Come for the politics, stay for the snark.

fuckem (in honor of the late great efgoldman)

Why is it so hard for them to condemn hate?

Whatever happens next week, the fight doesn’t end.

A democracy can’t function when people can’t distinguish facts from lies.

They’re not red states to be hated; they are voter suppression states to be fixed.

I was promised a recession.

Within six months Twitter will be fully self-driving.

Seems like a complicated subject, have you tried yelling at it?

Imperialist aggressors must be defeated, or the whole world loses.

If senate republicans had any shame, they’d die of it.

Balloon Juice has never been a refuge for the linguistically delicate.

The next time the wall street journal editorial board speaks the truth will be the first.

Impressively dumb. Congratulations.

Nancy smash is sick of your bullshit.

Today’s GOP: why go just far enough when too far is right there?

JFC, are there no editors left at that goddamn rag?

Come on, media. you have one job. start doing it.

We are builders in a constant struggle with destroyers. let’s win this.

Fuck the extremist election deniers. What’s money for if not for keeping them out of office?

… pundit janitors mopping up after the GOP

Sitting here in limbo waiting for the dice to roll

Pessimism assures that nothing of any importance will change.

We cannot abandon the truth and remain a free nation.

A sufficient plurality of insane, greedy people can tank any democratic system ever devised, apparently.

You are here: Home / Pet Blogging / The Annual Breaking of the Circle of Trust

Reader Interactions

108Comments

  4. 4.

    Old Man Shadow

    Aww. That little face.

    That’s not a murder face, that’s a “WHY, DADDY?!?” face.

    Poor kitty needs treats and snuggles, stat.

  15. 15.

    Litlebritdifrnt

    Shoes John, make sure all of your shoes are secured, there is going to be some serious amount of shitting in any that aren’t.

  17. 17.

    geg6

    @Martin: 
    You just made me have to explain what was so funny to my staff assistant. I almost fell out of my chair, I was laughing so hard.

  18. 18.

    sukabi

    Poor Steve. So abused and forlorn.

    Fuuuuck….. it’s that time of year again, isn’t it.?”

  24. 24.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    I feel for you. We went for immunizations yesterday.

    I try to be really careful not to say the words “car ride” (which are an invitation to something which is fun) when we are going to the vet.​ Limit the amount of betrayal.

  26. 26.

    Quiltingfool

    Poor sad kitty.  Treats will help, and maybe some alone time?

    Could you post a picture of Steve after his haircut?  When he has recovered from the trauma?

  27. 27.

    CaseyL

    “More in sorrow than anger…”  The expression on his face makes me want to give him a good cuddle and tell him what a Good Boy he is.  Poor baby!

    But I must know – is the harness you’re using something you bought, or something you improvised? Because I need something like that to trim my senior kitties’ nails and nether parts.

  30. 30.

    JoyceH

    This is a good cat group – so I’m looking for some advice. Does anyone have any suggestions for dealing with a cat with a track record of peeing inappropriately? Because that’s the situation I have with my Abby.

    I inherited Abby when my sister died over 2 years ago, and she has always had a peeing problem. She would occasionally pee on the floor, or laundry, or the bed. Sometimes it was a message – change the litter box! And sometimes… well, who knows?

    When I got her, she started peeing on the floor in the guest room. She seems to like to pee on fabric, too, so I came up with a fairly ingenious solution, if I say so myself – I gave her her own litter box in the guest room, with an old towel instead of litter in it. I have a selection of ‘Abby’s pee towels’ that I change every few days. That works pretty well. A few months ago, she peed several times on the bed – I took her to the vet, and she had a respiratory infection that made her feel bad; I gave her a course of antibiotics and that seemed to solve the problem.

    Just recently, she started peeing inappropriately again – several times on the bed, and once on my shoes. Back to the vet, who couldn’t find anything wrong with her, but gave me antibiotics again. Might have solved the problem this time, but I always feel the bed before I get into it.

    I have my original cat, Liam, and he and Abby have never gotten along very well. They don’t fight… much, but he seems to approach her and sniff in an aggressive manner. I have a Feliway diffuser plugged in and when the cartridge needs replacing, their interactions become more tense, so it seems to be doing something anyway.

    So – is there anything else I could be doing? I’ve tried a number of odor eliminators, but have no idea if they’re working to the point where the cat can’t smell the treated odor.  I’m afraid there is no real solution and this is something I’m just going to have to deal with every now and then as long as Abby is alive.

  31. 31.

    The Moar You Know

    Shoes John, make sure all of your shoes are secured, there is going to be some serious amount of shitting in any that aren’t.

    @Litlebritdifrnt: ah.  you are a true cat person.  You understand the way of feline vengeance.

  34. 34.

    germy

    @JoyceH:

    Is she getting enough water in her diet?  Cats often need more water than they bother drinking.

    Canned food is about 78 percent water, which is about right.

  35. 35.

    zhena gogolia

    @JoyceH: I had a male cat on Valium for a while for this problem. It worked, but then he started getting lethargic so I stopped, but he didn’t start peeing again. He had started when my first husband was in the hospital, so it was very stress-related.

  41. 41.

    PaulWartenberg

    I have to do this someday for my cat Ocean, as she is matted and lumpy and refusing to accept combing. I’ve taken her to pet salons for treatment, and she’s actively clawed at the ladies who tried to trim her. One woman once showed me a massive deep scar running all down her forearm where Ocean got most vicious. I’ve been banned from half the pet spas in Polk County.

  43. 43.

    JoyceH

    @germy: I see her at the water bowl at least several times a day. I think she’s getting enough water. What worries me is the thought of potential kidney issues. (My sister always said about cats ‘their kidneys will get them if something else doesn’t get them first.’)

  44. 44.

    Alison Rose ???

    @JoyceH: Since she seems drawn to peeing on fabric, it might be because the type of litter you’re using hurts or irritates her paws. Also, do the cats share a box? Some cats really don’t like that and want a separate box in a separate space.

  45. 45.

    VOR

    I watch a YouTube series called “The Girl With the Dogs” about a pet groomer. She mostly does dogs, but occasionally cats. She has evolved tools and techniques to handle annoyed felines.

    Agree, that’s a face contemplating betrayal, not yet anger.

  46. 46.

    JoyceH

    @zhena gogolia: Huh! If she starts up again, I think I’ll ask the vet about valium; the last time I was there, he did give me the antibiotics again, but said that to be honest he thought the issue was emotional/behavioral.

  47. 47.

    geg6

    @The Moar You Know: 
    My kitty is in no way interested in my shoes. However, she will pee on my closed laptop (I have taken to putting it inside a large recloseable plastic bag I got when I ordered something online) and barf under my desk. For some reason, she never poops outside her litter boxes.

  48. 48.

    JoyceH

    @Alison Rose ???: ​
     

    Right now the cats each have their own box, Liam’s in the bathroom and Abby’s in the guest room. Liam’s box has Feline Pine, which is little pellets of compressed sawdust, I think it’s fairly soft on the paws.

  50. 50.

    CaseyL

    @VOR: I love that channel!  Love the happy hoodies and astronaut helmets.  Surprisingly, she doesn’t use a sling for nail clips.

  52. 52.

    Ceci n est pas mon nym

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: I probably should have clarified that I’m talking about the dog, as this seems to be an exclusive cat thread.

    For the cat, just getting into the car is a betrayal.  In fact, putting her in the carrier is a betrayal, and something only my wife can accomplish.

  54. 54.

    germy

    Where is Wearbear, by the way?  One of my favorite commenters, but I don’t see her around here anymore.

  55. 55.

    Suzanne

    @The Moar You Know:

    You understand the way of feline vengeance. 

    Mr. Suzanne used to have a cat that would pee on the stove burners. Sometimes it would dry before someone in the family got home, and then they would realize it once they turned the burner on and filled the house with the stench of burning piss.

    Steve looks like he might be that pissed. Better hope he doesn’t figure out that little bit of skullduggery.

  57. 57.

    Gravenstone

    @JoyceH: Try adding a second box for the affected cat. Since I supply excess, mine have gotten into the habit of preferring one for urination and the other for stool.

  58. 58.

    Johannes

    Myes, be careful tonight, John!

    I have a Kitteh who has cancer, but is hanging on far better than predicted. She’s always been very vocal, and still complains when the food takes too long to be served up.

  60. 60.

    germy

    @zhena gogolia:

    That was my thought as well.  Cats who pee outside the box are often experiencing pain with urination, and they associate the box with that discomfort.

  61. 61.

    Percysowner

    @JoyceH: Seconding the valium. It helped my cat for a couple of years. Also, about the Feline Pine, my cat also uses pine for litter. Instead of Feline Pine I go to Tractor Supply (or any other store that sells supplies for horses) and get Equine Pineor any other pine pellet to be used in a horse stall. It’s the identical product and about 1/3 the price. You can get 40 lbs for $7.00 as opposed to $20 for 40 lbs for the Feline Pine.

  64. 64.

    Mai Naem mobile

    @Ken: that’s not a sling. That’s some kind of medieval device to make the cat admit to ripping your shower curtain or something.

  65. 65.

    germy

    @Jay:

    And if you hate your neighbors you can use the pellets in the stove after the cat is finished with them.

  66. 66.

    coin operated

    @germy:

    And if you hate your neighbors you can use the pellets in the stove after the cat is finished with them.

    ewww!!

  67. 67.

    Jay

    @germy:

    unfortunately, when you sift the box, all you get is poop and sawdust.

    if you have a woodlot, you can scatter it across the soil where the urine compensates for the nitrate absorption of the sawdust, and acts as a mild fertilizer and mulch.

    here, the City will take it in their composting programs.

  69. 69.

    Enhanced Voting Techniques

    Cat bondage pics. I knew it was only a matter time before people were posting that here.

  70. 70.

    gvg

    @PaulWartenberg: Use a cat bag for grooming or nail trimming. They have a hole for the neck with a velcro collor closure so you can adjust the neck tightly, and 4 zipper openings for each leg, so you can pull out 1 limb at a time for trimming. The bag is partially mesh and you can bath the cat through the bag so you don’t have to release them at all. It also has 2 handles on top, so you can hang the cat on a hook. Apparently really excitable cats go limp when hung up and become easy to trim.

    I have only used it for nail trims.  However years ago we had a cat that was sprayed with insecticide by some nasty people and we had to get it off before she licked herself sick. We had to wrap her in a shrimp net to give her a bath but it worked fine. This would have been better. I bought mine off Amazon but chewy’s has then too. search Cat bag for grooming or nail trimming will find some.

  71. 71.

    trollhattan

    @gvg: 
    Walked through the park the other day and encountered what first appeared to be a canine murder scene, only to realize somebody had brought their husky and a brush, and went to town. Spring shedding, you know.

    Looked like it could have been reassembled into at least two dogs.

  73. 73.

    sab

    Steve is not happy, but he obviously has been through this before and knows it will end Not panicked at all.

  75. 75.

    sab

    @trollhattan: Wrong time of year, but squirrels love that fur when building their winter nests. Our  GSD ( german shedder dog) used to fill up a big trash bag of fur every week for her whole life.

  76. 76.

    sab

    @Ceci n est pas mon nym: My youngest cat loves car rides, so I take him through the bank drive-through window before every vet trip. He arrives at the vet sound asleep. The other four cats hate car rides., and yowl the whole time.

  78. 78.

    CaseyL

    @gvg:  Those look really good! Thanks for the suggestion. I’d rather get a hanging harness, but as I have nowhere to hang one from, I’d probably be better off with the bag.

  81. 81.

    trollhattan

    Okay jackals, time for a Balloon Juice pool: who is NOT on this list?

    Russia blacklists 398 members of US House of Representatives — Foreign Ministry
    MOSCOW, April 13. /TASS/. Moscow has imposed tit-for-tat sanctions on 398 members of the House of Representatives of the US Congress, the Russian Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

    “Tit-for-tat restrictions have been introduced on 398 members of the House of Representatives of the US Congress in response to another wave of sanctions that the Joe Biden administration imposed on Russia on March 24, targeting 328 members of the State Duma, which, given that some Russian lawmakers had been sanctioned earlier, meant that nearly all of its members were blacklisted,” the statement reads.

    “The individuals in question, including top officials and committee chairpersons in the lower house of the US Congress, have been blacklisted by Russia permanently. Together with other incumbent lawmakers, who, like House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, were barred from entering Russia earlier, all members of the US Congress have been blacklisted on the basis of reciprocity,” the ministry added.

    https://tass.com/politics/1437385?utm

  82. 82.

    stinger

    @Jay: I have serious deer pressure. Now I’m thinking I could scatter the used sawdust around the edges of the garden to deter deer, who are supposedly put off by the scent of cat urine. I’ll have to look into that a little more.

  83. 83.

    Baud

    @trollhattan:

    all members of the US Congress have been blacklisted on the basis of reciprocity,

     
    The writing is unclear, but this suggests everyone is blacklisted.

  85. 85.

    catclub

    @sab: i think the key word is youngest.

     

    Associating car trips with something other than the vet would have worked, just need to start 15 years ago.

  86. 86.

    Gravenstone

    @Baud: It would be enlightening to see who was omitted from the blacklist. Sounds like they simply selected an equal number to the Duma members who have been sanctioned. Since that number is smaller than the total number of Congress critters, it still lets Russia avoid sanctioning their pet Republicans (at least, most of them).

  89. 89.

    Old School

    @trollhattan:

    Not included on the sanctions list were House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), or House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.).

    Also excluded were Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), House Intelligence Committee Chair Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), House Judiciary Chair Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), and Rep. Michael McCaul (R-Texas), the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee.

    That’s who isn’t on the new list, but only because they were all previously banned from going to Russia.

  90. 90.

    sab

    @catclub: Yes. He is five and new to us. The other four are twelve or older. Cars = vet to them. But they like our vet. He has cat charisma. Cats love him and he loves cats.

  91. 91.

    Baud

    @Gravenstone: Ok, I think I misread that sentence.  It doesn’t say all members have been barred.  It’s saying all the members barred are on the basis of reciprocity.

    Yes, I would like to see who has not been barred.

  92. 92.

    sab

    @trollhattan: That would be worth knowing.

    ETA I just can’t tell who they are blacklisting. I assume my Congressman but I don’t know. And anyway he is gone. Running for Senate so gone from House.

  96. 96.

    Raven

    JT Daniels to W VA

     

    “Daniels also enjoyed Morgantown and said he felt comfortable there. “I loved it,” he said. “It feels very Athens-ish, which is a quintessential college town which I have really, really enjoyed living in.””

  97. 97.

    Mel

    @JoyceH: Feliway pheromone diffusers, in conjunction with some of the other suggestions posted, helped with a rescue kitty that we fostered a decade or so ago. Two of our own cats were very responsive to the Feliway diffuser as well, and would get happy, mellow, and slightly loopy when we plugged it in, but our third kitty (big Maine Coon boy) didn’t seem to notice it or respond. Rescue kitty responded well to it, especially when we would be gone for a few hours.

    My brother used a Feliway pheromone collar for his “queen of the house kitty” when they adopted two kittens.  She was grouchy with the kittens, and started pee marking their bed comforter. The pheromone collar eased her grumpiness and she stopped pee marking after they put the collar on her. After about five months, they just stopped replacing the collar, and things seem to be fine now.

    It might be worth a try in conjunction with the other suggestions.

  98. 98.

    Miss Bianca

    @trollhattan: Pal D has been brushing out Roxy the Wolf Girl and getting Pomeranian-sized balls of soft grey fluff that we then attempt to get out the door and away before the hurricane-force winds that have been battering us lately can swooosh them back into the house!

  99. 99.

    gvg

    @CaseyL: Its the same thing. The bag can be hung up, or set on a surface. you have to find out what works for your cat.

    I bought it for a cat who became diabetic but after he died, used it for the timid kitty who didn’t like her nails clipped. I felt mean stuffing her into it, until I discovered one untrimmed claw had grown so long, it curled around and embedded in her foot.  I clipped her every few weeks after that.

  101. 101.

    karen marie

    @WhatsMyNym: My cat uses me to cross from one side of the sink to the other when I’m at the sink washing dishes.  She jumps onto one shoulder, crosses my neck to the other shoulder and jumps onto the counter on the other side.  It’s very cute except !!!!

    I’ve had cats my whole life but this is my first lunatic.  I don’t know whether it’s because she came to me at three weeks old or whether it’s just her.   (Second link is a short video of her being adorbs.)

  102. 102.

    Expletive Deleted

    @joyceh We recently moved the cats on a long distance drive, and in addition to Feliway, the vet recommended Zylkene which the literature says is a “milk origin peptide” which contains whatever it is breast milk has to calm kittens. Basically it reduces anxiety.

    We only used it for three days, but it was pretty amazing – their behaviour was otherwise normal, no lethargy or anything, but things that usually annoyed them just were not a problem. One of them will immediatelly leave the scene if you sneeze, no matter how happy she was before that, with the Zylkene she was totally unbothered. Likwise the other one does not like being petted when he is sleepy but was so unfazed that I actually shook him awake to make sure he was okay (he was fine, just sleepy bless him).

    Anyway, a web search suggests it can be used longer term as well so might be worth looking into.

  105. 105.

    Feathers

    @JoyceH: I would watch any YouTube videos Jackson Galaxy may have on the topic. Our cat used to pee, but on the outside walls. Galaxy suggested that this may be because outside cats are marking the house. We found that this was the case, cleaned it up, started deterring the neighborhood cats and the problem cleared up. He has lots of other situations and advice, so you may find something that fits your situation.

    Best of wishes, I would definitely check on the kidney issues, that is what eventually did in our dear Loopie.

  106. 106.

    karen marie

    @Eunicecycle: Maybe it’s the color gene because this one is very much a lap cat.  First I’ve ever had!  It amazes and delights me no end.

  107. 107.

    Nutmeg again

    @trollhattan: I describe my Pyrenees’ gifts in the hair dept as a “build it yourself dog kit”.  Many pictures floating around the intertubes of an actual Newf lying next to a body double sculpted out of a good brushing session. But, we love ’em!

  108. 108.

    Trine

    @JoyceH: tl/dr: Stress and pain are both not issues and it sounds like you already have 1 of those. If kitty is older, then think like an old person – what body parts may be giving out?  Pain issues below, now (generally) solved by monthly ketamine shots and has made a huge difference in her quality of life. (If only us humans could have our pain managed with Special K.)

    ——–

    My Mei Mei was a rescue who came with a history of “bathroom issues.” Turns out that one of the previous adopters declawed an outdoor cat. Mei prefers to do her business outdoors, barring blizzards & derrichios. After a decade, she’s finally decided the emergency box is preferred but the humans.

    However, we’ve found that pee incidents are usually 1 of 2 things: 1) the miniscule bladderstone is acting up and she’s in early stages of UTI/kidney dysfunction, or 2) the arthritis (which has advanced to all limbs) is acting up. In both cases, she can’t move fast enough to get to a box. Going on the “if it fits, I sits”  theory, we put rubbermaid storage lids around her favorite areas so she can avoid soiling the house. It’s not great for us, but it’s better than cat piss everywhere. It sounds like you’re doing great with finding customized solutions.

    Pain makes us super-grouchy and less able to handle regular stressors (like barely-tolerable housemates) that we can otherwise navigate – and kitties are very good at masking their pain. That would be my first look.

    Wishing you and your feline friends a speedy solution!

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