HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: pjl2@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Paul J Landsberg)
Subject: Re: dry catfood vs. canned???
Reply-To: pjl2@cunixb.cc.columbia.edu (Paul J Landsberg)
Organization: Columbia University
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 00:17:37 GMT

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.
>
>I am asking this because someone posted that all their vets agree that dry
>cat food is better than canned.  So what gives?

Vets?  Anyone out there know how much time a vet spend on learning
about feline nutrition in his education?  How much time does the
vet spend learning about nutrition?  Any?  A quick glance in a magazine?
Even if a vet has experience with "hundreds and thousands" of animals,
does it mean anything?  NO!  Because the vet does not know precisely
what diet an animal is on when it is brought to him.  Before you 
"ask a vet," find out how much the vet knows..............

Paul L.
From: libkin@saul.cis.upenn.edu (Leonid Libkin)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: cats and plants
Date: 5 Jan 93 18:20:36 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: University of Pennsylvania


I'm sorry if this is FAQ, but I couldn't find it in the version that I
have.

I would like to get a list of plants that cats can/can't eat. It's
quite obvious that our cat will eat any new plant we buy. We have only
two (half-eaten) plants now and these don't cause any problems but my
wife wants to buy more and of different kinds. A couple of florists
we asked couldn't answer the question.

Usually I don't have time to read this wonderful newsgroup, so I'll
appreciate it if you answer by e-mail.

Thanks,
Leonid
From: loosemore-sandra@cs.yale.edu (Sandra Loosemore)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Change in diet
Followup-To: rec.pets.cats
Date: 11 Jan 1993 19:32:09 -0500
Organization: staff hacker @ Yale Haskell project
NNTP-Posting-Host: functor.systemsz.cs.yale.edu
In-reply-to: nlp@pacvax.pacersoft.com's message of 11 Jan 93 23:17:03 GMT

My cats usually get Meow Mix as their staple diet but I've been trying
to give them a bit more variety by giving them a meal of some other
brand every other day or so.  I tried a box of Whiskas chicken flavor
recently and have noticed that it's not only caused problems with
smelly poop, but bad breath (or maybe smelly burps) too.  Oddly
enough, even my finicky cat seems to like this stuff, but I think I'm
going to avoid this particular brand in the future.

-Sandra

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: wd6cmu@netcom.com (Eric Williams)
Subject: Kneading help
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 20:25:25 GMT

My 4-month old Maine Coon Vincent has just this last week started
nuzzling and kneading me in the morning.  I've heard it said that this
can be a result of a kitten leaving his mother too soon, but I don't
believe it because Vincent didn't leave until he was 12 weeks old, yet
Murphy, my DSH male who was orphaned at 6 weeks, has never exhibited this
behavior.  Anybody got ideas on what causes it, or why he would
suddenly start doing it when he never had before?  Even with his claws
trimmed, it's uncomfortable when he's trying to make bread dough out of
my bare shoulder; I've just been turning him over so the paws go in the
other direction.

-- 
Eric Williams     wd6cmu@netcom.com  |  Never attribute to malice that which
WD6CMU@WD6CMU.#NOCAL.CA.USA.NA       |  is adequately explained by stupidity.
From: morphet@cguhpa.cgu.mcc.ac.uk (Helen Morphet)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: catflap troubles
Date: 5 Jan 93 11:34:57 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre

I have a big problem with our catflap, and if it's not resolved soon I shall have to block it up.

My two cats, Etragon and Pootle, keep letting a large ginger tomcat come into our house through the catflap. This would not be a problem, except that it keeps spraying all over the place. I even found it in my bedroom once - it had sprayed over my bed.

How do I prevent this without having to keep my cats inside all the time? I have heard about some 'selective' catflaps which only allow certain cats in, but how do they work, where could I get one from, and how much are they?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Helen
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: thiessen@emr1.emr.ca (Tracy Thiessen)
Subject: Re: DECLAWING?
Organization: Energy, Mines, and Resources, Ottawa
Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 20:34:43 GMT

In article <1icov6INN86s@agate.berkeley.edu> spp@zabriskie.berkeley.edu (Steve Pope) writes:
>>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.
>
>Some of us would see a willingness to commit to not
>declawing the animal as one indicator of a loving
>home, or at least one that puts some priority on the
>animal's needs.
>
>One aspect that I haven't seen in this declawing
>discussion -- I may have missed part of it -- is
>that often, if a cat is clawing up everything in
>the house, it is because the cat's person is not
>letting the cat outside enough.  Anybody who declaws
>a cat prior to trying to give the cat sufficient
>time outdoors (assumning this is practical for them)
>ha *their* priorities a little confused.
>
>Steve

Yet ANOTHER example that every situation is unique,
and the caring owner will make the best, most
appropriate decision for his/her feline friend.
In my area, animals who are allowed to roam freely
rapidly become road pizza.  And there is a lot 
of evidence to suggest that indoor cats are
healthier and live longer than their outdoor
counterparts.  

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: fease@dkas.enet.dec.com (Andrea Midtmoen Fease)
Subject: Re: HELP! Kitten poops in bathtub.
Organization: Digital Equipment Corp., Marlboro MA
Date: 11 JAN 93 10:57:30    


Re.: Leakproof bathtub stopper ...

     We used duct tape.  Make sure you adhere it firmly.  Pain in the neck,
but it worked for us (and we found we could re-use the tape at least 1-2
times).

     Midnight doesn't use the tub any more ...

					- Andrea
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: yeutter@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Marguerite Yeutter)
Subject: Edie Mae isn't trained
Date: Wed, 6 Jan 1993 13:50:59 GMT
Distribution: na
Reply-To: yeutter@herky.cs.uiowa.edu (Marguerite Yeutter)
Organization: U of Iowa, Iowa City, IA

Hi, I bought a flea-covered, scrawny, hairless calico 
Persian from a petstore in July.  (I _know_ better, I
fell in love with her.)  She was for sale along with
her 3 darling fluffy kittens.  To judge from their fur
coats, she promised to be a stunning cat.

I brought her home and turned her loose with my 15-year
old black Persian and her catbox.  (I know now, another
mistake.)  A couple days later, I bought a second catbox,
which hasn't found favor with her either.  She poops
in a catbox, but pees on rugs.  My whole house is carpeted,
the basement is bare cement.  When I have nothing better
to do, I try to get the smell out of the bedroom carpet.
I've gridded mothballs in the other worse spots.  If I
leave her in the bathroom (only uncarpeted room upstairs), 
she won't "go".  Or she finally does, I let her out
and she goes again on the rug.  

So, in the last 5 months, she's been spayed, put on weight
(I can't feel her backbone anymore), learned to play with
cat toys and paper balls, bonded with my 6-year old son,
grew a beautiful fur coat, but hasn't seen any reason to
become housebroken.  

There is a small measure of progress - she is no longer
peeing on the rugs upstairs.  She is going on a $1 rug
sample in the basement.  It's about 15 feet from the catbox
and I put plastic under it.  She is actually reliably
going on this rug, but it is nearing the end of it's
liquid existence.  I really think that she is an intelligent
cat who knows what I want, but she just prefers rugs to
kitty litter.  The previous owner had Edie Mae declawed so
I wonder if she doesn't like the feel of litter.  I've
tried 3 different litters with no success, but the sister
of her previous owner called me to confirm that Edie Mae
was a "cage kitty", the sister had 6 cats, and to say
that she was housebroken, but to just put her in a cage
for a week whenever she misbehaved.  I asked what kind
of litter the sister used, she told me, I bought some.  Now
my question is:  How do I transfer her from this rug to
a catbox?  Put kitty litter on the rug?  Move the catbox
next to/on the rug (this never worked upstairs, she'd just
find a different spot)? 

She's a delightful cat.  My son and I absolutely love her,
but my husband is less moved and says either she gets
housebroken or she goes.  So, any suggestions will be 
greatly appreciated!

From a different approach, is there somewhere you can rent
a cage?  Does this work?  Is it less inhumane than it sounds?
But, I have nowhere to put a cage that isn't on a rug!  The
basement is unfinished and unheated.

Thanks,
Marguerite

-----------------------------------------------------
Marguerite Yeutter      |  the usual disclaimer,
yeutter@cs.uiowa.edu    |  nothing exotic.
----------------------------------------------------
From: cj@eno.esd.sgi.com (C J Silverio)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: teaching the beasts about cat doors
Date: 7 Jan 93 22:29:23 GMT
Reply-To: cj@sgi.com (C J Silverio)
Organization: SGI TechPubs

---
Does anyone have any helpful suggestions about teaching our
Monsters about using their cat door?

We tried the obvious method, which was propping the door wide
open so they got used to going in & out there, and then propping
it open less & less.  They have got the idea of nudging the flap 
when it's open just a tad, but they can't seem to get the next
step.  If the flap is closed, they will sit & mew helplessly.
One of them managed to figure it out, but the other two seem
hopeless.

We have the bi-directional kind.  That is, all they have to do
is nudge it with their heads, same method in both directions.
No paw tricks necessary.

Meanwhile, the neighborhood raccoons have no trouble with the
cat door, and are working on solving the Problem of the Cat Food
Container Lid.

---
C J Silverio  cj@sgi.com  ceej@well.sf.ca.us  '92 Seca II  DoD #0526
"A motorcyclist has to drive as if everybody else on the road is out 
to kill him.  A few of them are, and many of those who aren't are just 
as dangerous-- because the only thing that can alter their careless, 
ingrained driving habits is a threat of punishment, either legal or 
physical, and there is nothing about a motorcycle to threaten any
man in a car."  Hunter Thompson
From: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us (S. Mudgett aka little gator)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Organization: gators 'r us
Subject: Re: HELP Broken Tooth !
Keywords: cats, teeth
Reply-To: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
X-Software: HERMES GUS 1.10 Rev. Dec 23 1992
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 09:20:16 -0400
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

one of my cats broke her upper canine tooth many years ago.  she wasn't
eating much for a few days, and then i noticed the tip of the tooth was
broken off, leaving a large stump.  about that time her appetite returned,
apparently it had healed enough that it was no longer painful.

since then she's been just fine.  we never found out how it happened, and
several vets have advised us to do nothing, since it doesn't bother her.
-- 
-- little gator aka s. mudgett     email: scm@harvee.billerica.ma.us
-- friend of a gator is a friend of mine
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: dschlow@epas.utoronto.ca (Deborah Schlow)
Subject: Re: Indoor/Outdoor, another perspective
Organization: University of Toronto - EPAS
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 7 Jan 1993 06:00:15 GMT
Followup-To: Re: Indoor/outdoor, another perspective
Summary: Indoor/pitdoor
Keywords: indoors, cats

In article <1ifqljINNdvk@flop.ENGR.ORST.EDU> loeffll@xanth.CS.ORST.EDU (Lisa Loeffler) writes:
>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.)
>
>
 Lots of stuff deleted



>
>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
>---------

I agree with Lisa. We do have a responsibility to control our cats, if
we choose to let them outdoors. But we have a greater responsibility
to our beloved cats. I have been an advocate of indoor cats for
fifteen years. Go ahead, flame away, for you won't change my mind.
This summer, a beautiful and very friendly 15 month old tabby kitten
was beaten to death in the park next door to his house at nine in the
evening, by some depraved punk teenagers. Thank goodness that I
neither saw them and that Canada has a gun control law because if I
had, and I had a gun, I would have shot first and asked questions
later. It is time that many people, especially in cities with
residential neighborhoods, like Toronto, came to grips with the fact
that this is not the cozy, safe world we grew up in, or thought we
grew up in. Maybe we were just better at hiding the bad stuff. There
are people out there, everywhere, who torture and kill cats for fun.
Pit-bull and other fighting dog trainers drive around at night, search
for friendly cats, kidnap them and give them to the dogs to kill. Cars
hit them. Is this what you want for your pet? I grieve when I see lost
kitty notices posted in my area, but I not surprised and I have less
and less sympathy. There are cruel people who do not like cats, don't
care if you love yours and will miss him terribly, don't care if the
cats suffer (in fact, enjoy it) and think that the only good cat is a
dead one. I choose to protect my cats from this.

Besides, I live in an apartment building. On the eighth floor. How can
my cats go out. Should I deprive myself of the joy of my darlings
because of some misguided notion about the cat's right to be outdoors?
One of my cats, Sting, lived for two years as an indoor//outdoor cat,
and for the past eight has been indoor only. She hasn't appeared to
miss it a bit.

Sorry for the ranting. I just get so angry when cats get hurt, stolen,
lost or killed.

Deborah



Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: petitc@vccnw01.its.rpi.edu (Christopher Jon Petit)
Subject: Re: help!!!
Distribution: rec.pets.cats
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1993 14:00:57 GMT

sbiles@nmsu.edu (Susannah E Biles) writes:


>Help kitty friends! I need a lot of advice and facts/figures.

>Background:
>me - Susan, 23, female, single, college grad student, live with sister
>and two cats (both male,neutered, under 2 yrs). Very emotional, lack
>of logic in my reasoning.Have been owned by up to 5 cats at a time 
>since birth.

>boyfriend - 24,  male, single, college grad, lives w/ mom, very analytical
>and logical,  NEVER EVER HAD A PET IN WHOLE LIFE.

>us - been dating for 2 years, never lived together.

>problem - his lack of understanding of the importance of pets in pet
>lovers life. Of course that is rather an understatement. He says they
>are cute, they can be fun. Hates the smell, the 'inconvenience' of
>cleaning litter boxes, feeding etc. etc. Doesn't understand the
>emotional connection. "It is just a CAT" (heard that before?)
>So...how did I end up with him? Good question. The cats were not a
>problem in the beginning. I hadn't realized the extent of his "just
>putting up with them" until recently. Now it has almost gotten to the
>point that I have to choose between them. My cats are extremely
>important to me...my boyfriend is extremely important to me. I can't
>fathom giving my cat away for him! I can't fathom giving up my
>boyfriend for them!

 I have one very good arguement:

 Cats and pets give UNCONDITIONAL love (if you feed them and take good care
of them---trivial), whereas humans tend to place a billion condiitons on love
(e.g. Don't get me upset, don't do this, don't do that, etc...).

 Who will love you longer---your boyfriend or your cats?  I'd wager to say your
cats will love you longer (no offense---kitties love you their entire lives,
whereas most people share 'love' for about 6 years).

 I know who I'd choose.

 I just wish I could have my Siamese with me at school.  *sigh*

 Anyone have good ASCII drawings of kitties?

-- 
Cat Owner/Passionate Romantic/Poet/Singer/Dreamer/Philosopher...
That's me!  Modest?  Sometimes.  Crazy?  BETTER BELIEVE IT!! :&)
"The greatest beauty in the world is beauty that is private."
"Protect endangered species!  Contribute to the Exxon Supporter's Fund!"
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: jdt@ulysses.att.com (Jonathan D. Trudel[ftd])
Subject: Re: Canned Cat Food--Differences
Date: Mon, 4 Jan 1993 22:50:40 GMT
Reply-To: jdt@ulysses.att.com
Organization: AT&T Bell Labs, Murray Hill, NJ

Just what is aspic, anyway?
From: lpj@col.hp.com (Laura Johnson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Two Siamese Cats Free to a Good Home
Date: 11 Jan 1993 18:53:42 GMT
Organization: HP Colorado Springs Division
Distribution: tor
NNTP-Posting-Host: hpctdkf.col.hp.com

Once, after taking a cat to the vet, then bringing her home and looking at
the record/receipt, I saw that I had acquired an "OW" colored cat. 

Really it was a tortoiseshell. I think what happened was the receptionist
said "What color do you call that?" and kitty dug in a claw and I said
"OW".
-- 
Laura Johnson
lpj@col.hp.com
Opinions expressed are my own, but may be licensed for a nominal fee.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: daj8m@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Deirdre A. Johnson)
Subject: Re: Feline Leukemia, stray visitor and our cats
Organization: University of Virginia
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 17:08:47 GMT

My cat Tuesday Molly tested positive for Feline Leukemia too.
She was about three months old at the time - I had found her
as an abandonded kitten about three months before.  The vet
told me that kittens will sometimes test positive for Leukemia
if they have some other disease (TM had a cold at the time),
and that I should wait a little while, then bring her in to
be re-tested.  I did that - I waited  a week or so, got her
tested again, and she was NEGATIVE!  So the vet gave her the
vaccine (it seems they can't innoculate them if they actually
have the disease), and she's been getting her boosters ever since,
and she's been perfectly healthy, except for a cold now and then.

I hope it's the same with your kitten. I would give her (or him) a
little time, and then retest.  S/he maybe doesn't have Leukemia
after all.

Good luck!

                                 -Deirdre (daj8m@virginia.edu)
From: spp@zabriskie.berkeley.edu (Steve Pope)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: DECLAWING?
Date: 5 Jan 1993 19:53:10 GMT
Organization: U.C. Berkeley -- ERL
NNTP-Posting-Host: zion.berkeley.edu

>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.

Some of us would see a willingness to commit to not
declawing the animal as one indicator of a loving
home, or at least one that puts some priority on the
animal's needs.

One aspect that I haven't seen in this declawing
discussion -- I may have missed part of it -- is
that often, if a cat is clawing up everything in
the house, it is because the cat's person is not
letting the cat outside enough.  Anybody who declaws
a cat prior to trying to give the cat sufficient
time outdoors (assumning this is practical for them)
ha *their* priorities a little confused.

Steve
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: jallred@spdg.com (John Allred)
Subject: Re: A love of running water?
Organization: Stratos Product Development Group (Seattle)
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1993 21:47:18 GMT

My Cornish Rex, Schroedinger The Cat, will soak himself to get at the
running water in the shower.  One Incredibly Silly Kitty, let me tell
you ...

-- 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: maryt@maryt.mentorg.com (Mary Taffs)
Subject: Re: favorite cat
Date: Wed, 06 Jan 1993 00:57:13 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: mentor
Keywords: 
Followup-To: 

My husband Dave hadn't had any experience with cats, so was initially unsure about
getting one. I persuaded him that "one wouldn't be any problem", so the next step
was what kind to get. My first thought was to call the newspaper ads for free
kittens, but I was never able to call in time to get one. About this time, I bought
one of those pocket-sized books about cats that are sometimes sold at grocery store
cash registers. We read through the information about breeds and decided that an
Abyssinian sounded like a good kind of cat. We liked the description of the coloring
and temperament (people-oriented, in particular). So, I looked in the paper, and
someone was advertising Abyssinians. I called and we went to see them. We couldn't
tell the kittens apart (or even tell which ones were half-grown!). We wanted a female,
and there was only one available, so we took Raz home. Dave immediately fell in love
with her and found out how much fun cats are.

A couple of months later, Dave called me from work asking if we needed another kitten.
It seems that someone at work had found 3 abandoned kittens in her parking lot - 1
already dead. She had taken the other 2 to an emergency vet for treatment and, since
they weren't hers, the vet had turned them over to the pound. The girl was frantic
to find homes for the kittens before they were destroyed. So, we ended up with Mr.
Bill, a tiny black-and-white kitten. He has thrived with us, weighing close to 20
pounds now (and only a little bit chubby).

As Raz and Mr. Bill grew up, it became clear that Raz didn't like Mr. Bill very well -
she much prefers people to cats. We thought another cat as a playmate for Bill would
be a good idea. We decided to get another Abyssinian, but a male this time. (It never
occurred to us that two cats that were very similar in appearance might be confusing...)
So we brought home Tosh.

Tosh and Bill became great friends. Eventually, we moved into a larger house - a log
cabin with all sorts of places for cats to play. After a few months, Tosh seemed to
be getting bored. Obviously, a kitten for him to play with was the right solution!
Conveniently, someone at work had a litter of Siamese available. We played with all
of them to find the most outgoing one. It was a little seal point female, and we
named her Kaiten (but we almost always call her Katie).

We took Katie home and she took over the household immediately. She has no doubt
whatsoever that she is the boss of everyone and everything. Surprisingly, the
other cats go along with this. (Actually, I think Raz is amused and lets
Katie THINK she's the boss. Raz KNOWS that Raz is the real boss!)

Raz is now 5 years old, Mr. Bill 4.5, Tosh nearly 4, and Katie 1.5. 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: mpmarie@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (MARIE HUCOVSKY)
Subject: calico
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.41    
Organization: NASA Lewis Research Center
Distribution: usa
Date:  6 Jan 1993 15:23 EST  

Is it true that calico cats are always female and never male?

Thanks

Marie, Spike and Harry