Yeah, we picked up two kittens at our local humane society. My wife wanted to go there just to look and I had not been to a humane society since grade school where I ran out crying to my mom that I would buy every animal in the place (cause they were barking and crying in their cages too much as I walked from room to room).
So, I ended up buying two kittens to replace Widget who had died during the summer. I consoled myself that I saved $20 in buying two.
They are female cats, same litter, and are probably as generic as cats get. They are gray, white and brown. While I did not research their genus, know their "fancy cat name", count their toes or trace their lineage down to Noah's Ark, we did name them respectively: Ginger and Peanut.
I'm happy for you Om. Cats a great space-sharing animals. I hesitate to call them companions as it tends to elicit the same sort of notions attached to dogs. But as anyone who has ever had cats and dogs will tell you; the relationship between person and pet, from cat to dog, is totally different.
I'm also amused by the patronizing tone about the generic nature of your kittens, and your disinterest in tracing their lineage as if somehow anyone who does (myself included) is somehow, you know... "one of those people."
It's hard losing a pet. Peanut and Ginger sound like friendly felines and I wish you, them, and your significant other all the best. Widget is in a better place. I know this because all cats go to cat heaven, which is better then human heaven and cat heaven also doubles as Allergic-Persons Hell (they lease out sessions to Satan).
Dillon looks like a soft, cuddly cat. It could just be the red-eye reflection in the first picture, but he looks like he also has the hunters instinct hidden beneath that tabby exterior. It's great to know that there are people who care enough to take on a hard-luck case and stick with it. Health issues can be a difficult, Zeus had his own early in life, but the healing process forms an even stronger bond between person and pet, I think. He looks like a strong fellow and I bet he'll be healthy as a... cat... in no time.
I can't tell from the picture; is Dillon a six-toe?
As a rescue cat, do you know much about his background? Is he an indoor or indoor/outdoor? Dish! Dish!
Om, sounds like you have two calicos. Calico females are fertile (if not neutered) but if you'd found a rare male, he'd most likely be sterile. It's a weird DNA thing regardless of breed. Most cats are just American shorthairs, like Dillon, but he has that odd toe mutation. Archie calls him our little mutant. There was a solid white kitty there who had two colors of eyes but she was pretty stuck up and didn't show interest in any one, so Archie opted for the love bug who wanted petting. With as friendly as he is, I don't know why Dillon was at the shelter so long, unless people found the extra toe off putting.
Beff, he does have six toes but he's been really stubborn about letting us get a pic of his paws. It's weird, it merely looks like a dew claw a dog would have but he can wiggle them like thumbs. It's hilarious when he plays to see him do that. You can't really see much of a difference in his paw and other's until you turn them over and see his pads. He has the normal pink pads but with three extra up near the dew claw like toe. When he walks, it's like he's grabbing the floor with each step.
Dillon is a year or two old, so in cat years he's a kindergartner. (With dogs it's seven years to our one year but cats are five years to our one year.) He was adopted in March of last year, taken home for about 3 months, they declawed him in that time, then brought him back because of a move in June. He was at the shelter till we got him last Friday, by Sunday he was really sick. Diagnosis is coccidia and we're having a bit of a problem getting it cleared up. I'm bleaching and cleaning as much as I can to keep him from re infecting himself, but he's a really thin cat to begin with, so I think he might have just been sick with something else before this. I've never had a cat that is as calm as this guy is though. The only time he acts up is when he's stalking our parakeet and when he bit the needle at the vets office today. He was back for his third visit because of some yellow foam vomit, but apparently that's par for the course with coccidia. It's been stressful, we initially got a shelter cat to save money on the inoculations and shots and things, but the little mutant is lucky he's so damned loving and cute because we're already attached.
And since I started the thread and it's my cat I'm talking about, I don't mind the highjacking :-p
IMHO, it's comparable to having a dog de-barked. I'm just glad you rescued him... the people, whoever they are, that had his claws removed should have their fingernails pulled off with a pair of pliers and no anesthetic. If they're really nice, maybe give them a piece of wood to bite down on. But since they went and removed his sharp bits, I can't imagine them being very nice (and also, taking him home only to bring him back). Sounds like Dillon has found a good home with you and Archie.
Tamara and I were broken up about getting Zeus neutered, just as we were when Lobo was spayed. But, you know how it is. He is a he, she is a she and we don't want a bunch of Ocicat-Siamese wee's. In retrospect getting a male and a female may have been a poor choice but regardless... Bob Barker won out. There is, after all, medical advice with augers for getting male cats and dogs neutered as it reduces the chances of testicular cancer and other health issues. The same for ovarian cancer in females. And since both our kittens are so "well" bred we figured it would be a good idea to avoid those potential complications down the road; for those not in the know it is a common and despicable practice in some breeders to allow in-breeding in litters to help preserve bloodlines and achieve particular dominant traits and while we did our research you just never know what skeletons are hiding in the closet. No matter what you spend, whether you go to a breeder, rescue a shelter animal, our find your animal companion in the paper, online or just prowling the streets, you can just never be 100% sure. You just have to commit.
That's what makes me happy about the content of this thread... it's a bunch of lucky cats who have been fortunate enough to find loving, caring and committed human counterparts.
We actually have three cats, a brother/sister Siamese-mix pair and a stray we picked up (no idea as to breed). Outdoors only, as are all our animals, but considering the amount of land we have it's not a problem.
Two dogs, as well - a black lab and a Husky - with whom the cats get along very well. Actually, one of the Siamese (the female) sleeps huddled up next to the black lab nearly every night.
LOL... Well, it's no different than someone knowing how many rivets are on an Imperial ISD. lol... I still kick myself for those sleepless nights going over meters, days, shipyards, etc.. since we did away with all that stuff. At least your cat-nerdom has real world value.
I agree with the declawing. My wife asked if we should do that to the kittens (she never grew up with cats, just dogs). I just asked her how she would like her nails removed? Besides, the cats needed an edge for her Sharpei's if they proved too playful. I figure a few scratches are worth them keeping the claws. They like to jump in bed and sleep till I kick them out at 3:00 am because they wake up wanting to pounce n play. They "meow" at 5:00 am to do their business and I kick them back out till I get up for work.
Damalis: I always thought Calicos were always female. I did not know they could be males as well. Yeah, they will be fixed when they are old enough.
We got kittens so they could acclimate with our two dogs (who are big babies themselves).
Wes: I grew up with outside animals. Still think they should be happy out there but my wife is an indoor pet person and I must say, it was one HECK of an adjustment for me. lol.... Our Chinese Sharpei Doobie is a drooler and when she shakes, my Xbox, LCD TV and stereo get good and dosed.
Most of my life I grew up with indoor/outdoor pets. Both cats and dogs. But in Victoria, where I lived in the past, I was always in areas where it was safe for them to roam the wilds of the neighborhood. However, now that we're living in Vancouver pretty much downtown there's no way it would work. Plus, our condo is on the 15th floor of our building and I think that the workings of the elevator would elude our feline friends. Parachutes and rocket boots, in cat size. ZOOOOOOM!
And I feel your pain, Om. Our cats get rowdy and ready to rock at ungodly hours as well which just goes to prove that God turns a blind eye to cats; they have a deal, just like the army - "don't ask, don't tell."
as soon as we get a chainlink fence up, we're getting a dog :) there's an awesome german shepard - canaan dog mix at a shelter near here but even though he's the coolest looking dog, there's another hound mix I'll probably get instead because of Archie's mother. She's unsteady on her feet and I have to absolutely have a dog that won't jump on you. And since I don't want a little yappy dog, I prefer medium to big dogs, I've got to be sure of the temperment as well. I love hunting dogs but they are hard to break of chasing cats and birds and since I already have both already, I have to be picky of the doggy we get.
Here's some more pics of Dillon, I tried to get his feet. You can see his extra toe in both but he won't let me get a pic of his pads, which look really cool with all the extra ones. For one extra toe, he has 3 extra pads.
in the first pic you can clearly see the sixth toe, but it's coolest when he works it like a thumb. BUT if you look really close at the second pic, the foot on the right, you can see the sixth toe and another little digit they don't consider a toe because it has no bone. It's in the crease of the extra toe and his foot, very tiny but it's there.
