My Front Porch is a Killing Zone

[Deleted]

Jun 24, 2017 18:25:37 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Awwww but they're so cute.

Besides, look at what a conversation piece they are.

I tell people that at least my cat doesn't cost me braces and a college tuition.

But the vet bills! DH and I used to watch a few reality TV shows about veterinarians, including one which followed students at Cornell. Wow. Cataract surgery, dialysis, piecing Doggie or Kitty together again after it chased a car or had a run-in with a bigger and meaner critter... yeah, you do avoid college tuition, though.

I bond quite well with little humans, but maybe because I didn't grow up with pets, I've never felt strongly attached to one. I like being able to travel when I feel like it, though, and a pet would certainly complicate that.

[TheOtherMe]

We only had one dog when we were kids.  She kept running in to the street when mom would be taking her outside.  Why she didn't have her on a leash, I don't know.  She was mom's dog.  Mom even fed her Hershey's kisses.  Anyway after too many times of running in to the street, she went to live on my aunt and uncle's farm.

We did have goldfish and a parakeet.  Poor parakeet had a stroke or something just before we were taking our first big vacation to California.  Poor Ringo went to a different aunt and uncle and he "died" while we were gone. 

My college roommate had a kitten who I watched grow up to a cat.  I loved that cat and I wanted one of my own.  That is how Benjamin came in to my life.  Cats have been a part of my life ever since.

So far, Lucy has not been an expensive cat.  Because of my age, the adoption fee was $25 and she was spayed and had her shots.  She just happened to come declawed.  Because she was so beautiful, she didn't even spend a full day on the adoption floor.  The only vet bills I've had so far are shots, teeth cleanings and one respiratory illness.

There is a limit of what I would do to save her if she got cancer or some serious disease.  I just don't know what it is.

When I lived in Colorado, it was easy to find a pet sitter and pay them.  Here, I've had to rely on family and they do it begrudgingly.  I have only seen ads for dogs.

[Cookies Galore]

My cats are strictly indoor cats, but my old lady cat got her first mouse kill in our new house last June. It was intact, thankfully, she probably just snapped its neck. She didn't know what to do with it so she walked around the house with it, with me trailing with a roll of paper towels.
My sister's cat brought in a live bird yesterday, lol. I would have loved to see my sister's reaction!

[Bonny]

Jun 24, 2017 18:50:42 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Jun 24, 2017 18:25:37 GMT -5 Bonny said:

Awwww but they're so cute.

Besides, look at what a conversation piece they are.

I tell people that at least my cat doesn't cost me braces and a college tuition.

But the vet bills! DH and I used to watch a few reality TV shows about veterinarians, including one which followed students at Cornell. Wow. Cataract surgery, dialysis, piecing Doggie or Kitty together again after it chased a car or had a run-in with a bigger and meaner critter... yeah, you do avoid college tuition, though.

I bond quite well with little humans, but maybe because I didn't grow up with pets, I've never felt strongly attached to one. I like being able to travel when I feel like it, though, and a pet would certainly complicate that.

Oh yeah, as cats get older they almost always go into renal failure. We're probably in year 5 of administering subcutaneous fluids between the two cats (we had to put the old man down about two years ago). They start out weekly and eventually go to 3x per week. It definitely has affected our travel plans.

And there's always the unexpected; same cat got himself bit by a rattlesnake when we were in AZ. A week in the shop at the Emergency Vet. We called him the 5k feline after that. But he lived another 10 years. It was a excellent return on investment for a great cat.

[TheOtherMe]

And with all my cats, I've never had one, so far, go in to renal failure.  Knock on wood.

[andi9899]

Jun 24, 2017 18:15:48 GMT -5 @athena53 said:

Jun 24, 2017 8:49:16 GMT -5 NomoreDramaQ1015 said:

God then there was the time she killed a rabbit and ate it whole. How do we know it was a whole rabbit? She barfed the pieces all over the house and if we had wanted to we could have reconstructed it.

Thank you for reinforcing my decision NOT to get myself a pet to keep me company!

They really are worth it though. They love you unconditionally. They're always happy to see you. They love cuddles. I could go on and on.

[sesfw]

We have a couple of kitty stories

One night we woke up to 'ee, ee, ee', turned the light on in bedroom and above our heads clinging to a beam was a bat.  Threw the cats outside, caught the bat with our trusty large plastic glass, called the cats back in and threw the bat outside.

Came home from work one day and the cats were going crazy, clawing at the drapes in the living room.  There was a chipmunk running across the rods staying out of reach.  Threw the cats out, caught the chipmunk with the same glass, got the cats back in then threw the critter out.

Learned my lesson ......... cats are strictly inside now.

[TheOtherMe]

We had a BBQ at my sister's farm.  Sliding door was open a lot and a two bats got in.  Her very old, very arthritic cat tried to kill each bat at different times in the night.  No one got a lot of sleep. 

[zibazinski]

Jun 25, 2017 17:12:11 GMT -5 TheOtherMe said:

We had a BBQ at my sister's farm.  Sliding door was open a lot and a two bats got in.  Her very old, very arthritic cat tried to kill each bat at different times in the night.  No one got a lot of sleep. 

😂 The spirit was willing but the flesh was weak!!

[TheOtherMe]

She was jumping around like a maniac.  They said she hadn't acted like that in years.  My brother-in-law got the bats out of the office and back to nature. 

At least once the bats were gone, kitty could go back to sleep