Maxie asked yesterday whether those of you not in Alabama can sign the petitions I linked to, since they’re an Alabama thing. The answer is that I don’t know if your signatures will count, but they certainly won’t hurt! You can sign the petitions to stop the Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from … Continue reading “8/18/11 – Crooked Acres Thursday”
Maxie asked yesterday whether those of you not in Alabama can sign the petitions I linked to, since they’re an Alabama thing. The answer is that I don’t know if your signatures will count, but they certainly won’t hurt!
You can sign the petitions to stop the Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from shutting down spay/neuter clinics here and here.
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Sights from around Crooked Acres.
I finally got around to putting feed bags (empty feed bags that once held chicken and pig feed) around the butternut and acorn squash, and putting dried grass clippings around each plant (to block weeds). I only got a little more than half the row done before I ran out of grass, though. When Fred got home yesterday, he went around the lawn with the sweeper and got me another big pile of grass clippings, so I should be able to finish up the row.
Wee Acorn or Butternut squash-to-be.
Look at all the blossoms getting ready to burst forth!
This volunteer tomato plant grew on the fenceline to the back forty. It keeps trying to die, but then it rains, and the plant comes back to life. Note that there are no tomatoes at all on the side of the fence the chickens can get to!
The Autumn Clematis are super happy.
We’re really getting a lot of blooms on the Rose of Sharon bush in the back yard. In past years, we’ve gotten maybe one or two.
Four years ago, all this foliage (except for the tree branches hanging down) was completely gone. Every summer I cut less and less of it back, and this summer I haven’t cut any of it back. The cats really like hanging out in there – though I guess it would behoove me to cut it back a bit so that when Tommy’s being difficult and doesn’t want to come in at night, we can reach him. You’ll note that the purple blooms in the middle of the picture are the Rose of Sharon flowers. That thing’s over six feet tall now.
I finally got enough tomatoes (thank you, Katherine!) to peel and (mostly) deseed, chop, and slow-roast them with onion and garlic for three hours. I used the pastry cutter to chop the whole mess up, and then used it as a base for spaghetti sauce. It was DIVINE.
Left to right, cayenne powder made from our own peppers, tomato powder made from our own tomatoes, and dehydrated bell peppers. (I use the tomato powder to make tomato paste – basically, add water to tomato powder until you have as much paste as you need.)
That green tomato, with just a blush of red on it, is how I harvest my tomatoes. Then I leave them on the counter and let them ripen (if I have a lot of tomatoes that need to ripen, I put them all in a box. They ripen faster that way, and don’t clutter up my counter). If I try to let them ripen on the vine, the STUPID birds and squirrels take a single bite and leave the tomato there for me to find and gnash my teeth over.
New growth on the grapevine.
Bhut Jolokia (Ghost) Peppers, starting to ripen. “What are you going to do with the Ghost peppers?” I said to Fred. Apparently what Fred was planning to do with them was expect me to make jams with them. Who on earth is going to buy Ghost Pepper jam? Only a sucker for punishment, I think. (He’s also planning to make a hot sauce. I’m letting him handle that one all on his own.)
After the heavy rain we had the week before last, we had about a million cracked cherry tomatoes. Grrr. (The chickens got them, and were very happy about it!)
I continue to think that okra flowers are the prettiest flowers on earth.
Ready to be picked so it can ripen on my counter!
Teeny watermelon-to-be.
Watermelon flowers.
Not a great picture, but I’ve been making a lot of blueberry cake lately (I’ll post the recipe if I remember). The recipe comes from a Marjorie Standish cook book my mother gave me 20+ years ago. If I could only pick one cook book to carry out of a burning building, that would be the one. (Oh wait, this is the recipe right here. DO NOT cook it for 50 – 60 minutes, or you’ll end up with an overcooked cake. Start checking it with a toothpick at 40 minutes, but 45 minutes is what works for me.)
I love this spoon rest; I used a plate hanger to hang it between the windows over the sink. I keep hoping to find something else to hang there with it, but haven’t found anything that’s the right size yet.
Sweet pickled jalapenos.
These okra pods were too long to use (if they get too long, they get tough and woody), so I dehydrated them for the cats. Cats think okra pods are THE BOMB, and once they’re dry enough, the seeds rattle around in the pod. I think I still have pods floating around the house from two summers ago.
I think this hen is particularly pretty.
Gracie’s keeping an eye on things from under the coop, where it’s cool.
All our chickens except for two or three who were behind me.
Little rooster.
“You haz a snack for me?”
“GIMME MAH SNACK!”
“….please?”
“Dat was a good snack.”
Happy George.
The chickens sure do love their tomatoes.
Smilin’ girlie pig.
Napping in the waller.
Pig #2 comes over to see if a snack was given, and if so WHERE IS HERS.
“No cookies here.”
“You’re lying, I smell chocolate on your snout.”
Across the way, there’s a perfectly good waller located in the shade. The last two sets of pigs have refused to set hoof in that one, and I have no idea why. Maybe the Loch Ness monster has relocated to the Crooked Acres Waller.
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After I wrote about Sally Peppers being such a scaredy cat, yesterday I went into the guest bedroom to hang out with the kittens, who were all snoozing on the cat tree. Sally Peppers immediately jumped from the cat tree to the bed where I was laying, and snuggled with me with not the slightest hint of cringing or cowering. Harlan’s still a bit cringe-y, and none of them like it if you’re standing up and reach down to pick them up, but they’re a million times less scared than they were two weeks ago, for sure.
Lucy Peppers, hanging out.
Snoozin’ Molly.
Harlan, Molly, and Everett like to squeeze onto the same platform.
Sally and Everett apparently see a crazed serial killer over my shoulder. Or nothing. They’re not sure what the difference is.
You can’t see them all, but Molly Peppers actually has hold of three toys. She wants ALL the toys.
Harlan and Lucy came to investigate, and Molly let out a fearsome growl. She’s a growler when she thinks anyone’s trying to take anything away from her.
Smilin’ Molly.
Serious Molly.
Lucy (left) and Sally, annoyed at having their conversation interrupted.
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“Who, ME?”
I love it when they lay froggy-style.
“Who loves me enough to come scrape this eye booger out of my eye?”
I kiss Ciara 10,000 times a day, especially when she gives me this look.
Last night, after we’d put Ciara, Clove, Cori and Cilantro in the foster room, one of them (I suspect Cilantro) began meowing sadly at the door. Instead of ignoring it as we usually do, we decided to let them back out and see how it went.
I did not sleep well, is how it went. If I wasn’t woken up by Cilantro vigorously licking my feet, I was awakened by Clove chasing her tail or Cori attacking my feet. I haven’t decided if we’ll give it a try again tonight, or just ignore the sad meowing. Mama needs her sleep, you know.
Edited to add: I just got the word – there’s room at Petsmart for Ciara and the Spice Girls. They’ll be going Friday morning!
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“Hey! You’re not allowed outside the back yard! Get back in here where Sheriff Mama can adequately protect you!”
::giving me the I’m-not-kidding look::
“I SAID, get back in here!”
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Previously 2010: When I see this picture, I can absolutely understand why Fred initially thought that Martin was a baby possum when he saw him sitting under the bush at the side of the house. 2009: They’re blue. They’re brothers. They’re Jake and Elwood. 2008: YES THAT’S RIGHT I SAID SIX-THIRTY DON’T JUDGE ME.
2007: No entry. 2006: He truly amazes me. 2005: If I insert a brillo pad into my ear, will it eventually get to my brain and scrub that song out, or is that an urban myth? 2004: You know, I’m getting PRETTY FRICKIN’ TIRED of finding cricket legs all over the damn place. 2003: “Mother,” said the spud, “That is an excellent idea, for I am going to melt into a motherfucking puddle of goo in about 10 seconds.”
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry. 2000: In the future, the spud will be cleaning her own bedroom, since I took one look at her room and said “Fuck THIS.”
Back in June, a woman and her two young sons were brutalizing two small kittens at a park. One of the kittens was killed, but another – Dexter – was rescued by some kids. You can read more about little Dexter here. He was eventually adopted by someone who worked at the clinic that saved … Continue reading “8/17/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”
Back in June, a woman and her two young sons were brutalizing two small kittens at a park. One of the kittens was killed, but another – Dexter – was rescued by some kids. You can read more about little Dexter here. He was eventually adopted by someone who worked at the clinic that saved him, but yesterday, due to uncontrollable seizures, he was euthanized.
A petition has been drafted by People Against Cruelty asking the Hernando County State Attorney to ”take maximum prosecution under the Florida Statute Code in the Case involving felony animal abuse charges of the accused, Wilana Joenel Frazier, and her two children.”
Here in Alabama, the State Veterinary Medical Examiners are doing their best to shut down the Spay and Neuter clinic in Birmingham, and to keep the one here in Huntsville closed. Dr. Robert Pitman from Athens is heading that attempt. In what looks VERY MUCH like a conflict of interest, Dr. Robert Pitman is under contract from the City of Athens and Limestone County to house and euthanize animals picked up or taken in when their time is up.
Imagine that a mama cat and six kittens show up on your steps. Imagine that the local area shelters are absolutely swamped and don’t have room to take them, have them spayed and neutered and treated for the parasites they inevitably have in their systems, and find homes for them. Imagine that you’re doing all you can to care for these cats, but when you call to see about having them examined and spayed and neutered, the cost you’re quoted is so far beyond what you have that it might as well be a million dollars. So you do what you can to keep these cats fed and safe, but imagine how many cats you end up with after a year.
I do not understand the mindset behind trying to close these clinics. It’s absolutely insane – between August and March, the local spay and neuter clinic fixed 2,000 cats and dogs. TWO THOUSAND. Two thousand cats and dogs who are no longer contributing to the pet overpopulation problem. It’s infuriating and it makes this state look ignorant. The North Shore Animal League has taken dozens of animals from Huntsville Animal Services to the Northeast. They have a shortage of animals up there. A SHORTAGE.
I dearly hope that one day I’m able to say to you guys “Unfortunately, I don’t have any wee kitten fosters because there just aren’t any kittens right now.” When someone with questionable motives is doing his best to keep a clinic closed, a clinic that spayed and neutered two thousand animals in this area, in the space of nine months, I just don’t see that happening in my lifetime.
You can sign the petition to stop the Alabama State Board of Veterinary Medical Examiners from shutting down spay/neuter clinics here and here.
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The thing about Molly Peppers is that sometimes her mouth writes checks her Paw o’ Doom can’t cover.
“And your mama dresses you funny!”
::swat::
::slow-motion slap::
This is about the point where Molly Peppers realizes that perhaps she’s overstepped a little.
Lucy’s all “You wanna piece of me?”
“I say, you WANT a piece of ME?”
A demonstration of the phrase “high-tailing it out of there.”
::flip::
“Hi-YAH!”
Hopefully Molly has learned her lesson (doubt it!)
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Clove goes exploring.
“The big hand is on the… oh! I’m late!”
“How do I get down from here, again?”
But then she realized that in that direction was an irritated Stinkerbelle, and thought better of going that way.
(She did eventually make the jump.)
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Smug Miss Alice enjoys her bed.
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Previously 2010: That, my friends, was not a chunk of dirt. It was a mouse head.
2009: The fact that several weeks after our favorite little gray cat died, two little gray kittens have shown up on our side stoop, well, kinda seems like a sign, doesn’t it?
2008: No entry. 2007: “Muff the magic pussy, lived by the cheeeeeeks!” 2006: I also thought my brother made up the word “fart” when I was a kid, so apparently I think he’s a real trend-setter. 2005: You know who really just completely repulses me? 2004: The only way it’d be better is if we could call and vote on who’s the most annoying.
2003: No entry.
2002: No entry. 2001: Wouldn’t it have been ironic if I’d made assurances to the spud that we would probably all live for a long, long time, then promptly tripped over the cat, fallen down the stairs, broken my neck, and died? 2000: Man, I’m so unmotivated today (nothing new there).
This is Tippy. Tippy has eyelid entropion and needs surgery. (You can read the details and a better explanation at his Chip-In page.) Please remember that every dollar counts, and help if you can! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ … Continue reading “8/15/11 – Tuesday”
This is Tippy. Tippy has eyelid entropion and needs surgery. (You can read the details and a better explanation at his Chip-In page.)
Please remember that every dollar counts, and help if you can!
Yesterday was my goofing-off, social day. I left the house around 8:30 and drove to Madison to visit with Katherine. Y’all know Katherine, she adopted two of Kara’s babies and now they are just spoiled rotten. Their names were Inara (now Dora) and River (now Nate), and they looked something like this, three years ago:
(That’s Nate)
(That’s Dora)
And also like this:
(Nate)
(Dora)
And then like this:
(Dora)
(Nate)
So then they went off to Madison to be loved and spoiled rotten, and I’ve seen them from time to time over the past three years. I haven’t always had my camera with me, but yesterday it just so happened that I did.
Both cats are beautiful, of course, but Nate is just strikingly gorgeous. Pictures absolutely do not do him justice.
(Yeah, yeah. They’re all basically the same picture. I couldn’t help it. I HAD TO SHARE THEM ALL.)
I had a hard time getting a good picture of Dora because she was untrusting of my intentions, but you can see what a pretty girl she is, too. (Kara made some awfully pretty babies!)
Nate actually did come over and sniff my hand, but then he was so startled by his own bravado that he ran off and hid.
I visited with Katherine for about an hour, then I had to skedaddle because I had a 10:15 eye appointment in Huntsville. I don’t remember how long it’s been since I last had my eyes checked, but I’m sure it’s been well over a year. Possibly two years, even. The only reason I made an appointment for a checkup at this point is because I’m down to two pairs of contacts, and that makes me nervous. Also, the inexpensive glasses I bought online at… wherever the hell I bought them. Zenni Optical, I think? Anyway, the frame snapped underneath both lenses, so I figured it was time to get new glasses, too.
The appointment went just fine, and I ordered some extra contacts, and then picked out a couple of pairs of glasses, and headed to Suzanne’s house. Suzanne has always come out here in the past to visit and snuggle baby kittens and get eggs – I think I even dragged her out to meet George and Gracie and the pigs at one point. I haven’t been to her house because most of the time when I’m in her vicinity, it’s just to run a few errands at the crack of dawn and then get home to make sure the house hasn’t blown away or spontaneously combusted or something equally horrifying.
I got to meet her cats, after hearing so much about them, and oh my. She has not been kidding all this time about what gorgeous cats she has – Theo looks like Sugarbutt, only (I’m sorry, Sugarbutt. You know I love you.) prettier. Okay, and bigger. He’s a big hunk of a cat, that Theo. I got to meet the beautiful Gracie (I am telling you, so very very gorgeous), and got to pet her and Theo both. I got to see Moxie, mostly from a distance, and the kittens, Regan and Riley, also from a distance.
After some pettin’ and talking about the cats, we headed out to have lunch. We decided to have lunch at PF Chang’s, which I’d never been to, and it was really good. The only problem was that I was planning to bring the rest of my lunch home with me, but I was so into talking to Suzanne that the waitress came along and asked if we were done, and I wasn’t really paying attention and told her I was. So she took it off, and about five minutes later I realized that I hadn’t actually, y’know, ASKED for a box for my food, I think I thought she was taking it off to box it up, but not so much. Too bad, ’cause it was good!
(It was honey-something shrimp. Crispy honey shrimp? Oh, and we had lettuce wraps, too, and they were soooo good. Thanks again, Suzanne!!!)
Then we walked around and looked in a few shops. Suzanne learned my embarrassing secret, which is that I use Victoria’s Secret So Sexy shampoo on my hair.
(I imagine some guy with one of those cheesy 70s mustaches crooning “My ladyyyyy is soooooo sexyyyyyy” whenever I have to think of the horrible name of that shampoo. But I love the smell of it beyond all reason and have it for years now. I’m sure I walk around smelling like a sweet combination of Sooooo Sexyyyyy shampoo and (clean) litter dust.)
We went back to Suzanne’s for a little while, then I left and headed to pick up my glasses (remember back in The Day when your glasses would be ready in an hour? Mine weren’t quite ready yet when I got there, and it was like three hours later!), had to wait a few minutes there, then got my glasses, picked up some cat food (not at the glasses store, across the street at Petsmart, but it certainly would have been convenient to be able to get my glasses and cat food at the same establishment, no?), then headed home. I made a quick stop at Publix to pick up a few things, then got home.
Fred had forgotten that I was going to be out for the day, and he almost never comes home to find me NOT there, so I got a call from him while I was in Publix.
“Are you dead in a ditch?” he asked.
So, that was pretty much my day. It was really nice to have a day out where I got to talk to, you know, people who talk back (not that the cats don’t talk back, but sometimes I need to hear the voices of humans!) The house was still standing, thankfully (not that I was really worried, but you never know, do you? I totally need to set up a webcam for while I’m gone, so that I can check and make sure the house is still standing!), and I spent the evening catching up on email and snuggling with the babies.
Today, I garden. Also, clean the house! Yay?
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Harlan gets his butt kicked while the Kong bird looks on, unconcerned.
::thlurrrp::
Harlan contemplates his next move.
Harlan and Everett tussle, while Sally looks away.
I sense that Everett’s going to win this one.
“You say it began itching and then your eyes suddenly crossed and you can’t uncross them? How bizarre.” Dr. Harlan Peppers is on the case. (I’m sorry, this picture just makes me absolutely guffaw. I think it’s the look of concentration on his face, combined with the look of long-suffering patience on hers.)
Everett goes for a climb.
The kittens sure do love that scratching post. That’s Lucy up top, Sally hanging off toward the bottom, and Molly and Everett on the floor.
Lucy Peppers, if you aren’t adopted in ten seconds flat, I’ll eat my hat.
When I see her little face, I have to kiss her one million times. She’s not terribly crazy about that, but she puts up with me.
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Why so stressed, Clove?
Take a shot of catnip, Clove. Jeez. All your stress is stressing ME out.
Ciara’s all “Her stress is stressing ME out, too. Let’s sneak some catnip into her food.”
Coriander: “Your idea has merit.”
“Sign me up for a snort of the ‘nip.”
“Y’all are hilarious. Now shaddup and let me sleep.”
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“Did someone say “catnip”?” (Spanky is a catnip fiend.)
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Previously 2010: when you’ve got this goddamn many cats running around, requiring a spotless house is a first-class seat on the train to Crazytown
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: And just like Alice, I get MY beefsteak wholesale, too. 2006: Questions answered.
2005: No entry. 2004: Oh, by the way? When you tell someone “Don’t worry, I won’t be back to read your journal”? Please. EVERYONE knows that means “I’m going to come back every six seconds to see the reactions to my asshole comment”.
2003: No entry. 2002: CHECK THOSE FEEDBACKS, people! 2001: 16 miles. Yeah, baby! 2000: I swear to god, that cat is half monkey.
In case you missed it, I posted an entry late yesterday with an update from Jennifer, who adopted Starsky and Hutch last Fall! ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ Saturday marked fifteen years that I’ve lived in Alabama. … Continue reading “8/15/11 – Monday”
In case you missed it, I posted an entry late yesterday with an update from Jennifer, who adopted Starsky and Hutch last Fall!
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Saturday marked fifteen years that I’ve lived in Alabama. I can’t believe I’ve lived here that long – it certainly doesn’t feel like it!
I celebrated by working in the garden for a couple of hours first thing in the morning, going to the flea market for a little while in late morning, and then Saturday afternoon I roasted a bunch of cherry tomatoes, then put them in freezer bags and saved them to use at a later date. Saturday evening, we watched several episodes of Entourage, and that was about it for the day.
I know how to celebrate in style, no?
Now I’m off in a little while to run errands and see friends, so I’m going to post a bunch of pictures and call it an entry!
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The many faces of Sally Peppers.
That’s Sally on the right in the purple collar, Lucy in the left in the pink, and Everett on the floor keeping a safe distance.
Little nuts.
Just in case you were under the impression that they all just lay around and look cute all the time.
::glare::
That Kong bird is about her favorite toy.
Big enough that she can really get into kicking its butt.
Not so big that it can effectively fight back.
Crazy face.
Light enough that she can drag it all over the room.
“YOU GO AWAY THIS ARE MY KILL.”
Sally is the scarediest of the Peppers Gang (well, maybe tied with Harlan). She’s the hardest to get hold of when you need to squirt medicine in her mouth, and the best hider. More than once, I’ve thought “Did she get OUT of the room? She must have squeezed past when I opened the door and I just didn’t realize it!”, only to eventually find her hiding in a spot I didn’t expect. She just isn’t sure that she trusts us, and when we reach for her, if she can’t turn and run away, she cringes away from us.
On the other hand, when I lay down on the bed and let the kittens come to me, Sally’s one of the first (if not THE first) to come over and stand in front of me and meow sadly until I pet her. Then she purrs and purrs. I know it’ll take time before she stops the cringing (and she’s a million times improved over how she was when they first got here two weeks ago), but I sure do hate seeing her scared.
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Did I mention that Cilantro cannot hold her licker?
“What happen’?”
As long as you’re comfy, Clove. It’s not like I was using that keyboard or anything.
“Moooom! Clove melted out of the cat bed again!”
Ciara realizes that this means she gets the bed to herself.
Such a couple of brats.
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Jake (left) and Elwood, watching birds.
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2010: No entry.
2009: No entry. 2008: This is how I feel right now. 2007: “Mister Seller tells me y’all are good Christian people,” she said. 2006: It’s been a year since we found Crooked Acres. Hard to believe. 2005: They are NAS-TAY, and trust me when I say that you’d be better off never bothering to try the nasty things.
2004: No entry.
2003: No entry. 2002: Looking at this hormone-laden piece of meat makes me… well, it makes me kinda drool, actually. 2001: I just smiled and nodded and kept walkin’. 2000: Mustard algae. Why must he doubt me?
Do you remember Starsky and Hutch? Of course you do! Well, last November Starsky and Hutch were adopted by Jennifer and her son Kiefer, in Indianapolis. They renamed them Percy and Jack, and those kittens (well, I guess they’re practically grown cats now, aren’t they?) have been doing really well. I got an update from … Continue reading “8/14/11 – Jack and Percy!”
Do you remember Starsky and Hutch? Of course you do!
Well, last November Starsky and Hutch were adopted by Jennifer and her son Kiefer, in Indianapolis. They renamed them Percy and Jack, and those kittens (well, I guess they’re practically grown cats now, aren’t they?) have been doing really well.
I got an update from Jennifer, and I knew y’all would want to see and hear about them too!
Long overdue but writing to say hi and let you know that Jack and Percy are doing great!!! And frankly, they couldn’t compete with the McMaos cuteness so sending an update wasn’t at the top of the list. Not that they can compete with the Spice Girls – they are super cute.
They are getting super big. So when they are galloping through the house, the earth shakes. They are constantly on the move (like wild buffalo with ADD and pictures never seem to turn out). I’ve included a few pictures of their yard browsing. They love being outside. They start pawing at the door to go outside as soon as I am home. So as soon as supper/dishes are done – I am herding cats in the yard. They are trained to the fencing system so I totally understand the collars that are less than glamourous looking. Top the good looking collar with bells and you have yourself a fancy collar. Yeah – no birds were safe so they are both hauling 3 bells on their collars to give birds a chance. Any bird that doesn’t hear or see them coming has to be a pretty idiotic bird. Not that we have fatalities – but there have been some close calls. And as Elaine mentioned to you the other day – when nature calls – they run to the back door and once they are inside – SPRINT to the litter box. They are in nature’s largest litter box and yet they wanna go inside to potty. Crackheads!! I think they were crack kitties and you didn’t tell me… 🙂
Jack was climbing on the trellis that support the clematis the other day and got stuck (yes, stuck) when trying to fit through one of the slots. I had to help him down. Should have called the fire department but then I wouldn’t have has to fix my make up and look decent!!! Yes, someday, one of these crack kitties is gonna get stuck somewhere I can’t get and then I will have to call the fire department..
They are still tormenting the 2 older cats routinely. But Big Bird, who loves sitting on the deck – I think he likes the company outside on his swing. He would never admit it!
And I know you are jealous of my lush grass – Jack has decided it is a great back scratcher. Enuff said… Jack is rolling around in the background of the 2 pictures and Willie dog is thinking “dumb cats making fools of themselves”!! Even Percy ventured into the picture wondering what Jack was up to…
Enough of the Jack show – he is definitely not camera shy (but again he is always on the moving and doesn’t pose for me), onto Percy. Percy loves the bugs in the yard and probably is always the most in tune with bird watching/hunting. Hence, he sits quietly more often and his pictures are a little better (far from your quality). He actually posed a bit for me last night by the Butterfly Bush and in the yard. He is handsome.
And rarely – do they both sit still long enough to get a picture of them together. The stars aligned briefly last night and behold the monkeys together!! If they look like they are staring above me – they are. It took shaking a branch above my head to get them to look the right direction at the same time. Yes, they neighbors think I am certifiably whacky!!
We are having a great time with them and they are truly hysterical. Not sure they will ever slow down but I am sure the dog and older cats are praying for it every night! A few last pictures of them gardening. They are quite the helpers in the garden. I think??? Maybe some leaf scoops on them would help!!?? Yes!
This weekend, Percy was stealthy enough (even with bells on) to catch a Cicada. Yes, I was a proud mom with the video camera while the poor bug buzzed/twitched/scrambled. To make it better, Jack stole the poor creature and was running from everyone while growling. Priceless! He would drop it briefly when it buzzed in his mouth. The fun ended when the bug quit moving. My pampered cats were not about to eat anything crunchy. It made for fun entertainment on a Saturday night.
Thanks again, Jennifer (and Kiefer!) – I think I can speak for a lot of other people, too, when I say that we love to watch those boys grow!
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Previously
2010: No entry. 2009: Podcast suggestions. 2008: (Upon looking at Alan Cumming’s Internet Movie Database profile, I read this interesting fact: Has his own cologne called “Cumming.” and snickered like a 12 year-old boy.) 2007: I said “I’d find their plight more interesting if they weren’t quite so ugly.” 2006: DON’T YOU HATE IT WHEN A JOURNALER SAYS THAT?
2005: No entry.
2004: No entry. 2003: “Motherfucker!” was Fred’s response. 2002: Why yes, it IS a rough life, thanks for asking.
2001: No entry. 2000: Because I was so overworked over the summer, you know.
Attention, those of you who know stuff about dogs! Becca needs help. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments, or you can email me and I’ll pass your email along to Becca. Thanks! I love dogs, but never really had one as a pet, so their behavior totally eludes me. Here’s why … Continue reading “8/12/11 – Friday”
Attention, those of you who know stuff about dogs! Becca needs help. If you have suggestions, please leave them in the comments, or you can email me and I’ll pass your email along to Becca. Thanks!
I love dogs, but never really had one as a pet, so their behavior totally eludes me. Here’s why I ask:
On July 31st, my grandma passed away. She had a Chihuahua, Butchy, for between 6 and 9 years – none of us can remember when she got him, thus we don’t know how old he is. For Butchy’s entire life, it was him and my Maw, and the occasional cat – at any given time, Maw had at least one cat living with her, inside or outside. Butchy was very attached to Maw, he knew us, and would play with us, ask for belly rubs, etc., except for my dad, he must have scared Butchy early on – we think it was because Dad would rev up his motorcycle right outside the window and Butchy would go berserk over the noise. Butchy would freeze up and give Dad the evil eye when he was around.
My grandma passed away in her home, in her sleep (a shock to us all, but that’s a great way to go). Dad found her that morning (visited everyday, they were neighbors), called an ambulance, etc. I don’t know if the ambulace had it’s sirens on, but if so, that would scare Butch. So that day there were many unfamiliar people in and out of the house – Butchy stayed in his crate all day. He wouldn’t come out at all – he stayed curled up in the back and would shake, lay his ears back, and slightly growl if anyone tried to pet him. We didn’t want to traumatize him, so we let him stay in the house, one of us went over each day to fill up his food and water and slightly try to coax him out to go potty. He never came out. He’d hide.
On Aug 4th I managed to get him to come out of his hiding place and go into his crate, shut the door and loaded him into my car. He did wonderful on the 45 min drive to the town I live in, didn’t make a peep. My best friend decided to take him, give him a home. This was really wonderful of him – none of the family members could take him due to other pets, allergies, or, in my case, work required travel. The first day Butch came out of his crate on his own, checked the place out, drank some water, and went back to his crate. Again he would growl and snap at us if we tried to touch him.
So, we didn’t try to do much with him for a few days so he could get used to his new surroundings. He barely ate, only his treats (roast beef, and cheese- this is what my grandma fed him), and drank very little water. On Saturday, we were able to get him out and take him outside, where he seemed quite happy, even lying on his back in the grass for a belly rub. Sunday, people came over, a usual thing, which really, I wish they hadn’t cause everybody wanted to talk and pet him. He of course was not having it.
Monday I went over to let him out in the afternoon, and he was happy as a pig in mud to see me. He ran some little circles, even played a little bit, and covered me in puppy kisses (which i really don’t like, but he was so happy I let him). I snuggled him and loved on him for a few hours. My friend, Josh, was at work by the way – we’re wondering if Butch just doesn’t like men. Tuesday, I went over around 3 to let him out and Butch did not approve. He growled at me, and was shaking. Later last night I went back to try again – and he was all happy again! He even took a nap in my lap! After a couple hours of lovin on him, I left.
Josh says he’s still hiding under the kitchen table or in his crate when he’s there. This morning he growled at Josh and his dad. It occurs to me, the times I went over and he was happy I was wearing my favorite pajama pants (which I wear for 3 or 4 days between washes). I don’t know what to do. I thought he would be a little bit better by now, warming up to Josh more… I don’t want to keep going over there (Josh and I just broke up a couple weeks ago, still friends tho) and I don’t want Butch to expect me to be there, I don’t want him to be attached to me- for above reasons. But it breaks my heart that he’s so scared.
He’s a really great dog – cute, smart (when told to “go get ducky” he will retrieve his duck toy, etc) and a total lap dog. But it’s like he’s forgotten everything – he seems so lost without my grandma, which makes her passing even harder. Rehoming her dog was maybe the saddest thing I’ve ever done, made her death real, I guess. Butchy is a little piece of her, and I want him to be happy and know that he’s safe.
I’ve done some research, and from what I can tell, he wasn’t socialized well…I guess, but everything talks of how to help puppies, and young dogs. Butch is gray of the muzzle, can he be resocialized? I just have no idea. Anything, ANYTHING, will be of help. I feel like, just leaving him alone should work. Time to get used to Josh- but it’s been a week… And he’s still barely eating- evident of him barely pooping. Help us if you can- or do you know of a helpful resource?
Again, if anyone can help please leave a comment or email me. Thank you!
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I learned last week that your second odor solution (Hydrogen Peroxide, Baking Soda and Dishsoap) works terrifically on a dog that’s been sprayed by a skunk. Also gives him some stylish highlights. Just wanted to pass that little tip on.
I did not know that – thanks for the tip!
(Did anyone out there who grew up in the 80s try to give themselves highlights using Hydrogen Peroxide? I didn’t try it myself (that I remember), but a friend’s brother did, and his hair turned a very unnatural shade of red. I’m sure he’s not the only one who tried that particular trick!)
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My Hoover commerical vacuum has both a rug and bare floor switch. I’ve only got bare floors to can’t testify to how well it does rugs but I have used the smaller brush head to vacuum the furniture and I’ve been quite pleased. For $100, what do you have to lose?
P.S. Even though I KNEW what was going to happen in the spider video, I screamed anyway.
I am 99% sure that I did buy that very vacuum at some point in the past, and for some reason or another it just didn’t work out for me. It wasn’t in this house, though, and now I’m thinking that the issue was that we had carpet throughout most of the house in Madison, so maybe here where there’s more hardwood than rugs, it might work out better for me. I’m taking it under consideration!
And I jumped, gasped, and put my hand over my mouth even though I knew what was going to happen in that video!
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Previously, 2007. Bahahahahahah!
and
I’m glad I’m not the only one that was cracking up over the ’07 entry. Especially the part about the chances of keeping MaryAnn/Stinky being “nil”. 😉
and
The 2007 entry is funny. Did you ever try the kool-aid pickles?
and
I had to laugh when I read on you “Previously” for 2007—six cats (permanently living in the house) are our limit (famous last words). Who would have thought?
That’s regarding this entry, wherein someone asked Regarding Maryanne . . . I was wondering, what are the chances since Fred is her favorite, that he relents and wants to keep her??? and I responded with, I’d say the chances are nil that Maryanne will be staying. She’s cute and playful (though still skittish) and we like having her around, but six cats (permanently living in the house) are our limit.
Yeah. Four years later, we’ve doubled the cat population. You may have noticed that these days when someone asks if we’re going to keep one cat or another, I don’t say a definitive no because I have LEARNED never to say never.
(And no, I never did try those Kool-aid pickles!)
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I’m just catching up here so forgive me if I am repetitious with comment content, but I HAVE to tell you 2 things: First, that little Molly Peppers is GORGEOUS. Would you call her a gray tabby? A silver tabby? Whatever you call her, she’s a looker.
The other thing is, when I saw that you had named them “the Peppers” and that there were 5 of them, I was sure you had named them after that old-timey book series “5 Little Peppers and How They Grew” or some shit like that. I looked it up on Wikipedia and found this awesome description of one of the plots: “Things change for the Peppers after Phronsie is kidnapped by an organ grinder.”
Molly Peppers is considered a silver tabby – though if you referred to her as gray, I wouldn’t disagree with you.
And several people mentioned that book, and I have to admit that if I’d read a description like that, I’d probably have gone along with the naming theme. Well, except that the kids in the book were comprised of three boys and two girls, and I’ve got three girls and two boys. I’m going to have to keep those names in mind for a future litter, though, because “Phronsie” would be an excellent kitten name.
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Also, Robyn, you won’t regret the Miele vacuum. We bought ours almost 20 years ago and it’s still going strong. It loves cat litter, too. Last week, when I was trying to open one of those huge square bags of litter, I spilled about 5 pounds of it and that Miele was so happy, it almost turned itself on to get to it.
That certainly does sound like my kind of vacuum!!!
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LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL
If I might add on fountains:
stay far away from the cheaper/regular Drinkmate. I’ll also recommend the Petmate fresh and flow. Perhaps most important: the quality of your water will drastically effect how well the fountain works. Another thing to keep in mind with fountains for anyone considering buying one… does the water fall actually splash into water? That’s noisier/etc…one of our cats doesn’t like that style (the drinkmate) but is fine with the other style (the Petmate)
One thing (well, two things) I forgot to mention about the Cat Mate fountain in yesterday’s entry is that it’s by far the easiest fountain I’ve cleaned. It comes apart simply, and there aren’t a lot of nooks and crannies that you have to scrub with cotton swabs because they’re too small for your fingers. The thing I don’t like about it is that the cord is really, really long, and since my fountains are fairly near to the outlet, I end up with a pile of fountain cord sitting next to the fountain and it’s annoying (but since the cords are covered, I don’t have to worry about the cats chewing on them).
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You’re like Oprah! I kept on imagining you would tell me to look under my chair and I would find a Ham-Mick and some Nose Offense! I can’t think of any suggestions, cat-related or otherwise, but I will cheerfully take yours. Thanks!
I thought about having a thing where people could enter to win one of each item that I mentioned, but there were a lot of items in that list. Also, it was kind of a spur of the moment topic, so I didn’t think of that until about halfway through the post. 🙂
(I should have called it “Robyn’s Favorite Things”, though. Can’t believe I didn’t think of that at all!)
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You must check out this site…I’m laughing. And figuring out how to convince my cats to stay on the scanner long enough to be scanned…
I don’t currently have a flatbed scanner, but I had one in the past, but I’ve never successfully scanned a cat. Usually when the scanner started up, whichever cat that was hanging out on it would skedaddle.
I did scan the spud’s face once, though, back in 2001.
Hee.
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Once again great pictures…but an important question emerges: Did you paint your kitchen to go with Jake’s beautiful green eyes?
The way you’re asking the question makes me think that there might be people out there who don’t decorate the house to flatter their cats, is that what you’re telling me?
Actually, that wall doesn’t have that tinge of green to it, in real life. It’s a cream color. And when we painted the walls, Jake and Elwood weren’t even a twinkle in their mama’s eye.
I’ve been thinking, now that we’re coming up five years since we initially painted the walls of this house, that it might be time for a repaint, if not an update (I still love the colors of our walls). When we painted, though, the house was empty and I didn’t have to worry about a zillion cats wandering through and brushing up against wet paint.
All of which is a long way to say that no, we didn’t match the walls to Jake’s eyes. But we should have!
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Harlan looks like Clove to me – could we have a side-by-side comparison? Photos are enough, since I know the Peppers still can’t enter Gen Pop.
People said that he looks like Corbie, too, so here’s a picture of Clove, one of Harlan, and one of Corbie, and y’all can draw your own conclusions. (That’s an awful lot of spotted stripey gorgeousness, isn’t it?)
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Oh my goodness Harlan is a fluffsome little cutie. Something about his head shape and expressions reminds me of this sand cat kitten.
If anyone knows of a way I can get me one of those Sand Cats, please let me know ASAP, thanks.
(I’m kidding, of course. But my god is that a cute kitten.)
I definitely see Harlan’s resemblance to the Sand Cat kitten, though. Or the Sand Cat kitten’s resemblance to Harlan. However you want to look at it, there’s a resemblance, is what I’m saying.
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The many faces of Everett Peppers.
I love his “frosted” look.
“I haz an angry.”
“Hmm. Everett cannot be bothered with you and your silly camera. Everett has better things to worry about.”
“Go ‘way.”
“If I close my eyes, you’re not there.”
I originally thought this was Everett, but the crossed eyes lead me to believe this is actually Lucy with her floofed-up self. So, surprise! It’s Lucy Peppers!
“Lord, it’s so hard to be this beautiful.”
“Did I mention go ‘way?”
::glare::
“Am so sleepy… is hard to keep the glare going…”
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Cilantro, in a rare non-licking moment.
“Who, me? I’m not up on the step to the platform! I wouldn’t do that!”
(She is, as far as I’m concerned, allowed to go up there all she wants, but she acts like she’s not supposed to be up there.)
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Corbie the beautiful.
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Previously 2010: Damn her, she was right! 2009: It’s a rough life, but someone’s gotta live it, right? 2008: ”What are we going to do when we find out?” Fred asked. I still don’t know the answer to that. I just want to KNOW.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry. 2005: Right now, Fred’s upstairs trying to snooze while Mister Boogers comforts him. 2004: Does she think she’s Paris Hilton? 2003: Me, earlier today: “I swear to god, I’m going to go on a shooting spree!” 2002: ME LOVE LOBSTER, have I mentioned?
2001: No entry. 2000: It sure is good to be home!
This would ordinarily be Crooked Acres Thursday, with pics of various and sundry sights from around Crooked Acres, but I didn’t get a single dog or garden or chicken picture this week (I just haven’t been motivated to do a single thing outside this week because of the heat and also the lack of sun … Continue reading “8/11/11 – Thursday”
This would ordinarily be Crooked Acres Thursday, with pics of various and sundry sights from around Crooked Acres, but I didn’t get a single dog or garden or chicken picture this week (I just haven’t been motivated to do a single thing outside this week because of the heat and also the lack of sun for the better part of the week, because pictures taken outside when it’s overcast just don’t come out all that wonderfully), so instead I’m going to do a list of stuff I like and think y’all might like too!
FYI, none of this stuff was given to me, everything in this list was bought and paid for.
Stuff I Like (and you might like too!)
1. Carbonite. My friend Katherine suggested Carbonite to me, oh, sometime last year, I think? I made a mental note, and then I did nothing, because that’s just the way I am. And then I don’t remember exactly what spurred me to get my butt in gear – probably I was having issues with my hard drive – and I started thinking about the incredible number of pictures I have on my computer, and how sad I would be if I lost them all (or any of them!), and I finally signed up with Carbonite and installed the software. It took forever for the backup to happen, which wasn’t Carbonite’s fault because the way my failing hard drive was set up, I basically had two hard drives with everything copied over from one to the other, so there was a huge amount of information there. I think it took three weeks or so to get everything backed up, but once it was backed up, I set it so that Carbonite would update the backup starting at 10:00 every night, and I honestly never even notice that it’s there. Knowing that all those pictures and documents are backed up and safe makes me sleep a little better.
2. Neutrogena Body Oil. On Facebook, Catie mentioned that she’d used Neutrogena Body Oil instead of shaving cream or gel when she shaved her legs, and she got the best, closest, smoothest shave ever. I made a mental note and then promptly forgot about it until a few days (or weeks) later when Cait posted that she’d tried it as well, and she too got the best, closest, smoothest shave ever. This time, instead of making a mental note, I made a real ink-and-paper note in the form of adding Neutrogena Body Oil to the grocery list. Then I bought a bottle, and then I used it instead of shaving gel and OH MY. Catie and Cait were NOT kidding in the slightest – that is one excellent, awesome shave and I highly recommend it. Now, Neutrogena Body Oil is not the cheapest stuff on earth, but I can tell you the the one bottle I bought is hanging in there months later and I expect it’ll last another month or so. It’s definitely worth it!
(The rest of this list is cat-related. This should not surprise you.)
3. Dr. Elsey’s Precious Cat, and Cat Attract litters. Let me tell you a story. Back in February, I did something very stupid. Actually, I did a bunch of very stupid things: I was about to have surgery, so in the course of less than a week, I (1) found a new home for Reacher (who is doing very well these days, by the way) and he left our house, (2) I moved the couch to another part of the front room, (3) I removed the litter box from the guest bedroom, since there were no fosters staying in there, and (4) I completely changed the kind of litter I was using from Fresh Step (which we’ve used for years) to a different kind of litter that I cannot remember the name of at the moment. What happened next was a furious flood of cat urine from one end of the house to the other. Cats in this house were SERIOUSLY peeved and they were intent on letting me know it.
It wasn’t until mid-April or so that we finally determined who the peeing-outside-the-box culprits were, and it shocked me to find out that Tommy, our wonderful, awesome, super-sweet boy, was the one doing most of the peeing, accompanied by his evil accomplice Elwood. Also, there was some occasional spraying by Spanky and Joe Bob.
The first thing I did was switch the litter back to Fresh Step. The second thing I did was to add the litter box back to the guest bedroom. The third thing I did was to (finally) move the couch back to where it belonged. That stemmed the flow of cat urine (and is there anything that smells worse than cat urine? I think not.), but I was still having to get up every morning and walk throughout the house, looking for cat pee and then cleaning up what I found. And I was still finding at least one puddle or spray, and most days multiple.
It was delightful.
I have finally (fingers crossed) managed to stop the spraying and peeing by adding a litter box to the front room (it’s at the other end of the front room, away from the living room area) and slowly, slowly, slowwwwwwly switching our litter to Dr. Elsey’s Cat Attract and Precious Cat. Between the two, I find that Cat Attract is less dusty than the Precious Cat (though it’s possible I just got a particularly dusty bag of Precious Cat), and I haven’t found any puddles or sprays outside the litter box in a few weeks now. Now, Dr. Elsey’s is not perfect – Fresh Step remains better at holding down the litter box smells – but we were getting to the point where Fred was coughing a lot, especially after I scooped in the evening, and since switching to Dr. Elsey’s he hasn’t been coughing at all. If this means that I have to change out the litter more often, I think that it’s worth it not to have Fred die a slow and painful death from Anderson Litter Lung while causing damage to my hearing because when he coughs and hacks, he does so at a decibel that hurts my ears. Why can’t he cough and hack quietly? Why? Whyyyyyyy?
4. Odor removers.
(a) Nose Offense. I don’t remember where I read about this stuff, but it is flat-out amazing. I’m listing it first not because it works so much better than the other two (in section c), because they work very well too, but because it works well AND it has no smell at all. The problem with anti-odor sprays is that they have a scent added to them, and after you’ve used them for a while, in your mind you link the smell of the spray with the smell of cat urine and then you catch a whiff of the anti-odor spray and you think “Did I just smell cat pee?”. Nose Offense works immediately, it takes the smell of cat pee (or whatever horrendous smell you’re trying to get rid of) away and leaves no smell in its place.
When I scoop the litter boxes, I take the bags of scoopings out to a trash can in the garage. I have a spray bottle of Nose Offense by the trash can, and I spray into the trash can once a day, and even though there’s this kitchen-sized trash can filled to the brim with bags of litter box scoopings by Wednesday night (trash day’s on Thursday), it doesn’t smell at all. I was going to say that my only gripe is that this stuff doesn’t come in gallon-sized containers, the largest size it comes in is 32 ounces, BUT I just went and looked and that is no longer true, it DOES come in gallon-sized containers now. Yay!
To further convince you that you should give this stuff a try, the months when I was dealing with cat pee on a daily basis, I used this stuff. It took care of the smell, but what was even better was that after I’d cleaned up the pee, the cats would avoid peeing in that spot for weeks afterward. This was good because, well, they weren’t always peeing in the same spot over and over again. This was bad because it became a game of “Where’s the pee?” I really really like this stuff, if you couldn’t tell.
(b) 16 0z Hydrogen Peroxide, 1 Teaspoon dishwashing liquid, 1 Tablespoon Baking Soda. One of the places the cats were peeing to show their displeasure with everything under the sun was on the couch. Grrrr. Yes, I could have used Nose Offense to get rid of the smell, but even though Nose Offense is very reasonably priced, I wanted to soak the couch down, and that would have taken a lot of liquid. What I did instead was mix up the Hydrogen Peroxide, dishwashing liquid and baking soda, mixed it gently, and I soaked the heck out of that couch. It stayed wet for a long time, but when it was dry, the smell was gone. Thank GOD.
(c)Anti-Ickypoo and Simple Solution Extreme Cat Stain & Odor Remover. If for some reason you’re against trying Nose Offense (you weirdo), both Anti-Ickypoo and Simple Solution (which you can get at Petsmart) work really well. I like Anti-Ickypoo because the trace scent isn’t a flowery one, it’s more a spicy smell, kind of cinnamon-y, and it works just fine. They both work perfectly fine, but they do have those trace scents, which Nose Offense does not. I’m just sayin’.
5. You can buy pet cord protector to protect your cords from cats, who just loooooove to chew through wires. For reference see: the cord to my memory stick reader. Grrr. The problem with those cord protectors is that they’re treated with a “citrus scent” that smells absolutely awful. It smells like cat pee to me.
What I do is buy flexible split tubing and put that on the cords instead. It’s actually more flexible than the citrus-infused pet cord protector, and so far is working really well. The magazine where I read the tip (Family Handyman magazine, if you must know, and shaddup) said you could find flexible split tubing at Lowe’s, but I couldn’t find it there. Instead, I ordered a 100 foot roll of it from usplastic.com. I ordered the 3/8″ black tubing, but they have it in 1/4″ as well, which would work just fine to cover most cords (also, 1/4″ is smaller than 3/8″, which I confirmed with Fred the math major. Shut up. Math is harrrrd.) I’m not going to lie to you: putting the tube on the cord (or the cord into the tube, whichever way you prefer to look at it) is a pain in the butt, but once it’s done you don’t have to do it again, and it protects your cords from sharp little gnawing teeth.
6. Ham-Micks. We’ve had our Ham-Micks for a year and a half. I can tell you that our cats were immediately interested (Sugarbutt, especially, loves to curl up in the Ham-Mick in a corner of the computer room), and both Ham-Micks are still getting lots of use. The fosters like them, the permanent cats like them, everyone likes them! (If you don’t like the fabric available, I’d encourage you to email Forty Paws and see if you can get something different. I don’t know for sure, but I suspect they’d work with you.)
7. Cat toys.
(a)Sunstones’ crocheted catnip cat toys. These are so pretty and so well-made that I try to have enough on hand to send home in the bag o’ toys I send with my foster kittens. The cats love them and did I mention that they’re pretty? They’re SO pretty – and all proceeds are donated to animal rescue/ rehabs.
(b)Tee Tugs’ Kitty Bugs. Kitty toys made from recycled t-shirts. The cats love the toys, they’re reasonably priced, and they’re made from recycled t-shirts. How cool is that?
(d)Meowing Deals. Do you know about this site? You get stuff for cats – usually toys, and usually KONG toys, which the cats and kittens ADORE – at a great price. I always get a little bit excited when I see that I have an email from Meowing Deals in my inbox. And I currently have about 300 Kong cat toys in this house. What can I say? I’m a sucker for a good deal, especially when it involves cat toys. There’s also Barking Deals, for dog stuff.
Of these, the only fountain I do not recommend is the Cat-It. I was cleaning it and broke the globe within weeks of bringing it home. The Drinkwell and Petmate fountains were what I had in the house for the longest time, and the cats liked and used them just fine. The problem is that they’re made of plastic, and plastic can develop hairline cracks and hold bacteria, which can make your cats sick. So I got the Big Max, which is made of ceramic. I actually got two of them, with the intention of putting one in the upstairs bathroom and one in the laundry room. The one in the laundry room was fine, but the one in the upstairs bathroom didn’t work out because the hum was just too loud – the upstairs bathroom is across the hall from my bathroom, and even though I wear earplugs at night, I could still hear the hum of the fountain. So I sent that one back and looked around some more, and tried the Cat Mate.
The good thing about the Cat Mate: it’s super quiet. The bad thing about the Cat Mate: it’s made of plastic. The good thing about the Cat Mate: It’s dishwasher safe, so (I hope) any bacteria that get on/ in it is taken care of by the dishwasher; I run each Cat Mate through the dishwasher once a week. The other good thing about the Cat Mate: all the cats like it a LOT. The potential bad thing about the Cat Mate: a review I read (after I’d bought a couple) said that the pumps don’t last more than 8 months or so, and the company doesn’t sell replacement pumps. If that’s true, I won’t replace the Cat Mates, because that’s too much to pay for a fountain that only lasts several months.
And that’s all I can think of at the moment.
Now it’s your turn: tell me about cool stuff YOU like and think I might like too!
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The Many Faces of Lucy Peppers.
I’m sorry, would you look at that little face? Could you just DIE?
Lucy and Sally, conspiring, while Everett eavesdrops.
“NO you don’t get to hear about how we’re going to rule the world! You go away, Everett!”
One cannot rule the world unless one is properly clean.
“Who, me? Yes, I plan to be a benevolent world ruler. Unless you annoy me then it’s OFF WITH YOUR HEAD.”
“Planning to take over the world is hard. We sleep now with Everett, our evil henchman.”
Solar powered Lucy sticks her ear into the sun for a little extra energy.
“Must. Be. CLEAN.” (Lucy might be a little OCD about the cleanliness.)
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“Um, NO. I wasn’t sleeping! I was… um. Not sleeping! Is what I was doing!”
Clove’s pretty sure that one day she’s going to figure out how that camera works.
Sweet, snuggly Cilantro.
I was thinking about Ciara and her nose freckle (god, I love that nose freckle), and I was thinking “You know, I really don’t think she had that freckle when she was wee…” so I had to go back and look…
And FYI, at 4 days old, girlfriend indeed did NOT have that nose freckle!
Nor did she at 9 days old.
At two weeks old, she’s got a bit of darkness under her nose, but it’s not really in the right place, so I’m going to call that a booger or some sort of booger-like material.
Three weeks old, I’m still not seeing it.
Almost four weeks old, definitely not.
Five weeks, the first sight of it.
Six weeks, there it is! See it?
So, there you go. The evolution of Ciara’s nose freckle.
Clove don’t care ’bout no nose freckle.
She really reminds me of Dorothy more than a little.
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We really don’t get many squirrels on the side stoop, surprisingly, but this was a day when the bird feeders were getting toward empty, and there is that bowl of cat food on the side porch. Oh, this was driving Sugarbutt crazy – I can only imagine the visions he was having about getting his paws on that squirrel.
That squirrel wasn’t skeered of Sugarbutt, though. Not at all. He was all “I have eaten my fill, I guess I’ll mosey off toward home now.”, and Sugarbutt couldn’t do a thing. Poor Suggie.
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Previously 2010: This is Maddy. 2009: Check out all the awesome new Fiesta ware I got in Pennsylvania! 2008: For the record Bill Phillips emus are very violent when you offer them a cup of corn.
2007: No entry. 2006: “You pipple giffs me zee headache.” 2005: God, I love the internet. 2004: Three days into the school year, and I’m sick to death of bus issues. 2003: My weekend can be summed up thusly: long periods of mind-numbing tedium broken with a stretch of horrified disgust, with a soupcon of panic tossed in for good measure. 2002: Maine recap.
2001: No entry.
2000: No entry.
Please pardon any typos. I spent so much time struggling to get pictures uploaded to Flickr that I can’t bear to sit in front of my computer for one more minute. If there are any horrible typos or egregious errors, leave a comment pointing it out and I’ll fix it when I don’t feel like … Continue reading “8/10/11 – Kitteh Wednesday”
Please pardon any typos. I spent so much time struggling to get pictures uploaded to Flickr that I can’t bear to sit in front of my computer for one more minute. If there are any horrible typos or egregious errors, leave a comment pointing it out and I’ll fix it when I don’t feel like punching my monitor.
I need to ask how you manage with that many cats. I had 4 and my house was a zoo. I tried Feliway and everything else I could think of, but one of the females stopped using the cat box and substituting the couch instead. The two males are gone now, but the little female has never returned reliably to the cat box. She pees there, but poos in the house. I love cats. I would love to foster them, but I really don’t have a clue how to manage them. Do you have any references for me, or could you do a blog entry about how you do it? (all of my cats were neutered, three were kittens when I first got them- over a spread of 13 years, one wandered in at a year old).
Before I go on to discuss how I handle having 347 ridiculous cats in this ridiculous house, I’d like to offer a suggestion regarding the pooping outside the litter box issue. I have only really dealt with this situation once (or more accurately, with one kitten who pooped outside the litter box many times), but the pooping outside the litter box is a great big deal breaker for me and I spent many hours frantically Googling around the internet desperately seeking advice.
When I say that it’s a “deal breaker” for me, what I mean is that it stressed me out like nothing else I have ever had to deal with. Years ago we did have a cat, Mr. Fancypants, who would poop outside the litter box if he was ticked off at us, but he didn’t poop on the couch or our beds or even in the tub, but rather pooped near the litter box, but not IN the litter box. That was, well, not ACCEPTABLE to me, but I could handle it.
This pooping pooper I’m talking about developed a litter box issue caused by diarrhea, which caused him to make a mental link wherein pooping in the litter box = pain, so stopped using the litter box and instead used, oh, the middle of the rug or the end of the couch.
It was delightful.
So I desperately Googled around, looking for ways to fix this issue, and I saw pretty much the same suggestions, which spurred me to give it a try.
Firstly, I am quite sure that you took Poopin’ Petunia to the vet to make sure that she has no medical issues. But just in case you fell off the feline turnip truck, I’m putting it out there.
Now, assuming that she’s perfectly healthy according to the vet, this is what you do. You decide on a small room in your house where you can relocate the pooper for several days – a bathroom is the perfect size for this. You put the cat, her litter box, and her food and water in the bathroom. And then you keep her in there for at least three days. She’s not going to be happy about this, and neither are you. It SUCKS. (Side note: I highly recommend using Cat Attract litter while doing this, too. Might not help, but then again it might – and it certainly doesn’t hurt.)
Most of the places where I read this suggestion said that you only go into the room to scoop the litter box and to check the food and water a few times a day; otherwise you don’t go into the room at all. This didn’t work for me, because the cat I was retraining to use the litter box was a SUPER love bug and it was driving us both crazy to just leave him in there without giving him all the love he was desperate for. Instead, I went into the room several times a day, sat with him and told him what a great cat he was, etc etc.
The first day he was kept in the bathroom, he didn’t poop in the litter box. The second and third, he did. I made a big fuss over him every time I scooped the litter box and found that he’d used it; I told him how smart he was and petted and kissed him like crazy. At the end of the third day, I opened the door to the bathroom and invited him out into the rest of the house. Unfortunately, he pooped on the rug a few hours later, which necessitated a trip back into the bathroom for a couple of days.
At the end of day two, we moved him up to the foster room (which is bigger than the bathroom, of course) to see how he did. He did fine, used the litter box okay, and then we started giving him access to the rest of the house for longer and longer periods of time. In the end, he was retrained to use the litter box completely (THANK GOD) and except for a couple of accidents caused by stupid things that were completely the fault of the humans rather than the fault of the cat, there were no more problems.
So if you have the room and the inclination, I would highly recommend that you give the litter box retraining a try.
Now, as for how to handle fosters, all I can tell you is how I do it.
I have a room dedicated to the fosters. Well. I actually kind of have two rooms dedicated to the fosters at the moment, but that second room is technically the guest bedroom and isn’t actually supposed to be dedicated to fosters, but it’s not like we kicked guests out of the room to put fosters there, right?
But that’s not really the point. Let’s just say: I have a room dedicated to the fosters. This is important because when you first bring a litter of fosters home, they need to be contained not only because they’re usually little and maybe a bit wild, but also because you need to make sure they have nothing communicable before you allow them around your permanent residents. Even if they seem to be 100% healthy when you first bring them home and even if they had a fecal check done by a vet that showed no parasites and EVEN if they have perfect little poops at first, at our house right around day four or five they start with the diarrhea, no matter what.
(If you’re going to foster, get used to looking at a lot of poop and determining what to do about the diarrhea. I think that I’ve had perhaps one litter in my entire fostering career that didn’t have any diarrhea, but I can’t guarantee that that’s so.)
Our fosters have to be sequestered for, at rock-bottom minimum, two weeks before we’d ever consider letting them out into the house – and usually it’s longer because even if they’re perfectly healthy, many times they’re really too small or too nervous to let out into the house. The good thing is that even though they’re off in their own room, our cats know that there are fosters in the house (because on the rare occasion that there are no fosters in the house, I leave the foster room door open because a couple of the cats really like to hang out in that room) and they can smell them through the crack under the door and on my clothes. So even though they’re not face to face with the fosters, they know they’re there, and they get used to their smell.
Once we’ve determined that the fosters are healthy and old enough to be let out of the foster room, we open the door and allow them limited access to more of the house – the foster room is at the end of the hallway upstairs, and Fred built a door that goes across the other end of the hallway so that we can open the foster room door and they have access to the upstairs bathroom and my bedroom in addition to the foster room. We let them have that for a few days (until we’re tired of hearing Jake and Elwood scrabble their way over the hallway half-door to get to the kitten food in the foster room), and then at some point we fling the half-door open and start giving them access to the rest of the house.
Some of the permanent residents don’t think twice about the fact that there’s a flood of new kittens running around the house. Some of them get all hissy and hysterical. Most of the hissy ones adjust within a couple of days, as long as the kittens don’t get too much up in their space. Occasionally one of the big cats gets a little too aggressive, and Fred or I steps in to break it up.
When they first get the run of the house, we take the fosters back upstairs to the foster room a couple of times a day so they can remember where the litter boxes, water, and food is located, but they usually figure it out pretty quickly on their own.
Annnnnd… that’s all I can think of at the moment. If you have any questions, Jan (or anyone else), feel free to ask!
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I am sorry to confess to y’all that Harlan Peppers is not, in fact, named after Harlan Pepper from Best in Show. (Though I’ll admit that it’s not outside the realm of possibility that it was a subconscious sort of thing.) He’s also not named after the four-man band from Canada. He got that name just ’cause I liked the sound of it.
The Many Faces of Molly Peppers.
Contemplative.
Unconcerned.
“No, we’re not sitting over here talking about you, why do you ask?”
“This is a private meeting and you were not invited. Please leave before I call Security.”
Annoyed.
Bored.
Dopey from the sun.
Supermodel.
Making you jealous with her gorgeous stripes.
Snuggling with her boys.
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Warning: Kitten totally cannot hold her licker.
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Jake on his platform in the kitchen.
Elwood on his platform in the front room. Those boys sure do love their platforms!
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Previously
2010: No entry. 2009: So, the boat.
2008: No entry. 2007: six cats (permanently living in the house) are our limit. (Famous last words!) 2006: And you know when I’m saying it’s hot, it must be like burning in the flames of Hell. 2005: I’m going to kill my husband. 2004: “THIS IS NOT THE FRONT OF THE SCHOOL,” I said. “THIS IS THE SIDE.”
2003: No entry. 2002: Stop making those gagging noises. 2001: Is it just me, or does Mother Nature not like it when the spud or I fly?
2000: No entry.
Those of you who use Google Chrome as a browser, have you suddenly lost the ability to bring up the “search” box by hitting CTRL-F, or is it just me? ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I had … Continue reading “8/9/11 – Tuesday”
Those of you who use Google Chrome as a browser, have you suddenly lost the ability to bring up the “search” box by hitting CTRL-F, or is it just me?
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I had originally intended to work in the garden this morning, but given that we had a decent amount of rain yesterday, it’s going to be a muddy mess out there, so I find that I have no particular desire to work out there today. Maybe tomorrow. Or MAYBE not ’til this weekend!
We lost a couple of tomato plants in the storm last week, I think I mentioned that. The tomato plants we have left don’t appear to be too terribly happy with their lot in life. I fertilized them over the weekend and then we got a little rain Sunday and a little more yesterday afternoon and last night. Maybe they’ll perk up, maybe not. We’ll see. Except for the corn, it hasn’t been a particularly great garden season, that’s for sure.
The cucumbers played out in the last week or so, so I yanked the plants up on Sunday. Right now all we’ve got going are some cantaloupes, watermelon, tomatoes, and the butternut and acorn squash Fred recently planted. I’m past due for getting my cabbage started, but I have been feeling unmotivated, to say the least. I also need to pull up the rest of the carrots in my raised bed.
Meh. That’s how I feel about that: meh.
We’re still getting cherry tomatoes, and I see some blooms on the big tomato plants, so the garden isn’t quite dead and gone just yet.
The cantaloupes and watermelon did so well this year that we’re talking about using a large area behind the back yard (where there used to be a pond before we stupidly paid someone to fill it in a couple of years ago) to grow watermelon and cantaloupes exclusively next year. Whatever we don’t eat, the pigs and chickens will happily take care of for us.
Speaking of, when I picked tomatoes on Saturday, I got more tomatoes that were split or had holes in them than those that weren’t. Split, half-rotten, half-eaten and otherwise blemished tomatoes go to the chickens (unless I’m looking through my tomato harvest in the house, in which case any tomatoes that aren’t up to par go into the pig bucket). Pigs and chickens love the hell out of produce from the garden. I need to take the camera out with me next time I toss some tomatoes to the chickens, because it’s awfully funny to see chickens grabbing tomatoes and running away with them so that the other chickens won’t get them.
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The Peppers Gang is doing well. They still flinch when I reach for them (which I hate – don’t they know by now that I only want to pet and kiss them??), but if they’re on the cat tree when I walk into the room, they sit up and peep at me and clearly want me to come over and pet them. If I lay down on the bed and talk to them, they’ll all eventually come from the cat tree to the bed. I’d say they’re definitely coming around.
Harlan Peppers, as some of you pointed out, does bear a certain resemblance to Corbie. You know I love me some brown tabbies!
The Many Moods of Harlan Peppers.
Contemplating that he’s got an awful lot of ear floof for a little guy.
Snuggling happily with Lucy and Sally.
Warming his ear floof in the sun.
“I am but a wee baby kitteh who needs you to give me pettins, why are you all the way over theeeeeeere?”
Sleeping smugly.
Getting ready to give Molly Peppers a whoopin’ for being so forward.
Making plans to take over the world.
Making plans to take over the food bowl.
Making plans to make plans.
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Best! Box! Everrrrrrrrrrr!
“I do find this box rawther awesome.”
“This is a most excellent box.”
“Also, tasty.”
I sure wish we could figure out a way to calm Ciara down. She’s so STRESSED, it breaks my heart. Do they make Valium for cats?
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Attila, I knew that if I skipped reminding y’all for one measly week, you’d completely FORGET who the MOST BEAUTIFUL CAT EVERRRRRR is. So here you go. Maybe you should make a note somewhere so you’ll be reminded every day. I’d hate for you to forget again!
(He’s helpless against the siren call of the Best! Box! Ever!)
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Previously 2010: Yep, I’m in Pennsylvania visiting Nance and the gang.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry. 2007: So I squished her. 2006: Hey, as long as she’s going to be an adult about it, right? 2005: “WAIT FOR THE BUS,” I said, then hung up. 2004: I do love the stumpy little bastard, but I wish he hadn’t killed that poor damn bird.
2003: No entry. 2002: Finally, I said “Would you CALM DOWN? I’m not going to divorce Fred and marry the cute waiter. Jesus!” 2001: (Dr. Phil likes to go for the sound bites and has drama queen tendencies, but I love him) 2000: Pictures from Maine.
So, last Wednesday night/ Thursday morning, we had a really scary storm with some very strong winds. Fred actually got up at midnight to go out and close the chicken coop so that it wouldn’t get wet inside (we usually leave the big door to the coop open at night so it can cool off … Continue reading “8/8/11 – Monday”
So, last Wednesday night/ Thursday morning, we had a really scary storm with some very strong winds. Fred actually got up at midnight to go out and close the chicken coop so that it wouldn’t get wet inside (we usually leave the big door to the coop open at night so it can cool off a little. He hadn’t really expected it to rain so left it open.), and was so freaked out by how hard the trees were bending and creaking that he thought he was about to die.
We lost power a little after midnight, and it stayed off until 5:30. Which isn’t so bad, except that without the air conditioner running AND without the ceiling fan going, I got pretty warm and miserable. That was of course the exact time that the hottest cats in the house (Miz Poo, Elwood and Tommy) wanted to be RIGHT on top of me, which didn’t help matters.
When I got up at 6:00, our internet was down. Then it came back up for about half an hour ’til we got another strong storm. The power flickered on and off about 7 times, and when it came back on for good, the internet was down and stayed down. We didn’t get internet back until late afternoon on Friday, and since we get our phone through the cable line, the phone was down as well. In addition, the cell signal was going down and coming back up constantly, so you can imagine how thrilled I was.
Thank god for McDonald’s and their free internet.
We didn’t lose any trees, only a lot of branches. We did lose several tomato plants, but that’s not a big deal since we planted way too many of them this year. We were lucky once again, so I’m not complaining.
I’d happily wait ’til next Spring for another bout of really bad weather, though, if it’s all the same to you, MOTHER NATURE.
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Are you sure that is a wilting hydrangea? I am a complete hydrangea fan and I do not recognize the leaves. If it is a hydrangea (love them as I can root them myself, they love shade and bring late summer fall color.) put it in a shady area and water it madly. They are hardy plants that root quickly.
That’s an Oakleaf Hydrangea that Fred’s father and stepmother gave us. I think it’s been two years (possibly three) since we planted it, and it’s finally starting to do well. The problem is that I often forget it’s even there until it acts all drama queeny (okay, to be fair, we hadn’t had any rain in quite a while!) and then I have to carry buckets of water from the back yard to water it. I’d love to have a whole shade garden in that area (it gets zilch for sun), but the closest water spigot is in the back yard. Hmm. Maybe Fred’s winter project should be running a sprinkler to that part of the property!
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Have you tried that super cool device called an Eye-Fi to transfer your photos. Basically it comes with a reader and a card. You install the software and from then on, whenever you take a picture it automatically uploads from your camera to your hard drive.
I would dearly love to use an Eye-Fi to transfer my pictures, but sadly the Sony DSLR-A100 isn’t supported by the Eye-Fi. Which means, if you ask me, that I need a new camera.
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Saw this trick on Rachael Ray to slice a large quantity of cherry tomatoes in half: The Cherry Tomato Trick
Thank you so much for the tip! It certainly beats having to slice the damn things in half one by one – I’m going to give that trick a try!
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For what it’s worth (and I have a feeling I may have shared this with you before), we use a turkey fryer filled with water to cook the corn we’re freezing. We set it up outside, and it keeps the kitchen from getting miserably hot and humid. It also reheats very very fast, so you’re not standing around waiting for the water to boil again.
That does sound familiar! We don’t, unfortunately, have a turkey fryer but I almost think it would be worth buying one just to deal with the damn corn.
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Robyn, did you know cats luuurrrvve cantaloupe?
Do the cats know that they luuurrrvve it? Because I can’t seem to get any of ours to show any interest. Which is too bad, because we’re growing a lot of cantaloupe. Fred better get to eatin’.
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We have had 2 Wolf spiders in our apartment. The first one was found 4 months after we moved in and was dead. I pretty much lost my shit when I found it dead on the kitchen floor. The lights weren’t on and I at first thought it was a hairball from one the cats. Never wished so hard for a hairball in my entire life after finding out what it really was. The second one was found ALIVE in our bedroom. Yes, bedroom, just as I was getting ready to go to bed. Almost stayed in a motel. I was convinced that those bastards were living in my boxspring. Our backyard is a huge expanse of woods, and we get every kind of bug, spider, critter that you can imagine. Lots of many different kind and size of spider. I hate that f’n woods!
You know what really creeps me out about the Wolf spider? The eyes. The EYES are so friggin’ creepy, I can’t even stand it. ::shudder::
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Have you realized that there is now evidence that the spiders are smarter than dear Tom Cullen? Shh, don’t tell him, he would be hurt if he knew.. And he is black like the spiders, too. Does this mean that he is Spiderman?
They’re smarter than Elwood, too, as I found Elwood flapping toward the back door one day last week, stopping every few steps to kick his front left paw around in hopes of dislodging the spider glue trap. I peeled it off for him, and he was completely ungrateful.
He’s no Spiderman, he’s CullenMan! (And I’ll see if I can’t find the Spiderman and send him on some new adventures, Sofia.)
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That show about the Cat House on the Kings is on the National Geographic channel this evening. What an awesome place.
I set up the DVR to record it as soon as I heard it was coming on. That is one amazing place, and she is one amazing woman! I imagine that you’d never wonder where you stood with her, would you?
I’d LOVE to see a regular series about that place.
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Since you and Nance are BFF’s where has she been? She hasn’t posted in her blog since june, am worried and going through withdrawal pains. I love her writing and miss her terribly. Can you pretty please tell her to get back to writing 🙂
Nance has been working hard and hanging out with her family. She’s just fine, and I imagine she’ll be back when she feels the urge to post again.
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Thought of you when I heard this news bc I am also a Lee Child fan. HOW is Tom Cruise (short, smarmy) going to play Jack Reacher (tall, taciturn)? All of my fantasies are now RUINED!
Oh, it is absolutely horrifying that Tom Cruise is going to play Jack Reacher. He is the LAST actor in all of Hollywood (except maybe Danny DeVito) who fits that role. UGH. Just wrong, wrong, WRONG.
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Big spider attacks daddy
GAH.
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If Fred thinks black widows don’t come in the house…tell him WRONG. The first few years I was in this house (and it was a brand new house) I had black widows in the garage and in the house. I went to get in the shower one morning and just as I started putting my naked self in the tub, I looked down to see a black widow in the tub. I killed it with foaming bathroom cleaner and then I showered for the next week in my hall bath. They eventually died out. Haven’t seen one in years, but have seen mostly those damn ugly creep grass spiders and several weeks ago I saw a house centipede and declared that if it was any more than 8 legs I hated it and that was the creepiest and FASTEST bug I’ve ever seen. Ick!
If y’all think I am breathing ONE word to Fred about the fact that Black Widows do come into the house, you are flat out NUTS. He once told me that the first time he sees one in the house is the last time he’ll see one in the house, because he’ll move out immediately. I cannot imagine what his reaction truly would be if he saw that tell-tale red hourglass in the house!
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My UPS guy rings the bell and then runs – not like I live in Graceland or anything, but I never get to the door before he has left.
After bitching about the UPS guy, I want to take a moment to say that I love the hell out of my FedEx guy. He is super awesome, friendly and does a fantastic job. In fact, I think I’m going to send a letter to FedEx expressing that very thought.
(I did finally get Fred’s birth certificate, but I had to go to the main UPS place to pick it up. I think you can imagine how happy I was about that.)
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You can go read Elayne’s whole comment here (and Arizona Robin’s follow-up, here), but to summarize: buy commercial-grade appliances and don’t be suckered in by the pretty, cool-looking stuff! Which makes sense, right? Here’s my problem and the reason why so far the only vacuum that has worked for me in this house is the Dyson: we have area rugs, and I need a vacuum that will work well on both rugs and hardwood floors. Every vacuum I’ve tried (except for the pain-in-the-ass Kenmore, which I switch out between the rug attachment and the hardwood attachment) tosses litter around, except for the Dyson.
Last Thursday, when our internet was down for the entire day, Woot had refurbished Dysons on sale for $199. I totally would have bought one to get me through while I’m saving up for a Miele (I think. I haven’t completely decided.), but our internet stayed down all freakin’ day long. Maybe this is a sign that I’m not meant to buy another Dyson, you think?
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I have a food dehydrator, but I’m afraid to use it. I’m worried that I won’t leave stuff in long enough and then it will mold when I store it. How do you know how long to leave stuff in and how do you know its dry enough when that time has come?
Your dehydrator should have come with a book that you can reference, but if it didn’t, you can Google “How long to dehydrate [whatever]” and get your answer. I leave food in the dehydrator until it’s dry and brittle (it doesn’t hurt to check what you’re dehydrating every so often), but if you’re not sure whether you’ve dried your food long enough, you can put it in a glass jar or plastic container for storage and check it after a while. If there’s still moisture in the food, you’ll see condensation on the glass (or plastic), and you can take the food out and put it back in the dehydrator for more time.
Foods like sliced squash dehydrate pretty quickly, in a matter of hours, whereas foods like tomatoes and fruits take longer. It generally takes a day and a half to two days for a dehydrator full of cherry tomatoes to be done, for instance.
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Robyn, isn’t the 6 mos anniversary of your lift surgeries next week? Do you think we could get an update on that? Especially pics of your arms? Pretty please?
Yeah, I’ll try to get pictures at some point this week.
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Oh! I forgot to ask a question about cats. My daughter has a cat that is about 6 years old and just recently he’s been getting eye infections and has been on an antibiotic drop but it doesn’t seem to work for long. Clears it up and within a month it comes back. Her hours at work have really been cut so she’s hoping to treat the problem without going to the vet. Last time it cost her $125.00 and money is super tight right now. Is there anything else she could try.
My only suggestion is that perhaps she could call the vet and get the drops without the office visit – or even ask if there’s a less expensive option as far as antibiotic drops go. The concern here, actually, is that if the eye infection comes back after a month, it doesn’t seem that the drops are really taking care of the infection and that there might be something else going on?
Anyone else out there have any tips?
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The pigs are growing fast, how much longer before they meet the butcher.
The pigs will be going off to freezer camp in October or November. They’re getting big, but they’ve still got plenty of growing to do.
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As large as your kitchen is have you ever considered an island for additional counter space? There are islands that are on wheels so they can be positioned as needed.
Oh, I’d love to have an island in the kitchen – it’s on my mental “I-want” list, which is about six miles long. At one point, Fred was going to make one for me, but he’s decided he’s no carpenter, so I’ve set my sights lower, for a small island where I can stand and chop things or roll out dough or even just put jams to cool. Every now and then I check Craig’s List to see if anyone’s wanting to get rid of an island like that, but HOOO DOGGIE do some people overprice their shit on Craig’s List.
(Side note: I HATE IT when people list shit on Craig’s List and don’t post a picture of whatever they’re selling. What is this, 1998?)
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One of my cats is the wierdest nip-head I’ve ever seen. He rubs his chin on it over and over while DROOLING copious amounts, and as a result his entire face and neck and chest end up plastered down, completely saturated with drool. Does any of your crew do the drool thing??
No, no ‘nip droolers here. Most of them roll around in it, but Spanky treats the ‘nip like a meal. You put a leaf of fresh or a small pile of dried catnip down in front of him, and he eats what’s there. Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t know that he actually gets high off of it (not all cats do), maybe he just considers it a snack.
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Can you explain catnip to me? I must be mistaken, but it seems like giving them drugs, which of course, you wouldn’t want to do to children, so why is it ok for cats? I probably sound like an idiot.
You know, I don’t know that I can explain cat nip, really. They do get high off of it, but it’s a short high – they’re not high for hours and hours, it’s more a matter of a few minutes, and then they go about their day. It’s a mood-altering drug in that some cats get mellow on catnip and others get mean (we call Miz Poo our “mean drunk”). It’s not – at our house – really a regular thing. We give them catnip from time to time, but they’re not following us around demanding it, and if they go weeks without it they don’t go into withdrawals. We don’t have to send them to rehab, though I do occasionally sing “They tried to make me go to ‘nip-hab and I said meow, meow, meow” to them.
So in conclusion, um, I don’t know. It’s a drug, but I don’t think it does any damage to them (although I just realized that we have plenty of catnip toys around here, so maybe we DO have some addicts and I just don’t know it!).
Of course, we’d never let them drive when they’ve been ‘nipping. 🙂
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Did the tornado and storms that happened a while back not have a major effect on your garden?
They did! The water washed away almost everything we’d just planted, and we had to replant. A few things popped back up (some of the pepper plants and one or two tomato plants), but for the most part we ended up about a month behind due to having to replant. We are in the process of pulling up the squash plants as they die one by one (vine borers got them – they do every year, no matter what we do), and we really didn’t get nearly as much squash as I would have liked. We’ve always had to force summer squash and zucchini on friends and family in previous years, but this year we ate or dehydrated every single one we got. I wish we’d gotten more, but I’m glad we got what we did. I think the tomatoes are doing so well due to how unrelentingly hot it’s been this summer. The cherry tomatoes are doing especially well, and I’ve been dehydrating like mad!
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I have never heard of Rescue Remedy, and I think I may be giving it a try. Do you know anything about GNC Ultra Mega Relax?
No, I’ve never heard of GNC Ultra Mega Relax. Anyone out there given it a try? Do tell!
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Just out of curiosity, whatever happened to Ike, the teeny little orange? I think he was orange? Temporary fosterling who was so sweet and purry? I know he was fostered by another Challenger’s House person after he left you, but he must’ve been adopted by now, right? For that matter, what happened to the two little brother and sister kittens, Sootie and Sweepie I think? that you were temporarily watching?
Awww, wee baby Ike:
It’s been almost two years since he was here, can you believe that? He was only here for a couple of days. He was originally going to go to the shelter because at that time the shelter manager had room for him, and she was going to care for him. So I left him at the vet, where she was going to pick him up, but then another Challenger’s House foster mum, Heaven, happened along first and snatched him up for herself. And, as it turned out, she ended up keeping him as a permanent resident!
Also, Sooty and Sweepie:
Their story is that a momma cat abandoned two 11 day-old kittens on a woman’s back patio. She was okay with keeping them, but she had a job during the day and needed a babysitter! So I babysat them a couple of times, and then her father in Texas got very ill, and she opted to surrender the kittens to Challenger’s House. I kept them here for a few days, but we were pretty full up on fosters (at that point we had the Cookies and the Wonkas), so Heaven took these guys, too (it was about two months after Ike came through). She fostered them ’til they were big and strong, and then they were adopted out through the adoption center at Petsmart. I think they were adopted together, but I can’t guarantee it.
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I know we all love a cat that is all bowed up and pissed off, but have you seen this? I love how it actually walks out of the shot on two back paws! LOL It made me laugh so hard I wheezed. Enjoy!
Love it!! I sure wish I knew what got that reaction because I would TOTALLY be trying it myself!
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Does Clove ever canoodle with Corbie or Kara? That would be a lot of brown-tabby bliss.
I’m sure that Clove would happily canoodle with Corbie or Kara, but Kara is very much NOT a canoodler (she has no use for other cats at all, except that she can sometimes be seen butting heads with Jake or Elwood) and Corbie doesn’t canoodle much either… he’ll allow Jake and Elwood to rub against him when they’re feeling friendly, but there’s no snuggling when it comes to the Corbs.
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So, to be nosy, does Fred love the kettehs as much as you, or does he just love you awfully much??
Whereas I love and adore teeny tiny kittens, Fred thinks that the little bitty ones are “boring” (his word, not mine!) and he prefers them when they hit their ridiculously long and lanky stage, which is where the Spice Girls and Ciara are right now.
But to answer the question, Fred loves cats as much as I do. I don’t know that he’d necessarily choose to have so many fosters at once, but I ALWAYS ask him before I take a second litter of fosters and I ALWAYS tell him “You can say ‘no’, and I won’t be mad!”, but nine times out of ten he doesn’t even hesitate before he says it’s okay with him. He said once that when we have a lot of fosters in the house, he feels like Scrooge McDuck, only instead of gold coins falling through his fingers, he’s got kittens.
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Is Alice still in love with her Daddy? Or have the sullen teen years crept in?
Oh, she still loves him with a deep and abiding passion. She shows her love for him by climbing into his lap every night when we’re watching tv, and getting her butt as close to his face as she possibly can. And then she lays there and purrs and gives him the eyes of love. She shows me affection, too (especially if I’m in the kitchen and she thinks I might give her food), but Fred’s first and foremost in her heart.
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I don’t know what it is, but Kara is one of the prettiest cats ever. I think it’s something about her face.
Kara thinks you are probably the smartest reader with the best taste, ever.
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You may have already answered this, but I’m a tiny bit of a SKIMMAH. What do you use the dehydrated veggies for? I’m imagining you make sauce with the tomatoes, right? Can you use the squash for casserole or in other veggie dishes? Do you have to soak them first or anything?
I use the squash, zucchini and tomatoes (and usually some okra from the freezer) to make what we call “vegetable medley” – I saute it all in some olive oil. I don’t rehydrate any of it, because it rehydrates well enough in the pan (I sometimes add a little broth to the pan to help matters along). I’ve actually never used the tomatoes to make sauce, but maybe I’ll give that a try this winter! Oh, I also tested the dehydrated squash by making scalloped squash with it, and it turned out really good.
I like to toss a handful of shredded zucchini and dehydrated cherry tomatoes into spaghetti sauce and let it simmer for a while, too.
Also can you recommend a brand of dehydrator? I’d really like to dry my own fruit, but I’m not sure which dehydrator isn’t a colossal waste of money.
We have an Excalibur 2500 (which I told someone back in June that they don’t sell anymore, but I just checked Amazon and they do, so I’m not sure if they stopped selling them and started again, or what). This is, I think, the 4th year I’ve used it, and I haven’t had a single problem with it. Some summers I’ve used it more than others (I don’t think I dehydrated hardly anything last year), and it’s worked perfectly.
If that’s more than you want to spend, I’ve heard that the Nesco brand dehydrators are less expensive, and you can buy trays to add, if you need to.
Also the second, are you having any trouble keeping up the garden(s) with watering restrictions? Here in Texas we’re in extreme drought conditions and have some pretty severe restrictions. I’m having a hard time keeping my landscaping plants alive at this point.
We are actually not under any watering restrictions right now (and weren’t even before we got all that rain last week). When it’s dry, we water the vegetable garden a couple of times a week with drip hoses (about 25 – 30 minutes per row). We don’t have much landscaping to worry about other than the plants in pots on the front porch and the Azaleas and Hydrangeas in the front flower beds. The potted plants get watered twice a week (I have a one-gallon watering can, and filling it twice gives me enough water for the potted plants) and the front flower beds only get watered if I notice the Hydrangeas wilting – lately, that’s about once a week.
We do actually have a well. It’s not working – wasn’t working when we bought the house – but it’s on our miles-long list of stuff-to-do-someday, to get the well working so that we can, at least, water the garden with it.
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(Regarding Stinkerbelle) She looks to me to be a standard calitabby, black and orange with white, but she also has the pointed gene (to give the blue eyes). This will make the colors fade on the body, especially in hotter weather. On a standard siamese, the face tail and legs pale a little on the extremities to give the seal-brown, while the body fades to a light or dark cream color. On Stinkerbelle, the calico spots fade in a like manner – a bit on the head, and more on the body. So I guess the official term would be tortie-point with white.
I’m going to go add that description to her page right now, because I have a terrible memory when it comes to this stuff, and I know we’ve had discussions in the past about what Stinkerbelle is. This way, I’ll know where to look when I’m wondering in the future (if, y’know, I remember that I added it!)
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Do kittens react to the catnip or do they have to be a certain age to care for it?
According to this page, Very young and senior cats do not respond as much, or at all, to catnip. Also, 10-30% of the cat population does not respond to catnip at all, at any age. This is due to genetics — reactions to catnip are hereditary. Some cats are genetically “programmed” to respond to catnip, some aren’t.
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I have a question for you. Have you ever brought in a cat that was not accepted by the others. We rescued a cat last fall that was malnourished and had a bad infection from a collapsed eye. We introduced her as we always do, keeping her in a room and letting the others get to know her through the door. We have three others, two females and a very spoiled alpha male. None of them has accepted her. The one female tolerates her but avoids her when possible. The other female hisses and bats at her all the time [although she never gets close enough to make contact.] The male will lick her one minute and chase her the next. He was aggressive so many times that she doesn’t trust him and even when he appears to be playing she takes the defensive. She use to sleep with my husband until Willie let her know the bedroom is his domain. Now she sleeps under the chair unless one of us is around and she is glued to our lap. Will they ever accept her?
For some reason, the other cats in the house don’t care for Joe Bob. I don’t understand why that is – when he was our foster when we lived in Madison, he and Sugarbutt and Tommy were the best of friends. They played together, they snuggled up for naps, they loved each other. When he joined the family two(ish) years later as a permanent, none of the other cats liked him. I don’t know why that is, he’s the sweetest cat on earth, but they just don’t like him. For the most part they don’t actually physically fight (anymore), but they all have room to spread out in the house, and everyone has their favorite spot in which to hang out. (I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but sometimes Spanky will follow Joe Bob around and glare at him. He doesn’t start a fight with Joe, and he never gets very close to him, but he does follow him and just sits and glares at him. We call him Creepy Cousin Spanky when he acts like that.)
I didn’t have much in the way of advice for you, but Doodle Bean had some great advice (thanks, Doodle Bean!):
I have had two for 12 years, and they’ve never really gotten along. They don’t fight that much anymore, so that is something.
Things that have helped: making sure there are more than enough litterboxes. The rule of thumb is one for each cat plus one. I have four for my two cats. Three just wasn’t enough. I also feed them within sight of each other, so they associate each other with something good. I give them catnip in different rooms, however, because that drug tends to lead to fights. In good weather, I make sure I have at least two windows open, otherwise there are fights for windowsill space.
Also, I make sure that I pay extra attention to each one individually during the day. Sweetpea *loves* to be brushed, so that’s what I do. Fuzz loves to go for walks (on leash), so I take him for daily walks. That seems to help the jealousy. When they seem mellow, I will give them treats together, making sure to pet them equal amounts. Finally, I set up elevated beds for each one in the rooms I spend the most time in. Sweetpea likes soft beds, so she has elevated soft beds. Fuzz doesn’t like soft beds, so he has an elevated cardboard boxes on which to snooze. Since Sweetpea likes boxes but doesn’t like sleeping on cardboard, there is absolutely no conflict over beds.
They seem to have worked out a lot themselves. Sweetpea owns the bed, but allows Fuzz to jump up on it for morning pets. Fuzz owns the back door and basement door areas and Sweetpea doesn’t care. Sweetpea owns the living room, but lets Fuzz walk through it. Fuzz owns the kitchen and Sweetpea is scared of the kitchen (long story). They share the food and water area and the bathroom when I’m in it.
I wish they were buddies, but I’ve settled for lack of fighting and tension. Hope this helps with your crew.
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Okay, now it’s time to properly meet the Peppers! (If you missed it, I posted an entry on Saturday that you might want to go check out.)
Sally Peppers.
Everett Peppers.
The slightly cross-eyed Lucy Peppers.
Molly Peppers.
Last, but certainly not least, Harlan Peppers.
The story behind the names is a simple one. Back in June, I was reading Swistle’s baby names blog, and read this post about a woman who wanted to name her baby Everett Peppers (Peppers being their surname), but her mother disliked the name intensely. At the time I read it, I thought “Everett Peppers would be an EXCELLENT kitten name!”, made a mental note, and moved on.
When I got this litter, I looked at them and decided almost immediately that they were going to be the Peppers Gang. I had Everett, I came up with Harlan pretty quickly, I knew I wanted to use Molly, and then I totally stole Lucy and Sally from Connie because I like those names. All together, I think their names sound like they very well might be a gang of ruffians from the Old West, robbing stagecoaches and holding up banks.
That’s Lucy on the left; I’m not sure which of the other two is Everett and which is Sally.
Harlan fell asleep in the middle of making Lucy, Everett, and Sally move over.
I love how Molly’s ears are so light compared to her dark head.
The first few days they were here, they slept almost exclusively on the bed. And then they discovered the cat tree, and now most of the time when I go in there, they’re all crammed together on the top platform.
Like I mentioned, they were hissy-spitty the first few days we had them, but I don’t remember the last time they hissed (maybe Thursday), and when I walk over to the cat tree, they peep at me, and purr like crazy. They aren’t to the point where they’ll come to us and ask for affection and they still cringe a little if we reach for them, but there’s time. They’ll come around soon enough, I’m sure.
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Cilantro in the sun. (She’s actually sitting on top of the Best! Box! Ever!!!!)
Sweet Miss Clove.
Clove on the cat tree in the front room.
Cilantro is the lickiest little thing. You get near her, she’s gonna lick you. Sometimes I have to bury my feet in the couch so she’ll stop licking them.
Ciara’s face just cracks me UP.
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Every time I think “I should take that box out to the garage. No one’s using it.”, Newt suddenly starts using it again. He spends his nights outside, then comes inside during the day, finds some out of the way place to hole up, and then in the evening he’s gone again.
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Previously
2010: No entry.
2009: No entry. 2008: Seriously, you people with no web presence at all freak me out. 2007: And the code phrase for “Give me more money, bitch”, can you guess it? “Red velvet. Red velvet!”, of course. 2006: Ooooh, my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it. 2005: the line “I ate 212 almonds last night really fast and then puked them back so they were still kinda whole. I just washed them off and ate ‘em again. I’ve seen dogs do it.” made Fred shoot applesauce out his nose.
2004: No entry. 2003: “Hey, little kitty!” I said excitedly, as I am prone to dorkdom.
2002: No entry.
2001: No entry. 2000: I will.
