Hi! I'm new and need advice. We have had a very rough year. We've lost 4 beloved pets over a years time. Cody past away with bloat, Honey 14 passed in October, Cash (cat) in April and poor Bailey a month ago. She went into the emergency vet with swollen ear flaps and never came back!! We're still persuing what happened.
We now have two 1 year old golden retrievers and a sweet two year old Ragdoll named Sassy. Sassy was close to Bailey(dog), she is more aloof with Ty and Samson. We were thinking of either a Maine Coon kitten or a shelter kitty for a companion for Sassy. We would like a large long haired kitten. We're not sure about whether we should get a male or female. Our last male cat was very destructive with spraying(he was neutered). Any advice would be greatly appreciated!! Marianne

Welcome to the forum...

Sorry to hear your bad news

Hi Marianne,

We started with two female cats who were great together. Unfortunately we did lose one little girl after she fell out of a tree and didn't quite get the landing right hence breaking her neck! We were then left with the task of finding a companion for Bo who became very lonely.
We found a perfect pal at a local rescue centre. She was quite a large and very fluffy kitten and has blended seamlessly into life at our house.
If I could offer any advice it would be to try your local rescue centre first. We found a lovely female long haired cat and couldn't be happier. Try finding a cat or kitten who has either been hand reared or had a lot of contact around people as through experience they tend to settle in a lot quicker which would obviously be beneficial in your case as you already have other pets to think of.
Good luck with your search.

Thank you!

Thank you1 I think a shelter cat is a great idea. I've been looking on petfinder.com and have seen a lot of cuties! We adopted Sassy from our Vet. Their are so many cats and kittens as well puppies and dogs that need homes. I'll let you all know when we find the right one for us. Thanks again for your great advice! Marianne

I would highly recommend a Maine Coon. Ours will be 3 years in January. Our cat is a people loving cat, not one to run and hide. Maine Coon's love sitting on tables and countertops. We have a male (neutered). My sister-in-law has two males. The breed is a long hair, but doesn't shed terribly. I do recommend the furminator tho help with shedding. Pictures and Politics


Not much politics on my blog, mostly pictures of my cat.

Hi and welcome to the forum,
Sorry to hear that you have had such a bad year, lets hop that things start looking up for you now, it must have been a heartbreaking time.

What breed was your dog that suffered bloat?? I had one bloat this time last year, It is something I have always bear aware of and done my homework on, but when it happened it was spretty scarey.

Atlanta hey - I was at a convention there a couple of years back - stayed at the Westinn' Heavenly beds or what??????
love
sue

Hi! I haven't stayed at the Westin but the Ritz Carlton is amazing! The beds there have pillow type mattress'.
I'm sorry you had to deal with bloat too. It's horrible.
Cody was a ten year old golden retriever. He was my best boy. We opted not to have surgery because the odds were against him surviving it and we didn't want him to suffer needlessly. We now have two 1 year old goldens. I found a special bowl to use for their meals. It has three bars that come up in the middle. It slows them down because the have to eat around the bars. It works great. I also feed them twice a day instead of once a day. They always eat like it's their last meal! Samson is now 103lbs! He's not overweight, just big!
If you are interested in the bowl, I can find out who makes it! Take care, Marianne

hi Marriane
I actually use the brake bowl - but would be interested in any other item that helps prevent torsion, I not longer feed my dogs with elevated bowls.
regards
sue

Hi and welcome , sorry to hear about your pets