<p>A Man And His Cat
I wasn’t going to be one of those pitiful pet people. Not me.
<a href=“A Man and His Cat - The New York Times”>http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/a-man-and-his-cat/</a></p>
<p>I have two cats…both Maine Coons. My old boy is the quirkiest cats I have ever owned. His front paws curve out like he has duck feet. Everyone who meets him says he looks like a lion. He will only drink hot water .If it isn’t hot enough ( and it has to be on the side of our bath tub ) he will knock it over and meow for more. He is in love with me…he likes my husband , but I think he thinks of him as competition. He will sleep with me , usually on top of my head. When my husband comes to bed , he gets between us and pushes him away with his paws. </p>
<p>My female is massive , but not fat. Her fur mats very badly so I had her shaved at the beginning of the summer . This is how we found out she isn’t fat. She head butts almost to the point of causing whiplash. When I took her to the vet to be shaved , people thought I had a wild animal in my crate. She hates being lifted and held , but she is a total lap cat…typical cat, it has to be on her terms :)</p>
<p>Darn, my uploaded pic couldn’t be rotated…I need to enlist my child to fix it, but this is my old man Maine Coon…Nelson</p>
<p>^^Even sideways, he is a cutie! :)</p>
<p>(The cat in the photo used as my avatar is the same cat that was sitting on the stove - I remember many laughed at that one. He is such a photogenic, handsome young man! His little sister is the runt of the litter and looks like a lump of coal with shiny green eyes, but she is the sweetest little kitty we ever had.)</p>
<p>We are cat people too. Currently we have a male tabby (my most favorite cat, ever) and a black female, both of whom we got from the humane society.</p>
<p>The black cat is a talker and seems waayyy too attached to me. If she hasn’t seen me in a while (say, two hours) she will insinuate herself into my lap, cry pitifully, and knead my face with her paws. The only thing that seems to calm her down is for me to sing “Good King Wenceslas” to her. No other song works half as well…and yes, it took me a long time to figure out which song works best.</p>
<p>How weird is that??</p>
<p>^^^^^Okay, that is pretty hilarious. </p>
<p>One of my favorite things about our only girl cat was how she loved classical music. Nothing else. If I’d play classical, including opera, she’d sit in the exact spot where the stereo image formed. If I changed, the balance between the speakers, she’d move. (Yes, I experimented on her.) None of the others has ever cared about music. </p>
<p>It’s looking like a coyote picked off my favorite cat at my grandparents farm. He was just one of the sweetest cats…
Would jump up and lay in your lap for hours. Time to go coyote hunting.</p>
<p>:( :(</p>
<p>Maybe he just “had to go see about a girl.” [-O< </p>
<p>I’m praying that’s what it is… But he’s been gone for two weeks. His brother disappeared about a month ago too.</p>
<p>We have a new maine coon kitten. He’s my first cat to actually use the 5’ scratching post, platform monstrosity. He’s obsessed with feathers. He’s sitting next to me losing his mind over a feather on the end of a fishing pole. 6 weeks here and the other two cats are barely tolerating him, but down to only hissing at him 5 times a day. His name is Chester. Hubby says his altar ego is Pester, I prefer to call him chestnut when he’s running wild and being completely beserk. Right now it feels like we’re Ferberizing him. Hubby got into the bad habit of feeding him canned food whenever he went in the kitchen. He can’t really meow, it’s more a pathetic little squeak/scream. I’ve got him to eating canned food 3 times a day now and the constant crying seems to be calming down. He does have access to hard food all day. </p>
<p>I have two fat boys. One orange and one splotchy grey/white (I don’t know what it’s called but it’s a common look). They are both long hair, one is/was a constant barfer, the other had a constant toileting stink/mess. I finally found a food that works for both - Purina One Sensitive Systems. I also started clipping their fur regularly. Barfing is mostly stopped, comes back when they need a clipping, stinking still persists but not as bad.</p>
<p>They copy each other though. One has a congenital deformed hip/leg and he limps, he hops on three feet when running. I’ve noticed the perfectly healthy cat doing the same thing sometimes. I even thought he had hurt himself because he suddenly started limping. So weird.</p>
<p>As for clipping them - they love it. At first I took them to the groomer where they came back terrified and unhappy so I bought my own clippers and while they certainly look pretty hilarious they both have taken to it. One completely relaxes and seems to really enjoy it, the other not as much but he tolerates it. The funny thing is that you can tell love being in the state of having been clipped. They want to be petted and scratched and their tummies rubbed and are generally very happy after a good clipping. Weird.</p>
<p>Clipping them not only helps the barfing - but I’m not constantly using a lint roller, and I can sit on the couch without getting up covered in hair. A huge bonus I wasn’t expecting.</p>
<p>I posted this the other day. It is worth reading, I promise!</p>
<p>A Man And His Cat
I wasn’t going to be one of those pitiful pet people. Not me.
<a href=“A Man and His Cat - The New York Times”>http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/08/01/a-man-and-his-cat/</a></p>
<p>Oldmom, this is a great piece! :D</p>
<p>Kitty is on a hunger strike…</p>
<p>One thing I love about cats: Their determination.
One things I hate about cats: Their determination. </p>
<p>nrdsb- I got our Tortie through an opposite situation. I had a lovely co-worker who met the “man of her dreams”, but he did not like cats at all. He claimed to be allergic- but she admitted that really he just didn’t do OK with animals. She had lived alone with the Tortie for 6 years and the cat hadn’t seen another animal since she was a tiny kitten. For some reason I decided to take her! She took one look at my 130 pound Golden Retriever and our 3 other cats and didn’t come out from under the bed for 6 weeks! I still torment the co-worker’s husband on facebook. When he posts a picture of one of their 3 toddlers I always comment "He looks like he’s thinking ‘Why don’t we have a cat?’ " I can’t believe my friend could give up this gorgeous kitty, but we tell her (the kitty) that she dodged a bullet since now they are expecting their 4th child (under 4). </p>
<p>Anybody watch “My Cat from Hell”? Animal Planet and on Netflix. Sort of the cat version of the Dog whisperer guy.
You can learn a lot about a cat’s natural play, eat, sleep cycle that seems to fix all sorts of behavior. Seems the people need more fixing than the cats! Great show.</p>
<p>As you might guess from my cc name, I am also a cat lover and I’m loving this thread and all your stories which are hilarious and heartwarming. I’m hoping that the missing cat returns safely and that the cat who won’t eat decides that the food is tolerable and regains his appetite. </p>
<p>Our dear old gray lady died last fall at the age of 19 
so we now have only two cats in residence: a big black affable guy and a petite (but round) Siamese girl who were rescued together and adopted by us when they were kittens. They were inseparable as kittens and the Siamese routinely groomed her brother. Somewhere along the way they become much cooler about each others’ company and though they interact and sleep near each other, there are some definite territory issues between them. As long as they both continue to use their litter boxes, I leave those issues to them to sort out. </p>
<p>The guy may be the sweetest and most people-oriented cat I’ve ever known. The Siamese is more particular about her people but she’s very loyal to those she’s claimed. Whenever I return from traveling, she is the one to find me and greet me with a mixture of complaints and welcomes. She also shows more problem solving ability than her brother. She’s figured out how to open our sliding screen door and if we’re not watching, she lets both cats out. </p>
<p>I have been enjoying this thread also. We currently have four cats - all rescues, more or less. Three live inside and one lives outside though has the privacy of our garage at night. Their ages range from 11 years to two years old.</p>
<p>I met my husband when I lived in a dorm (college) so had no cats. Later, after we planned to marry, he mentioned he was allergic to cats. I informed him that it would be a deal breaker and to “un-allergic” himself. He did. Truthfully, he had a slight allergy and took shots but mostly it stemmed from having no pets growing up. He loves our cats.</p>
<p>Igantius, I have a similar story. When I met my husband I was in my 20’s and had already adopted a cat (the best cat ever to have lived :)).) At a dinner with friends one night, he asked “casually,” “so how long do cats live anyway?” My friend answered with equal nonchalance that cats can live into their 20s. You should have seen his face at that. I gave him the same information you did. He’d also grown up without pets and was fearful. And he loves our cats. </p>