This and this leads to that

December 16, 2004 9:01 AM

So I posted this (about trying to rid myself of two cats), and then there was this, and since it caused a bit of a stir, I thought a brief follow-up couldn't hurt. [more]
posted by vraxoin to MetaFilter-Related at 9:01 AM (64 comments total)

I tried to give the cats away using the suggestions that everyone gave, but in the end, I just couldn't do it. I didn't have the heart.

Even though I though u.n. owen was out of line for his/her response, I found that in the end I shared the sentiment enough to where I just couldn't bring myself to let them go. So despite my better judgment (or maybe because of it), we're keeping the damn cats.
posted by vraxoin at 9:05 AM on December 16, 2004

Thanks for letting us know what happened.

But if you change your mind... well... I know a guy...
posted by xmutex at 9:09 AM on December 16, 2004

*applauds*
posted by monju_bosatsu at 9:11 AM on December 16, 2004

If it's any consolation, I think the scorn you received was inappropriate. AskMeTa is supposed to be about providing assistance to people, not about judging other people's life choices, even if you are morally opposed.

It sounds like this may be a happy ending... cats are good.
posted by Ms Snit at 9:37 AM on December 16, 2004

Thanks for letting us know how it turned out.
posted by Sidhedevil at 9:52 AM on December 16, 2004

People have really gotten really precious and sanctimonious about ask.me lately, good questions get good answers (of which it seems there are too few these days), lame questions get lame answers, stupid questions get stupid answers. Life continues as it should.
posted by milovoo at 10:25 AM on December 16, 2004

Thank you, vraxoin! We knew we could count on you to do the right thing.
posted by vraxoin's cats at 10:26 AM on December 16, 2004

That joke totally wasn't worth $5.
posted by rfordh at 10:30 AM on December 16, 2004

Heh. Yeah it was. :)
posted by littlegreenlights at 10:35 AM on December 16, 2004

I wonder if vraxoin's cats will continue to post. I might have to add them as a contact.
posted by Fuzzy Monster at 10:43 AM on December 16, 2004

yay!
posted by mathowie (staff) at 10:53 AM on December 16, 2004

Aww, Matt, *sniff* I love you, man!

Someday when I'm in Austin I owe you coffee or food or something, and then if you have anymore cats to give away, I'll take one.

Welcome to the Society of MeFi Cat People. You'll never be the same.
posted by Shane at 10:56 AM on December 16, 2004

you should post in the original question as well.
posted by modofo at 11:41 AM on December 16, 2004

good work vraxoin. I'm posting this as three kittens claw at my jeans. They say "hi".
posted by puke & cry at 12:03 PM on December 16, 2004

Yay, indeed!
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:35 PM on December 16, 2004

Strong Larry and Alan thank you.


posted by Civil_Disobedient at 12:43 PM on December 16, 2004

oh man, look at you guys getting all sappy. i can't take it. i think i'll go kick one of my cats.
posted by t r a c y at 1:07 PM on December 16, 2004

My cats, when they were 6 weeks old. As I reflect on the years of joy they have brought me, I'm ignoring one of them licking a plastic book cover in an attempt to annoy me and get me to pay attention to him.
posted by mathowie (staff) at 1:37 PM on December 16, 2004

Spike and Elaine, once they got over the intial shock, were also very pleased. They think you're a mensch.
posted by lilboo at 1:49 PM on December 16, 2004

Sample DeKuyper says, "Good job!" Or maybe she's saying "Screw you." It's kind of hard to tell with her sometimes. But I wish you and your damn cats many years of happiness together.
posted by jennyb at 1:51 PM on December 16, 2004

Oh and Radical Edward has agreed to stop trying to set you on fire with his mind. Black Frances is hiding under the bed and cannot be reached for comment.
posted by jennyb at 2:06 PM on December 16, 2004

Mefi kit-kat club: Muriel and Priscilla are happy to join!
posted by ericb at 2:07 PM on December 16, 2004

Zero and Ginja are also glad to be part of the club!
posted by ramix at 2:32 PM on December 16, 2004

Adorable, Matt. My beloved cat, Simone¹, is now elderly (14) and sickly and I fear not much longer for this world. I had to hand force-feed her for a month this summer to keep her alive. But, anyway, one small silver lining in her ill-health, and one that I feel some guilt about, is that once she passes away I'll be free to get a cute little kitten, which, I think, is a joy. One that I've not had for many years now. I like puppies, too, but I kittens moreso. I wonder why kittens are especially adorable?

What I'd really like is to get a Savannah, if I could afford him/her.

1 Named in honor of Simone de Beauvoir
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 2:42 PM on December 16, 2004

coatse!
posted by t r a c y at 2:53 PM on December 16, 2004

Augh! Cat attack! Too many kitties!

*scritch scritch pester*


My girlfriend's cats both thank you. They are Ford Prefect - a sleek, large black shorthair with a coat that absorbs light so well he's frequently mistaken for empty space or shadow - and The Contessa (or just Tess or Tessa) - an imperious tiny little longhaired tortoiseshell calico cat. Tessa is about the size of a large rat. Both are rescues.
posted by loquacious at 2:56 PM on December 16, 2004

Kramer and Eleanor Rigby say thank you.
posted by xmutex at 2:59 PM on December 16, 2004

Thanks, t r a c y. Now I look like some kinda furanus-scritching freakdroid.
posted by loquacious at 2:59 PM on December 16, 2004

Amee the StinkyDog says thank you too, and wonders if the cats in this thread might taste like chicken.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 3:06 PM on December 16, 2004

Abigail and Oliver are pleased as well.
posted by deborah at 3:07 PM on December 16, 2004

Kitty prays for you all. Whitey Ford is not commenting as he underwent the unkindest cut of all a few hours ago. (He went down fighting, managing to pee on three people as they tried to administer the anesthetic.)
posted by arse_hat at 3:20 PM on December 16, 2004

Tabby says hurrah! Well, he would, if he was awake.
posted by eatcherry at 3:34 PM on December 16, 2004

Can someone photoshop together a picture of un owen in a triumphant goatse pose?
posted by scarabic at 3:51 PM on December 16, 2004

posted by cortex at 4:03 PM on December 16, 2004

i love how the default expression on any cat's face is contempt, ha.
posted by ifjuly at 4:36 PM on December 16, 2004

Sigh. You people make sane cat owners ashamed to be affiliated with the beasties.

:::flees thread:::
posted by rushmc at 4:40 PM on December 16, 2004

Kitty Michaels aplauds your decision and demands chicken.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:59 PM on December 16, 2004

He aplauds it because his spelling isn't so hot. I applaud it.
posted by Joey Michaels at 4:59 PM on December 16, 2004

That joke totally wasn't worth $5.

You should talk; they probably used my credit card.
posted by vraxoin at 6:45 PM on December 16, 2004

sayeth mathowie: yay!

Folks, that had nothing to do with keeping the kitten. It was at the realisation that people will spend $5 for one-off jokes :)

and cheers to whoever it was for the laugh.
posted by cosmonik at 7:20 PM on December 16, 2004

addendum: kittens. Apologies to whichever one I missed out.
posted by cosmonik at 7:21 PM on December 16, 2004

Another one for the Mefi Kitty Club (as long as she doesn't have to watch).

(and yes, the joke was worth the $5)
posted by fvw at 8:22 PM on December 16, 2004

Aww. Did you know that a tiny portion of calicos are male? True, they're XXY males, but still.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:24 PM on December 16, 2004

Emma says hi, and good work.
posted by casarkos at 8:30 PM on December 16, 2004

Cats do like sleeping on paper. And Matt's earlier comment reminds me that many, many cats like to lick plastic. Mine, too, has learned to do it to get my attention. (Long ago when she got hungry in the middle of the night and my wife and I found we couldn't block out the crackle-crackle of the licking-the-plastic sound and would capitulate and feed her. Whereupon she learned that this is a sure-fire way to get attention and see that her immediate human-dependent needs are met.)
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:35 PM on December 16, 2004

Cats like sleeping on anything. (And this one loves to lick the photograph of a Fiji sunset on the wall next to my desk.)
posted by caitlinb at 9:21 PM on December 16, 2004

Cats do like sleeping on paper.
...many cats like to lick plastic

Alan loves licking plastic bags, Strong Larry likes to "nest" in piles of newspaper. Both are strays, though I don't know if this has anything to do with it. I'm glad to hear that cats are universally nuts.

And is it just my imagination, or are orange tabby's born incredibly stupid, and go downhill from there?
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 10:17 PM on December 16, 2004

Jack likes to lick ice cream.
posted by nicwolff at 11:12 PM on December 16, 2004

Civil, no it's not just your imagination! No offense to blondes but my Ginja (an orange tabby) is a dumb assed blonde!
posted by ramix at 12:48 AM on December 17, 2004

Since we are passing around photos of the "kids" ... I've got one named Fuzza Wuzza. He looks huge, until you get him wet. The spoiled brat would probably prefer I showed you one of his glamour shots.

He hasn't learned how to be annoying by licking plastic, but he's quite proficient at shredding carpet and hogging couch space.
posted by Orb at 1:10 AM on December 17, 2004

Senor Puss Pants is Pleased.
posted by sadie01221975 at 1:37 AM on December 17, 2004

omg, Orb, that is hilarious! And this is the best MeTa thread. (Yes. Yes - evah!)
posted by taz at 6:31 AM on December 17, 2004

orb: my wife's cat toby is much the same, giant ball of fluff with 3" long hair. i'd like to get him wet to see how big he really is. his bother petey (who chose me as his personal human) is a short-haired cat. they're related, but you wouldn't know it to look at them.

Ethereal Bligh: the plastic thing? annoying. but not as annoying as toby's discovery that claws + closet door = most annoying sound in the world when we are trying to sleep. he sits in the hallway, facing our bedroom, and reaches behind himself to scratch the door - so that he can judge our reactions, to know whether to run in and get petted or run away before a pillow or slipper projectile is launched in retaliation. he's a little brat.
posted by caution live frogs at 6:38 AM on December 17, 2004

Caution live frogs: that made me giggle. Cats can be so impish. Simone is actually well-behaved in this sense. The annoying things she does she usually does for a good reason. And she minds pretty well, too. This to some degree makes up for the fact that otherwise she's psychotic and paranoid.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 9:13 AM on December 17, 2004

Daeva & Daksha thank you as well.
posted by Medieval Maven at 9:41 AM on December 17, 2004

Mr. Bigglesworth and Buffy approve, but they still probably wouldn't like you very much.
posted by Cyrano at 10:00 AM on December 17, 2004

Do cats pick up their owner's personality? If the answer is "yes", this could be the most revealing thread.
posted by semmi at 10:41 AM on December 17, 2004

semmi - i don't know. we brought home two kittens, and by the end of the day we were sitting on the couch in a cat-pile. toby had fallen asleep on my wife's shoulder, and petey was nestled on mine. they pretty much chose us that day, and petey has been "my" cat ever since (quotes because i'm not exactly sure which way the ownership heirarchy goes in his mind). when we come home, toby is happy to see me and all, but he starts chewing on things if my wife doesn't stop to pet him and say hello.

but personality-wise: pete is sort of lazy, likes ice cream, very vocal, a bit chubby, curious to the point of obnoxiousness, and overall a very sweet cat. toby has pretty hair (and he knows it), is an attention-hog, startles easily, dislikes change, has a fixation on flossing*, and won't go to bed unless he has his special blanket to lay on.

so, uh, yeah, i guess they do learn from their owners.

* he makes me give him floss to chew every day! no fear, i won't let him swallow it, i just let him bite through it. but he can hear me brushing my teeth and comes flying into the bathroom, begging for floss. mint waxed only, thank you, other flosses need not apply.
posted by caution live frogs at 11:08 AM on December 17, 2004

These cats are glad to hear yours are going to stay with you, and came from other families who couldn't keep them: smoky has been with me for seven years now. We're also fortunate to have doctor popular (yawning), inez, and lucca living with us, but who consider other people their servants.
posted by whatzit at 2:10 PM on December 17, 2004

Whatzit, clearly Dr. Popular must have enjoyed this fpp.
posted by Joey Michaels at 7:14 PM on December 17, 2004

uh now you've done it cat pics! *sigh*

junior aka the fat pig (as a kitten) and squeak thank you too :)

fat pig hangs out with me here either sleeping on the desk or on my lap, the tabby is a big time head case that hides for the most part.
posted by squeak at 8:47 PM on December 18, 2004

macha would thank you too, but her reasoning would be a bit more....cannibalistic.

she hates other cats and has been known to hiss and bang her head on windows when she sees kitties outside.

people-wise though, she's one of the coolest cats i've ever met.
posted by littlegirlblue at 11:29 AM on December 22, 2004

Not that anyone will see this, but last night I got a call that my aunt, who was watching Simone (photo linked in my comment above) died. As I said, she's elderly (14) and has been sickly and I've been trying to prepare myself for this. She had been losing weight in the last two weeks although she was eating and she suddenly became weakened ten days ago. It shouldn't have been a surprise, but it was, nevertheless. I'm mostly very, very sad and frustrated and angry that I wasn't there with her because she's very attached to me (and no one else) and is always forlorn when I'm gone. If I'd had to have her "out to sleep" I'd have been holding her (as I was with my childhood dog); or, alternatively, I hoped that she'd perhaps die in her sleep while she was cuddled up with my in bed. This way, I feel like I abandoned her and let her down in some way.

Finally, she was my constant companion for the lats 14 years, through a divorce and two subsequent relationships and breakups. Even just in my bedroom with me, she prefered to be very near me, usually always at my feet. She was difficult, not trusting any other people (except my ex-wife, years ago, and, sorta, one ex-girlfriend) and positively was rabid about any other animals, particularly other cats. She really didn't like me picking her up and holding her, though she did like attention and affection from me (but always on her terms, not mine). In this way I oddly learned to love her more because she was difficult, in the way that many parents deeply love their autistic children. She was hard to love, so to speak, and I loved her that much more for it. And she totally depended upon me.

I hope that in her terms she had a good life. I miss her terribly and dread going home to find her gone. RIP, Simone.
posted by Ethereal Bligh at 8:39 AM on December 28, 2004

So sorry for your loss, EB.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:32 PM on January 3, 2005