LOL, that made me laugh. Fire away Laura, I got some issues with the local cats where I live, stalking my hummingbirds. I realize they are just trying to make a living, and don’t realize the pain it causes me when they manage to eat beloved Hummingbirds that I entice to my window with food.
I just have to keep an eye on them, and chase em off. But am working on a new catproof hummingbird feeder. It involves some string and chicken wire, and other fancy stuff. I think it will work though. The little remorseless killers can go back to eating the plentiful mice we have around here.
5.
RoonieRoo
Oh good a cat complaint thread. I could definitely use one of these.
One of my cats does regular tests for gravity to get attention. 80% of our plates, bowls and glasses have been broken. Plastic is now our friend.
6.
Quarks
My cat would like to enter a formal complaint about this, and specifically note that this supposedly full service blog is only servicing its lowly human readers, and not the cats who have FAR more to complain about.
7.
stuckinred
The crazy old lady up the street has about 10 and they drive my pups nuts in the morning. Why do cats lounge in the middle of the street?
8.
BGinCHI
I imagine cats think Twitter is the noise food makes.
9.
Villago Delenda Est
Look, staff complaining about their lot in life is nothing new.
Move along.
10.
MikeJ
Hey General, I hung a hummingbird feeder outside my window a few months ago, and I’ve seen little action. Twice I’ve seen a single hummingbird show up, hover for two seconds, and say “meh” before leaving.
Any ideas on getting them to show up in the quantities you get?
11.
Josie
Why do cats lounge in the middle of the street?
Because they can.
12.
BombIranForChrist
Man, in the last three years, my family has lost four cats. Two ran away and two died of old age, one of whom was generously memorialized here by John.
A couple days ago, we finally decided to get another one, and we got a pixie-bob from the neighborhood last night. About an hour after she arrived, she went underneath my bedside stand and took a giant crap on one of my books.
There’s a metaphor here, but I am not sure what it is. Even so, I am so glad to have a pet again. The house just isn’t the same without one.
13.
Larkspur
I am kitty-sitting at the moment and I have no complaints whatsoever. The elderly Mr. Felix is delightful, pale orange with the sweetest face. He’s mostly indoors, but likes to repair to the deck or front porch now and then. He hunts not of the birds, humming or otherwise, and is gentle to all living things, including me except when I brush him for more than 30 seconds at a time.
14.
Thoughtcrime
I want to complain about one of our cats. He’s loud, butts in ahead of the other cats when they want to be petted, and goes out of his way to torment and attack our poor old black girl.
I’d suspect him to be a teabagger, but he’s too damn smart.
15.
JPL
Dear Catabby, My son’s cat is living here temporarily, (a year so far) and my dog Miss Moxie tried to befriend the cat. At first it was fine but then Mr. Alice would kiss and swat and now Miss Moxie fears the cat. What do I do? I really feel like Mr. Alice wants to kiss and make up but Miss Moxie tries to avoid cat contact. Help…
16.
Thoughtcrime
David Brooks (not that one) is a richard skull. – June 21, 2011 | 7:23 pm · Link
…
I’d complain about mine but I can’t remember his name. He ran away in 1963. Given our household, who can blame him.
Have you looked beneath the salad bar at Applebees?
Any ideas on getting them to show up in the quantities you get?
Actually, we only get modest hummer traffic until July 1st, or thereabouts. That is when two of the four species here show up, and the young fledglings really makes it a hummingbird swarm, up until late August.
I’m getting a fair number now, and noticed a pickup today. Don’t know where you live, but each location usually has large numbers occurring after the young leave the nest. Be sure and use Pure Cane Sugar in a one part to four parts water. That’s about all I can tell you on attracting them.
19.
Shirt
If you strap a piece of toast butterside up to a cats back and drop him four feet, how will it land?
How would Tunch land? (@JC, don’t endanger yourself for the sake of science)
20.
gbear
Any ideas on getting them to show up in the quantities you get?
I’m afraid that the only solution may be to move to where The General is. I only get one or two per season in my yard (and I use The General’s recommended nectar mix to attract them).
21.
Martin
How would Tunch land?
Same as always. The toast needs to be within at least a few orders of magnitude the size of the cat to have enough influence. Further, given that toast is likely orbiting Tunch at any given time, he’s probably learned to compensate.
22.
JPL
stuckinred @ 7.. Careful, in another decade or so you might be that crazy man down the street.
23.
piratedan
missing my furry black furred compadre up here in the great NW. sure Mom has two adorable shelties to spoil, but what good is it without a cat to keep you grounded in reality and aware of just how far away from perfection each of is?
24.
stuckinred
JPL
It’s already happened. The kiddies that had “bands” practicing next door will tell you.
25.
Josie
@Jeffrey: I can’t believe how big Homer is getting. He is gorgeous.
26.
Dee Loralei
Jeffery, absolutely gorgeous pic. You should sell that to a greeting card company.
So, let me get this straight. John Cole is begged to post an open pet thread, by some GOS twitterer, which he promptly does and 25 comments in, she hasn’t shown up? LOL the ungratitude! (and yes, I know that’s not a word)
Talk about readership capture!
But how does a BJ Fper get captured by another blogs reader though?
Things to ponder over a glass of Shiraz on a mid summers solstice…….
@General Stuck:
I would think you could make a cat-proof hummingbird feeder by the simple expedient of putting it high enough a cat couldn’t jump up and catch one of the hummers. But what do I know? Jake likes watching the hummers but never tries to catch one. Maybe that’s because the feeder is hanging over the edge of the balcony so that jumping for one of the birds would involve a 3 story fall.
This is a full service blog.
Bullshit. If this were really a full service blog, we would have a functioning “Reply” button by now. And a magic pony that farts rainbows.
31.
Anne Laurie
But how does a BJ Fper get captured by another blogs reader though?
I suspect having an avatar of a cute woman-person can only help get Cole’s attention…
32.
OzarkHillbilly (used to be tom p)
Laura complains about HER cat???? Let me tell you about my (my wife’s) cat: (and for the record, I bitch a whole lot less about the “b*tch” than my wife does)
3 am: cat chews on my feet.
3:03 am: cat is kicked off of bed
3:05 am: cat chews on my wifes feet.
3:05:05 am: cat is kicked off of bed.
4 am: cat begins to complain: “Feed Me, Feed Me…”
4:35 am: cat is finally fed.
5 am: cat complains: “You fed me, but not enuf! NOT ENUF!”
5:45 am: My wife feeds her a 2nd time.
6:00 am: Wife walks out the door.
6:01 am: Cat pukes up 2nd feeding.
6:02 am: the dog cleans it up.
6:03 am: I am OK with that.
On the days she works from home:
7:00 am: Wife logs on to work from home.
7:02 am: Cat lies down on wife’s keyboard.
7:03 am: Wife’s computer goes haywire.
7:05 am: I log on to Balloon Juice.
7:05:05 am: Cat ignores me.
7:10 am: Cat continues to ignore me.
8:00 am: Cat still hates me.
I think ya’ll get the picture.
33.
JPL
BTW who is Laura Clawson and why do we care?
34.
stuckinred
JPL
I don’t.
35.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
So, not everyone knows Balloon Juice, but those that write for sites that everyone knows know Balloon Juice. The same with xkcd, not everyone knows it, but a lot of comic artists seem to know it. Anyone got any other similar examples?
36.
Dr. Shibby
A truly epic cat story.
Macavity AKA Mac AKA Macker Mac, is one of the coolest cats in the world. He is a bird, chipmunk and squirrel shredding machine. We got him from a shelter who said he had been living in an abandoned house by himself for quite some time. He lost half his teeth to a bad case of osteomyelitis. This didn’t even slow Mac down a bit. So when we finally bought a house my wife and I were both excited to have Mac join our other cat Bellini (AKA the developmentally delayed evil princess cat) and Mikayla, a golden retriever (AKA Nutters). However there was a one small problem. Mac is a strictly outdoor cat. He refuses to poop in a litter box. No problem I figured, we put up an invisible fence for the dog and we could fit Mac with a collar and he could have complete run of the yard as well as a doggie door to the heated garage to come and go as he pleases. However, Invisible Fence decided their cat collars were worth $450 and since I hadn’t even started work yet the price was too steep to do right away.
It was at this time my wife got the idea that she would make me happy with a cat poop free house and him happy to be an outdoor barn cat by taking him to the barn where she keeps her horse. Completely unbeknownst to me she decided to transport him there and leave him overnight. Since I was away finishing up medical school I didn’t hear about this until a day later. Almost immediately I told her to pick Mac up right away. I drove down the next day with her but it was too late. Mac had gone missing.
We initially canvassed all the neighbors and searched in the wooded area in the barn. No such luck. At this point I figured he would try to come back to my wife’s parent’s place which was about 20 miles away. Unfortunately, there was also 2 rivers and a freeway in between. Now most cats would have slim to no chance of making this journey. But not Mac. He is one super cat. However a week passed and no Mac showed up. Then two passed, then three, and finally six weeks went by and I had given up hope. I figured Mac had gone to the great cat heaven in the sky.
Yesterday we got a series of 4 calls from my wife’s father. When I finally picked up he exclaimed someone had found Mac! He was living in a barn and was discovered when the owner’s dogs started barking at something. He had somehow managed to get his right front paw stuck in his collar. This caused him to only effectively have 3 functional legs. The collar had rubbed his skin raw on his neck as well as caused a good amount of necrosis to his right axilla. He had lost over 1/3 of his body weight. Mac is one super cat but I’ll never understand how he managed to live on his own with 3 legs and that severe of an injury for 6 weeks.
An emergency trip to the vet later that day for some IV fluids, wound care, and pain meds and Mac was on his way home. He has been eating and purring practically nonstop since coming home with us. Even though he is still a tender and has trouble lying flat he is one happy kitty. He even has started using the litter box!
@ Josie & Dee Loralei
Thank you, you are too kind. Homer is getting big, he has a ways to go to catch up with Toby.
39.
Poopyman
Hmmm. No sign of Laura to complain about her cat. Well, if she has merely one, she has little to complain about, but I’m pretty sure the cat would have a few things to say about Laura.
When I lived at 7500 ft in the foothills, I had tons o’ hummers every summer. Now at 5800 ft on the plains they just pass through. You gotta be in their habitat.
41.
LesGS
“Who is Laura Clawson?”
She seems to have gone Galt, and is withholding her productivity…
I would think you could make a cat-proof hummingbird feeder by the simple expedient of putting it high enough a cat couldn’t jump up and catch one of the hummers
Then I couldn’t take photos from inside my bedroom window. But the problem is really beyond just the feeders. When they start to swarm in a few weeks, they will perch in the the nearby oak scrubs close to the ground, and the cats figure out they can lay in wait there.
I generally do a lot of yelling and cursing, kind like on this blog. The cats mostly get the message after a while.
43.
Violet
Still hasn’t shown up, huh? Can I get an open thread if I complain about a Distinct Lack of Chocolate in My House? Or how about a This Hot Weather Sucks Moose Wang open thread?
If you’re gonna whine about needing an open thread, the least you could do is show up to whine in it once it’s provided for you.
44.
Poopyman
Nothing terribly pet-related to report from Chez Poopy. All 5 were happy to see us back from NN, but in true cat style they didn’t want to show it. Took about 24 hours, and unluckily for me Tux wanted a lot of attention around 3 AM last night. I’m a light sleeper, so whenever he “errrrl”ed it woke me up. Gonna sleep good tonight.
Or else.
45.
Dee Loralei
Dr Shibby, epic story. Mac Cat needs to star in a Disney movie.
Annie Laurie, Roger Moore, I figured something like that, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t know her, LOL.
John Cole goes a courtin’.
Yes John, the Solstice is a fertility festival, so well done you.
46.
Montysano
@RonnieRoo #5
One of my cats does regular tests for gravity to get attention.
We have a new family member, Maya, a beautiful 2 year old cat that we just acquired from a local rescue organization (I’ll send some photos to JC soon).
I have a shelf, 6′ off the floor, where I keep my cameras, including my beloved Yashica Mat and Minolta Autocord TLRs. I came in tonight to find Maya up on the shelf, shoving stuff around to make room to get comfortable. I now haz an afraid.
47.
nancydarling
My cat Max is the least trouble of any pet I have ever shared a home with. I can’t think of one bad habit and he holds his own with the big ol’ yeller dog very well. They are actually best buds. Mijo gets a face and ear washing every night from his little friend. Max is very fastidious—Mijo, not so much. He is about 4 1/2 years old now. Max is 5 sometime this month. Both are rescues although acquired as babies. They are a blessing in my life. The worst thing Mijo does these days is roll in mule manure. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to and he gets a severe tongue lashing the whole time I am cleaning him up. He goes a few weeks resisting temptation and then a nice fresh pile overwhelms him. I will say that mule manure is 1000 times preferable to the cow variety when it comes to cleaning up.
Buy some garden netting and put it over the scrub oak to block the kittehs? Might work if there aren’t too many oaks.
49.
LesGS
Dr. Shibby, awesome story and awesome cat. My Macavity of 30 years ago was pretty gorram tough, too. Plus he had extra toes. Someday those polydactyl cats are going to figure out how to use those thumbs, and we’ll all be humped.
isn’t this always the way, a random woman complains that a man, or that man and his buddies only want to hear what they want to hear about her cat. that it is well groomed, loves to play, is eager for attention, playful, happy, purring, whatevs…
she complains, that a man and his blog, don’t ever want to hear the bad things, or the gross things her cat does, or the way it makes her feel sometimes.
so that man, makes the effort to get the whole room’s attention focused on what is wrong with that woman’s poor troublesome cat…
then she has nothing to say.
51.
Thoughtcrime
“Poopyman”? Permanent litter box duty?
52.
Dee Loralei
Now 50 comments, and still no LauraC??? Maybe she’s on the road stuck in rush hour traffic, maybe she’s having dinner. Maybe the cat won!
Where’s LauraW and SoonerGrunt lately? I’ve missed them both.
Oh, and I’m going to N’awlins this weekend! Yes, it’s too darned hot and humid there, unlike temperate and pleasant Memphis this time of year. <— rolling eyes.
Any BJers there? Any wanna meet for a drink? I wanna try a Sazerach.
53.
stuckinred
I think SoonerGrunt got tired of being fucked with.
I think she is taken already, although this is where I have to go through the “I’m not looking for a significant other and no I’m not gay” routine we do about every few months.
I’m just a sucker for asshole pet stories and she tweeted me, so I was hoping to hear the story.
BTW- a year in and Rosie finally has me trained to get her in the crate. I guess her last crate was not good enough, but she likes her bigger, newer crate, and now all I have to do at night is stand up and say bedtime girls and Rosie races to her crate and waits for her treat.
55.
Dee Loralei
We get that you aren’t gay and aren’t looking for a relationship John, we just like to tease you. You big gruff hetero old man. ( Yea, I am technically older than you.)
I’m so glad now you get peace at night with Rosie.
My Maggie, 2 yr old Golden Retriever has started balking at going for walks. And if there is any noise outside she absolutely refuses to go. I’ve had to drag her and wrestle with her out the door. As soon as we got outside for her midday walk, she started pulling to get back into the house. I knew that was a battle I couldn’t lose, so we played tug of war for 10+ minutes and she still never did anything. I’ve got about 25 lbs on her, but she’s got a lower center of gravity and for legs for digging in. My arms were so sore.
I’m going to have to do something behaviorally with both of us after I get back, because she’s only getting worse. Luckily her brother, Cassidy, is a well behaved and well trained member of the family.
now all I have to do at night is stand up and say bedtime girls and Rosie races to her crate and waits for her treat.
Congratulations.
Do you lock her in the crate or is she now happy to there all night even if other options are available?
58.
Dee Loralei
I haven’t tried that recently, because together they get all hive-minded and packish and they forget I’m the Alpha, it’s really weird. Then instead of going to the bathroom, it becomes a great big fun game. And I don’t have the time when I’m working to let them play themselves out and finally remember to use the facilities.
For the last year or so, It’s been easier to take them each out individually 4 times a day.And that takes less time then letting them party themselves out together before they remember their purpose. This balking/terror of noises thing is only a few months old. And I’m incredibly frustrated with her today. I tell her she’s the most damnably stubborn dog in the history of the universe and that she vexes me so.
Thanks. i thought of that, but these are very low growing, shrublike oaks that grow everywhere here. There are so many hummingbirds that swarm, I saw one cat last year just reach up with a paw in the open space, and swat one out of the air.
60.
Allen
Down to two cats now. The dog , Honey Bear, so named because she is big and so sweet, is living with friends who have much more room for her and she loves the friends, so all works out in the end.
Cat one, Kitzel, was lost, she found us one night, meowing like mad (feed me, feed me). Found out a bit later she is very, very shy, but made it though Coyote country and is doing just fine and is such a lady.
Cat two, T.C. is another found (read abandoned) cat who had been dumpster diving for quite some time and was still pretty young. She took me in, and I was holding her for the best cat shelter in the area and the meaning of her name changed from Temporary Cat to Top Cat, and she thinks she is. Wakes me up at 3:00am by nawing on my foot so I will let her out. Nothing lady like about her though, thinks she is the queen of the roost.
Love them both dearly was will miss them sorely when gone.
61.
stuckinred
Dee Loralei
It just seems like something has spooked her. I won’t belabor this but they make a two-dog leash and maybe Cassidy would drag her around and you only have to handle one lead?
BTW- a year in and Rosie finally has me trained to get her in the crate. I guess her last crate was not good enough, but she likes her bigger, newer crate, and now all I have to do at night is stand up and say bedtime girls and Rosie races to her crate and waits for her treat.
Yay! Good girl, Rosie! Glad things are going a little more smoothly at Casa Cole.
63.
gogol's wife
I’m glad to hear about Rosie. I knew she had it in her.
64.
Dee Loralei IPhone
Thanks Stuckinred, that’s not a bad idea. Because he has been through obedience training, beginning and intermediary. I’m also going to have to find time to take her through it, just to hopefully get her less spooked about everything.
65.
stuckinred
Hope it might help.
66.
JPL
Dee Loralei Just try both of them around your yard or territory and then reward with a treat or jumping up and down. Golden’s like that.
EDIT..Baby talk also.. they love to be praised.
67.
RossInDetroit
“I’m not looking for a significant other
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Can I complain too? Yesterday: Dentist. Today: Dentist. Tomorrow: Root canal. Friday: Dentist.
And that, folks, is my vacation this year.
Plus yard work.
But hey, it’s finally summer or I’d be bitching a lot more.
68.
taylormattd
AMG, Laura reads this blog!!
69.
MikeJ
@52:
I wanna try a Sazerach.
You can get a great one at Zig Zag in Seattle, but yeah, nawlins the the birthplace. Just make sure you go to a good bar with a good bartender. The people in the touristy joints don’t have the proper respect for a good cocktail.
70.
taylormattd
@ John Cole
although this is where I have to go through the “I’m not looking for a significant other and no I’m not gay” routine we do about every few months.
I’d tell you to check out Craig’s List for the whole I’m-not-looking-for-a-significant-other,-but-HEY-NOW-HOW-YOU-DOIN’ thing. But that site is kind of dirty. Don’t know what the straights use for internet hookups.
71.
Umbrella
@MikeJ on attracting hummingbirds, I found it helpful to put some crocosmia (the red variety called “Lucifer”) outside. They’ll grow in a pot, if you don’t have a yard, since they’re bulbs. Once the hummers found those in my yard, they found the feeder, and it gave them a couple of places to be.
72.
Elizabelle
Missing cat story here.
Have been caring for a friend’s shy (but lovable) Siamese. Cat’s been parked for last 3 weeks in friend’s late aunt’s house, which has just been sold.
A damn realtor — or a minion — left a window open while checking out the facilities last week and the little guy’s been missing ever since Friday morning.
He hides well — too well — and does not know the neighborhood. Food and toys out on the porch and a window open enough for entry. (Since it worked so well for exit …)
Not a hide or hair seen.
I know cats frequently come back, but today I am very sad and worried about this.
Come back, little cat.
73.
CaseyL
Time to chime in with an Oscar update: Verily, he is healed. No vet visit, and all I did was put Neosporin on the injuries (a nasty scrape along his jawline, and a small cut on his neck), and it looks like they’ve totally healed already. (I’d need to hold him down to get a good look).
So, provided they didn’t heal around something icky and get abscessed, this comment comes under the heading of Thank You God rather than Complaint.
….where is Laura, anyway?
74.
MattR
@RossInDetroit– I feel your pain. Root canals today and more already scheduled for next week. Plus I have to make another appointment with the dentist tomorrow.
Or how about a This Hot Weather Sucks Moose Wang open thread?
LoL. It’s been perfect here for the last few days (sunny, dry, high of 80 and low of 55) but now it’s supposed to rain through Sunday. I’ll still take the latter over hot and muggy, though.
76.
nancydarling
Elizabelle, I hope the kitty comes home soon. Was she microchipped? Mijo, the dog has been chipped, but I haven’t done Max since he is an inside cat. This has me thinking it might be a good idea to take him in for it.
77.
reality-based
ok, now Hummer – attraction I am actually GOOD at.
First, you gotta lure them into your yard with (genuine) flowers – THEN they’ll condescend to use the little feeder thingy by your window.
They are attracted to trumpet-shaped flowers, and the color red. Get some red salvia (NOT the smoking kind, the annual bedding plant.) Stick them in a garden bed, or a cheap plastic pot, or whatever, close to your feeder. Believe me, the hummers will find them. Also, Red petunias work, but not as well. Also, nicotiana. There’s an annual vine, cardinal trumpet vine (related to morning glory) that they also like.
Other good choices: for shade, there’s a fuschia with a small, neon-orange trumpet-shaped flower that hummers absolutely love. (variety name escapes me now). Good perennial choices: any of the perennial salvias with red flowers, also penstemons. If you live in warm climates, also mandevilla.
Really – stick the flowers out.
78.
koalaholik
UncertaintyVicePrincipal
ROTFLMAO!!! It might be old, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Thanks for sharing. What a handsome dog and his eyes look so sad, it is perfect.
Nah. The aforementioned Tux is the real Poopyman. Refers to how I got him and our adventures in the following couple of weeks. I just use his email account. One of these days Annie Laurie will find the story in her inbox, but I’m just too damned lazy right now.
80.
Elizabelle
not microchipped. But will be, once pet shows up again. (Please, please.)
Cat disappeared the very day his owner was flying back to take him to his new home. So he’ll need a vet visit for a health certificate to fly …
please please please come back.
81.
Laura Clawson
Dammit, just when I went to the gym! Ok, I’m back, though.
Here’s the story. I drove to New Jersey last night to get my cat after a two-week absence. (Grand Canyon, San Diego, Netroots Nation) Now, admittedly two weeks is a long time to leave your cat, but I left him well situated with the friend who gave him to me, so in a familiar house with familiar people. She spent several hours a day with him (he can’t have the run of the house because her other cat will beat him up; this is why I have him now) and all the reports were good.
So I drive 4+ hours to pick him up, crate him, talk to him all the way back home, we get in at 2:15am. I, naturally, go to bed. He spends an hour stalking about my room making aggrieved noises, walking over my pillow (decidedly not allowed and usually not attempted), jumping on and off the bed, before I kick him out. He cries outside my bedroom all night. I get maybe 3 hours of sleep, which having only had one night to recover from Netroots Nation is a real problem.
I get up in the morning and he acts totally normal, calm, friendly. That is, until he goes to sleep and spends the rest of the day looking sleepy-grumpy at me every time I move around the apartment and wake him up. Oh, except for when I went to take a short nap and he started yowling again.
If he does this again tonight, he’s spending the night in the bathroom.
82.
Laura Clawson
Also (assuming my previous comment gets out of moderation and this one doesn’t get into it), can I just say that I have a post forthcoming at the GOS for which I wanted a picture of a fat cat as an illustration and I looked through a lot of stock photos rather than using a Tunch? (My Henley is also large, but he doesn’t photograph fat, he mostly just looks fluffy.)
BTW- a year in and Rosie finally has me trained to get her in the crate. I guess her last crate was not good enough, but she likes her bigger, newer crate, and now all I have to do at night is stand up and say bedtime girls and Rosie races to her crate and waits for her treat.
Good job! Goooood man, John!
Elizabelle: While you’re calling the local shelters (and the Animal Control Office, or police department if there isn’t a dedicated ACO), don’t forget to check with all the local vet hospitals as well. People who find healthy strays — especially ‘purebreds’ who obviously haven’t been out in the street long — will bring them in to the vets if they can’t think of anywhere else. Positive thoughts that your meezer turns up safe & sound!
My cat, who I’ve had since I was nine and was an outdoor country cat until recently, and never saw a ceiling fan or litter box in his life until a few months ago, is deathly afraid of the ceiling fans, which is becoming increasingly inconvenient in this warm weather. My boyfriend’s theory is that he’s just having Vietnam flashbacks when he sees the fan go on. He also just thinks that all boxes that are on the floor, whether they have litter or electronics or my taxes or whatever, they are places to pee. I love him.
86.
Elizabelle
Annie: thank you! Alerted the animal shelters but did not think of vet hospitals.
Will drive some flyers around tomorrow.
Read the epic story of Mac above.
Part that makes me squeamish for KitKat’s sake is that the house closes July 30. And his owner has moved to the other coast.
He needs to come back soonest!
PS: thanks jnfr. I should be out doing something positive, but just felt so morose today.
Just got back from a solstice evening dinner. My smallest little girl, who is alpha (such is the way of cats) has begun sleeping perpendicular in my bed. Which means, this little 9lbs of fur has somehow been leaving me with only 1/3 of the bed by the morning. No idea why this has started. She used to sleep at my feet. Bad Horse would be annoyed, but he’s working in a secret location, so he has not experienced this as of yet.
88.
Elisabeth
@Laura Clawson ~ separation anxiety. You left him! With terrible people. You must be punished.
89.
bryanD
I feel sorry for Laura Clawson’s hen-pecked cat.
(All that was missing from her story is a Land Rover, sleeping darts, Marlin Perkins, and a giraffe noose.)
90.
CaseyL
@Ellizabelle – Oh, that poor kitty! The only other thing I can think of to suggest is, if he has a favorite canned food, to take a can of it outside and open it as loudly as you can. Cats’ primary senses are sight and sound, even more than scent. And they can hear sounds from quite a distance. Best of luck; I hope hope hope the little one comes home!
@Laura Clawson – Try being away even longer. Like, oh, 4 weeks, and leaving your kittehs in the care of Very Good Cat People,and see what happens when you return.
What happened to me was: 1) Jeannie pretended she’d never seen me before; 2) Oscar whined that Auntie Peggy brushed him better then I do; and 3) Both complained that I didn’t play with them enough “not like Auntie Peggy, who played with us all the time!.”
Then they remembered that I, being home again, could once again do Doorperson duty, letting them in and out every five minutes. At which point they decided they were glad I was home again.
As per my note above and per Elisabeth, it’s separation anxiety, and it seems to take about a day before they get it out of their system and subside into their normal routine. But they have to let you know that it was horrible and they were so upset!
If werebear shows up soon I hope she can add something here.
97.
Poopyman
BTW, do check out the werebear link if you haven’t already.
98.
Kejia
Oh goody, a complaint thread. One of my five cats has irritable bowel syndrome. It is *supposed* to gradually improve with new diet. Still waiting for improvement. Anytime the poor dear lets out a wrenching yowl, I rush him down to the litter box. I don’t think I was this quick when my child was an infant. Despite my care, there is still the occasional accident, after which he slinks around shamefacedly.
99.
Elizabelle
This was a very helpful compilation of pet-finding tips.
The litter box goes out on the porch too tomorrow.
It’s been nearly 8 months since I lost my gift from God. :( I don’t think a day has gone by since then that I haven’t thought about him.
I can still complain about my calico cat who is now anxious again because of a neighborhood cat that we have befriended and is peeing on the carpets again. :(
101.
Mnemosyne
I can still complain about my calico cat who is now anxious again because of a neighborhood cat that we have befriended and is peeing on the carpets again. :(
D’oh! It sounds like your new girl doesn’t want that neighborhood cat encroaching on her territory and is spraying to warn him off. Females do spray as territorial marking sometimes.
I don’t think there’s much you can do if she’s taken a dislike to him and wants him to stay away, other than try to keep him out of her sight and invest in a lot of Nature’s Miracle.
102.
Cain
@Mnemosyne 101
I don’t think there’s much you can do if she’s taken a dislike to him and wants him to stay away, other than try to keep him out of her sight and invest in a lot of Nature’s Miracle.
She was doing that before with my boy who was harassing her. I think she just has an anxiety issue. Nature’s Miracle is okay, but it ruins my carpets. I found a much better way for my particular bit of carpet. I invested in a carpet cleaner (a hoover with a good suction) and I pour hot water into the area, and then I suck it up. I then put spray soap from the nozzle and then suck it up again.
When it dries you don’t smell the cat pee anymore. In the mean time, I’m planning on putting her ont tranqs. The neighborthood cat doesn’t really stay in our home.. more of a couple hours visitor and then goes out for the night.
My calico wanted to make friends with the new cat, but hte new cat is a bit afraid and tries to swat the calico. You could practically see her sad face. Poor thing. I feel bad when people/animals reject her. She’s always played second fiddle to KitKat my lost cat who is so outgoing and smart that he captures the hearts of pretty much anyone he meets. This poor thing can’t make a single friend. Human or otherwise.
103.
Larkspur
CaseyL: @Ellizabelle – Oh, that poor kitty! The only other thing I can think of to suggest is, if he has a favorite canned food, to take a can of it outside and open it as loudly as you can.
I’ve had good luck by going outside and shaking a pouch of crunchy kitty treats. It makes a good, tempting, distinctive noise (assuming the kitty has sampled the treats and heard the sound before), and my Felix comes running.
104.
Paul in KY
Am going on vacation in a couple of days & 4 cats will be boarded at vet for a little more than 2 weeks. Usually, they are so grateful to be out of the boxes that I only get mucho love when I am reunited with them.
Hope the lost cat returns soon.
105.
PTirebiter
@Mnemosyne
I’m sorry I missed this thread yesterday; we had another power outage. I took your suggestion about the Great Pyrenees I mentioned last week and emailed JC some pictures along with a note but didn’t hear back. I assume things were pretty hectic with everyone bleaching their Netroots and all- so it’s quite understandable. I also mentioned that we were taking her to the vet but I was confident she was healthy as horse. Turns out I was wrong. According to the vet she’s 2-3 years old, hasn’t been spayed and has heartworm. We’re still waiting for some more info before we make any decisions, but along with no a/c – all in all, it was a pretty crappy day.. The miracle of deregulation, sure we pay more but the service is now non existent and the state got rid off all those pesky, well paying jobs. Anyway, thanks for your response last week.
Comments are closed.
Share this ArticleLike this article? Email it to a friend!
gbear
I’d complain about my cat too but then I remember that she has to put up with me.
stuckinred
She doesn’t even list BJ as “other” on her Facebook!
David Brooks (not that one) is a richard skull.
I’d complain about mine but I can’t remember his name. He ran away in 1963. Given our household, who can blame him.
General Stuck
LOL, that made me laugh. Fire away Laura, I got some issues with the local cats where I live, stalking my hummingbirds. I realize they are just trying to make a living, and don’t realize the pain it causes me when they manage to eat beloved Hummingbirds that I entice to my window with food.
I just have to keep an eye on them, and chase em off. But am working on a new catproof hummingbird feeder. It involves some string and chicken wire, and other fancy stuff. I think it will work though. The little remorseless killers can go back to eating the plentiful mice we have around here.
RoonieRoo
Oh good a cat complaint thread. I could definitely use one of these.
One of my cats does regular tests for gravity to get attention. 80% of our plates, bowls and glasses have been broken. Plastic is now our friend.
Quarks
My cat would like to enter a formal complaint about this, and specifically note that this supposedly full service blog is only servicing its lowly human readers, and not the cats who have FAR more to complain about.
stuckinred
The crazy old lady up the street has about 10 and they drive my pups nuts in the morning. Why do cats lounge in the middle of the street?
BGinCHI
I imagine cats think Twitter is the noise food makes.
Villago Delenda Est
Look, staff complaining about their lot in life is nothing new.
Move along.
MikeJ
Hey General, I hung a hummingbird feeder outside my window a few months ago, and I’ve seen little action. Twice I’ve seen a single hummingbird show up, hover for two seconds, and say “meh” before leaving.
Any ideas on getting them to show up in the quantities you get?
Josie
Because they can.
BombIranForChrist
Man, in the last three years, my family has lost four cats. Two ran away and two died of old age, one of whom was generously memorialized here by John.
A couple days ago, we finally decided to get another one, and we got a pixie-bob from the neighborhood last night. About an hour after she arrived, she went underneath my bedside stand and took a giant crap on one of my books.
There’s a metaphor here, but I am not sure what it is. Even so, I am so glad to have a pet again. The house just isn’t the same without one.
Larkspur
I am kitty-sitting at the moment and I have no complaints whatsoever. The elderly Mr. Felix is delightful, pale orange with the sweetest face. He’s mostly indoors, but likes to repair to the deck or front porch now and then. He hunts not of the birds, humming or otherwise, and is gentle to all living things, including me except when I brush him for more than 30 seconds at a time.
Thoughtcrime
I want to complain about one of our cats. He’s loud, butts in ahead of the other cats when they want to be petted, and goes out of his way to torment and attack our poor old black girl.
I’d suspect him to be a teabagger, but he’s too damn smart.
JPL
Dear Catabby, My son’s cat is living here temporarily, (a year so far) and my dog Miss Moxie tried to befriend the cat. At first it was fine but then Mr. Alice would kiss and swat and now Miss Moxie fears the cat. What do I do? I really feel like Mr. Alice wants to kiss and make up but Miss Moxie tries to avoid cat contact. Help…
Thoughtcrime
Have you looked beneath the salad bar at Applebees?
jeffreyw
Homer crashes a skinny dipping party.
General Stuck
Actually, we only get modest hummer traffic until July 1st, or thereabouts. That is when two of the four species here show up, and the young fledglings really makes it a hummingbird swarm, up until late August.
I’m getting a fair number now, and noticed a pickup today. Don’t know where you live, but each location usually has large numbers occurring after the young leave the nest. Be sure and use Pure Cane Sugar in a one part to four parts water. That’s about all I can tell you on attracting them.
Shirt
If you strap a piece of toast butterside up to a cats back and drop him four feet, how will it land?
How would Tunch land? (@JC, don’t endanger yourself for the sake of science)
gbear
I’m afraid that the only solution may be to move to where The General is. I only get one or two per season in my yard (and I use The General’s recommended nectar mix to attract them).
Martin
Same as always. The toast needs to be within at least a few orders of magnitude the size of the cat to have enough influence. Further, given that toast is likely orbiting Tunch at any given time, he’s probably learned to compensate.
JPL
stuckinred @ 7.. Careful, in another decade or so you might be that crazy man down the street.
piratedan
missing my furry black furred compadre up here in the great NW. sure Mom has two adorable shelties to spoil, but what good is it without a cat to keep you grounded in reality and aware of just how far away from perfection each of is?
stuckinred
JPL
It’s already happened. The kiddies that had “bands” practicing next door will tell you.
Josie
@Jeffrey: I can’t believe how big Homer is getting. He is gorgeous.
Dee Loralei
Jeffery, absolutely gorgeous pic. You should sell that to a greeting card company.
So, let me get this straight. John Cole is begged to post an open pet thread, by some GOS twitterer, which he promptly does and 25 comments in, she hasn’t shown up? LOL the ungratitude! (and yes, I know that’s not a word)
Talk about readership capture!
But how does a BJ Fper get captured by another blogs reader though?
Things to ponder over a glass of Shiraz on a mid summers solstice…….
jeffreyw
@MikeJ : Do as the General says.
Fill it, and they will come.
UncertaintyVicePrincipal
I’d like to complain about how funny this is. Then you can all complain about how old it is and you’ve all seen it. New to me though.
The best part BTW is “Covered it with what?”
JPL
Luckovich of the AJC has a classic cartoon up about our own
Newt..link
Roger Moore
@General Stuck:
I would think you could make a cat-proof hummingbird feeder by the simple expedient of putting it high enough a cat couldn’t jump up and catch one of the hummers. But what do I know? Jake likes watching the hummers but never tries to catch one. Maybe that’s because the feeder is hanging over the edge of the balcony so that jumping for one of the birds would involve a 3 story fall.
Bullshit. If this were really a full service blog, we would have a functioning “Reply” button by now. And a magic pony that farts rainbows.
Anne Laurie
I suspect having an avatar of a cute woman-person can only help get Cole’s attention…
OzarkHillbilly (used to be tom p)
Laura complains about HER cat???? Let me tell you about my (my wife’s) cat: (and for the record, I bitch a whole lot less about the “b*tch” than my wife does)
3 am: cat chews on my feet.
3:03 am: cat is kicked off of bed
3:05 am: cat chews on my wifes feet.
3:05:05 am: cat is kicked off of bed.
4 am: cat begins to complain: “Feed Me, Feed Me…”
4:35 am: cat is finally fed.
5 am: cat complains: “You fed me, but not enuf! NOT ENUF!”
5:45 am: My wife feeds her a 2nd time.
6:00 am: Wife walks out the door.
6:01 am: Cat pukes up 2nd feeding.
6:02 am: the dog cleans it up.
6:03 am: I am OK with that.
On the days she works from home:
7:00 am: Wife logs on to work from home.
7:02 am: Cat lies down on wife’s keyboard.
7:03 am: Wife’s computer goes haywire.
7:05 am: I log on to Balloon Juice.
7:05:05 am: Cat ignores me.
7:10 am: Cat continues to ignore me.
8:00 am: Cat still hates me.
I think ya’ll get the picture.
JPL
BTW who is Laura Clawson and why do we care?
stuckinred
JPL
I don’t.
Belafon (formerly anonevent)
So, not everyone knows Balloon Juice, but those that write for sites that everyone knows know Balloon Juice. The same with xkcd, not everyone knows it, but a lot of comic artists seem to know it. Anyone got any other similar examples?
Dr. Shibby
A truly epic cat story.
Macavity AKA Mac AKA Macker Mac, is one of the coolest cats in the world. He is a bird, chipmunk and squirrel shredding machine. We got him from a shelter who said he had been living in an abandoned house by himself for quite some time. He lost half his teeth to a bad case of osteomyelitis. This didn’t even slow Mac down a bit. So when we finally bought a house my wife and I were both excited to have Mac join our other cat Bellini (AKA the developmentally delayed evil princess cat) and Mikayla, a golden retriever (AKA Nutters). However there was a one small problem. Mac is a strictly outdoor cat. He refuses to poop in a litter box. No problem I figured, we put up an invisible fence for the dog and we could fit Mac with a collar and he could have complete run of the yard as well as a doggie door to the heated garage to come and go as he pleases. However, Invisible Fence decided their cat collars were worth $450 and since I hadn’t even started work yet the price was too steep to do right away.
It was at this time my wife got the idea that she would make me happy with a cat poop free house and him happy to be an outdoor barn cat by taking him to the barn where she keeps her horse. Completely unbeknownst to me she decided to transport him there and leave him overnight. Since I was away finishing up medical school I didn’t hear about this until a day later. Almost immediately I told her to pick Mac up right away. I drove down the next day with her but it was too late. Mac had gone missing.
We initially canvassed all the neighbors and searched in the wooded area in the barn. No such luck. At this point I figured he would try to come back to my wife’s parent’s place which was about 20 miles away. Unfortunately, there was also 2 rivers and a freeway in between. Now most cats would have slim to no chance of making this journey. But not Mac. He is one super cat. However a week passed and no Mac showed up. Then two passed, then three, and finally six weeks went by and I had given up hope. I figured Mac had gone to the great cat heaven in the sky.
Yesterday we got a series of 4 calls from my wife’s father. When I finally picked up he exclaimed someone had found Mac! He was living in a barn and was discovered when the owner’s dogs started barking at something. He had somehow managed to get his right front paw stuck in his collar. This caused him to only effectively have 3 functional legs. The collar had rubbed his skin raw on his neck as well as caused a good amount of necrosis to his right axilla. He had lost over 1/3 of his body weight. Mac is one super cat but I’ll never understand how he managed to live on his own with 3 legs and that severe of an injury for 6 weeks.
An emergency trip to the vet later that day for some IV fluids, wound care, and pain meds and Mac was on his way home. He has been eating and purring practically nonstop since coming home with us. Even though he is still a tender and has trouble lying flat he is one happy kitty. He even has started using the litter box!
Roger Moore
@Dee Loralei:
Sex (ETA: Or hope therefor). SATSQ.
jeffreyw
@ Josie & Dee Loralei
Thank you, you are too kind. Homer is getting big, he has a ways to go to catch up with Toby.
Poopyman
Hmmm. No sign of Laura to complain about her cat. Well, if she has merely one, she has little to complain about, but I’m pretty sure the cat would have a few things to say about Laura.
Wonder if he/she will show up here instead?
jnfr
When I lived at 7500 ft in the foothills, I had tons o’ hummers every summer. Now at 5800 ft on the plains they just pass through. You gotta be in their habitat.
LesGS
“Who is Laura Clawson?”
She seems to have gone Galt, and is withholding her productivity…
General Stuck
Then I couldn’t take photos from inside my bedroom window. But the problem is really beyond just the feeders. When they start to swarm in a few weeks, they will perch in the the nearby oak scrubs close to the ground, and the cats figure out they can lay in wait there.
I generally do a lot of yelling and cursing, kind like on this blog. The cats mostly get the message after a while.
Violet
Still hasn’t shown up, huh? Can I get an open thread if I complain about a Distinct Lack of Chocolate in My House? Or how about a This Hot Weather Sucks Moose Wang open thread?
If you’re gonna whine about needing an open thread, the least you could do is show up to whine in it once it’s provided for you.
Poopyman
Nothing terribly pet-related to report from Chez Poopy. All 5 were happy to see us back from NN, but in true cat style they didn’t want to show it. Took about 24 hours, and unluckily for me Tux wanted a lot of attention around 3 AM last night. I’m a light sleeper, so whenever he “errrrl”ed it woke me up. Gonna sleep good tonight.
Or else.
Dee Loralei
Dr Shibby, epic story. Mac Cat needs to star in a Disney movie.
Annie Laurie, Roger Moore, I figured something like that, and I’m glad I’m not the only one who didn’t know her, LOL.
John Cole goes a courtin’.
Yes John, the Solstice is a fertility festival, so well done you.
Montysano
@RonnieRoo #5
We have a new family member, Maya, a beautiful 2 year old cat that we just acquired from a local rescue organization (I’ll send some photos to JC soon).
I have a shelf, 6′ off the floor, where I keep my cameras, including my beloved Yashica Mat and Minolta Autocord TLRs. I came in tonight to find Maya up on the shelf, shoving stuff around to make room to get comfortable. I now haz an afraid.
nancydarling
My cat Max is the least trouble of any pet I have ever shared a home with. I can’t think of one bad habit and he holds his own with the big ol’ yeller dog very well. They are actually best buds. Mijo gets a face and ear washing every night from his little friend. Max is very fastidious—Mijo, not so much. He is about 4 1/2 years old now. Max is 5 sometime this month. Both are rescues although acquired as babies. They are a blessing in my life. The worst thing Mijo does these days is roll in mule manure. It doesn’t happen as often as it used to and he gets a severe tongue lashing the whole time I am cleaning him up. He goes a few weeks resisting temptation and then a nice fresh pile overwhelms him. I will say that mule manure is 1000 times preferable to the cow variety when it comes to cleaning up.
Poopyman
@ Gen’l Stuck:
Buy some garden netting and put it over the scrub oak to block the kittehs? Might work if there aren’t too many oaks.
LesGS
Dr. Shibby, awesome story and awesome cat. My Macavity of 30 years ago was pretty gorram tough, too. Plus he had extra toes. Someday those polydactyl cats are going to figure out how to use those thumbs, and we’ll all be humped.
Fucen Pneumatic Fuck Wrench Tarmal
isn’t this always the way, a random woman complains that a man, or that man and his buddies only want to hear what they want to hear about her cat. that it is well groomed, loves to play, is eager for attention, playful, happy, purring, whatevs…
she complains, that a man and his blog, don’t ever want to hear the bad things, or the gross things her cat does, or the way it makes her feel sometimes.
so that man, makes the effort to get the whole room’s attention focused on what is wrong with that woman’s poor troublesome cat…
then she has nothing to say.
Thoughtcrime
“Poopyman”? Permanent litter box duty?
Dee Loralei
Now 50 comments, and still no LauraC??? Maybe she’s on the road stuck in rush hour traffic, maybe she’s having dinner. Maybe the cat won!
Where’s LauraW and SoonerGrunt lately? I’ve missed them both.
Oh, and I’m going to N’awlins this weekend! Yes, it’s too darned hot and humid there, unlike temperate and pleasant Memphis this time of year. <— rolling eyes.
Any BJers there? Any wanna meet for a drink? I wanna try a Sazerach.
stuckinred
I think SoonerGrunt got tired of being fucked with.
John Cole
I think she is taken already, although this is where I have to go through the “I’m not looking for a significant other and no I’m not gay” routine we do about every few months.
I’m just a sucker for asshole pet stories and she tweeted me, so I was hoping to hear the story.
BTW- a year in and Rosie finally has me trained to get her in the crate. I guess her last crate was not good enough, but she likes her bigger, newer crate, and now all I have to do at night is stand up and say bedtime girls and Rosie races to her crate and waits for her treat.
Dee Loralei
We get that you aren’t gay and aren’t looking for a relationship John, we just like to tease you. You big gruff hetero old man. ( Yea, I am technically older than you.)
I’m so glad now you get peace at night with Rosie.
My Maggie, 2 yr old Golden Retriever has started balking at going for walks. And if there is any noise outside she absolutely refuses to go. I’ve had to drag her and wrestle with her out the door. As soon as we got outside for her midday walk, she started pulling to get back into the house. I knew that was a battle I couldn’t lose, so we played tug of war for 10+ minutes and she still never did anything. I’ve got about 25 lbs on her, but she’s got a lower center of gravity and for legs for digging in. My arms were so sore.
I’m going to have to do something behaviorally with both of us after I get back, because she’s only getting worse. Luckily her brother, Cassidy, is a well behaved and well trained member of the family.
stuckinred
Dee Loralei
Will she go out with Cassidy?
MattR
@John Cole –
Congratulations.
Do you lock her in the crate or is she now happy to there all night even if other options are available?
Dee Loralei
I haven’t tried that recently, because together they get all hive-minded and packish and they forget I’m the Alpha, it’s really weird. Then instead of going to the bathroom, it becomes a great big fun game. And I don’t have the time when I’m working to let them play themselves out and finally remember to use the facilities.
For the last year or so, It’s been easier to take them each out individually 4 times a day.And that takes less time then letting them party themselves out together before they remember their purpose. This balking/terror of noises thing is only a few months old. And I’m incredibly frustrated with her today. I tell her she’s the most damnably stubborn dog in the history of the universe and that she vexes me so.
General Stuck
Thanks. i thought of that, but these are very low growing, shrublike oaks that grow everywhere here. There are so many hummingbirds that swarm, I saw one cat last year just reach up with a paw in the open space, and swat one out of the air.
Allen
Down to two cats now. The dog , Honey Bear, so named because she is big and so sweet, is living with friends who have much more room for her and she loves the friends, so all works out in the end.
Cat one, Kitzel, was lost, she found us one night, meowing like mad (feed me, feed me). Found out a bit later she is very, very shy, but made it though Coyote country and is doing just fine and is such a lady.
Cat two, T.C. is another found (read abandoned) cat who had been dumpster diving for quite some time and was still pretty young. She took me in, and I was holding her for the best cat shelter in the area and the meaning of her name changed from Temporary Cat to Top Cat, and she thinks she is. Wakes me up at 3:00am by nawing on my foot so I will let her out. Nothing lady like about her though, thinks she is the queen of the roost.
Love them both dearly was will miss them sorely when gone.
stuckinred
Dee Loralei
It just seems like something has spooked her. I won’t belabor this but they make a two-dog leash and maybe Cassidy would drag her around and you only have to handle one lead?
Violet
@John Cole:
Yay! Good girl, Rosie! Glad things are going a little more smoothly at Casa Cole.
gogol's wife
I’m glad to hear about Rosie. I knew she had it in her.
Dee Loralei IPhone
Thanks Stuckinred, that’s not a bad idea. Because he has been through obedience training, beginning and intermediary. I’m also going to have to find time to take her through it, just to hopefully get her less spooked about everything.
stuckinred
Hope it might help.
JPL
Dee Loralei Just try both of them around your yard or territory and then reward with a treat or jumping up and down. Golden’s like that.
EDIT..Baby talk also.. they love to be praised.
RossInDetroit
Not that there’s anything wrong with that.
Can I complain too? Yesterday: Dentist. Today: Dentist. Tomorrow: Root canal. Friday: Dentist.
And that, folks, is my vacation this year.
Plus yard work.
But hey, it’s finally summer or I’d be bitching a lot more.
taylormattd
AMG, Laura reads this blog!!
MikeJ
@52:
You can get a great one at Zig Zag in Seattle, but yeah, nawlins the the birthplace. Just make sure you go to a good bar with a good bartender. The people in the touristy joints don’t have the proper respect for a good cocktail.
taylormattd
@ John Cole
I’d tell you to check out Craig’s List for the whole I’m-not-looking-for-a-significant-other,-but-HEY-NOW-HOW-YOU-DOIN’ thing. But that site is kind of dirty. Don’t know what the straights use for internet hookups.
Umbrella
@MikeJ on attracting hummingbirds, I found it helpful to put some crocosmia (the red variety called “Lucifer”) outside. They’ll grow in a pot, if you don’t have a yard, since they’re bulbs. Once the hummers found those in my yard, they found the feeder, and it gave them a couple of places to be.
Elizabelle
Missing cat story here.
Have been caring for a friend’s shy (but lovable) Siamese. Cat’s been parked for last 3 weeks in friend’s late aunt’s house, which has just been sold.
A damn realtor — or a minion — left a window open while checking out the facilities last week and the little guy’s been missing ever since Friday morning.
He hides well — too well — and does not know the neighborhood. Food and toys out on the porch and a window open enough for entry. (Since it worked so well for exit …)
Not a hide or hair seen.
I know cats frequently come back, but today I am very sad and worried about this.
Come back, little cat.
CaseyL
Time to chime in with an Oscar update: Verily, he is healed. No vet visit, and all I did was put Neosporin on the injuries (a nasty scrape along his jawline, and a small cut on his neck), and it looks like they’ve totally healed already. (I’d need to hold him down to get a good look).
So, provided they didn’t heal around something icky and get abscessed, this comment comes under the heading of Thank You God rather than Complaint.
….where is Laura, anyway?
MattR
@RossInDetroit– I feel your pain. Root canals today and more already scheduled for next week. Plus I have to make another appointment with the dentist tomorrow.
On the positive side, percocet is nice.
PeakVT
Or how about a This Hot Weather Sucks Moose Wang open thread?
LoL. It’s been perfect here for the last few days (sunny, dry, high of 80 and low of 55) but now it’s supposed to rain through Sunday. I’ll still take the latter over hot and muggy, though.
nancydarling
Elizabelle, I hope the kitty comes home soon. Was she microchipped? Mijo, the dog has been chipped, but I haven’t done Max since he is an inside cat. This has me thinking it might be a good idea to take him in for it.
reality-based
ok, now Hummer – attraction I am actually GOOD at.
First, you gotta lure them into your yard with (genuine) flowers – THEN they’ll condescend to use the little feeder thingy by your window.
They are attracted to trumpet-shaped flowers, and the color red. Get some red salvia (NOT the smoking kind, the annual bedding plant.) Stick them in a garden bed, or a cheap plastic pot, or whatever, close to your feeder. Believe me, the hummers will find them. Also, Red petunias work, but not as well. Also, nicotiana. There’s an annual vine, cardinal trumpet vine (related to morning glory) that they also like.
Other good choices: for shade, there’s a fuschia with a small, neon-orange trumpet-shaped flower that hummers absolutely love. (variety name escapes me now). Good perennial choices: any of the perennial salvias with red flowers, also penstemons. If you live in warm climates, also mandevilla.
Really – stick the flowers out.
koalaholik
UncertaintyVicePrincipal
ROTFLMAO!!! It might be old, but this is the first time I’ve seen it. Thanks for sharing. What a handsome dog and his eyes look so sad, it is perfect.
Poopyman
@ Thoughtcrime:
Nah. The aforementioned Tux is the real Poopyman. Refers to how I got him and our adventures in the following couple of weeks. I just use his email account. One of these days Annie Laurie will find the story in her inbox, but I’m just too damned lazy right now.
Elizabelle
not microchipped. But will be, once pet shows up again. (Please, please.)
Cat disappeared the very day his owner was flying back to take him to his new home. So he’ll need a vet visit for a health certificate to fly …
please please please come back.
Laura Clawson
Dammit, just when I went to the gym! Ok, I’m back, though.
Here’s the story. I drove to New Jersey last night to get my cat after a two-week absence. (Grand Canyon, San Diego, Netroots Nation) Now, admittedly two weeks is a long time to leave your cat, but I left him well situated with the friend who gave him to me, so in a familiar house with familiar people. She spent several hours a day with him (he can’t have the run of the house because her other cat will beat him up; this is why I have him now) and all the reports were good.
So I drive 4+ hours to pick him up, crate him, talk to him all the way back home, we get in at 2:15am. I, naturally, go to bed. He spends an hour stalking about my room making aggrieved noises, walking over my pillow (decidedly not allowed and usually not attempted), jumping on and off the bed, before I kick him out. He cries outside my bedroom all night. I get maybe 3 hours of sleep, which having only had one night to recover from Netroots Nation is a real problem.
I get up in the morning and he acts totally normal, calm, friendly. That is, until he goes to sleep and spends the rest of the day looking sleepy-grumpy at me every time I move around the apartment and wake him up. Oh, except for when I went to take a short nap and he started yowling again.
If he does this again tonight, he’s spending the night in the bathroom.
Laura Clawson
Also (assuming my previous comment gets out of moderation and this one doesn’t get into it), can I just say that I have a post forthcoming at the GOS for which I wanted a picture of a fat cat as an illustration and I looked through a lot of stock photos rather than using a Tunch? (My Henley is also large, but he doesn’t photograph fat, he mostly just looks fluffy.)
jnfr
@Elizabelle
Come back, little Cat! You are missed.
Anne Laurie
Good job! Goooood man, John!
Elizabelle: While you’re calling the local shelters (and the Animal Control Office, or police department if there isn’t a dedicated ACO), don’t forget to check with all the local vet hospitals as well. People who find healthy strays — especially ‘purebreds’ who obviously haven’t been out in the street long — will bring them in to the vets if they can’t think of anywhere else. Positive thoughts that your meezer turns up safe & sound!
Evelyn
My cat, who I’ve had since I was nine and was an outdoor country cat until recently, and never saw a ceiling fan or litter box in his life until a few months ago, is deathly afraid of the ceiling fans, which is becoming increasingly inconvenient in this warm weather. My boyfriend’s theory is that he’s just having Vietnam flashbacks when he sees the fan go on. He also just thinks that all boxes that are on the floor, whether they have litter or electronics or my taxes or whatever, they are places to pee. I love him.
Elizabelle
Annie: thank you! Alerted the animal shelters but did not think of vet hospitals.
Will drive some flyers around tomorrow.
Read the epic story of Mac above.
Part that makes me squeamish for KitKat’s sake is that the house closes July 30. And his owner has moved to the other coast.
He needs to come back soonest!
PS: thanks jnfr. I should be out doing something positive, but just felt so morose today.
TaMara (BHF)
Just got back from a solstice evening dinner. My smallest little girl, who is alpha (such is the way of cats) has begun sleeping perpendicular in my bed. Which means, this little 9lbs of fur has somehow been leaving me with only 1/3 of the bed by the morning. No idea why this has started. She used to sleep at my feet. Bad Horse would be annoyed, but he’s working in a secret location, so he has not experienced this as of yet.
Elisabeth
@Laura Clawson ~ separation anxiety. You left him! With terrible people. You must be punished.
bryanD
I feel sorry for Laura Clawson’s hen-pecked cat.
(All that was missing from her story is a Land Rover, sleeping darts, Marlin Perkins, and a giraffe noose.)
CaseyL
@Ellizabelle – Oh, that poor kitty! The only other thing I can think of to suggest is, if he has a favorite canned food, to take a can of it outside and open it as loudly as you can. Cats’ primary senses are sight and sound, even more than scent. And they can hear sounds from quite a distance. Best of luck; I hope hope hope the little one comes home!
@Laura Clawson – Try being away even longer. Like, oh, 4 weeks, and leaving your kittehs in the care of Very Good Cat People,and see what happens when you return.
What happened to me was: 1) Jeannie pretended she’d never seen me before; 2) Oscar whined that Auntie Peggy brushed him better then I do; and 3) Both complained that I didn’t play with them enough “not like Auntie Peggy, who played with us all the time!.”
Then they remembered that I, being home again, could once again do Doorperson duty, letting them in and out every five minutes. At which point they decided they were glad I was home again.
PeakVT
A new Maru video.
SiubhanDuinne
@Elizabelle: fingers crossed for safe kitten return.
@John Cole: I’m not going to be able to stay awake until midnight, so may I be [among] the first to wish you a very happy 41st birthday.
Child.
Emerald
Seems time for a repeat of the Cats with Thumbs commercial.
Hope little cat comes back very soon!
Elizabelle
Casey:
Ah, the can opener trick. Worth a try. Many thanks.
(another) Josh
When we return from a trip, Edgar Cat spends the night telling “mom” about his adventures.
Poopyman
Laura:
As per my note above and per Elisabeth, it’s separation anxiety, and it seems to take about a day before they get it out of their system and subside into their normal routine. But they have to let you know that it was horrible and they were so upset!
If werebear shows up soon I hope she can add something here.
Poopyman
BTW, do check out the werebear link if you haven’t already.
Kejia
Oh goody, a complaint thread. One of my five cats has irritable bowel syndrome. It is *supposed* to gradually improve with new diet. Still waiting for improvement. Anytime the poor dear lets out a wrenching yowl, I rush him down to the litter box. I don’t think I was this quick when my child was an infant. Despite my care, there is still the occasional accident, after which he slinks around shamefacedly.
Elizabelle
This was a very helpful compilation of pet-finding tips.
The litter box goes out on the porch too tomorrow.
http://www.petrescue.com/petlibrary/pet-rescue/how-to-find-a-lost-cat-or-dog/
Cain
It’s been nearly 8 months since I lost my gift from God. :( I don’t think a day has gone by since then that I haven’t thought about him.
I can still complain about my calico cat who is now anxious again because of a neighborhood cat that we have befriended and is peeing on the carpets again. :(
Mnemosyne
D’oh! It sounds like your new girl doesn’t want that neighborhood cat encroaching on her territory and is spraying to warn him off. Females do spray as territorial marking sometimes.
I don’t think there’s much you can do if she’s taken a dislike to him and wants him to stay away, other than try to keep him out of her sight and invest in a lot of Nature’s Miracle.
Cain
@Mnemosyne 101
She was doing that before with my boy who was harassing her. I think she just has an anxiety issue. Nature’s Miracle is okay, but it ruins my carpets. I found a much better way for my particular bit of carpet. I invested in a carpet cleaner (a hoover with a good suction) and I pour hot water into the area, and then I suck it up. I then put spray soap from the nozzle and then suck it up again.
When it dries you don’t smell the cat pee anymore. In the mean time, I’m planning on putting her ont tranqs. The neighborthood cat doesn’t really stay in our home.. more of a couple hours visitor and then goes out for the night.
My calico wanted to make friends with the new cat, but hte new cat is a bit afraid and tries to swat the calico. You could practically see her sad face. Poor thing. I feel bad when people/animals reject her. She’s always played second fiddle to KitKat my lost cat who is so outgoing and smart that he captures the hearts of pretty much anyone he meets. This poor thing can’t make a single friend. Human or otherwise.
Larkspur
I’ve had good luck by going outside and shaking a pouch of crunchy kitty treats. It makes a good, tempting, distinctive noise (assuming the kitty has sampled the treats and heard the sound before), and my Felix comes running.
Paul in KY
Am going on vacation in a couple of days & 4 cats will be boarded at vet for a little more than 2 weeks. Usually, they are so grateful to be out of the boxes that I only get mucho love when I am reunited with them.
Hope the lost cat returns soon.
PTirebiter
@Mnemosyne
I’m sorry I missed this thread yesterday; we had another power outage. I took your suggestion about the Great Pyrenees I mentioned last week and emailed JC some pictures along with a note but didn’t hear back. I assume things were pretty hectic with everyone bleaching their Netroots and all- so it’s quite understandable. I also mentioned that we were taking her to the vet but I was confident she was healthy as horse. Turns out I was wrong. According to the vet she’s 2-3 years old, hasn’t been spayed and has heartworm. We’re still waiting for some more info before we make any decisions, but along with no a/c – all in all, it was a pretty crappy day.. The miracle of deregulation, sure we pay more but the service is now non existent and the state got rid off all those pesky, well paying jobs. Anyway, thanks for your response last week.