Roberta wrote:Deb, Sorry. There are no photos of Mikey and me together. In fact there are only a few of him when he was fully grown. When I bought my cat carrier, it was intended for two cats. Miranda and Patty both fit in it with no problem. For Mikey all by himself it was a squeeze. His bulk was in his neck (like a tree trunk) and shoulders. Two examples. First of size:
My friend and her husband came for a visit. Her husband was in the middle of a sentence when Mikey strolled into the room. He stopped dead, midword, and said, "That's the biggest cat I ever saw in my life."
Now of strength:
When Mikey annoyed me while I was trying to sleep, I would lock him out of the bedroom. My apartment has been painted many times, so the door to the bedroom doesn't really close. It just shuts, but can be pushed open. Mikey could push it open. So I started putting a full carton of papers in front of the door. He pushed that open too. So I put two cartons of papers in front of the door. That did the trick. I grunted when I lifted one of the cartons. Does this give you some idea?
He wasn't as tall as a lynx, but he probably had the same body size.
I won't be getting any more cats. I hurts me to say that. I will be lonesome without one. But I think it would be irresponsible of me to take in an animal. I can afford to feed one, but if it should get sick, I can't afford the vet bills. I still owe a friend the money it cost to pay for Mikey's surgery last year. Fact is, it was making me physically ill to think that Mikey might need surgery and that I wouldn't be able to pay for it. It was sickening me to think that he would have to be put down because I don't have money. It didn't work out that way. Surgery wouldn't have helped. But the thought of it is almost unbearable.
Lovely Mikey stories!
Boida, the whole not getting a cat thing sucks.
Can I say something that will be horrendously unpopular?
And I say it not to pressure you, but as an alternative view.
Boida, we are mature.
When I was young, the idea of doing thousands of dollars worth of surgery on cats would have crossed nobody's mind.
We had animals, and if they became mortally ill, we loved them and stopped their suffering.
In the midst of life we are in death.
It's NATURAL!
Dollink, of course you will make the right decision for you. However, not to have a wee scrap of fur who makes you happy, and to whom you give great joy, (you KNOW you provide pusscat paradise, don't you?) because you cannot manage ridiculous levels of medical intervention, strikes me as indicative of the death denying madness which has overtaken our civilisation.
Of course, if you can't afford worm tablets or a course of antibiotics I fully understand (hell, I understand anyway) but if you deny yourself and the wee pusslet joy for whatever time you have because you can't afford major surgery, well phooey I say.
Boida, there is no way I could afford major veterinary intervention for wee Miranda. And guess what? I feel ok re that. So, I'm a monster? I do not think so. I try to inhabit reality, as Iknow you do.
MY humblest apologies if you find this dumb advice, you DO know how I feel about you, right? I adore you.
Please only deny yourself if there is really good reason.
She doesn't scratch a lot but she's got vicious claws so any energetic scratching is likely to reopen it.
