Sometimes I walk into the living room and am just grateful. Grateful I have the ability to have these beasts…and that everyone in my household gets along. The cats have given Jasper all the cat rules, and he respects them, so he is rewarded with the occasional cat snuggling down with him.
I can’t tell you how happy it makes me that Sully has claimed Jake’s rabbit. I was feeling a little silly keeping it on the bed, long after Jake left us.
Closeup of that totally snuggled down Zander.
I’m off to let the dogs out in the rain and then clean them all up before sending them to bed. Hopefully, the wet dog smell will dissipate before I join them.
This is an open thread…
Jerzy Russian
I saw a Great Dane at a craft fair yesterday. That was one large animal! He was just chillin’ with his human, waiting for his other human to return from the store.
I also saw an apparently fully-grown(?) dog that was roughly 1% the mass of the Great Dane. Talk about variations within a species.
frosty
Cheers to you and the dogs and cats… and ducks, right? I miss having a doggie but I don’t miss the three times I would have had to put the leash on and walk her in the rain today.
I believe I am obligated by Obsessive Commentor cain to say “Woo hoo Number 2!!” (In the non- scatalogical sense, to be sure!)
Leslie
Thanks for the furbaby pics. Very aww.
Yutsano
Sigh. I still want a Dane.
CaseyL
What a delight, to have a houseful of animals who (mostly) get along. Seeing them all snuggled down is so relaxing.
HumboldtBlue
Keep fucking with women.
Seriously, keep fucking with women.
mrmoshpotato
Hehehe! The magnificent beasts! Thanks for the post!
prostratedragon
Herbie Hancock with strings: “Lullaby,” George Gershwin
J R in WV
My two bigger dogs — 70 snf 85 pound black dogs — just came in from a pretty evening. They are lovable darlings who really want to sleep in bed with us, bu the bed isn’t big enough for that… Cuddles loving puppersss.
mrmoshpotato
@HumboldtBlue:
Out of fucks to give in Iran.
opiejeanne
Lovely beasties being sweet with each other.
Our favorite neighbor told us to come outside and look up at the sky to the northwest at precisely 7:14 pm to see the ISS fly over. It looked surprisingly large, considering how far away it is. The sun was below the horizon but the timing was right so that the ISS could reflect its light.
I remember being in the backyard in the summer, looking up at the night sky and watching Echo fly over. Or was it Echo II? It was amazing to me.
lgerard
Who knew this was a thing?
Rapture anxiety
HumboldtBlue
@prostratedragon:
Oooo, that’s nice, you’ve been on a run lately with the solid music links.
I, on the other hand, just watched School of Rock again, so I am, by default, rocking harder than you with your smart, jazzy music links.
Here’s Stevie’s Do I Do, Just makes one move.
@mrmoshpotato:
It feels like something has shifted, but human brutality and quest for raw power always seems to intervene.
Benno
Any jackals have ideas for reintroducing cats that just don’t get along? My wife brought her 9 yo cats back to the city of their birth after 4 years abroad and they cannot be in the same room as the 7 yo that’s been here the whole time and spent the first three years of his life with them without issue. They can’t even see him through the window now without going completely bananas. He got in the same room with them last week and I just took the dressing off the five deep gashes they made in me last night.
I know some cats will never get along, but this psychotic animosity is starting to affect the dog now. And I seem to be bleeding a lot more often. Any ideas?
SectionH
@opiejeanne: nice! I’ve seen the ISS, once.
I’m so old I remember being dragged out to watch for Sputnik. And to be fair to my relatives, mostly it was about just seeing orbital thing, because that was just cool… I think that was years before our entire grade school watched Glenn – in real time. OMG, that risk anyway but real time TV?
VeniceRiley
Thanks for reminding me to weigh Reggie. He’s 14 weeks old today and absolutely massive already. So gentle with little Kilo.
LiminalOwl
@HumboldtBlue: Thank you for the links. I had read a little in news, but those photos…. Wow. Amazing, brave young women.
SectionH
Fuck everything I said before: you need at least one more cat. Because the balance of power will shift. We only got balance with 4.
HumboldtBlue
@LiminalOwl:
Indeed, courage personified.
ColoradoGuy
Our little 15 lb pupper is sleeping by my side, after the thunderstorm that passed through earlier this evening. Listening to Tidal, xDuoo TA-10R & HifiMan Edition XS headphones as the dog snoozes, and all is quiet outside … no coyotes for now. Son is flying to Chile tomorrow.
Central Planning
One of my cats likes to meow loudly for 5 minutes or so during the middle of the night.
Tonight (this morning around 4am) I couldn’t fall back asleep after her ruckus, so I headed downstairs to make some coffee and watch tv. She runs in front of me and sits in front of her favorite toy, a thin plastic strap that went around a case of paper. She (and the other cat) both love to chase it when I drag it around them in circles.
Since I’m the alpha cat, I don’t do that when they want it because I really like to sleep through the night, and I can’t encourage that. Hopefully they will figure that out (Narrator: They will not)
ETA: she did curl up next to me on the couch and fall asleep.
Benw
Lovely creaturas!
satby
@Benno: maybe write to WereBear at her blog Way of Cats
pluky
@Jerzy Russian: IIRC, Canis lupus familiaris has the largest relative size variation of any species on the planet. Controlled breeding is a powerful thing!
Honus
@opiejeanne: you can subscribe to a NASA email that will tell you when and where to look to see the ISS when it passes over your location, usually four or five times a month. It’s called Spot the Station.
https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/
Geminid
@LiminalOwl: The Europe-based news site Iran News Wire is a good source for reporting and video from the protests in Iran. They’ve occurred in over 140 cities and towns all across the country.
Baud
@Geminid:
Today show covered iran protests this morning.
JPL
@Baud: Did they mention Walker? I didn’t put on the news until five minutes ago. The local paper was not kind.
Baud
@JPL:
Not that I saw.
JPL
@Baud: Local republicans are already blaming Herschel’s son if he loses.
Baud
@JPL:
Don’t really care who gets the blame if he loses.
Geminid
@Baud: That follows a statement President Biden issued yesterday through WhiteHouse.gov. Biden endorsed the protesters’ call for human rights, but did not speak of regime change, which the protesters advocate.
He was being careful; the Iranian regime says these protests are orchestrated by the US and Israel, and uses this as a pretext for their violent repression.
Baud
@Geminid:
Neither the US or Israel is perfect, but Iran blames them for every problem they have. Reminds me a little of how GOP voters blame Dems for everything, including Republican policies.
Spanky
@JPL:
The aborted one?
Geminid
@JPL: I think that speaks to the question of Walkers suitability for public office, and the case Republicans have made for it. That case is very shaky if one tweet from his son could topple it.
Geminid
@Baud: The Iranian regime has promoted it’s interventions in Syria and Lebanon as vital efforts in its confrontation of Israel. The public knows that these are a drain on the nation’s resources and a cause of conflict with other nations. Some of the protesters chants have reflected this belief.
Irans nuclear program is another questionable use of resources that has caused a great deal of conflict and led to severe sanctions. While the regime blames the people’s economic distress on these sanctions, people can see this is a choice the mullahs have made. Leadership maintains that he program is peaceful, citing a fatwah by Ayatollah Khomeini prohibiting development of nuclear weapons. Most people in and out of Iran don’t believe this and see the program as directed towards Israel.
Many of not all of the western apologists for the regime’s crackdown that I see on Twitter view these events through a pro-Palestinian, anti-Zionist lens. I have yet to see, though how this Iranian government has actually helped the Palestinians, or how Iran’s possession of nuclear weapons would bring justice for that suffering people.
Baud
@Geminid:
I knew that there were western apologists for Russia, but did not know about Iran.
Do people think that if the regime did fall, the next regime would not be hostile toward Israel?
Paul in KY
@Benno: Did they gash him? Cats can be very theatrical and loud, but rarely will actually put the smack down on another cat that they can smell has been living there.
I would get them in same room, but separated in such a way that they can’t physically get to each other. Then just have them try and hash it out and get more comfortable with each other.
They will probably never be friends…or it will take a couple of years. Good luck!
Paul in KY
@JPL: Kudos to his son if that’s what keeps him from winning.
Geminid
@Baud: I can see no essential conflicts between Iran and Israel as nations. I think that if a new government shut down the nuclear program the two nations could actually have warm and productive relations.
The recent acceptance of Israel by the UAE, Bahrain, and Morocco could be the pattern. Those nations had never recognized Israel since that nation’s founding, but now have diplomatic relations and developing commercial ties.
Saudi Arabia now has much warmer relations also. They have not established formal diplomatic relations but acknowledge cooperation, particularly in air defense, and a number of Israeli citizens have taken up invitations to visit in recent months.
There is now an informal security alliance between the Saudis, Bahrain, the UAE, and Israel. It is fostered by the US. Last year the Pentagon moved Israel from its European command to Central Command, where it now participates in exercises and planning.
These mutual efforts are obviously directed at Iran, but I’m not sure that conflict is essential either. No one wants Iranian territory, but with 80 million people and a good industrial base, Iran is and will be a major military power in the region.
The militant, powerful Iranian Revolutionary Corps in particular are a formidable threat not only to Iran’s neighbors but also to Iran’s people. Iran’s regime may not be able to suppress these protests without bringing in IRGC forces. The IRGC has already intervened in the case of a Kurdish city in NW Iran where protesters chased security forces away, and held the city for two days.
dww44
@Geminid: Georgia Republicans went looking for a suitable black man ( it would never have been a black woman) to run against a very likeable and capable Democratic one. So, since their pool of available candidates was non-existent, they opted for a long ago sports hero without even considering his suitability for high public office. This has redounded to no one’s benefit, least of all Walker’s. Of course, character has never been high on Trump’s list of reasons to endorse a candidate.
MazeDancer
So wonderful. You have done such a good thing for these pets.
Geminid
@dww44: I’m not sure Georgia’s Republican leaders were looking for a Black man to run against Warnock. They were intially cool to the idea when Trump put his weight behind Walker, as was Mitch McConnell. Once it was clear Trump was insisting, Georgia Republicans and Mitch McConnell came around and said, maybe its not such a bad idea after all.
I think they knew it was still a bad idea, but were unwilling to cross Trump because of the outcome of last year’s Senate runoffs. When Trump campaigned for Perdue and Loeffler, he complained mightily about Georgia’s “stolen” Presidential election. Then a lot more Republicans than Democrats stayed home for the runoffs, and many of these Republicans were taking their anger at the “RINO” establishment out on Loeffler and Perdue.
Republicans may have rationalized their support of Walker since the primary, but were it not for their fear of Trump I think leaders would have gotten behind state Agriculture Commission Gary Black and he would be the nominee.
StringOnAStick
@Central Planning: Each of our 2 sister cats have their own favourite toy, and they are both pretty quiet cats except in the middle of the night when “Mighty Hunter” instinct kicks in and the one who doesn’t sleep with us is carrying around her special toy and Singing the Song of Her People. I learned from werebear to not react and go check out what’s going on, because that teaches the cat that all you have to do to get the humans to come play at 3am is to do exactly that.
We always “reset” the two special toys back on the shelf each morning, and find them taken down and played with during the day, or right beside the napping Singer in the morning. The one who sleeps with us will often being it to us and drop It by a hand sometime overnight, but she doesn’t Sing then for some reason (thankfully).
When they Sing in the early morning hours it sounds like something scary is happening but it’s just a kitty fantasy being played out. Sometimes the Singing happens during the day and one will bring their special toy to you, making the Mighty Hunter noise the entire time with that wide eyed look as they enjoy their fantasy. It’s pretty entertaining and I’m honoured to be included in the game.
opiejeanne
@Honus: Thank you. I figured there was something like that but hadn’t bothered to look before now.
We live just outside Seattle so our skies are rarely clear enough to see much in the night sky. I did get to spot the comet Lovejoy when it appeared.
StringOnAStick
@Benno: I’ll repeat that you need to go check out werebear’s cat blog, truly the best source of cat behaviour information out there. We went through a bout on nonrecognition aggression after one cat had an extremely scary visit to the vet, so she released the “terror scent” and when we brought her home the other cat took a sniff and immediately freaked out and it was like she’d never seen the other before. There’s good information online about this and we separated them with a plastic lattice in the doorway so they could see each other but not touch, feeding them in each side of the lattice so they would start to associate good things with seeing each other. It took a month and had done ups and downs after we were able to no longer separate them, but it’s been fine ever since and they play together again just like before
You may have reintroduced them to each other too quickly, thinking they’d remember each other but that’s way too long a time for them to have done so. Separate them and keep the interactions low key and with no potential for physical contact and escalation. Take beds and towels that have one set of Cats scent on them and trade them into the other cat’s space so they can get used to their smells before they interact physically. This is just the surface of what you need to know to work this out; go to werebear’s site and you’ll get a ton more, or hire her for a video consultation (we’ve done that twice and it was worth every penny!).