HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ehp@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU ("Didi Pancake")
Subject: Re: How Kitty shows affection
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 21:09:28 GMT

In article <C0CK6E.5Gp@dale.cts.com> npm@dale.cts.com (Nancy Milligan) writes:
>One of the things I like about cats is their own unique ways of showing 
>affection. 
>
>Tootsie didn't like excessive displays of affection, but she'd rub round
>your ankles and always just go slightly out of reach of your hand, luring
>you on after her.

I've always described my Cleo as the world's only self-petting cat. Her
favorite thing is for me to simply drape my arm over the side of the
armchair so that she can walk back and forth underneath my hand.

--
|   Didi Pancake          |    Managing professionals                  |
|   ehp@virginia.edu      |                  is like herding cats!     |
|----------------------------------------------------------------------|
| All the usual disclaimers about the origins of these opinions apply. |
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: adwright@iastate.edu ()
Subject: Re: klepto cat ... any suggestions? 
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1993 14:35:29 GMT

When my wife and i would play a board game like monopoly or backgammon, Scrappy
would jump on the table, take a token in her mouth and run away, knowing that
we would come after her. I suppose she was doing it just for the excitement
and attention. :)
Al


Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: bron@iastate.edu (bronwyn)
Subject: Re: Fill Him Out Diet
Originator: bron@aviator.cc.iastate.edu
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames, IA
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 08:40:10 GMT

>Buffy Hyler (hyler@ast.saic.com) wrote:
> [cat is skinny from a bug]
>
> So, are there any ideas on what to feed him to give him a little extra
> heft and bulk? 

There is a commercial preparation available.  I found it at a local 
vet. (I believe it is considered "prescription", and would only be
available at vets or similar outlets - it's likely a local vet has the
product on display with the pet food).  The marketing target for the
product is underweight or malnourished kittens, however it would probably 
work for older cats, too. It's a tube (much like toothpaste) filled with 
malty-looking high fat and sugar gunk.  A tablespoon or so of the stuff 
probably provides as much "energy" material as an average feeding, so it 
will increase bulk. I can probably get the name of it if you can't find it
around. I tried the product, and the cats seem to like it if it's combined
with their regular food, and it works.. (Worked a little *too* well for 
one cat - gain of a full pound in two weeks - returning to a normal diet
stabilized the weight, so I think it's directly attributable to the awful
looking stuff.)

--
Bronwyn J Scrutton                                          bron@iastate.edu
Project Vincent                                               (515) 294-4994
                    If it's not one thing, it's Bronwyn. 
From: donrm@hpnmdla.sr.hp.com (Don Montgomery)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 19:40:08 GMT
Subject: Re: minikiti
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Santa Rosa, CA
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats

In rec.pets.cats, prh2s@faraday.clas.Virginia.EDU (Patrick Ray Harrison) writes:

>     Is there a breed of cats noted for small size?  If such a breed

I've heard that Shaded-silver Persians are the smallest breed.  Quite
awhile ago, I had a female that was really little -- as a full-grown 
adult, she could sit in the palm of my hand (while madly hissing at 
me).  Her personality was absolutely terrible, but she was a beautiful
animal.

Don Montgomery, Santa Rosa, CA
donrm@sr.hp.com
From: nvonstein@memstvx1.memst.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: declawing?
Date: 4 Jan 93 13:20:57 -0600
Organization: Memphis State University

In article <1992Dec31.184333.21913@zia.aoc.nrao.edu>, rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Ruth Milner) writes:
> In article <C03oA7.n06@ie.utoronto.ca> green@ie.utoronto.ca (Marc Green) writes:
>>defense. The claws are necessary for cats to properly scratch, preen
>>and clean themselves. 
> 
> Despite the fact that both our cats have all their claws, I have yet to see 
> either of them use her front feet for scratching herself (other cats/people/
> objects, sure :-) ), or any of their claws for preening/cleaning. The latter is 
> all tongue/teeth work. Paws (not claws) only come into it for holding the 
> other one down during forced mutual washing :-).
> 
>>Desmond Morris, one of the top experts in animal behavior
> 
> Sez Desmond Morris, maybe. Lots of what he says makes sense, but a lot of
> other things are pretty farfetched. I'm not arguing about his love for 
> animals, but he sure doesn't have *all* the right answers.

Speaking of Desmond Morris, one of his programs about feline behaviour was on
PBS and there was a barnyard full of mother kitties and their babies.  It was
real cute the way they showed the mom's helping with each other's kittens. 
Then they showed a tom cat who came upon some unattended kittens (who had
previously been shown with their mothers).  He explained how toms will kill
kittens who were not fathered by him--and then they showed the DEAD KITTENS.
Good grief - what did they do - sit and watch this tom cat kill the kittens. 
It was too much for me.  

Did anyone else see this program?  While I know, and understand, the male cat's
nature to kill another male's offspring, I couldn't help but wonder how or when
that segment of the program was filmed.  

Nancy
> 
> Incidentally, he stretches his "animal behavior expert" status to cover
> humans, too. Try reading "The Naked Ape". Parts of it are very amusing.
> -- 
> Ruth Milner                          NRAO/VLA                  Socorro NM
> Computing Division Head      rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: at881@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (N. French)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cat likes dipping things in water
Date: 8 Jan 1993 03:13:51 GMT
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Reply-To: at881@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (N. French)
NNTP-Posting-Host: hela.ins.cwru.edu


In a previous article, curt@vtucs.cc.vt.edu (Curt Tilmes) says:
>My friend has a cat (male, neutered, white 'Oliver') that just loves
>water.  He will put his paws in it, then walk all over you.  He takes
>all his toys, and bits of yarn, or anything, takes them to the
>kitchen, soaks them in the water dish, then drags them all over the
>house.  At first this behavior was cute, but it is getting annoying.
>Does anyone else have a cat that acts like this?  What do you 
>suggest we try?
>
Spanky, my 9 month old fluffy tux, will dip anything in the toilet -
his toys, my socks (which he gets from my closed drawers), his
little sister Darla :) The solution there is to remember to keep
the lid down - He used to put toys in his water dish, but I switched
to a very small water dish (about 2.5 inches diameter) that he can still
get his nose in but nothing else. 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: R1156C@waccvm.corp.mot.com (Michael Dow)
Subject: Re: Excessive water drinking - and possible constipation
Organization: Motorola
Date: 6 Jan 1993 07:52:08 MST

------------------------- Original Article -------------------------
In article <H.eg.qDY3X_aZnjA@elfhaven.ersys.edmonton.ab.ca> mforget@elfhaven.ers
>My cat seems to be drinking an awful lot of water lately, and going to the
>litterbox a lot more often.  Sometimes it seems he is not doing anything in
>there.  He goes in, waits ten seconds or so, and then leaves.
>
>Is this an indicator that something is seriously wrong or is he just not
>feeling well?

    I recently had a cat with similar symptoms.  Vincent (R.I.P.) started
drinking a *lot* of water.  We're talking close to two quarts a day.  His
symptoms are somewhat different than yours in that he *did* urinate...
Constantly... He had no bladder control due to the major water intake.

    Vincent's problem was a rare type of diabetes with a sudden symptomatic
onset.  It sounds, however, like yours is an infection of one type or
another which *could* be serious if not treated soon.

    Good luck!

-Michael R. Dow
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: gck@hector.cc.bellcore.com (kemmerling,gayle c)
Subject: Re: DECLAWING?
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 93 14:20:22 GMT

In article <1992Dec30.154853.10161@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu>, cldavies@nyx.cs.du.edu (cindy davies) writes:
> In article <1669.110.uupcb@hal9k.ann-arbor.mi.us> laurel.schippers@hal9k.ann-arbor.mi.us (Laurel Schippers)  writes:
> 
> Are you kidding?  Many shelters make you sign an oath in blood, that not only
> will you not get this cat declawed, you will never declaw a cat in the future,
> have never declawed on in the past (or are really really really sorry if you
> did) ...
> 
What?  I've never heard of this.  In Illinois the shelters only ask that you
get them spayed and will even pay for part of it along with a vet visit to
ensure the animal is healthy or you can return him/her.  In my opinion if they
are more worried about declawing than finding a loving home for the animal then
their priorities are a little confused.

gayle
From: loeffll@xanth.CS.ORST.EDU (Lisa Loeffler)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Indoor/Outdoor, another perspective
Date: 6 Jan 93 23:40:35 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: CS Dept, Oregon State University
NNTP-Posting-Host: xanth.cs.orst.edu

I wanted to add my two cents worth to this topic, and ask a question
that I have not seen addressed.

First, I have lost three cats in the last eight years.  All three were
indoor/outdoor cats, all with claws, one unneutered male, one neutered
female, and one neutered male. (The unneutered male disappearred at about
one year old, before we could afford to neuter him.)

Our last loss, Max, was a three year old Siamese.  We often called him
"Rambo" because of his tough-guy attitude.  He was not prone to running
across the roads.  We lived in a rural area in upstate NY, and Max went
out one day in February and never came back.  He was not the kind of
cat to find a new home.

We have decided to only have indoor cats from now on.  Our female, Maggie,
grew up with Max.  She has not been outside since June, and she doesn't 
even try anymore.  (I should mention that she never spent much time outside
anyway.  She basically only went out to go to the bathroom, even though
we had a litter box.)

Our 7-month-old kitten, Mischief (very appropraitely named!) has never been
outside.  He doesn't seem to know there is anything out there worth looking
at, and I hope it stays that way.

Anyhow, the subject I have never seen raised on this issue is this.  Most
people would either agree or at least understand when we discuss keeping
dogs under control and out of other peoples yards, etc.  What about cats?
Max used to love to sit in my neighbors window and torment her indoor
cat, particularly at three in the morning.  I am sure that would annoy
me to no end.  Don't we have the same responsibility to control our cats
as we do to control our dogs?

I am raising this question (a) because no one else has (lately), and (b)
because I have personal experience with it.  I understand this is a strong
issue for many, and that some cats (Max was one) will not tolerate an
indoor life and will make sure you are as miserable as they are.

My personal opinion is, if this were a perfect world, whatever makes the 
cats happy is fine.  However, I do not want to have to sit my two little
girls down again and explain to tham why Kitty isn't coming home anymore.

---------
Lisa Loeffler                  loeffll@instruction.cs.orst.edu
Computer Science
Oregon State University  Corvallis, OR
---------
From: dan@msen.com (Dan Sugalski)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: calico
Date: 6 Jan 1993 23:15:46 GMT
Organization: Msen, Inc. -- Ann Arbor, Michigan
Distribution: usa
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.msen.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

MARIE HUCOVSKY (mpmarie@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov) wrote:
: Is it true that calico cats are always female and never male?

No, not always, just most of the time.  The rare male calico is usually
sterile, probably due to being XXY genetically.  Calico is a sex linked
(on the X chromosome) color.  Often the males in a litter with calicos will
be  red (orange, ginger, whathaveyou).  

Karen
From: robd@catbox.poopies.com
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: is it too cold?
Date: 6 Jan 93 22:59:34 GMT
Reply-To: robd@orca.wv.tek.com
Distribution: na
Organization: Network Displays Reliability Engineering

In article <1ifmunINNqch@matt.ksu.ksu.edu>, amys@matt.ksu.ksu.edu (Amy
Schlotthauer) writes:
> 
> SO, don't you all agree that it is cruel and unusual punishment for my
> cats to have to spend the night in 63 degrees? 


Sorry, can't even come close to agreeing on that basis...it gets >10 degrees
colder than that in my house at night....the two melon heads both survive
just fine....

Now it IS cruel and unusual to not have the 'lil darlin's sleeping next to
you on the bed.....



          +====================================================+
          | Robert Dixon, Reliability Engineering Proj. Leader |
          | Tektronix, Inc., Network Displays Division (NWD)   |
	  |              DoD #0176  AMA # 640308               |
	  |             "I ride, therefore I am"               |
          +====================================================+
From: ac999257@umbc3.umbc.edu (ac999257)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: dry catfood vs. canned???
Date: 7 Jan 1993 20:49:09 -0500
Organization: University of Maryland, Baltimore County Campus
Distribution: na
NNTP-Posting-Host: umbc8.umbc.edu

In article <1993Jan8.002959.5914@wetware.com> diana@wetware.com (CatWoman ) writes:
>disaacs@pietrzak.carleton.ca (Dave Isaacs) writes:
>
>] Which is better?  I am preparing to aquired two cats (my first cats) and
>] the books I have read all seem to be be all for canned cat food over dry
>] (and semi-moist).  One book even said that dry cat food has been linked some
>] feline disease (FUS I think), and that dry cat food's only advantage was 
>] that it smells better to the owner.
>] 

Carmen will not eat anything but dry food -- preferrably Kit and Kaboodle, 
but Meow Mix is acceptable. She will occasionally take 4 bites of
Fancy Feast to tide her over until I give in and put out the dry food.
She will NOT eat ANY table foods. I don't know why she's like this,
because Ms. Depesto will eat canned food and craves ham and turkey.

My vet also told me that GOOD quality dry food is okay, as someone
has already posted. If you're really worried about buying the stuff
in a supermarket, even though it's GOOD quality, try Science Diet
or another special brand found at your vet's office or in pet stores.
Ms. Depesto loves Science Diet, as do most other cats, but Carmen
won't eat it until she's starved for at least a day waiting for
Kit and Kaboodle. I think Purina (if that's who makes it) has put
some Siamese attracting drug in Kit and Kaboodle, because she
really craves it.

Anyhow, make sure you consider the food that makes your cat happy
in your menu selection. As long as it's good quality food (i.e. not
a generic brand), and as long as the cat doesn't have a medical
problem, the food should be okay.


Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: pauls@tellabs.com (Paul Silver)
Subject: Re: Defense
Organization: Tellabs, Lisle,IL
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 00:03:03 GMT

Someone wrote that declawing is OK because it saves lives.

Excuse me, but I am about to flame abit.

I assume that what you mean is that if it weren't for declawing,
people would be having their cats killed by the vet because they
are destroying their furniture, scratching them, etc.

What we need is not declawing, but education.  Too many people
(like my aunt and uncle) automatically think that if you have an
indoor cat, they have to be declawed or else they will destroy the
furniture.  Some people try it without declawing and find that
the cats are destroying their furniture and then have them
declawed.

What people need to learn is that cats *can* be trained to scratch
only on approved objects!  It isn't even that hard to train them where
to scratch.  Too many people are caught up in the myth that cats are
not trainable, and take the easy way out.

The other thing that bugs me is lazy people.  Some people may know
that a cat can be trained to scratch only on approved objects, but
are too lazy to bother training them.  Declawing is so much easier.
Why bother exerting the effort to train them?  This is the same reason
why there are moves to limit the kinds of music I can listen to or books
that I can read.  Some people are too lazy to raise their kids, and so
look to the government to pass laws banning certain types of music lyrics
or books so their kids don't have to be exposed to them.

OK, flame off.

-- 
   "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.
From: nlp@pacvax.pacersoft.com (Nancy Pilsch)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Things my strange cat likes to eat!
Date: 12 Jan 93 17:38:12 GMT
Followup-To: rec.pets.cats
Organization: Pacer Software, Inc

Calvin likes potato and corn chips.  Does anyone know if the salt can hurt
him?
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: maillet@cs.dal.ca (Andre' Maillet)
Subject: Re: cats' eye sight
Organization: Math, Stats & CS, Dalhousie University, Halifax, NS, Canada
Date: Sat, 9 Jan 1993 02:12:28 GMT

In article <UfHMYk_00WBK01NXsc@andrew.cmu.edu>, am2x+@andrew.cmu.edu (Anna Matyas) writes:
|> 
|> Can someone explain what kind of eye sight cats have?  Do they see
|> colors?  Does their day/night vision differ?  Gracie stares at my hands
|> a lot (she knows where the petting comes from!) and I'd love to know
|> just what she's seeing.  She also likes to get nose-to-nose with me and
|> we have stare-offs (she always wins).  I'd love to know what she sees
|> when she looks into my eyes at close range like that.  Thanks.
|> 
|> Anna
|> 
|> "I love cats because I enjoy my home; and, little by little, they
|> become its visible soul."  -Jean Cocteau, French poet and filmmaker



     Greetings.

     According to my Psych 2000 class, cats can discriminate between blue 
and green fairly easily. It is thought that cats may be able to see red, but 
they do not, or will not, show evidence of this. They kinda ignore red. It 
makes sense, since how often do cats encounter red in meaningful situations? 8^)

     As for their day/night vision, cats can see reasonably well in the day,
but at night, their pupils become very large to take in minimal light. When 
there is no light at all, they are as blind as we are.

     In my (limited) experience, cats depend on their eyesight much less than
we do. My Furball seems to recognise people by their sound and smell, not their
appearance, besides, how could they keep track of our changes of clothes and 
hairstyles? 8^)

Dray and Furball.
-- 
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
|Andre' M. Maillet    | "Wouldn't it be nice if Education got all the money |
|maillet@ug.cs.dal.ca | it needed and the Air Force had to hold a bake sale |
|djtas@ac.dal.ca      | to buy a new bomber." - from a bumper sticker       |
+---------------------------------------------------------------------------+
DISCLAIMER: The views of Dalhousie University are not necessarily those 
expressed by myself. Therefore, I will completely ignore the university's 
opinions and say whatever the hell I want to.
From: dan@msen.com (Dan Sugalski)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Fill Him Out Diet
Date: 7 Jan 1993 20:41:40 GMT
Organization: Msen, Inc. -- Ann Arbor, Michigan
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.msen.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]


: Pedigrees
: 1989 Transit Way
: Box 905
: Brockport, NY    14420-0905
: Phone: 716-637-1431
: Ask for "The Pet Catalog"--this is stuff for dogs and cats.
: Cat doors (incl. electromagnetic), beds, bowls, collars, toys.
: Stuff for people, too: sweaters, T-shirts, gift items.

This is R.C. Steele with no minimum order and higher pricing.

for RCS, change the box # to 910, zip to 14420-0910 and the phone
to 800-872-3773 for orders, 800-872-4506 for customer service.
The minimum order is $50 for R. C. Steele.

Karen


Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: gtall@ogre.cica.indiana.edu (Gerry Allwein)
Subject: Re: HELP Broken Tooth !
Keywords: cats, teeth
Organization: Indiana University
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 18:23:23 GMT

I don't know if it is possible to install an ersatz tooth in a cat, but mine
had root canal once on a fang. Then they filled it with plastic. There is
always a risk whenever a creature is put under with an anestethic (sp?). Mine
appears to have kidney problems and is on a low protein diet...drink a lot
of water to compensate. Before teeth cleaning, and this particular operation,
they always performed a blood test to see if the kidneys could handle the
after op clean up. They always came out okay. But I can't help thinking that
knocking kitties out is not a good thing. Get some kitty toothpaste and kitty
toothbrushes (the finger kind are best) and clean them regularly. I don't
know if it is possible to clean a cat's teeth professionally to get the tartar
off without knocking the cat out. Does anyone have a vet who doesn't knock
the cat out?

Gerry
From: tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore)
Subject: Re: Fill Him Out Diet
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Reply-To: tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore)
Organization: ICS Dept., UC Irvine
Date: 7 Jan 93 17:54:05 GMT

In <1993Jan7.133905.25864@tms390.micro.ti.com> david@tms390.micro.ti.com (David Thomas) writes:

>karen@misty.boeing.com (Karen Robinson) writes:

>>The name of the high-calorie diet supplement is Nurti-Cal, available from
>>your vet.   Possibly also available from pet food stores.

>We use Nutri-Cal a lot.  Good stuff.  Can get it from Foster & Smith or
>Vet Express, listed below.

>Here are some mail-order sources for cat supplies that are not listed
>in the FAQ file for this group.  Some of these carry medications that
>you can't find in pet supply stores.  [Cindy--how's this?]

Fabulous!  Soon appearing in a newsgroup near you ... ;-)

--Cindy

--
   Cindy Tittle Moore & Noisy Underfoot (bird watcher extraordinaire)

I post the rec.pets.cats FAQ (in three parts) every 25 days.  To get the FAQ:
ftp to pit-manager.mit.edu and look under /pub/usenet/news.answers/cats-faq/*
(part1, part2, part3), or send email to mail-server@pit-manager.mit.edu with
send usenet/news.answers/cats-faq/part1
send usenet/news.answers/cats-faq/part2
send usenet/news.answers/cats-faq/part3
in the body (leave subject line empty).  Send contributions and comments
to me; send questions not covered in the FAQ to the newsgroup.
From: barryf@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (Barry Fowler)
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 15:05:24 GMT
Subject: Re: Cats and TV
Organization: HP Colorado Computer Mfg. Operation
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats

One of my four cats has been "watching TV" for about 2 years.  Actually, it
watches the TV when it is off for 10 or 15 minute periods of time, looking
at reflections on the screen.  I recently moved to another home and it    
continues to watch it (only when off).  She appears intriqued with
the reflections on the screen and just stares at from the side.  Often there
is no movement in the reflections and I am unsure whether she is looking
at the reflective room items or herself on the screen.

Actually, it must be a pretty smart cat.  The TV program selections are 
generally pretty bad anyway :-)