My Baby Magic Had a Seizure Tonight

rr...so sorry about your friends. That's always so hard to do, but for the best. Hope your new critters will help fill the void.

katie...your cats sound just like mine, I used the squirt bottle method. Now all I have to do is pick it up and everyone settles right down LOL They do get a little rowdy every once in a while. Chase is a great game but can lead to diaster. Dumped one of my orchids last week, I was really upset because it was getting ready to bloom. Luckily no harm was done. Of course neither one of them did it!!

I am completely enjoying this conversation about kitties and sensitive ladies who communicate with them. I notice Soferdig has been silent. Wonder if he will admit he communicates with animals? I know he does.
A couple of people I know who communicate well with animals do it with images in their minds. Seems to cross over that cat/dog/human language barrier a bit better.

So can either of you ladies tell me why my Cleo, who lately believes she is an indoor cat, (no dummy that one) is a continual whiner??? I mean really! She meows at me continually and always has. There is nothing wrong with her. She just meows and sounds like a whiner. Her expressions are priceless, but the whining has to go.

Rach, I'm so sorry to hear about your Cinder. And bunny, too.

My Pookie follows me around and mews (I wouldnt call it a meow) at me all the time, but I know what she wants. Either it's fill my 'extra dish' or she isn't happy until I sit down!! So she can sit next to me. If I go outside she gives up and sleeps by the pellet stove.

It's hard to say no to this one.

OH Pookie - What a FACE ! too cute.

Margie will probably always be a drama queen -it's funny how some cats are very particular about who they like. My roommate (way back) had a calico Emily who didn't really warm to anyone, she would run/hop out toward me all sideways (we called it "crabbing") ... but when my boyfriend (husband now) would leave a shirt out she would roll around in it like it was catnip.. errr, like she wasn't spayed.

LOL - I can just picture Emily!!! For two weeks I was kitty sitting the neighbors' cat, Luna. I visited her and fed her twice a day. I often wore one of Steve's big wool jackets (it was his dad's and he loved it). Luna really liked to cuddle with me when I wore it. Interesting, because Steve was definitely not an animal lover. I don't think his dad was either.

And oh my - Pookie is gorgeous!

Melissa, betcha Cleo just wants you to sit down and hold her forever!! She doesn't know that you are hyperactive!

I'm going to try the image method, along with the squirt gun!! Margie apparently does know she's in trouble because she didn't come upstairs even once last night . . . and generally she finds a place either on my back, my shoulder, or my chest - depending on how I am sleeping. Friday, on the other hand, was up and down - I think she couldn't figure out why Margie wasn't chasing her off or at the least, staring her down.

I love all the kitty problem solving! I will try and get some pics of the new kids today to post. Thank you all for your warm thoughts about Cinder and Stormy.

Now girls, that isn't kitty whining. Fess up - you talk to your cats, don't you? They are only reciprocating, sure that they can find a way to communicate with the yoomans in the yooman way. My Dolce has just found her voice and I hear from her a lot. And you can bet that, for every whine, I have a response. LOL

When I took Nick and Bug to the dog park, it was so evident that there's a HUGE difference between the way men and women interact with their dogs. And what the dogs expected of their humans was, in turn, very different.

The woman chatted with their dogs the whole time they were there and sometimes would engage in the physical play (toss or kick the ball). The men engaged in the physical play more wholly, with much less conversation. Dogs who lived with women would wait for words. Dogs who lived with men wouldn't wait for words at all, just the ball.

The term "Drama Queen" always reminds me of my great-niece. She's 5 now. Last year she was very upset about something at school and the teacher was trying to understand what it was. After Reese explained to her, Teacher Kelly said, "Reese, why would tat make you SO upset?" And Reese replied, with all seriousness, "But Teacher Kelly, you KNOW what a drama queen I am." LOL

In Reese's world, that's totally legitimate role to play. And she's just sweet enough that she can pull it off.

So much to comment on. I have been traveling all day from my lighthouse in Sitka and currently in Seattle now. Yes I talk to cats and dogs but not in English/American. Mostly in Cat and Dog. Cats are very socially driven with daily communication with expressions and scent. Facial pheromones are the dominate ones. Carol rub your aggressive cat around the mouth and across the back and do that till a towel is cover with its scent. 5minutes should be enough and then rub your other cats with the towel or place it in an area one of the others lay all the time. Do this for a week and you will transfer the pheromone to them and your aggressive cat will be accepting of the others. If she starts to do it again you should repeat the rub thing. If you want you can buy Facial Pheromones from you vet and spray the cats with that and she will accept them. It is kind of expensive but works well to "familiarize" your family of cats. As far as the dog let the cat dominate and the dog will back off. Probably the best to just accept that cats are dominate. (Just like men) LOL.

Ah, so the key is to let the cats THINK they are dominant by rubbing their scent all over you. Well, if it works on men, should work on cats. :-)

Yes it works on both of us. But with men don't use a towel. Be creative.

Oh, is that it? No wonder it hasn't been working so well. ;-)

I don't even know what to say about all this!! LOL! I'm totally taken aback about all the towel rubbing, pheromones, and dominance. Plus I'm confused because I thought women were dominant and men knew it. Did you say that we're supposed to be letting men think that THEY are dominant? I think I have it all wrong.

Steve, why does Cleo continually whine at me? So far, there is an opinion that she just wants me to sit down and pet her, but this is not the case. She has no interest in lap sitting. My other cat, Crookshanks, lets me know in no uncertain terms when he wants my attention. He headbutts me until I give in and pet him.

Well, Pix, you're married and I'm not, so you be the judge. :-)

Wait, so you have a Cleo, too? Doesn't Rachie have a Cleo cat?

Mine get chattier as they get older. They really want to interact, but they don't want petting, food, water - I really think it's just their form of interacting with me because they hear me talking to them.

Cats verbalize with humans to socialize. We don't respond to the facial expressions and posture so they take on human traits to communicate the daily relationship. I usually ignore my kittens so they don't talk to me all day. then when they grow up they are not being too noisy, I can't say I like that. I just pick them up and dominate, nurture, and relate. That is all they are doing. I think any cat wants to have its mouth and chin rubbed to assure their position in the family.
Now Pixy you chance to be the dominate sex ran out with Hillary. You have to look at your best chance passing you by. She would have been president. All of you selected the guys again. Well except John McCain he selected your sex to lead. We all know that men rule it is just that we are tired of doing it so for the last 2 generations we are goofing off. LOL

Pix, Cleo must have something she wants and eventually she'll get you to understand. Kinda like the headbutting works for Crookshanks (love that name)

My girls aren't lap cats, they just want to be near me all the time, it's easier to nap when I'm sitting down. LOL

Sofer, thanks for the rubbing tip, I'll have to try that one when needed. Hope the rest of your trip home went just as planned and you're at home by the fire now.

katie...love the Drama Queen story, my DGD fits that to a tee and isn't shy about telling you so.

Sofer - actually BEING president is just too much busy work. I prefer to groom the men for that and then keep them in line. Michelle O. has that down, clearly. :-)

I like my kitties chatty. Each of them has his/her own voice.

Sally, my great niece lives in Philomath, so closer to you than to me. Maybe it's something in the water down there. LOL

I am 5 feet from my warm stove and sitting in shorts for the first time since leaving for Sitka. Ahhhhhhhhh. It is good to get out of the long underwear and wool.

Ahhhhh, that looks nice. Looks like kitty has it figured out, too.

Can't be the water here. DGD lives in CA unfortunately.

That is certainly a roaring fire. When we have the pellet stove going, the cats head for their cat post, which is right in line with the draft. LOL

This is much chatting since I lost my server for a day + without. sad.

Rach, so sorry to hear about Cinder and Stormy, my heart goes out to you. I so know about losing a part of the family. Lots of Hugs to you. And happy about your new found Babies, Enjoy.

Pix, I have a kitty (oldest) Corky Who wined and carried on all the time, is not a lap cat, does not like treats, like to lay on my clothes while I'm getting ready to go to work, and then grab them while I'm pulling them out from under her, its her game and we play a little with it. and other things she does, like set in the chair and each time you pass it she meows, Took me awhile to understand this but she is talking to me. I can say just about anything and she will respond to it, believed it or not she can almost say Mom Ma. She is my rescue kitty at 5 weeks old, long story on that, She will be 12 soon. The others are all a Different story.

Oh, what fun cat talk! I've had talkers and communicators, but my Roscoe has to have the loudest and most persistent whine/howl/meow of any cat I've ever had. He will go on about everything so long that it takes much longer than normal to figure out what actually has him all worked up. He's my shelter rescue, though, and I was told he came from a hoarder originally, so I hate to think what his young kittenhood was like. Sophie has definite, precise language for different things, and Fred is the most wonderful, gentle alarm clock in the world, but unfortunately his idea of morning is rather different than mine (5 am is not when I want breakfast!)

Cats & fires-they look very happy & cozy! In winter if I want to find Sophie all I need to do is turn on the gas fireplace and wait about 5 min and here she comes...She pretty much just alternates between warm places and windows...

Sofer, thanks so much about the scent/dominance tip. I've got some recurring disagreements here about who runs things and that might help a lot.

RR, so sorry to hear about Cinder & Storm.

Hey Suzie,
Cats are the most, each one has there own idea of what is to be and how it is to be, I have 4 and each one has there own mind.
What was the movie???
"Dogs Drool and Cats Rule"
Love it

"I prefer to groom the men for that and then keep them in line..." Oh, LLLOOOLLL!!

sofer, that is a warm looking room. And very, very manly.

Was it this thread where we mentioned the cat underground railroad? I think my neighbor is on this for both dogs and cats. Ever wonder why there are some people to whom lost/abandoned animals just migrate? My neighbor, Joy, is one. Somehow, lost animals just find their way to her yard. It's not that she doesn't already have animals, including a dog, so you'd think they might just keep going. But they do not. I got a phonecall early in the morning a couple of days ago from her husband wondering if we had lost one of our cats as, once more, they had found one on the proverbial doorstep. A very friendly little kitty, I guess, and now he has a special indoor place to sleep while Joy puts signs up in the neighborhood alerting people to the find. I think she has special cat/dog antennae.

Pix, isn't that why we keep the guys around - for the heavy lifting? LOL

Sue, it sounds like you have a sweet little gang there (well, all except for the 5 am alarm, that is).

It does seem that it's the same people over and over again who get adopted by animals. Part of me wishes that was my house and then I start counting heads and change my mind . . .

This is lecture time.

And who is schooling who??

Funny, who really knows? Tyler telling Tilly. or Tilly telling Tyler. But she is on the launch pad. LOL

Rachel, I'm so sorry about the loss of your fur kids. I know what an important part of your life they were, and to lose two so close together must be very tough for you. May the new critters be a comfort. They are bound to keep you busy. Holly

The cat is always teaching, the dog is always harassing. LOL

Now then, Tyler looks perfectly innocent, though Tilly definitely has a severe expression.

They are best friends. Tilly is the only one Tyler does not run away from. He will not go near the others. They are to funny.

Maybe they are just discussing some serious business...telepathically.

What is funny. see Rat slipping away in the left hand corner, must be something serious.. LOL

Mary and Holly thanks for your kind thoughts. Hope you are all having a good day. Rach

HI Rach. Good to have you back. Sorry about your furfaces and happy about your new ones.

need help LOL
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/919964/

So Magic had another couple of seizures last week. Similar to three weeks ago, he had one severe one followed by another several hours later. And then nothing.

I think that points to ingestion of something in the yard, and, as you can imagine, I've been doing lots of research combined with observation about what in the yard is getting nibbled on.

Right now, I'm looking at hydrangea. I got a beautiful hydrangea aspera that both Magic and Sahara appear to have taken bites out of (the bunnies are active, too, but I saw Sahara trying to browse on it today). Anyway, hydrangeas can cause seizures, if ingested, as well as so many other things we have in our yards (digitalis, calla lily, narcissus, holly berries, elderberries, daphne berries, peony - the lists are long). Things like cyanide have a slight smell of almonds (I don't know if this is true of the plants), and I'm speculating that that's what made them interesting to my dogs.

Here's a great list of toxic plants that I found, which includes symptoms after ingestion. I thought I'd share.

Hmmm - didn't post the link. Here it is:

http://www.pawfriendlylandscapes.com/images/itemspoisonoustodogs.pdf

And another:

http://www.dobermann.co.za/health/Poisons/poisonous%20plants.html

Yikes! I knew about digitalis and holly berries, but it sounds like a lot of things can have deleterious effects on unsuspecting pets or young children.

Is there any way to put a fence around the hydrangea, or perhaps spray it with something that the dogs wouldn't like the taste or smell of?

So sorry Magic is going through this again.

Thanks, Holly. I'm so fortunate that I've been here when it's happened and that it doesn't (so far) happen regularly.

They don't seem to be eating the mature hydrangeas and, actually, not the other smaller hydrangeas. For some reason the aspera attracted them. I'll put it in front and then figure out what to do about the others - I may invest in short fencing for the beds and see how that works. Spraying it is a good idea, though.

I don't like digitalis enough that I need to keep it, so I'll pull it when I see it. I have a few calla lilies that I am so excited about - seems those are dangerous, too.

I'm trying to keep a bed of long grass for them to graze one, but I don't think it's that they don't have other options; they just like to eat everything!!