Winkie

[PT7]

I'm almost certain there are cat lovers here on our forum. My daughter whom I've been living with for almost a year now absolutely loves animals, especially cats. There were a couple of them we had when the girls were growing up, along with several dogs also. Andrea supports some pet orgs out there which rescue and care for animals in need. As many of you all know, such orgs ultimately offer them for adoption.

Andrea and I have chatted from time-to-time over the recent months about her wanting a pet again someday. Of course, her first choice was for a cat followed by a dog as a close second choice. I voted for one of those turtles you can hold in the palm of your hand. At least my elder legs can keep up with it when I take it for a walk! Seriously, lots of chats happened. However....just this week she caught me by surprise.

Facebook has been following a story about a woman who found a cat which has been now named Winkie. The lady turned in the cat to a local KC pet org, and they have been helping 8-week old Winkie through some tough medical issues. The news report did not elaborate other than Winkie had "a bad eye." Through it all, Winkie's left eye had to be surgically removed. She is now recovering in KC and doing pretty well. So guess what? My daughter's soft heart for Winkie motivated her to send an inquiry and application to bring Winkie home here.

Wow! The application was very detailed and requested everything but the potential pet owner's shoe size. To Andrea's surprise, they called her about Winkie. This next week Andrea is to start with a phone chat, then would be a visit with Winkie at the KC pet facility, eventually could end up a home visit for Winkie at our house. What an "adoption" road Andrea found herself on. She is willing to go for it. And Dad is part of the mix, since I'm retired and at home most all the time. The pet care org would want to meet me, too! (My shoe size is 10-1/2 wide btw).

So it will be an interesting holiday time this December as Andrea looks to see if Winkie might become part of our family. I've gotten some photos of Winkie from Andrea from the FB posts. They do show a serious look at the eye problem, but like I said Winkie is on the good recovery road. I'll keep you posted to the end of this story. ~~PT7


Winkie's bad eye

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Stitches after surgery

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Post-surgery Rest & Rehab

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[CT_Shooter]

Good luck, Winkie. You could not do better than if your forever home is with Bob and Andrea! I'm rootin' for you!

[markiver54]

Very thoughtful and caring of Andrea and you. You have big hearts! I'm sure Winkie has found the best possible home.
Good luck through Winkies recovery.

[dave77]

That is quite an adoption procedure. Last cat I got at our pet shelter, had to sign a form and give them the adoption fee.

I almost adopted a kitten with a bad eye. They had done some surgery on it but weren't sure if it would have to eventually be removed. I checked on what that would cost and it was close to $2000. Couldn't afford that at the time, she did get adopted and I adopted one of her brothers.

I feed 7 cats now, my 2 inside cats and 4 strays/ferals, 3 of them are friendly but mama kitty (fixed) still doesn't trust me enough to let me pet her even though I've been feeding her for over a year, 7th is my neighbors outside cat who always shows up at feeding time for his share.

[Mistered]

A very thoughtful and admirable undertaking!
'Winkie' is going to have a wonderful home from the looks of it!

I understand completely as I am a cat lover myself and have always owned them.
I also understand because my daughter came to live with me at age 9 and shortly thereafter wanted to bring home a cat from a box give a way while we were grocery shopping one day.

Well, this was a great companion for her and good learning experience for her but after a few years the cat disappeared and never returned. (rural living and all that comes with it)
Shortly thereafter she called me one day and asked if she could bring home her friends cat as her friend and mother were moving and could not take it with her.
I was apprehensive as I do not typically like the idea of adopting an 'adult' animal but she was well acquainted with it and I agreed.

Turned out the cat 'adopted' ME as well as my daughter. Another tragedy however and after only about a year it did not come home one day so I started walking around looking for 'evidence' and sadly found her body at the bottom of a fence line of an adjoining property. There was no sign of physical 'trauma' but I noticed the fence line had an electric line along the bottom and it might have been 'active' and maybe she got caught in it.

Anyway daughter in High School now and calls me one day and says she has a friend with a litter of cats and she wants to bring one home so again its yes. This one became probably the best of all and when daughter moved out a couple years later I kept 'Kaila' with me as its not a good idea to move a predominately 'outdoor' cat from a rural setting to a city area where it will be restricted.

Well Kaila is a very unusual cat. She is very close to me, follows me everywhere I go around the property,
and seems to 'mirror' everything I do. When I am in my shop she has to be in there as well.
She spends most of the summer outdoors but when winter sets in she spends the nights inside.
Above all she is an EXCELLENT mouser - as well as bringing all manner of other rodents to the door such as chipmunks, moles and even a cottontail once in a while!

Good luck with 'Winkie' - she will always have her 'eye' on you !

[Mags]

.
We had a similar colored cat when our kids were little. His name was Buffy. He received eye damage in a fight and we had to have it removed. I think he was really sensitive about his name. So when Buffy was in a playful mood one of the things he like to do was guard the stairs from our kids going up and down. At the top step he would hunker down in attack mode with just his glaring evil ferocious eye and ears showing daring anyone to come up. Similarly at the bottom of the step. We would often hear from our little ones that Buffy wouldn't them come down

Sadly, a coyote or owl got him one night.

[RanchRoper]

We have had cats for years. I grew up with dogs but wife came with a cat. Anyhow, we have had 2 blind cats, both super pets and great family members. "Orange Kitty" went blind but still was able to navigate not too bad. "Foxy" was blind when we got him and had to have 1 eye removed as well. He would get around the place like a sighted cat unless you moved something from where it usually was. Then he was like a little bumper car until he got around it. We have 3 cats right now; Pickles, Inky and Hooty. Pickles just showed up one day and stayed, Inky was born in the barn, and our son found Hooty wandering down a street in dead of winter, cold, starving and lost.
Pickles follows me everywhere around the property like a dog. Everywhere I go, she is there. Inky and Pickles go out during the day and Hooty stays in, as she would wander off and get lost again. Inky catches a mouse a day outside pretty much. Quite the hunter.

Anyhow, cats are ok. Good luck with yours.

[Mistered]

Then there are these!
This came wandering up one day and kind of startled me as I thought it was some kind of large rodent!
Turns out it is my neighbors 'Sphinx' that escaped from their house and came over to visit me and my cat!
Weird cats. Their skin is almost like a 'chamois'.
Not particularly 'cuddly' as there is no hair just skin.
Kind of worthless actually. They are confined to the indoors as they have no protection from the cold or the sun.

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[PT7]

Although my thread was primarily posted about my daughter possibly bringing Winkie into our home, the Sphynx commentary piqued my interest:

Then there are these!
Weird cats.
Not particularly 'cuddly'....
Kind of worthless actually.

Based on these comments, I got curious about this cat as a pet. So mounted my camel and headed into the desert to learn something about the Sphynx. Found a lot of interesting stuff on the internet. The info below is from vetstreet.com, a reference site for pet care and animal health provided by vets and animal trainers. It appears that there are folk who think the Sphynx has very special qualities for a pet. I know my daughter would appreciate any cat that has the personality traits listed in the article's last paragraph, particularly of being a "clown." She loves to cuddle her pet and just plain 'ole have fun with it!

The Sphynx seems like a contradiction: a hairless cat? But people who come to know him soon fall under the spell of this bald but beautiful feline. His warmth, humor and exotic appearance all combine to make him a favorite with cat lovers.

It’s unnatural! It’s not, really. The down-covered Sphynx is the product of a spontaneous natural mutation, a not-uncommon occurrence in the world of cats. The first known hairless cat made his appearance at least a century ago and certainly there may have been others throughout history. The cat we now know as the Sphynx began to be developed in the 1970s through crosses of hairless cats with Rex cats.

Instead of fur, the Sphynx wears a suede-like coat that makes him warm and soft to the touch. It’s impossible not to want to cuddle up with him, especially in cold weather. He is a medium-size cat with a wrinkled face and body and satellite-dish ears. He weighs six to 12 pounds, with females being smaller, and comes in almost any color or pattern, including solid, pointed, tabby and tortoiseshell.

The Sphynx’s uses his toes like fingers to investigate anything that catches his interest. His wrinkled face, big ears and lemon-shaped eyes give him the expression of a wise and kind alien, and his rounded belly makes him look as if he has recently eaten a large meal.

Don’t choose the Sphynx solely for his alien looks. You’ll be getting a lot more: a character who is curious, smart and funny. He loves to be with or on his people, perhaps in an attempt to stay warm. It’s not unusual for him to sleep under the bedcovers, and he is always seeking out sunny spots in which to lie or other places or objects that give off heat. The Sphynx is a clown who will do anything for attention, so be prepared to applaud his antics.

Other care info about the Sphynx highlights that there are special demands and requirements to provide needed and good health care for a Sphynx. They definitely are different not having any hair. But the last paragraph sounds like an invitation to having a really "fun" pet.

Now back to Winkie for a moment or two. Over the weekend, Andrea was invited by the pet org to meet and visit Winkie in KC. She came home with her heart melted like butter in a microwave. Wow! She chatted with me at length about the ins and outs of what needs to happen next. The pet org has certain medical and regulatory things that need to happen before a new owner could bring Winkie home. Andrea will have some further chats with them this week. Interestingly, Andrea said she has until next Friday to make a "final decision" about Winkie. I think it's good that she is seriously looking so closely at everything, because she wants to provide a good home for Winkie.

So I'll let everyone know if we have to put up a Christmas tree "moat & stone wall" this year. Andrea said that Winkie is a very playful & friendly kitten, weighing about one pound, and "scoots" hither and dither as she is recovering well from the eye surgery. BTW, stitches are now out, and the surgical healing is okay so far. Onward!

PT7

[Mistered]

But the last paragraph sounds like an invitation to having a really "fun" pet.

Check into what these 'invitations' sell for as kittens and you might not attend the party...

I'll stick with my free and hardy 'American Tigers'.
Pretty much a 'standard' cat but very friendly, devoted and a great mouser.
A bit 'aggressive' sometimes - when she wants to play she thinks nothing of coming up and grabbing my leg or jumping up and grabbing my arm but part of this is probably my fault as I have always raised my cats somewhat 'aggressively' as kittens to impart a greater sense of awareness in them since they have all been predominantly outdoor cats.

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[dasmoeturhead]

RIP Big H

[Mags]

.
sorry for your loss

RIP Big H

[dasmoeturhead]

Thanks Mags.

[CT_Shooter]

You have my sympathies, too.

I've lost many feline friends over the years, all of them were outdoor cats and most of them died by cars or coyotes. Only one died of an age related disease at 17, and we sadly waited longer than we should have to finally provide him with peace through euthanasia. It was a deeply sad time.

My current feline girlfriend has never known the outdoors and never will. She's a shelter cat that my late wife and I brought home when she was a 3 month old kitten; now she's five years old and delightful. She's the only one we ever had that plays fetch... in fact, demands it almost daily, retrieving that toy over and over again. What a joy.

Paige as a kitten

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RIP Big H

[RanchRoper]

They are family.

[markiver54]

You have my sympathies, too.

I've lost many feline friends over the years, all of them were outdoor cats and most of them died by cars or coyotes. Only one died of an age related disease at 17, and we sadly waited longer than we should have to finally provide him with peace through euthanasia. It was a deeply sad time.

My current feline girlfriend has never known the outdoors and never will. She's a shelter cat that my late wife and I brought home when she was a 3 month old kitten; now she's five years old and delightful. She's the only one we ever had that plays fetch... in fact, demands it almost daily, retrieving that toy over and over again. What a joy.


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RIP Big H

PT, We too lost our beloved " Sidney " after 15 years. He was a long haired blue point Himalayan, ( indoor cat ).
Had to take off work that day because of the grief.
After two years we took on ( Bodhi ), another large, long hair indoor " Rag Doll ". We love him to death.
Funny thing is; he fetches too. He loves foil balls! They are family.....