Conference misery::feline_v1

    I rescued a kitten once that had a bad case of earmites.  She had
    to be treated twice a day for several weeks, and hated every minute
    of it.  She was only 6 weeks old at the time.  
    
    Well, she is four years old now, and is still holding a grudge with
    me about the ear mite thing. :^)  Her name is Tilly, and she never
    lets a chance to tell me how she feels go by.  She is devoted to
    my husband (he never gave her the mite medicine), but hates my guts.
    This is the first time in my life I have ever had a cat that doesn't
    like me, it is weird.  :^)
    
    Anyway, keep giving her lots of love on her terms.  If she doesn't
    want to be picked up, forcing the issue will make her resent you.
    She will probably come around.  Also, she may still be tender from
    her surgery.  A spay while pregnant is major surgery (a spay alone
    is major surgery), and kitties don't get any pain medication.  It
    has only been a couple of weeks since her surgery and she very well
    could be a bit sore still.  
    
    Good luck with her.
    
    Jo

    Lots of love and kitty treats will help.  It's hard not 
    to get grouchy towards someone who keeps doing those uncomfortable
    things.....she'll come around once she feels better.
    
    L-

    It could be that before you were treating her ears, she had some
    hearing loss from the mites - she may be hearing things she never
    heard before.  Might be wise not to let her out.  She might still
    think she's prego and might be wondering where her kittens are.
    Just a thought - ya never know what goes thru their furry little
    minds!
    
    E.T.

    Kate,
    
    Poppy sounds beautiful and lucky to have 'found' you!
    
    Lots of hugs, love, patience, and attention should do it.
    
    Otis was skiddish when we first got him - but I talked to him ALL
    the time (still do, as a matter of fact).  I have all kinds of
    pet (no pun intended) names for him and he just _LOVES_ the
    attention.  I really make a big deal out of him.
    
    Now I can't get him out of my back pocket and I am thrilled!
    
    Enjoy your new baby.
    
    Marilyn
    

    Kate,
      could it be that Poppy was still in heat when you brought her 
    home?  That would make her more affectionate.  I know Halley
    continued to be in heat for a couple of weeks after she'd been
    bred.
      Nancy

	The stray I have also had a really bad case of ear mites, when I had
	him - 7 months ago.

	He was really affectionate for the first two weeks, then we had him 
	done, he had his injections, and we started the ear-mite drops.

	If I open the draw where I kept the drops, he dissapears like 
	lightening.

	He doesn't like being picked up if walk up to him, when he comes to me
	of his own accord, rubbing himself against my legs, and I then pick him 
	up, he's fine.

	My husband has no problems going to him - but he never gave Yoda the
	ear-mite drops either.

	He is starting to get better, I pick him up every time he's close,
	and I can now manage a couple of feet, and I try to extend it each time
 	I see him coming towards me. In time, I expect for him to be 
	"back-to-normal".

	Mind you, I'm not surprised, the vet reckons he was a stray from birth
	- and he was 5 months old when he found me!

	Heather

    
    	I got Spike and Lady from the dog pound  and they too had ear
    mites.  They were 6 weeks old when I got them though.  They never were
    super-affectionate.  I think all their time in the pound, (from birth),
    made them a bit skittish.  They had ear mites too.  I gave them their
    medicine and they hated it too.  I've had them now 2 years and they're
    great kitties.  They are spayed and neutered and they both like
    attention, in their own way.  Both of them only like petting when they
    approach you.  They seem to really like it when people are going to the
    bathroom!  They follow all of our guests in there and then rub all over
    their legs!  (I guess they figure they've got you pinned.)  Anyways,
    I'm sure she'll be ok.  Perhaps you should start going to the bathroom
    with the door open!
    
    Rachael
    

    not to rat-hole this note, but...
    
    what *IS* it with cats and bathrooms?  all the cats i have had insist
    on following me to the bathroom.  sometimes they rub against my legs,
    sometimes they talk, sometimes they just watch.  when i have company
    in--who, naturally, close the bathroom door in someone else's house--
    the cats just cry and cry 'cuz they can't get in!  they will lie on
    their side and do the ol' "paw under the door" trick trying to get in!
    
    as e.t. said, "who knows what goes on in their furry little minds?"
    
    diane & the gruesome twosome
    

    Re-.7 and.8...continuing rathole
    
    
    ...YEAH!! What the devil makes them so curious about people in the
    bathroom? May wife and I have this friend with well over half a
    dozen cats. They aren't "affectionate" by any stretch of the
    imagination, and very rarely can they be *seen* when company is
    around, but I go into the bathroom...close the door...five minutes
    later I open the door, and every one of them is there looking up
    at me looking like they're about to applaud! Or, they have this
    expression on their face which reads, "What the devil took you so
    long? We've been waiting forever to get in there!"
    
    I would like to have a video camera waiting and rolling to observe
    how they congregate while I'm in there. I'd definitely send it into
    "Funniest Home Videos".

Well, to rat-hole a little further, and hope I don't gross anyone out...
Snickers likes to get up behind you ON the toilet seat while you are sitting
on it. It's not too bad, kind of like having a heated furry seat. (Except
every now and then when he decides to give me a nip). He gets a front row
seat of the toilet being flushed without missing anything. Every now and then
though he tries to stick a paw or even his head between you and the seat to see
what is going on down there. Well the first time he jumped up on the seat behind
my S.O., he of course tried to stick his head down there, and all I heard from
the bathroom was 'Hey! He's trying to stick his head down my read-end! Make him
stop it!!" Well I was laughing so hard I didn't do anything. Now Snickers is
not allowed on the toilet seat at the same time Dave is.

Snickers is also totally fascinated when I move his 'solid waste' from the
litter box to the toilet and flush it down. He tries to help me get it on
the scoop, and then just watches in facination as it flushes! I'm waiting for
    him to toilet train himself (he has figured out that he can use the
    bathroom sinks as a toilet, I'm trying to discourage that of course).
    
    The toilet is definitely the most facinating thing in the house.

    Well, when I go to use the bathroom I either end up with Bob on my
    lap or hunched over with Isis on my back!  And Flame is also fascin-
    ated by the flushing toilet...but then, FLame is fascinated by anything
    having to do with running water.
      N

    Back to the topic at hand!
    
    We finished with the ear medicine about a week ago, and the 
    infection seems to be gone. The more marked change, however,
    is in Poppy's dispostion. Within a few days after we stopped
    the medicine, she started hanging around a little closer.
    Then she cautiously returned to jumping into laps. She still
    won't get on the sofa (which really is OK), the site where
    most of the ear drops were administered. 
    
    All in all, I think she's pretty much back to her old self.
    She's much more playful and animated, back to doing goofy
    kitty things. I followed everyone's advice and gave her
    affection on her own terms. That, together with the end of
    the medicine, seemed to do the trick. 
    
    Thanks for al the good help.
    
    Kate
    
    PS. Poppy also loves the bathroom, especially the bathtub.
    We call it "worshipping the tub," because she sits on
    the edge and gazes at the water coming out of the faucet.
    She also likes to knock things into the tub and bat them
    around. Last night, she had a spider the size of a baseball
    in there -- heaven!

    Re .12 - try an empty thread spool in the tub, Snickers just LOVES that!
    Dave says he plays 'air hockey' with it. But don't make the mistake of
    leaving a spool in there after you go to bed, the noise at 3:00 AM is
    unbelievable!!!
    
    Deb & the Snick

    re: .12 - Mao loves little superballs or ping-pong balls in the tub
    too.  We have the glass doors so things stay in the tub when she's
    playing with them.
      N