My cat needs a new home

[trtls.livejournal.com]

Hi again,

We are looking for a home for our 8-year-old male cat.

We've added children to our home in the last 2 years and he's super child friendly -- but he really, really needs more attention than we can give him. He would do best in a household without children and would do fine with other animals as we've had other cats most of the time we've had him.

The problem we are having is peeing outside the litter box. The problem he is having is that he's just not happy. I can't promise he won't ever do it under perfect circumstances, but he definitely started doing this when our daughter was born and his world got turned upside down. All cat supplies we have can come with him; litter box, some litter, some food and treats. If you or anyone you know is interested, please email me at karen@mkmiller.org .

Comments

okay, sheesh.

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

For the benefit of any non-troll readers who may have developed concerns:

- At the times the pictures were taken, the cat considerably outweighs the kid.
- He can move.
- She's actually very ginger with her sitting down. It's not like she's bouncing.
- Ever stepped on a cat's tail? If something is hurting them, they let you know.
- She also tries to pull his tail -- *that* we hear about, because it hurts him.
- We've actually done a pretty good job of stopping both the sitting and the
tail-pulling, but the hugging is more difficult.
- No, not pro-wrestling style death hugs from a 20-month old. But the cat thinks so.

I'm *really* not worried about physical harm. But the cat obviously doesn't like it. Nor the loudness. Actually, I think *more* the loudness.

Re: okay, sheesh.

[surrealestate.livejournal.com]

(I know it's not the case, but)

The middle picture has this implication that poor Red dragged himself across the entire kitchen floor with the baby on his back... just to reach the food bowl... only to find it... EMPTY!!! NOOO!!!!

From where I sit, the cat looks darn mellow, given the lack of blood or scars on the baby. But clearly your daughter wants a dog. If you are any kind of decent parent, you'll get her one.

Re: okay, sheesh.

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

> From where I sit, the cat looks darn mellow, given the lack of blood or
> scars on the baby.

He's really very sweet. He did hiss and nip at her once when she had cornered him and was getting his tail and we couldn't intervene fast enough, but he wasn't doing it to draw blood (and didn't) -- just signifying that he as the end of his rope. Most of the time if he's reached his limit he makes a whining meow and gives up his spot. (When he lived with other cats, he was always the one pushing the others from *their* places.)

Actually, I think he'd be a wonderful cat with somewhat older children.


> But clearly your daughter wants a dog. If you are any kind of decent parent,
> you'll get her one.

Oh dear. When she's old enough to do the dog-walking. :)

Re: okay, sheesh.

[skate97.livejournal.com]

you can't teach her to not harass the cat? that's what my parents taught us. poor cat ;(

Apparently, this also needs to be said

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

Obviously, we don't *ALLOW* her to sit on the cat, and you can see that the pictures are all blurry because they were taken in haste and then the cat rescued.

But he really doesn't seem to be physically hurt by it. In the top picture, I walked into the room, and there they were, sitting like that for who-knows-how-long. (Well, less than a few minutes, because she's not really left alone by herself.) He looked at me and gave a sad little meow -- but not an in-pain cry.

In the second picture, I already had the camera in my hand because she was actually feeding him from his cat food bowl seconds before, and I wanted to get a picture of that cuteness.

Like many new parents, the camera is almost affixed to my hand, so I don't miss things -- even short-lived ones. If he *were* being hurt, don't think for a second we wouldn't have stopped that without taking the five seconds to take a picture. Note a lack of tail-pulling pictures, and until we taught her that that was forbidden, that was a much more serious problem.

The problem is not actually physical abuse. It's that she doesn't respect his personal space. I thought these pictures illustrated that pretty well, but apparently they're freaking people out. I'm sorry about that, because it's clearly a distraction.

Re: Apparently, this also needs to be said

[flashfire.livejournal.com]

Uh, those pictures are not blurry at all.

I can't believe I continue to allow myself to be baited

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

Um, yes they are, as anyone can see. The first two, obviously, not the third. Remember it's not as obvious in 800x600 sized-down versions, but still jumps out at me as I assume it would to anyone with any knowledge of photography. Since your userinfo goes on about this being your big hobby, it's even more clear that you're trolling. Please stop, because this is a serious and emotional issue for us and it's hard for me *not* to respond even though I know you're just trying to get me all riled up.

Re: I can't believe I continue to allow myself to be baited

[flashfire.livejournal.com]

I really don't get you at all. None of those pictures have typical motion blur. In fact, the first one looks almost still enough to be close to a portrait style of shot.

If you're seeing blur in those, maybe it's your own eyes.

Re: I can't believe I continue to allow myself to be baited

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

Who said anything about motion blur? There's no motion blur because they're basically not moving because, as I said, the cat doesn't really have a strong reaction. They're just *out of focus*.

Re: I can't believe I continue to allow myself to be baited

[flashfire.livejournal.com]

Even the focus is pretty good on those. Not perfect, but hardly the type of thing where you hurried the shot because you only had a second or two and couldn't get the tripod set up. It's not like all you can make out are some blobs. Obviously when you shrink an image down, some imperfections are lessened.

You tried to make it sound like you rushed the photos and saved the cat. Your pictures are not indicative of that. The first one in particular, the details are easy to make out. The second one looks like it was in a darker spot with the flash giving most of the light. Trust me, I know - in a darker area it's harder to get a clear focus.

The point stands - you did allow your kid to sit on your cat. If your excuse is "We can't stop it from happening every time," then that's a crap excuse. Supervise things better.

Re: I can't believe I continue to allow myself to be baited

[skate97.livejournal.com]

anyone? right--my very first thought on seeing the first picture was "why would they take their cat with them to get professional pictures taken??" cause it's that clear, and the background was that bright, that it looks like it was taken in a studio. sorry, but none of those are even slightly blurry.

you seem a bit defensive, so before you check out my userinfo too--photography is also a big hobby of mine. which is why i can tell that these aren't blurry. maybe it's not a hobby of yours, so you can't tell? i'm being serious, not trolling here.

Re: Apparently, this also needs to be said

[st-emma.livejournal.com]

It's that she doesn't respect his personal space.

The pictures actually do illustrate that pretty well, but how is she going to learn how to respect his personal space if no one teaches her that she needs to?

Re: Apparently, this also needs to be said

[mattdm [typekey.com] (from livejournal.com)]

Well, obviously we do teach her. (As I'm pretty sure I already said.) I mean, *DUH*.

However, a toddler really doesn't have the emotional development to properly learn something like this yet. She can learn "no pulling cat's tail! no!" but not "the kitty doesn't want to play right now" or "I know that's your favorite chair, but the kitty was sitting there first". This isn't a matter of parenting skill or style but simple human development.