Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

Don’t expect peaches from an apple tree.

When someone says they “love freedom”, rest assured they don’t mean yours.

Meanwhile over at truth Social, the former president is busy confessing to crimes.

When your entire life is steeped in white supremacy, equality feels like discrimination.

It’s the corruption, stupid.

I wonder if trump will be tried as an adult.

Republicans choose power over democracy, every day.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

Schmidt just says fuck it, opens a tea shop.

… riddled with inexplicable and elementary errors of law and fact

And we’re all out of bubblegum.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Never entrust democracy to any process that requires republicans to act in good faith.

A consequence of cucumbers

Usually wrong but never in doubt

The words do not have to be perfect.

rich, arrogant assholes who equate luck with genius

Nothing worth doing is easy.

Let there be snark.

Republicans are the party of chaos and catastrophe.

Motto for the House: Flip 5 and lose none.

Putin must be throwing ketchup at the walls.

How can republicans represent us when they don’t trust women?

Republicans don’t trust women.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / Cat Blogging / Monday Night Open Thread

Monday Night Open Thread

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Really long day today, which I capped off by cleaning Steve’s litterbox.

I should have named him “Shits McGhee.” The sheer volume of toxic devastation this cat can unload on a litter box in a 24-36 hour period is equal parts frightening and astounding. I even have a special little box for him- it’s a Rubbermaid massive storage container with a hole cut in the side so he can’t kick litter all over the damned place. It holds about 5 lbs of litter, and he still manages to blow it out. I bet I go through 5lbs of litter a week.

The vet says he is super healthy, so, I guess, whatever. But damned.

Reader Interactions

119Comments

  3. 3.

    Bill E Pilgrim

    Really long day today, which I capped off by cleaning Steve’s litterbox.

    See this is why I come to Balloon Juice, to read about life in the fast lane.

  8. 8.

    Violet

    @Bex: Fox Business or Fox News?

    Edit: Either way, it shows she’s getting a little long in the tooth to be a “money honey”. The older Fox demographic probably still thinks she’s a Hot Young Thing, though.

  10. 10.

    Felinious Wench

    First, I love Steve.

    Second, I demand Sarah Palin’s latest, “Natural Birth Nativity Scene,” quote be used as a tag for all things war on Christmas.

    Thanks for your consideration in this matter.

  16. 16.

    Violet

    @debbie: Please no. The outside cats in my neighborhood come into my yard and shit everywhere. Or they stalk the birds–I’ve seen them do both. Keep your cat inside your house or at least have a hundred foot high fence so he stays in his own yard.

  19. 19.

    raven

    @Violet: UGA Kitty Cam. They are killin machines.

    ” cameras. Kitty Cams allow recording of a cat-eye view without disrupting behavior. We used Kitty Cams to investigate the activities of urban free-roaming cats in Athens, Georgia from Nov. 2010 -Oct. 2011, with goals for wildlife conservation and for improving the health and well-being of pet cats. “

  20. 20.

    max

    It holds about 5 lbs of litter, and he still manages to blow it out. I bet I go through 5lbs of litter a week.

    5 lbs of litter! A week! Jesus. Try being a real cat owner and going through half a 50-lb bag dude.

    max
    [‘Sick kittens.’]

  21. 21.

    Violet

    @John Cole: So your lack of participation in the comments is due to the worthlessness of the discussion in the comments? In your opinion, of course.

  24. 24.

    MomSense

    The dog is curled up in front of the fireplace hogging all the heat! My son is curled up on the chair next to the fireplace and both cats are curled up on top of him.

    The litter box is outside in the woods!

  25. 25.

    Violet

    @raven: Yeah, I know. I don’t want to get into any kind of indoor/outdoor cat skirmish. All I know is what they do in my yard, which is stalk birds and shit all over the place.

  26. 26.

    Violet

    @raven: Just clarifying that he thinks the comments on his blog are generally worthless. Or at least not worthy of participation.

  27. 27.

    Just Some Fuckhead, Thought Leader

    John, these bastards will chew you up and call it brunch, a light meal between savaging each other and then everyone else.

    I feel like we’ve outgrown this place, let the patients have it and let’s me and you run away together and start Fathead and Fuckhead’s Ginormous Blogstravaganda.

    Lemme know.

  28. 28.

    raven

    @Violet: There are ferrell’s all over here and there are lot’s of problems with them. Friend of mine a I tried to catch a kitten that was running across the street.She caught it and it bit the shit out of her. Couple thousand later the shot series was done.

  29. 29.

    MomSense

    @Violet:

    My cats sleep on the porch in the sun and then come in the house and eat and then go outside and then inside and then outside inside outside inside outside inside.

  31. 31.

    Karmus

    Leave it to an atheist to be blasé about the fact that his pet is damned. Did your vet charge extra for that diagnosis?

  33. 33.

    Alison

    Okay, sorry, but since this is a pet-themed thread and was posted soon after the previous one, I’m gonna be annoying and re-up my comment from below :)

    Okay, I’m gonna use this open thread to make a sort of random pet bleg to any local folks. My city’s animal shelter is awesome about posting pics of adoptable pets on their Facebook page and such, but it makes me sad that some of them seem to linger so long. One in particular is this great cat named Jersey – you can see his info here http://www.petango.com/Adopt/C…..x-18752346 He’s been there almost a year! That just breaks my heart, that kittens get scooped up but he keeps getting passed over. They say he is good with other cats and very affectionate. He’s six years old so not a baby but still with lots of life ahead of him. If my own cat were not most definitely an “only cat” type cat, I’d take him in myself. I know it’s a long-shot but if anyone here lives in the north Bay Area or knows someone who does and who might be interested in a new buddy, send them Jersey’s link!

    I don’t work at the shelter or anything, I am just an ardent supporter and a big ol’ softie who wants this buddy to get his forever home, finally! If it’s a BJ-er or your friend who takes him in, I’ll even chip in a bit towards his adoption fee if needed. Come on, LOOK AT THOSE WHISKERS :)

  35. 35.

    jeffreyw

    Discovered my Nexus 7 would recognize a USB ethernet adapter so I hooked one up. Easy access to my NAS for file transfers, loads photo files fast. Don’t see any diff in internet connection speeds. This is gonna be another piece of kit that will find it’s way into a junk drawer pretty soon.

  37. 37.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @raven:

    Speaking of feral animals, one of my colleagues shocked me last week by showing me pix of a full grown wolf that he had kept as a pet. Found it as a pup and raised it with his dogs. The vet confirmed that it was 100% wolf.
    It loved him but shunned every other person. Loved to den up in any small space and hide. Its favorite spot was jammed under his tiny computer desk, where he would rest his bare feet on its back to keep them warm. That was a pretty funny picture.

    BTW, I spent hours of yesterday flying to/from Alabama through all of that weather crap. Our landing at DTW was aborted due to what was described as a ‘slight’ wind shear. Didn’t feel slight to me when the plane suddenly plunged as we were approaching the runway. The crew that cleaned up the plane after our flight earned their pay that day. I was nauseous but got through it. Others weren’t so lucky.
    Speaking of luck, I realize I’m complaining about inconvenience and discomfort here, a First World Problem. Thousands have lost their homes from the storms and that’s a genuine tragedy.

  39. 39.

    jl

    @John Cole: What’s up, as in up at the top, is the hole for the cat Edit: as in Steve The Cat, who sprays shit all over your house). Have you considered one of those top entry litter box things? Did you see the comments that suggested a top entry litter box the last time cat shit spray came up?

    …

    I will bet mass quantities of emailed beer, hookers (gender of you choice, dear commentariate) and bloe (but not the BJ kind) that Cole has not.

    I checked them out and I was intrigued and wish to sign of for the newsletter. I think I might send out some feelers if any of the current family owned by a cat would be interested. My folks, considering the mess their cat makes, they are definitely interested whether they know it or not. If Steve is too wild even for a top entry box, Cole could put a cute little parasol or something over the top. Might limit the damage.

  42. 42.

    satby

    Hour 30 of no power after the storms here in SW MI. And no power means no pump for the well, so no water for flushing or anything else. Neighbor and I made a water run this morning and I’ve already used 1/2 up on all the thirsty pets. Could be worse, so I’m counting my blessings in my 50 degree house.

  43. 43.

    Elizabelle

    @Ultraviolet Thunder:

    Oh, I think that would be plenty scary.

    And it’s way more interesting to discuss than litterboxes and cat excreta.

    You seeing “emotional support animals” on your flights?

  47. 47.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @raven:

    Thx. I’ve been reading the recent science stuff about dogs’ descent from wolves. Modern mutts appear to be derived from European wild stock, though man/dog cohabitation may have evolved in multiple, separated societies.
    Cats, of course are a gift to Mankind from the Gods. Just ask one.

  49. 49.

    Libby's Person

    Cole, teach Steve to use the toilet. It’s supposed to be a relatively easy thing to teach a cat. I’ve even heard of cats being taught to flush afterwards…

  54. 54.

    ruemara

    1. I highly recommend horse pellet bedding for your fuzzball. It absorbs more than standard kitty litter, smells better and is more ecological, particularly to your wallet.

    2. Re: poos. Have you not had a cat? I could clean the box twice a day with my dudes and marvel at their capacity for poo. But, they are so darned cute! And now you know why.

    3. The friends I privately sent my gofund link for feedback jumped the gun and disseminated it to all and sundry. To quote Opus, Friends are such a mixed blessing. $30 bucks closer to something, though, so I can’t fault them.

    4. The shooting I was doing to teach a friend some paleo recipes now has a fantastic scene of me running around the kitchen yelling hot hot hot. And accidentally destroying the nori wrappers for cauliflower rice sushi. I had no idea I was a physical comedian, but if I am asked, I’ll pretend it was totally scripted.

  55. 55.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Elizabelle:

    You seeing “emotional support animals” on your flights?

    I hadn’t heard of that. I’m tempted to make snarky comments but I know people who need all the help they can get to make it through a flight.

  56. 56.

    NotMax

    5 lb. per week × 52 weeks = 260 lb. per year.

    260 × 15 years = 3900 lb.

    Nearly 2 tons of litter over an average lifetime.

  57. 57.

    Ultraviolet Thunder

    @Libby’s Person:

    Cole, teach Steve to use the toilet. It’s supposed to be a relatively easy thing to teach a cat. I’ve even heard of cats being taught to flush afterwards…

    From my favorite magazine:
    Civilized Cat Toilet Training

    A Word of Warning

    There are a few big issues to keep in mind when deciding whether to try to toilet-train your cat:

    » Don’t teach your cat to flush. Once it learns, it will find this an entertaining way to pass the time and your water bill will skyrocket.

  58. 58.

    WaterGIrl

    @ruemara: I’ve been mostly away from BJ for a long while, but life is getting more back to normal so I’ve looked in a few times in the past few days.

    May I ask what the fund me thing is? I saw the reference in some thread over the weekend and then googled to get the general idea.

    Also, I saw that you had given up your kitties, that makes me so sad for you. I couldn’t quite tell whether you would be able to get them back again once you have more funds? Hoping the answer is yes.

  59. 59.

    fuckwit

    Huh, just got off of the OFA call. President sounds like he has a cold. Fucking right-wing noise machine media narrative probably got him down too. Also they’ve now filibustered every one of his DC court nominees, some for years until they give up. It’s disgusting.

    It’s worth joining up with OFA’s Truth Team if you can, and fight the bullshit. The hard fact is that our media is totally fucking useless, and if information and knowledge is to get out, we’re going to have to DIY, grassroots stylee.

    I will have Medicaid now thanks to Obamacare. I know people with pre-existing conditions (cancer, etc) who aren’t getting kicked off their insurance and could change plans whereas they would have been denied before. Our insurance system is still so desperately fucked up that very many people will need help just figuring out the fucking website, or to be directed to the correct number to call instead of trying to make their way through the site. And very many people will be bewildered by all of the choices and differences in plans. It’s going to take volunteers to help them.

    If you’ve been reading Richard Mayhew’s excellent missives here, please sign up with OFA to spread that information you’ve acquired to everyone you know. Our useless corporate media is not going to do that work; we have to do it ourselves, one-on-one, and right the fuck now.

  60. 60.

    WaterGIrl

    Cole, my kitties made an amazing amount of poop when they were kitties. Is Steve still young? If so, you may just have to hang in there until their systems slow down.

  62. 62.

    PsiFighter37

    Too lazy to try and figure out what exactly was wrong with my hard drive. That said, I didn’t want to spend the money (or time, since I’m too goddamn lazy) on a new build from scratch, nor did I want to blow unnecessary cash on a high-powered Alienware laptop (since those are harder and more expensive to fix if they hit the shitter). So I ended up getting a fancy new SSD main drive, along with a 500GB Raptor as my main data backup. I also took the opportunity to grab a newer graphics card ($75 for a Radeon 7770 HD) that should perform significantly better at lower temperatures, given my Radeon 4890 HD is pretty ancient (nearly 4 years old). I also stuck with Windows 7, because I will migrate to Windows 8 over my dead body. I also got an external slot loader for internal HDDs to fish my old shit off the busted 80GB Intel SSD from a few years back (which appears to have all my data intact when I was running it through DOS on System Repair), as well as these two ancient Samsung 500 GBs that I have been using as my main data backups for now.

    I don’t expect gangbusters speed, because I’m stuck a legacy AMD chipset, CPU, and memory, but this should hopefully speed things up a bit and keep me running well for a long time (which would be another 3+ years, which is how long my current setup got me). When things truly decide to crap out, I’m finally going to move back to Intel architecture – the cost differential between it and AMD isn’t as huge as it used to be, and as far as I can tell, it kicks the pants off of AMD.

    The only bad thing is that everything except for the Samsung SSD is shipping from NJ – so I should get it tomorrow, knowing how fast Newegg goes. The goddamn SSD is shipping from CA, so I will probably have to end up waiting an extra couple of days before I can get this show back on the road.

  63. 63.

    Mandalay

    @Redshirt:

    Here’s a crazy idea Cole: Participate in the comments. If not, why not? Don’t tell me you’re too busy.

    Only slightly OT, apart from being a really great writer, TNC regularly posts in the comments section of stuff he writes, with constructive and respectful responses.

    Greenwald does as well, but usually to eviscerate those who have pissed him off rather than to participate in the discussion.

    I think their comments reveal more about both of them than their articles.

  64. 64.

    raven

    @WaterGIrl: One of my old friends in Urbana, long time teacher at UHS, is having a battle with cancer. They have put up a Facebook support page and it’s getting a great deal of action.

  65. 65.

    schrodinger's cat

    As promised I think about a month ago, a recipe for dal with red lentils, comfort food Indian style!

    Note: This is my take on the classic and I have broken it down into steps, since I know that many find Indian food overwhelming and complicated. Let me know if you like it. Kthx.

  66. 66.

    mainmata

    @raven: I have a close friend whose husband has the unhappy job of trying to figure out how to reduce Beijing’s air pollution (he works for the World Bank). Bad enough all the coal-fired power plants but now there is a huge automotive fleet and that’s all just topping from the winter air inversions and the natural dust pollution from the nearby loess plateau. On most days people should be walking around wearing HEPA respirators.

  67. 67.

    raven

    @mainmata: Yea, my pal said he lives in some western style complex with heavy duty air filters. He’s a trainer with their pro basketball team so the travel is really bad.

  71. 71.

    ruemara

    @WaterGIrl:Hopefully, I can secure more serious employ and take them back. I’m trying to fund getting a camera system to accept freelance work, which is looking to be my best bet since it’s been a fat goose egg for the past few years of work. I’m just weirded out at the concept of crowdfunding since I’ve normally paid for everything myself. In that vein, I’m feeling quite chipper. Knocked out yet another medical bill from last year’s hospital escapades. $600 down, 1900 to go. Rather nice, that.

  72. 72.

    MomSense

    @Violet:

    They just sun themselves on the porch and on the little hill behind the house where there is some moss and some granite ledge.

  73. 73.

    Jackie

    John, first put litter box OUTSIDE or in garage with cat door accessibility. Second, litter box needs to be cleaned 2x daily – at least. I clean 1st thing in the morning and then as soon as I get home from work. And, my beloved 19 yr old will observe me cleaning her throne, and promptly use – suggesting she was holding it until litter box was acceptable. Hence, the sometimes 3 or 4 times daily cleaning. I’m thrilled she’s still able to go outside to use the litter box – and soak up any sunshine available, but I’ve never been an inside the house litter box person – unless it’s snowing a blizzard, or kitty’s sick, or training a new kitty to household. But those are all temporary. It’s amazing how much poop/pee one cat can produce in 12 hrs. I can’t imagine waiting 48 to 72 hrs before cleaning. My Cinder would choose a corner in the house telling me how sucky her bathroom life is.

  74. 74.

    Paddy

    @satby: I feel for you. For some voodoo reason, we keep on JUST getting missed by the bad weather, and we’re right under you in Mishawaka by South Bend. It’s like there’s a Bermuda Triangle thing going on that sheers the storms north and south when they get close to us. Mebbe Touchdown Jeebus?

  76. 76.

    keylime72

    long time lurker….John Cole, I have 2 cats (brother and sister) and brother is a World-Class pooper….I swear by the Cat Genie….set to cat activation mode.

  78. 78.

    Roger Moore

    @mainmata:
    It’s still bizarre to me that my Chinese coworkers come back to the LA area and comment on how much better the air quality is here than [insert Chinese city here]. I’ve been here for long enough to be surprised that anyone would prefer our air quality to anywhere else, so it’s an interesting story of both our success in making air quality better and their problems with air quality getting worse.

  79. 79.

    Pogonip

    @raven: Yep. Got nothing against coaches, but I figure the more collapsing roaches, the better, unless you’re a scientist. Cockroaches make excellent experimental animals. Cheap to house and feed, and no one pickets when you’re mean to them.

  80. 80.

    dexwood

    @Violet:
    With you on this one. Tired of feral and domestic cats shitting in my front garden, you know, where I put my hands while working in it. Tired of them killing birds visiting my feeders and baths, too.

  82. 82.

    Violet

    @MomSense: My neighbor’s adopted feral cats pretty much do the same thing. They’re always sunning themselves on her porch and the giant tree stump in her front yard. One of them does come over at night and poop in my yard, though.

    I can’t really blame him (the cat) or her (my neighbor), since they were feral when she started to feed them and she’s done right by them–got them vet care, kept them fed and watered and protected from hurricanes and so forth. There’s just no way they’d turn into indoor cats, so we just put up with the poop and are glad we have such a nice, soft-hearted neighbor who is so good to animals.

    Now the other neighbors with the very fat, well taken care of kitty–that’s another story. That cat claws at our front door mat and sits in the front garden stalking the birds at the bird bath. The cat can’t be hungry–it’s Rubenesque. Every time I open the front door and the cat is there, it scampers off home. It’s got a collar and everything. The owners just like to let it outside to roam the neighborhood.

  84. 84.

    Violet

    @dexwood: The worst was when I was weeding a garden bed and started smelling cat poop. I could not find the stuff–looked all around. Then I moved slightly down the bed and guess what? Turns out I’d put my knee right in it. I had smushed cat poop all over the knee and down the leg of my jeans. Absolutely disgusting. Fucking cats.

  85. 85.

    Mike in NC

    When we shopped for a litterbox for our two cats, I suggested asking for something appropriate for a pony.

  86. 86.

    Violet

    @Roger Moore: Several years ago, when James Fallows was living in China, he did a lot of interesting posts on air quality and the view from his apartment window. It was pretty bad. I think it was pre-Olympics, and when the Chinese shut down the factories, you could definitely tell the difference.

    Then he went back to California for some reason and posted a photo from his childhood home. He also posted the same/similar view from the 1970’s, when the air quality was much worse. You could see the view in the modern photo, and in the 1970’s it was obscured by smog. He wrote a post on how the US, and specifically California, made an effort to clean up our air quality and how it can be done and at this point it’s been long enough that we don’t really remember how bad it was. Also, I think the L.A. air quality in the 1970s wasn’t as bad as Beijing’s is now.

    It’s an interesting series of posts. Probably from 2008 in the spring/summer if anyone wants to hunt for it.

  88. 88.

    gnomedad

    @Libby’s Person:

    Cole, teach Steve to use the toilet. It’s supposed to be a relatively easy thing to teach a cat. I’ve even heard of cats being taught to flush afterwards…

    FSM please convince Cole to do this. It will be good for weeks of amazing posts.

  89. 89.

    Southern Beale

    I clean our litter boxes twice a day. We have 7 cats and use three giant Rubbermaid tubs we put in a bathtub to serve as litter boxes.

    Do not speak to me of volumes of toxic devastation. I’ve won that contest hands-down.

  90. 90.

    Southern Beale

    I clean our litter boxes twice a day. We have 7 cats and use three giant Rubbermaid tubs we put in a bathtub to serve as litter boxes.

    Do not speak to me of volumes of toxic devastation. I’ve won that contest hands-down.

  91. 91.

    MomSense

    Our Maine Coon wasn’t feral but he was a barn cat from a farm near us and found his way to us about 13 years ago. He really doesn’t know how to be an indoor cat. He has never paid any attention to birds but he did used to go after field mice. Now he is enjoying his golden years and just likes to sleep in the sun or next to the fireplace.

  94. 94.

    Alison

    @kc: I really don’t think so. I had to catsit for a friend’s cat for a week once, bringing him to our place, and she was not happy. She fought with him and hid under the couch most of the time, and crapped outside her box a few times. Plus, I live in an apartment with my parents, so a second cat in here would be a little much. If I lived alone I might try it, but it’s not only my decision.

  97. 97.

    seaboogie

    @kuvasz: No kidding! I used to use a litter called SWheat (made out of wheat) and the dog not only treated the cat poops like delicious tempura, but licked up the pee litter too. Came home one evening and must have startled the cat who was pooping in the litter box, cuz she came running out – still pooping – followed by the pooch, and I was like “Dude, are you squeezing the kitty for snacks now?”.

    Now the dog has passed, and elderly kitty has litter made out of corn cobs -The World’s Best Cat Litter – and it is. Litter also endorsed by the fieldmice that had set up housekeeping in the cottage with me and my feline assasin emeritus. After escorting about 15 cute as hell rhodent friends out the door and up the road, I found about 2 pounds of cat litter and kibble stored under a bathroom cabinet. Also kibble in my boots in the closet. Way to go mice. Kitty….ahem…really….!!!?

  98. 98.

    catclub

    @raven: They are making themselves a really bad example, because in the game, GA got the ball back and was within one play of winning – Not easy, but not impossible either. Didn’t they end inside the Auburn 20 yard line? Given that, keeping the never give up attitude out front should be a priority. They had already come back 21 points in the 4th quarter.

  100. 100.

    different-church-lady

    I will NEVER understand the pass interference call.

    You can give a receiver a little hand check and it’s interference. You can wrap your arms around the receiver and keep him from getting back to the ball and it’s not interference.

  101. 101.

    Kaya

    Longtime lurker here, I don’t know if anyone has tried Tidy Cat Breeze litter box but it is the greatest thing ever (as far as cat poop goes). It uses dust free pellets on top, the urine flows through them into a pad underneath that you have to change every 1-2 months approximately. Box sits in bathroom next to toilet so just scoop poop out shake off pellets and flush it down. Never ever smells and I change 3.5 pound bag of pellets every 2 months at the very earliest. Cheap on amazon maybe $30 for box and starter stuff. Again, it never smells! I have no idea how it works but it does. Box is kind of small for a big cat so may be better suited to smaller cats. Half the time my dog eats the poop so clean up is even easier. I have turned so many friends onto this they all love it can’t recommend it highly enough.

  102. 102.

    Anne Laurie

    @debbie: Not just no, but hell no. It’s hard out there for a cat, and Mungo Steve didn’t even have the dubious ‘advantage’ of growing up learning about cars, coyotes, and why you shouldn’t drink those puddles of antifreeze. Also, Cole can barely cope with household hazards, much less trying to track down a lost cat in the Big World…

    Our cat Piper (aka The Ninja) came to live with us as a very young kitten, after he ran up to a BJ friend (hi, Hillary!) & begged her to take him somewhere less dangerous than an East Boston street. Our other cat Rocket (who is probably a purebred Oriental Shorthair) came to us from a rescue group that picked him up hanging around the dumpsters in a shopping mall. Now that he’s spent six months getting to know the indoor territory here, Rocket has decided he wants to explore the Big World, again, very much against our wishes. Piper thinks Rocky has lost his tiny mind — it’s cold & damp & there are no dependable dinner hours out there.

  104. 104.

    Ripley

    I think we’ve covered enough poop this thread. Cole, any anal gland expression anecdotes? About the pets, I mean.

  105. 105.

    cat whisperer

    I’ve had a rescue cat for 4 years & my cat whispering skills haven’t been enough to completely domesticate her. She tries to be lovable, & is sometimes sweet as can be, but has a short fuse due to PTSD. I’m finding myself unable to take care of her, but don’t want to further traumatize her by taking her to a shelter. She wouldn’t be a good pet for anybody without a lot of patience and willing to put up with her freakouts. Other than euthanizing her, anybody have suggestions?

  107. 107.

    currants

    @Mandalay: That’s sort of apples and oranges, though, because while you’re right that TNC participates in the comment section, he is also the only one who posts on his blog, and he doesn’t put new posts/topics up very frequently (i.e. not multiple times/day, as does B-J). Can’t speak to Greenwald’s.

  109. 109.

    Cara

    What kind of food is he eating? The more carbs he consumes the more poop since cats don’t use much of the grains that are often in their diets and therefore eliminate them. If he is not already eating something that is grain free I would look into changing his diet. If he is already eating a premium grain free diet I suggest buying stock in Tidy Cats:-)

  111. 111.

    satby

    Oh, and the power came on last night at 2:30. I’m most happy that it means we have water again. We never lost water in the city when we lost power. I need to get back to my city in the next few years!

  113. 113.

    Jebediah, RBG

    @WereBear:

    We’ve done that with dogs, for separation anxiety that was leading to now-humorous destructive behavior, and it worked quite well.

  114. 114.

    WaterGIrl

    @ruemara: Really glad to know you hope to bring your kitties home again when you can.

    Maybe it’s not so different from having neighbors rake your leaves or shovel your snow when you’re in the hospital, or stopping by with food during hard times. It’s just that our neighborhoods have gotten a lot bigger. :-) If you post your link, I will definitely make a contribution after the 1st.

    My good friend made some reference to the “community” in his church, how it’s kind of like “my blog” (by which he meant BJ), except that at his church they are “real” people. I guess if you haven’t experienced it yourself, you can’t understand how real people can be on a blog like this.

    Edit: forgot to mention that there is the component of “um, I could use some help here”, which you don’t have to do when your neighbors know what’s going on in your life. Kudos to you for reaching out and not letting some misguided sense of pride get in the way of a solution that will get you back on your feet.

  115. 115.

    gluon1

    I would echo @Libby’s Person and @Ultraviolet Thunder: Teaching my cat to use the toilet was both rewarding and cost effective. For the price of a couple of large bags of litter, I never have to purchase litter again. I also echo the argument against teaching the cat to flush. For those not as handy as to want to build a version, Litter Kwitter is solidly made and seems to work well. @John Cole should give it a look and absolutely blog the whole training process.

  116. 116.

    Paul in KY

    @raven: That was just about like LSU did to us years ago. Now y’all know how that feels. Did coach get the gatorade shower, cause ours did?

  119. 119.

    LanceThruster

    Boo-hoo on volume!

    xD

    My roommate has a female tiger stripe cat that can drop deuces that will peel wallpaper.

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