Question for Cat owners

[vamp 0]

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That is cool...but how did you color the cat?

McCormick's neon food coloring. Applied via cotton balls, paper towels, and good old massage techniques. The color lasted for 2 months!!

He purred through the whole damned thing and received many many treats and pronouncements of "good boy!".

My buddy's original idea was to dye him blue, but we decided that would be silly.

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

Vamp...you sure you aren't the easter bunny

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[flyangel2 2]

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That is cool...but how did you color the cat?

Huh? What cat? There isn't a cat in that picture.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[flyangel2 2]

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Can I borrow him for awhile? I'm REALLY tired of driving car pool!

No way, do you know how long it took me to teach him to drive? I need him for my road trips.

May your trails be crooked, winding, lonesome, dangerous, leading to the most amazing view. May your mountains rise into and above the clouds. - Edward Abbey

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

Oh well...you can blame a weary mom for trying

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...

[skyflyingbecca 0]

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So, my question: Does anyone just have one cat?

I do.
She does get lonely but she doesn't get along well with other cats, so I just deal with it and try to love on her a lot when I am home. I got her when she was 3 from a shelter, so I knew what I was getting....
This shelter was a no-kill shelter, so they had a lot of normal cats, but they also had a lot of cats with issues.... I had a ton of cats to choose from! You have no idea how many people give them up!

This shelter was so cool! The way they had this place set up, with big rooms full of cats, they could roam around on carpet-covered objects.
They had little info charts that stated bad habits... cats who peed or sprayed on things and what kind of things. So, you could pick out what kind of issue you wanted your rescue cat to have, basically what you could deal with. I knew I wanted a dog(s) eventually, so I knew I would only ever have one cat. So I picked out one who it stated can not be around other cats.
I also felt I couldn't declaw a cat, and where I lived they said she had to be declawed, so I was able to get one already declawed.
The horrible thing was, someone declawed her and she was obviously already an outdoor cat. She escaped all the time and meowed incessantly when I kept her locked in. So, now I let her out to enjoy life, even though it means she might get killed by another animal. She got beat up real bad by a neighboring tomcat once, and I was thankful all I had to deal with was a $150 bill and a sick kitty for a couple weeks.

As far as cats spraying or peeing goes, don't let it scare you away from getting one, Sometimes they do this if they aren't fixed early enough. Otherwise, it is because they aren't getting the attention they desire.

Hopefully you can use this info to help you pick the one(s) right for you and your family
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IMPORTANT INFO FOR CAT OWNERS:

My friend's cat was just diagnosed with this and had to have her leg amputated. I thought you "cat-owners" should have this information.
Please feel free to pass it on to any friends and family who own cats.

TA Health: VAS Awareness: http://www.tahealth.net/vas.html

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Disturbing thread addition to follow

I used to work in an overnight animal emergency clinic. You would think the biggest danger to your animal is cars, right? NOPE! We would very often have to deal with people bringing in little dead kittens and puppies. They would be stiff as a board and that means they died of poisoning.
This was *so common* that even though the people said they had no idea what happened and the animal hadn't been out of the house, we would ask if they had just given them a flea bath or similar treatment. In every single case they would say "yes".

What happens is this: The residue left on the fur after a treatment gets licked off by the unsuspecting kitty or puppy(but more often it's kitties) and then goes into it's mucous membranes and digestive tract.
Think about what that residue is, it is a poison used to kill fleas and other pests on your animals fur, right? It is a poison. A poison is a poison is a poison. If it will kill the fleas, it can also kill your pet! The younger the animal is, the less likely it will be able to fight off the toxins and can die.
So, if you give your kitten a flea bath, please follow the manufacturer's instructions! Then afterwards, keep a very close eye on them to make sure they aren't licking themselves too much. If so, put on a victorian collar or wash them off better or something.... And then keep watching them for at least 24 hours, if they start to act sick, sleeping more than usual, disinterested in food, play, etc, take them to the vet right away.

I wish no emergency worker has to see another unnessary, preventable death like this. These days I work on people instead of little critters and believe it or not, it's a lot easier. Kittens and puppies are so innocent and trusting that we will care for them, don't let something as silly as a flea bath take their life.
Sorry for the long sad thread addition here, but if I can save one little critter it'll be worth it! Feel free to pass this info along.

Please remember I did this over 10 years ago, so my info or advice might be slightly different than today's instructions, but hopefully you'll get the message.

Oh, and if your dog get's hold of a Bufo toad rinse it's mouth out with water from a hose ASAP and then seek emergency care. That was the #2 killer.

"I know it's friday night, but come on. Surely there's something better to do than yell at people on the internet?" - Tom A.

[jumpjunkie2004 0]

Great informative post becca! Thanks!

Jump, Land, Pack, Repeat...