Okay, so hereâs the deal. Â Tali loves the fridge. Â I donât know why, but every single time we open it, she bolts for it and jumps in. Â She crawls into the back of the fridge and nestles int the smallest little corner she can. Â Now naturally, my biggest fear has been that Iâll close the fridge without knowing sheâs in there. Â And of course, today I went to go grab my Brita filter to pour myself some water. Â I wasnât really watching the fridge, and I just opened and closed it really quickly to put the Brita back while I was looking somewhere else. Â And then I looked around and realized that Tali had been in the kitchen, and now she was nowhere in sight. Â So immediately, I throw open the fridge door, and there is is, hanging out in the back, content as can be.
Fridge cat just got weirder.  Today Tali got into the bathroom while I was showering, which of course made me a little nervous.  I didnât want her to freak out and hurt herself or go on a scratching spree.  But evidently she loves water, so she jumped in and just splashed around for a while and got back out.  But then she kept whining to get back in, so my boyfriend put a cooler down so she could get in and out with ease, which she took great advantage of.  Sheâs soaking wet now, and very content. Â
I told Tali she was famous. Â She and her stuffed husky celebrated.
There are a lot of absolute idiots in the comments saying things like âa good dog will never hurt a babyâ and âthe child is never to blame if the dog attacksâ and âspecial snowflakes call everything abuseâ
Listen here you fucktards: dogs. Are not. Fucking. People. They donât operate by human logic. They donât follow human moral codes. It has nothing to do with it being a âgood dogâ or not. If you were getting hit and pulled on and punched and scratched constantly, you just might react. A dog canât speak up and say âhey please stop that youâre hurting meâ. What he can do is move, lunge, bite, etc. These actions might intentionally or unintentionally harm your child. Use your fucking head and donât let your kid beat up on your dog no matter how many times heâs âtaken itâ before; you never know when he might snap. Donât teach your kids itâs OK to treat animals like punching bags and theyâll never react. Thatâs immensely unfair to both the animal and the child. You could have a hurt or dead child and a euthanized dog because you were fucking dumbass who thought the dogs were just there to be treated like toys.
Same goes for cats and any other pet. Teach your child how to properly treat animals or donât have any fucking animals.
When I was younger, one of our dogs, Brew, was pretty old and I loved him. I used to lie with my head on his shoulder and heâd put his head on mine and sleep. I literally loved him so much. But he was an old dog and one day I tripped and stood on his tail. He came up and nipped at me. Caught me in the face.
My mother freaked and I cried but we didnât call police or anything because he did what comes to dogs naturally. He canât say âow, gerroffâ so he could only bite. All he did was nip. A little warning. I felt awful and spent the rest of the day stroking him and saying sorry even though I had a bruise above my eye that looked like someone had hit me and sent me flying.
Donât let your kids climb on your dogs or bother your cats. Your pets arenât there to be abused for the sake of cuteness. It doesnât matter if a baby doesnât understand. If I toddler doesnât know any better. I made hella sure that my nieceâs and nephew didnât hurt my pets at any age and taught them respect. Theyâve been nipped and clawed because of their actions and I told them that.
Respect your pets and teach your kids the same. Itâs absolute bullshit that an animal should suffer just because you donât fucking want to teach kids to respect animals from the beginning.
The family dog also nipped me in the face when I was a child. I always loved animals and couldnât recognize when the dog was annoyed with me being all in his face all the time. I also was told repeatedly to not do that but I was 3 so. One day he finally snapped and got me. It was totally my fault and my whole family acknowledged it and the dog remained and I learned my lesson lol.
One of my cats hissed and nicked an old friend of mine when we were kids. Why? She had pulled his tail trying to get his attention.
We didnât report it, but I explained to my friend that catsâ spinal cords extend to the literal tip of their tail. Pulling on their tail is like pulling on someoneâs spineâŚitâs going to hurt a LOT. And since cats canât communicate with us, they attack as a form of defense (I only knew this because I wanted to be a vet at this age and had a vet book).
To this day, I still use this. I can even tell when Iâm taking play fighting too far because my cats will have their ears bent down and outwards.
PLEASE teach your kids to treat animals with kindness.
other tips for new cat owners / people who may get cats soon:
no, getting a grown cat wonât be boring / less cute! theyâll become just as attached to you as a kitten. get a cat that speaks to you (literally or figuratively, maybe you want a cat thatâs chatty). older cats will be so appreciative to have a home. people get rid of their cats for all kinds of unfair reasons. just the ones iâve seen on the craigslist listings in the last 5 minutes: âi am just more of a dog person (7mo old kitten)â, âwe hoped she would get over her kittenish behavior, she has not (2yr old cat)â, âi need to get rid of my cat before my baby is born (3yr old cat)â. you can totally pick up a beautiful, loving, grown up kitty who will be needing some comfort after getting dumped. just look at this girl.
(taken off craigslist) she would be more than happy to live her cat life with you. is she not cute? she is. she is cute. so, ultimately, adopt whatever cat you like, but donât rule out older cats!
nextly: no no, do NOT declaw your cat. DONâT DO IT. IâM TELLIN YA. itâs a deeply painful procedure, actually removing the entire first knuckle, not JUST the nail. it causes long-term and potentially permanent pain in the cat, and can lead to nasty infections, behavioral problems, and helplessness if they ever find themselves outside and in need of protection or climbing abilities. âbut i donât want my cat to scratch me / my kid / my furniture!â okay, i feel you, but there are other, cheaper, less inhumane options. my favorite of which are claw caps.
you gently press on your catâs foot (to unsheath their claws), and place the soft cap onto their claw using the glue thatâs included in any soft paw kit you get. it might take some getting used to on the catâs part, but it should under no circumstances be painful, and when the kittyâs claws grow, the cap just kinda falls off, and youâll put another one on. you can also file or clip their nails down! if youâre too nervous or clumsy to do it, your vet will usually do it for a small fee, or a groomer can take care of it. Personally, I just let my catsâ claws hang out and accept the pokes when they knead on me, since i donât have any little babies or expensive upholstery in my home.Â
No, cats ainât âlow maintenanceâ. This is a living, social creature, not a chiapet. Especially if youâre raising them from kittenhood, they need a lot of attention and resources. cuddles, playtime, training, health care, feeding, cleaning up their facilities. you get a pet to interact with, not to buy and leave it be! a cat that you donât socialize is going to be very moody and sad. get a pet if you plan to invest the time and energy they need- if not, maybe we can come back to that cactus idea?Â
Cats need meat. I repeat, cats cannot survive without meat. Dogs need meat too- but cats are incapable of creating taurine in their own, and where do you find taurine? meat! hallelujah!! Feeding cats a vegan or vegetarian diet is a slow form of starvation and animal abuse. If youâre not comfortable feeding an animal meat, please do not adopt a carnivore. There are plenty of vegetarian mammals that you would be much better suited owning, but do not abuse your cats just because of your own feelings about protein. Without enough taurine in a catâs diet, severe health problems will follow, like blindness, weak and decaying teeth, weak heart, and digestive issues. This is terrible. This objectively sucks. So pretty please give your cat a proper diet!
Itâs way way safer to have an indoor cat. I donât need you to tell me that you want your cat to be with you for many years, âcause I already know you do. Outdoor cats are exposed to wild animals, animal abusers, poisonous substances, cars, harsh weather, kidnapping, and diseases. Cats like rolling around in grass and grabbing birds from trees, and thatâs great, but having an outdoor cat makes for a steep decrease in their estimated lifespan. The average lifespan of an indoor cat is 16.8 years, whereas outdoor cats average out to a hard-hitting 5.6. Ouch. So itâs definitely safer to keep a cat indoors! If youâre adopting a young kitten, it wonât be hard, since they wonât be expecting outdoor time already. If youâre still really into that whole grass idea, you should totally grow some indoor grass for your cat to chill in.Â
good.
thatâs everything i can think of for the moment, but please donât be afraid to do your own research on animal care. there are tons of resources out there, and if you have a good vet, theyâll answer any questions you have!Â
thank you for readinâ about cat care. as a reward, iâm adding a picture of toby as a baby. enjoy.
CaptainBubblebath 