(There’s an entry for yesterday, in case you missed it.)
I am such a dog person, but lately you have made me wonder if I’d like a cat in my house? It’s really weird that reading you makes me want a cat. It’s something to think about…wonder if my dachshund would freak if I brought a cat home?
You would not be the first person who ended up getting a cat after reading my site. I can’t say whether your dachshund would freak out over a cat, but dogs and cats have been known to get along (it always helps if the cat has a spot to get away from the dog – and vice versa), but of course it’s not guaranteed, it always depends on the personality of the dog and the cat.
Does Joe Bob have “thumbs” (extra toes?) or does it just look that way in the picture?
I am sad to report that none of our cats have extra toes. Which is too bad, because I think those extra-toed cats are kind of cool. Maybe our next cat will be a polydactyl!
How often do you dust and vacuum each week? (I’m trying to start a new schedule for myself)
In a perfect world, I vacuum on Saturday and Wednesday, and dust twice a week. In the real world, I vacuum on Saturday or Sunday (and run the Roomba two or three days during the week) and dust whenever I can force myself to do so. I loathe dusting more than just about any other household chore, and I’ve been known to go weeks between dusting, until Fred writes “Dust me” in the dust on all horizontal surfaces.
We have recently been taking care of a stray cat. I know she has worms. (don’t ask) Recently her belly has gotten really big – I don’t know if she is pregnant or its because of the worms, and she has liquid poop. (big sigh) AND her little butt hole place seems a bit puckered. MY QUESTION IS… I remember the vet violating sugar butts butt and saying something about a gland? Can you point me to that entry or remind me what he said?
Sugarbutt had impacted anal glands, which had to be expressed (ie, squeezed) by the vet. It was a painful but necessary experience for him. Signs of impacted anal glands in cats: Affected pets may lick the anal area, ‘scoot’ along the floor, or have problems with defecation.
Like Joe Bob and Mister Boogers, I also get very excited when it’s Snackin’ Time.
It’s no coincidence that my own Snackin’ Time takes place directly after the cats’ Snackin’ Time. Everyone needs a nightly Snackin’ Time!
Your 40 year old knees might need some glucosamine and chondroitin.
Yeah, I’ve been taking glucosamine/ chondroitin for about six months now. My knees were feeling fine until I apparently stressed them by suddenly exercising after doing none for months. After two days of rest, they’re feeling a lot better, but my right knee still hurts more than I’d like. LE SIGH.
Robyn, when you were a teenager, fantasizing about adulthood, did the image of you standing outside screaming at a cat whilst kicking the shit out of a chicken coop ever come to mind?
Anita, when I was a teenager, I knew for certain that if any screaming at a cat and chicken coop-kicking was to be done, my husband Donny Osmond would hire someone to do it for me whilst I lounged in bed and ate bonbons.
Also, I’m pretty sure it never occurred to me that I would be happy: 1. In the country, 2. Owning 630 cats, 3. Having to trudge through chicken poop and check for eggs every day, and 4. Canning and freezing our own food, let alone looking forward to owning PIGS. Thank god Teenage Robyn doesn’t get to pull the strings, is all I have to say.
The running around like their asses are afire … do they do that INSIDE too?
Oh, HELL yes. Every evening, as the time approaches Snackin’ Time (7:00), the cats get more and more agitated and more and more active until they’re racing around, fighting, jumping off furniture, chasing invisible pieces of dust and just generally being pains in the ass. After Snackin’ Time they calm down for a little while, then race around a little more, race around at various times during the night (though they’re usually fairly quiet at night, thank god), and then when I get up in the morning they commence to race like the hellions they are. Thank god they nap more than they race around; I couldn’t take 24-hour racing around.
And Robyn, why dincha make HIM drive the movies to the Post Office? I’da been all, “Oh, honey, while you’re out will you pick me up some whatever/fill up the tank/do this other errand I don’t want to do?” “While I’m out doing what?” “Taking those movies that I didn’t remind you about to the post office.”
Because it made me feel holier-than-thou to stomp around and make my point, of course!
Why didn’t Fred just let the kitties eat the yogurt? Two of my three love yogurt. I’ve never let them have most of a carton, though. They’re lucky to get a spoonful each when I’ve eaten 99% of it.
‘Cause I lied, and it was ice cream, not yogurt. And the ice cream had chocolate in it, and chocolate’s not good for cats. 🙂
I think you mentioned you use T-Mobile in a past update. What search words do you use on ebay to look for phones that will work with T Mobile? I am FOREVER replacing phones here. We have 4 in this family. Btwn oops and worn out parts I HATE waiting for a upgrade or paying full price for a new phone. Or GOD forbid extending my contract AGAIN! Any tips, I would be thankful.
Readers, correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe any “unlocked” phone can be used with any SIM card. Is that right?
In any case, an eBay search on “T-Mobile cell phone” brings up a bunch of different kind of cells, so it wouldn’t hurt to give that a try!
Oh man! I was rooting for Punki to stay. Where did my mojo go?????!!! Where will they go if they’re not happy in their new homes? Does the group you work with do home visits to confirm that they’re being treated well?
The shelter has a lifelong policy that any cat ever adopted from them can be returned to them, whether it’s been a few days or weeks, or years and years. They don’t do home visits (they really just don’t have the manpower for that), but I believe it’s written into the contract that they could just show up and ask to see the cat if they so desired. The adoption counselors are really good at their jobs, and I’m pretty sure that the cats go into good homes.
That said, after I found out that Punki had been adopted, I was REALLY regretting letting her go and not keeping her. I regret it a little less now, but if she were returned, I don’t think I’d even ask Fred before I brought her home for good.
My Siamese, Simon, always puts a couple of pieces of his dry cat food into his water bowl. WHY? Is it so he can see the water level? Is he telling me he’d prefer boullion to water? By the time I get home from work, there are hugely swollen disgusting pieces of kibble floating around and falling apart in his damn water bowl! It’s making me KUH-RAZY!
Like a couple of other commenters mentioned, it could be that in the process of “killing” his food, some of it goes into the water. Or maybe he’s one of those cats who likes the softened food. Does he eat any of the food that goes into the water, or does it just sit there? Like you mentioned, it’s also possible he’s having a hard time seeing the top of the water, so floating pieces of food help with that. We used to cut up a colored straw and put a couple of pieces in the water bowl so the cats could tell where the water began. Can’t hurt to give it a try!
What do you think of the new Survivor? I have just 2 words to describe Joel on the Fan Team: ROID RAGE. He takes himself way too seriously and I would laugh at him if he was not just a little ca-razy scary with the rage thing.
I’m actually really enjoying this new season of Survivor; this is the first season in at least a couple of years where I pay complete attention to what’s going on rather than flipping through a magazine while it’s on.
Joel reminds me a LOT of Ogre from Revenge of the Nerds, and I half-expect him to clench his meaty fists and bellow “FAVES! FAAAAAAAAAAAAAAVES!” at the other team during challenges.
Chet looks A LOT like Robin Gibb to me.
Also, Mikey B looks like Luke Wilson.
I don’t, at this point, have any hands-down favorites, but I’m enjoying the show a lot!
Good news on the adoptions! I’ve been meaning to ask, what ever happened to Jack Frost?
After being adopted and returned a couple of times, Jack Frost was finally adopted for good!
Do your cats eat flowers? I find that whenever I have flowers in the house, the cats will practically kill themselves to eat them. One of my cats will munch on the flowers, turn his head to barf up poorly chewed leaves, then immediately resume consuming my bouquet. I have to lock the flowers in a spare bathroom when I leave the house to protect them, and I also sit with a squirt bottle because those effers think they can chew on my flowers right in front of my face. Is this normal? Do I really have to choose between my kitties and fresh flowers?
Not only do I never have fresh flowers in the house, I had to get rid of my last plant too, because the shitheads were digging around in the dirt and making a mess. You very well might have to choose between your cats and fresh flowers, unless you have a place where you can put flowers that the cats can’t get to (I’ve considered putting a shelf just large enough for a vase of flowers on a wall in the living room, but I’m not confident enough that the cats wouldn’t figure out how to get to it!).
Right around the time I started reading you, I also started reading a blog by someone named Shelley. She wrote a HILARIOUS entry about Assless Chaps Man (complete with Assless Chaps Pictures) and she had a hairless guinea pig. Do you know if she still has a blog out there anywhere?
That was Shelley at Shelleyness.com, and unfortunately, she’s not blogging anymore. I miss her EVERY DAMN DAY, do you hear me, Shelley? Come back to us! The internet needs youuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu!
My 10 month old cat used to suck on my hands and shirt when she was a kitten and while she no longer does that regularly, she likes to crawl under my covers while I’m sleeping and suck on my back, which is really gross and wakes me up. Why would she do that? Do you have any sucking cats or did I get stuck with a weirdo?
I’m fairly certain it’s the sort of thing that results from being weaned too soon – Sugarbutt used to do it, but he’s pretty much grown out of it. I’ve heard of other cats who do it their entire lives, so I’d say your cat might grow out of it, or she might not. She’s not a weirdo, though, it’s pretty common.
I just looked around and found this page, which says:
There are three factors that may explain the development of this behavior:
1. While pica is common in many breeds, the intelligent and sensitive Siamese, Burmese, and Himalayan breeds all inherit common genes which seem to carry the urge to wool-suck or chew.
2. Also, premature weaning appears to predispose some cats to this behavior. This may also explain why the Oriental breeds are more likely to exhibit this behavior. The Oriental breeds tend to nurse longer (16 weeks) than their mixed-breed cousins (8-10 weeks), leading to a greater postweaning drive to suckle. However, even a mixed breed kitten that is weaned early will have a strong drive to nurse and may displace that drive into ritualized oral activities.
3. Stress appears to be a major factor triggering these behaviors as the sucking and chewing activities may not be performed until the cat is well into adulthood. Perhaps it could be compared to thumb-sucking or nail-biting in humans.
It goes on to offer solutions to stop the behavior if it’s bothersome, so you might give one of those a try.
Does the Pur water dispenser make the water taste better? I should buy one because I refuse to drink the water from my faucet. I don’t like having to buy water all the time.
It absolutely does – it removes that chemical “tap” taste from the water, and it makes the water taste great!
Is snackin time the only time they eat? Or is that when they get the canned food and they also have dry food out all the time? Do they eat people food?
No, Snackin’ Time’s when they have their canned food (two small cans of food divided amongst 9 cats – though the pigs (Mister Boogers, Joe Bob, Stinkerbelle) get quite a bit more than their fair share!)). They always have dry food available to them (three different kinds, OF COURSE). Some of them will occasionally eat human food, though we don’t really offer them human food too often. If we’re having chicken, Mister Boogers will howl and howl and howl until you give him a piece. Sugarbutt will jump up on the counter and eat dry oatmeal in the morning when Fred is getting his breakfast and lunch together to take to work with him. Last night, Tommy ate a bran flake, if you can believe it. Apparently Tommy believes in being regular. Joe Bob and Stinkerbelle will eat human food if you offer it to them, but they don’t demand it the way Spot used to. If there’s any dairy being eaten, Spanky hangs around looking inquisitive until you’re done and offer him your bowl to lick. The only cat who absolutely will not eat any human food at all aside from the juice from a can of tuna is Miz Poo. Chicken, steak, fish, dairy, the girl is not interested in the slightest.
Wow. That’s probably WAY overanswering your question, isn’t it? 🙂
who is now the oldest Anderson cat? In years and/or length of service. And I know I could do some research but I’m busy getting my house ready to sell. OK. I’m also rather lazy.
That would be Spanky, who’s 11 1/2 years old – Fred gave him to me as a Christmas present the first Christmas I was here. I can’t believe he’s so old! Miz Poo is next, at 8 1/2 years old – she’s another one we got around the holidays; I brought her home the day before Thanksgiving 1999. After her is Mister Boogers, at almost 5 years old. Tommy and Sugs are almost three years old – we’ve had them since they were itty bitty. Miss Momma is, and this is a total guesstimate, about four years old and Newt is around two, we think. Miss Stank will be one at the end of March, and we’ve had her since she was a little thing, too. Joe Bob (who I am calling “Jobey” – or “Joe B.”, I guess – more and more lately) will be three at the end of June.
The cats are actually listed in the left sidebar in the order in which we acquired them!
Miz Poo watches forlornly from the back yard as I feed the chickens and check for eggs. (flickr)
Previously
2007: No 29th.
2006: No 29th.
2005: No 29th.
2004: No entry.
2003: No 29th.
2002: No 29th.
2001: No 29th.
2000: Honest to god, am I the most spoiled wifey you’ve ever seen, or what?