I don’t claim to remember the exact date, but our cat is, or will shortly, be beginning her second year as an indoor cat here.
My wife found her, apparently abandoned, in the backyard in September 1998. She fed her (always a good way to acquire a cat for life. The original idea was that she was going to be an outdoor cat,keeping the yard rodent-free, and to that end we got her a hutch (“cathouse” has certain unfortunate connotations…), two sets of bedding, and a kennel heater. About this time last year, however, the heater broke down during a spell of particularly bad weather. We agreed that it would be cruel to leave outside under those conditions, and her in the house. After a brief bit of confusion over the fact that we actually encouraged her to jump on the bed, she settled in quite nicely.
However, her second year is not starting off auspiciously. Unfortunately, we’ve had to attend a wake and a funeral the last two days, which means that each day she’s been left in the bedroom for several hours with only her food, water, litterbox, basket, towel, and a mere half-dozen or so toys. Tomorrow, she is likely to suffer the ultimate indignity, and be brushed!
(Note: the preceding paragraph contains sarcasm).
Why left in the bedroom? Give her the run of the house!
More cat stuff, unrealted to the OP: I just came back from the pet store with some toys for my cats. I got them sone little furry mice and my cats are going NUTS! My cat Angel is running around the house with one in his mouth, and he stops every so often to fling his head back and toss the mouse in the air. Happy has just swatted his mouse under the couch and I have to get it back out for him. I also got a catnip toy and Annie is hissing at any other cat that tries to come near it. I love watching my cats play!
Unfortunately (from the point of view of letting her run freely through the house when we’re gone, at least), we also have a budgie, who is the Senior Pet. During the day, his cage is in the living room.
Patches (the cat) has never shown any interest in Chippy (the budgie); in fact, the one time that he got loose, she ran back in the bedroom, apparently startled by the noise and commotion. Still, we think it’s a bad idea to presume indefinitely on this disinterest. If one of us is not awake and about, the cat goes in the bedroom, and the door is closed. In fact, when I go to bed (about 2100-2200 WULT, usually), she goes to bed with me, so that Chippy can come out and fly around. For historical reasons, my wife does not usually go to bed until about 0200; this sometimes results in the cat meowing at the bedroom door for her to come in.
My cats love those furry mouse toys, too! Unfortunately, so does the dog. After he puked one up the other day, we decided it’s best to keep them up out of everyone’s reach 
“I hope life isn’t a big joke, because I don’t get it,” Jack Handy
My daughter has a kitten–I’ve got a grandkitty!
So far the older cat is doing extremely well. He even plays with the little kitten who is tearing up my comforter chasing my toes!
Not really related much to the OP, but…
My aunt used to have a cat. One day she brought home a rabbit. Well, she thought the poor little bunny would be afraid of the cat, so she kept the two apart at first. But, over time, the rabbit was getting more and more run of the house. Eventually, the cat and rabbit shared living space. And what did this poor, little defenseless bunny do? Hide under the couch and wait for the cat to walk by and then POUNCE! That poor cat was stalked by the rabbit! I myself have 4 (yeah, 4!) rabbits, and they fear nothing. We use a wet/dry vac to clean their cages, and if we didn’t stop them, they would sniff the hose and get their faces sucked in!
The phrase dumb bunny applies.
Dizzy
It’s funny 'cause it’s true!
We once had a cat named Archibald–big, fluffy, and colored like Socks–who was unforgetable. To wit:
*He would sit outside for hours on end, looking at a hole in the house foundation. A cousin who cleaned up outside told us that she found Archie had a cache of mouse skeletons there.
*We confronted him with a box of kittens that resembled him. He didn’t care.
*We found a mouse in the downstairs bathroom. I brought Archie in and showed him the mouse–and went out into the living room to wait. Sure enough, a few minutes later Archie trotted out toward the front door, with the mouse in his mouth. (I still don’t know why “cat-with-mouse-in-mouth” is some kind of bad omen–except possibly for the mouse.) He went outside, apparently so he could show the other cats what a good mouser he was. 
*We lived on a narrow street. Archie would sit in the middle of the street–hey, this was his territory–daring cars to hit him! None ever did, of course.
“If you drive an automobile, please drive carefully–because I walk in my sleep.”–Victor Borge
My cats got a new toy for Christmas–two feathers on a string attached to a stick. When you wave the stick, the feathers seem to “fly.” Sophie drags it around the house and drops it at my feet. (If I still don’t get the hint, she’ll meow loudly.)
I have to say though that the all-time favorite toys are leaves they drag in from the porch.
Careful, now! 
We found a couple of these fur “balls” (they look like rabbit tales except rounder) and the cats love them. Annie (short for “Anchovie”) gets one in her mouth and then goes screaming around the house carrying it.
Oh, did I mention this one–my cat, Hulk Hogan doesn’t like to hear me sing. If I do, he comes and bites me. Maybe he has perfect pitch!
Here’s something only sort of related to the OP…but maybe some of you know about this. My boyfriend’s cat has had what seems to be a stuffy nose for several weeks, on and off. We assumed it was kitty allergies or something like that. We took him to the vet yesterday, who said the problem was most likely a persistent herpes (!) infection. She offered neither advice nor treatment for it. We’re a little worried about the cat, and are just assuming it isn’t transmissible to humans. Anyone ever heard of this?
D Marie, for further information, may I recommend the cat veterinary information at http://www.vetinfo.com/catindex.html.
I note that referring to herpes (rhinotracheitis) infection, Dr. Richards says:
At the risk of getting my head bitten off, let me say this: Michelle has graciously offered (in the Pet Health thread, as well as elsewhere) to supply whatever information she can. More power to her; I’ve actually bothered her myself. But, people, it is evident from her postings that she is perpetually overworked and overstressed. It’s one thing to get off an emergency screed to her, or to ask her for advice when there’s no alternative. But, please, do not attempt to turn her into a free veterinary diagnosis service. It’s not fair to her, and it’s not fair to your pets. I ask this, not because I have the slightest illusion that my opinion per se is worth anything, but in the hope that some slight wisdom in them that those better than I (which is almost everyone) will recognize.
We now return you to your regularly-scheduled gushing about your cats, already in progress.
Eh, what’s that? God’s calling me home? Oh, OK; must be dinner time.
One thing I would like to say, D Marie, is that if your vet doesn’t offer you advice or explanations, you seriously need to find another vet.
You are absolutely right about the vet, and we are in the process of finding a new one. In posting here I was just looking for layman’s information, so to speak, and certainly didn’t mean to add to anyone’s stress factor. Thanks, guys, for the info and the link.
I got an aquarium last weekend, and finally bought some fish to put in it last night. My yellow tabby Snuggles is FASCINATED by the fishes behind the glass. He jumps on top of it and tries to wedge his paw in next to the filter. He’ll sit beside it and swat at the glass if the fish get too close to him. It is cute today, but I’m afraid he’ll get too rambunctious before long. We’ll have to limit his aquarium time.
Snuggles awakened me at 4:30 this morning with my gerbil in another near-death experience. ND (the gerbil) has a complex that he should be a free-range pet, and he can unscrew one of the plastic caps on his container and jump out. ND doesn’t understand that Snuggles and the other cats are not his pals, and he needs to stay in his little plastic house when they’re in.
My all-black kitty likes to get into my bathtub and capture the evil (white) rubber bathtub stopper.
At which point he trots around the house with the stopper in his teeth, ever so proud of himself for having conquered his vile & deadly foe!
Which is not as bad as when both cats get into the sewing room - where they will get a pincushion, pull the pins out one by one and bat them around on the cutting mat until the pin lands in the carpet. (I can hear Michelle shuddering from here)
Yes, I now keep the door to the sewing room closed at all times.
…in a state so nonintuitive it can only be called weird…
You are really lucky that your kitty never got into any serious trouble. My own sweet Domino once ate a needle that was left lying on my roommate’s bed. Thankfully, the needle got stuck on his tongue and he did not swallow it. Getting it out of his intestines would have been a lot more difficult than just pulling it out of his tongue.
Oh, yes, Michelle, I know I was very lucky! Especially since they pulled half the pins out of the pincushion before I realized I had left the door open.
How do I get my cat to be more loving? I have 3 dogs also but I have owned the cat longer then the last dog (about a year and a half ago) he play fights with the puppy (alright a year old) but doesnt like to be petted or touched by people much, he cringes away at it. We have had him since he was a kitten and have never mistreated him or smacked him or anything. In fact other then swatting whole loaves of bread off the counter onto the floor for ALL animals to share he never does a bad thing… doesnt scratch or spray or anything. Yet he hates to be petted or cuddled… any suggestions? hes such a cool cat!