Are men with cats odd?

Dembadon

Tulip is my favorite.

FlexGunship

She does seem sweet. I can't figure out why people give names like that to a cat.

Neutrino for a small quick cat.
Higgs for a big cat that likes to hide and is hard to find.
Tachyon (Tacky for short) for a cat that's just preposterous in general.

Instead... Tulip. A flower. Bah!

EDIT: I also thought of adopting a black cat because they're so rarely appreciated.

DOUBLE EDIT: Still pretty fond of Hunter.

turbo

Hunter is handsome. Tulip is small and probably won't eat much, plus she is FREE. Her adoption fee is covered. As for the names, you can change them easily. A cat won't care much what you call it, especially when you are opening a can of food.

lisab

Wow, it's very tough to say...I mean, they all deserve a chance at a good life! But that Hunter, he looks very sweet and affectionate.

FlexGunship

I saw that she was free. The adoption fee is only $90 there, so money is not a concern. In fact, I suspect that I will donate a bit to help them subsidize the cost of another cat's adoption; if I adopt a free cat, I'll just leave them a bit more.

I talked to them a bit more today, Hunter has one black mark on his permanent record. Someone reached into his cage and he nipped them... pretty hard, actually. They're not sure if the person scared him, or if he just hates being in the cage. There has been no repeat incident, and he is very social out in the open.

I have a housekeeper and friends that come over, not to mention my brother has Asperger's and he loves animals once he's used to them, but is unlikely to be able to read the cat's willingness to be held.

EDIT: I also considered Sam (14yo) and Sassy (7yo). They came from the same home and are friends. There is a problem though, Sam probably won't last as long as Sassy, and Sassy is not as personable as Sam. I don't want to have a favorite. All the drama...

Next time on All my Cats:"Meow?" "What?" "Meow meow!!" "Fine! You're right! I wish it had been you on the vet's table! There, are you happy? I said it! I'm awful!"

FlexGunship

An update. Kit-Kat is out, I think. I can't provide her a place to go outside. I have a patio and a small area of grass before the woods, but I hear fisher cats out there and some people let their dogs run around (the dogs are fine, and the owners are usually responsible about cleaning up). I don't think Kit-Kat would get a chance to play outside much at all.

turbo

That's nice. We paid $150 to adopt Duke, but we had been donating food, cleaning supplies, treats 'way before we adopted him, as well as after. My wife hits a lot of "bargain" stores on weekends, so when she sees deals on huge packs of paper towels, detergents, cleaning supplies, she often thinks of the shelter. It's better than giving them money, because they don't have to waste employee time shopping and pay retail. We have several large stores (and a couple of regional chains) in the area that buy overstocks, manufacturers' overruns, salvage from insurance claims, bank-owned inventory from defaults and bankruptcies, etc. Some of the deals are pretty amazing.

If you have any stores like this in your area, you might want to call the shelter and ask if they have any important recurring needs, and then go shopping with list in hand. If you can get a deal on a case of Lysol or similar, jumbo jugs of laundry detergent, a case or two of paper towels, or some other supplies, they would probably be thrilled with your donation. The ASPCA shelter here tends to get lots of food and treats when the discount stores feature them, but cleaning supplies/disinfectants are also really important and can be expensive.

Whichever cat you choose, good luck. It's nice of you to be concerned with your brother (in Hunter's case) though cats tend to be drawn to people who don't look directly at them. They take it as an invitation to get closer. Who knows? Hunter might adopt your brother.

FlexGunship

Oh my science!! Did any of you folks know that you can basically buy a clubhouse for cats?! It's like a tree-house with platforms and little rooms and it's all carpeted!

I was thinking I would have to build something since cats seem to like to be high up and I wanted to avoid TV and speaker climbing... but they make products like this that look freakin' awesome!

Look at this thing: http://www.amazon.com/Armarkat-Tree-...0694346&sr=1-5



It has a hammock! A feline-hammock. A feemmock! Just gotta replace the carpeting with something black.

rhody

The suspense is killing us Flex, when are you going to announce your selection ?

Rhody...

FlexGunship

Well, I have to actually get to the shelter which is X miles away. I will travel at an average speed to Y miles per hour. Now factor Z hours for meeting each cat, making a selection, and finishing any and all paper work.

I must find (^2X/_Y)+Z hours between 11AM and 4PM on any day except for Wednesday (when the shelter is closed).

rhody

ACK !!! I feel like am dealing with Pengy now (take that as a complement please).

And the winner is: Hunter, Tulip, Hunter, Tulip... Let's see... I am going with Hunter... do I win a prize if I am right ?

Rhody...

FlexGunship

X = 56 miles
Y < 60mph
Z = ????

Sorry, no prize planned... but I'll let you know. I'm going to adopt whomever can sit in my arms the longest without running away or clawing my ugly mug.

rhody

Good Luck. I know you will make a wise decision.

Rhody...

Dembadon

$100?!

You could probably build one for half that price with very little effort. I do agree that it's pretty cool. It can also serve as a scratching post.

FlexGunship

Well, that's the thing. I could definitely build one for less, but covering it in carpet and wrapping the posts in rope is costly and time consuming.

Besides, I don't have a garage to work in, and it's cold out now. I'll pay someone $100 for something that would cost me $50 and take up 4 or 5 hours in the cold (probably longer, honestly).

Dembadon

Good point.

I don't think the carpet would be too bad; just a staple gun and a utility knife, but I agree, your time is certainly valuable enough to pay someone else.

turbo

Home-made is good IF you have the time and some space to work in. When I had a parrot, I went out back in the woods and cut down a dead, barkless tree, brought it home and leveled and fastened it to a plywood base. It had lots of branches that I trimmed to fit the room, and I installed dowels as a spiral staircase so that she could climb the tree to the branches so that she could get to the perch where I had installed a food-dish. She LOVED dried chili peppers!

When we had ferrets, I made playgrounds for them, too. One of our ferrets was a rescue, and the owner demanded that I pay $50 for the large multi-level cage. I paid the jerk and turned that huge cage into a playground for all our ferrets. One of their favorites was a ferret tube-hammock that I made out of a cut-off pant-leg from old jeans. At times there were two ferrets crammed in there snoozing together. Another favorite was a slide from one level to another, made out of some slippery flexible plastic scavenged from another project.

Ferrets are not destructive with their claws and don't need scratching-posts, but some of my additions included carpet.