Family, pets, Uncategorized

Animal Magnetism

44 Comments

Husband is allergic to cats. Actually, he is allergic to most things airborne, like dust or pollen. He lives his life the way he chooses despite his chronic post nasal drip. He is allergic to most conifers, yet we always have a live tree at Christmas.  An artificial tree would just collect dust every year, so it is toss up between that and pollen.  We also haven’t been without a cat for the past 30 years.

Luna, our grey tabby,  adores Chris. His is the only lap she jumps into. His is the only chair and foot stool she rubs and marks. She cries at night when he is at the reservation. She senses when it is Thursday and it is time for him to come home.  Around 7:00 pm she starts meowing and rubbing up against his chair.  She jumps in the chair and sits there, waiting, until she hears his truck in the driveway. Then she runs to the entryway and waits for the door to open. She likes it when I toss paper balls to her. She likes it when I fill her water bowl.  I just don’t have that special something that makes her adore Chris.

How have animals let you know their opinion of you?  Tell about your animal relationships.

44 thoughts on “Animal Magnetism”

  1. i am the whisperer in our house
    dogs cats fish… all mine
    they appreciate the rest of the family but i am a god
    my dogs wait with baited breath to see if i will refer to them
    my cats know i am the petting roughly person the rest of the humans are lacking
    the fish see me across the room and rejoice

    my dogs because they grew up together and in an environment where they could run and rough house to their hearts delight, have a real challenge with other dogs
    i stopped taking them to the fog park because the two of them would stack other dogs
    they have that republican outlook on attacking before you are attacked rather than the smile on your brother mantra of the youngblood’s
    last week i took them out and we had to walk on the street because the sidewalks were killing me with melting and refreezing . we were walking along and some text message buzzed in my pocket and i shifted both leashes to one hand to reply and then a dog who had been sitting silently in the front yard of the housecwecwerecwakking by decided to make itself know and nala was over the snow bank, pulled the leash out of my hands up into the front yard and in the dogs fur in one second. growling and going for it.
    i was quick and emphatic and yelled 5 times in all caps COME HERE NOW!!!!

    the first got her to stop immediately. the second had her begin to step away, the third let her know she had a problem if she chose plan b, the 4th was her decision moment and number 5 had her wagging her tail coming back to me with praise and big enthusiastic petting. poor vinny who had behaved correctly in the first place got praised but he looked slighted in that he knew he had been examplary but the prodigal sister got the big reception
    they are mildly trained
    i shouldn’t say that , when you train them there is no halfway or mild version but we really don’t live in a very strict exchange
    i do let them know when i make one of my random commands that i insist on completing the request
    family doesn’t get it but dogs do

    cats… forget it

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  2. Rise and Shine Baboons,

    At our house my husband is the cat person, and I am the dog person, although we both mingle well with both. With kids, dogs, and cats I am the disciplinarian and Lou, is, well, a pushover. Indulgent.

    The last cat, Mochise, was entirely devoted to Lou. She waited on the bathroom vanity when he used the potty; she waited on the potty when he was in the shower; she woke him with gently, loving devotion each morning while still letting me know that I was extraneous in her world. Her obsession with Lou became so obvious that this cat started writing the annual Christmas letter about how much she loved him. And then she started to receive replies from friends and family supporting her position!

    This six pound cat ran the house.

    The dogs are more devoted to me, but really, a dog will love anyone who feeds him/her. I own the heart of our once abused dog, Bootsy. She has her own little routine, though. She wants to be petted only when sitting on the bed or the couch, when she will roll over and let me rub her stomach.

    The animals are such a gift, providing intimacy without other expectations.

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  3. I’m not really a dog person, except for a certain few dogs that for some reason I hit it off with. However, dogs don’t seem to know that, or if they do, they are determined to change my mind. They often are all over me, slobbering and breathing their stinky breath. I’m just not into it and usually wish they would just go away.

    I realize that this will not make me very popular with some other baboons.

    I do like cats, though, and usually welcome their attention but I don’t force myself on them.

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      1. We had a family dog, a collie, but I didn’t really bond with her. I didn’t dislike her, just didn’t care about her much.

        When I was a teen, my parents started getting cats and I got my own cat. What BiR said about a cat “claiming me for their own in a special way,” that was how it was with this cat. She was very special but a large dog played with her too roughly and she had severe internal injuries that meant she had to be put down. There have been two cats since then that have been particularly mine – and I still miss the latest cat – but I am cat-free now and will probably remain that way for quite a while.

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  5. My father was an animal magnet. He loved all critters. He never hunted because he couldn’t bear the thought of hurting any creature. Whenever our cats begged him for food, he would say “Renee, that poor cat is hungry!” and then proceed to give it a tid bit from his plate. He always made sure the treat wasn’t too hot so the cat wouldn’t burn its mouth.

    He befriended a baby squirrel that would sit on his shoulder and come and look for Dad through the bay window to encourage him to come outside. When the other condo owners complained about his feeding of the squirrels, he took his friend to my Uncle Alvin’s farm and rehomed him in a grove of trees near two big corn cribs.

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  7. When he was young and had to milk cows, all the cats would line up and wait for him to squirt them in the face with milk straight from the cow. I guess that really made my grandpa mad, but Dad never stopped.

    He adored our pugs and they adored him.

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  8. Cat person all the way. Not a cat whisperer but I know where to pet and scratch them. Love their sleekness (well, most cats–we had an adorable tubbo named Corfu who somehow got addicted to food and got up to 13 lbs. The ultimate lap cat. My first cat, as a kid, was Midnight and although we put him outside most every night (except really cold winter nights) and he got into fights with other cats (this was the era before neutering was common), whenever I picked him up he would hug me by putting his paws around my neck. One of the things I love most about cats is purring. Talk about relaxation therapy!

    Dogs? I wish I could like them, but that’s a long story for another day.

    Chris in Owatonna

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  9. Years of watching Cesar Milan (the Dog Whisperer) have taught me dogs are exquisitely aware of the mental states of their humans. When their humans are scared or angry, dogs often behave badly. Dogs deeply want their people to be calm and confident.

    My son in law chose their current dog, a black lab mix that was terribly abused by her first owners. Although Chloe is officially his dog, and although my sil does everything possible to care for her, Chloe belongs heart and soul to my daughter. Chloe is never completely at ease when my daughter is out of sight. Her past abuse conditioned her to trust the most calm and centered human in her world.

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  10. When one of our pugs was suffering and needed to be put down at a ripe old age, my father couldn’t follow through and drive her to the vet. He had his coffee shop employee take her. Dad said he tried, but the dog snuggled up to him in the car as they drove to the vet and he had to turn around and go back to the coffee shop. He dug her grave while the vet did her thing. Chris and I were home at the time, and we had to bury her. Dad stayed in the house, heartbroken.

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    1. (answering Renee) A friend had a Lhasa Apso that never showed the least amount of affection for its owner. Instead, it peed on her carpets every chance it got. I always wondered if that was some sort of message.

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    3. We did a rescue dog thing and the poor little shivery thing quakes in his boot every time I entered the room. I finally won him over enough to have him stop turning and hiding but then he died

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  12. I’ve almost always had cats since I lived on my own – let’s see, there was Squeaky and Midnight (wonder if they knew each other, Chris) in California; Olga, Ollie, Bambi in Brooklyn; Boots and Pluff in the Dupont apartment, Mpls; PA something Underfoot (when we were staying on the farm near Winona); Socks (Winona first time); and then Momcat, Slushball, and Charlie the Cat (Robbinsdale). Although they all accepted me as a housemate, and would sit on me when they felt like it, not one of them claimed me for their own in any special way… Slushball was probably the closest, but he was cuddly with anyone who would have him..

    I think I would have enjoyed a dog, but it just never happened.

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  13. I’ve had lots of different pets over the years, and with few exceptions they were all pretty dedicated to me. One major exception was Gizmo, Hans’s double yellow headed Amazon parrot. Gizmo was about twenty-three years old when we bought him. His owner was selling him because the bird was so bonded to her ex-boyfriend, that she hadn’t been able to handle him when he moved out, so he had spent two years cooped up in a cage. Apparently, it’s pretty common for big birds to bond only with one person.

    Initially, Gizmo and I became friendly, but as soon as he had established that our house was his new abode, he showed his true colors. He would sing and talk to me, but he would bite me every chance he got. To be fair, he bit Hans several times too, but I became fearful of touching him because his bites really hurt. We had Gizmo until we put him down a couple of years ago when he developed respiratory trouble and was very sick. He lived to be fifty years old, I think Hans still misses him.

    Gizmo was a character and a talker, especially when he was younger. His patter was always appropriate to the situation. If for instance, the phone rang, he’d wait until you lifted the receiver at which point he’d holler: “Well, hello there!” Then he’d burst out laughing. When I’d initiate a phone call, he’d give a running commentary, imitating what I sounded like to him, I guess. He would often spontaneously say: “What’s the matter, huh?” if he thought you had quiet for too long. The “huh” at the end, always giving the impression that he cared or was asking a question. He would also say “I love you,” whenever he wanted a treat or some attention. He loved watching TV, and would pick up on the laugh tracks when it was appropriate to laugh. Gizmo always wanted to be in the room where people were, and would raise a ruckus if left alone in a room by himself. He liked to eat at the dinner table with us, and would put up a big stink if you left him in his cage to dine on bird seed. He like people food, thank you very much.

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    1. Probably that you close the door, otherwise I suspect the cat would be right in there with you. I know that our Martha sees my bathroom breaks as her opportunity for an extra petting session.

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    1. Yup. Go to your account by clicking on your icon in the upper right corner and then clicking on Account Settings. Then choose Notification Settings from the menu on the left side. Then you can choose what you get email notifications for.

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  16. Luna will be very anxious and upset tomorrow night. Husband is in Fargo for continuing education and won’t be home until Friday evening.

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  17. I always thought I was just a dog person until we got Zorro and I discovered that I’m also a cat person. I wish I could be as calm and assertive as Cesar Millan, but I’m looking at that in the rear view mirror!

    Wasband was pretty allergic to cats and I swear every cat that came near him knew it. Even when out walking, cats would come up to him and rub against his legs.

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  18. Hey there–
    I couldn’t pass this one up. Love to hear the animal stories.
    I’m a dog person through and through. Four dogs at our house now. That wasn’t the plan, it’s just the way it’s working out.
    Zoey is 15 years old. She’s deaf and having some other issues but still feeling good and doing her best at being a watch dog. That brings in Bailey; our newest puppy. Half Blue Heeler, half Pomeranian. Really? Yep. She’s kind of a puff ball. But she’s turning into a good watch dog; Zoey is mentoring her. Bailey has incredibly bright eyes.
    Although the other day I caught her in the chicken coop. She wasn’t doing anything but eating chicken feed, but boy, the look on her face when I came in the back door and surprised her, she knew she was in trouble. She’s not supposed to be in the coop.
    In the house we have Allie, the Rat Terrier. She’s about 13 years old and pretty much rules the house… And my buddy, Humphrey. He’s the biggest of the bunch and the most gentle.
    When I get back from Looville (I heard that’s the proper pronunciation) Bailey and Allie will go bonkers to see me. Zoey will wag herself silly. And Humphrey, he’ll play it cool. He won’t get all silly about it, but he’ll run and bring me some toys right away.

    Chickens- there are a couple that don’t like us reaching in for eggs and will peck and bite. They hate us equally; they’ll bite Kelly as much as they’ll bite me.

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  20. My first cat, Franny, originally belonged to one of my housemates. My housemate had a male cat named Lillian (oops), and got Franny to keep Lillian company. My housemate kept her bedroom door shut at night, with both cats shut out. She was determined to not let her cats sleep with her.

    I didn’t have the option of shutting the cats out of my bedroom, because the cats had to go through my bedroom to get to the litterboxes. So of course both cats slept with me. Lillian slept at the foot of my bed, but Franny had to be right up by my right ear, purring loudly. At first I tried to get her to sleep in a cat bed next to my bed, but she wouldn’t have it.

    Eventually my housemate moved. She called me soon afterwards and asked if I wanted to take Franny. “She just cries all night,” she said. So Franny came back to live with me, and for sixteen years slept every night snuggled in the crook of my right arm. She just wanted to sleep with a human and I was her human.

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      1. They all have their spots. Franny was right arm. Joao, left arm. Sammy is up under the chin. Isabel is on my legs. Jory was usually up somewhere around the head of the bed, but not touching me, until he felt it was morning, when he would nudge me with the side of his face.

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  21. We are lucky, my hubby and I, we have two cats and they are pretty much “equal-opportunity” cats. One MEOWS when he gets home from work and she runs to tell me (even though I can hear her through the entire house!). One will sleep on either of us – usually whomever is more still – while we watch TV. Cats are funny!

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  22. I am just like your husband, but worse… I also have alergies to cats and pollen, but currently have 26 cats in my home (my daughter really wanted to help the local strays so we set up a bit of an animal shelter) and we live in a forest 🙂

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