Question for Robyn and the commentariat: any recommendations from personal experience for a comfortable, sturdy, and preferably budget-friendly cat carrier for long-distance travelling? We are moving from Ireland to the UK and will probably take our cat with us on the ferry rather than plane–she would have to spend the entire journey in her carrier in the car, so I want her to feel as comfortable as possible. It’s ok if the carrier is only available in the US–I have people coming over soon who could bring it with them. Anybody have a great experience with one?
I have no suggestions, but I’m sure someone out there does. Y’all, chime in, please!
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Ok, don’t kill me for not knowing which kitten it is in the bottom picture of the first Squashbugs get their turn, but it looks like someone has a heart and a Mickey Mouse (with one slightly detached ear) on their back! Or am I seeing things that aren’t there?
That’s Calabash, and she DOES have an upside-down heart near her tail – but it’s more obvious in pictures than in person, so I forget that it’s there! I’ve been trying to decide what the other thing looks like – it doesn’t quite look like Mickey Mouse to me, but I don’t know of a better comparison than that.
Here’s a better shot of the heart near her tail:
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If you make calendars for us to buy this year, Robyn, you could make one with your most popular banners! If so, I’d like to nominate Sugarbutt’s, Norbie’s, and Rickles’ hug banners.
I like the idea, but I’ll have to think about how to make that happen – the banners are rectangular, and the calendar pictures are more square, so either I’d have to have dark bars at the top and bottom of the page, or I’d have to just re-edit the picture to fit. The latter sounds like it would work better.
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I like the theme, but in my head I’m calling them Mike, Greg, Mark and Dara. I don’t think they’ll mind. 😉
and
I think human names on kittens is hilarious for some reason (did I mention I work at a bank?!).
and
All my cats have human names: Emma, Lola, Sidney and Laney 🙂
I like humans names for cats, but I like non-human names, too (ie, Sugarbutt, Mister Boogers). I realized recently that with the exception of Stinkerbelle, all our cats have human names now. How did that happen?!
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I could NOT stand the crying baybees… It would make me cry that I couldn’t feed them all at the same time and that any were crying! Breaks my heart even when I logically know they’re not dying!
I get used to it (though I’ll admit, I might listen to a podcast when I’m feeding them so that I can kind of tune out the worst of their cries), but what’s worse is that EVERYTHING sounds like a crying kitten to me – birds, chickens, even the dryer occasionally makes a squeaking sound that sounds like a kitten crying. It drives me a little crazy!
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I’m thinking your 8/11/11 list of things you like would make a handy reference if it was in the list of favorite posts.
I think I need to put a “recommended” page together, so I can add to it when I need to. I check my search stats about once a week (when I think of it), so I can see that a lot of people search for stuff I’ve recommended (Liqui-Tinic especially), and it would be nice to have all that stuff in one place, wouldn’t it?
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Speaking of the awesomeness of Fred, last night I was cruising the “Previously” links on yesterday’s post, and I came across this great tidbit Robyn posted on 8/8/11 (bolding mine):
…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.
That always makes me smile!
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BTW, I know that they’re kittens and haven’t figured out a lot of things but why wouldn’t they move to higher ground if the puddle level was rising? Are they part domestic turkey?
I think it was a combination of being chilled from the rain, and that kittens at that age, when scared, will freeze in place rather than try to get out of the situation. I saw an excellent illustration of that (the freezing in place) about an hour ago when I went into their room with a garbage bag to empty their litter box. The sound of the bag opening scared them, and they froze where they were!
(By the way, I was going to be all “Turkeys aren’t that dumb! They’re quite intelligent birds!” Except that we actually raised turkeys one year, and I always say that after God created chickens, He said “I wonder if I could make something.. EVEN DUMBER. Is that even POSSIBLE?!”, and that’s how turkeys came to be. They are just the dumbest of the dumb. They don’t even have marshmallow fluff for brains – they have NOTHING there. There’s just air. If you wanted to eat a big dish of turkey brains for dinner, it would be an empty plate.)
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I’m going to ask instead of googling, why do you need one rooster?
In case we want to let the hens hatch their own eggs (which isn’t going to happen this year), we need the rooster to fertilize the eggs.
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by litter tray you mean buffet right?
Would you believe I actually haven’t seen any kittens eating litter yet? I mean, that’s not to say that it’s not happening, but I haven’t seen it!
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Robyn, the permanent cats – especially the indoors inclined ones – NEED this. Be sure to follow on to the guy’s website where he details how to click-train your cats how to do this.
That is SO cool!
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There is Sugarbutt merchandise??!!? Where can I get it?
Here it is! I thought I’d added it to the sidebar, but hadn’t. I’ll do that in the next day or so, I promise.
By the way, I bought the iPhone case for my phone, and I’m actually kind of impressed at how nice it is, and how good the picture is. Not bad at all for a picture I took with my phone! I’m adding more stuff to the store (iPad sleeves and phone cases), it’s just taking me a little while, because I have to edit the picture down to the correct dimensions for each product. So if you’re looking for a case for your phone and don’t see it, check back. I should get everything done by next week.
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Maybe I missed it, but have the Swimmers met the Squash Bugs yet? I so very much want to see a tiny kitten scrum! (Also, I love that the Squashes’ {sp?} ears have popped while the Swimmers’ haven’t!)
They haven’t met yet! None of them have been tested yet, so I want to get that done first. They’re scheduled for their combo tests next Tuesday, so it shouldn’t be too much longer before the first visit. There will definitely be many pictures when they are introduced!
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Jake carrying his toy reminds me of my own Oreo. She carries toys and cries (I believe it is called keening). That is the only time she is “noisy”.
That’s the only time you ever hear Jake, is when he’s carrying a toy around. Fred reported that when I was gone on vacation last month, Jake didn’t do it at ALL. I wonder why that is?
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That Jake video got me thinking about which of the Permanent Residents might be considered the “smartest”. Jake doesn’t look like much is going on in his head there…
I like to think that there are hidden depths there, but no. I’d say Jake’s a few tablespoons short in the marshmallow fluff area (but he makes up for it with his good heart). I think Tommy’s the brains of the operation – though of course maybe I’m blinded by his House Panther good looks, his elder statesman status, and his gentle nature.
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“HELLO HI INNERNETS, I HAS A BANDAGE ON MY LEG AND YOU MUST FEEL SORRY FOR ME. I’M DA BAYBEE!”
Pattypan reads about how to properly eat a lobster.
“I can has a snuggle?”
This one right here, Calabash? She’s gonna be trouble, that one.
The girls, considering their next move.
Still considering.
Pattypan just loves to sit in my lap. Such a little snugglebug!
Calabash haz a skeptical.
Yesterday, I left the door to the cage open (after I set up litter boxes in every possible location) for a few hours. Every time I peeked in on the Squash Bugs, they were curled up asleep in the cage. Freedom is a little scary, I think. They’re still not 100% on the litter box, so I’m hesitant to leave the door open all the time, but given another week, I think they’ll be good.
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Snuggly Swimmers.
Torres keeps an eye on her brothers.
Spitz and Phelps hangin’ out, doin’ the bro thang.
Spitz considers the fact that there is ALWAYS someone’s butt in his face.
With a full belly and an empty bladder, Louganis is just about down for the count.
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Alice Mo would like you all to know that her dental cleaning on Tuesday went just fine, and she’s got perfectly sparkling pearly whites now.
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Previously
2014: Orlando and those expressive ears.
2013: The Floofening.
2012: I would give my kingdom for a solid poop from any of those kittens!
2011: Do you remember Starsky and Hutch?
2010: No entry.
2009: So, that’s what’s going on with these kittens and their eyes.
2008: Kara lets her Southern roots shine through.
2007: No entry.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.