Thread: Pets

I see my picture taking back then was not any better than now. LOL.

Our 21 year old cat that came with the house. Still runs up the stairs, plays with her toys and jumps up on the bed. Great little thing.

Bob

Originally Posted by Gasman

Talking fish, I know very well. I had a 150 gallon tank of salt water fish and everything else you can put in the tank.

I have never seen a talking fish Jerry, what size are they?

We have 3 cats.

They're about 14 years old now.

I do like cats but I doubt I could eat a whole one.

Taste like chicken?

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

Taste like chicken?

Depends what you've been feeding them, sometimes they taste like tuna.

Originally Posted by STF

We have 3 cats.

They're about 14 years old now.

I do like cats but I doubt I could eat a whole one.

There's not a lot of meat on them?, though.

"My" cat, Sam (gender neutral name).

This was coming up in an unrelated thread, so I decided to post here about Sam. Several months ago I had some rats in the garage. I had left the door up and when I went outside a cat bolted out of the garage. I went out and talked to it and it stopped across the street and listened. I told it I would leave the door open a crack and if it ate the rats I would start to feed it. Two days later, no more rats and I set some food down. I know that Sam has been staying in a pile of junk, but so well hidden that I don't know exactly where. But, the same amount of food disappears every night, so I know I have the one cat eating and nothing else has found it.

What cracks me up is that I first thought Sam was dumped and had moved into the feral colony down the road. Whenever I see them, they stop about 10 feet away and look at me when I talk to them. So, I can't figure out if Sam is a feral who is just so confident that it doesn't run that far away, or if it is a stray that was dumped so long ago that it doesn't care about human interaction. Or, maybe they just don't like me but like my food .

I thought I was making progress when I was sitting out there one evening and Sam came out, went and sniffed the empty food dish, looked at me, and then strutted around like a sweet kitty. But, alas, no. Besides that one time it never comes out to see me. Sometimes I catch it sneaking out of the pile and then when I say hi, it will stop and listen. The confusing attitude just cracks me up.

I have no pictures because I have only seen Sam a few times in the months they've lived here.

Just for the record, I am fairly fluent in cat. Been a crazy cat lady all my life. I've been running a small rescue group that focuses mostly on bottle raised kittens. There are two schools of thought when it comes to taming feral cats. I like the relaxed approach of being around and letting the cat get curious and warm up to you. Other people like to force love them into submission. So, I am perfectly content being out in the garage talking to a junk pile in case there is a cat in there and getting the occasional glimpse. I've got two cats in the house I can walk up to when I just need to pet a cat. Although, I don't usually need to since at least one of them is usually within reach.

I think that cats are very independent and go for what is the best they can get.

If you offer them something that they feel is better they will come and live with you.

When I was younger we milked cows and the barn was always warm and we fed the cats.

When we stopped milking and the barn got colder the cats moved on.

They didn't hang on to see what might happen they moved on to find a better place.

To put our emotions into a cat is wrongly placed.

Originally Posted by 32t

I think that cats are very independent and go for what is the best they can get.

If you offer them something that they feel is better they will come and live with you.

When I was younger we milked cows and the barn was always warm and we fed the cats.

When we stopped milking and the barn got colder the cats moved on.

They didn't hang on to see what might happen they moved on to find a better place.

To put our emotions into a cat is wrongly placed.

I'll agree with this to a point. Especially talking about barn cats, stay cats, etc. I know that Sam is just using me for a place to stay and free meal.

I also think that anytime we try to put human emotions on an animal, it gets tricky. But whether it's love, trust, or just familiarity, a cat will develop a bond with a person.

But, I think that any example I have can be written off as projecting emotions onto them and based in some selfish need. "If I don't let him let me he won't feed me any more ". But, I think you can do the same thing with any animal. Does your horse like you or just want food? Your dog? Who knows, our affections may all be one sided.

I usually hear this kind of thing from dog people. And there is no question that cats and dogs are completely different. A dog is like a grandmother. You go visit and the jump up, shower you with hugs and kisses and won't let you out of their sight until you tell them everything. Cats are like your friend that when you visit they say "sup, grab a beer the game's starting".