# Hello (long intro)



## P (Aug 3, 2008)

My name is Terri, and I live in Baltimore, MD. Currently sharing a house with my parents, 4 dogs (APBT, Cocker, Dachshund, and Chi mix), two cats, a turtle (Dad picked him up on the road today, looks like he may hae gotten ran over), and a snake. My sister and two nephews live in our basement apartment with their two cats and a rat right now, but in the semi-near future, they'll be moving up here and my parents moving out to the smaller house on our lot with one cat and the 3 smaller dogs (plus snake and turtle I guess), making us a 3 cat, one dog home. I'm a receptionist at an animal hospital, and occasionally work as a bather for one of the groomers there, so I'm not entirely avoiding the animals :lol: . 

Currently occupying my room (much to the dismay of Haley the APBT, who had claimed it as her own until now) is one EVIL black and white kitten by the name of Phoenix (finally decided on that after deciding that "bad kitten" was not going to work on a permanent basis. We also have another cat named Badger, she's around 4 years old, brown tabby/white DSH (polydactyl), we took her when my aunt decided she no longer wanted her, and she's not particularly social. 

We run a segregated household because Haley the APBT is dog and cat aggressive, and can't be trusted not to eat the cats or pick fights with the other dogs. She usually comes with me to work, roams the main part of the house most of the time when she's home (we do put her in my room to let the other dogs loose if they haven't had much time out), then sleeps in my room with me at night. The smaller dogs are gated in the kitchen for much of the day, come in the rest of the house sometimes while I'm at work, and get left in to hang out in the living room for a bit most evenings, plus go outside to play throughout the day. Badgie the cat stays in the workshop (large room downstairs) when Haley's home and roaming, comes up for however long she wants while I'm at work, and sometimes is left up at night after Haley and I go to bed. When we complete the move, I'll have a two-room open space area with all my things, which Haley will spend most of her time in when we're home (I'll be in there much of the time as well), and my sisters two cats (both front declawed- she wanted me to get P done, told her I wasn't cutting my kitten's toes off and would do soft paws instead if she's worried about the leather furniture, they seem to be working ok so far, though I've got some concerns about them) plus P will have roam of the house most of the day. Haley will be able to come out on leash and we'll put the cats away for a while every day so she can have free roam as well. Badger and the smaller dogs will stay at my parents' house and have free roam, since everyone there more or less gets along, though Annie will likely come up to hang out during the day (I may also set up an ex pen for her at night) still, as she's primarily my dog. 

We also had another cat, Rascal, who was part of a litter (plus mom) my aunt rescued from animal control, given to me when I was around 7. He died this may, at nearly 17 yrs old. He was an indoor/outdoor cat, and though he had his moments where he'd hunt someone down for some loving on, he was just as likely to swat at you or bite you if you tried to pet him without being solicited, and sometimes even if he did seek you out first 8O . Outside, he was a force to be reckoned with, the other cats left him alone, as did most of the neighborhood dogs (those that didn't quickly learned that they should), though as he got older, we tried to convince him to stay in more than out, especially in the colder months. During one of those times, there was two feet of snow on the ground, and we refused to let him out.... he looked at my mom with a distinct look of scorn, then turned, jumped up on the counter, and sprayed her potholders (the only time I can recall him ever having sprayed in the house) :lol: They say animals can't be vengeful, but he made everyone who he met believe otherwise... he would stalk someone down hours after they did something to him to bite the snot out of them, and once was caught spraying in the vent system of my aunt's car a short time after she shooed him off it for tracking dust on the hood. 

His death wasn't entirely unexpected, as his health had been declining for a while prior (because of his intolerance to extensive handling/restraint, having any kind of in depth diagnostics would have been out of the question, especially since he was too old to be sedated without knowing how his organs were functioning)... we figured as long as he was acting like himself we would let him ride it out. Towards the middle of may, he started really declining in health, and we were having a hard time deciding whether to wait it out and see if he would recover (he had on one occasion in the past) or have him put down. After sitting with him for a bit one evening, having realized that we were nearing the end of his reign, I decided to leash up the small dogs and take them for a brisk walk. 

It was threatening rain, so we headed quickly around our block on our normal route, when I heard a kitten yowling from the yard of an uninhabited house. We have a lot of ferals around here, and my initial thought was that momma cat was moving them and would be back for the kitten, and that I would check on her on the way back and get her then if needed. As I started to walk away, the yowling became even louder, and I decided just to go in and see what was going on, just as a neighbor came out with a flashlight and said she'd been crying for hours. I figured out she was between a bush and the front steps of the house, and as I shined the light back, there was this tiny poof of black and white fur, huddled in the farthest corner. I wriggled back, spiders and all, was greeted with a savage hiss from such a tiny thing, then emerged victoriously, with the kitten dangling meekly by her little scruff. 

I'm a sucker for sickly kittens anyway, but I figure that feeling helpless about Rascal probably didn't help my urgent need to snuggle the crusty eyed little furball up to me and carry her home with us, knowing that she would be staying with me for at least a while, not going to work to find a home. I proudly showed her to my mom upon our arrival home, soaked her eyes to decrust them, clipped her nails (she mewed loudly in protest... I told her that if she was going to be living in the civilized world, she needed to get with the program :wink: ), then set her up with the essentials in a kennel for the night. The next morning, took her to have her checked (est age: 6 weeks), gave her a quick bath, got meds for her URI, etc. 

My happiness at having P was shuttered for that weekend when Rascal, having made a brief improvement towards the beginning of the weekend, took another downward turn on Sunday. He seemed comfortable enough, but it was obvious he was dying. We considered taking him to the E vet to have him put down, but he'd never been easy to handle at the vets, and we couldn't see making him go through another fight unless it became clear he was uncomfortable, and just set him up in a bed with a warm blanket and kept an eye on him. He died that afternoon. I suspect that if there's any kind of afterlife, that he was probably thinking he'd gotten one last one over on us when we went out in pouring rain to dig his grave under one of his favorite spots to lay.

We were left to speculate the timing of finding a kitten rotten enough to rival Rascal so close to his death, but I think having P helped soften the blow of losing such a long time companion. We still speculate whether he sent her here to punish us :lol: , and my Dad has nickmaned her "Son of Rascal" despite the logistic issues (girl cat can't be a son of a neutered male cat). My mom immediately tried to head off the inevitable, several days after Rascal's death, she said, "Don't even think we're keeping that kitten". I agreed verbally, though I knew I'd no sooner part with the little beast than my right hand. She's finally realizing 2 1/2 months later that the kitten is going nowhere, while my Dad, who normally is the one to protest any new animals, seemed open to keeping her from the beginning (he liked Rascal, and I think he misses having a cat that enjoys hanging out with him, since Badgie usually wants no part of it). 

P's current favorite things are :
1. Chasing anything that moves.
2. Harassing Annie the dachshund.
3. Driving her little cube playhouse up/around/into my feet anytime I'm in a hurry and moving around my room, making me nearly fall/and or step on her.
4. Biting. Hard. And hanging on. And people think the pit bull has a grip :lol: Wait till she wraps her little paws around them and sinks her teeth in!
5. Trying to bolt through my door into the jaws of death (aka Haley, who luckily so far has just looked at her in trepidation, knowing that the sky will fall if she even thinks about laying tooth to the cat)... once she's out, she just strolls around, but she's like greased lightning when she decides to make a run for it, so we're implementing some creative measures to keep her from getting free. It doesn't help that they set us up, Haley lays just outside my door, mourning the loss of her room, so we trip as we try to walk out, or have to step over her to get in, and that extra fraction of a second is all P needs to go from laying on my bed or roaming aimlessly to shooting like a rocket through the doorway. 
6. Playing in the faucet... I turn it on fast drip and she goes to town. 
7. Kneeding/suckling my fuzzy blanket... I've tried telling her she's been weaned, but she doesn't want to hear it :roll: 

I'm in the process of leash training her, she's been going in the yard with the small dogs on her leash and harness (just letting it drag so I could catch her if she tried to run) since she was about 8 weeks old, so she's not bothered in the least by them at this point, aside from biting the crap out of me if I pick her up from playing to put it on. We've actually started taking real walks this past week, I walk her with Annie, and she's doing pretty well, though she's still getting used to the sights/sounds... she lays down when cars pass (not a problem IMO, since I don't want her bolting around anyway), and I have to pick her up if there are certain loud noises/fast movement, as she'll either crouch and refuse to get up, or bounce around trying to run. When she seems to get tired or distracted, I pick her up until she struggles to get down again, then she walks some more. 

I do pet therapy visits with Haley, and if P grows out of her biting, maybe we'll see if she likes it as well, guess we'll see. 

She rides well in the car, looks around for a bit, then stretches out and goes to sleep. Haven't tried her on the boat yet :lol: Kenneling is going so-so.... she cries when I kennel her alone at my work, so I put her in an extra large kennel and put Annie in with her... no more crying. She sleeps in a soft sided kennel at night, and doesn't mind it too much as long as we let her out and feed her first thing in the morning, but we're looking to phase that out and give her roam of the house at night. Badger does not care for her at this point, and P has the forward fear thing going on, so we're going to have to integrate them slowly, though P is doing pretty well with my sister's cats. 

She's had some recurring URI symptoms, mainly her one eye gets discharge. I've started her on Lysine and have just been doing Triple B opth ointment in her eye, and it seems to be clearing ok without antibiotics so far.... I'm glad because the second time we did clavamox (her runny nose recurred), it made her puke and refuse to eat, scared me. 

I think what I love most right now is how she can go from being such a rotten little beast to sprawled out across my lap snoozing in a matter of minutes. And she really is loving when she first wakes up.... for about a minute :lol: 

Anyway, I think that about covers it. I'll post some pics of P in the gallery, will take me a bit to dig up some of the other two cats, I'm not sure I have any on this computer.

ETA: Pics can be seen here:
P & Badgie


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## coaster (Dec 1, 2004)

Hi, Terri, and welcome to the forum. I must say, that was surely an understated caption. :lol: But there's still one missing piece of information: is that P in your avatar? It's a cute pic.


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## P (Aug 3, 2008)

Indeed  She doesn't much care for Annie planting her slimy tennis ball on her... I'm personally thinking A does it as payback for biting her tail :lol:


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## Heidi n Q (Nov 22, 2006)

P said:


> ...if there's any kind of afterlife, that he was probably thinking he'd gotten one last one over on us when we went out in pouring rain to dig his grave under one of his favorite spots to lay.
> 
> Dad has nickmaned her "Son of Rascal" despite the logistic issues (girl cat can't be a son of a neutered male cat).


OMG what a read! Welcome Terri, I loved reading about your pets. I felt an afinity for Rascal, just reading about him....and I LOVED the part about your Dad and "The Son of Rascal". That was too much, it sent me over the edge of laughter! :lol:


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## DesnBaby (Apr 18, 2004)

Just saw your kitten pictures, so


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## BoscosMum (Apr 29, 2004)

Hello and welcome to the forum.....

*WAY too long* for me to read all of that though! 
You lost me after the first paragraph!


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