#outdoor cat behaviour
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yeah yeah yeah ed catboy teach walking about with a bell around his neck but yall are overlooking the fact that he brought back his dead fish to show stede what a good boy hes been today
#outdoor cat behaviour#our flag means death#ofmd#ofmd spoilers#edward teach#ed teach#blackbonnet#gentlebeard#comfort in a married state#coping 👍
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New roommates? 👀
So many little critters! Pichael and I are moving in with a friend and their cats and dog. It'll be a crash course on how to exist with cats (a thing neither pickle or I have done) so wish us luck!
#pinecone hasn't rehearsed any behaviours with cats beyond not harassing them outdoors and I am already mentally preparing myself for#all of the work involved for slow integrations#that being said#if anyone has any tips or suggestions I am all ears#I'm armed with different rooms#a baby gate#an ex-pen#and a dog who's been working on impulse control since she was a tiny fish#(a million snacks is a given)#the cats are varying degrees of dog savvy#pig is one of many dogs to infiltrate their home#I just don't have any experience with cats#anyways#big changes ✌#(we are still on good terms and the terrier + gundog duo will still be hanging out)#ask
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I was trying to understand the whole idea of "fear ecology", where presence of predators = a ton of behavioural and psychological changes in prey animals, even if they're not hunting (so for example, a non-hunting outdoor cat lowers foraging + reproductive success among mice) and it seemed extreme until the next day when I realized thats just me when my boss is in at work.
#-_- not proud of that one but its pretty funny#authority figures are my natural predator unforch#animal friends
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Pet! SAHSRAU (part 2)
Reader's pronouns: -
Warnings: implied cult behaviour (?), possible out-of-character
Notes: reverse isekai, characters turn into animals, Stellaron Hunters
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Borzoi! Kafka who likes to annoy any other pet that's not in her "family", especially Welt and Himeko. She doesn't provoke anyone when you're around, but once you're outdoors she "accidentally" bumps against Himeko or "unintentionally" upsets Welt's water bowl (you knew that she was behind all of that anyway). Kafka seems to have a particular fondness for Caelus and Stelle. The way she stops bothering Himeko when Caelus wants to play with her, or the soft look in her eyes when Stelle squeezes herself in between her and Welt to stop them from starting a fight. Sometimes Kafka tries to steal the twins away when they're cuddling and napping with their "family", but has never succeeded...yet. The twins' "family" is not happy when they wake up to the sight of Kafka picking up one of the twins by the scruff and taking them away. Kafka will then come to you for help, circling you and looking at the raccoon twins. She knows that you'll find a way to bring the twins to her.
Russian Blue! Silver Wolf who loves your electronic gadgets. She's exactly the type of cat that insists on sitting upon the keyboard of your computer or laptop. Countless times you had to remove her from your room forcefully so you could study/work properly. She'll yowl, pace, try to open the door or squeeze through the crack between the floor and the door, but nothing works. Expect an angry Silver Wolf sitting on her spot in the cat tree, glaring at you silently for the rest of the day unless you give her headpats and cuddles (treats won't work either). Silver Wolf definitely competes with March 7th as to which "family" gains more attention than the other. Blade and Welt will collect Silver Wolf and March respectively from your sides if the look on your face tells them that they're being too noisy, what with Silver Wolf's constant hissing and March's sharp barks.
German Shepherd! Blade who competes with the other pets for your attention, but only secretly. While the others are busy fighting over who gets to sit next to you on the couch, he'll sense that you had a bad day the minute you return home. The sad look in your eyes and your slumped posture basically said it all. Blade will follow you to your room and wait by the door to see if you wanted his company. He decides that you do when you start rubbing at your tear-filled eyes. Blade will sit by your side and nuzzle against your arm till you look at him, and you swear there's a softness in his eyes, so sudden and rare, that just makes you feel much better. You sigh and hug him, he acts indifferent but deep inside he enjoys your embrace. Blade will starting growling at any other pet who dares interrupt his time with you, even if they're just passing by the room.
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Wrote this in a hurry, hopefully this was okay -
The Herta Space Station Crew is next!
#self aware honkai star rail#sahsrau#honkai star rail#hsr kafka#hsr blade#hsr silver wolf#stellaron hunters
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are you serious about believing that cats shouldn't be let outside?
why? like don't get me with that "oh they'll kill animals" well yeah, maybe they will. it's their natural instincts, and allowing them outside promotes a range of natural behaviours. so isn't it cruel to prevent that? and if you believe they shouldn't be allowed to go outside, isn't it cruel to choose to keep them inside instead of just *not having a cat?*
also for that arguement the rspb says " there is no scientific proof that predation by cats in gardens is having any impact on bird populations UK wide." while you may not be from the UK, the UK isn't a place where domestic cats are native either!
I wonder if you are American as so many Americans seem to have this weird opinion - is it very common to believe solely in indoor cats where you live? /gen q. it's very common to have cats that go outdoors here in the UK, and the concept of outdoor cats doesn't exist - if someone mentioned an outdoor cat I'd think of a cat that never went inside, like idk a barn cat. a website I found said 90% of cats in the uk can go outdoors but based on what I'm seeing on your feed and Tumblr it's very different for you?
Yes, I'm serious.
I suppose it's also a natural instinct of coyotes (US), foxes (UK) and hawks to kill cats, so isn't it cruel to prevent that? Cats may have natural instincts but they are not part of nature. They're not part of your local ecosystem, you brought it there. Do you only care about your cat fulfilling its 'natural instincts' and nothing else?
Let's say you have, oh I dunno, the Xenomorph from Alien. Let's say you love it a lot. Are you gonna set it free on the neighborhood because its natural instinct is to kill?
If you believe children shouldn't stick their fingers in the wall socket even if they want to, shouldn't you just not have children?
And yes there is plenty of scientific proof. Cats are not native ANYWHERE. If your cat just stays in a fenced garden or maybe a catio, it's fine, but studies found that cats' kill counts are so high because even 'freeroaming' cats roam less than their wild counterparts (i.e. jungle cats) and thus kill in a more concentrated area. They also kill for fun and not just to eat. Cats have contributed to the extinction of 63 species of birds, mammals, and reptiles in the wild, I'm directly quoting an article here.
Very weird of you to push the American button just because I disagree with you, I am in fact South Korean, and oh believe me outdoor cats are barely a thing here. Cats here are either firmly indoors or stray, save for very rare cases. Most cat owners (and people in general) live in the city and if they let their cats out, a variety of things could happen - such as their cats eating trash and getting sick, being hit by a car, or being killed (or worse, captured and tortured) by ill-meaning people (which has very well happened before).
+ Edit) Let's talk cruelty. What is more cruel, a cat being bored out of its skin, or the cat being flattened by a car, or countless small animals being torn apart and left to die? All of which is preventable with a few extra steps from the cat owner.
In my opinion, having cats (or any other pet) is a lot like raising children. Of course their needs should be paid attention to, but they themselves don't always know the best way to go about fulfilling those needs and it's your responsibility to keep them safe and happy at the same time. You can't let them do whatever they like all the time. AND, you are responsible for what your pets/children do.
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Heya! Been debating for a while to ask a cat blog / catblr a question and I hope you're fine with me asking it! My cat sometimes randomly attacks me like I'll just be talking to a family member and he'll just randomly decide to pounce and bite me (clawing me as well). Me and my family figured it might've been because he was bored so we tried playing with him more and even started to make sure his auto play toys (basicly ones that move on their own, he used to love one of them a LOT but doesn't usually care for it much anymore) but even if we play with him for hours he'll still randomly attack me, it isn't soft bites either, sometimes I'm running out of bandaids. He's got lots of toys and cat trees that he loves but we don't know why he keeps doing this, he doesn't hate me he wants to spend too much time with me to hate me so we're really at a loss. Any ideas?
Hello friend! I’m sorry to hear that you and your kitty are dealing with aggression issues. I’ve been there before with Dave, and I know how difficult it is. It’s hard not to build resentment when these kinds of things happen, and I commend you for seeking a solution that will help both your kitty and you. <3
All that being said, there are a large number of reasons a cat could be acting like that: physical and mental health problems, routine, human interaction, environmental issues, etc.
Keeping up with playtime is a fantastic start, in case it is related to boredom or anxiety. Has this behaviour started suddenly, or has kitty always been like this? If you can pinpoint a trigger (a recent move, arrival of a new family member, outdoor cats, etc) then you might be able to work backwards from there to solve the problem.
To keep yourself from getting injured, see if you can watch his body language and find signs he’s about to bite. If you can’t redirect him to a toy or other distraction, get up and leave the room entirely for a few minutes to let him calm down. At least you’ll avoid some bites this way, and at most he might even learn that biting = you leaving and stop the behaviour.
I’m afraid I can’t give much specific advice beyond that though, since aggression can have such varied causes. My primary suggestion would be to talk to the vet- it’s important to rule out any physical health problems that could be causing it. Otherwise if you have the funds, it might be worth it to contact a cat behaviourist for more specialized help.
Good luck anon! Hopefully you and your kitty can get through this.
#honestly the best thing for Dave’s anxiety was fluoxetine#but that doesn’t work for all cats or households#def talk to your vet and they should be able to help#they know your cat better than me!#thanks for the ask#ask
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The Sims 4: Growing Together Milestones
In The Sims 4 Growing Together expansion pack, Milestones will help to shape who your Sims are and these are separate from Quirks and Traits. This system allows you to track progress of important moments that happen to your Sims across all ages. Milestones track key moments in your Sim's life, allowing you to reminisce on their journey. Think of Milestones as a collection of experiences rather than an achievement list. Your sim isn't required to complete them all.
What Are Milestones?
Achieving certain Milestones can affect your Sim's behaviour and mood, reward special memorabilia, and unlock new interactions.
All Sims can achieve Firsts, Life, and Social Milestones, while Toddlers and Infants have additional categories related to learning and development. The Simology Panel will show recently completed Milestones for your Sim's current age. When a Sim completes a Milestone, it will appear under the appropriate category. Hovering over the Icon will tlel you information about the Milestone. Clicking View Milestones will show completed Milestones throughout all of your Sim's life.
Depending on where you Sim is in life, Revealable Milestones may show up in the Simology Panel to give you clues on how to achieve them.
Here's our list of all available Milestones!
Infant Milestones
Infant Milestones are celebrated moments where Infant Sims experience life and develop capabilities as they learn and grow. Infant Milestones are about the journey of raising an Infant. These Milestones are separated into a few categories: Life, Fine Motor, Gross Motor, Firsts, and Social.
Life: The Life category in the infant milestone system includes the Born milestone, which can be labeled as Born or Born at Hospital depending on whether the player chooses to give birth in a hospital or not.
Fine Motor: Learned to Reach, Learned to Grab, Put Toe In Mouth, Learned To Wave, Learned To Clap, Learned Pincher Grasp
Gross Motor: Lifted Head, Rolled Over to Back, Rolled Over to Tummy, Learned to Creep, Learned to Sit Up, Pulled To Stand, Learned To Dance, Learned To Crawl
Note: Most Gross Motor Milestones can be unlocked during Tummy Time-a specific interaction using the Way-To-Play Playmat (included in the Growing Together expansion).
Firsts: First Visitors, First Bath, First Bubble Bath, First Baby Food, Slept Through the Night, First Finger Food, First Diaper Blowout, Peed on Caregiver
Social: First Smiled, Learned to Coo, Learned to Laugh, Learned to Babble, Learned to Blow Kiss, Learned Peek-A-Boo
Family and Growing Milestones
Began Puberty
Start puberty in High School Years.
Childhood Phase
Endure any of the Childhood Phases in Parenthood.
High School Drop Out
Drop out of High School in High School Years.
Expelled
Get expelled in High School Years.
Graduate High School
Be crowned King or Queen of the Prom in High School Years.
Prom Royalty
Be crowned King or Queen of the Prom in High School Years.
Earned Degree
Earn a degree through the Discover University expansion pack.
Location Milestones
Hermit
Discover the Hermit Neighborhood in Outdoor Retreat.
Mount Komorebi
Climb the top of Mt. Komorebi in Snowy Escape.
Omiscan Templte
Finish the main temple from the Jungle Adventure pack.
Sixam
Discover the hidden Alien Neighborhood in Get to Work.
Survived A Haunted House
Endured the Haunted House from Paranormal Stuff.
Won the Finchwick Village Fair
Win the village fair in Cottage Living.
Defeated The Mother Plant
Defeat the Mother in Strangerville.
Occult Milestones
Abducted By Aliens
Unlock this Milestone by getting abducted by Aliens with Sims 4 Get to Work
Adopted Pet
Adopt a Cat or a Dog in Cats & Dogs EP!
Beat Greg
Beat Greg from the Werewolves game pack.
Became Mermaid
Become a Mermaid in Island Living.
Became Spellcaster
Become a Spellcaster in the Realm of Magic expansion pack.
Became Werewolf
Transform into a Werewolf with the Werewolf game pack.
Miscellaneous Milestones
Become Posessed
Become posessed in Strangerville.
Max Celebrity Star
Reach level 5 Celebrity Stars in Get Famous.
Have A Bad Reputation
Have the worst reputation. Requires Get Famous.
Have A Good Reputation
Have the best reputation. Requires Get Famous.
Smacked By Agnes
Get smacked by Agnes Crumplebottom in Cottage Living.
Won The Lottery!
Win the Lottery in Seasons.
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Happy father's day to the outdoor tomcat we feed at my village house who dragged over this little pipsqueak so we could feed him too.
Odd behaviour for a male cat but he lets his mini me eat from his bowl, trails him, bumps heads with him and lets him play with his tail. And yes, I'm pretty sure the pipsqueak is his, i mean... the green eyes are already evident. No paternity test needed 💕
#𝐒𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐇 ‒ ooc ║#no mama cat in sight unfortunately so... ig we have a kitten now?#we've named him Ognyan! Ozzy for short. and he's inherited dad's dislike for being lifted but if you stand still he'll climb you lmao#doesn't like too many petsies either. independent little baby man at something like four weeks old?? vibe#shoutout to caro for reminding me half the world celebrates father's day today. we have it in december where i'm from.
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Essential Tips for First-Time Cat Owners
Introduction:
Bringing a furry feline friend into your home is an exciting and rewarding experience.
Cats make delightful companions, but being a first-time cat owner can be a bit overwhelming.
To ensure a smooth transition and a happy, healthy life for your new companion, we’ve compiled a comprehensive guide with essential tips for first-time cat owners.
From preparing the home to understanding their needs, this article will provide valuable insights to help you embark on this wonderful journey.
Preparing Your Home:
Before welcoming your new cat, make your home cat-friendly. Remove toxic plants, secure loose wires, and put away fragile objects.
Create a cozy space with a comfortable bed, scratching posts or boards, and interactive toys.
Consider designating a quiet area for your cat to retreat to when they need some alone time.
Proper Nutrition:
Provide a balanced and age-appropriate diet for your cat. Consult with your veterinarian to determine the right type and amount of food.
Avoid giving them human food, as certain ingredients can be harmful to cats. Fresh water should always be readily available.
Litter Box Essentials:
Choose a suitable litter box and place it in a quiet and accessible location. Use unscented litter and scoop it daily to maintain cleanliness.
Provide one litter box per cat plus an additional box. Introduce your cat to the litter box upon arrival and be patient as they become familiar with it.
Provide Scratching Surfaces:
Cats have a natural instinct to scratch. Prevent them from damaging furniture by providing appropriate scratching surfaces such as scratching posts or boards.
Place them strategically near their favourite spots and encourage their use by using catnip or Feliscratch (a synthetic feline scratching pheromone).
Regular Grooming:
Develop a grooming routine to keep your cat’s coat healthy. Brush them regularly to prevent matting and reduce shedding. Additionally, check their ears, teeth, and nails regularly.
Playtime and Enrichment:
Engage your cat in daily play sessions to keep them mentally and physically stimulated. Use interactive toys, laser pointers, or puzzle feeders to provide entertainment and exercise.
Enrich their environment with climbing trees, hiding spots, and window perches for them to observe the outside world.
Veterinary Care:
Schedule regular check-ups with a trusted veterinarian. Vaccinations, parasite prevention, and wellness exams are crucial for maintaining your cat’s health.
Establish a relationship with your vet, ask questions, and stay informed about your cat’s specific healthcare needs.
Time and Patience:
Understand that cats may take time to adjust to their new environment. Some may be shy or anxious initially.
Give them space and time to explore at their own pace.
Gradually introduce them to family members and visitors. Patience and a calm environment are key to helping them feel safe and secure.
Love and Bonding:
Build a strong bond with your cat through affection, regular play, and positive reinforcement. Spend quality time together, offering gentle strokes and praise.
Each cat has their own unique personality, so observe their preferences to discover the best ways to shower them with love.
Safety and Identification:
Ensure your cat’s safety by keeping them indoors or providing a secure outdoor enclosure. Have your cat microchipped and provide them with a collar and identification tag with your contact information. This increases the chances of a safe return in case they get lost.
As a first-time cat owner, you have embarked on an exciting journey filled with love, companionship, and joy.
Following these essential tips will help you provide the best possible care for your new feline friend.
Remember, each cat is unique, so observe their behaviour, listen to their needs, and adapt your approach accordingly.
With time, patience, and plenty of love, you and your cat will forge a beautiful bond that will last a lifetime.
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There was an opinion piece in the local newspaper today where the author argued that people are "ruining cats". He made some reasonable points about breeding and hinted at, though didn't fully state, a point about not stimulating indoor cats enough, but also brought up people having indoor cats at all and leash training their cats as part of this behaviour, which he referred to as "burning away their instincts". He spent maybe half of the piece on reminiscing about his own childhood cats, which were evidently fairly aggressive outdoor cats.
Att the end of the piece he summed it up as "we don't want our cats to be animals, we want them to be something simpler". Which, no, we want them to be domestic and to bring them with us into the life we live today. Would he have said the same thing about dogs ages ago, when it became unacceptable to let them roam around everywhere?
#personal#Idk it just kinda ticked me off#Perhaps in part because he sounds like a more intellectual version of my mum who thinks keeping cats indoors is torture#But doesn't take hers to the vet and has culled kittens in the past
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There have been outdoor cats in Europe since before the USA was invented, and yet Americans still cannot wrap their minds around the concept. Every time it comes up people lose their minds. I've had death threats for talking about it, people hoping my cat dies, people saying that they would steal my cat if they saw it outside so that they could keep it safe indoors (where it, as an outdoor cat, would be miserable).
It's a cultural difference. Americans think that Fahrenheit is a better system of measurement, that it makes more sense to spell colourise colorize, that it's stupid to pronounce Tuesday other than like Twosday - and, having never been in a situation where they aren't the overwhelming majority or their cultural norms hold sway, there's a tendency to start believing that's objective truth.
Tumblr is a place in America, and those norms dominate here too. From my own sorry experience, and from other observations, there's a tendency for that majority to lash out at anyone who dares to challenge that consensus, coming from a place where things are done differently. But they aren't some sort of deviant - they're just doing what is normal for their culture.
I know Americans are disadvantaged in this sense, being citizens of a vast and dominant empire, with little reason, need or ability to travel abroad, consume foreign media, or participate in largely overseas communities, in the way that other nations do. That's why we see that sort of senseless and unhinged reaction to completely normal behaviour; their cultural practices are so ingrained, so ubiquitous in their lives, that they cannot comprehend that maybe other places are different. Different comes across as Wrong.
In this case, cats are independent, intelligent animals who were first domesticated about 9,500 years ago. They have voluntarily lived amongst humans, freely roaming outside, all of that time up to the present day, with the exception of some countries where in the last minute or so it has become the norm for them to be kept inside. This is primarily the case in colonial countries, where cats have been recently imported as an invasive species and pose a threat to native wildlife. That is not the case for the UK, where outdoor cats have been kept since Roman times.
There has been absolutely no problem is keeping cats outdoors in that time. They require much less micromanagement than dogs, being able to keep themselves clean, take themselves for walks, go to the toilet discretely and bury the mess. However, they need a lot of stimulation, both in terms of physical exercise (including the opportunity to jump and climb, as their bodies are primed to do), and mentally (being intelligent and curious, they need to keep their minds engaged and love to explore new areas and sniff around like dogs do).
This can all be more or less replaced for an indoor cat, if you provide regular supervised outdoor access and sufficient indoor enrichment, including furniture they can clamber over, scratching posts, toys, and a lot of attention. It's still probably not what the cat would prefer, suppressing their instincts to do their business somewhere hidden away from home, to spray their scent, to explore their surroundings - and to do all this at night, when their carers are likely asleep.
Without careful management, cats can develop a wide variety of psychological issues. They can become depressed due to a lack of stimuli, especially being shut in a smaller part of the house, alone, at the time when they are naturally most alert and active, and become sluggish and overweight due to lack of energy and exercise. They can develop stress and anxiety problems if they feel trapped in the house, and not free to step outside if they sense danger or just need some space, as we all do from time to time.
All UK based animal charities will tell you this - hence the restriction on adopting a cat where you are not adequately able to give this naturally outdoor animal, which retains all of its instincts and needs, what it needs to be happy. Of course, US charities will probably say the opposite, because their culture and background is different. There is the concern about invasive species, towns and cities are more dominated by roads, there are dangerous wild animals, and so on.
It's a cultural difference, which I think most people in the UK would accept. Personally, I think that there are pros and cons to both approaches, and it can definitely depend on your home and where you live. But it's weird to see indoor cat absolutists absolutely losing their minds that anybody could do things the other way, the way that came first, the way that you and your cat's ancestors arranged things quite happily before they got on a boat and headed off to colonise somewhere, which then required the rules to change.
These are people who are ostensibly concerned with animal welfare, and will likewise rail against zoos where larger cats are kept in monotonous, limited enclosures, observing their sluggish or erratic behaviour as evidence of stress or depression, before posting about how their idiot fat cat (affectionate) hasn't moved all day, or how clingy and vocal their cat is in greeting them in the morning (having been left alone and bored all night), or pissed in the corner and scratched up the couch and so on.
It can be managed, it's fine, but it's wild to think that it's the only option. About a quarter of adults in the UK own a cat, and they are allowed out at night to stretch their legs and stimulate their minds and spray their territory and do their business with dignity, rather than being made to squat over a plastic tray (there are also posts mocking cats for trying to be all proud but knowing that they shit in a box, when you are the one who forced a wild animal to do that when they would rather not - you are the one who took some of their pride and freedom and independence away to make co-habitation work!).
Most houses have a flap in the door so that cats are free to come and go as they please. You know how cats hate a closed door? They can rest easy, knowing there is always an escape route. They are microchipped and immunised. It's magical having a furry friend that you know chooses to live with you (and possibly the only strictly ethical form of pet ownership, in a real speciesism framework). It's magical that I can walk to work and be greeted by friendly, happy, healthy neighbourhood cats all the way.
People here have been doing this for centuries and it's completely normal and fine. The environment survives, having had cats as part of its ecosystem for countless generations (and removing them now could cause more of a problem). The cats usually survive to a good old age, and are smart enough to avoid danger once they're a year or so old.
Yes, there are risks. As I said, there are pros and cons to both approaches (and indoor life has other risks for the cat's wellbeing which can be managed, but probably aren't in a large number of cases), and it can depend on your circumstances. For some people, living next to a busy road, I wouldn't advise it, and I understand that shelters have measures to stop you putting a cat in a dangerous situation. But for most, it works, and humans and cats are perfectly happy together.
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Grief is an emotion I wouldnt wish on my worst enemy.
I gotta get this out for the sake of my soul. It's a really long read.
back in June of 2020, my sister and I found a cat while out for a walk. She was really friendly but looked in really bad shape. She had horrible matted fur all down her back, she was so thin you could feel her entire spine, scratches and old injuries. But she was so curious and bright eyed!
We thought she might be a lost cat so we took her in, sent info to shelters and our block watch captain (oh, the suburbs) and took her to the vet.
They shaved her from the neck down because they couldnt do an exam the mats were so bad.
She was suffering from malnutrition, had several broken bones that healed wrong, beginnings of kidney problems, was partially deaf and had several superficial scratches and bad teeth.
A few days later we found her owners. They said their kids gave them 2 kittens years ago and they just live outdoors mostly. I was really shocked, at that time we lived in the suburbs next to a ravine filled with wildlife. Coyotes were seen almost every night.
They said that her brother died a little while ago from a coyote.
I was completely furious but tried to keep cool. I asked if they would be open to us keeping her? They asked why on earth we wanted a 19 year old cat (19 years old!!)
They warned me she had behavioural problems and peed all over their house and the woman (it was a couple) said that she "hated petting her because she was so boney"
Yikes.
We agreed that I could keep her as long as they didnt have to pay the vet bills.
(turns out the man of the couple was a bit more attached to the cats or maybe he felt guilty because a few weeks later he showed up with an envelope with half the cost of vet bills for me)
This cat was supposed to be my sisters. I've never been much of a cat person because growing up our mother would foster cats and the minute you got attached to one it was gone to a new home.
Unfortunately, due to some circumstances, my sister had to go to the hospital for a long time and I became the caretaker for this little girl.
First, I didnt want to let her into my bedroom. Then she wasnt allowed in my actual bed. Then she wasnt allowed to spend the night. All of these rules didnt last long at all.
We found the perfect equilibrium. She loved to sleep on my lap (she's incredibly small and perpetually cold) during the day (I work from home) and at night she would snuggle into the crook of my left arm (always the left) and snore peacefully into my ear.
I moved a few months after getting her. In the summer, she goes out to the patio and sleeps on the warm stones. She has a little harness and a really long leash so that she doesnt wander far. My desk is right by the door so I can sit and watch her. And untangle her when she gets wrapped around the patio furniture.
She never had a single "behavioural problem" like the couple said. She always went to the litterbox perfectly, even on long car trips when visiting my parents.
She doesnt like other cats (I think she is anxious about being bullied) but she likes dogs.
She is now completely deaf, which is great because I dont disturb her sleep with vacuuming or my work.
I completely fell in love. And honestly, she saved my life. She became my perfect companion. I put her on a raw meat diet, her fur grew back beautifully and she feels and looks a lot better!
Thing is, being 19 when I got her, I knew what that meant. I knew the end would come a lot sooner than I'd like so I truly treasure every single moment with her.
Yesterday I got the results of her blood and urine tests. Her kidneys are officially in stage 3 out of 4, meaning that the end is coming.
It could be a few weeks or months but there's no stopping this.
I've never lost a person before but my dog passed away after a prolonged illness in 2018 and it was easily the hardest thing that I've ever been through.
My only regret with my dog was that I was so desperate to keep her alive that I held on too tightly. It's never an easy decision because you dont know if it's the right time.
This time my only goal will be to give her the best possible end. Once she shows me that she's ready to go, I will listen. I already know I'm going to do it at home. I have researched the company that does it.
It probably wont happen for a while. She's still happy, eating ok, sleeping a lot but that's because she's a lil grandma. Right now, her diet is well in line with kidney heath.
I'm still waiting on test results to give me a better picture of how far into stage 3 she is. But the writing is on the wall and I'm full into grief.
Is it better or worse to know it's going to happen soon? Does it matter?
I passed all the stages of grief a long time ago (if you believe in that). I've been at 'acceptance' for a while now. But it really doesnt make it any easier.
I feel so weak and so powerless. I know this will pass and I will survive. I've survived before. I just needed to get this out.
Here's Kida. Although I never call her by her name. She's either Little Girl, Baby or Beloved.
When we first found her:
Vs today:
#tl:dr my elderly cat's kidneys are slowly shutting down and Im spiralling a little#tw animal death#tw animal harm#im grateful more than anything else#our lives intersected at the right time
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A month ago today, my cat Billy passed on. I keep putting writing this off because there was just so much to do for spring and summer now that my father is in the hospital. Their house still feels a little empty without the dog and the cat. Just one cat left now, Casper. Click the read-more if you want to see photos of him and some of our other pets.
Billy first came to their house when I was visiting Amherst to find housing and to meet my grandmother, Summer 2010. My parents told our neighbour that we had 1 gray cat - named Smoky - and she called me and said that now we have 2 gray cats. When we got back, we searched the backyard for him for a while without success until finally he came out of a rosebush - maybe he was napping - and immediately ran up to my mother, meowing for attention. My mother thought he was so cute. We weren't sure if he was a stray or abandoned, and he had no collar but looked healthy. I checked him for fleas before letting him follow us inside, and he just let me comb him over until he got bored and ran in. My father thought that he was about 10 months old, probably left behind by someone living in a nearby street. I moved to Amherst a month later, so I didn't spend a lot of time with him until more recent years.
This is the earliest photo I have of him, from 2012.
I miss that orange cat, Chester, a lot too. Billy and Chester mostly got along. Chester was already around 10 or 11 when Billy started living here. Chester was well-behaved and a badass adventurous alpha cat, so Billy definitely learned some of Chester's better behaviours over the 5 years that they lived in the house together, including staying out on the porch all night. Billy probably learned the best spots to catch rats from him. When Chester passed on that 2 September in 2015, Billy became the new chief rattenfaenger (Smoky was never much for catching rats). I regret that we never adopted a younger cat or a kitten for Billy to pass on his unique set of behaviours, and it especially stings because he was such an incredibly good cat.
I named him Billy after a friend came over and I asked him if he wanted to help name this cat, since he had helped me pick the name Chester for our new orange cat, back in 2006. He felt that Billy was a friendly name for a friendly cat. Sadly, Billy experienced a rapid deterioration starting in December 2022, becoming noticeable only by the end of December & early January. He went to the vet and recovered for a few months, but ultimately complications from a stroke did him in. After the stroke on 22 April, his recovery stopped and his condition declined quickly. He was so tired and frail at the end. But I cherish his memory, so I'm not going to remember my cat that way.
Billy was mostly friendly with Riley, my brother's dog, and most of the cats in the neighbourhood too. Riley passed in February of this year. Both of them were 14 years old. I tried so hard to keep him alive for the first 5 months of 2023.. but his little body just couldn't take it anymore. So he passed at 09h50, 09 May, 2023. He passed in the backyard, with me by his side.. I had already scheduled his at-home euthanasia for Wednesday. But he didn't even last long enough to reach the vet clinic 2 miles away. Maybe it was selfish of me to think on Monday that I could just have 48 more hours with him. Maybe it was foolish of me to try at all. But I had to. He was a great cat. A great cat is worth fighting for. It's the least we can do to reward him for all the rats he caught over his life. It's been a month and I still miss him. He was with us for 13 years, yet it wasn't enough. All I wanted was for him to survive to the end of summer, because that's a cat's favourite time of year... alas, it was not meant to be.
Even in his old age, Billy preferred to stay outdoors. He was an incredible hunter, primarily of rats, mice, voles, and other small rodents. He definitely caught his share of birds and lizards, but thankfully those weren't his primary targets because there were just so many rats. I estimate that he caught, on average for 10 years, 5 rodents per week. There were many nights that I saw him catch 3 rats in a single evening & night; even ~7 where he caught 5 in a single night. My parents definitely would not have been able to grow a garden or keep the tortoise safe from predation by rats without Billy & Chester staying out most of every evening catching rats. Both of them had outdoor shelters too, or sometimes used the dog's old house. Billy & Chester were both incredible cats. Truly my family has been fortunate to have such wonderful fuzzy creatures.
Billy learned to sit in a chair to eat from Chester, and all the cats since have been doing it. I wish we had more early photos of him, but hard drive space was at a premium. 80% of the 236 photos & videos are from the last 3 years. At some point around 2020, he also learned that he could get attention and better food by banging on the pan, or by tipping over (empty) cups.
Casper, the white cat, came to the neighbourhood some time around ~2013, possibly from our neighbour 2 houses down, already approximately 2 years old. My father was feeding him outside, and he started coming inside and living with us starting in 2019. Billy wasn't exactly fond of him, but they did get close sometimes. He sometiems would steal Casper's dinner. Casper actually came up to cuddle Billy one night when he was sick. Billy also got along with the tortoises too, never really bothering them except for a few sniffs sometimes. Mrs. Slowski liked to try hiding in his fur sometimes when he was asleep, which always scared him. Now that Billy is gone, Casper is the king. The King is dead; All hail the King.
This is the final truly good healthy photo I have of him, from 24 March. I think the only thing keeping him going in the end was love - for me, for my parents, and for this house & neighbourhood. He wanted to stay with us as long as he could because he loved us. And I felt that I had to grant him as much time as possible, because it would be dishonourable to take time away from his life which is so precious to us when he so clearly wanted to stay.
I wish I could tell his original owners - an air force family who received orders to move to somewhere, Colorado, I think - that we loved him so much, that he brought so much joy to this house every day. Right up to the end. I wish I could tell them that when I came home on his Sunday evening, he still tried to run to the car to greet me. I wish I could tell them that he purred and that the sun was shining and the breeze was nice and that Casper and Mrs. Slowski were both there for him during his final moments. And so was I.
Adieu, Billy. I keep telling myself that you're still with me, just in another form. I keep pouring out my spent incense onto your grave, which is near Chester and Riley's graves. You are at peace now. Perhaps I will put together a combination of incenses that I feel represents your memory. I think it would be an eclectic combination of rose, pineapple sage, black pepper, and minty\piney frankincense.
Now, all that's left are his memories, his photos, his impact.. and his love.
If you're reading this, because I want you to depart with thoughts of happier times, here is a short video of Billy slowly sanding me while I scratch his belly - his favourite activity in the world.
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(if you talked about this before just ignore) ty mentioned how jae is cute like a puppy but do said how jae *is* like a loyal puppy and i find this incredible because i think jae is puppy coded and he is loyal to do. others made it a jaeyong moment when do was speaking like he knew jae deeply verywell and not focused on his looks. ive also seen valentines compare jae to a cat. what animal do you think fits jae best? puppy or cat?
I complain that fans prefer Jaehyun as a cat and not as a dog every other half moon. I'm afraid, with DJJ and Woo as the official puppy of 127, it'll get even more undisputable.
There is an overlap between cats and dogs in behaviour and antics, however, I think "seeks approval" is the important dog's trait for the choice between the two animals in our case.
Jaehyun is very much puppy/working dog coded. The way he singles out Doyoung like a one-owner dog would do, his diligence and tenacity at work, love for active outdoor activities, the way he runs with hair flopping like ears, the way he gets quickly attention deprived and needs Doyoung to pet him, the way he is nice to kids yet often standoffish with adults (other neos), his attention to smells, love for old familiar things (hairband, clothes), jealousy, etc.
Doyoung is more cat-like in character. And I see more fans noticing it.
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Monday Cat Fact
February 20, 2023
Please reblog the Cat Facts , and follow our tumblr! You'll learn all sorts of fun things about Kitty-Cats!
Check us out at CatFacts.ca , or use the link below ->
Brand new week, brand new Cat Facts for all our readers here at CatFacts.ca ! We'll be back every day with a new Fact about Cats daily!
Don't forget to submit your Cat-Pics! We'll feature all the Kitty-Cat friends!
CAT FACT: Cats are natural hunters, watching birds can trigger their predatory instincts!
- When cats watch birds, they may become fixated on their movements and begin to stalk them, even if they are inside and the birds are outside. This behaviour is part of their innate hunting instincts! Wow!
- Watching birds can be a form of enrichment for cats, and watching birds can provide mental stimulation and entertainment. Many indoor cats do not have access to the outdoors or opportunities to hunt, so some cat owners will set up bird feeders outside windows or even play videos of birds on TV for their cats to watch!
Today we have another feature-Cat! This is Willow! Wow! Willow comes to us from Canada and Viv is so happy to make her acquaintance. Check out this fantastic fancy Cat as she spends some time doing some birdwatching on a nice afternoon! Meow!
#Cat#cats#cat facts#catfacts.ca#daily cat facts#meow#kitty#kitty cat#I love cats#Viv#favorite animal#Vivian#feline#brown cat#grey cat#black cat#calico cat#orange cat#tabby cat#white cat#Why do cats eat#why do cats purr#why do cats knead#why do cats meow#cat#willow#birdwatching
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eughhhghhhh exotic animals should not be kept as pets because their nutritional and enrichment needs far outstep any furmommy could give it. the quality of life for them is very poor despite what you tell yourself. just get a regular domestic cat and stop forcing actual wild animals into lives of suffering after being poached for your aesthetic 💔
you are definitely right that the majority of people are not and never could be equipped to properly take care of a serval, but i would not own her if i weren't 100% certain in my ability to give her the best possible life!! ❤️ her nutrition and enrichment in my care surpass what she could ever have in the wild, and she's much safer and more comfortable 🙏
i spend about $1.5-3k a month on her diet alone - 99%+ whole prey, as close as possible to a wild serval diet, just a bit more varied in terms of what animals she's eating. she does not receive supplements (a common dangerous mistake in exotic owners!) and her bloodwork is regularly checked to make sure everything is as balanced as possible. she spends most of her day exercising/playing, especially outdoors (sunlight is important for their digestion), and we have two enclosures, a river walk, and hundreds of toys/enrichment options/etc for her. she does NOT live like a zoo cat getting tossed a cardboard box or watermelon as entertainment once a month and calling it a day!
my whole entire life revolves around her - i bought my house for her, she's my 24/7 full time job, i wake up and go to sleep with and for her
i promise you that i am more upset than you are about trophy pet servals - this is a community i am unfortunately more involved in than i would like to be, and i actively work against the exotic trafficking market and trophy pet industries. i have PIs in multiple states building cases against neglectful owners who think it's fine to treat an exotic animal like a housecat and feed them a domestic diet, keep them locked indoors, etc, and i encourage you to PLEASE report anyone you see on social media posting anything indicative of that behaviour!!! 🙏 you are absolutely right that in the MAJORITY of cases, these animals ARE better off in the wild!
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