The CAT room!

Oh yes, it actually happened margo.

(Poor, poor Flats & poor me. <sigh>)

But, I'm feeling a fraction more reconciled to what happened.

And, you know, I've been thinking ...

I've hardly ever lived in a home without cats, or a dog, since I was a very small child.

A house without at least one critter is not really a home.

My home feels quite strange, critter-less.

My term holidays come up in 3 weeks & I can be home quite a bit then.

There are always lots of beautiful abandoned & lost critters at Lort Smith or the Cat Protection Society. They need a home. Or else ...

Maybe, this holiday .....?

We'll see.

(Thanks, Vivien, for reinforcing these inclinations of mine in your emails. )

Lovely, urs!

I feel exactly the same. I love the experience of being on my own (though not all the time, of course!) A cat companion - or in your case two cat companions - can make that experience so much nicer!

I don't know that I could manage five cats, like your friend did, though!

Now, isn't that interesting? What makes Coon cats sleep in this interesting (& delightful) way? Any theories, J_B, or farmer?

Nisse likes to sleep like this, too. But mostly when he is lying next to BigDice. In his case, I guess it is because he imitates BigDice. Nisse does not know there is a difference between humans and cats...

This is Poly. He is the Himalayan that just came into the shelter a couple of days ago. As you can see, he is having a very difficult time settling in and making himself at home. He is like one big teddy bear. Talk about a diva! What's a male diva called?

A man.

I was going to be a clever clogs and say 'divo' - but your answer is soooo much better

Eva,

Yeah. Have to agree with you and Vivien. That's a pretty good answer!

Yeah, well...have you ever known a real man who wasn't? (God love 'em.)

Honestly? No! You are so right on it isn't funny! This cat is such a hoot Eva. He prances around the house. He sneaks up on the other cats and just stands there and then lets out this howl! Then when the other cat takes off running, he chases them around the house. I thought at first it was just something he did as a qurk but no! He keeps doing it.

He and Oliver (my neutered Siamese - posted a picture of him way earlier in this thread I think) have been checking each other out. They stand there with their heads turned away from each other and the hair on their backs up (they both look like they have mohawks when they do this!) and just start with a low growl and it keeps raising in pitch. I'm a bit leery of trying to separate them once they start this because yesterday I tried with another cat and he did the buzzsaw thing to my head. So, there is a bit of Shelter Soap Drama going on here right now. Well, it may be dramatic to them but I am cracking up! And, I think we all know what cats think about humans laughing at them!

Mine just give me their famous "I-meant-to-do-that" look.

Just fixing the thread.

Cat, owner reunited 6 months after hurricane

ATLANTA - When Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans, Tristan Carter thought she had lost everything - her home, a grandfather, two dogs, a cat and a rabbit.

But Cupcake the cat was alive and well after six months of living as a stray in her hurricane-ravaged neighborhood. On Wednesday, animal rescue volunteers reunited the lithe, 7-pound black cat with Carter, who now lives in Atlanta.

"I lost a grandfather in the hurricane. To find a little kitty survived six months, that's great," said Carter, holding Cupcake close and thanking the rescuers who found her.

Animal rescue groups have rescued more than 1,200 former pets living as strays in New Orleans and have been working to reunite them with their owners, according to Best Friends Animal Society, the group that arranged the reunion.

Cupcake wore a collar with rabies tags and rescuers hoped to quickly link her with her owner. But volunteer Shelley Thayer could not find a person who matched the tag's name and address. A phone number on the tag was disconnected.

But after using professional Internet-based searching services, Thayer matched Carter with the tag's address. The people-finding service provided Thayer with Carter's phone number.

Carter says her family had given up any hope of finding their pets. In November, they returned to their former home and searched without success.

"God works in mysterious ways. She is a gift, she is here to let us know there is hope," Carter said. "She's our good luck charm."

What an awesome story! I have one cat here from Katrina. They had one of the National Animal Rescue shelters here in Louisiana and they worked so hard finding owners or new homes. Quite a few dogs that at one time had been neglected are now at a rehabilitation shelter in Utah I think. It might be Idaho. They do marvelous work.

I have one cat here from Katrina. I don't have much hope of ever finding her owners. She had no collar, nothing. Just a female black cat. She lives on my refrigerator.

(Hi, Reyn!)

Hats off to those animal rescue workers who are still at it, after all this time. Now that's commitment!

now that is a lovely happy-ending-feelgood story - just what I needed on a 'down' day

not keen on that new portrait of you Reyn

It portrays a certain attitude with things around here. :wink:

This poor cat! 62 hours stranded on a powerline!

Click on Cat-astrophe averted in Las Vegas!

http://www.cnn.com

Our baby had her spay surgery yesterday morning. I brought her home late yesterday afternoon and placed her in a huge kennel with a litter box and quilt to lounge and sleep on. She still seemed pretty groggy and they gave her a shot of pain medicine that's supposed to last three days.

She's desperately UNHAPPY being caged. She cries constantly and rattles the cage door and scratches furiously at the sides of the kennel. I tried to give her a bowl of water--a heavy bowl nestled into the front corner of the kennel--but she managed to dump that bowl and make a mess. Every time I open the kennel door to offer her water, she ignores the water and tries to escape. I'm afraid she's going to get dehydrated.

Debra,

Let her out! Sweetie, she can get stressed to the point of endangering her health. Just make her a nice comfortable place somewhere or let her pick a place and she will be fine.

Some cats just can't handle being caged. I've seen them hurt themselves because of it. She will be fine. She won't hurt herself (her stitches or anything). She will drink water, eat, and calm down once she is out of the kennel.

I know you felt it was the right thing for her and for some cats it would be, but I don't think it's a good thing in this case. Please keep us updated how she is doing?