Happy birthday, Anita!!!!
So do you sleep on the right side of the bed? It looks like the kitties are saving you a spot, as if they are trying to coax you into taking a nap with them.
Yeah, the cats like most to sleep on my side of the bed. I think they’re keeping it warm. Or it smells like me and they like that. Or they’re leaving all their extra fur on my side of the bed, so if I lay down to read for a little while, I’ll get up coated with cat hair. Or maybe ALL of that.
do you think McLovin’ could take down a hawk? Finally, per Megan’s comment, you should TOTALLY do a podcast.
If he needed to, he could at least do some damage – he’s as big as a hawk, if not a little bigger – and scare the hawk off. I reserve the right to claim that I don’t know what the hell I’m talking about if I look out my window one day and see a hawk flying away with McLovin in its talons.
I’d do a podcast except that I don’t much care for the sound of my own voice, and I don’t think y’all need any more ammunition to prove that I’m a blithering idiot. 🙂
Have you ever noticed in your pictures of Miss Stank when she’s with another cat that she’s almost always sniffing their rear? So funny.
Miss Stank is a butt-sniffin’ motherfucker; most of the time the other cat will put up with it, but sometimes there’s a growl-hiss-swipe in response, followed by the sound of multiple cats racing through the house.
I’m not trying to start anything, I swear! But you seem to REALLY like Elle and Joe-Bob kind of seems like he’s a pain in the ass…any chance of her being permanent too? Maybe just to even things out?
I realllllllllly don’t want the permanent residents of the house to go into double-digit territory. I really like Elle, and I really REALLY like Punki, and if we hadn’t adopted Joe Bob I’d probably be pushing to keep Punki, but I’m not going to for the aforementioned reasoning. I do bitch about Joe Bob a lot, but it’s just a matter of him adjusting to his new home; he’s really a pretty good boy, and fairly unobtrusive unless, ahem, someone does something like sniffsniffSNIFFSNIFF his butt, which pisses him off, and sets him on the hiss-growl-scream-smack-run course of action.
(flickr)
Here’s a question for Robyn, what is the condition of Maxi and Newt’s teeth considering they have probably spent more time eating outdoors compared to your other cats who have been eating dried foods?
I believe Maxi and Newt’s teeth are just fine, as far as I know (note to myself: Maxi and Newt need their yearly checkup and shots). Though I should point out that the raw food they eat (squirrels and birds and mice) also contain bones, and they eat those as well as the softer meat.
pardon my ignorance. but what is trilling / keening??? as a cat owner, i should probably know this. heh.
I call it keening, but I don’t if anyone else calls it that, that’s just what it sounds like to me. It’s mostly Miz Poo who does it around here; she gets a toy in her mouth and walks around the house meowing an unending, high-pitched meow that gets incredibly annoying after a few minutes. I thought at first that it was a mother-cat kind of thing, that she was treating the toy as her “baby”, and the keening was to announce that. I’m starting to think – because Tommy does it from time to time (not that a male cat can’t be motherly OH MY GOD GET OFF MY CASE!) – that it might be a hunting call. Like, “I caught this awesome prey, now come praise me and tell me how smart I am!”
Here’s a movie I made of Miz Poo when we lived in the old house, showing her mad keening skillz.
(Or you can see the mpg here.)
When I read about Spot’s marker I couldn’t help but laugh: imagine the next owners of Crooked Acres, many years from now, tootling around the garden then finding “Spot” – they’re going to wonder exactly what spot you were marking *heh* Maybe they’ll start looking for a treasure map…
I wondered, when I ordered the stone, if the people at the place I ordered it from were thinking “She wants to mark a spot… with a stone that says “Spot” on it? Weird…” I imagine that by the time we’re ready to sell this house, though, there’ll be a few more graves out there, each marked with its own stone. Hopefully not anytime soon, though!
That Tommy is one shiny cat. Has he ever fallen off when straddling the back of the chair? He must have perfect cat balance.
Tommy’s got pretty good balance. He sometimes struggles when he first gets up there, but once he’s balanced, he can stay there for hours (or until his Dad moves and Tommy can move down to the seat of the chair!)
Are you in contact with Athena from Lexxicon? I followed her for years and then a year or so ago (maybe longer?) she took down her site. I guess I was just wondering if she was doing OK and was back on the internet. Thanks!
I think I last emailed with Athena about a year ago. At that time, she wasn’t back to blogging, and as far as I know, she still isn’t. Last I heard, she’s doing just fine, just keeping busy!
Does it irk you that clumping cat litter comes in those huge ass plastic tubs which are just so great for the environment when we toss them in the trash? Why can’t they put it in a bag or at least a cardboard box?
I do hate the fact that the litter comes in those big buckets – it’s such a waste. I saved some of them and we use them for everything from storing bird seed in, to putting the litter scoop in next to the litter boxes, and I think Fred uses some as buckets, too. But at a certain point, you kind of run out of things to use them for, and you have to cart them to the recycling center. It would be awesome if I could take the truck to the Fresh Step factory, fill up the bed with litter, and not have to worry about getting rid of the containers!
Since you two are like me and believe in an egg being too “eggy” and chicken tasting “too chickeny” do you also believe a pig can taste “too piggy”. I experience this at Cracker Barrel with their ham. It tastes like a pig pen smells to me. Do you (or anyone else out there) ever think like that or am I the weird one? My husband thinks it is funny that something can taste like something you have actually never tasted but in fact, what it smells like.
Yeah, I imagine most meat can be too whatever-it-is (though I can’t say I’ve ever heard Fred accuse beef of being “too beefy”), so why not pork?
I think that salt and vinegar chips smell and taste PRECISELY like sweaty gym socks. And cumin smells and tastes like horrific haven’t-showered-in-three-weeks body odor. Gag.
In the interest of science, I wouldn’t mind seeing a picture of chicken lovin’, if you can swing it.
I don’t know that I’ll ever be able to swing a picture of it, because it lasts about 10 seconds, and that’s with foreplay. By the time I figure out it’s happening and grab the camera, McLovin’s off after another hen and the besmirched hen is smoking a cigarette and bemoaning the lack of romance in her life.
You never mention seeing deer at all. Do they have deer in Alabama?
We definitely have deer in Alabama – in fact, last Monday when we were driving in the country, we saw three of them. We see plenty of them, though I’ve never seen one in the back forty (which is not to say they don’t wander through there – just that if they do, I don’t see them!). Most of the time when I see deer, they tend to be laying dead in the median on the highway.
First let me say that I’m nooooot giving unsolicited advice. Because I wouldn’t do that. Because I know you hate it. But, I want to offer a suggestion, haha. Have you tried putting pics of the kitties up for adoption on your local Craigslist page? I wonder if that would give them, and the shelter, more exposure. I don’t know anything about this shelter so I’m not sure if it’s a pretty popular place, but it couldn’t hurt to get more attention sent its way, right?
and
Do they have them listed on petfinder.com ? Maybe that would help.
The shelter has all the cats on their petfinder page, and they occasionally mention the shelter in the newspaper. The shelter I volunteer for is well-known in the area, and they hold adoptions at a local pet store several times a week, and have regular hours at the shelter itself. I don’t know if the shelter manager would go for my posting pictures of the cats on Craigslist, but I’ll mention it to her!
Do any of your cats do the “puke up whole food thing ” all the time? I have one that seems to do it the most. all 3 are healthy and have never been outside. I’m stumped…..and sick of stepping in cat puke.
We occasionally have incidences where someone barfs up whole piles of food for a few days; it’s usually when something they’ve eaten doesn’t agree with them (ie, when I switch up the kind of food I give them at snack time). It’s entirely possible that whatever you’re feeding them isn’t agreeing with them – or you have one of those cats that gorges and then gets overfull and barfs because s/he’s gotten too full.
Readers, I know someone out there has had to deal with this sort of thing – advice?
Robyn I am curious, have you had trouble with freezer burn when you make a large dish and freeze half for later use? I don’t have one of those vacuum seal things and I am trying to make double batches of meals to make busy days easier. Any advice on freezing would be appreciated.
When I make big batches of food and freeze them for later use, I almost never use the FoodSaver, actually. If it’s something like soup or chili, I’ll put it in one of those bags meant specifically for the freezer – OneZip makes freezer bags – then press as much air out of the bag before I zip it closed. If it’s something like lasagna or chicken and rice casserole, I put two layers of foil directly on top of the food to help prevent freezer burn, and wrap the foil around the edges tightly. Whatever you can do to prevent air from touching the food will help prevent freezer burn.
That’s my advice – if any readers have more advice to add, feel free to share!
Thanks so much for posting your recipes. Tonight I tried the chicken and rice casserole. I didn’t have breadcrumbs so I used Pepperidge Farm herb-seasoned stuffing instead. It was delicious — even my kids ate it, which is a huge compliment considering how picky they are. Thanks again!
Great minds must think alike, because I’ve recently started using the Pepperidge Farm stuffing instead of bread crumbs, too – it adds a little extra flavor to the dish, and when I think of it, I’ll add that note to the recipe so everyone can give it a try that way!
My favorite recipe this week is a stir-fry recipe I got from my mother years ago. I can’t swear to it, but I believe it was a Weight Watchers recipe. It can be used with chicken or steak (I prefer steak) and it makes two big servings. I had it for lunch several days this week (and for breakfast this morning), and the leftovers are even better than the fresh stir-fry. I imagine you could toss lots of different vegetables in there, but I love it just the way it is. Recipe is hither.
When you launched into the visit-to-Lowe’s story, I had to stop and ask myself if I accidentally opened up “Vituperation” Then I wondered if Fred was doing a guest entry. Finally, you mentioned rugs and vacuums and I was all, “Whew…she’s back.”
I am secure enough in my femininity to make visits to Lowe’s if I need to!
(Also, I like to look at the rugs and curtains and plants and bird feeders!)
About the kitty litter: Have you ever tried that kitty litter that’s made from pine sawdust? It is more expensive, BUT it doesn’t stink! Really! It comes in little tiny cylindrical thingies, and when the cat pees, what it pees on just turns into sawdust, and after the whole box is sawdusty you can take it out and compost it. As for the poo, you just scoop it out as usual, as often as usual. But the pine really, truly keeps down the smell of the pee. I buy it at PetSmart here, but almost every place carries it.
The cats pees on the pellets (for lack of a better word), and the pellets turn to sawdust – but is that dry sawdust or a wet? I’ve never tried that stuff before, but I might be willing to give it a try.
After I get through the 200 pounds of Fresh Step I bought at Sam’s today, that is. I was loading litter into the cart, and this frail-looking little old lady who was half a foot shorter than me and probably 50 pounds lighter came running over and said “Oh my! Let me help you with that, ma’am!” I held her off ’til I got the cart loaded myself, because I didn’t relish the idea of seeing her snap in half under the load of a 40-pound bucket of litter. Of course, she probably would have totally kicked my ass – maybe she’s one of those little-but-strong women.
So let me get this straight, soft cottony tampons irritate your, uh, um, lower area, but Scott tissue doesn’t? That stuff is like wiping with newspaper! (Is it odd that I know so much about your bathroom happenings?)
It is not odd that you know all the details that I share about my bathroom habits – but it is rather odd that I apparently feel the need to share them and then immediately forget that I’ve shared!
The Scott Tissue does not piss off my lady parts because the Scott Tissue does not include a long, thick cotton thread that dangles and annoys and irritates, no matter how much it’s tucked out of the way.
How often per day do you count noses? Boring Diatribe: I scooped up bath towels this morning from the floor, where my (rotten) kids had left them piled up. (GOD FORBID anyone else put the damn towels in the damn wash, about six steps from where they left the pile. Lazy shits.) Anywho, as I was cramming the towels into the washer it struck me that they (the towels) had sort of been half on/half off a throw rug which one of my cats like to sleep on (I have two cats. I often prefer them to the two kids referenced above.) and I had better determine Cat Locations before putting the washing machine on. Plus the towels are white and neither cat would particularly benefit from being bleached. The cats were safe and then I thought of you and how many times you must have to count noses to make sure everyone is ok.
Actually, I don’t really do all that much counting. My main concern are the cats who hang out in the back yard and have the tendency to hop the fence (Tommy, Mister Boogers, Joe Bob), and so every once in a while I go and check on them. I usually know the favorite spots of the other cats, so if I wander past, say, the guest bedroom doorway and don’t see Miss Stank sleeping on the guest bed, I’ll go looking for her. I’ve kind of developed a sense of when I haven’t seen a cat in a while, but I honestly don’t remember the last time I did a head count.
Robyn, what do you really think of your foodsaver? Is it really worth it or just slightly better than regular plastic bags?
And Kristin said:
Jai, I know you didn’t ask me, but my Foodsaver freaking rocks and I love love LOVE it. Things stay so much nicer and there is never ANY freezer burn. Also, the bags are much cheaper on eBay.
I agree with Kristin – I love my Foodsaver, and it does an awesome job of keeping stuff fresh. Also, she’s right about the bags being much cheaper on eBay – I buy my bags there, and saved a bundle!
Do your cats open up a can of whoopass on a tennis ball sometimes? Keeka does that, and I think it’s so funny.
What I think happens is that the tennis ball (which has been laying out in the back yard ever since we had that old dog here for a few days – I took it outside and threw it for him, and he looked at it and then at me like “Your point is?”) taunts the cats. Because the cats will be out in the back yard hanging out, and then they’ll start stomping back and forth, giving the ball dirty looks and whipping their tails back and forth, and then suddenly they go running at it and kick the holy hell out of it. It’s a mouthy little bastard, that ball.
What’s going to happen if Fred or you decides you lurve the pigs and can’t kill them?
First off, I really do believe that Fred will be able to kill the pigs – I like to make fun of him, but I don’t doubt that he’ll be able to do it. However, if he realizes that he can’t, then we’ll send them off to be processed by a professional. If we can’t bring ourselves to do THAT (which I highly doubt), then we’ll sell them to someone who can. There is no fucking way we’re going to have two huge pigs living in the back forty as pets.
Here’s a cat question – how often do you bathe your cats? We have 2 indoor-only shorthair Siamese kitties that do a good job of keeping themselves clean, but I was wondering how often they should get a good dunk in the tub. Any words of wisdom on this topic?
We never bathe our cats. The last time I remember bathing a cat is when we had Sugarbutt as a foster, and we had to bathe him every day to keep the poop off his back end (long story short: we thought he had a prolapsed rectum, and he would get feces all over his back end every time he used the litter box. Turned out, he had impacted anal glands, and once they were expressed, he never had another problem, thank god). Before that, we gave Miz Poo a bath once because she couldn’t groom herself. Other than that, we let the cats clean themselves and don’t bathe them. I feel like I read somewhere that bathing a cat isn’t good for their skin, but I might just be making that up.
Readers, do you bathe your cats? And how often?
My cats don’t like to share snack either, so we have to give all three of them separate plates. Our youngest cat will quickly eat all of hers, and then go bully the other cats away from their plates and eat all of their snack too. We have to stand guard like the snack police!
Miss Stank, Mister Boogers, and Joe Bob are the resident pigs. They’ll share a plate with another cat, but once the food is gone off that plate, they start wandering around to the other plates and will try to bully the other cats away from their snack. It mostly pisses me off when they do it to Spanky, because he will totally let himself be bullied, and run away. If I see them closing in on Spanky I’ll push them away, but most of the other cats will stand up against the bullies.
Is that a happy-looking Joe Bob, or what? (flickr)
Sugarbutt loves him some grass. (flickr)
Previously
2007: “She keeps abandoning us for that damn Smallville house and those damn Smallville cats. Let’s pee in her bed, Suggie!”
2006: Holy hot dog! That’s a good freakin’ show!
2005: Questions answered.
2004: No entry.
2003: “Why, god? Whyyyyy?”
2002: He was in the room with me for less than 90 seconds. Was I happy? Oh, yes. Thrilled.
2001: I don’t know about that man…
2000: New vehicle.
It makes me giddy with happiness when you post movies where I can hear the cats meowing…it’s almost like finally meeting someone in person after just writing letters for years.
Chicken lovin’, for whomever asked.
AW, you remembered! Thanks, Robyn! xoxo
PS, I love that Joe Bob.
The pine sawdust is a dry sawdust, and it doesn’t smell at all, and I would pay a thousand dollars if my cats would use it. I bought it on a trial and set up one litter box with the pine pellets in it, next to the regular boxes. I was delighted that even when I was cleaning it, you couldn’t smell anything. AND it’s cheaper than the crystals I currently use (which are IMO cheaper than the standard clumping litter), with which you can hardly small anything. So I rushed out and bought four or five bags of the stuff, filled all the litter boxes with it, did a little happy dance that my days of litter crystals on my feet and in my bedsheets were over, and came in an hour later to find a fresh steaming pile of catshit two inches from the litter box. At least one of the cats is okay with it, but at least one of them is *not*, and also the dogs think it’s designed for them to dig a hole in, so now I have several bags of it sitting in the corner that I’ll probably never use.
There is no fucking way we’re going to have two huge pigs living in the back forty as pets.
Of course not! What a ludicrous idea. They’ll have their own room upstairs, with fluffy blankies and squeaky pig toys and gourmet slop. LOL
I have bathed my cats when they needed it (i.e. when I think they smell too “catty” for cuddling), but I have noticed that with more than one, I’ve never needed to bathe. The mutual grooming* is even better than self-grooming.
*Mutual grooming in my house goes like this:
Cat 1-zzzzzz
Cat 2–Hmmmm.
Cat 1-zzzzzz
Cat 2–*pin Cat 1’s head with foreleg* lick lick lick
Cat 1-Huh? Whazza… oh mmmmm… purr…
Cat 2–lick lick lick lick lick lick lick lick
Cat 1-purrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Cat 2– lick lick lick CHOMP
Cat 1-AARRROWR! HISS! SPIT! SNARL!
brief cat fight ensues
Cat 1-*pin Cat 2’s head with foreleg* lick lick lick
Cat 2–purrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Cat 1-lick lick lick CHOMP
Lather, rinse, repeat
“Since you two are like me and believe in an egg being too “eggy” and chicken tasting “too chickeny” do you also believe a pig can taste “too piggy”.”
From your questions…
When we bought a side of beef from a local farmer last year my husband claimed he did not favor it, too ‘gamey’. I think that we are so used to eating meats that are from animals that lived at factory farms and ingested tons of drugs and chemicals. Be interesting how you enjoy your free range pork! (I thought the beef was great.. and I love free range eggs.)
For the cat barfing problem, ours used to do it all the time until we cut back on the food we gave him at any one time. If we give him more than 1/3 of a can of food, he wolfs it down and then pukes. Occasionally, he still throws up, but there’s always a discernible hairball in the pile. In fact, I check to see if there’s a hairball, just so I won’t worry that he has some other illness. Ugh, I just confessed to examining my cat’s vomit. Sorry, you weren’t eating, were you?
My current cats, who will be 12 in May, are shorthaired house cats and I have never bathed them. My previous cats were bathed regularly when it was hot to keep the fleas down. This was before we had Advantage and Frontline, though, and they went outside during the day.
I had to bathe my two kitties when I first got them from the shelter. They had ringworm, so we bathed them twice a week with anti fungal shampoo. We still had the claw marks on our arms long after the ringworm went away.
Regarding the cat puking thing:
1. Do you always buy the same food? If not, it could be a sensitivity to certain types.
2. My dog pukes up food every now and then, but it usually only lasts a day. Last week, she was sick for two or three days so I took her to the vet and she had an upper respiratory infection. The vet told me that the same reflex they use to cough is the same one that makes them throw up. I wonder if it is the same for cats? If it lasts more than a day I’d take kitty to the vet.
Feline Pine is DA BOMB! They even have a Feline Pine Scoop now. AND, to encourage new eco-minded buyers, they’ll give you a 100% rebate on your first bag! Now you MUST try it (as soon as you finish the 200lbs you just bought at Sam’s, I mean.)
Here’s the link, in case anyone else is interested: http://www.naturesearth.com/specialoffers/
Here is a video from youtube of chickens mating. Robyn, it looks like it could have been made in your back yard! There’s a kittty in it and a rooster like McLovin. Warning: turn down your volume, it’s loud!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYPMOFgKI5M
haha. I told Chris about you guys getting pigs to raise for meat, and he said “Whatchu wanna bet they just got themselves some permanent pigs?” We’re ALL thinking it.
Just don’t eat the stomachs. That stuff looks so gross. Or the feet/tails/snouts. Eww.
My dogs said they would like to have the ears, though. =)
We bought Science Diet for Sensitive Stomachs for our puking problem. It worked. Life is good.
A Florida farmer went out one day and bought a brand new stud rooster from up in Canada for his chicken coop. The new rooster struts over to the old rooster and says,
“OK old fart, time for you to retire.”
The old rooster replies, “Come on, surely you cannot handle ALL of these chickens. Look what it has done to me. Can’t you just let me have the two old hens over in the corner?” The young rooster says, “Beat it: You are washed up and I am taking over.” The old rooster says, “I tell you what, young stud. I will race you around the farmhouse. Whoever wins gets the exclusive domain over the entire chicken coop.” The young rooster laughs. “You know you don’t stand a chance, old man. So, just to be fair, I will give you a head start.”
The old rooster takes off running. About 15 seconds later the young rooster takes off running after him. They round the front porch of the farmhouse and the young rooster has closed the gap.
He is only about 5 feet behind the old rooster and gaining fast. The farmer, meanwhile, is sitting in his usual spot on the front porch when he sees the roosters running by.
The Old Rooster is squalking and running as hard as he can.
The Farmer grabs his shotgun and – BOOM – he blows the young rooster to bits.
The farmer sadly shakes his head and says,
“Darn…..third gay rooster I bought this month.”
I actually bathe cats pretty often as I’m a pet groomer. I never, ever bathe my own cats, because cats are pretty good at taking care of that themselves. The only time I’ve bathed cats that actually needed it is when an animal is covered in fleas and/or flea dirt or (and this is a big one) the cat is so obese that it cannot physically reach the important bits.
The rest of the time, clients may have me bathe their cat to help cut down on their (the owner’s) allergies or because they’re just sure, despite what I tell them, that cats need bathing.
There really is no reason to bathe a healthy, parasite free cat. Even outdoor cats.
All that having been said, I am awesomely good at bathing cats without getting hurt. Ever since that one time about 10 years ago that that one cat left 46 (yes, we counted) pinprick holes in me, ending up perched on my head with all ten claws extended and entrenched, I have put a lot of thought into being able to safely control cats while bathing them.
I LOVE the pine stuff and FYI, I buy it at Target, where it is cheaper than the regular stuff. BIG improvement in smell and better for the environment. My kitty HATED the pellet kind, refused to use it, but she likes the clumping kind just fine. It doesn’t track nearly as bad as the clay stuff, it’s easier on the vaccuum and my feet when I step on the bits that she tracks into the hallway. The only thing that isn’t as good, I don’t think it clumps as well, but living in a one bedroom apartment, anything that helps with litterbox smell is awesome in my book.
Bri, there’s clumping in the pine stuff? Can you tell me more? I was in heaven with the pellets until I discovered that at least one of the cats objected.
LeighC that was too funny.
I don’t know why cats barf, but we have a cat that would rather starve to death than eat dry food, so she just gets wet food, and then if she’s really, REALLY hungry and we give her more than a teaspoon full, she’ll hork it up back. She requires that we spoon-feed her all day. She’s such a damn princess.
Also – the pine litter is called FelinePine.
I never bathe my cats either. The only times I have done so is when a cat was infested with fleas. Or when I had gotten a new kitten and it smelled like a barn.
If you must do it ,the key is pinning their front paws between your fingers on one hand and bathe them with your other hand.
Years ago my husband wanted to get a pig . I KNEW there was no way I could eat a pig I had known.I said “go ahead and get one ,we’ll be stuck with a 500 pound pet pig.”
Have you guys ever eaten one of your “own” chickens yet?
Just sayin’ lol
I couldn’t do that either. 🙂
My sister’s male cat Forrest does the “keening and carrying” with socks. It doesn’t matter if the socks are clean or dirty. Every night while they are in bed, he will search for any sock he can find, and carry them around in his mouth while keening and deposit them all over the house.
In December I spent a week kid, dog and cat-sitting for them. I folded a big load of socks and gym wear late at night (both of her kids are in gymnastics) and left the clean laundry in baskets outside the kids bedrooms. The next morning EVERY pair of socks was missing. We were finding socks for days. The funniest part to me was the kids acted as though it was perfectly normal to have to search for their socks! Hee!
Is Joe-Bob loving on some daffodils?? Lucky you that spring has come- still under feets of snow here in the Northeast.
I never bathe my cats, but I have a friend who bathes hers about once a month because she claims it reduces their shedding and dander, making them easier on her allergic husband.
I have a question for you, Robyn. Do your cats eat flowers? I find that whenever I have flowers in the house, the cats will practically kill themselves to eat them. One of my cats will munch on the flowers, turn his head to barf up poorly chewed leaves, then immediately resume consuming my bouquet. I have to lock the flowers in a spare bathroom when I leave the house to protect them, and I also sit with a squirt bottle because those effers think they can chew on my flowers right in front of my face. Is this normal? Do I really have to choose between my kitties and fresh flowers?
I never bathe my cats, it’s not necessary. Unless they’re having some severe problem like a flea infestation or something, which even then can be taken care of with Advantage or something else in pill form. Cats don’t NEED to be bathed, plus they hate it. Your cat-spit-covered cats are just fine without it.
RE: Cat Puke – I have two cats and for whatever reason, if the food dish is empty the dominant cat feels he needs to assert his role as alpha cat when we refill the food. So he parks himself over the food and eats and eats and eats until he is full. Then the kibble in his stomach gets wet and expands and WHORK! Back up it all comes. We’ve taken to making sure there is always some food in the dish and that seems to keep the “Who’s top kitty now? Uuuuurrgh-BARF!” incidents at bay.
I also wash my cats about once every two years (on average), but I’m slightly asthmatic and no matter how clean the kitties keep themselves, “cat stuff” builds up. Over time it can aggravate my breathing so when it does, in the tub they go. Luckily, they seem to be able to keep relatively clean for about a year before I notice that they have built up “cat stuff”. Then it takes me another year to weigh my very minor asthmatic reaction to the hassle of dunking them. The Siamese is a fighter.
Hi,
I have a cat I call Mr. Belmenic. If I make him wait too long to feed him or I feed him something he loves, he eats way too fast and too much and it ends up back on the carpet. This doesn’t happen too often because I try to avoid the to conditions that cause it. I have been known to tell him that he needs to take a break from eating and he usually stops and comes to see why I keep calling his name.
My aunt did have a problem with a dog barfing almost everytime she ate. She took her to the vet and he could find nothing wrong. One day she was at the vet yet again because of this and one of the other patients told her that it’s probably the dog food. She never thought of the food because she was buying some premium food, but she switched brands and no more problems.
Never bathed any of my cats. The one time it was necessary (bad flea year) I took her to a groomer.
I want to add that you didn’t give enough praise for the Foodsaver. I found 2-year old wild salmon in my freezer last year and it still tasted like we’d just caught it. Husband & kids? or Foodsaver?–impossible choice.
I have one cat who’s a barfer, because he’s a gobbler. Other than controlling the amount he gets at one time (which I have to do anyway because he’s on a special diet), my vet recommended I help slow him down. He gave me 2 suggestions: (1) use a large pan and spread out the amount of food (didn’t work quite as intended, but there was a little bit of a slowdown), and (2) use a smallish bowl and fill with golf balls. This latter, with the occasional foot stuck between the cat’s mouth and the bowl, works quite well. The trick is to ensure there is enough room for the nose and mouth to get to the thin layer of food underneath, but not enough room that he can get to it quickly.
Both my cats are keeners, one more than the other, and usually once I’ve gone to bed. I’m always telling them to “bring momma the mouse” to make them feel like they’ve done their hunting-for-toy-mice duties well, and they usually do bring me their presents – I’m always waking up with mice and balls in my bed.
To amb who asked about flowers, the cat I have who’s not the barfer but the dominant keener, also loves plants and flowers of any kind. If I can’t hang a plant, I don’t have it – yes, I have made that choice between flowers and my cats. 🙂
I’ve only bathed the cats a couple times – usually when I first got them and they were grungy. Or when Salem used to get poo on himself when he was little. (poor little booger) Bathing a cat is not fun. It’s worse than bathing a rabbit – which, also, NOT FUN.
For the recycling problem with the litter – Petco or Petsmart has the refillable containers. They do it like they have the dog cookie/treat bar. You pay by the pound after buying a container. Not that Robyn is in desperate need of litter at this point. hehe.
aww why don’t you get the tiny pigs? I’ve heard they don’t grow bigger than a cat and are as smart as doggies
WE have only ever bathed a cat once and that was after he jumped into the roller pan when we were painting. I don’t see the need – a healthy cat will always keep himself clean/
I knew exactly what you meant by keening, because my cat (Molly) has been doing this for years. Usually right after I turn out the lights to go to sleep, she brings her favorite toy around. She’s not as dainty and soft-voiced as Miz Poo, though.
I love Feline Pine. Not only is there no smell, there is no dust and no tracking. It’s awesome stuff, even though it costs a little more. I will never use regular litter again.
I am missing my early afternoon bitchypoo break.
I tried not opening the notify until the next day but I have NO PATIENCE. (I always want the presents put under the tree after I’m still asleep, too.)
it’s too bad there isn’t a timed release for notifies.
(but then, of course, I would know that the entry was already posted, and would go looking for it the night before.)
I guess I’ll just have to start going to bed earlier.
also, I miss the Fridayness of the Q & A.
“The Scott Tissue does not piss off my lady parts because the Scott Tissue does not include a long, thick cotton thread that dangles and annoys and irritates, no matter how much it’s tucked out of the way”.
That was too funny. Thanks for making me laugh…
For the most part, I do not bathe my cats. I do have one handicapped kitty who has trouble keeping his back end clean. When he makes a mess, I go ahead and clean the area with a wash cloth and some soap. He doesn’t actually go full into the tub, though.
Yeah, I don’t give my cat (siamese short hair) a bath either. He has his own shampoo though! But I don’t know why…
I too have tasted a too-piggy tasting piece’o pork. I wondered if it was from a garbage fed pig rather than grainfed pig. Or from an ungelded boy pig.
I lost a kitty to a dryer. It’s always good to double-check their where-abouts.It happened 35 yrs ago and it still haunts me.
I have three kitties, the oldest 12 and the youngest 5. I’ve never bathed the youger two and the oldest one has been bathed exactly once in the 11 or so years we’ve had her. Cat spit does just fine.
We have one cat that had bouts of throwing up whole pieces of food. She’d eat like she normally does, but 2 minutes later there’d be a pile of cat barf next to the bowl and it would look like she’d swallowed all the pieces whole. After a trip to the vet, we discovered that she’s prone to hairballs, but has a hard time throwing them up. Since she can’t get them up very well, after a while they start to block food going down. Now we give her that hairball remedy stuff about once a month. Unfortunately, we can’t give it to her in an easy way, like smearing it on her nose or on a paw. She’ll leave it there, untouched, until I see it a day or so later – covered with hair, dirt, cat litter and other unidentifiable detritus. We have to hold her down and forcibly smoosh it into her mouth. But it works and she no longer barfs up whole meals that look nearly undigested.
We have to bath one of our cats occasionally. She is very long haired and it is too much for her to handle on her own. She has to be “raked” often and enough hair comes off her each time that you could knit two cats out of it. The vet gave us some shampoo/ conditioner with oatmeal and aloe in it. We have to do it about twice a year otherwise her coat gets very dry a dull looking. Her shorthaired sister never has to be bathed.
Strangly the one that has to be bathed loves it. I think her skin gets very dry under all that hair too and the stuff the vet gave us makes her skin feel better.
Thank you Robyn and Bitchypoo readers! I think you all just spared me armfuls of cat scratches I would have gotten trying to bathe Zelda and Ruby. Since they’re both healthy happy and can clean themselves, we’ll just let them keep on keeping on for now. I knew this was the right place to ask! Thanks so much!