Hi! My Fat Furry Friend is Zane, a grey tabby. He used to be my father's cat, but since father died in March he is mine; or I am his.
The vet says he's about seven years old; he came to my father as a full grown cat, so we don't know what he was like as a cute little kitten. He just showed up in the neighborhood. He obviously wasn't feral; he was neutered and declawed and for several weeks he was making the rounds of the neighbors. People would feed him, and he'd catch mice and even tree rats; fortunately, father was living in a isolated cul-de-sac in a semirural neighborhood, so there were few cars. Father was worried about what would happen to him come winter. I urged him to take him in.
"But I already have a cat!" (PurrPuss, an orange tabby.)
I reminded him that lots of people have more than one pet. (We'd always had only one at a time.) Father took Zane in--Zane because he's Grey--and PurrPuss didn't like it one little bit. I wasn't living there then, and father apparently didn't do any of the things you are supposed to do when introducing a new cat. Shortly thereafter, PurrPuss just curled up and died; I don't know if there was a connection, but Father always thought there was. (He wasn't a very old cat; less than 10 years, IIRC.)
Shortly after that, father moved here and we bought a duplex together; father lived downstairs and I lived upstairs. Father died this past March, so I guess Zane is my cat now.
I have two behavior problems from him that I would like to address.
1. Unprovoked biting. He'll be sitting in my lap, apparently quite happy, and then CHOMP on my hand or arm. Or I'm walking around the house and he'll run up, CHOMP on my ankle, and then run away. Bad enough that he does it to me, but my handiman sometimes brings his kids over; they're good kids, and he's drilled into them that if kitty doesn't want to play you shouldn't force yourself on him, but I'm so afraid that he'll bite one of the kids, and if he does the Court will declare him a 'vicious animal' and order him put down. The Vet has put him on Prozac, which has helped a little.
2. Yowling. Zane used to be a very quiet cat, but now he's taken to wandering through the house yowling. When he gets in that mood he doesn't want to be petted or played with. I thought at first that he was missing my father, but he stopped for a while and it has started again. The Vet says that there's nothing organically wrong with him; he seems a perfectly healthy cat. But the yowling is beginning to get on my nerves.
The vet says he's about seven years old; he came to my father as a full grown cat, so we don't know what he was like as a cute little kitten. He just showed up in the neighborhood. He obviously wasn't feral; he was neutered and declawed and for several weeks he was making the rounds of the neighbors. People would feed him, and he'd catch mice and even tree rats; fortunately, father was living in a isolated cul-de-sac in a semirural neighborhood, so there were few cars. Father was worried about what would happen to him come winter. I urged him to take him in.
"But I already have a cat!" (PurrPuss, an orange tabby.)
I reminded him that lots of people have more than one pet. (We'd always had only one at a time.) Father took Zane in--Zane because he's Grey--and PurrPuss didn't like it one little bit. I wasn't living there then, and father apparently didn't do any of the things you are supposed to do when introducing a new cat. Shortly thereafter, PurrPuss just curled up and died; I don't know if there was a connection, but Father always thought there was. (He wasn't a very old cat; less than 10 years, IIRC.)
Shortly after that, father moved here and we bought a duplex together; father lived downstairs and I lived upstairs. Father died this past March, so I guess Zane is my cat now.
I have two behavior problems from him that I would like to address.
1. Unprovoked biting. He'll be sitting in my lap, apparently quite happy, and then CHOMP on my hand or arm. Or I'm walking around the house and he'll run up, CHOMP on my ankle, and then run away. Bad enough that he does it to me, but my handiman sometimes brings his kids over; they're good kids, and he's drilled into them that if kitty doesn't want to play you shouldn't force yourself on him, but I'm so afraid that he'll bite one of the kids, and if he does the Court will declare him a 'vicious animal' and order him put down. The Vet has put him on Prozac, which has helped a little.
2. Yowling. Zane used to be a very quiet cat, but now he's taken to wandering through the house yowling. When he gets in that mood he doesn't want to be petted or played with. I thought at first that he was missing my father, but he stopped for a while and it has started again. The Vet says that there's nothing organically wrong with him; he seems a perfectly healthy cat. But the yowling is beginning to get on my nerves.
