Tweet
Animals are such agreeable friends – they ask no questions, they pass no criticisms. George Eliot
I’m starting this as I listen to the Yankees-Angels game Thursday night. Earlier I went over to the Orange Satan for Bill from Maine’s daily puppy pic. Yeah, I love dogs too. Today’s awwwwww moment was a Tibetan Terrier puppy. I love dogs but I don’t know much more than the popular breeds. Even though most people I know, and have known, have dogs the majority of them are hounds from the pounds, about as pure blooded as Tom DeLay. Back to the object of the exercise, I just wanted to share a really cute puppy with everybody. Curious about the breed I went to Wiki and found this little nugget in the article:
The Tibetan Terrier who has emerged from this special environment is a healthy, bouncy, well-proportioned breed with a gentle, fun temperament. He is highly intelligent, sensitive, and devoted. He is not a hunter, he may or may not be a herder. He is, above all, a companion. As a member of the family, he has few equals – constantly cheerful, wonderful with children, warm and affectionate. He is genuinely interested in your daily goings-on, will involve himself in your life and will soon take a position as a cherished member of your family. If you would like a companion who can think for himself or herself, “laugh” at you when you are wrong and make you laugh when you are sad – one that is beautiful to look at and has a very special history – come and meet a Tibetan Terrier. But be warned. You may never be free of their spell.
I’m not trying to push the pup, I just found it very interesting. I don’t think one would be happy in my sub tropical climate. If I had any kind of green thumb I’d have been a small farmer where I could have a potpourri of crops and critters. If pigs could fly…
Fleas. Tama-chan is my bellwether for fleas. He starts digging before anybody else and he’s started digging. Damn. Thought I was gonna get through the winter. Guess not. Gee, I wonder where they came from. Couldn’t have been the base of the oak tree where I feed the squirrels and the neighborhood tigers sit and wait for one to fall into their mouths now could it? A couple of the young ones go up and down a dozen feet or more just like a squirrel. Mama stays well out of range, shakes her tail and chatters at them. Taunting little witch. So, yeah, dad brought the little parasites into the house. Little bastids was hidin’ in me sneaks. Damn. I had a couple extra Vectra so I zapped Tama and Kismet, Kismet because of her age. She’ll have the least tolerance for the little blood suckers. The vet’s gonna love getting rid of US$140 worth of Vectra tomorrow (Friday.) That’s 7 or 8 books from Amazon, or as my Dad used to say “That’s a lot of foxtrots.”
The Pinellas County SPCA has agreed to spay/neuter and vaccinate our strays at no cost. I don’t have any information as to how this came about other than it’s supposedly part of the spay/neuter/release program advocated by Alley Cat Allies and others. For the longest time the local SPCA wasn’t giving it a lot of help. We’ll still have to wait a while for the 4 kittens who like to hang out on my front sidewalk. They’re so cuuuuuuuuuute.
Sooo, this morning Elliott puts up a trailer for the film Cat Ladies. I think I’d go absolutely bananas if some of the scenes from the trailer occurred at my house. Holy moly, 3 or 4 cats coming out of the bottom of a dresser? To say nothing of not being able to afford to feed all those tigers. I cannot see giving my tigers that el cheapo canned food that comes in 12 ounce cans. Anybody remember Puss ‘n Boots cat food? Mostly tuna and whitefish, bones and all. Ugh. It was also the main character in the retired people living on cat food stories of old. Not that it doesn’t happen any more. Rescuing cats for the sake of rescuing? Not in my DNA.
I still have 3 tigers to zap with Vectra – Gabby, Bapu and Ptah. All I have to do is look at either of them and they run off. Patience, grasshopper. The package comes with a rebate offer – 10 bucks if you buy one package of 6 for 1 tiger, 25 bucks if you buy 2 packages of 6 for 1 tiger. Two packages is 1 dose for each of mine. I’d have to lie on the online rebate form which would require my vet’s office lying when they verify my purchase. The rebate check goes to the vet to be put towards my next purchase. I ain’t doin’ it.
Brutus’ former guardians must have left food out all day. He was quite the fatty when I adopted him. Not any more. Now I can see that slim feline form when I stand over him instead of a barrel with legs. He got zapped with Vectra yesterday after breakfast and promptly disappeared under the couch. Didn’t even come out for dinner. I’m thinkin’, man, I don’t want to have to lift that couch up and shoo him outta there again. Woke up this morning to his calling for breakfast. Nice. He’s still real skittish but hopefully over time he’ll settle down.
Share your tiger stories with us. Do you know a crazy cat lady (or man)?
Animals are not brethren, they are not underlings, they are other nations, caught with ourselves in the net of life and time. Henry Beston
57 Comments
Caturday!
I sure do remember Puss & Boots – wonder what was really in that can.
If the makers of Puss & boots were smart, it would be made of mouse and cockroach, which always seemed to me to be a perfect combination of the industry and its natural elements and cheap too.
My crazy cat lady keeps the attic window open so that any cat that needs a home can come in; also has two ponies, that she describes as large and expensive lawn ornaments.
My favorite Puss ‘N Boots is the one from Shrek.
Cute guy, and who doesn’t love Antonio Banderas’ voice?
I love my kitty, Piccilo, but he’s been p’o'd at me ever since we got the dog. Now, I have to jump through hoops when feeding them in the morning. You, over there. You, out here. Now, guys, c’mon. Can’t we all get along?
G’morning, SD.
mornin Tiger Man and Friends -
we lovvvvve Tibetan Terriers here – reminds me of ‘dese guys without the constant motion – mo bettah!
and I was just gonna ask Southern Dragon what to do about fleas – voila ! will have to ask after Vectra – we are under siege here
I don’t know what happened this year. Fuckin’ global warming, that’s what. Normally I guess they hibernate during the cold months and invade in the spring. One of the staff at my vet’s said that Frontline was no longer by prescription but I’ve not been able to verify that. PetsMart’s site says it’s presciption and doesn’t carry it. It’s cheaper than Vectra and if, repeat if, the local fleas haven’t built up an immunity to it it works just as well as Vectra. I guess after years of Advantage the fleas build up an immunity to the latest and greatest faster than before. There’s got to be a better way.
Oh, he’s a cutie, too.
Boss’s daughter, Jody the wedding girl, has a 10yo Yorky she adopted from an abusive home 5-6 years ago. Jody and Mo have bonded so much that Mo suffers from separation anxiety something fierce. He’s now on medication and he spends most days at work with one of the grandparents or me if Jody or Rob (husband) aren’t there. I spoil him worse than the grandparents. Fresh roast beef slices, etc. His water bowl is in my office. At least they know where to look for him. *g*
Caturday!
Abner clawed a hole through the pleather “fabric” of my computer chair, exposing whispy white threads of batting that he is carefully arranging in the most irritating pattern possible.
He likes to sit on the back of the chair and lord over the computer. Then, when he is bothered by whatever circumstances vex him, or he wants outside, he’ll stand up, stretch and sharpen his claws on the chair back. Success! Now there is a hole in the chair and he’s outside. Heh.
They like those synthetic fabrics for some reason. Mebbe it’s cuz it shreds differently and easier.
I’m late but had wanted to report on my very affectionate Angela AKA Emily, for her predecessor…she does not seem to mind. She gets on my lap while I am at the computer…very pliable and loveable…until she wants to walk on the keyboard or play with the….yes, mouse, that can seriously interfere, but clearly she thinks the mouse belongs to her.
She is due for a med check. Her previous owner from whom I inherited this girl has housecall vets…that means I will have to houseclean before the dr. can visit….She is truly lovely, but how is it she controls my life?
Same reason mine do – we allow them. Ain’t life grand? *g*
For VG
No outfit is complete without cat hair.
Tootsie’s a cutie.
Yep, she’s purring right on my knee….;))
SD–Isn’t Kismet your little black troublemaker? Surprised he tolerated the meds. You should post that picture of him again. It’s a classic cat personality shot.
Nope, Kismet is my 17yo tortie I just got a couple months ago. You’re thinking of Nagi, the Prince of Darkness. I’m told Manx tigers is little devils. He’s the most active tiger I’ve ever had. I’m awaken at some point during most nights by the sound of something hitting the floor. That didn’t happen before Nagi showed up. Nothing is too high and nothing is sacred.
Kismet is the only one I have on meds. I was putting it in a food dollop but there was always a little left in the bowl so I started pilling her. She’s very compliant, starts purring soon as I pick her up and after her pill she just plops in my lap, purring and would go to sleep right then and there. No jumping down and running off stuff. Pure sweetheart. She’s getting up on the waterbed more now and once it gets colder and a blanket goes on the bed I think I’ll know where to find her most of the time.
I should add she’s on Methimazole (brand name Tapazole) for her hyperthyroid. Half tab (2.5mg) 3 times a day. In for another blood test in 2 weeks. We had a little battle last week with her food. She didn’t want to eat anything I put down. Resorted to the old standby, Cyproheptidine, to jump start her appetite. Three days later she was eating without it. Used to have to do the same thing with Missy. Too bad she’s not human, I could just give her a joint. *g*
Nagi! That’s the little fireball I was thinking about. Too cute. Maybe he’s too young to know enough to scat when the flea treatment comes out.
He was pretty good at avoiding me Friday evening but the dad outsmarted him when he decided to sit in my lap at the table while I was reading. That was after he did his daily stunt of waiting until I started reading then coming to lay on the book. I had 2-3 Vectra tubes laying in wait on the table. They sure don’t like that stuff. He was climbin’ the walls all night.
alrighty then, oldnslow’s ’bout to herd me out the door to enjoy a gorgeous Sunday
leaving y’all this awwwww moment courtesy daughter cbl
pls don’t tell PETA, but I wuvs it
That really is cute
You’ll have more fun than I will. I gotta go do a complete water change and scrubdown for my aquarium at work. Good thing I don’t care about football.
Saw that the other day, I think over at HuffPo. Pretty clever in addition to cute.
Time for us to clean our aquarium too. The 5 year old says there is allergy (algae) in the tank.
I left the algae alone for a long time because I had planned on putting a couple algae eaters in. Let it go too long. I’ll start fresh, let a little algae form then get the algae eaters. It’s only a 10 gallon and a plecostomus wouldn’t grow to its potential so I’ll just get yer basic little algae eaters. In my 100 gallon years ago I had a huge plecostomus. He was awesome.
This is our first aquarium so we are learning. We have a fantail goldfish (a surruptitiously replaced fish when the fair prize floated to the top after a couple days), a pearlscale goldfish, and six white cloud minnows. I enjoy having fish way more than I imagined.
I LOVE fancy goldfish, never saw a pearlscale — sounds beautiful.
Welllllll,…
I dunno…
I’m particularly fond of Bettas.
Aquariums are mesmerizing. There’s nothing more peaceful in a home than a nice tank with beautiful fish. TV for tigers. Tiye I used to sit in front of the 100 gallon, looking every bit the spectator at a tennis match.
The piggies are the cutest!
When I was in a prior life, I moved into an apartment in Rome, NY. There was a 90 year old man living downstairs who liked to adopt cats. The local SPCA finally stopped him at a dozen. By the time I moved in, it was back down to five.
Never really had too much for my then companion to do in the hunting of mice for most of the time I lived there (almost six years). And this was an older frame house that usually would have more than a few over that period of time.
Absolutely beautiful Caturday afternoon to you all.
We chug along here day to day. Xavier the nanodog continues to get better. He’s off meds now and happier every day. Madison the feral let me touch his head three times in a row yesterday, spitting into his bowl each time but not moving away. Progress.
My baby Gracie is growing up too fast, she’s begging to go out. Yesterday she sneaked out between Sprout’s legs and darted onto the gravel patio. Gravel is not comfy on tiny pads, so she hot-footed it back inside. Made me laugh.
I don’t know any cat ladies right now. I knew one back in college, the wife of a man I worked with. Walking into their home was an olfactory assault. The acrid urine smell literally bowled me over, every time. Cats were draped everywhere – on furniture, the counters, the stove, stair rails. Bonnie seemed oblivious but hubby was furious about it. I don’t think she cared about anything.
If I become a crazy cat lady, I will build a chicken wire run, split level, with solid flooring (maybe rubber mats over the wire) that follows the contours of my backyard fence. I’ll build shelves and plant bushes and grass, catnip, maybe trees, site pipes for hiding in. There will be mice and lizards. They will have free access via cat doors from the house. I haven’t figured out the toilet system yet, only that it involves me not having to scoop every day.
cbl, loved the video. Kittehs in costumes, with sticky-outy legs, crack me up.
Do any of you remember a Purina dog chow commercial that ran in the early 60′s? It was a green screen background with a bunch of ducklings on a stage littered with dog kibble and a sack of Purina Dog Chow leaning drunkenly off to the side. The voiceover was the duckies saying, in strong NY accents, “Dawg?” “what dawg, I dont see a dawg.” “Do you see a dawg?” and like that. My brother and I thought it was the funniest thing in the world when we were kids. Very effective, too; I remember it XX years later and still buy Purina.
I’ve begun mixing Iams and Purina, half ‘n half.
Happy Caturday to you all! That Tibetan terrier is a cutie; hadn’t heard of them before.
Watching the lottery commercial with all those cute critters in pajamas, all I could think was, “how the heck did they do that?” Get those clothes on them, that is.
My new neighbor told me awhile ago that she was about to start putting Halloween costumes on her three little fluffy dogs for a store’s parade. They’re going as turtles. Haven’t seen the costumes, though.
No big news here – I finally got the sofa slipcover washed – needs hot water to kill the fleas and eggs, so I took it to the laundromat. Since my “new” landlord bought the place, our washer never gets more than lukewarm on “hot.” Not cutting it re fleas.
It’s been cool enough at night (50′s) for my kittehs to sleep on the bed with me. That’s about the only news.
Is the water from yer kitchen tap hotter than the washer? That doesn’t sound right. Didja check the setting on the water heater? Does the landlord pay the electric?
Yep to all the above – well, he pays for the washer water and heater.
We are four units (one above the garage) in an old house – each unit has its own water heater, and the laundry room is across the patio in a room attached to the garage. Separate water heater for it.
This landlord is cheap enough that I suspect he set the temp down – don’t recall a problem before he bought the place. He also replaced the (old) washer with coin-op – no change in temp on hot setting. And he now keeps the utility closets locked (except the ones with our individual water heater). Talking to him about something like that is like talking to a stone.
Heh. My mom always told me to use the coin op to wash bedding–let someone else’s machine take the wear and tear. Sounds like your Ebenezer Landlord will get some lousy karmic retrobution.
Hah!. Hope so. He seems to panic about any animals – I believe he’s afraid I’m a crazy cat lady. When my last next door neighbor moved into the 2-BR, he insisted on an interview with her rescue yellow lab before approving her as a tenant. That dog was a lovely, sweet creature with separation-anxiety (Lesley was her 3rd owner). She got much better living here. I kinda miss her, but her person discovered she couldn’t quite afford the rent plus utilities.
Yeah, my guess is he’s got it set as low as he can. I’d just shine his shit on and use the laundromat. Pain in the ass but it’s prolly cheaper than his machines and the water’s always hot. It also has the added advantage of taking money out of his pocket. No washee, no money.
Ha, you should see me in black.
Only Ptah left to zap now. Snuck up on Gabby and Bapu earlier while they was sleepin’. It’s funny watching them trying to get away from themselves.
HI SD and all.
As for flea control, and this is not from experience (except that I know about insects generally) but fleas and flea eggs can “overwinter”. I couldn’t find the exact time they can last, but it seems likely that flea eggs can survive for quite a time (months) before they hatch when the temp is right. So, course killing the fleas on the kitties is only part of the answer, as noted above.
I think I’ve seen boric acid mentioned on some Caturday thread, and also elsewhere it was recommended as a general way to kill insects. Probably would be hard to use on furniture, but could be used on rugs- sprinkle it on, spread about, wait, and vacuum. Also,
From here
From here
Indoors
Probably telling most of you stuff you already know, but just in case. ;)
And, “news” that leads to a request (think I asked before)- My sis took one of her cats to emergency vet because she thought he was having a heart attack (not sure how she made that call). Turned out Gizmo was trying to cough up an enormous hairball. Whew. Except for the $1000 vet bill. So, I’m still hoping someone who has had experience with “pet insurance” might speak up- I’m trying to decide if I should even consider this.
Also, the vet found that Gizmo had/ might have a heart murmur. The vet suggested an EKG, etc. My sis declined, and I agreed. Gizmo is getting close to 18 yo. Seems like at that age a heart murmur is kinda “so what”. Comments?
I don’t remember seeing any comments with pros/cons of pet insurance. I’d suggest taking one of the brochures or business cards and contacting the company and asking for a standard policy to review.
Here in FL fleas are pretty much a 9 month hassle. My vet says that zapping the indoor tigers for 3 months will take care of eggs, larvae and all since they don’t winter over indoors here. My experience is that’s pretty much true. It’s been almost 6 months since I had to do them last and I know the little parasites didn’t sleep through the summer. Boric acid works by sucking the moisture out of the insects. I found a cockroach, one of our big FL ones that put their dukes up when ya turn on the light, on the top of the litter in a bag of Dr Elsey’s litter. He wasn’t there the night before when I cleaned the boxes. Dry as a bone, looked like he’d been dead for months except he still had a somewhat shiny exterior. Sucked him dry, Dr Elsey did. Boric acid does the same thing.
I doubt my vet would get excited about a heart murmur at 18.
I will ask my vet about heart murmurs and such, though. Got me curious.
Thanks SD re: heart murmur. It just seemed to me that this is probably not something that just developed, that Gizmo’s been okay with this, and, what’s the treatment anyway? Hard to tell if the vet was been hyper-responsible, or trying to suck up more money.
I say the latter because of my human experience- some heart thing (which was made to sound scary) got me to have additional tests. Sorry, I don’t remember the details, but upon reflection I decided that this was another way of sucking up $$, as the test turned out negative. A friend later was panicked when his wife was told to have the same test- I told him- just don’t worry- I think it’s mostly a ruse. Indeed, she too was pronounced “negative” after the expensive test.
And, you got me curious about Dr. Esley’s cat litter, so I googled.
http://www.rateitall.com/i-29101-dr-elseys-cat-attract-cat-litter.aspx
Reading the reviews, it looks like this is effective in dealing with cats who don’t like to go in the litter box. But, my kitty is okay with that, so I’m sticking with Swheat Scoop, because it’s flushable, not clay-based. Course, I only have one indoor cat, and I’m on a sewer, not a septic tank. I wouldn’t flush it if I were on a septic tank.
And, as an aside, when I was adopting Tootsie, the rescue person told me that the greatest % of “returns” (they have a return/ exchange policy for kitties!) are cats that have been declawed- because they don’t like to use the litter box. I would never declaw a cat, so I found this factoid interesting.
I love Dr Elsey’s but it’s just too damned expensive. I’d use clay if I had only 1 box. I use the PetsMart house brand scoopable. I go through 40 lbs a week. There’s a 5-6 buck difference between them in the 40lb size. I’ve now got 3 declawed but none have a problem with using the box. Igraine, who has all her talons, won’t pee in the box. The only thing I can do about that is to clean up after her. *g*
On edit: A while back I did a little rant about declawing. Grrrrrrr.
http://seminal.firedoglake.com/diary/7473
Wow, that litter is really expensive but the PetsMart I shop at carries a Dr Elsey’s 40lb plastic bag the size of a big dog food bag that is clear with a blue label at about $18. It’s Precious Cat but not the Cat Attract type. 26 bucks, man, oh, man. Way too rich for my wallet.
Oops- I guess I googled for the wrong Dr Elseys! Noted.
I just read your previous diary. Agree completely. Declawing a cat is just an awful thing to do. There are plenty of ways to provide a cat with things to scratch instead of the furniture. I mean, I don’t care much about my furniture, but I guess it’s a big deal with some people.
I remember reading a good while back about a cat rescue place in Santa Cruz that required that adopted cats be declawed so that they couldn’t go out an kill birds!!! Wow. Was that ever bad thinking. I was totally appalled. I haven’t checked the place out recently (online), but I hope that they have revised this totally awful policy.
And, this is just the weird me, but when ever I find one of Tootsie’s shed claws, I put it a little plastic baggie. When I see one of those, I know that whatever scratching places I am giving her are working!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/30978160@N05/2927225683/
Not my pic above, but great.
Heh, I collect whiskers. My ex taught me how to look for them. Just a matter of recognition. Once you find one you’ll pretty much always see them. I’ve got enough that they’re almost a quarter inch deep in q 5×8 Tupperware-like container. Find ‘em all the time. *g* Find a lot of shed claws as well.
Eileen next door has a big male named Max. We like each other and he spends a lot of time on my truck. Has really long white whiskers. I said to him one day it would be really nice if he’d leave me one on the hood of the truck one day. Couple weeks later there it was. Couldn’t miss it. In the box. When I get so old they put me in a home I’m gonna make a picture with them.
I collect kitty fur! I mean apart from that on my clothes.
http://teh-kitteh-antidote-anecdote.pictures-of-cats.org/2009/05/maine-coon-grooming-summertime-and.html
I’ll have to start looking for whiskers!
oh look, a lolz gram for Empress Snowe
cute puppy pics! i’m doomed. now that i’m thinking about getting a dog (only because a friend of mine started encouraging me, i’d never seriously considered it before), i’m looking at dog pics in a whole new way. sigh.
maybe i can hold out for a year. gotta spend some time learning about dogs first…. maybe borrow one for test drive. *g*
of course, it would have to be a cat friendly dog.
VG, i followed your links to this:
http://teh-kitteh-antidote-anecdote.pictures-of-cats.org/2006/02/more-cat-brushes.html
we don’t have publix here, but man-o-man that looks like a useful brush. with 5 cats, 4 of whom are lap cats, usually the only way i can leave the house without wearing some of their fur is to change cloths just before leaving.
What doesn’t come off with a casual hand brushing goes with me. The hell with it.
i like your priorities!
Hmmm; no publix here, either, but I’m always looking for a good brush. Unfortunately, it is not good form to show up for job interviews covered in kitty fur. I never dress until just before leaving, and don’t sit down or lean against the bed (*g*) once the clothes are on.
The mystifying part (not really) is that the driver’s seat in the car collects fur, even tho’ the cats are never loose when they’re in the car.
For interviews I’ve learned to take a clean towel and put it on the seat, plus, of course, the obligatory sticky roller brush to use as soon as I step outside the car, before entering the building. Even so, black is a color avoided arounded here.
For no reason at all, here’s a picture of my kittehs being interested in dinner preparation.
Good looking kittehs! My Gracie has similar markings, black and white with a “mask” (The Masked Urinator)
I bet you weren’t cooking vegetarian that night.
S/he’s not too focused. *g*
Yeah, finally got myself together and did just that yesterday – using a double load washer cost 50 cents less than using “ours.” The problem is I just hate to lug it all somewhere and then plan to be there for an hour or two. Thought I got away from that years ago.