Cats. What to do wit them

[MaryB]

Ollie does love bites... he got me on the nose earlier! He is 28 inches long stretched out and 29 pounds and 1 1/2 years old so not full grown yet! Never hard, never breaks skin... his way of saying I love you. He will grab my hand with his mouth and pull it toward him for an ear rub too.

And Tigger(RIP) was 30 pounds at his prime, and was know to attack people he didn't like. Guy crashed a party I was having. He was sloppy drunk being a problem so I asked him to leave. He pushed me and all I saw was a blur of fur around his legs. Shredded his pants and skin, over 20 stitches and an ambulance ride. Then he was arrested for assault by the cops. I didn't press charges but he had punched someone else(female friend of mine) and she wanted him to pay for the black eye. Tigger was super protective of me, and he was a part of me. I still have a hole in my heart from his passing. He also acted more like a dog than a cat! Played fetch, knew some commands to sit, lay down, roll over(his favorite because he knew it meant a belly rub)... met me at the door when I got home...

My point was, given their disposition, if they were able to grow to the stature of a mountain lion, cheetah, lion, etc., they would stalk and kill humans. Have you ever been petting a housecat nicely and have it suddenly, without provocation, turn around and bite you? Hmmmm . . . .

You can make light of it if you wish, as I do not think housecats are going to attain such dimensions anytime soon.

Americans are afraid of Pit Bulls. Hah! Be thankful housecats can't grow to 85 lbs.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Streetwalker, one pretty good answer to keep your tools where you want them is to put them in tool drawers, shoe boxes, zippered pouches, or the like, those keep inquisitive paws out. Bored cats can knock everything down just to entertain themselves.

[Mr_Sheesh]

MaryB, my older kitty, Francine, has a little trill she uses when it's time for the royal belly to get rubs. They find a way that works She also tends to gently gnaw on my thumb's joint, not quite sure what that's about.

[KMac]

Ollie does love bites... he got me on the nose earlier! He is 28 inches long stretched out and 29 pounds and 1 1/2 years old so not full grown yet! Never hard, never breaks skin... his way of saying I love you. He will grab my hand with his mouth and pull it toward him for an ear rub too.

And Tigger(RIP) was 30 pounds at his prime, and was know to attack people he didn't like. Guy crashed a party I was having. He was sloppy drunk being a problem so I asked him to leave. He pushed me and all I saw was a blur of fur around his legs. Shredded his pants and skin, over 20 stitches and an ambulance ride. Then he was arrested for assault by the cops. I didn't press charges but he had punched someone else(female friend of mine) and she wanted him to pay for the black eye. Tigger was super protective of me, and he was a part of me. I still have a hole in my heart from his passing. He also acted more like a dog than a cat! Played fetch, knew some commands to sit, lay down, roll over(his favorite because he knew it meant a belly rub)... met me at the door when I got home...

I know what you mean when you say you have a cat that acts like a dog. I was never a cat person but my wife brought home a kitten about 5 years ago for Christmas because my youngest son was begging for one. We are a dog family with a Chocolate Lab and a Golden Retriever when she brought the cat home. My son named him Jonesy and he was raised with the dogs. He thinks he is dog. Whenever we take him to the vet he runs up happily to any dog that comes in and hisses at the cats. I got a Red Heeler puppy last winter and Jonesy and Ruby the Heeler play all time. Red Heelers are a handful to say the least but Jonesy plays rough with Ruby all the time and gives as much as he takes. My wife laughs at me all the time and says it is funny that a dog guy has a cat. But I love my cat and wouldn't take for him.

[Driver man]

I used to be a dog person but my cat wont let me get one now.

[richhodg66]

Wife was driving home the other night and saw a half grown black cat lying curled up in the middle of the road. Of course, she turned around to check on it and it was friendly and meowed. A sheriffs deputy saw her turn around and stopped to check and took the little guy to the county shelter. She couldn't stop worrying about him so we went by there yesterday to check on him and he's still there. They seem to have an idea who the owner is, cat might have been micro chipped. While I was there, I walked into the cat colony room where the friendly ones can socialize with each other and have free run of the room. Two or three very affectionate three or four month old kittens mobbed me to be petted. We left without getting another cat, but I figured we were bound to. Might still end up with one, the lady said they periodically will get ones in that are at least half feral and can't really be adopted out as anything but barn cats and I could use an outdoor cat or two here. They'd at least get shots and fed regularly, but likely wouldn't live to be very old out here.

I love cats, but we have three indoor ones now, really don't need another one.

[Grmps]

Was it Larry or Jeff that said he loves cats and has 2 of them,...........
stuffed and mounted one on each side of his fireplace.

[AllanD]

I have two house cats. Both are technically "rescued cats" . what they were rescued from is becoming fur-lined Clydesdale Hoof prints,
because these two cats have No talent for staying out from under foot.

Both of these two cats now just over 2 years old have chosen me as their human much to my girlfriend's Dismay.
The Grey tiger Ignores her and the yellow tiger hisses at her if she tries to touch him, but she opens all the cat food cans.

I've had cats or at least A cat all my life but other than the first one all of them were "self-Domesticated strays that Volunteered to be "my cat"
OR is it that they "caught their very own Human"?

Sitting here at my computer desk The yellow cat is asleep on top of the Cable Box and the Grey cat is asleep on the window sill behind me.

If I stand up and walk out of the room, they will both Race me to the bedroom. Usually the Yellow cat sleeps by my feet the Grey one sleeps on my pillow
But if it is particularly cold the yellow one will crawl under the covers to warm up.

[Mr_Sheesh]

Hmmm, you could try having her set treats out for them, so her scent is on the treats (That's how I got the younger kitty to be OK with strangers coming over, the ones who come over most often she will let rub her tummy or pet her, far better than screaming and running which was where she started off at.) Also maybe playing with them, with some good cat toy? If she is associated with some GOOD things it might offset their previous experiences (Maybe some woman was abusive to them?)

A cat has you, not the other way around, pretty sure :P

Torti calico Older kitty often sleeps ON me or right in front of me (she doesn't want constant pets but frequent at least, and doesn't mind constantly touching me.) Calico Younger one often asks to be let in under the blanket when I'm in bed, and will let herself in if I'm asleep or gone (so I keep finding a warm calico LUMP under the blanket.) One day I was away & a family member had traded me doing some laundry for some computer work, they got the younger kitty outside (picked up the blankets and balled them up) before realising they'd caught a kitty - LOL - Both were surprised.

Meal times - They race me to the kitchen, since I trained them to put paws up on the catbinets to ask for food they don't meow (I was tired of getting "Kitty Committee" yelled at so I tried something new, worked out nicely!) Since the younger one's always under the covers the older one will crawl in if she is cold. They're pretty smart on getting what they want.

Seen the younger one steal a towel off some computer gear, wrap it around themselves, and ball the excess underfoot then walk in a circle to make it ball up and they ended up, as they wanted, swaddled up in that towel. Pretty sneaky and smart that

[dg31872]

We have barn cats. I am a dog person, but cats are a necessity on the farm. We give them a warm dry place and feed.
If you have cats, you don't have mice, no mice equals less snakes.
I would rather step on a cat in the dark than a copperhead or rattler.

[firefly1957]

If they are friendly and do not cause a problem i will leave them alone i have sent the dog after them he likes cats but also likes to run after them . Had a big orange cat hanging around one morning it attacked Wally (our Dog 32 pound corgi mix) they were both pretty bloodied up Wally came back to the house looking at him i knew by the bites and scratches a cat got him. I loaded the S&W model 17 up with hollow points and told him to take me to the cat and he did , at which time the cat charged me! It took 4 hits to turn the attack next 2 shots ended the vermin . Cats do a terrible amount of damage out here in the wild and they also are often food for hawks owls eagles and coyotes I witnessed one two years ago hot on a rabbit across the front yard 30 yards behind the rabbit was a coyote running out i saw a second coyote get in front and grab it buy the neck while the first coyote coming from behind grabbed it's belly and gutted it alive! I agree with the comment above anyone dumps a cat or dog should be tried for animal cruelty! The fools that left the cat that attacked my dog cost me a $150 by leaving it when they got evicted from a mile down the road . Now i have two people up the road have a number of "outside cats" They say they vanish regularly i have told them how they die badly but they keep getting more and let them get ate!
As far as a cat freezing i doubt it if they are healthy.

[10-x]

Our Grey would make short work of any cat, so, we have a ferral yellow one that competes with the coons for the cat food I put out. Cat come before the coons so it usually gets to eat.The cat is ok with me as its killing the moles in the yard. Friends have cats that are really nice. OTOH, daughter has a cat that may meet its end next time Im up there. This spring was watching grandaughters, cat has been declawed but goes outside in daylight. Owls and such means it has to come in at dusk. Went to get cat, picked it up to bring in house, it stated growling and hissing, didnt want to come in. Told it to be quiet, petting it, " That darn cat "bit me on both hands. Ended up having to go to MD.

[rondog]

Taco cat spelled backwards is taco cat. Just sayin'.....

[TAC14]

Cats and Griz bears or both neat. The former does not belong running loose outside, the latter does not belong in the house.

Feral cats are the worst killers of birds and small game that exist.

We own a nice house cat who stays inside. Any I see outside get the suppressed 22 treatment.

[Dave W.]

Anyone that claims they are not a cat person , just hasn't had one cooked right yet. lol

Reminds me of a joke my mother used to tell about a fellow that ate at a Chinese restaurant. After the meal he complemented the chef and and asked what type of meat was in the dish. The chef replied "rabbit, catch out back, goes meow, meow".

[shaper]

With 74 reply's to my post, it is obvious people have feelings for cats. Some positive and some negative view points. So I decided to give a update on the cat that selected me to live with. My granddaughter called her Patches because she has 4 tan and grey patches of color on the top of her white body. I took her to the vet and got her shots. The vet said she had already been fixed. I brought her in the house because it was going to be very cold at night. My indoor dog, Stubby, wanted to play with her so she hid under the couch for about 24 hours. Stubby couldn't help it he was a mix hound breed and weighs 101 pounds.
I finally got her into the barn, which she has now claimed as her own. She will now come to me when I call her name but will hide from anyone else. When I am working in the barn she will stay perched on a old car chair and watch me all day. Got to thinking yesterday, haven't seen or heard any rodents lately. So I would say she is earning her keep and can stay as long as she wants.

[richhodg66]

Sounds like you have a good relationship going. Good on you for taking her in.

[ascast]

I've not read all, but get drop off every 2 or 3 years. Last was a dog, a Catahoula Leopard Dog. Wonderfully behaved. I'm guessing the car I saw stop and slam doors was a Colgate student who got a nice dog foe HS graduation, then found they could not have it on campus. My sister keeps her as I have a 99 year old in the house and a rambunctious pup could be a real health risk. As for cats, they comer and go, semi feral. I put out food at time, but they love the compost pile. My shop/barn has sunny windows and warm places to hide. I don't have a mouse problem either. They also keep the red squirrels in manageable numbers.
Cats cost me nothing, and they will on occasion freeze to death if without any shelter.

[tunnug]

A few years back I was working the back yard and I happened to look over my wall into the alley, there laid a cat that had apparently been ran over and crawled there to die.
I grabbed a shovel and proceeded to dig a hole and buried him, my wife saw me walk back with a shovel and asked what I was doing, burying a dead cat I said, she innocently asked "why did you bury a dead cat"? I answered "cause a live one won't stay in the hole", she didn't think it was funny since she knows I'm a dog person.

[jonp]

I know exactly what to do with them although the last time I posted a comment on this subject it got pulled down and I got a warning about all the complaints.