CatMad JoJo says "Hello!"

[Lady Magic]

 Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh what scummy puddy cats you have , your black one looks so like my late Big H ( Harley ) when he is asleep , so I'd better make sure Mike my  ( 20+ year old ) son doesn't see it as he STILL gets tearful  when we talk about him .
Its not that Mikes strange or slightly demented in some way guys its just our stupid brains doing really stupid things to us ...............which we cannot control  >:(If you look up 'POTS' the medical condition you will have some sort of understanding as to what I'm talking about , its a very rare condition which has no treatment.oooooooooooooooooops sorry wandering again.

Anyhow,  love the photo's and am about to write a story from my 'boys'
Love and fishy kisses ( the fishy kisses not from  me I might add ) Ami and her 'Boys' xxxxxxxxxxxxx

[solosdad]

hi jojo and welcome 

[CatMad JoJo]

Hi Sam

Well, your Abysinnians are amazing!!!   

Thank you for your post regarding my "hand-shy" question.  I didn't realise that there are quite so many different sections here and will do as you suggest ~ it will be great to get some tips!   

Hope to 'see' you around.

 

"Cat said, 'I am not a friend, and I am not a Servant. I am the Cat who walks by himself, and I wish to come into your Cave.'" - Rudyard Kipling, from the "Just-So Stories"

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Hi ya,

Foxy & Zephyr are both Abysinnians. All the furries say thank you for the lovely compliments 

Regarding your question about hand shy kitties .... I would post it again in the health and behaviour section ... more folk will see it there and you'll get a better response 

[CatMad JoJo]

Hello "Tiggy's Mum, Helen!"  Thank you for your comment, it was kind of you to post.

Hi also to Gillian ~ and thank you for your welcome!  Your feline family are adorable, what lovely pictures!    I am really sorry though to hear that you have experienced so many losses, each cat is irreplaceable and has its own unique place in our hearts so I do feel for you.  I lost my previous feline family all fairly quickly soon after our gorgeous dog died so can relate to how you must feel.  I think it takes such a long time to be at the stage where all you are left with is the good memories, but it does come... eventually!  I just wish, so much, that cats lived for a lot longer than they do, wouldn't that be wonderful?

 

"I put down my book, The Meaning of Zen, and see the cat smiling into her fur as she delicately combs it with her rough pink tongue.
Cat, I would lend you this book to study but it appears you have already read it.  She looks up and gives me her full gaze.  Don't be ridiculous, she purrs, I wrote it!"
- from "Miao" by Dilys Laing

[Gillian Harvey]

Welcome JoJo  George is a gorgeous colour - I had a little pale ginger boy like him called Charlie 

Aimee looked lovely 

My feline family is smaller of late due to several sad losses recently  it did number 12 last year, but now it is 7. I've got a passion for persians (especially colourpoints) and have had some as kittens and others have been rescues - all are 9 yrs upwards and my remaining moggie Harry is 14.

[Tiggy's Mum]

Wow!  What a stunning little family you have there! 

[CatMad JoJo]

Ohhhh your cats are just BEAUTIFUL!  I'm probably showing my ignorance now  but what breed is the soft brown (fuzzy furball??) boy ~ the one that's called Zephyr??  His fur is just wonderful, I'd love to run my fingers through it  .  I also love your calico/tortie girl how gorgeous is she, what lovely markings she has ~ you couldn't design it could you?!! 

I have always been a real DSH fan... in fact I said that I would never go and get a pedigree cat as there as just so many beautiful little souls in rescues just waiting to be loved - this is nothing against pedigrees I hasten to add but rather a matter that I think ALL cats are beautiful...   

However, now I find myself saving hard for my Korat kitten    as after having Aimee, who was such an adorable little character, I discovered what is evidently typical of her Korat breed.  While I know my new kitten won't replace Aimee ~ nor would I want to ~ it would be good to have another opportunity to share our home with another little sweet and gentle personality like hers.  It's also been a wonderful experience to be 'involved' with our kitten right from birth as we've seen pictures of her from only an hour old to the present day!!  I'll put them on Photobucket after Friday, which is when we meet her for the first time and will be sure that we are having THAT particular kitten!!  At least we know that she's been well socialised, that she's been kept in a home where she's been looked after well and handled etc ~ that good start in life will hopefully make all the difference. 

Although I wouldn't swap my Crazy Maisie now, bless her heart, she's still so very timid and hand shy     All I want to do is to give her a cuddle but have to accept that she feels differently ~ and may always do so!!  We've never experienced this before (in over 30 years of being owned by cats) so are a bit puzzled as to what to do to try and help but being gentle, kind and patient with lots of fun with Da Bird is gradually improving things.

Can I ask please...  Has anybody else had a hand-shy, reluctant to be near you cat?  If so what did you do to make friends and win their complete trust?  Did they eventually learn to love being handled or have they continued to avoid your hand?  Sometime Maisie approaches us and she's even 'bumped' me a few times but never 'marks' me or the home like George does (constantly!!) yet she never uses her claws or teeth and I know that I could, if I insisted, pick her up and man-handle her without risk of injury.  However I always believe that you should let a cat come to you willingly...  What do other people feel ~ or what have been your experiences?  By the way I use Feliway etc but am not sure what difference this actually makes.

Thanks for reading!   



 "Thousands of years ago, cats were worshipped as gods. Cats have never forgotten this." - Anonymous   

   
 

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

The pic in my avatar is Zephyr when he was a baby .... he's now a big boy    this thread has pics of him and his sister (Foxy)  http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,26966.msg475672.html#msg475672

More pics of Foxy, Zephyr and Rossi (the tortie madam) here http://s126.photobucket.com/albums/p99/Fussy_furball/March%202007/

[Jiji]

Great pictures, Aimee was    and George and Maisie are    as well 

[CatMad JoJo]

Yay!!  I think it worked then..?

Thank you for your very gratifying remarks about George ~ I totally agree of course, although will admit to be the tiniest bit biased!!    Do you have a link so that I can see some of your pictures please? The cat in your icon picture looks as if he's laughing!!    

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

George is 

[CatMad JoJo]

Thank you JiJi for your post...  Here's a few pictures, mainly of George as he seems to LOVE the camera, Maisie views it with apprehension, almost as if it is "staring" at her I think!  Not sure if this will work but I'll give it a go anyway!!    Please bear with me if it doesn't, thanks. 

http://s1129.photobucket.com/albums/m514/CatMadJoJo/

[Jiji]

Hello and    to Purrs. Sorry to hear about Aimee   Looking forward to seeing the pics 

[CatMad JoJo]

Oooh that pink was pale!   

Have just signed up to photobucket & will put some photos on later but am busy building the new cat tree, which has just arrived!!   

[CatMad JoJo]

Thank you for that info Sam, will look into that later!!   

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Adding pics is easy http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,13872.0.html
this thread should help.   The easiest way is to open an account on www.photobucket.com (it's free).  Upload your pics onto the site.  Once you've got them stored on photobucket you can then copy the "IMG" code and paste it directly into your message.  This way you can include alot more than 4 pics ;-)

[CatMad JoJo]

Thank you EVERYONE for your replies...  How lovely to receive so many friendly and informative messages, I really do appreciate them. 

I have to say that I tried ever so hard (well for about 3 days!!) to content myself with 'just' 2 felines...  Having read Vicky Halls' books I know in my heart that cats really do often prefer to be "only cats!"... ... ...  However I simply couldn't contain my inner child and the irresistible allure of fur and all things feline got the better of me and so it was decided that another fur-baby would enter our (fairly) harmonious feline household.  Having read how others are finding introducing kittens/new cats to their residents my feelings of trepidation remain... 

To be honest this is how we arrived at the name for the new kitten as I said to my son and husband "Well, it's all a bit of a Pandora's box really, isn't it?"  Meaning that it could well be a blessing but equally could release all sorts of problems into the household!!!  Immediately we all said "OH PANDORA!! That would be a great name for the new kitten..."  Once you have a name the contemplation of a new-comer becomes a plan and all too soon a plan becomes a deal!!!   

We DO have the Da Bird and all the different attachments and I agree that it is absolutely wonderful.  Our cats go mad for it and it has to be actually shut away out of sight and reach of paw when the game is done.  George (in icon picture) has a heart condition, which is fairly significant and means he won't make old bones    so I have to play in measured amounts with him and give him an opportunity to rest in between.  He is a rescue but it is thought that there was a great deal of inter-breeding to keep the colour he is, which was described to us by our local Cat's Protection League as "pink!!!"  Yes, "PINK!!"     In truth he is a sort of peachy/ginger/cream but I have to agree that in certain lights he does indeed look pink...     I suppose it is the knowledge that I will also be likely to lose him early that has driven me to go for another kitten now...  He is absolutely GORGEOUS and so loving and gentle and I hope with all my heart that he will defy my vets' prognosis and live to a ripe old age.

I wish I knew HOW to put pictures on here... give me a few days and I'll work it out!!!

Maisie, my other girl, was also a rescue.  She is a little black/tortie ~ ie you can only see her "tortiness" in the sunlight!!!     She is VERY VERY timid (not socialised at all) and is hard work...  Although again the Da Bird and all the toys I've bought recently have helped no end.  She now eats out of my hand and seems to (almost) enjoy being stroked!  It's very hard when all you want to do is to pick 'em up and give 'em a good ol' squeeze and shower them with kisses!!!!   

We were so very lucky ~ and have always been so ~ with our rescues.  We went with the express purrrpose to rescue an older cat with 2 kittens and although I'd actually love to give a loving home to another older cat feel that a kitten would be accepted by ours a little better than a fully mature cat. 

Thanks to Rosella for the cat flap tip...  Yes we DO have one as we live in a very quiet close (only 3 bungalows) without lots of other cats around.  Our garden is safe and fairly large, which we put a high fence that tips slightly into the garden around and they don't seem to wander out of it.  There is absolutely no traffic that passes our house as we are the last bungalow in the close but decided to have an exclusive entry cat flap that reads their microchips for their security.  This means that I will be able to set it as an "in only" flap, which will help.    Our house isn't huge though... so we are not sure quite where we are going to keep the new kitten but I'm tempted to use our bedroom and bathroom, which is the only room upstairs in our dorma bungalow.  Since Aimee's death Maisie doesn't come upstairs any more    but George has a habit of coming up in the mornings to see me and I don't want to upset him...  I would LOVE LOVE LOVE it if they would both sleep with us but they prefer to sleep downstairs in the variety of comfy beds they have so having the new kitten in with me is VERY VERY TEMPTING!!!    Do you think I should have kitten with me???   

To Liz:  How awful to lose both and babies!!  FIP is such a horrible disease.  The breeder I am getting my new kitten from actually donates 5% of her fee to an American organisation who are researching it and have actually discovered how it mutates from the Corona Virus into the deadly full blown FIP.  Aimee had the "dry" kind, which is insidious and difficult to spot and although I knew there was something wrong my vets were unable to determine what it was until a week before she died.  It claimed her quickly, which is something of a comfort as I know she didn't suffer for a long time, although the non-regenerative anaemia she was suffering from must have been the reason why she was always "quiet" as it probably made her extremely tired poor girl.  We just thought that this was her and made sure that she has comfy warm (well luxurious actually) beds in the places she wanted to sleep.  It was thought that she'd had litter after litter of kittens in the "wild" when she was living rough and I wonder if any of them survived.  How heartbreaking for such a caring and loving cat that she was if they didn't!!  No wonder she was feeding our 2 kittens when we rescued them ~ and continued to do so for about 6 months despite our best efforts to stop them!!!  The vet kept saying to me to stop them nursing but it's easier than it sounds and we would be regularly woken to the sounds of slurping in the middle of the night!!!    Here's hoping that one day there will both a usable vaccine AND a way of eradicating this awful disease from our feline friends' lives.

Well, I won't write reams more but wanted to add:

Gill:  I hope that your new Birman settles ~ and that his poorly tummy gets better soon! 

Lady Magic:  I think that "Mr Darcy" and "Mr Knightly" sound like wonderful names, perhaps your husband and son could leave off the "Mr" for the more informal times that they need to address them...? 

Liz:  Your way of life sounds idyllic!!  What a beautiful place to live and to be surrounded by fur!!  We had a BC dog (Chloe) who lived to a ripe old age despite several strokes, she was an absolute darling ~ they are great dogs and seem to love the company of cats.

Rosella:  I love the name Boris ~ wonderful!!    Like you I like to take "maternity leave", it's a good idea...

JaneyK:  Thank you, it's very kind of you to post. 

[Janeyk]

  to Purrs

So sorry about your loss 

[Rosella moggy]

I would be ever so grateful if you have any pearls of wisdom to offer

Not sure about pearls of wisdom exactly 

Following the recent loss of our darling angel Fred to kidney disease  , we were contacted by a wonderful local rescue to say they were caring for his lookeylikey Boris and would we purrhaps be interested in offering him a home?  He will be 16 weeks old tomorrow.  Couldn't resist of course so we are 1 week into introductions to our other 6 moggy cats ........

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/index.php/topic,38494.0.html

I have taken 2 weeks off work to "supervise". 

Our cats have 24/7 access to catflap which I know is not everyone's cup of tea but Fred RIP and Dinah demanded/demand it. 

Introductions appear to be going pretty well.  Baby Boris will not of course be allowed outside until after he is neutered (around October) when he will slowly be allowed garden access. 

Meanwhile I sleep with him in closed back bedroom and, when he is up and about the catflap is on "in only" setting.  He was initially kept in his room from arrival around 5pm to the following afternoon then I left door ajar with my foot against it so the others could come and have a sniff for an hour or so then I followed him around the house to see reactions.  Reaction from residents has been warning hissing and spitting if he got too close so he has backed off when that happens.  There has been no fighting as such. 

Groucho (13 month old very large fluffy black boy) did try and bat him a couple of times this morning.  Think he was a bit jealous of me playing with Boris with Da Mousey but too wary to join in  (highly recommended for kitten play) 

http://www.purrsinourhearts.co.uk/shop/best-cat-toys/cat-toys-other/da-cat-catcher-mouse-cat-toy-128

I think interaction with play is very helpful with introductions.

  to Purrs by the way

[Liz]

Welcome to the best plaice to be, needing pics of your babies and can I say having lost a rescue Mum and 3 kittens to FIP that my heart goes out to you for your recent loss

I am the Clan cats Mother never say how many we have but have several Bakers dozens, mainly ferals in various stages of taming down, my beloved domestics and my 2 rescue ragdolls Minmin who is a chocolate sele pointe and my latest Hulk Caspurr who is nearly 8 kgs and a blue bicoloured boy and not forgetting the junior terrorists Kali and Sherbet who are former feral hisspots from our woods who are now 13 weeks ish

The Clan cats also have their own pets our 2 Adult Border Collies Sky and Sunny and a puppy BC in training Master Mistral who is 18 weeks old

I also have an outside feral colony due to the flashing neon sign at the end of our track saying food and shelter here 

We live surrounded by fur and cats and dogs and have a great life in the North East of Scotland

[Lady Magic]

  Hello I'm owned by two kittens 'The boys' or hooligans as I call them are 'Treacle and Toffee'
if I'd of had my way they would have been called 'Mr Darcy'    and ' MR Knightly'     
But my other two six footer  boys ( husband and son ) refused to call them by these names complaining that if we do start to let them  go out and about in the village they would be so embarrassed to have to call out' Mr Darcy or Knightly' as they are such silly girl names ...............

Ha........don't you worry girl here will think of some clever way of getting boys back for saying the names of the two hero's of the Jane Austin books are girlie's   

Anyhow welcome and nice to hear about your little ones .

Ami and her amazing furry bottomed four legged critters .xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

I have had Lupin a month and afraid things arent going well!

There are others who have had great success but Loopy is just that and so different from my birmans who came to me at 12/13 yrs and that was hard enough.......sigh

I know what a korat looks like but nothing about the breed, so am very interested.

I dont know if all birman kittens are as norty as Lupin but he also has a very bad upset tummy at moment, which I think is making him angry as he is hungry and cant have normal cat food.

[CatMad JoJo]

Thank you for that, I will look at introducing kittens to resident cats tomorrow...

I would also love to chat to anyone who is the pet of a Korat cat... until we had Aimee it was a breed I wasn't familiar with and although I've read what is available on the Internet the real experiences of others would be wonderful to share.

To "Tiggy's Mum, Helen":  Childhood companions are very special ~ I always wanted a cat but was brought up with dogs until I married.  Then quite by chance (!!??if there such a thing??!!) we were adopted by a beautiful, gentle cat-companion who was about 3... the rest, as is said, is history!!! 

[Tiggy's Mum]

I've never had to introduce cats to each other as have only ever had two pairs but lots on here have so I'm sure there'll be some useful tips and hints when the time comes. Korat's are stunning, I'm sure Aimee was no exception and I bet little Pandora will be too! 

Dear Helen, your loved and lost (?) Tiggy looks a beautiful soul.

Yep, sadly she is no longer with me but she was my childhood cat and certainly was beautiful both inside and out  I now have my two special boys, Lu and Riley aka 'the boys'. I adopted them as kittens shortly after Tiggy died and they're 4 now - where does the time go? 

[CatMad JoJo]

Yes, I'm beginning to see just how much time I could actually spend on here...!! 

I've never introduced a kitten to an existing cat household before and although I've just read all of Vicky Halls' books (!!  !!) I am going to look for the experiences of others on here but now, perhaps, ought to go to bed!!  I'm still trying to get to grips with all the different ways to work the site and add photos but as soon as I do will include some!  Dear Helen, your loved and lost (?) Tiggy looks a beautiful soul.

It's great to have received all your replies ~ thank you to Helen, Sam and Gill.  AND great to be among others who think that felines are just wonderful, well they are, aren't they!!??

Thank you for your kind words about my girl Aimee.  It was a shocking experience.  After being owned by cats for over 30 years I have never experienced anything like it.  All my other babies lived a long, happy, free and healthy (well until their ending) lives and after 16, two at 18 & two at 19 years of chasing butterflies and catching mousies (sorry for the mousies but hey you can't fight nature...) I could sort of come to terms with it all even though it was incredibly painful.  As they went to sleep in my arms I knew that it was their 'right' time... ... ... but for Aimee it was a different matter all together.  Having had THE most terrible life imaginable for her first year or so (WHY are people SO cruel??) she only knew love, food and a warm, safe home for one short year...  SO unfair.  The only thing that makes it bearable is knowing that I did everything I could for her (thank God for insurance!) and that her end was about as loving and as peaceful as it could have been.

Have just read other replies while I've been typing this!!  AND I was going to bed???   

Gill, I would be so interested in knowing how your introduction went with your new (most gorgeous) kitten???  I adore Birmans, they seem such a great companion cat to have.  Our new kitten will be a Korat, which was the same breed as our beloved Aimee...  Don't know whether that is a mistake (I'd never had a pedigree anything before!!) but she was just so sweet and loving that I wanted to repeat the experience!!  We are going to choose new kitten next week!!!!!!  Can't wait, she's now just 6 weeks old so I have time to prepare for her arrival and do all the gradual introduction thing but I would be ever so grateful if you have any pearls of wisdom to offer.  That actually goes for ANYONE reading this!!!

Thank you for such a warm and wonderful welcome... looks like I'm going to be spending a lot of time on here!!

[Gill (sneakiefeline)]

  to Purrs 

So sorry to hear about Aimee, FIP is such a terrible disease 

4 furries here too, one semi feral tortie, one big black an white moggie, one blue point birman who is 18 next week and a newbie birman aged 11 months called Lupin!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

Oh I'm so sorry to hear the sad news about Aimee      RIP little girl xxx

I am owned by 4 furries .. Foxy and Zephyr (9 year old Abysinnians - brother and sister, Rossi my 4 year old tortie madam and Oliver aka the Fat lump a british cream who moved in with me when his owners left him behind about 18 months ago when they moved  )

Would love to see pics of your gang.
 

[Tiggy's Mum]

  to Purrs   

Glad you've found us, I'm sure you'll enjoy it here.  It really is a very friendly forum with lots of friendly helpful advice, if ever needed, and of course lots of fun.

I do feel it my public duty to warn you though that it can be a teensy bit addictive  You have been warned 
 
Sorry to hear about Aimee  FIP is such a cruel disease  Hope Pandora settles in well with her new brother and sister. Looking forward to hearing more about them 

[CatMad JoJo]

Thank you for your welcome    Yes, I'm owned by 2 feline fur-babies, George (see picture) and Maisie and have a kitten on the way...!!  We lost of beloved girl who was only 2 to FIP 3 months ago, it was a terrible time as I've never had to have a cat put to sleep at such an awfully young age before.  They were all rescued together, Aimee my beloved girl, was feeding the 2 quite unrelated kittens and we wanted to keep the little 'family' together.  Sadly the 'kittens' who are now 16 months old have lost their 'mum' but have coped very well with lots of help from "Da Bird" and "Da Mousie" ~ fun and games have really helped them no end and we are, once again, a happy household.  Our new kitten will be joining us in October...  She already has a name... Pandora!  How about you???

[Sam (Fussy_Furball)]

 

I'm sure you'll have a fab time on here.  Are you currently "owned" by any felines?

[CatMad JoJo]

Hello I'm new to Purrs & am so pleased to find myself here among fellow CatMad people!!!