i need help ... kinda pathetic tho :-S

[KittyLuver]

hi .. umm ... this might seem very stupid but...i reeeally want a kitten... :(
i've learned almost everythin about them ... i've also read ur whole site (www.kittenbaby.com) & i luved the videos u made ...

anyway .. my problem is my parents ... they think our furniture is to fragile & a kitten wud make a big mess ... but the bigger problem is that my mom is diabetic ... my parents also think that im not "responsible enough" ... i also have 2 sisters no brothers .. one is 17 years old, the other is 11 years old & im 13 years old ... and my parents think that none of us are "responsible enough"
i think im old enough to take care of a pet & besides most of every site ive read say that "children who are responsible enough to take care of a pet are 9-12 years old or older"... plus how do they know that im not responsible enough ... we never even had a pet ... :(

everytime a go to a friends house or a families house ... that have a pet .. i pet them & it seems like they dont hate me =P ...

i told them that a kitten doesnt have to live only inside the house .. it cud live in our garden ... the backyard isnt so small .. it even has a private pool ... & we can also get one of those cages or fences so that the kitten doesnt wander off & get lost ...

anyway ... please help out ... i dunno if this is too personal but im tryin to figure out a way to get a kitten & take care of it

P.S: not to be an annoyin person but ... how did u get ur first pet & when ... ?

[MissDolittle]

Welcome on board!

I'd say if you don't get a pet, you will never find out if you are responsible
enough. It's that simple. But what if you find out that this is not for you?
Or if you move out when you are older? Cats can get 20 years old, ya know?
It's a commitment and not fair to the cat to learn on her expense.

Have you considered a hamster or guinea pig? Parents are often more
cooperative with smaller animals in a cage than a bigger one that runs
free in the house or yard. And caged animals are much more work, so
you'd even learn more responsibility than with a cat. Just a thought :).

How I get my first pet? I just brought a cat home. I saw the cat on the
way to school and on the way home she followed me, so I took her inside.

My mom threw a fit and my father was allergic, so I had to bring her back
where I found her. So that doesn't always work lol.

[KittyLuver]

actually we did have a hamster ... but a long time ago .. in germany (i lived there for 3 years) but then we had to let it go cuz we had to cum back here (to saudi arabia) so we gave it to my sister's friend who has a hamster too ... it then eventually died there :( & i think it did because it was old ... hamsters live to about 3 years rite ? ...

ya i'd luv to get a hamster but there are none here.. if u havent noticed i live saudi arabia =P ... they mostly sell rats & lizardz & turtles n stuff ...
btw i did have fish too .. but they died =P ... they were old too .. n now i only have 1 left im not sure wut kind it is ...

but im sure they sell cats here cuz theres ALOT of street cats n kittens n i think their orphans .. u kno ? the ones u help take care of ...
btw theres a specific cat that i wanted to talk to u about... its always diggin in our garbage outside =P .. its really thin too i think.. that poor thing .. i feel really sorry for it ... but every time i try to get close to it, it just runs away ...
i wuz wondering if u can help me give it food or sumthin ... but im also afraid if it is sick in sum way.. after all, u never know wat it ate from the trash ...

thanks for the advice :)

[MissDolittle]

Where in Germany were you at? I am German and moved to the US in '91.
I'm 44 :).

The kitten at the trashcan is a feral cat, meaning totally wild. If she is very
young, you might be able to turn her around. But that's not easy.

If you want to feed her, just put a bowl of dry cat food and water out in her
area. But be prepared, lots of cats will come and eat.

I always have food out for the wild cats here :).

As to the cat maybe being sick..it's very likely that she has fleas and worms.
Many cats here have leukemia. But of course I can't be certain.

[KittyLuver]

ok .. thanx for the advice .. again =P
oh kool .. umm i wuz in malch, heidlberg (i dunno how 2 spell it right =P)
but im originally saudi n we went to germany for 3 yearz cuz my dad had the long business trip n my mom wuz thinkin of going there cuz u kno .. she got tired of the weather ... but who wouldnt take a chance for goin to germany rite ? =P

actually its more like a grown up cat but i dont think its a senior .. maybe about i dunno 8 or 9 years i think ... just a guess .. :P

btw ... the kittens in da videos are so cute n butters is such a good dog =P ... lol ... i luv animals .. im plannin to be a vet .. i luv helpin animals .. even tho i never got to experience it but i wud sure luv to be a vet :D

well thanx for the advice again :P :D

[MissDolittle]

Ah, Heidelberg. I lived about 50 km from there near Stuttgart :).
What's wrong with the weather there? Except right now with the heat wave lol.

That would be great if you learn to be a vet. I always loved animals, but
as I said, my parents didn't play along. They did go with me from zoo to zoo
all over Germany to find me a job after I was done with school, but no luck.

When I moved to Texas 15 years ago, the first thing I did was taking in
injured and unwanted dogs and cats and chickes and bunnies and and and lol.

I was already 30 when I started to get my hands on experience, so don't
beat yourself up just yet :).

And 5 years ago, when we moved to this little town here I became friends
with the animal shelter people. I learned that they don't a vet that helps
them and that they put all kittens and sometimes puppies down, because
nobody raises them.

Since I work at home on the computer I offered my help. Oh did I have
fun! And then the first songbird came along and died, because I did
everything wrong. So I said to myself that I will not let that happen again
and learned and learned and learned and now I'm a wildlife rehabilitator too :).

[thundersquirrel]

hi! i'm lila. that's cool you really want a kitten. i can't blame you. ;)

my first pets were there when i was born. there was a golden retriever named brady, and two grey cats named tito and tiny. when they all passed, we got another golden retriever named lucy and a ragdoll cat named desiree. (ragdolls look like siamese cats but they have long hair). later on, we decided to get a second dog, zora, and she's an australian shepherd mix.

your desires sound a lot like when i wanted a pet rat. it was in seventh grade, and i had a friend who had rats, as well as a class pet rat. i fell in love with them. i begged and begged my parents for a rat. eventually i wrote them a very long letter giving all the reasons why i wanted a rat and promising i would take care of it without their help. they gave in. i bought a rat, and it turns out she was pregnant, and five days after i got her i had eleven rats. :D

it's hard to commit to a pet that lives so long if you plan on going to college. your parents would have to want the pet too, and be willing to care for it when you couldn't. it also impacts travel; you can't leave a cat in your house for a week unless you have someone else care for it. if you bring it along with you, you have to bring a litter box and carrier too.

if i were you, i'd get a rat. rats live longer than mice, and they're nicer than gerbils and hamsters, and less shy than guinea pigs. you have to be willing to commit though. they need their cages cleaned at least once a week, and play time for at least half an hour per day.

it's always very exciting when you first get a pet; you play, you pet, you can't stop thinking about it. but eventually you'll know all their tricks, you'll memorize their cute little faces and movements, and for a lot of people, that's when they stop caring about their pets, or give them away. you need to really ask yourself if you will love that pet and be responsible for it every day for two years or more (if you get a rat).

i suggest you get something that won't live as long first. like a mouse. if you get a very young mouse, you can teach it to be comfortable around you. they live about a year in captivity.

i hope all the best for you and any pets you may get. ;)

[MissDolittle]

Hehehe, the way I imagine the parents who can't even go for a cat and then
hear about a rat..outch lol. But of course I could be wrong. I want to be
wrong! lol

Say, ragdolls is a description of a cat's look? That's the first I hear.

I call kittens ragdolls when I pick them up and they go limp and don't move
at all..like a ragdoll lol.

[thundersquirrel]

that's exactly why they're called ragdolls; they (if they like you) go limp when you pick them up. but it's not just kittens, even adult ragdolls do that.

here's a link to a pic of a ragdoll. i still don't know how to get my own pics on this thing, the photobucket thing didn't work out.

http://jamis-kocky.net/fotogalerie/ragdoll.jpg

our cat desi looks a lot like the one in this pic, but her hair isn't cut short, it's much longer. and she's smaller. but the markings are very similar. you can't really tell with this one, but ragdolls almost have a mane, like a mini lion. i love it. :D

[KittyLuver]

i dunno ... im not really into small pets ... like rats or hamsters n stuff ... sumtimes i get scared of them .. hehe ... :lol:

i begged my parents alot bout da kitten .. n if i just go like "i want a rat now ... can i please have a rat ??" .. u kno they'll say "wut happened to da kitten ?" n ya kno :P

but my mom almost said yes (for a kitten) :P
she wuz like "fine if u want it so badly, go with ur dad n buy one" but i was in another room then she started talkin bout sumthin else ... so i wuz like AWW MAN!! :P :D lol ...

i cant stop thinkin about a kitten n how to take care about it ...
i've even thot about those old pillowz that my mom will give away :P n instead i wanna use it for da kitten to sleep in or sumthin :P ... i cant stop myself :D:P lol

[MissDolittle]

I cross my fingers and my toes for ya!! Tell your mom you have kitten
experts helping and guiding you through everything. I raised about 500
kittens, so I think I can call myself an expert :rolling .

[MissDolittle]

that's exactly why they're called ragdolls; they (if they like you) go limp when you pick them up. but it's not just kittens, even adult ragdolls do that.

here's a link to a pic of a ragdoll. i still don't know how to get my own pics on this thing, the photobucket thing didn't work out.

http://jamis-kocky.net/fotogalerie/ragdoll.jpg

our cat desi looks a lot like the one in this pic, but her hair isn't cut short, it's much longer. and she's smaller. but the markings are very similar. you can't really tell with this one, but ragdolls almost have a mane, like a mini lion. i love it. :D

Aah I see! Those are the Siamese/Persian/Himalayan Mixes..at least they
look like it. You saw a pic of my Rosy..Oopsie Rosy is what we call her, cuz
she's a cluz lol. When we hear something falling in another room, hubby
and I roll our eyes and go "Ooooopsie Rosy again" lol.

[thundersquirrel]

hahaha, our cat knocks stuff over on purpose. when we don't do something for her, she gets all pouty, and she tries to make us mad by zooming around the house at full speed and batting at precariously balanced objects. lol.

[OrphanMom]

Hi KittyLuver,

Well it sounds to me like you already have a kitty! I think the perfect solution to your problem and your desire to take care of animals is to take care of the poor kitty in back of your house that eats out of the trash can!

I found an amazing article about an American woman who went to Saudi Arabia and tried to help the street cats there. You should check out her website and try contacting her for advise!

http://www.deepeet.com/saudicats.htm

Good luck and please consider helping the homeless cats instead of having your parents buy you one!

[KittyLuver]

hey its me again ... looong time since i last posted here ... well my friend got me two cats n shes giving me everything for them ... litter box food ... bowls ... everything ... they're persian/himalayan mix and when i went over to her house i saw them n i fell in love :P .. they're one year old .. and they wouldnt break or scratch not one thing in her house ... when it wants to get out of the room it just pats the door ... it wouldnt even try scratching it ... :P ... well when my dad picked me up i told him about them n he's like "no umm i dont think so ... better if u wait n we ask your mom bout it" but before he made up his mind, i ran back n her house n showed my dad the kitty n he's like "WOW. thats one fat cat. okay we'll see" ... n then of course when i asked my mom the next morning, she said no unless if i keep em outside ... but i dont see why .. i mean like they dont scratch a thing in the house ... im still trying to talk to my parents about it ... its a really good deal :P ... two free healthy cats with the litter box n everything ... :P

but now my friend had to give em back to the shop cuz her mom wouldnt keep them unless if i take them, and i didnt take em .. so they gave them back :(

[MissDolittle]

Aaaw what a shame. They would have had a great home with you!