What is it about, Cats ?

[moi621 (imported)]

Feral Orange Kitty has taken to occupying the warmth of my front walk way. Lately, I have been coaxing a beautiful orange, tan, squirrel to come by for food in the mid afternoon. The two have seen each other before.

Today, the Orange Kitty who lives by the hunt and hand outs, was in relaxed position on the front walk way. And squirrelie was scouting food and seemingly flirting with OK and getting to close for what I would guess is comfort. But, they were cool It was a fun scene to watch. OK never changed from the relaxed posture.

It seems between species they can communicate, "we be cool".

Moi

[Riverwind (imported)]

How true, Rupert (my cat) and Angelo and Nelly (the two dogs) understand each other.

The dogs go chase the cat, the cat turns raises himself up on his hind legs, raises his right paw in the air, claws out ready to strike, then when the dog gets close enough slaps them about 5 or 6 times in a split second with the left paw with claws out that they were not looking at. (they did not know he was a lefty) Yes, he is the boss, the Alpha, they belong to his pride, he allows them to drink from their water bowl, and will even share his cat bed with the little one.

And yes, they get along and even I might go so far as to say Love each other sort of.

As for squirrels, birds, moles, mice, or other small critters, they are head cheese and a warm meal, (head cheese, crunchy on the outside with a chewy center).

Still wish he would have gotten that wild turkey, sigh.

River

[moi621 (imported)]

Sleeping with cats

Most cats I have had never wanted to sleep with me. Currently, two Siamese Brothers do. Consider when a cat lays against you, their bodies work like a warm bean bag with a purpose. They seem to ooze under me and reflexively cause me to retreat space to them. Probably some "don't roll over on the baby" programming. I have woken up finding myself corralled into a corner of the bed by two sleeping cats. After some years I have gotten over trying not to disturb them and manage a little space on my bed only to soon have close sleeping companions; moving into my space, ceaselessly and without remorse. They're cats after all.

And this behavior is not water pistol worthy.

Moi

[Riverwind (imported)]

Rupert sleeps on the bed with me but never touches me, he does not mind if I move a foot or leg over to him but mostly he sleeps in a space I do not have until morning, I usually end up on my back and Rupert will climb up on my chest stick his nose under my chin and give me a shove until a hand starts to scratch him. When I get tired of the added 20 lbs on my chest I move him then he starts talking to me, I give up and get up to him showing me where his treats are for his morning breakfast, that is when I notice is 5:30am. damn cat.

River

[moi621 (imported)]

Having been suckered into some cute kitty videos at YouTube they start suggesting vids when I log on. And I find a plethora of uploaded cat videos by different persons using the Cyrillic alphabet. Russians I suspect.

I have seen that Russian circus act of a guy with lots of cats doing tricks so calmly. And I always liked that picture of Lenin with his cat.

fhunter, can you share some of, "what is it about cats" with the Russians. Any dog ownership in numbers comparable to America? Or is "cat" the major pet. My wife from Dubna told me her cat knew how to take the elevator. People would recognize it and help push the buttons.

The Kitty Report

Feral Orange Kitty got a flea tablet crushed in food. It may have reduced scratching. Still not close.

Old Fat Black Kitty is catching rodents again supplementing her diet. She is older then the Siamese.

The Siamese brothers remain mostly the same and I shudder to remember they are 13 years old. Izzy has had no stones since his first year and is a featherweight. Eats very little but, ok. Big Solly, named for Saul just keeps growing. I picked him up the other day and found I was holding a lot of cat. Proportionally big. Not a bowling ball belly like Old Fat Black Kitty.

Has anyone created a good quality home made cat food cats like and will eat without being starving?

I've tried but, they never like it. They only beg then take a few nibbles of any people food and walk away.

Moi

[Riverwind (imported)]

I have offered a sample of everything I eat to Rupert and so far he has turned his nose up at everything. Nelly on the other hand has eaten everything.

River

[punkypink (imported)]

Coming up to the 6 month mark in 2 weeks, since catcat passed on. Curiously, where she was buried was a patch of bare ground before, but a patch of beautiful purple wildflowers have sprung up since. Even more amazingly, it is a very small patch that is shaped almost exactly the same way she was buried, and looks very much like a sleeping cat on her side, head curled in, like she always did when she slept. The other flowers in the park have now withered with the coming of winter, but that little patch is going strong.

http://a5.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos- ... 90_4177891 50_n.jpg

[moi621 (imported)]

Thank you for sharing.

I had one cat that was very close to me. She passed at home in a hospice setting. And haunted the place for years after. Visiting friends would sit up spooked saying they feel like the cat is on their lap. That condo foundation had other ghosts, too. All benign.

This kitty was only 12. My Siamese brothers are older and older still is old fat Black Kitty. I think about it. Having cats curl up in your tummy as you sleep is a hard cat quality to find. Usually they are elsewhere or crushing your feet.

Best Wishes

Moi

[Riverwind (imported)]

Rupert, I may have said at one time or another I have a cat named Rupert, that's him sitting on my lap in my avatar. At night he likes to sleep at the foot of the bed but by morning he has moved to sitting on my chest. If I roll over on my side he will let me cuddle with him as long as I keep scratching his favorite spots behind his ears. This will continue until he finally convinces me that it is time to get up and give him some treats. If I fail at any of the above he will get even and its never nice.

We are such slaves to our pets,

River

[fhunter]

I have offered a sample of everything I eat to Rupert and so far he has turned his nose up at everything. Nelly on the other hand has eaten everything.

RiverZuhel (Зухель, sounding like something between zuhel and zoohel, with soft L) many times got to sample the food. Of all sampled, what I remember:

* canned green peas - surprisingly, he ate them

* red caviar - definitely eats, and always asks for it (sometimes with the look of "Shrek cat"). But... too much salt, so no more that a few eggs for him.

* black olive - he used one as a toy.

I have left him with parents, when I moved, and already miss him. It felt wrong, to take cat with me at the time...

Having been suckered into some cute kitty videos at YouTube they start suggesting vids when I log on. And I find a plethora of uploaded cat videos by different persons using the Cyrillic alphabet. Russians I suspect.

I have seen that Russian circus act of a guy with lots of cats doing tricks so calmly. And I always liked that picture of Lenin with his cat.

fhunter, can you share some of, "what is it about cats" with the Russians. Any dog ownership in numbers comparable to America? Or is "cat" the major pet. My wife from Dubna told me her cat knew how to take the elevator. People would recognize it and help push the buttons.

------8<----8<--------

MoiMoi, you have probably seen Kuklachev's act. As for cats vs dogs in Russia - I do not know how to count this, haven't seen any statistics. And anyway - how to count it accurately? After some searching, I found unofficial count is about 2millon cats vs 1 million dogs in Moscow.