Calling all Fur-parents!

[LillyTame]

Hi everyone, my furbabies have come up in a couple of convos so I thought I'd start a new pet thread (looked for an old one but over 20pages came up when I searched "pets").

For me...my cats are my babies...the oldest is 10yrs old and I've had her since she was just 6wks, her name is Sophia Alleyzae (persian mix)! She has younger sisters - Sadie Isabella (Ragdoll) and GiGi (siamese mix).

For those TTC - are you worried that your relationship with your furbaby will change once baby arrives?

For those that do have children - was there a change for you?

 

[GingerPanda]

I'm traveling right now, and on my laptop... so I don't have any recent pictures of my fur-children! But I have this one from 2009:

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/2071_46766233542_2449_n.jpg

They are sisters from the same litter. I got them when they were little kittens in 2008. The black and white one is Mage, and the muted calico is Cleric. (I'm a nerd. I play D&D. )

They are fatter now, but on diets!

 

[LillyTame]

very cute GingerPanda! So do you do timed feedings or just a special type of food?

My ragdoll feels sooo heavy compared to my other two 10pounders, she is about 14lbs, but that is normal for her breed.

 

[GingerPanda]

I've started them on a weight and hairball control food (Iams), and have put them on timed feedings. They've been on this diet for a couple of weeks now and have each lost almost a pound.

Mage was 17lbs, and Cleric was 14lbs. Quite overweight for them, since they are just domestic shorthair cats. They should probably be around 10lbs each.

But so far they're doing well on their diets! Much better than I am doing on mine!

 

[MrsPear]

My dog is in my avatar pic, she is about 16 (we have had her 15 1/2 years), I love her so, so much.

We have a cat who is about the same age....but shhhhhhh, I don't like her so much .

eta it makes me laugh seeing you talk about a 14lb cat, I don't know if mine was more meaty when she was younger because someone gave her to us a couple of years ago, but she is so skinny and tiny since we had her. She eats plenty, I don't know much about cats, could it just be an age related thing? She seems healthy enough otherwise.

PS The cat has not even acknowledged Joni since she was born. Luckily she is a VERY placid cat, although she isn't particularly friendly, she keeps herself to herself. Sometimes she walks over Joni to get where she wants to be but that's it. As for the dog, that's a different kettle of fish, she is blind and deaf and very anxious (although wonderful with children when she was younger), and I would not ever let her near Joni. The closest they have got is the dog in the basket and Joni in the carseat alongside for a photo, but luckily the dog is living with my mum now or I don't know what we would have done.

Love your photos you both have gorgeous cats! x

 

[GingerPanda]

16! Gracious!

And this thread has so many pretty kitties! As for your cat's weight, is she an outdoor cat or is she very active? That could be a reason for her low weight. How old is she? She could also have a high metabolism, or she could possibly have some sort of health issue. I don't think cats are usually very symptomatic.

 

[MrsPear]

16! Gracious!

And this thread has so many pretty kitties! As for your cat's weight, is she an outdoor cat or is she very active? That could be a reason for her low weight. How old is she? She could also have a high metabolism, or she could possibly have some sort of health issue. I don't think cats are usually very symptomatic.

She's about 16. She's a house cat and not at all active. We've had her a couple of years and she's always been skinny, so I'm not sure if she just naturally is. She eats well and she seems contented. I guess she could have a health issue but as she's so old and she doesn't have any other symptoms I just sort of think I should leave it. Hope that doesn't sound cold of me! If she seemed out of sorts etc of course I would get her checked. When you haven't seen a pet in their younger days you don't really have anything to compare with, I don't know what she was like when she was a young cat.

 

[GingerPanda]

16! Gracious!

And this thread has so many pretty kitties! As for your cat's weight, is she an outdoor cat or is she very active? That could be a reason for her low weight. How old is she? She could also have a high metabolism, or she could possibly have some sort of health issue. I don't think cats are usually very symptomatic.

She's about 16. She's a house cat and not at all active. We've had her a couple of years and she's always been skinny, so I'm not sure if she just naturally is. She eats well and she seems contented. I guess she could have a health issue but as she's so old and she doesn't have any other symptoms I just sort of think I should leave it. Hope that doesn't sound cold of me! If she seemed out of sorts etc of course I would get her checked. When you haven't seen a pet in their younger days you don't really have anything to compare with, I don't know what she was like when she was a young cat.

Yeah, I think it's either because she's older or it could just be how she is. Either way, as long as she appears fine, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[SophiasMummy]

Ive grown up with dogs though right now i just have apollo who is a gsd x collie and will be a year old on the 7th january. He is my baby and my LOs best friend. He's actually the most amazing dog when it comes to my daughter he follows her round the house and lays near her when shes playing, he tries to comfort her when she cries, lets her use him as a pillow has never jumped up at her or knocked her over. Ive been very lucky to get such a good dog espcially one so young. It took me 3 years to decide i was ready for another dog after my 17 and 11 year old labradors where put down within a month of eachother. I have a feeling i may end up with my friends puppy aswell as shes having problems with her and doesnt think she can cope with a baby, toddler and puppy. x

 

[dani_tinks]

Hiya, gorgeous pets everyone.

We have a maine coon boy who is very much our baby, he's 4 now. To answer your question; i've made sure I make time for him, when Jacob was a newborn he definitely had his nose put out and maybe didn't get enough attention as he needed. But i've worked out how to juggle them both now so it's all cool. I must admit hubby doesn't fuss over him as much as he used to, however, they do snuggle up in bed at the end of the day .
Pang's kindof my best buddy, with me being a SAHM, so I spend a lot of time fussing over him (he's a house cat).

https://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/156670_10151316488725362_1498240878_n.jpg

 

[LillyTame]

I've started them on a weight and hairball control food (Iams), and have put them on timed feedings. They've been on this diet for a couple of weeks now and have each lost almost a pound.

Mage was 17lbs, and Cleric was 14lbs. Quite overweight for them, since they are just domestic shorthair cats. They should probably be around 10lbs each.

But so far they're doing well on their diets! Much better than I am doing on mine!

haha! Sounds like me...I watch their weights because since they are strictly indoor I know they don't get as much exercise as an outdoor cat. But I haven't had any issues....but I have thought "how can I put them on a diet if I needed to, when I can't watch my own weight!" lol, but I guess it's always easier when you have someone else prepping the food.

Speaking of exercise...they already run around like nutcases, I can't wait to buy a bigger house to give them more places to run...we live in a one bedroom apartment right now. I see in your pic Mage and Cleric or outside...do you worry about them wondering too far or is it just monitored outings?

 

[LillyTame]

My dog is in my avatar pic, she is about 16 (we have had her 15 1/2 years), I love her so, so much.

We have a cat who is about the same age....but shhhhhhh, I don't like her so much .

eta it makes me laugh seeing you talk about a 14lb cat, I don't know if mine was more meaty when she was younger because someone gave her to us a couple of years ago, but she is so skinny and tiny since we had her. She eats plenty, I don't know much about cats, could it just be an age related thing? She seems healthy enough otherwise.

PS The cat has not even acknowledged Joni since she was born. Luckily she is a VERY placid cat, although she isn't particularly friendly, she keeps herself to herself. Sometimes she walks over Joni to get where she wants to be but that's it. As for the dog, that's a different kettle of fish, she is blind and deaf and very anxious (although wonderful with children when she was younger), and I would not ever let her near Joni. The closest they have got is the dog in the basket and Joni in the carseat alongside for a photo, but luckily the dog is living with my mum now or I don't know what we would have done.

Love your photos you both have gorgeous cats! x

I think as long as you see your cat eating and there are no barfing or BM issues, she is probably fine. My 10yr old is a strictly indoor cat and she has ALWAYS stayed at 9-10lbs....we call her little butt lol...and my ragdoll is big butt (13-14lbs) lol.

Hiya, gorgeous pets everyone.

We have a maine coon boy who is very much our baby, he's 4 now. To answer your question; i've made sure I make time for him, when Jacob was a newborn he definitely had his nose put out and maybe didn't get enough attention as he needed. But i've worked out how to juggle them both now so it's all cool. I must admit hubby doesn't fuss over him as much as he used to, however, they do snuggle up in bed at the end of the day .
Pang's kindof my best buddy, with me being a SAHM, so I spend a lot of time fussing over him (he's a house cat).

https://sphotos-d.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/156670_10151316488725362_1498240878_n.jpg

Gorgeous lil guy!

Right now OH greets everybody when he gets home and Sophia gets picked up and carried around the house like a baby for a bit....and she loves it. I've asked him...what are you gonna do when we have a baby? Who are you gonna pick up first?! No answer! lol

 

[GingerPanda]

I've started them on a weight and hairball control food (Iams), and have put them on timed feedings. They've been on this diet for a couple of weeks now and have each lost almost a pound.

Mage was 17lbs, and Cleric was 14lbs. Quite overweight for them, since they are just domestic shorthair cats. They should probably be around 10lbs each.

But so far they're doing well on their diets! Much better than I am doing on mine!

haha! Sounds like me...I watch their weights because since they are strictly indoor I know they don't get as much exercise as an outdoor cat. But I haven't had any issues....but I have thought "how can I put them on a diet if I needed to, when I can't watch my own weight!" lol, but I guess it's always easier when you have someone else prepping the food.

Speaking of exercise...they already run around like nutcases, I can't wait to buy a bigger house to give them more places to run...we live in a one bedroom apartment right now. I see in your pic Mage and Cleric or outside...do you worry about them wondering too far or is it just monitored outings?

That was back when we lived in our old apartment. It was upstairs, so that was a monitored event on the balcony because they had never seen snow before. They are strictly indoor cats.



That Maine coon is GORGEOUS! I love giant kitties. Hehe.

 

[LillyTame]

Oh ok GingerPanda...that's what I want when we buy a place...somewhere that I can feel safe letting them out to roam a little while I monitor them...I really think they would like that. WISH I could introduce them to snow but we live in Hawaii, only way to get to the snow is to go all the way up Mauna Kea which sometimes has snow...but we don't think the girls would adjust well to the altitude change....and they aren't big on car rides lol.

 

[GingerPanda]

Haha! Hawaii must be so nice!

We have a porch at the condo where we live now, but I'm afraid to let them out because the elderly couple who used to live upstairs let their cat out on the porch, and a big hawk swooped down and stole her! He probably ate her. She was such a pretty kitty.

 

[LillyTame]

Haha! Hawaii must be so nice!

We have a porch at the condo where we live now, but I'm afraid to let them out because the elderly couple who used to live upstairs let their cat out on the porch, and a big hawk swooped down and stole her! He probably ate her. She was such a pretty kitty.

OMG! I have heard of that happening with small dogs even, in some places. Talk about scary!

 

[GingerPanda]

Yeah. Plus, we are on the ground level in our condo, so they could just run off. They don't go outside anymore. But they have a lot more room to run around here, so they are happy.

 

[clynn11]

Love, LOVE that you started this thread! I actually run a kitty rescue out of my home (we're not official 501 c(3) yet, but soon!) So far this year i've rescued 48 kittens off of the streets in my town and have rehomed 42 of them!

I also have 8 kitties of my own. LOL. And two doggies- both APBTs.

We are TTC and have no doubt that our love for our animals will not change one bit. We are excited to be able to raise our babies around rescuing and showing them to treat all living creatures with respect!

 

[xSin]

I wanted a puppy, ended up getting a baby instead ...yay! And then as an early xmas present my OH adopted two Kitties ...brother & sister, ...will upload pics from comp later when im near it

No problem with them + baby so far.

 

[LillyTame]

Love, LOVE that you started this thread! I actually run a kitty rescue out of my home (we're not official 501 c(3) yet, but soon!) So far this year i've rescued 48 kittens off of the streets in my town and have rehomed 42 of them!

I also have 8 kitties of my own. LOL. And two doggies- both APBTs.

We are TTC and have no doubt that our love for our animals will not change one bit. We are excited to be able to raise our babies around rescuing and showing them to treat all living creatures with respect!

What does APBTs mean?

I wanted a puppy, ended up getting a baby instead ...yay! And then as an early xmas present my OH adopted two Kitties ...brother & sister, ...will upload pics from comp later when im near it

No problem with them + baby so far.

@ wanted a puppy, got a baby.