Cats

Assalamu Alaikum:

My cats go nuts over the catnip also. But their favorite thing is their feather and string on a stick toy. They never get tired of it.

My oldest cat Habibti is 11 or so, she was a shelter cat that adopted me 10 years ago and at that time they were guestimating her age.  In the last 1 1/2 years she has developed a disease called LPGS where she gets horrible ulcers in her mouth. There is no known cause, apparently her immune system just turned on itself. The bacteria around her back teeth are causing secondary infections, so after giving her all of the steroid shots that are safe we are going to have all of her back teeth removed Monday. Insha'Allah this will help. I am nervous because they will have to anesthetize her, but I am praying she will be fine.

My next oldest is my big orange and white boy MishMish, hence my name. He is shy and even though he weighs about 17 pounds, he is afraid of almost everything. I have friends that I have known for years who think he is a myth because they've never seen him.

Then I have my beautiful 5 1/2 year old Sukar. She loves to kiss and will give smooches to anyone. She's never met a stranger.

Then there's my big cameo boy Nimur. His mother is one of my stray cats that I feed. When we moved in here in 2001 she had just had a litter in the neighbors back yard. It was winter and all of the kittens had upper respiratory infections. 6 of the kittens died. I started putting food outside and she moved the rest to my yard so I was able to get them antibiotics and eye drops. Nimur's right eye was badly infected and is smaller than his left, but he is truly beautiful and likes to cuddle.

My baby is Hedeya. She was also one of the Mama cats kittens and I found her on the other side of my fence when she was 7 days old. She had the eye infection, but her eyes hadn't opened yet so her head was very swollen and I think the Mama cat had left her there to die. I used bar-b-que tongs to pull her through the fence and rushed her to the vet. She lost her right eye and the vision in her left is compromised, but she can see, Al HamdilAllah,  and she is the sweetest little girl. I bottle fed her from the time I found her at 7 days so she thinks she's human. She follows me everywhere and sleeps on my legs at night.

Well, that's my family and more than you probably wanted to know. They bring me so much joy and I thank Allah for them everyday.

As-Salaam Alaikum,

I am a cat, dog, fish, bird, and all the animal of world lover.  I have a weakness for animals.  Just love animals, can't help it.  I have a fourteen year cat named poochie. I got her when I was fourteen year old.  She is so sweet.  Everytime when I get mad she just looks me and say everything will be fine.  I think cats(all animals) see and feel things.  I think we as humans are intuitive also.  After the tsunami hit on the news the locals were saying that the animals were acting strange before the tsumani hit.  I have birds to, a day before a thunderstorm they get quiet, they don't talk or do anything. 

I got a question though my husband bought the cat some catnip.  What in the world is in that stuff?  I let my cat smell it and she went nuts.  I took the bag of catnip from her because it was wrapped in plastic and she kept biting at it.  I didn't want the catnip to spill on the floor.  She got mad and bit me.  I tapped her on the nose lightly and took it from her.  She kept following me around looking at me like, where is the catnip, where did you put it.  So I put the catnip in the sock and she played with the sock.  I bought a catnip toy one time and she didn't like it. 

Hakeema

Wa alaikum salaam, Sister Mishmish,

Masha'allah!  Thank you for posting the story of the cat and Abu Huraiyrah!  I knew I had seen a story like this, but had forgotten most of it.  This time I will write it out in my notebook and then I will have it for future reference.  May Allah reward you for your effort.  Thank you!

Peace, ummziba.

Assalamu Alaikum Sister Ummziba:

I think the story about cutting the clothing was about Abu Hurayrah because he had such great love for cats.

My cats are also very sensitive to my moods and will come to me if I am crying or upset. I recently read an article about how more and more nursing homes are keeping cats as residential pets. The cats seem to be able to sense when one of the elderly patients is nearing death and they will all gather around that patient. They will sit on the patient's bed and cuddle or just keep them company until they pass. The article said that some patients find this disturbing at first, and do not want the cats let into their rooms,but then usually find comfort and solace in the cats quiet and loving presence.

I am known as the "Crazy Cat Lady" around my neighborhood, and that's fine by me. Many is the morning I've gone outside and found a new kitten in my backyard. I'm not sure how they get here, but sometimes I think they have a little human help. I will bring them in and feed them until I find them a good inside home. I have had some success with this Al HamdilAllah. My permanent strays outside are the ones who were a liitle too wild for anyone to keep.

Two of my five inside cats were birthed by strays in my backyard. They are trying to help me type right now...