HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: maxfield@athena.cs.uga.edu (Joan C. Maxfield)
Subject: Re: Kitty's 1st christmas!
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 23:11:59 GMT

The first time Amos or Angelica saw a Christmas tree they climbed it.
Unfortunatly it was my parents artificial tree covered with glass
ornaments.  I knew I was in triouble when I looked at the tree and saw
two brite yellow eyes peering out at me!  When I got my own tree I
wanted to make it fun for all of us.  There was no way I could keep
them off it so I tried to make it safe for them.  First, I filled the
water tray with gravel and then with water so they couldn't drink the
water, A, because it's bad for them and B, because they'd splash it
all over the presents.  Then I tied some twine around the tree trunk
about 3/4 of the way to the top and tied that to a hook in the wall
behind the tree. This way they could climb the tree without toppling
it over. Then, I used only soft, unbreakable decorations (this was
easy seeing as it was my first tree and I didn't already own
decorations).  Lastly, I wrapped the presents but didn't add any
ribbons or bows until I gave them away.  I didn't want anyone getting
tangled or choked while I was away at school.  It turned out to be a
fun and safe holiday for everyone.  I got my first Christmas tree and
Amos and Angelica got the worlds best scratching post, and we all got
to enjoy the seasonal "kill the ornament" contest!

Joan

-- 
J. C. Maxfield				maxfield@athena.cs.uga.edu
DISCLAIMER:  I don't speak for the University, but they often speak for me!
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: cat with bad breath
From: Gretchen K. Alspach <alspach@lilly.com>
Date: 9 Nov 92 07:55:22 EST
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Eli Lilly and Company
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1Lines: 19



In article <83211@ut-emx.uucp> Tai Morris, tai@utpapa.ph.utexas.edu
writes:
>I have a six months old female "tortoise shell" (?) cat with fishy
breath.
>All I feed her is "science diet" cat food. I don't even have fish
in the
>apartment and she's not eating from the trash can so I have no idea
where
>she gets that breath from.

Chances are she has tartar buildup along her back teeth.  You need
to start brushing her teeth with a piece of gauze or a child's
toothbrush.  Check the pet store, I have seen kits available with a
malt flavored toothpaste that makes the cat more receptive to the
brushing!

Gretchen
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Flea allergies
Date: 9 Nov 92 20:51:46 -0600
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

ballt@ucs.orst.edu (Teresa Ball) writes:
> When I told her why I was drying all the towels, she told me that
> she didn't give her cat, who is allergic to fleas, a bath because
> of his struggles.  But she really wishes she could bath him, because
> he get big sores and bald patches due to his allergies.
> 
> She tells me she did talk to a vet about controling the itching.  She
> says that the vet said he would have to have a $45/month shot to
> keep the itching under control.
> Now comes the question.  The only thing I know of that vets give to
> control itching is cortizone (sp).  

Controlling the fleas would be the major first step in solving this
cat's problems.  After that, the sores should settle down, though they
might require a dose of prednisone or prednisolone, a cortisone analog,
to get things back to control.  After that, if there are no fleas, there
should be no flea dermatitis.

And no, no vet I know of gives cats prednisone shots on a monthly
basis for flea allergies.  (and around here, such a shot is about $10)
Catkin had to have them every couple of years, poor kitty.

I'd guess the flea mousse I've heard about in this group might be a
good choice for a cat that HATES flea baths.

We also found a substance called "Herbal Coat Rub" when Baby was
having a rotten time with itchy skin (turned out to be a fatty acid
deficiency).  It was a water extract with pennyroyal, witchhazel and
several other herbs.  Saturated a washcloth with it, then rubbed the
cat all over.  And you could repeat as often as needed.  Took about
a day of the herbal coat rub and Baby was a MUCH happier cat.  Found it
in a pet food store -- about $8 for 16 oz, if I remember right.  Smelled
good, too.  8-)

Kay Klier   Biology Dept  UNI
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats,rec.pets
From: maxfield@athena.cs.uga.edu (Joan C. Maxfield)
Subject: Re: the presidential cat
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 22:56:28 GMT


What I like to think about is Socks walking throught the White house
thinking to him(her?)self, "I own all of this, this is ALL mine!"

(or how about Socks realizing he hasn't been pet in, oh, ten or
fifteen minutes, peeing on the carpets for attention!  And I feel bad
enough when Amos slowly pees away my security/cleaning deposit!)

Joan
-- 
J. C. Maxfield				maxfield@athena.cs.uga.edu
DISCLAIMER:  I don't speak for the University, but they often speak for me!
From: ph600fcy@sdcc14.ucsd.edu (Matthew Harrington)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: My roommate broke my kitten's leg!!!!
Date: 10 Nov 92 19:14:01 GMT

My 10 week old kitten named Simon climbed up onto the dinner table
the other day and jumped into my roommate's plate of spaghetti.  The
roommate angrily threw the kitten down.  It wasn't a toss, it really
had some force in it.  My girlfriend, who watched the whole thing,
then went to clean the kitten off and noticed that his rear leg was
hanging limp.  The kitten began crying.

I took the kitten into the animal emergency room to have some X-rays
done, and it turns out that the leg is broken.  It will be OK, but
just painful for a while.

The problem is dealing with the roommate.  She is from Ecuador, and
from what I've heard, Latins aren't generally kind to animals.  She
has told us stories of family members smuggling rare Amazon monkeys
into New York by tranquilizing the animal and putting it in a
suitcase.  This incident with the kitten isn't the woman's first
case of being abusive. 

It looks like a confrontation between me (or my girlfriend) and the
roommate is inevitable.  I hope that no one has had to deal with
this situation before, but it so I'd like some advice and comments.


					Regards,

					Matt Harrington
From: marie@guppy.ai.mit.edu (Marie Lamb)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: SHRINKING CAT FOOD CANS!
Date: 13 Nov 1992 20:16:55 GMT
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Distribution: world
Reply-To: marie@ai.mit.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: guppy.ai.mit.edu

In article <1992Nov12.212129.5516@ll.mit.edu>, ryba@ll.mit.edu (Marty Ryba) writes:
|> 
|> In article <1992Nov12.144850.15355@evolving.com>, judy@evolving.com (Judy Bettinger) writes:
|> |> Other stuff that's been shrinking: "pounds" of bacon (actually 12 oz.), 
|> |> tuna cans, cereal, detergent. I wonder what the inflation rate would be if it
|> |> were recalculated using price per pound.
|> 
|>    It is, but that makes the practice no less sleazy.  So far, I haven't
|> seen any changes in the size of my SD dry food bags (25 lbs.) or cat litter
|> bags (25 lbs.) [...]

Nope, this sinister affliction has gotten to cat litter as well.  Some
brands now offer 8 and 7.5 lb bags instead of 10 lbs. (Don't know which
ones off hand, but _caveat emptor_!!)

Marie Lamb
From: jshouman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu (Joan-Marie Shouman)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Single cat = insanity?
Date: 6 Nov 92 17:33:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: ut-emx.83146
Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX

In article <4135@unisql.UUCP> collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce) writes:
>In article <1992Nov4.001416.9098@netcom.com> wd6cmu@netcom.com (Eric Williams) writes:
>>Someone else mentioned that, when he raised a pair of cats, they
>>turned out normal (well, normal for cats, that is), but if he raised
>>a single cat alone it always developed some kind of anti-social
>>behavior like ankle-biting.  Has anybody else noticed a correlation
>>between being a single cat and behaving badly?  ....
>
>However, your only cat may be lonely, as I think mine is.  So, I'm 
>looking for a little brother for her.

I agree, I have a single cat and he is the most mellow, well-behaved, well-
adjusted cat.  However, I think he's bored and lonely so I, too, am looking 
for a playmate for him.

Maybe single anti-social cats are just lonely or bored and acting strangely
because of it????

Just a thought.



-- 
___________________________________________________    	      
Joan-Marie Shouman	      |non cogito ergo	   
(jshouman@ccwf.cc.utexas.edu) |non sum :)	   
___________________________________________________
From: avi@rix.Corp.Sun.COM (Ann Adamcik)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Good kitties/Bad roommates
Date: 11 Nov 1992 20:56:13 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Inc.
Distribution: world
Reply-To: avi@rix.Corp.Sun.COM
NNTP-Posting-Host: rix.corp.sun.com


Sorry, I didn't save the original post about the roommate who broke the
kitten's leg, but here are my 2 cents on the subject -

First, the previous suggestions to give the roommate the vet bills and
to make it clear that such behavior will not be tolerated are excellent
ones.  However, someone who is capable of throwing a 10 week old kitten
hard enough to break its leg is not likely to change.  This person is
simply not safe around animals, and I wouldn't trust her around a kitten
any longer.

If finding a new roommate, or moving out yourself are not options at the
moment, you might want to consider finding the kitten a safer home for the
time being. 

Good Luck,

Ann 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: philip@labtam.labtam.oz.au (Philip Stephens)
Subject: Re: other monsters....
Organization: Labtam Australia Pty. Ltd., Melbourne, Australia
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 22:54:12 GMT

Deirdre A. Johnson writes:

>My cat when I was little just loved the clarinet - or that's
>the only explanation we could think of for the way she would
>behave. Whenever my sister started to play, Whitefoot (Manx/Siamese
>jellicle cat) would drop whatever she was doing, go to wherever
>my sister was, sit down right under the clarinet and stare straight
>up into the bell until the music stopped.  She seemed to be absolutely
>mesmerized - she wouldn't even blink - and she'd even come inside
>from hunting in order to do this.  So we think she must have loved it.

  Hmmm.  Our cat has always reacted strangely to my sister playing the flute.
She gets all cute and lovable all of a sudden, starts to purr madly, make funny
meowing noises, and will kneed you and cuddle up to you...the whole works!
But it's only for the flute, and I've wondered whether it has something to do
with the high pitch of the instrument?  I've noticed that if my sister is
playing a song on the flute in a low key, our cat will hardly prick up her
ears, but when the high notes start rolling--it's time to get attention from
the nearest human :-)

-- 
| Philip Stephens, Systems Programmer. | %%%%  %     Labtam Australia Pty Ltd |
| Address:  43 Malcolm Road, Braeside, |   % % % %     "Applied Ingenuity"    |
|           Victoria, 3195, AUSTRALIA. |  %  % %  %  We make the fastest RISC |
| Internet: philip@labtam.labtam.oz.au | %%%%% %%%%% X terminals in the world |
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Cats on Long Car Trips
From: Gretchen K. Alspach <alspach@lilly.com>
Date: 5 Nov 92 13:41:59 EST
Distribution: world,local
Organization: Eli Lilly and Company
X-UserAgent: Nuntius v1.1Lines: 11


I am planning on taking Dempsey and Thatcher home to Grandma's house
over the Christmas holidays in the car.  (Grandma loves
grandkitties!)  The trip will be about 5 1/2 to 6 1/2 hours
depending on the weather.  They have never been in the car for more
than 1/2 hour at a time (to go to the vet) and Dempsey cries like a
baby the whole time.  Any suggestions for making this trip as
painless as possible for all involved?  What do I do about kitty pit
stops and refueling (food)?

Gretchen
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: steveg@teal.csn.org (Steve Genoff)
Subject: Re:  Welcome to the First Cat (Socks)
Organization: Colorado SuperNet, Inc.
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 00:38:20 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.172449.1@stsci.edu> hagel@stsci.edu writes:
>I remember that Amy Carter had a Siamese, but I can't think of the name.
>Come to think of it, Reagan & Bush are confirmed dog people...
>
>Crystal Hagel

  There was an article in this morning's Denver Post that said that both
Carter and Ford had cats, I don't recall whether it said if there were other
Presidents that also had cats.  Surely there must have been others...
If our little feline friends aren't keeping tabs on the White House, surely
we are are in deep doo....


   STeve
\



-- 
                                                                   Mir na zemlye
Steve Genoff                                               steveg@csn.org
- Join the League for Programming Freedom ---   Innovate, Don't Litigate       -
     (info from league@prep.ai.mit.edu)
Organization: University Libraries - Technical Service, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 08:19:44 -0500 
From: "Susan R. Wagner" <sw39+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: Reusable litter & vomiting
Distribution: world

>We have just started using Scoop Away (tm) and perhaps coincidentally
>Catlet, Spike, and Pooky have been just heaving Kitty Hurl daily.
> 
>Do you think Scoop Away could be the culprit?
> 
>Now Scoop Away comes in very small particles, and therefore is easily
>stuck between the toes, and therefore is probably easily eaten while
>cleaning.
> 
>--
>Mark W. Schumann/3111 Mapledale Avenue/Cleveland, Ohio 44109-2447 USA
>Domain: mark@whizbang.wariat.org                      CIS: 73750,3527
>"We're not nuts or anything; I mean *I'm* not nuts." <whizbang!judy>

While we were using the scoop litter, my cat was always trying to vomit.
 I always thought he just had an everlasting cold.  I was wrong.  I
decided to try and switch since the dust irritated my husbands sinuses. 
I swithed to fresh step, and boy what a difference.  Jester no longer
wheezes like he is trying to get rid of a hairball.  In fact, I switched
about 6 months ago, and he hasn't had an attack since.  IMO, the
scoopable litter causes more problems (physically) than its worth.  I
also think it is easier to deal with the other kind of litter!

Susan and Jester
From: pauls@tellabs.com (Paul Silver)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: cat food blues...
Date: 10 Nov 92 23:40:35 GMT
Article-I.D.: tellab5.1992Nov10.234035.14746
Distribution: rec.pets.cats
Organization: Tellabs, Lisle,IL

In article <SBILES.92Nov9204006@dante.nmsu.edu> sbiles@nmsu.edu (Susannah E Biles) writes:
>
>Hi all, 
>after all the posts about "good" cat food, and less eating with 
>"good" cat food, I went to PetMart to find the "good" cat food and was
>blithly led to "Show Cat" (I think that is what it was called). The
>owner swore to this food and said it was better and healthier and
>cheaper than IAMS, so I said, "Hey..sounds great!". It was about $.97
>a pound and you just scooped it from bins. They had a kitten version,
>a cat version and a lite version. Well, it looks good, smells good and
>my cats love it!! 
>Now the bad news...they eat more of this than the cheapo store brand
>and it is going faster than anything I have ever fed them! Also..talk
>about cat poopies! This stuff must go right thru them considering how
>much they eat! I have never seen so much poop in the litter box in all
>my cat years! (and I have been scooping every 2 days!!!!!)
>the one up side is that it doesn't smell bad in the litter box.
>So, anyway...my real question here is, "Was I really gypped? Or do my
>cats just love it so much they have to eat it constantly? And has
>anyone heard of this brand, and if so what can you tell me about it?"
>
>I guess I should go with Iams, eh? I just want to find a dry food that
>will sustain my cats so they won't have to eat and therefore poop so
>much. The "good" cat food should produce that effect, yes?
[litter question deleted]

*-----------*

High quality cat food, such as Science Diet or Iams, should cause
the cat to produce less quantity of poop, not more, I think.

At least, my two, who eat Science Diet dry all the time except
for a can of Iams wet on Saturday mornings, have small quantities
of poop in the litter box.

-- 
   "Life is inhuman when you are too old to be young." -Bill Nelson
   --------------------------------------------------------------------
  /       Paul Silver          /           Radius Records            /
 /     pauls@tellabs.com      /   PO Box 723, Lincolnshire IL 60069 /
--------------------------------------------------------------------  
   All opinions expressed are strictly my own, unless I stole them.
Organization: University Libraries - Technical Service, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 16:13:17 -0500 
From: "Denise D. Novak" <dn22+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: My roommate broke my kitten

I don't care if your roommate is from Mars, no one should throw a kitten
with that much force! I sure hope you present her with the vet bill and
some strong words.  Perhaps you are going to need to look for a new
roommate?

I wish you the best of luck with the situation and I hope Simon is
feeling better soon.

Denise Novak, CMU Libraries
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Welcome to the First Cat (Socks)
Date: 12 Nov 92 12:07:58 -0600
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <H.ea.4I0twwcVa_M@harvee.billerica.ma.us>, scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator) writes:
>>> 
>>>A 21 can salute to the soon-to-be-resident cat in the White House,
>>>Socks!  When (if ever) was the last time there was a cat in the
>>>White House?
> lincoln had cats, and i think the carters and/or the fords had a siamese.

Teddy Roosevelt's brood brought LARGE numbers of pets to the white house,
including goats, cats and dogs, if I remeber right.  And TR was asthmatic!

Kay Klier  Biology Dept  UNI
From: feldman@flash.crd.ge.com (Sandra F Feldman)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Kitty's 1st christmas!
Date: 9 Nov 92 20:09:41 GMT
Organization: GE Corporate R&D Center

I have a friend with many cats, all of whom apparently liked to play in the
Christmas tree.  As I recall, the cats would hide in the tree and drop down onto
unsuspecting guests.  Her kids, of course, found this highly amusing.  I'm not
sure how the guests reacted.

Sandy
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: rusty@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov (Kenneth Hall)
Subject: Re: Spooky things
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA - Goddard Space Flight Center
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 14:56:00 GMT

In article <1992Nov9.144254.1@stsci.edu>, lhuffman@stsci.edu writes...
>> Some kind person with a sensible cat on this list recommended that
>> I harnass Doug up and let him go about his business in the house and
>> PRESTO! leash training will be a breeze come the spring. Inspired, I
>> located the harnass is question (still tied to clothes line, in a snarl
>> where I had flung it in despair) and buckled Doug in.
>> 
>> I set him down on the floor and he immediately froze and tipped over,
>> writhing as if in great pain. (I checked, harnass was not too tight.)
>> I crossed my arms, sat back.  He continued to writhe. Checked the harnass
>> again.  Writhing continues.  Grab his favorite toy (foil ball on string)
>> and begin to fool around with it.  Writhing stops.  He gets to his feet
>> and proceeds to moonwalk -- crash! into the coffee table, crash! into
>> the couch!, crash! into the wall.  Freezes, tips over.  Writhes.
> 
>Thanks for the muffing and chuckling I've been doing over this post this 
>afternoon. I especially liked the image you recalled for me by describing it
>as 'tipping' over and the 'crashing'. That's exactly what mine do when they're 
>in harness. All sense seems to fly right out of their heads, like where the 
>ground isaand where exactly they are on it. Maybe we can split the fee on the
>football field next time I want to pester, excuse me, harness my cats.

I guess my cat just is without sense then.  I have never attempted to 
put her into a harness, the collar fiasco was enough.  This crazy cat 
of mine could be walking along and suddenly decide that where she is 
is a good place to lay down.  The grace of laying down in her eyes is 
essentially 1) stop! 2) tip over to one side and land. We don't 
gracefully place ourselves on the floor, just fall.  

I had another reminder of the joys of being slave to a cat this 
morning, there is nothing worse than a cat who gets your attention by 
dipping the tip of tail in your first cup of coffee at 5:30 a.m.. 
My question is... Does anybody else get tired of cat tail drinks or is 
it just me.  Mind you this happens no matter where the mug/glass is 
placed.

How is your coffee dear?

     A little fuzzy.

Rusty
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: ramirez@julia.math.ucla.edu (Alice Ramirez)
Subject: other monsters
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 18:09:47 GMT

I used to have  terrible monsters  living at the house, but Bubbles
vanquished them.  I refer to the dreaded sewing pattern monsters.  The
evil things would lie there on the floor, stretched out and suffocating 
nice pieces of fabric, pretending to be innocent.  PRETENDING!!
But my heroic BUBBLES knew better. She recognized evil when she saw it.

Her eyes would narrow, take on a determined glint.  Bravely she would dive
under them, even as I, myself helplessly tried to deal with the monsters by 
pinning them to that fabric.  Her movement would fling those nasty things
up into the air.  As they fluttered back down around her, her noble little 
body would twist, her brave paw would slash, claws out, and shread the 
dreaded devils while I watched, helpless with admiration.

Pretty soon, the Simplicity Demons simply gave up and slunk away.  So 
powerful was her defence of home and hearth against them that even their
accomplice, the viscious sewing machine monster, took tail and fled and 
threw itself upon the mercy of strangers at a garage sale.

Currently Bubbles is working hard to defeat a new monster...the POUNCE
monster.  The tiny little devils SEEM to be safely imprisoned inside 
that little round can, but SHE can hear them scratching, calling out
and it is her intention to drag them out of hiding, kicking and screaming,
so that she might kill and eat EACH AND EVERY one of them.  Sometimes
she succeeds.  Or course, devils that they are, they sometimes get back
at her.  After killing and eating almost an entire can she has to lay 
around, feeling a little sick to her stomach, and although I try to 
protect her from too much Pounce-demon fighting, she sometimes manages 
to seek out the enemy on her own.
 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: lhuffman@stsci.edu
Subject: Re: Multiple fathers?
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 20:19:37 GMT

> My question is this, during the converstation, my mom said that 
> cats would have two different fathers to one litter. What she was 
> unsure of, is wether the litter itself can have two fathers, or if 
> an actual kitten can have two fathers. Does anyone know anything 
> about this? I thought it was really bizarre, but it really makes 
> sense with Seagrams.

Absolutely! There can be as many different fathers as there are kittens. 

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: dblackbu@alleg.edu (Dave Blackburn)
Subject: Political Cats
Organization: Allegheny College
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 21:00:35 GMT

In article <Ef0d=qC00UhBA2y49r@andrew.cmu.edu>  writes:
|A friend of mine wondered if Sox Clinton is a member of the DemoCATic party.
|
|My boys, Gus and Burlington and their friends, Eddy and Larry, have
|always been loyal DemoCATS.

Well, my rambunctious Moki is a Libertarian if not an outright anarchist. :-)
--

* Dave Blackburn  dblackbu@alleg.edu  flames to self@home.dev.null *          
* Chemistry, Macs, Hypercard, cats,  <>< religion, & the Dead      *
* (Anyone else who held these opinions would be as crazy as I am.) *
*   "Sometimes the songs that we hear are just songs of our own"   *