The CAT room!

Thanx cjhsa! I will definitely try that. I'd love for everyone to see how beautiful Poly's blue eyes are!

J_B- those are your cats!?! They are absolutely gorgeous.... And that picture is beautiful!

Ah, so that's what Maine Coons look like! I always wondered, reading farmer's posts. Now I know. Sort of hairier tabbies. They are quite beautiful, J_B!

Harrier, yes, and with a mane of sorts. (I almost typed mane of sots).

Ah. They look very alert & intelligent, too.

Ohhh, I love Maine Coons. GORGEOUS. Great personalities, too (the ones I've met, anyway).

That's interesting, soz. I've often observed that some folks have a strong preference for a particular breed of cat. (Mine have always been of the lost or displaced variety, so I know little about these things.) There must be something very attractive about Maine Coons. So many folks have spoken well of them here.
A friend of mine has a Tonkinese, called Louis. What a delightful creature!
A great communicator with humans, beautiful blue eyes, gorgeous sleek body with a silvery coat & just the most delightful playful & affectionate nature!

Yes! I have three--all girls. Polly is a beautiful long-haired calico and is 11 years old. Ten years ago, I saw a young calico cat get hit by a car on a busy street. I called the animal warden and she was rescued and taken to the pound. When I checked at the pound three days later to see what happened, I discovered that her owner had not claimed her and she was just hours away from being put to sleep. Her back leg was shattered, but she dragged her body from the back of the cage and stuck her paw out to me through the cage door. It was fate. I adopted her, paid for her medical care to repair her leg, named her PollyAnna, and she's been MY BEST GIRL ever since. She's such a sweet, loving cat.

Polly was estimated to be a year old when I adopted her and she was PREGNANT! Shattered leg and pregnant. Her leg managed to heal and she gave me a litter of kittens. I was attached to ALL of those kittens, but eventually found good homes for all of them. I suffered from separation anxiety after I gave away the last kitten. It was painful.

Tabby (original name, huh?) is a short-haired grey tabby, and she is 10 years old. Tabby and her two surviving litter mates were rescued by my vet's grandmother after the mother cat was killed in a farming accident. Tabby was bottle-fed by the old granny until they were old enough to be given away. I met Tabby at my vet's office when Polly was there for a check-up. You have to remember that I was still suffering from separation anxiety after giving away Polly's last kitten and Tabby . . . well, she wrapped herself in the crook of my neck and purred up a storm. What can I say? I went home from the vet's with two cats that day.

Tabby is the jealous, self-centered, crabby, gotta-be-fed, gotta-be-petted before the other cats cat. LOL She's mommy's girl. If she spies one of the other girls curled up next to me or sitting on my lap, she comes running to nudge them out of the way and to take their place. She's hilarious.


The youngest, Sally, came from a litter of kittens that was born in the neighbor's yard in the Spring of 2004.

Sally's litter mate -- LoverBoy -- started coming over to our house and crying by our windows and destroying our screen doors trying to get inside. At that time, I posted a thread about the "pitiful cries." I fell in love with LoverBoy. He stole my heart. Since we already had two cats, my honey refused to agree that we could keep LoverBoy. But that didn't stop me from letting him in the house, bathing him, grooming him, clipping his nails, and having one great big love fest with the most wonderful little boy cat I ever met!

In early October 2004, LoverBoy was killed on the highway near our house. Both my honey and I cried our eyes out. He had captured our hearts and we felt so guilty that we didn't make a commitment to give him a home and keep him inside where he would be safe. Later that day, LoverBoy's sister came into our yard. She was crying out and she had the same distinctive cry as her brother. We eventually brought her in the house, fed her, and bathed her. Then we started to wonder if any more of those homeless kittens were left in the neighbor's yard who were in need of saving. My honey ran outside and called out, "kitty, kitty, kitty."

Our little Sally came running from under the fence and jumped into his arms. He brought her in the house and we fed her and bathed her too. We called the humane society, but they couldn't take the kittens right away because the waiting list was too long. So . . . . we found a home for Sally's sister and we kept Sally. She's OUR BABY and we LOVE her to pieces! I still think about her brother, LoverBoy, and I just hope giving his sister a home somehow makes up a little bit for not keeping LoverBoy safe from that harmful highway. (I still have a broken heart over losing him.)

That's how we ended up with THREE girl cats----all INSIDE cats. They're our precious FAMILY!

YOUR babies are absolutely adorable! Your story about how you got them and how they blended into your family is truly heartwarming.

That kind of wild cat tuft on the tips of their ears is a nice touch, too!

Debra Law,

God bless you for rescuing those babies! I understand how you feel about losing Loverboy to the highway but let me tell you something that helps me.

I run a homeless cat shelter and I have cats inside and out. I do not cage them up. I can't do it to them. I just can't. It's not natural and I feel it does something to their spirit. I occassionaly lose one to the road. It breaks my heart everytime it happens but I have a saying Debra, "It's not how long the cat lives, it's the kind of life he lives that matters." We never want to lose them but I find comfort in the fact that once they are rescued they don't worry about food or shelter anymore. They have 65 acres here they run and play on and they know how much they are loved. From what you have said Loverboy was a much loved cat and I know he was as happy as he could be.

The joy one gets from these precious felines is something I wish everyone in the world could experience. It's truly amazing!

wow, jb, our new Maine Coon (calley cat) is a feminine looking version of your two dudes. Do yours sleep in weird upside down positions?
Momma, that is one handsome cat there. It does look a little satanic with the flash reflections. Those reflector preisms in ceratin night vision animals need to be shot without flash , or they will look like they are possessed.

Viv-Thank for the concern , The prosecution process has been delayed but is proceeding. I wont give in. (I once took on BFI for breach of contract and won) So, Im not concerned about the delays, I just want those pricks to feel sorry for what they did.
Im equally empathetic for msolga and her loss.

Am I the only guy here? , o wait cj 's a cat owner too.

We live just outside the city in a small rural housing development. This is the kind of area where the "city folk" find it convenient to drive out here and abandon their unwanted pets. Two summers ago, we were swamped with strays. A lot of them ended up dead on the highway and I was really getting angry.

Another factor that might account for all the abandoned and homeless cats that summer might be because there's a military base nearby and I suppose a lot of service people in the area were being shipped out or deployed elsewhere and didn't know what the heck to do with their animals. The humane society had a waiting list a mile long (and it was killing the pets that it couldn't find homes for in only 5 days to make room for more on the list). It was a bad summer for cats (and for me . . . my heart was broken).

I'm disappointed in myself for not taking action sooner to save ALL of those adorable kittens. At first, I thought they were the neighbor's kittens and he would find homes for them. But, as time progressed, I realized that some abandoned, homeless cat just had kittens in the neighbor's junky back yard and he wasn't going to do a darn thing about it. Why didn't I just scoop up those kittens when we first discovered them and find homes for them right away? Well. If it happens again, I won't be waiting around for the neighbor to take care of it.

Debra_Law,

I feel you girl. When I opened my shelter Debra, I was going to save every single cat that needed saving. I still want to!

At one time, I had nearly 200 cats here at my shelter. Fortunately, I found homes for the majority of them. I lost a lot of them due to illnesses they contracted because of being dumped, neglected, etc. Debra, it used to kill me! I was crying all the time. I will never understand how anyone can abandon or neglect an animal. If I ever find someone leaving a cat or kitten at the dumpsters, I'm afraid I'm going to have to call on you to represent me for beating the crap out of them and stuffing them in the dumpster!

My whole point is this, you CAN'T save them all Debra. No one person can. It doesn't make it any easier to swallow I know. And going back and saying "if only I had done this" does you nothing but damage. I have had to learn to find the joy in saving that one cat that has been here at my shelter for five years that no one wants because they think he's ugly. I find the joy in Buster Moo, the bravest and toughest cat I know, playing with other cats and living his life like there is no tomorrow. I found him at the dumpster in a puddle of muddy water. I thought he was dead. His eye was sticking out a good two inches from infection. I picked him up to take him home and bury him and he moved! Well, today he is as healthy and as happy as can be!

You never know which ones will make it or not. You do the best you can and hope they all make it. It's hard loving humans and it's hard loving animals because that love can bring pain when you lose them.

Just remember that Loverboy brought you love and joy and you did the same for him. Remember the good that you did in saving him in the first place.

This is Buster Moo. A long way from that little muddy kitten in a puddle of water! He lost that eye but he never lost the will to survive!

Wonderful story, Debra. They are all very lucky to have found you, as you are to have found them.

Our boys are very personable. Maine coons are known as the gentle giants. They are the largest domestic breed and very, very docile. We call them cat-dogs because they are so dog-like in temperament. Jack loves to play fetch with crumpled up paper balls, Mongo steals them from him and plays soccer until it goes under a couch or chair. Kato brings you your slippers. He'll pick them up one at a time and drop them at your feet.

Noddy, we can't leave bread out on the counter. Kato will steal off with the entire loaf. Mongo is Mr Turkey. He'll come running from anywhere in the house whenever a turkey sandwich is being made. Jack likes turkey too.

The little hair spikes at the tips of their ears are trademarks of the breed as are their gorgeous tails. They have huge bushy tails that look like dusters.

Ours too are indoor cats. We have too many wild animals in the woods to let them outside. We had an indoor/outdoor cat when we first moved here. We lost her to a coyote so were very careful to keep these guys inside.

This is Kato. His color is called high white with tabby.


And this is Jack and Kato asleep upside down as farmerman was describing.

J_B,

Have you ever asked a vet or anyone about the cat eating bread? I have a couple that devour the stuff if I leave it out. I never think to ask the vet about it though.

Your cats are absolutely gorgeous. I have not had the good fortune to have a Maine Coon here as of yet. If I do, I will imagine it will be a permanent resident.

Buster looks a real character

JB your 2 flat out on their backs is wonderful! I love it when Rosie does that - her tummy has lovely apricot and cream colours in it,

That Himalayan is beautiful I'd love her!

Farmer good luck.

Whadda youse lookin at?

cjhsa,

You sure pegged Buster Moo! That's exactly what I would imagine him saying if he could talk. He has the most amazing fur. It's a dark gray on the top but it is white underneath. Someone told me what that is called but I can't remember what it was.

Vivien,

I wish you were closer. I'd let you adopt Poly. It is a he though. I'm really conflicted about getting him neutered though.

J_B,

Those are such beautiful cats. There is just something about a Maine Coon. I don't know if it's the tufts of hair or that face of theirs. I know they can become quite large cats but they always seem to have a gentleness ( I guess that's the word) in their eyes that just draws me in.

Ah, all these beautiful cats! Last week, my friend came to visit - she is a cat lover, too, and used to have five cats. Unfortunately, two very old ones had to be put to sleep recently. But she knows they had a good life, were loved and gave love. She was sitting in my kitchen, looking at Mysan walking around, jumping up on furniture and said dreamily: Cats are the most beautiful beings...

Yes, Nisse and Mysan are our babies, too. Since BigDice works in the evenings, I would be alone at home most of the time. But I don't mind that at all with two cats to keep me company. They are indoor cats, too. We live in the middle of town and it would be much too dangerous for them to go outside.

Right now Nisse is sitting on a chair next to me, trying hard not to fall asleep :-)

Olga

Oh, no!
I've been away - just back in town and checked here asap.

Thinking of you