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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 5, 2016 11:40:06 GMT -5
I've been distracted this week by the impromptu addition of a new furry family member. Meet my new cat, Lily: (Sorry for the blurry cell phone photo; this was the best picture I've gotten so far, because Lily doesn't like photo shoots.) On Tuesday DH overheard a co-worker trying to find a home for a cat his wife had rescued from a parking lot. (They had her scanned for a microchip; she doesn't have one. They also put up flyers and asked around, but had no luck locating her owners.) So, on Tuesday night we took the kids to have a meet & greet with her, and decided to take her home. I'm taking her to the vet for her checkup next Wednesday, so hopefully I can find out more then, but she appears to be a spayed young adult female. She's very sweet and quiet. Clearly she was an indoor cat before she was a stray - she likes it indoors, doesn't flinch at noisy appliances, and has been perfect about using the litter box. Oh, and she seems to like watching TV. Now that she is getting used to us, she is my lap cat every evening. She still has some behaviors I'm working on - to be expected with a rescue cat. But we are all enjoying our sweet girl Lily.
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Post by stratcat on Mar 5, 2016 15:11:27 GMT -5
Very nice addition to the family, Laura!
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Post by w8in4dave on Mar 8, 2016 9:47:45 GMT -5
Lily is a beauty!!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 11, 2016 11:52:47 GMT -5
The vet checkup went well. I had her dewormed and microchipped. The vet estimated that she is 2 or 3 years old, and other than needing to be dewormed she seemed healthy. He verified that she has been spayed - whew! He also did a blood test for FeLV and FIV, both of which came back negative. So with good care and good luck, hopefully she will be in the family for many years yet. During the vet visit, she got upset when nothing was going on that should have been upsetting. (Actually the vet was trying to pet her and play with her at the time). She hissed, growled, bared her teeth and swatted at him. He said, "Oh, being a calico, are we?" I asked about his remark, and he said calicos and Siamese are like that (temperamental). I knew this about Siamese, but I hadn't realized that calicos were also known for it. Well, that explains some things! For example, when she is in my lap being petted and seems relaxed and happy - she will abruptly turn around and chomp on my hand. I'm not sure if it's over-stimulation and her wanting to play more aggressively, or if she just suddenly gets tired of the attention. I'm getting bitten less since I've learned that the tail is a "tell" - when the tip of her tail starts twitching I am about to feel cat teeth if I don't stop petting immediately and sit still. She's not angry or upset; in fact, usually a couple of minutes later she will be nuzzling me, purring, and wanting to be loved on again. I told DH that if I had known then what I know now, I would have named her CC - Crazy Calico. But she is a sweetheart 95% of the time, and we are coming to love her. Besides, you shouldn't have a cat if you aren't prepared to accept some quirks, because every cat I have ever met has at least one weird behavior - and usually a bunch of them!
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Post by w8in4dave on Mar 11, 2016 20:08:38 GMT -5
She is Beautiful Laura! I did know that about Calico's and Siamese , But If you love your animal you accept the tudes! I got Hank micro chipped also. Neutered and all that stuff also. I think you do the best you can do to make any animal a part of your family. Fun stuff!! So we will be expecting a few more pics of this beauty right?
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Post by daylilydude on Mar 21, 2016 20:20:13 GMT -5
Laura_in_FL, What a beautiful new addition to the family you have, I can tell you about Siamese cats... that crazy one of ours thought it was tough and bad enough to spit and hiss at a cow that was in our yard... LOL!! And now we have 2 other cats that are pregnant... did you want more...LOL!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 29, 2016 8:37:35 GMT -5
Well, DLD, I probably will get one more cat at some point, but not yet. I'm still holding out hope of finding a Maine Coon or a Maine Coon mix that looks and acts like a Maine Coon (they have some unique behaviors). Lily is part pig, I think. She would be as round as a beach ball if we let her eat as much as she wanted. I'm planning to transition her to homemade cat food. That should help with weight control. However, she is also a lot calmer, and we are coming to understand each other better. We can handle her a lot more now, and we don't have to handle her so gingerly. When she does bite, she does so more gently. She hasn't broken skin in weeks. (Of course, since I've said that in public, she'll probably leave me bleeding today, right?) She is good about the litter box and scratching post still. At this point she's spoiled rotten and owns us pretty thoroughly. Last week when the kids were out of school for spring break, my youngest two stayed over with their grandparents one night. When I went to pick them up, the youngest one said, "I want to go home. I miss Lily!"
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Post by w8in4dave on Mar 30, 2016 8:26:59 GMT -5
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 23, 2018 20:01:27 GMT -5
Lily likes to go out into the garden with me. She also has an unusual habit, for a cat: dirt baths! Here she is, getting started: Really getting into it now... Almost done...aren't I gorgeous? Whoops! At little too much. Time to shake off the excess. Lily: "Perfect! Pet me now, Mom!" Me: "No, thanks. You can clean yourself up first!" Seriously...this would be totally normal for a dog, but this is the first cat I have ever had who did this. And she does it almost every time she goes outside. Weird kitty. But I love her anyway, even when she's a dirty girl!
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Post by daylilydude on Mar 24, 2018 3:55:42 GMT -5
Just like mom... loves to get in the dirt come Spring... lol.
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Post by september on Mar 24, 2018 10:52:16 GMT -5
She is such a gorgeous cat, I love her colors and markings!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 24, 2018 10:58:03 GMT -5
Thanks! I'll pass that on, but I'm pretty sure she knows she's a beauty already. She has me wrapped around her little finger....err, paw. She knows that, too.
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 24, 2018 18:20:20 GMT -5
I hate to ask this but are you sure that she doesn't have fleas or mites? Most animals take dust baths to get rid of bugs.
Or maybe she just likes dirt.....
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Post by spike on Mar 24, 2018 18:43:38 GMT -5
Oh she is a beauty!!
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Post by Gianna on Mar 24, 2018 23:26:51 GMT -5
Pretty kitty.
Years ago I had a dark brown cat that loved her dirt baths. In the past, before the anti flea neck drops, we had some fleas on the cats, but I don't remember if the dirt baths came before or after that lovely invention. Either way, the cat got so dirty, it was not pleasant to pet her. That was a great cat!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 25, 2018 9:28:51 GMT -5
brownrexx, that is a fair question. I give both Lily and Luna a monthly flea preventative on the backs of their necks (Advantage II), and I check them regularly for fleas. I haven't seen any. I also haven't seen or felt any of the skin irritations, scabs, etc., that flea bites cause. Lily is an inside cat except for brief forays outside, and I do NOT want a flea infestation in the house! I also look in her ears often, and haven't seen any signs of mites. I guess a few cats enjoy being dirty girls, since Gianna said she had a dirt bath-loving cat once, too. It still seems weird to me, though.
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 25, 2018 11:33:38 GMT -5
I guess that maybe she just enjoys rolling in the dirt. Maybe it just feels good to her.
I ride horses and you should see them roll in the dirt. Sometimes after we give them a complete bath with shampoo and a hose they will go out into the pasture and just roll on the ground with all 4 legs in the air! Aghhh. In their case I think that they enjoy flattening their back on the ground and stretching. I don't think that it has anything to do with the actual dirt.
Now the chickens are another story. They take dirt baths to kill insects on their bodies. They actually dig themselves into depressions in the loose soil in my flower beds and throw the soil up and over themselves and under their wings. When they finally stand up and shake, a big cloud of dirt floats up off of them. It's pretty funny to see. Of course I rarely pet my chickens.
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Post by september on Mar 25, 2018 11:39:46 GMT -5
I think some cats are indiscriminate rollers - my Culpepper regularly rolls on our paved driveway, plopping down where pockets of sand and grit have accumulated - ignoring my yelling at him of course. Since he is all black, he comes up looking extremely dusty. He is a very tidy cat and has long grooming sessions, so I hate to think of all the dirt that he must be licking and swallowing. brownrexx , it used to drive me crazy when my horses would roll in mud or dirt right after I doused them with expensive fly repellent! At least they could have picked a nice grassy spot, but no.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 25, 2018 11:53:16 GMT -5
I'm sure Lily eats a lot of dirt. Within a couple of hours of a dirt-rolling session she's completely clean again. She has regular litter box habits, so I guess the dirt passes through okay. I used to know horse owners, and my sister owned horses once upon a time. The "rolling in the dirt right after a shampoo" urge seems almost universal among horses. When I was a kid, the next door neighbors had horses, too. So I have seen horses perform the all 4 legs up in the air maneuver. It looks so funny! When my Granny was alive, she had chickens, so I've seen them savoring a nice dirt bath a bunch of times. I even learned the hard way not to stand near the pen on the downwind side.
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Post by bestofour on Mar 25, 2018 19:10:01 GMT -5
I think her relative lives with us.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 26, 2018 9:07:45 GMT -5
Oh, wow - they do look like they could be related!
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 28, 2019 15:40:17 GMT -5
So Lily (the calico) had been napping in DH's computer chair. Luna (the tuxedo) decided to come join her, and literally laid down right on top of her. Looks cute and snuggly, right? Look more closely...see Lily's ears and whiskers? The growling had already started by the time I snapped the picture. Seconds later, Lily drove Luna off...there was even a tuft of white fur floating away afterwards. But no harm came to Luna other than her pride. And frankly I don't blame Lily a bit. Luna not only looks fat, she's heavier than she looks...I could swear that cat is made of lead! I can imagine how poor Lily felt when that super-chunk plopped down on her.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 28, 2019 15:43:27 GMT -5
They do actually get along well, except when Luna plops down on Lily like that.
However, they do not share food peacefully. Luna is a pig-kitty. So they each need their own food bowl or fur will fly!
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Post by brownrexx on Mar 28, 2019 16:00:08 GMT -5
I ride horseback once a week and this week a tuxedo cat came walking up to me in the barn. I was shocked. I have never seen a tuxedo barn cat and she was super soft, clean and silky. Someone dropped her off and my trainer is letting her stay. She even lets her sleep in her sun porch at the house. None of the other barn cats get to do that. Her name is Miss Mittens.
My trainer told me that she also has a calico that is being allowed to stay but she is reclusive and I have not seen her yet. I love calico cats.
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Post by mgulfcoastguy on Mar 28, 2019 17:29:52 GMT -5
I can just hear the translation from Catonese “ Move it Lard Butt!”.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 29, 2019 11:33:14 GMT -5
LOL. That is Lily's favorite spot for napping when I am using the computer in the daytime. That's because DH's computer is right next to mine, so she is close to me. She's napping there right now, and is probably very content since she has the chair to herself at the moment.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Mar 29, 2019 11:40:41 GMT -5
I ride horseback once a week and this week a tuxedo cat came walking up to me in the barn. I was shocked. I have never seen a tuxedo barn cat and she was super soft, clean and silky. Someone dropped her off and my trainer is letting her stay. She even lets her sleep in her sun porch at the house. None of the other barn cats get to do that. Her name is Miss Mittens. My trainer told me that she also has a calico that is being allowed to stay but she is reclusive and I have not seen her yet. I love calico cats. I imagine that cats are pretty welcome in barns to keep the rodents out of the grain. It's nice that Miss Mittens is friendly, at least. Hopefully the calico will become less wary in time. I love tuxedo cats. When I was in the pet store the other day, they had tuxedo kittens for adoption that were so cute, and one had markings almost exactly like Luna. So she reminded me so much of Luna as a little baby - except that the kitten had a tail. Soooo cute! But I had to walk away, because we absolutely don't want another kitten now. Especially since Luna still hates Stella. Adding another kitten to the mix would be cruel to everyone involved.
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Post by Laura_in_FL on Dec 28, 2019 14:08:57 GMT -5
My youngest son snapped this really cute picture of Luna under the Christmas tree, so I couldn't resist making it my avatar for at least a few days:
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Post by september on Dec 28, 2019 14:11:36 GMT -5
Very nice! It would make a good card too!
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Post by bestofour on Dec 29, 2019 15:26:30 GMT -5
You should make that your Christmas card next year. So cute.
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