*directs the men in white coats carrying a straight-jacket towards gareth*
Cats are among my favorite animals. They make good and reasonably intelligent company most of the time. (while their IQ probably isn't that impressive, they actually behave rationally, contrary to the average human) I have two cats. One you can see
here. The one in the picture I linked to is a bit overly social, but most of the time pretty good company. The other one is more like me; much more eccentric and a bit of a loner.
Rats can make entertaining and affectionate pets, too. They will quite happily sit on your shoulder and nibble your hair while watching TV with you and they are often very cheeky.
I love kitty cats :grin:
I have 2 cats who I adopted from rescue centres. The both came from abusive homes, and I have worked really hard with them to help them learn to trust humans.
Mr Cat was extremely nervous, and lived under the bed for 6 weeks. 18 months on, he is far more confident, but still fears strangers. He is a different man, and a far happier one.
Mitzi was extremely aggressive when we first got her. We've only had her 3 months, and she still is quite aggressive. The rescue centre recently came to do a follow up check, where they make sure the cat is settling in, and offer any advice, that kind of thing. Mitzi had been at the rescue centre for 2 years, and they couldn't believe the change in her. I didn't know how much of the changes we'd seen were because she was settling in, or how much was real improvement. It was nice to find out that I have actually helped to make a change in her behaviour.
Two intresting links:
Here is a great guide for everyone intrested in cats. I have also found a truly meow-a-licious song browing the KVR Audio forum, that can be downloaded
here. (it's fully avaliable on the site, so I doubt the author would mind me linking to the download)
This is Shnitzel.
He was born on the campus of our college, and still lives there.
To me, that is the perfect way of "keeping" an animal.
He's free to go whereever he wants and when.
Sure he will grow fat in the years from too much love.
(everybody leaves him food.)
OK, if the picture doesn't come this time, I'll give a link to it.
Oh my son he has his own mouse
, he also looks like two of mine.
Aww! He's so handsome! I love tabbies (and all other kinds of cats too). Is he very friendly? People who are cruel to cats are one of the lowest forms of life to me.
Ah, lots then. How lovely! They really are beautiful creatures.
Oh, they're lovely. The tabby is very handsome too. A couple of nights ago, I was feeling down and when I woke up in the morning, there was a weight on me. It turned out that two of my cats were sitting on top of me. Even the very shy mother cat was letting me stroke her fur and she was purring like crazy. My third cat was lying next to me. Dad hated cats on the bed but it doesn't bother me. They are nice company.
This was when my mother cat had kittens in the bottom of a wardrobe about 5 years ago. I still have one of her kittens from the first of her two litters. All my cats are now fixed up.
I think my big ginger and white tom was the father of the middle kitten and possibly the little grey tabby one with the ginger stripy leg. The other ginger kitten was probably fathered by an elderly ginger tom that was hanging around at the time. The kittens were only a couple of days old when this picture was taken and the thing that upsets me is people drown kittens that young and think it's okay but even at that age, they are quite strong.
If I could, I'd have lots more cats, but three and a visiting stray is plenty for now.
My cats walk on the keyboard too. It must be a cat thing.
I wonder if anybody can tell me if cats can smile? I told someone that they can and so can dogs but they said I was imagining it and that it's just the way their mouth sits. But I'm sure that cats can look smug when they're comfortably settled in a place that they like.
The cat deposit seems excessive. I know some landlords have had trouble with pet owners but it should just be a refundable deposit and that's all.
I've also had some stray toms come to visit and some of them meow very strangely. The current one almost chirrups at times. None of my pet cats meow very loudly either.
Yes, that's a very good sign when they start rubbing up against your leg and purring.
Ah yes, cat farts are shockers! Cats usually do silent but deadly farts when they are displeased.
I'm not very fond of people who are cruel to dogs either.
Dogs are usually savage when they have been cruelly treated as puppies but unfortunately, some breeds are also quite aggressive eg. pitbulls.