Guess who had successful surgery, doesn’t need the surgery on his other leg, and has been adopted?
If you said Van Helsing, the first Athenspets to use our emergency fund, you would be wrong! His name is now Donnie Darko. Although after seeing this photo, I wonder if maybe that was a typo and his new name is Donnie Dorko? :-)
He has 7 cat friends in his new home – I think you can see two of them in the photo – and he certainly seems to have come into his own. I have it on good authority that the couple who brought him home are both completely devoted to their animals.
What a sweet boy. Our first $500 from Walter’s Fund went toward his surgery. I hear that Balloon Juice is seen as kind of a fairy godmother for some of these guys at Athenspets, and that we are helping with morale at the shelter.
“We all want to know who did this” https://t.co/MuzEHJnS3z
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) December 12, 2022
Tell me that this guy doesn’t have the same expression as Donnie Dorko’s Darko’s friend in the top photo.
Open thread.
lurker
Cole … the first picture, that’s Cole, right?
zhena gogolia
So cute.
lurker
so the friend also wants to know who did this?
WaterGirl
Nice of them to have windows so close to the ground, for easy kitty viewing of birds and wildlife.
suzanne
@WaterGirl: We call that “Cat TV”.
Sure Lurkalot
8 cats?!? That’s a lot of litter. But the heart is warmed by knowing Donnie Darko has been mended, has a boatload of companionship and loving adopters.
As for the tree cat, my caption would be, “I still get to sleep with you in the big bed, right?”
WaterGirl
@suzanne: Great name for that!
Barronius
Beautiful kitty I can see he’s already well into his assimilation process!
Speaking of which, I am wondering how Max’s ever worked out.
Roger Moore
@lurker:
Obviously, it’s the fault of the human for not fastening the tree adequately in the stand.
WaterGirl
@Sure Lurkalot: To which I would reply “You should have thought about that earlier, before you broke all my ornaments.”
I talk a good game, but of course she would still get to sleep in the big bed.
Alison Rose
@suzanne: My living room has windows filling one wall almost side to side, with a wide low sill. We’re on the third floor and there’s a big tree right outside the windows, which functions as a sort of playground for tons of birds and some rather adventurous squirrels. Plus everyone walks their dogs through the courtyard below. It’s like Cat IMAX. She spends tons of time keeping an eye on the neighbors, as it were :)
BRyan
Caption? “The star was crooked. I fixed it.”
WaterGirl
@Barronius: Is Max the name for the new black cat that Cole talked about getting? If so, I think that’s still the plan, but it hasn’t happened yet.
Steeplejack
Can’t remember if this was posted here. If it wasn’t it should be. Cat vs. Christmas tree.
WaterGirl
@Steeplejack: That was awesome. I have never seen that.
SuzieC
OMG so cute. My cuties:
https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=6126071824104897&set=a.113569628688510¬if_id=1670946413593984¬if_t=feedback_react
WaterGirl
@SuzieC:
Maybe you have to have a facebook account to see the picture.
CaseyL
Wonderful to see Walter’s Fund making a difference already!
@Steeplejack: WOW! I am impressed.
SuzieC
@WaterGirl: I emailed photo to you. Hope it works. Sorry I am so inept at posting on internet.
indycat32
More good news – I captured kitten number four today. Two weeks until spay/neuter day. In the meantime they’re in the large dog crate in the garage.
raven
Yay, thanks ya’ll!
TriassicSands
Okay, they’re different.
In the bottom photo we have a obvious “perp” in search of an alibi. S/he knows the circumstantial evidence is compelling, but s/he will never break even under enhanced interrogation techniques. S/he also knows that humans can be easily misled and her/his brain is working overtime to figure out how to get someone else to take the fall. There’s also a hint of worry, since every once in awhile humans get it right. Guilt with an accent of deviousness and concern (S/he knows s/he would fail a polygraph).
In the top photo, an innocent fellow/gal is trying to figure out why Donnie is dressed up in such an undignified outfit and why the photographer isn’t paying more attention to her or him, instead of Donnie. Jealousy. And possibly thoughts of future revenge against the photographer for his/her failure to recognize true greatness. Mild jealousy coupled with possible plans to become a perp.
Cats always follow the adage “Better to ask forgiveness than permission.”
Of course, I could be wrong and my six decades of studying cat behavior have all come to nothing. And I couldn’t pass a polygraph either.
raven
Intense film on HBO
The Banshees of Inisherin
WaterGirl
@indycat32: Congratulations!!!
You have worked so hard at this. I’m very excited for you!
WaterGirl
@TriassicSands: That comment made my day.
edit: I think you are spot on, by the way.
Omnes Omnibus
@BRyan: “What?! Oh, that? A mere trifle.”
TriassicSands
@indycat32:
Is it a carrier or a kennel? If it’s a carrier, see if you can borrow one or two large kennels (spacious cages with lots of exposure to light and the outside world) from a local shelter.
zhena gogolia
@TriassicSands: Great analysis. I agree that the two expressions are totally different.
piratedan
Caption This:
You said you couldn’t reach the top, consider that problem solved…….
geg6
@indycat32:
Been following this saga. Glad to hear this. You are a wonderful human.
Suzanne
@Alison Rose: My in-laws installed a greenhouse window so their cats get a similar panoramic view.
Spoiled little punks.
indycat32
@TriassicSands: It’s a large crate, approx. 48×36. Large enough for litter box, food, water,and a nice cushy bed big enough for 4. The fun part is when I have to transfer them back into the traps, which the clinic requires all feral cats be in.
TriassicSands
I’m glad.
I like dogs and they can be wonderful companions, but cats are so beautiful and simultaneously inscrutable.
f you want a friend, get a dog. If you want to be constantly amazed and surprised, get a cat. They won’t fetch your slippers (though, like dogs they might rip them to pieces), but they can also be wonderful companions. Even if they will eat you if you die at home. (Not really.)
Dogs want to please you. Cats want to give you the opportunity to please them. Both are rewarding for humans.
C Stars
We had to clip our rabbit’s nails a few hours ago and now he is lying under the couch with just his face showing so he can give us the stink eye whenever we walk by.
TriassicSands
That is one of the most questionable uses of the word fun I’ve ever encountered. Trying to handle truly feral kittens and cats is fun…to watch if you hate the person doing the handling.
Good luck to you. You’re doing a very, very good thing. I hope it all goes smoothly.
indycat32
@geg6: thanks. It does mean no new kittens, so one problem solved. Doesn’t solve the problem of 10 cats using my back yard as a litter box.
WaterGirl
@Suzanne: Are you Suzanne on one device, and suzanne on another?
LeftCoastYankee
Seems more like a “new cat initiation” ritual.
“Don’t worry new guy DD, it’s almost over, then we can wreck the tree when the two-legs go to sleep.”
raven
@WaterGirl: The former mayor of Urbana and his former wife had a “catquarium” made from an aquarium and attached to their living room window. She was allergic but she loved cats.
WaterGirl
@raven: Is this the former mayor who owned the bar and then was a total dick as mayor?
edited
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
Megyn Kelly is gonna lose her shit when she finds out about black cat Santa
WaterGirl
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch: These folks are so hard to keep track of. My thought process:
Is the the one that had blood running out of her whatever? Not sure, but that doesn’t have anything to do with Santa. Oh wait, something about Santa not being black? Where do they get these people?
David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch
@WaterGirl:
Jon Stewart did the appropriate mocking of her looney racism and claim of victimization (link)
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@WaterGirl: she’s all those things, trump turned on her when the Murdochs told her to turn on him
“For all you kids at home, Santa is white”
and the part that didn’t get enough attention, IMHO: “Jesus was a white man, too… that’s a verifiable fact”
columbusqueen
A good time for a clowder update. Quentin, Archie, & Smoky have all adjusted nicely, & are romping around happily. Kermit is still mostly hiding, but he’s coming out occasionally to look Mike over when the human is downstairs.
Teddy is struggling a bit with both being odd man out in the boys’ club & not being the baby anymore. And Athena? She loathes them all, since she just chased poor Archie into the kitchen snarling all the way. Such is life in the Queen’s cathouse.
Jackie
@Roger Moore: We always put our tree in a corner and screw a coffee cup hanger in the wall on both sides of the tree, and use fishing line from both hooks to the tree trunk. Never have had a toppled tree 🤞🏻
I also hang little bells through out aka kitty tattletellers. (Also good for grandkiddos)
schrodingers_cat
@indycat32: :Photos or it didn’t happen.
Congratulations on becoming a successful cat-herder. BTW, did you get that cat bite looked at?
Barronius
@WaterGirl: Yes, thank you! I was wondering since Cole posted about it before Halloween and I was worried it had fallen through, with all the horrible traumatic events he has had to suffer.
trollhattan
@C Stars: Rabbit checklist:
“Pellets for you, pellets for you, extra pellets for you, say, just look at all these lamp cords.”
WaterGirl
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch: @Jim, Foolish Literalist:
Oh my god. What the fuck is wrong with these people?
trollhattan
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch: I would make her watch “Bad Santa” incorporating the “A Clockwork Orange” method.
Alison Rose
@WaterGirl: There’s not enough space on this blog to list everything that’s wrong with them.
indycat32
@schrodingers_cat: yes I did. Doc put me on antibiotics for 10 days.
Quiltingfool
I was rudely awakened this morning by a chonky cat pouncing on me. I looked at the clock and it seems I slept a little later than usual and Miss Sassypants was having none of it.
Why, yes, I am retired.
Miss Sassy had no regrets.
Jackie
@indycat32: YIKES!!!
Get a preventative prescription of antibiotics – no way you’re going to avoid cat scratches and bites!
C Stars
@trollhattan: Yup. The last time he gave us the stink eye like this was a few days ago, when he managed to nab one of the Christmas tree light cords and bit one of the wires clean through. We were able to repair it, and then arranged things so he definitely can’t get to the tree/cords again, and he was quite insulted by that. “Why would you put cords out if I’m not able to eat them??”
Steve in the ATL
@raven:
Y’all. Gotdam yankee!
mrmoshpotato
“Would you believe that? The tree just fell over! Just fell! over! This is my surprised face.”
mrmoshpotato
@David ⛄ 🎅The Establishment🎄 🦌 🕎 Koch:
Black Canta?
sdhays
@WaterGirl: And then MSNBC stumbled over itself to give her millions of dollars to poach her from Fox, which was a predictable (although not to the wizard leadership of the snooze division at NBC) failure.
It’s interesting that no one was fired, as far as I’m aware, for that debacle.
mrmoshpotato
@sdhays:
Oh, NBC should’ve burnt itself to the ground in atonement for that stupid, Trump-trash decision to hire “Santa is white!” trash.
Amir Khalid
@mrmoshpotato:
My own experience contradicts the notion that Santa Claus is white: every shopping-mall Santa I ever came across was Asian.
Chetan Murthy
@Steeplejack: Caption should be “Now what, Einstein?”
Elizabelle
@mrmoshpotato:
“Don’t you think this downed tree brings out the green in my eyes? What??”
Dahlia
“Mistakes were made, but not by me.”
WereBear
@Sure Lurkalot: One of the reasons so many people have so many cats is because as their numbers increase, our tasks increase in much lower proportions.
I invested in a top-notch automatic litter box. Costs less than a deli sandwich a month and worth it.
Josie
@indycat32: That will be challenging. Maybe figure out some kind of funnel setup. Or, wear some really strong gloves. I don’t envy you. You are a true hero.