Caregiver's cats behaving badly.

Wait, you can walk a chicken on a leash?

Thats great Dorianne, Bruce would love the routine walks. If people can walk chickens on leashes, I think cats would do much better.

New-ish pic of Bruce in my avi. 8 months old. I can't decide if he just has resting b**** face or if that's his personality.  (Edit:  I need to get a good pic with his tail.  It's ridiculously fluffy and long, and he holds it up so high it curls forward!  My proud little Leo kitten.) 

Bruce did his first leash "walk" last week. I took him to massage therapy, like I do, only without the carrier (but with harness). I was early for the appt., so I let him hang out on the side lawn for a bit (on leash, with me). Then we came back to mom's. After we got off the elevator on mom's floor, he actually walked with me, on his leash! He sort of paused at every door (it's a looooong hallway, like half a block) and looked at me, to see if it was ours, but he was actually quite happy to walk on the leash!

I need to get him out more. I bet he would eventually walk on leash - a set route to somewhere and back - if it became a routine. Maybe I'll start taking him to the mailbox, lol.

polar- sorry those racoons can be trouble for chickens and gardens. We have a copper maran, they are neat chickens and shes a good layer. I hope yours gets broody soon. We were waiting for one of our hens to want to set, but none commit at this time and I ccouldn't wait. They are too cute.
We have a rooster, he is a good rooster, however I am thinking of getting rid of him, the hens are getting tired of him. Someone had given him to us so we took him. So we have been talking about keeping him or not. Hope you get chicks soon.Especially, for the kids.

Hi smeshque - little chicks are SO adorable. My kids love them. Glad you got new chicks. I need some new layers too, since I lost a few to raccoons. I'm waiting for my big splash copper maran to go broody so I can get her some chicks to raise. She is now the flock leader as the 8 y.o. aging hen finally died a couple days ago.

So sweet that your dog loves the chicks. My little toy poodle would chase the hens all over the yard when we first adopted her.

Not within the same subject matter, but just sharing.
Went to the feed store today. I have been putting off getting more chicks because we usually incubate our own, but incubator went down. Couldn't resist today the little chicks. We need more layers, so got some pullets.
Brought them home, and as normal we keep them in an incubator in the house until they are bigger to go outside. Started doing this when my Dad was alive, so he could see the chicks, they are entertaining.
But what is sweet is that one of our dogs, he is pitbull, since he was a puppy has loved the chicks. He wants to see them as soon as he hears them. He smells each one as we hold them down to him, with his tail going. And he checks on them if they make an unusual sound.
So he was very happy today when we brought them home. He has never hurt a chicken.
As a matter of fact for a long time he had a hen as his buddy. She and he slept together and palled around. It was the neatest thing. Then we got a rooster and a female dog and they both forgot about each other.:)
Thanks for letting me share.

My little dog,Precious was too fat to be spayed,but all the cats are now.My dH said "No more kittens!"

Oh, I SO needed this laugh tonight! Thank you all so much for finding this somewhat embarrassing situation humorous enough to share your stories too! :-)

Can you see this going out in the e-mail?

"This week in the AgingCare.com forum....the secret sex lives of spayed and neutered pets!"

So Mally, what you're saying is he has his own humping space..........LOL! So far, my cats don't seem to need that particular stimulation and they are both male and ten-years-old so that's one thing I don't need to worry about.

A few times, my 2 y.o. female toy poodle humped and rubbed herself against my husband's arm. When she finished she fell back on the couch and panted. I firmly told her that he was mine and she couldn't have him. Since then, she hasn't done that again. I think she knows her place now.

Is THAT why my "neutered" cat started spraying when he was about 5yrs old? He can no longer come upstairs, and my husband's stuff is what he sprays on.... good hubby; still loves him. So he lives down in the kennel, office, garage, spare room that has four windows to look out of, and we make sure he always has company, including us.  It's not a bad life for him, and not too bad for us, since he doesn't do it often now (was banished from the main floor when he sprayed the drapes TWICE). The good news is he's over 8 now, so I may outlive him....

Oh my gosh, I never thought about it before, Gershun. But a quick search on Google just told me more than I ever needed to know! Lol.

I guess....why not? I recently learned that injection neutering doesn't totally get rid of an animal's testosterone off like castration does (Bruce was injected), so it makes sense they might still have some natural sex drive.

Forgive me for saying this, maybe I'm being dumb but I never thought that it was a sexually gratifying thing when animals did this but just a habit like when people crack their knuckles. Just an impulse, so to speak. Am I being dumb?

FF, that is HILARIOUS!

B2.0 is doing that....but not with his paw. I only wish it was that tame. There's not only movement, there's....uh....sound effects. It's *not* nice.

What's worse is when he does it in the middle of the night and wakes me up. (He's not in my bed, but beside it, thank goodness.) Ewwww.

I expect to wake up one night and see him sitting there smoking a cigarette....

Susan, decades ago I had a cat that use to do what Barney 2.0 is now doing under the blanket... that is if we are thinking about the same thing.

"Alex" would sit on the sofa like a human would, then his little paw would go where it shouldn't. He would sit there with this glassy eyed looked, and which finished would give out a big yawn. I had to laugh when my then hubby said "He didn't learn that from me !!"

Dorianne - this dog was already named when I got him from the shelter - and believe it or not, has the same name as my recently-passed dog. Barney. My grandson calls him Barney 2.0. LOL

I recommend dog toothpaste and brush, it is really weird that chicken flavored toothpaste can get rid of bad breathe but it works amazingly well and my white Shepard loves it, so easy to get her to let me brush, it's like a treat for her. So glad that you got a new family member, I feel like my third man is missing if I don't have a dog in the house.

Our Chihuahua has the worst breath ever! Its ok for a month or two once she has her "dental cleaning",, then its horrible again. I think it is a small dog problem. Just hoping Chloe doesn't get it!! We have had some luck with "greenies" type chews.. if only DD would remember to use them!

I suspect that could be the classic "men" question, too.

*ahem*

Ah, the classic dog question: why do dogs do that?

A: Because they can.

Susan, your comment about what men would do if they could cracked me up.

I'm glad you have a new little friend. I hope you can solve his bad breath issues somehow. I guess they don't have breath mints for dogs or do they? I don't know. I've only ever had cats. Speaking of my cats, man they are a couple of love bugs. As soon as I plop myself down on the couch I'm covered in cats. Sometimes I put my laptop on my lap and my one cat insists and steps on the keyboard and I lose everything I was typing. I have to escape to my bedroom and shut the door sometimes just to get away from them. I wanted cuddly cats.............be careful what you wish for.

Susan, what are you naming the little dog?

I have a friend who named her cat "Snacky Onassis." I wish I'd thought of it!!

Well, I guess the new little dog is mine now...we've made it through the "foster period" and I'll be going to finalize his adoption this week.

Learned a few things about him - and about his breed in general.

He has the WORST case of dog breath I've ever experienced in my life, second only to the time my brother's dog ate some "kitty crunchies" out of the litter box and then came up to me and licked my face. (I still gag every time I think of that.)
After doing a bit of research, it turns out this breed is prone to bad breath, even if there's nothing wrong with them. He's had a full medical workup, teeth inspected, the whole nine yards - nothing wrong with him. But I tell you, his breath could knock you flat.

He's very....flexible. He can do things to himself that if human men could do, they'd never leave the house. (Not sure how else to say that without getting more graphic.) And he's sneaky about it too, because he knows the humans don't like what he's doing - so he burrows under a blanket, and pretty soon, I see the tell-tale movement and hear the sounds that let me know he's at it again. I say his name once in a sharp tone of voice, and the movement stops. Then there's a big sigh and no more movement. I have to laugh at it a bit, but it's embarrassing if someone happens to be over when he does that! (I once had a chinchilla that did the same thing, believe it or not - and did so in full view of our visiting pastor one evening.)

I suspect at some point, he'll suffer the same problems that many long-bodied dogs do - he's constantly jumping up and down off furniture, despite my attempts to keep him on the floor. He's just full of boundless energy and wants to jump and run all the time - one of these days, his back is just going to go. I am working on keeping him in good shape so he doesn't gain weight, but despite that, the jumping is going to be a problem. Everything I've read says not to let them do that, but I swear, this dog has springs in his butt. He jumps into my lap, up onto the bed, up on the recliner....

He's a trash hound. I forgot to take the trash out yesterday when I took my daughter and her kids home after Easter dinner, and came back to find all the trash (including discarded food scraps from the meal) all over the kitchen floor. I knew it was the dog, because he normally comes to the door to greet me when I come in - and he was nowhere in sight. Comically enough, he was hiding back in the bedroom, on the bed with the sleeping cat. I think he figured if he was on the bed with the cat, I wouldn't know who did it and might blame the cat instead of him. Quite sure I know who did it, because the dog didn't eat for almost 24 hours after that incident and was very subdued, like he wasn't feeling well. So now the trash goes out before I go to bed and if I leave, it gets put up somewhere until I can afford to buy some gates to keep him contained, since he hates being crated.

He loves to travel - and rides in his own booster seat so he can see out the windows and be hooked in safely. Otherwise, he wants to be in my lap, which I refuse to do while I'm driving. I suspect his previous owner allowed this, because that's right where he wants to be if he's loose in the car. So I bought a little booster seat for him, and it has a hook that connects to his harness to keep him in the seat. Works pretty well. He tolerates riding in the back seat if he has to, but really loves to ride shotgun. LOL

I just have to get used to how little he is. That's tough to do after having a large dog for so long. He's SO quiet and sneaky when following me around the house - I have to keep looking behind me, because he's always there, and I'm afraid I'll step on him and hurt him. He's a lot of fun, and he's getting me out walking more, so that's good. And he is easier to care for as far as food and cleanup goes. I still miss my big dog, though. I'm sure I'll get used to having a smaller dog, it's just different.

A sad cat story. My family adopted a feral tom cat about two years ago. He was so social and fun to interact with. He continued to live outdoors as he was too wild to be in door and my daughter was terribly allergic to cat dander. At night, he slept in the garage. We loved him and named him Fluffy. He would hang around the backyard, stalked the chickens and pounced on them playfully sending the chickens running in every direction. That was his entertainment. He never hurt the chickens.

Fluffy and a female cat from next door who we also fed became lovers (they were both neutered and spayed.) He was always licking and grooming her and slept next to her wherever she was. They were so cute.

Last Fall, we discovered 2 tiny kittens under our house abandoned by their mother. Those poor hungry kittens the size of a little rat were meowing loudly from hunger. They came out from hiding and eyed the food dish we left out for Fluffy. Fluffy came to the kittens and started to play around with them. A little while later, the kittens approached the food and Fluffy moved aside to let them eat with him. From then on, he adopted them. They followed him around for a couple of months until they were large enough to be on their own.

Then came that faithful morning when my husband went to the bedroom to inform me that Fluffy had died. He was hit by a car. I was heartbroken. My husband carried him back from the street to our backyard and buried him. My daughter made a tombstone out of a large brick with his name and date he came to us and date he left us. I cried for him for days. I am still sad thinking about him. Rest in peace Fluffy. You were loved.

Dorianne, I have to agree with you. My friend had a big tabby cat that was my best buddy, she got a kitten, I walked in and Cleo was on his high perch, as usual, but the kitten hit me at the door, so of course I greeted the new member of the family, when I went over to give Cleo the usual love and hugs he bit me on the wrist clear to the bone. I know he was telling me not to touch him, I was a traitor for touching the kitten 1st. I never did it again and our love affair was restored.

It must have been something really unusual if it was territorial! All my friends who come visit me here have animals, and many of the home support workers.

I still think his ego was bruised, lol!

Dorianne, sounds like a territorial marking from something he smelled on the shoes.

This reminded me of a time when my then husband and I were having a majority disagreement. Later that evening my car peed in one of his shoes :P

Yesterday I went out to pick up dropped twigs from the big old maple tree. Came inside, before I knew it my cat was sniffing me from head to toe. I am sure there much have been animal scents on the twigs that transferred to my shoes and clothing.

Yes, thank goodness he didn't do that!

He is very friendly with people, even strangers, and he loves greeting the workers. I really think it must have been because she didn't pay attention to him or something. He's gotten used to getting some oohs and ahhs and a couple of pets from them. But it was 9:30 and the end of her shift, she was probably only thinking of getting home!

Bruce is fine. He knows he's done wrong. He is still staying near me, but not pestering me for attention like he usually does....

Dorianne- I read somewhere once that cats do that when they are not happy about something.
Maybe he doesn't like another person in the house? I don't know.
Poor Bruce. He's just being a cat. He can't help it.
At least he didn't poo in her shoes. :)