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BOO!
Does that total cute overload get you into the holiday spirit? No way my cats would put up with the dress up day, but “Kittens are dumb,” according to the spay and neuter women in my neighborhood, “they go right into the traps.” So, I guess kittens might be subject to this kind of indignity, without fully realizing the humiliation of it.
This was a very sad week for teh cat people in my neighborhood. Two beloved kittehs died. Birdie was the smallest of the litter of 5 in a colony I feed occasionally, and she was the favorite of her primary feeder. She was hit by a car, (it was sudden) and she was in great health, thanks to the trap, neuter and release program. I guess that is the best we can hope for with the ferals: we feed them and love them the best we can for as long as we can. But it is still tragic.
My neighbor, who lost her beloved Blanca to dogs a couple of months ago, lost Elijah to cancer. The symptoms came on rather suddenly, and even after spending a fortune on tests, there was still no diagnosis of the actual type of cancer, so the vet would not treat it. Eli was a fighter, but it was too much.
I have been working on a couple of projects at my house, and this is always a Big Deal for the cats. Change! Stuff moved around! We must inspect and oversee it all! Otherwise, not much else to report.
Of course, SD, “the Dad” is on my mind and in our hearts. (((Hugs))) and wishes for your return home to the kittehs soonest!
What’s up with your cat, cats or other beloved animals?
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A reminder, the Halloween season is one when shelters do not adopt out black cats, for fear of bad treatment. This past week I found a new owner for the now unused cat furniture, and a happy young couple paid a token amount for a tall tower with nests, several feeders, a play house and a bag of kitty litter. Their three cats are no doubt getting accustomed to the new decor, which is a source of pleasure for me.
New! Change! Yes, Excited for the furniture at the new cat house!
My head nearly exploded from teh cyoot of bat kitten. Yeah, we don’t dare do the dress-up-the-pet thingie. It’s not worth the medical expenses.
Oh, the only critter update I have is I had to clean up a smallish puddle of barf this morning. The cat pointed at the dog who pointed back at the cat. Not really and it doesn’t matter. It doesn’t happen very often, really maybe twice a year, but becomes I’m always the first one up, I Always get the pleasure of being the one to clean it up.
Someone at my house is always leaving some kind of spit up somewhere. Sometimes grass, sometimes food. I gave up on rugs.
Oh, yeah. Last year I had my guys pull up the carpet in the grand room and I sanded and painted it. Easy clean up and we don’t have carpet and padding full of dog and cat hair and dust motes. It’s much better now. :)
Oh, bgrothus! You’ve done Pull Up a Cat! What a relief to see it. I couldn’t remember if I had committed to doing it today, and what’s worse, I’m still ridiculously tired and sleeping too much, and so I slept until a little while ago and forgot all about checking on Pull Up a Cat.
My kitteh news is mostly the continued acclimation to indoor sleeping of Big Boy, the feral cat. Who is in the kitchen right now finishing the last of his breakfast. I put his bed down (the one he slept in outdoors on cold nights last winter) in the kitchen, near the door, a few weeks ago, and gradually began finding him resting in it. We’ve had some chilly nights, by S Texas standards, so whenhe wanted out, I’d hold the door, he’d look out, feel the chill, look up at me, and not move a muscle. So I’d close the door. We might go through that a few times, but eventually he curls up in the bed, I shut the door,turn out the light and go to bed. And there he is in the morning, perfectly calm.
Awwww. Big Boy is now a housecat!! Do we have any pictures of him lounging inside.
Huh,,,yes, actually! Lemme see how long it takes to upload the one I took last week….
Oookay, let’s give this a shot, Big Boy on his bed.
Huh. No link? Trying again.
Oh, he’s sooooo handsome, a tuxedo kitteh. Big Boy is a very fitting name. Has he lost the tip of one ear?
Big Boy is very handsome! In our parts, the TNR process includes tipping the ear so everyone knows which ferals have been “fixed.”
One of the 2 kittens at the feral colony I feed is a tuxedo. Has a tipped ear now, so he/she has been trapped, fixed and released. I adore them, Ms. Sissy is one too.
Very observant. Yes, clipping the tip of an ear is what the TNR groups (Trap, Neuter, Return) do when they spay/neuter a feral cat. He behaves as if neutered…and looks that way, as our beloved original host observed, he hasn’t developed the tomcat jowls, he doesn’t seem to spray, and he doesn’t fight with any of my cats, so I’m sure TNR took care of him at some point.
Yes, he is pretty big..and perhaps eating too much, now that food is freely available; he’s looking a little plump. I’m trying to cut back on the quantity he gets a bit.
Becoming such a sweetie; he meets me at the garage door after work, flopping down and rolling over, then coming up for a head scritch. He rubs against my legs, even rubs against Smokey or Pushy sometimes. He’s become quite sociable.
Caturday! Hi bgrothus and fellow firecats!
Every cat I have ever had agrees. CHANGE. IS. NOT. GOOD. Except that anything pleasant that happens once becomes a law engraved in stone that must continue at regular intervals for ever and ever!
Hey, bgrothus. Forgot to say how sorry I am for the losses of the past week. It seems there’s only so much you can do for the ferals, at least some of them. It still breaks my heart to think of the last time I saw Smoodgie, likely the day she died. She just couldn’t bring herself to stay inside. Big Boy is moving much faster toward housecat-dom than she did, and that probably means he’ll survive to a greater age. Don’t know if he’ll ever want to stay in 24 hours, but there’s a chance he will.
Oh, that is an excellent summing up. Hiya, gesneri.
Gracie fights obesity too. I think it stems from hunger early in life mixed with boredom indoors. Once the door was open for G to come and go as she pleased, her hips narrowed right away. Big Boy looks like a find of a companion.
Heehee. And that is why the food bowl at our house is never filled before noon (we do free grazing). A hoomin’s gotta sleep…
Hello all. This is a drive by. Some friends came into town and stayed with me last night so intrepid Kuroneko spent the night in the closet. Had a good time anyway. Thanks for taking this today Barb and I hope everybody has a great week ahead and best wishes to (((SD)))
Hi. Just a quick stop–I’m already way behind with Sunday chores. Stopped by to see the end of comments on contentious diary from yesterday, then needed to get the bad taste out of my mouth here. Sympathies–did not realize you lost Smoodgie–one of the many things I’ve missed in the past months.
Hi Margaret! Glad you had some time for friends, always good for the whole system. That is, except for the cat system. Poor little Neko, having to spend the night in the closet. (violin).
sorry for the losses, bg.
exciting development today. my friend’s cat, jackson, who is a HUGE orange striped critter came over to smell my things and me for the first time today. my friend always warns me not to try to pet him as he’s a ferocious biter so i haven’t touched him. today after he smelled me, he rubbed against my hand, so i figured i was invited and petted him a little.
i was quite shy. usually i just go right for heavy purring. so there’s been a breakthrough with jackson. nice.
oh, and i love BATCAT!
Neko prolly spent the closet time plotting revenge for the intrusion on her personal space.
Which diary was that? Just curious.
Margaret! Sometimes yesterday, lookin g at the illustration you used for your PUAC, I decided that in my mind, I’m going to refer to you two as Peggo and Nekky. :)
Hiya, gw! We cat people are such suckers for any notice from the furry critters, aren’t we? Glad you made progress with Jackson; a milestone for sure.
Batcat is adorable…though I can’t imagine how the fangs were done…wouldn’t even think of trying that with any of mine, heh.
Hey, Peggy: glad you’re having a good time, you deserve it. Spending time with friends is good for the spirit.
Sorry for Kuroneko…see above well-understood comments per the Universe of Kittehs: Change.Is.NOT.Good!
Use the force, Bev.
Just kidding. How’s your Sunday so far?
Went for my walk in the park. I made chili yesterday and chickiesoup the day before, so I have a little leftovers and I’m trying to decide if I’m going to make something else. Maybe a meatloaf for dinner, that’s pretty easy.
Onward and Upward. :) and Hugs.
Heh. I was thinking along the same lines.
and gw, nice to see you and glad you are making progress with the neighbor kitteh.
Thanks to everyone for dropping by, all sending strength and homecoming wishes to (((SD.)))
I am headed out for some doorknocking for a couple of friends who are running for state house and senate seats.
BBL.
You are such a hard worker. Thanks so much for putting up Pull Up a Cat. Good luck with the block-walking.
We promise not to burn down the house.
Holy Smoke!
You gotta be kiddin!
Ok, the short version:
As you guys suggested, I went to the animal shelter and a cat picked me: just one cat!
And when I asked the guys at the shelter why this particular black cat just happened to have wings,
They looked at me, smiled, and said with a very straight face that only the very best ones have wings.
So, I took the black one with wings and so far so good except at night about five times a week the cat flies into a wall.
So you see it’s true:
From the picture on your diary it looks like you guys went to the same shelter as did I.
We got lucky didn’t we! :>)
Now, doremus, that was cute…but tell us the real story…did you actually get picked by a kitty? And if so..well, you know what we want: PICTURES!!
My link above is blank, don’t know why. You’ll need to cut-and-paste.
http://my.firedoglake.com/davidswanson/2012/10/19/the-case-for-irrational-voting/
Not sure it’s worth it, though.
Thanks….I had seen that thread early on, but not know how it had taken off. Glad I was out, I think.
Congratulations for being selected by your new feline overlord. Now we all need a picture album of the first days of your probation period as cat servant. Heehee.
Actually not yet. But I thought I would get into the spirit of your diary and the upcoming pagan holiday.
Truth be told, I am hesitant to get a cat or dog because I lost my dearest dog of 16 years a year ago, and I still get weepy when I think about ‘The Grinch’.
I really don’t want to go through that again.
But thanks for asking.
Getting inside for the first time today and glad to see PUAC. Thanks bgrothus. Mcat is has been getting a higher percentage of canned food and is showing some new found energy and greater activity along with an almost dutiful ignoring of the sound of her kibble hitting her dish. She is of course wanting the entire diet changed to exclusively canned. She looks a little trimmer, though.
After about 4 inches of rain in the past week, today was mild and sunny. Leaves are about 3/4 gone from the branches, lovely yellows and golds and deep reddish-yellows contrasting with bare branches, asparagus ferns changing from green to yellow, geese by the hundreds overhead and also in the corn field stubble. Out very early this morning and I think a few coyotes made it into a sleeping flock by the sound of the wild yipping that went on for about 15 minutes. Life in the wild.
Dug the last of my beets, cut two grocery bags stuffed full of swiss chard. Put a light chopped straw mulch on a section of the garden. A beautiful relaxing quiet Sunday.
Endings and loss are never easy. But don’t forget all the, “good friending,” shared and given in those sixteen years. I don’t think, ‘The Grinch,’ would hold it against you to try another for some companionship, but you’ll know best when/if you are ready. I knew someone who volunteered a couple hours a month at the local shelter in lieu of bringing a new charge home.
Just checking back in. Angela a really sweet cat also went to the Bridge earlier this year. I doubt that I will open myself to that particular love and loss again. Two wonderful cats. the other was Emily, that are still so dear to me and the hurt in giving up still lingers.
I also was esp checking in to see if we had any more word on SD. I do hope he is doing well and knows we are thinking of him, with him in the way spirits can be, and grateful for all the hours he spent with us. Peace.
My neighbor shares the feelings of those who simply can’t open their hearts to another animal, she is just too broken hearted over the losses the last few months.
When I went upstairs for my shoes earlier, guess what? Cat barf all over the bed, everything had to be washed. Yanno, it does not matter if no rugs, there is always something to throw up on.
Usually I encounter some nice cats when I am knocking on doors, but not today. One house had 4 dogs, they were building a major fence for more outdoor dog space.
Well, the cats have been fed and have some treats (Love. Treats!) while I threw on some beet greens for myself.
Thanks for stopping in and sharing all your cat tales today.
A couple more Halloween Kittehs
Little Pumpkin
Snow White
((SD))
My Little looks a bit like that Little Pumpkin, and yes, the Horror of Being Seen like That is just The Worst for a cat.
Thanks for the funnnies, Elliott.
Just peeking in to see if there was news of Dragonman. I think of him often…wakes me in the night sometimes.
Ah yes, the kitteh barf. One thing about my former kitteh days I truly don’t miss. I learned to turn on a small light even to go to the bathroom, because otherwise…
So very true. I guess you should be glad it was during daytime, when it’s less of a pain to strip the bed than just as you’re about to climb into it, huh? (always some bright side to look upon, right?)
I have managed to replenish my supply of kitty treats…it was the first thing on my shopping list today, as the current bag is getting low. I let my guys hang out in the yard today as it was gorgeous and the neighbors all seemed to be away. I leave the sliding door open so they can come and go, and to reinforce the willingness to come in voluntarily, I usually give them a treat each time they come in. Seems to work.
Thanks, elliott…that poor little calico…I feel her pain. The snow White kitty seems righteously p.o’d.
The farthest I’ve ever gone toward a costume for a kitteh is a Christmas ribbon with bow…and those didn’t last long.
When I was a kid and had dogs, although both were smallish, luckily nobody had invented the concept of costumes for dogs.
Hi, MsMolly. (I sent you a friend request today on FB; thought we already were!) I, too, worry about SD all the time, which I’m sure isn’t what he would want, but can’t help it. I was really hoping OmAli might drop by today with news. Wonder how his kittehs are holding up in his absence? If I were there, I’d be tempted to smuggle one in to visit under a dress or something…(of course, it’s not a climate where you can show up in a coat, the best way to hide a snuggly kitty).
I spent two weeks in the hospital 16 yeas ago; at first I was too out of it to miss anyone; once I was on the mend, I really, really missed my kittehs.
Guess it’s time to say goodnight and prepare to face the week.
Thanks bgrothus and everybody, and ((((((Southern Dragon))))))).