tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post6722922423747506866..comments2023-10-31T06:01:54.153-04:00Comments on Pretty Lady: On Behalf of the Alpha CatPretty Ladyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comBlogger26125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-36083535588797031692008-05-13T15:27:00.000-04:002008-05-13T15:27:00.000-04:00The question is not whether cats are capable of lo...The question is not whether cats are capable of love (yes, they are), but whether we, humans, are. It's not silly or delusional or insane to love others, and there is no such thing as loving too much. There is only loving weirdly, but live and let live is a good principle on those occasions.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-66719642571820017522007-11-23T11:52:00.000-05:002007-11-23T11:52:00.000-05:00chris, I feel you. They're just freakin' cats. B...chris, I feel you. They're just freakin' cats. But far sillier things have "saved" people from very real traumas, emotional and physical, and I'm not gonna tell anyone they're an asshat for clinging to whatever gives them hope or comfort. Personally, I think it's ridiculous to shell out that much money on an animal you'll see no return on, but then I was raised around breeding stock and farm animals. But I blow my money on what most would consider to be much more trivial shit, so . . .Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-79523178040644301852007-11-15T23:43:00.000-05:002007-11-15T23:43:00.000-05:00Relatively speaking.Relatively speaking.Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-35949331655086781552007-11-15T22:44:00.000-05:002007-11-15T22:44:00.000-05:00Not so hairless, actually.Not so hairless, actually.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-43491233182964404872007-11-15T21:33:00.000-05:002007-11-15T21:33:00.000-05:00And you're a hairless ape!And you're a hairless ape!Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-37001205731659814242007-11-15T20:47:00.000-05:002007-11-15T20:47:00.000-05:00I am reduced to incoherent sputtering. It's a cat...I am reduced to incoherent sputtering. It's a cat!Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-3579207858021969372007-11-15T13:32:00.000-05:002007-11-15T13:32:00.000-05:00Thanks, Desert Cat. I can always trust you for so...Thanks, Desert Cat. I can always trust <I>you</I> for some surpassingly eloquent words at times like this.<BR/><BR/>A housemate of mine in Mexico once remarked, 'It's obvious that your cats really trust you.' I hadn't ever thought about it before, but it was true; they <I>trusted</I> me. They knew that I'd always make sure they were cared-for and safe, even through apparently scary things like major moves to other countries, plane trips, car trips, bus trips, and stays in strange places with strange animals. They behaved calmly and adapted to all circumstances, as long as I was there. <BR/><BR/>Also, thank you for the link to Rachel's blog. Reading all those descriptions made me glad I didn't wait until he had been suffering 24-7 for weeks or months before taking him in. He was starting to vocalize consistently, refusing to eat, scarcely able to walk, and was obviously in distress at every moment; furthermore, we are slated to leave town next week. I knew that if I left him alone he would definitely suffer a lot, and also I didn't want the neighbors to have to cope with possible seizures, coma and death. That would <I>really</I> have freaked them out.Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-8001119232576096592007-11-15T12:10:00.000-05:002007-11-15T12:10:00.000-05:00They are indeed aliens in that sense. However exp...They are indeed aliens in that sense. However experts far more studied than you or I conclude that the relationship that develops between a cat an a human is one that, from the cat's perspective, is akin to that of kitten and mother cat. In their cognitive processes we fit in as a surrogate mother and they enjoy a perpetual kittenhood under our care. It is therefore possible to study the behavior of cats and kittens and come to reasonable conclusions about their motives and actions toward their humans.<BR/><BR/>And I maintain that they are not as different from humans as you would like to make them be. Mammals share a lot of common behaviors. In fact even physiologically cats are so similar to humans that they are often the lab animal of choice for many purposes, much as that distresses me.<BR/><BR/>Cats could (and should) be equally wary of us. On the one hand we seem so much like mama when we feed and groom and play with them. But we could turn on them at any time and do cruel things that they do not understand. A recently adopted cat is likely to have "issues" related to just such occurences. It is not unlike an orphan child with trust issues.<BR/><BR/>I'm quite aware of the tendency of humans to anthropomorphise and to treat pets of various species as surrogate children. This is in fact the role they play for many of us (which makes cats such an ideal fit, given their own expectations of us). But it is also possible to fall overboard at the other extreme as you seem to have done, believing they are nothing but a bundle of preprogrammed stimulus-response mechanisms with no similarity whatsoever to corresponding human mechanisms. <BR/><BR/>I interact with my cats with open eyes, neither blinded by overly zealous anthropomorphic desires nor blindered by an excessively zealous materialistic and mechanistic view of life. And I am always fascinated by what I see in their interactions with each other and with my wife and I. "Every cat is a unique character, with a personality that is all their own", is a comment I have made countless times. I don't come to my conclusions out of vain wishes. Accepting their alienness and growing to understand it more fully over time is one of the joys of being a cat person. And despite our alien natures, my conclusion is that a deep bond between cat and human is certainly within the realm of realistic possibility.<BR/><BR/>Not all cats and not all humans, because trust is a huge issue with cats. (It has to do with their natural state of being a tiny predator in a world of much bigger creatures.) Trust is gained slowly and lost quickly, and all too many humans are far from trustworthy to a cat. Unlike dogs, cats are not naturally pack animals, not naturally gregarious. After kittenhood they tend to be solitary. So the trust relationship based upon the kitten/surrogate mother pattern takes time and care.<BR/><BR/>This is where I shake my head in disgust at dog people who hate cats. They totally misunderstand the nature of the relationship and therefore conclude that cats are inferior. A cat treated like an inferior dog is simply going to conclude that this human is not trustworthy, and will keep his distance. Aloof, uninterested, stupid, are the pejoratives hurled.<BR/><BR/>And entirely unmerited in the correct context.Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-49681294886021545722007-11-15T10:39:00.000-05:002007-11-15T10:39:00.000-05:00Human love is an adaptation. I'll accept that. B...Human love is an adaptation. I'll accept that. But at least when one human communicates with another, they both have a pretty good (albeit certainly not exact) idea of what's going on with the other. But who knows what a member of another species is thinking or feeling? <I>They're aliens.</I> Imputing human emotions or motives to them is simply wrong, and is evidence of far more speciesist bigotry than realizing that they are forever beyond your understanding.<BR/><BR/>Those cats you believe love you wouldn't hesitate to attack and kill you if only they were big enough. And, actually, my mother was bitten by one of her cats a few weeks ago (she recently adopted a <A HREF="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maine_Coon" REL="nofollow">Maine coon cat</A>) and ended up with an infection in her hand the doctors still can't seem to get rid of. She's going for an MRI soon.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-71520393187099004922007-11-15T01:00:00.000-05:002007-11-15T01:00:00.000-05:00Sounds like speciesist bigotry to me.Sounds like speciesist bigotry to me.Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-41920326328582029452007-11-15T00:57:00.000-05:002007-11-15T00:57:00.000-05:00By that same standard, what makes you think human ...By that same standard, what makes you think human love is anything more than a Darwinian adaptation?<BR/><BR/>Do you (you of all people) think the human mammal is so radically different from the rest of the mammals? You really think "love" (whatever it is) is wholly exclusive to <EM>Homo sapiens</EM>? Behaviorally we share far more with the rest of the mammals than we do with any other species.Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-13749270485709320102007-11-14T11:28:00.000-05:002007-11-14T11:28:00.000-05:00I don't want to be mean or anything, k, so I'm not...I don't want to be mean or anything, k, so I'm not going to say I think you're insane. I will say I think you're delusional. But it's not just you. All cat people are delusional. Dog people, too.<BR/><BR/>Me, I'm a toad person. The nice thing about toads? You'll never mistake their Darwinian adaptations or the results of husbandry for genuine human emotion.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-83080564268168387692007-11-14T00:20:00.000-05:002007-11-14T00:20:00.000-05:00What's wrong with loving cats?Sometimes the love a...What's wrong with loving cats?<BR/><BR/>Sometimes the love an animal gives us is deeper, stronger, and more disinterested than the love we get from our fellow human beings.<BR/><BR/>My cats loved me that way. At a crossroads point in my life, when I was both terribly ill, and had suddenly lost everything - when it would have been easy to die by simply giving up - it was the love of my cats that gave me what I needed to keep fighting for life.<BR/><BR/>My parents, siblings, friends all scattered far away did not give me that.<BR/><BR/>It wasn't that I didn't matter to those people. Of course I did. I just didn't matter to them the way I did to those cats.<BR/><BR/>So you see, my cats saved my life. Here's the story:<BR/><BR/>http://ksquest.blogspot.com/2007/04/its-simple-its-not-easy-but-its-simple.htmlkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430423256832961746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-65770849898252329782007-11-13T11:09:00.000-05:002007-11-13T11:09:00.000-05:00We're talking about loving cats. I cannot stress ...We're talking about loving <I>cats</I>. I cannot stress this enough.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-84995431627593105012007-11-12T22:27:00.000-05:002007-11-12T22:27:00.000-05:00Ah, but are we, Chris?Looks to me like we're talki...Ah, but are we, Chris?<BR/><BR/>Looks to me like we're talking about love.<BR/><BR/>And that's something that carries great weight in discussions of what matters in life.khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430423256832961746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-9068229277378399092007-11-12T11:12:00.000-05:002007-11-12T11:12:00.000-05:00I'm adding this note because Pretty Lady is all ab...I'm adding this note because Pretty Lady is all about balance and I feel this thread has become dangerously unbalanced.<BR/><BR/>Good Christ, we're talking about <I>cats</I>.Chris Rywalthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15766746064219235983noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-34876007348821305212007-11-11T23:00:00.000-05:002007-11-11T23:00:00.000-05:00How similar Alpha Cat's conditions are to my Babyc...How similar Alpha Cat's conditions are to my Babycat's in his 19th year! And really quite <I>unlike</I> my April's conditions in her 22nd year.<BR/><BR/>I'm with your whole list of probably maladies, there. Especially general renal failure.<BR/><BR/>In fact, I'm going to republish an old post about his Outside Box habits of the time: http://ksquest.blogspot.com/2007/11/repost-for-pretty-lady-and-alpha-cat.html<BR/><BR/>Our blessedly superb cats-only vet told me that most cats' kidneys fail significantly at around age 15. How long they continue after that is a matter of chance, of other health issues, of the happiness of their home. <BR/><BR/>If I remember right, it went something like this: For cats, drinking lots of water is a strong symptom of renal issues; he seemed to think it even more indicative of kidney than of thyroid disease or diabetes. When he ran Babycat's bloodwork for the excessive drinking, kidney failure alone showed up.<BR/><BR/>Cranberries: We humans drink cranberry juice for bladder problems; perhaps Alpha Cat sensed some urinary tract benefit?<BR/><BR/>Toward the end, Babycat also drank mass quantities of water, and missed the box a lot. April was on subcutaneous fluids for 2 years. She didn't mind it at all, and it made her noticeably healthier and happier.<BR/><BR/>However, we tried that with Babycat a couple times at the very end, and he did not take to it. At all. Perhaps the overall benefit rests with the individual cat.<BR/><BR/>If it is a UTI, it's one of those times standard Western antibiotics can help a lot. I have some Baytril still, left over from Babycat's last days. He did develop an infection toward the end, with very bloody urine, and the antibiotics made him feel noticeably better. <BR/><BR/>Both April (who lived 22 years) and her son Babycat (lived 19 1/2) lost significant weight toward the end. Apparently that's typical in very old cats: they sort of fade away. To add to his bone and joint discomfort, poor Babycat had arthritis too. <BR/><BR/>At around 15 years he could no longer be my Doctor Cat. He'd performed that role since late babyhood. As I lay in bed, he'd stretch out on my belly - belly to belly, face to face - with one paw on each side of my head or face, and purr as loud and hard and long as he could. He had an incredibly astute sense for detecting when I was sick or depressed. He even doctored Walter one memorable day, when Walter was quite ill. <BR/><BR/>(The vet, BTW, was of the opinion that this was not a Doctor Cat, but a Nurse Cat. Vet said that if Baby were a Doctor Cat he wouldn't give a shit how anyone felt.) <BR/><BR/>Babycat took his doctoring duties very seriously. One day he just could not physically take this position any more; his bones and joints couldn't bear it. I took all the time he needed to make him understand it really was okay, I understood, I knew he loved me, and he'd done a great job. It was simply time for him to retire from Doctor Cat work.<BR/><BR/>Whereupon, since April was getting quite feeble at the time herself, I set up a heating pad on my bed for them. At the time, April needed it much more than Baby, so they almost always shared it nicely. After April passed away, Babycat availed himself of it almost full-time. <BR/><BR/>From the very beginning, I left it on 24/7. The vet scolded me horrendously for that: I was risking a fire that would burn down the house and kill the cats and me too. But it never happened that way, and they both got great comfort from that heating pad.<BR/><BR/>I'm all for danonymous's suggestion, as well. With no fat left to cushion them, and old bones and joints, the supersoft bedding seems to make their lives much less painful. Perhaps another layer of cushiony stuff under the Favorite Sweater?<BR/><BR/>You will know if, or when, there comes a time Alpha Cat is not really fully alive any more. Should that time come, you'll know then what to do.<BR/><BR/>What you're doing now - just living with him and loving him - is exactly what he loves the most. You, his Only Perfectly Beloved Human, are giving him all he wants and needs to be happy: yourself.khttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06430423256832961746noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-33369735707785649022007-11-08T19:18:00.000-05:002007-11-08T19:18:00.000-05:00Oh I should introduce myself, but this issue is a ...Oh I should introduce myself, but this issue is a recent one for me, so I jumped on in.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00441252185724289126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-20820219652953447312007-11-08T19:15:00.000-05:002007-11-08T19:15:00.000-05:00PL, I'm glad Alpha Cat is better. All I can offer ...PL, I'm glad Alpha Cat is better. <BR/><BR/>All I can offer is that you accept the daily ups and downs, do what you can regarding food and comfort, and try not to worry beyond that. This can be a wonderful time of special care-giving interaction.<BR/><BR/>I've gone through the sub-cutaneous fluids treatments. I would not do this again for old-age kidney failure. <BR/><BR/>re euthanasia, After you've cared for him until there is no quality of life left, it can be a kindly act. It will depend on how and when things happen, and you'll know what's best. <BR/><BR/>He may go on like this for some time, with diminished capacities, yet still quite able to appreciate your pampering.Carlahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00441252185724289126noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-2452399963482683282007-11-08T18:52:00.000-05:002007-11-08T18:52:00.000-05:00Fantastic! Finicky or what, at least he's got an ...Fantastic! Finicky or what, at least he's got an interest in food. And if diabetes is part of his problem, I can't argue with his choice of food. Most commercial cat food has too much carbohydrate filler anyway.<BR/><BR/>I've never looked into it, but there are people who mix their own pet food from scratch. There's probably some merit to it, especially with an older pet with particular requirements.Desert Cathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13656526816699347744noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-82109462948403954562007-11-08T12:42:00.000-05:002007-11-08T12:42:00.000-05:00He's doing better today! He polished off a hefty ...He's doing better today! He polished off a hefty amount of steak out of my burrito yesterday evening. I may have to start buying steak instead of cat food.Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-12255787226441912622007-11-08T11:42:00.000-05:002007-11-08T11:42:00.000-05:00I wouldn't do it to a loved human companion. I wo...I wouldn't do it to a loved human companion. I wouldn't want the last drops of the essence of my own life prematurely cut off. And I couldn't do it to a beloved cat.<BR/><BR/>Maybe it's just me. Life is about joy and pain and suffering and ecstasy. It is too precious to me, even down to the last ragged breath. <BR/><BR/>I've always thought euthanasia was not about ending the suffering of the one dying as much as for the ones who remain.<BR/><BR/>Death will come soon enough to each one of us. I see no reason to hasten it's arrival.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-43227740170670754702007-11-08T01:03:00.000-05:002007-11-08T01:03:00.000-05:00Hello Pretty Lady-A reader here from California fo...Hello Pretty Lady-<BR/><BR/>A reader here from California for a while, who found you through screenplay writer L and her belly-dancing husband P....<BR/><BR/>My Boots lived to be 21. We decided to put her down rather than just let her continue on when her quality of life, and ours, dropped tremendously. She was quite healthy, spry, glossy-of-coat until the last 9 months or so. Once our adaptations were about making her comfortable and none of us seemed happy about it, and the purring stopped, and we found we could no longer comfort each other, it was time to let go, so she could go with dignity, and we could remember her lovingly to the end. Our vets were very supportive of our decision. <BR/><BR/>My treasure is that we took her for professional photos a month before she left us. I have my favorite on my desk. <BR/><BR/>I wish you strength in this time, and I thank you for the moment to remember.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-7972405871354971732007-11-07T13:28:00.000-05:002007-11-07T13:28:00.000-05:00Thanks, guys, that's helpful. DC, his urine is no...Thanks, guys, that's helpful. DC, his urine is normal--I know because he's developed a habit of missing the box. ;-) He's getting a whole lot of petting and lap-sitting, sleeps on my favorite sweater, and has not yet lost his interest in looking out the window, sticking his nose into everything and snuggling with the Brat. <BR/><BR/>So we are holding.Pretty Ladyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00342833918614545778noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20403719.post-18856763015597109762007-11-06T20:41:00.000-05:002007-11-06T20:41:00.000-05:00Hi PL, a difficult time indeed. But I think the wa...Hi PL, a difficult time indeed. But I think the way you and Alpha Cat have been together will continue in a disabled comfort sort of way.<BR/>A very soft bedding, preferably polarfleece on top, whether fabric or an old set of sweats.<BR/>good luck.<BR/>One of our cats , Rosie just passed away. Quietly, old, and at home. How sad, yet how nice.<BR/>with loveAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com