Purrs In Our Hearts - Cat Forum UK
Cat General => General Cat Chat => Topic started by: blackcat on January 28, 2017, 09:40:02 AM
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After Shadow crossed the Rainbow Bridge I made a decision that there would be no more animals - that those I had would live out their lives but not be replaced as they left me. I made the decision on the basis that I am 62 and that any young animal I acquired might well outlive my ability to care for it (given my cats reach 20 and my dogs seem to last longer than is the common lot of beasts).
But then Esther left me too and the gap in the household was too big.
Yesterday the Hobart Cat Centre's Facebook page tempted me with a handsome lad who was their 'reception cat', living in the reception area and greeting incomers, waving goodbye to his fellow-prisoners but never finding his forever home as he is homely and 11 years old. Smidgen is 10, so suddenly I thought - I could do that!
I headed down there this morning and met him. He is a very ordinary tabby, thin and seemed less than interested in people, though willing to be held and stroked. Completely detached and resigned.
So home he came with me.
He took up residence in the bathroom while I took Seb for a walk, ate the food left for him and settled down on the fleece-drying rack on top of the bath (I had made a cave under it for him, but apparently that is of no interest). After Seb's walk, he was confined to the front of the house while Smidgen and I went into the bathroom. Smidgen wandered around for some time before he realised he had company, then stood at the far end of the bathroom saying very rude things about Billy's ancestry. Billy pretended to be asleep. Smidgen stalked off and has gone to bed with the dog in a sulk.
From time to time i go into the rear portion of the house, and potter in the kitchen while Billy keeps me company. He is very good at weaving around legs when food is in the offing. I suspect he has quite a personality hidden in there. Between his weight and his passivity I suspect also that he has been depressed by his experience in the cats home, and is going to take a while to get back to his normal self.
One he and Smidgen actually get together so they can sort out a relationship, I will introduce him to Seb. Until the two cats are happy in each others' company I suspect the hissing fits might cause Seb to get overexcited. At present he has a vague feeling 'something is going on' but seems to be attributing this to the sheep dog trials happening over the back fence.
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Welcome to your wonderful new home x
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After Shadow crossed the Rainbow Bridge I made a decision that there would be no more animals - that those I had would live out their lives but not be replaced as they left me. I made the decision on the basis that I am 62 and that any young animal I acquired might well outlive my ability to care for it (given my cats reach 20 and my dogs seem to last longer than is the common lot of beasts).
But then Esther left me too and the gap in the household was too big.
Yesterday the Hobart Cat Centre's Facebook page tempted me with a handsome lad who was their 'reception cat', living in the reception area and greeting incomers, waving goodbye to his fellow-prisoners but never finding his forever home as he is homely and 11 years old. Smidgen is 10, so suddenly I thought - I could do that!
I headed down there this morning and met him. He is a very ordinary tabby, thin and seemed less than interested in people, though willing to be held and stroked. Completely detached and resigned.
So home he came with me.
He took up residence in the bathroom while I took Seb for a walk, ate the food left for him and settled down on the fleece-drying rack on top of the bath (I had made a cave under it for him, but apparently that is of no interest). After Seb's walk, he was confined to the front of the house while Smidgen and I went into the bathroom. Smidgen wandered around for some time before he realised he had company, then stood at the far end of the bathroom saying very rude things about Billy's ancestry. Billy pretended to be asleep. Smidgen stalked off and has gone to bed with the dog in a sulk.
From time to time i go into the rear portion of the house, and potter in the kitchen while Billy keeps me company. He is very good at weaving around legs when food is in the offing. I suspect he has quite a personality hidden in there. Between his weight and his passivity I suspect also that he has been depressed by his experience in the cats home, and is going to take a while to get back to his normal self.
One he and Smidgen actually get together so they can sort out a relationship, I will introduce him to Seb. Until the two cats are happy in each others' company I suspect the hissing fits might cause Seb to get overexcited. At present he has a vague feeling 'something is going on' but seems to be attributing this to the sheep dog trials happening over the back fence.
What a handsome boy. Sky says things about Robbie's ancestry to (he's also tabby) and Robbie swears at other tabby cats he sees so maybe it's a Tabby thing :)
Hope they sort their differences
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Congratulations on your new addition Jo. Do hope the introductions with Seb go well.
Welcome to your new home handsome Billy lad :hug: :hug:
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Jo he is lovely, wishing Billy all the best in his wonderful new home :hug:
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HE IS VERY HANDSOME JO AND IN TIME IT WILL ALL COME TOGETHER AS YOU KNOW :hug: :hug:
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I don't think he looks 'homely' at all, he has a dear little face. I am sure he will do very well, ancestry aspersions and all :Luv:
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I don't think he look homely either - cats often don't show at their best in rescue, and I'm hoping he blossoms in your care, Jo. ;D
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:hug: Welcome to Billy. He is identical to my Billy who is also 11 this year and I have had mines since he was two months old. Give him a few weeks in a proper home and he will likely settle down happily. Very nice he has got somewhere at last. :hug:
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I'm so glad that you changed your mind and that Billy now has a loving home ;D I suspect you are right and that his personality will start to appear as he realises that he now has a forever home.
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:welcome: Billy :Luv:
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The saga continues. It turns out that, as I have always suspected, Smidgen is a sulker. Big time. He is put out, and he does not have his 'mother' to protect him. This has been exhibited in the past. When in kennels he spends the day with his head inside the cat cave and his (very broad) rump prominently displayed in a hump. Esther has always been his front person. He comes out after dark (they monitor them on infrared cameras) and eats, drinks and interacts with neighbours normally, but if humans are around he sulks.
The same is happening now, but he does not have anyone to back him up.
This morning I had to go into the History Room where I volunteer. The plan was I would leave Smidgen and Billy with the run of the rear third of the house so they could get to know each other. Sebastian was to be kept in the front third of the house so there were two doors between them. Smidgen got wind of this plan and rapidly retreated to the top of the wardrobe in the bedroom so spent the day with 'his' dog rather than Billy.
This afternoon when I got home I shut him in the laundry and opened the door into the bathroom. He disappeared under the hot water cylinder and refuses to come out. Billy is bemused. He is not an aggressive (or even assertive) cat, so he is just sitting on the bath patiently waiting to see what happens next. I go in from time to time and give him a pat. I ignore Smidgen as I suspect any affection will encourage him to have a go at Billy. As it is, all he does is demand I let him out. So Sebastian and I are relaxing in the loungeroom and the two of them are ignoring each other in adjoining rooms. Each room is equipped with food, water, litter trays etc so they see no reason to cross the threshhold of the intervening doorway. Sigh.
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Bound to be a few personality clashes for some weeks. They just need some time to get used to the new situation. :shocked:
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IS THAT SMIDGEN IN THE PIC?
GORGEOUS BUT DOES LOOK VERY SULKY LOL
POOR BILLY WONDERING WHY NOBODY LIKES HIM.
IS SEBASTIAN A CAT OR DOG?
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Yes Gill, Smidgen has never lived up to his name - he is huge! And very sulky. Now I have let him out (to give Billy a break) he has marched into the spare room and hidden himself (I tell a lie - he has just emerged to eat Sebastian's dinner. Sebastian is a dog. He was bought from the Dog's Home about three years ago after Shadow had a nasty turn that looked as if it was the end of him. Seb's arrival gave Shadow a new lease on life and so he kept going for another couple of years before finally crossing the bridge. Seb is a hound crossed with a staffy and very loving - he and Smidgen are very close friends. But he has a highly developed chase instinct so, while his own cats are quite safe with him, I am not too sure how he will react to a new cat. I had hoped Smidgen and Billy could work out a relationship before Billy meets him, but at this rate, I suspect Billy will be more than happy to meet him once he gets over the shock of a dog (I am not sure he has ever met one). I have allowed him to glimpse Seb through the open door from time to time and so far he has not reacted at all badly. He seems astonishingly relaxed for a new cat. No belly crawling, no hissing at strange sounds. Just lounges around (even with a surly Smidgen only two metres away) as if life is good. And very affectionate! Finally I have a lap cat!
Billy did come out of the bathroom and wander around in the laundry for a bit (I watch through the glass door), but Smidgen just retreated further under the hot water cylinder and mumbled imprecations.
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THE STORIES THAT GO WITH OUR ANIMALS WOULD NOT BE BELIEVED BY NON-ANIMAL PEOPLE LOL.
I THINK BILLY SOUNDS A GOOD CANDIDATE FOR AN ALL ROUND LOVING FELLA AND TO HAVE A LAP CAT, WONDERFUL.
I REALLY MISS MY LAST LAPCAT NAPOLEON.MISA WAS ALWAYS TOO BIG AND SASA TOO FERAL AND WELL LUPIN..............MR LASHY HISSY SPIT BUT DOING VERY WELL WITH PAULA RIGHT NOW...........TYPICAL LOL.
SASA IS ALMOST DOMESTICATED NOW BUT HAS TAKEN NEARLY 12 YEARS TO GET HER TO THIS POINT AND AGAIN DOING VERY WELL WITH PAULA.
I HOPE SMIDGEN WILL COME ROUND AND LEARN TO LIKE BILLY WHO I AM SURE JUST WANTS TO BE FRIENDS WITH ALL AND HAVE A HOME LIFE WHICH HE HAS NEVER KNOWN.
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There's no such thing as an "ordinary" tabby! I have one, and have met many others - they can be bonkers, but never ordinary.
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I begin to suspect you are right Jezebel. The only tabby I have previously owned (shown below with Pavarotti) was half abyssinian and so I attributed his weirdness to that - but it may well have been the tabby. Smidgen is sort of tabby (ticked) and he too has a strong personality.
Billy however is one in a million. He and Smidgen have once again been confined together in the bathroom/laundry area today - Smidgen on top of the shower and Billy on the washing machine watching out the window without a care in the world. Smidgen has lost the rigid indignation and his body feels more relaxed, though he has still not approached Billy at all. Meanwhile I have held the door open a few times so that Billy can see the dog and vice versa. The dog does not appear to have registered anything is amiss, and Billy's strongest reaction has been to sit upright at a leisurely pace. So that introduction should be fairly successful when it comes time.
Smidgen has just emerged for the evening and will be sleeping out here with me and Seb again tonight - but he is going through the motions of retiring to the spare room to let me know I am not forgiven. :Luv2: :Luv2:
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Definitely never ordinary. Barley is a real "larger than life" character for a start.
Love that piccie, Jo. ;) :)
When we had our gorgeous Tinks and were all grieving for Ross, we adopted Moray. Tinks would very distinctly turn his back, then look to make sure we took the point about his injured feelings. And of course we did. And so we always reached out, and tried harder. :hug:
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Being a reception cat, he'll be used to all sorts coming and going so he's probably not easily alarmed. Sounds like all of them are doing well for such a short time.
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Yes, things are moving along here - Billy came out for a walk around the house today. Seb was short-leashed but he was quite relaxed about everything until someone hissed. Even then he was more anxious that lunging, so I calmed him by talking.
The vet from the Centre called today (we have been trying to get in mutual touch for a few days) and we chatted about Billy and his history. He was, as mentioned, one of three relinquished cats. The first went into renal failure and was euthanised, the second is still in care and Billy. Billy was morbidly obese on arrival. He has been steadily losing weight over the months of care and I think I already mentioned he is now worryingly thin. But he has gained flesh since being here so I was not too worried, so it was good to hear that his bloods do not show anything significant. I will get a copy of his bloods for my vet so they have a base line for future consultations. His spine was sharp bones on arrival and is now smooth flesh so that was quick - he must be a 'good doer' as cattle men say.
She was happy with the approach of introduction and also with the news he is gaining weight. She then admitted that had he not done so, she would have wanted to do an ultrasound which their budget did not stretch to, and that euthanasia was being contemplated. So now i know why they decided to give me a go. Happy they did - he is much too nice a person to go so soon. And that is soon going to change - he seems to be willing to be passively assertive in terms of getting himself the comfiest spot! Smidgen, as I suspected, runs to the dog for comfort when Billy is in sight - it is a source of constant entertainment! :Luv2:
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:) :) So pleased to hear this Jo. Billy deserved another chance. :hug: :hug:
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BLASTED POST GONE......CONNECTION PROBS GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
BET IT POSTS THIS TIME COS NOTHING HERE
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Sounding positive Jo, thank goodness they gave Billy this one last chance, well done :hug: :hug: :hug:
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BLASTED POST GONE......CONNECTION PROBS GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
BET IT POSTS THIS TIME COS NOTHING HERE
Lol, message me on FB if all else fails!
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DIDNT THINK OF THAT JO......................... :-[
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It's how i get most of my communication happening these days Gill - oh well.
Today was the meeting of my spinning group - a group of us get together at the former Supreme Court building in Oatlands and sit with our wheels and spindles and talk - pretty well incessantly - for about four hours. Today we were visited by two members of the Guild and it turns out one of them is involved in the Cat Centre. I had been talking about the new cat and so the conversation went from there. She knows Billy well and was pleased to hear he is making great progress. I told her I was concerned about their approach to adoption which seems to be 'you want a cat? Pick a cat and give us your money'. I explained that when I adopted Seb the Dogs Home had subjected me to a half hour interrogation before satisfying themselves I was a suitable owner and that I understood the responsibility I was taking on, but this had not happened at the Cat Centre. I also explained what a wonderful job some of the rescues here do, making sure that the adoption process was also an education process and that while a 'grilling' such as I was subjected to by the Dogs Home might not be desirable, sufficient time should be taken to ensure the cat was going to someone responsible. She agreed and will bring it up at the next meeting. Meanwhile last night (and i will do it again tonight) the dog and Smidge were shut in the front of the house and Billy was let out for a couple of hours to sit on my lap as I watched telly. He does good purrs! :Luv2:
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SOUNDS LIKE YOU GOT THE MESSAGE ACROSS ;D
PLEASE BILLY IS SUCH A LAPCAT AND PURRER ;D ;D
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As of last night, Billy is no longer confined to the bathroom at night for his own protection. He happily spent the night in the spare bedroom, watching around the curtain over the door to see what Seb and Smidgen were doing on my bed. He will be out full time from now, though still separated if I am going out and there are still some bumps to cross. But he has been less than a foot away from Seb and didn't bother to get up (though he did hiss) and Seb averted his eyes and looked self-conscious. He just tried to get up on the sofa where I am, but Smidge hissed at him, but then last night, Smidge was 'willed' off my lap by Billy sitting on the back of the sofa, so fair's fair. He continues to gain weight at a moderate rate, and eats like a horse given the chance, so I imagine he will be back to being domestic moggy shaped in the very near future.
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That is brilliant, sounds as if his paws are firmly under the table! ;D ;D ;D
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THATS ALL SOUNDS GREAT JO AND NOT LONG BEFORE ALL 3 LIVING HAPPILY TOGETHER WITH A PODGY BILLY LOOKING GREAT ;D ;D
BY THE WAY I HAVE MANAGED TO ACTIVATE YOU ON MY FB CHAT!
TOOK FOREVER SAID IT HAD DONE IT BUT STILL COULDNT SEE YOUR NAME BUT SAW IT LAST NIGHT ;D
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Jo, that's fantastic. Bet you're feeling more than a little bit chuffed? :)
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I'm very glad to hear that the introductions are going well ;D
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Brilliant - really pleased that you decided to give Billy a home :hug:
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Billy spent the day with the run of the house today - doors were strategically set ajar to allow him escape routes (Seb is a coward and will not nudge a door open as it might bite him), but all seems to have gone well. He is not integrated but seems to be happy to roam around the place and beat a retreat if Seb gets too enthusiastic. I have had him on my lap in front of the fire (yes! A fire, and here we are still allegedly in summer) with Seb on his bed and Smidgen at my shoulder on the back of the couch, so I expect given time all will be fine.
Yesterday he was on the back of the couch and Seb finally registered his presence. Seb's reaction was to leap in the air woofing which Billy ignored. I, on the other hand was in hysterics of laughter at the sight of a black dog's head bouncing into view and back out again, ears flapping, silly expression on his face and eyes rolling - imagine a really dumb cartoon dog caricature. Seems it was the best possible response as being laughed at settled Seb down nicely.
Anyway, tomorrow the weather returns to summer so I will finally get a chance to get some washing done (I am so looking forward to my shed getting built so I have a washing line protected from wind and rain) and rearranging a few rocks in the yard.
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It all sounds really good, I love the mental image of a bouncing Seb.
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:evillaugh: :evillaugh: Me too, bless his beautiful bigly paws. :evillaugh: Is good that Billy's not bothered.
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BILLY SOUNDS REALLY KOOL SO ONCE SEB STOPS BOUNCING THINGS SHOULD BE GREAT ;D ;D
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Seb seems to have given up on getting excited about Billy - too exhausting apparently. And I even caught Smidgen sticking his nose into Billy's fur as they passed in a door way. So it seems like it will be happy families in the not too distant future. Now to find out what happens when Billy decides he too wants to sleep on the bed! It is only a matter of time as he has started following me when I go into the bedroom. Now that will be exciting!
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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
NO ROOM FOR DA HOOMAN, GET OUTTA OUR BED :evillaugh: :evillaugh:
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:evillaugh: :evillaugh: Jo, this is so lovely to read about. I just love it when interactions go well, and the family unit readjusts. :hug: :hug: :)
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It's all pretty peaceful here tonight. I spent the afternoon spinning and it seems to have lulled them all into a relaxed state as it does me. Some yummy colours in this yarn!
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YES LOVE THOSE COLOURS ;D ;D
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Lovely colours, what will the yarn be?
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Some of it ended up in a beanie that I made up as I went along (using up some of my more experimental approaches to plying. The rest awaits further attention. I will have a day in the History Room tomorrow so will probably take a bit more of it in with me and sit spinning for the day to recover from my exertions today.
Billy and Smidgen are in physical contact now, though still not friends.
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Friends may come, but at least you have toleration. :hug:, I still don't have that with Merlin and Emo a lot of the time. He starts running towards her, she flees and then he goes hell for leather after her. Other times they both lie at the top of the stairs within inches of each other on top of the hot water pipes. Cats! Who'd have them? :shify: :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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Haha, you just described Seb and Billy. He moves off (not running, but retreating smartly) and Seb takes it as an invitation to the chase. If he stays still, Seb looks selfconscious and stays where he is. I think he is learning to stay still.
Am very pleased with the way he has settled in. Can't be easy for an adult cat to move into a madhouse like mine, with a construction program going on outside and two hostile animals inside. But he seems pretty happy.