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tomf
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Location: Oregon

pets a part of our families.

We all have special animal friends; pets that are wonderful companions and become a part of our families, and we love.
Our last cat was not very smart; she is the one that would chase deer around not knowing how small she was compared to the deer. She was a bit nuts and quirky and that was part of her charm, except she did not care for other people than us too much. She did love me with a passion, I was number one and my wife was a distant two.
We had a cat show up at our door about 5 years ago, so different than the other one. At first she was hand shy until she found all a hand was going to do was give her love. She is one of the sweetest cats and very smart, she figures things out and when you talk to her you can tell she is trying to understand what you say, everyone adores her.

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digitS'
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Location: ID/WA! border

DW doesn't like animals in the house ... She also doesn't understand people having pets that they have trouble taking care of. Here with our cold winters, a pet is a commitment that she isn't willing to make.

DD has always loved dogs and her grandparents kept a dog for her visits, which were often. A homeowner now, DD has a Lab and a Terripoo. The Terripoo weighs all of 7# and is a bundle of energy, even though she is aging. She likes DW (and I am the distant 2nd at our house :wink: ). Whatever DW does or wants to do is A-okay with Garbanzo.

DW is always ready to dog-sit, in fact, she invites Garbanzo over for visits. I'm the bad guy who is sometimes commissioned to give her a bath. DW has complete control of her without a leash; I do not. What I'm good for is getting out of the way so Garbanzo can commandeer the lazyboy. DW does drape a special blanket over it probably as much for Garbanzo's benefit as for mine ... Then, she climbs on me so as to look out the driverside window while I take her home.

Steve

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rainbowgardener
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Location: TN/GA 7b

Here's two of our guys:

Image

this is pre a lot of the changes we have made. We now have a new storm door and all the yellow trim around it is now the same adobe kind of color we were starting to paint the stair railings in that picture.

We also have an old cat in failing health and six adorable chickens who come running up to meet me, when I come out while they are free ranging the back yard.

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

Pets leave paw prints on your heart. I have had cats since I was a child. We rented so cats were o.k. It is always hard when you lose them, but there is always room for more.

I have had three dogs. Cats and dogs raised together tend to copy each others' ways. I had one kitten that slept with the dog, all the cats shared the dog's water bowl and occasionally nibbled on dog food. She was very protective. The kitten ate like a dog, the dog was picky like a cat. I would make special meals for the dog. I would get liver and kidneys and cook them up with some vegetables and gravy and add some bread and she liked that. The cat liked the broth from boiling the kidneys (It stank, but they seemed to like it better that way). The dog got to finish off whatever cat food the cats left in the can. The dog also liked catnip and I used cat food for training.

My second dog was a labrador. He was all dog. He did not sit nicely, he was needy and howled when I left for school and howled until I came home. He liked to ride in the car and chase birds. He also liked to jump fences.

My last dog was a Irish Setter mix. He was a big dog, 78 lbs. The vet said he was fat but he would only lose down to about 65 lbs if he got sick, but regained to the same weight after. He got 2 cups of dog food plus treats every day. He had to earn his treats. He never really learned to roll over, he only went halfway. He liked to play and his favorite toy was a rubber duckie (he chewed the head off in 5 minutes). He like cheeseburgers and hoofs. I had to stop giving him hooves because the vet said he had cracked his tooth because he was such a heavy chewer and he only liked very hard things to chew. He would eat dog biscuits but they were not his favorite and I got the hardest biscuits I could find.

My current cats are 5 and 12 years old. The 5 year old is a boy and the other is a girl. The boy is the talker. He started talking after my other cat died two years ago. It seems there is always one cat that does all the talking. The cats follow me around the house and wait for me to come home by the door. They are from a feral colony( I have had feral cats since 1989. I get them from the feral feeders who are always trying to find homes for them.) The two cats I have now were in the colony since they were kittens. The girl was there for 2 years and she was grabbed so much that it took almost 3 years before she could be approached. She still only comes to be petted or she plays with my feet. She likes feet, but she does not like hands.

The boy was about 4-6 months old when the feral feeders got him for me. I did not know he was a boy, until I say his chip certificate. He had been alone for a long time without a mother or siblings. He could not compete with the older cats, but the feral feeder's daughter used to play with him and watch him eat so the other cats would not steal his food. He does not act like a feral cat at all. He climbs on me and he sleeps on my chest at night. He demands to be petted and he wakes me up in the morning to make sure he gets his breakfast on time.

The biggest difference between cats and dogs....
1) A cat will never ask me to walk them or take them to the park
2) Dogs want company all the time because they need a pack and they will try to dominate.
3) Cats know that they are the boss and you are their servant. They are experts at psychological warfare. They demand you stick to a routine and train you to feed them on command. They will let it be known when their litter box needs to be cleaned, and if they don't like the different brand of cat food you got, you need to go out immediately to get the one they want. Good thing Safeway and Walmart are open 24 hours. They will demand their 15 minutes of attention when it is their time, but then they will leave you alone.
4) Cats don't like closed doors, especially the bathroom door.
5) Cats will always claim the highest perch, that is why I eat on the coffee table, but I do not feed them from my plate.

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digitS'
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Location: ID/WA! border

How did the pets do over the 4th of July?

Some, react as tho it's the Battle of Yorktown!

I had a Pug once that either ignored it ( and thunderstorms ) or was more interested in the reactions of other household pets.

Steve

imafan26
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Location: Hawaii, zone 12a 587 ft elev.

My cats started running around and hiding under the tables and in the closet when the fireworks started

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jal_ut
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Location: Northern Utah Zone 5

We have three cats here. Seems they just wandered in and adopted us. They are outside cats, do not come in the house. We give them some cat food on a dish outside. They will nibble a bit. Now and then they will bring a trophy and drop it by the door. We put some boxes with rags in them out in the sheds for the cats to sleep in.



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