# Cool Hand Luke



## Maryellen

I adopted him tuesday and brought him home friday. He is de stressing from the shelter and will meet the dogs and cats in a few weeks. He is around 2 years old and has limited sight. He had a home then was tossed out then after a bit got caught and brought to the shelter with encrusted shut eyes and a respiratory infection. The shelter healed him and after spending 2 months in the shelter i adopted him. A friend of mine said all my animals i adopt are meant to be and make things happen to wind up here.

Since his sight is limited im going extra slow with him.


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## willys55

Nice kitty


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## Steinwand

He looks just like a cat my aunt hade named big spot for the "big spot on his nose"


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## Steinwand

*had


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## seminole wind

Very sweet and congrats with your new family member!


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## boskelli1571

He has a 'Hitler' mustache!


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## chickenqueen

More animals,what a way to start a new year.God bless for rescuing an animal from a shelter.I'm sure he will become a very important member of the family.You still have the cockatiels?


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## Maryellen

Yep CQ still have the cockatiels and parakeets. I dont know how luke will react to them, tgis month will get him used to hearing them before he gets some freedom


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## Maryellen

Lol sue i didnt think of it that way .


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## Maryellen

I can pet him now and he has started to purr


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## chickenqueen

Birds and cats can get along.Before I had kids,I had a cockatiel and a parakeet and they would get on the floor and eat with the cat.I have a picture but my daughter took all of my picture/albums(part of my Swedish death cleaning) or I'd post it.But if taught cats can live with birds.


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## Maryellen

Kashi maybe, but not timmy or luke, they were thrown out to fend for themselves so i wont trust them. Timmy likes to sit next to their cages watching them. 
If i had a large parrot that would be different


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## Maryellen

He is getting more comfortable


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## Maryellen

Tooo cute


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## chickenqueen

He's out of the cage.You're making progress.He looks very comfortable and at home.How's he taking the other cats and the dogs?How are the goats doing in this weather?Is the snow above their heads?My goat's coat got thick and scraggly looking in the winter but it kept him warm.


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## Maryellen

He is still in moes crate, i just had the door open so i could pet him. He sees the dogs and cats thru the crate if they come in the room. Im collecting the cat fur from timmy and kashi and putting it in the crate. The end of the month ill see how he does with the crate door open and the screen door shut


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## Maryellen

The goats are fat and super furry. The pine trees block most of the snow so they only have maybe 2 inches of snow in their yard


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## chickenqueen

I have lots of pines,too,and all the animals love to hang out under them,especially in summer.My goat chewed the lower branches off one but it made a perfect spot for the chickens to hang out and warm weather waterer and feeder so they have shelter to eat/drink and put the nursery(now goose town).It gets morning sun then is shaded the rest of the day.If he had to chew one up,he picked the best.


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## Maryellen




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## Wilbur's Mom

Looking better and better each day!


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## Maryellen

He is very shy. It will probably take a month to be allowed loose in the bedroom, then another month for the house


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## Maryellen

Well bed leap went well...


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## boskelli1571

Well, Barney came home yesterday after getting fixed. I put him in the barn in his 'bedroom'. 10.30p and he is on the porch couch, covered in snow...so Mo brought him in and he stayed the night - I think he's done with being a barn cat. The other 2 cats are not happy right now....


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## chickenqueen

The cold may have felt good on the surgical site.Poor thing!!!No more tom catting around.


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## Maryellen

Tonights first time sleeping out of his crate

2nd litterbox is in the bedroom so he starts to get used to it.


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## chickenqueen

Looks like he's been there forever and is king of the bed.Does he like to cuddle?


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## Maryellen

He likes to be pet but not picked up, which is fine ( i have kashi for that lol). 
He has been here since dec 29. Feels like longer though


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## chickenqueen

Give him time to see the others and how they react around you,he'll come around.My African Gray was abused by women.She hated me and I had to "bully" her to feed/water or wrap my arm in a towel to transport her around(she can't fly).It took a long time but she also saw how the other birds took to me.8 yrs later,she gets on my finger,calls me Mom(learned from another bird who picked it up from my daughter),has coffee with me in the morning and lets me pet her head.In the beginning,she would talk but if we went in there,she'd shut up.Now she talks to me,even when she's on my finger.She was very young still,6 y o when we got her but we were her fifth home.In her last home,she was kept in the laundry room(she was loud and messy)with a squeaky dryer.I imagine that was torture to her and she made that noise for over two yrs.People kept selling her because she wasn't a good talker.She is a good talker,they just expected too much from her.10,000 word capacity takes years to learn and she was still a baby,they live 80 yrs or so.She's a good,lovable bird now, loves Dale best and that's ok,though,she's happy.She has a forever home but she'll outlast us(hopefully) and then she goes to my daughter whom she really likes and gives kisses to.She doesn't give me kisses


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## Maryellen

Oh luke can take all the time he needs to settle in. Im fine with not picking him or timmy up.


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## Maryellen

And we tried this. Worked great till sadie tried to smell his face .


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## chickenqueen

Future BF'S?


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## Maryellen

No lol.. i dont think luke will hang with the dogs even though the dogs would love it


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## Maryellen




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## Steinwand

He looks comfy!


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## Maryellen

He is coming around, almost a month here , his dog crate is now closed, so this next step is free roam of the bedroom


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## boskelli1571

You are very patient...Barney moved in like he owned the place! He is all set in the barn, follows me around on chores in the morning and evening.
I was butchering rabbits on Saturday and he sat and watched me, then leaned into the discard bucket, fished out a rabbit head and had lunch..... He will not eat wet cat food but loves dry kibble...


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## Steinwand

He also likes rabbit heads lol


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## Maryellen

Luke has limited sight so i have to go extra slow


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## chickenqueen

Sue,was it hard to raise rabbits and butcher them?I want to do it but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to butcher them and I'd be up to my arm pits in rabbits.I butchered extra roosters one time and cooked them but I kept seeing their faces and couldn't eat them.I'm a wimp but I can go out in the field and shoot 'em and eat 'em.I bet farm raised rabbits would be meatier and juicier.


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## boskelli1571

chickenqueen said:


> Sue,was it hard to raise rabbits and butcher them?I want to do it but I'm afraid I wouldn't be able to butcher them and I'd be up to my arm pits in rabbits.I butchered extra roosters one time and cooked them but I kept seeing their faces and couldn't eat them.I'm a wimp but I can go out in the field and shoot 'em and eat 'em.I bet farm raised rabbits would be meatier and juicier.


I understand your reluctance. This is our 3rd year with them and I have finally got to 'acceptance' stage with what I do. Whatever you do, don't name them.
The first 2 years were hard, I felt guilty each time but my neighbor was helpful and gave me lots of moral support as well as butchering lessons. It really helps if you have someone to help you with the killing and butchering, it spreads the emotional load I guess.
You could raise them and have them butchered for you - easier on the conscience.
As for keeping them - I finally got smart and separated them at puberty, so you can control the population fairly easily.
My biggest hurdle was keeping the buggers corralled - I had to lay fencing on the ground and fix in place! They dig like crazy...


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## Maryellen

And the door is now open. Luke has met everyone and so far so good (well except kashi stealing lukes food grrr)


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## Maryellen




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## Maryellen




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## chickenqueen

He's family now.Does he have run of the house yet?


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## Maryellen

He did before the puppy came tuesday. Ive kept him locked up as the puppy keeps chasing my cats even while on leash. Once puppy leaves he will have his door opened again


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## Steinwand

He's so adorable I wanna cat now!!


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## Maryellen

Cats are cool, but they can be evil too


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## boskelli1571

Steinwand said:


> He's so adorable I wanna cat now!!










Here's our 'new' cat Barney - practicing his Zen yoga...


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## Maryellen

I love barney!!


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## Steinwand

Hilarious!!


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## boskelli1571

Maryellen said:


> I love barney!!


He is 'evil' at times. He has been sitting over by the rabbit pen all day just staring at them...


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## Maryellen

Hahaha!! Mine stare at the chicks and chickens when i have them in the house


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## Steinwand

I like cats because there mischievous lol that's why I want one


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## Maryellen

I have 3. They were supposed to catch the mice in the house when the mice would come inside but none of them do lol


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## boskelli1571

Maryellen said:


> I have 3. They were supposed to catch the mice in the house when the mice would come inside but none of them do lol


same here - all moved in with us so we thought Great! mouse control....hah! - they are fat and lazy - except for Barney so far.


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## chickenqueen

My dog kills rodents and o'possums.He's not lazy like a cat,kills on demand and loves the praise he gets when he kills an unwanted pest.And no litter box.........


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## seminole wind

Jack Russells or Parson Terriers are great mousers and ratters. They will catch anything that moves. If they don't kill it, they keep it pinned down like they're supposed to. Also good with fox. Holding the prey down is called "worrying" and it's genetically passed down in good breeding.


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## Maryellen




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## chickenqueen

So you got Luke roaming the house now.Looks like he's always been there.Good job!!!


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## Maryellen

Fully intergrated. Took 2 months due to his limited sight


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## chickenqueen

What I want to know is how you handle all that hair.


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## Maryellen

Lol sweep and vaccumm alot


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## chickenqueen

Dale is painting the kitchen and found dog hair on top of the cabinets.I'm not sure how it got 8-9' high(and I think I need to clean up there more).


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