do you have cat/cats? [Archive] - Simple Living Forums

artist

6-11-12, 7:58am

We currently have one cat and one dog. While I love my pets and enjoy the company, Dh and I are finding that they actually cramp our simple lifestyle. The cat is on asthma meds and can't be left alone overnight so I always have to hire a pet sitter if we go away. Dog has a very needy personality if we leave her alone for too much of the day or go away for the weekend.

They are 9 and 12 years old and will most likely be our last pets.

simple living life

6-11-12, 8:46am

pcooley

6-11-12, 9:05am

We have one cat, two dogs, a parrot, and a chicken. (Our oldest dog recently died, and the majority of our chickens and our pet rabbit were killed by coyotes.)

The cat is by far my favorite pet in the lot. I feel angry around the dogs -- they're always staring at me like they want something and walking a dog is right up there with a root canal in terms of pleasure in my book -- and happy around the cat.

I guess that makes me a cat person.

Float On

6-11-12, 9:11am

Down to 6 chickens, 1 cat DanaCat (who seems to have gotten a kidney infection or UTI infection yesterday), 1 dog TomDog.
We've never been cat people but this one wouldn't go away. The dog was dumped on my dad's farm.

I'd love to have again: horses, cattle, goats, rabbits.
And I'd like to add quail.
I wouldn't replace the cat.
I'd go back to a bigger dog, maybe one more protective of livestock instead of one that is afraid of everything including the water in his waterbowl.

herbgeek

6-11-12, 9:15am

Selah

6-11-12, 9:41am

We have two young cats...kittens, really. Their names are Pini and Dudu. We got them from an animal rescue center, as they were feral and their mother had died before they were really even weaned. We love them to BITS! Before these two, I have had, in my life, eight other cats. Five of them lived long and healthy lives, two were hit by cars, and one died early in life from a blood disease.

Sad Eyed Lady

6-11-12, 9:43am

I have two very spoiled cats, but they likely will be our only pets. Getting away for the weekend or a vacation was much easier beforehand. I worry too much about them when I'm away. As they get older, they have become more like dogs and hang around me most of the time and they really seem lonely when I return from being away.
That's the story of my & DH's lives too. Two very spoiled cats that have cramped our getting away tendencies. We have had cats most of our time together, the first one we had was in 1972 and he lived to be almost 17 years. The next one came five months later, lived with us until his death at almost 15 years. That's a big chunk of time right there! Now we are on the last two, (or so we think at the moment). They have been with us 8 years and if you add all these years up you can see we are getting into the "senior" category and therefore think these will be the last pets. With the two previous, when my mother and stepfather were living and were close by, we didn't have qualms about going on vacation for a week or so because we knew they would come and spend time with the cats and care for them as if they were their own; (these were their only "grandchildren"). Also, it didn't seem as if we were imposing because they enjoyed doing it. Now, having to depend on friends it seems that anything over a couple of days is an imposition what with the litter boxes and so forth. Plus, the little guys do seem to miss us and we do miss them while away. So, yes herbgeek, I agree on the cramped lifestyle - no spontaneous throwing a few things in a bag and leaving town. Arrangements have to be made for a sitter or sitters! But, in exchange they give a lot of love in return!

iris lily

6-11-12, 10:04am

I am a cat person who is currently sidetracked into the dog world, but my core being is a cat lover.

I've got 3 cats who are constantly pushed aside for dog maintenance, but they are ok with that. Really, they don't want people messing about in their business.

peggy

6-11-12, 11:30am

Our old feline gentleman passed this spring just 2 months shy of 18. NO other pets except fish in my pond, who bring me quite a bit of pleasure but don't' cramp our travel style.

citrine

6-11-12, 11:47am

We have two cats...His is Ozzy and mine is Casanova...together they are like bonnie and clyde!
I cannot imagine not having them or any other cats ever! As for when we go away....my parents will come and check on them and we hire sitters.

Miss Cellane

6-11-12, 11:50am

I currently have one cat, who is 15 years old. Cranky, crotchety and annoying. But she picked me--ran into my house one rainy, cold autumn evening, a skinny, injured kitten way too thin to be healthy. I've never had the guts to throw her back out, although there have been times I was tempting. (Seriously, waking me up howling at 4 am because you want to look out a window you have never looked out of before?)

Getting away isn't a big deal. Either neighbors pet sit for her, and I'll pet sit for them when they need it, or I take her to a very good, all-cat kennel in town, where she gets excellent treatment.

bunnys

6-11-12, 11:58am

(Seriously, waking me up howling at 4 am because you want to look out a window you have never looked out of before?)

That is so typical cat--and so funny! I chuckled.

I have a beagle--Penny and a long-haired orange tabby--Cate. They are not my first but Penny is my first dog. I can't imagine not having a pet--regardless of how cramped my style was by them. I will always have multiple pets because they bring me so much joy on a continual basis.

Kestrel

6-11-12, 11:58am

Three cats now: Albie, Cinda, and Oscar. Actually, Albie "belongs" to our back-yard neighbors, but he likes us better -- they have big loud dogs and small loud kids, and he likes quiet. And I feed three strays. We've always had cats and at one time had a couple of dogs too. Yes, the cats make travel difficult in our retired years, but it's OK. We're going to train Oscar to travel with us in our trailer tho. DH says if he dies before I do I'll be that crazy old lady who has 100 cats. Can't imagine not having cats. <3

daisy

6-11-12, 2:18pm

We currently have 2 cats, 2 dogs and a rabbit. I was only pet-free for a brief period of time when I moved after college and that only lasted 9 months before I found myself at an animal shelter taking home the most pathetic kitten they had. Yes, it can be kind of a pain when we want to travel, but we don't really travel that often and the animals make us happy every day. :)

domestic goddess

6-11-12, 3:14pm

I don't personally have a cat now, but there are 2 cats living in my dd's house, where I also live. Yoda belongs to the other "tenant" here, Bob. Yoda is scared of his shadow and spends most of his time in his (Bob"s)room. Even though he has known me for more than a year, he is too scared to come near me. It is funny to watch him scurry past me when he has no other choice. I think because Bob and Tim tease him shamelessly, he doesn't trust anyone now. He is especially not friendly toward the kids; he growls and hisses at them. Purple Kitty is dgd1's cat, who was given to her for her 3rd or 4th birthday. She was one of two black and white kittens dgd1 received; one had short hair, and one long (Purple Kitty, who I call "Purpy).Pink Kitty, the other kitty, was not quite bright, and got behind the car while dd was backing up one day. In that car-cat confrontation, Pink Kitty lost. DD was hysterical, but I think Purple Kitty likes being the only one to vie for her Mommy's attention.She does not like to be held, but she will come looking for attention; she loves to have her head scratched. She frequently brings us little love tokens in the form of freshly dead bunnies and mice, and doesn't understand why her people are not more appreciative of her efforts. I think she is beginning to give up on us. Yoda is afraid of her, too, and she likes it that way.
When I first moved in here, I had a cat named Lincoln. Oh, how I loved that cat! He was not happy, though, and Tim (dsil) ised to tease him. One day he slipped out an open door and wouldn't come back in. He did come to m on the deck one evening, but when I tried to bring him inside, he fought me and finally got away before I could get in the door with him. I haven't seen him since and I think about him every day. I hope someone took him in, because he was a beauty, and a very loving pet. Dsil is very hard on pets. In this house, it isn't the kids you have to worry about, it is dsil. He teases and torments the animals constantly.
My mom has 5 cats, and now that she is in the nursing home, I imagine I can bring one or two back with me if I want to. My brother is living in Mom's house, taking care of the cats now. He's not the kind of person to put himself out much for anything else, though.

Acquius

6-11-12, 3:26pm

We have 3 cats :) Cookie, Poppy, and Brillo. Cookie is mine. I've been struggling with her weight for a long time - right now all we can afford is to feed them cheap food, so she's gaining weight easily off it. And Poppy and Brillo are my fiance's. Poppy is a talker. Brillo thinks she's a human. Brillo was born in house insulation by her feral mother, and was the only survivor of her siblings.

Florence

6-11-12, 4:09pm

We are owned by 3 cats. Each of them simply moved in with us. Bandit is a very sociable cat; he loves to watch whatever is going on. Once the neighbors had a backyard party and there was Bandit sitting right outside their yard watching all the fun. If anyone had picked him up and took him over, he would have happily sat on one of the tables interested in everybody. LuckyDuck sees absolutely no reason to ever set paw outside. He is a peaceable cat who just wants his cat chow and to nap belly up in the sunshine. Misty is paranoid, sure that someone, anyone is going to catch her and eat her. If DH would let me, I would get 2 more. Batty old cat lady in the making.

Maxamillion

6-11-12, 6:53pm

I have 2 cats (and one beta fish). The two cats are Pookie and Pippi. They don't like each other much unfortunately. Both of them are rather jealous (the older one more so). Pookie is 13, I got her 7 years ago from the humane society. Pippi is 4. She's the offspring of a stray cat that showed up, had kittens, then disappeared a week after the kittens were born so she was bottlefed. Both of them are indoor kitties, which isn't good for my asthma, but I can't bear to part with them, and we can't have outside animals here. These will probably be the last inside cats I have--though if I can ever buy my own land, I'll probably end up with some outside cats.

sweetana3

6-11-12, 7:41pm

We have 4 fabulous cats. Three boys (Mouse, Bert and Ernie) who are all around 10 and Princess Pea who is 6 months old. She has them wound around her tiny paws. They are all very different and all find a time to be our one and only for part of the day. Princess must supervise all my sewing duties. Mouse sleeps on the bed. Ernie sits next to my husband and Bert next to me.

Have had cats for 39 years. They are expensive but worth it.

Merski

6-11-12, 8:10pm

We have two cats-Thelma and Louise two torties. Louse is cat in charge, thelma is sweet cashmere cat with 4 (!) double paws which is why we took the two. We also have a mini labradoodle named Maggie who is sweet, shy and funny but doesn't know how to play....we got her shall we say as a kennel "rescue" and don't regret it but know we got a dog that is a little damaged. We had a cat when we got back from our honeymoon almost 40 years ago and have since never been cat-less more that two or three months. Maggie is our second dog. I'm not the dog person...it is DH but I still love her.

Lainey

6-11-12, 9:27pm

gimmethesimplelife

6-12-12, 1:06am

I am most definitely a cat person.....I have two cats at the moment, one named Frisky, about seven years old who we inherited from a friend of our family's with late stage Parkinsons.....and one that is a Snowshoe cat, named Ria, I think five years old. Luckily for me when I am away my cousin who I own a house with will take care of the cats, otherwise I don't know if I could go, I am that attached to them. Cats have always fascinated me, I have often wondered in some ways if they are not smarter than humans are. Rob

redfox

6-12-12, 1:33am

I'm not a cat-owner, but a family member has taken in a stray. Stray started as an outdoor cat who recently became their indoor cat. Question: if I can find some second-hand cat scratch towers, toys, etc. does the cat know it used to belong to another cat and would they reject it, or do they even care about that?

Yes, the cat most definitely would know. Cats are highly territorial, and generally reject anything with another cat smell on it. And, they have scent glands in their paws for marking territory when they scratch on stuff. Also, you don't know what diseases the other cats had, so don't risk anything.

We have two feral rescues, Bandit & Cleo. My pic is Cleo. She's white. Her bro is black & white with a cute bandit mask. Our kids named them when we found them in our back yard 7 years ago. They were four weeks old. They are totally indoor cats, which I strongly recommend.

simple living life

6-12-12, 8:49am

hi there!
fun to se all you catowners.
yes cats are lovely!

goldensmom

6-12-12, 9:06am

Litter free after 21 years. Blue point, seal point and chocolate point Siamese and one Calico. Loved them, miss them, want a Siamese or Abyssinian kitten but the big dogs voted no and I do love the no litter household. Barn cats come and go so that meets my need to at least see a cat lurking about.

jennipurrr

6-12-12, 11:09am

We're currently a two cat family. One is my avatar. I am definitely a cat person, but husband is the opposite and I love my dogs also, so we have both (3 dogs). One of my cats is about 12, Jonas, and I have had him 10 years next month. Jonas was a stray and is an indoor/outdoor cat...I tried to make him an indoor cat but failed. The other cat is 8, a female, Suzy who is in my avatar. They are both greyish with mittens. She is totally indoors except sometimes she goes in the backyard (too fat to climb the fence) and she just lounges on the patio for an hour or two.

If Jonas passes away I don't think we will be able to replace him...Suzy loathes all other cats (we have tried fostering adults and kittens) and retaliates by spraying and being generally foul. Our last foster was three kittens a couple years ago that we kept about a month...I thought surely she would get over it by then, but she never did and I could tell she was truly miserable. Jonas went missing for almost two weeks earlier this year (I thought by that point something bad had happened to him :( ) and when he returned Suzy was horrible to him. Hissing and starting a couple of fights...something they haven't done in years. Now they are back to normal, but she definitely wants to be top cat and I think would be perfectly content being an only cat.

In terms of simplicity they are much more low maintenance than the dogs. They don't eat much and my vet has said as long as they are healthy they only need a check up every three years. I can take short trips and just leave out plenty of food, water and litter wheras with the dogs I have to get a sitter.

kitten

6-12-12, 11:36am

We have a cat - we were housesitting for someone and saw this tiny kitten crouched under the barbeque on the porch. They didn't like her, weren't even letting her in the house! We were concerned for her and asked to adopt her. They said yes. (Why do people acquire animals and then not take care of them? Argggggghhhh!)

My hubby didn't like her at first, and she was a pain. I had only had outdoor cats, but as urban apartment dwellers we found out about litter boxes fast. She was quiet for years and standoffish, and then at some point became very vocal and more affectionate. She won my hubby's heart when she started curling up next to him when he took naps after work.

She's had some bladder problems, and goes through phases where she forgets what the box is for. Right now she has urinated in every single corner of our living space except the bedroom - in the bedroom, she prefers our bed for that. I'm pretty desperate - we've done what the vet recommended, except we didn't stick with the food they gave us. She didn't like it, but she does like other wet food, and the wet seems to be helping with her urination issues - no more pain apparently. But she's just going everywhere.

We're moving, and hope to re-train her in our new place. I really hope we can figure out what's wrong. She's only 12 - could be many more years of the urine-soaked apartments. It's not like we have a big house and we can cordon her off. (sigh)

Tweety

6-12-12, 5:05pm

I've been a cat person since childhood and while I enjoy other people's dogs, I like living with cats. They give back what they are given; if you love them, talk to them and play with them, they do the same to you and are wonderful companions. My current 2 are Smokey, a longhaired, gentle and affectionate 13 year old, and Harley, a hyper-active rescue kitten, now 2 years old, who HAS to be in the middle of everything and who literally bounces off the walls! He is keeping Smokey young with his antics.

rosarugosa

6-12-12, 7:41pm

I think it would be safer to say that Humphrey and Ogden have us, two willing servants, who do whatever we can to make them comfortable & happy.
This thread made me think and check with DH, and indeed, we have had feline companions since the day we moved in (3/1/85) through present. It just wouldn't be home without cats: Betsy Ross, Benjamin Franklin, Boris Karloff, Dewey (as in Thomas E. Dewey, we think. Dewey is one of two cats who came to us already named, and when I researched it at the library, I found a picture of Thomas E. Dewey who looked exactly like him, or would have, if he had been a cat. Betsy Ross was the other cat who came to us pre-named. She was adopted by DH's sister for her b'day on 7/7/76, so thus the name) - all waiting for us at the Rainbow Bridge. Current cats in residence: Humphrey Bogart and Ogden Nash.
DH is like a cat whisperer. The cats love me well enough, but they adore him. DH has a cousin in TX whom I've never met and DH has only met once, who is like the crazy cat dude of TX and feeds a large number of strays from a trough every night. I clearly married into a good family. Humphrey and Ogden certainly think so. ;)

Zoebird

6-13-12, 4:31am

I'm making loose plans to bring a cat into the home in January of next year, just after or just before the ILs leave.

DH's allergy is pretty specific -- the feline L-1 protein -- and he has very little problem with long haired, white or light-colored, female cats. My friend worked at an alpaca farm this past summer where they also breed rag-dolls, which happen to be light colored (white, with some brown/grey/cream on their faces and paws like a siamese) and long haired. They are often retiring their older breeding cats, and so we'd be able to get one who was fairly old, too, which is our preference.

Because all of my pets live forever.

My friend put me into contact with the breeder, and I explained our living arrangements and situation, asked about what to feed the animal, care requirements and so on. I had a cat growing up, and they are fairly straight forward creatures, so I'm not too concerned about it really. But, I think it would be cool to have one.

I'd like a dog, but dogs are about 20x more work than a cat IMO.

daisy

6-14-12, 12:44am

We are owned by 3 cats. Each of them simply moved in with us. Bandit is a very sociable cat; he loves to watch whatever is going on. Once the neighbors had a backyard party and there was Bandit sitting right outside their yard watching all the fun. If anyone had picked him up and took him over, he would have happily sat on one of the tables interested in everybody.

That is so funny, Florence! DH and I have only been brave enough to throw one party in our marriage. About 70 people showed up. It was loud, there was drinking and music and it went on way longer than we were expecting. And in the middle of it, a black and white cat showed up outside the glass door. Someone opened it and he marched right in and joined the party. After a while he went back to the door and we let him out. Never saw him before or after that!

lizii

6-14-12, 3:52am

My grandson has a cat he calls Clawdia...good name for a cat I think.

Wildflower

6-14-12, 4:00am

My grandson has a cat he calls Clawdia...good name for a cat I think.

That is cute, lizii. :)

Wildflower

6-14-12, 4:14am

I currently have 3 cats and 3 dogs. I've had many cats over the years, not so many dogs. Dogs are a new thing for me the past 15 years. Cats have been part of my life since I was a little girl. There was a time when my DDs were teenagers that we had 11 cats at one time. Most were strays/rescues. Both of my DDs were employed part-time at Petsmart and they kept bringing home the shelter cats they feature there. And DH brought home a litter of 3 tiny brothers that he saw someone toss out of their car at the bottom of our road. They were barely weaned and starving. We fed them and kept them for life. Every cat we had was special and we kept all of them in our home until the day they died.

The 3 cats we have now are quite elderly. I don't expect them to live too much longer. Treasuring their last days, because I will no longer have cats in the future. DH doesn't wish to add anymore cats to our life now that we are older. New rules at our house are 1 to 2 dogs only in our future life. Three dogs seems like one too many somedays! Love all of my pets so much though! They add so much richness to my life....wouldn't trade them for anything.