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Our Furry Friends

Vanilla

Vanilla

Your friendly neighbourhood hedgehog
V.I.P Member
Hey guys :)

Seeing as there are a few pet owners here, I thought this would be a good place for funny, strange, or general stories about our pets.

For pet photos, you can check out this thread: https://www.aspiescentral.com/threads/post-a-picture-of-your-pet.251/

So I'll start here. Our cat Tiger prompted me to start this one today, after his strange episode this morning. Our cat is fairly old now, and very set in ways. I feel he may even have a bit of OCD, as he even gets upset when we move things around; like his food bowl, or the furniture. Anyway, because it's the Easter break, our family have been in "holiday mode." This obviously meant that our day-to-day routines would change, and be more relaxed than usual.

So, all was fine, until today; Monday morning; at around 5am. Our cat Tiger was quite hysterical; meowing at the top of his lungs, and banging hard on our bedroom doors; you would have thought he was being attacked. We had to get out of bed, to see what all the commotion was. Once we went to check, we realised he was fine; and had plenty of food and water.

It wasn't until we had woken up again later in the day, that we had realised what the issue was. My sister's partner usually leaves home at around 5am, for work, during the week, and as he hadn't woken up, and started getting ready, Tiger had freaked out.
 
How and when we and our pets get up each morning strikes me as one of the most important of life's routines. For us routine is important. For animals...it's everything. Take it away and they are lost in a wilderness.

I still remember when my beloved little Yorkie had lost her hearing...and then her sight started to go. Poor thing... for her it was if she had been dumped on a another planet. And for her having to go to the vet was the greatest disruption of routine.
 
I've never had any pets aside from one hermit crab, but it's true. Routine becomes so ingrained in our animal companions that any change later can lead to problems. It's not OCD---it's just becoming comfortable with one's surroundings. That's why, for example, it's not really a good idea to get a new cat as a companion for an older cat who's used to being alone. The older one will be set in its ways and may not welcome the company.
 
Ereth said:
I've never had any pets aside from one hermit crab, but it's true. Routine becomes so ingrained in our animal companions that any change later can lead to problems. It's not OCD---it's just becoming comfortable with one's surroundings. That's why, for example, it's not really a good idea to get a new cat as a companion for an older cat who's used to being alone. The older one will be set in its ways and may not welcome the company.
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Oh, we've had other cats before; he's a special case. It seems to affect him more so than other pets we've had, though he's had a hard life, as we brought him home from a shelter.
 
Thinking of pets....I can hardly wait for "Art Paws" in July. It's a celebration of dogs where everyone is encouraged to bring their pet to a park with lots of animal-oriented vendors and displays. I always go with my cousin and her two dogs. We have so many events in the Reno-Tahoe area, but I think this one is my favorite. I just love seeing so many happy dogs and people...one of the few events where the crowds don't bother me. Animals are so soothing to me. :)

Of course I'm pretty partial to the annual Wiener Dog Races and Splash Dogs too!

And every year we walk for the SPCA...

Art Paws - Artown's Only Bring Your Dog Day
 
Ah, a shelter cat. Then that makes even more sense, Vanilla.. Was he neglected in any way? Emotionally fragile animals tend to react even more poorly to change in routine.

Your cat's tantrum reminds me a little of a friend's dog. He's not from a shelter, but he's so used to sleeping in the master bedroom with my friend's parents that whenever my family watches him, somebody has to sleep downstairs with him so he doesn't start crying in the middle of the night.
 
Yeah, he's had it rough, for sure. Pretty sure he was the runt of the litter, which was dumped on the streets, so he was a bit edgy as a kitten.

He's much bigger, and happier now, but still has his days. Most of the time he's fine, but he can get a bit demanding sometimes, if he doesn't get his way. Sometimes he actually protests when we don't give him cuddles (he actually loves to be cradled, like a baby; which my sister got him used to). His personality, while sometimes playful, is similar to an old, grumpy, man :p
 
My Lil' Sweetpea (yeah, that's her official pseudonym :) ) is very skittish. She herself suffers from abandonment issues; she started off as a stray puppy, and went home and came back with a number of people before we finally adopted her.

We have one of those water dishes that automatically refills--there's a big jug/bottle that attaches to a bowl. For the longest time, she was TERRIFIED of it! She'd start drinking, and then it'd start to bubble and scared the crap out of her; so we had to keep a separate water dish for her (at the time we had three dogs living with us, and the other two had no problem with it). It took her about a year to finally be able to drink from it!
 
wyverary said:
My Lil' Sweetpea (yeah, that's her official pseudonym :) ) is very skittish. She herself suffers from abandonment issues; she started off as a stray puppy, and went home and came back with a number of people before we finally adopted her.

We have one of those water dishes that automatically refills--there's a big jug/bottle that attaches to a bowl. For the longest time, she was TERRIFIED of it! She'd start drinking, and then it'd start to bubble and scared the crap out of her; so we had to keep a separate water dish for her (at the time we had three dogs living with us, and the other two had no problem with it). It took her about a year to finally be able to drink from it!
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Aww...Tiger was easily freaked like that when he was a kitten. He would always hide under the couch, or in my sister's bedroom.

He still gets scared when we come home, from an outing. We'll walk in the door, and he'll always need a moment to ensure it's safe, and that we aren't intruders.
 
I could write a whole bunch of strange stories about one of my cats. :P

For one, I saw her leap off the second floor balcony right after my mum assured me that the cat would never do such a thing. :P
 
ExplosiveTMT said:
I could write a whole bunch of strange stories about one of my cats. :p

For one, I saw her leap off the second floor balcony right after my mum assured me that the cat would never do such a thing. :p
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Lol, I have a cat, who's pretty old now, but I was worried he'd run up the fence, and escape the yard. My sister insisted he couldn't climb it, but when he was spooked by some visitors, he managed to find the adrenaline he needed to get up there quite easily :P
 
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