it. Heating pads make for happy cats and dramatically cut down on the hair issue. For $25 or so, it's completely worth it.

 

[John2e]

I picked up a heated bed for my cats and they love it. I got the medium dog size one so they can both fit as they are inseperable. Royal makes a very nice one

They sleep on me or my wife at night though....

 

[music_man]

i have a heated bed. i highly recommend you get a actual cat or doggy heated bed. using heating pads can be very dangerous for several reaons. i don't mean to be a jerk. i know you mean well uncle erik. just please trust me on this. i killed my poor squirrel with a heating pad. i am very sad about that. i did not know the dangers of them then.

please be safe than sorry. anyhow, a heated bed really does not cost more than a pad and wicker basket. plus some the heated baskets are very nice, warm and fuzzy for kitty.

music_man

 

[oqvist]

I do have two cats. A mother and son and they couldn´t be more different both in physical appearance and mind.

Mum is little and extremely lightweight... If you ever would manage to bath her. Which is of course impossible since she has quite a temperament there would be nothing left!

Her son is at least twice the size and 4x as heavy at least if not eight times. He is not over weight though he has some fat on his bones I suppose.. She is on the edge all the time. A bit crazy and excentric which just got more accentuated on older days. Sometimes she just flees when she sees me. If I go up stairs she is the total other way she pretty much jumps at you instead. She really hate the guts out of her son. Maybe she is trying to push him out and get independent and get more and more frustrated that he won´t leave

. On the other hand he surely jumps on her at times which lives a lot of fur flying when they go at eachother. Though with all her sneezing and acting she does deserve to get jumped once in a while

She got a sister too but we kept the brother since mom and sister is said not go along that well together. Dunno if that worked out...

But we have separated the upper stores for her and the lower floor for him. Works really well since she really seem to need a safe heaven... He is a beer drinking sport watcher couldn´t care less about her ways as long as he get his beer (food) and sports though. Hunting/sleeping of course.

He has just about no temper. As a youngster we once had a slightly accoustic 5 year old or something. I say accoustic because I don´t remember what exact letter combination he had but he carried the poor cat around on his belly for like 5 hours back and fourth and he couldn´t care less... His mom would never stand such abuse more then 30 seconds before there would be blood and children cry if they didn´t take her warning 15 seconds earlier seriously

He can´t even mjau right it just get peeps... I have never heard him sneeze ever! I am not sure he can sneeze either...

How he actually manage to catch birds and rats, snakes and whatever he manage to get his hands on with his pace is beyond me. She is fast like lightning and even at her current age extremely agile so that I can see better.

As for the previous discussion our cats can go out as they please. Except for training them to use cat sand of course there is just no need here at the countryside anyway. They hate water and our neighbours are free to water hose them if they do something they shouldn´t do. That is pretty much the ultimate punishment... Always fun cleaning the car and threatening them a bit. Haven´t done anyone any harm even though the mother got shot by an air gun one time by some kid.

Just some years ago they had pretty much an entire forest to rule over. As of late there has been more houses built around us sadly which meant at least 3 other cats starting to fight for the territory. Put a bit more pressure on them it seems. The son is not quite as cool as he used to be. Sometimes he comes home with battle scars... One really ugly where he got several bulges on his neck and head. But they are strong animals quickly recover.

As for affectionate... Yes and no they are in their own way. Cats except for dogs are still wild at heart I think. If you give them food and shelter and treat them well they will more take advantage of you then love you

... They are true individualists they put themselves first. Not like dogs that lead their masters every wink with little reflection.

As for birds killing yes I love birds and have done some bird watching. But I can´t be mad about cats doing what they are designed to. Think of the skill required. Mostly cats will have to do with the young or weak though so it´s not like they threaten the bird population that much!

I really don´t think those cats would have a better life in a department somewhere no matter how much love they would get or luxury items to kill time with. Okay with dogs they have since long lost their old instincts but cats should be allowed to have at least some minimum amount of freedom.

 

[music_man]

my kitty that got the haircut is feeling a little better thank the lord. he is licking all the loose fur though. i had to give him kitty malt to be safe.

oqvist, is english not your first langauge? it is very hard to understand what you were trying to say. it's ok though, i know english is not the only langauge(duh)!

music_man

 

[oqvist]

No it isn´t. Anything in particular you wonder about

 

[music_man]

no. i meant no offense. as i said, i understand this is a global community. it is just fine. i am glad you contribute here.

i reread it several times and i understand what you said pretty good. at 3am with liquer in me i had a hard time understanding it, sorry. my fault. honestly your english is really very good for it not being your first language.

the only thing i'd like to say to you is you shouldn't let the cat outside if he gets beat up by other cats. even if there is fresh air for him in the country. maybe when he gets older another animal(not even a cat) might kill him!

don't worry about the english though, it's fine

music_man

 

[oqvist]

It´s their life their choice. It doesn´t happen that often I think they learn pretty much when to dodge and when to take the fight. When it´s not clear who is stronger it gets a fight I suppose. I am not forcing them out they go and come in as they choose.

Heck they even go out when their is raining cats and docks and in -40 degree Celsius doesn´t stop them either. Luckilly they do have a lot of fur.

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif It´s their life their choice. It doesn´t happen that often I think they learn pretty much when to dodge and when to take the fight. When it´s not clear who is stronger it gets a fight I suppose. I am not forcing them out they go and come in as they choose. Heck they even go out when their is raining cats and docks and in -40 degree Celsius doesn´t stop them either. Luckilly they do have a lot of fur.

I have mixed feelings about this attitude.

On one hand, it lets your cats, who are very independant animals, learn for themselves and live as they once did and fend for themselves.

On the other hand, it is also potentially endangering their lives if they are getting in fights.

 

[oqvist]

Well I don´t think there is really any risk for the latter in this case. Cats are pretty much top predators over here since there are certainly no free running dogs around.

It was worse when we had rabbits.
First we got a pair but they only cared about eachother. Let them run along inside several times but they where trained SAS soldiers in that they would make Houdini proud as how to escape... Eating through the wire of their cages or just jumping through the top part even if you put stones on top! They really didn´t fancy their home much even though they could tolerate you.

One of them got hit by a car during one of their glorious escapes. The other rabbit actually stopped eating and died just days after... Obviously rabbits can feel sorrow and get depression too

Got another rabbit a smallish and really curious one. She was nice and all. Letting her run outside she just got braver and braver and less inclined to let herself be carried inside too. Scared half to death by crows some time when we had the cage outside. Never after that of course. Man are those nasty creatures... Managed to fend off both a cat attack and a dog attack but that didn´t seem to become her the day after. Even though she was pretty close to a heart attack each time and you had to spoon feed her with water.

Would perhaps let her spend all her day inside in her cage but she still wanted out and continue to dig the tunnels under our porch or eat our vegetables lol. Despite all drama she just made wider and wider circles and became more and more a nightmare to catch her for the night. She even refused to answer our calls in the end... Obviously didn´t like the life in captivity either. Of course something got her in the end.
But well that is a natural death for most rabbits I presume even though it ain´t fun.

 

[music_man]

oqvist, not for a domestic pet! are they your pets or wild animals? if they are pets then you should be more responsible by not subjecting them to "wild" issues!

my bunny is kept inside as are all my other pets. she does not live in a cage. she can go anywhere she wants in the home and does no harm to herself or anything material. she uses the litterbox that the cats use. everyone is friends. you might want to follow my example. you are being very unkind in my opinion. a pet gets much different treatment than a wild animal imo!

ultimately you will do as you please so we do not have to have an argument about this,ok?

edit: the barn animals are not kept inside lol. they are however heavily protected with fencing and such(and of course a barn). i wouldn't subject anyone i love to being hurt or attacked in anyway.


music_man

 

[oqvist]

If you have a kid would you let him live a life for you or for himself. Parents can be overprotecting I am trying hard not to.

In your environment you maybe have to protect them harder but here as mentioned apart from a cat fight here and there which seldom kills anyone no real danger. I have never experienced or heard of cats killing other cats they generally just come home with bruised ears or scars around the neck at worst. Not saying it happen often the mom is over 15 years now and seems to never been in a fight. Being shot one time by some ass hole but that was a one time deal thankfully. At younger age you often had to climb very high trees to get her down though lol. Her son has been in a few fights that left physical scars in his 10 years or so. Real danger is cars but they are luckily both very aware of that.

But the way I see it I love them to much to keep them 110 % safe but with a lesser life.
As mentioned nothing stops them from being inside 24/7.

 

[Necrolic]

Quote:

Originally Posted by oqvist /img/forum/go_quote.gif If you have a kid would you let him live a life for you or for himself. Parents can be overprotecting I am trying hard not to. In your environment you maybe have to protect them harder but here as mentioned apart from a cat fight here and there which seldom kills anyone no real danger. I have never experienced or heard of cats killing other cats they generally just come home with bruised ears or scars around the neck at worst. Not saying it happen often the mom is over 15 years now and seems to never been in a fight. Being shot one time by some ass hole but that was a one time deal thankfully. At younger age you often had to climb very high trees to get her down though lol. Her son has been in a few fights that left physical scars in his 10 years or so. Real danger is cars but they are luckily both very aware of that. But the way I see it I love them to much to keep them 110 % safe but with a lesser life. As mentioned nothing stops them from being inside 24/7.

Sure I'd let my kids live their life, to an extent, but I wouldn't just let them do whatever the hell they feel like. If I lived in a high crime neighborhood, or they were getting beat up at school, I'd be much more careful about what I allowed them to do, or switch them to another school.

I wouldn't just let them keep going out and injuring themselves. I'm all for letting cats do their own thing, but to an extent. When the potential of them being injured is involved, it's better to be safe than sorry.

 

[Moebius]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Uncle Erik /img/forum/go_quote.gif One of the best things I've done with my cats is give them a heated basket.

My cats prefer a natural heated surface - your lap. Or your chest, or your feet, or any other body part that presents a roughly horizontal surface.

Around here, "I have a cat on me" is a valid excuse to ask someone else to do something for you.