I found a kitten

[luvmytooo]

Poncho is such a cute little tuxedo baby. I had a tuxedo cat that I lost a couple years ago at 18, I named him Vinny, he was the don.

OMG ! 18 is a great age for a cat to live....my first cat , when I was
young , we had for 24 years ! I remember my Mom found him when
I was 4 and I had to put him down when I was 24 .
That is a amazing age !
For a cat to live into its late teens , twenties , is such a blessing.
Vinny , that is so funny and cute . THE DON :11:

 

[hootx3]

My cat was a stray who came to our door when it was cold out, so we left a carboard box out with ome food and water and a blanket. We decided that if she stayed, we would take her in. Despite having two big blacks dogs at the time, she stayed the whole night. We took her to the vet. She was flea and worm ridden. And, she was only 8 months and pregnant. Unfortunatly, because her birth canal was so small because she was so young, the kittens suffocated inside her. When that was dealt with, we had her spayed, de wormed and de fleaed. Because we didn't know much about cats, the vet asked if we wanted her declawed, we stupidly said yes. Could we go back it time, we would have said no. True, it has saved our furniture, but becuase of the other strays in our area, we are always scared that if she gets in a fight, she might get seriously hurt, which she has. Luckily, since she has gotten hurt, she has stayed near our balcony. But I guess she likes to stay closer to home now because she's to old to go hunting. We've had Cassiopeia (Cassie) 13 years now.

Wow, I didn't mean to let this get long, or depressing...

PS: I know we shouldn't let Cassie out since she's declawed, but we really can't deny letting her be her wild cat self. She used to absolutly love hunting.

 

[ann]

the have these things called "catios" or cat patios, which are inexpensive outdoor enclosures where your cat can enjoy the great outdoors. I thought you might want you look into it hootx3 All my cats were once feral, we found them outside and took them in. I will never buy a cat, i will only adopt, there are just too many out there. My beloved cat maxie died of kidney cancer at only 3 years old, he was just special and we had a special bond. I never thought he would go so early, but his time with us was unforgetable. I love all my cats dearly and dont pick favorites, they are all so unique and lovable. My dog Cassidy, a mini dachshund does her best to tolerate them lol, she's such a gentle, sassy, loveable girl . congrats on your new kitty, he's so cute!!! btw i LOVE yogi hes so cute!!!!!!

 

[luvmytooo]

About declawing , when I was young. My parents let me have cats ut as long as they were declawed. It was either give the kitten a home or bring into a shelter.
So , all our cats were declawed. None ever had any problems because of it.
Having been a tech for over twenty years , I have seen these surgeries countless times.
When done propery and the postoperative care followed , the cat will recover fine.
This doesn't say it's not a barbaric treatment , I never got used to watching it done .
Also , there are plenty of horror stories of cats having under gone horrendous surgeries and recoveries and even never recovered from having a declaw done by less then humane and capable people who call themselves vets . I can name a bunch of vets in my area I wouldn't bring a stuffed animal to no less a breathing one. Then there are the heros of the vet world IMO , that can perform miracles . I can name only a few of them here .

But, the way I see it , if it gives a cat a home, I agree with it , when done properly.
There are too many strays and homeless cats sitting in shelters because people don't want their homes wrecked or have their skin scratched up , or even people with diabetes can't afford to get scratched .
By declawing , it can give a cat a home and give people who always wanted a cat the opportunity to finally have one share their home.
This topic can start a uproar , but it's how I see it , JMHO.

 

[Wulfgeist]

I *personally* don't condone declawing. Especially for a cat who is allowed outside. That cat could get into a scuffle with another cat or animal. An overcurious dog might be convinced to back off by a scratched nose, not so much a soft swat. But then, I am against the free-roaming cats anyhow. I take my cats out on harness and leash. I love my cats and dont want to lose them early to dogs, other animals, cars, bb guns, antifreeze purposely left out by people who hate cats, etc. I love them to not suffer a horrible death more than allowing freedom to roam. (and potty in neighbors flowerbeds and sandboxes, not cool) Again that's my personal choice.

As to declawing, I had a cat I adopted from a shelter after being in a relationship with someone. This someone got clawed by my young, playful girl and demanded declawing. I was young and stupid then and agreed to do it. (I should have refused and ended the relationship, both mine and the cat's life would have much richer for that ). My poor cat had litterbox issues ever since. It was sad to see.

My opinion on people who don't want to be scratched shouldn't own a cat. It's what they do sometimes. There are no surgeries for removing a dog's ability to bark because they sometimes do. That would be considered inhumane (or not even considered at all) yet it's fine to mutilate cats. Bleh. (and I'm just making a point, I'm not saying dogs should be surgically rendered unable to bark! Well, maybe save for a pack of small yappy ones across the alley.. OO)

I don't declaw now and my house and furniture is intact. It is possible. I have found that my cats go crazy for the courrigated scratchers.

I'm not trying to disagree with anyone or slam their choices. These are *my* choices and why I choose them, only.

 

[luvmytooo]

I appreciate your post Wulfgeist . I agree people who don't want to be scratched shouldn't get a cat , but if your diabetic , you can't get scratched , period.
Just like people who want a bird but don't want the "mess" or the "noise".

I totally agree that cats who are let out should have their claws for the same reasons.
And yes , I would have ended that relationship too .
Unfortunately there is de-barking which from my understanding has been declared "unacceptable"by the AKC

When I found the cat I have now , she was declawed already. My husband found her at the dog training field. Thank God she was accustomed to dogs and showed no fear towards the 7 GSD that were there training ! She walked right up to my husband , he picked her up and he felt her to be pretty thin to him. She was very friendly and followed my husband around the whole time. He brought her home , we fed her , checked her for fleas , etc.... Poor thing , as we found out , was there for about two weeks !
Someone from the club has sent he cat around there for that long
Anyway , we found her to be spayed along with declawed. If she had stayed there any longer she would have most likely been taken by a owl or fox or starved. And with no claws , I hate to think about it ....
After posting found cat and calling vets in the area and not in the area , no one has reported a lost cat anywhere , so she is mine , mine , mine
We found our kitten , Poncho recently , and he will be declawed as well. Having a cat that is declawed and one that is not is not such a good idea for many reasons.

The caps that are put over the cats claw do not work well for long and they are not very easy to put on even to a person who knows how to restrain a cat properly..IMO.
Been there , done that.
One of my main reasons to declaw is my birds....I can't live with my self is something happened to my birds. Yes , I can live with the declaw because my cats were all fine , never any complications but a bird just needs one swipe of a claw for a tragedy to happen.
Just my two cents , my own opinion .

 

[Wulfgeist]

And I certainly respect your reasons and the points you made. There are different situations to any argument.

My Tux boy Vinny was actually nearly owl food. Two of his siblings had been carried off already. Can't blame the owl, they were living on table scraps from an old-fashioned gramma who made everything from scratch! He had such a fat little belly.

Declawed or not Poncho is a very lucky kitty to have found people who care. I can't believe the things people will do.

Sorry, huge picture. This was my former foster Ethan (Ethanopian). He was found in a box in a dumpster, the vet wasn't even sure if he was going to live he was so weak and skinny. I took him him to foster and fatten back up. He grew attached to one of my other cats and I realized it would be mean to break them up and send him off to another home. People tossed him out like a piece of trash. ::shakes head::

 

[luvmytooo]

I love Ethan !!! Such a sweet , content look on his face Now thats where a kitty belongs
Your a great person to do the fostering I could NEVER do that because I could NEVER give them up !!!!!
So thank you very much Wulfgeist for being a foster
I found a kitten back when I worked in Brooklyn , the kids were playing street hockey with him ( he was the puck )
I grabbed him , but I also wanted to grab the kids around the neck and give them a something I thought they were missing *(&(^$&^%&&*^^(
But , Bugsy lived a great long life He was such a great cat
Im sure we can all go on with the horror stories , but in the end , the ones that are saved are the luckiest , the ones that we tried to save and don't make it are blessed little souls that will remember their last and probably only loving touch from a human , us.

 

[luvmytooo]

I need to post a updated picture of my Poncho
We love him so much ,such a funny crazy kitty , lolol

His last epic trick was sitting on top of Stella's java tree ( WITH HER )
Another awesome trick of his is him sitting in the bottom of Stella's cage as I was pushing the grate back in , lolol. There he was looking me saying
"I'll stay in here a while Momma" lolol. He and Stella are pretty
good buds

I must also post about our newest addition , nameless right now because it was so un expected .....but thats another forum I will post about it soon...:54:

 

[ann]

i cant wait !

 

[Wulfgeist]

Ethan was my first..and maybe ever last..lol..I did do a good job and trying to stay emotionally distant. I had even lined up a prospective daddy for him but that didn't work out. I am pretty darn glad he is here, he is the sweetest guy I have ever met. Sadly he is no longer skin and bones, his nickname now is *Moose*. The vet checked him out recently and said he seems healthy as in the size of him isn't caused by anything bad. She said he probably went through such mental trauma he's afraid of being without food now. Poor kid.

Yes please share updated pictures of sweet Poncho and I can't wait to hear about this new addition.