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I generally keep my bedroom door open overnight, because our oldest cat Oreo likes to sleep in bed with me. Our two new kittens, Maia and Pandora, are kept locked in my sister's room at night, because their kitten food is very bad for Oreo to eat (she's in the early stages of feline diabetes).
But this morning as I was waking up, I was greeted in my bed by Pandora, who'd been let out a bit earlier than usual. She sat next to me for a minute or so, then climbed up to explore around my desk.
My desk that had various small items strewn across it from the past few days.
Various small items, including a very attactive-looking, clear plastic cap about 1/2 inch in diameter, used to protect the power plug for my iBook when it's not in use. A cap which she promptly ate.
I have no idea just how the heck she managed to swallow the damn thing -- she's not even five months old yet -- but the next thing I knew I heard her making some quiet retching noises.
Thankfully, she wasn't choking, but apparently it was uncomforatble and she spent the next half hour licking her chops and appearing to have discomfort in her throat.
So of course, it was off to the vet with her for X-rays and a checkup! And also a $145 bill, with more to come tomorrow for a follow-up (since the initial X-rays didn't find anything conclusive). Thank goodness I just had to pass the receipt on to my father when I got home...
This is the first time in almost 13 years that we've had true kittens in the house, and I can't believe what kind of trouble they can get into. Expensive trouble, too! All I can say is, this may make me rethink the idea of me having children some day.
Aww, now she wants to cuddle up next to me on the sofa... Completely forgetting that I dragged her off to get poked and prodded by a total stranger only an hour ago. What a short attention span. Heh.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Well, at least the visit to the vet didn't traumatize her, unless my sister's cat Tyler. Poor Tyler was fixed years ago, and he still feels utter rage towards the man who stole his balls.
The last time I went with my sister to take the cat to the vet for a check-up was not pleasant.
-------------------- The philosopher's stone. Those who possess it are no longer bound by the laws of equivalent exchange in alchemy. They gain without sacrifice and create without equal exchange. We searched for it, and we found it.
Registered: Mar 1999
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This is Pandora. The picture was taken about two months ago... she's gained 2.5 points since then.
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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"The biggest problem with a kitten is that Eventually it grows up to be a cat."
- Shell Silverstein
And with those words, my friend, I must tell you I had the pleasure and fear of owning a kitten. She too was predisposed to putting things in her mouth that wouldn't normally fit. She also loved climbing the window screens, attacking my feet as they move under my sheet while I'm sleeping, and even leaving me a nice gift when she couldn't reach her litter box.
However, she has grown considerably since last year. She knows where her litter box is, She doesn't eat things that aren't tasty, and she seems uninterested in my feet. However, she loves to escape outside and not show up until 4am- and of course she wants everyone to know about her adventure, and she loves to knock little things off dressers and countertops. When your kittens reach cat stage, I highly recommend getting a squirt bottle(a new clean one) so you can spray them when they do something naughty. Use it immediately after they do something wrong so that they remember better.
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My Theo is five years old as of June 25th but he has not turned into some cynical, indifferent "Garfield" creature at all.
He has retained all his best kitten qualities, talking to me cheerfully and wanting me to respond, rolling around on the livingroom floor, belly- up, inviting to a wrestling game, or generally sitting down on my newspaper/keyboard/sofa-table in pursuit of a scratching or brushing.
He actually likes the brush I use on him, if I hold it up in front of his snout he purposely leans forward and streaks his cheek against it, purring away like a tungsten carbide drill. (editor's note: doing it as we speak, in fact) He can be a mean son-of-a-bitch when it's his honor against the cotton rat's on the line, I have the scars to prove it, but he makes up for it by being as close to Nermal-Grade cuddly, it almost makes me puke.
He knows his way with the ladies too, he's pulled at least three visiting girls down on the doormat with him for a tummy-rub, they didn't even know what hit them. One of them became my gf the same evening. Thanks for making sure, Theo.
[ August 07, 2003, 07:40 AM: Message edited by: Nim ]
-------------------- "I'm nigh-invulnerable when I'm blasting!" Mel Gibson, X-Men
Registered: Aug 1999
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We've got two cats right now - Witch and Casper. Both are inside cats, all-black & half-Siamese. Poor Witch really misses her brother, Warlock who passed away in early February while I was deployed. Warlock had feline diabetes and just finally gave up one evening, after having been pretty sick for about a week, Wife tells me. Poor Witchy has started losing her hair, which the vet says is some sort of allergic reaction, and has gotten fleas for the first time in her life. We've taken both of the cats to a groomers to be dipped and all that and then bombed the house, yet the damned things are back! I'm going to look for some Seven Dust later today and spread that around the house in hopes that'll get rid of them.
Anyhow, Wife and I are pretty saddened at poor Witchy's hair falling out. Especially with the hives that she has on her head. They itch so bad she's constantly scratching, which doesn't help the hair situation and just makes things worse for her hives. I'm hoping that maybe this is a reaction to the fleas and the seven dust, anti-flea carpet cleaner and another couple Bug Bombs will get rid of the fleas once and for all.
The other cat we have in the house is Casper. Casper is the Little Bastard in the house. He has a rather loud cry that will curtle milk and feels he has to do so at the worst times, especially if it's 3am, he's tired and wants you to Love Him by petting him so he can fall asleep. Or if he's hungry, he'll follow you around 'til you get him what he wants.
As a kitten, Casper used to climb furniture, curtains, screens and people, digging those claws in as deep as he could. He was so full of piss-n-vinegar that when Wife took him to the Vet while I was deployed and asked if she could have him fixed and declawed (front's only) at like 6 months, the Vet said "Sure!" All that did was to slow him down for about a week, she tells me.
Casper has liked to eat non-organic things since he first came into our house. He loves to eat packing "popcorn", plastic streamers that come on kids toys, tinsle, egg-shell that has been dyed and sealed with polyurethane paints, plastic bags, etc... He used to be espcially fond of model parts or at least just knocking my models off the damned shelves. I got some advice from my mother-in-law about how to handle this, as she breeds dogs and has some experience w/training pets. The water bottle thing is what finally did the trick some years ago.
Of course, I also discovered that he doesn't like to be shot w/hand-spring gun which shoot plastic BB's. After shooting him three or four times, all I have to do anymore is cock the thing and he runs and hides. At least it keeps him from playing "Alpha Male" with Witchy, who's 14 and doesn't need him jumping all over her.
Casper's now about 7 years old and didn't even come close to really slowing down 'til he broke his leg three months back. My son, Daniel, decided that Casper needed out. Casper promptly went to our patio, climbed on top of the grill, apparently, and then proceed to scale the privacy fence. I was at work that evening and got a call explaining all thise from Wife, who needed to take him to the Vet Hospital's ER 'cause it was a compound fracture and we couldn't just have him bleeding all over the place. They bandaged him up and put a plaster cast on him, but said he'd need to be taken to our Vet to have the leg actually set and likely pinned, which is what happened.
In the end, it cost us close to USD$1,000. He's still an ornery little shit, but he's not nearly as bad as he used to be and doesn't try to go outside anymore. It was expensive, but I think we finally got him trained. Now, if I could just figure out how to make him stop crying at all hours of the night.
Registered: Apr 2003
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I don't think I've told the story of how we got Sassy, our third cat (at the time).
Basically, she adopted my Dad while he was out on a job surveying a client's property. She followed him around in the summer sun for FOUR HOURS. He ended up bringing her home -- even though he claims he hates cats. Now, Sassy is basically "his" cat because he's the one she hangs around the most.
But she's a really spiteful little thing, too! When my dad goes away on business, she always shuns him for a few days once he returns. Usually she sits off to the side on his office desk while he works (he even put up a towel for her to lie on -- and he says he hates cats! Ha!). But when she's mad at him, she won't let him come anywhere near her, and dashes off if he tries to approach. However... she's never more than about ten or twelve feet away from him, either. She won't let him near her, but she won't stay far away either! It's like she's trying to punish him or something...
A cat's psyche just boggles the mind -- even after living with them for 22 years. Sheesh!
-------------------- “Those people who think they know everything are a great annoyance to those of us who do.” — Isaac Asimov Star Trek Minutiae | Memory Alpha
Registered: Nov 2000
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Well, no. They like to lounge around in the sun and climb to obscure shelves and hide behind dusty paperbacks, causing me to think they accidently got out, resulting in me running around looking for them for hours on end.
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