# Am I odd for keeping whiskers and furr?



## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

I have some whiskers from each kitty, theyre alive but I figure its something Ill be able to still have down the road. I also have, from dogs in the past, some furr from each. 

Am I bonkers? Or is it more common than I think?

My mom saw a whisker on my shelf and she kinda thought i was nuts.


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## Jetlaya67 (Sep 26, 2012)

They are mementos of your pets. It is not crazy, just different. Some people do pictures you do bits of fur or whiskers. It is like in the movies when someone carries a lock of hair from a loved one. But if the fur or whiskers start talking then maybe there is an issue 
I don't collect whiskers but when I find one I love to play with it. They are stronger than they look.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

oh i most definately am bad for too many cat photos too! lol. But i guess because those things were actually part of them, they are different. I have photos of my missed puppies too, but the fur has that real aspect to it too.

Whiskers are amazingly strong, arent they??!


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## howsefrau32 (Mar 6, 2013)

I have a lock of fur from my dog that died in 2008, his paw print and his ashes and the ashes of my hubby's childhood dog in a sort of shrine on a shelf. I don't think you are strange.


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## Justteri1000 (May 27, 2013)

*Guilty*

Little mementos from every cat (except for the first) that I have had for the past 35 years.


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## camskyw (Jan 10, 2012)

I still have a picture of my deceased cat (2009) with Santa sitting on my end table. I also have kept Luckys baby teeth that he has lost, told my husband that I was going to start a baby book for him!!! lol So I don't think you are not strange.


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## JungliBillis (Mar 20, 2013)

I have my babies' baby teeth in a little box, too. How can I throw them away?


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Glad im not the only one at least who keeps things like that. 

Not sure what ill ever do with them, really, theyre just keep sakes. 

Although one of the dogs was not technically mine, so that one may be a bit extra strange. He felt like mine though. And he was very close to me too. I was his belly rubbing person, he saw me and up went the front paw, he knew what was about to happen lol.

What can i say, it takes me roughly 30 seconds to start getting attached! lol


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## Cats in the Cradle (Jun 28, 2013)

I used to have a cat who I collected whiskers from. I had an envelope full of spiky white whiskers. Strangely, years later when he was but a memory and I'd moved out of home, my mum brought over the envelope for me to keep. It still had the childish picture of him I'd drawn on the envelope along with his name in cursive. 

The strangest thing happened. I was disgusted by the envelope and hid it away in a draw and later down the track I threw the envelope away. Long story, but my relationship with this cat had been somewhat traumatic and I don't think I could handle his whiskers even though I still think and talk of him often. There's always a sourness to the memories. Not a sourness towards him, but to the situation that had been. 

I don't keep any whiskers any more but one of my cats recently lost a tooth and I have the broken tooth (vet had to break it to pull it out) stored in a matryoshka (Russian doll) cat figurine on the bookshelf near the front door. I will never, ever give up that tooth. I even cherish the specks of blood on it.


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## Auroraei (Jun 18, 2013)

Only if you start collecting and hoarding every little thing that falls off your pet, then I think it's weird.

I saw an episode of Hoarders before where a young man didn't want to vacuum his house because his dogs hair was all over the place, and he made a weird connection in his brain that if he threw the hair away, it would be like throwing his dog away. That's when it starts to get odd and unhealthy.

I wouldn't have a jar of my cats whiskers or anything :lol: but I do have 1 of his baby teeth.


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

Definately dont keep everything when we vacuum lol!!

When the dreaded time came, i would keep a lock of their furr... but not every hair to ever fall off of them ever. now thats just strange lol.


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## CatMonkeys (Sep 27, 2012)

Auroraei said:


> Only if you start collecting and hoarding every little thing that falls off your pet, then I think it's weird.
> 
> I saw an episode of Hoarders before where a young man didn't want to vacuum his house because his dogs hair was all over the place, and he made a weird connection in his brain that if he threw the hair away, it would be like throwing his dog away. That's when it starts to get odd and unhealthy.
> 
> I wouldn't have a jar of my cats whiskers or anything :lol: but I do have 1 of his baby teeth.


I saw that episode and I thought of it too when I saw this thread! Having small mementos is fine, as long as they don't consume your house/life.


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## maggie23 (Mar 10, 2012)

Justteri1000 said:


> Little mementos from every cat (except for the first) that I have had for the past 35 years.
> View attachment 20066


i love your jar of mementos! :love2

i have a jar of angel's hair myself. i started collecting it so i could actually put little tufts out every once in a while for the birds to make nice soft nests out of. i always hoped to see some white fur nests around the neighborhood. i don't know if the birds actually use it or not, but i've heard of people hangin out strings of yarn and watching the birds come and take those, wo whiy not kitty fur? it's SO much cushier!

i don't know if i will keep her hair after she leaves me because i'm not sure if it would just make me incredibly sad each time i saw it or thought of it. when our first kitty died, both my husband and i went around the house collecting every bit of fur we could find because we missed her so much and it was such a sudden passing.

however, i am guilty of being the typical tired mom now. i collected hair and took tons of pictures of our first 2, and i have totally tapered off since then. so, the other 2 kids we have now, i don't have ANY fur collected and far fewer pics. BAD mom!!!!


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

I don't keep whiskers or fur or anything. I do have little mementos from each animal that I've loved.

My horse Dancer, I have his 'baby' shoes. The first pair of horse shoes that he wore. I asked the farrier to take them off well before they were due to be replaced and I kept them. They are hanging over the curtain rod in my closet at ATM. Dancer's last set of indoor and outdoor rugs are still in my tack trunk, and his yearling halter is stored away as well. 

My old dog Mini's puppy collar that she outgrew @ 12 weeks old is in my trunk. ALso an old sweater she used to wear (when she was thin enough to fit in it). 

I have MowMOw's adoption collar (little cheap plastic collar they put on their cats to tell them apart).

I'm big on pictures. My apartment is PACKED with framed pictures of 14 year old pictures of my nephew from when he was a baby, Puppy pictures of Luna, pictures of Mini, pictures of Anthony, and now pictures of MowMOw... less of BOok because I'm having a terrible time taking pictures of him, they are all so dark and he NEVER stands still so they all come out fuzzy. I do have 4 of him though.


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## spirite (Jul 31, 2012)

Are you planning to knit something with them? :wink:

I swear I saw a TV show about a woman who was making handbags out of her kitties' fur. I thought that was a little odd.

Or maybe I've completely imagined it - in which case I'm the one who's odd.


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## Mitts & Tess (Sep 4, 2004)

When my cat Mz Tess passed I snipped a bit of her torti fur. A dear friend of mine made a hollow heart and put her fur in it and soddered it shut. He and his wife surprised me with it. I will always treasure it. I wear her heart necklace to adoption events.


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## binkyhoo (Feb 16, 2003)

I have saved some of my passed kittys whiskers too. I all ways ment to put them into a locket. But now they are still in a small tin in my jewlery box.

I remember when my first cat died. He was young and it was unexpected. ( cancer) I had such a hard time washing his fur off of the bed quilt. I knew it had to be done eventually. I never cried so hard in front of a washing machine.


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## elykoj (Feb 28, 2013)

*Yes*

That is bizarre and wierd


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## razzle (May 20, 2010)

No it's not weird or anything. 

I collected Razzle's whiskers because I knew someday he would die and I would treasure them. I just started to collect his fur when he died so I had the vet clip some fur for me. They are in his memorial box. Only have one whisker of Geet's because they are black and I don't see them.

Every time I brush Geet's I save his fur. Though I thought the fur would be black since he's all black but the fur is grey. I found a book where you can make crafts out of cat fur and I plan on doing that someday and it won't bother me one bite that I did it.

Kathy


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## jadis (Jul 9, 2011)

I have never kept fur...I usually try to get rid of as much of it as possible, lol. The whiskers are kind of cool when they fall out. I have kept whiskers and teeth to show my husband or kids and then thrown them away after. Actually I have kept a pile of fur once to show hubby how much came off one animal, but then I threw it away after he saw it. I have a picture of it though...so maybe I'm weirder than I thought...


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

I only kept photos of Simon. I really wish I had made a video or recording of his voice. That's one of the things about him I miss the most.


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## MowMow (Nov 6, 2010)

NebraskaCat said:


> I only kept photos of Simon. I really wish I had made a video or recording of his voice. That's one of the things about him I miss the most.


 I know it's not even close to the furry little guy you loved but, maybe this will fill the void JUST a little....


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## AmberH (Jul 20, 2011)

I have some whiskers for quite a few cats past and present. Not sure what to do with them but I keep them in individual zip lock bags.


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## NebraskaCat (Jan 15, 2013)

MowMow said:


> I know it's not even close to the furry little guy you loved but, maybe this will fill the void JUST a little....


Aww, tell MowMow thanks for saying hi. He's such a handsome beast. 
Oddly enough, he sounded almost exactly like Penny rather than Simon.


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## Rho (Jul 27, 2013)

I have sooooo many pictures of Gabriel, and before he crossed over, I put a tiny bit of his fur in a locket/pin so I always have a bit of him with me!


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## Catlover Danielle (Jul 31, 2013)

I don't want to ever lose one of my babies...  I know it'll happen. I just don't want that time to come.. ever ever ever.


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## heston (Nov 17, 2011)

When I had to put Misty to sleep a few years ago, the vet asked me if I wanted some of her hair and I did. It's in a plastic bag and kept in a closet with other cat stuff. I don't have her whiskers tho. I miss her so much and always will.


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## Merlin_Guinevere (Sep 2, 2012)

I kept fur from my kitties that died when I was a teenager (I grew up with the kitties, and they both died in my early teens from feline leukemia). People probably thought it was weird (though some probably didn't....either way, I don't care!) Some people like to have a tangible memory to hold on to of their beloved pets. I will probably keep bits of fur from the cats I have now too, though hopefully they will be in my life for many years to come since they are all still teenagers themselves. I think if it is something you want to do, then you should do. (How many baby books do you go through where parents keep hair and rotten old teeth from their kids?? It's not just pets we do this with! )


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## Claiken (Dec 18, 2007)

I also kept locks of fur from my past dogs (mine and neighbours). my childhood dog i was too little and didnt think to ask for anything like that. i would have though. But we do have her collar still. 

i guess its just that little piece that you still have.


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## Yuki'sMum (Dec 3, 2012)

I have a cute little decorative box I keep on a shelf and that's my whisker box  I couldn't bring myself to throw them out when I find them! My daughter says she keeps Pixel's whiskers too (Yuki's sister) so I guess weirdness runs in the family lol! 


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