Cats, Cats, Cats.

I guess I beat Lise to the punch. I just read a quote by Betty White, the actress,
"I don't like people, I like animals!!!!!

My cat is named Pansy. She is a black and white short hair, feral. I got her when she couldn't even focus her eyes. She was taken from her mother by a bunch of neighborhood kids way too early. I bottle fed her until she started to like dry food.
She is 7 year old, goes for walks with me up the street and also in the forrest around my mountain cabin. She has a language. She has words for "brush me", "take me for a walk", "open the door" and "turn on the faucet so I can drink water." What a great joy she is!

deweyboy, you got in just before me! I said on another thread that I was going to start a cat thread - it's long been missing from these forums. After all, we need to get our priorities straight.

I have five cats - well, six if you count my partner's cat, who's here most of the time.

Gizmo is a 14 year old Colourpoint Persian. I've had him since he was a kitten. He's getting a bit senile now, but still has the loudest purr inthe world.

Macavity (Cavi) is a 12 year old, one-eyed ginger cat, who I adopted from a rescue centre when he was 4 months old. He was supposed to be a friend for Gizmo, but that's never worked out.

Magnus, my Maine Coon, will be 4 next month. He's huge, but oh, such a scaredy-cat. He spends 99% of his time being a scruffy, rabbit-catching country cat, and the other 1% being a well-groomed show cat. He's a show-off, so he enjoys cat shows, and does quite well.

Aslan is nearly 2, pale ginger, massive, longhaired, and looks like the lion he's named after. But what a wimp! He's finally allowed my partner David to stroke him, after a year, but runs and hides from anyone else except me.

And baby Xena is a year old Maine Coon, the only girl, tortie and white and very pretty. She's a real girlie girl, goes out and comes in 5 minutes later complaining that her paws got a bit wet! I tried showing her, and she has a few rosettes, but really doesn't like it much so we've stopped for now.

And I nearly forgot, there's Cookie, David's cat. She's about 14, huge and white and furry, very beautiful and doesn't she know it! She's always been an only cat, and getting her used to my 5 is a slow process.

More later if I haven't bored you all already. I can't be bothered to come on here often to discuss Buddhism, but when it comes to cats...well, that's different...

Jimyo, now we are beginning to get somewhere. Do you find that the ginger cats are some hqw different? I had a ginger cat named Dewey who was just the best fellow you'd ever want to meet
By the way, my name is John, I just don't know how to change it on the sign in, but Deweyboy always makes me feel good. I just couldn't help myself with these kitty emoticons

Jimyo, I LOVE YOUR CATS' NAMES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!John

Hey Jimyo

A bit of a co incidence. I have a rescued ragdoll named Xena thats tortie & white and is almost universally considered the prettiest cat anyone has seen. Unfortunately the excess of pretty genes arived at the expense the smart genes. Gravity and inertia are still mysterious forces to her. Her only survival skill is her size (she's really big boned) to the point that all other felines just plop down in her vacinity and have yet to discover that her fighting skills are right up there with her fence navigation skills (meaning non existent). Imagine having a cat that can be corraled by a 5 ft wooden fence in the back yard and looks at the other cats who sail over it like they are magical.
I love the fact that you have a rabbit chasing country maine coon show cat. The Maine Coon show cats that I've seen have their own personal staff for doing that.

Cheers.

John, I should have realised that deweyboy was named after Dewey the library cat...or Dewey your cat, or both. I just didn't think! My two ginger cats are both so different that it's hard to say - Cavi is extravert and superfriendly and top of the pecking order, while Aslan is a scaredy cat who worries constantly in case he's doing something wrong.

Howard, you mean the world has TWO tortie and white Xenas!!!!! I wouldn't have thought there was room. Mind you, when it comes to brains, there's no resemblance. My Xena is about the most intelligent cat I've ever met. She reads minds too. That's why I had to stop showing her; I only had to think about giving her a bath, and she'd be gone. She somehow learned to open the cat door the wrong way when it was on "in only" and I had to buy a new style of door, which has got her foxed...so far. A Mensa level cat, that one. Beautiful AND bright.

Now you're talking! Cats! I have only one cat, her name is Ivy. She was an SPCA kitten whose parents were feral. She was really active when we brought her home; she climbed everything!
She climbed the curtains and ran along the top of the curtain rail. She climbed my jeans while I was tidying up the kitchen, little claws poking through, making me go ouch, ouch, ouch! Truth be known it was more of a scratchy, itch and not at all painful since she was a kitten and her claws weren't very long yet. This is how she got her name, "Ivy"; she climbed everything in sight.

On day she climbed the screen door in the kitchen from the outside. She wanted to come in so she shook her body while she hung on the outside of thse screen door. This became her way of saying, "I want inside the house!" It made quite the racket when she did this. She's a black and white short-haired domestic cat; she looks funny hanging on the screen door, with her white furry belly pressed against the screen as she shakes it for all it's worth.

When she wants something she'll meow non-stop, like a car alarm except I can't shut her off.
If I neglect to feed her she will climb up on me, meow a few times and if I don't respond, she'll give me a little bite on the nose! ( Not a bad bite or this kitty would be back at the SPCA.)

I have more funny stories about her; she's a comical cat and 12 yrs. old now. She still acts like a kitten. Bye, bows, Claire

Johnny, Gracie, Sammy, Pearl and Simpkin live at my house. (We lost Crickett to a cougar last year.) I have severe allergies so take antihistamines and allergy shots because the cats...live at my house. They follow Yogi the diabetic dog all over the farm in a row of tails, lounge together belly-up around the wood stove in winter and fight each other for entertainment. The cost of worming the whole pack is monstrous. They are cretinous wretches and they rule my life with zero gratitude, endless demands and occasionally great displays of affection. Usually at mealtime. The horses chase them, which they deserve. I chase them myself now and then.

My friend, on the other hand, has an orange cat which lives in the chicken house and guards the hens, even rounding them up to go into the coop at night. I thought she was exaggerating but witnessed the process one night and am soooo jealous. Perhaps I could apprentice mine to "Chicken Cat"? Fat chance.

Pictures, where are the pictures?

When I get home from work I'll put up a short instruction on how to attach pics to posts, unless any other admins are online at the moment and willing to jump in? I can't stay on long, sorry, will return soon, L

p.s. I have seen a picture of Howard's Xena and she is just extremely cute and fluffy-looking. (Howard, do you still have the link to that Youtube video of someone's kitty riding a Roomba?)

Updated: Howard, I hope it's okay with you that I post Xena's pic -- she's my test picture, using Mark's instructions below (thanks Mark!)

What lise is talking about is granny cam videos showing cats riding around on the robotic vaccum cleaners when no one is home. Most of these videos are now staged but still cute. The most popular is of a cat using the roomba as a vehicle to intimidate the family pit bull although putting a pit bull in a dress and calling him Rosy pretty much levels out the playing field.

If you google "roomba cat" you get a feel for it.

My cat used to stalk and leap over the Roomba while raking her claws across the top of it like a velocerapter. Now she just lets it's brushes work up and down her back while she's laying prone on the floor.

Oh, I have lots of pictures of my cats! Tell me how to post 'em, and you'll never get me off these forums! But keep it simple, techie I am not.

Sorry for the delay, all, I'm still looking at this but haven't got it to where the picture appears as an image within the post, instead of being just an attachment.

Updated to say, I've removed the part about attaching a file -- I don't think I wrote it correctly. Mark has provided instructions below, for getting your picture image to appear in the post.

Well, I wasn't successful with the upload, but am happy to read and share cat stories! Ours is a bit overweight, she came from a home where her person abandoned her to move in with his fiancee--so she found her comfort in her food. She is so appreciative of our love. She is black and auburn with a gorgeous white belly, and when she decides we are too engrossed in our books, she lies on her back, waiting for a belly rub. A favorite routine plays out each morning: she pops up on the back of my chair when I bring my coffee and muffin into the living room. We kiss and I rub my hair into her hair before she lets me settle in with the paper. She loves the water from the glass on the altar, which she can hop to from my chair. It's great to see a living Buddha next to the stone Buddha!
She hates being picked up. Anyone have ideas about that? It makes going to the vet quite a project. Plus, we miss the companionship: our previous cat loved curling up on us.
I continuously marvel at how well she expresses herself, despite our language gap. Sometimes I think she catches my thoughts--our previous cat definately did. This one I think sniffs out our intention. When she is on the back of the chair, she sniffs my face as I tell her 'I love you'--and then gives me a kiss. I think that is how she discerns sincerity. Her name is Charlize, but she is Sweet Pea to me.

It is quite easy, if a bit fiddly to put up a pic like the one below. The instructions are underneath the pic.



Instructions
1. Note where you image is.
2. Goto the reply box in the thread that you want to post in and click on the 'Host an image', , button above the box (6th from left).
3. In the pop up window use the browse button to browse to and select your image then click the 'Host it' button in the popup window.
4. In the new pop up window that opens copy, by clicking the copy button, for the bottom 'Image url :' box which has the address of where your image is being hosted.
5. Close the popup box and click the 'Image', , button above the reply box (7th from left) and paste in the address from 4 by clicking in the box and hold the [Shift] key down and press the [Insert] key. Now click the 'OK' button to close the popup and Voila! the image should appear in the reply box.

After you have typed in what you want you can reposition the image by clicking on it and then dragging it to the location you prefer.

NB Some pictures can be very memory greedy and all pictures should be shrunk and saved at the lowest reasonable quality before being put up. This can be done in most image manipulation programs or very simply using a site such as: http://www.shrinkpictures.com/. This image was shrunk from 1.78MB to 94.6KB, so about down to about a twentieth of its original size.

well done, thanks Mark!

I love everybody's cat-tales, I will post my own when I have a bit more time. But where to start, or finish -- my little four-paws darlings are so cute, it will take years to describe how smart and wonderful they are. Or choose the pictures that show you --

Sophia--I have had an experience with a cat that was remarkably similar to Charlize in her personality and behavior patterns.

When I took time off from active teaching as a monk in 1987, to apply for and subsequently attend graduate school in architecture, I was invited by a long time mentor-architecture professor and his wife, to build one of my tiny, portable, solar houses on their property.

Their cat, Zelda, hated to be picked up, and was known for never sitting on anyone's lap. She had very strict parameters for seeking and accepting affection. She would allow petting sometimes; but she especially liked to be petted while eating.

As Zelda and I got to know each other, and during visits to the main house for social events, and when I was sitting on the floor (during visits), and when she came over to say hello, I would occassionally pick her up, set her down on my lap, pet her briefly, and let go.

At first she would step off right away. After some months of doing this, she would linger for a while. I think that introducing her to this new experience at floor level was important because she was just large enough, mature enough, and uncertain enough in her movement, that heights above 18 inches or so, per leap, seemed to be somewhat disconcerting for her.

When her folks went on extended vacations I would (of course) feed her daily in the main house. At one point, during one protracted vacation, she came out one evening to my hermitage, walked inside, and jumped onto my lap (while I was sitting on a chair)--and sat for a good hour without moving. I was blown away. I mean, I was really blown away! Although this became a more common event over time, it still remained an exception rather than a new norm!

This was a major learning experience for me. Cats are the ultimate teachers of wisdom! I have no idea if any of this might pertain to Charlize, but--she will let you know!!!

Mark, what a superb photo...the still figure gives it special atmosphere.
O.

I tried to post pics earlier - and failed. I'll try using Mark's instructions when I have time. However, right now I'm celebrating because Magnus-the-Maine-Coon came home in the middle of the night...after being gone since early Wednesday morning! We spent yesterday evening combing the fields and woods calling him, and I thought I'd have to spend today putting up 'lost cat' posters. He is grounded today...but I'm so relieved to see him! When I move house - probably next year if I can sell this place - I'm going to have a catproof garden; I can't cope with this. It's pretty safe here, but you never know, and I worry about them.

Anyway what other Maine Coon goes to a cat show on Sunday having been groomed to within an inch of his life, comes in soaked to the skin on Monday, recovers on Tuesday, then takes off for two days and an overnight stop-out? I think Magnus enjoys his varied life. Me..I just need to catch up on my sleep now.

Jimyo, that's wonderful that he came home, what a fright that is, to have them go missing. It's the worst feeling in the world, I know, really nerve-wracking until they come home. I know all the arguments, pro & con, for keeping cats inside vs. letting them be outdoors sometimes. We let ours out and try to be careful, as I'm sure you do too, and we just want them to have an enriched life, a varied life, as you put it.

Do you suppose Magnus needed to get back in touch with his inner wild self, perhaps re-assert his masculinity or something? Unless maybe he likes to be groomed and fluffed, and mix among the other handsome specimens? I guess it depends on how he views himself -- his core identity.

Very glad all worked out!

Lise, Magnus 'gets in touch with his inner wild self' almost all the time, except for about 3-4 shows a year. He's that sort of cat - but he seems to enjoy shows too. He started hating it and hissing at judges, so I gave him a year's break, then tried again and he seemed to think it was fun and exciting. But he's always been a wanderer - last year he stayed out once for three days! But that was in summer. Last night was windy and wet, and Magnus hates the cold...or I thought he did. That's why I was really worried.

I too know all the pros and cons of in versus out, and I'd never keep him in completely, but I'm hoping a large fenced garden might be a good compromise, especially in a new place where he won't have any memories of wandering far and wide. That's the plan, anyway. My other four cats hardly go beyond the garden anyway, and only stay out a couple of hours; it's just Magnus who gives me all this worry.

I know of people who put those "child-finder" devices on the cat's collar, which helps quite a bit when you're walking around looking for them. As long as they're within range you can pick up a signal indicating the direction you should go, to find them. Kitty has to work harder to stay hidden!

I wouldn't want to risk putting a collar on a cat like Magnus. He could so easily get it caught on something...I've even heard of a cat with a collar getting stuck down a rabbit hole. Quick release collars don't always work in such cases. When they find a way to use a device like this in conjunction with a cat's microchip, and they will someday....

My cat Ivy refuses to wear a collar; every break away collar I put on her, she'd get out of like Houdini! Once I tried to put her in a harness with a leash, with the thought of taking her for a walk and she even got out of it. So much for that idea. I've heard some cats, particularly Siamese cats, will walk on a leash. Fortunately Ivy doesn't wander beyond our deck and yard; she's a timid cat, doesn't socialize with other cats at all. She tolerates our dog, Skylar, a Pembroke Welsh Corgi who is a year younger than her. My dog is another whole topic!
I find animals help me feel grounded in a good way, balanced. Bye, Claire

:-) For lovers of cats and classical music, here's Gioachino Rossini's Duet for Two Cats (no translation from the Italian will be necessary ;-)...

Thank you Anne. That's one of my favourite pieces of music - well, it would be, wouldn't it? I keep trying to find someone to sing it with me; any sopranos around here?