HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: ilana@kiowa.scd.ucar.edu (Ilana Stern)
Subject: Re: My cat don't like dry food, any help??
Organization: NCAR/UCAR
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 15:15:04 GMT

In article <1992Aug10.190610.8286@sco.com>, brianm@sco.com (Brian Moffet) writes:
> dmillard@encore.com (Debbie Millard) writes:
> >could turn into an annoying habit of kitty begging food
> >at the table.  This is *not* something you to happen,
> >especially when you have guests.
> 
> Funny, but Diablo, the 16 pound sandwich snatcher, will not beg for food
> at the dinner table.  He will bego for food when I am cooking it, making
> sandwiches for lunches, etc..  He will also come up rather expectantly
> when we are finished with our meal.  We will sometimes give him
> leftovers.  While we're eating, he'll usually sit someplace and watch.

As I've posted before, Elvie (something under a year old, white and
black/tan stripy, long and lean) completely ignores food unless either
a) it's in his dish, or b) it runs away from him.  We can sit at the
table in the enclosed porch (his room) eating, oh, grilled salmon and
drinking milk, and he will completely ignore us.  After we eat, we'll
get a plastic ex-margarine tub from the kitchen and put scraps in it --
*then* he notices it!  I am really happy that he doesn't beg;  we
try to keep him from associating what we eat with "real food" by 
never putting scraps from our plates directly into his dish while he's
watching.

[To all you kitty-health-monitors out there:  we only give him scraps
a few times a week.  He usually supplements his catfood diet with
mice, snakes, bugs, etc. all by himself, anyway...]

-- 
/\        Ilana Stern DoD#009 | Whoever first said, "Things are seldom as they 
  \_][    ilana@ncar.ucar.edu | seem," was wrong.  Things are usually as they
      \_______________________| seem.  Otherwise, they wouldn't seem that way.
From: lyndap@Novell.COM (Lynda Peterson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Personality -> Exotic Shorthair, Maine Coon
Date: 19 Aug 92 17:38:12 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Novell, Inc.

In article <1992Aug17.180534.632@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov>  
hope@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov (Sharon Hope) writes:
> Does anyone have any experience with Exotic Shorthair (look just like
> a medium-length coated Persian) or Maine Coon?  I would like to know
> what type of personalities they have.  Are they good with children (who
> are good with cats)?  Are they friendly toward the family dogs (who are
> good with cats)?
> 
> I have always loved the Persian temperament, calm loving & quiet.  How
> do these 2 breeds compare?
> 
> Thanks, email is fine   
> 
> Sharon Hope    hope@thyme.jpl.nasa.gov
> "all opinions my own"


My Maine Coon, Boo, is almost four years old and still almost as playful  
as a kitten. She is very affectionate, always giving kisses and rubs. She  
is especially happy to see me when I get home from work and when I am  
eating. She greets me at the door and loves milk and chicken from my  
dinner. (Almost like a "GASP" dog, huh?) Since she is long hair, there is  
quite a bit of fur (because she hates being brushed). That is the only  
downfall. I hear they love the outdoors and are good hunters. Mine is an  
indoor cat despite the cat book's recommendations for letting them  
outside. She has adjusted and spends her time looking out the window and  
getting fur all over my drapes. It was easy to train her not to use my  
couch as a scratching post and not to clean her bum in front of company.  
She even goes to her room when she starts to throw up (after a supervised  
outside romp). 

I have no children but visiting ones seem to have no problem. Boo hates  
dogs (she peed all over everything after my mother-in-law brought hers  
over), but then she doesn't like other cats that well either. She is more  
of a people cat.

Good luck

lyndap
From: jpk@Ingres.COM (Jon Krueger)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Saving pet coupons for shelters - how valuable?
Date: 13 Aug 92 23:00:31 GMT
Reply-To: jpk@Ingres.COM (Jon Krueger)
Distribution: na
Organization: Ingres Division, ASK Computer Systems.

Rachel Banko writes:
> [some pet shelters accept pet coupons, her local shelters don't
> seem to]  what kind of coupons do they want (litter, dry or wet
> food) and what do they do with them? Don't shelters get products
> in bulk for a discount?

At the Alameda Animal Shelter we accept and clip pet coupons ourselves.

We don't use them ourselves, you're quite right, we don't buy 500 pounds
of pet food from the local supermarket :-)  We keep them for visitors.
People dropping in to visit the animals often have pets of their own.
At a city shelter like ours there's also people dropping in to get pet
licenses renewed.  And of course people who come to adopt can make use
of coupons too.

Coupons for any kind of pet product are fine: food, litter, toys,
scratching posts, cleaning solutions, and so on.  We organize them
into two baskets: cat and dog.  All in all it's a useful service.
The front desk person keeps it organized, it fills in idle time when
there are few visitors and none needing attention at the front desk.

However, we don't get excited about it.  If you want to support your
local shelter, sending them coupons is about at the bottom of the list
of things needed.  Send used blankets and towels.  Send yourself:
volunteer.  And the number one thing you can do to help your animal
shelter: neuter your pet.

-- Jon

Jon Krueger  jpk@ingres.com  
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: matthews_k@cubldr.colorado.edu
Subject: Re: How long cats live (was Re: Indoor cat wants out)
Organization: University of Colorado, Boulder
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 22:07:23 GMT

In article <a37gPB1w165w@valinor.mythical.com>, judy@valinor.mythical.com (Judy Labovitz) writes:
> machanicm@gtephx.UUCP (Mindy Machanic) writes:
> 
>> I doubt it. Let's do a survey on the net:
>> 
>> Indoor cats--how old are they living? Ones you have now, ones you have had
>> before?
>> 
>> Outdoor cats--how old are they living? Ones you have now, ones you have had
>> before?
>> 
>> I'm betting that the outdoor cats live as long as, if not longer than, the
>> indoor cats.
> 

I had two cats, littermates (bro & sis) who lived to be 16 & 17 respectively. 
The female lived a year longer than the male.  They were 1/2 persian 1/2 alley
cat, very big, the male (Rusty) weighed 25lbs, the female (Mittens) 22 lbs, 
and neither were fat. 
We let them out during the day, and kept them in at night, and near cat-
dangerous holidays like Halloween.  I think they were pretty long-lived for
cats, either indoor or outdoor!  They were very intelligent, could open 
the screen doors to let themselves out.  We had to lock them at night to 
keep the cats inside.  
After that I had a cat who lived only 5 years, a female who was originally
feral and never quite got the hang of living with people.  Her name was 
Karma, and (you guessed it) that was her fate.  She got hit by a car. 
Our current cat, Charcoal, is her son.  He now has only three legs due to a
run-in with a vehicle, but is a really wonderful cat.  He still catches mice
like a pro, even missing a leg!  He just recently discovered he can still
jump from our waterbed onto the 4.5' high windowsill in the bedroom.  He
proceeded to demonstrate that lovely fact three or four times during the
night until I banned him from the room for the rest of the morning somet
night, until I banned him from the bedroom sometime around around 3am.
He's another out-during-the-day-in-at-night cat, and is now VERY leery 
of vehicles, as you might well guess.  He's a long-haired solid black cat
with a siamesey voice, who loves to talk.  

Anyhoo, I digress.  I think cat lifespan depends on A) the intelligence of 
the cat, B) genetics and C) care and treatment by owners.  I'm not sure how
much indoor/outdoor has to do with it.

Kellie Matthews-Simmons
internet::matthews_k@cubldr.colorado.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: cs106b16@umbc5.umbc.edu (cs106b16)
Subject: Re: Sleeping with Cats
Organization: University of Maryland Baltimore Campus, Academic Computing Services
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 1992 22:20:07 GMT

Sure...My cat likes to sleep in my bed. Someone told me cats like that are
wanna be dogs, but I just ignore comments like that. A dog will smother you
too much with affection, but when a cat gives it to you, you know it counts.

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: judith@super.org (Judith D. Schlesinger)
Subject: Re: lifespans of cats (indoor vs. outdoor)--long
Organization: Supercomputing Research Center (Bowie, MD)
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 17:13:49 GMT

After seeing someone else's list of cats/lifespans, I thought I'd
do it for mine.  Seems there's a tremendous variation.

1. Cleo--indoor/outdoor--died at age 13 in 1966 of old age.  At that
   time, 13 was *really* old.
2. Tommy--indoor/outdoor--died at age <2.  Hit by car :-(.
3. Minx--indoor only--died at age 9 months.  Cancer (feline leukemia, likely).
4. Beauty--indoor only--died at age <2.  Feline leukemia.
5. Pooh--indoor/outdoor--died at age 9 months.  Feline leukemia.
6. Tigger--indoor/outdoor--died at age 7.  Probably the adult version
   of the feline leukemia virus.
7. Lady Di--indoor/outdoor--died at age 5.5.  Auto-immune anemic.  Vet
   couldn't believe I kept her alive that long.
8. Charlie--indoor/outdoor--11 years old and going strong.  You'd never
   know he was as old as he is.
9. Princess Sarah--indoor/outdoor--6.5 years old and going strong.

I don't really think you can make a case about this one way or the 
other.  Of my entire list, even though most died at very young ages,
only one died from "outside" reasons.  Indoor or out, if the cat is
carrying the feline leukemia virus, it will eventually get it.  By the
way, all my Feleuk cats were pre-vaccine days and the run was so bad,
I began to think I was a carrier until I was assured that that wasn't
possible.

Certainly, cats that are out all the time and wandering long
distances and crossing roads will be exposed to a lot more risk than
cats that are in the house all the time.  But an indoor/outdoor cat,
especially like mine, are probably at no more risk than indoor only.
I should add that except for Tigger and Pooh who lived at my then
boyfriend's when they were kittens so I had little control over when
they were let out, all my cats are kept in as kittens so they develop
a fairly high "wimp" level.  Then, when I let them out, they stay
close to the house and pretty much come when I call them.

Bottom line is that people will always disagree over indoor only or
indoor/outdoor (or, even, outdoor only).  Each of us will make our
own decision based on our beliefs, where we're living, and even the
cat's personality.  Seems to me, if a cat wants out badly enough, for
a long enough period of time, that quality of life starts to become
more important than length of life.

Just my experience--

Judith and Charlie and Sarah
From: tina@cstr.ed.ac.uk (Christina Scott)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Anyone use `reusable' cat litter?
Date: 21 Aug 92 14:08:33 GMT
Organization: Centre for Speech Technology Research, Edinburgh University

We've just bought a `cat loo' (something we've never seen in Scotland - we
got it in London) but are finding it really smelly.  I don't know if you're
familiar with them but it consists of two trays, one on top of the other.
The top tray contains the special litter and has thin slits through to the
bottom tray.  Urine is supposed to drop through to the bottom tray being
deodorised on the way by the litter (and then not smell because it's in the
bottom and covered) and solid waste can be scooped out.  The lower tray is 
cleaned out regularly and the litter rinsed with cold water.
WHY does the whole thing STINK then?!  We've checked the two trays are tightly
fitting.  HELP?!

Tina Scott  				email; tina@cstr.ed.ac.uk
Centre for Speech Technology Research
Edinburgh
Scotland
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: COUGH! COUGH! Scoopable catlitter dust
From: <MCW102@psuvm.psu.edu>
Date: Tue, 18 Aug 1992 15:55:55 EDT
Organization: Penn State University

A few months ago I posted a similar question regarding the scoopable
cat litter and I got some replies stating that the household had
to discontinue using such litter because the people became allergic
to ALL the dust.  One of the solutions suggested (if you want to keep using
such litter) was to get a box with a cover and a filter in the top.
Some people said this works.

Mary W.
From: sw39+@andrew.cmu.edu (Susan R. Wagner)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Is there a compatable dog breed to get along with cats
Date: 21 Aug 92 12:16:43 GMT
Organization: University Libraries - Technical Service, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

Hello everyone,  I have been following the thread on introducing dogs
and cats.  The story regarding the Husky sure scared me.  My husband and
I are planning on getting a dog when we get a house (not for a few years
yet). We have a 1 year old neutered, declawed male cat.  Are there
certain dog breeds to avoid?!  Does anyone have
recommendations/experiences with breeds that have had little problems? 
My parents have a Gordon Setter and two cats - no problems.  The dog
kinda protects the cats.  My in-laws have a part chow and one cat - no
problems.  Both dogs chase the cats, but not with any real intention to
hurt them.  They usually like to bark and scare them.  Please let me
know your thoughts.  Thanks.

Susan and Jester
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: gck@hector.uucp (24641-kemmerling)
Subject: Re: It's Raining Out! (was RE: baths)
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Thu, 13 Aug 92 13:41:20 GMT
Keywords: wet raining cat fur damp sodden

> Pete usually used his own door except when he could bully me into opening 
> a people door for him, which he preferred.  But he would not use his door 
> when there was snow on the ground.

This is a question I  have always wanted to ask.

People keep talking about the pet doors.  If your pet can get in and
out, what keeps other various creatures from coming in and out 
as well??


Gayle 'wish I was back in Illinois' Kemmerling
Bellcore
Morristown, N.J.
(201) 829-3950
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: cosulliv@fraser.sfu.ca (Christina Marie O'Sullivan)
Subject: Re: Meowin' like a baby
Organization: Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, B.C., Canada
Date: Wed, 19 Aug 1992 19:52:44 GMT

Then again, she may never grow out of it.  My Sable Burmese is eight years
old now, and he howls very much like a baby, and needs to be picked up and
cuddled like a baby.  He needs his canned food mushed and has all these
needs... I wonder if I can list him as a dependant on my income tax?

Christina, Bali's mother
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
cosulliv@sfu.ca		I  "Just say WAAAAH!" -- Bali
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: loosemore-sandra@CS.YALE.EDU (Sandra Loosemore)
Subject: help! piggy kitty
Organization: staff hacker @ Yale Haskell project
Distribution: rec
Date: Sun, 16 Aug 1992 18:49:03 GMT

Nerfball, the 5-month-old kitten who adopted me last month, is still
having food-related problem behaviors.  He obviously needed feeding up
when he first arrived but after he started eating himself sick I put
him on a diet where he gets 1/2 cup of kitten chow twice a day.  This
seems to be the right amount of food for him from a nutritional point
of view, but I'm getting really concerned about his continuing
attitude problems.  He devours his chow so fast that I'm afraid he's
going to choke on it, meows pitifully for more, begs for handouts
every time I go into the kitchen, is so eager to get his food that he
sometimes knocks the dish right out of my hand, and the like.

Anybody have any ideas on how to make him lose this food obsession?  I
thought that he'd adjust after a few weeks of regular feeding but if
anything he's become even more piggy.  A couple times I experimentally
tried putting his food down but not letting him go over to eat it
right away and he got totally freaked out.  Would feeding him more or
less meals per day do anything other than confuse him?  In the long run,
I'd really like to get away from an elaborate feeding ritual so that I
could leave him alone for a day or two when I have to be out of town.

In the meantime, my adult cat Slinky seems to be losing a little
weight.  She's definitely eating less than she used to, anyway.  She
used to free-feed and hasn't really caught on to the new routine.
I've been putting her food dish out after I've put Nerfball to bed in
the spare bedroom at night, and putting it away again when I let him
out in the morning, but she only takes a few nibbles at a time.  If
this keeps up I guess I'll have to keep the cats separated for longer
periods of time or arrange it so she can have an afternoon snack or
something like that.

Any ideas or suggestions appreciated,

-Sandra
From: moss@cs.umass.edu (Eliot Moss)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Tail stood up straight, what's up??
Date: 19 Aug 92 14:50:22 GMT
Reply-To: moss@cs.umass.edu
Organization: Dept of Comp and Info Sci, Univ of Mass (Amherst)
In-reply-to: hui@apaturia.trl.OZ.AU's message of 17 Aug 92 01:51:11 GMT

One meaning of the tail straight up posture is that the cat is acting like a
kitten (with you being the parent). I can see a cat doing that if you
introduce it to a new place where it might be a bit unsure and tending to
defer to you as "parent". Some of ours do it a lot, others act more like adult
cats around us. Depends on the nature of their relationship to the the humans
in their life.
--

		J. Eliot B. Moss, Associate Professor
		Department of Computer Science
		Lederle Graduate Research Center
		University of Massachusetts
		Amherst, MA  01003
		(413) 545-4206, 545-1249 (fax); Moss@cs.umass.edu
From: langley@ace.acadiau.ca (WANDA LANGLEY)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Cat video
Summary: Where can we buy one?
Keywords: cat, video, purchase
Date: 13 Aug 92 16:29:02 GMT
Article-I.D.: ace.langley.13.713723342
Organization: Acadia University

I know this topic has been covered before - several months ago, however, we 
visited USA this summer (drove from Nova Scotia to Nashville and back) and 
stopped at several pet stores to inquire about the video.  All of the store 
clerks thought the idea was priceless (squirrels, birds, etc.) but no one 
had heard of it.  Also stopped at several video places - still no luck.  Can 
anyone provide us with an actual address and the correct title of the video (
I think the title I had written down was "Video Catnip".  Thanks in advance.
From: gt1167b@prism.gatech.EDU (Christie Shackelford)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Dixie's first "kill" :-)
Date: 14 Aug 92 00:36:36 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

Dixie, my 9-week old sweetheart, just strutted by my keyboard
proudly clutching the mouse-house (a fuzzy mouse-shaped one)
in her mouth. Awwwwwww, cute!

She just drug it down to the floor and is now pretending
to rip its guts out and eat them.  She is positively
beaming about it.  (Look, ma! No hands!)

-- 
Christie Shackelford
gt1167b@prism.gatech.edu
Meow!
From: reyes@buphyd.bu.edu (Jinara Reyes)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Pizza and Cats
Date: 12 Aug 92 18:07:59 GMT

ok---chocolate is toxic to cats. What about pizza???
My cat will not let me eat a slice without demanding a piece...
I have been giving her a tiny piece (cheese and all), and she 
seems to love it...any problems???
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: gck@hector.uucp (24641-kemmerling)
Subject: Re: Rescue cat
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Wed, 12 Aug 92 18:44:02 GMT

> >
> >At the risk of sounding stupid - please explain the polydactyl.  
> >I've heard of pteradactyl (sp)...  I picture a huge round cat!
> 
> 	A very wise teacher once told me, "there is nothing stupid about a
> 	question."
> 
> 	   "wing-fingered" from the construction of their wings...the bones
> 	   we would equate to our fingers.
> 
> 	Good grief!!!  Do I sound like a pedantic old teacher, or what?!
> 
> Rich Young                             | Phone: (716) 253-7176
> Eastman Kodak Company                  | FAX: (716) 253-7254
> Clinical Products Division             | Internet: young@serum.kodak.com
> 100 Carlson Road                       |
> Rochester, New York, USA   14653-9122  |
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>|<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<


 
Ok, so what's pedantic mean?  JUST KIDDING!!

Thanx for the explanation.  I would LOVE to see Bigfoot he sounds adorable!
  

Gayle 'trying to think of a clever .sig' Kemmerling
Bellcore
Morristown, N.J.
(201) 829-3950
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: distef@milton.u.washington.edu (Sandra Distefano)
Subject: Re: Cat likes cantelope???
Organization: University of Washington
Date: Fri, 14 Aug 1992 21:42:10 GMT

peggys@orca.wv.tek.com writes:

>> Does anyone else out there have a cat that loves _cantelope_??  As far
>> as I know, no other veggies do this to him.  We keep a bowl of kitchen
>> scraps that gets put on the compost pile occasionally, and if we put
>> cantelope rind in it, Mittens will almost invariably dig it out and
>> chew on it.  And he loves it if we cut up some of the inside flesh and
>> give it to him.
>> 
>> Tom Bruhns
>> tomb@hplsla.hp.com

My neighbor's cats both love cantelope.  They can't leave cantelope
out on the counter...

Sandra 
distef@u.washington.edu





















































>]
From: reynolds@park.bu.edu (John Reynolds)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Exciting new message from Mako Haruta!
Date: 17 Aug 92 18:04:14 GMT
Distribution: rec.pets.cats
Organization: Boston University Center for Adaptive Systems


Hi everyone!  Prepare yourselves for Mako Haruta's first posting to
rec.pets.cats!  She's kind of nervous about this, so let's all make
her feel welcome!  Take it away, Mako!  
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: kjenks@krakatoa.uucp (Kenneth C. Jenks [GM2] 483-4368)
Subject: Re: help! piggy kitty
Organization: NASA/JSC/GM2, Space Shuttle Program Office
Distribution: rec
Date: Sat, 22 Aug 1992 21:05:11 GMT

In article <exuptr.360.714347347@exu.ericsson.se> exuptr@exu.ericsson.se (Patrick Taylor) writes:
>In article <1992Aug16.224915.2807@cs.yale.edu> loosemore-sandra@CS.YALE.EDU (Sandra Loosemore) writes:
>>Nerfball, the 5-month-old kitten who adopted me last month, is still
>>having food-related problem behaviors.  He obviously needed feeding up
>>when he first arrived but after he started eating himself sick I put
>>him on a diet where he gets 1/2 cup of kitten chow twice a day.  This
>>seems to be the right amount of food for him from a nutritional point
>>of view, but I'm getting really concerned about his continuing
>>attitude problems.  He devours his chow so fast that I'm afraid he's
>>going to choke on it, meows pitifully for more, begs for handouts
>>every time I go into the kitchen, is so eager to get his food that he
>>sometimes knocks the dish right out of my hand, and the like.
>
I stole this idea from my Equine Management classes - When horses
bolt their food, they are prone to choking whereby the bolus of 
food literally blocks the esophagus.  (fun thought eh?)  To keep
a horse from bolting his food, we drop large rocks into the feed-tub.
He then has to eat around the rocks which slows him down.  
I have had some sucess slowing the Callie Cat down in her everlasting
quest for more food by tossing a handfull of dice into her food dish.
The dice go into the dishwasher on occasion when they get groady.

L. Jenks


Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats