Hi everybody!
I'm Smilla, I live in Nova Scotia and I have two kitty cats, Oliver and Souffle.
Both of my cats are 15. We got them on a whim from a pet store when I was a teenager. My sister, my mother, and I were out driving and my mum asked my sister and I if we'd each like to get a kitten. We were overjoyed, of course. My sister picked out Oliver, who was very sweet and limping a little. I picked out Souffle, who had a huge teetering head, crazy eyes, and was zooming around the room. He climbed up my back so I decided that was a good sign that he wanted to go home with me.
Unfortunately both kittens had health problems. Souffle had a pretty big hernia, and Oliver had torn all of his tendons in one of his back legs. The vet wanted to put Oliver to sleep but we cried and were allowed to keep him
. A few years later my sister left for university and Oliver became my responsibility. He's really the sweetest cat, he's sociable and easygoing. Oliver's main problem is that he is an eating machine. He will eat ANYTHING and he will do anything to get food. He'll open or tip over any container he encounters because there's a chance there might be food inside. He's even managed to open tightly sealed tupperware containers. His favourite foods (to steal) are steamed broccoli, irish breakfast tea, and frozen french fries. Once he came home with a raw steak that he must have stolen from someone getting ready to barbecue. I was so embarrassed! I really hope no one in the neighbourhood saw whose cat stole the steak.
Poor Oliver now has large cell sarcoma in his leg, exactly in the spot where his tendons were ripped 15 years ago when he was a kitten. He doesn't have much longer to live, the vet says, and he's lost a huge amount of weight. However, he still has an incredible appetite and he and my mother are still warring over who gets to drink her tea.
I just moved out and took Souffle with me. I'd have liked to take Oliver but it's better that my mother keep him as she can better afford his pain medicine, and she has a car so if he gets in dire straights she can whisk him off to the emergency vet right away. Also we have a very safe backyard and neighbourhood and he's very much an indoor/outdoor cat. He goes out after lunchtime if the weather is nice and comes in before it gets dark. (I didn't have any say in whether or not the cats went outside when I lived with my mum, or else they'd have been indoor cats.)
Souffle is a scardey-cat and highly strung. He's really clingy and loving with me, his "person." He likes to hug me around my neck and drool onto my shoulder. He'd love it if I had one of those baby snugglies to put him in so I could carry him around with me everywhere. He still has a hernia problem that I have to keep a close eye on. He does NOT like going outside, which is partly why I took him with me when I moved. I couldn't not take him anyway, since he's so attached to me and terrified of my mother. Souffle is afraid of scary noises, certain words, certain kinds of music, men with deep voices, remote controls, sticks, sneakers, and crows. He LOVES wearing clothes and goes into a little drooly trance of happiness whenever I put his sweater vest on him. He's going grey in his old age and is getting a little white "beard." I'm actually having some problems with his clingyness, which I'll post over on the Behaviour board.
Anyway, this looks like a great resource for cat owners! I'm looking forward to conversing with all of you.
I'm Smilla, I live in Nova Scotia and I have two kitty cats, Oliver and Souffle.
Both of my cats are 15. We got them on a whim from a pet store when I was a teenager. My sister, my mother, and I were out driving and my mum asked my sister and I if we'd each like to get a kitten. We were overjoyed, of course. My sister picked out Oliver, who was very sweet and limping a little. I picked out Souffle, who had a huge teetering head, crazy eyes, and was zooming around the room. He climbed up my back so I decided that was a good sign that he wanted to go home with me.
Unfortunately both kittens had health problems. Souffle had a pretty big hernia, and Oliver had torn all of his tendons in one of his back legs. The vet wanted to put Oliver to sleep but we cried and were allowed to keep him
Poor Oliver now has large cell sarcoma in his leg, exactly in the spot where his tendons were ripped 15 years ago when he was a kitten. He doesn't have much longer to live, the vet says, and he's lost a huge amount of weight. However, he still has an incredible appetite and he and my mother are still warring over who gets to drink her tea.
I just moved out and took Souffle with me. I'd have liked to take Oliver but it's better that my mother keep him as she can better afford his pain medicine, and she has a car so if he gets in dire straights she can whisk him off to the emergency vet right away. Also we have a very safe backyard and neighbourhood and he's very much an indoor/outdoor cat. He goes out after lunchtime if the weather is nice and comes in before it gets dark. (I didn't have any say in whether or not the cats went outside when I lived with my mum, or else they'd have been indoor cats.)
Souffle is a scardey-cat and highly strung. He's really clingy and loving with me, his "person." He likes to hug me around my neck and drool onto my shoulder. He'd love it if I had one of those baby snugglies to put him in so I could carry him around with me everywhere. He still has a hernia problem that I have to keep a close eye on. He does NOT like going outside, which is partly why I took him with me when I moved. I couldn't not take him anyway, since he's so attached to me and terrified of my mother. Souffle is afraid of scary noises, certain words, certain kinds of music, men with deep voices, remote controls, sticks, sneakers, and crows. He LOVES wearing clothes and goes into a little drooly trance of happiness whenever I put his sweater vest on him. He's going grey in his old age and is getting a little white "beard." I'm actually having some problems with his clingyness, which I'll post over on the Behaviour board.
Anyway, this looks like a great resource for cat owners! I'm looking forward to conversing with all of you.
