One of my favorite activities is drinking an adult beverage out of my Stompers glass and being reminded with each sip that Inspector Stompers is not judging me.
I should totally redo that stuff so that it has the picture with “Inspector Stompers is not judging you” on one side and “(totally judging you)” on the other!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m not worried too much about George and Gracie staying warm with those coats and assorted shelters out back but what do you do about the ducks and chickens?
The chickens stay warm enough in the coop, though when it’s going to get very cold, Fred goes out and puts Vaseline on the roosters’ combs so that they don’t get frost-bite. Some years he doesn’t need to do it at all, but he needed to do it three evenings in a row this week!
As far as the ducks, I have no idea where they go when they’re not pretending to be “stuck” in the pond, but I see them traveling between the chicken coop area and the pond several times a day. Fred put fresh straw in the duck house, and the ducks didn’t even bother to go in there, so I’m guessing they don’t feel the need to be warm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
My Googling skills must be failing me, but I can’t find where to buy the cat hammicks. Anyone?
There’s a link in the sidebar (under “Stuff we recommend”), or you can click on this handy link right here. They’re made by Forty Paws, and they are awesome!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Robyn, has Maxi come inside during this cold or is she snuggled up in the garage?
She actually stays in her house on the front porch (which has a heated bed on the bottom and a low-wattage bulb hanging from the “ceiling”) pretty much 24 hours a day lately. She comes out in the morning when I take her a snack, and she’s warm to the touch. She seems to prefer her house to the garage – she’ll go into the garage if we open the door for her, but she comes right back out. I think she likes sitting all snug in her little house, watching the possums go by!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m not good with US geography, but I hope you’re not going get the negative 20-50 degree celsius in Alabama!
I can’t imagine what that would be like, I’m from somewhere without winter.
Please make up the guest room, because I’m comin’ to visit! A place without winter sounds really good to me right now!
We got to -15 celsius this week, which is REALLY unusual for us. I’d be happy not to see that temperature again this winter!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Did you ever watch “All Creatures Great and Small”? Every time you mention Tricki, I keep thinking that it’s going to be a dog. 🙂
I never did watch that!
But when I see Tricki or type her name, I always think of Run-D.M.C! 🙂
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Question for the cat experts: With this cold snap, I dug out an electric blanket for the sofa. It’s for people, not pets, but it has 10 temps (L thru 10). I never use it above the L mark. I remember seeing stories about cats getting burned with electric blankets, and I put a non-electric throw on top of the electric blanket to diffuse some of the heat, too. I’ve not seen any problems so far with any of my 5 guys who use it (No. 6 rarely comes out of my bedroom), but … is this safe, do you think? I tend to keep my house fairly cool in the winter, but I don’t want them to be too cold.
Kar said: For what it’s worth, I would only turn the blanket on for an hour or so at a time. Some come with timers. Also, if your cats haven’t already found them, you could place some cat bed conveniently near the heating vents. My mother couldn’t keep books on her bookside table as it was by a vent and I keep cat beds in weird places like the hallway but are right underneath the vent.
Connie said: The warnings are for the infirm… the too young or the too old.. that often can not feel when they are over heating. My cats sleep on my electric blanket all night long – much to my dismay because I can often barely move. There are some ‘cat safe’ ones if you are interested in purchasing something. Although I am paranoid and never leave it on when I am not in the house. Why I think it is OK all night long while I’m sleeping but not when I’m not in the house I’ll never know..
I have an electric throw that I turn on (on low) for the cats, and haven’t had any issues (it turns off automatically after 2 hours, and when I realize it’s off, I turn it back on, which has the result of making me feel like I spend my LIFE turning it on for the cats!). Like Connie, I probably wouldn’t do it while I’m not home, but in our house, that’s not an issue, since there’s pretty much someone here 24/7 these days!
An alternate idea (for when you’re not home) would be to make your own self-heating cat bed. You can use a windshield reflector or buy a (huge!) roll of reflective insulation at Lowe’s or Home Depot. Cut it to size, stick it in a pillow case, or even just wrap in a towel, and it keeps the cats surprisingly warm.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BTW I was googling this site when I discovered there was a movie titled “Love and Hisses” made in 1937 !! and starring Walter Winchell and Bert Lahr. I doubt I’ll ever watch it as there doesn’t seem to be any cats in it.
I have never watched that movie, but I certainly knew about it. I went through several possible names for this site (none of which I can remember anymore, of course) (okay, I went and looked through my email – I really wanted pawofdoom.com or kitty-city.com or hellew.com, but they were all taken. At least, at the time they were taken, pawofdoom.com seems to be available now!) and when I came up with (and then googled) Love and Hisses, I found the movie, but not much else. Maybe one day I’ll watch it, but… probably not! 🙂
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Counterpart to the naughtiest dogs.
LOVE it! Especially the cat that watched a mouse eat his food and did nothing!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I remember reading the Crooked Acres Permanent Resident Compatability Chart® (which I can’t seem to find now) and seeing that Jake has a “Weird Obsession” with Stinkerbelle, who I think mostly has a “Hates” designation in relation to other cats except Tommy. Looks like Princess Stinker got the better of Jake this time around!
Here it is! And I’ve been meaning to put a link to it in the sidebar, and just did that. It’s under the “Permanent Residents” heading, in case you want to see it in the future!
Stinkerbelle hates all cats who are not Tommy, though toward the end of Spanky’s life, she developed a strong affection for Spanky, who wanted none of THAT nonsense!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I’m glad that Alice is doing better but I’m trying to remember how she got her name. Did the song or the name come first?
Her name did – when we got her, we had the Brady Bunch, and in an attempt to kind of lump her in with the other kittens, we followed the naming theme. Her name was officially “Alice Nelson” (Alice being the zany, wise-cracking housekeeper for the Brady Bunch), though when we adopted her, we dropped the “Nelson.” It wasn’t long before Fred started calling her “Alice Mo-rales” and then “Alice Mo the cal-i-co.” These days she’s most often Miss Mo, with the occasional Alice Mo thrown in. Fred sometimes calls her Miss Alice, too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Noelegy said: I need help, and hopefully you can post this Friday for all of the kitty experts. Thanksgiving weekend, I made an emotional decision to adopt a cat from the SPCA. His name is Gus, he is about 7 months old, and Philo, my nearly 7-year-old alpha cat, is making his life miserable. He stalks and harasses him, and the confrontations turn physical. I have given Gus his own room as safe space, but his anxiety is such that he has started peeing all over the “safe room.” Philo has accepted kittens in the past, and I am sure that if it weren’t for him, Gus would have integrated into the household by now. Gus is so very sweet and friendly. I have ordered some of Jackson Galaxy’s Spirit Essences (the Ultimate Peacemaker pack) and wondered if anyone has experience with these? Any and all advice is welcome.
OldCat pretty much said what I would have: You could try isolating Gus again, then doing room swaps with Gus outside and the bully in the safe room to avoid fights and let them get used to places they’ve been.
Then you could try bribing them both with treats in the same area to get them used to good things around each other.
I don’t have experience with the Spirit Essences, but I know that a few people have given them a try – if you’ve tried them, please chime in here!
Anyone else have more suggestions? I’d love to hear them in the comments, please!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Wow, Jake! You know, I never thought of him as a bully?! Or is it just when he’s around girls he gets all hormonal-teenaged-boy like? You know Jake, stalking is no way to pick up chicks, no matter how cute you are.
I don’t think that he’s TRYING to be a bully, I think he’s just wanting to play or be friends with her, and he’s ignoring her very obvious signals that she has no interest in that. I’d like to think that he’ll understand better as he gets a bit older, but I’m not sure we can count on that!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is that the trapper hat from Petco? I saw that and wanted it so bad for my cats, but I resisted the temptation. Glad to see John Smith pulling it off so nicely.
It is! I just love that picture so much. 🙂
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alice Mo
The Calico
Doesn’t need pain
when she pees
ya know!
Ain’t THAT the truth!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
you know those signs that people made to “shame” their pets? here’s another one
ever need to make one of those yourself? heehee
I love that one (but – poor hamster)! I could make a million cat-shaming signs, but lately it would have to involve Sugarbutt and would say “I like to hang out at the top of the cat tree and barf over the side, then laugh at the obscenities my mother growls as she cleans it up!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Is it just me or do Toto’s facial expressions remind one of Mister Boogers? The ears picture today and a picture from yesterday had me thinking of the Boogie (whom I miss very much!)
You know, I hadn’t really noticed it, but now that I look at pictures of both of them, I can definitely see it. And now here are a few of my favorite Boogie pics, just because.
Quintessential Boogie.
One of my favorite pictures. That wad of fur on top of his head was fur that I’d just brushed off of him. I called it his Donald Trump impression (“Yer fired!”)
Boogie in a hat, which I amused myself by turning into….
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bunnie just LOVES to hang out on the bottom of the cat tree and watch me sweep the floor. Whatever floats your boat, silly Bunnie girl.
“Yowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwza!”
Slinkin’ along.
John Smith, with attitude. “You not put that hat on me again, lady.”
Bunnie, playing peekaboo.
What walks down stairs, alone or in pairs
and makes a slinkity sound?
A spring, a spring, a marvelous thing!
Everyone knows it’s Slinnnnnnkyyyyyyyyy.
Just about every night, they knock over that scratching post. I think I’m going to ask Fred to bolt it to the wall!
And they’ve removed the feather teaser toy that hangs from the top, so bat at the chain instead. Such brats.
You can’t actually tell from this picture, but Toto was standing atop that scratching post, trying to get the little red dot.
“Whar’d it gooooo?”
Tricky and Toto, looking for the laser dot.
Toto exfoliates my terribly dry hands.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“‘Scuse me, Corbie not like this cold weather, please fix RIGHT NOW.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2013: Bitsy girl, sometimes you’ve just gotta DANCE, am I right?
2012: “HI MISTER JAKE! HI! I LUB YOU!”
2011: Jake loves to hang out with the babies.
2010: The Cookies, then and now.
2009: No entry.
2008: No entry.
2007: “Valjean! At last, we see each other plain. M’sieur LeMeow, you’ll wear a doggie chaaaaaaaaaaaain!”
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
You got our East European weather! I would ask you to give it back, but while I miss the cold very much I am quite happy to have a lighter heating bill. Still balmy 8 Celsius in January just confuses me awfully.
Glad that Maxi has her comfortable room with a view and that she stays warm!
The picture of Mr. Boogers in the hat got me thinking about Senator Boogertons. That picture would be quite the campaign scandal had the media gotten ahold of it during his re-election year.
Oh, the opposition would have had a ball with it! 🙂
we are with Corbie – a weather fix is needed!!!
for Philo and Gus…I would separate them again and start over. from swapping rooms to feeding on opposite sides of the door. and make sure everyone gets lots of play time – tired cats are good cats. 🙂
oh – and thank you for getting Run DMC stuck in my head. 😛
Hey, that’s what I’m here for! 😉
Thanks for the input re the electric blanket. I started with some of those self-heating beds from Amazon, but my guys wouldn’t touch them. I think the noise freaked them out somehow. So far, no problems with the electric blanket, except one: When it goes off at night, long after I’ve gone to bed, my bed is suddenly flooded with cats looking to cuddle! 😉
When I wake up with Sugarbutt pressed up against me, I know that either the electric throw has turned off, or it’s a particularly cold night! 🙂
“Warning: Grandma Boogers’s Ye Olde Cat Nippe may contain large amounts of het rays.”
Happy Belated Birthday Robyn. So sorry I missed it yesterday.
Thanks, Elaine! 🙂
I was unable to recall many details about Stompers after seeing the great update on him recently, so I finally had to delve back into the archives to refresh my memory. (When I first found this site in 2013, I went back and read everything to catch up, but it may have blended together a bit.) At any rate, it must have vaguely stuck that he was a “special” kitten. I mean, they all are special of course, but being a baby that had to be rescued from a dog is quite the start.
I think all of your fostering is amazing, Robyn, and I hope I can foster kittens myself one day. But in particular today, since I had the “before” and “after” side by side, there was just something so special about seeing Stompers as the “sweet little mess” he was when you first got him and comparing those shots with the handsome grownup Stompers in Kristyn’s pictures. I know his tenure at Crooked Acres wasn’t really that long, but you did amazing things for him. (And he looks to be utterly happy in Kristyn’s home!) It brightened my day just a little bit more and I wanted you to know how awesome it was. 🙂
Oh, he was certainly a mess when we got him, and he turned out to be just the sweetest thing. When they have such a rough start, I love it when they go straight to their new home without having to stop at Petsmart. 🙂
Trickie woo in All Creatures, the fictionalized biography of real vet James Herriot, who was really called Alf White, was a very very spoiled and useless Pekingese who had an owner who doted on him, calling in the long suffering vet on all manner of unnecessary calls, but she paid well and gave extravagant gifts.
>not judging you” on one side and “(totally judging you)” on the other!<
DO IT!! I promise to buy a set if you do!
Me too!
Give me a few days, I’ll get it done. 🙂
Can anyone answer this one? Why do cats always barf where it hits the most surfaces and/or it’s next to impossible to get it cleaned up? Or why always on the carpet when the tile is 2 inches away?
Or your entire house is tile and hardwood and they always run to the one rug…
There’s a theory out there that they prefer to be able to steady themselves – so a rug is something they can dig their claws into rather than the hardwood. Or they are just little jerks!
One of my started doing a windmill-vomit recently! She shifted with every retch, making a circle of vomit, which she would then walk in and drag everywhere. We now have to run over and “steady” her!
Interesting (the theory not your little windmill kitten, though it is extraordinary behaviour)! I always thought that they might be looking for a place where to hide their traces, like in tall grass.
Makes sense. I’ve wondered if they feel more comforted or secure or something when on the carpet.
I never thought about them needing to steady themselves. It makes sense, much as I’d prefer to chalk that behavior up to jerkhood! 🙂
Oh…3 windmill piles is the norm in my house.
My theory was they vomitted on the soft surfaces because it would soak immediately and not spash back on them like tile or hardwood. But it must be hardwired in cat DNA because it seems ALL cats do the same thing. And they do it within half an hour of me vaccuming. The brats.
Thanks for the wonderful kitty interlude…
Regarding the heating pad, I bought this one for my elderly cat:
http://www.amazon.com/Thermo-Kitty-Mat-12-5-25-Mocha/dp/B000S9M2U4/ref=pd_sbs_petsupplies_5
It has a heating element/pad inside it, but it barely gets warm. My 21-year old cat LIVES on it. It is less hot than a human heating pad on warm/low, and the cat has to be on it for warmth to happen (there’s a thick foam layer). She never liked the self-heating crinkly pad, but adores this one. I leave it on 24/7, even when we’re gone!
Oh, I like that one! We had that in Maxi’s house (on the front porch) and Fred was concerned that it wasn’t working, because when he touched it, it was just barely warm. We brought it inside (replacing it with another heated pad), plugged it, and put it on the couch to make sure it was still working, and it’s been occupied ever since!
Well that’s a first–Run DMC on a cat foster site. Just one more reason to visit.
We like to keep you guessin’! 🙂
Oh, Tricky Woo from All Creatures Great and Small, Stompers and his belleh, and Meester Boogers (he hets you), all in one day….this totally cheered me up on this bleak day of flooding in South Florida….Robyn, I’m so glad that you are blogging :)!!
Regarding Gus and Philo, definitely start over with separating them. Once you decide it’s time to let them spend time together, never let Philo see you handling, playing, talking, interacting in any way with Gus. Ignore Gus altogethger when in the same room. Save your love and kisses for Gus when he is isolated. Anytime they are in the same room together, give Philo all the attention and praise. If you go with treats, try to minimize the “competition” aspect. Eventually Philo will associate good times and attention while Gus us in the room. Expect some rough and tumble with two boys, but hopefully Philo will come around. Gus is the resilient one here, and wont be concerned with the extra attention to Philo.
I know I’m late to this party, so Robyn I hope you forward this over to them, but I HIGHLY recommend the book cat vs cat.. lots of great information on how to deal with a multicat household.. and understanding the dynamics of how cats interact with one another
I’ll make sure they see it! Thanks, Connie. 🙂
We had wild ducks show up in our yard last winter, eating out of our bird feeder. Not sure why they decided not to migrate south-anyway, they told their friends, and all of a sudden we had 20 ducks hanging around. That was a first! We called Fish and Game, I know you shouldn’t encourage the migratory birds to hang around by feeding them, but they said it was obvious they were staying the winter, so we could feed them. So now we put out cracked corn for them, but they are all ingrates who poop on my car.
That was a long story to say, the ducks never seem to be chilly at all. I’m in Alaska, so it gets cold, but they never even huddle together-just kind of hang out.
“They are all ingrates who poop on my car” is the motto of all birds everywhere. 😀
Came across this post today. Do you think Fred might be up to the job of duplicating it?
Ha – Fred said the bridges look “too swingy” and would wreck his nerves. 🙂
I just found some info about flushing litter I thought would be good to share with your readers since I saw a previous post of yours on it (comments closed) and no one mentioned T Gondii (the parasite that actually creates the “crazy cat lady/guy” – literally (Google it)). This quote only mentions pregnant women being at risk for other obvious reasons, but T Gondii can literally make anyone insane. Excerpted from an article that also has interesting info on other litters as well: http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/bad-kitty-litter-bad
“Don’t flush! Although most of these green litters are septic- and sewer-safe, it’s best not to flush them into our waterways. Cat feces contains the Toxoplasmosis gondii (TG) parasite, dangerous to pregnant women and marine life, particularly sea otters. Unfortunately TG is not filtered out in most water treatment plants, so don’t flush your used litter. You can throw it into the compost bin but only it you intend to use the compost on trees, shrubs, flower beds or in outdoor potted plants & no vegetables or fruits.”
I hope that helps someone, for what it’s worth!
not all cat feces contains toxo..