The stray kitten on my patio
 

I'm not taking it in. I'll tell you that right now. However cute it may be, I'm not of a mind to take in a cat. Nor is my landlord of a mind to allow me a cat. Which is fine by me.

But...

But as I was finishing my walk tonight, I was almost back to my townhouse when I heard the distinct meow of a kitten. Foolishly, I stopped, looked around, and spotted a little gray-on-white kitten who ran right up to my roommate and me. No collar. Of course.

So we walked the few remaining doors back to our home, kitten following close behind. I stopped on the patio to finish my cigar before going inside. The kitten hung out by my feet. And that's when I noticed it had a cough. My roommate and I decided there'd be no harm in giving it a little food and milk to help it through the night. It devoured both. Before too long I finished my cigar and went inside, perfectly content to leave the kitten to its fate. After all, it's not all that cold this time of year in Vegas. It might actually survive as a feral cat, or it might find some other sap to take it in.

Then I found myself looking outside thruogh the window every few minutes. The cat was sitting in one of our patio chairs, presumably soaking up the heat remaining from my roommate's ample bottom. I decided to take a few old towels and set them on the chair so the kitten could cozy up.

Now, five hours later, the kitten is still sitting on the chair, staring at me with its adorable little kitty-cat eyes every time I peek through the blinds. What am I to do? I'm not taking it in, but I can't in good conscience let it starve. But is it any better to let it die of exposure? I can't say that it is. Still, I've already done the kitten a huge favor by giving it some food and milk. Surely I've added days to its life expectancy. Maybe even given it the chance it needs to survive. How much more would my conscience expect of me?

You could uh... Take it to the animal shelter? At least it'll be living a little better than on your patio.

If you don't know anyone who would be willing to take in a kitten right now, the shelter is probably the best bet. The poor thing isn't likely to have a chance on it's own.

That's not a bad idea. The Dewey Animal Shelter is a no-kill shelter just a few miles from my house. Funny how some of the most obvious solutions just don't spring to mind for some reason.

Aww i don't know how you can resist it, i'm a wuss when it comes to stray animals, i even had a duck a few years ago ( thanks to a very naughty son!)

The animal shelter is the best option if you can't give it a home yourself.
x

how could you sleep knowing that poor animal with the big eyes is staring at your blinds?

what more can be said

http://www.celticdesade.com/upload/P...ots_square.jpg

Since you have a no-kill, take it there. No-kill shelters do amazing things. I volunteer for ours, and the results are generally good.

Think about giving them a donation, too. It's a nice thing to do. Sometimes they need things as simple as newspaper and cleaning supplies.

You should have let the kitten finish your cigar, man.

Edit: Yes, to the Alan-Mobile at once. Take it to the shelter! However, I think you secretly want us to urge you to take it in so you can say you did it for us.

From the sounds of things, it doesn't seem as though it would take too much in the way of persuasion, at this point. ;)
Somehow, however, I don't think that the landlord is going to be as easily persuaded. "You've got a WHAT?!?!

When dave and I talk to people about renting, even if they have a no pet policy somehow if I mention a cat its ok to have one lol Most of them dont like dogs, but its like a cat isnt in the "pet" category lol (and we've had several tell us that for a cat we dont have to pay a deposit, but we would for a dog)

it doesnt hurt to ask, the worst the landlord can say is no....

I had a hamster in a no-pet house when I was at university. I used to hide him in my wardrobe if a landlordy visit was ever threatened. Has nothing to do with anything really, just reminded me.

His name was John and he lived for ages. He was bald and grey when he died.

cats are evil. You did well not to take it in. You would have been forever cursed!!

Cats were worshipped as Gods by the ancient Egyptians, and cats have never forgotten this!

Oh take him in! It's not like the landlord's going to throw you out over a kitten at Christmas. He'd be a fucking bastard if he did.

Yeah and look what happened to the Egyptians!!

Take the kitty. S/he's adopted you! They have been comforted by your presence! If you take in the kitty now, you can train her/him to be the loyal lap cat you never knew you needed. You can get her/him to come when called, play silly games, and have her/him waiting at your door for you to come home, at which point they will be ecstatic!

People don't know how to accept unconditional love these days. :D

Yeah, look, as somebody in a three-cat household, I can tell you: you're 90% of the way to taking it in already.

I didn't realize unconditional love involved shedding hair all over your clothes, peeing on your clothes and putting a stinky butt in your face and breathing tuna breath all over you :lol:

not feeding the cat tuna will take care of one of those problems :p ....and as a person who's had to endure many a cat butt I've never noticed that its stinky (maybe cause mine doesnt eat tuna?)

Our cat only pees on clothes when I've been too lazy to clean the litter pan and/or when it hasnt been spayed/neutered

look at the cat hair this way....maybe the OP has a really annoying person that comes to visit and maybe that person is allergic to cats....the shedded cat hair would help to keep that person away in the future riiiiiiiiiiiiiight?

Oh that's another thing... litter boxes are sooooo gross. ok so you don't feed a cat tuna. I have yet to smell a good smelling version of cat food. Plus cats ignore you and do nothing but sleep all day. You can't play fetch with a cat or do anything fun with it.

There's no type of argument that can make me change my mind about cats. :D

gucci, I didn't realize you were such a wimp! :lol:

My female cat has taken to peeing in the bathroom sink while I'm trying to get ready when her litter isn't clean enough. *sigh*

My cats are very affectionate loving animals. I'm sorry you have only met boring cats who weren't allowed to be anything but house ornaments. :*

one of my favorite things to do with my cat its watch it try to kill plastic bags and my socks..... she also gives me massages on command. There is something very satisfying and calming to me having her asleep on some part of my body.

oh and yes you can play fetch....I had a cat once that would fetch balled up cigarette pack. We'd take empty ones and crush them up and throw them across the room and he'd go and get it and bring it back every time

oh...and yeah litter boxes are the greatest things in the world I agree with that.

eewwwwwww........ i'm not brushing my teeth at your place anymore. wait I never did. :)

Heh--don't feel pressured to take a cat. I did when a friend picked up a stray and couldn't take her (because she already had 2 other cats). I love that cat, but I think I would have been happier if I had refused. It's a bit of extra responsibility in my busy life. And now I feel like I'm committed to keeping the cat forever.

Good for you, however, for thinking about its well-being--I can't imagine *vegas* is a place where stray non-desert animals do very well!

Hey I'm not a wimp!! I just don't like smelling cat pee!! Cat pee is the worst smell evar.. it never goes away.

and EWWWW gross.. in your sink?!?!?!

Ok so some cats play and stuff.. but you can't take a cat for a walk in the park or take it for a ride in your car.

It can be bad... and the sink, it's not so awful, really. I'd rather that than the rug or something. At least I can rinse it away, use bleach to clean it, and no smell lingers at ALL. (by the way, our apartment doesn't smell like cats, I promise).

Ours sure do - and they have lines to be in the backyard, not that it works extremely well or anything. And Punkin goes for car rides all the time with me - when we pick up Quadro, there's his kitty waiting!

Better the sink than in your basement or in your shoes...

My cat kicks ass... through his jube of power is the nastiest (it's a prolapse but don't tell him, he get's embarassed)

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...ber2003001.jpg

that's a good pic for stuffonmycat.com :)

see!! ^^^ cats are evil! Charlatan's already has his war helmet on. Cats pretend to be loving just so they can try and take over the world one day.

charlatan what are you doint with my cat!!!!!!!! ok so the nose is different hehehe

http://www.celticdesade.com/images/sarah.jpg

If we're going to have kitty pictures here...
http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b1...edsabrina2.jpg

Is your cat sticking its tongue out, Shani, or am I just blind?

And if so, isn't that kind of rude? I mean, not to be an asshole or anything, but I don't even know your cat. I don't appreciate him dissing me.

oh yes SHE is sticking her tongue out hehehehe

she's dissing guccilvr not you hehehehe

Ah yea, he deserves it. :)

keep stickin that tongue out.. I hear the restaraunt down the street is paying double for cats that stick their tongue out..

:p

:hmm:

What kind of restaurant is that?

you know... one of those restaraunts that have cheap buffets ;)

EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL EVIL

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c1...vr/CatHiss.jpg

Despite the goofy hat... my cat is a badass... it's just that he's Canadian so he's a little too tolerant...

http://www.tfproject.org/tfp/attachm...id=13238&stc=1

PS: He said all you are getting is some coal for Christmas.

Two years ago, we had a stray take up stay on the wicker on our front porch. It hissed at us and treated us as something wicked every time we stepped out the front door. My wife fortunately didn't want it any more than I did. Nevertheless, it is on my ass now the minute I wake up in the morning wanting its breakfast.

As for the landlord, if you are a good renter, pay on time and aren't assing the place up I''ll wager you will find it easier to get forgiveness than permission as far as keeping a cat goes.

One other thing,

Giving cats some milk is a classic idea but the ironic thing is that most cats are lactose intolerant. It can give them diarrhea and other stomach problems.

wow I get coal?? That's awesome.. usually I'm so bad I don't even get coal for xmas.


do canadian cats say "eh" instead of meow??

I'm not feline hungry anymore...

Man, does your cat always sport fashionable headgear? Last time it was a helm, this time it's a floppy red hat...

What can I say... he's fashionable.


he's also very tolerant of my son and his friends attention


No Gucci... they meow like other cats. But they apologize after they cut you up. :)

I think a cat-sized fedora or trilby would be an ideal Christmas present. Or perhaps... a posse of pussies?

http://discount-wallcovering.com/ima...ges/EEC049.jpg

this thread is getting too crazy


an apologetic cat.. now that I'd have to see. Not first hand though..

He'd make you cookies, and like, you know, rub against your legs.

Well, I just got up and went downstairs. The cat has survived the night, and is currently meowing at the front door. I suppose now I have to figure out a way to get the cat down to the shelter. It seems like I could just leave it sitting in my car, but if it relieves itself or jumps on me and makes me crash, that would suck.

Truth be told, I am considering continuing to feed it but never letting it come inside. Unfortunately, every time I open the door it tries to rush in. The more I consider it, taking the kitten to the animal shelter is about the only option. It's a cute kitten, though. I just went and took a couple of pictures of it. And yes, in the last picture, it is standing on my shoulder.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3...n/StrayCat.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../StrayCat3.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v3.../StrayCat4.jpg

Aww... CoachAlan made a friend, I think.

I just like the fact that you smoke a cigar while you take a walk. That's got 'you're the man' written all over it. Give the cat to a friend and buy a dog.

thank you -- you got a smile out of me today... that is the cutest picture...

I think the cat has figured out you're a soft touch and is making friends with you...

to take the cat to the shelter -- if you want to - -put it in a box.. with an air hole or two - it will be fine.. cat that cute will be adopted...

if you decide to keep it, take it to the vet and have it checked out - if it's a stray kitty it might have some problems that need taken care of... :)

What a sweet kitty

Dude, it's a pirate kitty! that's totally manly! :lol:

you fed it?! Dude, you never feed animals that you don't want to hang around. Put it in a box (air tight of course j/k!!) and take it to the shelter.. someone will adopt it eventually.

Then your next mission is to go out and buy the biggest meanest rottweiler you can find.. no more stray cat worries! :D

Maybe you can train it to kill old people.

Man that would be awesome.

Given how the ladies are reacting... imagine the kind of attention you would get going to the park with your new friend on your shoulder.

And anyone that gives you a hassle get's his eyes ripped out of his head... (brings new meaning to Say Hello to my little friend!)

you're a lost cause now, you know that right?

Yeah the ladies would swoop in then they'd realize there's something wrong about a guy carrying a cat on his shoulder. Then they'd wonder if his house smelled like cat pee. You'd get much more attention with a beautiful and trained dog by your side. :D :D :D

Or perhaps a lion, distant cousin to this little fella.

Or a falcon. Or a velociraptor. Or...

Is anyone still reading my posts?

I say you get it to the shelter ASAP...the younger it is...the better the chances of someone taking it home.

I'm gonna go home and play with the my cats now.

Haha as entertaining as all the replies seem, do take it to the shelter asap, but I think you're really looking for someone to say 'keep it, it'd be in much better care with you than some shelter where the attention is dispersed' ....so i'll do it for you...keep it, it'll keep you warm at night. :)

Funny you should mention that. I just got back from the shelter. They told me they couldn't take it in because they were full up. I told them I could let the cat go in the parking lot if they'd prefer, or we could work something out. They gave me directions to another shelter they thought might have room, and I headed for the door.

A girl who worked behind the counter followed me out and said she had a friend who wanted a kitten, and she wanted to see my stray to see if it would be suitable. I opened the box and she seemed pleased, and immediately got on the phone to call her friend. Then these two guys came out of the shelter, saw the cat, and asked if I was giving it away. Apparently the shelter didn't have any kittens, only cats. One of the guys picked up the cat, the cat started purring, and the rest is history.

Well at least you got rid of your problem. Hurrah to you!

Now go on to mission #2 as I already instructed :D :D

Another fairy tale ending. Glad it worked out but are you sure you really really really didn't want to keep it?

We already have the tiniest, cutest rottweiler you can imagine. Actually it's a "chipoodle," a cross between a chihuaua and a poodle, and for some reason ours looks like a tiny rott. It turns out that last night when my other roommate got home, he let the cat in to play with the dog. And play they did, all night. The kitten is actually significantly larger than the puppy, and it was whoopin' some chipoodle ass.

Sorry I don't have an actual picture yet, but this is almost exactly what our dog looks like. This picture is of a rottweiler puppy.

http://schwarzbergrottweilers.com/Puppies/ecrunt3lg.jpg

Sure, a big part of me did want to keep it. Especially know how it got along with our puppy. But I'm not a fan of cats, and I don't need the conflict with my landlord (who is also my older brother).

Dogs & Cats help make a house a home, it's a teenager that makes you want to leave it!

Pictures my daughter took.

Izzy, adopted us full grown at the local animal shealter, we went for kitten and when we went by her cage she stuck her paws out and grabbed my wife. Then started acting all cute and purring. The rest is history.

http://img412.imageshack.us/img412/9172/izzy2bl.jpg

This was my pal Barney, he was a beast at 140 lbs. and no fat. He was adopted too, all pets should come from shealters! Had to put him down after 13 years. Sigh!
http://img316.imageshack.us/img316/9793/barney6fv.jpg

considering my hate for poodles.. .. I'll still say you need to go get a rottie :D

Dude... standard poodles (when not clipped in that wierd way) are cool. Smartest of all dogs.

The best is when you cross a poodle with another breed. I had a mix-breed poodle that was the coolest dog ever... and I mean ever.

He got hit by a car.


My current dog (a labrador great dane cross) has only a fraction of the smarts and he's pretty smart.

We once dog-sat a poodle. He was ancient, the poor thing, and had cataracts in his eyes. The sweetest-natured dog I've ever encountered. I was so sad when he died.

Poodles are not cool. They are mean ugly little dogs. (I have a thing against little dogs.) When I was younger, my grandmother had a standard poodle. That thing was horrible. Me.. I want a Rhodesian Ridgeback :)

and Char... there are exceptions to every rule. So, since it's xmas, your dog was the shiznit yo!

:p

I have a poodle mixed with some small dog, i gotta agree they are pretty smart. The only thing i could do without is having to actually trim her fur. With my old dog you just run a brush through every now and then and he was super (chocolate lab).

I should think so! You ain't careful, karma's gonna see you set upon by a pack of tiny ravening poodles. ALL of em with that haircut.