Introducing mmMekitty

[mmMekitty]

I am mmMekitty, named for my cat, (my avatar), who lived 7 years. It has been five or so years since, but I still miss her. Mekitty an I had a simpler relationship than any I have had with people.

The photo is the one I to retrieved after my hard drive crashed. She had wandered off, was away for six days, when she turned up again in the middle of the night. I cried with relief. This was the photo I used for her Lost Cat poster I put up around the neighbourhood at the time.

As for me, I cannot see the detail of the photo nearly as well as I did then, and then my sight was poor. I am now using text-to-speech software, zooming on my pc, voice over. Since I find this stuff difficult, I get really frustrated.

I used to keep all my emotions in check, so much so, I thought and said I did not have any feelings or reactions to anything. That changed and I could not deny the existence of my emotions. It was a terrifying time. What was happening to me? I was falling apart and all this unidentifiable stuff was pouring out.

I have had to learn so much since I began seeing the Psychiatrist I saw back then (1993 - 95). From learning I had to put words to the experiences, name, own, accept them. Still uncomfortable. I beat up on myself too much, I know.

I used to do things I can no longer do to my own satisfaction. I still sing, but not like I used to. I cannot paint like I did. I cannot use pen and paper to write, so have managed to adapt to keyboard. That is something. I have been working on being more sociable, less isolated, but last year, when COVID-19 retrictions required face masks be worn, I found I could not - which is what brings me here.

I have had to curtail so much of what I had been doing. I am feeling the isolation now. How ironic! I resisted even thinking I needed anybody, then I try to have some friends, join a writers' group, get help with things like housework and shopping, going to places for fun and entertainment, only to have to withdraw again because I cannot wear a mask. It bites, like a scorpion.

I will make a thread, now I found the place to click to create one! I think my problem was with how I have my desktop appearance. It looks like any ordinary link, hiding below another, for creating a feed link. Now I know.

I suppose I will get around to talking more about myself. I will need to be careful about how involved I become, so please, don't expect me to pop up everywhere. I would burn out if I did that.

(Purring) mmMekitty

[topsy_]

Hi mmMekitty

Thank you for your reply/s. I must admit maybe I have got the food thing wrong. I thought because she had bad teeth that the biscuits would hurt her. And she does only lick the jelly from the tin foods. Again I thought the meaty bits must have hurt. I’ve been conned big time me thinks! (Or, more likely, been exceedingly stupid!).

Fluff really likes Whiskas biscuits. My daughter said they have the most salt & I sensed her disapproval. We always have water on the floor for both animals & they seem happy with that. We have to feed Fluff on the sink to keep her food up from Ted (dog). She likes to graze & if it was on the ground there would be none left later on.

Fluffy is as her name implies but when you pick her up she is quite scrawny underneath all that fur. We think she is about 10 years old. We’ve had her nearly 6 years, my daughter had her a year or two & she was supposed to have been at the shelter for three years !!!

With the pet door - where we live is very cold in winter & our lounge room door is a sliding glass door, so the pet door is in the screen door. My husband & I have to take turns on sentry duty opening & shutting the glass door to allow the animals through the pet door. I get up of a morning much earlier than hubby & Fluff drives me berserk with this morning game. Try as I might to ignore her she just keeps on keeping on (a la Berger paints).

I really appreciate your advice. I’m not a very experienced pet mother. Ted has a few bad habits too but he’s much easier to live with. I think I’m also very much a dog person than a cat person, which I feel guilty about.

I think I’ll go and investigate on Google to see what I can find about cats like Fluff. Maybe I’d have been better doing that five years ago. Never let it be said that I’m a little slow off the mark lol.

Thanks again. I’ll let you know what I find. I feel better even just getting it all off my chest, so next time you’re having a cuppa just remind yourself that it comes with my thanks - via the internet.

Cheers, Topsy.

[mmMekitty]

Hi Topsy,

Apparently a cat is considered to enter their old age at around 7 years. I was beginning to check out what food was for the older cat when Mekitty died. She did like the wiskas too. I looked at the pack, & noticed it seemed to have less fat, but, lol, didn't check the salt! My vet had not mentioned that, but of-course, cats are mammals & can suffer the same conditions as we do from any part of our diet being poor. AS I think about it, NOW, I wonder why it was not something the vet went into more carefully. Don't they check if the animals they see might have high blood pressure, likely brought on by salt in the diet? They do check for heart & lung, . function, look in eyes & ears, even, (poor Mekitty) check the body temperature.

Have you given any thought to asking RSPCA if they could help with the vet checks/treatments you are struggling to afford right now?

Mekitty was a kitten when I brought her into my life. If she had already been an adult, she would have come with a history of experiences. I can't help but wonder what it would be like for a cat in a shelter for two years. For all I know, Mekitty only spent a week or at most, six weeks, I guess. She might have even been weaned early. Your Fluffy had a long time in the shelter, other cats, lots of noise, I don't know. Then, what were the conditions at your daughter's place? How different to your place? Any of this could have something to do with Fluffy's behaviour.

I suppose you brush her? Mekitty could have done with more brushing than she would allow. She wouldn't sit up next to me, wouldn't let me hold her, but when I was at my PC she would wedge herself between my lower back & the back rest of my office chair.

Instead of using purpose built scratching posts, she seemed happier using those reusable, hessian shopping bags. We played with those, too, the green ones, blue ones, all colours. She would (so it seemed) make an effort to sit wholly within the size of the bag when it was on the floor. She would deliberately nose one open more, & get inside. Of-course I teased her from the outside.

Eventually I found a 2-seater sofa, with wide arms, & a back she could walk along. I hoped she would sit with me, but no. She would sit, backed into the far corner. I made temporary tents so she could have a quiet place to he--rself. She seemed to like that very much. I might tease her a little, there, but would then let her be,, & usually, find her still there hours later.

mmMekitty

[Croix]

Dear mmMekitty and all

You mentioned "I made temporary tents so she could have a quiet place to he--rself"

We don't have to, the clothes horse in front of the fire makes a most excellent cat tent as generations of cats will attest. The only fly in the ointment was NastyCat used to think it also would make a good vantage point from the top and try to climb up, a self-defeating exercise, the more she scrabbled up the clothes to the top, the more they slid off.

I expect she thought we arranged that on purpose just to annoy her. Sumo Cat on the other hand just sits quietly underneath and watches the world of feet going by.

Croix

[mmMekitty]

Hello Croix,

I am happy to see you are back! 😺

I left a post on your Thread "Croix Parlour", next to Demonblaster, who has missed you, too.

I hope you got some pictures of 'nasty' cat. That would have been so funny, unless 'nasty' cat's claws got caught in the clothes & tore them to ribbons.

I used lightweight blankets, draped over the back of my sofa, or chair, leaving a gap so she could go in & out without wrecking the tent.

Have you got any ideas to help with Topsy's 'nasty' cat? Please, read the few preceding posts.

Back soon 🐾 🐾🐾 🐾🐾 🐾🐾 🐾⛺

mmMekitty

[Croix]

Dear mmMekitty (with a wave to Topsy)~

To answer your question in Croix Parler (Parler=talk) Nasty Cat passed away after around 20 years of ill-temper from old age, but no pictures of her climbing, we were too busy trying to 'unhook' her and stop her!

Sumo tried the dodge of being a fussy eater, no need as he only was 'nice hungry', having a dispenser of cat biscuits there all the time to graze on. Mrs C tried a number of (expensive) foods, only for him to turn his nose up the second time. Mrs C got around that in the end by leaving the food in a dish and turning it over when Sumo announced he was peckish. This fooled him and eats away happily.

I guess any reasonable food will do, salt or no salt, and I'm not sure how much you can draw a parallel between animal and human ailments. Good treatment (including baths:) seems to be the key.

I know time spent in the pound when young can be very formative, with insecurity and jealousy becoming a life long habit. Even a traumatic incident later on involving another dog turned Zeppelin Dog's nature to aggression towards all dogs, before that she was amiable and socialized.

As a result I'm not that surprised at Fluff's behaviour. I'm not sure what to suggest though except maybe not pander to the constant in/out demands. I've had generations of dogs want to have a personal door-person, I put a metal plate on the back door to protect it, if they ask go out it is no good scratching to come back in straight away unless it is bad weather. They are fine and snug in the shed anyway if they want.

Croix

[mmMekitty]

I tried giving Mekitty a bath when she was still a kitten, mostly because I found some very nice smelly shampoo for cats, but I wish I had some guidance about how to do it, because it was a disaster.

She freaked out & clawed her way over my shoulder & down my back (I had thought to wear a thin sleeveless top , knowing I would get wet(, leaving scratches all the way! Poor little kitty. She hid under my bed for a couple hours, until I brought her out.

I thought, okay, but you'd better clean yourself, Mekitty, or I will have to get some professional pet groomer to help. Turned out, she was very good at cleaning herself. I praised & petted her when I saw her doing it, too. I think that helped. 😸Sometimes she let me brush her, but not a lot. She shed everywhere, though. She apparently had a double coat. When the weather was very hot, I would get a damp cloth & rub it over her. She didn't like it much, but, it was so hot.

All I knew is how I felt better when I took a cool shower, on those days. So I tied to just cool her off a little during the hottest time of the day. Too bad she wasn't interested in stepping right into the shower with me. I don't think she liked the noise. She would leave the area when I showered, often only to be sitting at the back door, as if waiting for me to come out again.

I'm always grateful we humans don't have to clean ourselves using the same method! Indeed, I don't think I could manage at all...not nearly as flexible as would be necessary at the best of times.

Croix, you & Mrs C must have been doing something right; 20years is quite old indeed.

How are you, Topsy? I've been hoping to hear from yo.

mmMekitty

[Croix]

Dear mmMeKity~

"Croix, you & Mrs C must have been doing something right; 20years is quite old indeed."

Actually we are considerably older than that - pity.

I guess wiht our dogs they just had to put up with baths, no choice. Never used a hose, only buckets of warm water. With cats had mixed success. I seem to remember kittens in shallow plain tepid water seemed to go down OK, when they came to us later in life a bit of a problem getting them used to it

A damp flannel on a hot day might be the best compromise as you suggest in those cases.

Did I mention

https://librivox.org

as a source of free audiobooks? Probably, but forgotten 😞

Croix

[mmMekitty]

Oh, 'Walrus Whiskers', I know you are older, even than me, I suspect. I meant 20 years is old for cats, even domesticated, I believe.

& you likely did mention the link. I forgot anyway, so thanks for the reminder. If I don't forget again, because now I need to take a break. I know, it feels too early to be wanting to sleep, but I am awfully tired.

I've noticed you around a few threads, & you have given valuable feedback & advice. It is so good to have you here on BB.

Later, maybe. 🙀💤mmMekitty

[Croix]

Dear mmMekitty~

"Walrus Whiskers" indeed! The younger generation is getting dead cheeky.

Well, you are right about one thing, I am rather old, after all Sir John Tenniel drew my portrait in 1871, though I must admit I did not sit for it <<👀>>.

Thanks for the compliment BTW, talking with others helps me too.

Croix

[mmMekitty]

& you're longer in the tooth, too, than me, &, I trust you polish them every day, just like me, eh? Do I hear an accent in your typing?

As I get older, & grumpier, I intend to also become more & more cheeky.

😺🎶tip-tow🎶🌷🌷🌷🎶 ...

Wonder if I can get a 💈 & a customer? mmMe will give old-fashioned traditional service to anybody, whether they ask or not! 😼

mmMekitty