Need some cat advice.

homeowner

Drano wrote: Thanks for all the answers. I'm feeling a lot more on top of this.

Just to be clear, if I do get a cat, there ain't no way it's going outside in the city. Under certain circumstances it can work in a rural setting (not too close to or too far from town, large dog buddy/bodyguard and so on) but I don't know how people swing it here - I see way too many "Lost Cat" signs.

Chet never got the hang of being a full-time indoor cat, though. Attempted "prison breaks" were common and he was quick right up until the day he, um, gave up the ghost. Hey, here's a question - do cats that have been raised as indoor cats accept it, or do they always want to get outside?

I wrote about this on another thread, but when I was growing up in Bed-Stuy we had a cat that always wanted to get out. Pops finally went out an bought a leash. We'd put the cat on the leash and put her in the backyard where she would sun herself and generally behave like the Queen. After a while we added a length of clothsline to the leash so she had the full run of the yard and could do things like chase butterflies and beetles.

We used to try and walk her, but the cars and activity of the street freaked her out. She would however hang out in the front yard as well although it was never as interesting to her. Once we got her socialized she'd go to the back door and scratch if she wanted to go out, and the trying to climb out of the window and run out the front door ceased.

brooklyn dodger

apollonia666 wrote: [quote=Flexichick]My girl cat flushed the toilet once and scared herself. She got all poofy and ran away

I keep the lid down on my toilet to keep my cats from drinking out of it, which has resulted in their often sitting on it or using it as a launching pad to jump up onto the sink. Once I forgot to put the lid back down before getting into the shower. Good thing I have a clear shower curtain, because I got a hell of a show when Neely came tearing into the bathroom and went to bounce off the seat. She landed headfirst in the toilet, then flew out of the room howling and shaking water everywhere, while I almost fell down in the shower because I was laughing so hard.

For the next three days she gave the toilet wide berth whenever she came into the bathroom, and sometimes I'd find her sitting in front of it just GLARING.

Ha! Nice visual

Stella loves to follow me everywhere and often waits on either the bathmat or the toilet if I'm in the shower. One day I was taking a bath and she was walking on the edge and of course fell right in.

I got a hell of a scratch, but she got pissed off. I had to blow dry her (which she used to like, but now ....eh, not so much.

brooklynpotter

Flexichick wrote:

Stella loves to follow me everywhere and often waits on either the bathmat or the toilet if I'm in the shower. One day I was taking a bath and she was walking on the edge and of course fell right in.

I got a hell of a scratch, but she got pissed off. I had to blow dry her (which she used to like, but now ....eh, not so much.

OMG, same thing happened with harriet... she always used to sit on the edge of the tub while i was taking a bath... not since that day. and there was blood EVERYWHERE.

and there's no keeping the lid down in this house, the queen will only drink from the toilet. (in fact, for a few weeks last fall she started drinking out of bowls and it flipped me out so much i took her to the vet, sure there was something wrong with her...)

findcate

this is too funny. a special toilet seat designed to toilet train cats. Hmmm, my cat is 12 years old, i think she's a little above putting up with this kind of shenanigans...

http://www.citikitty.com/how_it_works.htm

flexichick & brooklynpotter, clearly it's YOUR fault that she fell in

cabaki

brooklynpotter wrote: (but unlike that you tube video, they don't flush.)

Here's another one for you (this cat DOES flush, in fact doesnt know how to stop!):

boygabriel

Flexichick wrote:
Stella loves to follow me everywhere and often waits on either the bathmat or the toilet if I'm in the shower.

Pepper used to follow my girlfriend around the apt literally from room to room (she had Pepper since she was a kitten). Then the vet told us that means she might be lonely. So we got her a friend, and now she's as happy as ever but she doesn't follow my girlfriend around anymore. She's still affectionate, but she's a little more independent now.

senioradvocate

Stella just likes as much attention as she can get....all the time.

When I come home she literally throws herself down on the floor at my feet and puts her belly in the air.

She has a companion cat already....and me....she still wants more!

stacey

Flexichick wrote: When I come home she literally throws herself down on the floor at my feet and puts her belly in the air.

One of our cats does the same thing and my son calls it his "speed bump move"

Drano - have you decided to adopt a cat yet?

boygabriel

stacey wrote: One of our cats does the same thing and my son calls it his "speed bump move"

We call it 'flopping', or 'floppa doppa'

drano

stacey wrote: [quote=Flexichick]When I come home she literally throws herself down on the floor at my feet and puts her belly in the air.

One of our cats does the same thing and my son calls it his "speed bump move"

Drano - have you decided to adopt a cat yet?

Yes, it's decided in favor. We're just working out the how and the when.

erikka

Drano wrote: [quote=stacey][quote=Flexichick]When I come home she literally throws herself down on the floor at my feet and puts her belly in the air.

One of our cats does the same thing and my son calls it his "speed bump move"

Drano - have you decided to adopt a cat yet?

Yes, it's decided in favor. We're just working out the how and the when.

I WANT PICTURES!

Hell, I want kitty pics from ALL of you!

mine, now too fat for her old spot on the couch: http://static.flickr.com/64/200497707_dc93a73314.jpg?v=0
(sorry, can't flikr at work, dunno if that link is functional)

stacey

erikka wrote: mine, now too fat for her old spot on the couch: http://static.flickr.com/64/200497707_dc93a73314.jpg?v=0
(sorry, can't flikr at work, dunno if that link is functional)

She's adorable - plus she matches the furniture

YAY!!! Drano - Let us know when you get your new bundle of joy
(I hope you will consider adopting from Slope Street Cats

whyfi

erikka wrote:
I WANT PICTURES!

Hell, I want kitty pics from ALL of you!

You just don't know what kind of trouble you're askin' for...

furrygreyboy

WhyFi - they are gorgeous.... trying to count them... do you have 5 cats???!

8thandprez

I posted this in the Lounge also, but here are my two monsters:

Sumi (short for Katsumi)
5 yrs old, female, terror on paws




Quee (derived from Parker)
2 yrs old, male, prone to nursing on shoulders and sitting like a human

whyfi

FurryGreyBOy wrote: WhyFi - they are gorgeous.... trying to count them... do you have 5 cats???!

Thanks goodness, no. Last year, about this time, my wife and I rescued a stray... she turned out to be a pregnant stray, and the litter was born in our bathroom. The runt died, but the other four were very healthy - we kept one (the one featured in many of the pics) and adopted out the other three and the mom (the all black one in the middle pic).

The tuxedo with the white hourglass on his nose is our oldest at about 3 years.

The little tortie unfortunately passed a little less than a year ago.