If you’re in Maine and are looking for a cat, please let me know and I’ll pass your email along to the people looking for a home for her. She’s about 1 1/2 years old, has a very sweet temperament, and is a blue-eyed Siamese mix. (Sorry, no pics at the moment – but I’m sure there’ll be some available soon!) She’s spayed and has had her rabies shot.
Y’all in the Huntsville area, don’t forget about the Plea Market (ie, gigantic yard sale) going on Saturday 9 am – 4 pm at the Jaycees building on Airport Road. There’s a preview sale tonight from 5 – 8 which costs you a donation of $10 to get in.
You can check out the North Alabama Spay Neuter Clinic web site, here.
Robyn, I just re-read “Fishing Frank’s” diary entry from last year, and have been sitting here HOWLING.
“TAKE YOUR TIME!” Mr. Idiot said through clenched teeth. Mrs. Idiot picked up the pace, and the faster her feet went, the faster her mouth went. I counted 23 “fucks” before I stopped counting.”
I would like to nominate this entry for a spot on the “best of” page!
I have added Fishing Frank to the “best of” page.
(How many of you just said “There’s a “best of” page?!” ?)
That’s it. I’m calling “Hoarders.” You’re hoarding cats. 😉
Can I request Dr. Robin “Crazy Eyes” Zasio and Matt “Cranky Matt” Paxton please?
Okay, I admit that I’m a check writer. I resist/reject using debit cards because I believe they are used for data collecting/tracking purposes. However, upon approaching any check out counter my checkbook is in-hand and except for purchase amount, I immediately begin writing out the check so as not to delay others in line.
Did I mention that I dislike using debit cards???? Technology is not always good; introduces a “new” set of issues/problems/concerns.
The way technology is going these days, in another five years I’ll be writing about how annoying people who use DEBIT and CREDIT CARDS are, GOD, why don’t they just have the money subtracted from their bank account by RETINA SCAN the way the rest of us do?!
I too, lament the possibility of drowning in cat pee, especially with our latest kitten addition. Sadly though, the kitten is more accepted by everyone than our previous 2 arrivals have been.
Is it a big issue with you with so many? I have a few that seem to be the worst offenders, and I’m trying everything I can to calm them down a bit, but my 12 still pale in comparison to your…is it 18 now? Does letting them out a bit seem to help with that, or do they still get that way when they all come inside at night? I was thinking about screening in our huge front porch next spring to see if the extra room would help calm things down.
Do you use Feliway, or do you have any tips that would help create more kitty harmony?
IT IS NOT 18. IT IS 16. AND 4 OF THEM ARE FOSTERS.
::headdesk::
For the most part, cat pee is not a huge problem for us unless something happens to piss (har har) someone off – we’re pretty sure that Sugarbutt is the pee-er most of the time. On a regular day to day basis we generally don’t run across cat pee, but if I go away for a few days, the pee floodgates open. When I was in Myrtle Beach, Fred’s couch was peed upon quite a bit, along with any clothing he left laying on the floor.
(Clothing on the floor almost always gets peed on, for some reason. I don’t leave clothes on the floor EVER.)
But I would say that letting them outside during the day really does help. They get that much more room to spread out and stay out of each others’ faces. At night when we make sure they’re all inside and shut the back door, there’s the occasional tiff and some chasing, but for the most part they settle down in various places through the house, and don’t pick on each other too much.
I don’t really have any tips – isn’t that helpful? I’ve tried Feliway and I’m not sure whether it helps or not. It seems that it does calm them down a little bit, but I can’t guarantee it. Some people swear by it, though – it’s probably worth trying.
Who has cat harmony tips? Feel free to share!
I had a cat who was a growler, too. Domino hated people, pretty much all people except us, but unknown visitors were definitely on her list of those who must be shunned. She’d go hide for the first hour or so, and then she’d grow tired of hiding and come into the room and menace them… “GO HOME NOW!” She was a beautiful, tiny (and perfectly round) kitty, so she didn’t look scary, but the sounds that came out of her were pretty darn amazing! People would ask, “will she hurt me?” and I’d say, “well, not if you leave soon” Hee! She was way too much of a chicken to have actually approached anyone, but after her growling they just didn’t believe me. Worked well to keep visits short 🙂
If I could train one of the cats to fluff up, walk sideways, and growl at people on my signal, that would be AWESOME. I’d make them accompany me to the door when there was a stranger there, and scare the bejesus out of them! “I’d like to buy your insurance, Mr. Salesman, but Fluffy doesn’t seem to trust you, and I ALWAYS listen to what the cat has to say!”
I know you don’t usually shop at Kroger but I wanted to let you know that the 40lb. boxes of cat litter, Petpride, are on sale for $7.09 or 7.89… something like that, in case you want to stock up. And for the record that litter is much better then the the 28lb. green box that Wal-Mart sells, I think it’s Special Kitty, it really does suck compared to the Kroger one in the blue box. Not that you’ve ever mentioned using it just wanted to let you know in case you ever did.
I did try the Pet Pride litter, but decided that I still prefer the Fresh Step I get at Sam’s. But I’m including this here so that those of you who do like the Pet Pride litter know to get yourselves to Kroger!!
I wanted to thank you for the link to Crunchy Betty. I want to try her Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaner Ever. Have you tried it yet? Also, we installed new wood floors as soon as we closed on our house. What do you find is the best way to clean your wood floors? Thanks!
Oh, you guys KNOW I love sharing when I find the best sites ever! And did I mention that I love me some Crunchy Betty? I do.
I have not tried the Best Homemade Bathroom Cleaner Ever YET – what, do you think I clean more than once in a blue moon? Silly readers. I do have most of the stuff to make it, though, I just need the peppermint essential oil, and then I’ll be ready to go. Which is good timing, because we’re doing Thanksgiving dinner here next week, so you KNOW I’ll be doing some serious cleaning Tuesday and Wednesday (and Thursday morning)!
I usually use my All-Purpose Cleaning Spray to clean my floors. I have a Swiffer duster, only instead of using the disposable Swiffer cloths, I use cut up flour sack cloths, tuck the four corners of the cloths into where you’d tuck the corners of the Swiffer cloths, and after I’m done cleaning the floors, I toss the dirty cloths into the wash. I spray a section of the floor with the spray, then go over it with the Swiffer, go on to the next section, and so forth.
There are all kinds of hardwood floor cleaners out there that you can buy, but honestly I don’t think they do the job any better than my cleaning spray does.
(I’m open to other suggestions, those of you who have hardwood floors!)
I got turned on to internet glasses early this year and found the Glassy Eyes blog, and he always has coupons on the sidebar for several different online eyeglass stores.
I have like five pair of glasses now, which is such a radical concept to me after nearly 30 years of never owning more than one pair at a time. I just broke a pair banging them on the top of the car door, and I was all “oh, shoot, now I have to walk back inside and put on a different pair of glasses instead of wasting an entire day dealing with this.”
They’re absolutely just eyeglass mills, you wouldn’t want to use them for particularly complicated requirements and they don’t do any kind of repair, but for a cheap pair of glasses they can’t be beat.
Awesome! I think I’m going to buy another pair or two so I can feel free to get rid of my old, crappy glasses.
I have heard about people falling in love on-line, but I never thought it would happen to me! Oh. Corbie, I love you so much!
I can’t blame you. He is beyooooooootiful, isn’t he?
Years ago we adopted a stray, Nico, who proved to have an E coli infection all the way to her kidneys. What got her diagnosed is one night she let go in a papasan and peed all the way through the cushion on to the floor. The pee smelled terrible and I thought the cushion was lost. (And she peed all over a vet tech and her fur smelled so bad when we got her home that we had to bathe her in the bathtub. Fun!)
However, I used this stuff called Simple Solution, which has enzymes and bacteria in it that eat stains/smells. Basic Nature’s Miracle has only enzymes.
(Link to Petco site: http://www.petco.com/product/2851/Simple-Solution-Stain-and-Odor-Remover-for-Pets.aspx )
I wound up drenching (half a bottle at least) the “accident spot” 2 or 3 times and putting it in the sun to dry, but it worked. I still have the cushion, it doesn’t smell, the cats sleep in it all the time, and nobody has peed on it since.
Anything you can find that has beneficial bacteria in it plus enzymes will work better. Nature’s Miracle makes an enzyme/bacteria formula but you gotta read the ingredients to figure out which of their products have it.
I’m posting this here ’cause I wanted to make sure those of you who don’t read the comments saw it.
You can get Simple Solution at PetSmart, too!
This has nothing to do with anything today but don’t you think that Corbie looks alot like a California Spangled cat and Rhyme looks like an Egyptian Mau? Maybe their momma was a wayward showcat?
They really do resemble those breeds – and Corbie also looks a lot like a Bengal.
Their momma wasn’t a showcat, though – she was a pretty little black and white Tuxie. Maybe their father was the wayward showcat?
Yeah, I’ve been married 21 years and I could have my own bedroom and be happy. It’d be great to be able to spread out in bed like a swastika.
The funny thing is that I don’t spread out at ALL. I sleep on the left side of the bed (as you’re facing it), and most of the cats who sleep with me – Miz Poo, Rhyme, Tommy, Elwood – sleep on the right side of the bed. Well, except that Rhyme usually stretches across the bed and puts his head on my shoulder for at least part of the night!
Now I have a question – I have two cats that I am “keeping” temporarily for a friend who hit some hard times. They are small cats, esp in comparison to my 2 huge boys. They eat well, drink well, everything works – except they are vomit comets. I have had to change the sheets in the guest room 3 times in the last week because they like to vomit on the bed (and the carpet). I know I should have gotten wise after the first time and put some plastic over the bedding, but I am slow sometimes. But really I want to keep them from vomiting at all – any hints? They mostly eat dry (Purina indoor cat) food and occasionally some wet if the other cats let them.
I’ve read that sometimes cats will eat dry food until they’re full, and then immediately drink water, which causes the dry food to swell in their stomach and makes them vomit. Is the food they’re eating the same food they were eating before? And how long have they been with you? It could be the change in environment, or even just the stress of the move.
If it were me, I’d give it a little while (maybe move their water away from their food and up their wet food intake if possible) and see if the problem resolves itself.
Anyone else out there with suggestions? Feel free to share!
Saw this on a friends facebook and figured you would appreciate it the most.
LOVE it! I can’t imagine a single one of my cats who would just lay there and let me do that. I love it when he rolls the toy past the cat, and the cat’s just like “Yeah? And?” and doesn’t even bother to smack at it.
I can’t stop giggling at that picture of Hutch where it looks like he’s fallen into the lava and Coltrane’s all, “Cut the drama, babe. Tryna nap here.”
The “screamy” picture is good too – Coltrane looks like he’s thinking, “Every. Single. Damned. Flight I ever take, there’s ALWAYS a screaming kid in the next row!” – but it’s the memory of the “oh noes, teh lava, it gots me!” picture that is going to make me laugh inappropriately in several public places today.
That description of this picture made me laugh out loud. I agree, Hutch is all drama queening it up, and Coltrane could not be less impressed.
Ok…off the subject: I read your about me section and linked over to the pigs and chickens. So, I have a few questions. How do you chose which chicken to “process”? How do you not get attached to those cute little pigs? Do you cry when they go to the “freezer camp”? Does Fred do the dirty work and you keep your eyes closed and your fingers in your ears as you sing “La-la-la-la-la” the whole time (I think I would)? I know people might roll their eyes at me on this one, but I really would like to know. Yes, we all eat and nothing “magically” gets packaged at the grocery store….but I was wondering how you can let go of “pinky” when you are eating him? Forgive me…I am NOT being a smarty-pants or anything. This is a real question.
Fred is actually the one who chooses which chickens need to be processed – and at this point they’re almost always roosters. If you have too many roosters, they fight each other, and run the hens ragged to the point where the hens get bare spots on their backs because the roosters pull at their feathers to balance during, y’know. THE ACT. I hate seeing hens with bare backs.
The very first chicken we processed (in 2007, I think), I was actually the one to wield the ax. I felt that I couldn’t, in good conscience, expect Fred to do all the work, and I needed to prove that I was willing to do my part. It was not fun, to say the least, and that’s the last chicken I slaughtered myself. If I had to do it, I would. But he does the processing, I do the cooking, it all balances out, right?
He processes several chickens at a time, and he does it over by the end of the driveway, which is a spot I can avoid looking at. I usually don’t see any of the processing going on until he brings the chickens inside, when it’s time to put them in freezer bags and label them. By the time I see the processed chickens, they look exactly like the chickens you get at the grocery store.
The pigs are very personable, but they’re also very obnoxious as they get older. We don’t process the pigs ourselves, we take them to a local butcher, and that makes it a little easier to deal with. I got pretty attached to the first set of pigs we had, and it was very hard to see them go off to the butcher. I don’t think I’ve gotten as attached to the subsequent sets of pigs, though I like to watch them run around, and they’re pretty entertaining.
It’s never easy to know that they’re about to go off to the butcher, and I always feel especially bad for them the day before they go because they’re running around, they’re eating, they’re pushing each other out of the way at the trough, and they don’t know that it’s their last day. It’s a little easier – for me – with the chickens because there are so many of them and I ask Fred not to tell me which ones he’s going to process ahead of time.
It probably helps that we simply don’t think of the chickens and the pigs in the same way that we think of the dogs and the cats. We never regard them as pets, and don’t allow ourselves to get that attached to them.
Actually, scratch that – there are a few chickens that we’ve considered pets in the past. My favorite was an Americauna hen we got with our very first batch of 12 hens. She was a character and would come running over like a puppy every time we went outside.
This is Frick (short for Fricassee) and Sugarbutt:
I always thought of her as a pet, and we would never have eaten her. Sadly, when she was about 1 1/2, we found her dead under the chicken coop. In retrospect, she was probably eggbound, which we didn’t realize at the time.
(We buried her in a corner of the chicken yard.)
When we bought this house, it was our intention to move toward a more self-sufficient lifestyle. A large part of that is raising our own food in the form of the chickens and pigs and the garden. Because we have the space and the time required to raise our own food, we do.
I like knowing that the pigs and chicken live happy lives where they can roam the field, where they’re protected by George and Gracie, and where they eat bugs and grass and the occasional kitchen scraps. (Our chickens’ favorite food? Tomatoes. They would cut your throat for a bucket of tomatoes. I gave them the last tomatoes of the season this afternoon. I’m a little afraid they’re going to come after me when there are no tomatoes tomorrow!) We treat them well – did I ever mention that our pigs each get a homemade chocolate chip cookie every night? I’m not kidding. (I cook a batch of them and keep them in a bag and the pigs each get one in the evening. I don’t make them FRESH cookies every day. I’m not CRAZY.) – and I believe that they have happy lives right up until the end.
Good lord – did you know when you asked the question that I was going to go on about it forever?
If I can guess the questions my essay will lead to, I’m going to guess someone’s curious why we don’t have a cow (we’re not quite ready to make that commitment. We do eat beef, though – we bought half a (processed) cow from the butcher who processed our pigs last year. We’re hoping next year to trade a (processed) pig for a half cow from the same man.), why we don’t have goats (I don’t want goats. I’ve never eaten goat, and I have no desire to.), and how many freezers we have (a big chest freezer in the garage, a smaller chest freezer in the garage, an upright freezer in the laundry room, and the freezer that goes with our refrigerator).
So there you go. And now someone’s saying “Why’s she talking about FARMING? We’re here to see the kitties!” 🙂
Starsky, staring at the ceiling fan.
It’s pretty amazing, that ceiling fan.
I guess he’d never seen it actually running before.
Starsky, hanging out in the foster room.
Hanging out on my desk.
Don’t Buster and Starsky look like they could be brothers?
Starsky and Hutch will be heading off to their new home this afternoon. They have a bit of a drive ahead of them, but I think when they get there, they will be two very happy, very spoiled little monkeys.
I’ll tell you all about it on Monday!
Buster’s legs, hanging over the top of the pantry. I’m really wishing we’d had a “lip” built around the top of that thing, because seeing the bed (not to mention the CAT) hang off like that stresses me out!
Sweet, sweet, SWEET Joe Bob. He is just the sweetest cat on earth. You talk to him, and he looks at you and squints up at you with love. He’s just a sweet boy.
Previously
2009: If the Cookies’ heads are filled with marshmallow Fluff, then chickens’ heads are filled with lint, and turkeys’ heads are filled with nothing but pure air.
2008: Can’t connect to the internet, new entry will have to wait ’til tomorrow.
2007: “IF HE RUINED THIS CAMERA, I AM GOING TO TAKE HIM OUT TO THE BACK FORTY AND SHOOT HIM IN THE BACK OF THE GODDAMN HEAD!” I bellowed at Fred, who made an I’m-listening-really-this-is-fascinating noise and kept clicking around the internet.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
2004: Questions answered.
2003: Pictures.
2002: Just another example of my weirdness.
2001: God in heaven, has the WORLD GONE NUTS?
2000: “Oh, you’re giving us the COT free of charge? Well, let me do a friggin’ happy dance for that!”
1999: “Lookit them buildings, Fray-uhd! They’s so TALL! And look! A homeless person. Give him money, Fred! Give him money!”