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Pets!
Nov 24, 2019 22:46:33 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Nov 24, 2019 22:46:33 GMT
On the old forum there was a topic about pets, so to provide some more reading material there should be a new one here To sum it all up: I’ve had a cat for 3.5 years now. His name is Smokey and he used to be my grandma’s cat, but when she passed away my aunt asked if I wanted to “adopt” him. He was about 11 years old when I got him, which makes him about 14 years old now. Smokey when I first got him:Note the wonky upper left canine tooth. He's had that for years. The vet said he might lose it. He's lost both of his upper canines now. It’s safe to say he has changed quite a bit since I got him. Since my grandma lived in an apartment building he didn’t really go outside, apart from her balcony. Now, if I’m home, I do let him go outside. At first only in my little backyard, but at some point he managed to sneak past me when I got home from work after a late shift. Didn't see him until about noon the next day! Now when he goes outside he never strays far from home though. In fact he usually prefers to stay in my little backyard, sitting on a garden chair. I guess it doesn’t help that he’s been chased by a dog a couple of times, since there are some eejits who walk their dogs and don’t have them on a leash (when they should!) Anyway, when I got him I was told he only likes one particular kind of wet food and one particular kind of dry food. I’ve been feeding him different things ever since Turns out that he isn’t that picky about food after all. He wouldn’t sit my with grandma much either, but at some point he started doing that more often. Only for a short while, but still… Sometimes he sits on my lap and we even play PC games together (or read this forum heh).
He’s not a very playful cat (when I am looking). Maybe because of his age? He sleeps a lot! Although sometimes he does have these bouts of playing with some of his toys, but those usually don’t last very long. I sometimes wonder what he does when I’ve gone to work. Since some of his toys have moved when I return from work I at least know he played a bit with them (until he either gets bored or they get stuck in a place where he can't reach them) The other day I came across a cool Kickstarter project:
LINK to Kickstarter projectIt seems like a pretty cool thing to have, but I wonder if older cats like Smokey would even be interested in this? It would be cool to sometimes be able to monitor what he does when I'm not around though.
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Pets!
Nov 26, 2019 14:55:26 GMT
Post by ladyaly on Nov 26, 2019 14:55:26 GMT
Awwwww.. Smokey is such a character ! I had once cats, too But about personal circumstances I had to give them away. Tom and Cherry are sipplings so I was glad to gave them both into a loving family. Not sure if they live anymore - it is some years now and they live far away. Sometimes I miss this mischief little devils. About the project - I'm rather sceptical. But at least you could prevent stuff like this ... Maybe www.youtube.com/watch?v=2cLPmVpaMAk
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Pets!
Nov 26, 2019 18:26:19 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Nov 26, 2019 18:26:19 GMT
Not an easy thing to give them up for adoption so to speak. But it's nice to know that they went to a good home. Cute names btw Thankfully Smokey has never taken any interest in destroying toilet paper Shortly after I got him he damaged some vitrage that covered the window next to my front door; It turned out that he wanted to sit there and watch what's going on outside. So now I moved the bottom part of the vitrage to the left, so that it hangs diagonally and he can now sit there and look outside, while the window there is still partially covered. He has also knocked over a wine glass once, so I had a broken glass and a keyboard covered in red wine Part of me is skeptical too about the project. I do like the thought behind it though. I suppose it can't be much worse than my robot vacuum cleaner heh. Project's still running. 27 days to go and already fully funded, so I can think about it some more They even have a Christmas Edition that comes with a Santa and a Reindeer outfit, which actually ships in December. How cute is that? Project page
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Pets!
Apr 24, 2020 18:19:58 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Apr 24, 2020 18:19:58 GMT
So, I did end up ordering the Ebo cat robot thingy. I already received it back in January, but only the iPhone app was available at the time, so I had to wait for the release of the Android app. Without the app, which you use to control Ebo, it's pretty much useless. They have recently released a beta version of the Android app, so I've now been able to take it for a spinn. Despite that poor Smokey feels a bit intimidated by it it's still a cool gadget to have and for the time being I did at least get one shot worth the money
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Pets!
Apr 26, 2020 18:53:41 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Apr 26, 2020 18:53:41 GMT
Demonstrated the beta version of the Android app to a colleague today. Look who showed up! : Still not too enamored, but maybe he's warming up to it lol
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Pets!
Apr 26, 2020 19:54:13 GMT
Post by ladyaly on Apr 26, 2020 19:54:13 GMT
- he looks clearly not really amused !
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Pets!
Sept 6, 2020 19:09:43 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Sept 6, 2020 19:09:43 GMT
So things haven’t been going too well lately for poor old Smokey. During the heatwave period he didn’t eat much, but I guess that didn’t seem too strange. Then when the heatwave period ended he still didn’t eat a lot. At first I thought it was because he no longer liked the wet food I was giving him, so I bought him some other (and obviously more expensive) brand which he seemed to like. He started eating again, but still not as much as I used to give him before. Eventually I turned back to the food I used to give him and then it actually seemed he returned to eating normally again. But then these last 2 weeks he once again became a picky eater and his behaviour has also changed a lot since then. He no longer jumps on my bed to wake me up in the morning to demand I feed him. He’s found another spot to sleep in. He no longer sits in the window sill of my office or bedroom either. At some point he found a spot to sleep at on a storage box in my bedroom closet. Until a few days ago: then he started having trouble climbing on this box too. Actually, if he wants to lay down somewhere it’s taking him ages to do so. No good On the other hand he still has tons of energy judging from the fact that he can endlessly move all over the place and keep me up at night. The other day I noticed that it seemed that one of his hind paws was failing on him sometimes, which made him lose his balance and in some cases even topple over I suppose it's time to make an appointment at the vet for the little guy. Hope there’s something they can do for him, but I fear the worst It's rather painful seeing him like this and I don't want him to suffer Since I kinda saw this coming I ordered a more decent pet carrier about a week ago. Smokey actually seems to loves sleeping in it heh. Wonder if he'll still feel the same way if the vet finds a less radical solution for him
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Pets!
Sept 7, 2020 19:37:51 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Sept 7, 2020 19:37:51 GMT
Got a vet appointment for tomorrow afternoon and I fear the worst.
It really seems that Smokey has lost his mind btw. I was vacuum cleaning my living room/kitchen this afternoon and normally he'd run off to whichever floor the vacuum cleaner isn't on, because he hates the thing. Now he actually came to check and see what I was doing. And then he just kept getting in the way.
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Pets!
Sept 8, 2020 15:30:10 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Sept 8, 2020 15:30:10 GMT
Took Smokey to the vet today and returned home without my little buddy
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Pets!
Sept 9, 2020 8:28:56 GMT
Post by ladyaly on Sept 9, 2020 8:28:56 GMT
I am very sorry for your loss, it is always heartbreaking tolose a close Pet.
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Pets!
Sept 9, 2020 17:18:47 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Sept 9, 2020 17:18:47 GMT
He was my little friend. He was there for me when I went through my burnout and most "friends" I knew let me down. He was there for me after coming home from a bad day at work. I could hug him and cry and things would be better. He’d never judge you. Many times he was laying behind the window next to the front door, waiting for me to come home. Now he’s gone and I keep wondering about whether I should have taken him to the vet sooner. Apparently he had a big tumor, so he’s probably been suffering And this came on top of the news that I now have to move to another shift. Been working with this one guy for over 11 years and he’s pretty much the last I felt I could trust. Now that’s gone as well...
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Post by Tup on Sept 9, 2020 18:12:43 GMT
Rest in peace, Smokey. At least he is free from the pain now and you still have all the good memories to remember him of.
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Pets!
Sept 11, 2020 19:52:05 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Sept 11, 2020 19:52:05 GMT
When I had Smokey put down they asked me what I wanted to do with his remains. Option 1: I could take him home and bury him 6 feet under in my garden, which wasn't really an option since I don't have a huge garden and most of it is tiled.
Option 2: Have the vet take care of it, which means he'll be treated like a cadaver/waste and who knows what really happens then?
The last option was to have him cremated. Either with a number of other pets or individually. Chose the latter option. In this case the crematorium sends a tin can with your pet's ashes back to the vet and you get a notification when it's available for pick up. Got the notification that it was possible to pick it up from the vet today.
Not sure what I'll do with it yet. Might get an urn for him, or I might bury the tin can in an accessible spot in my garden. Don't think I'll have to dig a hole of 1.5 meter for this.
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Pets!
Sept 14, 2020 22:22:18 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Sept 14, 2020 22:22:18 GMT
Received a letter on Saturday from the pet crematorium. Before opening it I figured it would be the bill, but instead it was a letter that stated that Smokey was cremated individually between 9:40 and 10:35 am.
Wonder how long it will take till I get the bill. It'd be more efficient to send it all in one envelope, but then it's also quite respectful to not force people with the financial issues straight away.
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Pets!
Oct 15, 2020 20:08:30 GMT
Post by GroundSquirrel on Oct 15, 2020 20:08:30 GMT
Earlier this week I contacted someone who is expecting two nests of British Shorthair kittens later this month. Was recommended by a friend of my sis who has 2 cats from this cattery already, so I don't have to worry about fraud or anything.
The owner of the cattery contacted me today. He was making an inventory of people's wishes: which colour they'd prefer (he's expecting mostly cream coloured kittens and a few mixed-coloured ones) and if I'd prefer a male or female kitten. I told him that, if possible, I'd prefer to have two kittens and mentioned that the colour isn't really that important to me. Wasn't entirely sure about whether I wanted female or male kittens, since I don't think I have a preference for this, so I asked whether there'd be a significant difference. Turns out that male cats are apparently more prone to be lap cats than female ones, but of course there are always exceptions. If I remember correctly the female cat my parents had as a child was more of a lap cat than the male one. And Smokey wasn't much of a lap cat either, before I got him. And even then it was only on occasion. So yeah, I don't think gender really matters to me.
The owner said that he'd prefer it if he could place two kittens in one home, so I suppose I've got that going for me. He also said that because of the COVID-19 crisis kittens and other pets are now very popular: there's a lot of demand for them, so chances are that he won't have any kittens available for me. But he told me that he could put me in touch with other catteries that are expecting kittens soon if I wanted. Fingers crossed.
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