My having been owned by around a dozen cats has impelled me to widen awareness of the proper techniques for attending cats.

1. Cats, despite their diminutive size (compared, say, to a pet rhinoceros) are not delicate creatures.

2. Timid or tentative stroking is not only inappropriate, but totally unfulfilling to the feline.

3. Proper cat-attending procedures include the following:

a. The Cheek Vise: With one's fingers (both hands) over the cat's neck, the thumbs should vigorously massage the cat's cheeks and jowls.

b. The Ear-Yank: with the thumb and forefinger encircling the cat's ears, energetic clasping of the ears with a motion to the extremity is proper.

c. The Shoulder Crush: Here, the hands should be placed in such a way to allow the fingers to compress the shoulders repeatedly.

d: The Tail Rip: The correct procedure is to firmly encircle the tail at the root with the thumb and forefinger, and compress substantially while the cat removes the tail from the encirclement at a rate it deems acceptable.

e. The Muzzle Crunch: The thumb is to be placed under the cat's jaw, with the fingers over the cat's forehead and nose; repeated clamping with the fingers against the thumb with the proper pressure is the accptable technique.

f: Duration: Any of the above procedures may entail time frames of a few minutes to "whatever"; the Cat Attendant is NOT to abandon or attenuate efforts until released from duty by the cat.

Thank you for your cooperation.

quote:

Originally posted by Rusty:
The Tail Rip: The correct procedure is to firmly encircle the tail at the root with the thumb and forefinger, and compress substantially while the cat removes the tail from the encirclement at a rate it deems acceptable.

Yup. I taught my kids never to pull a cat's tail. Just hold on and let the cat do the pulling.

IMHO Those techiques applied to a live cat will be greatly awarded. Any one or combination of such can and will result in pleasure to the applier, provide he is a masochist and enjoys seeing his blood leak profusely from his arms and face with occasional spurts from the abdomen.

I don't like cats - cats don't like me. I am allergic to cats - I will never own a cat.

That being said... I have a cat that owns me & my family. We call her SMORES. Of course, knowing my daughter, I misspelled it.

Anyway, we were driving home from a movie and there was this cat crossing the road at the end of our driveway. After pulling up to the top of our driveway I heard several Meows - So, I reciprocated back. Apparently I speak cat and must have said "Come Up My Driveway - I Have Tuna For You" or something close to that.

After bowing before our new master, we promptly set about feeding it. We worked with her for a few days and after settling on a name we decided to do the right thing. I said, "Linda, if we're going to keep her she'll need to be spayed and her shots will need to be current." She agreed so I told her, "We just can't keep a stray without verifying it doesn't belong to someone else first."

What if Smores was 2 timing us with another family? So, Smores got a pretty purple & pink collar with a name tag and our home ph#. I needed to give the other family an opportunity to ask "Why'd you name our cat Smores and put a collar on her?" - I was really hoping someone would claim her.

I even tried Craigslist and a few other sites to see if anyone lost a Calico cat.

After 10 days of no calls we took her to the vet and got her current with everything. I don't have to worry about a litter of cats now and she's vaccinated.

My son and I are still allergic to cats. We can't have her in our house. But, as an outdoor cat, she's got us watching her back.

Here is Smores and her very own house.





Yeah, I'm running electric, heaters and a CCTV into that for this winter.





BTW: Reese and Riot does not like Smores and has chased her. Because we have an invisible fence, our dogs can only get so close to her house.

Come on Bill. How can you not love a face as sweet as this kitty cat has..........

quote:

Originally posted by carlflack:
Come on Bill. How can you not love a face as sweet as this kitty cat has..........

Oh she's a great cat. Here I am looking at her collar to verify the spelling of Smores.



She'll let me feed her, pet and scratch her back and play with her. I will do whatever I have to do for her outside of the house. I can't handle the allergies associated with cat ownership.

If I bring her to the pound, they'll put her down. So, living in our kids former clubhouse is the best I can do for her and that makes me sad.

I like cats and they like me but am also allergic and can not have one inside the house. We have a feral cat that lives under the Command Center and is quite happy there, we give her food and she gives us kittens (hardly ever seen). I would very much like to have a cat in the house but could not pay the medical bills, this makes me sad like Bill N.Y.

I guess I'm with the majority here.... I dont like cats (prefer dogs), so ours is named Cudji...
She was born outside and ferel. The gal that gave her to me had named her Cudjo because she was killing squirells at bout 5 or 6 weeks old.... We took her in to have "HIM" fixed and found out it was a female so we changed her name to Cudji... I just wanted her to live under my porch so I'd know there was nothing else living under there but she had a different idea and since Cloudy and I didnt want to move under the porch we now share the same home... Of course she allows us to let her in and out so she can keep up with her furry and feathery toys outside but we wont open the door until she drops them.... So she can only do her murderous assinations and disections outside... But she is cute....

So she can only do her murderous assinations and disections outside

That's prolly why cat meat is too gamey

I have to tell you, this cat is pretty darn smart. This one knows to poop in her kitty litter box and isn't shy with people. She really is the sweetest thing.

Each time we took her to the vet we simply picked her up and placed her in a carrier. The vet thinks someone dropped her off and was originally an indoor cat. I have to agree, she's got all the mannerism of a good indoor cat.

After getting a cat spayed you have to keep it indoors for a few days. With the clubhouse, we simply put her in there and closed the door. When we went in to feed her she didn't try to escape.

Cassidy has spent hours playing with her and whenever she's outside, the cat will follower her everywhere. We leave the door to the clubhouse open now, and she comes and goes as she sees fit. Before this winter I'll have to install a kitty door and close the wooden door.

The only thing I'm not going to enjoy is shoveling a pathway out there in the winter. But, Cassidy is responsible for feeding and brushing her so a pathway to the clubhouse isn't going to affect me too much because it's for my little girl.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Ray:
I like cats and they like me but am also allergic and can not have one inside the house.

I used to be that way. My eye sockets reddened and swelled up and my nose acted up. I even had to brush my dogs outside in a breeze, or I would have almost the same symptoms. I noticed short-haired dogs and cats were not as bad.

Then I met and married a lady who came with a cat. Fortunately, it was short-haired, and I slowly became less allergic. The cat was sequestered to keep my dog from killing it, so there was an adjustment period for me as well as the dog. I had to be sure to wash my hands after patting her, etc, but slowly the allergies dissipated, as my body produced antigens. And the dog and the cat got to be great friends, so no more separation. I even lived with two cats at one time, although only one cat and one dog in the Barth. I draw the line at a cat on my or Susan's pillow at night, though.

A Siamese is perhaps the best cat for allergic people, if you appreciate that breed.

Bill H, things were the other way around for me. I had a siamese cat for years and slowly the allergies came along also asthmatic bronchitis, on the advice of my Dr. I have to give my Lilac Point Siamese to a good friend that gave her a home and loved and cared for her. That was about 45 years ago and now I am allergic to everything it seems.

Boo boo [Meggie], was dropped off at a job site with her brothers and sisters. She decided to come home with me.

quote:

Originally posted by Mary Ray:
Bill H, things were the other way around for me. I had a siamese cat for years and slowly the allergies came along also asthmatic bronchitis,

I guess I am lucky that my allergies have lessened over the years. I was miserable as a kid during allergy season, but slowly got better and better.

Still, no cats on the pillow, though.

I'm so glad you found a good home for your Siamese.

To update this thread...

It's a Christmas Miracle - I seem to have overcome my allergies to cats.

Here is Smores deciding that we have enough decorations on our tree.



Cassidy took this picture while we were out. Can you find her in the tree?

Now, if we can just get the dogs to accept her, all will be good in the world.