6 Signs Your Cat Owns You By vetstreet.com

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

I thought I made the bed when I got out of it because it was a good habit and now I realize I am a victim of item #2....


6 Signs Your Cat Owns You
By vetstreet.com

By Caroline Golon | vetstreet.com

https://shine.yahoo.com/pets/6-signs...142600112.html



Sorry, this seat's taken.Are you a cat owner? Are you sure about that? Who caters to her resident feline's every need? Who dotes upon her demanding little dictator? Who can be put in her place with just one look of disdain from the kitty in the corner?

If any of the following scenarios sound familiar, the "owner" status in your home may have shifted without your even realizing it.


1. The Cat Eats What the Cat Wants to Eat

Be honest: How many different types of cat food have you presented to your feline friend, only to have him turn up his tiny little nose at it? Humans who are owned by cats know that once you have figured out the magical formula of food, you stick with it. That may be one flavor on odd days of the week and another flavor on even, heated for eight seconds in the microwave and served on special china, but, hey, he's eating with gusto, right?



2. You Don't Move the Cat - Ever

You can be certain you're an owned human if you regularly work around your cat, wherever that happens to be. This includes waiting until later to fold laundry if he's snoozing in the basket, stepping over him while preparing lunch if he's lying on the kitchen floor, forgoing the vacuum cleaner if he's anywhere nearby or selecting another chair if your regular seat is already occupied.


3. You Just Keep Buying Cat Toys

How many little mice, balls, and crunchy, bouncy or squeaky cat toys have you purchased over the years? Your cat plays with them for only a minute before he grows bored, yet you still keep bringing home toys for that one fleeting moment of joy. You know this, but you don't care. It's worth it to keep your cat content.

4. There's a Cupboard Full of Cat Stuff

Every cat-owned human has one: a cupboard, cabinet or drawer full of cat items. What do cats need, exactly? Well, because felines can be finicky about pretty much everything, you never know what treat, toy or grooming tool your cat might be into on any given day. So you must stock myriad things to suit his mood.



5. Your Phone Is Full of Cat Photos

Quick, pull out your phone and count how many cat pictures you have versus how many pictures you have of human family members. How far do you have to scroll through photos filled with fur to get to your smiling kids or spouse? Enough said.



6. You Maintain Multiple Water Sources

Why should your cat have to walk all the way downstairs to get a drink of water? If a cat owns you, this is a reasonable question. Do you have water dishes, fountains or cups of water in multiple rooms in the house? If your cat sticks his nose in your water glass, do you shoo him away or do you let him drink to his heart's content and then go get yourself another glass? If you answered the latter, your cat probably owns you.

Sure, you might try to tell yourself you're in charge but, really, when it comes right down to it, are you? Despite your best efforts to the contrary, it's probably a good idea for you to resign yourself to being a kept human. It's a battle you'll never win.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I had to stop reading this to shoo away one of our cats sharpening his claws on the back of my chair, which is pretty much just shreds.

What were we talking about?

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

I guess we own our cats, because they eat what we feed them (eventually... for about a year after we got her, Zelda would have to bury hers and stomp off in a huff first); I make the bed despite the fact that they're sleeping on it (Theresa retreats to the sock drawer -- which the kids leave open all the time -- while Trouble loves to have the bed made over her -- I fish her out as I go so she can try to draw blood as I smooth the last layer); was just thinking yesterday I ought to get the upstairs cats some toys because they don't have any (Zelda collects hers and so may still have a few stashed somewhere); there are cat treats on the top shelf of my desk (and usually cat nip but we're out), and a cat comb on my desk (for Zelda) and another on the lowest shelf of my bedside table (for Theresa); don't have pictures of cats OR kids on my phone (did finally get some pics of the kids on my Facebook page, although I had one cat pic there first -- not of a cat I own, actually, but of one of the kittens we gave away); don't technically maintain multiple water sources but Theresa and Timothy do like to hop in the tub after someone has a shower, while Kenshin drinks out of the toilet (one of many reasons Kenshin is an OUTSIDE cat).

Have to confess to the shredded furniture, though. Mostly my computer chair and my chair in the dining room (which is upholstered) -- they leave the couch alone, probably because I have rough material on the other two and smooth materials on the couch.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

I amazed how well our four cats and dog get along with each other, and us, and go back and forth with us, and all.

It's not unusual when I take our dog for a walk that the four cats come along too. It's hard to get all five of them in one picture, but I've done it a time or two.

[GrayFal Silver Contributor and supermoderator Find all posts View Profile Close GrayFal]

Only #5

Our cat Cody GF ate Purina Kitten Chow then Cat Chow for 18.5 years....she didn't have that many toys, not to interested...I am not a great bed maker.....and we did not give her more then one source of water until her last year of life, we started keeping a bowl of water upstairs where she slept (on me) as well as in the kitchen by her dry food bowl.

We still miss her, it will be one year since she died next week.

Jim, you need to post the picture of everyone out walking...must be a hoot!

[taffy19 Gold Contributor Find all posts View Profile Close taffy19]

I amazed how well our four cats and dog get along with each other, and us, and go back and forth with us, and all.

It's not unusual when I take our dog for a walk that the four cats come along too. It's hard to get all five of them in one picture, but I've done it a time or two.

When we walked our little dog, it was our neighbor's cat Moses that came along with us and I always worried about it that something would happen to him because he would turn around halfway. He was run over at the end but not while walking with us.

I can tell you too that foster cats or kittens also behave like they own you after a very short time and are finicke eaters. I miss our pets but we are too old to start over again and we can travel without worrying constantly about them.

JLB, do you know how to post a picture of your pets? It would be nice to see the cats following your dog and you. I can post it for you like I did once before.

[ArtsieAng Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close ArtsieAng]

Yup, I'm owned by my 2 cats, and my dog, too......Just last night, I cooked chicken cutlets for my dog, Sophie, so she would eat, and frankfurters for the rest of us....MY DD came into kitchen, saw what was going on, and said, "there's something terribly wrong with this picture." Lol.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

JLB, do you know how to post a picture of your pets? It would be nice to see the cats following your dog and you. I can post it for you like I did once before.

Yeah, I could, but some here know why I won't. I've got a couple with the dog and four cats in it. In my daily walks, like to the boatdock, at least a couple cats will follow us. It's equivalent to a city block. They will either come on the dock with us or sit on the bank and whine until we head back home.

All are rescue critters. Our area does not have animal control, except for people like us. Four cats has always been the magic number. One of the ones we still have, Ray Ray, appeared to be one too many several years ago. I took him seven miles and opened the car door. He ran off into the woods. A week later, navigating around the lakes, woods, and curvy roads, he was back, saying, "I'm sorry I ran into the woods. I know you waited for me as long as you could." He sticks pretty close now.

In order: Scruffybutt, Ray Ray (an abbreviation of Stray Ray Kitty, named after out previous Stray Ray Shop Kitty Baby), Lee Lee (Leo), MOJO (an abbreviation of MOJO-One-Eyed-Jack, or Mojooneajack, our 1-eyed kitty we passed on our road several times before we relented and took him in). Lee Lee and MOJO are inseparable.

When we took MOJO in to get fixed, a different lady retrieved him for us when we picked him up. I looked in the travel cage and said, "Oh my God!!!! Where's his eye!!!!????" freaked her out.

[lawren2 Malibu Beach Barbie & A Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close lawren2]

:ROTFLmao:

[Hobbitess Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hobbitess]

I amazed how well our four cats and dog get along with each other, and us, and go back and forth with us, and all.

Our pets always did, as well, up until we got Zelda. Zelda was SUPER aggressive when we got her, in the "I will KILL you" kind of way; she has good manners now, but the other cats still don't trust her. Trouble has taken over the aggressive role, but she doesn't attack the way Zelda used to, so it's just the occasional enraged yowl and lots of puffed tails when Zelda gets too close.

We used to cage Tom Tilly when I took the kids to the library, or he'd follow us there, and I didn't like him crossing this really busy street on the way. Hubby'd seen how he crossed that street when following him over to the river once, and it wasn't pretty. Ken and Annie-cat would come along as well, but they'd stop when we got toward the busy street and the kids went to chase them off (they'd sit and watch us go, then turn back home); Tom Tilly would follow us the whole way out and the whole way back, and chasing him off just meant he'd follow at a greater distance.

All are rescue critters.

Ditto here. Our limit for cats used to be three, but then a neighbor moved away leaving his VERY pregnant cat on his porch all set up with her cat box and a bag of food. We'd been buddies for a while so she came over to our porch to give birth, then we took her and the kittens in. SIX kittens. We placed two, still have four. Happily Neuter Scooter was still active here, so although we had mama done at the vet's, we had all the kittens done with Neuter Scooter, which cut our bills in half.

The dog we had when I was a kid was the exception; mom wanted a Basenji because they "don't shed and don't bark." Well, the don't bark part was mostly true.... Mom has also gotten some Tonkinese cats, but that was after I moved out. She had a Siamese a couple of times when we were kids but I think they got them at the pound, and they may or may not have been purebred.

Mom wanted a dog that doesn't bark, but one of her Tonkinese would stomp around the house yowling every fall when it got cold and he couldn't go out -- I'd talk to her on the phone for an hour, and the whole time the yowling would get louder and softer and louder again as he did his rounds.

I took him seven miles and opened the car door. He ran off into the woods. A week later, navigating around the lakes, woods, and curvy roads, he was back, saying, "I'm sorry I ran into the woods. I know you waited for me as long as you could." He sticks pretty close now.

We've gotten various local strays fixed and then hauled them out to "the farm" (belongs to a one of hubby's co-workers who likes having cats around) and, so far, none have come back. I thought that Tom Tilly, the only one who we really considered a pet, might come back but apparently he liked it out there just fine. He came to us as an intact adult male and I think he enjoyed our company but didn't feel any great need for it -- plus we had him neutered, which I'm not sure he approved of. Although he never showed any resentment about it, either (when mom and dad had one of their cats neutered, the technicians made dad go back and get the cat out of his cage -- and then the cat tried to go for the vet as they were leaving!). Tom Tilly was the only big ol' Tomcat we've ever had, and he was the most mellow critter -- he'd ordinarily chase cats off, but if the kids told him not to, he'd not only let a cat stay; he'd let them eat first. I think Trouble must be from the same bloodline (they're both tuxedo cats born locally), since she's also clearly the dominant cat yet she lets the other cats eat first the same way he did, but it may be she just learned that from him, since her mom was one of the feral cats Tom Tilly let eat from his bowl (because mama cat was one of eldest daughter's favorites).

My husband once told me that he didn't know cats had personalities until he met mine. He still can't tell our black cats apart, even though Carmen is a dainty sweetie and Kenshin is an over-curious klutz. Ken has cost me more in vet bills than all the rest combined. One time we took him in, the vet suspected he'd fallen out of a tree (his liver was where his lungs should be ); another time she thought his tail had been run over by a car -- "He was probably snoozing with his tail in front of the wheel when they drove off."

For some odd reason, he's the vet's favorite.

[JLB Please excuse me, I'm a Dick. Not a moron just a Dick Find all posts View Profile Close JLB]

In the city we had a mean bobtail tomcat that terrorized ours and knocked up poor little Sissy Girl.

I caught him in a trap and took about 10 miles. He was soon back.

When I first met DW, and we were shacking up , my dog had puppies. We gave one to a kid in the neighborhood and he said his cat had kitties. Next day there was a kitty at the front door. We said "in Case He stays, we'll keep him." We still had 'CaseHe' 15 years later when we bought out lake place. He would ride in my lap when we came to the lake, about a 4-hour drive. I knew when to put him down for his litter box. One time, DW, said, it's OK, it's only another half-hour. Five minutes later had a warm, wet feeling in my lap.

We talk to our dog people-like, and she knows everything we say. We don't dare say "walk" or "boat" or "ride" and several other words unless we mean it. She is the reincarnation of my college frat dog, whom I took over when his owner went to Nam.