Freeper martin_fierro conscripted to serve Our Feline Overlords [Two new kitties!]

8/22/08

[LucyT]

They are beautiful cats.

What happened to Laurencia’s tail?

[MHGinTN]

Can't get the video to play ... but enjoy your servitude to the feline masters (or mistresses).

[RosieCotton]

My brother has a gorgeous red tabby female — they aren’t as common as males, but it isn’t unheard of.

[RosieCotton]

Aww...they’re gorgeous! Kind of exotic looking, too — I’m guessing they’re not entirely domestic shorthair types?

[martin_fierro]

Some background on the girls:

Emily is a 4½ month old kitten who almost died when she swallowed some dental floss that wrapped around her tongue and intestines.

Her family had opted to euthanize her, but the veterinarian asked Emily's owners to surrender her to the veterinary clinic. The vet then performed life-saving surgery on Emily and she successfully recovered in a foster home.

She has a stately, though friendly, way about her.

Laurencia (f.k.a. "Shiba Inu" due to her reddish coloring and corkscrew tail, f.k.a. "Jenita") is a 3½ month old fuzzball who was rescued from a local shelter when her time was up. Her markings look like she has some red Abyssinian in her lineage. We're told that she's a very people-oriented kitten who loves to talk. She definitely was the more gregarious of the two during our two hour-long first meeting.

We're not sure what caused Laurencia's "corkscrew" tail, but it looks congenital. She also came to us with a slight runny nose/sneeze (maybe she's allergic to us), which is damn cute. She's already taken to curling up to sleep on my chest when I lay on the couch.

[A knight without armor]

They are so sweet!!!

[RosieCotton]

I have a soft spot for the stubby tailed kitties of the world. ;-) When I was ten I got a black and white kitten that had just a little powder puff of a tail. Mom was apparently a manx, and most of that litter had little to no tail.

He was *such* a pretty kitty, with a real personality. He also had an odd gait — hopped like a rabbit. I adored that cat....

[martin_fierro]

If anyone has kitty litter/litter box recommendations, we'd love to hear 'em.

The brand we're using now is of the clumping variety, but is unscented and doesn't mask odors very well. We were told that some cats won't use scented litter.

Also, if anyone has any real-world experience with their cats using this brand of "automatic" litterbox, I'm all ears!

[Mjaye]

Re: Female Orange kitties, I have one, and my vet’s assistant tells me that orange females are notoriously bossy. Mine definitely runs the herd, and is a character. My two hapless boy kitties take all kinds of guff from the Orange One and her female sidekick.

[MHGinTN]

Allergies are more pronounced witht he reddish orange fur color. I have a cat named Mister Crookedtail who has four 90 degree bends in his shortened tail. I thought perhaps someone had slammed a door on his tail as a kitten, but the vet told me it is a spinal defect and not as rare as folks think ... tail anomolies are spinal defects. Crook, BTW, is an extremely intelligent cat, and vocal only when he is giving orders or asking where everybody has gotten off to ... though neutered he’s the alpha male of my two guys. I have a large orange mixed-breed (Goose) who is six years younger than old Crook who is sixteen now. Your girls are beautiful and very alert!

[MediaMole]

They look like great cats. I’m glad to hear that they were both rescued.

There are no better cats than rescues. They seem to understand that we picked them for a reason.

My favorite cat was a stray to wandered onto our front porch and just stayed. He was a pure white cat who understood just how good he had it. He would take walks with my dad and stay at heel like a dog.

[Slings and Arrows]

1. I’ve gotten the best results with Arm & Hammer litter. You’ll never get 100% of the odors, but it does a good job.

2. The “automatic” litterboxes work - I use them. The large size is better, though - it’s bigger and the clumps are much less likely to adhere to the plastic.

[Hetty_Fauxvert]

You’re right; female red tabbies are not unheard of, but they are on the unusual side. Breeders like them because they will often throw a whole litter of red tabbies (a popular color). We have a beautiful dark red tabby Manx in our household. His mother was a red tabby also, his father was a brown tabby, and his litter consisted of four red tabby males.

[Huntress]

I’ve had three of these litter boxes over the years. They work very well, and are sturdy, easy to assemble, and fairly easy to clean. Get the large size, as the usable area of the regular size is quite small one you put the grate in.

[Huntress]

I've recently switched to a litter called “Fresh Results.” It's made of corncobs, is much lighter and less dusty than clay litter, clumps just as well, and controls odors well. It has a nice pine scent. Wal-mart sells it. My kitties track it pretty bad, but it vacuums up easily with a small rechargeable vac.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Good looking kitties! Enjoy the catlife.

Mine just barfed up a hairball that I could have pulled the “bigfoot hoax” with.

[RepoGirl]

Martin, Martin, Martin...

Hadn't picked up that Emily was a Calico in the first picture of your girls. Oh my... an orange kittie and a calico? The perfect storm for utter cat goofiness.

Thanks for the pics -- the girls are adorable! Enjoy!

[CAluvdubya]

Congrats! One of my four is a beautiful calico kitten...she rules the house! LOL

Martin, you mentioned the curly tail on your orange baby, is that a trait for them? My son has a male orange Tabby and his tail is like none that I've ever seen! Total curly cue!

[martin_fierro]

Martin, you mentioned the curly tail on your orange baby, is that a trait for them?

Oh, I don't think so. Probably a birth defect/genetic mutation. Nether of these cats are what you'd call "purebred."

[dljordan]

The one on the left is trouble! He’s got shifty eyes.