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Changes made to accommodate kitties

marlene

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This is just a thread to talk about the weird little physical changes that kitties have inspired in your homes.

When Little Ren was alive he knew how to turn on the stove burners. He'd jump on top of the stove, look over the edge at the black knobs, which were nicely horizontal when the stove was turned off. He'd lean over the edge and put a paw on the edge of the knob then lean his weight into it until it turned. Then he'd sit on top of the stove and enjoy the heat from his little campfire. So I ended up removing the black knobs from the stove and keeping them in a little bowl, putting them on/off the stove every time I wanted to use it. Of course two of them got lost somehow so now I have a stove with only half its knobs.

Little Ren also knew how to turn on the stereo. He'd jump on top of it and lean over and start batting at buttons until he hit ON. My cure for this was to unplug the stereo. He would also turn on the TV. He'd stand on the floor in front of it and reach up with his paws until he smacked the ON button. My cure for that was unplugging the tv too. Was a pain in the butt having to move the entertainment center all the time. You'd think the little bugger would have been smart enough to learn how to turn them OFF too but that never happened.

The kitty condo is in the living room in front of a window. There really is no other place for it to fit and kitties like laying on it while they bird-watch. It didn't take long for me to figure out that a cat tree next to curtains really wasn't a good idea. So now the living room has one naked window and one window with curtains on it.

The faucet on the bathroom sink hasn't been turned completely off for years. It has to slowly drip into a bowl. When I want to use the sink I have to take the bowl out first. The bowl and dripping faucet are needed only half the time, of course, because the other half of the time the cat is drinking out of the toilet.

Oh yes, I used to have pretty blue water in my toilet. And it smelled nice too.

My bed is no longer really a bed. A better term for it would be "nest." I used to have the prettiest cream-coloured lace duvet on it. Now it has some ugly-arsed quilt that won't catch claws. And flannel sheets are used year round because miss priss-butt here doesn't like cool cotton sheets. And her three micro-fiber blankies need to be on top of the covers in case she wants to use them instead of crawling under the quilt. It looks like hell, it really does.

I haven't had a Christmas tree for darn near 30 years. I know there are safe ways to have a tree but it still seemed like too much of a risk to me so I just haven't bothered messing with one.

So what changes have you made to accommodate your four-legged family members?
 

carakitty

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What noble sacrifices you make, Marlene! *hugs and applause!*

I think the biggest sacrifice we've made so far is giving up our guest room the bird could have her bedroom.

We gave up 'private time' due to the curious peeping tom cat eyes. We still do it, but never alone!

We nearly never have house guests because nearly everyone we know is allergic to cats or married to someone who is.

We can't use scented candles anymore and must be as sparing as possible with air fresheners.

Any food containing trash cans must now be industrial strength lids and stainless steel so t hey don't get hacked into by curious paws. Along those lines, meat must be defrosted in the fridge.

I don't upgrade my computer and other techno toys as often as I'd like so there's more funds for the Vet bills.

I wouldn't change any of it though. I love those little boogers!
 

sphynxie

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Our house is extremely baby-proofed. It takes three times as long to open a cabinet or plug something in. We must move quickly when getting into the food cabinet- went a little too quick one morning and slammed my fingers in the cabinet-OUCH!!!!
Ahhh and the midnight ambushes as I get my snacks- not really any sacrafice there except it's shaving years off my life span:LOL:
 

Bella07

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Mommy no longer considers her room, her room. Rather she considers it our room.

We have trained her to leave the bed unmade in the morning, because we like to cuddle up especially when it is chilly outside. If she makes the bed, we teach her a lesson by leaving a "present" on it just a bit so mommy learns her lesson; We only like unmade beds.

When mommy finishes the laundry, she knows to keep the basket in our room. We love to jump in there and cuddle up on the nice warm clean clothes.

If we are thirsty around here, why go to the food and water bowls? Rather, mommy will just turn the faucet on for us, so we can always have a nice fresh cool drink when we feel like it. But, mommy has to be careful. She can't turn the water on too much, it has to be a perfect gentle stream. If mommy doesn't turn the water on fast enough, we will run around the house screaming and meowing our butts off until she does what we ask.

When we are hungry, we run down the steps to mommy and meow loudly in her face until she warms us up a nice meal of our favorite wet food. It doesn't matter what time it is, if we are hungry, we expect to be waited on.

Basically, our mommy is here to serve us. We love her, but really, she knows that we are the Queens of the house. We know that she is there to make us happy, no matter what that entails.
 

ckutkuhn7

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When I had my furry babies I never let them on the table. But since I've been overcome with sphynx they are allowed everywhere except Dylans room (he leaves too many small toys for them to eat laying around) and they aren't allowed in the cupboards - but the counter tops and table top is all theirs and anywhere else for that matter. I don't have to worry about kitty hair everywhere so all I really need to do when I want to make sure something is clean is just spray n wipe it down - so easy!!
 

ranalashae

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I also have ugly blankets on my bed for Nala!

She also had problems with the backs of her legs when I first got her. They were all scabbed and red looking, it really looked like it hurt her. We finally figured out it was from sitting on hard surfaces. So window sills in our house are covered with a strip of carpet, my direct TV box has a cardboard box with fleece on top, and our piano has fleece taped to it too! Fixed the problem though, covered all her favorite spots with something soft, and her legs healed!

Now I have to figure out something that looks a little nicer then hot pink fleece and carpet on everything... it was just all I had at the time!
 

NightSpidy

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When we decided to get a sphynx (then 2) I designed a huge kitty castle and my husband built it. It is over 5'6 at it's highest point and is carpeted so they can scratch as much as they want. I also had it put in front of our largest window and had hubby install a bird feeder outside of the window so they can bird-watch. I drilled holes into the bottoms of the nesting areas so I could put the heating pad cord through the hole. However, in order to have it, we had to get rid of one of our couches 'cause this thing is HUGE. So now we only have a love seat in our living room and our place isn't all that inviting to a guest. When we do have people over, we pull out the computer chairs.....:LOL: :LOL:

I have sleeping spots throughout the house and I have plug-in heaters in various parts of the house so they can get even more heat.

I have baby proofed the house....put cabinet locks on everything, put medications inside tupperware containers and put the garbage behind a locked door. My hubby and I have trained ourselves to make sure one of them hasn't jumped into the fridge, or inside of a cupboard, etc, etc.

I used to have a nice bed cover, but now our bed is a huge nest for them, covered in various types of blankets, including a heating blanket.

Our living room is littered with so many tunnels, scratching posts and other kitty toys that it has become an obstacle not for the faint of heart, especially if you are on a midnight bathroom blitz.

I have had to hide all of my cashmere scarfs, our 100 year old persian carpets, damascene brocade, and move all of my paintings so they don't get shredded.

My hubby and I too get less private snuggle time, 'cause our king size bed is covered with 5 animals all vying for our body heat. We are so pathetic, that we ask one another to get something so we don't have to move to disturb our skinzies and if we both have a skinzie, well we are S-O-L, we won't move.

We don't get the fancy computer gadgets or endless camera gear that we used to lust after as much and spend almost $200 a month on pet insurance for 5 animals, soon to be about $205 for 6, but IT IS TOTALLY WORTH IT - :Adore: I LOVE MY BROOD!!!!!
 

NightSpidy

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NightSpidy, You are an AWESOME mom!!!! And we need pics of the kitty castle, please!!

picture.php
 

klreese

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My hubby and I too get less private snuggle time, 'cause our king size bed is covered with 5 animals all vying for our body heat. We are so pathetic, that we ask one another to get something so we don't have to move to disturb our skinzies and if we both have a skinzie, well we are S-O-L, we won't move.

This is TOTALLY us!! lol. Some nights we'll lay in bed and say "wanna?"- "no, i have my babies" LOL and that'll decide if we'll be "romantic" or not LOL!! sad really, but it's how we prefer to live!!

When Bea first came home Bronxe was jealous and wouldn't let her eat, so i started to feed her on my kitchen table. We did that for about a year until John complained so much that i stopped putting it up there and put their food on their mini condo. Well... guess who started putting their food up there about a week ago?? LOL Yes, John! The kitties have begged enough that John now put them food on the kitchen table again!! (note: we really dont use our table very much. My step kids are only home 2/3 nights a week and i dont cook a lot... so really just lunch/breakfast a handful of times through the month)

I don't have picture frames out of surfaces any longer. i have some decorations up but they're pushed ALL the way to the back of the entertainment center, etc so the kitties have room to get up there and move around.
We have also removed everything from our dresser/bedroom TV area, because that's Winny's perching spot to scope things out!

We have placed numerous bird feeders, buckets of bird food on our porch, squirrel feedings on trees all within kitty view from the windows.

We have taken down ALL the blinds in our house, so how when you look at my brown house from the outside you see red curtains in my living room, blue curtains in my sons room, black in mines, etc... because the kitties scratch, tear, rip apart all blinds we have. so unless i buy really expensive wood blinds (which we can't afford right now), we are SOL in the meantime.

Since Bronxe has been on his cancer meds i have started buying Pill Pockets. Well, he gets 3 for his pills each night and gets a couple extra, then Bea and Winny come RUNNING when they hear the pill bottle because they know what's waiting in the kitchen, so needless to say a $6 bag of pill pockets last us (if i stretch it) 4 days....
However, last night while i was in bed i heard Bronxe in the kitchen eating THROUGH the bag... he's one naughty kitty!!!!
 

Melonie

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My 2 year old no longer has his own bedroom. The cat tree two litter robots big cat cage they love and fish tank are in his room. the bed in there is the cats, full sized with blankets for them. My sons toys have been moved to the living room and his clothing is in my closet, he sleeps with me (always has though) . they have their own loveseat in my living room by the window that is ok for them to scratch. They are allowed on the counters, tables, and up on top the cubboards. I could have a new car with what I have paid in vet bills the past YEAR.
 
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