You are NOT my cat. So don't get attached.

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
1

Ah, insomnia.

I was feeling vaguely depressed and couldn’t sleep, so even though it was midnight I said goodbye to the kittens and went outside to take a walk.

And on my walk I met a stray cat. She came up to me and asked to be petted. She was limping. Her sides were caved in. She purred, and rubbed her head against my leg.

Well, what the heck was I supposed to do? I couldn’t just leave her to die, could I?

So I went home and got a carrier and some food. I brought her yowling and complaining back to the apartment, shut her up in the laundry room, and watched as she wolfed down the food.

I guess I’d better take her to the vet in the morning and see if she can be saved, if she’s just starving or if she has some kind of horrible disease.

But I’m NOT keeping her. For one thing, I already have two cats, and that is quite enough for even a fairly large apartment. Also, she has long hair, and you know how much long-haired cats shed. Anyway, I’m going on vacation next month, and I know my cats can deal with that, but what about a stranger? And think of the added vet bills. More food. Another litter box. So out she goes as soon as she looks a little stronger.

Insomnia might be a good name. I was trying to sleep by reading a biography of Dorothy Parker (another melancholy insomniac), so Dorothy, or Parker if she turns out to be male…

But I’m not naming her. Because she isn’t staying. She’s just here because she asked me for help, that’s all. And if the vet says she’s too expensive to save, I won’t pay it.

Really.

I’m sure of it.

2

Thats what I said when I rescued Dawn from some stranger on the train - one year later and she is happily settled in with my other cat.

3

And incidentally, my sister who has had both short and long-haired cats swears the long-haired ones actually shed less although their fur does mat.

As the roommate of a recently arrived nine week old long-hair kitten (which some friends left with me for a “trial period”) this seems to be true.

4

Are you sure you didn’t name her?

It would be a cool name, impossible to make into a nickname though.

5

Sigh, It always starts like this but before you know it you have an extra cat.

Kipper who is up to four cats.

PS There is nothing more satisfying that a large fat happy cat who used to be a skinny, sick unhappy cat.

6

Yeah, riiiiiightttt . :wink:

7

We just went through this. An adorable stray wanders into the yard and WOULDN’T LEAVE. We had her to the vet Saturday, and she does have some health problems. But…she’s a real sweetie, so now we have four cats. Damn!

8

That cat owns you. It will have already paid for you through the Mysterious Invisible Cat Economy. There is no way that you, a mere human, can force a cat to break a deal sealed in fur, pheromones and prey.

By feeding the cat, and taking her to the vet, your worth in the Mysterious Invisible Cat Economy will have increased. This, incidentally, explains why cats bring small furry creatures and other objects to you as “gifts”. These are in fact your profit dividend.

9

Long ago we found a cat. To prevent ourselves getting attached to him, we didn’t name him. This is why we had a cat named “Cat” for sixteen years.

10

Long ago we found a cat. To prevent ourselves getting attached to him, we didn’t name him. This is why we had a cat named “Cat” for sixteen years.

11

Sigh.

All right, I admit it.

I have three cats, darn it all.

Parker is emphatically male, with comical pendulous testicles which I mistook for more mats of crap and hair. It was late, what can I say?

He tested negative for leukemia and HIV. He isn’t dangerously malnourished, although he could use a few weeks of good, regular meals. He has a large abscess on a front leg, from a bite wound sustained in a fight, and a scab/scar thing on his neck. No guess on his age- adult.

But the vet says he’s not in such terrible shape, and kept him there to be neutered and to have the abscess drained. He promised to give him a butt-trim and brush him out a bit while he’s there. I should get Parker back tonight, at around seven. He started shots.

I guess I’m now a three-cat family. And all male, too. Why can’t I find a nice male of my OWN species in an alley late at night? Why is it hardcase felines?

He made a fearsome mess of squishy poo on the floor in the examining room.

He purrs whenever I pet him or come near him.

I’ll keep him in the laundry room until he gets over the surgery and his leg looks better, then try introducing him to Haiku and Puck.

See, now, I knew this was going to happen.

He has long grey and white hair and big golden eyes. When he isn’t hollow-ribbed, matted, clumps of hair falling off- I think he’s going to be a nice-looking cat. He seems affectionate, too.

Well, I can’t very well take him to the shelter, can I? All those big-eyed kittens with their balls of string and their little baskets… he wouldn’t stand a chance.

12

Congrats on your new cat! I’m sure he’ll be a handsome devil when he gets some more weight on him. Cats have a knack for finding just the right person, do they not?

13

Sounds like a story!

So go on…

14

I was smiling reading these responses which echoed my thoughts (FisherQueen is getting a new cat)

Of course he purrs when you come near him. You are his hero and he loves you. :slight_smile:

Congrats!

15

One of my friends has 15 cats, and I’d say at least 5 of them ended up in the family through the “stray cat care” method. Congratulations on your new cat!

F_X

16

FisherQueen

(Preaching to the choir, but no one else said anythign yet) Just make sure to put up the usual “Found cat” notices in case Parker is a well loved housepet who just went astray.

And I’m sure we’ll all be waiting for updates on how the introductions finally go. :slight_smile:

-Doug

17

Heh, heh, heh. Convincing yourself that the cat isn’t staying doesn’t work.

18

The guy I got Dawn from had found her dumped in a rubbish bin behind a supermarket. As he was on his way to work he just grabbed her out and hopped on the train. He was offering her around to everyone on the train, otherwise he would get her put down as she was very young. I took her and leechboy and I bottle fed her for a couple of weeks and bit over a year later we have an adorable cat who loves us both.

19

Yup had a cat called “The Kitten” for several years for exactly the same reason.

20

Same here; she was the last kitten left from a litter. Since at the time we had five other cats I kept insisting that we were not keeping it so there was no point in naming it. It was called either “the kitten” or “the cat with no name” for over a year, until it died of unknown causes (all I can remember is coming home from work to find out that it had been rushed to the vet but died en route).
And we’re going through the same thing now; one of our newest cats had a litter of two, and since the mother of “the kitten” had just died of cancer it was decided we would keep one and give the other away. A friend had offered to take it, but my wife, after spending several hours with his four-year-old son thinks that the son would be too rough on the kitten. So now she’s starting to think of names for it, and I have a feeling I’m going to lose this battle.