Kitty Stoke

[KQ]

We see coyote, fox & bear all the time. She likes being out. She really likes killing stuff. We had an incredible bonding moment while we tag hunted a grass snake. We have a miniature puma living in the cabin. Again, as our first pet we're very excited to watch her. Her coat makes perfect camo.

Yanno - live by the sword, die by the sword. I will never stop missing Bratwurst, heck, I still miss his mother Kitty, brother Link and his sister Patti. These were all cats that lived for the hunt. Trying to keep them confined to the house or inside the barn was not going to work. They were happiest outside hunting with the occasional visits to the house/barn to eat & sleep. I've come to accept this and living where I do it's a fact of life that the hunter may in turn become the hunted (though I don't get why this one scruffy Tom that runs around just keeps on surviving. He's a big tuxedo grey I call Gandalf).

My new kittens may be different. They came to me young and without a mother to show them the ropes so they have been inside from day one. I will let them out to explore once they are bigger than owl snack size but I do anticipate that they will have less wanderlust than the ones who were born & raised in the barn. Maybe I'll get to enjoy their company longer.

[MTT]

Mr. Kitty is here with me sleeping.

He really does scare the hell out of me.

Seeing the Bob cat is kinda cool, But share territory with my cat? I don't like it much

[sb]

Ah, good.

Seems my here and gone stray is here again. He has even rubbed on my hand and let me pet him when there is food involved.
May try to gain his trust so I can take him to the vet for shots and possibly get fixed. Everybody seems to get along with Charlie still a bit hissy at Mr. Socks.

[goldengatestinx]

Lost one of mine to some unexplained death too - found her dead in the hay loft. Only 5 years old. My friend's cat died mysteriously too.

Had another cat that developed a "fever of unknown origin". He got over it but they don't understand why it happens. Had to spend close to a week at fancy animal hospital in Kirkland - place has animal life flight!

Bandit the male twin started getting weak in the hind legs. Over a month or so he'd sometimes fall when making tight turns. Then progressively worse. Lost bladder control. etc. I've never had something die in my arms. His sister Smoky went the same way about 2 months later.

It's very strange they both had the same symptoms. Sure they were twins, but very different personalities, eating habits, etc. And they were only 11 years old.

[goldengatestinx]

Not a good idea to put collars on outdoor cats unless they are break-away. You don't want them to get snagged on something and get stuck or choked.

Use caution with the break away collars. I worked a few years with a major producer/distributor of pet products which included break away collars. Some work. Others don't. Depends on the design, temperature (when it's colder out the plastic material is more stiff, making break away at a higher load), weight/strength of cat, etc. Too much of a choking hazard in my opinion.

Before moving into the canyon we had a feral cat I made 'friends' with. We ended up having him fixed and brought him up after we moved. Once he healed I started letting him outside. He was a townie bad ass cat. Went out the day a snow storm hit...likely got taken by owls. Between the owls (a family of them here hunts and triangulates at night...damn spooky), bobcats, cougars, coyotes, etc it's a bad place for domesticus catus.

[goldengatestinx]

Yanno - live by the sword, die by the sword. I will never stop missing Bratwurst, heck, I still miss his mother Kitty, brother Link and his sister Patti. These were all cats that lived for the hunt. Trying to keep them confined to the house or inside the barn was not going to work. They were happiest outside hunting with the occasional visits to the house/barn to eat & sleep. I've come to accept this and living where I do it's a fact of life that the hunter may in turn become the hunted (though I don't get why this one scruffy Tom that runs around just keeps on surviving. He's a big tuxedo grey I call Gandalf).

My new kittens may be different. They came to me young and without a mother to show them the ropes so they have been inside from day one. I will let them out to explore once they are bigger than owl snack size but I do anticipate that they will have less wanderlust than the ones who were born & raised in the barn. Maybe I'll get to enjoy their company longer.

Interesting comment about living/dying. So true for these animals. I love watching cats hunt...they all used to go crazy after mice. Cheetos got a few this fall. Amazing...And frightening thinking that I've likely been stalked when hiking.

Speaking of this, last night a herd of 30 or so elk came wandering through the yard. My wife was down the driveway stopped for 90 minutes or so taking pics and vids. (You can see her car in the pic where she was trying to get text and email through to me on the very edge of our Wi-Fi signal, no cell service here) I finally realized they were here when a cow came up by the fence 20 ft in front of the kitchen window where I was making dinner.

After some pics taking myself I see a new born...small, and wonder where the cougars are...then I grab Cheetos and take him to the window...he had interest...mmmm....dinnerssssssss.

[KQ]

Interesting comment about living/dying. So true for these animals. I love watching cats hunt...they all used to go crazy after mice. Cheetos got a few this fall. Amazing...And frightening thinking that I've likely been stalked when hiking.

Speaking of this, last night a herd of 30 or so elk came wandering through the yard. My wife was down the driveway stopped for 90 minutes or so taking pics and vids. (You can see her car in the pic where she was trying to get text and email through to me on the very edge of our Wi-Fi signal, no cell service here) I finally realized they were here when a cow came up by the fence 20 ft in front of the kitchen window where I was making dinner.

After some pics taking myself I see a new born...small, and wonder where the cougars are...then I grab Cheetos and take him to the window...he had interest...mmmm....dinnerssssssss.

My barn cat Romeo had been known to stalk Muleys.

[Game Over]

Our cat does the same. Sorry for the shitty pic it was dusk.

[skiing-in-jackson]

^^^ That exact thing happened this morning. Kitty has approached deer a few times with no consequences. She tried it with a cow moose the other day- I was watching from the window- and it didn't go so well for the cat- the moose chased her a good distance. She got away easily- but I'm sure one of her nine lives got used up.

KQ: thanks for the good advice. We realize the hunter may become the hunted. I'm very laissez faire about the whole thing and I think the girls are too.

4matic: I am very proud of the kitty door I built- I even used old shingles. It is pretty tight in there and it would be tough for a predator to get in there- we hope.

Everyone we've told about our new cat has pretty much said the same thing- "We'll see how long she lasts". We're on a private guest ranch adjacent to GTNP. With exception of wolverines and cougars (they're all in Jackson and Teton Village ) we regularly see just about every mammal that can be seen in the park. There are pine martins on the property- predators are numerous. The main house has a pet door to the garage and I think she's using it.

MTT summed it up- Life was great before- now I'm up at 3AM standing by the back door wondering if she is OK. My girls yell at me when I let her out @ 8PM. What am I supposed to do? Not let her out? It snowed a few inches the other day and she trotted out into it without a thought and stayed out too. Crazy.

If she wasn't so cool, I wouldn't care.

[goldengatestinx]

^^^ That exact thing happened this morning. Kitty has approached deer a few times with no consequences. She tried it with a cow moose the other day- I was watching from the window- and it didn't go so well for the cat- the moose chased her a good distance. She got away easily- but I'm sure one of her nine lives got used up.

KQ: thanks for the good advice. We realize the hunter may become the hunted. I'm very laissez faire about the whole thing and I think the girls are too.

4matic: I am very proud of the kitty door I built- I even used old shingles. It is pretty tight in there and it would be tough for a predator to get in there- we hope.

Everyone we've told about our new cat has pretty much said the same thing- "We'll see how long she lasts". We're on a private guest ranch adjacent to GTNP. With exception of wolverines and cougars (they're all in Jackson and Teton Village ) we regularly see just about every mammal that can be seen in the park. There are pine martins on the property- predators are numerous. The main house has a pet door to the garage and I think she's using it.

MTT summed it up- Life was great before- now I'm up at 3AM standing by the back door wondering if she is OK. My girls yell at me when I let her out @ 8PM. What am I supposed to do? Not let her out? It snowed a few inches the other day and she trotted out into it without a thought and stayed out too. Crazy.

If she wasn't so cool, I wouldn't care.

Growing up we had a cat that wandered into our lives and stayed, kindergarten until I was a freshman in college. One winter when he was older typical of cats he got the bladder clog thing going and went and holed up in a neighbors crawl space during a snow storm. Fortunately I was able to track and retrieve him, did the vet unplug thing and he lived a few more years. Crazy how animals can deal with what they come up against.

[KQ]

Cat nap!

[4matic]

Blissful. Growing fast.

[sb]

Awwwww

[KQ]

Thinking I won't be having a Christmas tree this year. Those kittens are climbing beasts! Probably hang a lighted wreath on the wall and call it good. If it was just one kitten I could probably control the situation but the four of them are a force to be reckoned with.

[sb]

Maybe one of those smaller predecorated trees?

My cats totally ignore mine.

[KQ]

Maybe one of those smaller predecorated trees?

My cats totally ignore mine.

My cats did too except to sit and stare at it at night when it was lit and the lights were off (Bratwurst loved that) but these kittens are in the discovery phase of life and everything must be examined, explored and tested. One of them can scale me from foot to head in 3 seconds flat.

[Diamond Joe]

KQ I really think raising four adorable kittens deserves its own thread. You would have 100 people subscribed to it in a matter of minutes. I didnt think there was a cuter thing than a kitten sleeping on your lap, but this picture is exactly four times cuter.

Cat nap!

I have two small black cats (The runt of the litter and her older sister) who are 8 years old. (Heidi is 7lbs and Missy is 8lbs). I'm ecstatic that they really have no interest in going outside. One of the saddest things I've ever experienced, was going out to look for our tiger "Ellie" several years ago and finding her broken little body in the road. Which may be preferable to, not finding her at all, which happened to me with several other cats I had as a kid. According to the SPCA, cats who are allowed to roam outdoors often don't live to see age five. Cats who are kept confined can live to be 18 to 20 years old.. I know how tough it is. Just happy my cats are such pussies

[KQ]

KQ I really think raising four adorable kittens deserves its own thread. You would have 100 people subscribed to it in a matter of minutes. I didnt think there was a cuter thing than a kitten sleeping on your lap, but this picture is exactly four times cuter.


I have two small black cats (The runt of the litter and her older sister) who are 8 years old. (Heidi is 7lbs and Missy is 8lbs). I'm ecstatic that they really have no interest in going outside. One of the saddest things I've ever experienced, was going out to look for our tiger "Ellie" several years ago and finding her broken little body in the road. Which may be preferable to, not finding her at all, which happened to me with several other cats I had as a kid. According to the SPCA, cats who are allowed to roam outdoors often don't live to see age five. Cats who are kept confined can live to be 18 to 20 years old.. I know how tough it is. Just happy my cats are such pussies

I've had it work both ways. Had an indoor/outdoor who lived to be 20 and others that stayed in and died young from disease. There is a feral Tom that runs around here that is at least 10 years old and my one cat Alice, who came to me from a neighbor, is around 16 - she's indoor/outdoor. Life is a gamble for all of us. I'm going to wait and see what these guys want to do. They've already beaten the hand they were dealt - when they were found in a window well they were skinny, covered in fleas and all had swollen eyes and runny noses.

We had a very nice nap today. When I took that picture they were all purring. Sooooooo relaxing.

[KQ]

I love this video

[Harry]

My name is Nelson and I like boxes.

[KQ]

So cute!

Have you ever seen Maru?

[Kinnikinnick]

Photo of a photo of the kitten when she was a kitten and prone to pouncing on anything or anyone that moved.



Hey - a health question for anyone with expertise or experience, she's now 16 y/o and developed a chronic respiratory thing. Mostly sleeps all day since she can't breathe so well. We had her on steroids for a while last year and that helped her energy if not eliminating the wheezing. Problem is that either meant stuffing pills down her or taking her in for shots periodically, which caused her great stress and borderline respiratory/cardio distress.

What other options might make her quality of life better - more prowling the yard and hunting for bugs and voles like she used to instead of sleeping all day everyday?

[KQ]

Photo of a photo of the kitten when she was a kitten and prone to pouncing on anything or anyone that moved.



Hey - a health question for anyone with expertise or experience, she's now 16 y/o and developed a chronic respiratory thing. Mostly sleeps all day since she can't breathe so well. We had her on steroids for a while last year and that helped her energy if not eliminating the wheezing. Problem is that either meant stuffing pills down her or taking her in for shots periodically, which caused her great stress and borderline respiratory/cardio distress.

What other options might make her quality of life better - more prowling the yard and hunting for bugs and voles like she used to instead of sleeping all day everyday?

Love it when they pounce like that!

I'm no vet but... does she use a litter box? Are you using a low dust litter? sWheat Scoop has no dust at all. The only issue I had with it is pantry moths. This house had them when I moved in and I didn't realize it at first but you can trap them - it's an easy problem to fix you just need to be aware if you have wool blankets and clothes.

Cats are gonna sleep all day esp. at that age. Aside from taking her in for extensive tests it may just be time to focus on quality of life.

[sb]

BANANA HAT CATS RINGING BELLS

[Kinnikinnick]

Love it when they pounce like that!

I'm no vet but... does she use a litter box? Are you using a low dust litter? sWheat Scoop has no dust at all. The only issue I had with it is pantry moths. This house had them when I moved in and I didn't realize it at first but you can trap them - it's an easy problem to fix you just need to be aware if you have wool blankets and clothes.

Cats are gonna sleep all day esp. at that age. Aside from taking her in for extensive tests it may just be time to focus on quality of life.

Love that come around the corner and she's there to pounce, hop, hop, hop sideways thing.

We went to the pine pellets, but doesn't seem to make a difference.

Yeah - there's no looking for a cure at this point. The Vet wanted to do a multi-thousand $ scope of the esophagus, lungs.

I was more wondering if people had any luck with other ways of alleviating the respiratory distress. Read somwhere about inhalers??