Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 15, 2016, 11:29:09 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1013)
Ev'rybody feel free to post their kat pichures...
In cats -and the poise needed to be non-threatening to them- is a kind of serenity. I not only have to be quiet -within as well as without, as much as I can manage- but let a lot go, and that's good practice for everything in my life.
Post by: Lorizael on April 16, 2016, 01:16:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 16, 2016, 01:24:11 AM
-The cat is mostly feral, and this is actually a problem; they keep making new cats. I'm encouraging Mom to take one in when they're ready, and raise it to be not-so-feral...
We'll probably have to call the catcher again on the rest, as they're never going to come when they're called to go for a ride to the doctor's to make them non-make-more-cats...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2016, 02:14:10 AM
Why is it that kittens like being stroked under the chin and around the face, while, in my experience, adult cats do not?
Post by: Unorthodox on April 18, 2016, 03:25:52 AM
A question for Valka and any other cat people:
Why is it that kittens like being stroked under the chin and around the face, while, in my experience, adult cats do not?
My cats have almost universally liked it.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 18, 2016, 03:29:49 AM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-gfo00_01vKY/VxRGM-CbaMI/AAAAAAAAgSY/vp_JaBTARk4pAm2UxpMP-3ZrrvVt7jayQCCo/s800-Ic42/IMG_1129.JPG)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2016, 03:39:49 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 18, 2016, 03:49:50 AM
"YES, they do!"
"Well who says THAT?"
Post by: Valka on April 18, 2016, 08:03:59 AM
A question for Valka and any other cat people:
Why is it that kittens like being stroked under the chin and around the face, while, in my experience, adult cats do not?
Kittens tend to like being touched everywhere. They're very tactile, given that their mothers are constantly washing and grooming them.
I think adult cats may see this as a case of "Oh, great. You touched me. Now I have to WASH. AGAIN." (I swear that's what mine would have said if they could speak English)
That said, cats are very individual in their likes and dislikes. My cats like face-to-face contact more if it's their idea, and they also enjoy frequent hugs and cuddling. I've gotten cats' whiskers up my nose so many times over the past almost 40 years (it isn't pleasant). But they don't mind kissing. Actually, sometimes they get rather insistent (it's not on the lips, in case anyone's wondering; if I kiss my cats, it's on the forehead or the back of the ears). And some of my cats have been face-washers (at some point each day Maddy will decide I'm just not grooming myself properly and figures she needs to remedy that). Both Cassandra and Gussy were ear-washers; that's something that takes getting used to...
The only things I draw the line at are tails in my face and when Chloe decides to groom my hair. She actually starts to try to comb it with her claws, and unlike when Gussy did that, she's not gentle. Gussy would just run his paw through my hair once in awhile. Chloe, in another universe, must have been a hairdresser with a serious attitude problem.
Post by: Lorizael on April 18, 2016, 12:43:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2016, 12:52:31 PM
Post by: Dio on April 18, 2016, 02:08:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2016, 06:36:30 PM
Another thing about cats that might be relevant here is that they can seemingly randomly decide they are done with a particular activity and then get angry with you if you don't instantly recognize that.Because they're evil. ;)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2016, 11:02:33 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1013)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1014)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1015)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1016)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1017)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1018)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1019)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1020)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1021)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1022)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1023)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1024)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1025)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1026)
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
Post by: Unorthodox on April 18, 2016, 11:52:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2016, 01:14:53 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 19, 2016, 03:52:19 AM
Insert misogynist joke here.Whut?
Too much cute to notice?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2016, 04:08:07 AM
SO - White Tiger or Peepeye?
I took pics of the three that were available when I got out there with the camera, but the fact that the two I got good shots of are also my favorites of the five is neither my bias or a coincidence - they didn't hide with their mother when I approached (also Callico Cat in the last two shots, but I didn't know he was there until the batteries were running out).
Post by: Unorthodox on April 19, 2016, 01:28:48 PM
That's got to be it.
SO - White Tiger or Peepeye?
I took pics of the three that were available when I got out there with the camera, but the fact that the two I got good shots of are also my favorites of the five is neither my bias or a coincidence - they didn't hide with their mother when I approached (also Callico Cat in the last two shots, but I didn't know he was there until the batteries were running out).
Depends on whether you intend it to be an indoor or outdoor cat.
(We strictly delineate between the two. I know a lot of people let their cat go in and out at will, but we have indoor-only or outdoor-only. The chances of an indoor cat getting disease or getting run over or stolen/lost is very small, so they are more the cuddle and love type, where outdoor mousers are a more formal relationship of mutual benefit. That said, Indy above was leash trained to help stave off my insanity whilst unemployed and allowed to walk outside with supervision. He minds me well, the kids not so much. He also plays fetch...Half dog, that one.)
Indoor, you may want to weigh your desire to have white fur on everything as that appears to be a bit on the longish side for hair (though kittinz are hard to judge). We had a white longhair as a child...hair everywhere.
Personally I like the calico. That said, the spotted one reminds me of Cosette, who was a wonderful cat, even if she did scare the baby sitters. (NO ONE she didn't know was going to get near the crib!) So, it makes me a bit sad just for the memory and thus bias.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WgZ-zBqbxDk/S8-zwba2MwI/AAAAAAAAS5E/2zGbjgixcoQ6A05JZ5ROuoohnavuV7l9ACCo/s800-Ic42/IMG_4832.JPG)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2016, 01:57:28 PM
Post by: Dio on April 19, 2016, 03:13:55 PM
:) :) :). The cat's weight in the above photograph appears to reflect a subconscious desire of Unorthodox to find a creature like him.That's got to be it.
SO - White Tiger or Peepeye?
I took pics of the three that were available when I got out there with the camera, but the fact that the two I got good shots of are also my favorites of the five is neither my bias or a coincidence - they didn't hide with their mother when I approached (also Callico Cat in the last two shots, but I didn't know he was there until the batteries were running out).
Depends on whether you intend it to be an indoor or outdoor cat.
(We strictly delineate between the two. I know a lot of people let their cat go in and out at will, but we have indoor-only or outdoor-only. The chances of an indoor cat getting disease or getting run over or stolen/lost is very small, so they are more the cuddle and love type, where outdoor mousers are a more formal relationship of mutual benefit. That said, Indy above was leash trained to help stave off my insanity whilst unemployed and allowed to walk outside with supervision. He minds me well, the kids not so much. He also plays fetch...Half dog, that one.)
Indoor, you may want to weigh your desire to have white fur on everything as that appears to be a bit on the longish side for hair (though kittinz are hard to judge). We had a white longhair as a child...hair everywhere.
Personally I like the calico. That said, the spotted one reminds me of Cosette, who was a wonderful cat, even if she did scare the baby sitters. (NO ONE she didn't know was going to get near the crib!) So, it makes me a bit sad just for the memory and thus bias.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WgZ-zBqbxDk/S8-zwba2MwI/AAAAAAAAS5E/2zGbjgixcoQ6A05JZ5ROuoohnavuV7l9ACCo/s800-Ic42/IMG_4832.JPG)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2016, 03:17:41 PM
Post by: Dio on April 19, 2016, 03:26:41 PM
Dude! ;no;nod Man the UFO's!
Post by: Unorthodox on April 19, 2016, 03:57:39 PM
:) :) :). The cat's weight in the above photograph appears to reflect a subconscious desire of Unorthodox to find a creature like him.
Genetics weren't on either of our side, no.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2016, 05:08:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 19, 2016, 06:14:41 PM
Quote from: Buster
AHHHHHHHHHH KITTEHS AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.....
So cute! All I want to do is look at these kitty pictures. All day.
Are they wild cats from the woods? Or are they someone's? Either way I love the names, awwwwww.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2016, 06:41:06 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1027)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1028)
Now I need to get a shot of Moosh...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2016, 08:41:37 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1029)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1030)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1031)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1032)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1033)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1034)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1035)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1036)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1038)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1039)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1040)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1037)
This is Moosh.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1041)
You can totally tell from these who was awake and willing to model for me this afternoon...
When I decide between Kittehz! and Kat Pichures, I think I should split off a new thread...
Post by: Unorthodox on April 20, 2016, 08:51:45 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 20, 2016, 08:55:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2016, 08:59:01 PM
I'm agitating to take in two kittens to raise and domesticate and get fixed, and call -not without considerable regret- the catcher again on the rest. The remainder would be to be outdoor cats - but not so wild and somewhat approachable and pet-able would be nice...
Post by: Unorthodox on April 20, 2016, 09:26:57 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2016, 10:27:26 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 20, 2016, 11:14:11 PM
It's been 3 years or so, and it has worked well. We still see the spayed females from to time, but no new ones.
One of the kittens is now a resident house cat. Some of the others were adopted out ( kittens are easy compared to adult cats ), although my wife found forever homes for most of them herself.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2016, 11:28:08 PM
---
SCORE! I finally got all five together, and Moosh's face. They were having a sleepy free-for-all.
From foreground back -or bottom to top- this is Moosh, White Tiger, Scaredy Cat, Peepeye and The Calico Cat. The lineup gets a little confused in the middle as they wrestle, but it's always Moosh at the bottom, then Tiger. The rest are easy to tell apart.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1042) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1043) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1044) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1045) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1046) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1047) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1048)
Moosh looks alarmed in the last shot - but those crazy/staring eyes are Moosh's normal expression...
...A dedicated album for my cat photos, Kittehz! (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=media;sa=album;in=37). All together, and the names labeled on each...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2016, 11:37:49 PM
Quote from: Buster
Awwwwww! Gah I just wanna grab em' off the page. Nice Pictures :D
Post by: Dio on April 21, 2016, 01:35:40 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 21, 2016, 04:11:47 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 21, 2016, 02:30:20 PM
I think the kittens would make the perfect sacrifice for a pagan rain ritual. In other news, I have seen a single litter of kittens appear in our backyard from a stray cat that fled after we found the kittens.
Such a ritual would have needed to be done a month ago and wouldn't have involved cats or any sacrifice, really.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 21, 2016, 02:32:37 PM
But, the long hair is a real non-starter for me.
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 22, 2016, 02:00:53 AM
She's asking how far you live from PA, as the road trip is approaching. I pointed out that with the resident niece's cat, we are already 50% over my two cat limit ( on account of allergies ). I don't care to hold kittens, but they are endlessly entertaining to watch, so more pictures are welcome.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 22, 2016, 02:12:55 AM
I'd like to get good pictures of their mother and big brother, but those two are tough to get a close look at, and absolutely won't pose. I need to get Momma on that...
Post by: Valka on April 24, 2016, 06:42:55 AM
Brat.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 24, 2016, 04:26:54 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1058)
(You can click on this one for approximately life-size)
This is Cloud running to hide under my car. Also running away is big brother Hershey, approximately eight months old, who is a burnt umber in decent light.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1057)
This is the kids early this morning...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1060)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1061)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 24, 2016, 06:28:28 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1064)
And the best model of the bunch, White Tiger - who is visibly growing out brown markings...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1065)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2016, 12:24:50 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1066)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1067)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1068)
Still chasing that good shot of Hershey - here's three together that should give you the idea, if not his lean muscular shape...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1069)
Mooshy with Cloud.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1070)
Post by: Eadee on April 25, 2016, 08:15:21 AM
They're adorable :) I really hope more of them find a home somehow.
When I grew up we lived in a village/small town and always had a cat that was indoors or outdoors as he liked it.
Then I moved to munich and live in the 4th floor (in Germany we would say 3rd floor) and have no garden at all so the cats we adopted are pure indoor cats. My experience is that the indoor cats need MUCH more attention and go some kinda crazy from time to time.
So if we can afford to move out of the city (which sounds ridiculous since munich is probably the most expensive place to live here) we will certainly give those cats the chance to adapt to outdoor environment (starting slowly with a leash in the backyard or something like that).
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2016, 02:53:30 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1033)
Male, correct?
Until a few years ago, I had no idea it was so hard to tell with kittens. It isn't with Boston Terrier puppies. But, an aunt got a couple of very young kittens, and we couldn't tell - in retrospect, they were probably the same gender, and looking at Peepeye's privates and Tiger's -she's a girl, I'm pretty sure- and those two of my aunts (that got killed young so no help there) in my memory, they were probably both male, and there is a visible difference if you can look close, especially if you have the other gender to compare to.
Momma thinks the other three of ours are all female, but I haven't checked...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2016, 03:24:04 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2016, 04:25:00 PM
Cloud has finally set off on her morning patrol, so I'm off to conduct an inspection now...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2016, 04:32:00 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2016, 06:05:46 PM
Also, if that's milk, it's generally considered a bad idea/not so good for the cats these days.Without doing any research, I wonder about this - it seems the most obvious problem would be malnutrition, if the kitten's getting nothing but cow milk. Not the case at all, here - and they seem to be managing a little solid food now, without ill effects. The dog lot is where we feed the grown cats, and they've definitely been getting into the pan. Anyway, stands to reason that herbivores' milk wouldn't meet the nutritional needs of a baby predator.
Now, for a kitten formula, I've dissolved two bullion cubes in a cup of store milk, and stirred in a little powdered buttermilk and coffee creamer for extra fats, nutriments and flavor - they like it a LOT better than straight cow milk, at least when warm. If none of that's a subtle poison, I doubt any of them is in any danger of getting fat, at the speed they're growing.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 02:02:16 AM
When I was 19-20 or so, I worked a little on a horse ranch. They had what was alleged to be the meanest dog in the world, name of Red Dog -you are at liberty to guess his fur color- some sort of mid-size hound, sturdily-built, but nothing special. I took their word for it, and stayed outside his chain. He was supposed to have taken largish chunks out of a meter-reader not long before.
But I took to, between chores, sitting quietly about 30 feet back and letting him bark at me like a bored dog on a chain. Sat a bit closer each time. Two days later, Bud, the owner, said he'd never. seen. ANYone. be able to go inside his range and feed him -pet him, whatever- so quickly. I'd definitely let him smell my hand real good before the first time I touched him, let me tell you. I was never aFRAID of that there dog, exactly, but who wants to get bit?
(This was also when/where I learned that horses react to me funny and want to bite me - horse teeth ain't sharp, but a head the size of your torso has some jaw muscles you don't want none of. Also, not afraid of Red Dog, but I wanted Bud trying to bite chunks out of me even less; man had icy eyes. Wirey little older fellow whom I never believed could take me, but did believe we'd both get hurt, so I respectfully avoided challenges. He admired guts, though, and I was only a little, cautiously afraid of him -a lot like I was with the horses, which worked- so we got along.)
ANYway, feral cats -and Bud- aren't that different, if infinitely less dangerous, even tiny baby ones that have been asleep in the palm of my hand. I'm investing a great deal of time quietly being in their vicinity, as unthreateningly as I can manage, trying to not handle them as much as I want to. I'm working on the grown cats, too, when I get a chance - slowly making progress with Cloud; Hershey's not really around enough to see any headway, though he's much friendlier to Momma.
Not really any way to pictorially document sitting quietly - but kitteh pics...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 04:59:41 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1071)
-but I do reckon that that's a pretty cat.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 05:28:23 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1072)
The man had a skinny little Hank Hill butt, but never brought only half of it to bear; he was all-buttocks, all the time - if not much of an engineer... Despite the long-term foolishness of involving the live tree in the structure -it's nearly 40 years old, for all that- this was one time his overkill worked out; the large area underneath makes for a much more flexible shelter/habitat that pets have always used and liked. -Of course, there's a third doghouse underneath facing the other way, when we never had more than three dogs at a time, aside from puppy litters who didn't live down there.
A detail of the same shot: Cloud waiting for her babies to wake up about nine this morning.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1073)
Post by: Unorthodox on April 26, 2016, 07:05:43 PM
-but I do reckon that that's a pretty cat.
Agreed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 07:10:12 PM
The entire family together probably isn't going to happen, alas...
Post by: Unorthodox on April 26, 2016, 07:25:15 PM
Ever watch "my cat from hell"? That guy has some interesting tidbits on feline body language occasionally.
I do love me black cats. Though not for why you think. Lucifer (what the rest of the neighborhood called him), aka Toes, was a childhood friend of mine. Abused by kids in the neighborhood for his deformities (6-7 toes on each leg, with clear second legs that had half formed and fused on the front 2, so nearly a 6 legged cat) He was black and one of the neatest personalities ever.
Shadow here disappeared after a year. He was with us Halloween 2008 to Halloween 2009. I'm really hoping someone decided to take him in, most mild and cuddly male I've ever seen. Named because he was my shadow. Out of the blue followed me around the yard cleaning up Halloween, and when we found him starving behind the shed later that winter, and nursed him back to health, he'd follow me everywhere. Shoveling snow, yard work, through sprinklers, didn't matter. (we couldn't take him IN at the time. He'd been de-clawed and tail run over)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-dLaB45ZlZtg/SVKfBUyCH-I/AAAAAAAACbA/7sMv9cNK8t0SjYf-pZeARgn3iywotaWJgCCo/s800/IMGP1848.JPG)
Our present black cat, Lily is terrified of me from when she had an eye infection and I had to trap her to administer drops every day. She'll come up as long as I pretend not to see her.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 07:34:04 PM
Again, Hershey is dark brown - he just looks black unless you're close and he's well-lit.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 26, 2016, 07:44:07 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 26, 2016, 07:49:17 PM
Again, Hershey is dark brown - he just looks black unless you're close and he's well-lit.
Not sure I've seen a completely dark brown cat before.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 07:51:51 PM
I thought he was black until two weeks ago, myself - I'd only seen him out the window.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 26, 2016, 07:58:29 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-0wIlTCyLR1Q/Vx-5PGcVsPI/AAAAAAAAgZo/eHHd59Iey9Yy3YQAmSChpGEHHEFkENxtQCCo/s800/IMG_0885.JPG)
The really crazy thing?
She will come for a quick pat early in the morning (provided I make absolutely no move), but otherwise want's nothing to do with me any other time of the day. I've not figured that out.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2016, 08:03:51 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 26, 2016, 10:20:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 27, 2016, 04:52:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 05:11:46 AM
The runt, Peepeye, and the biggest of the litter, The Calico Cat - catnapping in perfect harmony.
Peepey was the first to tottle out of the woodshed and let me pet him, lo, about two weeks ago. The poor wretch is named for having his right eye crusted shut with dried pus when we first saw them and a bit afterward. You can see in various shots of him that that eye opens after the left and never quite as wide. It seems okay, but there is a little new pus on mornings they turn up having spent the night back in one section or another of that shed - so probably allergy-related.
I worry a little about Peepeye - he seems, more than being distinctly smallest, a bit weak/confused/behind a lot of the time. Not an impressive appetite at all when I give him special consideration with feeding, so the cause/effect is confused. Maybe bad sight in both eyes, and/or allergy-prone, and/or something I haven't considered. Seems more passive than friendly a lot of the time, and sticks a lot closer to White Tiger, the second smallest, than the rest. -On the other hand, sometimes wide awake, especially around whole-litter frolic times typical around sunset on warm days, and seems nothing but smallest then. Likes licking milk off my fingertip better than out of a dish, still, and always has a milk beard.
Often seems to tolerate petting and handling more than enjoy, which still gets him second place for most domesticated so far.
White Tiger was the second to come out and become my friend, and definitely seems more alert and healthy and into getting stroked when she feels like petting. The one Momma agrees we'll definitely keep since she saw us interacting. Fearless little beast who is the least likely to be found in the middle of the litter. You get the idea that Peepeye just gets left behind a lot, while Tiger doesn't cling as close - which may explain being a tad sleeker than the bigger three. The crowd is always where the nuh-nuh is -Cloud usually lays down where the most kittens are- and easier to squeeze in early than later, regardless of size.
However, watching them all play together, she seems to not be at a disadvantage. Often found on the outskirts with Peepeye. Has the shortest fur - though Cloud and their big brother Hershey hint that that's a fuzzy kitten thing they will grow out of, those two not appearing shaggy at adult size.
Momma likes Moosh's strange staring eyes - it's hard to put a finger on what makes them that way; seems to be as much to do with a slightly different color or something as being actually wider-open. It makes the chile harder to read/assess for personality, because that face always seems startled/alarmed, and you can't help picking that up as you watch her. Falls in the middle with Scaredy Cat for size (which is hard to get a sense of with the fuzziness and none of them weighing a whole pound yet). Much less afraid/hostile than Scaredy, despite the startled face, but similar in being a real sucker for a wiggling stick or a little sweet creamy bullion-infused milk - or a little chunk of ham, now. Is greedy and jealous - will hog the treats, not that Scaredy won't, and actually gets interested and comes close if Tiger or Peepeye enjoys petting more than usual. Let me pet her several times today, if somewhat briefly, on those grounds. Hisses at me the second most anyway. Will lick milk off my fingertip for several minutes once started anyway.
Scaredy Cat has a kink/break in her tail, which I expect means it got hurt, God knows when, though there's no sign of extra discomfort when I stroke the whole length. I would guess that has something to do with being the most afraid/hostile all along. A very pretty grey beast, but hardest to like. Not even she resists energetically once picked up or being petted, but gets upset if she can see the hand coming. The only one that bites me in anger, but doesn't seem to be really trying even then - Peepeye could chew my fingertip hard enough to make me give a soft hiss or "ooh" two weeks ago. Scardey is the one of all seven in the family I feel like I've made the least progress with domesticating -Cloud and Hershey will never get there this late in life, but have come further even with established feral personalities, having further to come from- and even she doesn't bother to bolt for cover more than half the time anymore when I'm coming. Again, less scared/hissy now, and doesn't freak if I, for example, stroke her back while she's eating near me. I think will still make a reasonably good pet, especially if someone's looking for an outdoor cat where being a good hunter is more important than docile and affectionate. It's all too early to tell, for all I know.
The Calico Cat has big paws like she'll keep growing. Not by a lot, but always seemed the biggest, with the gap possibly growing. I'd estimate Calico is the calmest of the lot - the first of the bigger three to stop hissing and bolting, but sometimes even tougher than Scaredy to lure close, more resistant to a stick-wiggle or something appealing to curiosity/play instincts than food. Calm when handled, just not as interested in risking coming close.
So when I went into the dog lot today while she was laying next to the gate, and she not only didn't move off the warm bit of cement when I came in to avoid me, but purred audibly when I bent down and petted her - that was a thrill. Didn't bother to stay out of range afterwards when I sat on the porch messing with others, and I could feel a purr a couple times when I reached over massaged her little ribcage. Climbed the tree trunk about 10 feet up shortly before sunset - I was worried I'd have to spook Cloud running in to recue her, but he made it back down unhurt, though he fell part of the way.
Hershey, I always thought was male from how he acted in the yard while he didn't know we were watching out the window. Momma says she thinks she's seen balls, besides. From a litter of two in the Fall, and the other got killed by Mylochka's dogs when they were maybe younger than this lot. He pounces on Cloud a lot - and only in the last month or so has gotten taller. A couple months ago, watching him wander the backyard near the dog lot as he often does, I made the observation that Cloud eats here, but he lives here.
Momma thinks he's lonely. I've seen him looking at her yowing when she was close -away from the feeding place and time, when she can get close to him and pet a little- rubbing against stuff and acting like he wants her to pet him, but is too afraid.
I'm finally making progress with him - shortly after Calico's climbing incident, Hershey passed near where I was sitting to go inside the fence and ignored that I was so close outside to examine the tree trunk. Yesterday, Mom and I saw him acting like he wanted to play with the kittens, but didn't know how - today, he followed up the trunk inspection by managing to play with Scaredy for several minutes.
Momma wants to keep him, along with White Tiger and a kitten to be named later. I dunno what we'll do about catching him to get him fixed. She and he would both clearly love to be friendlier.
Cloud is a cat's cat - in the sense of cats being unfathomable and distant, not like those friendly cats we've all known who would crawl into your lap for petting and lacerate your legs, whey loved it so.
She's actually prettier when she's afraid/upset/hostile and her eyes are open real wide. She's gotten almost not afraid of me.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1076)
I think I finally got some good shots of Hershey today, but messed around to late to get the size/cropping done. Tomorrow. Stay tuned.
...Now my white whale is getting a shot of all seven together - which is a mighty high difficulty level, considering two are ferals I can't approach all that closely yet...
Post by: Unorthodox on April 28, 2016, 02:13:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 03:20:25 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 03:29:06 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 03:49:26 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 28, 2016, 04:27:14 PM
? I do not get what you're talking about...
Momma cats sometimes chew off the kittens' whiskers. There's competing theories, but one is to make the kittens less adventurous and need to stay closer to the nest. Wondering if it might explain the difference in Peepeye's attitude.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 05:27:34 PM
Moosh seems out of it today, and looked very disheveled half an hour ago...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 06:28:43 PM
...About to head back out, camera in my pocket this time - watch and see if I don't report in an hour or less that Hershey was long-gone this time...Hershey was long-gone this time...
But long story short, he came back. Pics, pending some size/crop processing...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 07:14:58 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1077)
Clockwise: in the bottom left corner, The Calico Cat is laying in a cinder block with his head out resting on White Tiger. Above on the porch, Moosh, then Peepeye. Over Cloud in the door of the little doghouse (it rained last night a couple times and it appears the kids slept in there - ordinarily, they seem to sleep in a clump in the open) is Scaredy Cat, who I had to shoop to make clearly visible. Underneath/foreground, Cloud and Hershey cleaning out a jar lid of kitten formula.
I'm teaching the grown ones that I'm not aggressive-acting and sometimes good for a treat - huge difference last few days in how close I may get without them running in panic; in fact, they ignored me rising to my feet where I was sitting near the fence to get this shot. Hershey has begun to approach to a prudent distance when I'm inside the lot, seemingly to see if there's new food. Cloud got up today while I was sitting in the same spot, three feet from the fence in plain sight, and went out the gate on her rounds.
-When I took this, I didn't realize Tiger and Calico were there, and thought I was only getting three of the kittens in a photo with Hershey and Cloud. SCORE!
Making progress with the whole family. Seem to actually be beginning to win Calico and Moosh over, finally.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2016, 11:34:30 PM
Post by: thedarkestcolors on April 29, 2016, 12:50:01 AM
A question for Valka and any other cat people:
Why is it that kittens like being stroked under the chin and around the face, while, in my experience, adult cats do not?
I have yet to meet a cat (that generally likes to be touched) that doesn't like to be fondled under the chin. Though often they seem to prefer kind of side under the chin then directly under. Next to behind the ears and on the back, where the tail starts seem to be all-time favourite spots.
Belly on the other hand is hit or miss, they either love it or hate it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 02:22:07 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 03:01:13 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 29, 2016, 03:42:33 AM
Scaredy was spooning with Tiger this afternoon, hissed at me when I reached to pet Tiger, but got jealous, started stretching and swishing her tail when I petted her, too, back to sleep, later woke up and hissed at me again and fell right back asleep with her head laying in my hand. There was a half second of audible purring in there somewhere, too. It's more complicated than hostility/fear, evidently...Mom has a (mostly) blind cat that reacts similar.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 03:45:37 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 04:15:51 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1078)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1079[img][img]http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1080)(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1081)
I saw him chasing butterflies today - adorable.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1082)
You can see the raccoon stripes faintly on his legs in some of these shots.
I think he has his mother's pattern of black.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1074)
Uno? Do they look as shaggy as Indy to you?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 05:35:46 PM
For the second day in a row, Peepeye had looked at me and said "Hey man, got any nuhnuh? I sure could go for some nuhnuh, Food Hippy." This was after walking to the corner of the car shed next to the dog lot, where there was still a cashew can lid sitting from when they were living under the car that I'd put formula in then. Tiger had walked over, seeing me nearby, and checked the lid for treats already. Cloud had laid down for nursing only an hour and a half before, but Peeps seems to have maybe less of not much of an appetite than lacks the needed gorge while you can appetite. Cloud and the babies had all moved out into the yard prior to this, she chilling while the kids frolicked.
Well, I got up and went up the hill to get the formula. Coming back, I saw Cloud had moved over that way, probably hoping for a nuhnuh treat, too - she held her ground under the end of the parked car next to the gate while I went into the lot to get a jar lid to put out milk in two places several feet apart in hopes of no one getting crowded out.
Peepeye and Tiger were on the shallow cashew lid like a rash, and I went back up the hill to put the jar of formula in the fridge - the lot swarmed it as soon as I was gone, Cloud included. When I came back, they hadn't discovered the decaf lid full, and I doubted Peep had gotten a decent portion, so I went closer and Cloud went up under the end of the car, all but Peepeye following. I set Peep at the second lid, the rest of the kids came back out, and everybody got some.
After a few minutes, I suddenly saw Cloud under the bumper five feet away giving me the beautiful green hate eyes. I think she didn't realize I was still there so close. But she relaxed, dropped her rear down, and laid there five feet away with nothing between us. And stopped even staring. Then Hershey showed up and passed between us a six inches closer.
The kittens gradually all drifted back into the dog lot on their own for a snooze, Cloud laid there five feet away with nothing between us but she wasn't too worried I would rush her for about 12 minutes, then calmly got up to go off on her rounds, Hershey following. (I doubt he followed far; they don't patrol together - and he was back 20 minutes later.)
Got an audible sleepy purr (and keep in mind that I'm deaf enough that I usually didn't hear the alarm go off on my last watch right there on my left wrist, when Mom and Mylochka could hear it over 20 feet away) from Peepeye before I left.
My evil plot to ruthlessly make friends with our feral cats proceeds apace. [cackles like a supervillain]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 05:49:00 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 05:55:34 PM
Quote from: Buster
I just love looking at your pictures of the kitties and cats! Thanks for sharing these with me.😄...They're going to be in Mylochka's house for an indeterminate time this summer, and I included her on picture emails to Mom on a whim -I was sending cute kitten pictures anyway, and remembered I had a 12 year-old niece- but it totally has crossed my mind that there's a subtext of something to look forward to, living here in America... Nice to have something to share with her that she likes, besides.
There's a rumor on the internet, you know, that I have a niece of whom I'm a bit fond. No idea what started that...
[cackles, avec mad scientist hand-wring]
Post by: Unorthodox on April 29, 2016, 06:58:42 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1074)
Uno? Do they look as shaggy as Indy to you?
HELL no. Manx have an undercoat, most cats don't. Just good farmcat mutts with some minor signs of inbreeding/genetic concerns.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2016, 07:04:54 PM
I was just petting and playing with Scaredy - who's very playful with the rest of the litter and the one who plays with Hershey most so far- and --- cats are very conscious of movement, and kittens at this stage can't be unaware of you being on the end of the stick, or rope with a bone tied, or yarn ball they're playing with - your fingers are twitching in plain sight. I'm thinking Scaredy has play instinct somewhat confused into the intruder warning behavior. She rolled on her side and chewed my fingertip about the same as the others will playfully, and showed other signs of enjoying petting. Once I'm petting her, she's not much faster than the others to move away slowly, she's easy to lure with something wiggling. She's not way far out there with the more fearful and hostile of the three big ones who are less accepting, just, more ostentatious in the threat display...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2016, 05:03:36 AM
I hollered "Maw!" the kitchen window was open, and I wanted her to see him inside the lot with me - she said she'd bring down some more food. When she was coming, I got up and settled down by the fence, still inside, and Hershey came back in and chowed down with the kids - spaghetti, mostly.
Yesterday, I invented the best cat toy evah - I tied an old bit of macramé rope to the rafter of dog city, one end tied to an old bone that hangs an inch off the porch, the other several feet longer than reaching the ground, w/ a shaggy end.
I went out to have a last visit at sunset, and no sign of Cloud and the bedtime frolics were in full blast, so I sat on the porch and teased them with the rope - at least in mid-running and playing time, they went wild for it. It was neat to not have to hold back while playing with them - and get so much response from the shyer three. None of them are hep to the ol' get the end behind them and make them cut circles trick, yet.
Suddenly, Hershey was inside the gate, clearly wanting to frolic, too, but not coming up that close to me, on top of his own slow progress making friends with the little siblings. Eventually, he started making his own fun -the essential charm of the beast- and fighting his own long tail. He rustled enough leaves just right that if he'd kept it up a few minutes longer, I think he'd have been cat-piled; everyone but Peepeye was intently stalking in his direction when he stopped and wandered off.
The boy needs to do what I do; sit near a lot and let them get used to him. If he'd lay still nearby twitching his tail and put up with them attacking it, he'd be in, just like that.
-I'd tell him so, but he doesn't listen to me.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2016, 04:29:13 PM
With Boston Terrier puppies at the developmental stage I met these kittens, you make kissy/sucky sounds nearby, and they all swarm out instantly in hope of nursing. I've been around kittens before -Gramma's cat Puffin was on the pet side of the feral divide, but not friendly- and it seems that kittens are never as glad to see you.
But I'd thought kissy sounds would still be a lure, which has not been the case. Cat's, I've been observing, are hyper-aware of certain sorts of sounds; movement, mostly. The sounds of something that might be either a threat or prey moving, they notice instantly, even if incredibly faint. If they already know I'm there and I start shouting up the hill to Momma fifty feet away, sometimes none even look. If I'm quietly sitting cross-legged 20 feet away and scratch my knee, though, suddenly heads whip around.
Their brains are just wired differently IRT vocalizations. I'll make soft mews as I take mincing baby steps on initial approach, but that's just to announce that I'm coming and not trying to sneak up like a threat. Dogs, lord, learn their names and some key words and word sequences, like "go for a ride?" - dogs have evolved as a symbiotic species alongside us for as much as ten times as long as cats. It can be effortless to read dog body language and moods, and they read ours very well right back. Cats are fundamentally a great deal more alien, less, I believe, in their way of thinking as we just haven't evolved to fit each other so neatly and understand each other with so little effort.
Too, dogs are a small-herd species -and so are primates like us- and I can't think of any cats besides African lions who do that. That's probably as fundamental or more than our co-evolution with dogs. Safe to assume, I reckon, that there ain't no lion in the housecat genome, and the occasional bobcat or what have you ain't helping any.
So, I talk to them, even sing to them, entertaining just myself, probably, because I'm not sure they even get any sense of mood from my vocalizations -I'm not curious enough to try sounding threatening- and I'm not even getting the Charlie Brown's teacher level of communication. Dogs at least, like Charlie, look at the teacher.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2016, 07:51:56 PM
There's an assumption in here, warranted, I think, that cats don't communicate with each other much, just not being social animals like dogs and humans who naturally group, outside immediate family in childhood, and have to cooperate. -Thus, dogs have owners; cats have staff.
Another bit of my body language they seem to recognize is when I recline while watching. Another cat you're not sure of is less of a threat when it's laying on its side off its feet -takes a spit-second to roll over and stand- and that goes for me, too. When Hershey passed so close yesterday, I was laying on my side.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2016, 11:52:10 PM
I watched Cloud doing the tired harassed mother thing mid-afternoon yesterday - she was laying upright in back underneath dog city, and I saw Scaredy and Moosh double-team grooming her face -also trying to eat her ears. Calico was back there, too, and of course then was a fair amount of trying to nudge under her. Eventually, she moved over to the side still in the shade - and only got a few minutes relief from pestering. When I went in, she had moved the second time in 20 minutes, and was laying on the cinder block steps, which left little flat area next to her and seemed to work better. -She's really hard to see against those cinder blocks at any distance.
The morning before, I was up early and Mom was a half hour late with the dawn feeding, so I'd had my morning wake-up time and was standing just outside the fence for the feed, which I'd never seen up close before - I've made a lot of progress with Cloud and Hershey just in the day-and-a-half since, but they didn't let Momma pet them with me there so close, just yet. Kittens boiled out of the little doghouse and dug in, too - save Moosh, oddly. She seemed disheveled and a little out of sorts all day, and I think she didn't get any breakfast - no telling the cause and effect chain, though.
Thing is, I tend to assume there'd been no pre-dawn nursing before Cloud ate, and I not only saw no nursing in progress all day, but none of the tell-tells that nursing had taken place. I wonder if she's starting to wean them. If it naturally also involved less grooming while they were in close for that, it might explain Moosh and Scaredy's somewhat more bedraggled appearance in the last few days.
Momma keeps claiming that -I've never seen this, but never paid the wild cats in the backyard an awful lot of attention before- before the kittens Hershey was all the time still threading through the holes in the cinder blocks and laying with a lot of Hershey hanging out each end, which I do wish I'd seen.
I know I've posted photos of some of the kittens sleeping in block holes, but not sure if there are any of them playing peek-a-boo/fort. They LOVE that one, as I've observed that cats of all ages love fighting through holes - through the chain-link fence is also popular. The cinder block hole hiding/attacking makes all kinds of sense - cats like to hide from threats, and a lot of their prey is small burrowers; why that translates into loving to paw-bat through a fence isn't as clear.
Hershey is way too big for the hole-hiding end of playing fort, and also too big/strong for the face-batting attacker role; he needs to concentrate on chasing/pouncing games with the kids -provided he remembers not to try to win- and tail-taunting, but he doesn't listen to my advice.
The dangling-bone end of the rope got almost as much play attention as the free long end today. It's a favorite of Tiger's, who is also warming to playing with Hershey. She got her name for a fierce little heart, for all that she's Delta of the litter and by far the friendliest to me.
The kids are utterly fascinated with the tricks you can do twisting a rope to cause loops to turn back and forth - sometimes they just watched like it was a Breaking Bad marathon. -Sorta a sleepy period when I was last out...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 01, 2016, 01:01:07 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 01, 2016, 01:42:27 AM
-I just got trapped on the porch of dog city in a mild thunderstorm for 45 minutes. It was the babies' second rain of any substance, and the noise of the tin roof had them a little on edge. They'd been very accepting of petting while they were mostly asleep -all woke up a little to see it was me, didn't care, went back to sleep until the rain/thunder got loud and it was blowing onto their position a little.
I was planning to get up and go in anyway soon when poor Cloud slipped in the gate. According to the terms of a treaty between us she doesn't know about, when I see her seeing me in the lot, I leave quietly. Naturally, minutes later it stopped raining. Hershey may have ridden out the storm in hiding underneath; I hope he didn't go out into the rain on my account - it started as soon as I sat down. (I have no treaty with Hershey about minimal intruding in his presence [though I try to avoid spooking him] - he's not going to move his siblings.)
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 01, 2016, 03:15:17 AM
I think the fighting through a fence thing is like going after birds in bushes, weeds, or other cover.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 01, 2016, 03:19:27 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 01, 2016, 07:28:42 PM
They all have very soft mews. A week ago, you may recall, Moosh was missing first thing - we think she followed her mom up to the carport at dawn and found a tight spot she couldn't easily back out of in the underside of my car. Momma thought she heard a little faint yaow in the vicinity while she was still missing, and she eventually turned up in that corner next to the halfwall.
Hours later, I'm sitting on a chair with my feet up on the wall, watching from a distance with my glasses on - Cloud actually walked up the hill, looking at me and giving the "I want something" meow, which is barely louder than the kittens'. I took some food down to the outside corner of the lot, which she ate when I settled back into the same spot, then came back up the hill - but Momma thinks she was really saying "I can't count, and I want to check where you are to be sure I got no more trapped babies there; move."
At any rate, these are far quieter than other litters of kittens I've been exposed to, some of whom would yaow up a hungry storm when anyone came near...
I just left aside the last mouthful of gravy and rice from my country-styled hamburger lunch to take down and share. Once everyone awake had some, I went over close to urge Peepey to get more from the last little bit left - no luck, but Moosh and Calico came back out to investigate, weren't interested in more either, and seemed to be more interested in a little petting.
It rained more last night, and is cooler, on top of that, so I took out a camp chair to sit in while I watch from outside the fence. Either the grown cats don't like the chair, a new thing the kittens seem a little curious about, read the body language of me sitting in a chair like a cat perched high on something -thus able to pounce down in a flash- or a tin roof rain night has them a little on edge. -Or all those things in any combination; they were a little warier than yesterday.
I went in first thing and poured out a little formula - Tiger was on the ground, and when I sat back down, approached the fence, looked at me, and gave the "I want something". My snap impression was "it's wet and a little cold; fix it", but probably just asking for nuhnuh, unaware it was on the porch behind her. A few minutes later, she zipped over to the gate, came out and walked straight over. I poured a little in the lid of the formula jar, which she happily accepted, along with some petting.
It was run frolic and play time, and she came back 10 minutes later - Scaredy, too. Duly petted.
As they run jump and climb more and sleep less, the entertainment value of just watching grows. I definitely need to figure out those little still-camera videos.
Hershey held his ground outside next to the gate almost long enough to let me exit this morning - first time he's let me get within two-three feet, which is almost as much as Momma can do.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 01, 2016, 09:18:28 PM
Cloud took off, and I went in to sit on the porch, and all the kids but Moosh, who was soundly asleep, immediately approached -I thought it was, y'know, glad to see me, get a few strokes from the hippy- but I realized where I usually pour the nuhnuh was on the other side of me. Momma refers to herself as "food girl" with a very slight bitterness; she'd rather they loved her than what she brings. -I get that.
Still, more accepted all the time -they did accept petting calmly while they checked the jar lid- and this is part of the plan...
The other day, Mom came down briefly while I was sitting outside the fence watching - and I said "I'm doing something Daddy couldn't." She got it without explanation; the man was capable of waiting if he had to, taking his time if he had to, staying on task till the end of time -he was capable of nothing else on that last, or would have been if he didn't always finish jobs well before the end of time (which was 12 years ago)- but just didn't have the empathy to sit quietly in an utterly peaceful attitude, observing, comparing and thinking about how it must be from their POV. He thought hard, sharp and big, but not subtly and deeply... There was little quiet in him; what I have in me is less from innate tendencies from Momma -they're there, but so easily drowned out by the loud on his side that really shows on me- than working at Being That Guy...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 02:38:17 AM
I'm having my last-chance-of-the-day-visit, and turn around and see her at the gate, so I got up and went out - she and Hershey went right in, as soon as I sat down outside the fence a little away from the gate, to check if I left a treat, standard stuff now. Hershey came back out after a few minutes (I hadn't left a treat) but wasn't in a hurry to leave, sat down ten feet way for a few minutes, got up and moved about 45 degrees behind me on my right at about the same distance and sat down again, mostly looking uphill away from me. Mostly I was watching Cloud and the kids, but I would turn a little every little bit and mew at him and get him to look and see me petting my own right shoulder, oh, so gently...
Suddenly as I was looking the other way, Hershey dashed close by, about three feet beside me - looked like one of his bug-chasing cavorts, but as close as he's let me get to him -yesterday as I was coming out the gate as he was sitting next to it, and he did move away, but not fast- and the closest he's moved on his own. Pretty happy about that much more progress.
A neat thing I realized yesterday afternoon when I found them all sleeping in a clump and sat and petted - Tiger and Scaredy and Calico (in no particular order) were all laying so I scratched their little chests, and each in turn over a while grasped a finger between their paws playfully, and licked the back or side. I've been cat-licked more since I met this lot than the rest of my life combined, I guess, and didn't think a lot of it; Peepeye and Tiger have been licking and chewing my finger tips from the beginning, mostly starting as feeding them formula, but the chewing was just to chew something, which this crew is definitely prone to do. The licking this time with the paws-clasp on their backs could have been gentle chewing just as easily, and that can get painful fast, but eh, I have a high pain threshold and can always pull back when I need to. -But then it hit me about the licking, absent any particular food flavor on my hands; that's grooming behavior, which is affectionate - and Calico and Scaredy did it.
I've mentioned that to my infinite distress, nobody wants to crawl into my lap - when they're in the mood for petting, they lay down nearby, usually somewhere a little awkward to reach over to. Catching them asleep and sitting where it's comfortable to pet them in place usually works better. Sometimes they will come alongside a leg during petting and stop there for a while.
Please tell: is lap-petting an adult cat thing? Pretty much all the cats I've known who liked me at all would climb right in and love it so much it hurt me. I had four of the kids asleep together in my lap one time when they were two-and-a-half weeks younger and more passive/helpless, but not so much in short order as they got more mobile.
Anyway, a central point I wanted to make about my domestication campaign is that I reach out and pet them, I pick them up a little -taking more liberties according to how much I think they'll prob'ly mind, so I take more chances with Tiger and Peepeye- and even pick them up, put them in my lap and pet - but when they try to move away, I don't try to stop them. It's a courtship, y'know? Nothing happens if I don't make advances, but my advances get counterproductive if I make them frustrated and don't let them experience that they can just move away at will, that I'm harmless.
-Managing forum nerdz my way is a lot like that; herding cats. :D-
A second question for cat people who'd know better - these adorable little monsters never hump their backs up under a stroking hand -not White Tiger, on one end of the liking it spectrum, and not Scaredy on the other- and all definitely like it SOMEtimes, judging from signs like tail-tip twitches and some rare purring that's a recent development. They sorta hump their backs the opposite direction when they're standing up, at least when they're walking. -SO, is that a kittens-up-to-about-ready-to-wean-age thing, or a this-feral-family-is-weird thing? There is no data available on the adults, outside ignoring that Momma's petting while they eat, in the family.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 02:38:58 PM
Would anyone care to react to my general observation that if you want an affectionate pet, get a male, if you want a good ratter, get a female? The good pet and good vermin hunter things seem to be somewhat mutually exclusive, and of course, as with all gender-linked personality trait observations, there are myriad exceptions...
Post by: ColdWizard on May 02, 2016, 04:14:32 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 02, 2016, 04:26:20 PM
Would anyone care to react to my general observation that if you want an affectionate pet, get a male, if you want a good ratter, get a female? The good pet and good vermin hunter things seem to be somewhat mutually exclusive, and of course, as with all gender-linked personality trait observations, there are myriad exceptions...
Guess it depends what you want from a pet cat.
Females do seem to get some of that motherly affection towards their humans. As such, they are more likely to be lap cats in my experience. Most the indoor boys I've known have had neurotic tendencies.
Even Indy gets VERY stressed about things not being 'just right'. Kyle staying out late, he's pacing the floor mewing. I'm not up at 4 am like normal? Mewing.
FWIW, all mousers I've been around were male.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 04:35:33 PM
Monday converted me on the cruelty level of having a boy fixed -he was already lazy and affectionate, wasn't missing his breeding capacity, having only a cat brain, and just got lazier and just as affectionate if not more. His sister, Puffin, next door never crawled into a lap in her life, but was the terror of the local squirrels...
I've seen kittens climb a leg to get petted and knew a cat that would only let people pet him if he felt like it and only if you went to him. I would guess that it depends on individual personality and for kittens if the mother is used to humans or not.I don't think Cloud tensing when she sees me and keeping her distance can easily be over-rated as an influence, no. At least she's walking for cover now, not bolting anymore, and not going nearly as far...
---
An aunt was by this morning, and Mom and Mylochka took her down to see the kittens up close, Mylochka going in and bringing them out one by one for closeup examination and petting -everyone behaved pretty well, I'm told- and she held Moosh, and I think we've got three kittens placed -another aunt asked for the gray one and a kitten to be named later, sight-unseen, if she'll commit, and her daughter wants her to- so, keeping Tiger, and we're undecided about who gets Calico or Peepeye, and which we keep.
Momma independently a half hour ago made the observation that any of them will make a good pet, with some kind attention.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 02, 2016, 05:30:48 PM
Huh. My experience is opposite, as I said.
I think there's a big nature vs nurture aspect that plays no small role into it. Never met an outdoor cat that WOULDN'T mouse when it wanted to. But some indoor ones seem to lose that instinct to varying degrees.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 06:21:08 PM
And the males took the sinking their claws into my leg while I petted to deafening purrs a LOT more seriously, for that matter...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 02, 2016, 06:26:35 PM
We have some purebred housecats. They have interest in birds and rodents when they see them through the windows, but their tails twitch too much when they get excited. They'd starve in the wild.
As for affection, I guess each cat has it's favorite servant/warmer. If you want one that likes everybody, get a dog, your odds are way better.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 06:34:03 PM
Bang-bang and Kitty Walton were both grandparents' cat who had to tolerate a lot of young grandchildren, though - Bang-bang, especially, got along with everyone. He was a very special old cat.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 02, 2016, 06:57:54 PM
Too true, too true.
Bang-bang and Kitty Walton were both grandparents' cat who had to tolerate a lot of young grandchildren, though - Bang-bang, especially, got along with everyone. He was a very special old cat.
We got Indy from a good Mormon family down the street with 8ish kids when their cat come home pregnant. He was surrounded and manhandled by kids from the moment he was born. I think that plays a significant role into his psyche.
Lilly, meanwhile, we got from a more rural house, and while there was kids, there was lots of hiding places and those kids were far more hands off. We picked her out of the littler because, despite being otherwise less friendly from the rest, she was the one to immediately jump into Alec's lap and just curled up with him while we played with the rest. He needed a friend, and she still has a special bond with HIM. She's just more picky with anyone else.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 07:11:31 PM
This was when they were still in the Mojave desert, and they put me up in a shack around back - literally a shed without an actual door, but good roof, concrete floor and an air mattress -if my brother was being an inconsiderate jerk to me, he picked the right guy for THAT bit of abuse, as I was just a few years off the renfair circuit when I would have considered a roof, floor, walls and a door with a blanket flapping over it the acme of comfort and privacy like I was the Crown Prince of Mansion-Land. I only bring this up because in the mornings while I was waking up sometimes, Moses would come in, walk up me and give me a little lick on the tip of my nose.
Love at first sight, the two of us.
Now HE was both a good pet and the bane of the little white Mojave Desert lizards common in Wonder Valley. I think they left him with the (loved critters to the point of crazy) neighbor when they took off for SanFran and a fascist seminary. I hope HIS excellent tiny butt has made MILLIONS more microscopic people-loving panthers...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 02, 2016, 07:25:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 02, 2016, 07:34:49 PM
We didn't have to worry any about the dogs cornering Bang-bang until he got super-old. He bloodied a lot of noses, and so didn't have to re-do often or run away.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 04:05:05 AM
-It was because of two specific things with Peepeye and White Tiger, but one involves a little shooping and it's bedtime, and the other needs better shots in better light - tomorrow.
Peepeye:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1083)
Too much whiskers, if anything.
White Tiger:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1084)
The only one who, it so far appears, might keep the blue eyes...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1086)
They were very interested in the camera at close range for some reason - I wonder if it makes noise on cat frequencies...
Moosh:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1087)
Lord, those eyes always make Moosh seem more uptight/timid than she otherwise seems to be, but hard to factor out of impressions. Glad Momma and her weird-taste-in-cats sister -who always has weird cats- like them...
The name is for a smooshed-up-looking face compared to the other white kitten - but all I see is normal face and the longest kitten fur - she almost has a mane...
The Calico Cat:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1088)
Emerging from the Pretty Girl Modeling School, apparently...
Scaredy Cat:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1089)
...Already finished modeling classes and waiting outside, apparently...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1090)
...But a teeny bit spooked by the camera, apparently...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 04:17:30 AM
An aunt was by this morning, and Mom and Mylochka took her down to see the kittens up close, Mylochka going in and bringing them out one by one for closeup examination and petting -everyone behaved pretty well, I'm told- and she held Moosh, and I think we've got three kittens placed -another aunt asked for the gray one and a kitten to be named later, sight-unseen, if she'll commit, and her daughter wants her to- so, keeping Tiger, and we're undecided about who gets Calico or Peepeye, and which we keep.Important to note that Mylochka only just got back from a week-and-a-half housesitting in another state, and never handled them much before - so the fact that the same ones who'd put up a little resistance from me did for her, and nobody spit, hissed, or fought hard, and some were handed to a woman they'd never met before, is a very, very good sign that they will make good pets, according to the quality of their care...
I'm reminding Momma that they're about ready now -not that I want anyone to go- and probably past the end of the new month will be too long under the influence of their mother and brother's wildness and fear. I'm not going to get to do this forever, though I worry that she'll chicken out about calling in the catcher -and I hate to see Cloud go; I've become fond of her and think we could carry four, if only she'd stop making more cats- and bringing in the two we keep inside for a couple weeks to cut the cord and further accustom them to us...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 04:17:30 PM
Cloud was bowed forward, forelegs spread, back humped up to make room, head, consequently, far forward - it was much like the posture of a dog dragging his butt on the floor, except without the forward-protruding hind legs and the movement.
First thing this morning, when Tiger saw me standing just outside the fence, she jumped down out of the door of the big doghouse, ran down the block steps, and came to the fence making the "I want something" mew, then came right out and up to me for nuhnuh/petting - Calico fowllowing behind, though less interested/tolerant of petting. Cloud and Hershey didn't budge from their spots at the corner of the car when I passed close, having not looked at them at all on my way, to get the camp chair. -More storm last night and wet ground/grass.-
I went in and got formula -30 seconds in the microwave, which I don't bother with when it's 80, 80+ out, but do on chilly mornings- and settled in the chair, pouring out a little in the lid of the jar for anyone who came close to drink it, which turned out to be Tiger, or course.
Cloud came and went a couple of times, so it ended up everybody got plenty - including a little poured just for Hershey in the cashew lid outside when I came in.
Now, to see how to make those little still camera videos - I believe I can embed them from the Kittehs! album. Stay tuned...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 06:10:40 PM
---
I've finally broken down and made a dedicated Kittehz folder instead of just dumping in with my personal stuff.
---
There are low-res tiny action videos coming. I have to look at what I've got -not least because you can't look at three things at once, and the control is bad to be recording whenyou think you've turned it off, and turn off when you think you're recording- and see how the video album embedding works and so on... I think I got some excellent stuff od everyone - first time I've seen Cloud looking like she was playing with kittens, not just tolerating and perfunctory grooming, and I definitely caught some of it, if only the quality through the fence is any good at all...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 06:50:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 07:01:29 PM
Here she is on the 18th, my first kitten picture, and the pic in my avatar cropped at 100% of the camera's huge default size:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1091)
There's a highlight in a very unfortunate place, but the pupil looks like it might be distorted slightly right - if it was extremely/very weirdly dilated, I think it would show a lot better.
This was mid-afternoon of Sunday, the 24th, the next good shot of her eyes blown up times four:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1092)
There it is.
Yesterday's portrait shot, and another I didn't use...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1085)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1084)
I didn't notice something off until, roughly, Thursday afternoon. It's bizarrely difficult to perceive, even when she's still, facing towards me in good light with her eyes wide open... I'd guess a problem in the iris/iris muscles -Momma's other sister, Pokey, has it in the same eye on the opposite side of the pupil- and I imagine Tiger'll end up effectively blind in that eye in low light from light-abused retina. She doesn't squint that eye in bright sunlight, or I'd have noticed something off sooner...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 03, 2016, 09:00:18 PM
Trouble in River City. They're NOT so tiny and low-res, there's sound, and the shortest one -a second of Moosh stalking two steps toward Peepeye- is almost twice the filesize limit. Still working on it...
youtube...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 09:16:15 PM
God, I don't know if I'll ever figure out that password -and I'd surely have to fire up Windows Movie Maker to patch them all together and not have 34 VERY short separate videos- but you're right.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 03, 2016, 10:15:32 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 10:53:57 PM
I took some quarter-sized short vids before I was shanghaied into grilling chicken Racku for supper - off to upload and see if any are small enough for the album and what I've got, now...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 11:03:53 PM
-I don't think it worked, but Moosh went in right ahead of me, presumably had been asleep shortly when the rest went wherever they went, and when I walked up to Dog City, bless my heart, gave the most pitiful meows that sounded like "Where's everyone? I WANT MY MOMMY!", accepted my petting, and moved up beside my leg and sat while I was doing it. I would have stayed longer if not food cooking.
I need to go check, actually. The videos can wait a few minutes...
P.S. The Chicken Racku turned out as good as I've ever managed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 11:25:04 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 03, 2016, 11:40:41 PM
deleted
Okay - BBC embed code it is.
deleted
deleted
deleted
Yeah - this sucks. I need to just stitch everything together into one big video and get on th' YooToob...
Edit: they work, but they're one and two seconds apiece and there's a bug spamming the Error Log and causing this page to take 30 extra seconds or more to load. Watch the 11:36-long YouTube video instead:
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=buvYCr81uzQ#)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 01:57:37 AM
Hershey, however, did, about a half hour or more before, and I swear he seemed almost like Moosh -including the long "Where's everyone?" yaow- was when she was left behind around five. He's derived obvious major entertainment from the little siblings, and hung around more and more as my threat rating dropped and he was increasingly accepted and played back with. I've got some minor examples from mid-afternoon on video, when I get that worked out...
He was more than half-doing that thing I've seen him do at Momma, mewing and rubbing against something, wanting --- entertainment, treats, petting, something/all of the above from me.
If she didn't take them somewhere stupid where dogs could find them and get at them -I worry every time I hear barking in the distance- surely they'll turn back up before lunchtime - they've gotten used to solid food, and the second time she tries to take up the slack nursing, she'll lead them home, I bet, if she doesn't bleed out from the nipples.
I'm trying not to be very upset...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 02:35:27 AM
Now to dig up Movie Maker and get to work...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 02:56:20 AM
Fun Fact: When I do that capitalizing part of a word thing, the autocorrect makes me back up and (un)fix it every. SINgle. time.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 03:26:52 AM
Now, it doesn't want to display the video, only the crap outdoor sounds and flickering, and saving to see if it works like that is taking forever, too...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 04:14:57 AM
I'll click on it to see when it's done -not gonna log off for the night this far in- but don't look for video tonight...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 04:46:37 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 05:38:22 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 04, 2016, 01:27:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 01:37:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 02:33:33 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 04, 2016, 02:39:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 03:06:43 PM
The YiouTube's finally finished uploading, and is 52% processed...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 04, 2016, 03:07:23 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 03:11:31 PM
[ninja'd]
No - it didn't recognize either email at all -it was pre-google and I hadn't signed in in six years- I signed up for a new account, then it recognized the same name and let me retrieve the old one - I'm not sure you couldn't hijack old accounts that way...
I believe this post will be on page 10...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 03:13:41 PM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buvYCr81uzQ&feature=youtu.be#)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 05:57:11 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 04, 2016, 06:30:23 PM
They just disappeared? Think someone come and grabbed them?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 07:27:46 PM
During the long grilling, they were up to something in the car shed, probably related to the sun coming out and going away, and coming out and going away, peals of thunder in the distance, and I dunno, unfathomable cat perversity Starring Cloud. Everyone disappeared while I was looking at what I was cooking, and I decided that if I went down there and sat on the porch for a minute, Cloud and the babies would duck in as soon as I left to check for treats.We'd seen a couple of small neighborhood dogs -it's been remarkably clear of that action lately- leaving the backyard earlier, too, but nobody hurt, and hard to believe with the windows open there was enough of a disturbance to provoke a move and we heard nothing. Dogs don't do quiet.
-I don't think it worked, but Moosh went in right ahead of me, presumably had been asleep shortly when the rest went wherever they went, and when I walked up to Dog City, bless my heart, gave the most pitiful meows that sounded like "Where's everyone? I WANT MY MOMMY!", accepted my petting, and moved up beside my leg and sat while I was doing it. I would have stayed longer if not food cooking.
I need to go check, actually. The videos can wait a few minutes...
P.S. The Chicken Racku turned out as good as I've ever managed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 08:00:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 04, 2016, 11:03:40 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 04, 2016, 11:25:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 12:06:15 AM
I got intensely attached to those chilluns, and I don't like not having them around and I don't like not knowing, and I'm worried and afraid.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 04:03:31 AM
I know it's crap random video, but I thought at least I'd have gotten teased about the devil nail by now...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 05, 2016, 04:59:43 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 12:30:38 PM
-No sign of them yet this morning, but I have not lost all hope - she moves them from time to time.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 12:37:57 PM
Quote from: Buster
That is really too bad. Tiger has such pretty eyes...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 03:14:31 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1083)
-and realized he looked like a pic I've seen on the nets a couple million times...
Here with a few minutes' shooping to enhance:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1097)
"You look like Catler!" I said.
...And White Tiger looked up at me and said "Hey man, if you wanna do racist trolling, let's change my name to White Power, the KKKat. I'm super-white."
-Her white parts are indeed a lot whiter than Moosh.
"Honey," I replied, "over a third of you is turning brown - not exactly a KKKat's favorite color. And you know how they feel about the white mixing with colors. You'd end up lynching yourself."
"I'm two months old, fool - I know nothin'," she said. "Why you wanna pull a baby into your nasty racist trolling anyway?"
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 04:55:30 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 05, 2016, 11:30:02 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 12:58:59 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 03:49:43 AM
And I saw Calico and Scaredy in the half-collapsed shed behind the playhouse (you can see the playhouse in the YouTube video on the last page - no still pics) said shed being the place they've lived most besides the dog lot (I haven't talked about all the times they were sleeping somewhere new at dawn - some of which lasted only an hour before they were back in the lot, after the initial move, some of that having an element of human moving involved - if you get three to stay, the other two will follow - or even be led back by Cloud) that we know about. So I rushed over -ten feet or so- which startled Hershey pretty bad, and grabbed the two of them and took them back to Dog City - and fed them Hershey's milk (most of - there was a little in the cashew jar lid that stays by the car shed that he showed up and got half an hour later). In the past, when I have moved all, or one kitten, I've approached calmly and quietly, and placed them in the tail of my t-shirt, which the less-friendly three didn't seem to like a lot, but they'd take it calmly and not try very hard to crawl out. Dashing over instantly, I don't regret, excited I couldn't help -after 48 hours almost to the minute- but I wish I'd stopped and put one in my shirttail at a time instead of grabbing both and carrying them in my hands - they were really mad at me, between that and two days being forever in kitten time to backslide progress. -No biggie if they're still around tomorrow.
Calico did have a VERY good time killing on the free end of the rope I wiggled at him.
Long story short, I had to go inside a little while and bolt down supper and not be cold, and I think Scaredy had already walked back to the back shed when I got back with more food. Calico ate, and I got an actual audible purr -not nearly as mad at me as Scaredy, and I was going low-impact on handling both; this was while eating- before she worked her way over to the gate and went back to the back shed. -Not much point in thwarting, since they can still probably squeeze through the fence anywhere and I wasn't standing guard all night. Started raining around that time, and my fun went way downhill until I came in for the night, though I managed to be mostly under reasonable shelter; they seemed fascinated, at one point, by my meow renditions of songs from Brigadoon from under the car shed.
I am SO done with that back shed two weeks ago - but we'll burn that bridge in the morning if any kittens are on the grounds where we can find them. Hoping this was Cloud bringing them back in shifts, not those two came home on their own; they don't stay places they went to on their own. It would be my luck if something happened and all we get back is the two least friendly, one of whom is promised to aunt Nancy beside, and the other Momma had in mind for her Kitten To Be Named Later - but I'll take anything. I've been out. of. my. MIND. for two days, and this was a relief, even though I didn't see them the last 45 minutes before dark.
Hershey turned back up right before I wrapped for the night, and, no doubt, waited until I left to eat what they didn't in the lot...
My prediction -and I really did expect them back before now, though I worried non-stop- is that all will be right again -or at least only in the awful, unsafe, too-easy-for-them-to-hide-in, horrible to get in a good watching/interacting position, filthy back shed -which we're going to have to DO something about this summer- in the morning, and I can work back up regaining lost ground and progressing domestication, having already come so far once.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 06, 2016, 03:59:40 AM
Thanks for persevering on the video.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 04:19:29 AM
I've been feeling like crying for two days...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 06, 2016, 05:06:08 AM
The best part about these cats is they don't make me sneeze.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 05:11:41 AM
Post by: DrazharLn on May 06, 2016, 11:43:38 AM
I'm sorry the cats have run away a bit. I think all you can do is be good to them when they're around and see if any more come back.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 12:57:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 02:01:38 PM
They eventually went back to the &^%$#@! back shed. Scaredy was actually chasing/wrestling with Hershey in the open.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 04:14:19 PM
I'm very frustrated and sad.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 06, 2016, 04:31:09 PM
You got the brown dad, and 2 kittens now? Not seen the others for days? And they're sleeping somewhere new?
Sounds like mom is trying to get the kittens off on their own and/or teach them hunting. Time to get those kittens off to owners as soon as you see them.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 04:43:42 PM
Cloud's feral and seemingly a terrible mother -this is something like her fourth litter and we're only sure of Hershey surviving- but she moves them around from time to time. I talked about this yesterday.
I tend to strongly agree that they're ready to be separated from her - including the ones we keep, if they turn back up. Changing outbuildings on the estate is one thing, but this is a bridge too far - also, bad sign that she missed the dawn feeding. Something like all I was afraid of has probably happened.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 06, 2016, 05:15:40 PM
Our sub-porch feral left without the kittens shortly after they got adventurous. I didn't expect yours to re-locate when they had food and shelter.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 06, 2016, 05:58:31 PM
Our sub-porch feral left without the kittens shortly after they got adventurous. I didn't expect yours to re-locate when they had food and shelter.
ditto. What are the possibilities of other people feeding?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 07:30:34 PM
Cloud turned up alive and ravenous two hours ago. Dunno what the deal is.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 06, 2016, 09:38:02 PM
Progress with Cloud and a thrill - story to come after dark when I'm not getting up to go look every half hour...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 02:08:58 AM
Cloud just does this sometimes. She's wild. I just can't see how she gets them to stay anywhere since they got so agile , but she does...Our sub-porch feral left without the kittens shortly after they got adventurous. I didn't expect yours to re-locate when they had food and shelter.
ditto. What are the possibilities of other people feeding?
We have suspected in the past that some of the cats were leaching off other households, but I don't think the current ones have been in that habit. The chance of people feeding a litter of quite good-looking kittens that turned up in their toolshed -and keeping the friendlier ones- on the other hand ... distressingly high, I should think.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 07, 2016, 03:09:55 AM
Once we had a few indoor/outdoor cats. The low status cat eventually disappeared, but strangely enough returned for two weeks at the end of August every year thereafter, in good health, coincidentally when most families in the area take vacation.
I like to think that the animals who vanish and stay that way have found themselves a situation that was right for them. Ultimately, the goal is to find homes for them all.
But I'm still hoping they return safely. Are you contemplating the lost kittens poster route? Pictures of them in dog city does kinda look like they are pets.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 03:15:56 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 04:16:13 AM
I like to think that the animals who vanish and stay that way have found themselves a situation that was right for them. Ultimately, the goal is to find homes for them all.Yeah, but Tiger's mine and I don't wanna share.
---
So I see Hershey and at least one of the kittens on the porch at noon - go out to watch, it's both, Hershey eventually wanders off, I end up inside sitting on the ground next to dog city playing with them -rope tricks- I pick Scaredy up and set her up on the porch where Calico is when I realize that Cloud is a foot from my face, eye-level, eating like she was a black hole.
I'd been worried all morning she'd gotten herself killed or captured, along with the three friendlier kittens, when she missed the dawn feed - and she jumped up on the porch -albeit while I was turned away- and came the closest ever. Thrill. She'd been spotted Wednesday and yesterday, but I hadn't seen her...
She mostly hung around, relaxed, the rest of the day, and we were a bit lavish with treats she REALLY doesn't deserve. Calico and Scaredy seemed calmed by her presence, and stayed in or near the lot the rest of the day. More Hershey, too, and Scaredy seemed close to engaging in chase-and-pounce with him, also mutual post/tree climbing, which he's a lot better at, and a little poke-through-the fence with both.
Incidentally, you'd think poking a kitten you're trying to win the trust of with a stick was a bad idea, but get 'em excited about playing with something, and they seem to find it all part of the game - but that was a lot later...
So, mid-afternoon, I go out and, finding neither Cloud nor Hershey inside the fence with the kittens, nor any sign of them in sight, I'm sitting on the porch playing -I actually got Calico playfully fighting my hand while laying on her back not unlike she would her sister- and I looked the other way and startled Cloud a little with my gasp that she'd gotten up on the porch beside where I was sitting while my back was turned and was drinking water. I could have reached out and petted her, if she'd let me and I'd been stupid enough to try. Thrill.2.
I caught her nursing the two inside the fence at suppertime, so hopefully none of that back shed [poop] anymore.
---
Nothing else really important to report, but the kids were only half as mad at me this morning, and got over it completely once Cloud showed up.
Still hoping the others will come home - but took the advice and urged Momma to give the two over to aunt Nancy Sunday -there's a thing tomorrow- if they're still around and whether the others are back or not. She'd made some noises about just keeping them, but we agree that separating them would be cruel, and I was happy with the idea of Tiger and anyone else, but frankly don't want Scaredy and the second least-friendly one, when someone else wants Scaredy.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 03:58:17 PM
I took my time going out for my first visit, mostly because it was 50 degrees when I got up at 7:40. Momma's gone to a thing all day, so I didn't get a dawn feed report. Around 8:30, I went out with warmed formula, and Cloud and Hershey were outside near the car shed, I didn't see Calico and Scaredy. Now, according to the terms of my treaty with Cloud that she doesn't actually know about, I can go inside the fence, especially when she's outside, to put out food/treats, even when she's looking, as long as I don't stay. When I went in, I saw Scaredy sitting on the ground halfway between Dog City and the gate, so I picked her up -no objection to the reaching and picking up, though she wasn't wild about the second of being carried- and set her on the porch and poured out a lidful of nuhnuh. I promptly exited, pouring a little in the two tuna cans just outside the gate for her and Hershey and finding a speck of sun to sit in - it was still only 55 out.
Hershey got up, went in and hogged most of the lidful from Scaredy, Cloud took much longer to get up and cleaned out the tuna cans by herself, went to check, went out and walked off easterly in the direction she embarks on her rounds, and the general direction we're pretty sure she took the whole litter Tuesday. -It's also where the shallow woodshed near the basement door is, and she led Calico back from the middle section. There was much frolic play with the kittens and Hershey, and last I saw, Cloud, Calico and Scaredy had all gone into the back shed.
I'm trying not to be a rice-puller here, so I just hope that was temporary, and also that it wasn't a waystation in leaving again. I'd been watching 45 minutes and it was kinda cold.
But it's been an hour -and it's warming up; 'sposed to be warm today- and I think I'll go check once I post this, if there's nothing to respond to when I surface...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 03:59:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 04:30:43 PM
Somebody had been by and cleaned out the formula I left on the porch, but that was likely Hershey, who I saw before I stopped looking around and came in. I really shouldn't let myself get tore up over short-term developments, which usually amount to nothing a few hours later...
...But my working relationship with my inner child isn't that good...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 06:40:42 PM
She didn't lead them into the back shed, BYW; they'd ended up in there randomly-seeming during back-and-forth chasing, and she eventually followed.
---
So Calico and Scaredy turned up on the sunny side of the back shed in a place I'm not accustomed to looking when they were staying there weeks ago.
I took Calico -Scaredy moved back a touch to far to reach- back to the dog lot, and she had a drink of water and we played with the rope, but she didn't want to stay, and I let her go back. They won't stay unless they're together, so I need to catch them sleeping in reach, or lure them with rope/stick play and have nuhnuh out when I take them back. I've lured them back inside the fence before from not far from the back shed on their own feet before since they came home, with the rope-snaking.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 07, 2016, 08:03:45 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 07, 2016, 09:18:49 PM
No sign of the little ones on this last pass - of course, it is mid-afternoon on a genuinely warm day, so not the best time to catch them not asleep under complete shady cover. Did see Cloud cleaning out the formula I left before I went looking, and Hershey out the window while I was reporting to Momma. Soon would be a much better time to catch them awake and playing if they're holed up around back, but gotta make a cigarette run, and then it'll be time to start grilling pork chops...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 07, 2016, 09:29:50 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 02:08:06 AM
---
Frustrating day, but I just left Calico and Scaredy in the dog lot freshly nuhnuhed, and they were acting like it was too dark to strike out (unless their mom shows up and can get them to follow so long after dark). -They'd already stayed pat on the porch -I didn't expect that part to work- closer after sunset with more light while I ran inside and grabbed a box of mothballs and spent 15 minutes or so throwing into the back shed - we're going to do something about that mess this warm season; salvage what we can and tear down what we can't, don't want to find copperheads, and just as well make it smell bad now while I knew for sure the kittehz weren't in there.
According to my theory, the way Cloud can get them to stay somewhere is an instinct to stick to the last place you fed - formula ain't momma and nursing, but maybe half-points, and Cloud may not intervene... Fuddle duddle the back shed, for sure. I'm SO done with squeezing around back and getting leaves in my hair, dirty butt, bruised souls of my feet from those sharp rocks at the back corner, peering into it and wondering.
Fun Fact: my spellcheck marks duddle but not fuddle...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 04:58:38 AM
It's a mild night so far and I realized I hadn't closed the window of my office and the basement door - and I couldn't resist walking out in the dark at almost midnight to check if the little monsters were sleeping where I left them. Seems not to be the case.
I wouldn't want the blighters to be harmed by mothball fumes, but it would serve them right anyway.
[insert attempt to type out some portrayal of a deeply weary and frustrated primal scream]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 02:11:09 PM
About an hour later, I looked out and noticed the rather overcast lighting -ideal for outdoor photography- and decided to take some establishing shots of the outbuildings I've been talking about to tell the story better.
Startled Cloud and the terrible two in the closest segment of the woodshed. Uploading some pictures now - of the outbuildings, though cats are in most of them.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 06:48:36 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1100)
The east end of the woodshed is 25-30 feet or so from the back/basement door. It was made from halves of some huge shipping crates we got from a local textile mill and tacked together with a tin roof added. Really durable and in excellent shape after decades in the weather. Cloud is by the left end, Calico is the blob at the base of the woodpile in the middle, and Scaredy is out of sight behind the wheelbarrow in the middle section.
Incidentally, we've lucked into a couple of loads of not-old/green firewood recently, and that's a big relief in anticipating possible winter emergencies. We're good for a solid week now, come an ice storm knocking out the power for a while in the next five years...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1101)
Mylochka's playhouse. Like Dog City, getting close to forty years old. -And again, Daddy didn't have half-efforts at anything in him, aside from singing in church; if there was plumbing and the buried power cable running out to it was replaced, you could live in it - if you didn't have much stuff and didn't entertain much. For a little girl's playhouse, the man built a foundation, poured a good concrete floor and built a tiny one-room house complete with electricity and a locking door. Mylochka still used it a little the year after college she was back home, 1984. The roof's overdue for replacing, though, and I doubt we'll be willing to expend whatever it needs before it commences leaking and ruins the place down the road.
-You wouldn't beLIEVE, BTW, the treehouse (it was off to the left around a corner uphill of the dog lot at the west edge of the yard) my brother and I got a few years later - bigger complete enclosed house than you'd think a sane man could build up a tree, which was never as fun, once completed, as the bare platform he started with - two windows, a door, light, a little porch with a bannister. Sounds like he spoiled us, but no - overkill to the point it was no fun, so sadly typical, because he never knew when to stop. The double-wide wooden staircase all the way up didn't weather well, the whole thing slowly killed the trees, and it didn't last halfway through the nineties.
So anyway, the playhouse has been reduced to storage for a long time, and we're talking about cleaning it out and doing some fixing up along with the overdue repainting everything around back needs. (The holly tree in front was cut down when it was built, and Mylochka trimmed the shoots that sprang from the trunk into a bush, which I was the one mostly to maintain since -one of my gifts is topiary, the sculpture talent tying in to make me crazy good at it when I work up to trimming jobs- and obviously, have gotten way behind in recent years; I resolved Monday to do a ruthless trimming even though it's months too late - the thing's unkillable, and covering the front walk to the point I didn't bother to try to get a shot of the front.) If only a newly-teenage girl was coming this summer to put the playhouse back to its intended use...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1102)
Dog Lot corner, Car Shed, the intact end of the Back Shed, Playhouse (biggest I've ever seen an azalea bush get). The car is a 71 Oldsmobile, and was my first car - turns out it was too much car for a beginner, between 70's muscle car power and the way the front and back windows were tilted limited the view a little so it felt a bit like operating a tank. It was turned over to my little brother, who always thought he was a good driver, but merely more reckless and I don't care if that gets back to him. Being in a moving car is never not dangerous, and caution has kept me alive. Buster's Daddy, incidentally, lost it back to me in a bet over him finishing the final match of Punchout on the Nintendo in two minutes, his car versus my dollar. The look in his eyes when he realized he'd taken 2:30 and made a promise he couldn't afford was WONderful, and I took mercy and sold it back to him for a two-dollar cone of chocolate-dip ice cream from Mr. Robert's in town. We never paid taxes on the sale, and there's no paper trail, so don't tell anyone.
What you see of the back shed behind the playhouse is the relatively-intact part, a later addition made largely of sides from those huge shipping crates. It was only a few years before Daddy retired, and I recall being very struck by how much he listened for pretty much the first time ever on any outdoor work, to my suggestions. It was one of the earliest signs that he was going down - in hindsight, he was losing his mental edge for quite a few years longer than anyone realized; I can't guess if he knew before the rest of us or not. Between that and the back/joint/whatever problems that were no secret, about two years before he retired, working outdoors with him stopped being worse than boot camp with two ANGRY drill sergeants cleaning the poop from a horse corral with my tongue while they kicked me like there were no officers in the world and I was on fire the whole time. He got to listening to ideas how to do a job, would knock of for breaks at prudent intervals, take a half hour nap when I told him to after lunch before we went back to work, and wasn't such a crazy man in general. For the first time in my life, for the next 5-10 years, when I saw him working outside, I would often actually volunteer. I was trying to keep him from hurting himself - all my life, he couldn't do anything without at least some hand bleeding, which was no grounds for stopping to bind the wound while the job was unfinished. Silly me. What I accomplished doing that was he got approximately twice as much done while hurting his back or whatever approximately the same amount.
If any of you noticed the universe suddenly missing its center 12 years and four days ago -I just burst into tears- Poppa's work was finally done. He's with his beloved momma now -if they let him into heaven for visits- breaking green beans together in the shade, sitting down. I hated that horrible, impossible man -the heart of all terror and pain- and I loved him while I had him and got to say goodbye.
My brother and sister missed out beyond all description -Mylochka readily acknowledges this- getting to care for him and be with him in his last years. He was easier to love the weaker he got, alas.
The world will never be right again.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1103)
A little closer of the collapsed side of the back shed. Not worth getting wading down over the rock wall to get a shot of it from behind. What you won't be able to tell looking at this is that the black roof of the small original section is in plain sight; we had this roughly 8'x10' piece of thickish black plastic we'd tied a line to the corners that was a great sled for you and your brother and two cousins en mass if you didn't care about steering and/or having to bail out. Daddy nailed it down as a shed roof, because while his greatest crimes were all of passion (and I never ever feel like talking about those in detail), he could just be that degree of stone-hearted cheap sometimes - and never know he'd done a terrible thing. Said ignorance did not involve nobody telling him, but center of the universe, folks; the rest of us just lived there.
The original section had a tree fall on it during hurricane Hugo -that slab of plastic is still in good shape to this day though- for which the insurance company surprisingly voluntered $800. Daddy deposited the check and then repaired the shed - but didn't do a sound enough job, and it eventually gave out and pulled down half the extensive addition of about five years later with it.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1104)
All of the dog lot and car shed. The weeds -much of them tree seedlings- are overdue for slinging, but the kittens like them. -Also, I have a deep-rooted aversion to yardwork -and a variety of manual chores -for reasons people reading this post should be able to guess- and suddenly Momma's crippled in the right shoulder. It's going to fall to me to do, probably when I mercilessly prune the holly tree/bush soon.
I hope this summer, Buster's Daddy will spare time to help me repair the car shed -no one else left worth anything helping with Momma's shoulder wracked- we and Daddy did a crap job improvising a frame to support the replaced roof from Gramma and Grampa's carport into something useful that's definitely worth the work this summer to preserve. Half the posts are dangling and it's developing a lean to the side. Some remedial action involving creosoting ends, some big cinder blocks and cement, plus a little more frame corner bracing, will make things right.
Someday the big tree in the dog lot is going to die of old age if it don't fall first, and destroy Dog City utterly along with at least one side of the enclosing fence. No dog has lived there since the mid-90s, and I see no way worth the trouble and/or expense to stave that day off, sadly. It's way too big to top off ten feet up and not destroy the fence anyway, even if we paid people - a crew set up with a crane or something is too expensive to consider.
I do dislike entropy and change. It's rarely for the better.
After I got the pictures taken, I did get some decent playtime with the two kittens - but I'm pretty fed up with the never being sure where they are and the backsliding and all, have given up on the other three coming home, and am anxious to give these two away and have an end to the suspense, bullcrap and heartbreak.
We haven't decided yet, but have begun discussing, whether to dispose of Cloud soonest or roll the dice -once- on the inevitable next litter in August if we don't do something. I'm now fonder of Cloud than Momma is, and I'm pissed out of my mind at her, so she's gone one way or another by sometime this Fall...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 07:25:43 PM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vt1Pwfnh5pc#)
1:06
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 08, 2016, 08:14:25 PM
I think I'd try to find a way to roll back or remove a section of fence and drop the tree, in hopes of saving dog city, as a sort of monument to your Dad the All or Nuthin' Guy.
But you gotta have priorities, and destroying the collapsed shed, restoring the play house and shoring up the car port probably outrank that, especially if you don't have room for the firewood in the wood shed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 08:29:30 PM
Meh. I could have calmly persevered -being overeager since they came back has hurt things, but not a problem today- and gotten more response and lured them within reach and all that - but for what? They are that line, embodied, at the beginning of the Wounded Land, the theme of the whole trilogy, really: "The way to hurt a man who's lost everything is to give him something back, broken."
Rusty, I actually had had thoughts in that direction, and your opinion gives them sincere weight. I think we could take down a side to put back up later, and if a chainsaw's in good repair, I might could put the tree down in back or left into the woods downhill and not have to cut up but the first 20 feet or so. I'll go have a look at the way it seems to lean and maybe talk to Momma - getting Buster's Daddy in on it will probably be necessary. -An uncle would be very helpful if asked, but I'm hesitant because of his poor judgment about what his back will take, which should sound familiar. Cutting off a large tree 10 feet up is a stupid risk at my age, mind, and he's in his late sixties.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 08:56:23 PM
Poppa's work was finally done.I burst into tears again right there, rereading.
The morning of his funeral, I said something to momma about burying him in his work boots - she said he wouldn't have liked that. I though a moment, "Yeah; his work's done" voice cracking. Tears are running down my face.
I'm crying a lot this afternoon, thinking about all the pets and people I didn't get to say goodbye to - and the ones I did.
Diego couldn't manage the doggy door well at all anymore and I opened the back door -just cried aloud- and laid him in a sunny spot on the back porch. He was dead when I saw him again, laying exactly as I left him -to no shock if not exactly expected- but that counts as a pretty good goodbye, I think.
Closure matters, profoundly.
I saw Johnny Cash covering Hurt for the first time with Daddy on CBS Sunday Morning - you knew, watching that video -and it was part of the magic of it- that Cash would die soon, and I said so to Daddy. I bawled the loudest I have in I don't know how many years watching the video before I posted. I've no idea if Johnny expected to go quite so soon -seven months after releasing the album- until June died three months before he did, but Johnny Cash said goodbye to us...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 09:29:05 PM
If I have to, I'll cut it down to get a straight piece that isn't TOO brittle for one run next time it snows enough, but I'm riding a piece of that black plastic shed roof down the hill at the first opportunity, because now I can.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 08, 2016, 10:19:44 PM
One thing for sure?
If I have to, I'll cut it down to get a straight piece that isn't TOO brittle for one run next time it snows enough, but I'm riding a piece of that black plastic shed roof down the hill at the first opportunity, because now I can.
That's the spirit!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 08, 2016, 10:30:34 PM
Oh hell; that's in Hurt, too. ;notes; You are someone else. I am still right here. ;notes;
Nancy promised to collect the leftovers tomorrow - I went out and found them where I left them and we played with the rope for 15 minutes, but [poop] - they don't love me, my heart's not in it anymore and I already did the courtship, and the back shed pisses me off - it all pisses me off. I ought to catch them and put them in a box right now soonest, just to be sure. I don't need them around being not White Tiger or Peepeye and pissing on my mourning. I want this over now, and I don't want to do the catching, which needs more patience than I have left.
Post by: DrazharLn on May 08, 2016, 11:31:49 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 09, 2016, 01:55:36 AM
Telling me I did a thing I put a lot into well is never a bad move if I believe you, and I do.
All the crap in the backyard - I've lived here, mostly, since March of 1970, and I could post 100 pictures of myself and not share near as much of who. I. AM. as those five pictures and the stories in that one post.
I hope anyone not familiar with the Cash video has a look - I'm sure everyone familiar looked again, because they know how good and moving it is to see that old man say goodbye by taking a NineInchNails song away from Trent Reznor, who wrote it, forEVER.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 09, 2016, 03:37:34 AM
My Dad was a different story, I could tell it sometime.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 09, 2016, 04:39:52 AM
Might be thread-worthy as I imagine the majority of us have daddy issues and the stories to match.
---
The leftovers turned up in the dog lot for the post-supper to sunset visit, got some formula, there was mediocre play after, Cloud turned up in time to keep me from overdoing, I watched Hershey for a long time after she left again -wasn't going to fall for the circle the back shed and playhouse to catch me back inside five minutes later trick this time, which she didn't actually pull this time- and they napped.
I had the inspiration that hey!, I had this back shed problem and also -this is embarrassing, but sometimes I don't want to break off and go AFK- a gallon of my own urine handy. And I knew they weren't in there. I derived enormous satisfaction from making the back shed smell like mine-keep-out/stale hippy pee -I hardly use it constantly- in the dispensing.
Calico and Scaredy were waking up from their nap on their own when I got back, finally in the mood for good play. Calico really played fort good with my finger - they have such soft little paws to bat with. -Scaredy did the gentle finger-chew/lick. Saw no signs of waiting to escape. And I left at sunset, not after, right before Cloud could catch me coming back as I went up the hill. I feel better about the whole thing now - though much depends on the morning's developments - but a whole gallon of pee sprinkled around on top of the mothball smell, and I didn't move them into the lot to begin with late in the day, so hopes are high. Maybe the passing them off will be cordial and smooth.
I'm giving my aunt the spare bit of macramé rope with the knotted-up ball on the end -she'll be playing with them, what she can, sitting in a chair, so yarnball is ideal- and suggesting strongly that she has a cinderblock with big enough holes set on her carport. -Also, try to see that someone more mobile, y'know, actually touches them all they'll tolerate.
It's not far away at all, and I can see them a lot if I want to. They'll do better away from their mother's influence, and should be ready for bucking up and responding to kindness. They're suckers for simple rope manipulation and flat-out wiggling - also food.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 09, 2016, 02:42:49 PM
---
I have a theory about Tiger and Peepeye being friendlier -and Moosh crossing maybe to the domestic side of the force before the last two- that may not involve them being innately friendlier. First time I met them, Scaredy didn't come out at all, and Calico little. Tiger and Peeps spent considerable time in my lap drinking milk straight out of a tilted cup the first few days when they were much more helpless and tractable -and not good yet at licking from a dish, especially when competition was crowding in- and Moosh worked up the courage first session and almost always thereafter to get her share -definitely more if she could- of what I put out. Some of that may have been innate natures to begin with, but the runts may have been sorta pushed out of the cozy safe hidey-hole, too, and just got more of my attention for being in easy reach and my instinct to try to see the runts got enough to eat.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 09, 2016, 04:17:03 PM
It turned out it wasn't a carpet lump on the porch, but katz - took me a few seconds as I came into clear resolving range to sort, but Cloud was nursing on the porch laying down for the first time I've seen. Thankfully, she kept her cool - I hate it when I find out she's been nursing by her jumping up and running. I would never disrupt a nurse on purpose, for multiple reasons.
---
Aunt Nancy, God bless 'er, won't forget, but is not reliable about being able to be able to go through with plans in her twilight years. It's not that the woman is THAT old, but she's fat and being crippled by dibeetus complications and shouldn't still be alive. Looks right now like she's going to live forever, getting more helpless, out of pure stubbornness and spite. Her and Daddy got along; I wouldn't love her so if I'd ever had to live with her. :) (She's the technically-ex aunt I sometimes mention who lives just a few minutes' drive away.) -So stay tuned for developments on whether we're able to de-kitten today...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 09, 2016, 05:50:21 PM
They can't see colors, but their grayscale helps them match well enough that a reddish one burrows into a clay bank, and an old silverback will burrow under sun-bleached wood. That sort of thing, so that when they are out and still they are nearly invisible.
Cats are more interesting. Obviously gray and black ones can hunt or lie in wait among the shadows and darkness for rodents. But they also eat birds, which have not only color, but magnified vision.
The yellow tiger cats certainly blend well in dead grass. We've had a few calico barn cats which were excellent hunters. How? They stand out like sore thumbs. Until a white plastic grocery bag caught in the weeds turned into the Calico. The Calico doesn't have to blend it's whole body into the background, it just has to disguise it's silhouette by blending part of itself , so that when the prey sees it, it doesn't see a cat. Long hairs have a less identifiable shape than a shorthair.
That's why cats are hard to photograph in natural surroundings.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 09, 2016, 06:29:20 PM
How? They stand out like sore thumbs.
Human eyes are not prey's eyes.
I know Lily is a damn ghost. Nothing sees her unless she wants you to.
She actually let me pet her this weekend. In the basement (encroaching on 'her' territory), no less. Just briefly, then fled as the room filled with noise from the kids.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 09, 2016, 08:56:32 PM
---
They have stayed in the lot all day so far - just had a good visit, which is definitely the note I'd rather end on for their sakes and my own. Aunt Nancy will come through in the next few days if today doesn't work out...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 09, 2016, 10:10:27 PM
She got worse with me specifically when I was laid off. She didn't take the interruption of schedule well.
With the chaos about to descend on the house, I probably won't see her till it's over, and won't be terribly shocked if she doesn't find a way to escape to never be seen or get walled in to somewhere and have to be removed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 09, 2016, 10:40:32 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 03:51:30 AM
The late session was peaceful - Cloud was nursing them at five -which is pretty typical- in the lot, was still with them at six, which was running late, and suddenly appeared to catch me in the lot initiating petting two minutes after I saw the coast clear and sat on the porch around seven - I don't think she squeezed in her last rounds of the day. The transition when she caught me went pleasingly smoothly this time; she and Hershey came in before I got to my feet -I need to do nothing abruptly around them, of course- and went down the inside of the fence while I paused towards the front of the path with my head down and face turned away -just in case any of that primate-dominated body language scanned- and I could leave without awkwardness or approaching alarmingly. The occupation transition is often this uncomfortable thing where they're in my way leaving if they don't want me too close, so a minor but good adjustment to our coexistence, there.
I decided since all four were in there together, I ought to treat them to formula just because - everybody got some, and Hershey came back in for his and almost ignored that I was leaving so close. They all seemed relaxed and content when I broke off at sunset. Hershey made gains in learning how to play with anyone besides his mother, and is less rough paw-batting playing fort now. Scaredy still seems more prone to try to play with him; actually initiates some of it.
They started doing the hopping straight up while chasing/pouncing, and sitting up on their butts when they paw at something a week ago, which I wish I could catch on video - they. are. at that PRIME stage mix of mobility and cute baby energy with still the fuzzy wittle kitteness now. If they stay in the lot until we hand them over -I pee-bombed a spot today at the end of the woodshed where they were retreating underneath it Sunday morning- I anticipate no real problems in between. I only cried once today.
I'm not stopping working on/with the two little hardcases until they're gone, and I want their handing over and mood on arrival in their new home maximally chilled - I wish there was a good way to knock them out cold for half an hour and have Aunt Nancy call ahead ten minutes, so they could just wake up in the new place with whatever treats and all waiting.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 12:49:11 PM
I hadn't been on here long when I heard water running in the master bedroom and decided to go be in place watching for the morning feed - turned out Momma did her exercises first and I waited looking at nothing and thinking for 20 minutes, but that's okay. I hope the Little Leftovers just didn't wake up and come out, but no sign.
This just in: Momma just saw Cloud retrieve them from somewhere at the woodshed and go down into the woods. Time to scent-mark my territory some more today.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 02:47:39 PM
Both typically have the tails of excited happiness straight up, Hershey mostly zigzagging ahead almost like a dog, Cloud always doing the humped back leg-rubbing thing cats do (that when a dog does it on the stairs or going down a hill, you have to almost kick it in self defense to discourage make-you-fall-and-get-hurt behavior - with a cat it's too light to trip you but you worry you'll step on it) and Momma walking with a funny bow-legged cowboy gait to avoid that stepping on. It's funnier to see from the front.
It's the only time their body language says pet, and they're very consistent about it, and it's why I made a conscious decision not to pitch in on a chore when I wake up before Momma - that's her time with the feral cats acting like they love food girl, and she doesn't want out of the job. (She admitted that she loves Cloud on her way out - and Cloud is on her way out because of that making more cats problem.)
Cloud apparently led the kids into the lot by a slightly circuitous route. -I had thought she hadn't eaten long enough to break off for a nursing or a move; the food doesn't just sit there waiting with Hershey around.- They ate, play broke out, Hershey went in and got involved, I decided to go get the camera and try to catch some cuteness video - and unsurprisingly, it changed while I was gone a minute, and not great video.
With Cloud sit-laying on the porch, they and Hershey were playing in the weeds on the car shed side of the lot where I couldn't see, that rather randomly drifted over into the car shed, the two went into the back shed, I came in to give up in low-key disgust, but Momma came out to hang laundry and I saw Calico going back into the lot, and that turned into what looked like the two attempting to nurse, probably in vain, and fell asleep against Cloud.
Looking out the window, that seems to have broken up, and I think I see at least one laying at the other front corner of the porch in front of the big doghouse, can't see Cloud.
You know, I don't really care where they sleep, or about a little wandering, as long as they pretty much spend their days in and around the lot - not least because they actually seem to accept(/like?) me better inside the fence. Under and around the Cutlass is fine, too - we're pretty sure, incidentally, that that's where Hershey sleeps at night, at least mostly. God only knows where Cloud sleeps.
If I took a notebook with me and kept more meticulous notes -and pretended a lot more dispassion in my reports- I'd feel like Jane Goodall studying the monkeys sometimes... I am doing actual shoddy field zoology here, as part of the project...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 03:37:27 PM
We'll probably just run an extension cord out, and she may well get better wifi net reception there than next door - the whatsis is on that side of the house. They haven't thought about she'll miss air conditioning on July nights yet...
I mention it now because my wimminz is keen to commence cleaning out the good wood and mattresses and stuff stored there, and Momma just threatened that they were going to tackle pruning back the holly bush/tree so they could get in and out. I can't have that, because they'll do an ugly job on the bush compared to me, so that ruthless trimming I promised is about to get underway...
The cats will hate it, but I'm not going to use any power tools doing it, so not a major trauma... Slinging down the weeds in the dog lot have to wait for the babies to be gone, though.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 10, 2016, 04:12:19 PM
I do love the property as a whole. ALL THAT SPACE!
Oh the fun I could have around October...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 04:27:49 PM
---
Gonna get a good before shot of the tree/bush (and pet/play with the kittens a little) before I commence work, that I may post a good after shot afterwards. It's gonna be a butchery this much this late into Spring, that will not look good before next Spring, so don't be surprised by that part - it has to be done now or be in the way for another nine months, which isn't an option.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 10, 2016, 04:41:53 PM
Our backyard and crumbling outbuildings loves you right back, sir. I truly and honestly have always pitied you in your matchbox in the 'burbs. -You wouldn't like being so off the beaten track come showtime, though, you know.
You kidding? Our neighborhood party is fun. Halloween night is work.
In looking at the remodel of our house was the possibility to move to a bigger lot. But, 8 years from now, the boys will be gone and that would just mean more yard work for me. The decimation of our back yard for the sake of the remodel will thus be a blessing to reduce work in the future.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 04:49:11 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 10, 2016, 06:43:26 PM
The main attraction in the remodel will be the kitchen and great room. Everything else is just bonus side-effect.
The massive kitchen, with an 8' island, is specifically designed so that family dinners can be served here with ease. Both now, for our present family (her parents gone, some pressure to step up for the holiday meals. My mom's health is making those hard on her as well). The Great room will give us more than ample room for seating everyone as well.
So, it's a 'let's have our family over now' as much as it is 'let's make it large enough to have our kids come back home for the holidays later'.
There won't be needs of the 'kids table' in the other room made of card tables I'm sure most everyone has experienced.
All with keeping the rambler mentality of we're gonna get old and stairs are of the devil.
Do PDF's attach well to the forum?
The basement is being designed for the kids to want to bring their friends back to our place, rather than them running off elsewhere. For obvious parental reasons.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 07:06:59 PM
Growing up next door to the maternal g-parents rocked SO hard. Gramma was an always-lovely superhero, indestructible and so talented and a can-do person, a real rock - Grampa was grumpy but deeply, deeply, funny in droll sarcastic way, and had been a horrible father, but was a FANTASTIC grampa. My brother, especially, needed the backup dad.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 07:21:30 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 08:37:53 PM
Calico was lovely and into the nap-petting; stretching and enjoying it, wake up 30 seconds and move, lay back down, enjoy it, woke up and moved against my ribs -I was reclining- and slept there several minutes while I petted. Woke up and walked over my forearm, laid down against it with her right legs on top -thrill!- and just generally acting like a tame kitten who loves me back.
This back corner stuff is getting pretty WTF. I can't go get a good look because Cloud, so I'm only assuming Scaredy's still there hours later - unlikely to be anywhere else with Calico on the porch and her mother back there except checking for formula after I leave - which paid off this last time.
I've taken some new photos today, besides the before and after for the poor holly bush. Processing about to commence.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 10, 2016, 09:12:07 PM
I strongly approve of all your reasoning
Not everyone on this end does.
we're getting a lot of 'you should just sell and build new' feedback. Not really complaints about the intended design.
Mostly hEt's family worried we're "wasting" money from her parents. I can't seem to get them to understand we've been planning this since we moved in, we don't want to move away from the neighborhood, having planned this for the last 10 years, we won't even need to be touching the money from hEt's parents, we would have started a couple years ago if I hadn't been under threat of layoffs, and the numbers look amazingly good financially. We actually come out financially ahead here, walking away with more equity than we have today.
Not to mention a non-trivial amount of being none of their business.
But I'm not schoolined in these things so I can't possibly know what I'm talking about.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 09:27:26 PM
No - I know you for a healthily-parsimonious man, and I know frugal planning when I hear it. Moving to a larger matchbox is all the complications in the world and a whole new neighborhood to have to spend years breaking in - you spend a lot of money and lose a lot of your crap in the move.
An expansion and remodeling is gonna nick you hard, but still faster cheaper, less complicated and stressful, and you get increased comfort without leaving a house/place/neighbors you're used to and have arranged as much to your satisfaction as can be managed. -Also the thing about added value you said. Moving too often unnecessarily is an expensive mugs' game - my dad said so, and that's the kind of personal finance thing I trust his teaching about absolutely without reservation.
You can afford the investment and it's the smart play. You simply do not spend big money on things not worth the big money. Period.
I am, after all, sitting on a spot where my personal roots go down 46 years, two months and five days, next door to family roots that go back to 1938, in a state and county where my lineage goes back 500 years, I have childhood possessions in this building that go all the way back to when we moved in, and I like it that way...
Post by: Unorthodox on May 10, 2016, 09:33:46 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 10, 2016, 09:44:14 PM
You have to live there and they don't, and that's all there is to it, your business v. none of theirs aside - they simply do not have your experience in your skin -and living with the Boss as a wife- to see what's best for you - and the Boss and the kids. Stress and time and trouble have a value -those are things Daddy didn't weight heavily enough, remembering the Great Depression as a sharecropper's son as he did- and an expansion is a minimalizing play for those costs, versus all you'd throw out and/or start over in a move.
They're clearly thinking about playing the real estate market, not measuring the intangibles at all.
Post by: ColdWizard on May 10, 2016, 10:54:37 PM
'you should just sell and build new'
One of the guys in my D&D group went that direction. Had a dispute with the builder and is now in some sort of arbitration limbo over an incomplete house that should have been done years ago. Didn't put his current house on the market so he still has a place to live but he's dealing with a lot of unnecessary expense and stress.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 12:05:56 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 12:29:54 AM
Silly me. I went to check at 4:55, didn't see anyone, checked around the obvious places and before I gave up, was making a pass around to look behind dog city where I never go because of untrampled leaf footfall sounds and how feral cats react. -And suddenly saw Cloud leap straight from laying crammed up in that back corner of the fence straight to clinging to the top and doing a green-eyed Linda Blair. "OH! Sorry; I'm leaving," I actually said as I retreated. I'd interrupted a nursing or post-nursing nap - typical around 4-5, and I hadn't thought and didn't expect them really back there. D'oh!
As I retreated back up the hill thinking about bringing some conciliatory formula for Cloud, she came out from under dog city in what I've always interpreted as check-for-treats behavior. Looking out the kitchen window, I saw she went outside the gate, perhaps the check-the-tuna-cans behavior. I grabbed the jar and was going to sit on the carport and wait for her startlement to cool off - or her to move away from the gate so I didn't have to drive her off to the side by approaching again, but I decided she was sitting there hoping for what I already wanted to offer. So I started mincing baby steps down the hill towards her -avec the slumped-shoulders, head-down, face-averted posture of a frightened servant or any submissive primate, because I'm not worried about the feeling of dominance going to her head if any of that attitude gets through to her- and she got up and unhurriedly walked back in ahead of me, going just under the edge of dog city behind the block stairs while her dominated (contrite and unthreatening) hippy poured her (cold - it's about 80 out) nuhnuh and left.
Somehow Hershey appeared from under the car and beat her onto the porch. The babies got nothin', but they'd probably just gotten the real thing, so all is well, and diplomatic overtures went smoothly this time. -She and Hershey are part of the 'Kat Frend' project for themselves, after all. ;b;
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 01:55:48 AM
Kids still in the lot when I knocked off 37 minutes ago; I got some frolic video with Hershey playing troll inversion a little, but I haven't gotten well started on all the new photos yet, and first things first...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 11, 2016, 03:18:56 AM
Explanation, if that doesn't make any sense-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERJXwaTVPI8 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERJXwaTVPI8)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 04:06:48 AM
A thing I've kept meaning to mention about Cloud -related to the observation that she's prettier when she's angry/afraid/tense and she's looking hard and her eyes get huge (and when she's looking but fairly relaxed, the angle of her muzzle and her markings make her face look superficially more hostile; you have to know her)- is that all I pay real close attention to for useful reading of her mood is her eyes. When the big green eyes show, she's watching me hard, she's tense and all I just said. She reacts fast enough, I don't see her tensing to bolt - but if she's making those mean-looking slitty eyes, all is actually okay and she's not going anywhere for now. If she looks away long and/or lets her eyes shut, she definitely ain't worried.
Tails are a reliable indicator for some gross states of cat emotion, but when I need to read her most, she's facing me and not making that straight-up happy tail, and I can't see agitation whipping then, or curled-under afraid - happy reaction to petting is unlikely to come up. I just watch how wide her eyes are open.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 11, 2016, 04:21:26 AM
However, I find the slow blink technique very useful at calming the cats when I need to invade their space. Call it relaxation mirroring if you like, but it works.
The way things normally work, my wife is the good guy and I'm the bad one... which is fine, I'm allergic and they keep their distance, and they fight over the wife's lap. I catch them and put them in taxis and take them to the vet or on long car trips.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 04:49:05 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1105)
You can't see the peak of the playhouse roof behind, but I had to turn the camera sideways to get the entire height in the frame from 30 or so feet back. I'd neglected trimming for probably longer than I've been part of this community, and you're looking at something like forty feet tall, way higher than the playhouse, gone back to being a tree with multiple very skinny trunks up to the width of my wrist.
I started with topping - the first thing it needed to go back to being a bush was doing something about all that tall and discouraging more as it grew this season. The clearing it off overhanging and crowding the pathway to the front door was more urgent today, but needed topping first so I didn't waste time cutting anything twice.
...A couple cuts with the long-handled thing with the short crescent blades -I don't know what it's called- for clip-pruning small branches, and I was all "I'm gonna kill this poor thing." An awful lot of foliage that started high and hung low to the outside was coming off...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1106)
(Screwed this up a little - the spot I stood is the same, I was careful to get the sides cropped the same as the before pic, but I forgot to turn the camera sideways and get all the tall now missing in the shot.)
Um, I didn't do much except top, because any shaping at all this year before it gets well into Fall, maybe wait till end of February 'cause hollys never shed all at once, was going to take off the scant few leaves left and make it dying that much more likely. I cut back any branches left that jutted over the cement pathway, and left the pitiful remnant with any leaves alone - just a bit that curved up higher than the 4.5 feet top limit, even.
There was a little regular trimming action on the azalea to the left that only impinged slightly and taking out some weedy volunteers all around and such, but the basic job did not require my shaping skills. However, I did need to be the one to do it, because they'd have had to use the bow saw reaching in with shorter arms and taken forever - the mini-trunks as thick as my wrist were surprisingly spongy, but still took strength they didn't have to do it with the small branch clip.
Naturally, there's a lot more topiary work on the azaleas left for later this year; this was kind of a practical access emergency.
-I need to rewind time about 13 hours and just cut back from the access, maybe figure out which bit were tallest and only top half the shoots before autumn. Maybe on the next cycle of universal time, which I'm refusing to show up for if I can't correct some mistakes...
P.S. No sign the cats cared about the yard work nearby - boy, they sure hate lawnmower noise, though.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 11, 2016, 01:34:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 01:43:42 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 11, 2016, 01:51:53 PM
REALLY hard since the windstorm knocked down everyones trees...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 01:56:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 03:51:46 PM
So trying again at ten, the randomish drizzle had set in -the sun was shining at the same time for a few minutes as I went out- and all four were on the porch. Presumably, there was back corner lounging action I couldn't see going at nine before the drizzle drove them to shelter. Rusty, I tried the eye blink at the big cats, and couldn't tell if it made any difference, being over thirty feet away sitting on the hood of the car, and it not being that different from all the things I already do to signal my calmness. Kittens don't stare that way when you're not real close, of course, and they were asleep about the whole time.
Cloud settled facing me, and not much to watch while all but Hershey napped and he didn't do much until towards the end. He moved around onto the block steps and woke Calico for a second, and slowly went out the gate to do his leisurely patrol along the front to the edge of the woods. I didn't realize until I was leaving that I was only looking at Calico sleeping at the far front corner -again, hard to resolve exactly what you're looking at at any real distance when they're still and you don't see faces- because Scaredy stirred/woke in the doorway of the little doghouse. Hershey emerged back out of the edge of the woods and was heading back to the gate as I walked away.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 04:16:21 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1108)
-you rarely see him lay completely off this feet even out the window, and rarely for long. He let me get inside ten feet away to take this - they were all unusually relaxed all day yesterday.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1107)
A little later and I had to whistle at him to get him to look at me. Didn't move anything but his head to look either time. I wish he photographed better - his face is hard to make out even close and in person, except those eyes. I go to extra trouble to camera him, not least for Momma's sake.
Believe me, I'm actually a competent photographer and am aware of the weak focus on a lot of shots, but digital cameras suck about that, being wall-to-wall automatic functions and forcing me to make do with the screen on back too small to see whether something's in focus and lacking any real viewfinder. I have to just take a lot of shots and hope for the best.
-If you sell people a device that only reliably takes pictures in focus with the flash, you really ought to at least fix either that or the way they eat batteries whole, using the flash exacerbating the situation so much I try not to. It's a very unfortunate combination.
There's a few minutes of new video, but I haven't decided whether to do anything with it, because they're the smaller of the two sizes the camera does, which looks awful and I need to change back - for all of taking forever to upload, the camera has plenty of memory, and uses the same amount of battery recording crappier. -Also, I haven't captured to most awesome action ever. It was easier to do that with more kittens...
There are, however, a bunch of good shots of Calico sleeping pending, though mostly pick the best focus of very similar down to only two or three and resize to something reasonable for the 'nets...
Post by: DrazharLn on May 11, 2016, 05:07:17 PM
Most DSLRs come with good viewfinders. Sometimes digital, sometimes optical (I prefer the optical ones).
Post by: Unorthodox on May 11, 2016, 05:54:03 PM
If you're into photography, you might be interested to know that really quite good DSLRs + lenses are often on ebay for comparatively cheap ($300, maybe?).
Most DSLRs come with good viewfinders. Sometimes digital, sometimes optical (I prefer the optical ones).
Model I presently use is at $115 (no lens) Basic automagic kit lens would be another $28.
All optical viewfinder, though, no digital preview. This one retains the automagic features (focus, settings, etc), unlike my retrofitted to 60s tech one.
https://www.keh.com/shop/pentax-k10d-digital-camera-body-10-2-m-p.html (https://www.keh.com/shop/pentax-k10d-digital-camera-body-10-2-m-p.html)
https://www.keh.com/shop/pentax-28-80mm-f-3-5-5-6-smc-fa-al-k-mount-autofocus-lens-58-702220.html (https://www.keh.com/shop/pentax-28-80mm-f-3-5-5-6-smc-fa-al-k-mount-autofocus-lens-58-702220.html)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 07:10:24 PM
I'm a good photographer - I didn't say I was into a hobby where the toys are so expensive. -I do have a decent manual 35 millimeter, though, but haven't developed the last shots I took with it in 1997 of campground friends on the road with the renfairs.
Someday, I'll have to dig out -of the album where Mom has them- artsy black and white shots I took of Grampa(paternal)'s old tobacco drying barns and the empty country road in front of the house and scan them in to post... The barns are long gone now -I helped take them down- and the house sold off after Gramma died, alas.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 11, 2016, 08:20:43 PM
On a subsequent visit just now, Cloud seemed to be openly going off on patrol, and it was the first time today I'd gotten to touch them. They transitioned from play to napping in awkward places to reach while I was there 15 minutes of so, but I did get a slightly audible purr from Scaredy, oddly enough while laying on the ground where she watched while I had to walk up and squat-bend to stroke her.
Momma says there was no sign of the babies first thing. No telling where they slept, but nearby and spending days in the lot works pretty well...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 12, 2016, 03:11:16 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2016, 04:46:47 AM
They were playing in front of the playhouse for much of the sunset session. Hershey passed by within four feet today to come in when I was leaving from putting out formula...
Momma called Aunt Nancy earlier, and she swears she'll get the cage and whatnot lined up tomorrow and come collect. I rate it at 50% probability. I wouldn't be surprised if Momma has to go over and drive her around to get it to finally happen. The babies have been lovely since all day Monday, but the risks and bad example that they need be away from is still ticking.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2016, 12:58:23 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2016, 04:11:10 PM
Then I said. "Oh. Where's your babies?" -This happens a surprising amount when you can't see all of the cat you're looking at, and it happening more; the leftover's growth has accelerated with a main food supply jumping 250%. ;grrr
I settled on the hood and the Cutlass, then Momma came down and handed me a bag of little brown chicklet-looking cat treats. The cat on the bag is wearing a disco suit and doing the Saturday Night Fever move standing next to/over a chicken in a rainbow fright wig. Our cats do not know about this aesthetic dubiousness and seem rather fond of the contents, though they dislike the sound of the bag crackling.
I ended up offering Scaredy some out of my hand under the gate because she'd come over to investigate -Scaredy and Calico have never so much as licked nuhnuh of my fingertips, and this was only good for a sniff until I dropped some and withdrew a little- and having had a taste, she came out to eat more out of the tuna can a foot outside I dropped more in. Acting unafraid of me all through this, sorta. Cloud came right up inside the gate even though I was cross-legged very close outside. When Scaredy finally withdrew, Cloud worked up the courage to come half through the gap and put her face in and sniff, but not enough to actually eat. It's still the closest she's approached me yet while I was facing her; I averted my face and slow-blinked a lot when we did make eye contact.
Rusty, I do think it's a useful addition to my behavioral toolkit. I can't tell how much it helps, but I do believe it does a little.
Naturally, Hershey got some as soon as I was gone, and Cloud.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2016, 07:10:02 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2016, 10:10:24 PM
Their manner when we got there makes me think they were indeed sedated on mother's milk. Scaredy Cat -officially "Grey" now, though I won't bother here- was more cooperative laying on Nancy's belly being petted -little tail-tip twitches of pleasure- and The Calico Cat -still "Calico" or "Cali" for short- was almost as good on Momma's arm. They're gonna have a bad first night in the cage, but that's a kitten's first night away from Momma, isn't it?
Momma was getting twitchy with the lurking for the right moment for 45 minutes or so, but I'm used to that junk by now, and it went SO much more copasetic for them than I feared, and couldn't have gone a whole lot better.
P.S. :'( I'll probably actually cry later. -Now my eyes are watering.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 12:39:28 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1109)
I'd sorta vaguely expected her to have the orange/brown parts grow less and end up looking like her mother - instead they seem to be growing more than the grey and black. Momma noticed this too today, when she collected Calico for the transfer.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1110)
Unfortunate tendency for pics of petting her looking like grasping, when I was actually getting both sides of her little rib cage - that's best for triggering a good purr. Look at that little foreleg stretching in pleasure.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1111)
So relaxed she doesn't care that she's using a filthy hippie's hand for a pillow...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1112)
-GASP!- KaWAIII! OH, SO CUUUUTE! :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 12:43:00 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 13, 2016, 12:50:55 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 02:18:11 AM
I'm definitely sad.
I headed out for sunset session - seems to be the only sorta reliable time to get up with Hershey unless I start ruining the dawn feed for Momma, which I won't. Took a little handful of the disco kat treetz, no one in sight. Dog City looked so empty with the play rope hanging and nobody to fight it, my eyes watered. I sat in the car shed for ten minutes waiting/hoping he would show. Gave up for a half hour, too lonely, and just got back from checking again - nobody had been by and eaten the treats.
Siigh.
Don't know when/how I'll get together with Cloud to work on her.
Momma has to call Nancy for a report on the babies about lunchtime if she don't call us and report before. I should probably tell her so before that, but I don't think I'll have to urge her hard. She's been going through it somewhat since the disappearance, too, partly hurting to see my grief, partly sad of her own self.
We were happy to have turning them over go so well, for them, for us, for Aunt Nancy - but it wasn't --- easy, exactly. I invested so much --- time and patience work and thought and love into the litter. Momma has wanted a kitten for so long, from the more cats these ferals who don't love her enough keep making, -these and Hershey are third generation of the short time she's been feeding cats- to raise to be an actual PET...
...
...
Eyes watering.
Uncle Tony, Mylochka's remodeling handyman and the uncle I mentioned not wanting tree-cutting help from out of concern for his judgment about his back, is a pretty good electrician, like did wiring for a living in his last job before he retired, though not licensed and trained or anything -but I've been his holder on wiring jobs and he's too proud to do a crap job, and I'd rather have him than his brother the licensed electrician- wants to just hang an aerial power line down to the playhouse instead of replacing the buried one daddy didn't insulate enough. So that's proceeding apace, and far better than the one-buttock thing Momma was thinking of rigging with a big extension cord. I volunteered to help him, and I'll do all the ladder work with the brackets he'll let me - I'm 51 and he's 70 -though he looks 62 (and acts 16)- and I'll get better if there's a setback he might not recover from. ;nod I'll at least hold the ladder good while his fool butt works up there.
...I'm committing myself to a lot of manual outdoor work I wouldn't do for anything for me, allasudden...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 13, 2016, 02:33:29 AM
Well, so have we.
... Maybe I should start that Dad thread.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 02:41:11 AM
I guess you saw the Foul Mood thread today. Reckon I had that one right, all right. Go for it. ;b;
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 02:43:03 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1111)
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 13, 2016, 05:37:27 AM
Try a feather or two on a string next time you're playing. Some really go for it.
That's a really pretty cat.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 01:32:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 03:10:34 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 13, 2016, 04:53:06 PM
Forgot to call attention to the bone dangling on the rope at the top of the shot...
why, is having a bone abnormal?
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 13, 2016, 05:48:26 PM
Closure matters, profoundly.
I saw Johnny Cash covering Hurt for the first time with Daddy on CBS Sunday Morning - you knew, watching that video -and it was part of the magic of it- that Cash would die soon, and I said so to Daddy. I bawled the loudest I have in I don't know how many years watching the video before I posted. I've no idea if Johnny expected to go quite so soon -seven months after releasing the album- until June died three months before he did, but Johnny Cash said goodbye to us...
Watched it. Sad. But as you said, closure matters profoundly. Buddy Holly and Elvis and Whitney and Prince fans never got that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 07:14:05 PM
I'd talked about the rope a lot and not really pictured it at all - the bone was a favorite of Tiger's, Calico went WILD for the shaggy free end -she doesn't go wild for much else but petting when she feels like enjoying it- and all of them liked both...Forgot to call attention to the bone dangling on the rope at the top of the shot...
why, is having a bone abnormal?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 13, 2016, 11:04:36 PM
I sensed another effort to ask for nuhnuh with telepathy, as she's only meowed at me that once. Momma and I agree that it's probably a good idea to spoil her and Hershey for today and tomorrow, so I went for the jar -warm afternoon, so cold- and when I got close enough to see I was seeing her, she was waiting on the corner of the porch. Pour a tuna can outside the gate almost full, and took the jar back - needed to cook. She spent a couple minutes hunched over the can after I went in. No sign of Hershey this time.
Neither shows any obvious signs of distress today...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 02:38:25 AM
That son of a ---notner cat went under the corner of dog city and made me get back up and bring the bowl in and put it on the porch for him! Apparently, I succeeded in spoiling him today, though this was only the second time I'd brought him a treat. He was up on the porch eating before I got out of the lot.
Cloud showed up, but either he ate it all faster than I thought or she didn't like the smell - she didn't check right away, so she must have just eaten something. I've skipped Hershey doing something that looked like he was lip-kissing her when she approached.
They laid on the steps and relaxed, there was some attempt by him to play with her, something I used to see the half the time I saw him out the window that she was there, but not in months now. It's pretty plain that he hasn't realized he's bigger than her now, 'cause he respects her authoritah for sure, still. -Backs right off when she swipes at him like she's not in the mood for his adolescent crap.
I broke off came in a lot earlier than I would have for the kittens, but a half hour and a satisfactory session, especially after missing Hershey at sunset yesterday. I think they've already begun being trained to come for sunset, and getting to where Momma is with them for the dawn feed -get to touch/pet briefly while they're eating treats- is doable.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 04:50:04 AM
I've been observing how kittens -I know this comes as a shock- play on their backs and how they act when a petting ends up on their bellies with them on their backs. I mentioned this; they'll clasp a finger between their paws and nibble and lick it.
I sorta think the grown cat behavior is a mutation of that play instinct...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 02:10:33 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 14, 2016, 02:11:09 PM
The belly thing is really confusing to them. They actually DON'T like it rubbed, but are turning their belly to you as a sign of trust. Your rubbing it is seen as violating that trust. Grabbing the hand is like gently saying no.
Normal exceptions for individuals apply.
Interesting show overall. Learned a lot, and realize the fact Indy has no tail basically means Lily has no way to understand him. Just how much communicating is with a look. Cats vocalize for their Human's benefit, not for each other. And Lily was a farm cat kitten (we don't know Indy's dad), so likely closer to feral judging by that body language she was showing.
Watched the two of them in the basement, and got to see all the signs the show told that she's fairly stressed around him. Yet, we often find them sleeping together. In other news, Lily let me sit in her presence for an hour with no fuss. Even mewed at me and come up for a petting. They have essentially divided the house between them.
She has the basement, he has the upstairs. Indy showed deference to her down there even while playing with strings. Something he never does upstairs.
This is common in multi-cat households apparently, as unrelated cats are friendlier to humans than to each other.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 02:18:27 PM
I still think there's something to my take on the belly rubbing. Sometimes the cat appears to like it and then abruptly is attacking... Bang Bang, who definitely liked people and was very tolerant of grandchild handling, was like that.
-He was a few years older than me, and I kinda thought he was going to live forever.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 03:53:50 PM
They didn't chill long afterwards -looked like they were going to- because my wimminz showed up and an installment of cleaning out the playhouse broke out. I sorta think they're still in the high weeds in back, though, and didn't sneak out over the back fence. Both used to come and go that way -surprisingly silently with a fence that wants to ring when it's rattled- consistently early in our acquaintance.
-Really just reporting that a rhythm to the relationship and the Kat Frend project that I had hoped for post-kitten seems to be settling in. I see any mid-day spoilings being random, but the sunset visit being pretty regular. It's good for their life expectancies, frankly, to be more in the habit of hanging around.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 05:18:41 PM
A thing I haven't mentioned, but since Hershey's sibling of the previous litter of two was killed by the dogs, they hadn't been allowed out of their yard next door since the new litter was discovered in a burrow at the edge of the woods about a month ago. It has not hurt on those rare mornings lately that I managed to sleep past eight that I did not wake up angry (I've said they're not welcome in the house before noon unless I was definitely already awake, but somebody's a crazy person and wasn't trying to hear that).
So, I went out shortly before lunch when there was some yardwork going in the front yard of the Temple of Gramma, and saw my dog Frieda -I last stole her from Mylochka about two years ago and she hasn't been bought back this time, but she lives up there- and called her over for kissing in the driveway for a while, and told her "Your exile is over now, you know."
Went back in, Momma close behind and talking to her while she fixed lunch - and you know Frieda turned up on the carport without Mylochka? I let her in, of course. Somebody actually listened to me for once.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 14, 2016, 09:08:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 12:35:16 AM
They don't like the cage they sleep in, but Aunt Nancy's carport is a pretty good habitat for them - she's got several old people scooters out there and a wheelchair and a good deal of this and that so that it's a pretty good kitten habitat with things to explore and climb on and under and hide behind. I took advantage of their caution about me to discourage them going off the carport without having to do anything but stand in the open end if they got over that way.
Really not everything in the world to report - they're fine, they're being very good about the sandbox, they look healthy, and I'm told acted like they liked being bathed -in water and all- earlier - or at least the towel rubdown. Scaredy was good about a few minutes of Nancy -was able to reach down and pick her up herself, so you know Scared wasn't exactly dodging- holding and petting her, and Calico let Nancy's little great grandson hold and pet her after I picked her up and handed her over for over a minute before she began complaining vocally.
It got 6:30, Aunt Nancy had to go, and had missed half of Lawrence Welk, so we put them back in the cage two hours earlier than I'd have rather for their sakes. They lit in vocally complaining, and NOW they wanted me to pet them. They wanted it bad. -But can't spend my life over there -I simply do not set foot out of the house at all lightly- and so came home. I wish that maybe Nancy has someone rig some sort of barrier so that they can have the freedom of the carport in daytime when no one's supervising, but the wall around doesn't quite come up to my crotch, and they could get that high now if they tried hard -or soon- so I dunno if it's worth even trying.
They're doing well and it's working out. I do wish less cage was needed, but there are grown cats and some dogs in the neighborhood, and they are to be outdoor cats...
Time for sunset session here...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 01:25:52 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1058)
The pic is a re-run, of course.
I warmed the nuhnuh - it's about 72 degrees out, so a toss-up whether to warm, but I did- no obvious sign of anyone out the kitchen window. and headed out the door. Cloud must have been lounging on the doormat, because there was surprised gray cat fleeing on the floor allasudden. Looks like she might have been waiting for something at a certain time, y'know?
I didn't get the underfoot ankle-rubbing, but she was following in a roundabout way when I was most of the way to the lot. Timing worked out that she got to the side next to the car a few feet away as I came out, giving me bigger eyes than usual of late, probably because of that getting surprised at the door thing. I did some slow-blinks, as I do in the last few days.
So, no problem with going in when I settled outside to watch - but she wasn't but a minute or two drinking, because I poured enough to cover the bottom with Hershey nowhere in sight, not filled the lid up. She sat down facing me and asked for more, paused a few seconds and asked again. Only the second time she's meowed at me. So I went in -the usual dance with her jumping down to be safe just under dog city- and covered the bottom again and went out and resumed my visiting-at-a-non-threatening-distance station. When she made fairly short work of that, she sat and looked at me and I think she was trying the telepathic slaver command, but not hard and not long.
It's never been just me and her before and it was nice. These things are mellow for me when they go smoothly, gratifying when I see progress - I think the habit of relaxed quiet I've had to cultivate for this project -faking anything works better the more you can make it real, as I used so successfully making strangers feel liked in renfairs- has been good for me. Also, setting foot outdoors every day and getting a little natural light hasn't shortened my life any.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 01:51:25 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 02:28:29 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 15, 2016, 04:21:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 04:24:23 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 06:03:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 08:04:08 PM
I made a smile of Dancing Hershey about 1.5 years before he was even born -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941)
-and I don't know why I didn't remember before.
...The arm motion is cat-sign for "Nuhnuh. Bring it to me."...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 15, 2016, 08:20:55 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2016, 08:25:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 16, 2016, 05:07:42 PM
Just Hershey for sunset session yesterday - he was humping his back against outside of the fence as I went in to nuhnuh him, and meowing the most I've heard, and followed me into the lot at a safe distance and was up on the porch when I was only retreated a step. -Tensed up when I tried to creep a little closer, though. Peaceful end of the day, and more progress. ;b;
Saw Cloud out the window on the steps while I made coffee about 10 - she was supervising some playhouse cleaning out. Hershey was down there when I went with a handful of disco treats, but not feeling friendly with the small commotion nearby, and Cloud got everything. Momma remarked, nonetheless, that it was real progress in their comfort around the family that they weren't in invisible complete hiding with the work nearby.
Rusty, I don't think I was explicit in saying that slow blinks is a thing most people has seen grown cats do - when they're falling asleep sitting up, which is funny to watch. Kittens do it more, of course - witness in the first set of kitten pictures that the last of just Peepeye propped up on my foot, he's falling asleep on his feet.
Actually, I will buy that grown cats don't like having their bellies rubbed - sometimes they DO like their chest getting petted, and it's when it slips lower onto the belly, on reflection, that it ends in violence...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 16, 2016, 07:35:16 PM
On their feet their neck is vulnerable to seizing and shaking from a taller critter, and it's hard to bring the weapons to bear.
I think it's as natural/instinctive for cats as curling into a ball is for us when we are being beaten or tormented. I think touching the belly in most cats triggers that. You can get away with it sometimes when you are the chosen personal servant.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 16, 2016, 08:10:45 PM
I was making coffee and saw someone down there -a definite theme emerging, there- and went down to visit empty-handed - it was Hershey, Cloud showed up almost immediately, they seem to have come to regard inside the fence as safer, since I only come in bearing treats and don't stay, and they tried to use their cat powers on me, but not hard, and we had a nice, quiet visit sitting near for 15 minutes.
When Cloud is trying to use her cat powers on me is one time she gives me the big eyes and doesn't seem to be tense.
Then I decided I had to get a picture of the Disco Treats bag, and Hershey was still in the backyard, so, hooked 'im up and came in.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 16, 2016, 08:16:21 PM
-This is actually a very good symbolic image of how Hershey begs. It only needs a one-pixel faint whitish spot at the base of his throat -that I don't think shows in any of the photos- to be perfect.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 17, 2016, 03:00:37 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1113)
Sunset session went well, though Hershey doesn't like the Disco Treats as much as his mom and gave me the mew of 'I want something' after he rejected his share - he liked 'em pretty good earlier today.
I had hoped, but not really at all expected, this much contact, post-kitten phase. It pleases me, not the least because I suspect hanging around home more is good for their life expectancy, at least Hershey's...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 17, 2016, 07:03:29 PM
Neighborhood cat Mom calls Uncle Bob was sitting in the backyard watching when the morning feed happened. I looked out the window and saw him. No big deal.
Shortly after 10 when I was making coffee, there was a local orange cat -I may have previously mentioned seeing him behind the dog lot, and now I've gotten a good look at his luxuriously fluffy tail fleeing twice- under the end of the Cutlass.
I took down some disco treats -Hershey seems tired of them already, and keeps trying to use his cat powers to make me make more nuhnuh- and Cloud showed up promptly, and Hershey.
-And I ran back up to the house and shouted through the kitchen door "Momma? Did Cloud have a raw spot on the back of her neck first thing?" No. No, she didn't.
Do the math. We expected this, but not quite so soon - the kittens were exactly nine weeks old Sunday, and she's still milk-heavy.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 18, 2016, 01:08:03 AM
Nothing else special to report, save that - Rusty, he's been slow-blinking at me. The weird YouTube guy is half full of it, but that is a cat relaxed while looking at you, maybe even purposely signaling some level of trust, which is almost as good as love...
I'm in, there. Just a matter of time...
There's a set of five precious shots of Scaredy from last Wednesday sunset coming... It seems like they've been gone so much longer that yesterday Mom didn't want to believe me that it was just last Thursday. "I've actually kept records online." sez I. But it does feel like so much longer.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 18, 2016, 03:47:55 AM
He's an amateur. He was working in a cat shelter, and had to wait out a bad storm with them once. It was a bonding experience. He's no college trained animal behaviorist.
That said, while he may be "half full of it" he's also half full of practical information about how to solve cat problems, getting cats to get along. Helping people to put themselves in their cat's shoes or socks. I went to hear him speak once. A lot of it is common sense- having enough litter boxes, giving them enough play time, and getting them fixed. Also understanding that cats are territorial, and feel more secure when they have places to hide or perch. Then there is cat architecture.... but that can wait until you have house kittens.
I'd call slow blink relaxation rapport. But I'd agree that is communicating trust. Dogs earn their living by reading humans and communicating with us. Cats aren't as good at it.
Tails, slow blinks, nuzzling, purring.
But, yeah, I think you're in there, and it's a matter of time.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 18, 2016, 05:54:35 PM
I was slow this morning finishing off my first coffee despite an early start, and when I stood up, I saw Cloud and her swain Uncle Bob out the office window sitting in the yard, so threw it open and mewed so she'd stick around a few minutes.
New coffee and warmed fish nuhhuh -they like it better than bullion nuhnuh it seems; I expected them to miss the higher meatiness density of bullion, but I guess the mackerel fats more than make up for it- in hand, I saw Bob had moved to next to the Cutlass. "Bob, I'm coming to kill you to death" I called in a pleasant voice, and he ran, not very hard and far, but did go on out of sight as I got close to the lot. Cloud and Hershey came down off the porch eagerly, and yada.
Hershey was beside the porch while I poured where I knew where he was but he couldn't see me, so I risked leaning over and reaching down - he bolted before I touched his back, but I felt an ear or tail tip barely flick my fingers. I went out to settle and watch and he was up on the porch rooting for his share. Afterwards, he sat on the ground briefly and looked at me with his eyes closed, a thing I've been noticing him doing for several days, so not too upset I tried to be familiar.
Cloud had settled closer to the gate, and Bob came back the way he left, approached behind the car and was doing some ultrasonic Barry White or something, 'cause I don't think the mews I heard were coming from either of our cats. Cloud looked and Hershey left my detection - one imagines he deeply resents the gentlecat callers on his turf, but may be intimidated or has been taught to be - I see no physical marks on him. Cloud, however, I don't recall having any brown tint to the stripe in front of her back right leg, so that's kitty lovin' for you.
Yesterday, I saw Bob watching the morning feed turned away from me. Having gotten an adequate look at his facial markings, though today and his bob tail, I see why Mother says he looks like a cat Boston Terrier - his black parts are dark grey, but his white very white and the markings are dead on. That's Peepeye's father, very high certainty level of guess, and possibly White Tiger and even Moosh, with their dark grey ear-tips and tails. Moosh didn't really look like Tiger's full sibling, though, with the evenly grey-mingled less-whiteness much longer fur and different skull shape. It could easily be that the two biggest who came home and we know still live are full siblings -or Scaredy with Moosh, sharing the marked greed and jealousy and ease of suckering in despite their fear, of personality, and the longest fur.
On a related and very dicey note -I'm going to have to expurgate to email any of this post to Buster- I've been certain since my early teens that dog litters could have multiple fathers. Looks that way for cats, too.
Now, that leads me to think it true of human fraternal multiple births. I do imagine, humans being a lot closer to monogamy, biologically, that as much as a night apart is nearly 100% of the time too late, but I bet it does happen rarely and is even more rarely noticed. I've never heard a peep of such a thing, however.
That's not the dicey part. Apologies in advance, and while I'm adamant that my native region's reputation is grossly exaggerated, I'm pleased to report that my 80 year-old aunt has never heard a story about a woman having twins and the second was black. I asked last week. -It's exactly the sort of story that someone around here could have made up and passed around in her youth. I do need to ask my 78 year-old uncle when I get a chance, uncouth talk among just the guys being different for young men; even decent ones could hear it.
(I say nothing derogatory here about anyone, including sexually adventurous women, but racists, y'know - just an observation about the nature of
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 18, 2016, 08:54:07 PM
The interesting news is that they're only put in the cage when the van is going somewhere -I don't know if for while Nancy's gone or just to make sure they're not napping in the works when the engine cranks. They're said to be sleeping on the table sometimes, next to the refrigerator behind the Pepsi cases when it's cold, not trying to leave the carport. This is a great relief, as I was deeply concerned to see them back in the cage for the night Saturday, two hours before sunset, and I doubt out all that early in the morning.
An open invitation was conveyed to me, but I already knew that - the woman loves my company since I became an adult, and we tend to have ourselves a fine ol' time engaging in high-octane bad-mouthing. Sharp as a tack, she is, and in her youth, never needed a knife because she had her tongue. It would get old fast if I saw her several times a week, but once in a while, it's relaxing to not care and let fly. -Also, we love those kittens. I may just actually get in my car again Saturday or Sunday if it's slow on here and she ain't called me over already.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 18, 2016, 11:51:28 PM
The interesting part is when I dropped the stick and turned back into the car shed. Cloud was on top of the pile from playhouse cleaning laying five feet away almost eye level and giving me the biggest eyes ever. 2.5 hours to sunset with low light from the rain and her pupils were dilated, so maybe not as big as they seemed, but I'd made a minor racket 15 feet away and been moving at a full walk pace coming and going; I had her full attention.
This is the great part: she just layed there, kept giving me the big eyes when I bowed my head and slow blinked, but didn't visibly tense to move. Not that upset about behavior nearby that would have had her running for a couple minutes just a few weeks ago.
;b; ;b; ;b; ;b; ;b;
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 12:26:04 AM
I think she asked for more, or nuhnuh, but I wasn't looking when I heard the mew. She went under dog city out of sight of on the hood of the car, and here I am. I'll probably look for Hershey out the living room window on the hour, but he's likely hunkered down wherever in the rain, and/or hiding from "uncles".
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 19, 2016, 12:47:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 12:56:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 01:52:42 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 04:41:31 PM
Didn't see anyone out the window when I was making coffee, but it was almost 11 and I figured the prospects were good, so headed down with warmed nuhnuh and Hershey turned up lurking under the back of Dog City and Cloud was laying in plain sight under the front of the Cutlass. Hershey beg-mewed twice as I came into the lot and poured, yada yada.
He will yield place to his mom rather easily when there's only room for one face eating. I think it hasn't registered on him that he's an inch or two taller at the shoulder than her now; he's still dominated, from the looks of many little things. That's probably related to the increased hiding in the last few days with the swains - doesn't know he could put up a fight yet.
He eventually came out and checked the corner tuna can, and mewed at me again when I got up to pour him a little more.
---
I try not to let teeth show when I smile, which is not infrequent, but I don't think it's real important - I doubt my teeth even look like teeth to them. They'd look like the teeth food sport if these two hunted cattle -there are none around, no- or the small deer who come into the yard sometimes, but even those last are not near so small as to not be way over housecats' predator paygrade. -If you're not food and not a threat, cats aren't that interested in you, which is an opening wedge I'm using to get close and ingratiate myself - I BRING food... They'd forget the nuhnuh entirely if I started bringing down sluggish squirrels and mice...
---
Cloud seems to be getting her figure back.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 06:45:49 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 19, 2016, 08:42:57 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 08:52:28 PM
They'd probably use the little dog house more if I tacked plywood over the door with a hole about the size of my fist - can't think offhand of anything else worth doing.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 08:57:40 PM
Hershey was up in his swinging bachelor penthouse pad, Cloud came out of the woods and went in - Hershey meow-begged once, but they didn't bring their cat powers to bear all that hard to make me go get treats.
It's overcast, raining intermittently and 58 degrees, so it was probably the rain that kept them on the porch as much as my company and hope.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 19, 2016, 10:28:56 PM
Nothing really to do, except kill down the tall weeds.
They'd probably use the little dog house more if I tacked plywood over the door with a hole about the size of my fist - can't think offhand of anything else worth doing.
Check for hornets/wasps?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 19, 2016, 11:03:43 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 20, 2016, 12:46:27 PM
I have to say, the short-shrift manic sleep has usually been gentle on me this cycle, and though I really didn't want to be up at 6:30, watching the morning feed out my office window as a regular thing is nice. They run ahead of Mother with their tails straight up, something cat people no doubt tend to find familiar at feeding time. These two don't have incredibly expressive tails the rest of the time, so it's especially cute of them.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 20, 2016, 04:45:41 PM
The inclining head while closing eyes gesture feels a lot like a natural deferential primate one, like an underling might do while backing out of the room in a low-key fashion. Cloud's actually got a bit of the Fu Manchu expression, so it feels right.
I'd hoped to make this kind of progress with them if only they'd get in the habit of hanging around enough, but I'm astonished to see it go so fast. I might be petting them while they lick up nuhnuh by the end of the weekend.
Haven't seen Orange or Bob in a couple days.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 20, 2016, 04:59:10 PM
(feeding Joe every night probably helps somewhat as well)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 20, 2016, 05:25:47 PM
I recommend definitely making it a thing to go sit with her in the basement. You've been watching my crash-course study of da katz, so it's worth what it's worth, but if you've found an opening wedge into courting her and gaining trust, get in there and patiently try to build on it. You strike me as a sit-quietly kind of guy when you want to be. Maybe find a special treat to include intermittently?
Post by: Unorthodox on May 20, 2016, 06:35:55 PM
So, a nightly routine of feeding Joe, finding Lily in the main room, letting her come up for the one pat she wants, and sitting quietly while she gets used to the idea is pretty much all I can do. With both me and Indy down, though, she snuck upstairs at least for a little while.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 20, 2016, 07:19:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 21, 2016, 04:12:18 AM
The evening before we adopted them out, they were playing in front of the playhouse at sunset for some reason. Hershey was there, too, but stayed hidden better. Calico was being more cautious, but I believe I said a long time ago that Scaredy, for all of being scared, is. a. sucker. for the stick twitching on the ground.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1114)
Seen here whooping the stick, bottom right corner:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1115)
-and being adorable doing it.
Here, stalking the stick (not pictured):
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1116)
-and being adorable doing it.
STILL stalking the stick, while her sister looks on from a safe distance:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1117)
It wasn't that dark, so I don't know why the flash went off for all these. It's unfortunate the only decent shot of her climbed up in the fork of the mimosa tree, she was looking away - while Calico was looking like an oncoming car at night and the playhouse was doing most of the looking cute.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1118)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 21, 2016, 04:31:08 PM
...It struck me while I was sitting on the hood of the Cutlass about an hour ago that the difficulty level of good shots of the cats has gone way down. If I'd had the camera at hand, I could have gotten a lovely shot or two of the two of them sitting on the porch side-by-side after nuhnuh spoiling.
Sunset session was called due to rain yesterday - it wasn't quite so heavy I didn't go down and pour a little formula, but no sign of either and too wet and chilly to hang around hoping.
Today is a lot nicer, the yellow shiny thing in the sky has finally come back out as I type, and it's supposed to be warmer.
I'm really surprised nobody but Uno has coughed up any kat picures. I think you can upload to my Kittehz! album, and img-linking is easy. Attachments work, too.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2016, 01:54:32 AM
I'm getting very close to the level of trust they extend Momma first thing...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2016, 02:54:55 AM
Work/progress with Cloud today is progress with the next kittens in advance - and improves the chances of being able to do something about getting Cloud fixed and being able to keep her afterwards. Momma agrees that we can carry four if the making-more-cats problem is resolved. ;nod
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2016, 03:32:48 AM
I also think we should take that risk with Hershey, but that hasn't been settled yet.
We do agree that I should probably do the capturing with Cloud, provided things go as they seem to be going. We could put out a cage on the porch tonight if we had one, and Mom could wear welding gloves to the morning feed and just grab her and stuff tomorrow. However, the big son guy powers for danger things, we've got a wait built in, and expect me to be able to get that close long before needed - and both my shoulders work.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2016, 04:00:23 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2016, 06:09:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 23, 2016, 03:49:01 AM
I may have to remember that dawdling trick.
After I had settled outside to smoke and watch, Cloud showed up from I dunno where - he'd had a couple minutes of fish nuhnuh to himself and she didn't get either hushpuppy -I hadn't had supper yet and I'd eaten the remainder- but she acted like there was enough formula to lick at for a minute.
I talked to them for a while about how pretty they were, and how much I loved them, and then bid them goodnight.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 23, 2016, 05:33:59 PM
Maddie Rose. Shelter rescue, was abused, seriously don't like men. If I play with the dog first, she tends have fewer issues. She will let me pet her occasionally, but it's always at the risk of her flipping into murder death mode. Not her fault, she's wired more fight than flight.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hDMxDlYVjoc/V0Mo8_5ywgI/AAAAAAAAgkQ/su3ZxPuihi4BOv_-exnW7-XIWFLdmfgzQCCo/s800/IMG_1194.JPG)
Alec with Zoe. Her sister (Irene, I'm not entirely sure I have the names straight, always get the two mixed up) was epileptic and died some years back. Born cross-eyed and has never seen properly, but is now getting cataracts as well, so practically blind. She seems to like us better than most, but you have to move slow and steady as not to scare her, and let her get a good smell, and talk to her so she knows who you are.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7bM7XoADP0k/V0Mo1CmcddI/AAAAAAAAgkI/w5zm4_6Fyc4ig6JHf4UnTlQ-M3BKXCZKgCCo/s800/IMG_1193.JPG)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 23, 2016, 06:25:43 PM
Been to Aunt Nancy's for a few hours this morning, and there's pictures I haven't seen yet, and a report forthcoming...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 23, 2016, 09:48:21 PM
The kittens were out free like I'd been told when we got there. I'd believed it, but seeing it for myself was good - they'd been so pitiful the last time I'd seen them nine days before, once they were back in the cage suddenly desperate for my petting...
And the usual stuff happened; they've warmed up to Nancy even more, running towards her when she rolls outside - she's at least the food cart lady to them, and they don't much try to avoid her scooping them up. Now me, on the other hand - still the same ol' thing where they didn't like me in contexts outside the dog lot. They weren't making a big insulting point of avoiding me, but their play always tended to drift away from where I was.
Okay; no change, and no big deal. My long patient prep work had paid off for them being ready to form an attachment to Nancy and be receptive to handling by family and sundry persons passing through. They play around the yard, I've been told and seen for myself, but not far yet, stay away from the road, and always go back to the car port where she wants them, and sleep various places among the clutter. It's working out well, they're growing like weeds, getting definitely more grown cat proportions.
They look great and everybody's happy. :)
Scaredy had gone into the cage for a nap and I sat down beside it to get pics -we took 37, all told- of adorable asleep cuteness when THIS happened:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1120)
Calico crawled into my lap. She didn't stay real long, went over to Momma, sniffed at a bug, came back and crawled in again for a bit, and there was purring.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1121)
Then she got down again, and some aimless stuff, and came back and crawled in again and laid down. Aunt Nancy took this one.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1122)
Stayed a while.
...I've worked so hard and so persistently for so long - and I've wanted this so much...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 23, 2016, 10:49:24 PM
I still think you could reel some felines in closer with a feather or two on a string. Well, doing this the hard way is more gratifying, isn't it? I always like stingrays and other semi wild animals approaching me when I'm patient, as opposed to holding food.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 23, 2016, 11:15:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 23, 2016, 11:52:29 PM
-For good measure, I included the remark about how much she'll love the shot of "Misty" -I declared today her full name was Miss Misty Scaredy Grey [family name]- despite all her human descendants... She's on the email Kat pichure list now, and will laugh.
I've mentioned Monday before -the only immediate-family cat we'd had before these ferals, about 20 years ago- and on a related note, his name was Monday because he was born on Easter Monday, Momma tells me, and Grampa called him "Bill" because he used to know a Bill Monday. Sometimes we'd call him "Claude" after the MGM cartoon with the cat who tried to sneak the puppy's food and the puppy kept coming up behind him and barking and he'd end up claws-first hanging from the ceiling, because Monday would crouch over his food like that cat did the puppy's. I can't remember why we called him "Gus" -it was another reference to something- and Momma doesn't even remember "Claude", which I'm sure she came up with.
So his full name ended up being William Claudius Augustus Monday [family name] a cognomen worthy of a Caesar.
The edit notice is because I broke off to ask about "Gus" and she didn't even remember Claude, of which I have an audio file in my head of the drawn-out way she said it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2016, 01:57:09 AM
---
This week, they've increasingly begun yawning during the post-treat stretching and then self-grooming they often engage in when they stick around in plain sight and lounge afterwards. The yawns seem not directed at me, and seem to mean nothing but that, like the stretching and self-grooming that they're happy and relaxed after a treat - maybe I'm boring, which is great.
---
The other day, I believe I left out that towards the end of a visit, there was a barking commotion up at Mylochka's and Hershey ran out of the dog lot and just under where I was sitting on the hood of the Cutlass. I was perched on a height -cats don't seem to take into consideration that primates sitting cross-legged can't pounce with their butt muscles- and he considered me no threat to give wide berth compared to a dog 100 yards away.
;nod :danc:
---
A term from Mother's side of the family's private language, to illuminate some past and present usages by me in these, my informal field notes in the Kat Frend Prawject:
Supervise verb -To sit and watch without helping.
It's a joke - most of our family terms are, or something somebody couldn't say right as a kid. Grampa in his later years would, for instance, come down to watch us cut up a tree in the back yard - if I saw him coming, I'd run to get him a lawn chair and then go back to work. He no longer could help, and watching was better for him than more napping; we enjoyed entertaining him doing what we were going to do anyway - that's free.
I settled down to supervise outside the lot.
-You now have yet another clue essential to ever understanding me.
-The More You Know...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2016, 04:58:43 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2016, 03:24:54 PM
After I defined Supervise last night, I ran upstairs to tell Momma I'd decided to compile a dictionary of the family private language, and to be thinking about what is that and not old local back-country turns of phrase I'd never heard anyone but us, especially Grampa, who was an absolute treasure chest of quaint linguistic whimsy -he generated a lot of original, I'm sure, but I'm from 1964 and he was from 1910, and tough to know which was which and I have to do some research- use. She and Uncle Tony especially like to use the whimsy-terms, and I want to talk to everyone about it, the 81 year-old, today is her birthday, aunt and her 78 year-old brother will recall details the others never knew.
She just out of the blue brought it up with a good one - I need to get her jotting down notes, terms and then we can discuss and I can work from her list of terms afterwards.
Listing and explaining the jokes for outsiders and how something originated and who coined it, where possible, will actually create a historical document precious to us. -Also cause some things I say make more sense to Uno and the rest of you.
The first time I was off at 4-year college, just two hours down the interstate, was a real cultural shock for me - those piedmont kids would stop me and ask all. the. time. like I'd spoke Martian when I used the most basic of grampaisms that I'm sure are just basic country mountain folk talk, like "pert near" and "any count", stuff that was perfectly plain English even at the local community college. I speak pretty fluent common modal English when I want to, but I'd assert that it was the flatlanders who came off ignorant in those exchanges where I'd spoken my natural dialect, and had to define.
I've never noticed it happening near so much the rest of my life, online and IRL, and that's traveling across the continent talking to Yankees deeply bigoted against me, ESL foreign immigrants, what-have-you. I must have moderated my native speech according to whom I was talking to without being very conscious I was doing it. Sucks to have to leave out a good joke lying there ready to be used, though.
Language is fun to play with, and it's can't have escaped everyone's notice over the years that I talk wrong on purpose a lot in my posts according to the subject and my mood and who I'm talking to. I often strive to convey something of the way I talk IRL, and don't mind that a lot of jokes don't even look like I just made one -amusing myself is fine if no harm's done- so long as they don't come off as utter giberrish or worse, a completely different meaning than I intended. This should prove a useful document to others co-existing in an OT I inhabit, for sure...
Anyway, separate project and thread when I get to it, I reckon.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 24, 2016, 03:48:52 PM
About the only thing I got going for me is the fact mom writes historical novels, so if it's old timey chances are I've heard it. Even then my education is thoroughly western. You seem to swing into a more a cross between Southern and Appalachian influenced dialect. Either I could probably parse on their own, you seem to have some local compounding of the two, and maybe a little Texas brainwashing on the side. There are places to look that up, but it's almost masochistic to try. This thread has more than one instance where I've just had to scratch my head, call it wheelbarrow and move along.
(Call it wheelbarrow and move along being my great grandma's turn of phrase for what to do when you come on a word/phrase you don't understand. IE, just ignore it, you'll get what you need from context)
I get the gist you were trying to convey cutesy talk, and that's all I need, even if it may as well be an alien language.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 24, 2016, 04:04:59 PM
Thanks for the wheelbarrow.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 25, 2016, 12:10:35 AM
I told Momma about calling it a wheelbarrow, and now have a little story Gramma used to tell by way of repayment.
There was a local man around when she was a girl who wasn't quite right -unclear if he was mildly retarded, daft or a mixture, just he weren't right in the head- and pushed a wheelbarrow around with some of his stuff in it everywhere, God knows why. He was in the general store in Icard one day, and some fellers hangin' around started in on him, friendly fun, sounds like, 'bout cartin' his stuff around.
He got a little worked up and declared "Y'all keep it up and I'll SELL my wheelbarrow and WALK home."
-S'posed to be true, and I wish I had it from Gramma with more detail.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 25, 2016, 02:52:40 AM
I don't know a better word than cutesy for the gibberish people tend to devolve into when speaking about kids or pets.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 25, 2016, 03:19:55 AM
Now you want cutesy - ask my aunt Wanda and/or my cousin David how their weird, lame cats are doing... Wanda, especially, has found it hootful that I abruptly transformed into a cat person after I've ragged her for years about how she goes on about Pooky; yes, Pooky, many years before the Jersey Shore girl. (I didn't name Moosh or Peepeye, though I approve of the pun/reference in the latter, characteristic of the family sense of humor and wordplay - Moosh, the one we intended for her, sounds like she named her herself. The others, I am the culprit - and :P Buster loves the names.)
Discussed with Momma earlier today, in fact, that there's to be a whole passage on naming and nicknames, 'cause a lot of us are namers.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 25, 2016, 05:05:54 AM
They've tended to wander off early after they ate the shrimp, which I wonder if is being spoiled for formula...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 26, 2016, 01:50:34 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 26, 2016, 10:28:39 PM
She is very suspicious of strangers and will vanish if one comes in the house.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 26, 2016, 10:31:54 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 26, 2016, 10:48:01 PM
I told her I would temporarily wave my two house cat allergy- based limit if she wanted to keep her as a replacement for the senior cat (who was on insulin and had been to the pet E.R. a couple times already) , because I didn't expect the senior cat to survive the next trip to the E.R. I figured the feral rescue kitten was an affordable replacement.
WRONG! That sr. cat lived about 3 more years, had another 9 lives left, and my wife says she cost us the price of a car. She was an exceptionally affectionate and stupid cat. R.I.P.
Anyway, Inky has the nickname "Best Gift EVER!'' and while she is wary of the current boss house cat, she is very affectionate to my wife when the other cat isn't looking.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 26, 2016, 11:01:39 PM
As I had approached the lot, he went back in and rubbed against the fence and the usual stuff, and had his face still in the gap of the gate. I bent over and reached, and he let me get about an inch away before he bolted. Then, when he smelled the disco treats, he jumped down got out of the lot and rolled on the ground, saying "Nuhnuh - and pet me without getting closer."
They play together again now. I saw him trying very little when the kittens were around, and she'd reject rather fiercely. Now, we see him pouncing and chasing her a little -she never ran any when he was smaller than her, but seems the same- and when she come onto the ground after her nosh, he lay down next to her on his side and got a thorough grooming.
I certainly hope that's what it is. All of her abrasions from a week ago are healed/healing, no new ones.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 27, 2016, 01:08:41 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 27, 2016, 01:27:05 AM
Valka's turn for a cat picture or story.Yes. ;nod Both.
I touched Cloud's tail about an hour ago. She was fearlessly up on the porch again before I was even pouring formula and it was right there, and I reached out and almost had my fingers closed on it for a stroke, touching, when she bolted a few feet whirled and told me if she had hands she'd slap me for being so fresh.
Then she was fine for taking more than her share. Hershey didn't even look at me when he said "Duuude, gross! That's my mooomm!" :D
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 27, 2016, 03:28:08 PM
I really didn't expect them to stick so close so much post-kittens, certainly not for the paltry addition treats from me about twice a day is to their no-work food supply - but it's a very satisfying outcome.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 27, 2016, 05:17:11 PM
Hershey just rejected disco treats again, but hung around. Cloud liked them just fine.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 27, 2016, 07:01:45 PM
Valka's turn for a cat picture or story.Yes. ;nod Both.
I touched Cloud's tail about an hour ago. She was fearlessly up on the porch again before I was even pouring formula and it was right there, and I reached out and almost had my fingers closed on it for a stroke, touching, when she bolted a few feet whirled and told me if she had hands she'd slap me for being so fresh.
Then she was fine for taking more than her share. Hershey didn't even look at me when he said "Duuude, gross! That's my mooomm!" :D
Funny.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 28, 2016, 01:53:11 AM
I stepped away to glance at the back shed when I went out, and when I got back in position to sit and supervise, I heard one of them asking for more. -I was thinking yesterday that I ought to occasionally do seconds to combat an increasing tendency to wander off after a nosh, so I went in and poured just a bit more.
When they stick around afterwards -and at first I think it was just because it seemed safer to them to stay in the lot- they'll stretch, and sit and groom themselves and sometimes each other -she worked Hershey over good this evening starting with his tail, he even moved and arched his back under her tongue- and generally make themselves utterly cute and adorable.
I threaten them with gentle petting frequently. "Not today," I'd told Hershey as we entered the lot, "but soon, and for the rest of your life." -I really did say that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 28, 2016, 06:07:52 PM
...Hershey called me a [homosexual or english cigarette] when he smelled more disco treats, but Cloud, as always, hunched over the bowl gobbling so that I called Cloud Claude. Then I got drafted for a few minutes of faucet control duty -the wimminz are doing something with resurfacing the old concrete floor in the playhouse- and now I'm here.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 29, 2016, 01:52:42 AM
I was careful to set my drink down well away from Cloud when she was up on the porch right in front of me, and then I had to reach around her for the lid the formula goes in, and she jumped back anyway - but didn't stay. Hershey hopped up in easy reach then, too. I didn't bother to move away but two or three steps and watched them lap it up standing close by. They didn't much care, and I could see their little tongues lapping, which I've never watched from close enough standing to make out before.
Afterwards, I was settled outside and they'd laid down just inside the gate, and I sang
;notes; Hershey's mom has got it goin' on!
She's all I want - and I've waited so long! ;notes;
Hershey groaned and rolled his eyes in disgust - I finished smoking, stood, made more threats to love and pet them, and then wished them a good night. ;nod
I think I'll try peanut butter on them tomorrow...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 29, 2016, 01:59:24 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 29, 2016, 06:40:29 PM
Some rain this morning probably to blame. [shrugs]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 30, 2016, 01:16:26 AM
I went out to check if the peanut butter had been touched, no dice, no sign of either - and as a last thing before I washed my hands for the day, I walked up and opened the screen door and let it shut while I talked to Momma. They came out of the woods together 30 seconds later, so I grabbed the formula cold and headed down, they trotted up with their tales in the air to escort me, et cetera.
Little interest in the peanut butter, though. Drat.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 30, 2016, 03:24:10 AM
It sounded like he had a cat trapped in a closet, but after a couple of searches it was just one upstairs making mischief on it's own.
Cats do like chives and the like , though.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 30, 2016, 03:31:58 AM
I tried peanut butter on the kittens -reasoning it's full of nutriments and very soft- and they didn't eat much over several days - but when I set it in a dog lot as a last try to not waste a big spoonful, it vanished. I reasoned that carnivores love fats, and peanut butter is basically lard with flavor contaminants, so between one or both of them scarfing up some stale a month ago and that, I had hoped... Like, they eat people leftovers pretty eagerly even when they're not meaty...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 30, 2016, 04:29:59 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 30, 2016, 03:46:16 PM
Formula for lunch today, I think, disco treats at 8 or so.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 30, 2016, 09:24:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 01:35:14 AM
The typical dance of the last few days with them on the porch close then deciding to be afraid and moving way.
Disco treats as planned, peanut butter still there, so I picked up the chicken bone it was on and gave it a cursory stir in with the disco treats - Hershey was giving me the yowl of move it from the ground, then he had a little, but Cloud went Claude and had a lot - the peanut butter was consumed.
Short session on account of it's trying to come up a storm and they took shelter from the thunder off north - it'll probably go down the river like usual, but oh well.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 31, 2016, 03:05:50 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 03:30:45 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 03:36:11 AM
She's come to the window when it was closed a bunch of times before we got to know each other... She always fled when she saw my hand waving in the relatively dim light inside in daylight... I assume it was checking out a possible ground-level opening into the building the food comes out of, my office being downstairs semi-buried. I get a few squirrels a year, too, and once or twice, birds.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 31, 2016, 04:12:45 AM
I don't know your intentions towards the barn cats - I'm planning to PET Hershey eventually. I'm doing basically same, but this time it was better to break stride...
Oh I might scratch the barn cats once a day. The point is that it gets to be like deer dodging on the highway- they have a better chance when you hold a steady course than when both of you are simultaneously trying to outguess the other. I've accidentally stepped on them by breaking stride.
But you were there, and I wasn't. You and Hershey will have to work things out together.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 04:37:07 AM
I don't know what's wrong with me - I have 29 kitten pics I've forgotten to sort through and post piecemeal for a week.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 31, 2016, 05:02:36 AM
How's the playhouse rehabilitation proceeding ?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 05:06:02 AM
I had more pictures from Nancy's a week ago, but forgot the rest after I posted the Calico-in-my-lap shots. Soon; maybe this post will remind me tomorrow.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 03:48:11 PM
Oh - and Cloud just came up to the open window of my office meowing. Seemed to flee when I got up and she saw me- it's dark out, of course.Turns out she did the same thing at the kitchen door about that time. Everybody's fine this morning, so not Lassie stuff - craving a little nosh, maybe?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 04:47:03 PM
Hershey made his first lunch session in three days, so good I hit them with the nuhnuh/good stuff this time - also, I like to randomize a bit just to string them along and keep them home. Usual behaviors, but no grooming when they were done. That may have had to do with the station wagon pulling up during feeding with a couple cabinets for the playhouse, though they weren't brought down, just unloaded.
They were wrestling each other after I left - it certainly improves their value as out-the-window backyard theater when they interact, and good to see them increasingly entertaining each other, too.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 31, 2016, 07:19:57 PM
She was upstairs this morning for her one pet like she used to do every morning. Summer and windows open and birds to watch help with that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 31, 2016, 07:30:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 01, 2016, 03:26:29 AM
...But look! Kitten pictures!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1125)
I said they avoided me at first last week...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1126)
A fearless explorer...
LOOK AT THE 'DORABLE LITTLE KITTEHZ!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 01, 2016, 05:56:54 PM
We're going over to Nancy's. Y'all don't wreck up the place too bad while I'm AFK...
Post by: Unorthodox on June 01, 2016, 06:46:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 01, 2016, 08:37:30 PM
Great kitten visit. There's pictures, but I'll try to work through the last set before I get to them. Details later when I'm caught up with my online life.
Post by: Dale on June 02, 2016, 01:04:18 AM
Our cat specifically.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 02, 2016, 01:54:45 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 02, 2016, 04:25:57 AM
This is from last week, not today, as is the next.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1127)
When we got over to Aunt Nancy's, I have to say she's done a great job of socializing them up from where I'd been able to get them. They actually approach people for petting, or at least get close enough to be picked up and petted. As always, they were slow warming up to me, but after about half an hour, I was sitting on the carport floor next to the water and a bit of scrambled eggs when Momma and Nancy went inside to attend to the sewing thing that was the actual reason for the visit, and at least in the absence of alternatives, I was suddenly very popular.
Both were hanging close and purring up a storm as I worked them over, breaking off for water and egg breaks and moving back close. I picked Calico up and laid on my back - and she stood on my chest and enjoyed petting for maybe ten minutes, which is the first time I've gotten any of the kittens to want to stay a while on me while I laid down - not Peepeye, not White Tiger, and certainly not Moosh.
After she got down and wandered off, eventually I ended up doing the same with Scaredy. She stood and purred, then sat -that was new- and purred, then laid down and purred.
:luv:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1128)
They're doing well. Scaredy's face markings are changing to show a touch of orange over the eyes, and she's looking thinner and pointier-faced with the little flea collar on. Pictures pending. The size gap between them is widening considerably - it's looking like Calico is going to get a lot bigger.
Sunset session at home went fine with Cloud. Hershey smelled the disco treats and didn't go for his share, and left early. Gonna ask Momma to pick up something else, and I definitely need to make more formula tomorrow.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 02, 2016, 03:46:50 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1129)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1130)
A certain someone is definitely still a devotee of rope-whooping...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 02, 2016, 06:20:50 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 03, 2016, 03:03:12 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 03, 2016, 05:41:03 PM
Post-treat relaxation was going well until someone started mowing right next door and they decided to take the better part of valor.
If this was real field zoology, the decreasing detail as we've settled into a routine would be a bad thing - but I'm still watching and thinking, just knowing the difference between what's good science and what's a good story...
Post by: Unorthodox on June 03, 2016, 06:11:34 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 04, 2016, 01:58:29 AM
Sunset session called on account of rain - it's not raining now, but did a tenth of an inch since suppertime, and stormy late afternoon rain always ruins everything; I showed, but no one else did. [shrugs] I left a little formula out, and came in. I think we're past needing to worry about teaching them to wait until I leave...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1132)
Have I mentioned I gave Aunt Nancy the spare rope? It's very popular with them... Besides, it's a bit of macramé rope she gave us in the first place a long time ago...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 04, 2016, 08:06:42 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 02:14:22 AM
I almost didn't bother with evening session - they've both blown me off twice in a row, I've been very sleepy since about four, and the air outside got all restless and violent around suppertime, like it was trying to storm. Just not optimal conditions all around, and I had some thought of letting them go without also for reasons of teaching them to show up or else...
But laying down reading in the dark, nap just wasn't happening, and it was late enough and --- what the heck.
So, it got up to at least a (muggy) 87f today and was still 80f, thus, cold formula. These two never give any sign they actually care whether it's warm of cold, though the kittens would actually shiver sometimes drinking cold, even on warm days.
So they ran rather enthusiastically out to escort me - one question resolved satisfactorily. Something distracted Cloud, I think, because she went down beside the Cutlass instead of through the gap at the gate door into the dog lot.
Hershey did the usual, and I stepped a couple steps away and fumbled for my cigarettes to light up and watch from up close briefly, when an impulse struck me looking at his back turned while he drank. I took two steps, reached, and stroked his tail. He gave a little jerk of surprise, but kept eating, so I reached and ran my fingers in a stroke over his butt. He stopped and gave me the glowing hairy eyeballs then, so I backed off, went outside the fence, settled down to supervise, also watching Cloud come back up beside the fence and go in to hog whatever was left that she could.
Afterwards, the usual behaviors, with stretching and all, Hershey laying down. Cloud sat on the edge of the porch facing directly at me, giving me the big eyes... I suspected once again that she was trying to use her Cat Powers on me.
Bill Monday used to do that. He'd lay, looking pretty, and summon you for petting with his eyes. -Since Cloud ain't likely to be looking for a cuddle, I figured it was the attempted telepathic more nuhnuh summons - her boy just asks, but whatever; I decide to let it work on me this time. She does have pretty eyes.
So they retreated to safety while I poured more, and I took two steps and turned my back and when I kept turning, they were up on the porch going at the formula. Hershey jumped back down when I stepped back, called me a homo under his breath I think, but Cloud stayed on-task, and I reached and stroked her bottom two quick light strokes, then she jumped around the coffee lid and glared, so I went back outside. Neither seemed upset or like any outrage out of the ordinary had been inflicted on their persons.
I had to do a little victory song and dance for Momma when I went in.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941)
;notes; I, I pet yo' kit-ties! / I touched their bu-utts / They soft and fu-zzy! ;notes;
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941)
;notes; I, I pet yo' kit-ties! / I touched their bu-utts / They soft and fu-zzy! ;notes;
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941)
AHEM. And there was eating of homemade bread, which was delicious.
[long uproarious supervillain cackle, and I mean long and uproarious]
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 05, 2016, 02:58:29 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 03:51:33 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 04:30:31 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1133)
Aawwww.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1134)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 04:55:47 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 03:10:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 06:16:37 PM
I hadn't even stepped back, let alone turned around. So I stood and petted his back for about 30 seconds. I think he flick any eye at me and muttered "[homosexual or english cigarette]", but, aside from his tail moving away when I reached to stroke it, that was it for reactions.
Cloud came in late, so I declined to push my luck and went out to supervise, she doing less than usual to avoid me as I passed.
Then the usual stuff...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941)
;notes; I, I pet yo' kit-ties! / I touched their bu-utts / They soft and fu-zzy! ;notes;
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=941)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2016, 09:24:26 PM
I've said it before, and I'll surely say it again; ahhhh.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1136)
Now I need to upload and process the pics from Monday...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 06, 2016, 04:38:16 AM
They both showed -Cloud was hesitating and Hershey was still on the ground. So I took a step back and turned 360, which got them on the porch lapping.
I touched both of them, but they moved away and glared, so I went out. It was getting pretty dark, and something/someone was making a hooting noise on the other side of the woods, and it turns out Cloud doesn't like me doing a Ric Fair whooo.
She jumped down and went behind dog city, leaving me looking at Hershey in the twilight - so I wrapped up for the night.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 06, 2016, 09:18:49 PM
I'm planning not to try to touch either one today - give 'em a little time to loose caution...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 07, 2016, 01:46:05 AM
Nothing very unusual to report this time. They weren't very wary, and I watched the eating close by. A few minutes later, Cloud went behind the high weeds and laid next to the fence on the car shed side the rest of the time. Hershey was lounging by the white cooler on the porch.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 07, 2016, 02:51:13 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1143)
I think they might have been bathed earlier in the day, but not brushed out. Their fur looked like it had been wet, which showed up much more on Scaredy's less colorful fur.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1144)
Post by: Unorthodox on June 08, 2016, 12:31:21 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 08, 2016, 12:39:23 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1145)
I saw them this morning, and their fur was fluffier, which looked better...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 08, 2016, 02:47:56 AM
The last of last Wednesday's. I scored 18 good kitten pics today. I'll begin doling them out tomorrow...
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 08, 2016, 03:09:29 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 08, 2016, 01:36:30 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1145)
I touched Cloud with my foot during both the escort walks down yesterday...
I touched both Cloud and Hershey with my hands both sessions during feeding. At lunch, both were jerking away and not having it, but not panicking and running away.
I meant to lay off for evening session, but they just made it too easy, and I couldn't resist. Hershey got a good back rub, but wasn't having me scratch behind his ears. Cloud was pulling away hard enough that it seriously cut into her getting her share.
Afterwards, Hershey came out of the lot and was using his Cat Powers a little, so I took the lid back off the formula jar and poured a little more set beside me in the grass. He indeed came over and partook, though he didn't like having me touch his head. Cloud came out in the open to investigate, so I did the same again, but she didn't work up the courage and Hershey did, despite me touching his head again.
Both laid nearby and relaxed afterwards. They took to staring intently off in the distance behind and to my right - eventually I saw one of the wawas at the edge of the yard; I hollered "GIT!", a term that seems to be Universal Language, and calmly rose to my feet, repeated myself, it took off and I ran a few steps in its direction, repeating myself again for good measure.
The cats took all this calmly - perhaps they believed what I told them before I raised my voice and moved; that I would protect them...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 08, 2016, 06:10:32 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on June 08, 2016, 06:39:50 PM
Lily just moved up to the top of the couch back. Indy hissed and ran off.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 08, 2016, 06:54:05 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1147)
The brown/orange has gotten a lot more pronounced...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 09, 2016, 12:42:12 PM
He's pretty much on the bus for the putting up with being petted while he laps, but Cloud's not there, yet. She didn't get a lot more than a taste of nuhnuh waiting for me to get out of range while Hershey didn't, even though I went back in and put out seconds.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 09, 2016, 04:56:03 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1148)
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 09, 2016, 05:46:19 PM
Hershey got kicked -kinda- on the escort down to evening session. He got where my left foot hooked under his butt and sorta launched him a few inches as I walked. He didn't seem to care.
You're in. He's not afraid anymore.
Others with cat experience, please comment.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 09, 2016, 06:13:17 PM
Just him for lunch session, and I sat on the edge of porch in reach while he fed and petted him softly. His tail wasn't into it, but I stroked it a couple times, and no tensing for any of it. He's rather boney under the fur. He didn't move away from being touched instantly when the nuhnuh was gone, but did give me that "homo" look and walked away. I need to break off just a tad sooner with the familiarity next time when it's just the two of us.
It really comes as no surprise that he's coming along faster - he's been fed by a human every morning since he was old enough, and was only half as feral as Cloud to begin with.
Good post-feed lounge afterwards...
Post by: Unorthodox on June 09, 2016, 07:20:21 PM
Hershey got kicked -kinda- on the escort down to evening session. He got where my left foot hooked under his butt and sorta launched him a few inches as I walked. He didn't seem to care.
You're in. He's not afraid anymore.
Others with cat experience, please comment.
If he hasn't been fixed yet, do it or you might get sprayed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 09, 2016, 09:05:12 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 10, 2016, 01:55:14 PM
Hershey was waiting just off the carport when I came out for sunset session about 8:30 yesterday. Cloud appeared from off to the side, but didn't try to keep up. I ended up having delay pouring for a minute while she warily approached, so Hershey didn't get it all. I didn't pet either one - need to lay off a couple days with Cloud...
Couldn't get either one interested in coming close for seconds out front afterwards. They seemed reasonably relaxed, though.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1160)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 10, 2016, 09:41:52 PM
Momma brought home a little jar of treats from the grocery. I'm definitely going to bring them to bear in four hours...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 11, 2016, 02:22:38 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 11, 2016, 06:07:15 PM
Hershey isn't rubbing up against my ankles yet, but he seems to be deliberately positioning himself to end up between my feet and get brushed against each time he hesitates on the escort downhill. Cloud is still being extra-cautious on approach, making me wait to pour for about an extra minute. I didn't sit or try to touch Hershey with her there.
-But afterwards, I was able to get her to come inside of 10 feet away out front to get modest seconds out of the jar lid out of my reach...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 11, 2016, 09:13:34 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1151)
Somebody's using her Cat Powers....
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 12, 2016, 03:49:24 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 12, 2016, 12:55:11 PM
Hershey either drank the lion's share of the formula before Cloud got up, or just didn't like it with the treats flavoring, but Cloud went Claude and crouched over them for several minutes gobbling. Hershey did accept seconds out front.
-And a good sunset lounging was had by all. When there's a few wispy clouds in the west at sunset, I keep seeing the yellow-peach color and thinking of Civ6...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 12, 2016, 04:14:08 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 12, 2016, 04:57:30 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 12, 2016, 05:32:16 PM
Nobody showed for lunch today...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 13, 2016, 02:09:19 AM
I didn't try to touch either one -though Hershey would have been easy- and was just glad that the avoidance nonsense with cloud is easing up. Hershey came out first by several minutes -he doesn't seem to want to get the last few drops out of the screws of the lid bed enough to compete for them- and hesitantly came well within touching distance for seconds out of the jar lid. I did not touch this time.
A good lounging for the three of us, and I bid them a good night.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 13, 2016, 04:35:47 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 13, 2016, 01:38:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 13, 2016, 01:44:45 PM
Mom's kittys.This was in yesterday's cat email, and Nancy's daughter replied:
Maddie Rose. Shelter rescue, was abused, seriously don't like men. If I play with the dog first, she tends have fewer issues. She will let me pet her occasionally, but it's always at the risk of her flipping into murder death mode. Not her fault, she's wired more fight than flight.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-hDMxDlYVjoc/V0Mo8_5ywgI/AAAAAAAAgkQ/su3ZxPuihi4BOv_-exnW7-XIWFLdmfgzQCCo/s800/IMG_1194.JPG)
Alec with Zoe. Her sister (Irene, I'm not entirely sure I have the names straight, always get the two mixed up) was epileptic and died some years back. Born cross-eyed and has never seen properly, but is now getting cataracts as well, so practically blind. She seems to like us better than most, but you have to move slow and steady as not to scare her, and let her get a good smell, and talk to her so she knows who you are.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-7bM7XoADP0k/V0Mo1CmcddI/AAAAAAAAgkI/w5zm4_6Fyc4ig6JHf4UnTlQ-M3BKXCZKgCCo/s800/IMG_1193.JPG)
Quote from: Buster's First Cousin Once Removed
Maddie Rose is beautiful and looks peaceful and sweet in the photo. Love the photos of Calico too, mom sure is enjoying the kittens.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 13, 2016, 10:44:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 14, 2016, 02:49:17 AM
Afterwards, Hershey came within touching distance for seconds - and then thirds. Cloud worked up the courage to have seconds. Apparently I finally sated them, as neither risked it another time, though I had more poured in the jar lid and hadn't tried to get fresh.
After they'd lounged for a while nearby, Hershey got up ... and pounced right on top of Cloud - which looked funny, 'cause he's taller than her and was straddling her like a stool. She got him off with a hiss-and-extended-claw threat - and then acted like she almost wanted to play -tail tip flicking a little- just not so rough, son...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 14, 2016, 04:10:42 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 14, 2016, 12:36:16 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 14, 2016, 06:12:18 PM
It was looking like another no-cat visit when I was halfway down the hill - then Hershey's lank dark form unfold down from his [snickers] swinging bachelor penthouse apartment. No sign of Cloud, so I just plain sat down on the porch before I poured cold nuhnuh. He jumped up and I stroked his tail a stroke, rubbed his back -he could use a good working over with a brush; his fur is shiny and nice, but he's shedding undercoat like mad now that it's committed to being summer- and his tail again. He stopped and looked at me, but didn't call me a 'mo this time and didn't tense up or try to move away from my continued ministrations. His tail was having trouble deciding whether to hide or be way into it, frequently landing on the latter.
He turned and ate a little dry food. I let up for a few minutes, but couldn't resist. He tolerated it while he was eating, then stopped and humped his back under my hand, turned in place, raised his tail, lowered his tail, turned some more, sat down, etc. He went back to the formula -he tolerates petting while he's eating, but kept stopping and raising his head for pet-breaks. I was sitting there working that cat over for about 15 minutes, set him out seconds and thirds, before I broke off and went out to supervise and smoke.
He came out and laid on his side about 10 feet from me and groomed himself the rest of the time.
Folks, you know the scene at the end of The Miracle Worker -I played a funny James Keller, once- when Annie puts Helen's hand under the flowing water and the child finally makes the conceptual breakthrough and moans "Wah wah"? I'm Annie Sullivan today, and I just had my Wah wah Moment.
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Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 14, 2016, 09:28:48 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on June 14, 2016, 10:13:47 PM
Quote
Cats understand the principle of cause and effect as well as some elements of physics. Combining these abilities with their keen sense of hearing, they can predict where possible prey hides. These are the findings of researchers from Kyoto University in Japan, led by Saho Takagi and published in Springer's journal Animal Cognition.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 15, 2016, 01:26:26 AM
I expect the photos are mostly duds, at that, darnit.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 15, 2016, 04:20:01 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 15, 2016, 12:41:50 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1159)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 15, 2016, 06:14:38 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 15, 2016, 11:21:39 PM
I did one stroke of his shoulders and they both tolerated me sitting close while they lapped nuhnuh. I came back in then, 'cause I was still overheated from cooking.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 16, 2016, 05:15:03 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1157)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 16, 2016, 05:16:48 AM
Cloud's getting a gut - it seems too soon to be showing...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 16, 2016, 05:25:18 PM
Hershey went out and chased butterflies. He failed to catch any but succeeded at adorable.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 16, 2016, 07:36:13 PM
I took cold formula -it's 90+ degrees this afternoon- and sat on the edge of the porch when I saw it was just going to be Hershey. While he was lapping up seconds, I noticed that there was about a quarter of the bacon fat treats left in the bowl from earlier, so I poured a dash of nuhnuh in behind his back. -There was a lot of petting during all this.- And when he noticed, he began drinking the milk, and ended up eating most of what was left.
One more time before Sunday, and I'll declare victory in the 'Operation: Hershey's Pal, BU' phase of the Kat Frend Prawject...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 17, 2016, 02:37:20 AM
...
-Momma had broken down and turned on the air conditioning when I went upstairs, by the way. She's having her gimp shoulder operated on next Wednesday anyway -shoulder replacement- and when she comes home, she'll be in no condition to tough it out for a while...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 17, 2016, 05:01:07 AM
There'll be new pictures, of Cloud and Hershey, tomorrow...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 17, 2016, 12:38:05 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1190)
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 17, 2016, 04:48:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 17, 2016, 05:47:02 PM
Somebody's been stripping paint off the sides of the playhouse, I don't know when.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 17, 2016, 06:09:44 PM
They were a little wandery in the immediate vicinity afterwards. Once again, I saw Cloud scratch at the ground cursorily and then sit on it - when I saw the kittens go potty that way I'd always assumed it was baby ineptitude, but now I'm thinking it's inherent. Do cats, at least females, customarily pee sitting down? This is pretty much not squatting; it's sitting, looks like.
They had ended up resting along the east wall of the playhouse when I came in.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 18, 2016, 02:07:37 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 18, 2016, 06:33:17 AM
They were a little wandery in the immediate vicinity afterwards. Once again, I saw Cloud scratch at the ground cursorily and then sit on it - when I saw the kittens go potty that way I'd always assumed it was baby ineptitude, but now I'm thinking it's inherent. Do cats, at least females, customarily pee sitting down? This is pretty much not squatting; it's sitting, looks like.
The Mrs. says "Yeah"
Happy Buster Mass! Okay, over and out.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 18, 2016, 12:51:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 18, 2016, 06:26:26 PM
;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king
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Lady and gentlemen, there is no poop in Hershey - for I just petted it all out. ;nod
It was looking like another no-cat visit when I was halfway down the hill - then Hershey's lank dark form unfold down from his [snickers] swinging bachelor penthouse apartment. No sign of Cloud, so I just plain sat down on the porch before I poured cold nuhnuh. He jumped up and I stroked his tail a stroke, rubbed his back -he could use a good working over with a brush; his fur is shiny and nice, but he's shedding undercoat like mad now that it's committed to being summer- and his tail again. He stopped and looked at me, but didn't call me a 'mo this time and didn't tense up or try to move away from my continued ministrations. His tail was having trouble deciding whether to hide or be way into it, frequently landing on the latter.
He turned and ate a little dry food. I let up for a few minutes, but couldn't resist. He tolerated it while he was eating, then stopped and humped his back under my hand, turned in place, raised his tail, lowered his tail, turned some more, sat down, etc. He went back to the formula -he tolerates petting while he's eating, but kept stopping and raising his head for pet-breaks. I was sitting there working that cat over for about 15 minutes, set him out seconds and thirds, before I broke off and went out to supervise and smoke.
He came out and laid on his side about 10 feet from me and groomed himself the rest of the time.
Folks, you know the scene at the end of The Miracle Worker -I played a funny James Keller, once- when Annie puts Helen's hand under the flowing water and the child finally makes the conceptual breakthrough and moans "Wah wah"? I'm Annie Sullivan today, and I just had my Wah wah Moment.;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king
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It was just Hershey for post-lunch - and he is once again sans poop, 'cause I done petted it out of him again. ;king
I took cold formula -it's 90+ degrees this afternoon- and sat on the edge of the porch when I saw it was just going to be Hershey. While he was lapping up seconds, I noticed that there was about a quarter of the bacon fat treats left in the bowl from earlier, so I poured a dash of nuhnuh in behind his back. -There was a lot of petting during all this.- And when he noticed, he began drinking the milk, and ended up eating most of what was left.
One more time before Sunday, and I'll declare victory in the 'Operation: Hershey's Pal, BU' phase of the Kat Frend Prawject...
;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1192)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1192)
-It was just Hershey for lunch again today, and guess what? My left shoulder is more than a bit wracked/tired from over 20 solid minutes of reaching out and petting. I actually picked him up and put him in my lap - which lasted seconds, but still, trust- and he totally didn't panic. He loves having his back rubbed. He loves being scratched behind the ears. His long, slinky, tail has decided it's really into stroking. He didn't freak when I touched his forepaws several times, and liked being scratched under the chin and having his chest rubbed, though not as trustingly.
After consuming thirds -or seconds, I dunno- he hopped to the ground, looked up and mewed at me, then jumped back up for more petting for ten or so minutes. :luv:
If Mamma hadn't started mowing the front yard, we might still be at it...
;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king
;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king
;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king ;king
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...
They got what appears to be a cardinal yesterday:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1193)
-These two feathers turned up on the porch, anyway. Momma told me not to pick up feathers in the yard 'cause the bird might be shedding because it was sick - but I'm pretty sure the donor(s) this time was just plain kilt...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 18, 2016, 08:08:36 PM
I sat on the edge of the porch and put them in the lid - then had to wait a few minutes with my face averted, but she did jump up on the porch with me and -warily, glaring- dug in. I didn't watch her intently for the obvious reason that she could see me staring, but it was pretty cool that she didn't freak when I would fidget and scratch my leg. I wanted to reach out, but that would be stupid at this stage...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 19, 2016, 01:17:41 PM
Both got on the porch with me sitting there, and Cloud was glary and wary that I stroked Hershey a bit right next to her, but mostly kept eating. I did give her a few strokes.
I noticed during the escort down, that her belly bump is a lot bigger seen from above than the side - Mom's noticed it, too, and we're at a loss that she's showing so much so soon. I need to get on that plywood door thing for the little doghouse, in case she's been up to something a lot earlier than we knew about or thought likely...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 19, 2016, 01:52:40 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 19, 2016, 06:29:52 PM
A good visit w/ vigorous petting, but he called it quits before it became a long one...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 20, 2016, 03:22:54 AM
(Momma had noticed, too, that Cloud's gone, in about a week, from 'recovered her figure' to 'ohmyGodshowinginahurry' and looked up cat gestation again - looks like she'd gotten a bum steer before, because it's something like 58-67 days instead of 90 and we got a month less than we'd thought. -But I'm ahead of myself.)
Hershey turned up unexpectedly, and I got in a couple minutes of petting when he jumped up to check, then I left Cloud to it, not failing to observe the astonishing belly I'd only noticed beginning to bulge less than a week ago. -So Mom and I talked about it when I went in, resulting in me going and finding a piece of plywood and making that doghouse door cat-size opening. It was past eight when I took it and nailed it on. There were cats, of course, and they were surprisingly tolerant of me banging on the little doghouse on the porch instead of pouring nuhnuh - however, as I left the lot, Cloud had jumped up behind me to check if I'd left any treats, and totally checked out the much smaller door I did leave. ;nod
I reappeared with formula a few minutes later, but didn't get to touch anyone - they weren't THAT tolerant of the banging just before...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 20, 2016, 04:01:30 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 20, 2016, 12:42:28 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 20, 2016, 04:32:53 PM
Cloud eventually jumped up and sniffed, jumped back down. A few minutes later, Hershey, arriving well behind, leapt up, sniffed, decided to nosh on the remains of the morning dry catfood, and about to minutes of solid petting ensued while Cloud, nearby on the ground, gave it the big eyes. -I hope she noticed how I totally didn't kill him to death.
Momma reports that this morning, he broke off eating to hump his back under her hand and act like he was into the breakfast pet, not merely tolerating like always before. I'd swear I heard a fain persistent purr for the first time from him just now.
Cloud appeared to drink the few drops of coffee after I left...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 20, 2016, 07:01:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 20, 2016, 11:22:25 PM
I think she'd been laying there trying to use her cat powers on the house for a while, not knowing I'd decided to do this after lunch, and I was just lucky to be johny on the spot --- she ran halfway up the hill and did her first escort in a couple weeks, meowed at me repeatedly, and rubbed herself across my ankles one time on the way down, acting like she might have done it some more if I'd slowed down enough.
Today, I'm noticing her slowing as she squeezes her wide belly through the gap in the gate. -How far along could she be when she was weaning five weeks ago?
She meowed at me again a few times in the lot as I was setting the handful of dry food in formula down and seating myself. She had to walk around to the side so she could jump up where my back was turned, and Hershey got in ahead of her, but they really went to town on it.
I got in a few minutes' petting on Hershey. Cloud jumped back and glared when I touched her back, but didn't leave or hesitate diving back in when I withdrew.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 21, 2016, 01:47:02 AM
Then Cloud showed up just as I was shifting where I sat, and he jumped down and settled inside the gate and I had several minutes annoying wait. There was low-level dog activity next door, which wasn't helping. Five minutes later of trying to look very relaxed and not stair at her, Cloud decided to jump up and chance it, Hershey about 15 seconds behind. There was some decent petting of him rest of the time, and I could feel him purring all along, especially when I was stroking his throat. Once the milk was drunk, Cloud watched it pretty intently, but stayed on the porch until I got up to leave.
I wished them a good shortest night of the year, and here I am.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 21, 2016, 03:08:07 AM
Post by: E_T on June 21, 2016, 04:54:33 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 21, 2016, 12:11:18 PM
Have they left you any tokens of affection/offerings to ya'll yet?Cloud left a few bodies for the kittens -two squirrels and two mice that we saw- and there's sometimes feathers on the porch of Dog City, but never anything left by the kitchen door, no.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 21, 2016, 01:32:48 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1194)
-Nothing much to report; they didn't escort us with me along, and stayed on the ground waiting, though I hung back just inside the gate and didn't approach the porch.
I will be taking over the morning feed starting tomorrow. With luck, I'll start sleeping again now that I have an early responsibility, and can do a crappy job...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 21, 2016, 06:20:20 PM
I got one corner of the lot cleared, and still petted Hershey for ten minutes. I left the clippers on the front rafters, and I'm going to take at least a lick at weeds each visit - since I'll be getting out of my chair and making the visit anyway, it won't take a lot of willpower. Cloud might pop any second, but I'm willing to bet I have a few days.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 22, 2016, 02:52:25 AM
It wasn't the best sunset session one could dream of - my wimminz bug bombed under the roof of the playhouse right before I came out.
Just Cloud showed, so I poured sat and waited, and when she'd jumped down after finishing most of it because I shifted, I refreshed it a little and stood up to grab the clippers and do some weeds in. She jumped back up and went back to it, sure enough, when I was in the vicinity of the gate, well away, working.
I kept it up about 10 minutes, then suddenly Hershey showed from the woods side away from the playhouse. So I went over and poured more, but not much luck getting close - it probably didn't help that I'd sprayed insect repellant all over my legs for the first time before coming out.
[shrugs]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 22, 2016, 02:38:21 PM
I did leave them a pieplate full of chicken bones and dry catfood w/ a little formula poured on, and changed their water.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 22, 2016, 04:01:57 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 22, 2016, 07:11:49 PM
I deliberately set out about an hour late, to offset how late breakfast was and give them time to get hungry - and when I got there, no cats in sight, it appeared that I'd assumed wrong about them checking by and getting breakfast after I left it.
So I grabbed the clippers and set on the weeds -just as well instead of waiting sitting down- and after maybe ten minutes, Cloud turned up. I kept working for a minute, she hopped up and seemed disappointed that I hadn't poured nuhnuh and ignored breakfast, then jumped down and hid when I came around to pour.
I had to get away from the porch for her to get back up -I need to go out early in the morning, if I can bear to, while it's still cool out and make an end of the rest of the weeds, 'cause busting around during visits upsets them- and then I was able to go sit on the middle step w/o her actually leaving the porch, though she stopped lapping and moved away for a minute, and then got up and poured a little more on the breakfast as I left, which she was attacking as I exited the lot.
No sign of Hershey at all.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 22, 2016, 11:29:28 PM
When I went up for supper, Aunt Pokey -she's been here since yesterday, for Momma's shoulder surgery, which went fine, thank you- said she'd spotted Hershey in the back yard, which is more than I'd done today. So I headed down after eating, to see if I saw anyone and to check if Cloud had cleaned out breakfast after I left. -Turns out she'd only eaten about half, not bothering to move the chicken bones to eat what was under them.
Hershey hopped up soon after I sat, sniffed the empty lid, and then turned, almost as if to present himself for petting. -Said petting being promptly forthcoming.
I picked up the chicken bones and put them in the usual food tray and he noticed there was food waiting, softened with one of my bullion milkshakes. He dug in while I continued to pet, pausing to raise his head for some of that petting action.
After he decided he was through about 10 minutes later and jumped down to lay nearby for a few and left the lot, I got down the clippers -reluctantly; it's over 90f- and took a lick at the weeds for a few minutes, then headed over to the woodshed to look for the long-blade clippers. Saw Cloud laying in front of the playhouse on the way, found no clippers under the playhouse junk recently piled on.
So I went back to work for a while with what tool I had, and got most of the densest bit in the lot, car shed side halfway down inside the gate, cut. Hershey had ended up at the far corner of the car shed during all this, and when I left, Cloud was still in the same spot in front of the playhouse. I think she was there the entire time, and no idea what the deal with that could be. Maybe she et something she killed when breakfast was so late, and isn't hungry again yet.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 01:57:53 AM
Hershey eventually made his way into the lot and onto the porch, and there was petting. Cloud wasn't feeling incredibly bold, eventually hopped up, but I was touching her boy a foot away, and she mostly contented herself with water in the far edge until I left the night.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 01:38:32 PM
I smoked, they ate. Nothing else to report, as they were doing good to get anything from me first thing in the morning and I really needed another hand to carry food water and my coffee.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 23, 2016, 09:47:12 PM
I was running later than I'd intended by about 40 minutes, which is Uno's fault - saw no one on the way down. No one when I got to the porch. I sat up on the porch and lit up, waiting.
-I was putting my feet on the ground to give up and weed while I waited several minutes later when I saw Cloud coming, so I go back in position and continued to wait. She took her time, but two or three minutes later, she was up on the porch warily lapping up her meat-flavor milkshake. She still has beautiful eyes when she doesn't trust me.
-A little trick I haven't mentioned doing lately for displaying relaxation in terms cats get when I'm sitting crosslegged at my station in front of the big doghouse facing south is that I'll pretend-groom my hands. They don't tongue-clean themselves when they're very tense, and it seems to successfully convey that I'm just chillin' there, not lying in wait...
When she was done and wandered off to lay on the walk in front of the playhouse, I got up and spent a few minutes clearing out the brush of cut weeds from the last few days - half just in case Momma noticed when she got home, as a grace note towards putting her in a good mood.
I decided that what's left in the back is sorta sparse blocks little of the view and easily gotten later -also, the cats like the weeds- and called it done for now. Cloud was still lounging in front of the playhouse when I left; little sunlight ever reaches the walk, and I suspect the concrete naturally stays a little cooler in the day and warmer at night...
...
Buster and her servants are allegedly getting underway for the drive home this weekend. The plan is to stop along the way at places like the Grand Canyon, and take about a week...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2016, 02:45:39 AM
Got some petting ion on Hershey for the first time today -they were lucky I showed first thing in the morning- and Cloud didn't jump up until Her5shey finished off the first course -tuna flavored, the latest batch- and only got half of the second...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2016, 03:05:36 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1199)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2016, 05:12:13 PM
They were waiting down by the playhouse, ran up to escort, and Cloud brushed her body against my ankles three times on the way to the lot, jumped up on the porch right in front of me, and brushed against the back of my hand when I set my coffee down. Then she stood there, and I didn't resist the temptation to try to stroke her back, but when I touched, she leapt away and glared - still on the porch. Fortunately for her fears, I don't really care much about contact first thing, as they're beginning to learn, and put out the Pokey chicken and water, sat on the top step, lit up, and half-watched them eat, sipping coffee and waking up.
It's a fairly quiet/peaceful way to do it, and has the advantage of that much time not watching my machine take forever to wake...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2016, 07:22:41 PM
I didn't seem to be needed, so I went and attended to the cats.
Found Hershey in the back shed, no sign of Cloud I could spot, but he got up on the porch and acted a lot more interested in petting than cold tuna milkshake. Cloud turned up from the general direction of the woodshed, and he jumped down beside her -he prefers the company of the only one he's always loved and trusted, naturally, and he did get a little tongue-petting- and I had to wait five minutes or more for her to work up the courage/interest to jump up and dig in. -Naturally, Hershey was back not far behind, and I petted him some more while they both lapped it up.
It rained last night, and that's broken the heat somewhat w/o bringing up the humidity that much.
-I think the nurse is finally leaving, now - I felt like I had to hang around and display perfunctory interest for a half hour I'd much rather be downstairs typing cat reports and working on themes and translating articles about SMACX from Norwegian...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 25, 2016, 01:28:36 AM
Just Hershey for sunset - he wasn't in a big hurry, but I petted him a couple of minutes when he hopped up ... then he lost interest and got down with not a lot more than a taste of the nuhnuh, and didn't come back until I left.
-We've come a long way in a short period, that I'm already put out I only petted him for two minutes and he stayed in sight the whole time...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 25, 2016, 03:31:02 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 25, 2016, 01:25:04 PM
Cloud was on the carport, not a close escort, they ate. About 12 minutes in, I reached over and stroked her bottom two strokes with my fingertips, which she ignored until I reached for a third and she moved away a little. Hershey was not feeling extra-friendly; I brushed his fur with my fingertips reaching, but couldn't land a good stroke, not that I tried hard.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 25, 2016, 02:54:38 PM
His purr sounds like a sputtery little motorboat engine in the distance...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 25, 2016, 09:19:11 PM
She wasn't in a hurry, of course, but once she was at it for a few minutes, I worked up the courage to touch her back. She pulled back, glaring, of course, but didn't move away. When she was done, she worked over what little was still left from breakfast. I believe I'll bring a handful of dry food with a dash of formula this evening...
-There was an Uncle Bob sighting earlier, which may account for Hershey not showing...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 25, 2016, 11:47:34 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1197)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 26, 2016, 01:49:19 PM
...
:mad: I don't even care what all the commotion was this morning - I just care that there was a lot of stomping around and slamming the kitchen door repeatedly and dogs down here before I got up, which is not okay and is NEVER okay. :mad:
-The cats were put off, too.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 26, 2016, 06:58:02 PM
-Well, A.) :danc: I didn't kill it, and B.) I spent five minutes doing a thumbnail pinch-prune of shoot tips on the ones in the middle that stuck out above my trimming, so's to encourage the growths lower down on the trunks and thicker/not taller growth, and save myself some pruning in Fall or late winter.
When I finished, I don't know for sure where Hershey came from, but he was on the porch waiting, looking like he might have just jumped down from the bachelor penthouse. -I think he's decided he doesn't like the tuna-flavored, but this was the last of it, and I made more -beef-flavored- afterwards. He was interested in the dry food left from breakfast and a good petting, which we had.
Cloud showed up soon after we got into it, but sat just outside and groomed herself until I left; she's probably put out that I touched her butt this morning, but that's, alas, how courtship works, dear - nothing happens if I'm a shy complete gentleman.
Of course the crazy dog lady showed up with one of her dogs, during, but I was almost done then, and no harm worth mentioning...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 26, 2016, 08:39:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 26, 2016, 09:37:25 PM
Cloud was lounging on the far side of the car shed the whole time I was sitting on the porch waiting, 10-15 minutes. Screw that; I left behind 2 1/2 treats of 10 1/2, just to let her know I'd brought something but not reward her much for waiting for me to leave...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 27, 2016, 02:29:11 AM
He was glad to see me come out for sunset session, running most of the way up the hill and -deliberately, it appeared- positioning himself so he'd end up between my feet as I walked, brushing my ankles a little.
I reached down and stroked his back.
He was shocked and ran ahead a few steps - then let me catch up, bend down as I walked and do it again. And again. He was humping his back under my hand, tail up and really into it. -It's the first time he's let me pet him away from a few square feet on the porch of the dog lot, I expect it won't repeat right away, but it's a "Whaa. Whaaa" moment, where a breakthrough has happened.
We may not ever get to a point where he'll come to me and get into my lap, we may not progress to where I can just walk up to him anywhere he happens to be and lay hands - but this will certainly, probably in the next two or three weeks, lead to I can pet him sometimes when he feels like it, away from the porch and having to bring bait. He's already displayed some indications that he's coming to look forward to a good rubdown more than the meat-flavor milkshakes. Momma always said he was a lonely boy...
The rest of the visit was unremarkable. Cloud did come up and clean out more than her share of the formula - and all of the treats still in my pocket from the 4PM visit she wouldn't approach. Hershey was acting a little restless and skittish, jumping down and back up, afraid of petting then enjoying. Tails don't lie.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 27, 2016, 04:07:13 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 27, 2016, 01:24:22 PM
Momma came out and supervised from the chair I grilled from yesterday uphill. She thinks Cloud will pop in about a week.
We expected this, but not so soon...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 27, 2016, 04:28:42 PM
Breakfast was mostly chicken skins, and they cleaned it out, so I figured they were hungry or it might not have been enough, and decided to squeeze in an early visit w/ dry food in a little meat milkshake.
Hershey came up the hill to escort, wouldn't stop to let me pet -I can't really carry two things in the crook of my arm, walk and pet bent over at the same time, so it requires his consent/cooperation to be more than a fleeting touch- but did let it happen inside the lot, but on the ground inside the lot only halfway to the porch of dog city.
So I sat down and put down the bowl, we were having a good pet while he mostly noshed, and Cloud showed up sitting outside near the gate grooming. -If I've accomplished nothing else with her, she hangs around on the estate a lot more now, which is a very positive development for working with the next littler. I reckon the treaty she never knew we had will have very different terms this time; at first, she was coming and going when I was around last time over the fence in back.- And I had a notion and got up -Hershey ignored it while he chowed instead of retreating as he still did recently when I moved much while he was on the porch- and cracked the gate open so she wouldn't have to squeeze that belly through. -She took her time, but did come in, then.
Last few days, they've been heavily using the spot where the weeds were tallest and thickest as a urinal, which she did. Hershey seems to pee sitting down, BTW.
She clearly finds it alarming when I handle her boy while she's eating/close, but is recoiling less. (I'm trying to discipline myself to not try to touch her at all before the weekend,) They ate most of the milky not-dry food, more than I expected. A good visit, though Hershey wouldn't let me quite catch up to him outside - it'll come in the next month, I think. He does seem to somewhat look at it as play when I try to approach outside before I leave...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 01:55:03 AM
I intended to push the lunch visit late because of the extra session squeezed in late morning, but when I got up at 2:30 this afternoon, it was raining kinda hard - it was done at 5:30, but no sign of cats when I went and waited 15 minutes.
-Just now, it was raining again, but I went anyway; Cloud was on the porch, but fled out of sight when I walked up. I poured and sat, but she didn't come back for the 15 minutes I waited again. [shrugs] Rain.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 03:45:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 01:43:52 PM
She's definitely gotten to the point she doesn't want to squeeze through when she can wait a second. Momma says she stops being able to squeeze through the gate gap at all before she pops.
After that, not a lot of interest to report. Momma came out and supervised from the carport, and more to give her something to see than anything else, I leaned way over and reached past Cloud to give Hershey a couple strokes. Cloud didn't realize until I was done - and this morning in general, she skipped the nonsense about staying out of range of me trying to touch her.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 04:06:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 05:46:31 PM
So I took down a handful of new dry food with a little formula poured over, hereinafter known as cat cereal, and saw no one when I sat and lit up to wait. It was drizzling lightly, which is cat take-shelter conditions, maybe, but not hide time like when it was/had just been stormy like yesterday. So no surprise that they were rare, but not no hope they'd show. Five minutes or so along, I got up, partly with the idea of ratting the gate more for them to hear if nearby, and checked the back shed to meow into, then went over and spent a few minutes pinch-pruning the growth buds on the holly in front of the playhouse -I need to take a new photo of I-didn't-kill-it- and then went back into the lot and pulled a couple of dead briars I'd cut out of the chain link of the fence on the car shed side.
As I was about to wrap up and leave the treat behind, Hershey showed right outside from the woods on the west corner, looking all wet and bedraggled and meowing at me, but not making up his mind to come in. I had to show him the cereal bowl and get up and turn around and put it back down to get him to decide to come in, which took a few minutes, still meowing while he took his time.
Then we had a long high-quality petting session with him eating piecemeal and more lapping up most of the free nuhnuh, when I'd almost given up before he showed. History indicates that he's probably done with what was left for a few hours, so Cloud ought to get her chance for the extra nutriments when she swings by. -A lot of my motivation for the extra effort is concern for the litter she's carrying, and again, the more happy and somewhat domesticated and dependent I can get her before the new kittens, the better.
When he's into it, he'll turn his head and look back at the stroking of his back and tail, which seems to be presenting his head for attention. He at least tolerates having his face touched, and actively likes being stroked under the chin and down his throat -which seems strange from a kitteh who just a minute or two ago had decided to trust me at all again- and onto his upper chest. Throat-stroking, especially, tend to be good for a purr.
When he'd had enough, he leisurely went out and began grooming himself -even wet, he could use a working-over with a hairbrush, 'cause he's still shedding winter coat; I do have tentative plans to try to introduce him to brush-petting down the road- and when I got up and left, I relished it had stopped drizzling while I was sitting under the roof of dog city, hearing the trees still dripping somewhat steadily -and loudly under a tin roof- which they'll do for hours after rain. Cloud may or may not have already turned up and got a share while I wasn't looking in the hour since.
---
Nancy spotted Calico's remains by the road very near her house; best theory is that the chile got herself killed sleeping up in the works of a vehicle - she went missing while they were gone somewhere, so they probably killed her leaving.
:(
All that work, all that work, for one kitten... And the most hostile of the litter at that - but not hostile anymore, and it still wasn't for nothing, not even counting the spinoff work with the grown cats we kept...
Post by: Unorthodox on June 28, 2016, 06:18:35 PM
Though, whatever is prowling out there now (back again this morning) could sure use something to put it in it's place. The construction soon to start will likely scare it off.
Just between cars, disease, and animals, they don't tend to have long life spans.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 08:29:28 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on June 28, 2016, 10:00:24 PM
Our cats would probably hide from a medium-size rat with a 'tude...
I hear you. Been curious why some seem to be vicious killing machines and others lazy slouches. Basically, how do you RAISE a mouser? Or is it all breeding?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 28, 2016, 11:05:52 PM
Honestly, these seem chicken to me because I'm way too big to be food, and they're right to pay attention to what dogs are around and up to - and would tackle mean old sewer rats their own size for all I know. They certainly kill what they catch and do catch things...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 29, 2016, 02:25:25 AM
They both showed for sunset -friendly escort- I had a plate of softish chicken bones from rotisserie chicken for supper, and it went over very well. They actually worked that over for a while before either tackled their meat milkshake.
Got in some decent petting on Hershey, Cloud kept trying to act like it offended her that I touched her boy, they got down and peed and groomed a little before I bid them goodnight, and jumped back up for more bones as soon as I left.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 29, 2016, 01:37:39 PM
They both positioned themselves so my feet touched them during the escort, and they acted hungry for the dry food. Didn't really try to touch either one, just, they ate, I sipped coffee and slapped at bugs, watching them half the time. Not a lot of avoidance nonsense today.
Post by: Unorthodox on June 29, 2016, 02:56:15 PM
Lily was going bonkers at the door. Mystery cat was up at the other side peering in. Lily looked at me, then back out and hissed and attacked the glass. I've seen her chase off cats before, and I don't need her getting hurt or a disease, so I didn't head out the back like I normally do, but went out the front and walked around back.
Indy was unimpressed. He's more the 'let's be friends' when he sees other cats. (which is why him getting upset at whatever's outside at night the last few days is odd)
It wouldn't vocalize or come anywhere near me, but kept stopping to watch, probably looking for a handout, and I'm sure went back to the door when I left. Skinny slight little thing <5 years old, couldn't get close enough to tell much further it's status.
Post by: Spacy on June 29, 2016, 02:57:51 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 29, 2016, 03:18:25 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 29, 2016, 03:22:45 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 29, 2016, 05:52:00 PM
They got over it, partook, and I did pet Hershey a bit before I came in...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 02:14:45 AM
Momma spotted Uncle Bob, the boston terrier-marked neighborhood cat probably most responsible for Cloud's current state, lurking around this morning, and when I got up and popped the window to meow-warmup the audience for the evening cat-spoiling, there he was in the back yard. Makes me wish -again- that I knew where the bb guns got to, 'cause I'd like to land a few pellets near him and teach him to respect mah authoritah. He just don't stay run off - as in, he don't bother to wait 'til I've left to come back, and I really don't want to jump up and shout around Cloud and Hershey, who were on, roughly, nearby-dog-activity level of nervousness.
Like, Hershey emerged, looking in the direction Bob had gone off to, from under the car about the time I reached dog city, wondering where they were. He came in, but was in less than a hurry to jump up and get close. Then I spotted Cloud on the roof of the car shed. The nearest corner is only six feet off the ground, and she just jumped down without help, and was actually up on the porch partaking before Hershey, who I petted a little, but he was only in the mood for a little, alas. Bob had come back and was lurking around behind and to the woods-side of the lot; naturally, I could see no sign of him when I came out and would have had a little more latitude to holler and throw things.
Can't figure what Bob wants, hanging around...
Post by: E_T on June 30, 2016, 10:18:36 AM
Post by: E_T on June 30, 2016, 10:21:25 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 12:20:41 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 01:31:39 PM
They were lounging around the backyard waiting, but when I turned on the faucet again for their water, Cloud jumped up and trotted up the hill, and was waiting outside the kitchen door when I came out.
It was quiet and calm, and ends up being about as good or better a first thing quiet time with my morning coffee as watching my machine take five minutes to load a page. The bugs seem to have left me alone.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 03:23:27 PM
...Now I'm out of photos until I snap more...
Post by: Unorthodox on June 30, 2016, 03:49:16 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 04:09:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 30, 2016, 06:59:15 PM
;notes; My-meat milkshake spoils all the cats in the yard ;notes;
;notes; And their meows - are better than mine ;notes;
;notes; Their meows - are better than mine ;notes;
;notes; They could teach me - but it would take time ;notes;
;notes; And their meows - are better than mine ;notes;
;notes; Their meows - are better than mine ;notes;
;notes; They could teach me - but it would take time ;notes;
It's a nice day out -a bit overcast, but not oppressively so, not quite 80 degrees just yet- and both cats showed up in a decent mood; there was and escort from partway down the hill from Cloud, not a lot of nonsense about getting started.
I could have petted Hershey more than I did, but decided to tone it down a bit close to Cloud - as she expands towards More Cats day, I need to shift emphasis from trying to get her to accept to trying to make her happy and comfortable, especially there in the dog lot. They collaborated on demolishing the formula I put out, she inhaled the handful of new treats I put down while they were in the nuhnuh, and she took out seconds by herself, Hershey having jumped down. I left a little bit of thirds behind when I was done out there, and they were in it as soon as I left.
A good installment of Kat Frend - I needed something to go smoothly today... ;nod
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 01, 2016, 01:48:36 AM
It was just Cloud for the evening, but she trotted halfway up the hill and must have brushed herself against me five times on the way down, then tried to do a body swipe or something when I leaned in to pour, only I wasn't standing quite close enough.
-After that, it was pretty normal; she seemed to give me the green eyeball less than usual while she drank, but then about the time she finished, remembered she didn't like me - even though I poured seconds, and I can't believe she wasn't greedy enough to want them. [shrugs]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 01, 2016, 12:30:53 PM
She came up on the carport when she heard water running the second time -coffee comes first- but there wasn't exactly an escort, and she wouldn't stay up on the porch and eat. Hershey ate for several minutes, but when she decided, for no discernible reason, to climb the fence on the west side, he went around by the gate to join her. Rather a wash, as a visit.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 01, 2016, 05:37:38 PM
Hershey turned up, didn't rupture himself trotting up to escort, but met me a little ways from the lot and I managed to get a stroke of his tail on the way down. He was acting pretty friendly and into it, and it probably would have gone better and lasted longer if I hadn't pulled out the camera. He didn't act like he minded, and there was good quality petting, but he barely touched the formula, more, the considerable remains of breakfast that looked like Cloud may not ever have come back and gotten some, before he jumped down. The helicopter going over definitely didn't help, and I suspect they worry about the yellowjackets that have been around for a couple days, though I can find no nest.
He ended up leaving the lot halfway through the normal visit time without having made a noticeable dent in the formula, and I went out to sit near. It was nearing time to break off and go in when I saw Cloud on the corner of the car shed roof. She jumped down -which I find wince-worthy in her condition, and just sat, even during and after me going back in the lot to pantomime pouring nuhnuh.
She went in after I was gone -took long enough that I saw it out the kitchen window while I was washing my hands- and five-ten minutes later, went back over to the gate, paused two minutes or so, and then exited via a jump-climb over the fence. [shakes head, puzzled]
Post by: E_T on July 01, 2016, 05:54:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 01, 2016, 06:03:32 PM
There's woods all around, the nest could be ANYwhere...
Post by: Unorthodox on July 01, 2016, 06:14:21 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 01, 2016, 06:42:05 PM
There may still be a live nest in the roof of the playhouse, or the bug bombing over the weekend might have gotten that one and these are from somewhere else.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 02, 2016, 01:31:58 AM
So I headed upstairs and made myself a peanut butter sandwich before I starved, figuring on supper with the cats - noted my uncle and his wife sitting outside, saw through the south window a certain family -a youthful arm waving goodbye downhill was the first and most I'd laid eyes on any of them today- pulling away in the station wagon. So grabbed some chicken leftovers marked for cat consumption, headed outside and saw Petey. ;wince Right; with the Temple of Gramma being squatted in, they're down here porch-sitting outside the carport, so is their dog.
He's a lovely little beast, really he is, and I had to shoo him off and he started to follow me down the hill anyway, but was called back.
No other escort. No sign. I went in and sat down, eating my sandwich alone, waiting that much - but they were. not. going to show up with that dog up there close, and right to be cautious about that one.
I left a bit of chicken skin and a bone or two in the lid to let them know I'd been there and cared - though breakfast, uncharacteristically, was not all gone, so they're hardly hiding nearby watching and starving.
$#@!
...
Lovely coincidence, the hovertext on that smiley; Petey was at least good enough to come inside for a few minutes before I got away, and give me a few minutes laptime w/ kissy love.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 02, 2016, 04:34:27 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1222)
See how skinny and shiny brown and very very petted by my clumsy-looking white hand he came out.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1223)
He didn't look that brown to me when I was taking the shots one-handed. He never looks that brown.
The drugs are already kicking in and I'm fading. Y'all have yerselves good nights, hear? -Waver issued for anyone who ever interacts with me but doesn't care when I'm pissed and hurt, them there folks being invited to die before I wake up and ever have to take their crap again. I seriously am tired of and hate those people. -The one who keeps texting Momma once a minute at this hour and makes it necessary to go find her phone and put a towel under it so I don't hear it go off all night can die first.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 02, 2016, 01:23:44 PM
Both showed up, but voices and something going on commenced uphill before they ate much. It's fingernail down the blackboard of my own soul, first thing. They went out. I kept station waiting for about ten minutes before I came in, wearily tight-lipped.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 02, 2016, 04:53:13 PM
I went for an early mid-day session while the coast was clear for some reason, and Hershey turned up already inside the lot. I petted him a few strokes where he came out the gate to greet me, more right inside. He wasn't in any hurry to move it, but, y'know, I didn't want to bend over for 15 minutes, so on to the porch. I guess he'd been up in the penthouse feeling a bit lonely, and not hungry, 'cause breakfast looked untouched from where they left it when I was there, and he seemed more interested in that than formula, and still not nearly as interested as in some high-test petting. This is what we both needed.
-Incidentally, I've gotten a lot of good looks at his junk by now, and either there's some serious maturing left in secondary traits for him to do in the next few months as he approaches a year old, or no wonder Cloud isn't more discerning. I mean, he's impressively not-hung, to the point one supposes that being really glad to see Mrs. Cat must make quite a difference for things to even work. If that's typical, I can see why it's so hard to be sure of kittens.
There was some activity on the porch next door, that I could see clearly enough to even be sure it was my brother, and I made the mistake of raising my voice to call out, "Look at me petting this wild cat!" Hershey hopped down, then , and started making his way slowly away. I quietly got up and was able to stroke his tail a few times, a first for not on the porch and headed the other way. He didn't bolt, though he did keep moving, piecemeal.
He headed over towards the front of the playhouse, not hurrying, but not seeming like he'd permit me to catch up again - and there was Cloud. For all I know, she was there the whole time. [shrugs]
A few minutes after I'd left, she still hadn't gone in to check behind me, but I saw out the window that she's moved a ways in that direction. There's plenty on the porch to enjoy, Hershey not having made much of a dent in breakfast leftovers, and didn't actually touch the milkshake in favor of standing up and humping his back under the petting.
Post by: E_T on July 02, 2016, 06:44:35 PM
If you get one fixed, install a chip.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 02, 2016, 06:51:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 02, 2016, 09:51:02 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1232)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 03, 2016, 01:23:13 AM
And I saw a couple of old bionic ladies watching a family handling an overstuffed couch on the porch - I called out, "I hope it's okay if I offer my services" without breaking stride. Uncharacteristically, this was accepted gracefully, and I spent a few minutes carrying the awkward weight of one end, angling around to get it through a door it barely fit. Went smoothly, and though they were gearing up for that walk, Miss Princess Pretty Perfect loved the idea and was actually allowed to come along w/o any typical awkwardness, complications and infuriating nonsense.
She didn't follow instructions perfectly -I'm sure I said "outside the fence" without a stutter, and 13 year-olds aren't all that good at being still- but Hershey did not freak at her presence in the lot so much that he didn't jump up on the porch and ignore his treat in favor of a few minutes of petting while she stood ten feet back. If she comes along a lot and has a month, she'll be able to touch them, too, I venture. Cloud came out around the playhouse, and at my suggestion, Doodlebug and I exited the lot and sat in the grass for a few minutes while Cloud worked up the courage and went in for her share - I'm not sure she got much formula, but Mom had taken them a handful of leftovers after supper, and she definitely got some of that.
Swe' Pea got called away for the walk before the customary 15 minutes were up, and I went back in and sat, but they'd finished and moved off to the west side before that, and refused to come back up, glaring just a bit, reproving me for bringing someone along and doing a sub-optimal performance of quiet calm, 'cause I talked to her the whole time.
It was good enough, though, in my opinion, I doubt they'll hold it against me next time, and I got to do a thing with Miss Girl that actually went about how I hoped - and share the cats in person...
;nod
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 03, 2016, 01:47:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 03, 2016, 01:53:53 AM
I proposed the idea about her decorating the door panel of the little doghouse pictured above, and she seemed keen -I'll be half surprised if it actually happens, but I'll try to seek her out and remind, soonest, on the morrow. -Approaching is a thing to be taken on with delicacy, as they make it a pain to just catch them and we're dealing with painfully shy wimminz - literally; her maw has the issues, and she's not real outgoing, so just walking up there and knocking is a bigger deal than it should be. I'm terribly uncomfortable about it myself, given all the givens.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 03, 2016, 02:24:54 AM
(https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/197983_5261981299_5196_n.jpg?oh=38795218a1e56d6264a66e5575f5a5e8&oe=57EEF931)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 03, 2016, 12:30:51 PM
They were waiting in the back yard, Cloud ignoring when I ran the water for the coffee, ran up the hill when I ran her water - I don't know what Momma does that she learned to wait for the second time she hears the water running.
She rubbed against my ankles twice on the way, once halfway down the hill, again when I stopped to open the gate. Hershey had paused to get between my feet and get contact once, too. Then she was on the porch, not flinching away when I set down the water, as if presenting herself to be touched. I gave her a stroke and poured the food in the pan.
It's sort've a blur after that. The last time I reported a lot of ankle-love first thing, she also did that, but it was much more confused - this was DEFINITE presenting herself for a limited pet, unambiguously wanting it.
I was very tempted to give her more strokes as she ate with her back to me, but took the better part of valor.
Hershey didn't wander in to range to touch -and you know by now that I'm less interested first thing- and while they were eager for breakfast, they didn't eat a whole, whole lot before Cloud hopped down and Hershey, as always, followed her, though neither seemed in a hurry to get away. He's lounging in front of the playhouse, 20 minutes later; I don't see out the window where she got to.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 03, 2016, 02:02:58 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1239)
Here seen three days ago at mid-day; she doesn't like the camera, and this is the better of the two half-decent shots I got from 20+ feet back. The angle that shows off big & swollen her belly is best is from overhead, which is intensely unlikely to get caught on camera before she pops. -I have both hands and the crook of my left arm full going to the morning feed when she semi-reliably gets underfoot - also, I'm still stupid then.
Y'all are in for a couple weeks of poorly-focused Hershey before I get to the other shot of her, and less baby bump showing in it...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 03, 2016, 08:14:46 PM
I reckon if she keeps working in at least a visit a day for a week or so, I'll offer to hang back and let her go in - they're being a lot cooler about me bringing along a stranger than I'd feared.
Then I made her an indefinite loan of my childhood bicycle -it needs new tires; those are three times older than her, but she's delighted and got my permission to paint it something besides dull gold- and I helped the Reverend Dr. little brother with a mattress, made a date with her to walk over to the old city reservoir -it's a drained jungle now- and dam -big hole blown in the earthen bank- and the little waterfall/swimming hole downhill of that, and the huge stone-lined tunnel under the towering steep railroad track bank, which just begs to have a movie fugitive scene shot there.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 04, 2016, 01:41:20 AM
Headed downhill meowing, not much thinking about the storm and the subsequent likelihood it might be a catless sunset, didn't see anyone at first - suddenly, there was Cloud right inside the dog lot gate, climbing the fence to come out and greet me.
"No no, honey!" I called - I really didn't want an escort bad enough to have a hugely pregnant climbing and jumping instead of waiting. Human women are alleged to have strange cravings - pregnant girl cats must want to climb as well as dig.
So, she did it anyway, trotted up a ways to escort the last 20 feet, rubbed against my ankles twice, and Hershey came around the corner as I got to the gate. I reached down to give him a stroke - and gave her one, too, her seeming SO glad to see me.
She bolted a little, I opened the gate and went on in, hoping to brush right past my gaffe - she followed, but it must have been too much for Hershey in the wake of this afternoon's short-but-ferocious storm, because I didn't see him again after I turned to open the gate. There was a little awkward nonsense at the porch -just what I need this weekend- but once I sat down at the steps, she was up and supping. There were seconds, and then I bid her a good night.
[shrugs] It was a nice quiet spell of peaceful once we got straightened out, which was good.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 04, 2016, 12:43:16 PM
They were straight up on the porch and dived in on the dry food immediately, backs to me, no nonsense, and I gave Hershey one full stroke -and Cloud a stroke of her tail, to no discernible adverse reaction- before I sat down.
Morning quiet time ensued for a while.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 04, 2016, 03:11:09 PM
So while making coffee, when I saw Hershey on the porch, I took a couple of uncooked hotdogs -that I THINK are s'posed to be catfood- and headed out.
It was sorta funny - they were very interested in the hotdogs, but didn't know how to eat them; there was just licking until I reached over and broke them up four ways, and they never really mastered biting off a bite of the rubbery stuff then. About 3/4 of a dog was eaten and it was winding down when the Rev. Dr. It's-My-Universe commenced noise at the moving trailer, which at least had the virtue of waiting until I was almost done down there anyway. Hershey had been petted a couple minutes and a reasonable amount of quiet spoiling time had been had. They didn't panic, but they were a bit but off being in an exposed position trying to figure out how to bite chunks off rubber meat.
I left the gate open, 'cause Cloud was still inside and her jumping down from climbing in and out makes me nervous, and made it up the hill before someone mentioned releasing the hounds now; Mylochka got back from yet another last-time-to-Texas last night -I haven't heard yet if it's last time for realz- and hadn't seen them since Thursday morning. So I had to go back and close the gate...
Well - good enough session.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 04, 2016, 06:52:47 PM
There was the sound of exited dog pretty much continuously after they were both up on the porch, but while it definitely hurt the quality of the visit, it didn't hurt a lot. When Cloud gave in and approached the lid for the seconds I poured, she was in convenient stroking range and angle, but I was able to resist. However, it turns out I need to avoid finishing a cup of coffee -it's a covered cup, for convenience of carrying around, with a straw- because she really didn't care for the sound of a straw bottoming out, and left about the last 10 seconds worth of cat cereal behind.
I reckon I'll go check on how the hotdogs are holding out in a couple hours - taking something with me to cut them up into wheelies, like the cats are little kids; that outta do it.
...
Oh Lord - as I finish typing, I hear excited dog in the house, which sorta makes ME wanna go jump off the porch and hide...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 04, 2016, 10:20:21 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1227)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 05, 2016, 12:05:49 AM
-Whoo. I crashed hard for two hours - I'm still not entirely re-awakened. There was some nonsense going on upstairs that suddenly left me to my own devices, and I took the window of quiet to pick up a spoon and head to the lot and cut up the hotdogs into little bits -somebody had managed to dispose of another quarter dog since I'd been out after lunch. Hershey appeared out of the woods and took his time coming over, then Cloud from past the car, and they settled in the open gate grooming themselves instead of coming in and inspecting whether I had anything for them.
Then everybody came back from Subway, and I called to Miss Buster that if she wanted, come down and maybe the cats would reteat into the lot. Silly me; she was game, but the cats don't retreat into the dog lot.
It's been and hour and a half - I think I'll nip out and see if anybody came back after I gave up and liked hotdog wheelies better...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 05, 2016, 01:45:23 AM
A bit over an hour later, it was time for the late show. No sign of anyone on the way in, but the wheelies had been cleaned out. Hershey came from beside the car -stopped just outside the open gate again- after a few minutes, I picked up the jar and walked over to him. He didn't retreat, allowed me to bend over and pet, seemed into it. I went back to the porch, this time he followed. He didn't seem interested at all in formula -bloated on wheelies just before?- and wouldn't stay close enough for a top-quality working over, but did stay for a while. Cloud emerged from the back car shed-side corner inside the lot -dunno if she'd climbed in or lay in concealment all along- and showed no interest in coming close. No interest I could detect in my presence at all, really. Hershey sat on that side of the porch in back, supervising her laying there -maybe she had the itis from wheelie-gorging?- and she was still sprawled in the same spot when I wrapped for the night.
Hershey had just moved back to right outside the gate as I was leaving - I managed to get a stroke of his tail, he turned around and let me pet him a little more, a first for outside afterwards. ;nod
My forehead is throbbing, but not about that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 05, 2016, 02:34:57 AM
Cloud came out of the same general area I'd last seen her and took the opportunity to leave by the open gate -it was just getting really dark on 'Murica Day, so explosions started happening in the distance to the west- Hershey came out of the general area of the car shed and started following her as she drifted in the opposite direction of the fireworks explosion, and I was able to sneak(?) up behind while he was almost to the front of the playhouse up at the yard edge of the walkway and give his tail a stroke and he turned and sat and enjoyed a bit more - furthest from the usual contexts yet. :D
I didn't think more good was likely to come of bending over in the dark pestering cats twitchy from the 'sploding, so I bid them goodnight and came in.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 05, 2016, 12:44:34 PM
Yadda etc., turned out it was fried onion rings and a (! snicker) hotdog in the bun topped w/ coleslaw. Hershey was more interested in petting -he may figure the food will still be there when I'm not- but chewed on an onion ring. Seemed a bit restless, not in an afraid/put off way, just moving around a lot. Cloud appeared up the hill late, trotting our way at a good pace, he hopped down, she came in and hopped up without much hesitation, commenced chewing at the bun and the coleslaw -not sure any actual cooked hotdog got exposed before my time was up- and he was back up very shortly, and on the whole, got a lot more petting than usual for first thing.
The dogs woke up before I was done -spent the night in the house again last night- but just barely, so no harm.
I need to plant a suggestion that we have a front door on the south side of the house, though we never use it, that faces away from the cats and back yard, that would be great for going out to pee and such w/ less danger to cats and kittens, and less disruption...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 05, 2016, 02:57:40 PM
So when I was up making coffee again, I gabbed a cup of dry food, more for nutritional purposes than my usual bait intent for non-first thing visits, and headed out. Hershey was in plain site by the car all along, and Cloud was back up on the front corner of the car shed roof.
They took their time coming in -and deaf me could hear the impact 30 feet away when she jumped off the roof, but no preventing that- but chowed down pretty hard, and there was Hershey-petting; it is good that, even if Cloud doesn't like it when I reach close to her to pet him, she's being acclimated to that sort of thing going up close, which should prove several kinds of helpful when she's vented some kittens and they're old enough to handle...
And when Cloud was almost wrapped up for the nonce, she came close, for the second time of the visit, to inspect the coffee jar lid I put formula in - definite cat powers attempt, all but looked me in the eye and said "Disappointed. Nuhnuh- bring it. Nuhnuh."
-Which of course I will in about two hours...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 06, 2016, 02:15:18 AM
Lesse - lunch, I took Cloud her nuhnuh. Just her, or Hershey came in and left again quickly, I already forget. She drank the whole thing. I poured her generous seconds, which is to say I nearly filled the lid, which I don't always on seconds. She resolutely lapped it all up, not real nervous about me. She recoiled only a sensible enough to get her face well out of the way, as before, when I poured enough to cover the bottom for thirds.
-And so on through sixths which she didn't quite finish. I don't know that I've really tried that hard before to sate her thirst for sweat meat-flavored, coffee-creamer-enhanced milk before, but she trusted me/wanted it enough to last that long very near me -well inside my reach- not slowing down to keep an eye one me during, and burned through the lot inside my normal visit time.
I came down a couple hours later to check on how the fishcamp breakfast stuff was holding out -not much erosion, as a matter of fact, and Hershey was there, and there was petting and he was crunching up on the dry food part of the time while I worked him over -I try to concentrate on his back and tail while he does that, 'cause he seems to either like ear/chin/throat work too much to keep enjoying nosh, or finds it interfering in this way, depending. -There was a first with him, too; he was nosing at an onion ring and I held it up a little and he bit a chunk out - the first time one has eaten out of my hand, not counting kittens licking my fingertips.
I went to check again about 4:30, before supper while there was temporarily no one around, and Cloud was sitting upright in the lot, middle of the gate side, rather indifferent to me coming in - which isn't such a bad thing, after all. I sat and waited for her to come over and investigate for treats. No dice. When I headed back for the house and air conditioning, she was still sitting just like I found her, relaxed and I guess, still sated. There had been a quarter-inch rainstorm in between, so wonder she was around.
Instead of waiting through the third restart of my machine in short order about two hour ago while Draz had sabotaged my internet, I went out again to check - no discernible food had vanished, but he let me bend over and pet on the way over - laid on the ground, rolled over, and let me rub his belly just a little [thrill!]. He wanted to go in and do it proper, but I was just killing a few minutes and broke it off when he went inside the gate.
For sunset, it was Cloud's turn again, but no, just Hershey. He mostly crunched up dry food, didn't look at the formula -new batch since Cloud drank an entire cup's worth at lunch- and purred -I couldn't hear but I could feel- while I petted him most of the allotted time. The dog forgot to get excited and upset him towards the end, even though I told her I was going out to touch the cat's butt instead of hers.
I betcha all of the onion rings and most of the hotdog, if not all, are gone at sunrise tomorrow when we begin the waltz again. -I'm getting to those cats...
Whatever bugs think I'm food were in overdrive the last few visits, or they've decided they like the cotton-candy smell of the bug repellant that I generously re-applied before the last session- my ankle still itches, and it's been an hour.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 06, 2016, 04:07:17 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 06, 2016, 12:34:02 PM
I called it with the fish camp food - half the bun and a quarter of a fried onion ring was left this morning. They dug in to the dry food, I gave Hershey a full stroke, and Cloud a quick half her back and all of her tail before I sat down, to no signs of objection.
Whatever's eating me a bit at a time got my left ankle and the top of my right foot.
Cloud broke it off a little early, but seemed more like she felt full than anything, someone having eaten well in the last ten hours. Before I got up to leave, Hershey stalked and pounced on her outside, which was cuter six months ago when he was much smaller than her, but is still pretty cute.
One imagines that the strangeness in their behavior lately can be put down to disruption of normal on the family estate and pregnancy stuff, I guess...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 06, 2016, 03:29:49 PM
They were in a good mood and not feeling hungry or needy and didn't approach. Cloud moved around a little, settled on the path in a damp spot with her hind feet out from under her and her big belly exposed, her tail tip moving contentedly and her eyes relaxed. Hershey had already gone out, was inspecting the edge of the woods aimlessly, stalked and pounced at bugs for something to do.
Contented cats. When I got up to leave, I promised Cloud I'd be back with treat to be named later in 2-3 hours...
Post by: Unorthodox on July 06, 2016, 05:22:29 PM
And got REALLY INTO IT when I did.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 06, 2016, 06:04:38 PM
Lily let TALIA pet her last night.Great! :D -I don't think you'd mentioned her being wary of Talia.
And got REALLY INTO IT when I did.
...
It was just Hershey for lunch, and he ignored the nuhnuh in favor of leftover dry food as is becoming typical. Good petting of the work-his back-and-mostly-that-long-snaky-tail-while-he-eats sort, but he cut it a little short because of the fat dove/pigeon nearby. He was made for killing, so can't take a little attempted murder taking priority over a glut of spoiling personally.
I'd been instructed during lunch, given the surprising vigor and new core growth of the holly tree/bush, to go ahead and get the peripheral bits I'd left previously as the only leaves left. After my Hershey time, I promised to come right back with a cat-petting tool -he'd settled in front of the playhouse- and I kept my promise, though he didn't believe me when I came back -fled- perhaps because I lied about the tool.
-Anyway, now I need to get a new picture of the holly; it's done way better than I'd expected or even hoped - though if it doesn't sprout some lower growth, next year when I cut the spherical shape to order, it's going to look like a cartoon tree with multiple skinny trunks.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 06, 2016, 09:57:10 PM
Unscheduled, empty-handed visit, nobody in sight, he turned up in front of the car shed after I'd been sitting 30 seconds or so, laid on his side on the concrete slab in the open gateway, showing no inclination to get up and come close. After waiting a couple minutes, I quietly got up and braved trying to approach, which he permitted, exposed his belly and let me rub, in fact - he seems to like that, being a big kid despite looking grown, though his hind feet were a little nervous, touching my arm not quite pushing away and certainly not attacking.
I was able to step over him and sit down beside him in the grass -he got to his feet at that; transiting from bending over to a more comfortable posture is always tricky to the point this was the first time I've pulled it off- and as I stroked him, stepped beside and slightly behind me so I could only get at his tail, well. But he tolerated me reaching behind and pulling him around to my other side and a little two-handed working-over. Wasn't quite ready to try lap, but seemed close. Laid on his side and let me rub his belly some more.
"He's my pet cat now," I thought.
Got up and went in and had a few bites of dry food and drank some water - the formula from lunch was still there, and tried a little to chew at the hotdog bun. While he was drinking water I broke up the bun five ways, and dipped four in the nuhnuh, but he didn't notice before he was done. Let me catch up to him and stroke his tail in front of the playhouse, and then I decided I was hot and whatever's eating me in installments had taken two bites.
So I told my cat I'd see him in a few hours, and came in...
Post by: Unorthodox on July 06, 2016, 10:36:34 PM
Lily let TALIA pet her last night.Great! :D -I don't think you'd mentioned her being wary of Talia.
And got REALLY INTO IT when I did.
She's only been fine with Alec, mostly. hEt initially, up until the eye drops and my being laid off.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 12:21:58 AM
Hershey let me pet him a moment outside the gate going in, was out of reach chowing on dry food until he was full -he's never as interested in my attentions when his mom is there- and after Cloud and I had exited, let me pet him where he sat, walked over close to where she had settled, let me walk up and pet him there -she moved away, of course.
Soon he will begin to learn that when he wants a long pet, he's going to have to get less antsy about me sitting down.
-Whatever's eating me a little bit a visit got me on the front of the right ankle almost faster than I could sit on the porch. Those spots stay irritated for about an hour, and I hope the top of my head doesn't fall off...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 12:35:57 AM
I'd been instructed during lunch, given the surprising vigor and new core growth of the holly tree/bush, to go ahead and get the peripheral bits I'd left previously as the only leaves left. After my Hershey time, I promised to come right back with a cat-petting tool -he'd settled in front of the playhouse- and I kept my promise, though he didn't believe me when I came back -fled- perhaps because I lied about the tool.(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1251)
-Anyway, now I need to get a new picture of the holly; it's done way better than I'd expected or even hoped - though if it doesn't sprout some lower growth, next year when I cut the spherical shape to order, it's going to look like a cartoon tree with multiple skinny trunks.
I have to report and document, because Rusty...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 03:55:02 AM
Cloud felt like a visit, so she met me halfway down the hill - Hershey following her lead, as always, and just went crazy with the brushing-against. Hershey was trying to do it, too -of course- so it wasn't as neat as the escorts Momma always got in the mornings, but I deliberately walked slow and let the sides of my feet make a lot of brushing contact, and she was veering into Hershey a lot in the same posture of stretched/bent neck, just in a good mood and as affectionate as she gets.
They stopped at the gate and followed, instead of running ahead, so there was none of that trying to brush against my waist/presenting herself, but she looked at the wheelies -I dumped those out first and was pouring milk when she got up- and chose the nuhnuh. Hershey followed quickly -of course- and dived into the hotdog slices. (At this point of progress, assume there was a little petting with Hershey unless I say otherwise - he's getting almost easy to get close to and handle.)
I touched Cloud on the shoulder blades while she was lapping, and she only recoiled a bit, as I'd already withdrawn my hand when she glared, and resumed drinking as if it wasn't a big, big deal. When she'd finished the formula and turned to get her share of hotdog -Hershey had had enough and walked out front- after a minute, I couldn't resist stroking down her behind and tail once, and tail again quick - there was a slight flinch at contact, but no look, or pause at all in eating.
Most of the hotdog slices were cleaned out when she was satisfied -that kitten bulge is getting close to half her mass, so not hard to imagine why she's so hungry, or why she craves calcium-rich nuhnuh- and she went out to join Hershey, both appearing happy and relaxed.
...
I don't know what ultimate goal is reasonable with domesticating Hershey - we just want him normally affectionate for a cat that likes his people, really, and I doubt he's ever going to be accosting visitors, purring and rubbing against their legs, but if I can get him approaching me when he sees me and feels like it, crawling into my lap, or at least willing to stay when he's pulled in, a lot more open to Momma, who did a lot of the groundwork with him, willing to meet people like Buster, who are interested and want to make friends, halfway --- THAT, my friends, is VK Day in the Hershey Theater of Kat Frend...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 04:01:11 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1229)
I need to do the cat email before I go to bed. Distracting day...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 12:29:40 PM
She dug in -dry food- for several minutes, but apparently spotted promising prey in the woods out back, leaving the lot abruptly like she was going towards something, and the only time I've ever seen her trot towards, not run away, is for food. Saw no more of Cloud after that.
-Momma says we'll know she had her kittens when she doesn't show for breakfast - it's the only time she no-shows.
The petting was going so well with Hershey that I stayed a good five-10 extra minutes.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 02:14:04 PM
hey have long necks and small heads for their sizes - I wonder if there's some Persian or something like in the genome. They are on the shaggy side, too, despite the fur laying pretty flat when they grow up...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 03:59:59 PM
Did some quick pinch-pruning of new growth on the holly that was thrusting up on top, saw Cloud between me and the dog lot. -And there was Hershey sitting on the front corner of the car shed roof. I walked over -the top of that corner is barely above my eye-level- but he didn't want to be touched up there when I reached up, so I went into the lot and sat, Cloud following. She was thirsty, squatted over the water, Hershey taking his time, clearly wanting down but not wanting to jump. It's slightly over a foot higher than jumping down from the top of the fence, which he did every time I saw him during kittens when we first made acquaintance. He ended up opting to jump down onto the corner of the fence, something I'd rate a lot higher difficulty than a soft landing on the ground from there, and much more dangerous. -Dude; I tried to help you down when I saw you up there; don't blame me.
He came over and hopped up, saw nothing new out to eat or drink, jumped down, went outside, rolled around on the ground out front. Cloud had finished drinking water somewhere in there, never went over to the food pan and the dry food left from breakfast, did look at the nuhnuh lid and shoot me the cat powers pretty hard. -That's an interpretation I have to make contextually, as the big green eyes of afraid or hostile are the same. She made it out front in stages, and Hershey tried to play with her, bounding towards and punce/juming over her - then ON, and I heard her give a yowl of HEY! Her tail tip twitches hinted that she wasn't all that put out.
He spotted something off past the woodshed he wanted to run towards and I lost sight. A couple minutes later, she went in the opposite direction down the hill in the woods to the west of the lot, but I never completely lost sight of her before my time is up. -She'd never gone off that way, in my observations, until recently; I suspect she's contemplating/working on digging a birthing den down near the rock wall on the property line.
...
A lot of close watching seems to indicate that their senses other than hearing are not impressive. When I'd throw a bit of food in the grass for the kittens and they'd have trouble finding it, I assumed it was just kittens not being good at something natural to them yet - but Hershey and Cloud are the same way. I figure those eyes are specialized for noticing movement and seeing in the dark, their heads are too small for much sinuses, and they're lurk-and-pounce predators, not tracking ones who'll chase prey far. I know that the dogs I have the most experience with Boston Terriers, don't have good senses of smell for dogs and are prone to eye problems, but will go straight to it with a lot less searching when you throw a treat down. -But dogs are naturally far more social in the wild, needing less situational awareness as occasional prey, being usually in the company of a pugnacious pack, or at least a hunting partner, and do more tracking and less opportunistic pouncing.
Also observed? I went down there with freshly-applied bug repellant on my legs, smelling a lot like sugar and pink dye - they don't seem to find that nearly as bothersome as I'd expect; it's hardly unusual, and I've noticed no consistent difference in their reaction to me.
Whatever's eating me a little at a time didn't this one, thank you. (The main thing I'm seeing on my legs looks like bad reactions to mosquito bites, though washing irritated areas when I go in seems to ameliorate the effects, which sounds like allergic reaction to something besides bites. I've been standing in the bathtub rinsing my calves a lot lately...)
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 07, 2016, 05:41:11 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 07, 2016, 05:46:00 PM
-Dunno; I would think I'd have seen a few crawling around if it was that. More than one thing is making welts on me, but looks more like mosquitoes on my feet and ankles, maybe chiggers on my torso and behind. I've never seen flea bites turn red and swell like this, then mostly go away in about an hour. The welts higher up don't itch and vex nearly as much, but last days and days.
...
The food I grabbed out of the fridge for lunch session turned out not to be bread, as I'd been assuming -they actually will eat bread, though- or a largish chicken breast, as it appeared in the bag, but a roll of chicken baloney, which they ate the heck out of before they turned to the formula. Hershey had his share and hopped down, Cloud finished it off and took care of seconds.
-For all the progress with him, right now the absolute top priority right now is Cloud being content and getting any extra nutriments she needs in her current delicately grown-huge condition. When I went in, I suggested that if others were to work in some visits, leaving treats on the porch and sitting quietly outside to watch, some low-ambition acclimating to their presence would make things easier soon if things with the coming litter work out. -That goes especially for Buster, not present yet today, who'll surely want to be on kittens handling them as bad as me.
I sorta figure a litter of three would be optimal - we agree that with Cloud and Hershey getting more domesticated, the one we keep -hope- doesn't need a partner for company so bad. Haven't discussed this, but Nancy will probably want a sister for Scaredy, and I imagine Buster being ALL OVER talking her attendants into letting her have one, especially if we get a black(ish) kitten. "He looks like Moses" she said a few day ago, looking at Hershey as if he wasn't about three times the size - she is, too, now.
Another Moses wouldn't be a bad thing at all, I assure you; little fellow rocked hard.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 07, 2016, 10:21:16 PM
With a solid picture I'd be able to identify a Utah bug bite...not sure how well that translates back east.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 08, 2016, 12:04:48 AM
...
I'd gone out empty-handed hoping for unscheduled to no avail twice already since lunch -nothing to report, not being around for off-schedule being non-significant, so I reported nothing- but Miss Buster Thang showed for supper, and we decided to go see about spoiling us some cats. (I had a few remarks about how much better things might go with kittens the more used Cloud was to her, not that she takes a lot of talking into to visit pretty cats.) I had her grab the jar, Hershey showed up in front of the car shed, and I sat out front and sent her in to put out formula herself and come back. He was good enough to go in and check after she sat near me, and drank for a minute or two, then came out and, while it was a little too different for him to get comfortable about letting me pet him -much- he did stay close and let her get a good long look, and at not that much of a distance.
We talked a lot about Moses during all this.
It would help if I didn't talk so much the rare occasions I get to talk to her, but some acclimatization took place, I guess, if not with the cat we'd had in mind. He'll be friendlier in about an hour, I bet...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 08, 2016, 02:06:59 AM
Cloud came out of the woods to the left, I angled over and Hershey fell in with us, she was swerving against him and allowing me a fair bit of foot contact, and they dived right on the posh baloney - but she quickly turned and started on the milkshake Hershey left last visit that Princess poured - and kept on when I poured seconds. I stroked her tail twice while her back was turned and she was in the dry food remnants after, but when I accidentally brushed against her reaching past to pet Hershey, she felt it was too much and took off with a little of seconds unconsumed.
It'll be long gone by morning -and not drunk by Hershey, who is literally full of baloney right now- and I probably will have to restrain myself for a day or two, but I think no real harm. I'm managing to keep them fed well enough that they're getting a little blasé about the treats, which is sorta good, as long as they stay home a lot and are used to people...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 08, 2016, 12:30:42 PM
I don't think I touched either.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 08, 2016, 06:15:57 PM
I'm currently late for lunch visit, as I just got home and ain't eat yet. Gotta run.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 09, 2016, 12:56:15 AM
It's almost time for the sunset session, but that's looking like going to be canceled for rain, a storm trying to happen right now...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 09, 2016, 02:26:48 AM
Correction to previous report; they both showed for lunch. Cloud was laying in front of the playhouse for the whole time the five o'clock visit, but didn't come over - whether that was the considerable heat of what, can't say. Looked like nobody had been in to drink the formula left behind at 5 when I went out for sunset, but I added a small scoop of new treats and topped it off a little.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 09, 2016, 03:58:52 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 09, 2016, 12:20:12 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 09, 2016, 02:09:37 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 09, 2016, 05:48:40 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 09, 2016, 09:21:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 10, 2016, 02:12:06 AM
Everyone was inside eating around seven when there was a Hershey sighting, so Buster and I took a bowl of sausage -it smelled really sausagey when I cooked it in the microwave, so not mild, I think- and some formula and went to visit. Hershey got on the porch close to her, which made her happy, but bolted despite the bowlful of sausage meat, I poured some formula in case Cloud showed up and went out with her to watch.
Cloud was sitting in the woods next to the fence, it turns out, but never made a move to go in. Hershey guzzled the nuhnuh, also seconds I went in and poured when we were about to give up, and I didn't get to sit with, let alone pet, anyone. -I'm guessing cats -or at least, Hershey- like heavy sausage spices even less than I do. He couldn't have been a lot less interested in letting me approach, given all today's givens...
Lovely day otherwise, but I ain't had so little cat-time in quite a while... :(
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 10, 2016, 01:24:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 10, 2016, 06:06:18 PM
He was more interested in cold nuhnuh than petting this time -today so far, he seems still skittish about yesterday's disruptions and short attention rations- and Cloud showed up only a minute or two late, and they took out all the way though forths, emptying the jar.
They spent several minutes, after I went back in the house and had eaten my own lunch and made them more meat milkshake and fridged it to cool, laying still in the shade of the pecan tree - in fact, I'd have grabbed something and headed back out if they'd lasted there about a minute longer.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 11, 2016, 01:02:16 AM
My boy let me catch and pet him some more outside on my way out, I actually managed to get off my feet close to him for part of it for the second time. -I actually had to restrain him just a teeny bit, and then he was okay once I was planted. More of that rolling and permitting belly-touching, albeit a little nervously as always, and he grasped at my hand with his forepaws the way the kittens would before they chewed my finger, though he didn't do that.
Earlier today, I didn't mention, but right before I left I got away with scotching my bottom over closer, leaning sidelong while I petted, and giving him a lose one-arm hug. -Friday, he was only slightly alarmed when I was petting him standing in front of the porch and managed to lean in and sneak a quick kiss on the head behind his left ear. :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 11, 2016, 02:23:55 AM
I was sitting and talking to Mom, killing a few minutes before I went out catting, when up drives my uncle - the one with the dog. ;wince
Ten minutes later, they were all inside -took their damn time, even though I tried to tell them to come in and stop making a commotion outside at sunset, and then I poured a little of the latest batch of nuhnuh in a bowl of dry food, gave it a stir and I was off. Hershey came up the hill as far as he ever does when it's just him, brushed my ankles, etc. Loved the cereal, there was good petting, and a minute before my time was up Cloud was sitting just at the west edge of the yard grooming. Wasn't in a hurry.
...My car gave out this afternoon on a quick errand, and my nerves are shot. I'd have hung on if she'd come straight in, but forget that. The conflict I always have lately about closing the gate when I leave -I hate making her climb the fence in her condition, but half the point of feeding them in the dog lot was always a first line of defense against the dogs, and I just can't leave it open all night, for sure- ended in the gate closed as I left, wishing them a good night.
Then I needed to grab a bit of saran wrap and fix the gas can to not evaporate its contents, which meant that Cloud saw me back outside and thought it was her turn or something. She came a little ways up the hill, stupid rotten cat, so I had to go grab my orange juice and go make a second visit just for her to let her into the lot. She came further up and there was ankle-brushing escort right up to the porch, when she dived into the cereal and was still eating when I'd smoked a whole cigarette sitting on the steps, still crouched over the bowl after I spent a few minutes petting Hershey at and outside the gate - probably done by now, but I bet she didn't stop while any of a normal day's worth of (nuhnuh-soaked, not dry) food was left. The rotten, make-me-make-a-special-trip-just-because-she-wouldn't-bother-to-come-on-while-I-was-there-the-first-time girl was hungry.
Sigh. Maybe it's the hormones; she's certainly getting more tolerant and less prone to spook when, for instance, I cough, fidget, or swat at bugs, (which is part of the hoped-for program, of course). I'd gone all day un-bitten, BTW, but something got me a couple times on her extra visit...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 11, 2016, 04:14:54 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 11, 2016, 11:53:51 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 11, 2016, 05:41:38 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1235)
This is an excellent Kat Frend picture.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 11, 2016, 06:03:15 PM
...
I did a 9:30 visit w/ nuhnuh, both showed and shared the first lid, Cloud seemed satisfied with seconds to herself, there was Hershey petting.
...
Just came in from lunch visit, a bowl of cold spaghetti that I suspect was excellent fresh, and my cousin LouLou consistently does not spare the hamburger, like a certain corner-cutting mother I could name is prone to. Hershey loved it, Cloud came in late and left early w/o inspecting the bowl - I left the gate open, and she's still laying in front of the playhouse a few minutes ago; I image she'll be going medieval on it in the next hour, if she goes and checks at all.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 11, 2016, 09:16:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 12, 2016, 12:18:11 AM
They appeared from somewhere as I approached the lot, and there was some minor nonsense about jumping up when my brother drove up and that delayed things a couple extra minutes, but when Cloud finally put her nose into the spaghetti bowl six hours later, she did do some serious damage, finally. Petted my dark friend Hershey a bit, Petey is here, another strange day so far, and here I am for now.
I'm a touch sleepy.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 12, 2016, 01:53:46 AM
...
-I left out earlier that during lunch session before Cloud had showed up, I had just sat down and he came out from under the porch next to my feet and was allowing me to bend down and stroke his back --- and on abrupt impulse in one smooth motion, I slipped my hand under him, scooped him up all the way to my armpit, kissed him on the head and set him down beside me on the porch. Naturally he was instantly over the far side of the porch out of sight like I'd tried to kill him to death --- but 30 seconds later, he was back up on the porch eating and allowing me to reach and pet like nothing unsettling had happened. :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 12, 2016, 12:05:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 12, 2016, 12:15:09 PM
Hershey was already in the dog lot when I looked out the window, Cloud appeared when I was most of the way there but escorted me the rest of the way w/ ankles, etc. She jumped right up and stood close, so I gave her a few strokes as I poured out the food, to no sign of objection.
Stroked Hershey a little, but mostly stared off at nothing to the South, sipping coffee, and didn't see her run off towards something until she was halfway to the gate. Hershey kept eating.
She may have been on her way back as my time up, I exited wishing Hershey a good day - she was sitting facing towards me w/ the big eyes when I spotted her between the car and back sheds.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 12, 2016, 04:03:51 PM
I'm pretty sure it's happening outside in daylight, not something like that. -Also, not thrilled with the idea of taking pictures of my fat gut w/ welts and posting, and my bottom is out of the question, shame on you. :P Ladies browse here, you terrible person just trying to help.
Fleas bites can welt up.
Sounding more like an allergic reaction, most likely to mites (including but not limited to Chiggers).
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 12, 2016, 04:16:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 12, 2016, 08:06:56 PM
Just he showed for lunch, which was a little late because of supervising the Teenager on a dog-washing and a coat of paint on my bike -I'd invited her along and couldn't tell whether she didn't hear or didn't want to, but I stopped delaying after five minutes- he showed no interest in the formula, but stepped right up for some strokey friendship. The air got restless -it seemed to be raining on the northeast and south horizons when I left- and he got a little nervous -the (drying) dogs got excited in Mylochka's backyard, too- and I made the mistake of trying to restrain him when he was chickening out to leave.
I didn't get, like, all clawed and it wasn't as much panic as I would think it really ought to be, but he was upset and ran when I let him go, and he's put out with me.
I went in thinking I'd have to take it easy for the rest of the day, but probably not a great big lasting deal like I get with Cloud for ANYthing at all - and down the hill came Miss Pretty Young Thang, not knowing I'd already come and gone. I scooped her up a bowl of cat spaghetti and sent her in on her own -I waited further back than before and tried to not talk much- Hershey was still by the car, and she sat the porch and pulled out her IPad to look at while she waited quietly for ten minutes, and he didn't go in, and declined to follow me in when I tried that - but he was rubbing against the gate w/ humped back and meowing and seemed tempted, notwithstanding freshly-shot nerves. -If she doesn't move away before the end of August -m'brother has a good job prospect right here in America, but the preacher committee isn't going to decide quick, and he can wait a little- I expect she'll be able to ingratiate herself well with Hershey in that time. ;nod
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 02:25:28 AM
So later, I was already AFK and outside at 7:40, which is pretty early for last visit, but there was a Hershey sighting and the soreness in my legs vexing me today was already limbered out, so jar-grab and off I go.
He ran up to greet a little ways, but his escort was too quick for deliberate foot-brushing, but he let me bend over and pet just inside the gate, came over to the porch with me and jumped right up and attacked the fresh formula -what my Perfect Niece had left a couple hours earlier was long-gone- and permitted me to pet for a few minutes.
Suddenly, he started acting like my hand smelled bad, and left, and I don't think I'd done anything - but a few minutes later, he did let me catch up and do some more bent-over petting out in front of the lot. It looks like we'll be square tomorrow, if I don't do anything flamboyant and stupidly alarming...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 04:23:28 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 01:08:50 PM
Bleh. She's probably in a hole she dug in a low brushpile nearby with a stack of kittens. I only slept 'til 7.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 13, 2016, 05:16:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 05:23:21 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 06:21:16 PM
They didn't stay long, and the cats weren't acting exactly like they loved me passionately without let or hindrance already today, but lunch visit was a complete washout/no-shows, which I don't get often anymore. I left the last of the current batch of nuhnuh at the end of the standard wait, and came in and made more. I guess I ought to check the lot again in an hour or two...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 07:15:22 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1237)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 13, 2016, 09:28:12 PM
...And we just sat quietly while she ate, and I felt a lot of affection for the silly wild beast, regretting that it would probably go wrong if I reached over and touched her - frustrated a tiny bit that there's only one way to find out and I want to use that sparingly in the preparation to kittens and wanting her happy and relaxed right where we were...
Judging from watching Hershey laying at the edge of the woods around 9:30 this morning, I doubt he's actually ailing, but he was atypically still for quite a while until his shade moved on him and he walked over out of sight towards the back shed. I wonder if he ate something that didn't agree with him or didn't get any sleep last night, or what. Usually, he gets up when Cloud comes around, which is when we first saw her today, and goes over and often pounces or somehow tries to play. Paid her no attention. He's not acting/moving what looks like he's sick, just not chasing butterflies or begging for attention and acting like a big kid...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 14, 2016, 12:21:06 AM
I took some new treats for Cloud, figuring if Hershey showed, he'd like dry food and/or hotdog chunks if he even cared about food as much as affection - and he showed after I sat down, meowed several times and came in, but stayed on the ground at the corner of the porch meowing at me and wouldn't jump up. Weird - he let me put my feet down and pet him bent over before he left, and then let me pet him outside the gate - and allowed me to sit for only the third time. He's acting like something's wrong, but no sign of injury and I just can't figure it unless something made him feel puny today or he's expressing angst about yesterday in a way I find very odd.
-BTW, someone had eaten one of the five hotdog chunks since I left them earlier...
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 14, 2016, 02:34:39 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 14, 2016, 03:01:23 AM
...
Awesome sunset session.
I let it wait later than usual to give 'em that much time to miss me after the last, lit out about 20 past 8 with the jar in my hand, and Cloud trotted up the hill and gave an enthusiastic escort with the swerving against my feet and ankles, also against her son when he shortly fell in. I managed to reach down and give her tail a stroke...
....
...And she was still there to let me try again when I did. And stopped inside the gate and let me stroke her back and tail a couple times, just stood there like it was cool, if not humping her back or circling my legs. And let me get away with a couple strokes on the porch when I was sitting and she was eating. -There was a little jerk on the third, and I took that as my cue of enough-stop. Hershey had hopped up and was in the dry food, too, and I reached past her and petted him. She was in the dry food for several minutes before she turned and got into the formula I poured over the treats still there from earlier - she stayed through seconds, but uncharacteristically didn't eat the treats. Hershey came around and lapped a little of the first pour while she did, but mostly sat quietly on the edge of the porch, within reach, but not seeming enthusiastic.
Cloud looked up at my hand when I was handling Hershey a few times, but at minimum, that seems to be checking that I'm reaching for him and not her, and accepting that I'm not going to switch over to killing her to death. -Possibly and/or a little jealous. She's gotten far less militant about keeping an (enormous green) eye on me...
-If hairballs hurt while they're not ready to be coughed up yet, and would tend to give a fellow a rotten day, that sounds about right - he doesn't seem especially afraid, but he seems unhappy and wants something from me, but hasn't gotten it... A great sign, though, if he thinks begging me is a thing to do when he feels terrible...
Cloud, on the other hand, I feel like I've had a semi-major breakthrough with. I think at least when she's in an escort and ankles mood, I can go for the tail and so on to the extent I can manage while carrying a couple things and walking -because if she's still in range after the first time any session, it's definitely okay- the on the ground inside the fence will similarly take care of itself... :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 14, 2016, 02:09:18 PM
She took the water, Cloud didn't seem comfortable enough with the two of us, but came in after she left and ate as normal as I sat and tried to wake up. All the leftovers had been cleaned out pretty thoroughly overnight, but she seemed pretty hungry. I reached over for a stroke shortly after she started, and she wasn't game, but didn't jump off the porch or do a huge amount of green eye at me the rest of the time.
She did sit up and watch me when my time was up and I left, but didn't retreat, let alone leave the porch, which is definite progress. When I was back in the house reporting on this to Momma, I saw out the window that Hershey had emerged from the woods soon after I left and went in and jumped up. A minute or two later, I saw him outside and drifting back towards the woods. -So he was probably concealed the whole time not feeling like company, and not hungry, though he probably did more than his share of eating in the dark, maybe since dawn, though Momma hadn't seen him.
I might go out in about an hour with some of the rice that's been waiting too long for a turn to be eaten, maybe a little formula poured over it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 14, 2016, 06:58:01 PM
Just got in a little while ago from a no-show lunch visit. [shrugs]
I didn't go straight back inside after the 10 o'clock visit, as it turned out the racket was li'l bro doing some tree-trimming in the front yard, and Momma was supervising, and I talked to her about trying to prop up part of the roof of the back shed -we're thinking we'll wait for not-murderously-hot season before we tackle really doing something about it, but there's a post rotted out on the intact side that needed propping- and we went and tried something that didn't much work w/o a bunch of moving the scrap wood in there out of the way, which we're not interested in doing now, but I saw Hershey and was allowed to catch up and do a minute's petting before he went back into the woods...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 14, 2016, 08:37:03 PM
-Now I'm out of new pics...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 15, 2016, 04:22:22 AM
He was doing that sitting and looking up but not leaping onto the porch but letting me lean all the way over and touch him thing, and I just lifted him onto the porch - and there's something that hasn't made sense since he started letting me handle him - why does a cat who still seems to have to decide to let me touch him half the time not get more upset about being picked up if he's put back down quick? He was fine the second he was down this time, after that business the other day.
Nobody seemed to have been in and gotten into the milky rice I'd brought out earlier, and he was more interested in dry food than that, even though I'd added some new with the platter grease from the BBQed ribs we had for supper. There was petting and eating, and he was down a little early, but let me catch him outside a bit, yada.
I went into the house, and a few minutes later, he'd come up the hill, and y'know? worried about him and that ear and whatever else is bothering him, and went back out, and he was friendly and acting like he was looking for something on the carport but afraid to actually get close, but wanted me there with him - and worked back down the hill, frequently pausing to get back between my feet and -- let me sit next to him in the grass for the forth and fifth time during this, but didn't stay close long. It's like he wants something, but maybe not sure what, maybe feeling like crap, maybe that and "Momma's holed up making funny noises and won't let me close and come help, please", the silly big kid... [shrugs]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 15, 2016, 01:45:18 PM
Bad thing about sleeping 'til eight is, the sun currently positions so it shines in my eyes if I lean forward, which is who wants to sit at attention while they're waking up?
Again: Hershey was showing no signs of distress this morning...
Post by: E_T on July 15, 2016, 02:35:04 PM
Could it be fleas ?
That was also my guess, likely have larval that had just have become young adults (and are very hungry). https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.orkin.com/other/fleas/flea-bites/&ved=0ahUKEwjRjsPyxvXNAhWJQiYKHeRHBfAQFgggMAE&usg=AFQjCNFdmF_jcP0DZerh3ivUNhztu7kjTQ&sig2=EL-XUrQzkh1JW91NCWm7mA (https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.orkin.com/other/fleas/flea-bites/&ved=0ahUKEwjRjsPyxvXNAhWJQiYKHeRHBfAQFgggMAE&usg=AFQjCNFdmF_jcP0DZerh3ivUNhztu7kjTQ&sig2=EL-XUrQzkh1JW91NCWm7mA)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 15, 2016, 03:18:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 15, 2016, 06:52:07 PM
;b;
He a momma's boy, he is.
-I regretted while I was sitting there that I didn't have the camera at hand - even cloud cover for perfect outdoor photography lighting on the day I've run out of pics - I need to make a photo op well before sunset.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 15, 2016, 10:11:56 PM
Both showed, neither seemed interested in being handled, and they went straight into the dry food that had been there all along and ate for ten minutes. Hershey did turn and spend a few on the rice, mostly getting bits of old vegetables that were added yesterday along with the ribs drippin's, and there's just not a lot to say about it, except they were fine with me being there, and didn't seem to worry, and did like the food they could have eaten anytime while I wasn't there all day - there's a compliment in that, I figure.
I didn't think about the camera until I was sitting down there and too late.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 16, 2016, 01:48:00 PM
...
This morning, there was peppersteak marinade left over from supper yesterday -I though it slightly ruined good steaks, as every bite tasted moderately like it had been pre-dragged through middlin' steak sauce whether you wanted it or not, and masked the actual flavor of good meat- and I didn't particularly think the cats'd like it, but it was sitting out on the stove top and I felt a little pressured, so poured the dry food into it. Hershey ate more than Cloud, but didn't eat a lot.
All the dry food and rice was cleaned out when I got there this morning, and it was a lot of greasy rice, and naturally that had a non-trivial impact on appetites, too, I sure.
Even cloud cover in the sky this morning, and I definitely need to take the camera out before lunch while that mellow lighting lasts, good Lord willing...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 16, 2016, 07:48:08 PM
---
Lunch was on schedule two hours later, and I took them a big serving of restaurant French fries - just Hershey, and he liked 'em. Good petting session, as it tends when he's not distracted being a momma's boy.
I'm late reporting this time because I was immediately drafted into grocery chauffeuring and made to bathe first. We are now restocked, though very little of that will make it into any cats.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 16, 2016, 11:18:10 PM
The fries seem to appeal just fine, but it looks to be a bit of the hotdog problem - they don't seem to like when food is bigger than in one-bite chunks, which makes me wonder just how badly I've spoiled them, as not even the local mice are that small, let alone the birds and squirrels they seem to catch here and there. [shrugs]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 16, 2016, 11:45:12 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 17, 2016, 02:11:00 AM
With Maw encouraging me to hurry up and burn through the Nancy food, I hadn't nuhnuhed the cats since early yesterday. When I came off the end of the carport with the jar in my hand, Cloud arose from the same spot in the west of the dog lot where I'd last seen her while leaving the photo visit two hours ago, trotted out and didn't make it far out of the lot to escort me, but escort she did, ankle action and all, and took a reach-down-and-tail-stroke in stride, and actually stopped right inside the gate where Hershey does -he was in tow this whole time- and accepted a few strokes of the back and tail. Her huge baby belly is hard to the touch, though I didn't get a good feel.
She seemed to be presenting herself for a little more petting on the edge of the porch when we got there, so I did indulge her...
They inhaled the first serving of nuhnuh -Hershey stayed right in there with her, contrary to his habits of late- and seconds, and the thirds didn't amount to much as that emptied the jar.
Being over-generous with the bait obviously doesn't make for maximum appreciation.
I made more for tomorrow before I came down to my office to report here...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 17, 2016, 04:17:15 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1258)
:luv:
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 17, 2016, 04:24:41 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 17, 2016, 01:27:48 PM
I miss the morning carport siege - there was a spell last year before the dogcatcher when it was a good six cats and getting scary, and Momma says she's fine with no escort on the steep part of the hill, but when Cloud's glad to see me -as she was last night and this morning- the ankle-rubbing is pretty adorable.
When she jumped up on the porch ahead of me, her body language when I ran my hand over her a few times seemed like "I don't like this, but it's no big deal". That's a sort of real progress, the no big deal part. -Also great is that I handled Hershey about as much as I ever feel like first thing, and it's become so standard in a short time it's not worthy of mention...
Post by: E_T on July 17, 2016, 03:13:46 PM
So the cats get ketchup with their fries.
Didn't you know that ketchup is one of the essential food groups... :cute:
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 17, 2016, 05:52:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 17, 2016, 06:06:40 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1263)
I bet that's the prettiest photo that ever gets taken of her.
...
Had a good lunch session w/ nuhnuh and petting, details later if I remember - we're going over to Nancy's for more old food in a minute, and I anticipate kitten-petting and photos...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 17, 2016, 08:30:21 PM
Scaredy is just straight-up a pet. She wasn't going up to anyone demanding attention while we were there -mostly in the yard making her own fun, or chilling in the shade behind the bushes. When I petted her, she was into it, showing her belly some and acting playful, other times doing that head duck thing they do when their ears and even under the chin needs more attention. God's mercy permitting, I even got a few shots of her still curious about the camera and coming close to look.
She's got a deeper, louder purr than Hershey, and steadier - this was already true when we gave her away. I expected her to have roughly doubled in size since I saw here, and I think she has. She's a lot taller-longer now. It appears she's going to retain the fluffy tail she sure didn't get from her mother...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 18, 2016, 02:11:03 AM
Outside the lot afterwards, Cloud wasn't moving away fast, and I couldn't resist stroking her tail - she'd speed up but not much, and I followed her like I've been doing Hershey all the time for a while and tail-stroked her a couple more times before I broke it off and bid them a good night. I don't think she's actually mad, as, if she'd really been that put out, I doubt that I can run faster than she can still waddle, and I didn't even have to break into a run, not that I'd push it nearly that much. We'll see how she acts tomorrow...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 18, 2016, 01:29:17 PM
All the spaghetti and the rest of the steaksauced food was gone when we got into the lot, Cloud never came into touching range after Momma left, but they dived in and had stopped eating but hadn't even left the porch when I headed out. Cloud was intently watching my hand towards the end as it glided over Hershey inches away, like a tennis match, before I left. She seemed to be giving me a couple quick blasts of the cat powers, too, looking at the dry lid and then me, wishing I'd brought some nuhnuh to wash down breakfast with...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 18, 2016, 06:25:31 PM
It's nice that no-show visits have become rare - as I've mentioned any number of times, one goal of the project is to encourage them to stay home, which they mostly seem to, anymore. I commented at the beginning of the year that Cloud eats here but Hershey lives here - I don't believe she's missing anymore nearly often enough to be doing regular rounds of the neighborhood, which of course is kitten-positive.
...
I got another mosquito this time, on my ankle. They're just really bad this year, vexing anyone who stands or sits still in the grass of the yard for very long, not just me. They're only now getting big and slow enough to see clearly and sometimes swat, but they've probably been the main problem I've been having all along - though why washing the irritated spots helps ameliorate is still a mystery to me.
...
Mylochka and the dogs are still in the house - I've never been briefed, but I gather she figured out the problem with the dogs coming and going from the playhouse on her own, 'cause I doubt Momma said anything. Painting still happens some days while I'm not looking, but I think that's just being thorough...
Post by: Unorthodox on July 18, 2016, 08:17:20 PM
I got another mosquito this time, on my ankle. They're just really bad this year, vexing anyone who stands or sits still in the grass of the yard for very long, not just me. They're only now getting big and slow enough to see clearly and sometimes swat
That's not how mosquitoes work. They don't grow as adults. You might be seeing a larger species now, but they haven't gotten bigger.
Quote
, but they've probably been the main problem I've been having all along - though why washing the irritated spots helps ameliorate is still a mystery to me.
It occurs to me in your particular situation planting some catmint and bee balm near the cat's house would provide dual benefits of attracting the cats and repelling the mosquitoes. Both are fairly bullet proof, low maintenance, drought tolerant, but I don't know if regionally available/viable.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 18, 2016, 08:31:16 PM
Scaredy not a bit scared.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1290)
She didn't climb into my lap, but didn't object strongly when I scooped her up from the bushes around front and sat on a chair in the shade on Nancy's carport, staying there and clearly enjoying attention for 5-10 minutes before she decided to get down.
The camera doesn't like that focal distance, and only two shots of seven in my lap came out in focus, which I'm not deluded to think includes this one - but still maybe the best shot of her there...
Post by: Unorthodox on July 18, 2016, 10:18:26 PM
[shrugs] Momma swears it was nits biting her a few days ago, and I was seeing pinpoint bugs hovering, and now am seeing mosquitos large enough to identify and no nits.
And we hit a language barrier. Nits being louse eggs, and pinpoint bugs being flightless...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 18, 2016, 11:19:41 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 12:00:43 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 12:59:25 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 19, 2016, 01:23:14 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 19, 2016, 02:23:07 AM
Bug so small you see nothing but a dark point floating around are "nits" in the local parlance; pinpoint bugs is my own coinage as I was writing that sentence.
Guessing some sort of sandfly if they're biting. Locally known as no-see-ums.
Guess black flies would be possible as well, though bigger.
Aphid orgies often hover, though don't bite.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 02:30:26 AM
I microwaved the last hotdog good and cut it up into short chunks, Hershey was waiting, there was still the third course of formula in the lid left from lunch -w/ four dead yellowjackets drowned in it, good riddance, and live ones still around- and Cloud came in a few minutes late and got a few strokes along her bottom third, not reacting for a few and glaring at me for the last, so I quit. -They seemed interested in the hotdog, but again didn't actually eat - I dunno if those taste funny to cats -I'm not a huge fan of hotdogs myself- or they were still too hot, but Cloud turned away and got into the formula, ignoring yellowjackets dead and alive a lot more than I would.
Nothing real special yet - after she finished off the formula, she hopped to the ground in the usual no-hurry way - and after a minute of the usual grooming, turned and started meowing at me. I doubt it was the yellowjackets. Hershey joined her, threw a foreleg over her neck and --- I think it was comfort grooming, but he doesn't know how to do that w/o throwing in some wrestling moves. It was passing strange. She'd meow again every little bit, sometimes looking at me, and there was also a low trilling noise, sort of a sub-meow, when she wasn't looking at me.
You know, I was wondering if one jump too many had triggered labor, but I never heard of a cat not holing up and being get-the-hell-away for that, and she was letting Hershey lick-nibble like she craved the reassurance, and does not compute.
They made their way over to the gate with many pauses -Hershey rolled over on his back at one point, and she dipped her head to let him nibble at her ears- and I got up and followed.
Then she let me walk up and -this is completely unprecedented- let me bend over and stroke her tail, then her back and tail, standing still for it for about a minute, away from food and everything. :luv:
There was still some looking at me and meowing, meowing and trilling not looking at me and putting up with Hershey's yardape love moves, and I think she wanted me to follow --- how can you tell the difference between that and moving away from/avoiding you without urgency? She wouldn't let me quite reach her again after she moved away from the gate corner of the lot.
I followed her behind the back shed, and there I saw my best guess of what the problem making her want something from me - I didn't get a great look, but it seemed to be Bob walking away on a tree trunk about 75 feet way. I'm figuring she saw/smelled/heard Bob lurking nearby and it's appeared that they both fear and have no use for the presence of Bob since she's not in season, and she wanted me to run him off - now Bob don't stay run off, so I sat on something in the car shed near them -she was sticking right up against Hershey, who's half again taller at the shoulder now, though I doubt he weighs more, but her kitten weight's surely no help in a fight- for a while, but saw no sign of Bob returning.
Aside from the Bob incursion -there was also recurring loud dog uproar off in that direction, not our dogs, but the cats would have nipped up under the car instead of weird appeals for my protection if that was what was worrying them- this is all fantastic good news, the standing still for petting away from the usual porch context where she's mostly just tolerated on the best days, and looking to me for safety - Lord knows I've told them I'd defend them -really, I have, repeatedly- but they never seem to listen to me about anything, though I did run off that wawa dog about a month ago in front of them...
Can anyone catwise tell me better what just happened from that description?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 01:07:35 PM
He was inside the lot coming from in front of the porch when I first spotted him, as is typical lately - no way to tell if that's because he slept in there. Momma always thought he mostly slept up under the car.
Now to go find the dates for when I posted about the gentlecat callers hanging around and do a little counting...
Post by: Unorthodox on July 19, 2016, 01:33:23 PM
Quote
Can anyone catwise tell me better what just happened from that description?
Not without knowing the cat itself.
Indy will guide me to problems. "What is it? Timmy down the well?"
Could be anything from him having thrown up to wanting the door open, being out of food, wanting a cat box changed, or the more annoying "it's insert time here and why isn't insert family member here home yet?" He KNOWS the schedule and gets a little neurotic when it isn't followed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 01:35:22 PM
The callers were on 17 May, Bob still around the next day - so this is 63 days along, right in the middle of the gestation numbers I was told...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 03:27:22 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1259)
-which he's less prone to do than Cloud, but more prone when she's doing it- it's so flexible it looks like it's floating, which shows a lot in the upcoming pics, even on the porch. You just have to stroke if he'll let you...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 08:35:19 PM
There are kittens born. I counted five, if I saw them all. One seemingly all-white, two appear to be solid black, three too soon to tell w/o a better look - all but the white one look dark, but they all appear wet as if Mylochka spotted them fresh out of the oven, hard as that would be to believe. No idea what Cloud is doing with them out in the open by the playhouse, but at least four are moving and seem fine.
Photos pending.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2016, 10:27:29 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1292)
Why in the open next to a mild crescent hump of leaves against a little sparse brush is a mystery.
Next, the same shot cropped and at 100%, with Cloud being astonishingly welcoming, considering I was 15-20 feet away and she didn't leave, and hadn't moved them away a half hour ago when I checked again.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1293)
You can make out the white one under her foreleg, of course, and a lot of the grey one behind. Not much to see of the black-backed, grey-striped belly one, or the two who appear solid black thus far.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1294)
Better view of everyone. After Cloud hissed at me, she got on her side anyway.
My machine is being frustratingly balky, is why this is taking so long. I snapped six more shots closer up when I was back out, and haven't gotten a look at but one out-of-focus shot yet. More coming...
Post by: Bearu on July 20, 2016, 02:59:35 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 03:05:36 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 04:01:24 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1295)
So long story short, we picked out the most enticing-looking thing of the Nancy food in the fridge -which was something Chinese with beef chunks in sauce on noodles and rice- and agreed that Cloud distrusted me least, so I should be the goat. I'll be John Browned if she didn't let me walk up and slide a little bowl under her face where she didn't have to move and then dived right in, ravenous, without moving. All but the white one were in a clump a foot and a half away from Cloud, and I loaded my shirt tail and walked those four over to the dog lot. Buster showed up while I was putting them in the little dog house, so I let her hold one of the black ones -they all seem to have weird grey patterns on their undersides- because I was already handling them against my doubts that it was a good idea, so no harm for a minute.
Went back over, and Cloud bolted this time, saving me from having to pry whitey out from under her, turned to carry - ah. Buster wanted to, no harm in it, I picked up the tuna tin of nuhnuh I'd put out by the corner of the playhouse when I was first out getting pictures and took it over to the front corner outside the dog lot. Cloud actually showed up in short order and cleaned that out, leaving a number of drowned yellowjackets, but didn't come in to be sure of the babies. [shrugs] I left her some more in the lid on the porch before I came in.
No sign of her when I came out to check up an hour later, though Hershey turned up and yo, I usually pet him when I see him, he my cat.
An hour later was sunset, and it went pretty much as usual, Hershey around right away, Cloud turned up a few minutes later, thirsty for water. She did finally go back and stick her head in the little doghouse and licked someone a bit, I didn't actually see her eat anything until she came over and finished off the scantish amount Hershey hadn't. She jumped down and groomed for a couple minutes, jumped back up and drank more water, and ended up back at the door of the little doghouse, but giving me the eyes. I got up and left, hoping she'd settle in and be happy, petted Hershey outside and went in.
Somewhere in there, I'd touched her shoulders, to little reaction.
-Saw out the window that she left the lot a few minutes later, and I'll be a bit surprised if the babies are where we left them in the morning. I guess I'd go check if I had a flashlight at hand, but worried I let myself be talked into pulling the rice already, and not about to go do it by feel. Reckon I'd best just go to bed, and I'll know all the same soon enough.
Buster and Mylochka were about to bust all afternoon and into the evening. Kittehz! :luv:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1296)
The little tyke between the sib-clump and mother was all guts and wanted to find Cloud bad, if only it could have. Persistent crawling around trying. Looks like the white one is a real go-getter again this time.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 12:58:34 PM
They were waiting halfway up the hill this morning, but alas, didn't escort with Momma along - Hershey was being distant and never actually made it up on the porch. I didn't do a careful examination, but the little doghouse seemed to be empty. Cloud did the usual, clearly not mooching around for petting, long nosh on the dry food -everything had been cleared out overnight, of course- and a sip of water before she jumped down and groomed herself for a while, leaving the lot ahead of me when I rose to exit.
Somewhere during that, Hershey, who had lingered out front, needed to dash wide open and climb a little tree at the edge of the yard, then ran deeper into the woods and climbed another. It probably made sense if only I could watch with cat senses.
I expected the kittens gone -what I hadn't expected was to see them the day they were born and touch them- and I'm only mildly disappointed and bummed. Good chance Mylochka and Buster will tramp around the estate looking and turn up where they've been stowed, anyway. I see that as a fool's errand after we pulled the rice first thing, but I surely WOULD like to know...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 03:32:49 PM
Momma and I sat in the shade on the end of the carport and supervised for a while. Hershey made an appearance.
Momma thinks she's moving like she's sore -real mystery why ;sarc the day after huge kittens- and Momma made some loose talk about maybe leaving her -and the kittens probably in or near the woodshed, more to the point- alone for a few days, which I agree with, and half-hope Mylochka finds persuasive, half don't.
We watched out the window for a while after we went in, but Cloud eventually disappeared into the woods off to the west.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 06:17:54 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 20, 2016, 06:49:04 PM
The children have seen some definite "fluffy kittens" back in and around the shed. I've yet to witness them, but it jives with the cat standing it's ground back there and feral cat being more territorial. Guess I made her move.
But, keep me up a week straight and pester my pets, and that's what you get.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 20, 2016, 06:51:34 PM
At one point our farm was catless when I was about thirteen. I don't recall the particulars that time, road kill or disease. So my grandfather had a stray cat on his horse farm which my younger cousins named "Friendly". She was a good hunter and liked to rub people's legs. She followed my grandfather around while he did his chores.
My grandmother wasn't much of an animal lover and didn't appreciate the cat digging in her flower beds. Some compromise was worked out by which Friendly was delivered to our farm ( an hour away) "just for the summer".
Well, at one point our young sheppard had a spat with the cat. Cornered her between the house, chimney, and pump house. The pup was pretty good at nipping and tucking in the open, but once the cat was cornered and it became a matter of frontal assault, the dog got the worst of it. We went outside to see what was making all of the noise. The dog had managed to scare the kittens right out of her! So we built a small shelter with straw bales, and that's where they lived until they were weaned.
My grandparents never took the cat back, much to our surprise.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 06:54:23 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 20, 2016, 07:04:58 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 20, 2016, 07:48:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 08:50:48 PM
I think I can talk about the kitten now, but the nets have been out for a while and I want to catch up first. Just - all we know is that part of it was missing when I found it, not how/why it died, necessarily.
Post by: Spacy on July 20, 2016, 09:05:25 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2016, 09:12:01 PM
Mom just called down the stairs while I typed this post to offer me happypill, a gesture I appreciate but turned down.
Post by: E_T on July 21, 2016, 02:04:05 AM
What raptor birds are in your area??
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 02:14:46 AM
Not much in the way of raptors around here - once in a while something big circling somewhere, not often and not all that big.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 02:37:16 AM
What happened was, pretty regular stuff at lunch, but Cloud kept glancing back at the little doghouse while she ate, and after a lot of the various ordinary stuff, ended up facing the door, just standing there with her tail seeming agitated, and I got the only good look at her ladyparts I've ever gotten -she doesn't turn her back on me a lot- and it's amazing they looked so small the next day. She's been lick herself a lot today, and you just know she's sore. When she got down and left the lot, well, I had hardly conducted an exhaustive inspection of the inside of the little doghouse first thing this morning, and I had to look.
...I need to surface and greet a new member. BRB...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 03:23:30 AM
I pulled out the towel inside the doorway that I'd stuffed inside yesterday ahead of the kittens, and there was a bit of blood on it, and that's not necessarily cause for alarm, Cloud had probably been inside and may have been late passing all of the afterbirth. I thought I saw a body on the other towel that Mom had laid inside a couple weeks ago, and when I pulled it out, there were the remains...
I thought it was the grey one, but Mom thought it was one of the dark ones when she saw - the dark ones do all have grey parts. The head and shoulders were missing and I naturally thought it was murder first. -On a few hours reflection, I realize it's probably more likely that one just didn't live through the night - I was focused on gentle and quick when I moved them yesterday, not a close examination, but all were warm and I thought breathing, and for all I know, I killed one catching its head on the towel putting it inside the house and broke its neck. -The grey kitten was definitely alive a few hours later; I saw its little medium grey tail move.
I'm not a kid, I was here for the heartbreak of 3/5ths of the last litter vanishing after they had grown into distinct individuals and I had formed a very strong attachment to two, but, you know, this was terrible. -But I'm not a kid, I'm over the hump to getting old, and I had said to Momma just yesterday afternoon "We're opening ourselves to heartbreak." I'm nervous when I don't know where they are, how they're doing -like all day today- for an awareness of how wrong this could work out - but somewhat braced by the same thing.
-The thing that really got to me? Two tiny, unmarked, forelegs separate from the rest of the body and each other, both rolling over as I pulled the towel out, resting to show two perfect tiny pink paws.
That was horror.
I'm feeling a cry coming on. ...I don't think there was enough blood for even a single kitten - already dead, surely. The rest didn't bleed there, for sure, and are probably fine, and I'll see them again...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 05:15:37 AM
Post by: E_T on July 21, 2016, 07:54:19 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 01:58:43 PM
She seems a little extra-wary of me this morning, but it's been a rough week.
Standing assumption is that the four kittens are in a hidey-hole nearby, and fine - Mylochka will probably sniff them out in a few days, but we've really got no business handling them too much too early if we can help it, for several reasons. Assume there's no developments if I don't mention them.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 21, 2016, 02:47:52 PM
Half tempted to open the door and let lily kick the crap out of mystery cat. (seen her tear apart other cats before)
Post by: Unorthodox on July 21, 2016, 02:53:48 PM
That was horror.
In light of the situation, I'll suppress my first impulse of commenting on how I would cope with the situation, me having a very odd way to cope with such things. No one should have to deal with such things. It's always hard, lest you are a monster.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 03:05:31 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 21, 2016, 03:19:30 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 03:34:32 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 04:45:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 07:19:19 PM
Cloud popped out of the woods on my way down the hill and gave me one of those very excellent escorts where she kept turning 45 degrees+ and stopping to make soft ankle contact, which is very gratifying, feeling like love from the less-friendly cat. It's not like Hershey pets back, besides, except for similar escort behavior, which he's even less prone to do than she is.
He tackled the pork chunks right away, but once ankle-love time was over, Cloud was feeling cautious of Mr. All-Hands up on the porch, and worked on dry food at a safe distance for a while before she gutted up and went to the Chinese bowl - then she seemed to only go after the noodles, which I'm sure are awesomely delicious, but I absolutely don't understand her sometimes. [shrugs]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2016, 10:40:41 PM
I'm sure they'd both have shown quicker if I'd gone out the kitchen door, but Cloud showed as soon as I sat down, so I got to watch her lay in the path inside the lot for 15 minutes licking herself all over. -Dunno why she even bothered unless she doesn't hate the company she doesn't trust, so I'll take it, I guess. Hershey popped up in the opposite direction 10 minutes in and came in, hoped up, had himself one of the two remaining pork chunks, hopped back down and also laid in the path.
Funny thing; the main thing I'm doing -always has been- while I sit and watch them is compose posts in my head about what I'm seeing - very little of which ever makes it past whatever new posts are waiting to be read when I come back. I've been meaning to type this observation for days - months, really.
When I rose to leave, he walked out ahead of me, and Cloud let me walk around her, which is great, as that blocking the path then fleeing me every time bugs me as stupid for even a cat brain. Hershey let me pet him in the gateway for a while. He has a frequent dilemma that he loves being stroked under the chin and down his throat, but it frequently makes him nervous. It was more the latter at first this time, then loving it won out until I got tired of bending over and came back in the house.
About 90 degrees right now, but feels like dry-ish heat, not so bad for low-activity in the shade.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 02:08:10 AM
It puzzles me that there was any Chinese still left, especially the last pork chunk, but they were on the nuhnuh -even though I found out too late that Princess had not left anything like a lidfull, and it was mostly just unenhanced milk added at the last second- eagerly enough, and Hershey got a good petting -I know that comes as a shock- standing in much easier reach than usual. -And yada etc.
-Cloud has yet to figure, two and a half days later, that she can fit through the gap when the gate's closed again now. I'd closed it behind me on the way in, and she decided that letting me walk around her on my way out once today was enough, and climbed out with me a foot away pulling the gate open. [blinks]
Incidentally, the kittens can't be hidden far away; Cloud is around too much and appears too quickly -except when she doesn't- since we found her a couple days ago standing near the east side of the playhouse with her back hunched and newborn kittens under her. -I haven't mentioned but they have healthy meows, some of them. We'll find them, presently, God be merciful.
I neglected to mention last report that the yellowjackets were REALLY out in force in dog city right before supper. Not a third as many just now, but there was one acting like there was sugar on my nose - of maybe he thinks he can have a hippee frend pawject if he hangs around my face not stinging me long enough...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 03:07:02 AM
"You're not planning to kill me to death, right?"
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 01:14:01 PM
Both were waiting in the back yard, Cloud was good enough to come into the dog lot while Mom stood against the fence in front off the path, and there was much crunching of dry food.
(Everything but the chicken bones from a few days ago was cleaned out again when we got there, and more of those had been cracked open to get at the marrow. We hope it one or both of them and we're not feeding, say, Bob at night - everything being gone in the morning only became consistent about the beginning of the month.)
Hershey started out on the far side of the food pan where I didn't care to reach that far to touch him, certainly not past Cloud, surely ruining her breakfast. But he hopped down off the porch first, very usual, and eventually hopped back up right next to me and got worked over a bit while he had a little more to eat.
I woke up a little and nobody got killed to death.
Post by: E_T on July 22, 2016, 02:45:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 03:06:20 PM
-I'd rather not be stung, but there is no eliminating all risk from life.
Now mosquitoes, and whatever else is biting me, are another matter - I wish they'd all collect into a nest, and I'd go to considerable trouble to find them and genocide the lot with whatever measure of brutality it took. THEY are making themselves my problem; the yellowjackets are only a minor nuisance.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2016, 06:28:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 07:03:42 PM
Maybe it's just the black t-shirt I'm wearing today, but it felt a lot more humid and uncomfortable. There was a sheen of sweat on me when I sat from a very brief walk downhill - and I don't think it's even quite as hot today, actually...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 07:48:52 PM
From my favorite cousin's Facebook, my favorite aunt and her favorite kitten:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1303)
Below, pictured being actively each other's favorites :luv:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1304)
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2016, 08:10:00 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-WJPWVzyPtVU/V5JtztOEjPI/AAAAAAAAg8w/3dP_6odBrr0R_xK_tzeUhohRmWQfQAs_ACCo/s800/IMG_1298.JPG)
Mystery cat back and keeping me up. Holed up in the neighbors woodpile, but kitten here stayed near my shed. Theorizing with the kitten gone, she'll let up on the craziness. (or maybe shes trying to establish territory again to have another litter?) Whatever. So, when I saw them sunning on the bridge of death, Kitten ran to shed, Mystrery stood ground and hissed. I barricaded the shed, turned on the light and fished out kitty.
Kitten to the shelter.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2016, 08:12:26 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2016, 08:13:26 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 08:39:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 08:45:25 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1304)This here pic gives me the feels - Nancy has never in her life been a real lovey-dovey person, and to see that tight little love mouth on that evil old woman's (and one of the things I love about her is that she owns it and I could almost include this post in the daily emails w/o hurting her feelings, though I won't) face ... if you knew her, you'd see how special it is...
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 22, 2016, 09:11:47 PM
Discussed a spay and return program to solve Mystery's attitude problem. Heard of that working for males. (theoretically Mystery might be male and just happy with the kitten?)
We had good luck with the neuter/rabies vac and release approach, although we adopted out those young enough to socialize. It kept new cats away for years. We never caught the male because one of the spayed females would shoulder him away from the trap. She probably had scarey alien abduction stories.
Post by: E_T on July 22, 2016, 10:33:08 PM
Post by: E_T on July 22, 2016, 10:49:05 PM
Years ago, part of my mom's yard had an Underground Yellowjacket nest in it. The fire dept had come out and had it eliminated, no charge, as the nest was a safety hazard. If someone had walked on the wrong part of the yard, would have broken into the nest and been attacked and possibly killed by it. Turned out to be a big nest..
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2016, 11:45:32 PM
Put long white socks on when you are in the area that you are getting bitten at. You should see then when they jump on you. Juvenial fleas will be very small and will jump away quickly, but you will see them...This is a little more like it, though.
;wince That would tend to require shoes, too. ;wince I may try that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 02:13:52 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 03:14:59 AM
https://www.techletter.com/Archive/Technical%20Articles/yellowjackettracking.html (https://www.techletter.com/Archive/Technical%20Articles/yellowjackettracking.html)
Years ago, part of my mom's yard had an Underground Yellowjacket nest in it. The fire dept had come out and had it eliminated, no charge, as the nest was a safety hazard. If someone had walked on the wrong part of the yard, would have broken into the nest and been attacked and possibly killed by it. Turned out to be a big nest..
There's a recent developememt where mild winters in some areas are allowing super colonies to form. Multiple yellow jacket queens working together. I could find pics of truly big nests.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 03:21:27 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 03:30:27 AM
Oh joy - just as well you do, though; I'm curious now, and not that worried about getting stung.
First hit:
! No longer available (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsPEasXhg2w#)
I've seen a crazy one though just give me a minute.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 03:43:15 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 03:46:29 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 03:52:48 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 04:39:46 AM
I kinda want to sting that first guy to death...
I caught like two episodes of his show. Very few redeeming qualities.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 23, 2016, 05:35:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 01:24:08 PM
Post by: Spacy on July 23, 2016, 05:18:17 PM
I am a firm believer in genocide of underground hives.
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 05:39:38 PM
Oh, and mystery cat was calling fort kitten this morning. That's certainly momish behavior.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 05:56:13 PM
I took an early lunch session, for lack of anything better to do, and Hershey is still in way above average good form for rolling around and whoopping sticks and running and pouncing and all that. I first spotted Cloud on top of the fence after I'd settled down in my spot, and she never approached the porch, laying in the path and all, Hershey taking out three courses of nuhnuh himself. Cloud once again fled before me when I exited by climbing the fence so I could have killed her to death several times over while she hung there.
Slightly more interesting, 45 minutes or so later, after I'd had lunch and was hanging around the Kitchen girldogging with Mylochka about politics and how pro wrestlers these days go at putting on a show exactly opposite of the right way -stop bragging about your injuries in interviews; even as pure athletics, somebody hurt means somebody screwed up- and saw that Cloud was lounging in the shade of the pecan tree, using her cat powers on the house or laying in a cooler spot, which it definitely is, or both, I dunno. So I went out without even my coffee in hand and got an ankle-love escort that she'd probably claim I ruined being Mr. Hands. I stroked her tail, she ran ahead a little, but let me catch up for more ankle, I stroked her tail again and actually got an angry yowl and a threat of a slap for being fresh, she ran ahead, but stopped by where Hershey was lounging next to the gate and stood still for a few seconds while I petted her back and tail before she got fed up and moved away.
I predict there won't be major avoidance behavior consequences from this, but we'll see - as I've asserted before, it's a courtship, and if I don't make advances, no progress will happen. (Note to any female women reading - I am drawing a comparison to people relationships, and I'm afraid this is a major portion of why teh boiz is such persistent pigs; the payoff potential for gentlemanly behavior is extremely limited unless the gentleman doesn't like physical affection... If you like/want women, I'm afraid the optimal balance is tricky to find and not as comfortable/respectful as they'd prefer. It's complicated, of course, but the basic principal in still true.)
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 07:10:46 PM
One imagines you not-unlikely having a more sophisticated approach to said mass murder than waiting for sunset and poisoning?... How do you plan identifying procedure?
Gotta locate. It's either in the siding between the shed and fence, which is very difficult to reach and no real threat...OR it's in my burlap roll, which is problematic no matter what built it.
So, first step is going to be soaking the ever loving hell out of the burlap as none of the trouble makers can fly while wet. Then I can unroll it and decide from there what to do based on what I find. Bees would get moved. Hornets I'm not completely opposed to poison.
There's always dry ice with the confined space as well. Wrapping the burlap in a tarp and a block of dry ice would make short work of a nest
Or a ground nest if you can cover the exits.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 07:16:03 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 07:16:37 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2016, 09:57:12 PM
Oh, and mystery cat was calling fort kitten this morning. That's certainly momish behavior.
Mystery calling for kitten again this afternoon. hEt is having the feels. I refuse to.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2016, 11:30:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 02:49:54 AM
...
-Then I didn't get to come report right away, while it was fresh in my head, because it was time to grill burgers for supper, and for a wonder, Petey drove up after it was too late to ruin a cat session and stayed a few hours but left too soon to ruin the next.
The burgers were good, BTW, though I never really am able to taste the grilled flavor much right after I've been standing over the grill - sort of a tragedy, given why I grill.
...
So for sunset, the jar and Cloud and ankles and she jumped up on the porch and stood in the perpendicular to me pose that I take as willing to take a little petting, and put her face right in as soon as I poured -Hershey was there for all this, usual stuff- and she wasn't with her back to where I sit with her tail super-close, but well inside my reach and fairly tolerant when I went for it - but ended up on the other side of Hershey facing uphill and not drinking, but not moving away when I stroked her back for a couple minutes.
The wa wa moment with her is less distinct than it was with him, but we've had it somewhere from Monday evening to now - once I'd made the breakthrough with him -that he liked being petted and was still unkilled afterwards- it's never just become easy and without setbacks and hesitations, but it was an abrupt and profound change.
-With her, well, I hadn't dared hope for this much really, and I doubt it will be profound change, where I have to keep courting and being careful, but basically get to pet most of the time; she's still older with a much longer set of more fearful/wild habits, and she'll never be as close to a proper pet as him, surely. -But she's an ankle-lover, and that's pretty cute, and we've finally rounded a corner I really didn't half-expect to round. Momma's a few weeks from being able to take back her morning feed, and I think she'll have to devote less time and effort to getting a lot of the same touching privileges now that the new ground has been broken.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 01:17:38 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 01:31:25 PM
No escort, Cloud popped out from the pile of playhouse scrap in the end of the car shed when we were halfway down the hill, came into the lot before Momma left, and yada etc.
Petted Hershey a little, they crunched dry food and had a drink of water, Cloud jumped down, sat in the gateway a bit, went out around the end of the car, came back and sat in the same spot. Hershey for some reason climbed up on top of the fence next to the gate and acted like he was hunting a spider or something I couldn't see. Pretty cute.
My time up, I went over and stroked his tail a couple times while he tried to jump down, then walked over to the far end of the car shed, and sure enough, saw a black kitten having a kitten dream - the twitching thing where you assume they're having an action adventure, which I can't imagine this little cuss was old enough to have a running/hunting dream, lacking experience. Curled up, face still that odd almost snoutless newborn shape, only difference in appearance I cold make out from Tuesday afternoon was fluffier fur.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 02:26:07 PM
Post by: E_T on July 24, 2016, 03:16:31 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 03:23:51 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 04:27:01 PM
I need to be sure to leave Cloud some formula as a reward next time I go check, mostly for the association with me coming around the kitten and a desirable outcome together...
Frankly, I want three more laying asleep just out of sight, but it does make things comfortably simple if it's just the one - that's all we wanted to keep...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 06:27:38 PM
After about a minute, Cloud got up and went for it, Hershey briefly pushed in beside her for a taste, then stood and looked at the baby a minute - which was sleepily moving its head around in the quivery way newborns have, but not trying to move around much.
Hershey wandered off, Cloud wasn't too alarmed when I leaned in to pour seconds -and if she was completely blasé' about me near the baby, that would indicate too low a level of protectiveness and be cause for concern- and took care of that before she rejoined the little one, who really sprang back to life feeling around and finding her underside.
Cloud never would have laid with her belly exposed before with me that close, and I think we've found a good balance that should produce (a) tamer kitten(s), with luck... Mask was doing its best to drain her dry still when I left, doing that pushing motion kittens do against mother's side while they nurse.
I had to make more nuhnuh when I went in - she'd taken out about a third of a jar, which is no record for her at a sitting, but a good sign she was both reasonably accepting of me being there close, and that some cold sweet meat milkshake was very welcome.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2016, 07:07:11 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1305)
-having the feels and not knowing what a cutie she is, too. Would you believe this woman is only four years younger than me? Her hair usually looks better than that... Sorry boys; she's not on the market.
She lives way up north, and they only met for the first time Thursday.
-No idea what Scaredy's doing indoors; that's in front of their fireplace.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2016, 02:34:48 AM
-Oh, my heart's not in it. Two good visits, but I've provisionally concluded we're down to one kitten. ;heartbreak
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2016, 01:29:53 PM
No sign of Mask. :(
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2016, 03:38:53 PM
In cats, there is a kind of serenity.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1306)
Same shot uncropped for a bit of context.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1307)
Cloud relaxed in time at my presence sitting quietly five feet away
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1308)
The first and last shots are a prefect illustration of something I've talked about a number of times IRT Cloud
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1309)
This expression looks sullen and hostile to our primate sensibilities, but it's the big, prettier eyes in the first shot you have to watch out for - that's her on-high-alert face (difficult to tell from her Cat Powers "Bring nuhnuh" face and I have to pay attention to context) while this is actually a looking but not worried face as I was fidgeting around to pick up everything and be on my way - and it's very good thing.
I very much regret that these are cute pics of Cloud w/ a dark smudge against her belly instead of cute pics of Mask nursing, but it's what I could get. Those brown highlights in the sunlight shots didn't look brown at all to me as I took the photographs.
I'm very upset that I don't know where Mask is today, though I keep telling myself it probably means nothing.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2016, 06:53:51 PM
No sign of Cloud and Mask - which, I hope means Cloud's with wherever Mask is today and Mask is fine.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2016, 11:23:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 26, 2016, 01:30:18 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 26, 2016, 01:52:24 PM
Then the usual stuff, and they broke off a little early and she allowed Hershey to chase her a little - then ;wince my wimminz came back from the pool and displayed no awareness of how much talking and doing, basically, anything upsets the cats, especially letting the dogs out, and so I finished the breakfast session annoyed after an unusually gratifying start ;wince.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 26, 2016, 03:06:27 PM
;wince Then there was activity at the kitchen door and on the carport that looked entirely it-could-have-been-avoided and I got to watch him on the ground for a few minutes. The cats don't always overreact, but they never fail to notice activity outside the house. I need to put a word in about a little more consideration of what a serious buzzkill that can be, but don't know that I can without getting snarled at, which I'd really rather not have to take.
By way of amelioration though, Hershey got up when I was leaving, of course, meowed at me and stopped inside the gate for some bent-over action. I don't like doing anything on my feet bent over, but he's sometimes really into that - he laid down, was rolling over under my hand getting up and moving a few steps, laying back down, and showing definitely signs he'd like to play-whoop my hand the way he does short sticks, and I wish he would - except that whole bent over and standing still on my feet not agreeing with me in a very fundamental way. -So I was the one to break it off and come indoors, where I'm not sweating and tiring out my back. [shrugs]
Edit: I hate having edit notices on my posts -that's why you have 15 whole minutes to edit here- hate revisionist forum history from early bad experiences and regret that our SMF software has no reason field to optionally fill in when I make a late edit - I just want to assert for the record that I don't casually try to change the record, and if you do see I've edited a post, it's almost certainly for a typo, in this case because I spotted I'd spelled "off" as "of", and already had a late edit notice from fixing the botched wince smiley. Believe me, I know I typpo a LOT, but I'd rather look stupid/inept than dishonest, and I rarely take the late edit notice to fix typos - and simple I-left-outs, I'd rather double-post.
-This has been a Pedant's Fun Fact, brought to you by your host, who actually cares that people know this about me...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 26, 2016, 07:25:34 PM
Got half a Cloud ankle-love escort for the post-lunch session w/nuhnuh. When she jumped up on the porch before I'd poured, she actually moved over closer to me, seemingly presenting herself for a few strokes. :luv:
They were both craving. (Nearly a cup of meat milkshake was made No Longer Among Us, and I had to make more when I went inside.)
And when my brother finished printing something and exited the house ;wince was when Hershey moved out of reach for the rest of the time. [sighs wearily] Cloud had her face in the lid and didn't care, though.
I'd intended to note this morning that Cloud is now looking suspiciously small. I mean, she doesn't look a fraction as milk-heavy as she did weeks further along last time, which I don't think looks good for the three kittens that haven't been sighted again being okay... :( I do suspect Mask is laying under a little natural brushpile just in the woods to the west of the yard, doing okay, but I wouldn't bet the rent on it. Just have to be patient and take what comes...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 03:53:44 AM
Sunset session today finally broke that trend. I was ten feet down the hill looking at Hershey in plain sight out front of the lot, when Cloud suddenly overtook me from behind. Dunno if she'd been waiting on the carport and I'd caught her unawares or at the corner behind the half wall. The ankle-love trend when I was alone and she wasn't late continued, and I tucked my drink in my left arm and held the jar in that hand, and reached down and stroked her tail and back repeatedly as we approached the lot, and then a few times up[ on the porch until I got the nuhnuh poured, which they were both all over.
A pretty clear rule seems to be emerging, that I can get away with some boldness on approach when she's ready when I appear, not when she shows up late, and very low tolerance -not zero, but low- for touching her after I sit down and she's consuming. I can probably live with that - I never really expected to get this far with her.
Of course Hershey got worked over good and so on and good visit and I told them they were pretty and I loved them and bid them a good night.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 04:14:36 AM
That long snaky tail, it just looks like it floating when he's happy, not atypically when it's stroked...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 02:03:07 PM
I was barely a footstep down the hill when the car pulled up, so Cloud's escort was very brief. When we got to the dog lot, finally, slightly over a week later, she slipped inside through the gap instead of waiting for me to let her in.
I handled her just a little on the porch and got everything poured and sat down and Hershey happened to be out of practical reach, and I slept really badly last night and was a zombie, so I just sat staring off into the distance drinking coffee and waking up.
The cats wrapped up early and there was something on the ground between them where she seemed to be warding him off with an outstretched paw and he ended up extending one back almost patty-cake.
And their heads whipped around and oh, that was my brother's voice. Something going on on the porch next door, not quite out of line of sight. ;wince
This is taking place over several minutes and Cloud decided to jump up and drink more water -not a whole handful of times one has jumped back up- and Hershey followed -both coming back is new- and there was more crunching of the dry food and Hershey was in reach this time and reach I did and-
;wince Aaand here comes the Fink and Buster going into the house, which the cats looked and then ignored, but I feel terrible this morning and don't want to see the whole human race first thing, and certainly don't want them seeing me, and I'm beginning to feel like my nose is rubbed in who I am helpless to have some &^%$#@! quiet time. -And Buster and her attendant were back out a minute later, quiet, but not stopping the kitchen door from slamming ;wince behind them -cat heads whip around- and my time was about up then, but I was petting Hershey good and wanted to end on a good note despite everything.
Aand out comes Mylochka to hang up bathing suits ;wince -heads whip around them mercifully ignore; the cats were unusually calm this morning, considering- and I'm wondering -I literally thought this- when did eight in the morning turn into Grand Central station?
Hershey had never moved out of reach enjoying dry food and random stroking and Cloud was just sitting on the side edge of the porch quietly, and for a miracle, they didn't care enough to move away when I got up and bid them a good day, leaving them at it on the porch.
I'd consumed almost all my coffee down there -I don't burn through it quite that fast, like, ever, but Mylochka was in the way of the sink and microwave when I put away the food cup and water jar, and I've been nursing the last swallow a tiny sip at a time while I read overnight posts and then typed this - time to go back, hoping I don't see or hear anyone while I make more coffee, but I will, oh Lord, I will.
I can't help waking up all raw nerves lots of mornings, and this day has started really badly...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 03:56:33 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1289)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 06:06:40 PM
She has in common, at her current stage of kat frend, with Hershey that no petting is ever 100% relaxed and trustful -there's always some nervousness for them mixed into any enjoyment, and she'll surely always have more apprehension than Hershey does- but I petted her nearly continuously for about five minutes straight -some for him, too- while they crunched dry food on the porch. :luv:
Only kept it up five minutes, like I said, and didn't want to push my luck
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 27, 2016, 08:48:26 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 09:21:33 PM
Scaredy is doing well - Momma's car came home and we've been over. She's just flat-out a pet now - and Nancy is busting with love for her.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 27, 2016, 09:36:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 09:41:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2016, 11:46:43 PM
She climbed out over the fence ahead of me when I left though, as if she hadn't gone through the gate gap this morning...
Post by: Spacy on July 28, 2016, 12:31:13 AM
Went upstairs and Mom was on the phone, clearly having gotten caught beginning to fix lunch, and after waiting a few minutes, stuck my head outside to see if cats were around, and when Hershey got to his feet inside the lot, thought I'd go sit in the shade next to the gate and see if he'd come out and chase butterflies. And Cloud popped out of that spot at the edge of the west woods she's been favoring lately, so let her catch up for ankle escort and unplanned no-treat visit it was.
She has in common, at her current stage of kat frend, with Hershey that no petting is ever 100% relaxed and trustful -there's always some nervousness for them mixed into any enjoyment, and she'll surely always have more apprehension than Hershey does- but I petted her nearly continuously for about five minutes straight -some for him, too- while they crunched dry food on the porch. :luv:
Only kept it up five minutes, like I said, and didn't want to push my lucktoo hardany harder, so I left them on the porch and came inside, to learn it was Nancy on the phone and there's more cat leftovers. We were going to go over right after lunch, but I've never mentioned this before, but there's been a battery curse on me for 20 years -in a few months- and two cars now, and the Fink had taken her car somewhere ;wince and turned out battery curse kicked in on mine. -The charger's on charging right now, and we may or may not try to go over in the next few hours. (I suspect I've got another failing alternator problem - it hasn't been a whole week since I took the car out, and it was fine, so no apparent reason and not enough time for the battery [only about a year old] to have drained to almost dead as a doornail, as opposed to the usual not quite enough juice to crank...
Last time I had something like that, found two wires that rubbed each other to the point that they were copper on copper. 2 seconds with some electrical tape and never had an issue again. That was year 9 on the Avalanche I think. I miss that truck, but happy with the Jeep I have now.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 12:48:06 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 02:13:04 AM
Great sunset session, in other words, and a very good cat day overall, amazingly after the crowd scene this morning.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 01:13:01 PM
Turned out not to be the case. ;wince
I was out of it enough first thing that I didn't reach down for tails on the way in, any, but petted both a little up on the porch. They had their faces in the dry food when the car pulled up and ignored it - I need to be telling myself not to be bothered when the cats aren't.
Cloud was pouncing right back on Hershey when they drifted out of the lot, which I've never seen before, and there was wrestling.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 03:12:06 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 07:06:30 PM
Cloud stood still outside the gate on the way in for post-lunch nuhnuhing, and let me scratch her behind the ears. Again: stood still for it for ten seconds or so, and was relaxed afterwards.
It's the first time she's acted faintly comfortable with being touched on the head at all, and I deem it a major milestone and hereby declare overall VK Day in Phase One of Kat Frend.
Phase two involves more of the same with no specific goals, provided there are no kittens in the picture in the coming weeks. [shrugs] Still hoping for a kitten or four, but I have to take what the universe provides....
-They were keen on the nuhnuh, BTW, and then Cloud caught one of those little lizards that like brick walls and have cobalt blue tails right in front of me and made it all disappear, though the tail made a valiant separate effort to escape after the rest was gone, to no avail.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 08:31:35 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 28, 2016, 08:45:15 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 08:50:02 PM
You may also express jubilation at VK Day. ;) This forum needs a sailor kissing a babe.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 28, 2016, 11:09:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2016, 11:14:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 29, 2016, 01:25:20 PM
From around suppertime, we were having the sort of gusty restless winds that you automatically look around the sky to see where the thunderstorm is brewing and if it coming towards you - with a blue sky that had barely a cloud in it, and that one scant; none of the big fluffy ones you're supposed to see in a pre-tornado sky.
So, the usual nice greeting as I headed out, w/ the tail-stroking and all continuing up on the porch and they put their faces right into the formula-
And there was a big wind gust and they were suddenly on the ground at the corner of dog city laying side by side for my entire smoke. Oddly, when I left there was the usual fleeing before me, but Cloud let me catch up and stroke her tail twice in the open gateway -this was new, letting me touch afterwards, and a bit of progress- and over a long period of starts and stops that let me almost catch up ended up in the front yard -Hershey was along, and I've never seen him in the front yard, ever, before- and over in Mylochka's front yard. It seemed like they were panicky and searching for better than the customary shelter, and the fact that I was allowed to keep up at all made me think she wanted me along...
One of the dogs came out, but Mylochka got her back indoors before that was a problem, but I lost Hershey then, and Cloud took off into the neighbor's yard where I declined to follow -it was getting dark for one thing- and I went in and watched to convention.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1265)
Nobody showed up for breakfast, though I didn't wake up sharp today and declined to sit and wait. Probably a connection with the weather-freaking at dusk, but I seriously doubt the Wicked Witch of the West got them -no sign of heavy weather overnight- and wonder what the deal is.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 29, 2016, 04:32:00 PM
I'm about to go upstairs and investigate what's going on - I'll probably do lunch and see if my kittehz are around before I'm back...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 29, 2016, 06:07:15 PM
I thought it was going to be another washout -and I've never had two no-shows for the regular visits in a row- when I stifled my impulse to bail, and sat down to wait, but Cloud showed up a few minutes later, climbed over the fence instead of walking through the gap in the closed gate, cleaned out the nuhnuh and crunched at breakfast -which looked untouched or only lightly touched when I went in- and wrapped up tight as the customary visit time was up, and climbed back out ahead of me.
Never did touch her at all, though nothing's to be made of her being flighty when there's clearly something upsetting going on on cat frequencies I don't pick up. I followed her for a while, and she seemed to have been heading for the spot at the edge of the yard/woods she's been frequenting lately -traditionally a Hershey spot- and thought better of it because of me following. That she didn't run from me, if unwilling to let me in tail-stroke range, seems significant. She let me follow fairly closely until I veered off, seemed to sorta half want the company like last night, if not as much as then...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2016, 02:10:57 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 30, 2016, 02:30:36 AM
Perhaps Uncle Bob is about?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2016, 02:32:51 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2016, 03:22:24 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2016, 01:23:29 PM
Then Hershey appeared of to the west edge of the woods -didn't see where he actually came from- with his tail up, in no hurry, but came straight in and I ended up with a very tired left shoulder from petting him so much at the end of a roughly double-length visit. He seemed to have missed me, too, and just not have tired of it when I broke it off out front. :luv:
Pool's closed on Saturdays and Momma woke up just after me and went along on initial trip, then later came back out -she often does her morning quiet time sitting outside- after Hershey showed and watched for a while.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2016, 07:19:32 PM
We were having a good pet=intensive visit when towards the end, Mylochka appeared at the back door to ask where the camera was. (I had agreed to weave a new seat -this just came up while we were at Mylochka's house visiting Buster on the deck around back where the chair will live- for an old rocking chair Mom recently salvaged from a neighbor, and God bless 'er, Mylochka thought of before pictures, which I had thought of but not said before I ran out to tend to Hershey before he disappeared, and she thought of it anyway, and project thread coming soon.)
I had to raise my voice to answer, which is a no-no with Hershey, so he got down on the ground for a few minutes while I finished smoking. -No wince smilie because I'm glad she thought of it before she cut the old seat out, and the voice-raising half's on me. -Plus, he was down for some bent over petting outside afterward that I was the one to break it off.
I was telling him, while he laid on his side and enjoyed, that if he'd just let me sit down and would stay put for a while afterward, I might have been good for as much as half an hour of that action. -This is not a goal of Kat Frend, exactly, but he's a big kid, restless, moves around much more than Cloud does when there's nothing going on and no real reason to move - it's, maybe, inside the realm of possibility yet that he could become a lap cat, or at least lay down next to a leg and stay put. Maybe not in as little as a year, but the year after or after that, maybe, as he matures...
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 30, 2016, 09:33:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2016, 10:59:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2016, 01:58:04 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2016, 01:25:23 PM
No close escort and ankle-love, as always when it's not just me, but I ran my hand over Cloud on the porch, then a second time, which had her jumping behind the food pan and I didn't try again. Hershey's tail go due attention, one of the dogs threw a fit in the house -Momma had left the door open because cool morning- near the end, and the cats fled.
Prior to that, Hershey had finished early and went out, running about and making his own adorable-to-watch fun. Cloud seemed very hungry and kept eating longer than usual.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2016, 06:20:46 PM
He was hanging around visible when I was upstairs to investigate the My Wimminz Home From Church random event before 11, so I went out with formula and we had a good time together.
After lunch, I put it off an extra half hour just to pace things out, then took the rest of the Chinese pork dish, and it was just Hershey again, and there was much petting. Fresh back from that, no sign of Cloud either time, which we hope means she's off somewhere with Mask wherever that is...
-On my way out beforehand, I was pointing out to Mom that I'm not taking them Nancy food first thing -the best time, surely, if it wasn't up to me- because I wake up stupid, and while the feed/watering chore agrees with me (this is a real surprise to me, that I don't mind) even first thing -it's still fine quiet time when it's quiet- I'm just not up to digging around the fridge w/o it causing me stress before my brain's working for the day -I don't do surprises first thing, no matter how trivial; it's all lit dynamite- so they get a cup of dry catfood first thing; I don't have to think very hard to do that. I was only making the point that when she's up and going along, she ought to pick out some Nancy food for them and I'll get the water, but the conclusion we ended up agreeing on is that she's ready to take dawn feed back over starting tomorrow. That was always the long-term plan. I'll continue to visit them later when I choose, and she'll no doubt get her morning kitty love back in short order; she always prized that, for all her complaining that they might trip her, and it's a delight to watch out the window...
...
Rusty, I was thinking while making eye contact with Hershey -I don't read his eyes the way I do his mother, maybe because he gives away moods much more visibly with youthful body language and a much longer tail, I don't know- that the slow blink advice has been endlessly useful. I was already thinking on similar lines, and it's not the sort of thing, I think, one gets dramatic immediate feedback about from the cats, but it's another definitely useful piece of the communication puzzle and I use it constantly and it's definitely helped to convey that I wasn't a danger. Thanks.
...
Cloud went in through the gate gap this morning like it was nothing, BTW, and I was too out of it to even note that - but I'd remember if she'd have climbed the fence or even just paused to be let in, as she's done this week when it's just me...
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 31, 2016, 09:35:36 PM
http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/cat-care/behavior-appearance/cat-tail-language (http://www.hillspet.com/en/us/cat-care/behavior-appearance/cat-tail-language)
It saves you going through the Jackson Galaxy videos. I looked it up because I'm no expert and I couldn't easily explain what I do know about it. Our vet prefers cats and he tamed the feral kittens we captured he says "fat" tails ( the hair standing out all over ) are a bad sign.
Well, I'm glad to hear that your Mom is back to normal, that will probably make the cats happy, too.
As I've mentioned, I'm the cat catcher, and I take them to the vet. My wife likes to be the good cop. So the cats don't trust me. But that's okay because my wife wants the love, and I want them to keep their distance most of the time because I'm allergic. The slow blink helps a lot when I'm just trying to do stuff around the home without spooking them. I'm glad I was able to help.
It's also good that Cloud is around again. Momma cats being secretive about their nest locations, and changing them frequently keeps the kittens safe from bacteria, and predators which may notice the accumulated scents. You're a known kittennapper. Maybe she's being extra-careful with Mask.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 31, 2016, 09:40:25 PM
A lot of charts will come up.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2016, 09:52:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2016, 10:24:48 PM
"Position: puffed up. A tail resembling a pipe cleaner reflects a severely agitated and frightened cat trying to look bigger to ward off danger."
So, it was straight up, mostly, and puffed up at the same time. He was in a playful mood, running around and making his own fun afterwards. -He didn't have a chance to play with Cloud afterwards before I left because she broke off eating to run out in high dog-alert and they were both still focused uphill at the noise.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2016, 12:46:55 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1284)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2016, 01:46:46 AM
Worried about Cloud, of course. It's been several stressful months in a row without a lot of relief, this week hardly the least, and I can't help worrying when I don't know where any of them are for extended spells - I'm still traumatized from finding the kitten dead a week and a half ago; I just can't help worrying.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2016, 02:09:28 PM
However, I saw Hershey and Cloud lounging in front of the car shed about a half hour ago, and so went out to see them. Hershey allowed me to sit next to him, moving just out of reach as I did so, but let me scootch over in stages and there was laying down and audible purring. He moved again after several minutes, and I got up and went into the lot, Cloud having looked on the whole time with what I think was partly jealousy. Apparently breakfast had been some seashell pasta -there was one left and a little knot of hamburger. Cloud came in in stages and ate the almost nothing left, drank some water, and had what sounded like the hiccups - Hershey had made a couple little coughs outside, which I couldn't swear wasn't the same thing in a lower octave, and I suppose they must have a bug if it's not just the pasta repeating or something.
Cloud was not down with making contact - Hershey was. I got a poor view of a couple of her nipples while she was grooming on the porch, and thought they looked bald in a recently-chewed way, but she's awfully small already - and Bob and Fluffy. I don't know whether to conclude that the kittens are all gone or not. :(
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2016, 06:34:29 PM
There was some sitting not-so-quietly near my wimminz inside, but Mylochka got foot petting out of the deal, which she likes, though she did not actually purr.
Since mah kittehz had completely cleaned out breakfast already at 9:30, I thought I take them more solid food - but it's hot and I'd promised Cloud nuhnuh, so half a cup of dry food and a dash of formula stirred together and off I went -I was actually a few minutes late of my maybe promise, but close. There was ankle-love and tails stroked on the way in, Cloud told me to STOP! on the second stroke of her back on the porch, but they dug in and cleaned out the cereal pronto, like it was just the thing they'd wanted.
What butterfly species is rather big w/ dark grey wings except orange around the fringe and some turquoise on that? Hershey caught and ate one.
-I just found the BB gun and propped it by the kitchen door, so maybe we can teach Bob more respect if he shows back up today. I'm told Mylochka did some comedy chasing this morning before I woke up, and really could have used it...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2016, 08:02:00 PM
I'm trying to alternate Cloud-Hershey-Scaredy while the supply holds out, just for better variety-
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1267)
-but that makes it a pain to keep track of what I've already posted -especially with there being so many similar shots of each- and sorry if I post anything twice...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 02, 2016, 02:04:18 AM
Bike pics when I have some - it's not finished yet...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 02, 2016, 04:24:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 02, 2016, 06:35:33 PM
It went about as perfectly as could be imagined with Mylochka already outside working on applying paint stripper to the rocking chair, Momma having gone out just ahead of me to supervise. They kept it down, the cats didn't give me the closest of escorts, but close enough that I'd managed to stroke Cloud's tail a couple times before we reached the gate, I stroked her back, they both went in through the gate gap and I entered and stroked back again - Hershey got a little of that, too, all along, but of course I concentrate on Cloud a lot harder when I get that chance where she'll take it pretty well. It's a courtship.
I stroked her back a couple of times on the porch -she was more or less in the presenting herself position- and poured the formula and so on.
I think they're both not feeling tip-top today, recall the cough/hiccupping I heard yesterday as possibly relevant - there was meowing by both when they respectively got down off the porch that didn't seem directed at me or for any reason I spotted as obvious, and Cloud made that odd trilling noise when first up on the porch. They seem a bit out of sorts/skittish, though Hershey was certainly up for some handling while he was lapping up his share of the nuhnuh.
With all that's gone on lately and the absences on Cloud's part lately -also keeping in mind that nuhnuh in Cloud's belly surely supplies most of the nutritional requirements her body has for making cat milk for Mask- I kept pouring more as long as they kept drinking. They took out something on the order of 2/3rds of the pint batch I made fresh right after sunset last night, which would be a considerable swallow for me at well over 10 times their combined mass. I just felt like today was good to spoil extra while they were wanting it, not least to reinforce with Cloud that it's good to stick close.
They both exited the lot ahead of me climbing over the fence. [puzzled wry grin]
Again, it was only a perfect session in the context of their increasing tolerance of people activity up the hill (Mylochka and Mom walked back inside shortly after I sat down, and I took my hand off Hershey's tail to flash them the thumb's-up, hit the roof beam with my thumb which alarmed Hershey onto the ground, but he was back up okay and lapping nuhnuh quickly, which is
I'll take it. ;b;
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 02, 2016, 07:56:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 02, 2016, 08:26:17 PM
You know, I went in knowing I would have to accept what happened - and got traumatically reminded of the necessity of that right away, too. There's a thunderstorm seems to be wrapping up right now, and I'm having to fight off worry that Mask rode it out somewhere spectacularly bad for surviving that...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2016, 02:14:15 AM
Cloud popped out of her hidey hole in the weeds at the west edge of the yard and gave me a good escort - I was reminded of that page Rusty linked about tails that indicated a tail over another cat's back is like an arm around the shoulder (though Hershey actually throws a foreleg over Cloud's shoulders sometimes) and I think they do something equivalent to my leg with their tails, sorta hooking around, though I'm walking and it doesn't last.
The usual for when we start with a close escort, petted her a bit up on the porch and then laid off while I fed them most of the new formula left and worked over Hershey a bit - and they where winding down anyway when the Rev. Dr. my butthole little brother turned up on the carport doing something noisy with the hose. ;wince
I recall looking down on Cloud while she lapped up meat milkshake and thinking how pretty the grizzled color of her grey fur was.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2016, 03:05:32 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1276)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2016, 01:33:55 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 03, 2016, 01:49:27 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2016, 01:53:57 PM
(http://www.tomorrowlands.org/misc/images/kitty_sml.jpg)
I'm still not smart enough this morning to have an opinion of what that's about, otherwise.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2016, 07:53:25 PM
Multiple random events triggered -that's a SMACX refence if you don't know, Rusty- this morning, including TONS of Civ 6 stuff I have to clean up and promote, and I still haven't caught my breath, and may not get all the straitening out and Facebook promotion done before bed.
And my machine was not performing so I couldn't LOOK at what Uno was posting as fast as he posted it, and ---
Cloud was hanging around at 12:25, came up the hill a while, went down to the lot and climbed in to check for treats --- and I wasn't able to get lined up and out the kitchen door until 1:00, and it was a washout. Iiii - thought sitting there doing nothing would be a really good idea anyway, but that factor where you keep it together in a crisis and break down afterward tried to kick in and my pulse got pounding worse sitting there cross-legged and looking at the green grass. [sigh]
None of it could be helped, though. Just bad timing. I really could have used some kat luv. [sigh]
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2016, 10:57:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 01:30:40 AM
Hershey stood up beside dog city as we approached - and there was a strange cat relaxing by the Cutlass, very fluffy, grey head and irregular patches of white, brownish-reddish-yellowish and grey all over. (Calico, Scaredy and Moosh's dad, I would guess) Cloud veered a little in that direction, Strange Cat had bolted a few feet towards escape past the front of the car, then held his ground, as did Cloud. Bigger, sturdier, like a male. -I wasn't about to try to run him off while standing next to Cloud. I took a step towards her, and he took off running good this time.
She followed me into the lot, but neither was way into tolerating my love a whole lot, for her pretty much zero once they started lapping nuhnuh. Both seemed skittish over Patches.
Then ;wince my brother started blowing leaves in the front yard, session over. I'm pretty sore about it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 02:45:05 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 01:05:34 PM
There are pics...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 02:04:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 03:22:15 PM
I think the kitten is Mask, but the eye markings have changed drastically in ten days if so, and we'll need to hit on another name if anything sticks...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 04:03:43 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 06:54:06 PM
Great because Cloud and Hershey both turned up from where I thought they were - she came out of the dog lot (climbed the fence to come escort me) and he out of the car shed. She trotted up and gave a close escort w/ ankle-love and managing to stoke her back a few times and her tail more, she squeezed back in through the gate gap ahead of me like she had some sense.
I stooped and looked under dog city, where I'd been assuming Cloud and the kitten would be today, and there it was, in a nice dry spot. I ignored it after that, having taken more than enough liberties first thing this morning, details eventually to come.
It's rainy today, in the intermittent drizzly way, and started back up a little about he time I sat down - and they appear to dislike the noise on the tin roof a lot more than they mind a little rain, so the quality and quantity of petting was very low with both. She looked like she wanted to eat on the breakfast hamburger and the formula, but decided to jump down and disappear underneath, Hershey following a minute later - so I sat there alone and ran out the clock. -A little sad, but no wince smiley; it's the stuff that could have been helped that tends to upset me, not the weather, which just is.
As soon as I made my goodbyes and left -Cloud had apparently gone to get away from the tin roof noise, not to see to Mask, who was still sleeping alone in the same spot; Cloud and Hershey were sitting side-by-side under the front corner- they were back on the porch taking out the nuhnuh. (Right there's a reason to indulge them when they're really into it while I'm there - wait for me to leave, you get a serving if I leave one; dive in in front of me, you might get six.)
-Can't be helped, the rain...
Post by: Unorthodox on August 04, 2016, 06:58:40 PM
I had a look and think it's a girl, BTW.
we'll need to hit on another name if anything sticks...
The one pictured?
Grimalkin
Willow
(
Quote
One day, a mother cat was sitting on a river bank, sobbing because her kittens had fallen into the rushing water and were sure to drown because she couldn’t get to them. Hearing her piteous cries, the long reeds on the shore felt sorry for her.)
Taking pity on the mother cat, the reeds bent over so that the kittens could grab onto their long leaves and stalks, saving themselves and giving the mother cat back her precious babies.
Ever since, the helpful reeds have grown beautiful velvety blooms atop their stalks, both as a reward and as a reminder of the tiny kittens that clung to them in order to save their lives
Less obvious.
Bastet
Hecate
Post by: Unorthodox on August 04, 2016, 07:05:50 PM
She hid so well the first day, and the kids had left the basement door open for a time, there was some initial fear she'd escaped. When I got home, though, I saw one of my drawers on the captains bed had been opened, and remembered she knows how to open them, and used to hide in and behind them after she opens them.
She is, however, bigger than when she used to do that, and in the middle of the night when trying to get back in got stuck and woke me up. I've since pulled a drawer completely out so she can crawl back as she sees fit.
Anyhow, after 24 hours nearly entirely spent under the bed, she was out and upstairs this morning, asking for attention. Or just trying to use mystical powers to get me to open the door for her...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 07:11:05 PM
You'll be interested to know that I ran straight upstairs before replying and reported those four name suggestions to my wimminz; by unanimous vote, Willow.I had a look and think it's a girl, BTW.we'll need to hit on another name if anything sticks...
The one pictured?
Grimalkin
Willow
(QuoteOne day, a mother cat was sitting on a river bank, sobbing because her kittens had fallen into the rushing water and were sure to drown because she couldn’t get to them. Hearing her piteous cries, the long reeds on the shore felt sorry for her.)
Taking pity on the mother cat, the reeds bent over so that the kittens could grab onto their long leaves and stalks, saving themselves and giving the mother cat back her precious babies.
Ever since, the helpful reeds have grown beautiful velvety blooms atop their stalks, both as a reward and as a reminder of the tiny kittens that clung to them in order to save their lives
Less obvious.
Bastet
Hecate
You named our kitten. Thanks.
As I said, I don't know if it's the same kitten pictured 9 days ago - I would guess yes, but it's an impressively quick change in facial markings if so.
Post by: Unorthodox on August 04, 2016, 07:57:46 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 08:34:50 PM
Willow was in the same place when I stooped and looked, and looked around when I said hello. Hershey was right up on the porch with me when I sat, more interested in petting than the hamburger chunks still left from breakfast. Cloud sat on the ground right under the edge of the porch in no hurry to join us - she eventually came up after Hershey had gotten bored and hopped down, and ate some, while I was careful to keep my hands in my lap. There was a second burst of rain and Hershey was back up with us, and the two of them sat like they were waiting for more to come and go.
Both jumped down when I got up to leave, but Cloud ducked around the brick pillar at the corner of dog city instead of fleeing as I left.
Good visit. In cats -and the poise needed to be non-threatening to them- is a kind of serenity. I not only have to be quiet -within as well as without, as much as I can manage- but let a lot go, and that's good practice for everything in my life.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 04, 2016, 08:51:15 PM
In cats -and the poise needed to be non-threatening to them- is a kind of serenity. I not only have to be quiet -within as well as without, as much as I can manage- but let a lot go, and that's good practice for everything in my life.
That's the essence of it, I think, and a good addition to the original post of the thread, or as sigline material.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 08:59:12 PM
I suspect you understand my journey more closely than you let on... -And good on you for that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 09:03:13 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 04, 2016, 09:09:38 PM
Moats make good neighbors?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 09:14:48 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 04, 2016, 09:24:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 09:31:03 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 04, 2016, 10:55:41 PM
I suspect you understand my journey more closely than you let on... -And good on you for that.
Kinda-sorta. Thanks. I'm a loner by nature. I grew up with some moody sisters who needed a lot of space from time to time. A virtual friend who was bi-polar died a year ago of natural causes. I kinda learned a variable space policy.
Most of my life was driven and productive, but I've learned to enjoy being married and retired early. Even though I've been compromised by maladies, I can still enjoy walking/travel/reading/cooking/dining.. and Civ.
But the cats remind me of lots of things, working with farm animals, hunting, shooting - all of those things have a certain sort of Zen to them- you need to let go of the stress, clearing stuff out of your head and being in the moment, aware of the nuances of your surroundings and becoming serene.
Even reading about the Kat Frend Project relaxes me.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2016, 11:16:35 PM
That says a lot about how I try to run this place, too, the way you just put it - managing nerds is herding cats, I like to say, always balancing a lot of factors difficult to put into words, difficult to explain, not least in a culture that attracts, God Bless Us All, people who strongly tend to see all things ethical as black or white and it's not hard to tell the difference (which makes it almost impossible to explain that stuff just ain't so simple as they want it to be). I'm a juggler, man, and the cats don't like frenetic motion, so it's tricky.
Metaphors aside -and not, too- I luvs my kittehz, and I don't mind being quiet for them, and quiet is definitely good for me.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 02:19:29 AM
Willow was laying close the front underneath - and I shouldn't have, but I'm tired in my soul today, probably won't see her tomorrow, and I got Willow up on the porch and in my lap. So tiny and soft. Bits of grey on the forepaws. About half her torso with brown tiger stripes developing -not a one of the three dark/black kittens showed but a rather dingy charcoal on their backs the day they were born, 16 days ago- eyes completely solid black with faint cobalt undertones. Looks like she's going to have a short face like Moosh, very fluffy, and rather bizarre marking as things stand, though as things stand isn't much to go by right now. :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
Didn't pet Hershey much -distracted- and Cloud never came up on the porch.
Shortly after I came in, the Buster showing up random event triggered, and she and Mylochka went out to stand at the fence for a few minutes -without telling me, typical- and look at Willow. Then Mom and I decided to go have another look. Hershey wouldn't quite let me catch up to pet him, but Cloud was reasonably relaxed about us standing at the fence quietly.
I need to have a look at the pics I took this morning, but my get up and go has got up and went...
Post by: Unorthodox on August 05, 2016, 02:57:12 AM
My observations to have hinted that cats look at barriers differently than we primates do, but do indeed sometimes showmore braveryless fear on account of such interposition...
The problem is she has been aggressive, and specifically non fearful. She has always threatened first. As in I pondered rabies aggressive. I'm wondering about abused now. Clearly sees houses as food, pets as threats, and humans = fight not flight. I don't get it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 03:17:27 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 02:15:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 03:03:38 PM
Cloud was slow coming out from under dog city, and was still on top of the fence a few feet away when I reached the gate. Hershey had emerged from under the Cutlass, also slowly, and I stroked tails just inside -which couldn't have happened if they didn't stop and permit it- and on to the porch, Willow was still underneath about where I saw her at sunset, and I poured the formula and sat down and so on. I had the self control to not touch the baby, or even spend much time stopping and looking.
It was a low-quality visit, really, probably because still rainy -Hershey was skittish and not terribly receptive to handling- which is probably also a major factor in Willow not getting moved during the night.
[shrugs] I petted my grown cats just a little, Willow's fine and where I don't have to worry for another day, and we need the rain. I'll take it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 06:58:24 PM
So Buster went in pretty soon, but Hershey never came in from where he was laying next to the car, and Cloud came back around the tree and dove into the tuna can. Willow came into the open, and I did reach down and scratch her flank a bit, but didn't try to move her or persist long.
Time up, I told them that I loved them and was on my way. Taking Princess along is worth it because A.) she's my little heart, and B.) it's how making friends with them works, and she wants to.
Time to make more coffee, and I think I'll go have an extra visit while I'm up and about...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 08:29:03 PM
The overcast drippy world that had prevailed since before dawn yesterday had turned back into summer with blue sky and fluffy clouds since lunch - summer, only more humid, but pretty, at least. I only saw Hershey on approach, getting up from beside dog city w/o Cloud, and was thinking "Oh crap; she moved Willow as soon as it began to dry up." -But Willow was under the front of dog city in the impression Cloud's body has made in the leaves, and after I poured the lid up on the porch full of formula, I sat on the damp ground to watch. Hershey didn't seem to like the break in routine -and who am I to complain about that, being the same way?- and didn't jump up for nuhnuh or hang around long.
I gave up and -nobody to see, after all- picked Willow up and settled in my customary spot in front of the big dog house at the top of the stairs to wait, and petting ensued. I haven't gotten her trained to lick nuhnuh off a fingertip -and I want to, since that was the earliest difference between the kittens of the last litter who liked me and the ones who didn't - I wasn't able to get any milk at all into Scaredy the day we met, nor Calico, and very little into Moosh. The other two I fed, and they always were easier. Chicken-egg, who knows?
So anyway, the time for a customary visit was up when Cloud came out of the woods to the west and climbed in, disappearing under the porch. I haven't decided what the terms of the treaty are yet, possibly that I don't try to touch her when Willow is near, and don't take Willow away from under her. I held station, playing with the baby for a while -about the length of a regular visit, hoping Cloud would come up on the porch looking for her- then set her on the ground, poured some nuhnuh in the tuna can -Willow is not in any danger of learning to lap up just yet; it was for Cloud- and sat in the damp dirt where I could see. Cloud was lying under that back corner, watching with signs of relaxation, not in a hurry to go to baby or claim her treat. Willow was crawl/walking around aimlessly - looked half search for Momma, half exploring because she can.
Cloud moved out from under and settled next to the brick pillar close by -I could have leaned way over and touched her if she'd stay still- and resumed watching, still fairly relaxed and not seeming upset when Willow would wander into easy reach and I'd run a finger over her. I picked up the tuna can -Cloud stood- and set it right in front of her, and she drank it. Willow recognized something about the lapping sound and made for her. When she'd finished the tuna can, I reached up and picked up the coffee lid and set it in front of me where the tuna can had been -no closer than the lid is all the time up on the porch- and Cloud condescended to drink that, too, with Willow walking around her face -stepped in the nuhnuh- and finally getting under her mother.
I was able to rise and leave when Cloud was done with her second serving, with her watching me like a hawk, but not retreating...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 10:05:58 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1318)
Note her mother in the background on the cement -we've always called the turnaround The Pad- tiny next to her head. That's the back end of my car and you can see the half-wall of the carport and the pecan tree (the one closest beside the red cooler and the carport). -Also that I live in beautiful country, not the first time pics have let that slip. The light line that ends behind Cloud is the peak of the roof of the car shed; the dog lot's roughly behind Willow's head - so now you can spatially visualize details of my reports I haven't displayed before in shed pics a lot better.
Here's a flash picture of same with focus where it belongs.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1319)
I've got a lot of pictures from yesterday morning to process - 34 left...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 05, 2016, 10:28:01 PM
When I show this picture to my wife, she'll say "I want one!"
I'll say we're already over our two cat limit.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 05, 2016, 11:11:52 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 05, 2016, 11:58:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 12:14:12 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 02:12:22 AM
So I went in, poured formula, and retrieved Willow from under the porch -much drier than the last time I saw her after this afternoon's thundershower, having spent a nice visit with Buster drying her off- and sat and played with my kitten. Cloud and Hershey just sat outside, not even staring. I finally managed to get a nice rhythm going with the fingertip nuhnuh feeding where I was switching hands, dipping a finger in the lid while she licked the last, switching, etc.
After a half hour of this and some sleeping in my lap, Cloud did finally come in, so I rose and put her baby back where she'd left her, and bid them goodnight.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 06, 2016, 02:33:10 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 02:52:33 AM
Willow's barely what you would call walking just yet - I wonder if she's right. It's would explain a lot if the rest of the litter was even worse off; all those five-foot jumps down off the car shed roof...
She'd more prone to lick at my hairy legs than my fingertips, and I had to get her licking a finger while she was turned just right to work the two-hand stuff. I'm terrified to leave her up on the porch, because she keeps trying to climb down - that's not going to end well, when she barely ever gets her belly off the ground when she's trying to walk.
She'll be gone tomorrow, I'm sure - there was a suspicious excursion outside the lot with Willow earlier that was called off by thunder and when the big cats fled for parts unknown, I took her back into the lot, and good thing, 'cause it end up a STORM.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 06, 2016, 03:07:12 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 02:05:52 PM
So I sat for a while watching Cloud and Hershey with a tiny animal on my shoulder exploring my hair. She started complaining about five minutes in, so I disentangled her and we had the usual stroking and letting her wander a little and stopping her from trying to climb down off the porch, and she fell asleep in my lap, and there was a little fingertip licking, also chewing, and what I think was proto-hand-fighting rolled on her side.
The world was wet and drippy again this morning, with a thin fog that seems to have lifted in just the short time since I came in. Hershey did come in during all this, then Cloud, and Hershey got a few strokes here and there -but they were prioritizing the final solution to the uneaten deli meat problem, which got solved thoroughly- over formula or attention from me, and didn't stay on the porch long. They chased each other outside some, and Hershey had come back and gotten a few more strokes and left again, and Cloud had come back into the lot, when I rose to leave. I put Willow down in front of dog city, and Cloud held her ground and let me walk around her while I was leaving.
Looking out the kitchen window when I'd put the jar back in the fridge, Cloud's tail was dangling over the edge of the porch while she lapped up the yellowjacket bait. Willow will probably get moved today, but I can't watch all the time, and have to let it go.
The sun has finally come out since I mentioned the fog lifting.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 04:21:04 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 04:51:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1321)
She got this starkly-reddish fur around her mouth that makes it look like it's misshapen, but I think it's just the markings.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1322)
Looks like a Lon Cheney werewolf, doesn't she?
I wonder about those cataract-looking eyes -it's not entirely just the way they photographed- and hope it's only a fluke of kitten eye-color change...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 06:12:11 PM
Hershey had settled in front of the playhouse, and when I'd looked around the likely places in that direction, meowing and hoping Cloud would give away her position moving her head to look, I went back and sat at the top of the playhouse walk seven feet or so from Hershey - and looked up at the holly bush and saw that the growth spurt I predicted earlier in the week when the drippy world kicked in had happened, so I got up and spent several minutes pinch-pruning shoots on top to grow no taller.
Hershey moved back towards the lot while my back was turned, but he let me approach, and indeed, laid down and let me stroke him under the chin before I broke off and came in.
[shrugs] Can't keep Willow where I know where she is at all times - and she made it this far, and I just have to hope and let it go a little...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 06, 2016, 08:23:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 08:24:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 06, 2016, 10:09:35 PM
I decided to take a pre-supper visit, sorta to make up for the low quality with the grown cats lately. No sign of anyone, so I sat in my spot and waited -experience has taught me not to pour the formula when neither's there to see- and maybe five minutes later, Cloud was suddenly coming down the hill at a dead run. -It was as if she'd been, for example, over in the weeds where the garden used to be, busy, and heard me come out the kitchen door and hustled when she was able to disentangle herself.
Then I poured the nuhnuh. She took her time getting up on the porch. I inched the lid over, and she jumped back down off the side. I just held station and waited five minutes, and she came out from under the front -this is all a lot like she's behaved while the baby was underneath, but I doubt it's that- and spent the rest of her time sitting nearby on the path, grooming.
When I rose to leave, she did move away to the side a little and let me walk around her to leave - then jumped up on the porch and went at the formula.
This is all a problem of success, to the extent I let it bother me - two months ago, I would have touched her zero and thought nothing of it while I sat in front of the lot watching and smoking.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 01:48:06 AM
Then I poured the nuhnuh. She took her time getting up on the porch. I inched the lid over, and she jumped back down off the side. I just held station and waited five minutes, and she came out from under the front -this is all a lot like she's behaved while the baby was underneath, but I doubt it's that- and spent the rest of her time sitting nearby on the path, grooming.D'oh!
So I went out shortly before eight, walked over to the garden side of the pad meowing, and when I'd worked around to the backyard - there was Cloud. She and Hershey gave me the best escort in days, tails stroked, backs too, etc. I gave her a last stroke down the back on the porch -she moved away, but not fast nor far- and poured the goodies and sat in my spot.
-And there was Willow on the ground beside the steps. Recall me talking about how much the last litter loved to play fort in the holes of the cinder blocks? Two are lined up to make tunnels, and I hadn't looked there today, despite seeing Cloud lingering beside the steps a long time earlier. Cloud and Hershey had dug into the formula, and I leaned down and scooped up Willow and put her on the porch with us. -Hershey got a little petting, too.
They burned through two or three servings before Cloud decided to hop down, Hershey, as ever, not far behind, so I leaned forward again and put her baby on the ground - and the little duster crawled into one of the block tunnels...
I finger-tip fed her a couple dips before I left, and Cloud and Hershey both held their stations in the path and let me walk past them while leaving - a first for both not making a big production of fleeing where they're in the path between me and the gate. I think Hershey didn't realize until I was past him, actually.
-As I told Mylochka when I went in, we mustn't pin our hopes on Willow being there in the morning -the last litter was older when we first met them, and they got moved around plenty- but this was still a relief. Right now, I know where Willow is and that she's fine, and I got to pet both of my grown cats a decent amount in the same session for the first time in days. -I'll take it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 02:05:52 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1330)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 02:14:30 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1343)
:luv:
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 07, 2016, 05:47:56 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 11:06:07 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 12:53:33 PM
This is still from Wednesday morning, taken sitting in my spot on the porch of dog city.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1324)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1325)
So I'd already gotten what I call a "cat scan" from Cloud while it was still dark (that's when a cat looks me over through the window). The sun came up, I was wide awake because of a disgusting medical problem during the night, and I just had to go visit mah kittehz super-early.
So jar, out the kitchen door I went, and Cloud came up the hill from where she'd been sitting with Willow outside the gate, ankle love, tail, etc. yada. Oddly, she didn't bother to try to lead me away from the baby this time, but hung back at the gate and clearly was trying to get Willow to follow her back in. I got up and picked up Willow resumed my station and sat her down on the porch. Cloud remained in the gateway grooming and so on. The clouds in the eastern sky were a glowing peach, and there was plenty of light. It was a dewy 75 degrees, pretty comfortable.
Willow licked some formula off my fingertip for a while, also chewed - a dead giveaway she's a week or two younger than the last litter was when I met them; Peepeye, the runt, could make it hurt already.
Towards the end of the normal span of a visit, Willow was asleep -not exactly in my lap, but on the floor in the hole sitting cross-legged leaves, which she's seemed to find a reassuring spot to be in- and Hershey came trotting down the hill, came right in - and looked for solid food in the pan. I stroked him a little, he turned and got into the nuhnuh, jumped down, ran over and pounced on his mother, yada etc.
I just sat idly with one hand absently stroking the baby asleep in my lap, poured more formula, Hershey eventually broke off hassling his mom and came back for more treat. I petted him a little more, he finished off another serving and turned his nose up at a third and went back to playing with Cloud, just outside the gate, mostly, though there was some chasing around.
The span of two regular visits having passed and it getting near to time for my wimminz to wake up, I picked up Willow and put her back down outside near where I'd found her, and bid them good morning.
While I was making more formula, Momma got up and went out to feed/water them. I waited a few seconds and went out to watch from the carport. Hershey escorted her, Cloud stayed put, Hershey went in with her but didn't jump up to get breakfast, and Willow tried to go through the fence to investigate. Momma got a good look and did some sweet-talking. (I don't think anyone but Buster and I have handled her yet.)
I just got up and went out the back door to check, and I think Cloud has still not been in to eat yet. Presumably, Willow was under her - I didn't go close, as I hate to break up nursing or whatever.
Good start to the cat-day...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 04:11:44 PM
Little duster was on my chest while I laid in the grass -I'd been laying on one side with her in the grass next to my legs and rolled onto my back to see where Cloud had moved to, which, unplanned, hoisted Willow into the air, her little claws being latched onto my shorts- and rolled onto her side, then back, biting at my fingers and playing with my hand. -She's a tiny cat, all right.
Hershey was around most of this time, in and out of the lot and playing with his momma, not coming QUITE close enough to touch.
Eventually, I let her down on the side Cloud was currently on, 20 feet away, and a comedy of errors of them not getting together -who knows what Cloud was thinking?- ensued for ten minutes that culminated with me picking up Willow off the cider block by the fence she'd climbed -she climbs better than she walks just yet, but seems afraid of heights and was complaining- and carrying her over to where Cloud had moved the last move, back near the gate. I had Willow in one hand, face-first and held low, and Cloud didn't like me walking up so close, but did let me set here baby down an inch from her, and all was well when I came back in...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2016, 09:15:45 PM
I don't think any of the pictures are going to be any good.
P.S. Nancy is plum retarded with computers - didn't even know what the heck she wanted, let alone remember what I told her for 30 seconds. I ain't had enough sleep, and a terrific headache kicked in...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 07, 2016, 10:24:55 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 12:17:56 AM
Actually, before I made the Scaredy report above, since I'd missed post-lunch session to drive Momma over to Nancy's, I had to go check up right away when we got home, pounding headache or not. Now, it turned out that Buster had been down about an hour before with the fresh batch of formula I made at 7 this morning, so I went empty-handed and found Cloud and the baby in my spot. Cloud fled, but I sat on the eating side anyway and didn't actually move the baby, just reached over and stroked and mostly succeeded in chilling out despite a yellowjacket mob flying around me so thick I thought I was going to end up a YouTube video. They're really out in force today -and before anyone starts again, they're only an annoyance that I don't provoke by swatting, we coexist and I doubt the nest is in the lot, anyway; I've looked.
That trilling sound like a combination of a meow and a purr/growl that Cloud made the sunset before the litter was born? I hear it all the time now - seems to be "Come to momma. Put down the hippy and come follow me."
Anyway, there's something about having a baby cat biting your finger that really feels like love.
So I went back out after supper with the formula, Cloud met me at the edge of the pad, excellent escort that veered over before we got to the gate to where Hershey was waiting in front of the car shed, and I got both tails in the same stroke once.
Willow was on the first step -again, climbs better than she walks- and I got her up with me as I sat, poured formula, Cloud and Hershey jumped up, but tackled the hamburger left from their country-styled hamburger breakfast. -Why it was still there so late if they wanted it so, I do not understand, but there was a thunderstorm around 2:30 that broke the heat and raised the humidity considerably, so just not thirsty, I guess.
The yellowjackets were another matter, still out in alarming/ridiculous numbers and I watched several drown in the nuhnuh.
There was a fuzzy, fuzzy baby cat asleep in my lap when Petey drove up. I won't even bother to wince-smiley, though the gate was standing wide open, Petey's dad proceeded to wash his car after Petey and his mom were inside, and that was when Cloud disappeared into the back of the lot for the rest of my double-length visit.
Hershey actually held on for five minutes of so watching the spectacle, sitting over where it was inconvenient to lean and stroke, but more than receptive enough for a skittish cat on alert when I did, then got on the ground towards the fence for another 5-10 minutes watching me, little sister and the mongol horde of a yellowjacket circus, then came back up for more hamburger and petting the last few minutes before I wrapped up and left.
Put Willow back on the ground for the same reason as before of she's too young to take to fall off the porch and also too young to know not to try, looked around back and located where Cloud was lounging, exited the lot, noticed Willow briefly trying to follow me before she lost track, and went in to see Petey and his people - disruptive, disruptive Petey and his disruptive people. Siigh; I'm fond of Petey and his people...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 02:39:29 AM
No escort this time; Hershey sat in front of the car shed waiting, and let me walk up and scratch him behind the ears quick, which ended up being all I touched him - and Cloud didn't get up from where she was laying -in front of the steps with Willow, I think, but I didn't see- until about then and met me inside the lot on the path. She did allow me a reluctant tail stroke, then greeted Hershey as he came in.
I picked up Willow, and the usual stuff - little finger bites still feel like love, and her paws are soft and feel great pushing against other parts of my hand, finger-tip nuhnuh feeding, etc. I only saw one yellowjacket briefly. Hershey vanished again while I wasn't looking, and of course Petey and his people had to come out and make their goodbyes shortly after I went out -I had closed the gate behind me this time- and Cloud was settled in the path watching that action, not looking back much to make sure I wasn't eating her kid. Kid was trying to eat me, actually, but it still felt like love.
Cloud let me walk around her leaving again - and there was less room for around closer to the gate where she'd settled - I hope she remembers this in the future when she's not staying behind with her kitten...
Mom has figured out that we could prop a bucket on its side behind the steps under dog city with a towel or something, that Willow -and her ma- can have a much nicer and more water-proof bed. We'll put that in tomorrow, and maybe Willow will be there to use it. -She will be again down the road, irregardless...
I am boomflazzled that Cloud has been so tolerant, really, for all the time and work I've put into getting her to accept me - I just can't believe she's been so cool with me touching Willow and not moved her and all. I truly, truly didn't expect Willow to still be in the dog lot Thursday morning, and that wasn't just cautious pessimism...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 04:12:23 AM
-Anyway, here's an action sequence -snapping as fast as the camera would, trying to get good in-focus shots- of still-pregnant Cloud from about three weeks ago...
3...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1270)
2...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1271)
1...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1272)
Jump!
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1273)
She's a lot smaller now... These are probably the best shots I took of how big that baby belly got (lack of focus notwithstanding) - which makes me sad, down to just one kitten so quickly... :(
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 02:06:12 PM
I went out with formula sorta quietly, but Cloud was on the hill for some reason, and I got a nice ankle-love escort and stroked her tail several time and so on - she jumped up on the porch and actually drank the nuhnuh. I'd fished the baby out of the bucket, some mornings I'm less alert than others, and she went right back to sleep with her face pushed into the crook of my right knee, and I just sat there, absently stroking her while I watched Cloud and listened to the drizzle hit the roof, and the Perfect Young Woman coming to hang around the house random event triggered before I was done down there.
I touched Cloud on the shoulders once lightly while she lapped - she moved away but didn't stop drinking.
Cloud finished off a whole serving of formula on the porch with me, but not much of a second before she jumped down while I turned away for a cough. No sign of Hershey this time. I put Willow back in the bucket and here I am, now. It rained 1.12 inches overnight with no sign of stopping soon, so it's going to be a mediocre cat day for the biguns, but nobody's going anywhere.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 06:34:30 PM
-Also, petted Hershey.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 08:01:13 PM
The yellowjackets are helping keep Princess Pretty's kitten fever a teeny bit more reasonable - she's brave, but when they're really out in force, they're disconcertingly friendly, to say the least - she didn't see this morning when one alit on my lower lip -I imagine my eyes widened more than a bit- but was looking at me second later when it landed on my left eyelid...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 08, 2016, 09:58:08 PM
I don't know man, having them land on my lip and than on my eyelid would start to harsh on my serenity. I'd stay still the first time, but afterwards that would chew on my imagination. Not saying I'd hunt down and destroy the nest, but I'd be thinking about putting traps in dog city.
It sounds like the bucket idea worked for everybody.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2016, 11:41:50 PM
We do need to do something about the yellowjackets - they were so thick two visits ago that I was talked into going back and throwing out the steak left over from breakfast -I replaced it with dry food that the cats strangely love but yellowjackets don't seem to- and that had cut the buzzing around way back when I was out there an hour ago. -We're talking around approaches...
I am willing to take, you know, risks for myself - but my perfect niece and that tiny baby cat who would probably die if stung? No. No; gotta do something. Thinking about it...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 02:56:33 AM
There was petting for big brother and tiny fuzzball sister - who went all around and underneath Cloud, but, oddly, didn't try to nurse. I left Cloud alone (I'd gotten several excellent escorts from her today, two extra, actually, because after both the California
Both jumped up, Cloud running under Dog City, Hershey jumping up and laying down with his head hanging off the edge, giving unhappy mews every little bit for the first few minutes, not acting like he noticed I scooted over half a scoot and was working him over gently. This went on for about 20 minutes, I just chilled and let Willow walk between my butt and the big doghouse I was sitting against and go into the styrofoam cooler on its side and lay down, petting her, too. She woke up after a very brief nap, and ended up in my lap - there was some fingertip nuhnuh feeding off the last drops from the jar in there, too.
It was a moderate, non-stormy rain, but it began to blow in on us -it's August, and I'd rather it not, but not like I was going to get cold- and when it suddenly intensified for a moment, Hershey finally was fed up and went under - the light actually got brighter right around actual sunset, which made the world look like a strange cross between lush green summer and gothic twilight.
I just sat, not in a hurry to get wet going in, and sure Cloud was more concerned about the weather than me petting her child, rather like she'd been watching me pet anther child up close multiple times a day, not killing him to death a single time, and rarely trying to even touch her during -and I'd guess that's KEY to her surprising tolerance of Willow being handled this week- and I had a fuzzy baby in my lap chewing my fingers and napping, with nothing more important to do. Pretty nice, fuzzy love and summer rain.
-Zero yellowjackets the entire time, too.
But it was getting seriously dark and I'd been sitting there 45 minutes when I gave up trying to wait out the rain. I put the baby in the bucket bed, turned it to face downhill -not knowing for sure what the weather would do while we were asleep- and came in and made more formula. Sorry to have been AFK so long, but kitten and Hershey chilling with me... :D :luv:
It's been an exceptionally good cat day, not least the session I barely touched any of them, but got to hang out with SuperModel #1 while she played with Willow... The young woman has a level head and good cat instincts...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 04:40:58 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1326)
-A.) Willow was the kitten in the sleeping pile of three with her back to the camera the day they were born -
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1327)
-and B.) despite the grey markings around the eyes mostly going away in 10 days, that Mask was Willow.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1328)
-Also C.) she doesn't have the most gorgeous markings in the world, but as she gets minimally oriented and fuzzier, she becomes more and more adorable and beautiful to me. :luv:
If that butt turns out tiger-striped as it looks like it may, I might add "Tigripard" to her names...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 09, 2016, 04:44:57 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 04:53:49 AM
-And she's genuinely smart and pretty, too. I mean, I know I'm biased, but HUGE grey eyes...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 04:56:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 01:44:39 PM
Last night, I left out of my sunset report what Willow was doing for about ten minutes straight after Hershey got on the porch out of the rain and laid on his belly, which was explore all around his body, seeming to look for a way underneath. She licks my leg when she's in my lap - one imagines he's a lot closer to her idea of safety and security and possible real nuhnuh. It doesn't make a great story, I think, but it was pretty awesomely adorable to watch. Like my petting, Hershey seemed focused on the ground and ignored her - which is his loss, the lonely boy...
Post by: Bearu on August 09, 2016, 03:28:46 PM
There's not a lot to say about going out to visit when I got up, though it was a long visit. I got probably enough sleep to function today, but minimum and I didn't feel sharp and black coffee unsweetened is vile. I needed some quiet cat time and I got it. Hershey was off the porch more than on, but I got some good petting in, didn't touch Cloud at all or try, and the little fuzzy goblin was asleep in my lap nearly the whole time.The kitten project appears to have a positive impact on the state of mind for you. ;b;
Last night, I left out of my sunset report what Willow was doing for about ten minutes straight after Hershey got on the porch out of the rain and laid on his belly, which was explore all around his body, seeming to look for a way underneath. She licks my leg when she's in my lap - one imagines he's a lot closer to her idea of safety and security and possible real nuhnuh. It doesn't make a great story, I think, but it was pretty awesomely adorable to watch. Like my petting, Hershey seemed focused on the ground and ignored her - which is his loss, the lonely boy...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 06:22:31 PM
This thread didn't start as a project thread, just as the Kat Frend progect only started as cute kitten pictures and talking about my kittens - but you and Rusty get it; this thread has turned into my Joy of Painting.
I spent a super-quick visit with mah kittehz before the appointment, and a very long one after. Not all is well with the world, but they have helped me make lemonade of my day so far. ;b;
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 09, 2016, 07:58:59 PM
But that explains it rather eloquently.
It also reminds me of people and my attitude about them. My first impression of him was that he was weird. Lots of people strike me as weird, or dorks or nerds, as there are a multitude of us. I don't pretend to understand a stranger, but I can identify with the struggle of being different, or being a misfit, and accept them on that basis as a peer or comrade of sorts.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 09, 2016, 09:31:31 PM
I've spent another session with Willow - she mostly just slept on me this one, instead of being as playful as the ones before and after my morning appointment, but that was still nice. I do need to write about her walking up the hill last time and efforts to head off a possible move attempt that seems to have worked...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 09, 2016, 11:01:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 12:53:45 AM
Earlier, Cloud was nursing Willow -I'm afraid I've been looking at her little goblin face and colors like Halloween decorations left in the sun a long time and finding her name wanting to be Goblin, not Willow- at the edge of the woods and I was worried about it ending in the woods and no more baby cat where I knew she was okay and could go play with her at will, so I decided to try to lure Cloud back into the dog lot and take the kid back in and see if that wouldn't end better. So, going out with the jar did lure Cloud away, though not all the way into the lot, I poured the formula and headed out and scooped up Willow took her back in and put her in the bucket, pouring a second serving of formula in the tuna can on the ground so Cloud could imbibe next to her baynay and went back indoors, noting in transit that Cloud jumped up on the porch and went for the coffee lid, not the tuna can on the ground...
...And the next time I went out, the bottom of the tuna can was FULL of mostly-dead yellowjackets. My working hypothesis is: I've watched them flailing in the formula in the lid lot of times; they flail and flail and flail, and roughly 3/4 of the time, they eventually come into contact with the edge before they drown and climb out. -Now, the tuna can is 1.) roughly twice as deep, and 2.) had VERY smooth sides, unlike the plastic threaded lid. I think maybe the wet things can't climb out when they contact the side, they can't fly wet, and they just all drown, a smidge poured in the bottom -all I poured- being too far down to perch and sip from the rim as they can do on the lid in the first place. It's a killing field for as long as it smells good to yellowjackets and it takes for a cat to drink it up. -It was dry, but I bet Cloud took her time getting to it; they totally drink around drowned yelowjackets and ignore them - I've watched that many times.
I shared some of this with Mylochka, an educated doctor with a scientific brain -PhD. in reader's theater, actually- and she instructed me to move the can away from the dog lot next time to lure the yellowjackets slightly away - which I did on the last visit, and over a 20 minute to half hour play session, it seemed to have taken out a bunch. It just rained hard, so I don't know how that will skew the results when I go back for sunset shortly, but I will keep one and all posted - it seems that a modest ongoing investment of sweet meat milkshake might make for an effective slow rolling genocide of the nasty pests...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 02:02:05 AM
There was a mess of dead yellowjackets in the can, though I hadn't emptied it either previous time and couldn't say how much accumulation since last time. -It was dry, which meant one or both of the cats had drunk it since the hard rain at 6:45, and I doubt they'd clean out just rain water like that with their water bowl on the porch, so it had stood drawing flying pests for over an hour.
Princess was asked for her vote after I'd taken the Goblin name issue to my wimminz, and she says keep Willow, Goblin as nickname, which I modify to the cat's gonna have a lot of names - and I'm told I'm allowed to say Goblin, and will if it continues to feel right. This mayend up being Willow Goblin Mask Tigripard [family name]...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 04:13:44 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1331)
So after the challenge of starting my day with fasting and waiting for my medical appointment and the relief of finally getting three strips of bacon and some proper sissy coffee in me, I needed to see my katz and chill - I snatched a quick visit right before time to go, and lil' Goblin had been so alert and playful that I'd hated to break it off so quickly.
-A long post appointment visit later, Cloud and Hershey had disappeared out of sight at the corner of the carport up the hill, and I deemed it appropriate to drop Goblin off where her mother was - and maybe get to sit and watch her totter around exploring on a flat surface she couldn't fall off. (I was going to briefly sneak her inside if Cloud wasn't still there.)
Cloud was still there, Momma showed up and we sat in lawn chairs and watched the reunion - and it was too much for Cloud, who trilled and started leading her off the pad in the wrong direction. It may well have been a circle-around to mislead going home deal, but I decided that in case it wasn't, better to take the baby back to the lot and hope Cloud would leave it be than watch her disappear. So I did that -Goblin has only just gotten halfway competent at walking and staying on-task well enough to get anywhere and it couldn't go any faster than her, so no trick catching up- put her back in the bucket and went back in the house.
Talking to Momma inside, I looked out the window and I'll be John Browned if there wasn't Goblin 30 feet outside the lot heading straight up the hill. She's come a very long way, developmentally, in a week; three weeks old about an hour after this. Cloud and Hershey were at the edge of the woods reclining and looking on, she was surely looking for her momma, but didn't see her. I went back outside to sit and supervise from the carport when Cloud got up, went over, and led her back to where she'd been, by the Hershey spot that he'd tended to favor and emerge from until Cloud took an interest in the west woods last month.
I think Cloud tried to lead her into the woods, but she couldn't step over the weeds. I was letting it go -honestly, I can't watch at all times; I have to accept some lack of control- when she vanished, but she didn't make it far. Cloud came back into the open and it appeared nursing was going on - and as I said earlier:
I was worried about it ending in the woods and no more baby cat where I knew she was okay and could go play with her at will, so I decided to try to lure Cloud back into the dog lot and take the kid back in and see if that wouldn't end better. So, going out with the jar did lure Cloud away, though not all the way into the lot, I poured the formula and headed out and scooped up Willow took her back in and put her in the bucket, pouring a second serving of formula in the tuna can on the ground so Cloud could imbibe next to her baybay and went back indoors, noting in transit that Cloud jumped up on the porch and went for the coffee lid, not the tuna can on the ground...[shrugs]
I'm really impressed by Goblin making it way up the hill by herself, is the real point of the story...
:luv:(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1334):luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 01:28:51 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1333)
My ankle hurts.
There's not much else to tell about an empty-handed visit as soon as the coffee was ready very first thing. As I was settling in my cross-legged spot with a sleepy Goblin in my lap, I felt an intense pain on the ball of my left ankle, like I sometimes, not usually, suddenly feel the mosquito bites after the mosquito is gone -never see anything when I look- only about twice as bad. I raised my right leg, and a yellowjacket had apparently landed there and gotten crushed under my right calf as I sat. $#@! this is going to hurt all day, in that spot.
Goblin slept in my lap for a double-length session, which was awesome, her little goblin face propped up on my abused ankle, and no sign at all of the big cats. Haven't gotten a report yet from Momma about breakfast. I need to go back long enough to pour just enough formula to cover the bottom of the tuna can - it had been cleaned out since I left last night, and there were only three or so yellowjackets around this morning so far...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 05:36:49 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1359)
She'd gone to sleep laying on her side fighting my hand in the cooler-bed, and I risked leaving her on the porch to run inside for the camera to take a picture of her with her belly exposed having puppy-dreams. Alas, she woke up as I re-entered the lot. Still, mighty cute shots, taken just mid-morning today.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1360)
Not much action with the yellowjackets today, so little going on with the drowning can -they come out far more as the day warms- though there were one or two drowned, and some -I dunno, little cockroaches- and a lot of ants confusing the issue.
My ankle is red and tender, but not very swollen or nearly as bad as I'd feared.
Here she is in the bucket, which Mom has propped so the back is higher than the front, so rain can still blow in and dampen, alas, but water can't build up.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1363)
I think I will turn it to align with the pillar, though, so we can see straight into it from the kitchen window; this is an awkward angle for us, with still much of the downside of facing the outside of dog city for her. -Her welfare includes us being able to glance and know she's there...
I hadn't seen the grown cats today, but I was on the carport well afterwards smoking and talking to Momma when Cloud turned up, and she clearly had entitled ideas about her right to be spoiled with cold delicious sweet meat milkshakes, started up the hill and - my master's voice. I ducked inside for the jar, and there was escort and we had half a visit, Hershey turning up and getting petting, and after all that, she nibbled on chicken from breakfast the whole time with her back to me. I stroked her tail almost non-stop for five minutes straight :luv: before she got fed up and moved. Hershey drank the nuhnuh, and I didn't see if she went for the seconds I left behind.
The two of them were shortly up the hill again commencing a patrol together, and I went inside and discussed with Momma that it's time to go ahead and get Hershey fixed. We have to borrow a cage first and she needs to call the vets, but maybe in the next few days...
Not a terribly flattering angle, and I'm reluctant to show my face online - but too late for that...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1364)
Lookin' pretty darn Uncle Sparky today. Gettin' old.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 07:48:02 PM
I set Goblin down on my left side towards them, as I prefer to do when Cloud condescends to be up on the porch with us, and -leaving out several uninteresting minutes to relate- it ended up with the little monster nosing under her when she'd turned to the nuhnuh, suckling a bit, moving around to the front of her clockwise and stepping in the nuhnuh, circling around under for some rough feeding action beneath her momma, rise and repeat for four revolutions. -The last time, I reached over and was tickling Goblin's belly while she laid on her back nursing and clawing while Cloud lapped formula and looked at my hand, and either when Goblin braced her hind feet against my hand she did something especially painful, or Cloud became embarrassed to find herself the straight cat in a cat-Marx bros. routine, because she moved and gave the trill of 'bust a move, shortshanks; we're outta here' and jumped down.
Time was about up, so I set the voracious little formula-splasher and Mauler of Mammas to the ground and said my goodbyes - Cloud seemed to intend to lead her out back to lay in the weeds and have a more sedate -and presumably less painful and embarrassing- feeding of teh baybay.
I poured a smidge more into the drowning can -it was appearing to need to be a little deeper to work well, though it's been hard on non-yellowjackets today, too- and walked over to in front of the playhouse and petted Hershey a bit more, then came in to report to my loyal audience...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 10, 2016, 08:33:40 PM
And my wife really enjoys the kitten pictures.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 08:42:03 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 10, 2016, 09:53:42 PM
Our short-haired black cat just crawled onto the top of the sofa, which is next to my chair. There is a picture window behind it. It provides a view of some nearby shrubs on the property line, next to my neighbor's birdfeeder. One of the birds just struck the window while diving at the cat. The cat scarcely flinched. I'm beginning to suspect that this cat does this intentionally.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2016, 09:56:47 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 12:43:35 AM
Cloud met me inside the gate and did ankle love, but didn't much seem to like the single stroke on the back on the porch. I put Goblin down on the floor and she made her way over to her Momma, and I spent over half the visit watching her nurse with Cloud sitting up the whole time, ignoring the formula - perhaps because The Splasher was there?
I turned away to cough and she vanished, so Goblin did totter over and play with me the rest of the time. I finger-fed her some nuhnuh and got chewed delightfully while she fought my hand and climbed around my lap, and summoned up the character and self-discipline to not make it a double-length visit like I often do. Put her back in the bucket when I left, but she didn't stay in.
The afternoon rain had diluted the contents of the drowning can, but not filled it near the top - there's an awful lot of dead bugs in there since early today, I think yellowjackets a distinct minority, but definitely them, too.
It's almost time to go back for sunset, now...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 02:41:48 AM
Cloud's petting was all front-loaded on approach - but then, she's the one who pets back, which is what ankle love is. As always when Cloud's up on the porch, I set Goblin down free beside me on the left and let her wander over to Momma - though first she did several clockwise circuits under her big brother and between his forepaws -missing the lid, thank goodness- for several minutes while he guzzled the nuhnuh alone and Cloud sat away and --- just sat.
When Hershey had had two courses and jumped down, she stumbled over to Cloud and I pushed the lid way over and got Cloud to drink, while Goblin did the same Marx routine as before, only because of how Cloud was stretched out, was able to walk under her head -still circling clockwise- and not splash in the formula.
When Cloud had had enough -three courses- and hopped down to join Hershey on the path, Goblin circled the porch -you guessed it, clockwise; what's up with always circling clockwise?- for a while, more interested in exploring or wondering where Cloud had gone or something than my lap, though I did fingertip feed her a little and all that. I decided to take her over to where Cloud was on the path close to the gate, and was allowed to set her down a few inches away and go back to my spot to watch. She circled her supine mother -clockwise- twice, looking for a way in under, and finally managed to wiggle in under her butt and make her shift to make room.
When I rose to leave -first inspecting the drowning can and estimating in the poor twilight light that there were roughly ten still yellowjackets there, and no cat had drank all day- it had settled into a proper laying-down nursing, and Cloud tensed and sat up a little -I think; I was deliberately looking away- but allowed me to walk by a foot away. Her eyes were relaxed when I'd closed the gate and said a few gentle words about how they were pretty and I loved them and intended to protect them - and goodnight; I intended to go over there and pet her son, which I did for minute before I went inside.
I'll take it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 12:49:05 PM
Goblin was surprisingly alert, nursed from a sitting-up Cloud, and I done been chewed on by a baby monster already today.
Petey's dad had had a heart attack when I went in, so there was chaos with my wimminz, who just now left for the hospital.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 02:38:09 PM
Not so much with the latter, who didn't jump up for long or touch the formula until I left. -But had a good play with Goblin whose bite has gone from you feel it and that's all last Wednesday morning to you notice how sharp her little teeth are when she bears down hardest. Those teeth have grown noticeably in a week. :luv:
She's showing definite signs -actually clumsily doing it already- of liking to play fort; but she uses the gap between my bottom
and the big doghouse as the fort when she whoops my hand, which makes me regret that she doesn't have littermates to do it with in the coming month as she's ready to climb up and down the cinder blocks. Those little claws never seem to retract entirely, though they're a long way from being scratchy yet. Her paws spread out really wide when she splays her toes, feel adorable pushing against my hand, and there's something thick about the shape of her wrists that reminds me of Calico and makes me think she's going to be big.
-I've a working hypothesis about what happened to the others related to that, that I need to write up...
She walked onto my right foot when I had set her on the ground and gotten up - and continued to follow me when I went out and sat in the wet grass just outside the gate. (One of those damp mornings, which tends to account for the grown cats not being friendly despite the absence of roof noise - they just don't like wet days, and the sun only came out while I was in the lot) But Cloud had emerged, and she eventually went back and got some more mommy nuhnuh time. My cigarette finished, I went over and petted Hershey beside the Cutlass where he'd been supervising since he left the lot early in the visit, then went back in to retrieve the jar, and was on my way.
Very little action in the drowning can this morning, which has still not been drunk from, just a lot of drownees in the bottom.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 05:51:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 06:34:01 PM
A bunch of cheery crap was on the screen during initial boot, which seems to have taken as long as unpacking and hooking up, so I went out and sat on the ground in front of the bucket and played with Goblin, who came right out -circled me clockwise a few times- allowing me to shake out the towel and re-fold and replace. Hershey came in and jumped up on the porch to check for treats, was where I could reach and pet; didn't stay long, though. No sign of Cloud; probably laying in back - I came out the basement door and didn't announce myself.
Everything looks funny on this, and I don't like adjusting to change...
My time up -a good time w/ fuzzy kitten who is definitely on the affectionate pet track- I set Goblin back in the bucket, and here I am. Now to start rebuilding my favorites list...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 08:55:48 PM
My wimminz came home from the hospital, Petey's dad is doing great -had been living with 80% blockage they claim, and getting that cleared may end up doing him more good than the harm of the heart attack- and we went down as a group -actually, Muylochka ran an errand and came late- to visit Goblin, who I deem ready for people and play and acclimating to more people, at least if Cloud is cool with it.
She was a little overwhelmed, and we shouldn't have taken Goblin out in front to the corner next to the woods - I had to intervene twice, and run in for the jar before we left them both in the lot, to leave Cloud some "this is why you put up with it" conciliatory nuhnuh.
Goblin was in good charming form and practiced disemboweling my hand for my cooing wimminz... :luv: ;lol
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 11, 2016, 09:33:50 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2016, 09:37:28 PM
It did clear and start drying up early today, and while it's pretty sure to rain again before dark, they like humid just fine - and I actually think enough have died to make a serious dent in the hanging around and pestering numbers. The last two visits were yj primetime, and we only saw a few...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 02:00:38 AM
She climbed parts of me and the steps, and managed to get to the ground from the second step almost on her own - she'll be climbing up and down well in a week or two. Cloud disappeared while I wasn't looking from where she'd been keeping an eye/lounging just outside the gate, and it was several minutes before I realized she was laying inside on the path roughly where she started - dunno if she'd been exercising her low visibility or just moved back into place more recently while I was turned away again.
When I'd been playing with Li'l Monster for nearly 45 minutes and it was getting dark and time to go, I took her over and put her down very close to Cloud again, which I think is a nice reassurance touch, returning her directly.
Nobody had touched the formula in the lid, and though Cloud seemed to be dealing with a ravening tiny beast trying to eat her underside as I walked away, I suspect the formula snub got rectified before I made it back downstairs to my office and sat to type this report...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 03:51:26 AM
She's yet to make the conceptual and coordination breakthrough of drinking out of a dish...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1342)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 12:25:26 PM
Goblin was near the red cooler at the corner of the carport - Momma has said she's there some mornings, but this is the first time I've seen it myself. Same deal as how we found her a week and a half ago, I'd venture, just taking the baby out for exercise/nursing while besieging the house in the morning. I didn't see Cloud sitting five feet way until I'd sat.
I played with Goblin for over half an hour, saw the sunrise -not literally; wrong end of the house, but dark when I went out, day when I went in- and mostly, she was walking around exploring, though I did get licked and chewed on a little. Momma came out and fed the grown cats -Hershey showed up and wrestled his maw about halfway through- towards the end, and I took Goblin down when I was ready to come in, and laid her in the bucket.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 02:42:59 PM
I got an escort going in, but for some reason, it wasn't very close, or rather, Cloud wasn't doing the ankle swerve. Hershey took off pretty soon after it turned out I'd brought no solid food, but Cloud was glad of the three servings of nuhnuh, if setting after inspecting the food pan and tasting the gravy. When she left to sit just outside the gate -w/ back to us- and supervise the morning world, Goblin got a lot more interested in fighting my hand - a lot of it playing fort from behind my butt where I couldn't see- and then made her way into the cooler bed, where she eventually fell asleep with one of my fingers between her teeth. I ran in for the camera, and this time I got the shots.
She looked so adorably content laying there, I decided to risk leaving her on the porch when I came inside. She has her claws dug in at all times when she's moving, and should be able to get down by the stairs fine, if clumsily, or at least break her fall enough clinging to the side of Dog City. She's displayed a lot less interest in the edge for several days, and may just stay on the porch. Cloud was on the steps inspecting her when I left, and can feed her just fine on the porch. -There is no eliminating all risk in life; and overprotective parents tend to do children a lot of harm...
I'll go check on her again soon, and put her on the ground if I find her up and about...
Fresh pics coming soon.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 05:29:40 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1365)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1366)
She's definitely getting less very-dark-grey and more brown/red/yellow...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 07:10:57 PM
-I just 20 minutes ago watched, out the window, Cloud lead Goblin into the woods, the ingrate. :(
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2016, 10:29:24 PM
No escort, but after sitting and waiting on the porch -the cat cereal looked untouched since she'd left it at lunch and dried out, so I refreshed it a little- for a while, she came in by sitting and grooming stages, hopped up and ate for a few minutes near me. Then she made her way out and back into the woods.
She came to a stop where I could -poorly- see, and a dashing tramp-through-the-woods rescue adventure commenced. culminating in my triumphal reentry to the lot with a certain infamous little hippy-biting ferocious beast. I had to spend a little time with her -she fell asleep biting me in the cooler again- and all told, about an hour was burned off.
No sign of Hershey, and I didn't see Cloud again after she bolted in the woods. I'd replaced the congealed contents of the drowning can this morning -a yellowjacket was just walking around, not wading, on the backs of the dead- with sugar water, and many more have perished, but it either evaporated -unlikely; it's not that much less humid- or someone drank the bait between lunch and 4. I need to empty and replace.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 13, 2016, 04:06:49 AM
Really nothing to report except Hershey was up for some petting and nuhnuh. Cloud was laying in the path near the gate w/ li'l Mauler attached to her underside, and they didn't move when we passed - they never did, though I had to walk past both ways an extra time when I realized I'd left a bowl behind. Watched them sleep most of the time I was there, except while I was coming and going. Someone had cleaned out all the cat cereal, so Cloud probably had the itis.
Yeah, so frustrating expedition to find a casing to mount my old hard drive as an external and get access to nearly nine years worth of files back - and it's Princess' fault, because she stole Mylochka while I was taking an early sunset in preparation for asking her help on a supply run, and they couldn't be bothered to react to me shouting "No!" up the hill as they left, which cost us and hour and a half and getting out before the stores closed as we pulled up, and I frankly hadn't known where to go for that stuff.
It was ten when we got back -and Mylochka loaned me the use of a sata casing of a drive in a closet the whole time, which is working now, thank you, and I was clenched up bad enough with stress and annoyance that I had to go look for Goblin in the dark. Sat down in front of the bucket - nothing. Then I saw a black indistinct lump off to the side near dog city and it was her and I've been chewed on, and all is right again. -I suspect Cloud fled when I entered, and they'd been sleeping together in an open spot on the ground. Hershey passed by in the dark from around back while I was there, at least I'm pretty sure it was Hershey, and he tends to hang close to his mamma...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 13, 2016, 12:29:03 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1367)
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 13, 2016, 03:28:12 PM
On the edge of the pad, when I got close to Cloud, Goblin was savaging her underside, so relief and I sat down about seven feet away. A minute later, Goblin spotted me and ran over - she can travel now when she's sure. Play commenced, and yesterday, she'd gained enough jaw strength to make me do my first indrawn breath of pain at a chew, which roughly catches her up with Peepeye when I met him - there was a little of that pain action again, not much.
I spent nearly an hour, all told, and again was on the concrete playing when Momma came out for the morning feed -she says Hershey was game for some petting while he ate- and I wrapped up soon afterward and took her down the hill. She climbed me, got on the back of my neck, and I had to lean forward and walk slow and funny a bit until I reached up and put a hand on her. I eventually got her to walk down my left arm and onto the porch, then put her in the bucket and came in.
Getting on two hours later, I went out again and played with her some more - she was more alert this time and made me hiss more, Cloud was around and had a serving of formula but didn't stay for seconds, no sign of Hershey. Longer visit - what do you say in setail about playing with a kitten? She was exploring, and climbed my knee, I was laying on the ground, onto the second step and thence onto the porch. I put her back in the bucket when I left, picked up the drowning can -two yellowjackets and two ants; somebody had cleaned out the bodies in the bottom overnight- and took it in to refill w/ sugar water. -Also made more coffee and nuhnuh. When I went back with the drowning can, Cloud had gone back into the lot and Goblin was out of the bucket and very interested in my feet. She ended up in the block tunnel playing fort with my right foot, :luv: and it turned into a full-length sequel visit. Cloud hadn't gotten the second serving of formula when I left, though she had walked over to the drowning can, sniffed and rejected...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2016, 02:23:35 AM
Half an hour later, they were both vanished. My five hours sleep was catching up with me, and I didn't feel like reporting it, or have a lot of energy for searching, though I made rounds of some obvious places, mewing pitifully.
After supper, I managed to nap a couple hours, and that took me to sunset session, or I'd have been down longer. Hershey popped right up at the top of the hill, Cloud came from the garden -aHA!- and not much of an escort, but Hershey was down for some affection and Cloud was hungry enough for cereal to not move completely away when I kept touching her.
I got up early, went up the hill and waded into the weeds where the garden was, meowing - and there she was.
Well. I kept at it long enough to lose my light pretty thoroughly, was licked and bitten and played fort with her quite a while back at the dog lot. Cloud showed back up before I wrapped, but I went back in the dark before commencing this post, and Goblin was still there. :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2016, 04:34:27 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1281)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1282)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1266)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2016, 07:14:30 PM
When he'd left, there was no sign of Cloud anywhere and my wimminz had just come back fro shopping, so I smuggled the little demon up to the house, handed her to aunt Pokey on the couch and lured Chula, the dog -the other one, Frieda, was next door keeping Princess company- back to the bedroom and closed the door.
Goblin was very interested in random exploration around the living room, and also very fuzzy and soft to the touch as my wimminz handled her. A good time was had by all for about a half hour before I took her back out to her bucket. -No sign of either grown cat, though someone had cleaned out the nuhnuh in the interim...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2016, 09:37:52 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1372)
She was a touch distressed about being in a mysterious new place. -Probably more to the point, she doesn't like being held in the air upright, but it was the only way to get her face in a shot...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1374)
-But calmed down quickly enough...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1373)
Her eyes always have that startled look - I think if you bleached her just right, with her shortish muzzle, long fur making it look shorter, and staring eyes, she'd be hard to tell from Moosh at a glance...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 14, 2016, 10:50:16 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1344)
Love this pictures and the awesome eye colors.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2016, 11:27:22 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 14, 2016, 11:33:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2016, 11:42:03 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 15, 2016, 01:09:44 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 02:07:59 AM
-After being gone most of the day, Cloud came out of the lot to greet me for sunset session, and somewhat made up for lost time. Hershey was at the edge of the pad, and escorted, she didn't come out far, but there was touching of tails and backs and so on. She ended up with her back to me lapping the formula, and didn't seem to care for the back-stroking, but didn't much move away and didn't seem to mind having her tail stroked about as much as I've ever done.
Hershey got some of that action, too - he my buddy. -But was on the other side where I had to lean, and didn't stay for the second serving.
She ended up sitting a foot from me nursing Goblin for several minutes, and I could hear her purring - Goblin must not be as savage on nipples as hands, or being milk-tight hurts more than I can imagine. When she got down, naturally Goblin wanted down, too - I saw her climb down the steps successfully twice today -and want her to practice while I'm there for safety, she being a far better climber than climber-down- but just put her on the ground to save time. She wandered around a bit and played with my foot a little, than went over for more nursing - and there was more audible purring. After several minutes, Goblin broke off, and over and crawled into the cinderblock tunnel to play fort with my foot -and the rope that's been tied to the rafter since the last litter. Then she went back for more nursing, and for the second time today, I saw Cloud put the headlock of love on her. -Actually, just a one-foreleg neck hug while grooming that both times turned into both paws clasping her the way Goblin does my finger when she's killing it to death - only this doesn't look as violent.
Playing with Goblin is more fun than watching Cloud play with her, of course, but this was a mighty fine visit. CLoud sat up when I walked close by exiting the lot, but didn't move away. I bid them goodnight, and here I am. -Nobody tell Cloud I snuck her baby inside twice while she was lounging in the shade in the creek bottom or something over half the day...
The drowning jar got five more yellowjackets in about seven hours - the sheer mass of black ants may make it easier to avoid drowning, but I can think of no feasible way to keep them out.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 15, 2016, 02:33:21 AM
If only we had a resident bug expert...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 02:35:18 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 04:23:28 AM
She was where I'd left her after sunset laying with Cloud, alone now -I sorta figured Cloud had just moved away quietly in the dark as I approached- and we played and she moved around randomly - and I slowly, as my eye got better dark adjusted, became aware that Cloud was sitting by dog city a few feet away. -Soon while I wasn't looking, she was suddenly up on the porch, then seemingly just sitting up there after a treat-check and a drink of water.
When my planned visit time was almost over, Goblin tottered over from more random moving around, climbed onto my crossed legs, laid in the valley intersecting, chewed my palm a bit - and fell asleep with one forepaw and her head in my hand. :luv: :luv: I just sat there for ten minutes, hating to move her - she felt so soft and awesome laying there. :luv: :luv: I've never heard her purr, but I've definitely felt it several times...
-But Cloud was suddenly down off the porch and worked up the courage to come closer, so I sat the baby on the ground near her - and the little duster was head-towards me and started back, so I had to pick her up and set her back down pointed at her mother an inch or two away, which straightened things out, toot sweet. Went in to take the rest of my medicine then, giving Cloud the usual reassurances as I closed the gate that she's pretty and I love her and take care of the li'l evil baby cat and to have a good night.
-Worth the trip... ;nod
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 01:13:57 PM
Cloud and Hershey dived into the seashell pasta with enthusiasm, and I set Goblin on the porch with them and settled down in my spot. Goblin moved around aimlessly, mostly under Hershey, and was climbing into the food pan when Cloud sensed something alarming on cat frequencies and left abruptly. Hershey seemed to pick up something, too, but found eating more urgent - he lasted several more minutes before following, not least because there was a kitten blocking his access to pasta...
Her back was to me and I couldn't see what she was doing, so I don't knowif she was eating solid food - she won't be a month old until tomorrow afternoon- or just licking the sauce off. When she came out of the pan, she laid against me and went to sleep sitting up. I eventually transferred her into my lap and just sat for the rest of my time, absently stroking. She went right back to sleep in my hand when I shifted to get up. :luv: and I put her in the bucket and was on my way.
My wimminz have since come home from morning pool exercise, and pointed out there was no sign of any of them. -I believe as soon as the morning email forward is taken care of, I'll take the nuhnuh out and see if anyone gives away their position...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 02:31:31 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 04:32:37 PM
I'll go look again soon, 'cause she won't sleep all day...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 06:21:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 08:20:51 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1267)
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 15, 2016, 10:40:15 PM
Do you think Uncle Bob is about again?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 10:47:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2016, 11:16:26 PM
:(
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2016, 01:11:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2016, 12:35:59 PM
I did my due spoiling -they liked last week's chicken dumplings fine, too- and then spent a half hour patiently following Cloud when she left, Hershey in tow.
Anyway, Goblin is asleep on my left leg as I type, and all is a lot better in the world. She's finally figured out lapping nuhnuh from the lid, so I know she's fed.
:danc:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2016, 01:21:19 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1375)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2016, 01:36:17 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1376)
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1377)
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1377)
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 16, 2016, 08:12:05 PM
Lapping from the lid is a nice landmark, too. That should make your doctor day more bearable.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2016, 09:23:14 PM
Of course after I got back from being made to wait inexcusably long, I had to go spend about a half hour with her - someone had cleaned out the nuhnuh lid since noon, but that could have been her - she can climb up and down now, and lick at it, which she does a lot the way she nurses; a few minutes, then a break to move around, then back to it.
I left her asleep on the porch. She'll be fine. Mildly worried about her mom and brother staying away all day again, though... Passt time to get him fixed...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2016, 12:54:33 AM
...
-Earlier, I didn't have time to report before my appointment, but I took her upstairs after my 08:36 post this morning, and both my wimminz had her sleep on their shoulders in turn while they laid on the couches. I like for everyone to handle her and make friends, her family tending to be a bad influence and all... She's definitely doing fine on the charm offensive, and doesn't bite others as hard as her hippy...
After I'd taken her back to the lot and come in for an hour my wimminz kept walking past my basement office window, and when I went to investigate, it turned out they were setting up for a tie dye party with Buster - I set up a chair to supervise, and figured with Cloud not around --- Goblin loved the little cement skirt Daddy poured around the foundation a million years ago to not have to mow right up against the house; it makes a lovely pet highway, as many generations of dogs have also found... I brought the nuhnuh lid over with her, for good measure, but she was too taken with exploring a new spot to pay it much attention. She played with Princess and even spent a little time in the Rev. Dr. my little brother's lap.
...
So back closer to the present, I took the jar out after supper -the formula from this morning had already been drunk up when I got her to keep me company while I cooked, and we were naturally concerned about keeping her hydrated and fed with Cloud not around all day-and spent 15 minutes with her, during which she drank more and distended her belly more- and came in, being actually somewhat sated for her company and anticipating sunset all too soon. -And half an hour later, there was Cloud, and so back out and ankle escort -and Cloud rubbing her face against the open gate as I went in, looking up at me- and I hooked her up for most of three courses, w/ Goblin under her nursing as she stood there, before she jumped down and sat in her favored nursing spot. I set our precious little demon on the ground and watched more traditional nursing. -I've checked twice since, and she was still there three minutes ago, and now it's time to take the jar out one last time for the day, to spoil her some more and hope Hershey shows...
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 17, 2016, 01:10:26 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2016, 02:16:13 AM
There was no Hershey for sunset, but Cloud did run out for a briefish ankle escort, then turned her nose up at more formula so soon or hopping up on the porch - it hadn't been quite an hour. Goblin had had a good nurse -already pretty full when her mother finally showed up- and a long nap, so she was in fine exploring and pouncing mode, jumping on her momma for a few minutes, then running over to me, playing fort with my feet and later my hands - she has the softest, most delightful little paws to bat at toes and play pattycake with your fingers.
I think she was a bit developmentally behind when I made her acquaintance two weeks ago tomorrow morning -because an only child with little stimulation up to then, sleeping all the time in quiet hidey-holes?- but she's caught up a LOT in a short time; suddenly, she's running short distances to pounce on her mother, fighting weeds - and she ran between my feet where I was sitting on the second step into the hole, then I didn't see her while I was watching Cloud finally decide to jump up for a drink of water -still no nuhnuh- and suddenly, she was on the porch behind me. I didn't see which route she climbed up; there's also a kitten-sized way up through the gap with the corner tree and some structure to brace against coming and going.
Cloud had settled down in the nursing spot off the right corner of dog city when my time was up. I waited a few minutes while Goblin had more nuhnuh out of the lid, then set her down against her mom, and bid them a 'You're pretty and I love you and am going to protect you; don't move the baby - see you tomorrow' goodnight...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2016, 04:27:50 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2016, 12:50:20 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2016, 03:33:30 PM
I thought I was going to have to blow off changing the drowning can, but when I got up to lay Goblin next to her and leave, she moved, so I did empty it and take it in. When I came back -with vinegar to pour under and around, Rusty, and yellowjackets were going in but no ants in the next 15 minutes, so I think that may work- Goblin was up on the second step, so I had to sit back down and she climbed to rest of the way, had another sip from the lid, fought my fingers and fell asleep beside me. Hershey came back in and got more petting and left, don't know if Cloud was laying around back or had left. Good visit.
I was looking out over the lush, dewy morning summer world from my spot on the porch, and reflecting that it looked like mid-June instead of mid-August. We just had the wettest July I remember in the decades since Reagan wrecked the weather, and July has almost invariably been three weeks on no rain that tended to continue well into August. -And I hadn't mentioned, but yesterday, Goblin discovered the joys of wooping the rope...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2016, 06:39:26 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 01:50:56 AM
Goblin solemnly informs me that she is very fierce and dangerous - at least that's what I think she said through a mouthful of my poor hand. She's getting into that perfect fuzzy and pouncy stage of kittenhood, getting good at climbing up and down the stairs and feeding herself from the lid, so I don't have to worry too much about her falling or starving when her mom takes most of the day off, like yesterday - today, she vanished between lunch and suppertime, which wasn't excessive - and one can understand somewhat going somewhere cooler for the hottest part of an August day...
The vinegar reduced the number of ants in the drowning can, but I think maybe the yellowjackets aren't wild about the smell, either - but hard to say, since someone drank the bait during the day, and I think there was enough sugar left in the bottom when I replenished from the cat water, certainly yellowjackets buzzing around the can, though I wonder if it's just managed to eliminate the clumsy and/or especially stupid ones, not reduce the total population for long...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 03:04:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 01:36:04 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 02:42:15 PM
Hershey didn't stay long, but settled down out front close by, and I felt rather trusted by my little kitty family, for Cloud to not mind going back to napping, knowing I was five feet away. :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 03:45:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 05:28:36 PM
Everyone seems content. Hershey was just now back in the shade of the house outside my office window when I came back from lunch.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 18, 2016, 08:35:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2016, 10:00:26 PM
They haven't been as thick on the porch or as friendly since I started keeping the can - but of course that's only going to keep the numbers reasonable, at best.
I have told Momma to keep an eye out, when she opens cans, for one with smooth sides, no horizontal grooves, that would be harder to climb. -That would allow me to put a lot more water in, leave them a much longer climb, discourage the ants that much, and I don't think the cats would knock it over to drink it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 01:44:25 AM
Cloud has tried to lead Goblin out of the lot three times today in front of me - and Goblin didn't even make it outside once, came back in the other two times. I think maybe a big part of why she's still been there every morning but Tuesday is, she just plain likes it in the dog lot and is difficult to lure away...
Everybody was around for sunset, and all three got some petting, though Cloud's was just a few tail-strokes outside. -Hershey, on the other hand, came back twice up on the porch for more, and only got into the formula the last time, which was not the case with the baby, who was in top wanting to play mode. She becoming a rope-wooping fanatic in a hurry; also likes to fight her mother's neck and face - she must not bite those as hard as my fingertips, which I'm beginning to have to just pull away.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 03:55:43 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 19, 2016, 04:07:07 AM
I would strongly encourage you to get or find a feather. They make excellent cat toys. Appeals to that bird hunting instinct.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 04:19:15 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 19, 2016, 05:26:58 AM
Tie it to a sting and hang it?
If you tie it to a string move it around. If you put it in a little ball of yarn or knotted rag, toss it . If it's big enough, like a turkey/goose/peacock feather, you can hold it by one end and drag it or fence with it.
It will get bit and swatted instead of you hands.
What you shouldn't do is let the cat keep it, or hang it like your rope, because they will try to eat it.
It's not just kittens that like them, but Cloud and Hershey may not be interested because they can catch real birds. But I'd bet Scaredy would like feather play...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 01:21:03 PM
It's an overcast drippy morning, having apparently rained overnight, and the yellowjackets in the can may well outnumber the ants. Goblin licked at my hands a little after climbing into my lap, but before falling asleep, but did not chew on me.
She was having puppy dreams part of the time :luv: and when I stroked her belly late in the visit, she didn't stir, but I heard the first audible purr I've heard. :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 03:21:20 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 04:47:42 PM
Goblin woke up in the cooler and was alternating between fighting my hand and the rope. Very cute, and her fuzzy little paws are so soft - except for the sharp bits, which aren't bad.
Mylochka started the sander up on the pad -she's still stripping that rocking chair in prep for paining before I weave a new seat and back, and we are keeping some pictorial records- and this is something that would have absolutely ruined cat time a month or two ago, but they just stared intently and didn't move.
Hershey had had enough eventually and hopped down, Cloud came over and took a minute to decide to commit, then jumped up in turn to check if I had brought anything treatish and settled for crunching on breakfast dry food. I moved the baby to that side and she went over to worm under Cloud and nurse. I watched that for a while until my time was up. Good visit.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2016, 09:17:29 PM
Post by: E_T on August 20, 2016, 02:49:59 AM
Katz iz meen.
(http://www.sluggy.com/images/comics/000629a.gif)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2016, 02:51:01 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2016, 05:39:40 PM
Hershey turned up with an injury on his butt yesterday - naturally, he won't let me get a good look, but this morning it looked like he'd worried a lot more of the surrounding hair away from it. He doesn't move like he's injured or in much pain, though he was meowing a lot more than usual later in the day yesterday.
Sunset session yesterday was called on account of Goblin missing and having to wade into the woods to find her - I took her indoors for the rest of the evening, where she again utterly charmed my wimminz, exploring the living room and biting Mylochka gently on the hand, then sleeping on the couch for nearly two hours beside Mamma. There have been no such moving shenanigans so far today.
Twice in a row when I went out to visit this morning, Cloud was laying in my spot - and calmly held her ground when I sat next to her very close by on the steps. -The second time, especially, was something of a milestone; she stayed in her nursing position with her belly exposed for several minutes before he got up to drink formula. All three of the cats had some, and Hershey jumped down on got on the step below me for petting - the first time he approached me for contact not directly on the porch.
Mylochka is still worrying at getting the paint stripped out of the groves in the rocking chair, and I took Goblin up to explore and play on the carport for a long time. Cloud, who had gone out to lay next to the car just prior, patiently stayed there and did not come up the hill to supervise. When Goblin had finally gotten tired and sleepy, Princess Buster came by and petted her for a few minutes, and then I took Goblin back to dog city and came in to report...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2016, 06:28:19 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 20, 2016, 09:04:39 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1285)
Is this Scaredy? Or does Cloud lokk furrier from this angle?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2016, 10:21:51 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 20, 2016, 10:34:50 PM
Post by: Bearu on August 20, 2016, 11:10:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 12:21:54 AM
Post by: Bearu on August 21, 2016, 12:38:09 AM
Mylochka is still worrying at getting the paint stripped out of the groves in the rocking chair, and I took Goblin up to explore and play on the carport for a long time. Cloud, who had gone out to lay next to the car just prior, patiently stayed there and did not come up the hill to supervise. When Goblin had finally gotten tired and sleepy, Princess Buster came by and petted her for a few minutes, and then I took Goblin back to dog city and came in to report...What else does Mylochka perform? She appears to have the ability to perform the majority of artistic tasks from doll work to woodwork. I would guess any task that involves the artistic talent remains within her realm of possibility.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 01:18:00 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 04:32:32 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1383)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1384)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1385)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1386)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1387)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1388)
:luv:
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 21, 2016, 04:41:44 AM
Post by: ColdWizard on August 21, 2016, 04:43:00 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 04:44:48 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 12:18:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 02:24:54 PM
When Cloud got up and moved over to eat, I slid into my spot, and when Hershey had had his fill of formula and fondling and left, sitting-up nursing broke out close to me. Cloud was facing away and Goblin was on her back nursing and pushing with her little paws -Cloud grooming her vigorously- and I reached over to pet her and snuck a couple fingers to scratch Cloud's side while she'd think it was kitten paws. Cloud eventually saw I was doing it, but didn't seem to care much as long as I didn't move my hand up to her back.
At one point, she turned her head back and gave my fingers a couple licks. :luv:
You know, Cloud's belly seems to be getting bigger - I think she's about two weeks pregnant again, and I didn't know that was possible...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 04:02:57 PM
Goblin loves it, or course...
Post by: E_T on August 21, 2016, 08:22:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2016, 08:33:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2016, 01:19:38 AM
The aunt who likes weird cats was visiting, and so I brought her in for a half hour or so, and Wanda was utterly charmed.
I've been setting the nuhnuh lid in the entrance of the cat carrier, which the girls seem to have no problem with, but haven't gotten Hershey to stick his head in yet - of course. I'm rather dreading the capture when the animal hospital says to bring him in...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2016, 03:04:52 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2016, 01:23:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2016, 09:25:00 PM
Hershey's scheduled to be fixed Wednesday morning. He's not supposed to have anything to eat after midnight tomorrow, so we'll need to actually cage him tomorrow at sunset. We've borrowed a cage from a different aunt that shouldn't prove nearly as unsuitable as the big gym bag he hasn't warmed to in two days, but still not looking forward to this...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2016, 11:30:11 PM
I just googled it, and apparently, there's no reason for Cloud to not have been in heat two weeks ago just because she was nursing... Oh crap...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 02:04:17 AM
All three had a good drink of the formula, the big ones only half in the cage, but I think that'll work tomorrow. I could have pushed Cloud or Hershey either one the rest of the way in and slammed the door tight. We'll need to ask about arrangements for Cloud, as my research today indicated spaying won't interfere with milk production - though I wonder how long she'll need to be recovering, as that's a far more complicated/serious procedure than Hershey's going in for. I hate to abort kittens, but Momma's even more determined than I am to stick to this was the last roll of the dice with Mask/Willow/Goblin and late siblings, and I'm pretty determined. -I always said we had to do something about them making more cats before I took an actual interest in them, and I can't back out now...
I've heard kittens shouldn't be taken from their mother before six weeks, but I do think Goblin can manage for a day or so now on alternate arrangements; she'll be five weeks tomorrow afternoon. Maybe it can wait another week, but no more. We need to take care of Cloud sooner, not later, before she's kittened to death. Period.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 03:31:16 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 04:23:55 AM
I showed the kitten pictures, as per usual. My wife says you have good taste in cats, and to convey that Inky and Luna, our two black formerly feral house cats say "she's cute."It's proof that the best things in life are free. Be sure to point that out... ;nod
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 23, 2016, 04:58:22 AM
When I went out for sunset, the cats were where I'd last seen them about two hours before -outside the lot between it and the car shed- and all three trotted up to escort me when I got about 30 feet away. Goblin stopped at my feet and looked up like she wanted up, not even the first time today for that, so I picked her up and took her the short distance to the gate and put her back down and let her follow me to the porch.
All three had a good drink of the formula, the big ones only half in the cage, but I think that'll work tomorrow. I could have pushed Cloud or Hershey either one the rest of the way in and slammed the door tight. We'll need to ask about arrangements for Cloud, as my research today indicated spaying won't interfere with milk production - though I wonder how long she'll need to be recovering, as that's a far more complicated/serious procedure than Hershey's going in for. I hate to abort kittens, but Momma's even more determined than I am to stick to this was the last roll of the dice with Mask/Willow/Goblin and late siblings, and I'm pretty determined. -I always said we had to do something about them making more cats before I took an actual interest in them, and I can't back out now...
I've heard kittens shouldn't be taken from their mother before six weeks, but I do think Goblin can manage for a day or so now on alternate arrangements; she'll be five weeks tomorrow afternoon. Maybe it can wait another week, but no more. We need to take care of Cloud sooner, not later, before she's kittened to death. Period.
Well, your senior feline friends may bolt once they return from the alien abduction experience.
Usually when we trapped, spayed, rabies shots and released feral cats - we took them in in the morning, brought them home at the end of the day, and kept them in the carrier in the garage for about a day to let the cat rest & recover before release, as per instructions.
Since this be your last kitten, make sure it doesn't jump ship with them when they make a break for it. ( I was just visiting the website for " Sid's Pirates!" )
I'm not sure what a kitten is potentially missing in week 6. Socialization? Advanced hunting? I'll see if I can find something on the internet.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 23, 2016, 05:10:15 AM
http://www.petful.com/pet-health/kitten-development-stages/ (http://www.petful.com/pet-health/kitten-development-stages/)
http://cats.lovetoknow.com/stages-kitten-development (http://cats.lovetoknow.com/stages-kitten-development)
Hmm. I guess the timing is right for a trial separation.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 02:13:03 PM
Post by: Bearu on August 23, 2016, 02:58:49 PM
I'm not having one of my more alert mornings. No sign of the girls around 7:30, but had a good session with Hershey; he was vigorously petted...I am sorry to hear of the frustration. I hope as the day progresses you feel better or tomorrow remains a better day for you.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 03:02:38 PM
Post by: Bearu on August 23, 2016, 03:11:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 03:25:26 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 04:52:49 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 23, 2016, 06:24:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 07:29:01 PM
-So -of course- when I quietly approached with the camera, Hershey got up, so cute context shot of dog city, not so much a good cat photo.
I had another really top-notch visit with Hershey after lunch -which makes it the best Hershey day in a long time, which I hope he'll remember later, and- which has helped me not be as upset about Goblin's absence as I would otherwise be. -But I just HAD to conduct a search.
She turned up at the back corner of the same old barn where I'd found her at the front corner last Tuesday. There was no sign of Cloud -probably just laying still where she's been for the last five hours, but didn't see her- so I took the baby indoors for a while. She didn't seem terribly hungry/thirsty, which bears out that she'd probably left Cloud when she heard me, maybe the other way around, but Cloud had probably stuck by, not having been home for lunch.
Because she usually doesn't like being carried, or at least not far, I got her to follow me outdoors and around the corner of the carport. Hershey was laying in in the shade on the cement in front of the playhouse door. I got impatient and picked Goblin up, and when I turned around, there was Cloud in the grass closer, same direction, no idea where she came from.
So Hershey never did come into the dog lot this time, and Cloud didn't get up on the porch and get into the treats -although I think she'd been in the lot and into the cat cereal before I brought the baby out, judging by the difference in the level from where Hershey had left it when I was there- until I left the lot. Goblin followed me over to the gate and played kill my hand, having nursed and napped a bit over a long visit since I brought her back outdoors, and I eventually left her on the porch, where she still was when I sat down to report. Cloud had moved off to parts unknown at that point. No idea where Hershey had gotten to, either.
So the plan is to try to catch him in about an hour and a half to take him to the animal hospital for the night. It ought to be easy if he'll just be around and friendly/hungry about four...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2016, 11:59:11 PM
SIIIIIIGH.
Post by: Bearu on August 24, 2016, 01:04:57 AM
;clenchedteethSomething with the non-compliance of the cats? What else could cause such a large sigh in the Kittehzs thread?
SIIIIIIGH.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 24, 2016, 02:30:25 AM
So I went in and opened a little can of cat food and set it inside the cage, sat in my spot, messed with the kitten --- and suddenly, Cloud was coming out of the woods. ;wince It was going to be a lot more complicated and annoying with her there.
So they ended up coming in together, he was up on the porch first by over a minute, seemed more interested in getting some petting than investigating what that smell was -it actually smelled pretty good- and then Cloud was up and beginning to push into the cage. I wasn't delighted that she would eat up the bait, so I started petting her, which did do the trick, and she jumped down instead.
-And of course Hershey followed her. ;wince And she lay down near the gate, but he kept walking, leisurely, around the end of the car and disappeared. ;wince
-Long story short, it was 6:06 when I finally shut the cage door behind him with a feeling of relief so colossal that it's hard to put into words. He was looking around for a way out, but not panicking as such until I picked the cage up, when he went ape, and I made it outside and had shut the gate -Goblin following, BTW- when
Who thought it would be okay to design, manufacture and sell an animal cage with 4" square gaps in the bottom wires and a lining not tied down!?!?
Suddenly he was on the ground and my day was ruined. -I mean, I thought it prudent to get into my happy pills when I sat down and posted that last report, and I didn't get those things to just take all the time.
-What's most astonishing is that he let me approach and pet him about a half hour later - and came on the porch for sunset, not two hours later, and had two servings of nuhnuh right in front of the open cage. I can't believe we'll ever trick him into entering again, and I'm terrified of hurting him if we try to use force. Just don't know what to do. When I went upstairs for sunset, Momma was on the couch doing her arm exercises and crying. We're terribly fond of Hershey, and don't want him getting into the habit of patrolling and catting around and getting into fights. We want him at home and content...
-I think, first off, Cloud needs fixing a whole heck of a lot more on the face of it, and maybe we can at least secure the bottom lining of that stupid cage and still catch her.
;clenchedteeth
Post by: E_T on August 24, 2016, 02:51:13 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 24, 2016, 03:35:58 AM
I manage a gaming forum.
-Full of gamers. On the internet.
Those smilies you're looking for are :P and ;cute , BTW... Quote to see the codes.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 24, 2016, 01:56:39 PM
There was entirely too much noise in the house this morning, but I managed to sleep about eight hours and think I'll feel pretty good when I wake up. I've been chewed on by an adorably strange kitten, and there are worse starts to a day.
Post by: Unorthodox on August 24, 2016, 02:05:35 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 24, 2016, 02:11:49 PM
Lily is handling the construction to date better than expected. In fact, she spent a couple days confined to a single bedroom when we couldn't trust her not to go burrowing into a wall that had been opened. She's emerged from that rather grateful to be around people. She get's real confused when something changes out back, though. Couple more weeks and she'll either have a larger space to explore or be confined to a room again. (can't have her potentially climbing down into duct work if it's still open)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 24, 2016, 05:44:21 PM
They're really her cats, and I'm not planning to do any of the paying and arrangements -I handle most of the cat relations end and that's all- so not entirely my call...
She's doing some cleanup of the porch today as prep for all this, and had me move the little doghouse off the porch to make room...
It's a lovely cool day, beginning to get overcast, though, and I've been out to visit twice more. Cloud seems planted off to the woods side just outside the lot, the way she'll stick to a spot most all day some days, and Hershey has been on the porch for some love and chicken rice both times. He and the baby have definitely discovered each other as play options now. They were wrestling a bit earlier, and he appears to do better with restraint while play-biting than he does with the paw-batting, which still seems a touch too rough. He seems definitely fine with me today, not traumatized. When we get the cage set up on the porch, who knows? Maybe he is that big a sucker...
I do love that little Goblin so, and all of them...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 02:51:24 AM
Post by: Bearu on August 25, 2016, 04:26:55 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 03:02:59 PM
I've been out to visit the kitties twice -foggy start to a relatively cool morning, and nothing's stung/bitten me yet except the devil baby- and Hershey's still a bit skittish and cautious, but got all four feet into the cage with me sitting right there briefly. -We can probably still catch him that way, though I wonder if we shouldn't take care of Cloud first. She seems more put out about Tuesday's incident than he is.
They're all in quite playful moods today, fun to watch if not sticking close for petting. I did get to stroke Cloud's tail a few times.
The new, taller, drowning can was drawing a lot of attention yesterday -and less ants- but didn't seem to be trapping yellowjackets until around suppertime, I added a few drops of formula - then in a couple of hours, it was suddenly full of victims. There's something about the nuhnuh; sugar in the water draws them fine, but a touch of milk must change the surface tension or something...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 04:01:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 06:05:12 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 25, 2016, 09:31:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 10:09:27 PM
I just had a pre-supper visit that turned out the best Hershey petting session yet.
I went out in an extremely foul mood, for reasons too idiotic to recount, and didn't see the girls --- but Hershey was laying on cinder blocks along the front of the back shed, so I went over there and sat nearby. We just looked at each other for several minutes, I being careful to slow-blink while I chilled off the adrenaline high. He got up and laid down turned the other way for a minute, than got up and moved over to a low spot at the corner of the car shed and laid on his side. I butt-scooted in slow quiet increments until I was sitting cross-legged almost touching, gently working his tail first as I came into range, lifting up on my fists and inching closer when he'd lay his head looking the other way. He was down with stroking down his back gently, scratching under his chin, down onto his chest - rolled completely onto his back and stayed there for thirty seconds or so twice in the course of this, and his back feet were almost not nervous about me stroking his belly.
It was very relaxed, and about as close as I can imagine to lap-laying w/o actually being in my lap. I got the best look I've ever had of his junk -still very unimpressive- and the bite on his butt has nearly healed up. Quite a few minutes into it, he got up, but stood close, then walked around behind me and stood close on my other side for a bit. Then he walked over to where I'd left the jar and sniffed at it, and what the heck - I got up and meowed over to the lot to give him a proper serving.
I pulled the lid out of the cage into the open, and he hopped up - and that's when I saw Goblin outside the fence to the west looking for a good spot in the fence to squeeze through. Silly me, to assume they'd disappeared just because I didn't spot a couple of difficult-to-spot cats in a cursory look. She came in and up the steps and joined Hershey at the nuhnuh, he finished off a serving and part of another before he wandered off. I played with her for the rest of a long visit -she was being a little standoffish- and never did spot where Cloud was resting, though I doubt it was far away.
I can't imagine something to do in the circumstances that would have calmed me better; in cats, there is serenity.
Post by: Unorthodox on August 25, 2016, 10:26:49 PM
But given your kitties, I'd recommend a 2 liter bottle trap so the cats stay out of it though. Cut the top off the 2 liter bottle, and invert it over the bottom to make a funnel the yellow jackets fly in but have a hard time flying out. Put a little oil in the bottom, and suspend a bit of meat from the opening. Duct tape the thing sealed for good measure, but you usually don't need to.
|V|
|b|
|O|
| = wall
V= top turned into funnel
b = bait
O = oil
Traps don't actually control populations, but can diminish the activity in an area.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 11:08:09 PM
Post by: E_T on August 25, 2016, 11:08:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2016, 11:12:11 PM
Post by: E_T on August 25, 2016, 11:25:31 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 26, 2016, 03:39:37 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 26, 2016, 07:19:21 PM
Aroma I imagine
Slower rotting, yes.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 26, 2016, 07:30:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2016, 01:58:54 AM
Sunset visit saw the best escort I've gotten all week -not that I've gotten a bunch- with all three meeting me. Goblin ran full-out all the way up the hill from the dog lot, and the big ones met me about halfway. Cloud barely did any ankle love, but I did get to stroke her tail a bunch of times. The batch of nuhnuh I made last night was spiked with the juice from a can of mackerel, and they love that so much I wish we ate more fish. The whole batch got burned through today.
Cloud and Hershey both went all the way in the cage; I could have closed the door on all three of them, in fact. Cloud allowed me to stroke her tail a good bit more while she drank, and Hershey has continued with standing closer for the petting in recent days, since we had such a good day Tuesday before the cage incident.
Goblin played with him instead of me again, mostly - I've endured so much rejection and being treated like my feelings don't matter and I'm wrong to feel that way this summer that it's hard not to get bummed. She's gotten a lot better about not biting so hard it really hurts, but I miss even that...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2016, 02:06:09 PM
She tells me that Cloud's not her "real mother"; she's a princess, and when she's a grown up fuzzy lion, she's going to miss me after she's eaten me...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2016, 03:50:15 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2016, 10:49:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 28, 2016, 01:35:57 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1279)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 28, 2016, 04:52:36 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1280)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 28, 2016, 06:11:42 PM
Hershey actually played with the rope a little yesterday, for the first time.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 01:12:45 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 29, 2016, 01:54:55 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 02:14:41 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 01:12:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 01:26:56 PM
Post by: E_T on August 29, 2016, 03:05:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 03:24:13 PM
-Cloud is last pictured two pages and four day ago - much darker, more distinct, stripes.
I've been back out, and Goblin's in a more affectionate mood today - or at least she likes biting my hand better when I've just been eating bacon...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 10:48:52 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1286)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1287)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1288)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1345)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1346)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1347)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1348)
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(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1350)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1351)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1352)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1362)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2016, 11:39:54 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1406)
Post by: E_T on August 30, 2016, 12:31:14 AM
THAT pic is great Avatar material...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 30, 2016, 01:14:40 AM
We had a nice sunset session. I do wonder how Cloud resists sometimes, but the kids were up on the porch and into the cat cereal. -Actually, Cloud had had a good measure of around half of it not two hours before; I poured in the pan broth from steak on the dry food in place of nunuh.
Goblin likes to tackle my feet. Hershey likes to beat up his little sister a bit. A lot of the problem I'm seeing with her is surely to do with she wants to play chase games now that she can -and she's got the cutest straight-up-in-the-air hop and land with her back bowed- and I still want to sit still.
I've had multiple opportunities to close the cage door on the cats today, and I think we're ready to make arrangements to get Cloud fixed. I can probably deliver her on schedule.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 30, 2016, 01:28:01 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1409)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 30, 2016, 07:04:03 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on August 30, 2016, 07:23:34 PM
A lot of the problem I'm seeing with her is surely to do with she wants to play chase games now that she can -and she's got the cutest straight-up-in-the-air hop and land with her back bowed- and I still want to sit still.
When I was a kid, I used a bit of string tied to the end of a broken fishing pole. Not what I'd consider still these days, but I was sitting.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 30, 2016, 11:41:39 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1429)
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
Post by: E_T on August 31, 2016, 12:15:03 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 01:28:02 AM
It was a pretty usual sunset session -except for Hershey repeatedly squeezing into the cinder block tunnel to play fort, which was hilarious, him being too long for the tunnel- until actual sunset and deciding to wrap up. That was when Goblin came to follow me up the hill. -And Cloud followed her. -And then Hershey followed them.
It ended up with all of us sitting -except for Goblin, who ran around playing- on the pad for about the length of a regular session. It's cool enough out at this hour today that I noticed the warmth of the cement under my butt but didn't mind. I poured a little nuhnuh in the jar lid -which is a lot smaller than the coffee lid on the porch of dog city, but still- for the baby, who was sniffing at the jar. I rather think she does that because it's cold and she wonders about condensation, instead of because it's the nuhnuh jar. And ended up with Cloud going through three little servings. Hershey just hung close and supervised.
Something going on in the house that I didn't hear spooked the big cats into retreating downhill, which I took as my cue to wrap up. I picked Goblin up and took her back down to the lot -just as well not tempt Cloud to lead her somewhere else- and here I am...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 01:16:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 02:12:04 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1407)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1408)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 04:23:38 PM
She turned up in the back of that barn again; I didn't see Cloud. I've got her here in my office, spoiling her with nuhnuh...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 06:40:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 10:21:08 PM
Post by: E_T on August 31, 2016, 11:04:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 11:06:17 PM
Post by: E_T on August 31, 2016, 11:27:13 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2016, 11:32:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 01, 2016, 04:09:43 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1410)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 01, 2016, 06:48:47 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 01, 2016, 11:05:47 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1455)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2016, 01:20:50 AM
AC2 Fake News Service 1 September 8:20 P.M. EDT
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1456)
Goblin [ center ] negotiates a peace accord with the rocking chair [everything else]. "I'm very fierce and dangerous," she said.
Nobel committee take note; there is peace in our time between Cats and Rocking Chairs.
In a development rocking the world of kitty-furniture relations, a (future) long-tailed cat has negotiated peace between the long-rancorous scratched-up rocking chair and nervous feline communities.
"I'm planning to have a tail three or four feet long someday when I'm a giant fuzzy lion," said hero of the hour Goblin, age six weeks, "So when I walked into a new room to find my hippy messing with a rocking chair, I didn't get nervous; I got even."
"I'm all bite, no bark, and if there's a thing fuzzy lion princesses do well, it's woop ropes - and this thing was partly MADE of rope. It was easy and fun," she said.
Goblin said she promised that if rocking chairs would lay off the tails in the future, cats would stop with the scratching furniture. "Don't tell, but I was lying about that," she said.
Sources close to the rocking chair deny that she even promised.
Goblin said fuzzy lions grow to in excess of 2,000 pounds and have all-over manes. "We're the color of old Halloween decorations to honor the horror our notorious biting inspires in our many victims, whether hippies, Hershey or Momma," she said.
http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=18231.msg100240#msg100240 (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=18231.msg100240#msg100240)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 02, 2016, 03:24:48 AM
It reminds me of my favorite newspaper story from my home county. The rear axle came off of a Kindergarten bus. No one was hurt. The reporter on the scene interviewed the five year olds-
"It was really scarey, " said one. "I'm never ridin' that bus again!" said a boy.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2016, 02:30:17 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1411)
Post by: E_T on September 02, 2016, 03:23:53 PM
BREAKING NEWS: Truce Called in Rocking Chair / Long-Tailed Cat Feud
AC2 Fake News Service 1 September 8:20 P.M. EDT
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1456)
Goblin [ center ] negotiates a peace accord with the rocking chair [everything else]. "I'm very fierce and dangerous," she said.
Nobel committee take note; there is peace in our time between Cats and Rocking Chairs.
In a development rocking the world of kitty-furniture relations, a (future) long-tailed cat has negotiated peace between the long-rancorous scratched-up rocking chair and nervous feline communities.
"I'm planning to have a tail three or four feet long someday when I'm a giant fuzzy lion," said hero of the hour Goblin, age six weeks, "So when I walked into a new room to find my hippy messing with a rocking chair, I didn't get nervous; I got even."
"I'm all bite, no bark, and if there's a thing fuzzy lion princesses do well, it's woop ropes - and this thing was partly MADE of rope. It was easy and fun," she said.
Goblin said she promised that if rocking chairs would lay off the tails in the future, cats would stop with the scratching furniture. "Don't tell, but I was lying about that," she said.
Sources close to the rocking chair deny that she even promised.
Goblin said fuzzy lions grow to in excess of 2,000 pounds and have all-over manes. "We're the color of old Halloween decorations to honor the horror our notorious biting inspires in our many victims, whether hippies, Hershey or Momma," she said.
http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=18231.msg100240#msg100240 (http://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?topic=18231.msg100240#msg100240)
Hehe...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2016, 06:04:34 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2016, 09:30:32 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1465)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2016, 11:14:32 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 12:07:58 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1466)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1467)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1468)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 03:35:44 AM
BTW, she actually does love it under the rocking chair...
Post by: E_T on September 03, 2016, 04:20:25 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 04:45:04 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 01:19:50 PM
Post by: E_T on September 03, 2016, 02:31:48 PM
She's very "into" biting my feet, fear not...
but with them bare, but as said, feet under covers is a whole new world of play for kittens/cats...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 05:20:09 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 03, 2016, 10:03:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 11:38:32 PM
I just came in from a visit - Petey and his family pulled up during. Goblin was acting like she wanted to follow me in when I was leaving, so I took her in for a few minutes to make introductions. She doesn't like to be held by anyone, Petey's mom and dad were utterly charmed by her ferocious cuteness and dingy all-over mane. Petey seemed to think she looked adorably delicious, and since Mylochka was restraining him, I held Goblin close to introduce them - and she hissed louder than I knew she was able.
I took her back to the lot then -she rode the whole way on the back of my neck- and as I left, she was bragging to Hershey about what an epic wooping she'd given Petey...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2016, 11:57:03 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1417)
-she told me so.
Seen here ferociously wooping a finger:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1423)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 04, 2016, 01:08:22 AM
Post by: E_T on September 04, 2016, 04:24:28 AM
You know, my old Luke would actually sort of bark at a dog, etc as part of his vocalizing his displeasure...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 04, 2016, 02:12:12 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1412)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1413)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1414)
Lovely cool morning we're having. Cloud stuck around, but only came up onto the porch rather briefly to drink some water twice. No sign of Hershey. The world continues to be Goblin's chew toy.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 04, 2016, 05:45:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 05, 2016, 03:40:04 AM
Her fur feels cottony-soft while she kills me to death...
Post by: Unorthodox on September 05, 2016, 05:38:44 AM
I just went out and had a bedtime visit in the dark. The little demon feels a bit safer wooping the giant hippy-thing in the dark, I guess, because she's often friendlier during night visits - if you call a life-and-death struggle that she tells me I lost and was eaten after friendly.
Likely just more that kittens stick closer to their natural crepuscular schedule that more adult cats
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 05, 2016, 02:45:00 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1415)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 05, 2016, 09:30:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 06, 2016, 02:42:24 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1451)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 06, 2016, 06:20:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 06, 2016, 11:14:34 PM
I was sorta planning to skip post-supper; but I saw Cloud had turned up, and so went out and spoiled her a bit. No touching. I wonder if it's just her hormones messed up from being pregnant while nursing...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 07, 2016, 04:12:58 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1416)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 08, 2016, 01:58:21 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1420)
Post by: Unorthodox on September 08, 2016, 03:18:02 PM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qhzb0NdgKAs#)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 08, 2016, 03:40:06 PM
No, two syllables in Goblin...
Post by: Unorthodox on September 08, 2016, 04:45:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 08, 2016, 04:53:55 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 08, 2016, 09:53:24 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1452)
Post by: Unorthodox on September 08, 2016, 10:41:10 PM
Gramma did the MOST delightful recitation - and anyone else is doing it wrong...
Must be that age bracket. My grandma (triple digits) won't let me record her...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 08, 2016, 10:47:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 09, 2016, 03:38:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1418)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 10, 2016, 03:50:48 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1424)
Post by: E_T on September 10, 2016, 07:37:15 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 10, 2016, 07:49:10 PM
If I can't have opposable thumbs, then you can't either....
:D
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 11, 2016, 10:21:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1419)
Post by: E_T on September 12, 2016, 05:15:06 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 13, 2016, 01:15:58 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1453)
Post by: E_T on September 13, 2016, 05:16:36 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 13, 2016, 06:22:34 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1421)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 14, 2016, 01:06:09 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1454)
Post by: E_T on September 14, 2016, 02:31:38 PM
Yes. -Seen here working hard.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1421)
the veiled clawed threat behind that cute face... "My Numnum..."
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 15, 2016, 02:16:25 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1422)
Post by: E_T on September 16, 2016, 12:12:12 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1422)
Paws for effect...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 16, 2016, 01:40:28 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 16, 2016, 01:44:11 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1425)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 16, 2016, 08:00:26 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 16, 2016, 08:32:56 PM
Post by: E_T on September 16, 2016, 09:21:31 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1425)
Darn, I was looking for a One Eyed Jack in this Hand...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 17, 2016, 12:50:19 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1460)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 19, 2016, 12:41:26 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1426)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 19, 2016, 01:02:36 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1462)
Post by: E_T on September 20, 2016, 12:20:33 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1426)
By golly, I'll teach you not to give me the finger again!!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 20, 2016, 02:09:12 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1427)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 21, 2016, 02:34:12 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1463)
Post by: E_T on September 21, 2016, 03:46:31 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1463)
Rub my belly... Go ahead...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 21, 2016, 03:48:58 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 22, 2016, 02:21:03 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1428)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 23, 2016, 05:09:31 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 23, 2016, 06:58:34 PM
-In other big news, last Friday, Hershey let Mylochka pet him...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 23, 2016, 07:00:41 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1461)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 24, 2016, 03:01:42 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1464)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 24, 2016, 10:15:37 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1483)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 25, 2016, 03:07:03 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1484)
Post by: E_T on September 25, 2016, 05:49:58 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 25, 2016, 07:58:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 27, 2016, 12:41:17 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1490)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 27, 2016, 03:29:40 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1485)
Post by: E_T on September 27, 2016, 05:06:38 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 27, 2016, 11:56:04 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 28, 2016, 12:21:13 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 28, 2016, 01:31:09 AM
Post by: E_T on September 28, 2016, 01:17:58 PM
Post by: E_T on September 28, 2016, 01:20:15 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 28, 2016, 01:49:45 PM
He is dropped off at the animal hospital now, and we're to go get him in seven hours. He was letting me touch him before they took him back...
In other news, his sister Scaredy is a patient over there now, too. She had some misadventure and tore up a leg pretty bad.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 28, 2016, 10:56:48 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1486)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 29, 2016, 02:58:10 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 29, 2016, 03:56:41 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 29, 2016, 03:13:37 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1487)
Post by: E_T on September 29, 2016, 07:55:10 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1487)
And here I thought that Fall was supposed to have more leaves to play in...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 29, 2016, 09:08:17 PM
Post by: E_T on September 30, 2016, 02:12:19 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 30, 2016, 04:30:25 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 30, 2016, 01:34:48 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1488)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 01, 2016, 02:21:35 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1489)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2016, 12:47:29 AM
Cloud has let me pet her thoroughly twice today - she due to drop that next litter any second. We just never had a chance to get her fixed in time, her going into heat a week and a half after dropping the last litter. We'll have to catch her and take her in in six weeks, no matter what...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 02, 2016, 02:07:11 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1491)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2016, 02:05:26 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2016, 01:59:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1492)
Post by: Unorthodox on October 03, 2016, 03:20:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2016, 04:13:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 01:20:37 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1503)
Post by: E_T on October 04, 2016, 01:57:29 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 02:04:21 AM
There's three nice doghouses in the dog lot that have had over a decade to lose the dog smell; I don't know why the cats don't use them, but I couldn't devise anything nicer.
Post by: E_T on October 04, 2016, 02:24:45 AM
Cats like smaller places to curl up nicely, unless they are taking a nap in a tree limb, then it's sprawl time...
http://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/providing-shelter/ (http://www.alleycat.org/community-cat-care/providing-shelter/)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 03:04:38 AM
Quote
•Look for used dog shelters on Craigslist or at garage sales—these can be made cat-ready with just a few modifications, like making the door smaller and adding insulation.
On the right on the porch of dog city behind Cloud, note the little doghouse as it was in April. The walls are two inches thick, 'cause Dad had no grasp whatsoever of doing just enough building anything, ever - and he did anticipate cold winter nights.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1072)
Below behind Hershey, the little doghouse at the beginning of July. The new panel has since been painted white to match, and there's about an inch clearance on each side when I stick my fist in.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1232)
It's been sitting on the ground next to dog city for somewhat over a month to make room for the cage I caught Hershey in last week - and we're putting it back soon for the same reason for Cloud before she dies of being a kitten tunnel.
There was nothing in that corner this morning though, and therein lies a tale...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 04:23:08 AM
They all three dove onto the cereal like they were starving to death, something I've seen a lot of lately; I wonder if Cloud's been hogging more breakfast, else I don't know why Goblin and Hershey have been so hungry...
She was letting me pet her an unprecedented amount and rub/scratch/stroke her pregnant bulge for the third day in a row. I got in a good pet of all three. Cloud let me touch her face without leaving, for the first time, and stroke her throat. Unprecedented. I mean, I was still petting heavily and she was still there 15 minutes later, which has never happened before. Hershey was long gone by then and Goblin had long since quit eating. I remember thinking "It has to be mood swings from pregnant hormones, but I hope she remembers enjoying this" as she !laid on her side the second time in the session while I was petting her!. Unprecedented, I tells ya.
When the bowl was empty, she turned to Goblin, who was laying in the empty little dog house/cage corner, and started giving her the first vigorous grooming in weeks. Goblin instantly sounded like an idling chain saw a few hundred feet away. When I would lean in and give Cloud a stroke, she was still into it, so I wasn't going anywhere while she was on the porch and receptive - it's a rare treat, but turned out to be more of a commitment than I'd anticipated.
She was making that trilling noise like the evening before Goblin's litter, a little. I noticed her back side was still wet, getting wetter if anything, and I reached up to Hershey's swinging bachelor apartment over the big doghouse and put down a commode mat -you can see one end of it up there in the dog city pic in the last post- in the aforesaid corner and Cloud got right on it. Two minutes later to my and Goblin's mutual astonishment, she's had a kitten in front of us.
Have another look:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1503)
That's kitten number One to her right. Cloud had her while I was rubbing her side.
While she was calmly cleaning One, I popped indoors and washed my hands good for the sake of kitten safety and grabbed a camera. Then:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1504)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1505)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1506)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1507)
-That's four in the last.
There's more pictures -including the actual births of Four and Six and afterbirth eating and slimy such that I'll put in spoilers when I get to them- but this is what I've gotten processed so far. It was 4:30 before Six was born, and I didn't leave Cloud's side for more than 20 minutes (for supper) until it got too dark at 7:30.
More tomorrow, and further developments. I just now checked, and they're still there as of 11:16.
-I think I was rubbing her belly every time she delivered. I've never heard of a housecat doing this -I'd sit in a chair off to the side while she cleaned and relaxed in between, then she'd look at me and meow like "this contraction hurts; rub my belly again", then purr when I got back on the porch and complied- and I'm as astonished as you are. Cloud's a strange lady...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 02:56:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 02:57:58 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1508)
Post by: E_T on October 04, 2016, 11:16:08 PM
So the thing is, on the way in with a cat cereal lunch about 12:30, I noticed the fur around Cloud's ladyparts was wet. I'd gotten a three-kat escort down the hill, having meowed out the window a few minutes in advance, which led to Goblin climbing the kitchen door and Cloud turning up on the carport when I emerged. Hershey was trotting up the hill. Never had all three escort me all the way before, and there was good-quality ankle love from Cloud, which she'd resumed doing consistently about Saturday after a gap of several weeks while she was scarce during weaning.
They all three dove onto the cereal like they were starving to death, something I've seen a lot of lately; I wonder if Cloud's been hogging more breakfast, else I don't know why Goblin and Hershey have been so hungry...
She was letting me pet her an unprecedented amount and rub/scratch/stroke her pregnant bulge for the third day in a row. I got in a good pet of all three. Cloud let me touch her face without leaving, for the first time, and stroke her throat. Unprecedented. I mean, I was still petting heavily and she was still there 15 minutes later, which has never happened before. Hershey was long gone by then and Goblin had long since quit eating. I remember thinking "It has to be mood swings from pregnant hormones, but I hope she remembers enjoying this" as she !laid on her side the second time in the session while I was petting her!. Unprecedented, I tells ya.
When the bowl was empty, she turned to Goblin, who was laying in the empty little dog house/cage corner, and started giving her the first vigorous grooming in weeks. Goblin instantly sounded like an idling chain saw a few hundred feet away. When I would lean in and give Cloud a stroke, she was still into it, so I wasn't going anywhere while she was on the porch and receptive - it's a rare treat, but turned out to be more of a commitment than I'd anticipated.
She was making that trilling noise like the evening before Goblin's litter, a little. I noticed her back side was still wet, getting wetter if anything, and I reached up to Hershey's swinging bachelor apartment over the big doghouse and put down a commode mat -you can see one end of it up there in the dog city pic in the last post- in the aforesaid corner and Cloud got right on it. Two minutes later to my and Goblin's mutual astonishment, she's had a kitten in front of us.
Have another look:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1503)
That's kitten number One to her right. Cloud had her while I was rubbing her side.
While she was calmly cleaning One, I popped indoors and washed my hands good for the sake of kitten safety and grabbed a camera. Then:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1504)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1505)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1506)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1507)
-That's four in the last.
There's more pictures -including the actual births of Four and Six and afterbirth eating and slimy such that I'll put in spoilers when I get to them- but this is what I've gotten processed so far. It was 4:30 before Six was born, and I didn't leave Cloud's side for more than 20 minutes (for supper) until it got too dark at 7:30.
More tomorrow, and further developments. I just now checked, and they're still there as of 11:16.
-I think I was rubbing her belly every time she delivered. I've never heard of a housecat doing this -I'd sit in a chair off to the side while she cleaned and relaxed in between, then she'd look at me and meow like "this contraction hurts; rub my belly again", then purr when I got back on the porch and complied- and I'm as astonished as you are. Cloud's a strange lady...
The first pic shows, but not the rest.
I did try to view separately and it gave me some sort of duplicate tag warning...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2016, 11:19:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2016, 02:50:36 AM
The first kitten born, I thought "It's a Bob!" -Uncle Bob looks like an attempt to impersonate a Boston Terrier with a cat. He has black and white markings and a bobtail, though if you get closer the black is actually a dark charcoal. I can tell One from the other two marked and colored very similarly by the white band over the shoulders and a white spot near the base of the tail off-center. All the Bobs turned out to be light grey when they dried out, though, with little or no sign yet of the family stripe pattern. One has a touch of white on the tips of the ear.
Two looked black initially, but dry, has a strong stripe pattern of very dark or black with something in the tan/gold/orange/red that runs in the family -I've never had a good look at any of them at least a month old who didn't have any of it- alternating for a dark tiger look. With the very short newborn ears and the fur not fluffed up yet, Two has the most pronounced Mexican wrestler mask look that several share.
Three was another light grey Bob. Grey and white facial markings extremely similar to one, to the extent that I have to look for the white band over the shoulders to tell the difference thus far, which Three lacks along with the white spot on the butt.
Four looks a lot like two, only with a white muzzle. Less pronounced dark tiger striping, but not much less. Also looks like a masked wrestler in the face, until the fur fluffs out and the ears grow.
To tell Five from the other two grey Bobs, I mostly look for a tail - Five doesn't have one, while the first four have astonishingly long-looking ones. I'm still processing pictures, but I believe Five is the one with a little dark spot over the nose.
Six came out looking blackish -like they all did on all non-white fur- but turned out to be -maybe- marked like Cloud, light grey but striped. No tail again, as if there were only four and they missed out for being last in line.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1510)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1511)
Three, Two and One, I think. Definitely One on the right.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1512)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1513)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1514)
One, Two, Four, Three.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1515)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1516)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1517)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1510)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1518)
Two.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1519)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1520)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1521)
Three in the foreground - and that may be Five behind Cloud's leg.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1522)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1523)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1524)
Four.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1525)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2016, 02:27:44 PM
From the top, this is Six, Three, Two, Four, Five and One.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1526)
When I went out to visit at 1:30 yesterday, Cloud was gone, as was One, Five and Six. Everybody had been there as of noon - these are all pics from yesterday morning.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1527)
I did the usual with Goblin and Hershey, and waited around until Cloud showed up.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1528)
It took a lot more waiting, sitting quietly up on the carport, before I saw her climb out of the lot carrying Three.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1529)
The new hidey hole is at the base of a tree just downhill of the garden.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1530)
She hadn't come back for Two and Four as of 6:30, so I took them to her. Four had found a nipple before I left.
For about ten reasons, I ought to keep my distance for a week or more...
Post by: E_T on October 05, 2016, 04:41:38 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2016, 04:54:00 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1531)
She doesn't seem to regard them as potential food, they don't do anything but lay there and occasionally complain, what are they for? She hasn't tried to play with them or touch them, but she hung around and frequently looked at them before they were moved. Cloud hasn't put much energy into hissing her away - maybe because she's a girl, maybe because she's only three months old. She hasn't seemed to have any notion of trying to resume nursing.
Hershey has really kept his distance - I guess he's still run off from Goblin's litter.
Post by: E_T on October 05, 2016, 06:31:44 PM
She doesn't seem to know what to think.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1531)
Daddy, how long before I can play with them??
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2016, 06:43:21 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1493)
And she'd have called me "Hippy" instead of "Daddy". -Or "Food".
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2016, 09:23:09 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1543)
I find that there's a clear view of everyone's face in one picture or another - except One. -VERY much like Five and Three at this stage, though.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2016, 09:30:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2016, 12:56:20 AM
Mom and I agree that we'll give away all the kittens we can up to five, keep our favorite of who's left, and take any remainder to Friends of Animals... Aunt Wanda is interested in tailless and Aunt Nancy likes grey -and IMAO, needs a backup/partner/friend for Scaredy/Misty- so that might be two. Also IMO, Miss Princess Pretty Perfect and her mother need a cat, whether my little brother knows it or not...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2016, 01:44:23 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1532)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1533)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1534)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1535)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1536)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2016, 02:46:38 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2016, 07:56:51 PM
She was extremely hesitant about crawling into what could be a trap, or she didn't know what, but she did go in after a minute's hesitation. I think/hope she'll actually feel safer under there once she gets used to the cover; it was a pretty good hiding place before, as long as she stayed still, but virtually no rain shelter. Ought to be warmer at night, too.
I definitely need to check, later, and be sure I haven't freaked her into a move...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 01:08:42 AM
Goblin was in rare form all afternoon, BTW, wooping my hand and her big brother alike. Both my wimminz strongly agree what a fine thing it is that Hershey finally has a good pounce-and-run partner. He's always seemed SO lonely. The marathon woopins/counter-woopins are great fun to watch out the window, too.
Cloud's super-friendly pregnant hormone mood -Monday morning at breakfast he actually head-rooted at Momma's hand for a petting- has worn off as expected, but she does seem to remember who her buddy when she felt needy was. She's only letting me touch her during escort to the lot or on the porch like before, but more often and taking longer to tire of being handled. :luv:
She's getting her figure back in a hurry this time. -Hope that lasts...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 01:10:43 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1495)
Post by: E_T on October 07, 2016, 02:10:41 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1524)
The ones I posted about previously and this one. Can see all others
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 02:37:00 AM
Post by: E_T on October 07, 2016, 03:50:21 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 12:40:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 12:43:36 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1541)
6,3,5,2,4,1 - and a contented/tired-looking Cloud Monday afternoon.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 01:39:04 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 07, 2016, 06:50:21 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 09:14:28 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2016, 09:57:44 PM
It had rained another 4 tenths of an inch at noon, but I'd intended to be cool and not check again at lunch - when Cloud showed up with her tail and hindquarters soaked. So I did go check on them, and the kittens were wet; water run in under the tarp from uphill, by the looks of it, just wet enough next to the tree trunk to get everyone more than damp, and poor Two soaked. Thought about it for a few minutes back in the lot while Cloud was definitely taking her time drying off under shelter -mostly thinking about it keeping up for 24 hours being out wet all night with a low in the upper 50s while weighing ounces- and decided a mandatory evacuation was necessary.
They're in a shallow box/bed on the porch in the same corner. Cloud was out of the lot peeing when I brought them back, and I swear that despite being back on the porch half the time in the ensuing hour, she didn't realize where they'd gotten to until I picked up Two so he'd mew in complaint. Then I had to kinda push Cloud into the box, THEN she laid down and got comfortable and let me pet her a long time and everything seemed okay.
This is probably very temporary, but I doubt she'll move them again before midday Sunday when it's dried up a little out.
-BTW, Two and Six are boys, I think, unless they have hernias on their groins...
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 07, 2016, 10:47:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 12:41:24 AM
-Taken just two and a half hours ago..,.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1549)
Box is about six inches deep - easy enough for Cloud to get in and out of, enough of a barrier to feel a bit less in the open/exposed in that spot, maybe. No chance of a kitten climbing out and crawling off the edge of the porch for a couple weeks.
I think Cloud has looked just adorable in quite a few of the reclining nursing shots this week...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 02:01:35 AM
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 01:13:05 PM
It's really hard to tell with new kittens, everything being so small and fuzzy and underdeveloped. Not saying you're wrong, just that lots of folks make mistakes.
best to wait until eyes open, as things seem to drop then, too...
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 01:52:01 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1496)
Revel in my cuteness ...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 02:52:42 PM
It's nice out this morning. No rain in the hour and a half since I woke, upper sixties and pretty comfortable out in my shorts, a little gusty wind. I think the resumption of drizzle is approaching from the east. Cloud and the babies seem content. Goblin was in rare pouncy form, making me play fort with her in the doorway of the big doghouse.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 04:20:21 PM
Clockwise from left top: 1,2,4,5,3,6.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1544)
Gatito diablo cuatro:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1542)
They're all visibly filling out, and the bobs are growing white fur on their naked pink feet...
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 05:16:10 PM
Quote
Experimenting here, seen done over at AC2 and want to try here(click to show/hide)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 07:02:26 PM
-Yeah; if there's a way to do that display size thing in vBulletin, I don't know it. (Display stuff has changed in that software since I last lived on a vB forum, BTW, and not for the better...)
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 07:54:08 PM
Is there a cat resource hex on that map?
-Yeah; if there's a way to do that display size thing in vBulletin, I don't know it. (Display stuff has changed in that software since I last lived on a vB forum, BTW, and not for the better...)
Might be a Cat Nip Resource.... Is lots of Milk...
Have you ever given them any Cat Nip?? Go easy on it, don't need to have a bunch of stoned kittens (E_T tells the Hillbilly Hippy)... Although Goblin will go nuts...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 07:58:45 PM
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 08:03:42 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 08:11:52 PM
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 08:28:59 PM
Yeah, and some will just look at you and tell you that they don't do drugs....
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2016, 08:42:13 PM
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 09:20:06 PM
Post by: E_T on October 08, 2016, 10:02:11 PM
The other computer, my old file storage and computer that I had my Corel Draw and Photo Programs installed on, is still in the Garage of my Brother's and I won't be getting it anytime soon.
So, if you find the original pic that you did the Avatar from, please post it so that I can download it.
Thanks...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 12:33:41 AM
Post by: E_T on October 09, 2016, 01:07:10 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1496)
Oh, in case you didn't realize it, this one is Desktop Wallpaper Material...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 01:20:33 AM
Ball of fangs and claws!
Fights me, bites me
Haw. Haw. Haww. ;notes;
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 01:24:58 AM
Enjoy. :D
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 01:29:04 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 02:57:34 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1498)
Post by: E_T on October 09, 2016, 04:05:02 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 04:18:39 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 04:53:01 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1550)
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1558)
(Clockwise from top - One, Three [on back], Five, Two, Six and Four...)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 02:00:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 02:20:34 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1554)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 06:31:35 PM
So, there's a kettle inverted in the middle segment of the woodshed, and it's not safe to shift that to look, but after I saw Cloud slip behind the sleds later with number One dangling off her face complaining, I'm pretty all the Bobs are safe and sound under there. As long as I'm pretty sure where they are, I think I can leave it for the roughly a week it'll take their eye to open and they start crawling around exploring whenever Cloud's gone. -No hiding them after that, as long as I know the general area to watch. I AM pretty curious to see who she moves next -she was in the box on the porch nursing the striped masked wrestler kittens when I came in- betting on Gattito Diablo Seis next; Dos and Cuatro were the ones left behind Tuesday.
I hate not knowing for absolute sure that Five's under the kettle, but it's not worth moving the heavy thing and maybe killing them to be sure they're okay...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 06:56:40 PM
The box is down to two babies - and she had indeed taken Six next. I doubt she's planning abandonment; she was nursing the three of them an hour ago.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2016, 08:49:53 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1497)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 10, 2016, 02:35:17 AM
-You have been fairly warned and may not complain afterward if you choose wrong... ;nod
(click to show/hide)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 10, 2016, 04:17:35 AM
(https://scontent-atl3-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/11050196_950735534945897_7513350103120031164_n.jpg?oh=aaefbe95b51151a862a23ec1d41923a7&oe=58A938FF)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 10, 2016, 12:54:42 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1545)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 12:26:40 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1499)
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 11, 2016, 01:08:00 AM
Does Willow/ Goblin still live in Dog City? Or does she sleep someplace else?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 02:49:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 02:51:49 AM
Really; it didn't bother me at the time, but I was in calm-in-emergency mode, when nothing gets to me. There's a lot of juices, some blood, afterbirths and Cloud's tiny lady parts stretched alarmingly...Note that in the first shot, you can see the edge of my hand rubbing her side...
-You have been fairly warned and may not complain afterward if you choose wrong... ;nod(click to show/hide)
I can't believe me getting drafted as cat midwife hasn't gotten any reaction...
Post by: E_T on October 11, 2016, 03:38:07 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 04:21:54 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1551)
FWIW, L-R is 6,4,3,5,2 and 1.
Looking at four laying face-out reminds me; inspired by the three stripe-faced babies, I'm seriously thinking about doing a series of masks based on wresting masks - once I've made the template, it'll be easy to knock out a bunch of blanks and have Mylochka paint decoration of whatever suits her, a notion which plays to her design strengths...
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 11, 2016, 08:28:05 AM
Oh well, the point is that I think it's a pretty amazing pinnacle to the Kat Frend project that you actually midwifed a feral cat!
Let's say that again- Buncle midwifed a feral cat!
Where's Valka when we need her to comment?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 01:01:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 03:19:43 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1500)
Post by: E_T on October 11, 2016, 04:19:46 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1500)
My Soft Belly, so Warm and Fuzzy...Just makes you want to touch it... Go ahead, I'll let you...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2016, 08:02:04 PM
I got a good look at Four and Six - and at least two more are in good enough shape under that kettle to make a god-awful racket of complaining when Cloud came back from lunch...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 02:04:51 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1501)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 05:15:41 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 12, 2016, 06:32:46 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 06:55:27 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 12, 2016, 07:01:52 PM
Cloud is the type she's eyeing, and there's at least 2 kitten versions there, and those grey/white ones are awful cute.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 07:05:17 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 12, 2016, 07:08:30 PM
hEt will likely win that 'debate'
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 07:10:30 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 12, 2016, 08:37:36 PM
Well, my wife fancies these kittens. We are over our official 2 cat allergy limit. However, Niece #2 will be concluding college this fall, has a house, but no cat, and she and her fiancé are cat people. So there is kitten trafficking potential. There is more travel in the schedule. Perhaps we can revisit this topic election day-ish IF you still need to place kittens.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 08:59:38 PM
Post by: E_T on October 12, 2016, 09:04:34 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1501)
So.... This is how a Cat does it... But I want to PLAY!!
Post by: E_T on October 12, 2016, 09:08:15 PM
hEt wants a new kitten. She hasn't wandered in here yet.
Cloud is the type she's eyeing, and there's at least 2 kitten versions there, and those grey/white ones are awful cute.
Check Humane society animal shelter, they have them all ready to go...
Post by: E_T on October 12, 2016, 09:10:34 PM
I don't want a third.And here I had thought that she wins all the debates... or let's you think you won... :p
hEt will likely win that 'debate'
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 12, 2016, 09:12:18 PM
Last Monday she was looking at the kittens and told me "I'm definitely a big girl now."
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1501)
So.... This is how a Cat does it... But I want to PLAY!!
They next day she scornfully said "I was BORN twice that size" -she really was- and "They don't DO anything. What are they FOR?"
Post by: Unorthodox on October 12, 2016, 10:04:53 PM
I don't want a third.And here I had thought that she wins all the debates... or let's you think you won... :p
hEt will likely win that 'debate'
Her word is LAW, that is true.
There is very VERY little we actually "debate" on. The new cat is one of those things. And it boils down to:
"I want a new cat" (because Lily won't come be with me as much as I want, and I want a little grey one like the one we passed over when getting Lily)
"I don't want to clean another cat box"
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 12, 2016, 10:54:19 PM
Pretty easy.
Post by: Spacy on October 12, 2016, 10:56:09 PM
I recognize that debate.
Post by: E_T on October 13, 2016, 12:25:57 AM
I don't want a third.And here I had thought that she wins all the debates... or let's you think you won... :p
hEt will likely win that 'debate'
Her word is LAW, that is true.
There is very VERY little we actually "debate" on. The new cat is one of those things. And it boils down to:
"I want a new cat" (because Lily won't come be with me as much as I want, and I want a little grey one like the one we passed over when getting Lily)
"I don't want to clean another cat box"
Feline Toxic Waste... I guess she doesn't... clean them that is.... Hey, what about the kids? if they got time to take vids of the remodling for youtube....
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 12:36:45 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 03:24:46 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1560)
Hard choice to make :( it's going to get cold tonight, but he needs his mother for a few weeks more to have a chance...
-Six gummed my hands thoroughly in various places looking for a nipple, BTW...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 03:36:19 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 13, 2016, 04:30:06 AM
I don't want a third.And here I had thought that she wins all the debates... or let's you think you won... :p
hEt will likely win that 'debate'
Her word is LAW, that is true.
There is very VERY little we actually "debate" on. The new cat is one of those things. And it boils down to:
"I want a new cat" (because Lily won't come be with me as much as I want, and I want a little grey one like the one we passed over when getting Lily)
"I don't want to clean another cat box"
Feline Toxic Waste... I guess she doesn't... clean them that is.... Hey, what about the kids? if they got time to take vids of the remodling for youtube....
Approximately 7 more years of reliable slave labor left. At which point Indy could still be alive and the job still mine.
Post by: Unorthodox on October 13, 2016, 04:33:20 AM
I put Six back, but he was complaining so loudly when Momma got out of the shower that she could hear him through the closed window - when we checked, he'd crawled into the open. We brought him indoors and tried to feed him without a lot of luck, and concluded he'd be hard for Cloud to miss in a box with towels for warmth in front of Goblin's bucket, and a lot safer vocalizing so loudly inside the fence.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1560)
Hard choice to make :( it's going to get cold tonight, but he needs his mother for a few weeks more to have a chance...
-Six gummed my hands thoroughly in various places looking for a nipple, BTW...
Well. You can be surrogate but that's not fun either. I took one in that little when I was about 12.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 04:54:03 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 01:48:23 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1546)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 04:06:34 PM
-However, Five wasn't there, and isn't under the kettle. :( That ought to be it for Five, poor devil.
You may have noted in the six new pics I took last night of Six that he has an M over his eyes. Momma informs me that Six now has a proper name, now; Moses. He's been deserted, rescued -turns out she went out and got him at about 2am and he spent the rest of the night in her room- and returned to his mother for nursing. Moses.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 07:05:21 PM
Everybody else is fine in their pathetic new digs - Momma snuck out to get a count and a good look while Cloud was in the dog lot having lunch with me.
Post by: Unorthodox on October 13, 2016, 07:27:27 PM
Dunno - no luck getting much formula in him...
Had a special bottle/formula from the vet.
PJ was a fun cat when he grew, but was fairly psycho.
Chewed electrical chords, we figure he liked getting a shock. You'd watch him get shocked, and go right back into it.
Also really, REALLY um enjoyed a particular pillow, despite being fixed on schedule. Only ever that one pillow...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2016, 07:40:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 14, 2016, 12:11:09 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1553)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 14, 2016, 01:58:32 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 14, 2016, 04:35:30 PM
Post by: E_T on October 14, 2016, 09:16:16 PM
...On reflection, I bet Five was never under the kettle - that's who was missing Sunday morning. I bet something happened to Five Saturday night, precipitating the move... :(
Everybody else is fine in their pathetic new digs - Momma snuck out to get a count and a good look while Cloud was in the dog lot having lunch with me.
Yeah, open box is good when you are indoors or at worse, in the suburbs behind fencing and low feral and wild animal activity. Whereas, your more in the boonies... so, things come and find little bite size snacks...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 15, 2016, 12:24:26 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 15, 2016, 02:05:06 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1555)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 15, 2016, 12:05:33 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1552)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 16, 2016, 01:07:08 AM
They all seem really thirsty lately. It seems like not just Cloud, for some reason.
Goblin almost never fails to appear when I'm outside. She'll run up the hill if I don't go down first, and is still spending a lot of time on the pad and the carport. Her and Hershey continue to be fast wrestling buddies, despite the considerable size difference. Cloud has continued to be receptive to petting on the porch of dog city while she eats, and she's been pretty hungry, no doubt for the obvious reason.
Post by: E_T on October 16, 2016, 01:30:57 AM
If mother gets dehydrated, the kittens will too. If she gets too dry too fast, her milk might fully dry up and or not be enough for the kits to keep alive.
if anything, make sure there is water always close to her den!!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 16, 2016, 03:16:48 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 16, 2016, 03:26:34 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1556)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 16, 2016, 04:28:49 PM
Mylochka has been sleeping over at aunt Nancy's this week because old lady reasons. She's consistently reporting that Scaredy has become very playful, and utterly full of charm and win - sounds a lot like Goblin only with a lot more affinity for being held still and petted. She saw Nancy holding and petting Scaredy about a week ago, and Scaredy reached up and patted Nancy's face with her fuzzy soft paw. She will pounce on feet from hiding, and evidently will climb people and try to get at their meal...
Scaredy is no longer scared, clearly enough...
Post by: E_T on October 16, 2016, 06:22:36 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 16, 2016, 07:19:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 17, 2016, 12:54:51 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1557)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 17, 2016, 03:41:37 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1561)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1562)
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 17, 2016, 06:16:05 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 17, 2016, 12:18:03 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 17, 2016, 01:34:50 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1563)
Post by: ColdWizard on October 17, 2016, 02:20:30 PM
I guess Goblin doesn't have blue eyes any more.
Nope.
She decided blue wasn't intimidating enough.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 17, 2016, 07:06:50 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on October 17, 2016, 08:25:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 17, 2016, 10:17:14 PM
You need to convince Cloud to move them all inside the house, clearly.Clearly, yes.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2016, 01:00:41 AM
I'm rather worried and more than a bit frustrated.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1570)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2016, 01:58:55 PM
I believe I'll discuss the possibility with Momma of her going and getting the lot of them while I have Cloud lured away during lunch. Goblin had been under dog city for a couple hours at this point on her 15th day, and that worked out well enough...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2016, 03:00:23 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1564)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2016, 05:01:47 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2016, 06:48:16 PM
The babies were quieter than expected, probably having had lunch right before Cloud left for hers. She didn't go to them instantly; finished her lunch and took off, presumably to inspect the latest nest. They settled down quickly. When she came back about a half hour later, she was sitting outside the lot, so I took the nuhnuh to lure her in, and spoiled her a bit - then she hopped down and inspected the bucket before lying down nearby, visibly relaxed. She held her ground when I left. This ought to be status quo for at least the rest of today...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 19, 2016, 01:15:29 AM
We're tentatively looking at one of the bobs to keep, on the basis of maximum diversity of looks with who we've already got - Three currently looks to be the pick for that, on the basis of seeming more mellow, though they're both definitely quieter than the boys, Two and Moses...
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 19, 2016, 02:49:54 AM
Wait. Are the two kittens "Bobs" because they have bobbed tails, or "Bobs" because they look like Uncle Bob ?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 19, 2016, 03:00:34 AM
Bobs because they're marked like Bob, though light grey and white instead of charcoal and white. Number five was tailless, but Five's no longer with us - Moses/Six, the lighter striped one at the top of this morning's photo, has a tail stub. It's confusing, isn't it? Momma says she can't keep track of which one is which so far...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 19, 2016, 03:42:01 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1565)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 19, 2016, 02:18:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1566)
-Well, no sign of Hershey yet, but he's probably just sensibly slept off the cold...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 20, 2016, 12:02:28 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1567)
Post by: Unorthodox on October 20, 2016, 12:34:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 20, 2016, 01:15:48 PM
Ours are all present and accounted for this morning, and commenced their first feed of the day about 15 minutes ago...
Post by: Unorthodox on October 20, 2016, 01:25:54 PM
Just random kitty pic from the Halloween folks. My experience is cats are afraid of the fog machines in general. They make a nice hissing noise, but they are warm and the fuel tank tends to get a lot of condensation, so I can see why the kitty is on the thing if it gets past the sound.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 20, 2016, 01:32:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 20, 2016, 03:35:12 PM
...She's invented the evil manager, like it was pro wrestling or something; all she left out was the folded chair. -Actually, when they're playing chase n' wrestle, he won't let me get close, like he'd already thought of me as Goblin's evil manager...
I don't think she's locked into it yet, but Momma has started calling Four -dark stripes w/ white socks and muzzle- "Precious". Again, we're thinking of keeping one of the bobs, for the variety v. Cloud, Hershey and Goblin, and the visibility of the white, but all of the babies are super-pretty.
Post by: Unorthodox on October 20, 2016, 03:56:00 PM
He's also getting confined every day now while workers are here after I found him sitting atop the dump truck and installing himself as the roofer's mascot. (he's not supposed to be out without one of us watching, and he actually heals for me or Kyle. But generally contained to inside) I'll be dragging him to the pet 'spa' for a bath this weekend.
Haven't seen Lily in weeks. With plumbers and electricians inside and pounding from roofers and siding outside, she's under a bed somewhere and might never come out again.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 21, 2016, 12:48:25 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1577)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 21, 2016, 03:04:34 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1593)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 21, 2016, 03:34:15 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1568)
:luv: :luv: :luv:
-Still no teeth, but from the feel of the gums of the two who gummed my fingers this afternoon, jagged now, very close to emerging...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 21, 2016, 01:48:42 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1569)
I ended up doing the Cloud-following a bit underdressed for the morning temp, and carrying Four/Precious didn't add that much warmth, but the new nest is conveniently-located close and not completely lame, and I figured it best we let the babies get their morning feed before we interfere.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 21, 2016, 03:55:25 PM
The others settled right down, but One was acting like she'd slept through breakfast...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 21, 2016, 10:19:22 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1593)See, a little over a week ago, Momma handed a just-emptied alfredo sauce jar to keep nuhnuh in. Since then, Cloud glares at me sometimes, because she sees the label says "Prego" - and she thinks she's being mocked...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 22, 2016, 03:42:11 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1597)
This is Two, yesterday. You are dead inside if that face doesn't melt you at least a little...
Post by: E_T on October 22, 2016, 04:22:17 AM
Yesterday afternoon, Goblin climbed into the new cooler with the babies and played mommy; this afternoon, she climbed in with the litter and Cloud and was playing baby - and Cloud was playing along...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1597)
This is Two, yesterday. You are dead inside if that face doesn't melt you at least a little...
If she does it again, you need to take her out of there for a whıle. Her nursing takes food from the others and could be deadly.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 22, 2016, 12:55:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 22, 2016, 01:01:09 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1571)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 23, 2016, 12:52:56 AM
During sunset session, I pulled Hershey into my lap - and he ended up laying down and staying for 15 minutes.
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
:luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv: :luv:
This is huge.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 23, 2016, 03:04:26 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1589)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 23, 2016, 01:27:27 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1599)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 23, 2016, 10:32:31 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1572)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 24, 2016, 02:12:35 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1573)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 25, 2016, 12:37:39 AM
They're all heart-rendingly adorable...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 25, 2016, 03:59:56 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1594)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 25, 2016, 12:52:09 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1574)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 25, 2016, 02:26:08 PM
The Crazy Nasty Honey Badger (original narration by Randall) (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4r7wHMg5Yjg#)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 26, 2016, 03:21:21 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1579)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 26, 2016, 02:30:24 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1575)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 26, 2016, 04:30:43 PM
;wince
Post by: E_T on October 26, 2016, 10:05:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 26, 2016, 11:56:51 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 27, 2016, 01:52:41 AM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H2UXz4szBI#)
They've both grown in the interim.
Post by: E_T on October 27, 2016, 02:16:01 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 27, 2016, 04:33:31 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1590)
Post by: Bearu on October 27, 2016, 04:39:58 AM
I do believe Cloud is pregnant again already. We haven't seen gentlemen callers, but Mylochka thought she heard a cat-date in the middle of the night about a week and a half ago - and Cloud seems to be beginning to show...The feline continues to exhibit a number of salacious behaviors that indicates she requires a surgical adjustment of the privates. If she does not stop having the kittens, then the neighborhood and the local shelter may have to euthanize the animals.
;wince
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 27, 2016, 02:26:07 PM
Broke up another move attempt this morning after seeing Cloud out the window carrying Two to the woodshed. I was tempted to leave it, at least temporarily, because the spot she'd chosen in the woodpile is close and very convenient - but One and Two really didn't seem to like it there. The rest were still in the cooler nest under dog city.
Mom has suggested "Livingston" for One, 'cause she's always the first out to explore. She came right up to me three different times this morning before I finally got her settled down in the cooler.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 27, 2016, 04:55:35 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1576)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 28, 2016, 12:24:48 AM
They've all suddenly become prone to stumbling out to meet me - Moses is generally last, but most prone to settle down and fall asleep in my lap. Several were trying to eat cat cereal at lunchtime, though I think they mostly chew and suck away the nuhnuh absorbed, usually spitting out the piece of food in the end - though I've seen Livingston actually swallow twice.
You'd think from that and the bold exploring that she was a big alpha girl, ahead in development - but she's on the small side with Moses, if anything. I suspect one's generally late to feeds because she's out of the box looking around and complaining when Cloud comes in and lays down, and the other last to wake up and get to it...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 28, 2016, 04:42:56 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1587) (http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1600)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 28, 2016, 02:37:39 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1578)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 29, 2016, 04:26:28 AM
-And most of them are managing lapping formula from the lid now.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1601)
Moses/Six.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 29, 2016, 12:42:35 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1580)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2016, 03:43:58 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1586)
Two has been second to emerge from under dog city, behind Livingstone, several times in the last couple days when Momma or I approached - so Momma has named him Stanley... Three's the last w/o a proper name, now...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2016, 12:11:12 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1581)
Post by: E_T on October 30, 2016, 06:49:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2016, 08:34:59 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 30, 2016, 11:14:37 PM
Post by: E_T on October 31, 2016, 01:38:35 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 31, 2016, 01:50:47 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 31, 2016, 03:25:35 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1591)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 31, 2016, 02:25:52 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1582)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 31, 2016, 07:34:42 PM
Nice, though. The cats are having a good day.
Post by: Bearu on November 01, 2016, 02:15:28 AM
Prego...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1591)
The mother looks ready to protect her kittens in the photograph.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 01, 2016, 03:17:05 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1585)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 01, 2016, 12:57:32 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1583)
Post by: E_T on November 01, 2016, 03:28:08 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1583)
Cute...
You might just have to "bite the bullet" and take Cloud and getting her fixed ASAP. Although it would abort her new litter, if the abortion is done soon enough, there is no danger to her...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 01, 2016, 03:43:26 PM
-Incidentally, Cloud was up on the carport begging when I was making second coffee of the day, I took down a bowl of cat cereal and had a sit, putting the kittens up on the porch - and three of them were in the bowl having a go at solid food...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 02, 2016, 02:53:50 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1592)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 02, 2016, 12:17:47 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1584)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 02, 2016, 05:16:50 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1616)
(L-R) Moses/Six, Precious/Four, Livingston/One ,TJ(Trouble and Joy)/Three (who's been named, now), Stanley/Six.
Post by: E_T on November 02, 2016, 10:10:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 02, 2016, 10:59:45 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1617)
Not as good a look at TJ, but otherwise nearly identical. Can you see?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 03, 2016, 03:41:26 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1588)
Post by: E_T on November 03, 2016, 04:48:07 AM
Just for you, an extremely similar shot...not this one, but the very last one, yeah..
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1617)
Not as good a look at TJ, but otherwise nearly identical. Can you see?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 03, 2016, 04:49:54 AM
Post by: E_T on November 03, 2016, 05:05:49 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 03, 2016, 02:30:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1598)
Post by: E_T on November 03, 2016, 03:09:21 PM
Can you see this?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1598)
Kitties at the milk wagon...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 03, 2016, 03:18:06 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1620)
Post by: E_T on November 03, 2016, 04:25:48 PM
Hmm. So the problem seems to be with pics uploaded to the album yesterday. Can you see this new one of Precious?
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1620)
Awwwww...
Post by: Unorthodox on November 03, 2016, 04:28:41 PM
Both cats are being locked up during the day while builders move about and in and out of the place.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 03, 2016, 09:37:19 PM
I think their appeal comes through a lot better in action... :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 04, 2016, 03:25:36 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1634)
He told me so.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 04, 2016, 02:52:00 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1625)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 05, 2016, 01:03:13 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1627)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 05, 2016, 06:48:47 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1631)
:luv::luv: :luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv: :luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv: :luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv: :luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv:
:luv:
:luv::luv::luv: :luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv: :luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv: :luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv::luv::luv:
:luv::luv::luv:
:luv:
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 06, 2016, 12:07:14 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 06, 2016, 12:39:14 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 06, 2016, 04:33:28 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1628)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 06, 2016, 12:28:36 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1629)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 07, 2016, 11:36:53 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1626)
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 07, 2016, 03:33:48 PM
Did you catch the last one?
Yeah. Cute! Looks like they eat food now. What's the spaying time table?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 07, 2016, 03:45:06 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 07, 2016, 11:06:25 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1632)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 08, 2016, 04:04:40 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1630)
Post by: E_T on November 08, 2016, 04:33:56 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1630)
Not showing
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 08, 2016, 12:40:59 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 08, 2016, 02:22:12 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1635)
Post by: E_T on November 08, 2016, 02:52:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 09, 2016, 04:28:57 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1637)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 09, 2016, 02:13:22 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1636)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 10, 2016, 03:57:52 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1633)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 10, 2016, 12:51:06 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1638)
Post by: Rextraos on November 10, 2016, 05:41:32 PM
In essence, I want.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 10, 2016, 07:14:03 PM
I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want I want.:D Anybody in particular?
In essence, I want.
Post by: Unorthodox on November 10, 2016, 09:29:07 PM
But would have to meet them first, of course and it aint happenin.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 10, 2016, 10:49:46 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 11, 2016, 04:06:58 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1639)
Post by: Rextraos on November 11, 2016, 07:52:35 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 11, 2016, 12:40:05 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1664)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 12, 2016, 01:04:51 AM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZdBQVdjdi0I&feature=youtu.be#)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 12, 2016, 04:13:36 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1662)
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 12, 2016, 05:28:25 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 12, 2016, 01:08:21 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 12, 2016, 01:14:40 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1672)
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 12, 2016, 09:38:20 PM
All I see is on the steps - that's Moses.
Yes, on the steps.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 12, 2016, 11:11:17 PM
...
Hershey stayed in my lap 5-10 minutes for petting this afternoon.
...
I think Goblin is getting fat from hogging the kitten treats...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 13, 2016, 04:05:04 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1668)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 13, 2016, 01:36:19 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1663)
Post by: Rextraos on November 13, 2016, 04:50:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 13, 2016, 08:45:34 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 13, 2016, 09:01:48 PM
What is Goblin's veterinary status?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 13, 2016, 09:09:40 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 13, 2016, 10:44:45 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 14, 2016, 05:15:33 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 14, 2016, 05:22:14 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 14, 2016, 02:48:23 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1666)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 14, 2016, 02:51:41 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on November 14, 2016, 04:18:47 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on November 14, 2016, 04:26:05 PM
Lily is venturing upstairs at night regularly now. hEt has begun giving her treats when she does.
One of the cats started using my (future) shop as a litter box this week. Clearly a temper tantrum reaction to being locked up, but not something I can tolerate.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 14, 2016, 04:58:04 PM
...
I put the little doghouse back in place after I got home from dropping Cloud off for her big girl operation. The babies are really enjoying exploring it - not least, the kitten-sized gap/alley around the side and back. Goblin seems unusually relaxed today.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 14, 2016, 10:50:23 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 15, 2016, 04:24:03 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1667)
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 15, 2016, 05:18:52 AM
Cloud is home - but we're supposed to keep her cooped up for 2-3 days while she recovers, and we've got nowhere to keep her but the cage. :(
When we brought the ferrals home from surgery, I think we had to keep them for 48 hours. We kept them in the garage where it was quieter and safe, and put a towel over the cage. To be fair, they mostly slept and drank.
Moses is my favorite. Well, I pretty much admire all cats that look like Cloud. I think it's the prettiest housecat color scheme.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 15, 2016, 01:46:34 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 15, 2016, 01:47:14 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 15, 2016, 08:31:06 PM
Cloud pulled the towel I draped over the cage inside. -She already had two towels to lay on. [shrugs]
Maybe she's more concerned with the litter than being weak and vulnerable.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 15, 2016, 10:55:51 PM
...
Hershey was finally displaying interest in playing with the babies at sunset.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 16, 2016, 04:20:19 AM
-The kittens, on the other hand, are doing great.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1671)
Post by: Rextraos on November 16, 2016, 05:22:48 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 16, 2016, 12:32:07 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1675)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 16, 2016, 06:22:58 PM
Everybody was there for lunch session -Hershey was playing with a live mouse- Cloud continued to be very receptive to petting, and seems fine.
Everyone seems content, and I feel like we've won at cats.
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 16, 2016, 06:56:51 PM
Everyone seems content, and I feel like we've won at cats.
I think you have! Even domestic cats can get aloof and suspicious for days after a trip to the vet.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 16, 2016, 07:24:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 17, 2016, 01:30:32 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 17, 2016, 06:30:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 17, 2016, 09:16:32 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1721)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 17, 2016, 11:05:57 PM
Post by: E_T on November 18, 2016, 01:56:41 AM
Just taken of Livi...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1721)
I'm so cute that I need to wall it in...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 18, 2016, 02:03:19 AM
The kitten is, too. ;nodJust taken of Livi...I'm so cute that I need to wall it in...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1721)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 18, 2016, 06:26:23 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1676)
:luv:
Post by: Unorthodox on November 18, 2016, 01:50:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 18, 2016, 03:04:39 PM
Number five, who disappeared, didn't have that much.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 18, 2016, 03:06:43 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on November 18, 2016, 06:20:56 PM
The (lack of) tails are a sign of either a manx daddy or inbreeding.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 18, 2016, 06:36:38 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on November 18, 2016, 09:15:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 18, 2016, 09:30:01 PM
Inbreeding is certainly likely, with wandering neighborhood cat stock on both sides -and this ain't the 'burbs with a lot of turnover- I had a cat I don't know look in my office window yesterday; random patches of color with a lot of white, but the family pattern of facial stripes was hard to miss. Definitely a relative of our cats.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2016, 05:38:38 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1677)
Post by: Unorthodox on November 19, 2016, 05:52:25 AM
I take it the white and (dark/light) grey markings aren't uncharacteristic?
Inbreeding is certainly likely, with wandering neighborhood cat stock on both sides -and this ain't the 'burbs with a lot of turnover- I had a cat I don't know look in my office window yesterday; random patches of color with a lot of white, but the family pattern of facial stripes was hard to miss. Definitely a relative of our cats.
Indy's got white, and the grey happens. Goblin's tortoiseshell colors are down right indicative as well.
Indy also has the "M" on his face, if that's what you're meaning by the family face pattern. It's a fairly normal formation for striped cats of all breeds.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/ZE6OiY0_rpp9X5WXq67M6H-8y1tIvqP5jx7WNHOeekbUlftXsR3tNQ8o_3KXmbBi0iqOZq6R3o8auon9_g128eB3VVmCbiHW6wvIRKlzBfUKFSfOYZc4RLXt367EqSbri5gLIzZ1mSPoPpGECmZG0YPQpNZxj2-LY4ASGApsEWAqxBBcsce9Q4bkIQvdhzKH82He9viNhflgzP038KXxjtB_NgkBaln5N4hQMoJcnRYAKgnyxmmb336Fpx7lA9nFHpCTq4ws-ea3GQ1pEngDtLTOYHasvU-DahYot8PHDOubmVcIHq5voYB0svUa5VUQaXmhcSn_uCfmkVQac9YoSPepa89zbfVksP_2JcFjeRfIxfbnNzDNtC0Z6RcSg43aDgYrYk7VZiKrmRjxBrZyEqD27DpAdBlOSrOcGNuf5g2Lx5s_TziTH4l7Sw3soxXso9hP5RksUX7HHX6eeIdRNvJq-eMmHbMGlmuqnemmgTXaGQq63TnqNcs5cRgGpHv74ddpVvduMFruX1adsjEa5p6UWXm0y7-4vrN-552ge43oq1gPMQTha0CralT6NcQyTZJdzS2he88vDt1myEnYyUFE1jsyJWF6Ed-EYi55iSM1-d4i=w640-h426-no)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2016, 01:32:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2016, 01:44:51 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2016, 03:02:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2016, 11:39:15 PM
I saw three of the babies follow her into the woods about 2, right after I got home from the gallery, but it was cold/windy, and I didn't think much of it but finding a sunny windbreak on a west-facing hill to lay in until she showed up for sunset alone.
...When I was a kid, we kept the underbrush trampled down pretty well. That gulley is a huge pain to navigate through in bare feet and a sweater these days, not least just past sunset. It's a big gulley, and I didn't need the strenuous exercise that bad. Good thing Stan's a big complainer.
We brought all the babies indoors for the night. I suspect all that happened is that they followed Cloud without her necessarily mean them to, but she needed to take responsibility for getting them back. I did some punitive take-the-baby-indoors after a rescue expedition with Goblin, and Cloud needs reminding...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 20, 2016, 05:51:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 20, 2016, 01:26:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 21, 2016, 05:07:22 AM
Moses
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1716)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 21, 2016, 01:44:44 PM
Post by: E_T on November 21, 2016, 03:41:04 PM
The father of all of them is almost certainly Bob, who also lacks a tail - apparently his is genetic...A litter of kittens can have more than one daddy. Egg ovulation is only at the time of impregnation, for each egg. So...
Post by: E_T on November 21, 2016, 03:45:15 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1700)not showing
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 21, 2016, 04:17:48 PM
No, REALLLY?The father of all of them is almost certainly Bob, who also lacks a tail - apparently his is genetic...A litter of kittens can have more than one daddy. Egg ovulation is only at the time of impregnation, for each egg. So...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 22, 2016, 04:50:46 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 22, 2016, 01:13:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 22, 2016, 11:10:55 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 23, 2016, 06:16:20 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 23, 2016, 03:35:22 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on November 23, 2016, 06:49:29 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1703)
Looking pretty is tiring.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 23, 2016, 07:00:04 PM
So, the little cooler up on the left side of the porch of dog city is styrofoam - and kittens live there. There are little pellets of clawed-off styrofoam everywhere on that porch lately, especially the cats. I spend a lot of my time with them compulsively brushing/picking off bits; and the specks move around sometimes when I get near, there being serious static electrical attraction effects with the cat fur.
Sunday, someone had apparently had an especially vigorous cooler-clawing session when I went out at mid-day; it looked like the aftermath of a wacky comedy scene on I love Lucy, only Lucy and Ethel were cats...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 24, 2016, 04:08:57 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1707)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 24, 2016, 01:09:58 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1709)
Post by: E_T on November 24, 2016, 02:15:26 PM
Post by: E_T on November 24, 2016, 02:16:39 PM
I hear Scaredy is home from being spayed...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1707)
Not showing
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 24, 2016, 07:08:26 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1776)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1777)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 25, 2016, 01:56:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 26, 2016, 02:26:54 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1804)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 26, 2016, 04:59:50 AM
Mylochka got Hershey a collar today - I managed to get it on him, so he's got his rabies tag showing, and nobody will think he wild and take him...
-I told him it looked cool, so he likes it...
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 26, 2016, 05:26:15 AM
Post by: E_T on November 26, 2016, 01:09:04 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 26, 2016, 02:28:37 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1708)
I wasn't sure anyone but Rusty bothered to watch...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 26, 2016, 04:11:43 PM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0h1MZiEkGY&feature=youtu.be#)
Post by: E_T on November 27, 2016, 12:55:24 AM
Post by: Bearu on November 27, 2016, 05:06:19 AM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NwbGkhPBTHo#)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 27, 2016, 05:06:55 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 28, 2016, 05:06:19 AM
:luv: :luv: :luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 28, 2016, 04:01:55 PM
Quote from: Mean, lean, kittens machine
This is my bite-hole/This is my claw!
Take me home and be my maw!
-Then Goblin followed me indoors.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1817)
She's chilling out in my warm bedroom right now.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1818)
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 28, 2016, 06:27:01 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1711)
:luv: :luv: :luv:
Moses!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 28, 2016, 06:32:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 28, 2016, 11:36:47 PM
:( :( :( :( :(:( :( :( :( :(
:( :( :( :( :(:( :( :( :( :(
:( :( :( :( :(:( :( :( :( :(
:( :( :( :( :(:( :( :( :( :(
...We're taking Livi, Stan, TJ and Precious to the Humane Society tomorrow, and keeping Moses...
;heartbreak
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 29, 2016, 01:28:54 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 29, 2016, 02:05:40 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 29, 2016, 02:13:56 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 29, 2016, 03:29:00 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 29, 2016, 12:22:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 29, 2016, 07:32:56 PM
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=vt1Pwfnh5pc#)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1822)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 29, 2016, 10:35:04 PM
-Turns out it was the dog pound. There's a place right up the road, Friends of Animals, that doesn't euthanize, but you have to take the animal to the pound first, and pray.
When I came home, I had to go visit, and Goblin was good enough to lay against my leg for petting for 10 minutes - that's out of character.
At the sunset feed just now, eating went a lot more smoothly, with only four faces to crowd into the cereal bowl. Moses was good enough to put on a delightful performance of making his own fun on the porch, and like Goblin earlier, was generally more attentive to me, suddenly absent four alternatives...
I do hope the others find good homes. The idea of that little girl at Christmas would be wonderful. I wouldn't be nearly so sad if I was sure they'd be okay...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 30, 2016, 02:38:38 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1823)
I haven't had any in for individual spoiling, 'cause I didn't know for sure who we were keeping until yesterday. Moses seems to be responding well -from my POV and selfish needs- to the absence of the rest by being more receptive to attention from me.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 30, 2016, 04:34:27 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 30, 2016, 12:24:17 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on November 30, 2016, 05:56:32 PM
When I came home, I had to go visit, and Goblin was good enough to lay against my leg for petting for 10 minutes - that's out of character.
I was going to say, Tortis are known for their...attitude. But if they deem you theirs, they can be quite adamant in their affection.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 30, 2016, 07:25:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 01, 2016, 03:19:29 AM
More of that today, and it rocks. I'd missed Goblin's attention the last couple months...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 01, 2016, 04:19:04 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 01, 2016, 12:18:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 02, 2016, 03:34:27 AM
"We're notorious woop-bandits."
("Meanus" is one of those family language words, though Mom doesn't know whether it's local archaic dialect for "mean-ness", or one of us coined it.)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 02, 2016, 04:36:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 02, 2016, 12:35:00 PM
Post by: E_T on December 02, 2016, 02:55:16 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 02, 2016, 03:03:37 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on December 02, 2016, 08:00:32 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 02, 2016, 08:49:00 PM
Post by: E_T on December 02, 2016, 11:56:54 PM
Bring Goblin and Moses in. Get two litter boxes. Allow them to come in or out when they want (when someone around to act as door guard) and set an "In or Out for the night" time and stick to it. Doubt that older ones (Cloud, etc) would want to come inside or if they do, stay for long. But the two should...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 03, 2016, 12:51:47 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 03, 2016, 03:55:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 03, 2016, 11:59:24 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 04, 2016, 01:04:12 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 04, 2016, 11:17:42 PM
I took Goblin and Moses inside -it's been a miserably cold and wet day- this morning, and Moses didn't want to come out at lunchtime, so he sent almost all day sleeping under my desk.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1864)
:luv:
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 05, 2016, 04:24:55 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 05, 2016, 01:08:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 06, 2016, 04:42:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 06, 2016, 12:52:01 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on December 06, 2016, 07:12:10 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1791)
I like that pose by TJ(?).
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 06, 2016, 07:59:00 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 07, 2016, 01:12:47 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 08, 2016, 04:06:51 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 08, 2016, 01:15:46 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2016, 04:22:37 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 09, 2016, 01:49:25 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2016, 03:33:03 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1819)
She's in my room now.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 10, 2016, 03:40:32 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2016, 02:12:19 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1794)
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 10, 2016, 04:39:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2016, 05:19:36 PM
Today, it's finally gotten up to 34f at noon...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2016, 04:01:06 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2016, 12:26:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 12, 2016, 04:22:49 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 12, 2016, 01:14:42 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 13, 2016, 04:28:48 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 13, 2016, 02:25:12 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2016, 04:52:17 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 14, 2016, 05:34:46 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2016, 01:40:13 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2016, 01:44:50 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on December 14, 2016, 04:38:10 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2016, 09:12:10 PM
I really wanted to. That's my last pic of everyone up there...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 15, 2016, 02:01:24 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on December 15, 2016, 02:15:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 15, 2016, 02:57:20 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 16, 2016, 01:38:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 17, 2016, 01:44:16 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on December 20, 2016, 01:33:24 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/w06XnmiVcNycygYEi66X1MyUAhLz2MVVSNymsPgbtf9OS0kWjBT6a_-n5uxxkuHDpQaee665vtZYFGuOnz5mBCesphcINTHUJVJQAJPdRFviGaGq3hsRtSepzrUfSuLuKh3sP2Ehnmc9LAg1bgfuuO0TAvXHwvx2wbs7sWvH5pM9RnVawpbnwTYLkRQes1jiPscwi0yrgTy2XFsTUQxyUhAfUABpid4PqFIfOr7FdeDWINvAnF1gjPmdSTMYJIAIygicnTtGuMRpNux4mICiMhpNxOKWKuLFKmzPYGLTPXWHsUvbCHp5wT-BgEH9_fY-tPLGiF1XI66UOVDSE9IOC7ihinvn1uXPLyzX9kH_vT9BTLrlwT_dPPAdeoBOJqOBH6MNG9izDRugrF2HrVfziM-RyE4wj5IItFstRm53kHyFJjQQoJGjZKNjfXM1yIHmhYuA6btiezd4fFFxPSkV9APdMXdgUpqaYSAd3ROrOgJhGtaJtSTIihAW4mZmnz0IuX4EawUtUibW07o5GpuEpUDgbff71RoyOnTBVMCEpXtlpF8lxvtL_FHR03XYlM-gyjc8U886OTczJ1u81Qiglo6XQJ_fo39B9EPXhYX7-2K-9iW0Ufedmjs2LGqk7L55moa4WSKFPTrYk2YgOu8-JKFnej4ZEbCtwMuahxKciTI=s862-no)
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 04, 2017, 03:29:19 AM
I've been ill and not up to normal.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 04, 2017, 03:45:09 AM
Moses has indeed grown - and gave me a good worry today when he missed a meal for the first time ever, lunch, and then supper, too. -Turned up fine half an hour later, though.
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 04, 2017, 04:06:05 AM
Post by: E_T on January 05, 2017, 03:40:20 PM
Indy approves of the new carpet on the stairs.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/w06XnmiVcNycygYEi66X1MyUAhLz2MVVSNymsPgbtf9OS0kWjBT6a_-n5uxxkuHDpQaee665vtZYFGuOnz5mBCesphcINTHUJVJQAJPdRFviGaGq3hsRtSepzrUfSuLuKh3sP2Ehnmc9LAg1bgfuuO0TAvXHwvx2wbs7sWvH5pM9RnVawpbnwTYLkRQes1jiPscwi0yrgTy2XFsTUQxyUhAfUABpid4PqFIfOr7FdeDWINvAnF1gjPmdSTMYJIAIygicnTtGuMRpNux4mICiMhpNxOKWKuLFKmzPYGLTPXWHsUvbCHp5wT-BgEH9_fY-tPLGiF1XI66UOVDSE9IOC7ihinvn1uXPLyzX9kH_vT9BTLrlwT_dPPAdeoBOJqOBH6MNG9izDRugrF2HrVfziM-RyE4wj5IItFstRm53kHyFJjQQoJGjZKNjfXM1yIHmhYuA6btiezd4fFFxPSkV9APdMXdgUpqaYSAd3ROrOgJhGtaJtSTIihAW4mZmnz0IuX4EawUtUibW07o5GpuEpUDgbff71RoyOnTBVMCEpXtlpF8lxvtL_FHR03XYlM-gyjc8U886OTczJ1u81Qiglo6XQJ_fo39B9EPXhYX7-2K-9iW0Ufedmjs2LGqk7L55moa4WSKFPTrYk2YgOu8-JKFnej4ZEbCtwMuahxKciTI=s862-no)
Ah, the ever present Cat Stairway Hazard in the night fall risk that no one ever thinks about...
Post by: E_T on January 05, 2017, 03:42:16 PM
The cats are all doing well - it's me who's been puny.
Moses has indeed grown - and gave me a good worry today when he missed a meal for the first time ever, lunch, and then supper, too. -Turned up fine half an hour later, though.
What, no pictures of Moses and Goblin playing in the Christmas Tree (and almost causing it to fall)??
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 05, 2017, 03:48:02 PM
Post by: E_T on January 05, 2017, 03:58:29 PM
The dog's upstairs with the tree. The kids come in downstairs with me when they feel like it, but not so much upstairs...
They are grown up enough to handle the Kitten Killer and teach him the errors of his ways... As well as being two of them...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 05, 2017, 04:03:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 12, 2017, 01:49:56 AM
Quote
Stubby Reinforcement Raises Tensions in Rocking Chair/Long-Tailed Cat Relations
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1874)
Tiny insult added to long-tailed injury
"I just felt like rubbing it in," Goblin said.
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 12, 2017, 05:25:34 AM
Post by: E_T on January 12, 2017, 06:09:52 PM
Goblin calls for tail judgement due to Moses flaunting his tail of stubbiness... advantage not fair!!
Post by: Unorthodox on January 15, 2017, 02:11:13 AM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6287T3qhAiUKrqoJz8FpSOMMMEn8qgVbCYofdfCo8PBszJoQjKqdZq-ef507R-a6ykcz5Hr7SIISHQJTPXTSdKMglkUFGXUlLd4D41Q4Y4Tl0V934LfCu0-q6i-VSAPojVftKmFm6dSSWisaeKClf-klmpGrmyPJDwNyoQltxiyWxCcnnbuZRuuU9Ylt_tpX7ENAD9Dc_E5yV1l56oik1p-EbqGaCOTXKM8siTmad1E8GaYQfkb4BUURB6kHHj22O5sKEWuP7s8zDi78LMzjzqMH40N0q2Oqy7zwd6F_8QRBeJrLfHLzQArmKEsNOeLSETX7NdZzmhbWm5vufQ_BuQ5PDyTVjN3N0M8_J94NdQy6sFKBbqVUJOzTCp4jT3O5wLtQOmDLk3aJeNKnE8ahCecmJgncRxgztRy8U8kZTcAJb8VIvS5Yr-vOddu8lDvAc0TUM2OWQ8YK6-FULApwBi9hrX7IbhTNB1H2vZCUAM0sALu_-ONy1GHj6VprYaxEwSCWuw90Zrqp4veuZLs95Y8sEKLSepDkminBnlSweBs9MMYbabFA8yTbK9guqopGzaauuPZ9PFDRMlTNDihj92V_dWgaUTL0yIDdpAiVrHi2PNZcm7OCLg=w1225-h919-no)
She's not the same since she was fixed earlier in the year. Not sure where she's spending time. Sometimes in the shed, sometimes under the neighbors patio.
As you can see, we've started feeding.
She is completely feral. As in she doesn't even seem know how to meow/recognize it as communication. All communication between us is body language.
Post by: gwillybj on January 16, 2017, 12:34:10 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 16, 2017, 02:56:17 AM
Post by: gwillybj on January 16, 2017, 08:26:53 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on January 16, 2017, 09:12:52 PM
Maddie Rose, mom's cat somewhere upthread is similarly tiny. Lily is not much bigger. Both happened to have been the runts of the litter with brothers/sisters bigger. Maybe it's something genetic, or maybe something about not getting enough at that young age.
_________________________________________________
Mystery didn't want me near when she come to eat last night. But she did vocalize. I've spent been meowing when I took her out food since christmas. I wouldn't call her answer a meow, but it was vocalization, finally.
Just want her around as a mouser, and will be satisfied if she only learns Uno meow means food and it never gets to petting or anything.
Post by: gwillybj on January 16, 2017, 09:37:55 PM
Who's that sleeping in the background?That would be my heart-holder, Gina. :luv:
Ten-and-a-half years attached at the ribs.
Post by: Unorthodox on January 16, 2017, 10:23:00 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on January 19, 2017, 03:09:11 PM
What we've learned over the week:
1. Mystery, at some point in her life, was a house cat.
2. Either beat/abused or severely injured after getting kicked out. I'm leaning towards beat considering how she acted around people. 2 legs have been broken and mended not quite right, possibly some ribs.
I'm not vet enough to guess age.
Possibly declawed, wouldn't let me inspect the paws enough to say for sure.
Note past tense. She's done a 180, and is camping out in our shed, recognizes us opening the door and meowing as invitation to food and petting. LOVES the kids, wants their attention. Nervous around me still (considering our antagonistic start, it's no wonder), but let me manhandle/inspect her fine.
If you remember me having concerns about the red eye reflections last year, Mystery *AND THE ENTIRE CLOWDER* seem to reflect red.
There's at least 2 more strays with Mystery.
#2 (henceforth Rebus) IS FREAKING HUUUUUGE! As in 16-20 lb cat. Maine Coon size. Has approached the door/food, but flees at first sight of people, never seen eating. Mystery doesn't seem to mind it, so figuring relation. Likely cause of me thinking the eyes were too big for a cat last year. Like a really dark siamese type coloring and very fluffy hair at the face. Haven't seen the rest enough to identify further.
#3 (Enigma)...has only been seen by eye reflection.
Post by: Unorthodox on January 20, 2017, 03:20:59 AM
Enigma is black/maybe "blue".
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 20, 2017, 03:42:53 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 20, 2017, 11:12:50 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on January 22, 2017, 01:23:44 AM
So you're actually feeding all three?
Wouldn't want to.
So, Mystery was hanging out in the shed and under the tramp since we started the feeding.
Here's Mystery with as much as we ever see of Enigma in the background.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/dx5HS6hU7WzvLqsnKZ8mdrFIgdzoiloDFJUOVZyw7PfqpBchnFSBCI68MW7nnXdQVKzuG493KKDWnO31EYW2pBNTC0azqbhE27qja2VV6-TCx6oPStceIdtCkEXwc2Ru4D-fH_PjynepO5qsehz4p5la9dwIYi5aNJNUXusZ55ZdvwOCLG3xpxgZqBcFER7uT-e-JM_4mFNhxrm_1JipE7G-rIGEwgGrvdWpyuZBpeeXR8QXtpQdcpYy9PjPRAIzDazssd3xMqpnQtd-5u8PQHRk8LisC9zcv4ZW98JClTetZ2jMJtKdlvJze5EmmM8FuofpoPDKTkAHF-7AFhIMatPzsFIoi1nvHIUVnI_npmmHjfe0ypfXSJq0l9Lb6kWciOKlfFOgrQQPwphp1LCf7RMOA2Dc0HbZs9hCbl7cOZA2GtjoWlu4MqUZU4uZKWJOpaTfWJYYbUHmzKgovuk6JBt6M1Njte0ioe-ixTOtP2muC-OnZoYu7JuSOpcuC3XxFE8xG0Prn0PWPx3t4byQkaUzxfpNjBiJfJikT3GIEvS12V8W48Emy-7oi7JOFhMWjcSUGCVonEQdF7udQcSym7QyNCu2UHLwKqa1HPEx6yl9hLltva3F1w=w1223-h918-no)
So, yesterday, I spent the day making this shelter.
It's lined with expanding foam and leftover carpet. VERY warm in there. Mystery has not left it since deciding it wasn't a trap.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/CtisGl2LIuAAHsBkkH_fw-7yLtNy9Szn3wuV1Z-_pnx4KoWLi3NCNGxcNLBGwlnGRCsQ1g7z5rYsbQHxuV7Rz-9AjrU_eCeHh4qYxD43pGhZQ7EUDZB_zuSyQ42814ZHtTa971SUoX_GltF-cGvoy7NhIjV28eA0DaG7e4OApX-g0wn1jP9nIm1eRsMwiPQVUuqho7vSYzB_atYBY3JWbRHkM2JUtTriPVc6O1fR6Cel0WcbC5_Zb7laPHcnHN41n-2beCiBkh4GpSC8_sR_hERojlrrMcqU1pM6l92qKu8eb85emXgpQiFWb7dqEUUKk4MFCC6GRsGmyAEM9ry7ZrK6_zy3VEJkrp6GITJLevGjLuD41NqUuLwFLVDcRw-gRLkcU8eSd4rup-Kd2G4JaRXQeUKW172TUNpWDPaQ0094xytqBqF3V7XNYQ64cfi32OewHjaP6qWXsihkeNLNQDMvHdAA4M_9iw-R2YAevYYu0Z3X5Ge8wlbFIBnkhPHTONWxmCj-BkkTnTw9xTk8ne8fTxMzE9fA_3_bnebume1LrOwYhYfHrZq8eE9HmX1i03XauCvi_qOW_BKtZJIMrFV8UKvdY9YPOOZchE43Wh92ZCK9fsLRog=w1225-h919-no)
The other two have buggered off for the storms we're having through Tuesday. I think they have warmer places when they want/are males that are expecting Mystery to want some action again. They don't get along with each other at all, but both want to be near Mystery. Rebus seems too well groomed for that long of hair to be totally wild. Plus expensive breed.
At any rate, the presence of two such males would help explain Mystery's behavior last year as one of them may have been the one to kill the kittens that didn't survive.
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 26, 2017, 09:11:07 PM
Here's a cat quiz-
http://pawsome.topix.com/quiz/17826?utm_source=facebook-share&utm_campaign=17826&utm_medium=itemphoto (http://pawsome.topix.com/quiz/17826?utm_source=facebook-share&utm_campaign=17826&utm_medium=itemphoto)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2017, 09:56:46 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1875)
-She's going in for her big girl operation tomorrow morning.
This is Moses on the 11th:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1876)
He's growing like a weed; over halfway to Cloud's size already.
Not much real change to report for Hershey, aside from him getting bulky enough that he climbs out of the lot sometimes instead of squeezing through the gate gap. He's gotten slightly more patient about staying in my lap when I pull him in for a pet after the midday or sunset feed.
About a month after the other kittens were packed off to the pound, I had to cut portions on the cat cereal in half. Cloud and Hershey were both developing guts. During the cold and deep snow early in the month, I was able to lure Cloud into the basement with the kids for a few days. They come in at least once a day -again, Goblin's in right now- and sleep with me most nights, and none of that for Cloud, but she has come back in several times a week since. She hides a lot more than they do, but does come into the open some, and lets me approach and pet if I'm careful.
Hershey has been way too chicken-hearted to come indoors, so far.
I got collars on Cloud and Hershey -not least to hang their rabies tags on- shortly after she was spayed; they're nylon, and she scratched at hers until it looked like a band of black fur, which I took off her Saturday just before it parted completely. I have her new collar in my pocket, but she won't let me put it on her so far...
Post by: gwillybj on January 26, 2017, 10:36:02 PM
Moses looks similar to our Abby. Does he have leopard spots on his chest and belly?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2017, 10:50:18 PM
-When he's in the mood, likes having that spotted belly rubbed. Doesn't even bite me, then.
Post by: Unorthodox on January 27, 2017, 03:04:23 AM
So, impression now you've been around goblin a while:
http://consciouscat.net/2014/09/30/tortitude-unique-personality-tortoiseshell-cats-fact-fiction/ (http://consciouscat.net/2014/09/30/tortitude-unique-personality-tortoiseshell-cats-fact-fiction/)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 27, 2017, 04:03:04 AM
-Cloud a few hours ago.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1877)
Dunno why the chair in front of the wood stove is so popular, lately. The stove hasn't been going.
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 27, 2017, 04:23:32 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 27, 2017, 03:54:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 27, 2017, 09:37:03 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 28, 2017, 04:19:51 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1878)
Post by: gwillybj on January 29, 2017, 12:13:36 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on January 30, 2017, 02:24:59 PM
It's hard to believe how mellow SHE is being in contrast. He bolted out the door to attack her, bopped her upside the head a few times before I separated him and she just looked at him like he was an idiot.
Mystery has started using the little tupperware home more as a base of operations, and heads out and about during the day, but sleeps in the tupperware. She's wary of me still, not sure if it's signs of abuse or just the animosity from last year. She's usually fine, but went completely bonkers at a motion seemingly at random when I was out back shoveling a little snow off the stairs. Hiss swipe flee.
No sign of Rebus or Enigma since the weather turned bone chilling last week.
Lilly has finally started coming up at night regularly.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 04, 2017, 09:53:50 PM
:luv:
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 04, 2017, 10:05:46 PM
Wife- "That's one happy kitty!"
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 04, 2017, 10:16:08 PM
Post by: gwillybj on February 05, 2017, 01:00:10 AM
Belly spots! Now I know what you are talking about.Just like our Abby :)
Wife- "That's one happy kitty!"
Post by: Unorthodox on February 07, 2017, 04:26:16 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 13, 2017, 02:16:56 AM
Post by: E_T on February 15, 2017, 01:53:45 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1879)
Back Paw High Five!!
Post by: Unorthodox on February 15, 2017, 03:06:14 PM
Post by: Geo on February 15, 2017, 10:50:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 15, 2017, 11:06:10 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on February 16, 2017, 05:50:08 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 17, 2017, 10:32:57 PM
Post by: E_T on February 18, 2017, 03:29:16 AM
An animal shelter is offering "Purritos"
Does it come with mild sauce??
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 07, 2017, 03:39:16 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1880)
His personality, at least at this adolescent stage, is about 25% dog. When he's indoors, sometimes he comes into my office and paws at my leg for attention. -I wish he had dog claws when he does that.- The purr when he gets what he came for is all cat, though.
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 07, 2017, 07:42:20 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 07, 2017, 03:19:49 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on March 07, 2017, 04:52:33 PM
Follows her everywhere. THE CAT WAS JUMPING ON THE TRAMPOLINE WITH HER! Jumped right up there while Talia was bouncing, and rolled around with it bouncing even, didn't get scared.
DOES NOT like me outside grilling. Or moving about the yard in general.
Lily is getting better. Let me sit next to her on the couch. Understands the word "love" to mean petting. Bolts if I get the camera out.
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 07, 2017, 08:37:17 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 07, 2017, 09:05:50 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on March 13, 2017, 02:03:21 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/V3p1dIjUYHPO6Pt1FR2Y0s22aHR-GIlD_XbxbOfNuSgXoivRG9kFL1P7PE4n2XNvJ0EHQDlsVFEcxR029inKJyMXa3zbvCtjld5HVQcqYz4NEZJ3NQQqpgher4n5-e1G08vZGqU3cZzeK3O-9Azn6IGGfomo8Fic09-N8wJStVGFhnTjOkq7-38_DKs3Kmg9Im9Mni2hpOs5kOPHgyJEJB1Mqm7zm-ZmpJcK_HMAMBOQoo15gfmzaYBgHFOahUx2yhhb2XdglMD-IiKuVKfmQ0hIKDdFdULoj5L8fknC6XOH89qHalI2INV8FbIwN96_EgoTIIPjTF5HSLbHJ65a5tQ_ZYZdbi72P1HPHpEy2hAheMl_AqYeGmpIW0hzYT86Yg_wdcOuYilXyIYukiXL9iDsYPAiA-TCxC1MkOK8WKacwZ4tyoiH0FBMawY-_K0YXeZdHNmIweEMRSW44R70zkeE3gMTscPbSZfBcPSbN9IH_ElhZ1D8ZtgBswQOiwqeso0unrKy5R3jNtlOt3Lwnb30udU89tSszGJVHi2o_AVHbqvyi2lbrlHmtu6m8DwmgB3XmOgxivAF_wBqsIqmOnUkpdn9HC3qdbZ4DArCFU9PHx6M8Xe9VZ-wVPa53IWhJV6xp5RNwno=w1196-h897-no)
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 13, 2017, 04:21:07 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on March 14, 2017, 12:55:02 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 03, 2017, 08:25:10 PM
I think they took her in, cropped the ear, but didn't do the fixin...
Post by: Unorthodox on April 10, 2017, 12:32:37 AM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/OpQAmWDW_TBDjOotxzntLHWteUZHgfCsLjCkGeLhOXpzNUmCdBGdkw8EmZNpK2Fo3Ayc1ZJO1-S6UoeTYh4oSAeaQzE9uN-p9zcNiHT8Yo1RxKfNkFJWfzkJuFZKrpiYuGx5aaxlS_PTaSI7ioAiqsqwVTU9LzXcaUU61y32glVpwTHeqg9iUmwJfLhLH6bEOsbB3WvkubJs9EUhr2jStjy0_GmkoV_US1cbAL9tYjD1ybNEJLkXjs3FT0Ok4dw9dvYP82ufRnx_Z2OGS9Ku6m2ey06CDJRxnpPsRyre6Ete_ekXo06GGpKKdZa_ax4ag-Q0JkWmsUcEz0Gy1vmTzg6SgbQhVeA_5hC_613nCG4z-Vb9GoFu4qq1uOB5td2aZ3v5VjSZl7w7JnfNPwqvEsvvlmsCnhIyBlg2nDB5OKeQrI-aWwBkq12HXRoAWZ80MJgs9yovkOLVLGaNM1j25uJPBwUyB8Sf80z9OzCzj-U-PjMEk9jg--FRfErLaUksx4t3IZXbrGxlGNHIYMx0PL2FBvhDd87I8vPfpIhfbSo2BGomnFp0nBlVqQ0fdX7qEFRQArY4PlPP18fFwX81rV43LYRQUWyFxdVXFA1kUTYc-lFYOdeqXg=w1225-h919-no)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 10, 2017, 01:23:33 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 10, 2017, 04:27:42 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 10, 2017, 04:31:35 AM
Again, I haven't really been checking on her at all. She tolerates me in small doses at best. Talia is the primary care giver.
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 10, 2017, 04:43:02 AM
Post by: Geo on April 10, 2017, 10:05:17 AM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/6BhuO-_vwJUl0G99spxPaCkhayETMQp0Jcx-Wd6oTgWUC6axFpDz1ew0ZweqdGGT9vVwM0joPPbfJ1bY966hd61xRhJnL9pTju1UHFLAs4avQXyKMNDlVD7ifPYBvckZoXdvPpohnyQq9oucTg_paCR_kYB4mAvLrFg1-AGNZ69m9atS1MDMmgl0cbUUrkg03ZsV35MwCrkdM5-53Van3pInQMZnp7zvfRnc4ODsQIQULp_uQnnTPIZ1Lj_Ul7K1Ahfk7iPjMqvPntenlGzMp-6s8rIIgXAWOOmIJlX-lGW0QvVaLLCc9UWGsW2ELcUFeAlq5AXvGsoMpwZVJhNPqqStoemVZ8avRXf3DhocVT0wH9T3PkiAnGBsRleQcrtwYn0rhu99zsi5rOlaQgzsJBP74n07zYrHV_8jRWuVpZOGAdbQdGEb15WMRTviPwIVZtlecBzs5vSy1kXaqfq_HYG2z_2ZdpRPBMrF8wTnygaJw1rY5Cxj4TydVsFnoouX2d9cqzS2ZVhM0b1jdTeZD3DcdBEM2bqlQ-gGqBCI9uaYtRzD-v5cdfHMUUrzAa3RKYA59IWSpxdgrY2QjaOKWBfbLeldahO8k4OJYJ0qM8hid4CIFA=w1225-h919-no)
Watch out with the bottom one! It has its claws out already!
Whoever the city is paying to spay and crop these cats aint doing the spaying part. Mystery, and I'm guessing either Enigma or Rebus as the papa. Timing for when they were around is about right.
Looks like someones wants the city renamed to "Cat Lake"?
Post by: Unorthodox on April 10, 2017, 01:45:57 PM
https://www.google.com/search?q=sl,ut+shirt&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0iZOJ9pnTAhUqslQKHWRYCSoQsAQIUw&biw=1652&bih=896 (https://www.google.com/search?q=sl,ut+shirt&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj0iZOJ9pnTAhUqslQKHWRYCSoQsAQIUw&biw=1652&bih=896)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 10, 2017, 03:26:28 PM
Watch out with the bottom one! It has its claws out already!From what I saw in the October litter I midwifed, they're born unable to retract their claws. They need to be able to climb their mother's side.
I'd estimate those three are around a week old - there appears to be peach fuzz on the little pink paws.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 10, 2017, 07:03:06 PM
Post by: Geo on April 11, 2017, 10:23:07 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 11, 2017, 01:45:20 PM
I've taken a really passive stance with these. Much as we always did with 'working' animals back home. Mystery is a mouser, that's it. Not a pet. The kittens are her problem as far as I'm concerned until it comes time to fix them. If they die, I'll even get a cool skeleton.
hEt is much more Awwwww CUUUUUUUTE.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 17, 2017, 03:58:26 AM
Mystery has become down right ambivalent to me. Did tolerate me brushing her out to reduce the hair piling up on my porch, but is affectionate with Talia and hEt. She's come to trust us with the kittens as well, and doesn't fret when we open the box to look or even pull them out. 3 boys.
Eyes opened in the last day or so.
Size reference, palm of my hand.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2017, 04:15:18 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 17, 2017, 02:34:22 PM
Eyes just open puts them at about 11-14 days, I think...
About right, our best guess is sometime on the 6th or 7th, during the storm.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2017, 07:11:06 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 18, 2017, 07:56:44 PM
Post by: Geo on April 19, 2017, 11:05:36 AM
Moses is scheduled for his big boy operation Thursday morning...
u sadist u!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 20, 2017, 08:44:10 PM
Moses is home. He's still fuzzy from the drugs, and he is complaining.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 24, 2017, 04:27:36 PM
Trying to figure out a new situation before Mystery moves them herself.
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 30, 2017, 02:08:34 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2017, 02:15:35 AM
:clap:
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 30, 2017, 03:21:11 AM
A happy one, too.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2017, 03:58:02 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 30, 2017, 03:27:46 PM
The kittens are starting to be ambulatory, so I need to figure something of a better shelter out, or mom will.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 02, 2017, 09:16:17 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pUHRZPxYZcm562S4onL6kXkJbpYf_moVBQrVdt41GWpecXw64-AK-G2yF0FAMTRbUbEA1NSYjIbyDCJRHa4EQQICOinpL7bCuKwZxL21Wecj0f7hnEwg50eMld7Sah4Y_n_KmxNse3OL-aZ9vZ-qvp8jubZFnaRUGu2xpc8SNc4vdg7YK2x5DL3_RRBpVh47bFUmuPl2ndJ8iYzW9F_zUtvQ7_ERQxB2CtdixjU_mDqIHCHtEvrMmUkBhRtiW1oM0iXkk5xFm4fyAesb7o1cOooFGY-TlbUnOdyiOS2sQ0nYqjYidANqb2I91YwHgsvukbKj0tjCIkKAb4VlcjYzaCXa7Mt_4r2GWAwBPHGRLoPbqYwimaA11YPBz7kGczDQtLMf8Fb-hwjwjkMlWTsOpd3jdYc8bJenWPFR-gtgxAsR8J69o_oQpsbxdBaP-8hopMyHKzmF84FQu2tt23Ys3xgrMKhSeoXsCcPsWmiMNZGlCvq21BdoFvzNDgwTvs72CR1ViKuzn8bGD5LQKWd9QEEo3deC8kgWBqgDNjeGeF9QQAl-bswQ_YTjyqPS6kxoGgPUk8gcI_vtQn1qqd2Owk3VQAbkgpjvtL6Ym7dq-3YxdOTEzZ4xOQ=w673-h898-no)
The light kittens continue to get a bit more color.
Note the stark white stockings on the one. Talia noticed that's how you tell them apart. I haven't really confirmed.
One is supposedly more daring than the other as well, or so the girls say.
The dark one is runtish, but not terribly so yet. He's also the more vocal.
Talia is having 'girls nights' out on the catio with Mystery and the kittens since it was built. Holding the kittens and playing with Mystery.
Indy and Mystery have an interesting relation going right now. He's come to accept her presence outside most the time, with occasional bouts of marking up his side of the door. Mystery couldn't care less, typically respects the door threshold, and rubbed up on him the once he stepped outside, which he really didn't know how to take.
Lily is attempting to kill Mystery with her stare the few times she comes upstairs.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 03, 2017, 02:03:46 AM
That looks like a savannah. I'd never wish that breed on anyone.
The kittens are starting to be ambulatory, so I need to figure something of a better shelter out, or mom will.
Yes, it does. Burmese, maybe?
Bales and a tarp make an excellent cat shelter.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 05, 2017, 06:53:05 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/HmDpYNZ6W8ucXhashcUyLvVBCB8jwbi8cQei6cwzV4zL4ZuAUoOZBuqEi5IZ1T7fUTCxNy9uEBf4pR3o7GbVpADE0fcBWNq0baB1QFR_YofiYgzNUWQP55aja13kfujqfWhLTprAN0ajyuH3Q7N9zNTd57BB2Y5ZXo8jMFRpKDukpsLD2L3Jd4pNYOdeiU1eCHwfV1P4wO8TSXTZBHNU5zOxqGcFZ_Lpwf5EC1GGyfPaNpR80ZJfuzp9L5h1GaaiJdKrrT0cH4uhwhNkJiDgb2WCcnAUO03ZLfAkXKnzKqGcPEgkOZdpPCYEYX8zjH1t0aqXVVTQDG1e37nPqK-G1n5IXXATQMzC6lAqsDFgXakIAVGtrXHMTKVrcfQQupfgKPd9zpFo_IrkbQHacYRpGDLwuzKg30UF5RpvVvwyZdMyPiyOlHw81pTv3OPOf2GMjeyti8smOYfwviLKFmTXY_H6H5bZSVpocZ2aPVyRYgK79r8bPDA2jRnfHoejMVaNejgZQQFh6HXDzW0BL_XvYrbY5cQSDI8CeRrltBQDzIqqdfV2-Evf6_Teq8qkRGhqEn7DqV1B2Z32SVroXpeHi98Qk23tvS5Ig3sB0Z0JYNoLEfzIWy6iRA=w673-h898-no)
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/lhYPvOANzFF79xogCAo8xAWfZrKPAV6LbC5h8hukP-9YUd_exQHuDbcV6cMRZ2AC9xwj57Kca6LrcIbG2CrGy4vzx9NmzXL6wNu4ZX-dZZwTG3zigbNOMil7KoQNlOF5jgMKyzkrSSO1MPlfDr0Z_fz2kEDKnManJuPK5Mmx1Jq9JZVU3orq9TgBC1cenEEDel6gwNY136fwgDxiDOBiDp7Aosbn2XrH48pzCuQZheCg1bAD9UjDHZxwqBG7A-CTewapsmYRihtMInZCq3m7kMZgz9SrUEhdYeiVAx5Vr4hljZvDr0LKLOArBytNCbU-JKsR58h6eWjOK5n-NJKbPYZ13VUsUXRi0Q3p1E2NiBMmbYJOQO2BjF089b-nb2CzPkbxWQXpKKxDH4DvMqNrwSKDp3Y7QtASS6L1YArJANLU-vyUZueFe6xIkj3xlR0LnJ5aIcmmReWm0GYGHXDE14a0Uz9HzupIh3pZwtlHdzLFFOlWgHjg0uLuCNSr1td40qkybZQkgs19cQb70qHcp5gufaFtDZj36ylJyfqgRcVOdEbpCg74hPtDOUcA0jm37qhBuF-3D39Chpoqa6n2PVC-mhzYi0st8rnkr6PD56a0Sm1lAtAAgQ=w673-h898-no)
Mystery come home with a bunch of feathers on her mouth the other day. I think a neighbor lost some chicks.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 09, 2017, 05:48:43 PM
Talia's named them.
She's got Snowball. "Because I can scoop him up and he sits like a snowball"
(https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18320678_1526022810764443_3401407189381691521_o.jpg?oh=1a785a29fc3df59d3253db7dd13f9475&oe=59828C81)
Alec has Mr Grabby Paws. "Because he's always grabbing on to everything" (he's not got the retraction down yet)
(https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18359111_1526022797431111_4585727443974083266_o.jpg?oh=f20f533442d909c7cb8dc1063097c46f&oe=59B17B7E)
And Kyle has Feisty "Because he used to always hiss at me" He's definitely the most daring, first one out, already walked off the catio.
(https://scontent.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t31.0-8/18358934_1526022794097778_5937785711298166197_o.jpg?oh=48bfc3e094be9a55d300931bb2e80d78&oe=59B20D48)
Post by: Unorthodox on May 17, 2017, 04:03:32 PM
Turns out they are just fluff, there's not much difference in weight, though he's definitely a runt.
Vet confirmed Mystery had her ear cropped by a vet and is marked as a community cat, so SHOULD have been fixed. No scar, though, so for whatever reason, it didn't happen.
The Kittens can how climb over the catio wall, I'm going to convert it to a ramp to let them climb back up easier now the physical barrier is no longer effective.
Snowball and Grabby paws come to hEt when called. Feisty don't care.
Snowball also thinks he owns our house already, and just wanders in whenever the door is open to feed them.
I've only had clinical type contact with any of them, the rest of the family spends time with them every day.
Indy is still nervous around Mystery, though she is openly trying to befriend him. He's also nervous around the kittens.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 20, 2017, 06:22:38 AM
By that I mean as she was when I first met her.
With the kittens no longer contained by the catio, Mystery has responded by becoming that paranoid and freakishly aggressive cat again.
She will growl aggressively at the first noise anywhere near her/the kittens, and stand ground against whatever comes. She does recognize us as friend, however, once she is sure it's one of us. The neighbor kids, not so much. She doesn't want them near unless Talia specifically is with them.
The kittens still come up to the catio at night and for food. Mystery meanwhile sits guard on the straw bales just outside the catio, and I hear her chase off various things during the night.
Fortunately, she's not being aggressive towards Indy anymore. There's a two-fold reason for that. The switch to central air in the house means I don't need that door open to the screen for the swamp cooler to ventilate things, so they don't have the same type of contact as before and Indy is at the door less as a result. And, she seems to know Indy is no threat now.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2017, 12:07:15 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1040)
Y'all remember Scaredy.
Despite appearance, these pics are all of the same cat as above...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1883)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1884)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1885)
She's dramatically friendlier now.
We figure Orange Fluffy is to blame for her and Goblin both...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 22, 2017, 05:02:17 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 22, 2017, 09:57:41 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1886)
Goblin modeling.
...Moses inspecting a new rocking chair project that's in the pipeline...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1887)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1888)
---And relaxing afterwards.
She's 10 months and three days old today, and he's roughly 7.5 months - and turning lanky like Hershey.
Post by: Unorthodox on June 01, 2017, 03:05:11 AM
Snowball
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18740385_1497701293625738_8972519782406618477_n.jpg?oh=3bbaed7f0ea44832c13e522ff0478aeb&oe=59A2B649)
Fiercey
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18814202_1497701333625734_6475566109921288597_n.jpg?oh=e9153015fb6685bb2a245e75ed49c463&oe=59E6134B)
The three amigos.
(https://scontent.fsnc1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/18767603_1497701400292394_2172231096524224142_n.jpg?oh=399e84c9d9aacf56f7fcfe3ebe7111a8&oe=59B17F2A)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 01, 2017, 03:35:15 AM
FierceyFeisty?
They're very appealing photos...
Post by: Unorthodox on June 01, 2017, 01:50:19 PM
FierceyFeisty?
I think the phone autocorrected Feircey the first time.
Post by: Unorthodox on June 01, 2017, 01:53:08 PM
This put Talia into a complete tearfilled meltdown. That kinda come out of the blue...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 01, 2017, 02:22:36 PM
Post by: gwillybj on June 05, 2017, 02:28:24 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2017, 03:31:54 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on June 05, 2017, 04:54:28 PM
Indy was more or less fine with it. He gets a little nervous when Sawyer goes all bouncy kitten (old man Indy), and isn't sure about the affection, but didn't get upset at all. Sawyer just wants to climb and play on Indy.
Sawyer's contained to Talia's room unless one of us adults are watching. Thus, Lilly has yet to be introduced. Indy was attempting to get me to let him out this morning, even.
Pretty sure Snowball will have a home by end of the day. That leaves Feircey.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 05, 2017, 05:24:24 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on June 05, 2017, 07:21:26 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on June 07, 2017, 02:42:59 PM
Sawyer vet appt scheduled for next week.
Momma's operation scheduled in 2 weeks.
Sawyer has spent the last 2 days sleeping peacefully and through the night (his first night was up and down) on top of Talia. Then bounces around the upstairs all morning, though he's comfortable in the great hall and Talia's room, he will cry if he finds himself alone somewhere else. (several rooms being kept closed from him as well) Then he sleeps all afternoon on hEt. Will be interesting how he handles hEt going to work today. Can he curl up on one of the kids for the afternoon? Can the kids be still enough?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 13, 2017, 08:04:29 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1908)
She's lost a touch of fluffiness as her light winter undercoat sheds, but her colors have become more vivid...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 18, 2017, 04:32:54 PM
Post by: Spacy on July 19, 2017, 02:34:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2017, 02:53:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2017, 05:18:50 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1990)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2017, 05:22:54 PM
I think that's her between that white one and another dark one, the day she was born.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1334)
Two weeks later, a miniscule werewolf.
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 19, 2017, 07:14:59 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 19, 2017, 08:41:49 PM
Here's the others today:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1994)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=1995)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2004)
And the whole family celebrating a birthday lunch:
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2008)
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 19, 2017, 10:59:01 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2017, 01:43:30 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2009)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2017, 01:49:55 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 20, 2017, 03:34:38 PM
I don't know if it's killed something or been injured, but it's bloody and skittish as hell.
I have a glam shot of Sawyer I need to upload.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2017, 02:33:07 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 21, 2017, 05:14:28 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2017, 06:18:35 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2017, 01:50:08 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2017, 05:00:12 PM
New cat is crosseyed as all hell, mottled grey/black, possibly even a marbled bengal, and wounded. He mostly lays down in the raven grass wheezing. Got to watch for rabies...he won't let anyone close though.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2017, 05:05:08 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2017, 05:06:12 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2017, 05:19:14 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 23, 2017, 02:12:27 AM
I have a glam shot of Sawyer I need to upload.
It was actually done with a macro lens in piss poor lighting, where my portrait lens would have pulled the same effect a little better. I was just testing what I could get away with, but liked it enough to keep.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2017, 10:31:52 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 24, 2017, 02:16:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2017, 01:08:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2017, 12:37:31 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 25, 2017, 02:00:55 PM
(24th of July is "Pioneer days", something of a 2nd 4th of July in Utah)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2017, 01:19:18 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 27, 2017, 01:50:25 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2017, 03:26:44 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2017, 06:37:38 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 01, 2017, 06:08:02 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/iglbUWvui16oP6fDrDFyvtB0fDevsILYtTvU7TlnTliG7rB7QuxOI8CmjBilaWWLjIsmuMOJkPr-EDw2jCeQxiJDbGCALmotLX0IhveMZdZbC672deIArgZJEZPz-yFvKFs70FML1lpgizMsRMpdeqd7sqX7u5e5N1DfyjsQB-GK3w3CBPAxljHRftN7XZlAQzV7RVLuD7BKKpRlcb3SBNw_6SlZuxQ5WqLY5vdOej03g6jP4Y8IRAmFPxOuJiLq19o9C9p0etgo4xBemtTYXsJyljr-LGyXiWLdOIjzNZy16E8E9QG-TWYru5u5h05qSfUtLvK-BhrR2o0c02FEfC88BTrz4AwizXyuQnXiEAkcwvLRJwRgpis-O4Ffqxw-qpDUxSfPBvqE4Ex_AZwgcu3Ih0VcMeUN9qSCz40pJIo31l6bXfrqA2ZBXIqLYEqqDqTOJ1Oi5JMlVQa0GQjKuvaeMSEzcKRKUyu9Oq3KfS8Y0YcU7Vuocy5aSWVO2dJOdACemKrffMh9yKY1-iZt2ZgWilboAb6rbtPqJvJtenK-EYP4qMTYlY571QC9pl-O3tGZ2fcTzejs_m20wbWNEhulYJ94tE9E0vJda6wKZ8Jb9k7NeZVi2dZ7k3pI9DkSiPCW5UfI7K4CKMY=w257-h343-no)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2017, 03:30:51 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2145)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 07, 2017, 02:58:35 PM
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pWaeiPijfYEBGpY3kGJ4aBH1CRXkhowVu74zkBqzAt41jYrLvIzaBTe7dTqIUhDk1NRh6gnnyP4NSAgL1w40kh_jBnHF1y-4UxB7eTbjdDGGwSpabDPOEekw0-1zJBUZcmaMJl47KuuzXyV4jKkMYG4yh79GXg44spRnc1o1OEBCvnUmQ7uqkKJD3_nhQbgzhl3t_44j0IzzzveJLKE06mLKPot9rri1u7ELYz5Q4aLmqKVhTctKGQ0AvaCldAauCrbPCuYnN1KFGAoOJdvTOetDmjm4YTvZz0n06Us4Z_4BY3C470trMDbU9xPWDxyaJMo06KCd-qIyqO4aKeZxRBdab4j4A64-qu92b052rf0w6rQuPMKn1Ut9BX3otCKNsKOxiDOBvqnU-E2Hk-lp_J5OF8NYWBcG86XDW3ovMHfq8b5fLydLPFDCWnLfPQsy-Vms-D5pr1ujpgkPTGT5RZbgrjWFpMJ_5FYp4PDamm7fDHji9KfmpeWlHCv0RCeAWGKX_JGBNd1mpXVhbKwrsorM5KvPOTqK0Bru9x4AsPRg22UxXKbZjdeb-LtYbFZr_pi0DbYkwXBbkP-37_YzFY5jE23ys8-4hrN0TmFj6_-2UYsBE4_EWXi73w=w708-h944-no)
crappy phone pic through the dirty door of Riddle. If you look close, you can kind of make out either a new wound on his left shoulder, or the old one is infected.
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/22awGsC-vAuvjXzyJ-_gtbRN2tHau3O9yQFR081Jl-xul_vCZP_-TyuR3kdpReW0OrDPw8O2_q4zVrQY5FyBss3xrqG7KP1RRItXanBbKA8ugoVoLlHM73VOUiQUROVukscv46HhoNAS-wj9Vkos1USZuuhAWyHqWaYJjYxdlw22wsFEepBE-5FPncB9cJRQynVFfAvH7M9eGqgGTiy5NFndMbUmgaEWm3gf_2HREEiCMut27PEAUKQ2iJGSNe4P-Fb8kfmtB5xWaHhBmV5vOqPTJ-F6UVwIQoxdL31rPnpTdKAdrZ6sOdVQ2q2P54pI09zo7FkG__aAsTUrhrCfj9BOmWj1caGFf8ZJ0l0J8ITie1MXxsO-N7ImgHOEpiSIg1s3CN_SCbnnmGz-wj4255-5zuCN3GEL9VIBGs8UsFQj8nMXX8B8IRtMOvhXW8nCNwjiEWQhqmIQfj0EBLZhmmdNxxxxDcokvyaIv9_9k4wtSVwjLe5-gin_YzC2RlNnmaMg6zavmxJzPYMmQp2arRD7FS7koIAC3MHzLNQ-s36eT0qD5AvcJWudwX-HAyYnO6aP0ij8OgqOryy29uBmVDdeh7Kph_N3BaToEFIXg1y8QXHORenKr2QD6A=w1259-h944-no)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 07, 2017, 03:09:20 PM
3 mice, 2 birds, 1 squirrel, 1 chicken, countless grasshoppers.
I wanted her around because she was a murderous little devil, but the rate of her killing is actually rather surprising.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2017, 05:08:23 PM
Ours don't seem to leave presents... I think they're killing things, but they don't share.
Post by: Unorthodox on August 07, 2017, 05:16:43 PM
Pretty socks on Riddle.
Ours don't seem to leave presents... I think they're killing things, but they don't share.
I read a study on "house cats" that said only 1 in 3 kill, and roughly 25% of those kills are brought home as presents. I don't know how well it translates to Mystery, though, as she was feral for the first couple years of her life, and I'm only really supplementing her food, not acting as a primary food source outside of winter.
I've just noticed now that she feels better from her surgery and is not pregnant, she's started hunting in preference to her meals at home. Only 3 of the above kills were presents (interestingly, the birds), the others were watched her kill and eats.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 07, 2017, 06:33:13 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 07, 2017, 07:17:16 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 07, 2017, 08:36:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 08, 2017, 10:39:26 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2203)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2017, 01:09:05 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 10, 2017, 01:52:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2017, 09:49:11 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2216)
She was eating disco treats right out of my hand.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 10, 2017, 09:58:45 PM
I was wondering lately how the shrubbery looks around Mylochka's playhouse now.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 10, 2017, 11:13:23 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2017, 04:22:51 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2204)
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 17, 2017, 04:29:48 AM
Post by: E_T on August 19, 2017, 05:06:15 AM
I've been over to see Scaredy Cat this afternoon...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2216)
She was eating disco treats right out of my hand.
I'm fat and happy...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2017, 05:07:54 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2017, 05:11:11 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2205)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 21, 2017, 02:41:10 PM
Talia just sent me a pic of another of Mystery's presents. That makes confirmed Mystery kills IN A WEEK:
3 mice, 2 birds, 1 squirrel, 1 chicken, countless grasshoppers.
I wanted her around because she was a murderous little devil, but the rate of her killing is actually rather surprising.
She took a week off from bringing home kills. This last week, though:
4 more birds (she brings them home, but eats them after leaving them on the door step for a few hours) We've noted they are all the same species..., 1 mouse (not eaten, just left), grasshoppers galore (hunts and eats apparently for fun), and 3 Tbone steak bones brought to the porch...?
Post by: ColdWizard on August 21, 2017, 04:15:22 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 21, 2017, 04:32:51 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2017, 06:38:51 PM
I was wondering lately how the shrubbery looks around Mylochka's playhouse now.(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2309)
Just taken. As I said, not much to report.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 21, 2017, 07:17:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2017, 07:53:03 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 21, 2017, 10:24:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2017, 11:06:09 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2017, 11:04:00 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 28, 2017, 03:55:35 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 28, 2017, 02:19:25 PM
Anyone with experience in this?
Vet wants $400 to surgically add a drain.
It burst on saturday, we cleaned it and sterilized best we can.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 28, 2017, 06:30:43 PM
The following is assuming it was bite or other wound, and not caused by a burn-
Usually they are blood or staph, and squeezing, draining and cleaning solves the problem. But in a few cases, it may have to be done two or three times simply because it closes before it drains again, sort of like a blister. Usually a scalpel or the corner of a single edge razor blade does the trick. Sometimes a large hypodermic needle works, but the puncture tends to heal too fast and trap fluid. Whatever sharp thing you use, dispose of it.
I don't think a drain is necessary, unless it's a large area of the body. It's not like you're worried about scars that will be covered in fur anyway. The cat doesn't need the added stress of another vet visit.
Anyway, you've done the right thing, and probably all you need to do now is watch and wait. Generally you don't need to give any internal antibiotics.
Post by: Unorthodox on August 28, 2017, 07:28:05 PM
I'm kinda thinking that might be what was on Riddle, now, as well. Mystery WILL take a fight to him over the food. Haven't seen him at all since Friday, either.
Vet was saying they normally need a drain (and thus a cone of shame), internal meds for 2 weeks. That's just not even remotely in the cards for Mystery.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 28, 2017, 08:43:54 PM
What was the discharge like?
Post by: Unorthodox on August 28, 2017, 09:21:11 PM
The farm vet told me it didn't have to be a wound, although they usually are from a bite, a nail, barbed wire, torn sheet metal, or a horn. It could be a bruise, or an old injection site.
What was the discharge like?
I worked a 70ish hour week. I didn't see the initial discharge. So "yucky stuff" is all I got from Talia. I got to Mystery Sunday morning, it was not swollen at that point, but had an odd colored scab, and had a watery blood colored discharge, similar to a blood blister after I washed the scab off. Copious hydrogen peroxide because I'm old school mean like on wounds. (The kids think I'm barbaric) I'll check her if she's around tonight.
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 28, 2017, 10:07:19 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 29, 2017, 02:46:43 AM
We have a curious relationship, Mystery and I. Almost "professional". I swear she seems to understand all the unpleasant things I've had to do are for her own good. Lion and the mouse type.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2017, 10:09:18 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2413)
Post by: Geo on August 29, 2017, 10:24:55 PM
Post by: E_T on September 02, 2017, 06:40:33 PM
The farm vet told me it didn't have to be a wound, although they usually are from a bite, a nail, barbed wire, torn sheet metal, or a horn. It could be a bruise, or an old injection site.
What was the discharge like?
I worked a 70ish hour week. I didn't see the initial discharge. So "yucky stuff" is all I got from Talia. I got to Mystery Sunday morning, it was not swollen at that point, but had an odd colored scab, and had a watery blood colored discharge, similar to a blood blister after I washed the scab off. Copious hydrogen peroxide because I'm old school mean like on wounds. (The kids think I'm barbaric) I'll check her if she's around tonight.
Thing is to prevent Sepsis. I find a good 1..2.. with alternating Alcohol (higher % amounts) with Hydrogen Peroxide. Usually, until the peroxide doesn't foam (or very little foam). The Alcohol helps to rinse the peroxide out and dries faster. A little triple ointment afterwards in the area doesn't hurt, either...
Post by: Unorthodox on September 06, 2017, 01:44:54 PM
The farm vet told me it didn't have to be a wound, although they usually are from a bite, a nail, barbed wire, torn sheet metal, or a horn. It could be a bruise, or an old injection site.
What was the discharge like?
I worked a 70ish hour week. I didn't see the initial discharge. So "yucky stuff" is all I got from Talia. I got to Mystery Sunday morning, it was not swollen at that point, but had an odd colored scab, and had a watery blood colored discharge, similar to a blood blister after I washed the scab off. Copious hydrogen peroxide because I'm old school mean like on wounds. (The kids think I'm barbaric) I'll check her if she's around tonight.
Thing is to prevent Sepsis. I find a good 1..2.. with alternating Alcohol (higher % amounts) with Hydrogen Peroxide. Usually, until the peroxide doesn't foam (or very little foam). The Alcohol helps to rinse the peroxide out and dries faster. A little triple ointment afterwards in the area doesn't hurt, either...
The ointment just gets licked off.
Still watching on this. It's more of an open wound than anything now, which from what I've read is actually GOOD for it.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 12, 2017, 06:08:18 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2462)
Cloud is grooming her daughter -a fair amount of that goes in all directions, but Cloud to one of her children, usually the younger two, is most common. Note that this pic shows pretty well a difference visible fairly close, between her and Moses - she's higher contrast; her stripes are darker, and she must have more white, or whiter, because at more than 15 feet back, she doesn't look any darker.
With them are a couple of my hairbrush cleanings. They serve as rarely-used cat toys, but are there because I like to deposit my scent in places they relax and feel content, in hopes of an association between my smell and happiness...
Post by: E_T on September 14, 2017, 05:53:46 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 14, 2017, 02:12:37 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 15, 2017, 03:17:22 PM
The bugs just haven't been a problem this year on the porch of Dog City. The 'skeeters showed up somewhat in early spring, but my best guess is that it's rained enough, often enough, to deny them stagnant puddles to breed in. Haven't been bitten at all in the last week, maybe a month, and not a lot all year. It was somewhere north of six times a day last spring and summer.
I saw my first yellow jacket 28 June, which is exactly on the schedule of my first mention last year, but they've never turned out in the ridiculous frequency and numbers of last summer. Most days, I don't see any. I put that down to the copious rain again - the only nest I knew of last year was behind the neighbor's barn, where Goblin turned up several times when she went missing as a kitten. It was a hole in the ground, usual for yellow jackets, and this has been a very bad year for living in a hole in the ground. I've seen no need to revive the drowning can this year. There just haven't been enough to be a nuisance.
Post by: Unorthodox on September 15, 2017, 08:59:57 PM
It's human nature to notice and speak of a problem, doing so far less in its absence.
The bugs just haven't been a problem this year on the porch of Dog City. The 'skeeters showed up somewhat in early spring, but my best guess is that it's rained enough, often enough, to deny them stagnant puddles to breed in. Haven't been bitten at all in the last week, maybe a month, and not a lot all year. It was somewhere north of six times a day last spring and summer.
They've been completely absent here. But, my lord the dragonflies! I figured they were the cause.
Quote
I saw my first yellow jacket 28 June, which is exactly on the schedule of my first mention last year, but they've never turned out in the ridiculous frequency and numbers of last summer. Most days, I don't see any. I put that down to the copious rain again - the only nest I knew of last year was behind the neighbor's barn, where Goblin turned up several times when she went missing as a kitten. It was a hole in the ground, usual for yellow jackets, and this has been a very bad year for living in a hole in the ground. I've seen no need to revive the drowning can this year. There just haven't been enough to be a nuisance.
Haven't noticed many here either. Though my parents have noted a quite prevalent population of robber flies.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 15, 2017, 09:22:25 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 15, 2017, 09:43:39 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on September 17, 2017, 02:17:23 AM
I'm thinking it's all from the super wet spring we had, actually. Coupled with a tremendously dry summer, and a lack of mosquito patrols since they never got going. (always said the mosquito patrol sprays do more harm than good)
Post by: Geo on September 17, 2017, 09:36:38 AM
In the past up to half a dozen could manage it in the evening (sun shines at my bedroom window that time of day), but not a single one this season.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 04, 2017, 10:10:37 PM
Here's the birthday boy age, roughly, one year and 25 minutes.
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2485)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2017, 03:38:20 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on October 05, 2017, 05:34:50 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2017, 05:53:41 PM
Post by: Geo on October 05, 2017, 07:49:06 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 05, 2017, 07:51:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2017, 05:45:51 PM
Post by: ColdWizard on October 06, 2017, 07:59:12 PM
...My toes a lot, but never my nose...
I'd guess that you'd need to wiggle your nose more.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2017, 08:32:33 PM
However, Moses clawed Buster's giant puppy in the face about five hours ago, and hasn't stopped bragging that he killed a monster since.
Post by: Spacy on October 06, 2017, 11:08:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2017, 12:24:32 AM
Post by: ColdWizard on October 07, 2017, 04:35:21 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2017, 02:23:13 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2017, 05:36:45 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2490)
Post by: Geo on October 08, 2017, 07:45:26 PM
Or is it a prop? Can't remember if you told so or not...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2017, 09:37:36 PM
Post by: Geo on October 09, 2017, 03:14:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 09, 2017, 06:25:04 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 12, 2017, 04:47:48 PM
Talia just sent me a pic of another of Mystery's presents. That makes confirmed Mystery kills IN A WEEK:
3 mice, 2 birds, 1 squirrel, 1 chicken, countless grasshoppers.
I wanted her around because she was a murderous little devil, but the rate of her killing is actually rather surprising.
She took a week off from bringing home kills. This last week, though:
4 more birds (she brings them home, but eats them after leaving them on the door step for a few hours) We've noted they are all the same species..., 1 mouse (not eaten, just left), grasshoppers galore (hunts and eats apparently for fun), and 3 Tbone steak bones brought to the porch...?
She'd taken time off with her wound, but has been back at it hardcore the last 2 weeks with 3 mice and 6 more birds (4 of a new species) brought home. She's clearly putting on weight, and her coat is changing over to a winter coat as well.
She went almost grey in the peak of summer, but her winter coat is coming back almost white.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 18, 2017, 04:58:36 AM
Today we went to meet the replacement kitten. This one is a purebred Pixie Bob, the only polydactyl purebred. She should be ready to come home about Thanksgiving. That's me in the background.
Post by: Unorthodox on October 18, 2017, 02:15:12 PM
If I did, it'd probably be a Russian blue.
Why a polydactyl, or is that just a coincidence?
My favorite cat was polydactyl, though much more deformed about it than the one pictured. That cat's part of the reason I'm still alive.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 18, 2017, 05:13:47 PM
Of course, the downside to a purebred cat or dog is that they also have predictable maladies. In the case of these cats, kidney/urinary tract issues, pancreas problems/diabetes and mega colon. So things get sad and expensive. We kept a feral kitten as a stand by replacement for a diabetic Aby we had which died before the recent one. I didn't think that Aby would last another year, but it lived at least 3. The vet said it was the toughest cat he ever saw. Used up 9 lives and several more. The black feral cat is a fine enough cat. The only malady is an underdeveloped tear duct. On the other hand, it often acts like a cat- aloof. We also board cats belonging to our nieces ( that's a tangent ), but we have experience with regular cats.
So, my wife really misses her dog-like cat. At the same time, she wished for something healthier, to save on the emotional cost as much as anything. She also has admired pictures of African Sand Cats, and told me to find her something like that. I came up with the Pixie-Bob.
The breed and this kitten just happen to be polydactyl, but she's happy with that.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 18, 2017, 05:33:06 PM
http://youtu.be/n9ChF8WGOj0 (http://youtu.be/n9ChF8WGOj0)
Post by: Unorthodox on October 18, 2017, 06:13:11 PM
The advantage of a purebred cat or dog is a predictable behavior. When my wife built her house, she got a much anticipated first cat. ( Her parents didn't want house pets. ) She had years of research, and determined she wanted an Aby, because they were dog-like and followed you around the house, came when you called them, and liked to play with objects and sleep in your lap. She loved these cats, and developed a system where she kept two cats of different ages and sexes (fixed) that would keep each other company while she was at the office.
Sounds like our Manx. Indy plays fetch, follows everyone around, waits at the door for each of us, and gets upset when someone's not home on time. He's also leash trained (though only will 'mind' me on the leash). Unfortunately, his days are growing short at 10 years old, since Manx are not exactly a long-lived species.
Quote
So, my wife really misses her dog-like cat. At the same time, she wished for something healthier, to save on the emotional cost as much as anything. She also has admired pictures of African Sand Cats, and told me to find her something like that. I came up with the Pixie-Bob.
The breed and this kitten just happen to be polydactyl, but she's happy with that.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 18, 2017, 11:46:33 PM
Post by: Geo on October 19, 2017, 06:26:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 05, 2017, 02:57:44 AM
I'm still feeding them a handful of cat food with a dash of milk at lunch and around sunset, and Cloud and Hershey are both still slowly getting friendlier - as in, more and more likely to approach, or at least allow me to approach them, away from meals in the dog lot. -Cloud is actually the one most obviously enjoying petting during meals -Hershey is at least tolerant, and the young'uns don't like being stroked then- and has made incredible progress in the last year and a half. They've both allowed me to pet them a little today entirely away from the dog lot and meals, which is real progress just in the last few months. She and Hershey will sometimes at least let people other than Momma and I get a half decent look at them before they hide. Goblin and Moses usually don't even hide, if they're not always real friendly to others.
Moses has gotten pretty brave. I'm told that a few weeks ago while they were walking Mylochka's dogs around her house next door, he was calmly laying beside a tree two feet off the path and calmly kept station while they passed two feet away with nothing between them. I'm actually more surprised the dogs didn't react...
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 05, 2017, 05:50:46 AM
On a tangent- My 4&1/2 years of immunotherapy drops have concluded, and it's an apparent success. It used to be that on sales calls I could tell that a house had more than two cats, even though I never saw a sign of them because I could feel my sinuses closing after ten minutes. A few years ago when a cat tried to nuzzle me I'd sneeze so loudly I'd scare them from the room.
This weekend we are cat sitting and have a total of six here. I haven't sneezed once and my sinuses are open.
I'm actually looking forward to getting this new kitten.
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 24, 2017, 05:37:41 AM
The nomenclature is towns in Woming. So the reddish female is Sundance, and the grayish male is (Win)Chester. You can't really see their naturally bobbed tails and extra toes in this picture, but there will be others in future days.
One kitten is a ball of curiosity. Two kittens are an entertainment center. Sundance is the most adept soccer playing cat I've ever seen. It could be her thumbs. She is schmoozing my wife, which is basically her job description. Chester is quite the people person. He practically purrs from being picked up and touched, and he doesn't seem to care who does it. They aren't siblings, they are from different litters 2 or 3 weeks apart born and raised in the same room. She's older.
Post by: Geo on November 24, 2017, 10:52:01 AM
Planning on sterilizing them in the future?
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 24, 2017, 03:26:53 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 29, 2017, 07:15:53 AM
Chester still purrs on contact. They jump in our laps. Follow us when we get up. What makes this particularly notable is that we are medicating them. Chester is getting antibiotic eye drops for an eye discharge. I think another kitten probably scratched him. Sundance didn't have mites, but some kind of bacteria growing in her earwax. So she gets 5 drops in both ears that are kept in the refrigerator. She also gets a fraction of a pill and some pain killer liquid. All of this twice a day, plus we gave Chester a vaccination today.
So these kittens have every reason to be aloof and distrustful, but they aren't. Here is a good picture of one of Sundance's "thumbs" ( in addition to her dew claw )
Post by: E_T on December 03, 2017, 01:17:56 AM
And being that they are not siblings, too bad that you can't at least be allow for one litter before sterilization (and the breeder getting a good cut of the proceeds as well a litter pick(s)). Maybe they will allow for a contract renegotiation? Helps to keep the Gene pool from narrowing too much too quickly (as has happened with several dog and cat breeds).
Garlic Oil Drops are also good for several ear pests.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 04, 2017, 08:09:18 AM
So, how much did the pair set you back??
And being that they are not siblings, too bad that you can't at least be allow for one litter before sterilization (and the breeder getting a good cut of the proceeds as well a litter pick(s)). Maybe they will allow for a contract renegotiation? Helps to keep the Gene pool from narrowing too much too quickly (as has happened with several dog and cat breeds).
Garlic Oil Drops are also good for several ear pests.
Sundance was $1600. I know. That's a fortune to spend on a cat, something which practically spontaneously generates. I look at the cost of a cat more in terms of the life of it. My wife considers the pets family members, so they get the same kind of medical care. Years of treating diabetes punctuated by trips to the 24 hour pet ER when the type of insulin and dose stop working, with intensive care follow up make that look like chicken feed. Same with the megacolon supplies and vet visits, the prescription diets, etc. Kidney problems, urinary tract surgeries. I don't know what the cats actually cost, but my wife has compared them to new muscle cars.
Chester, the bonus cat is another story. He's more like a breed rescue. The breeder said it wasn't ethical to sell ( or euthanize) him, she is already crowded for cats because she retires her breeding females after 4 years, and didn't know what she was going to do with him. She didn't know how bad he was, only that he didn't feel right. He seems to have been cramped for space in the womb. The ribs on his right side are pushed in. X-rays indicate that's pushing his lung and liver into the left side and crowding the heart. An veterinary orthopedic specialist is supposed to be looking to see if he can correct this surgically. Maybe it will be expensive, maybe there's nothing that can be done. So, a reminder that even if the breed/bloodline is genetically sound, there can still be a birth defect.
The breeder gave us a discount price, and initiated an additional refund on some of that after she saw the x-rays in e-mail. I don't know what this kitten will cost us, or how long it will live. ( Reminds me of the voice-over at the end of Blade Runner)Our vet doesn't know either. As fate would have it, my wife has some genetic skeletal issues that resulted in some bent/curved bones, and I lack a gene that most of the population has that toughens the lung tissue. This has resulted in lung collapses and surgery for me more that once. So we are are particularly sympathetic to a kitten born with some bent bones and lung issues.
Post by: Unorthodox on December 04, 2017, 01:25:00 PM
Post by: E_T on December 04, 2017, 09:51:18 PM
So, how much did the pair set you back??
And being that they are not siblings, too bad that you can't at least be allow for one litter before sterilization (and the breeder getting a good cut of the proceeds as well a litter pick(s)). Maybe they will allow for a contract renegotiation? Helps to keep the Gene pool from narrowing too much too quickly (as has happened with several dog and cat breeds).
Garlic Oil Drops are also good for several ear pests.
Sundance was $1600. I know. That's a fortune to spend on a cat, something which practically spontaneously generates. I look at the cost of a cat more in terms of the life of it. My wife considers the pets family members, so they get the same kind of medical care. Years of treating diabetes punctuated by trips to the 24 hour pet ER when the type of insulin and dose stop working, with intensive care follow up make that look like chicken feed. Same with the megacolon supplies and vet visits, the prescription diets, etc. Kidney problems, urinary tract surgeries. I don't know what the cats actually cost, but my wife has compared them to new muscle cars.
Chester, the bonus cat is another story. He's more like a breed rescue. The breeder said it wasn't ethical to sell ( or euthanize) him, she is already crowded for cats because she retires her breeding females after 4 years, and didn't know what she was going to do with him. She didn't know how bad he was, only that he didn't feel right. He seems to have been cramped for space in the womb. The ribs on his right side are pushed in. X-rays indicate that's pushing his lung and liver into the left side and crowding the heart. An veterinary orthopedic specialist is supposed to be looking to see if he can correct this surgically. Maybe it will be expensive, maybe there's nothing that can be done. So, a reminder that even if the breed/bloodline is genetically sound, there can still be a birth defect.
The breeder gave us a discount price, and initiated an additional refund on some of that after she saw the x-rays in e-mail. I don't know what this kitten will cost us, or how long it will live. ( Reminds me of the voice-over at the end of Blade Runner)Our vet doesn't know either. As fate would have it, my wife has some genetic skeletal issues that resulted in some bent/curved bones, and I lack a gene that most of the population has that toughens the lung tissue. This has resulted in lung collapses and surgery for me more that once. So we are are particularly sympathetic to a kitten born with some bent bones and lung issues.
Does she have any more breed rescue cats?
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 05, 2017, 12:51:13 AM
Here's a picture of Chester's paw. I think he has about 7 toes plus a dew claw. Or as I think of it, 5 fingers and two thumbs on this hand, but I could be wrong. We heard back from the specialist. They are concerned that he has a herniated diaphragm, and they want to do an ultrasound to know for sure. Meanwhile, it's not life threatening.
HOWEVER- Our vet says he is at greater risk from pneumonia, and the specialist says that general anesthetic is a risk to his life. Well, we didn't want a tomcat. We were planning to get him fixed, microchipped, and even healthy cats need their teeth cleaned every few years. I suppose this means we'll need a veterinary anesthesiologist every time we want to do a procedure.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 05, 2017, 04:38:15 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 05, 2017, 04:48:40 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on December 05, 2017, 01:35:07 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 05, 2017, 06:23:44 PM
He looks okay. Part of that is that he has the undercoat/guard hair thing going on. It gives him a textured appearance. You can't really see his lines. You can feel it when you pick him up. More like the right side belongs to a younger, smaller cat. But the X-rays...
Well, they took more after seeing these, but these are what I have access to.
The trouble is that in the last hour he was wrestling with Sundance, and had to stop to wheeze. That's a first.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 05, 2017, 06:52:13 PM
Does she have any more breed rescue cats?
Today I did a national search on Pixie Bob rescue. Some of these were crossbreds.
One cat in Missouri that didn't like other cats.
One cat in California with the same problem.
Three cats in Texas.
That's all there was in the USA.
Post by: E_T on December 05, 2017, 07:44:24 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 16, 2017, 06:04:38 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 16, 2017, 06:53:14 AM
Then his e-mail arrived. Everything he told me, plus a paragraph about monitoring his respiration. To make sure he doesn't breath more than 20 times/minute. I've counted twenty breathes on about 8 occasions and timed it with my phone. 20-30 seconds for all of them. The only outlier was about 35 seconds, still too fast.
The plan was to contact the doctor today, but today got sucked down the human healthcare plan hole so fast it was over before we noticed.
Post by: E_T on December 17, 2017, 02:54:15 AM
Especially when it's the weekend....
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 20, 2017, 04:46:06 PM
We'll do another round of x-rays in March, then re-evaluate fitness for general anesthesia.
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 16, 2018, 05:48:45 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 18, 2018, 10:22:34 PM
We are starting to suspect that Chester's growth is going to be stunted. He's not as active or growing as fast as Sundance.
Had them to the vet today for vaccinations. Sundance bit me as I was putting her into the taxi.
It's official. Sundance is gaining weight twice as fast as Chester is. She's definitely more active as well.
Chester purred in the exam room, even while he was getting his temperature probe and shots.
Realized something else while we were there. Normally, when cats roll on their backs, it's a trap. As soon as you touch their tummies, they grab your hand with their paws, bite your finger, and shred your forearm like cheese on a grater with their hind claws. The Pixies don't play this trick. They actually seek belly rubs. So, it's another dog similarity.
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 10, 2018, 05:11:12 AM
He has something neurological. He's weak and shaky. Reminds me of Parkinson's. Hasn't gained weight since the last trip to the vet. Maybe vestibular, maybe cerebellar, did a blood draw. Started him on antibiotics. Essentially, treatment is antibiotics or steroids. It may be something untreatable, although there is a chance that with a $3-4K MRI they might find something they could treat with brain surgery. That's kind of a lot of money to spend on a deformed kitten. Well, if they even think he's safe for general anesthesia. That hasn't been determined, and an anesthesiologist is part of the high cost of an MRI estimate.
We'll have to see. He can't jump up on furniture. He still eats and drinks. Can't play with Sundance any more. She's too rough for him. He spends all of his time these days in our laps, or in the heated cat bed, or hiding behind the bathroom door next to the heater vent. Still a great cat as far as affection, purring, and tail wagging goes. He's getting tired of taking medicine already, though.
Post by: Unorthodox on February 11, 2018, 05:29:00 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 12, 2018, 07:29:14 PM
So we took him back to the hospital, figuring there was an 80% chance we'd be putting him down. The blood testing showed that he didn't have feline leukemia and some other infections. We checked with the breeder, no issues with littermates being sick, or for that matter any of the other cats and kittens still there or recently sold. That's what I expected. I didn't see any signs of sickness in the cats and kittens at either visit. As an ex-farmer, it's a reflex to check a group of animals for the first signs of sickness or injury. The hospital thinks the problem is probably congenital. They also heard a heart murmur for the first time. We think he's always had it, and nobody could hear it because of the perpetual purring. Looking up heart murmurs in kittens, that could explain a number of the issues, but not the twitchy eyes.
They don't think he's in pain. But if the steroid doesn't work, I doubt if he'll last the week at the rate he's declining.
So they prescribe prednisone.
Post by: E_T on February 14, 2018, 01:42:03 PM
I'm pulling for him...
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 14, 2018, 07:20:54 PM
I hope he comes out of it, but it does not sound too promising.
I'm pulling for him...
That sums up where we are on this.
So, started the steroid on Monday. He's being spoon fed, because he can't really stand and eat. Last night he crapped in his bed, then climbed out of it, walked halfway to my wife, then, apparently tired from the effort, laid down and tried to groom himself. This seems to be a big improvement over laying around and rolling over every couple hours. The vet called for an update, wants us to stay with the steroids, not tapering off after a week as originally planned. We'll see. Maybe it's a turning point. Maybe it's a failed rally. We won't try to keep him around if he loses his appetite. We've made that mistake with our pets before.
Post by: E_T on February 15, 2018, 01:04:34 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 17, 2018, 05:38:41 AM
I suspect we'll be replacing him with a similar kitten, only normal. When that might happen, I can't say. We have a trip at the end of this month, after that I will be going to help my parents because of bone cancer skull reconstruction surgery. My sisters are taking the early shifts. Which reminds me that I should make some more soup and freeze it, as I may well be driving to PA.
Post by: Geo on February 17, 2018, 07:04:45 AM
You sure did all you could to make Chester's life easier.
Post by: Rusty Edge on February 17, 2018, 11:38:35 PM
Sorry to hear that.
You sure did all you could to make Chester's life easier.
Thank you, Geo.
Post by: E_T on February 19, 2018, 05:18:34 AM
I know ya'll will miss him.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 02, 2018, 02:04:28 AM
This is about a month ago. Both the young'uns have gotten good about coming to my window when they don't like it outside - and even Cloud runs right in when it's, say, 50ish and drizzly, like this week and I hold open the basement door when she's not committed to being settled in shelter already.
Post by: E_T on March 02, 2018, 03:54:59 AM
Post by: Lorizael on March 12, 2018, 10:56:41 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 13, 2018, 12:11:11 AM
-But Cloud went into the lot and alongside dog city downhill, instead of jumping up on the porch. I lured her back up front, and she was clearly going to be messing around being paranoid while the other three ate all the cat cereal. So I tried something I got away with once, a long time ago, that was the only time I'd ever picked her up without bleeding and physical pain, mine; I'd scooped her up one-handed and set her on the porch too fast for her to panic before she was on her feet and not being touched, and she was okay at that point. That was then; today I muffed the scoop and had her pinned against my thigh for maybe over a whole second, and she had time to begin to panic and struggle before I set her down and all was okay.
Now, I think she'd had enough time to really panic, and those lightning cat reflexes will twist the cat and make you bleed almost faster than you can see the paw move if they really want to claw - I think her trust in me has almost grown enough for picking up if it's over fast enough. Not going to try again anytime soon, though, but I'm pretty thrilled.
P.S. She IS inside - she was over it as soon as it was over; still on dog alert until she got indoors, though.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 20, 2018, 03:52:08 PM
Post by: Syn on March 20, 2018, 04:02:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 20, 2018, 04:12:59 PM
I say he's in excess of a quarter dog in personality, Mom says monkey. He's very brave, the only brave one of a family of four, and aggressive when he wants attention. Aggressive with sneak-attack claws. The most affectionate, hands-down, and slept with me last night after I'd decided I wanted a cat-free morning for more sleep. The only one ever much good at all for anything close to a cuddle, and then only in bed, though him and his sister Goblin treat Momma better for the lap action, though I was the one who did all the hand-raising from a semi-feral mother.
Post by: Geo on March 20, 2018, 04:27:30 PM
I say he's in excess of a quarter dog in personality, Mom says monkey. ... Aggressive with sneak-attack claws.
Raccoon!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 20, 2018, 04:45:25 PM
All four have at least mother/half-sibling degree of relationship, some range of individual personality and just do not look all that related.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 20, 2018, 04:57:59 PM
It currently looks the same as the last pic I posted. About a month ago, I raised the issue with Momma and Aunt Pokey - the actual trained artist in the family, and who's very interested/experienced in aesthetic gardening. My tentative plan was to do another severe trunks prune to roughly the bottom of what grew last year; if it grew back the same with another foot, foot.5, off, that ought to cover enough of the Dr. Seus-looking multi-trunk - and roughly conform to the spherical shape my wimminz asked for.
Now, I didn't really want to because 1) it's surprisingly a lot more work than I would have expected before last time, and 2) way more importantly -maybe- I hated to brutalize the poor thing a third season in a row, even though it wouldn't be there and converted into a bush if it wasn't pretty unkillable over 40 years running.
Momma and Pokey told me not to, so the plan is to let it do what it wants this year except grow taller - frequent thumbnail pruning of new top shoots- and see if it grows out wide enough to droop and cover lower -how it worked before as a cylinder-shaped bush- that I can shape it truly round and excellent-looking by September. More drastic measures can always be re-visited next winter.
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 21, 2018, 02:17:00 AM
I'm mostly hanging out in a hospital these days, but I got an e-mail notification about one of my favorite threads when In got back to the motel. I had a holy in front of the house I used to rent. It was great except when it came time to clean the thorny leaves out of the gutters. Thanks for keeping me posted.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2018, 02:22:28 AM
Hey, if you're living in crap and are comforted by Kat reports and pics - I'm moving this sucker up the priority list. ;nod
Post by: E_T on March 21, 2018, 03:33:52 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2018, 03:55:40 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 21, 2018, 06:54:52 PM
She's still got the 45 degree crook in the bones of her tail that you can feel, but never see. We do think her and Goblin are probably full sisters - they're basically the light and dark shades versions of very similar fluffy, fluffy-tailed, irregularly varicolored looks.
SO -this is the punchline- while I was sitting there having lunch, I realized that I was at -get this- Scaredy Cat's birthday party. She's two today, and we sang happy birthday to her and there were candles on the pie, and everything. Mom told my hot cousin to email the best picture of the Birthday Kat, so stay tuned...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2018, 12:03:05 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2834)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2835)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=2836)
-Again, pretty high-confidence guess that she and my Goblin are full sisters, probably by 'Uncle' Fluffy Orange.
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 22, 2018, 11:41:56 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 22, 2018, 11:51:52 PM
I only did some groundwork, and others nailed it, but she's a loving pet, and I have some proprietary pride in that.
Post by: E_T on March 23, 2018, 01:15:44 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 27, 2018, 12:53:39 AM
While I was sitting on the porch of dog city it hit me; a realization: my cats are rotten!
I wonder who's to blame.
I'm outside in the dog lot with them twice a day every day, Moses, in particular frequently spends the night in my room - but other than a teeny bit of Momma indulging the young'uns when they're in the kitchen, I never see anyone spoiling my cats. Perhaps I'm too focused, as I patiently keep up work on The Kat Frend Project, taking them cat-cereal treats to draw them near, to notice the cat-spoiler at work - but for sure, someone's spoiled MY cats rotten.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 28, 2018, 08:44:57 PM
I've been meaning to do an in-depth about how Moses has turned out, but I see the a concise post on the last page rendered it mostly redundant, save saying that I think he's the biggest, actually a smidge taller than Hershey, and a smaller smidge longer, (if obviously opposite in tail), but doesn't look it because of being heavier, having a back that tend to stay curved/humped more than otherwise, and definite lightly longer back legs, to Hershey's perfect proportions.
Moses is the least pretty of the four, and the most annoying, hands-down, but also the steadiest in moods and the easiest to read, and the only one an unvarnished pet not taking the chicken-hearted cat flightiness too far. His displays of male aggression towards the other three are playful, and appear not to be malicious or dominance games. -He WAS fixed plenty young, at only six months.
---
The best translation of dog barking, in my book, is "Hey! Hey! Hey! Heyhey! Hey!" meaning various flavors, depending, of "hello", "I am here", "Excited" and so on, except when they mean "aggression towards you!" and "To me, my pack! Summon call!", and there's flavors of that.
Cats don't cooperate -this ain't the Liun Frend Project- and dogs, cooperative pecking-order pack hunters the universe has shaped to communicate to facilitate that -unless especially stupid- learn words like their own names, people's names a little, "pet" "treat" "food" "ride" "walk" "pee" -what a favored toy is called- and so on, though that covers most w/o serious training and/or a working dog.
They also have the beginnings of an inkling of grammar, learning "go" as a modifier -or at least an intensifier of likelihood- of the words above, sometimes even that their name limits the offer to the named, if a well-trained dog. They rise to their feet if they're interested and signal readiness calling "Hey!" "Hey!"
"Get" or "fetch" are modifiers they can learn to respond to with specific action. "Beg" and "shake" etc., are simple commands.
That, my friends, however it works in the dogs' heads, is the beginning of language.
Cats, on the other hand - all "Meow"s mean "I want" something. Even the angry Meow is "I want to threaten" "I want you to know I'm ready to make you bleed". The screech of pain even means "I want the pain to stop" - they do signal that, as kittens unweened weeks old don't kill each other, though their claws and teeth are sharp enough and they DO struggle; have to have a Back Off signal that's instinctively honored, and they DO communicate that much. Not so much "hello".
Cats, on the other hand, do not seem to recognize their own names. At all. Ever. I don't think that's the spite and/or distain we super-apes tend to read it as - their brains just aren't wired to signal or understand anything more sophisticated, vocal and body-language, than friendly (related: horny) or hostile (related: threatening/afraid) or surrender/oww-back-off.
I THINK dogs are a lot smarter, but my cooperative pecking-order troop-species observer bias compatible with dogs' nature (fundamental as cooperative pecking-order pack hunters and also as a human-symbiont-evolved species for about 40,000 years) has to be in there, too - I just can't imagine what cats could be smarter at...
Post by: Geo on March 28, 2018, 11:06:04 PM
I THINK dogs are a lot smarter, but my cooperative pecking-order troop-species observer bias compatible with dogs' nature (fundamental as cooperative pecking-order pack hunters and also as a human-symbiont-evolved species for about 40,000 years) has to be in there, too - I just can't imagine what cats could be smarter at...
Dogs have more 'social' intelligence. Cats have way more 'stalking' smarts.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 28, 2018, 11:13:08 PM
Doesn't seem like much intelligence, though; just greater/different focus.
---
Rusty, Billion-Year just picked up a couple new readers...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 28, 2018, 11:18:47 PM
Post by: E_T on March 29, 2018, 02:18:40 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 29, 2018, 02:46:22 AM
They don't listen to what I say, though.
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 29, 2018, 03:13:51 AM
[shrugs] And they're hyper-alert to ANY movement, and which way anything with eyes on front of the face is looking, both as predator, social with other cats, and threat assessment of anything as large or larger than a cat.
Doesn't seem like much intelligence, though; just greater/different focus.
---
Rusty, Billion-Year just picked up a couple new readers...
On the intelligence front, dogs and cats are considered similar. In the defense of cats, they are very curious. Pigs are the smartest animals on 4 feet. They tend to think before they act.
Oh! I might have to re-read it myself. My creative process is that of a tinkerer. I'm forever re-arranging something until I don't think I can improve upon it. Then, I can't exactly recall the final sequence.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 29, 2018, 03:15:16 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 01, 2018, 04:49:31 PM
You can never but guess a cat's motivations, but he had to be either full and wanted to share in an actual love gesture, or he felt the need to brag. ;)
-He DID just do another fakeout where he only walked up to the back door for a single stroke of his back, and didn't come in...
Post by: E_T on April 01, 2018, 05:23:13 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 01, 2018, 06:33:13 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 03, 2018, 07:33:10 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 04, 2018, 02:20:17 AM
For her birthday I gave my wife a card that featured a kitten in a basket. When you remove the kitten and open it , it sings the entire "Happy Birthday" , complete with the "and many more!" This is done Jingle Bells dog style, and it serves as a cat call. They all come running to see the new cat. Or is it a cat in distress? My wife used it to help her medicate one of the cats while I was gone.
Post by: E_T on April 04, 2018, 03:12:43 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 13, 2018, 01:55:31 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3008)
Note Moses at the base of the little Mimosa tree.
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 14, 2018, 01:05:25 AM
So the holly is behind the pair of red bushes?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 14, 2018, 02:22:16 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 14, 2018, 02:32:01 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 14, 2018, 02:36:38 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 14, 2018, 01:14:10 PM
Moses 'helping' me set up Mylochka's mask-painting sweatshop...
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 14, 2018, 11:41:24 PM
Nice tag.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 14, 2018, 11:59:42 PM
Goblin missed twice in a row today, and we were worried a bit after lunch, 'cause that's Tuesday for Hershey, but maybe a first for her. She turned up fine while I was cooking supper. [shrugs] I think freedom (w/ shelter option) is optimal for a cat's happiness, but not for lifespan. We have to accept that....
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 15, 2018, 02:36:18 AM
Post by: Geo on April 15, 2018, 11:52:32 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 15, 2018, 11:58:28 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 15, 2018, 01:28:08 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3011)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 17, 2018, 10:52:21 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3012)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 01:35:21 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 18, 2018, 05:35:05 PM
I guess we'll be trapping again this year if that holds true.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 18, 2018, 06:45:04 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3019)
The Kat Frend Project in action, my friends.
(Same chair as above that Geo has sat in as before, another new location next to the stairs and my clean laundry since it got cold enough to burn some wood this winter.)
-She's not SO tame that she's super-easy to get good pictures of -all the cats find the camera turned on of interest- but I never thought I'd be able to have her inside, walk up, turn on the camera and get a pic touching her. -Belly-rubbing has been known to go down when she's inside for the evening, but too hard to do it one-handed and snap a shot w/ the other...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 21, 2018, 03:54:06 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3022)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 22, 2018, 04:18:42 AM
;nod
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 23, 2018, 03:21:30 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 23, 2018, 04:17:22 AM
Sawyer hasn't spoken to me since. Indy was most appreciative, and loving on me immediately after.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 24, 2018, 05:01:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2018, 03:44:50 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3026)
The holly has finally done a little something -a bit over 4 inches rain in two days, with tomorrow to be sunny and hit 70; the green of the whole world will explode by afternoon, and I need to prune the top a bit before those new shoots get any ambitions going about taller instead of wider... Maybe pics tomorrow...
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 25, 2018, 04:31:03 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 25, 2018, 05:37:50 AM
Post by: E_T on April 25, 2018, 10:23:06 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2018, 11:35:34 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3027)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 25, 2018, 11:49:00 PM
Post by: Syn on April 26, 2018, 12:28:20 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2018, 01:16:02 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 26, 2018, 06:22:35 AM
Hope he/she has Chester's Soul...
Thank you for that! Yes, another perpetually purring kitten would be nice.
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 26, 2018, 06:28:22 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2018, 12:14:02 PM
Post by: E_T on April 26, 2018, 08:23:45 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 26, 2018, 08:42:32 PM
I always considered the holly bird habitat. Here's a cat picture-Actually, I've seen Goblin or Moses on top of it a number of times, and never a bird...
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 27, 2018, 03:43:41 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 27, 2018, 04:47:06 AM
Post by: E_T on April 28, 2018, 12:30:57 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2018, 12:56:37 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 28, 2018, 03:35:46 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3020)
Post by: ColdWizard on April 28, 2018, 04:01:01 AM
So much for that "pet" theory.
Probably a bird habitat that turned into a bird hunting habitat.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 29, 2018, 04:08:44 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 30, 2018, 03:00:50 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on April 30, 2018, 03:45:40 AM
My credentials as a cat trainer are simple but awesome - Cloud lingered where I could pet her for ten minutes after the food was gone. -And the best I can imagine is getting a cat to not fight or leave at a dead run when the leash comes out.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 30, 2018, 04:20:08 AM
I was REALLY BORED during my time laid off.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 30, 2018, 04:23:39 AM
If he doesn't want to do what you're trying to guide him to, he's not about to do it and you have to give them time to smell and work their way to the destination. But, he will stay with us when we're outside doing chores in general.
I actually don't need a leash with him any more, he follows me (but no one else) outdoors and I just tap my hand on my hip when he's wandering too far and he'll return. He doesn't get to stay outside if he doesn't listen.
Post by: E_T on April 30, 2018, 10:41:56 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 01, 2018, 02:45:18 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 01, 2018, 03:23:24 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 09, 2018, 01:32:44 AM
Mystery kitty has taken to the lawn chairs.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 21, 2018, 04:51:45 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 22, 2018, 02:49:53 AM
The red one is beautiful in person, too. Today he was tired and sleepy, so didn't demonstrate a lot of personality. The other issue is that he's the runt, and I'm not a fan of runts in general because they seem to have socialization issues and are prone to health problems. That opinion is based upon my experience as a hog farmer, and with dogs, although to a far lesser extent. Cats may be entirely different. He is cute.
So we chose the bigger brother, who is the most bobcat looking of the three. He even has longer cheek hair, although not much in the was of ear tufts. He will be big, that is 20 lbs or more. The real reason we chose him was personality, he stood out. That's what we love about the Pixie-Bob we already have. Anybody can scoop her up and hold her like a baby. She has that vet's office cat cool, even when other animals are hostile.
Here are a couple of pictures of him which the breeder took a couple weeks ago. I didn't take pictures today, but maybe I can get some of the ones we took. So for now-
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 22, 2018, 03:03:16 AM
He looks kinda big being held, maybe the taxi picture gives you more perspective. The Mrs. says she thinks he's already as big as Sundance was when we took her home. This one should be ready the end of June/beginning of July.
Post by: E_T on May 22, 2018, 04:41:04 AM
I need an insulin shot now...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 23, 2018, 06:24:21 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 23, 2018, 07:13:51 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on May 23, 2018, 07:29:49 PM
He's...well, an enigma.
Possibly Sawyer's dad. He fits the general description of one of the two larger cats that would always hang around the outskirts at night. We'd catch him every now and then grab a bite if Mystery didn't eat everything out of the bowl.
Talia had been trying to befriend him for months to little avail. Mystery went on her springtime slaughter spree and had too many carcasses to eat herself, though, and thus he started staying more regular for that food. He slowly become more tolerant of Talia over this time, but never within good reach and never any of the rest of us.
He disappeared for a couple weeks around early April. I figured he'd been run over.
When he showed back up, he was in a harness. Appeared to have not eaten in weeks, AND HAD CHEWED THROUGH A LEASH. He'd either escaped and had the leash got caught on something, or been staked down purposely. Anyhow, he didn't want anything to do with anyone.
3 days later, he disappeared again. This time for another 2 weeks.
This time he very clearly was skin and bones, and had an incredibly deep and long wound on his neck and sans-harness.
He wouldn't let me near to get a good look,but was too weak to really run, more I didn't want to get bit/infected. So, we fed him for 3 days when he disappeared for a day and returned with the wound shaved and cleaned.
I really don't know what's up with this cat. Is he someone's and being abused/getting in fights/what the hell? He's way too shy to be totally domesticated but it sure seems someone else is doing SOMETHING with him.
He's fairly tolerant of the rest of the family now, but only really lets Talia pet him.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 23, 2018, 08:37:06 PM
Wait, the feral is in the house?
SHORT VERSION- Yes, has been for 5 plus years, but we took her in as a kitten.
Post by: Unorthodox on May 24, 2018, 02:14:49 AM
Anyhow, Enigma:
(http://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2018-buildup/9E800943-AD93-45FD-82F1-409C74F2E4A8.jpeg?i=305903415)
Talia posing him for the wound.
(http://www.anunorthodoxhalloween.com/blog/wp-content/gallery/2018-buildup/2B3B2228-DC6E-40C3-B9DE-425C4C8E69CA.jpeg?i=100540152)
Very deep, and very STRAIGHT, it didn't look like a bite at all. I think he might have gotten the harness stuck on a fence or something. At least I hope it's not someone purposely inflicting pain...
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 24, 2018, 03:19:37 AM
Subconciously, I am reminded that she was feral from time to time. The way she vanishes within the house whenever we have a guest, above and beyond the abilities of all of the other housecats we've had, even when I'm making a prolonged and determined search with a flashlight. The way she masks the pain of a broken tooth or a dislocated foot and leg, even when the vet is probing. The way she bit like a pit bull when being restrained and medicated. When it comes to things like this she is a sort of super cat. Like her life is at stake. So when I'm thinking about that stuff, she really stands out compared to the purebred Abyssinians we've had and the Pixie-Bob.
---------------------
Didn't you treat Mystery or some other free range cat for a wound? Or am I mis-remembering ?
Post by: Unorthodox on May 24, 2018, 04:49:20 AM
Someone else shaved Enigma here, but I'm keeping an eye on it as best I can, since he doesn't like me near.
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 01, 2018, 06:25:18 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 01, 2018, 06:29:10 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 01, 2018, 06:33:06 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 01, 2018, 06:35:44 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on June 01, 2018, 06:46:43 PM
Post by: E_T on June 02, 2018, 02:00:20 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 01, 2018, 05:00:39 AM
Post by: JMN4444 on July 14, 2018, 08:32:15 AM
I wonder what do they substitute on Planet for cats, mindworms perhaps ;deidre;? Or perhaps ;zak; has some genetically modified felines for Chiron.
Post by: E_T on July 14, 2018, 04:17:03 PM
Post by: JMN4444 on July 15, 2018, 04:01:16 PM
While the U.N.S Unity still hasn't launched (or any suspiciously similar spacecraft), let us cherish our moments with our precious munchkins. Savor the moment while on earth, because we'll all be taking care of Gaian spaghetti once we all reach the stars.
Meow away on Earth, because it's Mind away on Chiron.
Post by: Geo on August 03, 2018, 01:23:33 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on September 17, 2018, 03:45:05 PM
Anyhow, Mystery had last been seen a week ago Sunday. Just showed back up starving. This happened previously, I was wanting to get a sense of WHEN, thus looking for whether I mentioned it.
Best guess is around spring time, but I could be off and maybe even a year ago. Both times about a week. Both times, she showed back up within 24 hours or Talia and I driving around the hood calling her. I think she's getting treed by a dog in someone's yard, but wouldn't rule out a trapping scenario. Either by the shelter/animal services or by a neighbor.
Animal services would bring her back, as she's registered in the community cat program, but how long that takes, and what checkups they might do to her before returning her are a little more nebulous. It might just be a yearly checkup thing, rabies and observation checks, but that doesn't explain the hunger. I don't know how close to an area they return the animals in the program even. Just registered her to get her fixed for free (didn't work and had to go pay for it myself anyway).
Post by: Geo on September 21, 2018, 10:01:12 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on September 21, 2018, 10:28:46 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 21, 2018, 11:40:15 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on September 25, 2018, 01:42:36 PM
Mystery is very car-smart. Enigma is more psycho crazy/confused around cars.
Post by: Geo on September 25, 2018, 10:10:26 PM
Enigma is more psycho crazy/confused around cars.
Had a cat like that in front of my wheels last week. Luckily it did start moving in time in the right direction.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 11, 2018, 03:35:25 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 11, 2018, 03:45:22 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 11, 2018, 02:27:07 PM
Post by: Geo on October 11, 2018, 07:33:33 PM
Enigma has shown back up, but it's very infrequently now. Seems he's found somewhere warm that's not our place.
That's cats for you. Opportunitists. :o
Post by: E_T on October 12, 2018, 02:09:46 AM
/me wants kitty pictures NOW!!
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 12, 2018, 03:18:33 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 12, 2018, 05:00:23 AM
The black cat is one of our guests, Bruce. He's very clever, but also irrational/unpredictable and my dog is afraid of him. Or, maybe he just has eye focus issues that make him miss his leaps sometimes, and look kind of crazy.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 12, 2018, 05:02:35 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 12, 2018, 05:07:13 AM
"Gotta get there early, and make sure no one is settin' up on you while you're settin' up on them."
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 13, 2018, 07:33:52 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 13, 2018, 07:38:30 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 13, 2018, 07:52:44 AM
Maybe I can get more pictures tomorrow.
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 13, 2018, 06:58:46 PM
Actually, I had researched Manx cats in the process. They do sound a lot alike, so much so that it wouldn't surprise me if they were among the ancestors. Manx being popular ship's cats, and Washington being coastal. I kept looking because of the list of maladies among Manx cats. I think mega colon was one IIRC, and one cat with that was enough. So I kept looking, but Manx sound like great cats.
Well, I know more about the Pixie-Bob breed now than when I posted this. Tailless or "rumpy" Pixies are subject to megacolon, just like Manx cats. There is still no genetic proof of Pixies carrying bobcat or lynx genes. I am more convinced that the breed is descended from ship's cats, rather than bobcats, and that the parentage is Manx ( short-tailed ) and Maine Coon ( polydactyl ) or Norwegian Forest or Russian Forest. That would account for the size and personality. It occurs to me that as far as appearance, being a bobcat mimic would be a stroke of good luck in an area that still has a few of them. It's an effective camo scheme. Also, when other predators would see them in the distance they would avoid them, thinking confrontation was more trouble than it's worth.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 13, 2018, 10:23:45 PM
No refunds. ;)
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 14, 2018, 02:36:07 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 14, 2018, 02:38:32 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 14, 2018, 02:48:07 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 14, 2018, 03:53:05 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 14, 2018, 04:33:11 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 14, 2018, 06:29:03 PM
Post by: E_T on October 14, 2018, 10:54:06 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 15, 2018, 04:06:58 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 16, 2018, 05:21:51 AM
Post by: E_T on October 16, 2018, 06:05:57 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 16, 2018, 07:05:13 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2018, 03:46:17 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 18, 2018, 04:08:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 18, 2018, 03:21:02 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 19, 2018, 02:48:27 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 19, 2018, 07:02:20 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 23, 2018, 04:08:16 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3719)
Post by: E_T on October 23, 2018, 07:11:57 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 27, 2018, 08:39:19 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=3720)
Post by: E_T on October 28, 2018, 01:28:11 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 13, 2019, 01:38:59 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4036)
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4037)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 14, 2019, 12:34:19 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 15, 2019, 03:59:39 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=4047)
Post by: Unorthodox on January 15, 2019, 03:05:28 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 03, 2019, 04:43:55 AM
Post by: E_T on April 03, 2019, 11:19:36 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on June 24, 2019, 02:42:34 AM
Cloud has become extremely receptive to petting when she's relaxed, which is most of the time on the porch of Dog City, and when she's inside laying on the chair at the bottom of the stairs, or hanging out on the stairs themselves. She frequently licks me when I'm petting her in the chair or on the porch.
Hershey, I've long given first priority for petting during feeding/spoiling, because the others are pretty receptive when they're inside - but he doesn't come inside, and meals are about the only chance I get with him. -For about three months now, he's been laying down beside me when he eaten enough, and if nothing alarms him, will let me stroke him for up to 15 minutes straight.
Around the beginning of this year, I put in a little effort to stop and pet Goblin on the stairs, which is where she spends most of her indoor time, and she's become friendlier since. If she's interested in sleeping on my bed, I'm more likely to let her than her brother; she's pretty still and quiet when I'm trying to sleep. However, if I whistle her a tune while I'm prone, she bites my mustache and licks my face.
Moses is still a yard ape.
Post by: E_T on June 24, 2019, 03:58:57 AM
That or the cat thinks that you can't carry a tune...
Post by: Geo on June 24, 2019, 06:29:14 PM
That or the cat thinks that you can't carry a tune...
Its like, snoring... ;)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 08, 2019, 03:34:10 PM
I've never really let up much on the Kat Frend Prawgect, but Moses will be three October forth, Goblin in 11 days, Hershey four around Moses' birthday, and that makes Cloud around six. I'm still spending at least a half hour with them most days, at least whoever shows up, which is usually all four, but there's very little in the way of new developments or observations to report anymore.
-But Cloud has, flatly, become a pet. It was slow coming, but the trend goes back all the way, notably her hanging close trying to ask me for help the night before Goblin was born, and having Moses in front of me. She is friendly/affectionate wherever I encounter her, where the others vary according to the context of where it happens. I'm not curious enough to find out the limits of picking her up - three seconds feels dangerous. Pity, sometimes I'd like to scoop her into my lap, but that doesn't seem to be in the cards; Moses is the only one who will relax in my lap at all, and him only in my office, and I do have to pick him up. (I wish all of them got along with laps better - and were not quite so afraid of people besides me and Momma.)
I really never expected to win Cloud over this much - I'd not even dared hope for this much... :danc:
Post by: E_T on July 17, 2019, 01:55:58 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2019, 02:52:41 PM
Moses told me, a few weeks ago, to stop calling him "Stumpy" and "Shorty" and things along that line. He says his tail is elegantly complete in an inch, and it's wrong of me to imply that there's anything wrong with him. However, he's a dude, and he likes vulgar young guy nicknames like "Rufus Rough-n-ready" or "Mackin Mo" or "Power Pooter"...
Post by: E_T on August 03, 2019, 05:05:10 PM
"Power Pooter"...Ooooooh Kaaaaayy...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2019, 05:05:48 PM
Post by: E_T on August 03, 2019, 06:55:51 PM
https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=659294437881261 (https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=659294437881261)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 20, 2019, 04:33:40 AM
Most of our cats spar like cats- tapping, slapping, slashing. Not Chester, he has "hands," and he knows how to use them ( polydactyl with two opposed thumbs on each hand) . He's like an Aikido master among boxers. Recently he was playing with our guest cat, Nala. When her claws came out, he simply grabbed her by the wrist and held her. She became very confused, as if she couldn't decide whether it was " no fair" to grip her, or an impossible feat of speed and strength to stop her mid- slash.
The cats also like to play king of the hill on the cat tree. Recently all 4 of them were aboard. Sundance, the female PixieBob was in the #2 position. She's older than Chester and might weigh 50% more. He looked her in the eye. She decided to challenge Chester, down in the #3 position. She tapped his head a couple times, then she jabbed while he dodged. He didn't jab back, he just bobbed and weaved out of reach until she started making lunging jabs in a rocking motion. Then he simply grabbed her by the shoulders and twisted as her momentum was going backwards and flipped her to the floor. He took over the#2 spot.
Post by: Unorthodox on September 20, 2019, 03:37:35 PM
God I loved that cat. He's a big reason I didn't choose suicide in the day.
If Chester's anything like Toes, he's got a funky gait due to the extra hands, and this forms overdeveloped shoulder muscles on top of the hand advantage, they are STRONG.
I only ever saw him draw his claws out once, viciously ripping a german shepherd that had cornered him on at the trunk of a tree. Toes just decided he wasn't going to be treed. Normally, he'd just grab and maneuver things like you describe. He did swat our golden lab once. You HEARD the impact. No claws, but that dog never messed with the cat again either.
Meanwhile we now have Sawyer, who doesn't seem to realize he can retract his claws. Literally.
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 20, 2019, 10:01:36 PM
If Chester's anything like Toes, he's got a funky gait due to the extra hands, and this forms overdeveloped shoulder muscles on top of the hand advantage, they are STRONG.
I was noticing the abnormally thick forearms. I guess that stands to reason- more digits, more muscles. But the gait is a little odd. I guess I'll pay more attention when I'm home to see him.
Post by: E_T on September 21, 2019, 12:02:29 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 29, 2019, 12:54:51 AM
I have to keep my poop together around them, or I don't get to pet no cats. It's such a well-established habit by now that I rarely think about it, but I've been a little on edge since Wednesday over waiting for emails from a variety of people, and now I want something definitive to happen hours ago on my Apolyton meddling, and - I was sitting there quietly with the cats and was aware of it and how it's good practice, 'cause people aren't entirely different.
More than that, it's just good for me.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2019, 06:37:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 03, 2019, 08:30:40 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5314)
Post by: ColdWizard on October 04, 2019, 12:07:40 AM
Post by: E_T on October 04, 2019, 02:40:44 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2019, 01:50:49 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2019, 07:09:32 PM
Post by: Geo on October 06, 2019, 09:44:38 PM
Or did I forgot?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 06, 2019, 10:28:29 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on October 07, 2019, 02:52:08 AM
Post by: E_T on October 07, 2019, 02:49:40 PM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=63&v=HxM8Eb_IoFY
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 07, 2019, 08:37:14 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5317)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on October 08, 2019, 04:03:33 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=5318)
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 23, 2019, 06:52:12 PM
It's been the in-laws aim to cross socialize the cats for pet sitting purposes. So right now we have 2 short term guest cats. Sharky, who is a tall, lanky cat with the longest tail I've ever seen, and Bruce who is a normal sized black cat. They were both shelter rescue kittens with claws. Bruce is psychotic and unpredictable. I think the shelter weans them too young for proper socialization. It makes him entertaining. My dog fears him, and stays on the furniture ( so that cat can't get her) whenever he's in the house. Sharky had been the dominant cat of the extended family, due to a 6 month age advantage over the pixies and size.
Well, I think he's lost his weight advantage, although he still has reach on Chester. Chester follows him around the house the way he would follow one of us. We tend to see it as friendly, but maybe it's a way of saying "I'm watching you." Or at least, that's how Sharky perceives it because he gets freaked out, makes yowling sounds and pukes.
Last night Bruce jumped Chester, and raked him with both claws twice and hissed. Chester didn't say anything ( but it was almost as if he was counting to ten ) 1.He looked at him... 2.crouched.. 3.put his ears back.. 4.stared... 5.stared... Bruce fled. Maybe Chester was protected by his bobcat style thick undercoat.
Regardless, he's like some badass from a spaghetti western.
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 24, 2019, 08:34:45 AM
My dog was frightened when Bruce showed up, but she's back to normal. Maybe Chester really is keeping an eye on the guest cats so that they don't hassle any of the resident critters.
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 24, 2019, 07:17:04 PM
I would tell you that the guest cats are clever when it comes to removing treats from the cat puzzle, but I'm starting to think that they are slow learners.
Post by: E_T on November 24, 2019, 10:35:55 PM
Go Chester!!!
Post by: Unorthodox on December 09, 2019, 04:23:02 AM
Don't know what could have caused this reaction to be honest. I know it stays plenty warm. Anyway, we went and purchased one on black friday, it's a little cloth thing rated for outdoors that has a plug in mattress. After her getting over her fear of the thing, she liked it but would leave when it got really cold, it just wasn't insulated enough (unlike the old house), and I'd find her under the car in the morning.
We got a big doodad at work, and I salvaged the crate, mostly because I'm going to utilize it for Halloween, but a little chainsaw here, throwing in all the tombstones (they're made from panel foam insulation anyway), and tossing the new house in there where it's now away from the weather, and insulated, I threw in a light bulb as well to keep the overall thing a little warm, and she's quite happy with it now.
Indy gave us a scare in November. He had gotten really lethargic and acting like he was in pain, wouldn't come up the stairs. Given he's officially getting old for his breed (He's 11, average 8-14 years), we were figuring it was just about time. On a whim I switched their food (they'd changed the formula of what we had been feeding them right around the time this all started), and he's now back to being himself after a few weeks on the new food. I don't know what, exactly was in the food that got him all bothered, but it's good he's back to normal.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 09, 2019, 09:04:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 23, 2019, 09:29:14 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6126)
Post by: E_T on December 24, 2019, 07:35:37 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on December 30, 2019, 01:25:13 AM
Kept him sustained with chicken broth
Just started taking food again.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 30, 2019, 03:08:12 AM
Sawyer had a bad Christmas. Got into something, throwing up, refusing food.
Kept him sustained with chicken broth
Just started taking food again.
There's lots of stuff cats can get into during the holidays. Even eating some ribbon from a package or decoration can cause issues. I hope he gets better.
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 30, 2019, 03:13:08 AM
We've had 4 guest cats in our house for a week, in addition to our 3 cats ( plus one long term guest cat ). I don't know if it's allergies or cold/flu, but I feel like crap. Haven't seen any ferals for months.
My wife and I both cleared up once we gave back the plus four. So now we know, 8 cats are too many. Our limit is in the 4-7 range.
Also, the feral has been back a few times over Christmas.
Post by: Geo on December 31, 2019, 02:11:46 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6126)
An Appalachian Treecat!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 19, 2020, 08:36:14 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6142)
Finally got to this today, only two or three weeks late.
-All I did to the holly bush/tree in the last year was go by every few days in springtime after cat feeding and pinch off new shoots on the top according to a vague sense of the shape of a round top. I'm pretty pleased with how it mostly conformed to filling out the spherical shape I was told by my wimminz to go for. This would not take all the work in the world to neaten up the shape, and the thing has proven, over and over, very hard to kill.
Nevertheless, my gimpy left shoulder didn't like when I had to bear down hard to cut a thick bit, and it is two or three weeks late, so I didn't prune very aggressively. It still needs another year or so filling in/out before I have enough to work with to do a truly pedantic attempt at a sphere. The shape looks much poorer at other than the front angle, though Momma agrees that only that, how it looks out the window and what visitors see from the carport, actually matters.
So it got a cursory 20 minute going-over, and the azalea on the left got a little of the most extreme protrusions cut back -both azaleas and the sweetbulb on the left need ruthless pruning, but not now when the azaleas are beginning to bud- but the holly and azalea aren't touching any more, and that will let a bit more light encourage growth on the left of the holly for balance, and it definitely looks better with a bit of neatness trim and the volunteer growth around the base cleared.
I'll need to do a fair deal more casual pinch pruning on the top of the holly through summer, but I predict by next winter, it'll have filled in more on the right and bottom, and be ready to trim into a first-rate sphere...
Above is before, of course. Below is after today's light-ish cleanup...
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6143)
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 19, 2020, 09:58:18 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 27, 2020, 11:32:19 PM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6188)
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 28, 2020, 03:53:30 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 30, 2020, 01:34:26 AM
(http://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=6189)
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 30, 2020, 02:02:37 AM
Post by: Geo on April 03, 2020, 07:49:21 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 07, 2020, 03:12:38 AM
Well, tonight another niece who is working from home dropped off both of her cats. They have become such pests that they are interfering with her productivity, and she needs to get caught up. I'm guessing they'll be here for about 2 days. These cats visit on some weekends, they are the ones Chester follows around the house, to keep them from starting any trouble.
We have been on standby as cat keepers in case a cousin once removed needs to move home with her parents. Doesn't look like that's going to happen, but her mom's cat doesn't get along with intruder cats, so we kept this cat before when the extended family went on a cruise this winter.
We shall see how things go. Chester is showing signs of paying attention to my wife now that the guest cat is gone and there is more space on her chair. If he doesn't become her pet ( and not just mine) I have a sense the Mrs. will be asking for a cat for Christmas.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 20, 2020, 02:59:29 PM
Hm. Not sure how to fix that sideways thing.
Post by: E_T on April 23, 2020, 05:38:56 PM
So, is he a good Lap Cat? One thing I've found is that cats love to get scratched around the face and the small of the back...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2020, 05:52:50 PM
Post by: E_T on July 20, 2020, 09:31:46 PM
;party
pet him for me...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 20, 2020, 09:38:22 PM
Post by: Geo on July 20, 2020, 10:21:30 PM
pet him for me...
But don't forget to wear the padding!
Post by: Rusty Edge on October 11, 2020, 04:08:41 AM
Last night Bruce jumped Chester, and raked him with both claws twice and hissed. Chester didn't say anything ( but it was almost as if he was counting to ten ) 1.He looked at him... 2.crouched.. 3.put his ears back.. 4.stared... 5.stared... Bruce fled. Maybe Chester was protected by his bobcat style thick undercoat.
Regardless, he's like some badass from a spaghetti western.
Guest cats are here again. Bruce is his clever but crazy self. He and Chester II met at an intersection by the pet fountain. Mexican stand-off. Chester is backed up against an end table. To Chester's right is the front entry, a dead end. To his front is Bruce. To his left is the only possible escape route between the couch and coffee table, but he has to turn broadside to Bruce to go there. Lots of cat growls. Bruce raked Chester with both claws three times while Chester just stared at him. Then Chester suddenly throttled him with both "hands". When Chester sat back down, he stared at Bruce and spit a big mouthful of black cat hair at Bruce. ( Apparently he bit Bruce as he was choking him, but it was far too fast for me to notice ).
At this point I intervened and picked Chester up. I was afraid I'd be taking my niece's cat to the animal hospital after the next bite.
Post by: Geo on October 11, 2020, 01:46:19 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 17, 2021, 02:15:43 AM
Thursday night, he knocked on my window just past my bedtime, and when I ran a hand over him inside, there was puss on my hand. There was an impressive rope of it laying atop his stub tail, which I wiped off, then deliberately gave the swollen stub a squeeze. Then there was a faintly bloody second impressive rope of puss.
I told Mamma yesterday, and found stains on the newspaper he slept on (on a table in front of Carman, the paper mache man). In the evening, when Moses had come inside much earlier, I got him up on the bar and pet/held him so Momma could get a good look at his tail -there's a gross round hole standing open on top- she agrees that we're gonna have to take him in for professional treatment Monday.
We MUST find a way to keep him from eating his own butt anymore, keeping it inflamed and infected all the time. I fear they'll just want to cut it off. I will report as things develop.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 18, 2021, 11:20:03 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 19, 2021, 06:17:22 PM
Because he's not exactly tame, for all that I literally delivered him outta his momma's body and raised him since, MY momma wanted to invite him inside after lunch. Well, there was out of the ordinary loud neighborhood dog politics going on at cat lunchtime, and it turned out, no actual cat lunch; Hershey came in and didn't eat. No one else even entered the Dog Lot, though Goblin and Moses turned up and then thought better of coming in. W/o going into much detail, I'd tried to have lunch at the edge of the carport -they've all four turned up fine for that several times in bad weather- about as far as I expected to be able to carry Moses after grabbing w/o me bleeding. No dice, and I gave up and tried in the Dog Lot, telling this out of order.
SO- Moses had wandered out of sight past the car towards the back shed, and when Hershey gave up trying to eat, I went over to a spot in the car shed where I've fed everyone before, and set down the bowl and sat. Sure enough, he came from behind the scrap pile in the car shed, and I grabbed him and made it up the hill and inside seconds before the struggles got bloody.
I need to take the cage upstairs and set it near the kitchen door. If he'll lay down and relax in one of his usual spots in the next hour, I ought to have no great trouble picking him up and shoving him in. He and Goblin always seem to like me and Momma both a lot better indoors.
-More later when I know more...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 19, 2021, 09:59:19 PM
Getting him in the cage went smoothly. The long wait did have the virtue of settling him down; the poor dear was making these little yows of fear/alarm at first - which did resume when the vet was carrying the cage into the clinic.
Will continue to update, yada.
Post by: Unorthodox on January 19, 2021, 10:10:40 PM
"Mr Orange"
For the most part he's very VERY polite around Mystery, to the point of going overboard to show he's not a threat. He'll wait till she eats before approaching even though he has a separate bowl.
No idea the providence of him, where he's staying, or if he's being fed elsewhere. Took him a good 6 months before he'd not fly off if he saw us, and another couple before he let Talia pet him, but he doesn't LIKE being pet even still. odd personality.
I used the box the 12' skeleton came in to make Mystery's house this year as my tools were inaccessible to build the permanent one I had planned. The thermometer says it's staying 50 degrees inside (and the bed is kinda like a solar blanket so gets warmer if she sleeps in it), but she seems to have somewhere warmer during real bad weather.
Sawyer needed a heated bed INSIDE. I've never seen a cat so easily getting cold. He's either on a lap, on a heat register, or in his electric bed. Roughly in order or preference. And he likes to get UNDER the blankets in bed, but only if there's someone sleeping there.
Post by: Unorthodox on January 19, 2021, 10:18:13 PM
Man, we waited in the parking lot for an hour and a half, and the vet didn't tell us much of anything I hadn't figured out. Abscess, lance, antibiotics. He is running a slight temperature. They're keeping Moses overnight to treat him in the morning.
Getting him in the cage went smoothly. The long wait did have the virtue of settling him down; the poor dear was making these little yows of fear/alarm at first - which did resume when the vet was carrying the cage into the clinic.
Will continue to update, yada.
Mystery got battlefield medicine and some prayers when she had the abscess. They don't really care as she's registered on the community cat program. Thought that was odd, but my choices were care for her myself, or officially declare her a pet, which changes the rules of her getting into shenanigans with neighbor chickens. So I had to care for it as best I could.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 19, 2021, 11:55:28 PM
But Moses is nowhere near as trusting and affectionate as the bostons, and it just ain't a one man job, and I ain't got antibiotics or a legal way to get some myself - and if I did, I assume I'd save it for people. Even w/o knowing he was running a temperature, I assumed the antibiotics were needed; it was a LOT of puss.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 20, 2021, 06:11:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 20, 2021, 09:57:51 PM
I'm going to have to photo his shaved butt for y'all - maybe tomorrow it will look less gross.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 21, 2021, 01:54:03 PM
I happened to have woke up a bit early this morning and -before my first coffee was heated- took a direct hand in solving Momma's problem of letting out Cloud and Goblin for the day and breakfast, taking him into the sewing room and petting him a minute in the rocking chair there. He's gonna be fine if he doesn't bite his surgery open and stops eating his own butt - the abscess may have been there from almost the beginning two years ago...
Post by: Geo on January 21, 2021, 02:07:22 PM
;) :D
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 21, 2021, 02:16:48 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 22, 2021, 03:56:56 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 22, 2021, 04:32:08 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 22, 2021, 05:07:23 PM
New stuff after lunch.
[Maybe not - Album shenanigans in progress.]
Post by: Syn on January 22, 2021, 05:14:54 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 22, 2021, 05:57:33 PM
His power is max.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 22, 2021, 06:07:12 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7844)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 22, 2021, 07:20:25 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7845)
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7846)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 22, 2021, 07:28:45 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7847)
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7848)
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7848)
Moses actually slept with me last night -there he was when I went to bed- but this is his favorite/usual spot.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2021, 05:35:50 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2021, 02:23:21 PM
This is fresh this morning, maybe an hour ago or less. Taken from where I was sitting.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7862)
Yes, that's Buster.(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7863)
Post by: Geo on January 25, 2021, 05:40:33 PM
Somehpw I got the idea your cousin was blonde.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2021, 06:23:05 PM
Buster was, like, 14, maybe more, in that headshot, but looks much like that now at 17. Little longer face, different hair. Rockin' the slender, and I think genuinely attractive not just to my eye. She freakin' INhuman how she works and concentrates, and my niece and all, but I wasn't like that in my teens.
I left out that Moses' new window-leaping path was via the big office desk to the side where all the art crap sits. I'm discouraging coming back down via me and the keyboard, which he didn't this morning, this time.
I think Rhonda was 17 when the attached was taken...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2021, 06:31:16 PM
Evil Aunt, their mother, died in May - not crows, just overdue by about a decade. That cat made her very happy. Cat's doing well, I hear.
Post by: Geo on January 25, 2021, 10:14:39 PM
I meant Buster.
I seem to recall you (and Rusty?) using the word 'cousin' for female relatives too, so I used it here.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 25, 2021, 11:31:14 PM
In "southern" English, I have heard it used as an empty endearment word, also known as "claimin' kin", or blood relationship. Dunno how common once, I'm only thinking of a lawyer I knew who would call people "cuz" w/o actual relationship, and never heard it since then in the eighties. Of course English nobles used it somewhat that way a long time ago with other nobles - and they probably WERE some degree of cousin in that case.
I'm sure you recall Rusty and I using it to refer to our actual cousins. English is hard, I know. [shrugs]
Zoom in and lean in on the headshot of Buster - hair may look a teeny bit red, but it's little red, more/mostly a light brown/blonde, getting darker slowly. Mom started blonde and darkened to medium-darkish brown by the time I first remember in her late 20s, pretty dark before she went gray, and all three of her kids and her granddaughter are the same.
I do not regret being led to post a hot picture of Rhonda. You shoulda seen her in person, oh my...
Post by: Rusty Edge on January 25, 2021, 11:56:39 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2021, 12:03:40 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2021, 12:11:10 AM
There's also not a separate word for your dad's sister and your dad's brother's wife, Aunt, or your dad's brother and your dad's sister's husband, both Uncle. Alas, that is a lack.
Evil Aunt Nancy was my mother's brother's ex-wife, actually. Scaredy Cat is Misty now, and her fur is long and patchy-multicolored like Goblin's, but lighter. We suspect they are full sisters.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2021, 01:03:48 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=17843.0;attach=21793;image)
I said -Rhonda's in prison, you'll recall- that if she had multiple copies, she could use the spares for money. ;nod
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2021, 01:24:25 AM
So when they were about late single digits age, I renamed them Karen and Susan. I heard Susan was writing "Susan [last name]" in her notebooks at school. Alas, they do not look like their mother, but are still quite good-looking. I see them on Facebook all the time, and Karen uses too much foul language in public, Susan used to before she married her baby-daddy -they seemed to fight constantly, and that seemed to have stopped since the wedding, counterintuitively enough- and needs to get fixed. Four kids in your 20s is as dumb as her birthname.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2021, 03:40:01 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7864)
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7865)
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7865)
;nod
Post by: Syn on January 26, 2021, 03:54:49 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 26, 2021, 04:06:50 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 27, 2021, 08:32:27 PM
He came home in a cone, and was so psycho about it that Momma risked taking it off - and he's licked, but no signs of the biting that made the infection in the first place, or at least compounded and extended. So that's good.
We've observed, in the last eight days, that although he's been very restless, he seems less gingerly about having his tail/stub handled. Also, for all that he can be so annoyingly 1/4 dog and adolescent-behaving, the week inside seems to have made him distinctly more tame and game to be handled. So that's way more good than otherwise. It appears that he'd been in some pain for a long time, or he'd be chewing his surgery as even worse, and I doubt the fever he was running was a new development. Good that we burned the money and got it fixed.
I've not brought up about the cleaning the incision and squirting antibiotic in his mouth every day, which has gone absoLUTEly more smoothly than you'd expect from a quasi-feral cat.
We're giving him another day indoors to let the drainage holes heal clean, then our lives will be less complex and I'll get more sleep.
Momma has also seen some improvement in domestication IRT the katz; this is also good, as I hate being snarled at, but also feel bad when it's cold out and they're at my window scratching in the evening...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 29, 2021, 03:59:25 AM
Momma admitted before noon that she sorta missed having him inside already. Me, too.
He came right indoors at sunset after supper - he more often doesn't, and manages to knock on my window right before I go to bed, but tonight, been in since 6 and far more relaxed-behaving...
I got pics of Goblin and Cloud resting the other night - and multitasking has distracted me from uploading and cropping for two days.
We laid a towel down for Moses in the middle of an area rug; pets will always make for the highest piece of cloth, like your dog on any laundry on the floor. He could bleed on the towel that way. -Not Moses. He made for Carman's newspaper, and later in the week, also my arting desk. Instead, the towel-in-the-middle-of-the-rug's #1 superfan was Goblin every evening...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7866)
Post by: Geo on January 29, 2021, 09:03:28 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 29, 2021, 09:10:39 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 29, 2021, 08:35:38 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 29, 2021, 11:29:00 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7869)
Post by: Geo on January 30, 2021, 09:56:14 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 30, 2021, 01:10:23 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 30, 2021, 09:21:26 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7870)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 05, 2021, 02:33:36 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7871)
---
Moses is doing fine. I really hope the butt fur will grow back, 'cause cats sometimes don't when they been shaved...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 06, 2021, 06:00:26 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7873)
Post by: Geo on February 06, 2021, 06:26:20 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 07, 2021, 03:53:37 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=7875)
-You can see a little where the belly fur didn't all grow back from when he was shaved to be fixed.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2022, 04:03:54 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10241)
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10242)
Post by: Unorthodox on July 21, 2022, 02:00:08 PM
Adjacent rant.
~December, Kyle and his girl let us know they were looking for their own place. Fine, good, great. They both had recently gotten significant raises, and are at that stage of life.
Then nothing....I mean I get the market isn't the best, but absolutely nothing, not even looking.
~May, Kyle up and quits his job. But it's going to be ok, because he applied to a number of places and he'll hear back no problem. That looks REAL great on attempting to get a house loan, ya know?
Fortunately they ended up making him an offer to change departments and he was able to keep his job after figuring out it's not so easy to job hop at his salary.
Then over the 4th, they adopted a freaking cat. THEY HAVE NO PLACE TO LIVE MIND YOU. Can't stay at her place. We already have 3 indoor cats, and are NOT looking for a 4th. I don't care how freaking cute the damn thing is. Not to mention complete lack of planning for vaccines or fixing or anything, so it's been locked in a bedroom waiting for the clean bill of health til yesterday. Trying to introduce to our other cats is not going terribly well. Sawyer is so freaking passive he's letting this cat terrorize him when he comes out. I've told Kyle 2 months and if they haven't made any progress on getting a place, he better find it a new home or I'm tossing it in the shelter.
Designer kitteh no less, a serengeti.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 21, 2022, 06:16:46 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on July 22, 2022, 04:43:08 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 22, 2022, 06:01:13 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10244)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 23, 2022, 05:30:20 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10245)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 24, 2022, 05:05:34 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10246)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 25, 2022, 05:52:40 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10247)
In cats, as I was saying at the time, is a measure of serenity.
Post by: Geo on July 26, 2022, 09:54:08 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 26, 2022, 03:50:30 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10248)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 27, 2022, 06:05:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 28, 2022, 04:48:59 PM
Moses' tail stub stays a little scabby, but never chewed raw like he kept it before the operation. Hershey has been slowly improving with more grooming exchanges with the others.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10250)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 29, 2022, 06:04:14 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10251)
Post by: Geo on July 29, 2022, 11:12:57 PM
...They didn't seem very hungry May-June. I imagine a fruitful hunting season...
Many a bird has perished... not to mention smaller prey like mouses.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 29, 2022, 11:56:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 30, 2022, 06:08:12 PM
;cheerlead
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10252)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2022, 05:42:34 PM
Post by: Geo on July 31, 2022, 06:06:10 PM
Lack of space in the animal shelter/center?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 31, 2022, 06:44:14 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 01, 2022, 03:30:21 AM
hET and Tali MADE Mystery’s kittens into lap cats/craving human contact by manhandling them daily from the moment they arrived. All three have retained that into adulthood.
Sawyer is ALWAYS on either hET or Talia.
Mystery took years to socialize properly and is still one of the most ornery cats I’ve met if you threaten her kids. Problem is she adopted Talia and the neighbor kids, and has decided cars are the threat. She’ll stand guard as Talia gets in the car when we’re going to school and arch get back and hiss in the middle of the street at any car that approaches. I’ve seen her walk the neighbors to school and do the same in the crosswalk.
Here they try to foster in homes with kids and dogs to get the kittens used to that.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2022, 03:34:26 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 01, 2022, 03:27:21 PM
When Indy passes, I'd definitely consider a more adult cat from such a program if we decided on another. Get all the naughty kitten stuff out of the way, someone already accustomed to a multi cat house. Those 2-5 year olds that aren't so likely to get adopted as they've lost all the kitten cutesy stuff but tend to be friendly and mellow due to the programs.
Speaking of, having turned 14, Indy is officially OLD, Old for a Manx.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2022, 05:33:06 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10254)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 01, 2022, 09:25:27 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 01, 2022, 09:52:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 02, 2022, 06:08:11 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10255)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 02, 2022, 09:59:29 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2022, 06:18:45 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10256)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 04, 2022, 05:24:11 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10257)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2022, 01:27:40 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10265)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 11, 2022, 04:57:52 AM
Post by: Geo on August 11, 2022, 11:10:24 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 11, 2022, 08:04:57 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10266)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 12, 2022, 05:53:55 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2022, 02:35:47 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 12, 2022, 05:33:53 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 13, 2022, 05:59:41 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10268)
I'll have to take more before tomorrow.
Post by: Geo on August 13, 2022, 06:23:31 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 13, 2022, 09:06:34 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 14, 2022, 04:54:28 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2022, 05:20:49 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 15, 2022, 06:46:37 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 15, 2022, 08:23:55 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2022, 03:28:57 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10274)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 16, 2022, 09:25:08 AM
Still narrow snout compared to what I'm used to in a moggie. I can't find a good breed specific skull reference but if I had to guess, likely Asian ancestors.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 16, 2022, 05:50:05 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 16, 2022, 06:47:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2022, 05:41:07 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10272)
Post by: Unorthodox on August 17, 2022, 09:28:17 PM
He's such a perfect little october mascott.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2022, 11:16:26 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 18, 2022, 12:47:16 AM
Multi
Level
Marketing
Post by: Unorthodox on August 18, 2022, 07:18:43 AM
https://www.businessforhome.org/2017/06/network-marketing-the-second-biggest-industry-in-utah-with-8-5-billion-in-revenue/
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2022, 06:51:03 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 18, 2022, 08:16:03 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2022, 08:55:45 PM
Mylochka knew of Dallas-area shelters that charged $150 for random kittens, she claims. I bet that's still a losing proposition, once shelter bills, staff, and the vet are paid out of it.
It's not like Mormons don't do ANYthing that doesn't turn a profit...
Post by: Geo on August 19, 2022, 04:11:08 PM
How does the mingling with the other cats go?
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2022, 04:15:46 PM
-We plan to transition him to indoor/mostly outdoor like the others, but he needs to grow quite a bit first - we'll probably be needing a fire and be letting the others in at night in about two months, which may work out about right...
Post by: Geo on August 19, 2022, 04:52:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2022, 05:36:19 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 20, 2022, 12:39:09 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2022, 05:21:56 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 21, 2022, 08:28:31 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2022, 11:18:35 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 22, 2022, 01:36:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2022, 12:17:59 AM
Post by: Geo on August 23, 2022, 09:32:17 AM
My life w/ River...
Wuuurrrrmmsssss!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2022, 06:02:35 PM
Post by: Geo on August 23, 2022, 10:24:31 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2022, 11:38:40 PM
Post by: Geo on August 24, 2022, 07:59:41 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on August 24, 2022, 01:20:48 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 24, 2022, 04:33:04 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 27, 2022, 02:08:12 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2022, 03:14:53 AM
Post by: Geo on August 27, 2022, 10:53:44 AM
...I don't think worms are transmitted that way, and he already had teeth a couple weeks ago - he's very playful...
Okay, seems like you didn't get the joke.
I meant, Bitey sensing the wuuurrrrmmmmsssss in your hand as you try to stroke him, and since a cat is so often in the mood for a snack, bites you.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 29, 2022, 09:24:32 PM
I herewith present Miss Coco Jolene.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10275)
-Also among the hasta leaves in front of her is Young Man River's back.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 30, 2022, 05:43:12 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10276)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2022, 05:35:33 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 01, 2022, 05:51:58 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2022, 05:33:03 PM
Post by: Geo on September 02, 2022, 08:42:34 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2022, 06:38:24 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 04, 2022, 05:58:28 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 05, 2022, 05:11:02 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 06, 2022, 05:44:57 PM
This is it, for now...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10283)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 21, 2022, 09:44:05 PM
The big cats are stubbornly not accepting River yet...This has not changed any - any advice?
Post by: Unorthodox on September 22, 2022, 09:08:51 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 22, 2022, 11:44:49 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 23, 2022, 02:36:51 AM
I have a vague recollection of us getting a kitten at some point that bonded more with the dog than the resident cats due to similar energy levels.
Speaking of levels, sometimes it helps to have cat trees and shelving for the cats, so that some of them can move around at a different elevation without being chased and giving them an alternative route to potential confrontation.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 23, 2022, 04:17:45 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 03, 2022, 06:14:32 AM
Post by: Unorthodox on November 07, 2022, 08:37:14 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on November 19, 2022, 06:07:03 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on November 22, 2022, 09:49:28 PM
Chester is pretty well recovered, or at least he is behaving normally and doesn't seem to hold a grudge, Also, he now allows my wife to pet him when she feeds him.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 08, 2022, 04:14:28 PM
He came in while Mom was fetching firewood, unsteady on his feet and complaining. Then he was dead. No idea what the problem was.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2022, 02:22:55 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10296)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 10, 2022, 05:31:41 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10297)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 11, 2022, 06:03:23 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10298)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 12, 2022, 05:25:13 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10299)
Post by: Unorthodox on December 12, 2022, 08:07:58 PM
Indy is not able to groom himself well anymore, and we're struggling to keep his weight up to a healthy level
We've switched Indy to an entirely wet food diet that seems to have at least stopped the wasting away. Hope to get more weight on him still, though. Otherwise he still acts fairly healthy. Chasing sawyer, even was playing fetch the other night again.
Post by: Geo on December 12, 2022, 10:38:53 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10299)
Rest in Peace, Moses.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 13, 2022, 05:47:18 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10300)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2022, 05:26:51 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10301)
Post by: Unorthodox on December 14, 2022, 11:06:41 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 14, 2022, 11:56:42 PM
I was expecting this, but not so soon. Choosing to let them be indoor/outdoor cats was intended to maximize their happiness, not their lifespan. Still, I ain't happy this week...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 15, 2022, 05:38:05 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10302)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 16, 2022, 05:14:36 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10303)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 17, 2022, 05:09:35 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10304)
Post by: Geo on December 17, 2022, 09:34:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 17, 2022, 10:50:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 18, 2022, 06:03:01 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10305)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 19, 2022, 06:04:34 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10306)
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 20, 2022, 05:11:28 AM
Sorry about Moses, I liked him best.
If you're struggling, please reach out.
River's golden eyes really complement his glossy coat.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 26, 2022, 01:27:50 AM
Anyway, I caught River sleeping in a cute pose yesterday...
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10307)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 26, 2022, 05:24:22 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10308)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 27, 2022, 05:05:43 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10309)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 28, 2022, 05:33:54 PM
Christmas.
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10310)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 29, 2022, 05:17:41 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10311)
Post by: Geo on December 30, 2022, 10:50:32 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10311)Oh. Cute!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 30, 2022, 01:42:22 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 30, 2022, 05:35:08 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10312)
-Seen here with his dog, Coco.
Post by: Geo on December 30, 2022, 08:48:57 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 31, 2022, 05:28:41 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10313)
Post by: Rusty Edge on December 31, 2022, 06:12:44 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on December 31, 2022, 07:06:52 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 05, 2023, 08:22:36 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10314)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 06, 2023, 05:52:53 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10315)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 07, 2023, 05:36:29 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10316)
Post by: Geo on January 07, 2023, 08:27:40 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 07, 2023, 08:39:52 PM
-A pity none of the shots of River attacking the camera were in focus at all.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 08, 2023, 06:02:53 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10317)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 09, 2023, 05:37:24 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10318)
Post by: Geo on January 09, 2023, 08:25:55 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 09, 2023, 08:47:07 PM
Post by: Geo on January 10, 2023, 04:33:09 AM
He attacked the camera, but those shot weren't in focus.
;lol
Small surprise!
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 10, 2023, 02:58:33 PM
Post by: Geo on January 10, 2023, 05:05:20 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 10, 2023, 05:16:46 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10319)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 11, 2023, 05:30:50 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10320)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on January 12, 2023, 05:57:45 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10321)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on February 27, 2023, 04:13:06 AM
HER full name currently stands at Her Royal Highness Princess Darlene Mask Willow Goblin Fluffykins. She sometimes uses "Miss Fluff" in her private life for low-level privacy; if pressed for a first name, she usually uses Willow, but it varies.
River gets addressed variously as Liver, Boy, Coco's Cat, Li'l Guy, Captain Liver of The Basement Patrol!, and his recent favorite, The Velveteen Death Machine by Beatrix (pronounced as it's spelled) Potter - Who Mysteriously Died In A Totally Coincidental Biting Incident Shortly Following Upon The Advent Of Her Last Creation.
Liver and Coco's Cat will probably stick, maybe the basement thing.
He's -what?- about nine months old, and looks like he's stalling out around 3/4 the size of the girls, w/ the ferocity of 34 girls. The lighting wasn't cooperative, but I'd swear he was carrying a dead mouse yesterday shortly after sunset - he's been the terror of the roaches for a long time, disgusting eating as they must be.
His fur is not quite so astonishingly velvety soft as when we met him, but still hella-soft.
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 10, 2023, 03:38:01 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 10, 2023, 03:44:22 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on March 10, 2023, 03:56:57 AM
Post by: Lionheart on March 11, 2023, 10:49:21 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on March 11, 2023, 10:58:27 PM
Post by: Unorthodox on April 07, 2023, 03:16:07 PM
It's not terribly uncommon for her to disappear for a bit in the spring, but concerning with it coinciding with 3 days of really solid snowfall.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 10, 2023, 01:25:45 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on April 11, 2023, 05:20:54 AM
It disappeared and we eventually assumed the worst. End of August it returned for about 10 days, then left again. It continued to return at that time year after year. Why? The county fair had a century plus tradition of people moving there for 8 days and living in tents. It was standard vacation time for many people in that valley. Presumably the cat found a new home, and only returned when it's chosen family wasn't around to feed and pay attention to it.
Post by: Unorthodox on April 12, 2023, 10:11:58 PM
Turns out the neighbors accidentally locked her in their shed when they went on vacation.
She was that so hungry you can't eat level of near starving, so whipped a bit of liquid nutrition. Looks like she's back to solids as of this morning.
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 06, 2023, 04:46:37 AM
Cats amaze me in their ability to survive various hardships... lack of food, water, and blood sugar among them.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 12, 2023, 01:28:15 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10364)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2023, 03:10:24 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10365)
Post by: Geo on May 15, 2023, 07:04:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 15, 2023, 08:19:45 PM
Post by: Geo on May 15, 2023, 10:22:23 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 16, 2023, 12:15:10 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 16, 2023, 05:15:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 17, 2023, 12:48:33 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10366)
Post by: Geo on May 17, 2023, 10:44:34 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 17, 2023, 05:49:20 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10367)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 18, 2023, 06:52:26 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10368)
Post by: Geo on May 18, 2023, 07:43:28 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on May 18, 2023, 08:41:32 PM
Post by: Geo on May 19, 2023, 06:57:30 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on May 23, 2023, 05:38:39 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 15, 2023, 07:26:28 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on July 15, 2023, 05:29:56 PM
About a week and a half ago, sunset cat supper, the usual. Hershey, and this is pretty common, hopped down off the side of the porch of Dog City when the milk was gone from the cat cereal. A few minutes later, the girls got nervous-acting and headed over to the gate before quite cleaning the pan. I was looking that way when, in the corner of my line of site, Hershey popped his head up to have a look over the porch.
My eyes flicked over, and there was a raccoon face three feet away instead of Hershey's. I don't recall seeing a live one up close since 1973, and that was in a zoo in Pittsburgh.
The deer have been coming around a little for almost two decades, we've recently gotten a family of foxes denned on or near the property, and I suspect some raccoons have been around for years. -Pretty much since my grampa's generation, prone to gun racks in their trucks, and fine with shooting themselves some food when they could, died off...
Post by: Rusty Edge on July 16, 2023, 07:16:53 AM
One of them is a shelter rescue. I figure it was orphaned or weaned too young, because it isn't very well socialized. On mood meds he likes his mistress. Well one time a couple years ago he was sitting on my shoulder while I was in my chair computing with one hand and stroking him with the other. He was purring- then he suddenly bit me hard ion my scalp and neck.
Friday when the niece was dropping of the cat, my wife asked her to give it the mood meds. The niece said it's a two person job, she needed a hand. I offered to hold him. She handed off the cat, I got a firm grip on his hind legs , and he turned and buried his four fangs between my cheek bone and ear and started scratching my chest and armpit until my niece told me to let him go. She didn't get any meds in him, either.
So that night Chester II is curled up in the top of the cat tree, which sits in a corner. Jekyl & Hyde cat always likes to be in the highest spot possible, and he wasn't going to settle, so he starts making anguished sounds from the second highest perch.. Chester is cornered, he lays his ears back and "converses" for a while. They seemed to declare a truce and become friends. They both calmed down, and then Chester slowly reached down and gently touched Ray (for short) in the middle of the back. Ray slowly reaches up to touch him back. I figure Okay, they are going to play king of the tree. Then Ray uses that as a feint and follows up with a claws out hard right jab with a hiss. I don't know if he connected or not, Because Chester countered with a right of his own ( using the heal of his paw) to Ray's head. It knocked Ray backwards about a foot and off of the cat tree, until he dropped and managed to cling on with one paw. Ray was dazed, but managed to grab on with the other paw. Then he seemed to realize how vulnerable he was to another strike and fled the field.
Things have been quiet today.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 03, 2023, 11:52:23 AM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 04, 2023, 03:05:06 AM
He tries to wrestle with Chester, which normally ends with a reversal and Chester pinning him. For how long depends on how much the guest cat ( Sounds like Joe Gee, but it's a Japanese name and I'm not sure how it's spelled.) acts up. His nails had been getting long and stabby, but he got manicured tonight. I have not seen Chester bite in retaliation yet. His tail is normally wagging when they wrestle.
Post by: Unorthodox on August 04, 2023, 05:10:55 PM
Post by: Rusty Edge on August 16, 2023, 05:20:00 AM
"Joe Gee" is still growing. With 4 cats in the house, food is out all of the time, and he likes our Turkey/Guinea Fowl offering.
Joe Gee has claws and is 2 days shy of his regular manicure. He and Chester were sparring, and I heard Chester squawk, which usually means that somebody crossed the line with the use of the claws. Apparently, Joe Gee didn't take the hint, because he kept jabbing until WHOMP! A left hook to the side of his head sent Joe Gee tumbling sideways. Lesson learned.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 17, 2023, 03:51:12 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10379)
I'm sure I've previously mentioned sundry trees that are leaning hard enough that they inevitably were someday going to destroy various outbuildings when they fell in a storm one night. We had the two next to the playhouse cut down in May. -And now we're also set for firewood this winter.
Nothing has happened to the playhouse - that's the original roof from c. 1974, and it just needs replacing. For a miracle, it doesn't leak inside yet.
The holly tree/bush had a much harder time of it, though. But it's got the roots of a full-grown holly tree from back in 74, and it's pretty hard to kill. About this time next year, it'll be a better-looking bush than ever - just a little trimming needed. I'm gonna try to keep the top down to waist-high this time...
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 18, 2023, 05:20:32 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10380)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 19, 2023, 04:12:58 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10381)
I don't think he's ever done chainsaw carving, but it fits with his rustic carpentry, and love of using power tools, both.
Post by: Geo on August 20, 2023, 09:32:17 AM
Gives space for a sort of back support too.
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 20, 2023, 11:36:46 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10382)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 21, 2023, 01:48:56 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10383)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 22, 2023, 05:20:54 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10384)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 23, 2023, 10:16:23 AM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10385)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 24, 2023, 01:30:18 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10386)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 25, 2023, 12:23:52 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10387)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 26, 2023, 03:09:09 PM
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Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2023, 04:20:04 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10389)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 27, 2023, 06:20:07 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 28, 2023, 05:32:43 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10390)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 30, 2023, 06:23:52 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10391)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on August 31, 2023, 03:53:01 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10392)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 01, 2023, 05:30:04 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10393)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 02, 2023, 06:13:07 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10394)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 03, 2023, 04:31:54 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10395)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 04, 2023, 06:00:07 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10401)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 05, 2023, 12:46:04 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10402)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 06, 2023, 03:46:37 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10403)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 07, 2023, 12:04:38 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10404)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 08, 2023, 05:31:05 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10405)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 09, 2023, 01:36:49 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10406)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 10, 2023, 02:51:21 PM
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Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 11, 2023, 09:49:15 AM
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Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 12, 2023, 02:27:31 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10409)
Post by: Unorthodox on September 12, 2023, 06:30:05 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 13, 2023, 05:29:23 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10410)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 14, 2023, 04:05:32 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10411)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 15, 2023, 02:31:39 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 15, 2023, 12:34:25 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10412)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 15, 2023, 07:45:02 PM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 16, 2023, 05:17:56 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10413)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 17, 2023, 02:26:27 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10414)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 18, 2023, 02:41:33 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10415)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 19, 2023, 03:25:07 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10416)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 20, 2023, 05:39:25 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10417)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 21, 2023, 04:16:15 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10418)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 22, 2023, 05:19:57 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10419)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 23, 2023, 04:57:51 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10420)
Post by: Rusty Edge on September 24, 2023, 12:24:33 AM
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 24, 2023, 01:13:02 AM
Post by: Geo on September 24, 2023, 08:38:07 AM
Maybe you need a sign that says "Cat City" at this point.
I'd how for "Claw Village" at this stage. ;)
Post by: Buster's Uncle on September 24, 2023, 02:10:30 PM
(https://alphacentauri2.info/MGalleryItem.php?id=10421)