IBKFergus is leaving ;-(

Yowie wrote:
Cary does *not* "continually provoke" IBKFergus. Usualy Cary is doing his
thing and IBKFergus is doinghers, somewhere else. And when they do interact,
Cary is usually perfectly well behaved in cat behaviour. *But* he is a two
year old with a two year old's understanding and patience, and can just grab
for things he wants without thinking things through.

Cary should never be in a position to do anything to the cart that the
cat may not like.


At two years old, children can be taught not to do this, in the same way
as
you teach him not to put his hand on a hot stove or in a flame. It's just
as dangerous for him keep provoking a cat and he needs to learn not to do
it, fairly swiftly.

If IBKFergus can attack me for no reason, then she can attack Cary for no
reason.

Cats don't do anything for "no reaon".

Its not a matter of 'provoking'. I'mn all for cats bopping an over
enthusiastic toddler if things get out of hand. Shmogg is great with Cary,
Cary's had a few light scratches from Shmogg and has learnt not to poke ears
& eyes or pull tails. If thats all it was, there wouldn'tbe a problem.

You just don't get it. You don't let a two year old poke and pull -
ever. They don't know their own strength, and if the cat can't get
away from him, he's liable to get really injured. I'm with Christina -
the cat is redirecting his aggression toward Cary at you.


Again, it was, as far as I can see, an attack totally out of proportion to
what I was doing. If I had been movingmy hand in an 'interesting' way, I'd
forgive her for thinking it was a chasy game. If I had accidnelty stepped on
her, I'd understand that she was just sayin "OW!". But even when we have
been playing chasey or I've got my big feet in her way, she has not savaged
me like this. I don't know what et her off, or how her kitty brain
interpretted me picking up a book as a reason for attacking, but its such a
common thing to do that I cannot trust IBKFergus not to react the same way
if Cary picked up a book.


Redirected agression.

-L.

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in
:

Fortunately, I
don't have children to worry about, but I DO warn visitors,
who react to her friendly investigations with the obvious
response, that she might bite.


Does she bite strangers? Doc only bites me, because he loves me.

He looks a fierce and quarrelsome cat,
But claw he never would;
He only bites the ones he loves,
Because they taste so good.
(by somebody I forget who, and probably poorly quoted)

Chak

--
You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.
--Jeannette Rankin

"EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)" wrote in
:

Think again! :-) Referring to a female cat as "he", or a
male as "she" (although there are people to whom all cats
are "she" and all dogs are "he") is almost as bad as
referring to either as "it". Altered or not, an animal's
gender is part of who it is, and most of us here regard our
cats as people with four legs and fur, not animated objects.


When I first got Pi, I was told I was getting a female named Cassie. The
first night, 'Cassie' was standing with 'her' back legs on the edge of
the tub and 'her' head down, and sure enough, 'Cassie's' boy bag was very
much in evidence. :-)

It was very hard to change from 'she/her' to 'he/him'. Gender is so very
basic to identity that it was like I had a whole different cat.

Chak

--
You can no more win a war than you can win an earthquake.
--Jeannette Rankin

"-L." wrote in message
oups.com...

Yowie wrote:
Cary does *not* "continually provoke" IBKFergus. Usualy Cary is doing his
thing and IBKFergus is doinghers, somewhere else. And when they do
interact,
Cary is usually perfectly well behaved in cat behaviour. *But* he is a
two
year old with a two year old's understanding and patience, and can just
grab
for things he wants without thinking things through.

Cary should never be in a position to do anything to the cart that the
cat may not like.


At two years old, children can be taught not to do this, in the same
way
as
you teach him not to put his hand on a hot stove or in a flame. It's
just
as dangerous for him keep provoking a cat and he needs to learn not to
do
it, fairly swiftly.

If IBKFergus can attack me for no reason, then she can attack Cary for no
reason.

Cats don't do anything for "no reaon".

Its not a matter of 'provoking'. I'mn all for cats bopping an over
enthusiastic toddler if things get out of hand. Shmogg is great with
Cary,
Cary's had a few light scratches from Shmogg and has learnt not to poke
ears
& eyes or pull tails. If thats all it was, there wouldn'tbe a problem.

You just don't get it. You don't let a two year old poke and pull -
ever. They don't know their own strength, and if the cat can't get
away from him, he's liable to get really injured. I'm with Christina -
the cat is redirecting his aggression toward Cary at you.


Again, it was, as far as I can see, an attack totally out of proportion
to
what I was doing. If I had been movingmy hand in an 'interesting' way,
I'd
forgive her for thinking it was a chasy game. If I had accidnelty stepped
on
her, I'd understand that she was just sayin "OW!". But even when we have
been playing chasey or I've got my big feet in her way, she has not
savaged
me like this. I don't know what et her off, or how her kitty brain
interpretted me picking up a book as a reason for attacking, but its such
a
common thing to do that I cannot trust IBKFergus not to react the same
way
if Cary picked up a book.


Redirected agression.

-L.


I have rethought. I posted what I did in the hope that a solution could be
found for all concerned and they could all live happily ever after. That's
not going to happen.
Yowie adopted IBK Fergus out of the kindness of her heart, but with working
and looking after a toddler there probably wasn't enough time available to
socialise a feral kitten
Lets just accept that it hasn't worked out, acknowledge the terrible sadness
of the Chapman family that it hasn't, and hope for a great farm home for IBK
Fergus, where she can hunt all she wants and avoid humans if that's her
wish. She would certainly fit in here, but there will be others in
Australia, surely, who would like such a cat.

Tweed

"Magic Mood Jeep©" wrote in message
...
{{{{{Yowie, Cary, Jeol, IBKFergus}}}}

Purrs for your aching hearts, and that IBKFergus has a happy life wherever
she ends up.

One good side is I bet Smoggleberry does a happydance now that the
'annoying
brat' is gone. OK, maybe not a happydance, but at least a huge sigh of
relief (or maybe just a snore ).

The difference in Shmogg with IBKFergus locked in the garage yesterday was
nothing short of miraculous. I thought Shmogg hid away from Cary during the
day, only coming out to remind me about dinner time. I was wrong! He had
been hiding from IBKFergus! Shmogg spent all day in the loungeroom, sat on
*Joels* lap for about an hour whilst he played on teh comouter, let Cary
snuggle him, and then sat on my lap whilst I read Cary a story after dinner.
His tail was held up high, there was trot in his step, a sparkle in his eyes
again. He might even be plotting another b*st*rd c*t trick.

Its like he's an enitrely different and much younger cat.

I'm starting to suspect that it really was a mistake to bring IBKFergus home
at all. A mistake made out of good intentions, but a mistake none the less.
Haven't I always maintained that feral cats here in Oz aren't just strays
looking for a home, but are actually *feral* and can't be tamed? And who did
I really think I was, taking on a *feral* cat - the cat whisperer? Hubis,
all hubris. May Bast (and Shmogg, and IBKFergus) forgive my ego.

Yowie

On Mon 22 May 2006 08:35:37p, Yowie wrote in
rec.pets.cats.anecdotes ):

I'm starting to suspect that it really was a mistake to bring
IBKFergus home at all. A mistake made out of good intentions,
but a mistake none the less. Haven't I always maintained that
feral cats here in Oz aren't just strays looking for a home, but
are actually *feral* and can't be tamed? And who did I really
think I was, taking on a *feral* cat - the cat whisperer? Hubis,
all hubris. May Bast (and Shmogg, and IBKFergus) forgive my ego.


Not ego, compassion. "Taking on a feral cat" isn't always what has
happened in your experience, so I hope that people aren't
discouraged. In our case, with Bonnie as the former feral (and
TOTALLY FERAL - after 4 years I STILL can't handle her), it was
Shamrock the former stray, obviously owned at some point, that is
the aggressive one. Bonnie wouldn't hurt a single patch of skin of
a human, and I can't ever imagine her hurting anyone no matter what
happens to her. She's more likely to run. Even at TEDs, she will
freeze rather than try to even get away or hurt anyone. You can
pull her out of the carrier in a stiff, still piece when she has to
go. Getting her into it is another story, though.

As with all cats, ferals are all different in how they respond to
humans. I suppose it might have to do with how they perceived us
before they came to live with us. If they never knew us before,
and only observed us from afar, they will act differently in
captivity.

--
Cheryl

"Tanada" wrote in message
k.net...
Ignore the hate mail. They aren't living in your house, aren't
interacting with IBK, and don't know the social dynamics of your family;
other than what they read here.

snip

To all of you sending nastygrams to Vicky. You should be ashamed of
yourselves. This has been traumatic enough for her and Joel, and the
decision to re-home IBK has not been made lightly. Instead of flaming
her, why don't you fly over to Australia and get IBK. It would cost
less than any surgery or psychological therapy that Cary would need if
IBK were to cut loose with him.

Disgusted,

Pam S.

What Pam said! Yowie, I know that you did the best you could given the
circumstance and dynamics of the situation. Continued purrs, Bassett Hound
drool for you and your family. For those who have sent the nasty grams,
there are some virtual nasty Bassett droppings headed your way.

Diane

Yowie wrote:

The more I think about it, th emore I'm satisfied I'm doing he best thing by
her and us. its not ideal, no, but the best given he circumstances
available. At least, no matter what happens, she'll be able to live out all
her nine lives, and she does have a hope of getting a foreverhome that will
be more suited to her temperament than here.

Purrs for you all, for IBK to find a good home, and for you and your
family to deal with the loss of her.

--
Marina, Miranda and Caliban. In loving memory of Frank and Nikki.
Stories and pics at http://koti.welho.com/mkurten/
Pics at http://uk.pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/frankiennikki/
and http://community.webshots.com/user/frankiennikki

Christina Websell wrote:

I have rethought. I posted what I did in the hope that a solution could be
found for all concerned and they could all live happily ever after. That's
not going to happen.
Yowie adopted IBK Fergus out of the kindness of her heart, but with working
and looking after a toddler there probably wasn't enough time available to
socialise a feral kitten
Lets just accept that it hasn't worked out, acknowledge the terrible sadness
of the Chapman family that it hasn't, and hope for a great farm home for IBK
Fergus, where she can hunt all she wants and avoid humans if that's her
wish. She would certainly fit in here, but there will be others in
Australia, surely, who would like such a cat.

Tweed

Agreed. I am glad Yowie found a shelter for her. I still worry about
*any* 2-yr-old being left to interact with any animal unsupervised.
There are far to many stories where the animal never had any negative
interactions with humans but "turned on" a child - people just don't
understand animal behavior. That's why I don't adopt out cats to
people with kids under 5 unless I know the family, or they have an
exceptional track record with animals. My own son is 2 and he is not
allowed to touch our pets unless I am standing right there with him.
Once he gains the language skills and self-control to understand the
interactions better, he will be allowed more freedom. Two is just too
young.

-L.

Tanada wrote:

Helen, I'm referring the the private hate mail that has been flooding
Vicky's email account. Some of it is nasty, and the rest is just plain
hateful poison.

Whoever did this should know that it's on the same level as the
so-called 'animal liberation' terrorists who proclaim their actions are
in the interests of animal welfare then go and bomb someone's car or
attack their private house, or releasing a barn full of mink into the
countryside - i.e. self-gratifying and beyond despicable. Totally
uncalled-for and serves no purpose except to unleash a flood of bile
upon a very kind-hearted individual who was at their wits' end. Whoever
did this should realise their actions have got nothing perceivable at
all to do with the welfare of IBKFergus and are totally
counterproductive to any helpful messages posted here. Absolute shame on
you.

Deb.
--
http://www.scientific-art.com

"He looked a fierce and quarrelsome cat, but claw he never would;
He only bit the ones he loved, because they tasted good." S. Greenfield