Caregiver's cats behaving badly.

I'm pretty sure this isn't fake news, by the way. Just in case that possibility crossed anyone else's mind too.

The BBC is having a meltdown. The occasion provides a wonderful opportunity to study an extreme form of cognitive dissonance.

A transgender woman, whose male-to-female sex change was approved and funded by the NHS out of the public purse while she was still serving her twenty year prison sentence, has been transferred from a men's prison to a women's prison as is her right well established in law and upheld by plenty of judicial precedent. The transfer will allow her to complete her sentence in surroundings appropriate to her new sexual identity.

The families of the two girls she was convicted of raping, however, are apparently not entirely happy with this arrangement. Moreover, the authorities in charge of the women's prison are also struggling with the implications of having a convicted rapist, with all her rights to free association, family life, etc. etc., made their responsibility.

The BBC news editors, meanwhile, find themselves between the rock of endorsing gender reassignment without reservation and the hard place of unreservedly championing the rights of survivors of sexual violence, particularly children. I fully expected my radio to explode under the pressure.

"luckylu, one way to change a pet's former name is to call him/her using his old name plus his new name, together. Eventually you can stop using his old name and he will respond to his new name."

That's what we did with our daughter !! But it only lasted a few days. She quickly decided to leave her old name, along with her old life, behind her and has been my sweet Nicole ever since.

luckylu, one way to change a pet's former name is to call him/her using his old name plus his new name, together. Eventually you can stop using his old name and he will respond to his new name.

Of all of our fur babies, Iggy, 3yr old cat has surprised me the most. Before mom's recent decline he barely even gave her the time of day, but since she has become bed-bound I can't keep him off of her. It wouldn't be a problem except that he is a 16+ lb lug and mom's frail body can't handle such weight. I will let him hang out in the bed with her as long as he stays to the side, but too often I will find him draped across her legs. That's when he gets carted off to the porch.
I truly believe our animals know more about us than many are willing to believe and it is more about us learning to read their cues in order to get a better understanding of their behavior.
BTW, love this thread :)

Yes, cats can do that. Unfortunately, I was on the loosing end.

When I met my ex husband- "The Donor" as he is now referred to - I had three cats that I loved. The Donor evidently wasn't a cat person - although I didn't find out the extent of it until after we were married.

One cat took up with the adult brother and sister that lived across the street. After they sold their house and were packing to move I went over and said it was okay for them to take Jake with them - I'm sure they would have anyhow. Another cat - Rocky, a stunning Himalayan given to me by my brother, went to live next door - he spent the rest of his days being taken to a beach house regularly by an older couple. They would hand feed him fresh crab - I wanted to move in with them too!  My brother still hasn't forgiven me for Rockys defection. 

It was the older couple who told me - after The Donor left, thank you very much - that they would frequently see him kicking my cats!

I guess I should have put two and two together- The Donor moves in - cats run away from home -  I could have saved myself a lot of heart ache instead I married the a$$hole. But then again I did get my precious Rainman out of the deal!

One cat did stay - although she wouldn't come in the house anymore. Wanda lived to be 15 and eventually became devoted to my new husband, although she still preferred the life of an outside cat. Still - she would come inside for a while, find hubby and sit in his lap - purring and drooling. Funny - hubby had the same effect on me!

The dog everyone wanted but didn't....
My chocolate spotted dalmation came with fear aggression. We were entering the door at the vet's when she attacked and broke the dalmation statue! I worked really hard to restore the statue. When I met hubs, a friend sent him over to help me walk her because other dogs would attack her.
I went to difficult dog training classes to help her.

Luckylu, cats do that. The people behind us at that time had 2 small children. My thoughts were the children were just being how kids can be with a pet and Simon did not like it. He was a neurotic cat, LOL!!! My kids were older and more gentle. I had another Siamese cat as a teen. She was such a sweet cat, would walk with us when we took the dogs out for a walk. We found out she also spent a lot of time with an older woman who lived behind my parents. Cats can have 2 homes when you let them be an indoor/outdoor cat. They still have loyality to those who treat them well and in your case and our case with Simon, their loyality was with you and me. They got what they needed in love from us.

Sharyn.....Simon picked you like Odom picked us.I returned Odom twice back to it's owners,my neighbors but he just kept coming back.They had some big dogs he didn't like and I think that's why or our vittles were tastier.Probably both.

I have a plastic resin cat statue in my backyard garden. When I bought it, we also had our Sassy Simon Siamese cat. As he wandered around the backyard, every time he came near this cat statue, he would swat it a couple times and move on his way, LOL!! It was so funny to see him slap and swat the statue. He liked to sleep on the upper back of an arm chair in the living room, when you walked past him, again, he would reach out to swat you. He actually was the neighbors cat (they lived behind us). He took up residents in our garage. We did not know who he belonged to, we ignored him for the first 3-4 weeks. Finally I couldn't take it anymore, I brought him in the house and fed him. He was now our cat. He was always getting into fights, getting the worst of it, vet bills....we neutered him. It was around that time we found out he actually belonged to the people behind us. Simon chose us.

Susan...I would've never named a cat or any pet "Odom" but that was what the neighbors he ran away from named him and he was already 5 years old and it was too late to change it,but really "Odom" suits this cat.
And mom2mom...It's really wonderful that you rescued Chester and his furry coat filled in beautifully after you did.He is lucky to have you.

The animal control shelter was in the back parking lot of my old job and I whenever I needed to de-stress at work I used to go there for a little cat time.

That was where I met Chester. He was older nut sure how old), overweight and looked like Mr. Bigglesworth except with random tufts of long black hair. He was probably just about the ugliest cat you had ever seen but was an awesome cuddler. I had to have him.

Animal control told me that he had been tot he vet but they had been unable to diagnose or fix his skin condition.

I brought him home and within a few months, he grew out the most beautiful long coat you have ever seen.. He is smoke which means that his undercoat one color (a soft gray) and his outer coat is another (very dark grey). He changes color as he moves. And he is still as snuggly as ever and loves other cats as well. Apparently his skin condition was just nerves all along.

Luckylu - yes, he got treats. He's become completely conditioned to the sound of the treat jar. I have 2 little glass jars I picked up at the dollar store to hold their treats. The cat can be sound asleep in another room and will hear me take the lid off the treat jar - he'll come on the run. The dog eats his food and then brings me his ball (which holds treats and he has to move the ball around to get them out). So the cat knows if the dog gets treats, he does too. It's nuts. I limit them to 2 treats a couple of times a day, so they don't go overboard with them.

Funny that your cat is named "Odom". Mine is Oscar. ;-)

My favorite thing today: an article on NPR website that includes video. Google "Olly the Terrier Face-Plants His Way to Dog Show Glory."

I want a little doggie just like that crazy little thing. :-)

It's about an adopted, 10 month old (if memory serves) Jack Russell Terrier.  I want one!   It's so cute and high energy, a total spazz.  Olly and I would get along very well, I think.  ;) 

Too funny Susan! Did you find something to give him?
They are persistant,I know."Odom" my big ,fat .old man cat wants this stew they sell at the store for 99 cents a serving/package and it's so expensive and hard to find sometimes but he thinks he has to have it everyday and begs me till he gets his way.It drives me crazy............and broke.

I sure wish we could post pictures here. My cat is jealous because the dog has a bone to chew that I bought for him today, and the cat is now determined to make me give him something - anything - so that he's not left out. I'm sitting at my computer and he's standing as tall as he can on his hind legs, tapping the laptop screen with one paw, rubbing his face on the computer, trying to bite the charger cord, and when I try to pet him, he bites ME. Anything to get my attention. Rotten cat. LOL

After many weeks in the hospital my cat would not have anything to do with me. Hubby had been letting her sleep on his bed where she liked to cuddle next to his back. he really did not like this so started shutting her out but she would yowl and scratch the door. Finally she gave up and started sleeping on my lap again at night. She is the first cat of many that actually likes hubby. He's more of a dog person.

We had an old pony called Gypsy who learned to turn on the barn light when she knew it was feeding time. They were supposed to be horse proof switches but I guess the electrician did not have horses.
I used to ride Gypsy a lot because i was not the bravest rider and one day out with a friend we got lost in the woods, so I said I would give Gypsy a loose rein and let her find our way home. Sure enough she did.

They tolerate her now, but know not to get close. They let her make the first move. We have a three legged one that is starting to chase her now, but she knows he can't catch her so she just hisses and runs slowly.. The brush is a good idea, anything is worth a try.

emma22, one thing I learned to have other cats adjust to a new cat in the house.... is to use the same cat brush on all of them.... that way each other has the other's scent. I worked great for me. Worth a try.

Promised my mother I would take her cat if something happened. She went into a nursing home two years ago, so I ended up with the cat, even though I had 7 rescues of my own, and didn't want her. She had to stay in our bedroom for a year, with a screen on the door, because she hadn't seen another cat in ten years and could not adjust. Finally we had enough and let her loose in the house. The other cats avoided her like the plague, but our largest cat insisted on chasing her. She would not back down even though she was half the size, and the fights often ended up in our bedroom, under the bed, where moms cat would get explosive diarrhea. Try moving a king size bed to clean under it. That happened twice, and now our original cat lives in the basement/outside. Its not fair to him, but what can you do

We had an Australian shepherd when we first bought our house. His name was Toby. Toby was a character as our son would sit on his back (son was a year old). When Toby had enough, he would slowly stand up so our son just gently slid down to the ground. One day when my hubs came home from work, Toby was very sluggish. Hubs thought he was sick,then he notice what appeared to be poophanging out Toby's back end. So hubs grabbed an old shirt to wipe the dog and low and behold hubs discovered fabric. He started to pull it out, he pulled and pulled.... it turned out the dog ate a sleeve off an old shirt in the garage. Poor thing, he perked right up when hubs pulled it all out, lol!!!

Tiger has always been an avid gopher hunter. We had a doggie door that existed the house to the garage and another one which exited the garage to the backyard. Tiger liked to bring his trophy in the house to us which were usually very disabled by this time. However, one time he brought in a gopher that was not disabled. It got away in the master bedroom. I yelled to my hubs to come help get it. Now you have to picture a cartoon setting while visualizing my hubs who is a big man.... hubs takes off chasing the gopher.... I did not think a gopher could run fast since they live underground. It was like a chipmunk... zooming around the room. I was laughing so hard doubled over seeing my big hubs chasing this little gopher and running right behind my hubs was Tiger!!!! It was like a cartoon. I laughed so hard my stomach hurt.

Lizzy, your Mom's loss is your gain. Yay! Peanut!

Six months before Mom went into NH while home alone she found a classified add. She called. She wanted to see the puppies. The woman selling the puppies lived about 45 miles away. Mom told the woman she couldn't possibly get there. So the woman brought the puppies to Mom's house! She bought a puppy! She had a checkbook hidden! It was a 6 month disaster. Mom goes from hospital to NH for rehab. I bring Peanut home with me temporarily until Mom gets back home. Mom ends up staying in NH. Temporary began August 2012. Guess who is still here? A 5LB Pomchi named Peanut. I love the little pest.

Susan your cat sounds great. People who don't like cats don't realize their little personalities are so unique. Every cat I've ever had was a little person to me. The two I have now are brothers or litter mates is the correct way of putting it i guess. Daniel is a big teddy bear. He actually has the face of a teddy. Big round eyes, beige with a white vest and white paws. Henrick is a classic tabby, ginger, also with a white vest and white paws. Smart as a whip. Very calculating. Makes a little bed out of whatever is available. Tries to climb into any little box. Good thing he is an indoor cat or he would get locked in someone's garage or even worst. He sees something new, he has to explore. Whereas Daniel is just big and cuddly. I'll be doing something somewhere in the house and look over. He will be laying flat out on his back with his paws stretched out waiting for a tummy rub. When I am sitting on the toilet he puts his front paws on my knees and reaches his face up and rubs it against my cheek. A total cuddly bear. Unfortunately, there is a little too much of him to love right now. I'm racking my brain on how to get him to lose weight without depriving him too much. Problem is, he is kind of lazy so don't know what to do. Any ideas much appreciated.

(grin) Send....

I have to tell you about my big yellow cat. He was a stray that was hanging around our house and begging for food, so I fed him. He was so scrawny, you could count his vertebrae, see his hip bones and all his ribs. He appeared to be a medium-to-short hair run of the mill Tabby mix. He was skittish, but enjoyed the food and started hanging around. After a month or so, we got used to him being out there, but winter was coming soon, and Mom was worried sick that he would suffer. With her dementia, she kind of became obsessed with the cat and his well-being. Soooo, being the dutiful daughter I am, I took the cat to the vet, got him fixed and all the necessary stuff done, and brought him home $300 later. Dang expensive "stray" cat.  Now he is the biggest, most gorgeous LONG-HAIRED cat you've ever seen, with huge greenish-yellow eyes.  I wish we could post pics here. Mom just adored him, and he loved her right back. However....he is the *weirdest* cat I've ever seen in my life.

His peculiarities:
-Eats not only his food but the dog's too, if we don't pick it up at night. (probably from being outside so long)
-Eats *anything* - so we have to be careful what is left on the floor, which is a problem with the messy housekeeper my DD is.
-Chews on *anything* as well - phone charger cords being his favorite - but he loves anything that's rubbery to chew on. I've actually found tooth marks in the cord on my hair dryer, which hangs on the wall in the bathroom! So that means he leaped up on the sink and found the cord and chewed on it. He's never gotten a poke from one of these cords, apparently, or he'd probably stop.
-He BITES. And we're not talking little love bites here. It doesn't appear that he's really trying to be mean, just that he doesn't seem to understand that biting hurts. In a normal litter situation, his litter-mates would have taught each other that biting hurts by doing it to each other - but I think he may have been separated from his litter too soon and was on his own for a long time, so he didn't have litter mates to teach him "manners".
-He has an incredibly wet mouth - like a dog. If he puts his mouth on you, it leaves a very wet spot - not just a little damp. Weird.

He *loves* my 100-lb dog and will chase him through the house and play fight with him all the time. We worried that they wouldn't get along, because the dog is so big and tends to be aggressive towards other animals. He really wants to play with them but doesn't understand how to go about the meet-and-greet thing, so he gets too rough. One day when the cat was still outside, he strolled through the yard when the dog was out. The dog ran right to the end of his tie-out to get to the cat, but the cat never budged, hissed or even acted like the dog was anything other than a friend. He walked right up to the dog, touched noses with him, and they've been buddies ever since. They play fight all the time. The dog smacks him around with his huge paws and nibbles on his neck or leg like an ear of corn, using only his tiny front teeth, which looks absolutely hilarious. Even more hilarious is the cat just laying there, letting him do it! Occasionally the play gets a little rough and the cat gets ticked off and launches himself at the dog, grabs a mouthful of whatever skin is handy (often a lip) and just hangs off the dog like some kind of growth. Or the dog steps on the cat and the cat lets out a yowl. You know it's all over when the cat gets angry enough to hiss at the dog - then the dog stops right in his tracks and sniffs the cat's face as if to say, "Hey! You ok?? Your face is leaking or something!"

Susan, Lol!
Wanting to change my screen name to: I HALP.

ff funny!

Whatever you do, don't teach your cat to ring the doorbell. The cat who had a stroke [mentioned earlier on this thread] quickly learned that if the doorbell is rung, a human will appear. It was nice when she wanted in she would ring it... but then when the other cats wanted to come in, and she was outside, she would ring the doorbell for them, too..

It was pretty funny whenever I was on the telephone, the person at the other end of the line could hear the doorbell and wanted me to go answer the door... I would say "it's just the cat wanting in". If it was Dad on the phone he would always start laughing :)

Properly brought-up, not abused Staffies are famous for being "nanny dogs." My DIL's family had a Staffy girl called Lola who took her duties very seriously: at the big post-wedding get together at Lola's home, my mother and my MIL were settled comfortably in the sitting room and Lola spent the entire afternoon going from one to the other of them, guarding them alternately, instead of running around with the children and being fed treats.

When my mother had her first clear stroke - she suddenly appeared in her underclothes in our sitting room, talking gibberish - I got her to sit down on the sofa so that I could hurtle upstairs, get my shoes on, fetch her coat and grab my car keys. When I went back to help her up and take her to the car, my Staffy Zach was sitting right by her on the sofa and watching her every move. Maybe he even understood what she was trying to say.

Hang on. That's off topic - dogs not behaving badly!

I did also have a spectacularly greedy cocker spaniel who was forever stealing anything that even resembled food. I came into the kitchen to find a little trail of individually wrapped dishwasher detergent capsules on the floor. The first had been properly chewed, the second slightly chewed, the third, fourth, fifth just nibbled a bit and spat out again. Evidently it had at last dawned on him that these candies were really horrible...