Got home and as soon as I got the key in the door I heard these horrible meowing sounds. Somehow, Tunch had managed to get himself shut in the bedroom for the last two days, and it had to be the full time because his water and food bowls were untouched.
I am not sure how he did it, though, because we both waved goodbye to him on Friday and he was sitting in the window. Oh, well, he is ok at least.
Punchy
Girlfriend?
in canaduh
maybe it was hillary’s people
Just Some Fuckhead
No worries, it’s nearly impossible to deliberately kill a cat.
KRK
I wouldn’t entirely rule out the possibility that Tunch is capable of topping off his own water and food bowls and scooting behind the bedroom door for a good howl upon hearing your return. He would want to ensure that you are duly remorseful for ABANDONING him for two days.
harlana pepper
Awww, poor baby!
Stooleo
Damn ain’t that the truth. I have spent literally thousands of dollars on my cat: tail amputation, dislocated ankle and other various injuries. Two weeks ago she just up and disappears. Haven’t seen her since.
jake
Check your shoes. And for God’s sake don’t lay down in bed before you conduct a thorough inspection for crap, piss and puke.
Never mind the women, Hell hath no fury like an annoyed feline.
Elroy's Lunch
You can actually leave food out? Jeez, Elroy would just wolf down all of the food as soon as the front door clicked shut on our way out.
The timer bowls that get set out are always a gamble. Mostly he just dismembers the timer mechanisms or shoves them under the couch so they’re unable to open up anyway.
He seems to survive okay. We just have to listen to him bitch about it when we get back…
trollhattan
Oh noze, zombies in the basement. Get. Out. Now!
Also: look for “gifts” in the bedding.
Genine
Awww, poor Tunch! At least he’s OK.
strawmanmunny
boyfriend???
:)
garyb50
My wife has trained me well, so I will just say this, JC; you would DIE in this house if you even brought up the idea of leaving a cat alone for 2 days.
zuzu's petals
I concur on taking a good sniff and searching for special “gifts.” I was amazed that my never-especially-considerate kitty didn’t let loose when accidentally closed in the spare room for a day or night (not a meow-er).
I used to be able to leave both kitties alone for a weekend quite comfortably w/food, water, etc. Now that one is on medication I have to pay someone to come twice a day to administer the pill pockets.
On the upside, the cats love the attention. On the downside, the cat sitter is a bit of a nutty, prone to making frantic phone calls over the slightest burp and leaving long, twisty notes about how much Kitty A loves to be brushed, Kitty B loves ears scratched, but why not Kitty B loving Kitty A stuff and vice versa? and and and …..
Jay
Speaking of cats, I’m trying to figure out the safest way to move my 12 year old, mixed-breed feline from my parents’ house in Connecticut to my new apartment in Philly. Holden can’t handle the 2 mile car ride to the vet without breaking into the kind of deep, mournful meow that makes pet owners feel guilty for putting their gentle beasts in the cat-carrier for even the shortest backseat ride.
Also, at his age, any number of sedatives could kill him, so what can I do? Anything?
zuzu's petals
Turn up the radio.
Damned at Random
I moved my 16 year old Siamese 800 miles by car last year. After about 6 hours she stopped howling. Held a grudge for about two weeks though
Libby Spencer
Well welcome back. If you’re looking for blog fodder, Steve Benen has the links to a story that’s up your alley. The McCain ad about Obama not visiting the troops in Germany has been done to death but keep scrolling for the viral email smear that apparently made the rounds of the wingers and was promoted on the blogs. Turns out it was a lie and the guy who sent recanted and told everyone to take it off their blogs.
I don’t have the stomach to read them myself, so I haven’t seen who blogged it but I bet somebody on your watch list did. It might be amusing.
Meanwhile, poor old Tunch. Glad he’s okay.
John Cole
I can almost guarantee that it is featured at Red State and the Confederate Wanker and Hot Air.
Delia
That happened to me once, or rather to my late cat, Vita. She was the sort who would just nibble her food and I could put a large bowl of dry food and a bowl of water out for the weekend and she’d be fine. One time she managed to get herself shut in my daughter’s room for the weekend. Aside from being very annoyed and leaving several messes around the room all was fine. One of the cats I have now will eat anything that’s available, and I have to feed them carefully measured amounts twice a day. And the other one would shred the carpets if she were left alone.
jrg
This is like an “Encyclopedia Brown” mystery.
I have 2 hypotheses:
1) Air closed the bedroom door with the cat inside. Maybe the AC return vent pulled the door shut or (if you live in an apartment) someone opened a door somewhere else that created low pressure and pulled the door shut.
2) The cat closed the door – it was chasing a bug and slammed into the door, or it was scratching itself on the door and shut itself in the room.
RSA
I’m reminded of one of my favorite passages from Jack Handey’s recent work, in “Animals All Around Us”:
You can learn a lot of useful information reading Jack Handey.
Libby Spencer
I’d be willing to bet that’s true but I’m not going to read that stuff. I’m out of brain bleach. Let us know if they said anything amusing, would you?
TR
Wanker was, of course, all over it. And even after the release of video evidence which contradicted his claims and the Army statement that denied his claims and the admission from the author himself that it was a lie … Confederate Wanker was still claiming the email was true.
Krista
That would be my guess. Did you leave any of the windows open? Poor Tunch — you’re going to have to do some serious spoiling of that cat to make up for this one, buddy.
Tom Traubert
Oh, well, he is ok at least.
Tell it to the judge, you scalawag! sniff.
Bob In Pacifica
There are always stories about earthquakes where rescuers pull cats out of wreckage weeks afterward. Still, I know that our first cat made sure we suffered if we happened to take a trip. You know, missing the cat box for a day or two.
neal peart
In the midst of his GBCW post, Jeff Godlstein outs a commenter for saying truly mean things about his son.
John Cole
I thought Jeff quit blogging like a year ago, and only posted here and there.
Regardless, I am not getting involved in that crap- Dan and Karl are unreadable, and anyone who shits on someone’s kid is just a dickhead. I don’t even care to learn what someone may have said, although I am sure it will be a sweeping indictment of “teh left” because some asshole said something. But still- why the fuck bring jeff’s kid into anything?
jake
Don’t bother with the tranqs. Just get a very sturdy pet carrier. The S.O. gave his cat one for a long-distance trip. It took the howling, staggering beast about 10 minutes to demolish her cardboard carrier.
demimondian
FDDD and I moved a cat from Bloomington, IN to Newton, MA. The cat decided that the carrier was not an adequate place to be sick, so she crawled onto the dashboard and lay there, mewling pitifully, for 1400 miles.
Gemina13
John, you miserable bastard. ;)
No, seriously, it sounds like Tunch is good. Poor little guy probably curled up for long naps while you were gone. And if you don’t smell or see anything in your bed or the room, you’d better get him something delicious as a reward, or he will get pissed.
neal peart
Don’t get me wrong, I agree commenting about Jeff’s son like that is wrong and is indefensible. No snark intended.
Fern
Earplugs?
Or some kind of kitty valium? I have had to resort to this in the past.
Ask the vet…
Krista
Exactly. Bad enough the poor kid runs a good risk of growing up and reading some of Jeff’s more…colourful postings (the term “cockslap” ring any bells?)
here4tehbeer
I long ago had to put child-proof latches on all the kitchen and bathroom cabinet doors. My Siamese would regularly get up on his hind legs, place one paw on a door and another paw around the handle of the door next to it – give a yank – and in he’d go.
I’d regularly come home to find every lower cabinet door in the house wide open – apparently he was just poking around looking for maybe a long-lost toy (although I did later discover that he’d commandeered a large dutch oven as a “fort” or something.
And then came that fatal day where he pulled a door open, jumped in, and the door closed behind him. He was smart enough to get in – but couldn’t figure out that a simple push would get him out again.
That was on a normal work day but he was still kinda freaked – so I put the kiddie latches on to prevent any more occurrences. And for that matter it’s a good idea given all the chemicals and cleaners and crap under sinks.
Now he’s back into falling asleep on the back of the couch only to fall off into the venetian blinds in the middle of the night and scaring the crap out of me.
jake
Heh. He was coming from Bloomington also. Maybe it’s something in the water.
Or the cats.
ThymeZone
Yeah, cats basically don’t leave bodily waste type messages out of annoyance. They do it in order to send scent signals to the missing party, who, it is assumed by the cat, is lost and can’t find its way back.
It’s a scent flare, if you will. The cat is trying to help you find your way back.
ThymeZone
Hey, the cat stuff is really fascinating, and well worth the trouble to work the blog, but …. has anyone done a comparo with today’s principle appearances on tv by the two presidential candidates.
On MSNBC, you can watch MTP and the Obama interview in its entirety, taped on the banks of the Thames just before the candidate got on his plane to come back to the US.
On ABCNEWS’ “This Week” page you can enjoy a transcript of the McCain appearance with George Stephanopoulis.
I invite you to compare and contrast, and try to figure out what in the world this silly, petty, self-contradicting and addled old fool is doing running for president of a big country, against this other young, sharp, well-thought and well-spoken guy? I mean, the contrast is beyond shocking, it’s a little like being in the Twilight Zone.
Try it out.
Delia
I can’t. I just can’t. I’m too afraid the addled old fool will end up being president (notice I didn’t specify being elected) and the national nightmare will continue. I’m content to watch actual Twilight Zones or else spend the long summer evenings watching my two cats shred the sliding screen door to my deck as I think up bad metaphors for the state of the nation.
markt
i put a bowl of water *inside* every room with a door when i go out of town … it’s not hard in a loft
doorstops would also work
James
Fortunately, cats are pretty resilient creatures. I remember a few years ago, one of them got trapped in our daughter’s closet for a couple days while we were out of town visiting relatives. Years later, that very same cat (Fluffball) is very much alive and well – and usually steers clear of closets!
zuzu's petals
And SadlyNo!, per usual, did a bangup job of mocking him for doing so.
We Join this Investigative Series Already in Progress
What I love about the guy’s retraction is his insistence that he meant the original e-mail “only for his family.” Which explains why he signed it with his full name (including middle initial), rank and posting, and a description of himself as an “American Soldier” and “husband and father of 6 children.”
Bill H
Molly prowls the house opening cupboards in search of rolls of toilet paper which, when found, she attacks and shreds with an energy and efficacy which is truely awe inspiring.
OriGuy
John Scalzi’s cat, Zeus, has produced a work of art in the same medium. It is entitled ‘I Will Be There At The End of All Things, or, The Shreddination’. Art appreciation majors will appreciate.
cmorenc
You can solve the kitty-shutting-herself-in-a-room problem once and for all by installing those inexpensive fold-down doorstops on every door, so you can be assured that any door you want to stay open while you’re gone stays open. They are not only inconspicuous when folded up, but a human foot can fold them down and back up quickly and effortlessly, yet they aren’t the sort of thing a cat or dog could or would do.
Studly Pantload
We have four kitties. Two (the boys) are on a twice-a-day-for-life regimine for ongoing constipation problems. One of the girls is currently on a twice-a-day regimine for her heart (due to hyperthyroidism; hopefully soon she’ll be off now that she’s had radioactive iodine). The fourth is going in this week to get an SSRI (a la Prozac) for OCD.
Suffice it to say, we don’t leave even for an overnight trip w/o hiring a well-qualified cat sitter.
zuzu's petals
Me too !
I mean that’s why my 16-year-old little guy is on medication. He even had the iodine treatment (love the radioactive kitty litter problem). Big bucks.
The vet thought he could come of the meds after that, but he ended up in the emergency room in the middle of the night all swoll up and ready to conk out. Back to the meds.
cain
My cats seem to be really different from the experiences I’ve been reading about here. They’ve never seem to have left anything when I left them alone. My oldest one though loves going out and I think he gets frustrated that he can’t. I generally get a sitter to come every two days to spend an hour with them if I’m gone longer than two days.
cain
zuzu's petals
Perhaps my cat thought I’d lost my way to the closet when she found the darkest corner and peed on my Reeboks? Or into my Christmas gift basket? While looking straight at me no less.
zuzu's petals
Easy livin’.
The funny thing is I don’t think of myself as a cat person especially. I inherited both my kitties about 12 years apart.
In both cases it was only because they were pretty self-sufficient and let themselves in and out through the cat door. Gravity feeders were a big help too.
Now the older one can’t get out so easily and since I had to lock it at night b/c of racoons, they’re on a litter box, which I hate … and now there’s the medical stuff… and …
I guess I see why people get consumed with their cats.
harlana pepper
A cat thread on Balloon Juice.
I R N heaven!
harlana pepper
One of my three will not touch tuna, salmon, nor any kind of ‘meat’ product. She will eat her Nutro (I always leave that out for everybody) and kitty treats, which of coursehave meat in them. But the ‘good stuff,’ nuh uh. While I spoon out smelly tuna as treats to the other two who are howling like kittens who haven’t eaten for days (they even make the ‘tiger purr-grunt’ while they’re eating the stuff, they are so into it), she sits there waiting for her little dry, crunchy treats. She even goes into ‘meerkat mode’ (rares up on her little hind legs), when I’m getting ready to put them on the plate.
douglasfactors
When my Dennis was five months old, I left him at home for three days. Figured he’d manage with enough dry food and water. I returned to find concerned neighbors (he’s quite vocal) and a pile of carpet fragments outside the door where he attempted to dig himself out.
Dennis has a little brother now, but I still feel guilty leaving them alone for more than a full day. So I hire a cat-sitter to stop by, open the cans, empty the litter box, pet them a little, and play with the laser pointer. It adds an extra $25/day to vacation expenses, but it’s worth it for the peace of mind.
harlana pepper
Eh, what’d I tell ya’ Saw thisone coming a mile away.
Although I don’t even know who this fuckhead blogger is, it doesn’t matter. So-called conservatives share a collective mindset, a hive mentality, if you will.
TheFountainHead
Good Morning. This shit is practically unspoofable! Thanks Rick Moran! You are an internet tradition!
Orwell Wasnt Dreaming
Steve–poor Tunch. That’s why I always have a cat-sitter or someone to check if I can’t take them with me. You’re lucky more tha shreds remained when you returned.
Jay: Have you ever tried traveling with the cat outside the carrier? I know it really isn’t a good idea, since all in a car should be secured, but I think that’s what keeps mine quiet. It also lets them use the litter box rather than messing up carriers. I travel a lot–by car and small plane–with my cats, and although they don’t love it, they tolerate it well, although one drools like a St. Bernard. One lies in my lap, one lies on the armrest, and one who died this winter used to perch in the back window. Perhaps I’m just lucky that all three of mine turned out to be *great* travelers. They were strays, so who knows how they were raised.
If you have a brave friend and kevlar clothing, you could hold Holden in your lap during a few test drives to acclimate him.
There also are some aromatherapy sprays and non-med tablets called “Calming Moments” that are supposed to help. Good luck.
harlana pepper: That’s why it’s called kiity crack. Dry food is all carbohydrates, as I discovered when one of my cats became diabetic.
jake
Better to be consumed with than consumed by.
Which was a possibility the last time I switched their food.
HeartlandLiberal
Cats can survive long periods without food and water if they are healthy. Here is the story of the Chinese cat who immigrated to America on a container ship. 35 days locked in the hold, and survived to have a new life of freedom in America. I always wondered if the cat intentionally chose to do this to escape from China.
cat survives 35 day sea voyage with no food or water
Darkness
Cats are desert creatures, so lack of water takes more time to cause them trouble than say, a dog. They, in fact, often do not drink enough water because they instinctively like it fresher than stagnant in a dish (the ostensible reason I have not fixed the dripping shower as the cats get their water there now). But also, they instinctively do not like drinking near where they eat since in nature that would be contaminated. Your cat will drink more much needed water if you move the water dish away from the food dish.
Also those blocky Harry Potter books make great cat door stops in our house for when we go out of town. They are perfectly (purrfectly?) cat width.
Gus
I don’t know how it works for cats, but for people, once you’ve had the radioactive iodine you have to take a pill to replace the hormone that your dead thyroid can no longer supply.
ThymeZone
I guess no point is too obvious to be missed around here.
When a cat leaves urine or fecal messages while its owner is away, it’s not out of annoyance, it’s to send a scent message: Hey, I’m over here. Come back, follow this scent.
What the cat does while you are there is an entirely different story. What you describe sounds more like territory marking.
harlana pepper
Darkness, don’t even get me started on changing water bowls daily and filling them with ice cubes. Apparently, this summer, ice cubes are a must and they will make your life miserable until they get them.
Bill H
Oh, hell no. That would not even be a good start for Molly. Three or four seconds would get her to that point, and she would not stop until she was down to the core.
jake
Hey thanks, Darkness. I always wondered why the water bowl that is not near the food empties sooner than the one that is. My two drink a lot of water, possibly because they get dehydrated worfin’ up hairballs.
Also, they will no longer drink tap water.* Not that I blame them.
*Though they will make an exception for toilet water.
CaseyL
My Ariel is 18, and starting to have kidney problems. The vet said she needed more hydration, and recommended getting one of those automatic fountains.
I bought a Drinkwell, and Ariel adores it completely. The first couple day we had it, I had to turn it off because she drank so much water she threw up. It’s now her favorite toy and favorite watering hole: the circulation keeps the water fresh, and I keep it on the tile ledge in the living room, far from the food dish.
Drinkwells are incredible. I recommend them unreservedly. Buy one immediately for your cat(s).
Phoenix Woman
Okay, we have to see pictures of Tunchie-kitty now.
Delia
I’ve had various felines take different reactions to the water issue. The Maine coon I had years ago when my kids were little had to be fed canned food only and he almost never drank liquid water. He got enough from the food. I’ve had a couple of cats, including one I have now, who refuse to drink from a bowl near their food. I hadn’t realized what the problem was. One liked to have you turn on a faucet for her so she could lap water as it ran out. One of the cats I have now prefers to drink water out of the dog’s bowl. She likes the dog and he likes her, but I think it’s a dominance thing. His water gets more junk in it than hers does. (Yes, the cat dominates the dog, and he’s much bigger.) The other cat is happy to drink from the cat water bowl.
Tax Analyst
Many years ago I acquired my brother’s cat, Loki, when he moved in with some folks. All was well…for about a day or so…until Loki decided to try and kill some of her new hosts kittens. The hosts weren’t so pleased to see this cute kitten’s neck in Loki’s mouth and blood coming out of the poor little things ear. So I had to go pick her up in the middle of the night…sans carrier or cat box or any other stuff one needs for picking up and then housing a cat. Anyway, she didn’t care for the ride…she howled and paced for several miles before finding a comfortable location…comfortable for HER, that is…between my car headrest and my neck…with claws dug partially into said neck. It was a rather long ride home from Burbank to Inglewood. Once there she was a little antsy, but otherwise well-behaved. It was too late to go out and get a cat-box (this was around 1980, before 24-hour “everything” stores), but she was considerate in leaving her couple of late-night dumps close together and on hardwood rather than carpeted areas. She was a cool cat, though. I enjoyed the couple years I had her before she got some sort of cat-leukemia and passed away around age 12.
Delia
I had a cat named Loki waaay back in college. My mom ended up with him when I went to grad school and kept him for years until he got sick and had to be put down. Now I’ve got a cat my daughter found abandoned when she was in college, and then couldn’t keep when she went off to grad school. Karma’s a bitch.
LanceThruster
Tragedy averted = comedy.
My friend had his cat accidently get locked in a neighbor’s garage for several weeks. He was so relieved when it returned home, amazingly not that worse for wear and tear.
It is truly unfortunate that living things can occasionally make minor blunders that can quickly become life-threatening or fatal. It is heartwrenching enough when it is an innocent animal and absolutely agonizing when it is a child. Even more traumatic when a caretaker made some trivial or absentminded error that brought it about. Glad yours had a reasonably happy ending, John.
“If there is a God, he is a malign thug.” (Mark Twain / 1835-1910)
Mnemosyne
One of our cats is very intelligent (for a cat) and has figured out how to close doors. Open them …. not so much. He once spent an entire day locked inside the bathroom and bloodied his paws trying to get out. Which is why he and his little sister spent the weekend at the Best Little Cat House in Pasadena.
Buck B.
I did the exact same thing for a long weekend.
He had shit all over the bed and looked as miserable as I’ve ever seen a cat look.
zuzu's petals
Probably true.
Though I do wonder where kitty perversity comes from.
zuzu's petals
But territory marking…yep, it do make sense.