Posted by Solstice on September 11, 2011, at 13:52:36
In reply to Re: Thanks » Solstice, posted by floatingbridge on September 11, 2011, at 12:49:52
Dinah and Fb -
Thanks to both of you for so much info to mull over! Keep it coming :-)
said
I did a quick search of non-shedding, odor-free dogs (well, I doubt completely odor-free, but you know what I mean). Anyway, The short-list included Chinese Crested. I thought it was such a cool looking dog! But my son thought it looked weird. I still think they look cool.As for attachment, I get attached to anything I take care of. I was never a cat-person.. but my oldest daughter was, from the age of 4. We'd walk around the neighborhood, and she noticed every cat (I didn't), and begged and begged to have one. We finally ended up with one sort of accidentally, when she was 11. At my office, a co-worker was a cat-rescue person and had taken in a cat found at our office building looking like it had been without care for a long time. This co-worker went from office to office trying to find someone willing to take the cat. Their vet had discovered he had FIV (aka kitty-aids), and the policy was to put them to sleep since it was too difficult to place them. But, this cat was so personable, that my co-worker was very distressed about him being put down. So when she got to my office, I said "Well, I've never been a cat-person.. but my daughter.." and that was all it took. She said "If you'll take him just for two weeks, I'll give you every thing you need.. food, litter box, litter, brush.. etc. so if you'll just take him for two weeks.. and if you really can't stand it, bring him back to me." How could I lose? And let me tell you, I was one popular mama with my kiddos :-) So I brought that cat home. We named him Oliver. And before the first night was over, all of us were in love and we worshiped that cat till the day he died in our arms. He lived for five years once we got him (and he was probably about 5 when we got him).. and he was like a dog in a cat-body. Came when we said his name.. would lay in our arms on his back and let us nuzzle him and rub his tummy (cats don't do that :-).. and he would let us hold him, his belly against us and his head nuzzled against our necks. The most lovable cat you've ever seen. Polite, friendly, sociable. And beautiful to behold. When he died we had a ceremony in the back yard, and buried him at the foot of our grapefruit tree. sigh. so I guess I had become a cat-person by accident :-) Oliver could shed quite a bit of hair, but I enjoyed cats' bodies being odor-free. you just gotta keep that litter box cleaned out.
And we did adopt other cats after Oliver. When the vet told me he thought Oliver was close to the end of his life, I went to a cat rescue place and they had a cat they named "Romeo" - who also had FIV. That made him a perfect choice, since FIV is contagious to other cats. Oliver lived more than a year, and he and Romeo were best buds. At some point, we found out Romeo was actually a girl.. and after Oliver died we talked about getting a male cat and naming him Juliette. Romeo was so much like Oliver - a big baby who would sleep up against you and let you hold her for hours on end. After he died, the other cats we adopted had classic cat temperaments. The one we have now is an outside cat. We had another one who was very cool (I called him "Boss"), but he ran off last year. That's how cats can be :-( The one we have now has been here for a few years. Never could figure out what to call him - so we've been just calling him 'kitten' ever since we adopted him at about 12 weeks old. He comes around to eat.. but won't let you pick him up. He brings us lots of birds, and an occasional rodent. That's a kind of gross thing about having an outdoor cat.. because they tend to leave these 'gifts' right on the porch, or on the walkway where you'll be sure to see it. Yuck. Oh - and any pet I have is always neutered.
So.. I may be ready to return to the world of dogs.. if I can find one that doesn't stink real bad. Seems like a lot of these sighthounds meet that criteria.. I keep hearing/reading about some being hard to house train, though. I'm not sure what that means. Can't tell if it's that they just don't respond to training at all, or whether it's just that they don't automatically train and the ones who don't train just happen to have owners who don't know how to do it.
but keep talking to me! I'm enjoying getting the insight.
Solstice
poster:Solstice
thread:995638
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20110910/msgs/996465.html