Off Topic Part Cinq

[ashenflowers 5]

omg Kathryn, that is wonderful! I am so glad to hear that Smokey is back!!

My mother in law is an animal communicator. It's really interesting. I guess you could call it a pet psychic in a way. Just from the description of the animal, she can pick up vibes from them (without even being in the same room or house as the animal) and you can ask questions to the animal through her. She can pick up on unknown illnesses and energy fields around the animals as well. It's neat. And like Kathryn said, sometimes the animal can give very specific descriptions of things. I asked her to help me with introducing my two cats, and some of the things she said about my cat Kitty were very accurate (and she'd only met Kitty once before, for maybe 5 mins).

Ontarkie, my personal beliefs here, but PLEASE try EVERYTHING other means possible before you even consider declawing a cat. PLEASE. You should try to consider reasons why the cat might be lashing out like that. There's something going on that makes him react in that way. Declawing won't make him any happier.

[Danu 19]

Softpaws may help as well, they are like little soft plastic caps you put on their nails so they don't scratch everyone to bits. Declawing drastically changes a cat's demeanor, I would definately try a few other things first to see if you can sort out what the underlying issue is first.

[Ontarkie 14,193]

We have tried everything, short of putting him down. He comes to you lays across your legs but you are not allowed to touch him. He will rip you to shreds if you even look at him. He's almost 4 now. And nothing seems to work, drugs don't even help. They just get him wired and then hes still viscous. I know if we gave him away he would never last. There is no way ppl would put up with him. We had him since he was a kitten and he has always been like this. We don't want to get him declawed but we are running out of choices. Having to pay for ER visits just because this cats is crazy. So its pretty much declaw or get put down. Its terrible but we are out of options.

Edited August 6, 2010 by Ontarkie

[TimandJoyce 1]

Katheryn! That is so cool! I think I remember reading about the cat a while ago, but must have forgotten. Sounds like he loves you!

Funny, be we too acquired a stray male cat, about a year old, gray..and I named him Smokey!! He stays outside because he's not fixed, and I don't want him spraying in the house. Tim doesn't want him in the house because of all the cat hair...soooooo I'm hoping to soften his heart! Once I can get an ok to let him in..then we'll probably get him neutered. Although, I would rather do that now anyways...but again..I don't think Tim will allow that yet...another thing to work on.

In the meantime though...he seems pretty happy, and loves to eat!

Kimbear...hope you make some connections! I'm sure it would be interesting to find out some kind of roots.

Ontarkie...wow..I'm not a vet or anything, but sounds like that poor animal has chemistry imbalance or something. Did you try calling a vet to describe what's happening? Or looking online? I suppose you probably have. If he's 4 now, I'm sure you've covered many bases. Must be a little stressful. When does it seem like the cats the happiest?

[ashenflowers 5]

Joyce, you should try to get him neutered now anyways, especially when he's outside! That's when he's at his most... uh... well, you know. 'available'. LOL I hope you get permission to bring him in. Grey cats are so adorable.

Ontarkie, there's got to be something that can be done. This cat is seriously spooked by something. Do you have more than one cat? If so, what is the other cat like? What are the interactions like between the cats? What food are you feeding them? Do you know of anything that happened in the past with him that might've made him that way? Cats definitely do have different personalities (I know my two cats are very different.. lol), but I hope this guy can be calmed down.

I've been told that touching or rubbing a cat's ears can be very soothing to them, so if you touch him there first it might help (and also hold the back of your hand out to him before touching him and let him smell it). I'm sure after 4 years you know some of those tips already, but I just don't want to see this little guy put down.

You should look into those Softpaws that Danu mentioned. They look super cute on cats actually... lol http://www.softpaws.com

[Marilyn. 340]

so as I might have mentioned before my husband's cell phone is included in his brother's account.. well, I got this email from my BIL last night and it said "Attached are some Sprint bills you could look over. For some reason there are extra charges to Canada on your phone"

is he seriously asking that? ..lol either he didn't think of it or he is just making sure we will pay those charges which of course we had planned to..

I used the phone to call my parents a few times when our house phone wasn't working but never again....it cost a lot more then I was expecting

[TimandJoyce 1]

International calls on a cell phone I'm sure can be huge!! Have you or your BIL heard of Pennytalk? I believe you sign up on there website, but it costs only 1 cent/minute to call anywhere in the States, and Canada. Tim and I used it all the time. You can also use it out of Canada so something maybe your family might be interested in as well. With this economy, it's nice to cut costs where ever!

Course, nothing beats good old webcams and skype; yahoo; msn...etc. That only works though if both parties have a computer

[Marilyn. 340]

I don't really use the hubster's phone to call Canada on a regular basis.. at the time our house phone wasn't working and my cell phone doesn't work properly in our house...

I just found it intresting that my BIL was wondering why there were calls to Canada on the phone ..lol

[Kimbear 53]

Kathryn, how wonderful you found him!! I had tears in my eyes when i read how Smokey reacted and purred away to you!! That kitty sure sounds happy now, and he definately chose you as his owner. I"m glad he is ok and that you are not giving him back to that women who started all this to begin with!

[Ontarkie 14,193]

Thanks for all the tips, as for soft paws they really don't work for him, the vet is more worried that he will rip his claws out himself with them on. We think sometimes he is a little nuts as he likes to stick his claws into the plugs, I have no clue why he does that but we had to put things up against the walls to keep him from them. child protectors don't work he pulls them off.

We have 2 cats they play well together and are very close to each other. They wont even eat if they are not together. As for his past we had him since he was 8 weeks. We try to make sure he has plenty of toys he likes and treats. Only reason we are thinking of declawing is we are out of options, and since he hates outside its an option that we have.

[Pauley 2]

Kathryn, how wonderful you found him!! I had tears in my eyes when i read how Smokey reacted and purred away to you!! That kitty sure sounds happy now, and he definately chose you as his owner. I"m glad he is ok and that you are not giving him back to that women who started all this to begin with!

I've seen a joke on tshirts/notepads/placques/whatevers that "Dogs have owners, cats have staff." Maybe Smokey was just conducting interviews for personal assistants, and Kathryn ultimately got the job!

[Kimbear 53]

so it's official..i have family living in Florida, Connecticut and Vermont that i never met or knew about!!!!!

my cousin replied saying they heard lots about me from my dad, who separated from my mom when i was 6 or 7. now i saw my dad maybe a few times growing up, mom moved us around alot.

so thats the good news. the bad. my dads sister, my aunt who i manged to figure all this out from via her letter to my dad back in 1996, died june 23..just a few weeks ago. so now i have mixed feelings etc. I haven't even thought of what i want to do with all this new family information etc, i'm still trying to process it all. And without me even asking, my wonderful husband has already looked at how long it would take to travel to see this new family of mine..i am so happy, sad, feeling loved, feeling regret all at the same time, and yet..i can feel a bit of anticipation for my future, and the future events that may come out of all of this.

Edited August 6, 2010 by Kimbear

[ashenflowers 5]

!!! OMG Kimbear, that's amazing! That's totally a local news-worthy story. You should contact someone about it, if you do end up going to meet them. People love long-lost relative reunion stories.

I am sorry your aunt passed away, but what a great road trip it would be to find all this family!

[Ontarkie 14,193]

Kim that is great. Now you can get all sorts of information that you have been looking for about your father and family. Its so nice to see your father talked about you to them shows just how much he loved you. I wish you the best with your new found family.

[TimandJoyce 1]

That's great Kimbear! And so sweet that your husband is already looking at planning a trip for you. I can appreciate all the emotions your going through, but once you get together and meet them, I think you'll probably find things just click.

So sorry about your aunt Funny how you found that letter written so long ago...and it lead you to all this. It was meant to be!

Edited August 7, 2010 by TimandJoyce