Hello all
New guy here. I was more of a "dog" person until a couple years ago when I was dating a woman who was about to throw her cat into the woods so she could get a dog. The cat, Isabella, had taken a liking to me and I just couldn't believe that this woman I was dating could be so selfish and cold-hearted. So I offered to take Izzy. She agreed, and we broke up soon after...in hindsight, it was absolutely for the best that we did, and I'm soooo glad I got Izzy.
I'm wondering if Izzy is an American Bombay. She seems to have the traits, except that she has a few white strands of fur. Not a big deal to me, she's still my Izzy, regardless of her breed. She is a big lovable furball, very affectionate and vocal. She sleeps on my bed at night and often rests her head on my hand, and drifts off to sleep. Many times, she'll hear my alarm clock when I don't, and she'll paw at my face in an attempt to get my lazy ass out of bed.
I've rolled over in my sleep at night only to find that Izzy made her way under the sheets. I'm a HARD sleeper, but a cat screeching when you roll over on it will wake ya up real quick! She's pretty big, about 15lbs, but not what I'd call "fat".
Pics:
Izzy likes Animal Planet...I dared not change the channel!
She LOVES to sleep on my dirty clothes
More Izzy
The story of Jake is a little more...uh...interesting?
One day in October '07 a girl at work told me about a little male cat that had wandered into her garage. She already had a few cats and couldn't take any more, and knew I had been thinking about getting a play buddy for Izzy. I thought it would be a good thing for Izzy to have a male playmate. Jake is a Mackerel Tabby, a very cool color pattern...looks like a little wildcat! I thought "Jake" would be a good name, it kind of went well with "Izzy". Jake was really small when I got "him", and almost emaciated. You could easily feel "his" ribs. Getting them acquainted to each other was interesting...Izzy all of the sudden had another cat in HER house! After a few days, they seemed to get along...no hissing, fighting, I didn't find any wounds on either one, and no ripped-out tufts of fur laying around the house. Once in a while they'll play-fight, but they don't do any damage to each other.
Things took a turn when Jake all of the sudden started rubbing up against me, demanding attention and caterwauling like mad...I though something was wrong with "him". A quick search on the internet made me realize that "he" was in heat...Jake was a female! I made an appointment and got her fixed, along with all her shots. She's filled out nicely, a little more plump than she was, but certainly not fat. She is a ROCKET. Unbelievably fast. She'll chase the smallest of insects that make their way into the house (it amazes me that she can even see them), loves to explore things, and she'll climb anything (seems to like the top of the kitchen cabinets). She's feisty compared to Izzy...she absolutely does not like to be picked up and held, and when she's had enough petting, she has no problems letting me know with an aggravated "meow". Oddly, she warms up to strangers much quicker than Izzy. Izzy has no chance of catching Jake when they have one of their "lets chase each other" sessions...Izzy is more brute strength, where Jake is lean and fast. Even now after a year and a half, she's only 6lbs. I wonder if she was a runt? She's got a bit of an "irregularity"...the pads on her right front paw are pink, and all the others are black. Genetic freak! LOL
Jake when I first got her. She weighed MAYBE 3lbs.
Jake is more of a football fan LOL
More Jake
Jake happened to get lose one night when I dropped a book on the floor...both of them scattered, and Jake was so spooked that she punched out screen in my living room window and "got the hell outta Dodge". I searched the entire house for her, and noticed the screen was pushed out. I freaked. I live out in the country, and there are a lot of wild dogs and coyotes...I thought she was gone forever. That night I went out to cook something on the grill and heard faint meows...she was in a pine tree in my backyard, 30' up. I shined a flashlight and saw her eyes, and was SO happy I'd found her. Getting her down was an adventure in itself. She stayed there for 3 days. I tried to coax her down with food, talking to her, climbed up a 24' ladder, all with no luck. She refused to come down. I called a tree trimmer with a bucket truck to help get her down. The sound of the chainsaw scared the hell out of her, and she ended up at the very top of the tree, proably 50' up. The tree trimmer had to cut the tree to shreds, but we saved Jake!
Jake in the tree
Where she was in the tree. The red circle is where she was in the first pic, and the "1" is where she spent most of her time.
Whats left of the tree. Notice the top...the trimmer had to basically cut the tree out from under her. It's about 20' shorter now.
Some people think its wierd for a man to have a cat as a pet (let alone 2 females), but hey...you can't fix closed-minded people. For the record...I'm not even close to being gay...not that there's anything wrong with that.
I'm so happy with these two. They are clean, affectionate, and very easy to take care of. They definitely add character and warmth to my house...I even dare say they make it a "home". The most important thing is that I've given these two little critters a safe home, when they might have both been forced to spend their lives out in the wild.
Thanks for reading my long-winded first post...great site you have here!
New guy here. I was more of a "dog" person until a couple years ago when I was dating a woman who was about to throw her cat into the woods so she could get a dog. The cat, Isabella, had taken a liking to me and I just couldn't believe that this woman I was dating could be so selfish and cold-hearted. So I offered to take Izzy. She agreed, and we broke up soon after...in hindsight, it was absolutely for the best that we did, and I'm soooo glad I got Izzy.
I'm wondering if Izzy is an American Bombay. She seems to have the traits, except that she has a few white strands of fur. Not a big deal to me, she's still my Izzy, regardless of her breed. She is a big lovable furball, very affectionate and vocal. She sleeps on my bed at night and often rests her head on my hand, and drifts off to sleep. Many times, she'll hear my alarm clock when I don't, and she'll paw at my face in an attempt to get my lazy ass out of bed.
Pics:
Izzy likes Animal Planet...I dared not change the channel!
She LOVES to sleep on my dirty clothes
More Izzy
The story of Jake is a little more...uh...interesting?
Things took a turn when Jake all of the sudden started rubbing up against me, demanding attention and caterwauling like mad...I though something was wrong with "him". A quick search on the internet made me realize that "he" was in heat...Jake was a female! I made an appointment and got her fixed, along with all her shots. She's filled out nicely, a little more plump than she was, but certainly not fat. She is a ROCKET. Unbelievably fast. She'll chase the smallest of insects that make their way into the house (it amazes me that she can even see them), loves to explore things, and she'll climb anything (seems to like the top of the kitchen cabinets). She's feisty compared to Izzy...she absolutely does not like to be picked up and held, and when she's had enough petting, she has no problems letting me know with an aggravated "meow". Oddly, she warms up to strangers much quicker than Izzy. Izzy has no chance of catching Jake when they have one of their "lets chase each other" sessions...Izzy is more brute strength, where Jake is lean and fast. Even now after a year and a half, she's only 6lbs. I wonder if she was a runt? She's got a bit of an "irregularity"...the pads on her right front paw are pink, and all the others are black. Genetic freak! LOL
Jake when I first got her. She weighed MAYBE 3lbs.
Jake is more of a football fan LOL
More Jake
Jake happened to get lose one night when I dropped a book on the floor...both of them scattered, and Jake was so spooked that she punched out screen in my living room window and "got the hell outta Dodge". I searched the entire house for her, and noticed the screen was pushed out. I freaked. I live out in the country, and there are a lot of wild dogs and coyotes...I thought she was gone forever. That night I went out to cook something on the grill and heard faint meows...she was in a pine tree in my backyard, 30' up. I shined a flashlight and saw her eyes, and was SO happy I'd found her. Getting her down was an adventure in itself. She stayed there for 3 days. I tried to coax her down with food, talking to her, climbed up a 24' ladder, all with no luck. She refused to come down. I called a tree trimmer with a bucket truck to help get her down. The sound of the chainsaw scared the hell out of her, and she ended up at the very top of the tree, proably 50' up. The tree trimmer had to cut the tree to shreds, but we saved Jake!
Jake in the tree
Where she was in the tree. The red circle is where she was in the first pic, and the "1" is where she spent most of her time.
Whats left of the tree. Notice the top...the trimmer had to basically cut the tree out from under her. It's about 20' shorter now.
Some people think its wierd for a man to have a cat as a pet (let alone 2 females), but hey...you can't fix closed-minded people. For the record...I'm not even close to being gay...not that there's anything wrong with that.
Thanks for reading my long-winded first post...great site you have here!