HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: christin@cae.wisc.edu (Christine Haas)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Ferrets and Digging!!
Date: 8 Nov 92 16:51:12 GMT
Organization: U of Wisconsin-Madison College of Engineering

Hi,

I have a question for you all.  I have a cage which I keep
my two ferrets in at night, and during the day they have free run
of my room.  There is a cardboard barrier that keeps them in my
room.  One day, however, they discovered they could pull the cardboard
away from the door jam, and get out.  I have fixed the problem, but
now they just dig and scratch at the cardboard incesantly, trying to
get out.  It drives my roommates crazy, and their patience is
diminishing.  Any suggestions to make them stop?  Or to make their
digging inaudible? 

I have been smearing rubbing alcohol on the cardboard - but that is
only a very temporary fix - once the alcohol evaporates, they are
right back at it.  I have sprayed water on them, hoping to deter them,
but that just scares them and makes them confused, no aid whatsoever
in deterring them.  I have also thought of carpeting the cardboard -
but I haven't tried that yet.

Thanks.

Chris. (and Nina and Scooter).
-- 


%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%-%
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: sharonl@sco.COM (B. Baggins, at your service.)
Subject: Re: Tell me about Iguanas
Organization: The Santa Cruz Operation, Inc.
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 00:32:56 GMT
Followup-To: rec.pets.herp


In article <24988@optima.cs.arizona.edu> margaret@cs.arizona.edu (Margaret Newman) writes:
>>      A MAJOR NOTE HERE....you mentioned an incandescent bulb, but
>>     do you have heat rocks in the tank>   They are imperitive to your iguana's
>>      life.  They can't digest their food without the aid of the heat from a
>>      heat rock.  Again, at a pet store they are sold.  You must have at least
>>      one per iguana.  You can put other rocks on top of the heat rocks (at the
>>      edges, don't cover it completely)  so that if the heat rock is too hot he
>>      can find a cooler, but still warm place.  This is not as necessary as the
>>      heat rock itself.
>> 
>>      Kymberlie (KAB137@psuvm.psu.edu)
>
>This was great information on iguanas.  My nephew has tried twice with having
>an iguana as a pet.  One died because it was too young, and the other had a
>bad "shock" with the heat rock.  I will give him this info, but I wanted to
>ask -to be prepared- is there a particular brand or type of heat rock that
>is best?  Less prone to shock the poor little fellows.  I'm not a reptile
>or lizard person, but I got very attached to Rick's little friend.  Would
>the more expensive ones generally be better and safer?  What does one look
>for in a heat rock?  
>
>Thanks for your help!
>
>margaret@cs.arizona.edu

Heat rocks (HotRocks, SizzleStones, et al.) are NOT the choice heating method
for reptiles.  Ideally, you should have no electrical "appliances" in the tank
with your pet at all.  It is preferable to use some sort of under tank heating
pad (great if you can get one with a thermostat).  The ones you find in the
drug store for humans are just fine and often cheaper than the adhesive ones.

Also important is that the iguana get a full-spectrum flourescent light as
they need this for their D3.

I believe that this is a FAQ in rec.pets.herp (also note followups).
-- 
This is just another example of how the healthy gum tissue of our
liberty is being eaten away by the periodontal disease of government
regulation.  --Dave Barry
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: sharon@phoneme.shs.uiuc.edu (Sharon Morrison)
Subject: Re: .  lemurs as domestic pets?
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 1992 18:38:24 GMT

In article <1992Nov7.010827.16023@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> jfurr@nyx.cs.du.edu  
(Joel Furr) writes:
> In article <1d9a49INNfb1@usenet.INS.CWRU.Edu>  
aa595@cleveland.Freenet.Edu (Dan Duvall) writes:
> >
> >Anyone know if it's legal to keep a lemur as a pet?>
> 
> I suspect that 1) they'd be very expensive, and 2) sufficiently exotic
> that you'd be better off leaving them in the wild.  Most vets wouldn't
> know much about what to do with a sick lemur, and you can't buy books
> titled "know your lemur."

Kirstie Alley (of Saavik/Cheers fame) has a bunch of lemurs - basically  
the only way she could get them was by becomming an annex of the San Diego  
Zoo.  (at least this is what she said on the Tonight show a year or two  
ago).  I would guess that you can only become a zoo annex if you have lots  
of money and make a sizeable donation to the zoo etc.

Sharon M.
From: 890707p@ace.acadiau.ca (GLENN G. PARSONS)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Fish - help????
Date: 7 Nov 92 15:03:30 GMT
Organization: Acadia University

I'm thinking of buying a moderately sized fish tank setup.
Anyone have any advice?  Also, is it possible to keep small frogs in the 
same tank with certain types of fish? (The tank would be moderately large, 
and would have rocks for the frogs to sit on.)
                                               Thanks'
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: hartman@bifur.cis.udel.edu (Nancy Hartman)
Subject: Re: rec.pets.ferrets, ferret FAQ ?
Organization: University of Delaware, Newark
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 16:31:10 GMT

Most of the ferret traffic is currently on the ferret mailing list
(to subscribe, send e-mail to ferret-request@ferret.ocunix.on.ca).  
Although you don't get immediate postings, Chris usually gets them
out within 24 hours.  And, you don't have to deal with all the jerks
who like to start flame wars just for the fun of it.

As for starting rec.pets.ferrets, there are some major issues we have
to consider:

PRO
- It would promote ferrets as pets, since they are obviously common 
  enough to have their own newsgroup.
- We wouldn't have to deal with all the other pets (not a problem for
  newsreaders that can thread the news, anyway) -- although I too like
  to keep track of them.  Since cats and dogs split off I never have time
  to go into those groups, and I enjoyed reading some of them when the
  subject looked interesting.


CON
- It would essentially replace the mailing list, thus we would lose all
  the members from Compuserve, and places like GEnie would no longer be
  able to read our traffic.  
- Many (most?) sites don't like to subscribe to all the "weird" newsgroups.
  Many people would not even be able to access the group.  So we would
  lose those people as well.
- We would have to deal with idiots who post things like "101 ways to 
  torture a ferret"


So for those of you that simply don't like reading all the posts about
other animals, ask around to see if you have a better newsreader 
available.  On UNIX systems try "trn", if you have it it allows you
to select the articles you want to read by showing you the author and
subject.

If you are using rn check help.  I think there's a way to list the
articles by subject, then you could read only the ones you want by 
typing in the article number.

- Nancy

-- 
Nancy Hartman					CIS graduate student
hartman@udel.edu				U. of Delaware
        President and founder, Delaware Valley Ferret Club
                      Owner of Percy & Bree
From: thanatop@csd4.csd.uwm.edu (Brian Donald Jacobson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: rec.pets (should my kid get a hamster?)
Date: 6 Nov 1992 03:18:47 GMT
Organization: Computing Services Division, University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.4


I think that its awful that you want to bury a pet hamster for your kid?
What kind of sicko are you anyway? Geez!

What? oh, BUYING a hamster?
sorry. Nevermind.
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: palmj@marcus.its.rpi.edu (Jyri L. Palm)
Subject: Re: Ferrets and Digging!!
Date: Sun, 8 Nov 1992 21:29:18 GMT

christin@cae.wisc.edu (Christine Haas) writes:

>Hi,

>I have a question for you all.  I have a cage which I keep
>my two ferrets in at night, and during the day they have free run
>of my room.  There is a cardboard barrier that keeps them in my
>room.  One day, however, they discovered they could pull the cardboard
>away from the door jam, and get out.  I have fixed the problem, but
>now they just dig and scratch at the cardboard incesantly, trying to
>get out.  It drives my roommates crazy, and their patience is
>diminishing.  Any suggestions to make them stop?  Or to make their
>digging inaudible? 

You could try getting a piece of plexiglass or thick plastic.  They get
tired of digging quickly on a low-friction surface.

I've had the problem of them digging up the carpet under the doors.  My
ferrets stopped that after I made it so there was NO crack under the
door.  I put a piece of wood accross the bottom of the door frame, so
when the door closes, it seals tight.

In my experience, ferrets only dig when they KNOW there is something
beyond, or if they have been there before.

If you make the barrier IMMOVABLE, they soon give up.  If they can make
the SLIGHTEST progress in destroying it, they won't quit until they do.

palmj@rpi.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: hinz@picard.med.ge.com (David Hinz Mfg 4-6987)
Subject: Re: rec.pets.ferrets, ferret FAQ ?
Organization: GE Medical Systems, Magnetic Resonance
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 07:18:25 GMT

I don't think it's necessary to creat rec.pets.ferrets, as there are a
lot of topics that cross species boundries, pet-wise.  Like the discussions
of litter, L-Taurine, and so-on, which would not have worked without input
from the "cat people".  It's easy enough to hit 'n' or 'tab' or whatever,
and killfiles are easy if you don't want to read about bunnies or
rats.  I enjoy reading about pet skunks, foxes, and other stuff that I 
wouldn't see if we were on a ferret-specific board.

There is a Ferret mailing list, which deals exclusively (almost) with
carpet sharks.


--

Dave Hinz  -  Opinions expressed are mine, not my employer's.  Obviously.
Don't blame me; I voted for Perot!                hinzd@picard.med.ge.com 
SAAB - Because you get what you pay for.             Pherrets are Phun!!!
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: viking@iastate.edu (Dan Sorenson)
Subject: Re: let's talk cows
Organization: Iowa State University, Ames IA
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 05:53:34 GMT

sbp2@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (SARA BETH PIWOWAR) writes:

>COWS make great pets; everyone should check this out.

	Speaking strictly as a former Iowa farm boy, this is a joke, right?
If not, I've a calf I'll sell ya.  He's about a year old, weighs about
1100 pounds, and only eats 30lbs of hay per day.  Price is $0.70 per pound,
you pay shipping.  Deal?

< Dan Sorenson, DoD #1066 z1dan@exnet.iastate.edu viking@iastate.edu >
<  ISU only censors what I read, not what I say.  Don't blame them.  >
<  "This isn't an answer, it's a pagan dance around a midnight fire  >
<   written in intellectual runes." -- Rich Young                    >
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: reheerdi@nyx.cs.du.edu (Rob Heerdink)
Subject: Re: WHAT TO NAME A WHITE MALE KITTEN
Organization: University of Denver, Dept. of Math & Comp. Sci.
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 92 16:07:17 GMT

gjs2@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (GEORGE J. SCHLOGL) writes:

>ITS MY FIRST TIME TO EVER HAVE A PET IN MY LIFE.
>ANY ADVICE GIVE IT. ILL NEED IT.
>ALSO I NEED A GREAT NAME.
>NOTHING STUPID OR TIPICAL LIKE WHITEY OR SNOWBALL,FLUFFY
>THANK YOU.
>GEORGE AND ? signing off
>and im living here in allentown

My cat is named Dirk, after a bum I once knew...
From: margaret@cs.arizona.edu (Margaret Newman)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Other Monsters...
Keywords: heater
Date: 12 Nov 92 19:20:25 GMT


We have just discovered another monster!  It's the heater!  The Horrible
Heater from Hell...  It has this wonderful  k-tink, k-tink sound right
now besides the usual bang and roar.  Mia, my Siamese, is over a year old
now, and evidently had forgotten about this monster from last winter.  It
was really quite funny watching her sneak down the hallway, having to
pass by the Heater from Hell.  Accidently walking over heat vents is
also fun to watch her do.  Our heat vents (living in a mobile home) are
in the floor.

margaret@cs.arizona.edu



Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: schlumpf@uimrl7.mrl.uiuc.edu ()
Subject: UPDATE: Is this what I think it is...
Reply-To: schlumpf@uimrl7.mrl.uiuc.edu ()
Organization: Materials Research Lab
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 04:15:23 GMT



Well, folks, sad news, I'm afraid. Last week I asked whether 
my mother-in-law's Siamese, Dallas, had any hope or not and
asked for help in figuring out what it is. SO many kind thoughtful
folks responded that I didnt have time to respond to you all 
personally so you will have to excuse me for a group thank you!
I really appreciate all your helpful ideas and support. 

Last night, after we had been up to my parents' all weekend, Loni
called and said they had had to put Dallas down earlier in the week.
He was just too far gone and she was really upset (quite obviously
and understandably) about the turn of events. He was a great big
hunking sealpoint Siamese who, in the summer turned nearly 
solid black. He was a BIG cat, but he was only about 7 years old.
Even though I never knew him well, what I knew of him was
nothing but good. He lived a good life though, wandering around a
 5 acre farm plot where he got to chase mice and rabbits and squirrels
to his heart's content. He NEVER went near the road, which was a 
good thing even though their road hardly has ANY traffic on it. Peter
(my husband) is rather upset about it all, of course, but it seems to help
 him having Pixel, our Siamese around. At least they still have Dallas'
daughter Amber ( a BEAUTIFUL gray Persian/Siamese mix), after that
one litter, he was neutered (and it was a planned mating too, Amber
was the stud fee).

Well, RIP, Dallas... animals just leave this Earth too soon...

Kay Schlumpf & Crew
	Peter - hubby
	Baeki - 2.5 yr old black Cocker Spaniel (female)
	Pixel - 1.5 yr old sealpoint Siamese (female)
	Dante - 1 yr old b&w longhaired mutt cat (male)
	Siegfried - 3 mos. old black German Shepherd (male)
From: jah0532@galileo.rtn.ca.boeing.com (Julia Henry)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: "weird" cat things
Date: 6 Nov 92 22:51:30 GMT
Organization: BCS, Seattle

In article <weyKNf600WBK04CnsV@andrew.cmu.edu> am2x+@andrew.cmu.edu (Anna Matyas) writes:
:
:I really enjoy all the posts about unusual and weird cat activity.  It
:makes me realize Gracie is NOT all that strange.  (She's actually quite
:laid back and doesn't do anything really weird; I think she's pretty
:typical when she plays with her Pounce treats and inspects her litterbox
:after a major scrubbing by mom.)
:
:She did something the other morning that I thought was kind of peculiar.
:After I had made the bed I went into another room.  When I returned to the
:bedroom there was a big lump in the middle of the bed.  Gracie had crawled
:under the spread -- only thing was the spread was not ruffled at all.  I
:have no idea how she did it without disturbing anything.  She stayed under
:there for about 30 minutes.  When I was leaving for work I decided to coax
:her out -- her body was so hot from being under there.  I had this irrational
:fear that she would suffocate (as if she couldn't go right back under there
:once I was gone!).

Miss P. also does this!!  She will "bedlump" all day if I let her.  I think
that it's cute so I usually don't disturb her.  She doesn't do this every 
day but it's one of her top favorite places to nap.


-- 
Julia Henry                         The wastepaper basket is the writer's
jah0532@galileo.rtn.ca.boeing.com   best friend.
                                            Isaac Bashevis Singer
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: vicki@steam.atd.ucar.edu (Vicki Holzhauer)
Subject: Re: the presidential cat
Organization: Atmospheric Technology Division/NCAR Boulder, CO
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 20:24:51 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.003411.7472@netcom.com> mdr@netcom.com (Marc D. Rossner) writes:
>
>Time Magazine got a lot of reader response from cat-lovers last year when they
>showed a picture of Gorbachev with his cat, Murrat. [...]
>most of these letters said that the fact that Gorby was a
>cat-lover proved he must really have a good heart and good intentions.


I remember that picture, and I felt the same way.  I had always felt
that he was a decent man with good intentions.  Seeing him holding a
cat he obviously loved validated my feelings ... :-)


--
Vicki Holzhauer, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, Colorado / / / /  vicki@ncar.ucar.edu
From: jsmt@troi.cc.rochester.edu (Julia Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: My cats suddenly don't know each other
Date: 12 Nov 92 02:07:38 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)

Since I have learned alot reading this group, I am hoping someone
can help me with this...
  
My two cats have lived together, peacefully (more or less) and
happily (likewise) for 3 years.  Suddenly, Mishka does not know
Socretes.  She started this last night (3am) - screaming at him,
hissing, really dangerous stuff.  I mean, they battle, but this was
truly volumes above and beyond the norm.  I had to lock her in the
closet to keep her from killing him.  She is in there now.  Every
time Socretes comes near the door, she starts screaming (and I do
NOT mean meowing).  
   I'm at a loss - I have to go to work tomorrow, I can't keep her
in the closet for the rest of her life - WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?

--j
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: 6845400@LMSC5.IS.LMSC.LOCKHEED.COM
Subject: My cat used to have seizures
Organization: Lockheed Missiles & Space Company, Inc.
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 92 17:50:54 GMT

I used to have a cat that had seizures, sometimes so severe that she would
reach around and bite and claw herself on her rump.  We too, spent all kinds of
money on testsbut to no avail.  She would sometimes lay on the edge of our
doughboy pool sunning herself, have a seizure, fall in and then we'd have to
fish her out. For awhile we gave her phenobarbital, but we stopped because she
was an inside/outside cat and it wasn't very safe for her.  It got to the point
that we didn't feel comfortable having her on our laps (one place where she rea
really liked to be) because of the unpredictability of her seizures.  Towards
the end, if you touched her anywhere from the mid back down she would have a
a seizure.  She eventually took off and we never found her or her body.

Kathy
------------------------- Original Article -------------------------
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: vboynton@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (Virginia R Boynton)
Subject: Cat Seizures
Organization: The Ohio State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 5 Nov 1992 19:57:40 GMT

My two-year-old spayed female cat (strictly an indoor cat) has had 5 seizures
(3-5 minutes each) about 3-4 weeks apart, between May and September.  None
since early September (it is now early November).  She's had blood tests (an
elevated liver enzyme), ultrasound of her liver (normal), and a cerebral spinal
fluid tap of her brain fluid (normal).  Recently I heard of another cat that
had a seizure (it's pretty rare) and we were wondering if anyone out there had
any wisdom to share -- unusual diagnoses, treatments, etc.  Emma is otherwise
fine, and hasn't had a seizure (that I know of) in 2 months.

Any advise?

I'd prefer that you reply to my e-mail address, unless you think a general
posting would be of interest to the network.

Ginny
vboynton@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: lhuffman@stsci.edu
Subject: Re: my cat throws up too much...
Organization: Space Telescope Science Institute
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 1992 18:47:33 GMT

> Recently, my cat started to vomit at a frequency never encountered
> before.  WHen I check the stuff she throws up, I see no hairballs or
> 
> I'll be taking her to the vets later this afternoon.  Has anyone any
> idea what might be wrong?  Anything else I should observe to tell the
> vet when I see him today?  I usually don't worry too much about cat
> trowing up (since that's what kitties are supposed to do on
> occasions), but *five* times in one day is a bit much...  May be I'm
> being paranoid, but I guess I'd rather pay $$ and be sure it's ok than
> taking any chances...
> 
> Any suggestions?   Am I just being over-sensitive?
> 
> 				Isako

If you discover the cuase I would be interested. A friend has the same problem 
and I suggested that perhaps the cat was developing allergies to the food it
was eating, but that was just a stab in the dark.
Organization: H&SS Dean's Office, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Date: Wed,  4 Nov 1992 16:48:46 -0500 
From: Anna Matyas <am2x+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: other monsters....


>>   Don't forget the most fearsome, archetypical monster of them all:
>>   The Vacuum-cleaner Vampyre!

Gracie doesn't mind the vaccum.  She usually follows me around
(tho not getting TOO close) and watches intently.

However, she IS afraid of the ironing board when in its upright position.
She's also afraid of a little 2-step metal step stool.  It's ok if it's
closed and leaning against the wall or even if it's open and ready for
use; but if I'm CARRYING it she runs for her life.

She seems very annoyed by the tv remote control, too.  I don't think she's
really afraid of it but if she's sitting across the room from me when I
start flipping through channels, she gets this annoyed look (sort of a
side-long glance at me), turns her body slightly around so she isn't
facing me anymore, and lets out a long "whirl" sound.

Anna
From: ccspjs@gdr.bath.ac.uk (Pete J Suters)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: other monsters....
Date: 10 Nov 92 12:15:06 GMT
Organization: Bath University Computing Services, UK

In the referenced article, mas@calmasd.Prime.COM (Marisa SorBello) writes:
>Sachia seems to be offended by the remote, too, but only the VCR's
>remote.  If I'm stretched out on the couch and Her Highness is lying
>on my chest purring contentedly, she'll just stay there as long as my 
>hands don't move.  But the minute I pick up the remote to fast forward,
>especially if I FF too far and have to hit a couple other buttons, the
>tail starts flicking.  Remote goes on the coffee-table, Sachia
>relaxes.  Another bout of button pushing, and up comes the head of
>Her Poofiness to glare at me.  The third time I use the remote, off
>she goes to the floor.  Sometimes I let the commercials drone on 
>just to keep Sachia with me.

  We used to get the same thing with Roo.  She'd always give us
an annoyed look when we changed the channel on the TV.  I think in
that case it was to do with the type of remote that we had.  The thing
worked on ultrasonics rather than the type we have now which makes
no sound (if you're a cat).  I suppose if you were sitting there
and every so often there was a loud shrill beeeep, I think you'd get
annoyed too!
  I'm suprised the never batted the thing under a chair so we couldn't
find it ...

pete j suters ---- bath university ---- email: p.j.suters@uk.ac.swurcc 
 ___  ___    /-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
|___)   |   /   A Huge Ever Growing Brain That Rules The Centre 
|       |  /                  Of The Ultraworld 
     (_/  /=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: das@voodoo.boeing.com (Deb Schwartz)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: What to name a male BLACK kitten...
Date: 11 Nov 92 16:31:34 GMT
Organization: Yet Another Graphics Project, Bellevue, WA

>holmbeck@cs.weber.edu (Holmbeck) wrote:
>> Well, I've loved reading what you've all thought about male white kittens,
>> how about male Black kittens. :)
>
Captain Midnight.

------
Debbie Schwartz // das@voodoo.ca.boeing.com  // or uunet!bcstec!voodoo!das 
                      
                 "Hatred is not a family value"
From: emilio@acupain.UUCP (Elizabeth Milio)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: RE: Saw Cat hit by car
Date: 3 Nov 92 18:27:20 GMT
Reply-To: emilio@accurate.com.UUCP (Elizabeth Milio)
Organization: ACCURATE Information Systems, Eatontown, NJ

Sonja,

I am sure that if that cat's family knew they would thank you.  Yes, there
are lots of drivers out there that don't care about life in general, except
perhaps, their own.  With this, or any other animal group, you are sort of
"preaching to the choir."  

You and the UPS driver are rare people.  There should be more like you.

Liz (owned by Allegro and Mimi :-)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats