Tavel

So I guess I'm fostering a cat now. The first foster home didn't feed him or something so he almost died of starvation. The clinic put a feeding tube in his neck and sent him off to another foster home. But they couldn't properly maintain the feeding tube (a finicky task to say the least) so the doctor suggested that one of her highly trusted nurses foster it...that nurse is my girlfriend, so now I have a cat.

I wouldn't mind, but he's SO annoying! If you just make eye contact he'll drop whatever he was doing, run over and head butt you until you pet him. Then he'll keep bothering you until he's sure you're ignoring him.

But then if you happen to hang your hand off the couch he'll run over and head butt it until you start petting him again. I would put him in the carrier, but I don't think the neck cone would fit!

aquarist48

Oh no!!!!!!! How sad, but how great that he has you to look after him. I hope he gets better soon!

sirdarksol

Poor little guy. I know how it can be annoying to have a "needy" cat do that kind of stuff while you're busy. I have one cat who does running head butts to get attention (he weighs around 15 pounds, so they can really hurt, too).
I think the lovieness somehow comes from being neglected. All of my cats were abandoned as kittens. They were socialized, which means they likely were indoors at least until they were weaned, then they were thrown out and had to learn to survive without a mom to teach them how to do so. All of them lack the independence that cats are known for.

Lucy

Awww, what a sweet kitty.
My cat would likely scratch your eyes out than come over for any kind of attention.
I miss having an affectionate kitty, since bringing this one home as an older kitten, my hopes are dashed to have a baby kitten.
Ellie would likely hurt it......badly.

Your girlfriend is an angel, thank goodness for people who open their hearts and homes to God's creatures in need.

CHoffman

Sounds like a character for sure!!..He probably is just dying for some affection. We foster cats too and we've had some silly ones.. He looks like a pretty cat. Good luck with him. I'm sure with getting the proper health care and attention he'll be recovered in no time. Keep us posted.

Tavel

Thanks for all the support, I feel better knowing I'm not the only one with a needy cat. I have some good news, he ate a few pieces of tortilla shell and even a handful of catfood. It looks like he finally remembered how to eat...now he just has to get into the habit again.

Some more pics, the photo above was taken last night and it was really dark. (These are still pretty dark, taken at 1/30 second...1/60 is the lowest for hand-held shooting)






This one shows that he actually IS skinny. He weighs like 6 or 7 pounds.


Do you like my couch? $20 from the salvation army, Boo yah!

CHoffman

What a sweet Kitty. The very first Foster cat we had was starved and skinny like your little guy..She fattened up in a hurry.
What is his name??

Yes, I do like your couch

Red1313

oh he's a cutie. There's something about the silver tabby that's appealing. Though I always lose my heart to calio's

Hopefully he's back to health soon.
Speaking of annoying cats we used to cat sit for a neighbour when they were out of town. The cat was nurotic. It hid in a corner of the basement and we never saw it. It had a weird smell and was the noisiest thing... was always glad to see the cat go back home.

Amanda

ha...looks like you got yourself a new pet.
"Foster"...uh-huh.
I "fostered" 5 cats, & a dog. Guess what, I kept them. lolol.

gremlin

Sweet thing - I like cats, but my Mom is allergic so, no cats. There was a cat in our neighborhood that would run up to me when I was walking home from the bus stop after work every evening. It would meet me at the corner of it's street and follow me all the way to the other corner where I turned. Wove in and out of my feet meowing the whole time. If I slowed down at all, both front paws up on my knee meowing at me. If I walked by a car or a low wall, up on the wall/car walking right next to me. It was a beautiful tortoiseshell that looked like the back half was dipped in bleach solution because the colors were more faded from right behind the front legs all the way to the tip of the tail. No collar, no idea which house it belonged to. One day, it just didn't show up. Never saw it again. I hope the owner decided to keep it inside or moved and kept it inside at the new home. Boy, that cat sure acted starved for attention. It expected to be petted or payed attention to the whole time it could see me. I must admit, I spent quite a bit of time petting that cat when I was supposed to be going home.

seedy

My old cat used to scratch at the heater if it was cold
I think you've got a new pet ... lol

Tavel

I'm surprised he actually noticed he was cold...and then associated that feeling with the heater. Very clever dude.

he's learning boundaries and is becoming more tolerable. If he keeps up like this I may keep him. He learned not to jump on tables (and desks), and he learned to only sit on people when they say it's ok (by patting their lap). He'll still sit there and paw and you until you say it's ok. lol.

and oh yeah, if you lay down he'll come and lay on your back/chest with his face 3 inches from yours. He's not allowed in the bedroom...haha

My burly man side wants a big tomcat who kills rats and beats up children...but I guess I could settle with this one, given a slight name change.

The agency named him "Mischief"...LAAAAAME. May as well call him "boots" or something.

So I can't decide between "Skeletor" or "Cat"...though I usually call him Cat so that's what he'll probably learn.



I feel like Dr. Evil right now because I have a cat sitting on me. Muahahaha.

Dozey

Last fall my condo president knocked on my door and told me she had found an abandoned Siamese kitten and knowing my passion for all animals wondered if I would take her. Emaciated for sure but absolutely adorable. Fortunately she didn’t need any encouragement to start eating. She quickly found our cat’s food and chowed down. The ten year old cat certainly displayed his disapproval of this little fur ball eating his food. He looked at the kitten, gave me a long disgusted look and went to sulk (staring at me the whole time with the same disgusted look).

Sure I love all animals but I wasn’t crazy about having another cat in the house so I called every one I know that would give her a good home with no luck. On the top of that list was my mother who had a Siamese cat pass away on her just a few years back. No, her and dad are retired now and want to spend more time traveling and just don’t have time to raise another cat. Darn!

Wife comes home from work and it’s instant love. Double darn! Knew I had to work quickly. Hmm, abandoned kitten first priority I have to get her to a vet for a check up and her first shots. Called vet made an appointment for next day.

The next day I called mom. “Hi mom, I made an appointment for the kitten today but I’m too busy with work. I was wondering if you could take her in for me?” She could, yeah.

Two hours go by no mom, three hours and then four and still no mom. Called mom at home. “Hi mom, did every thing go ok at the vet’s?”

“Oh yes. Doctor said she is healthy and fine.” Mom goes quiet. Hmm.

“Is he going to keep her over night?” I inquired.

“Nope”. Mom’s quiet again.

“Do I have to pick her up?” I ask.

Again I get a, “Nope”.

OK no more beating around the bush. “Where’s the cat mom?”

OH she's here with me”.



Later that night dad calls. “I’m going to get you for this”.

“What did I do?”

Matt

Aww Cute Kitty

-Matt

aquarist48

I had a cat years ago that I had taught to shake hands and fetch $1 bills. I started teaching her to fetch with cigarette packs crumpled in a ball. When I moved out of the apartment (with the cat) she had over $100 just laying around on the floor. lol Her name was Lucy (true story).

Tavel

hahaha, some very funny stories.

A girl in one of my classes doesn't like cats because they're "sneaky"...sounds like a dog lover to me. cats keep you on your toes, as we've all seen.

prairielilly

I think it's great that you took in the little guy. Sure sounds like he's been neglected and is making up for lost time! and by the way: once they're in, they're 'IN'...your heart that is.

I had two fat female cats for 10 years and all was well. Then I got a fish tank...then I got four more fish tanks...(we've all got a story like that). Then a coworker came to me one day and asked if I could please take her cat. She'd never had an indoor cat, was unprepared for how much attention the cat needed, didn't intend to get another for company and was going nuts - next step was the humane society as she'd been trying for weeks to find a new home for kitty. It took a week or so to convince me but I took in the little one - nine months old, into everything, never shuts up, purrs when you look at her. I refer to her as 'the orange rat' (with affection, she's the cutest thing. Her name is Zoey). My older cats are incredibly condescending as cats can be, but are learning to play nice. The little one is happy as a clam. She is however also really needy - if I'm home and awake at the same time she's sitting in front of me, meowing, demanding to play - constantly. We're working on that. My house is super full, but I can't imagine not having any of them.

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Diana

lol

Cats can be very demanding! I have one that insists on being a pillow. A night, she jumps up on the bed, walks over and starts batting my face until I sort of jerk awake, then crawls under my head and curls up to sleep. She just seems to prefer being squashed. Weird cat.

Anyway, good luck with your foster (snicker) kitty.

Angela_96

I hope it gets better!
It can always have a fat transplant from my cat lol... she weighs at least 30lbs.... we can't get her to loose weight.
She also is the cat thatdoesn't want to be touched unless she comes to you. Otherwise you get eat up. She even gets so mad sometimes she will chase you and bite your leg.

But I will wake up in the middle of the night and find her either on my bed, or sleeping on my 3 year olds feet in his bed.

SHe also puts on a show as if she hates the dog, but I find them snuggled up together when they think no ones around.

Cats are so funny!

Tavel

That's the kind of cat I hate. I'm not going to work all day to buy food for a cat who hates me. It can find it's own food.

This cat gets mad if you don't pay attention to him. He's snorting at me because I won't let him jump up on the desk!


anyway, this cat went to the vet today and all the bloodwork came back normal. He's officially "not dying," and the doctor said we're taking excellent care of him

seedy

All cats would like to think they are the boss .
Only some act like the boss .

jgon_

Have you ever considered a Maine Coon?
http://images.google.com/images?hl=e...gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

Amanda

Rofl, I have my 13 cats - all different personalities. All different breeds too.
I have one who you cannot touch at all - she's feral, one that attacks you if you come too near, one that insists on being held CONSTANTLY - if you don't he just lays on the floor and moans & groans. I have 2 that will ride on your shoulders like a parrot...yeah. It takes all types.

Tavel

13 cats puts you well into "crazy cat lady" territory...your friends and family will have an intervention if you get another. lol.

Tavel

Figured I'd throw out an update...Mischief is doing very well. He gained a lot of weight and plays enough to build up his muscles very quickly. He got his feeding tube out and he's pretty much in the clear now.

And yes, I did decide to keep him. As much as he annoys me, I miss him when he's gone. I should say, I'll keep him as long as he doesn't attack our other cat. We'll see...


Playing fetch...



Getting his funk on...


Pouting about his new hat...


And finally, just being cute!

sirdarksol

If the two cats have been exposed to each other and haven't killed each other yet, you're likely in the clear of any serious hatred between the two. There may be a periodic fight, but nothing serious.

Definitely looks like a healthy, happy little boy. I'm glad he's got a home.

prairielilly

Aww, I'm so glad you decided to keep him! (and I love the last picture )

I agree with SDS - my three still hiss at each other occasionally (3 months all together) but there's no real aggression, and they even make nice sometimes (washing each other's faces etc)

Tavel

well he hisses and growls at her...but then he'll turn around and play with his toys so I know he's not really THAT upset about it. He's just being a brat.

he once was very violent toward her, but I think that was stress related. He just arrived from the vet and was in a new house, then she snuck up on him and he just snapped. He attacked everything in sight, even us! We had to scruff him and hold him down until he chilled out.

sirdarksol

Many cats will start out very violent toward each other. They tend to be territorial. In addition, sick/injured cats are very defensive.

There were hostilities when our cats were first introduced to each other, and there is still an occasional fight (usually touched off by another cat visiting at the back door, but sometimes just because one of my cats is a grouch), sometimes even fairly serious (we've had two bloody noses; one caused by a scratch, and one caused by such a severe impact it actually broke blood vessels inside the nose). Most of the time, however, they get along fine, grooming each other, keeping each other warm, and the like.

Butterfly

Beautiful Mackerel Tabby cat. See the M on his forehead? So of course he has to keep the name Mischief. You know you don't really have a choice because you don't own him-he owns you
Our cat is a foundling also. His Mom got run over before his eyes were open. They belonged to a lady my husband worked with and she was going to take him to the pound but the pound was going to put him to sleep because he couldn't feed himself and hubby said no way. This how we wound up with Angus.
Our miniature dachshund used to carry him around in his mouth, now angus Weighs 20 lbs. He's a sweetie and loves to lay on your side if your sleeping. When he thinks you've slept enough he sticks his nose in your ear and sniffs
carol