Cat chat

[DeepFixer]

Originally Posted by Michael Moorcock

Our outdoor cat Pete is being renamed Captain Murderer because, full of the joys of Spring, he's slaughtering the baby squirrel population with gay abandon. This is the problem you have when you give shelter to some little bastard whose main fun comes from taking the lives of others.

That's the 'Nature of the Beast,' isn't it?

Cats are Predators. All the cats I've had have chased birds (caught a lot of 'em), and several times I found mouse-head and mouse-feet with nothing in between on the patio.

Missy will stalk birds, chase moles & squirrels, but she doesn't/can't kill them because, I guess, her momma cat died giving birth to her and her sibling, so she was never taught The Hunt.

That doesn't stop her from clawing hell out of me though.

[opaloka]

Sunny (he's not) was 'feral' when we started feeding him and after 12 years he's almost tame... he's still a heck of a hunter though right now there's so much competition from younger males he seems to stick around the porch and wait for the sure thing more... is he unique in eating the heads off of squirells and leaving the rest for us? I can't imagine the brain is the best part. Zombie Cat! Braaaiiins!

[Dr_Bogenbroom]

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worl...rry-wings.html

I know this is an awful paper but as i'm re-reading the Corum books at the mo it just made me laugh to myself.

[dasNdanger]

This has nothing to do with squirrels...but I figured I'd mention it here.

I just mowed the grass, and ran over a little box turtle. But, it was so small, the mower didn't hit it! We have a lot of vegetation in our yard (ivy, shrubs, wildflower garden, etc), so we put him...or her...in a safe spot, and gave him...her...some strawberries. I hope the little guy...gal...will be okay!


das

[Michael Moorcock]

We occasionally get turtles from a nearby river, though it involves crossing one tarmacked surface to do it. When we can catch 'em we take them back to the water.
I've mentioned here before how a hawk stooped on Billy, the slender oriental, while I was walking Billy on a lead. The hawk realised her mistake, did an incredible bit of mid air braking, and turning, and beat a hasty retreat.

[dasNdanger]

Originally Posted by Michael Moorcock

We occasionally get turtles from a nearby river, though it involves crossing one tarmacked surface to do it. When we can catch 'em we take them back to the water.
I've mentioned here before how a hawk stooped on Billy, the slender oriental, while I was walking Billy on a lead. The hawk realised her mistake, did an incredible bit of mid air braking, and turning, and beat a hasty retreat.

Whoa - now that must have been something to see! Glad it didn't nab kitty, though. We have friend's whose young cat was picked up at night by an owl, and dropped on their roof. She had a deep wound on her back, into her intestine, but she was operated on and is fine now. But I never even thought about an owl nabbing a cat - guess it can happen, especially when they're young.


das

[Brainwolf]

Originally Posted by Michael Moorcock

Any chance it was rabies ? Poor thing.
Speaking of other things, my big cat Betty is in love with my shampoo. Whenever I wash my hair she sits on the back of my chair and purs and bites at my hair. Today, while I have Billy in my lap trying to tend to him (he's the sick one at the moment) she got high on my hair, I'll swear, and sank into my head with a silly smile on her face, purring like crazy before falling asleep.
Linda took a photo. If anyone wants to see it, I'll ask her to send me one and try to import it here.

I just happened upon this thread. Read most of the first and last pages, and just had to quote this :) My cat does this too! She is a curious little thing, almost four now and still only weighs six pounds. She loves wet hair! She tracks you down when you come out of the shower, and she jumps on your shoulder and will munch on your brains and root through your hair (after she jumps into the tub and licks the walls). She does that to my roomies, too. I can't really explain it, and I've never known anyone else with a kitty who has the same curious habits. Having been an animal care worker and veterinarian assistant I came to know a lot of cat (and dog) behaviorists who just laughed at my stories
She also loves to jump on my shoulder and wrap herself around my neck, especially when I play wind instruments like my ocarina or flute (though my bass playing doesn't seem to enchant her so much). Just sits there happy as can be, purring and rubbing her head on my cheek, sometimes even pitches in. I'll have to post a picture, shes such a funny little thing :)

[Michael Moorcock]

My other cat Billy hates me singing, whistling or playing an instrument. The moment I start he complains. He's a tyrant. Or a critic.

[Michael Moorcock]

Or both.

[Brainwolf]

Haha Its funny to see all the personality and quirks in animals :) I think my dog is a bit like Billy. He is a big 120 pound Belgian Shepherd who is either trying to sing along with my playing, or just can't stand it. I really can't figure out which Either way, its cute :) Haha

[opaloka]

Good for you, das, I love natural cats.

[David Mosley]

Originally Posted by Michael Moorcock

My other cat Billy hates me singing, whistling or playing an instrument. The moment I start he complains. He's a tyrant. Or a critic.

The clue is in the third word of your first sentence, Mike.

[thingfish]

Moorcock(my cat!)got stuck in an outside drainage pipe today!
God knows how he got in there and why but it took 3 guys an hour and a half to get him out.

[Wanderlust]

Ow Things, poor kitty. How's he taking it now?

[In_Loos_Ptokai]

Originally Posted by Michael Moorcock

My other cat Billy hates me singing, whistling or playing an instrument. The moment I start he complains. He's a tyrant. Or a critic.

I share four cats' territories - they all lunch at the house in front, where they are officially headquartered - and so far none of them has shown any interest or otherwise in my music. I did have an amusing incident last year, just after I'd bought myself a tabla pair - dayan and bayan - and the bayan, the big kettledrum component - was sitting in the path of one of them.

She was terrified of this big black monster that could make such an impressive noise, and wouldn't go near it, or around it, and buggered off as soon as she thought it wouldn't come on after her.

I have a cat-eating drum set, by all appearances!!!

[dasNdanger]

We're in the middle of a blizzard. Last night before the storm started, hubby and I enclosed the cat houses with a larger structure, to help protect all the smaller houses, and to give the kitties a clear feeding area - so far, so good!



Here's the rest of the yard:



My hollies and cedars are all breaking apart from the weight of the snow - and we have a row of cedars leaning against our house, right where our phone and electric lines are. This is quite a storm, and I don't want to lose electric since our house is all electric and we have no back up heat source or generator.

But - hopefully - the kitties are okay! You can see from the second picture the birds have found the food - and they've also feasted on platefuls of dry cat food, thanks to an overly generous Mr. Das...

das

[Kyrinn S. Eis]

I don't mean to be a downer, but, Sam, our cat of nearly 17 years, is in serious and rapid decline, and sadly, we can only afford to put him down, not pay for an examination.

I feel a bit guilty already thinking of getting another cat, and we are feeding cats in the area, but seeing Sam try to hang on is really wearing me and mom down, 'so soon' after my father's death.

Ah, well. Life is but a dream.
--Doubly so for a cat.

[dasNdanger]

Kitty update...

Today we got 10" of snow, and counting. Being on the coast of southern NJ, this is a bit unusual for us. We have housing outside for the feral cats, and converted the large plastic feeding shed (a big plastic dog house) into more housing by stuffing it with hay. A couple bed down in there, a couple in the large wooden house, and one (sometimes two) in the small cedar 'doghouse'. They're all clustered together by our back door, with a temporary plywood overhang to keep the snow from the doorways while allowing a clear place for them to eat. We also feed a couple ferals under our front spruce tree (that has branches to the ground, providing more shelter). Not sure where those cats live, however - they come from across the street and probably live under someone's porch or shed on the next street over. We keep food there, however, in case someone ventures out in this mess.

In the meantime, we're also feeding the birds. Had a beautiful variety in the yard today, and none were molested by the 'Are you crazy??! We're not going out in THIS!' scaredy cats seepy-bying in their shelters.


das