HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: hcrain@convex.csd.uwm.edu (Helen C Crain)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Traveling with cats?  A good idea?
Date: 21 Dec 92 19:43:53 GMT
Reply-To: hcrain@convex.csd.uwm.edu
Organization: University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee
NNTP-Posting-Host: 129.89.7.30
Originator: hcrain@convex.csd.uwm.edu

I used to leave our kitties in the house with lots of food
in bowls, a dripping-into-a-bowl faucet, and a bathtub lined
with trashbags and filled with kitty litter.  My sister
checked once a week, and they did fine.

At this point I hire a pet sitter.  She's been seeing the
boys off and on since they were babies.  They adore her!
And, she takes in the mail, waters the plants, turns lights
on and off.....   She also stays for an hour to play and
comb.  I feel better about leaving them for long periods.
-- 
Helen C. Crain             hcrain@convex.csd.uwm.edu 
UWMilwaukee Nursing                   Wisconsin, USA
"There is more of good nature than good sense at the
bottom of most marriages"    HD Thoreau
From: nvonstein@memstvx1.memst.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Declawing
Date: 30 Dec 92 22:25:30 GMT
Organization: Memphis State University

None of my cats are declawed.  If I decided to have everyone declawed, I would
have to get a night job - there are seven kitties at my house.  But here are my
feelings about the subject:  If a cat lives outdoors, of course, and everyone
I'm sure agrees, it should not be declawed.  But I have talked with my vet
about declawing, and she said only the front claws are removed and a cat can do
great damage with its hind feet alone.  It can defend itself proficiently with
its hind feet, in fact it can remove even a larger animal's stomach.  Okay,
enough for the growdy stuff.  I have one cat in my clowder who has a bit of the
jerk in him - Mikey will for no obvious reason walk over and just slap someone. 
Because of this, we have made more than one emergency trip to Ruth's (the vet) for
a nasty abscess from a claw.  All of us know how sick an abscess like that can
make a cat.  In all good conscience, wouldn't it be more right to declaw Mikey
than for everyone else to suffer because of his nasty attitude?  

The point I'm trying to make, and others of you have also said the same,
everyone just has to do what is right for our little charges. I don't think we
should judge each other for that.  We could do the same discussing children
getting tonsillectomies.  When a cat lives indoors, we should do our best to
help him/her to fit in as amicably as possible.  A cat who is constantly
reprimanded because he/she is tearing up the furniture will become a very
frustrated cat and maybe just not so affectionate.  

Please don't flame me - I live with 7 cats, 2 dogs, an iguana, a ferret and two
children.  Sometimes they have to point me in the right direction just to go to
work.   

'Nuff sed.
Nancy
From: marie@guppy.ai.mit.edu (Marie Lamb)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: favorite cat
Date: 31 Dec 1992 16:15:22 GMT
Organization: MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory
Distribution: world
Reply-To: marie@ai.mit.edu
NNTP-Posting-Host: guppy.ai.mit.edu

In article <1992Dec30.211003.13836@galileo.cc.rochester.edu>, barlow@prodigal.psych.rochester.edu (Rebel) writes:
|> 
|> >>I would like to here stories of how you folks met your kittys.
[...]
|> 10 week old Tuxedo kitten boldly pushed it's paw through the cage and "waved"
|> at us...she had a rather indignant look on her face...as if to say "Can you see
|> they're holding me PRISONER!?!?!?!?" Well needless to say SHE picked US :-)

Yep, this is the way Domino picked me as well (must be something about those
jellicles :-)), except she was clinging to the inside of the mesh door of
the kennel with all four paws, and I believe to this day she was mewing, 
"Help! Help!"

I inherited my other cat, Tros, from a roommate who was moving back home
and couldn't take him with her, which was fine with me because I had been
trying to screw up my courage to ask her if I could keep him when she
left!!

Marie
From: nlp@pacvax.pacersoft.com (Nancy Pilsch)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: favorite cat
Date: 31 Dec 92 19:54:16 GMT
Followup-To: rec.pets.cats
Organization: Pacer Software, Inc

Hobbes came first.  I had just moved out of my parent's home, and had
gotten my tax refund.  I decided that I would adopt a cat with some of the
money. The volunteer that was helping me was standing in front of Hobbes'
(then Mike) cage and all of the sudden a black & white arm shot out and
started wacking her ponytail like a boxer uses a punching bag.  I had never
had cats before and wanted one that was playful.  I got it!!  He is a great
cat, and even thought he is friendly, mommy is the one he saves the cuddles
for.  
I decided a few mos later that Hobbes needed a friend.  At just that time a
friend of a friend was moving in w/ her SO, who was severely allergic to
cats.  Since she never really cared about the cat anyway, she told Kev, who
was watching him while she moved, that if he couldn't find a home for the
kitty, he would have to go to the pound.  There is no way he would have
been adopted.  He had never been cuddled, & had been abused, and as a
result was very squirelly.  He shied at every move.  He had just been
declawed and his only defense was to hide.  I figured since he was just the
right age, and color (black and white, also) I'd try it.  Well they fought
like crazy for about a day, and now they re like brothers.  Calvin still
doesn't liked to be picked up, but after some serious sniffing he will jump
up on just about everyone's lap, when he decides its okay, for a scratch
and cuddle!  My SO was so against me taking Calvin home that he wouldn't
speak to me for a week.  Wouldn't you know that Craig is Cal's most
favorite person in the whole world.  If Craig is home, Calvin can always be
found on his lap.  Craig calls him Sparky and they are the best of buddies.

Nancy,
Calvin & Hobbes  (catnip junkies)
From: nlp@pacvax.pacersoft.com (Nancy Pilsch)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Defense
Date: 29 Dec 92 22:38:03 GMT
Followup-To: rec.pets.cats
Organization: Pacer Software, Inc

Apparently I have offended a few people with a recent response to the
question of having a cat with claws and a cat without in the same
household.  My response was that one of my cats had been declawed by a
previous (bad) owner.  Some people felt that they needed to point out that
just because she had him declawed didn't mean she a was bad owner.  In my
defense I would just like to say that I didn't mean for that statement to
read like that.  She mistreated my sweet little Calvin in other ways as
well.  How anyone could have been mean to such a sweet little guy I'll
never know, but it is obvious that she was incredibly cruel to him.  
I must point out however, that IMHO declawing is cruel.  As my vet put it,
"it is a barbaric operation".  I am getting truly sick and tired of people
putting their not-alive furninture before their LIVE cats!  There are so
many people on this topic looking for validation because they have declawed
their cats or are planning to do so.  Jeez, if you felt so confident about
your decision, why are you all being so defensive??  It makes me want to
cry to see all of these people voluntarily putting there companions thru
pain for what?  A pristine sofa??  Better not have children.  They'll ruin
your whole house, not just a piece of furniture.  
I know that I am probably going to get charcol broiled, not just flamed for
this.  Go right ahead.

Just my .02

Nancy
Owned by Calvin and Hobbes  
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: mary@zmax.com (Mary Papp)
Subject: Re: Any good cat gif files?
Organization: Z/Max Computer Solutions, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 22:17:52 GMT


Everybody seems to want kitty gif files.  I have four kitty gif files.  I didn't
write down your mail addresses and I can mail them to you or have you download
them from me.  Please let me know how you would prefer these sent to you.

Mary and Slash

-- 
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Mary Papp:  Z/Max Computer Solutions 8287 Loop Road Baldwinsville, NY 13027
                              mary@zmax.com                  
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Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: barlow@prodigal.psych.rochester.edu (Rebel)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Canned Cat Food--Differences
Date: 31 Dec 92 23:07:42 GMT
Article-I.D.: galileo.1992Dec31.230742.702
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York

I was wondering what the net opinion was on the differences in nutritional
value between kinds of canned cat food? As far as supermarket brands go ...
is one brand more nutritional,better for my cat than another? I am asking
because we had been feeding Zeb Friskies...both dry and canned food..but for
Christmas we treated her to a can of "Sheba"...the sheba food seems to be a BIG
hit...much more tasty it seems than the Friskies food. (although the dry
chicken flavor Friskies food is an equally big hit) I was wondering if anyone
had an opinion on the Sheba food versus the Friskies...if they are equally
good for my cat than I think Zeb would rather have the Sheba, if one is better
than the other then we should stay with the Friskies I think. I guess I always
wonder if the supermarket brands are good for the cat, my dog was always on
special food from the vet, but I do remember that while definitely healthy the
dog was not that pleased with our choice in food ;-)

Jen (mommy to Zebulon)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: ren@Turing.ORG (Karen Prestemon)
Subject: Plant question
Organization: The Turing Project, Public Access Internet Host
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 03:32:44 GMT


I am a severe chronic asthmatic, and I have been doing a lot of reading
lately about my wonderful illness.  It seems a spider plant can help
remove toxins from the air and produce oxygen (I know all plants do
produce oxygen, but this one works especially well).  The question is:
are spider plants poisonous to my kitty cats??  If not, I'm headed for
a nursery!

--Karen
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: phz@cadence.com (Pete Zakel)
Subject: Re: Question
Organization: Cadence Design Systems, Inc.
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 02:37:14 GMT

In article <1992Dec19.233502.2691@umbc3.umbc.edu> cs431109@umbc8.umbc.edu (cs431109) writes:
>Articles 18748, 18749, and 18750 are the most
>recent FAQ (I think), and 18749 is the part that has details on
>toxoplasmosis.

Um, your info is generally correct but please note that Article numbers are
useless as references across usenet since each site has its own set of
article numbers.  Article 18749 at one site may be Article 469 at another
and Article 36999 at still another.  Also, ordering will be different at
different sites.

Please refer to articles by Subject (the easiest thing for almost everyone
to look at).  For the more experienced and knowledgeable users, Message IDs
can be used.

-Pete Zakel
 (phz@cadence.com or ..!uunet!cadence!phz)

"Just once, I wish we would encounter an alien menace that wasn't
immune to bullets"
		-- The Brigader, "Dr. Who"
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: jkl@fsl.noaa.gov (Jennifer Longstaff)
Subject: Re: Do your cats know their names?
Organization: Forecast Systems Lab, NOAA - Boulder CO, USA
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]
Date: Thu, 24 Dec 1992 21:55:17 GMT

I decided that my cats knew their names by giving them a little test 
when all three were curled up in mandarin position (I call it "cat 
meditating", or "meatloaf position" or "half asleep, half awake"...) 
I sat on the floor on the other side of them room from them, and quietly 
said one cat's name.  Well, *THAT CAT* opened her eyes and looked
over at me.  She noticed I didn't have any treats for her, so she closed
her eyes and went back to dozing.  Then I said another cat's name, and,
again, the proper cat looked at me.  This worked for all 3 cats.  

Their names all sound quite different from one another (Bridget, Marble
and Glacier), so it was easy enough for them not to get confused.  It
might be harder for each to distinguish her name if they were similar,
for instance when I had "Sophie" and "Gypsy" and "Kitty", I think each
cat responded to a 2-syllable word with the "EEE" sound at the end.

A friend who raises Abyssinians told me about this little "cat test" and 
I'm impressed that it works!  My cats have certainly had the chance to 
learn their names, because I say one cat's name repeatedly, specifically to 
her when no other cats are around.  I suppose if all three cats were always
together and I called out the names, they might not learn to identify one
name as their own.

- Jennifer
From: cherniac@bbn.com (Natasha Cherniack)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Wheezing, hack in 15 yr. Siamese
Date: 21 Dec 92 19:50:33 GMT
Organization: Bolt Beranek and Newman (BBN)
NNTP-Posting-Host: prune.bbn.com


>Please help us.

>My moms 15 yr. old Siamese-Burmese cross breaks into a heavy wheeze, then kind
>of scrunches down trying to hack up something every coulpe of hours for a 
>minute or so. He seems partially successful as he swallows, and then stops for
>some time.

>The vet is clueless, but showed us that he has an enlarged heart.

>Is this an allergy ? Hairball ? If hairball, does anything work ? He has
>been given cortizone, but it doesn't seem to help. It may have at first
>(allergy) but not any more. Antibiotics are not helpful either.

>thanks much,
>Jim

My 1.5 year old cat started this too and it turned out he had asthma.  When 
they look like there trying to "hack-up" something, they're just trying to be
able to breathe better.  (The vet said you can tell the difference between the
two by whether or not the cats neck is outstretched.  If it is, they're trying
to breathe, if it isn't they're trying to toss their cookies.)  The asthma is
brought on by an allergic re-action to something and it is very difficult to
find the cause.  When we took my cat, he had just started wheezing and had been
hacking for a couple of weeks and was in a pretty bad way.  He got a shot of 
cortisone (?) to get it under control and then given a perscription to take if
it came back.  The shot cleared him right up and he has since had only two 
other attacks that weren't nearly as bad.  Once he started on the pills, the
attacks stopped.  I think that the cause to my kitties allergy was organic
catnip.  2 out of the 3 attacks came shortly on the heels of playing with the
'nip.  Good luck!!
Natasha
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: mary@zmax.com (Mary Papp)
Subject: Re: where are all the cat people
Organization: Z/Max Computer Solutions, Inc.
Date: Mon, 21 Dec 1992 20:15:04 GMT

[stuff deleted]
>>Actually the though of a cat on a water bed makes me 
>nervous... I could see an endless night of bouncing cat playing catch 
>the mouse until i lost what is left of my tattered mind...

Slash loves the waterbed unless I toss and turn too much and then its onto the
floor.  He lays all over the thing since it gives off heat.  He thinks its the
best thing since the huge sliding glass door (He loves to look out of it).

He hated it when I first got it 'cause it moved when he did (how dare the bed 
move, mommy what did you do to the bed??).

Mary and Slash


-- 
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Mary Papp:  Z/Max Computer Solutions 8287 Loop Road Baldwinsville, NY 13027
                              mary@zmax.com                  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: laurel.schippers@hal9k.ann-arbor.mi.us (Laurel Schippers) 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: RE: DEFENSE
Date: 1 Jan 93 17:09:00 GMT
Distribution: world
Organization: HAL 9000 BBS, W-NET HQ, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Reply-To: laurel.schippers@hal9k.ann-arbor.mi.us (Laurel Schippers) 

From Bronwyn Scrutton:
  I *tried* training.  I *provided* other avenues for their
>scratching. I gave them *treats* when they used the scratching post
instead
>of the furniture.
And from Michael Bruce McDonald:
Are folks aware of a new method some vets are trying out as an
alternative
to declawing?  It involves capping the claws with lastic sheath.  The
problem of course, is that these sheaths deteriorate over time, making
the
procedure one that has to be re-done with some frequency.
------------------

There is an alternative to declawing--learn to clip your cat's claws.
If your fingernails got long and scraggy, would you trim them, or
would you just chop off your first finger joints?

Declawing should really be a last resort, after clipping and training
have utterly failed to prevent furniture damage.  My kitty is
untrainable with furniture, but he can't do any damage because I
keep his claws blunt.
                                                                                                            
----
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| HAL 9000 BBS +1 313 663 4173 or 663 3959 | Four 14.4k v.32bis dial-ins |
| Public Access QWK-to-Usenet gateway      | With PCBoard 14.5aM & uuPCB |
+------------------------------------------+-----------------------------+
From: dan@msen.com (Dan Sugalski)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cats with different diets (Re: Cat licks plastic and likes it)
Date: 29 Dec 1992 15:13:30 GMT
Organization: Msen, Inc. -- Ann Arbor, Michigan
NNTP-Posting-Host: garnet.msen.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL8]

Nancy Piltch (piltch@ariel.lerc.nasa.gov) wrote:

: Pita is a diabetic and FUS-prone cat who gets either w/d to control his
: diabetes or s/d when he gets a FUS incident. (As of his most recent
: incident the vet is recommending s/d until he's cleared up, then a regimen
: of 3 weeks w/d, 1 week s/d to try to keep the problems under control.)

A friend of mine used to have a cat who was prone to FUS and her vet had
the cat on medication to acidify the urine.  Nova got his pill ground up
and mixed in a little wet food at one feeding.  I'll try to call Janet and
find out what it was, but I think it was just vitamin c.

Karen
From: lsc@ssd.intel.com (Linda Cline)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Meaning of tabby cats
Date: 24 Dec 92 05:05:26 GMT
Organization: Supercomputer Systems Division (SSD), Intel

In article <23DEC199215031924@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov> afdenis@lims01.lerc.nasa.gov (Stephen Dennison) writes:
>In article <1992Dec22.231607.22629@tellab5.tellabs.com>, rmd@tellabs.com (Bob Dyas) writes...
>> 
>>I've read/heard that many/most/all tabbies have what appears to be a
>>capital letter M on their forehead.  My cat does.  Is this true for all
>>the tabbies out there?
>
>One of mine *must* have "666" tatooed on him somewhere, but I haven't been 
>able to find it yet. :-)
>
>My yellow tabby doesn't seem to have the letter you speak of. 
>
>-- Stephen
>

	I had never heard of the letter "M" attribute, but after I read this
post, I went home and looked at my orange tabby, and lo and behold, there it
was!  Also, I have a new kitten who is either half or 3/4 Siamese, and looks 
Siamese except his dark paws are a bit heathery, and he has a very faint 
letter "M" on his forehead!  I had thought they were just faint tabby stripes,
but it is an "M".

	Merry Holidays,
	linda, tyler and zachary

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
"Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in
the same place.  If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at
least twice as fast as that!"	
                                        Lewis Carroll
                                        Through the Looking Glass
Linda Cline 			
Intel Supercomputer Systems Division 
Compiler Group
email: lsc@ssd.intel.com
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
From: mary@zmax.com (Mary Papp)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: My favorite type of cat
Date: 21 Dec 92 17:17:24 GMT
Organization: Z/Max Computer Solutions, Inc.


>Fluffy Brown Tabbies are intelligent, sometimes
>fiendishly so (Booger the Bad knew how to open all my kitchen cabinets and
>how to get into the neighbors' kitchens. No loaf of bread was safe from him, 
>nor boxes of powdered skimmed milk, nor leftovers, nor corn cobs). 

I have a grey tabby and he gets into everything also.  Are you sure its not
just tabbies in general?  'Cause Slash feels that EVERYTHING belongs to him
unless he is bored of it then I can have it back.

Mary and Slash


-- 
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Mary Papp:  Z/Max Computer Solutions 8287 Loop Road Baldwinsville, NY 13027
                              mary@zmax.com                  
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: reb@lhdsy1.lahabra.chevron.com (Richard E. Barrier)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: favorite cat
Date: 31 Dec 92 00:56:53 GMT
Distribution: usa
Organization: Chevron Oil Field Research, La Habra, CA.

Woody's story starts about 5 years ago. While walking back home from the 7/11
store with my roomate from Hell, out of the corner of my eye I saw something
fly across the street. This street was very dark and it was about 23:00 on a
Saturday night. We thought what had streaked across the street and under a car
was a rat. As we passed the car, it crawled out over the dirty wet gutter and
went... meow. Well my roomate from hell (I will elaborate later) wanted a pet
and since I had always had big dogs, Labrador and an Irish Setter, I told him
that I had no problem with "him" having a cat. Well as the story goes... I
bought the food, I gave him water, I bought and changed the kitty liter, I got
him his shots, etc etc etc... As soon as an opportunity arrived for me to move
out, I was gone. While packing and getting ready to move my girlfriend at the
time pointed out to me that Woody was really mine. So unfortunatly while I was
moving Jim's cat got out, Damn Jim I sorry...maybe he'll come back. Jim was
upset for about a day. The fuzz monster Woody was in hiding at my girfriend's
apartment.

The fuzz monster Woody was about as big as my hand with great big ears and paws.
Since I have no papers on him, he is a mutt. So I will call him a yellow tiger
tabby. He's about 15 pounds and very affectionate. He greats me at the door
whenever I come home and he's the best snooze alarm. I went to a cat show and
he looks like a maine coon he's that bushy.
So I always wondered if he was a maine coon or not. Well in either case
mutt or pedigree I've got a real good cat.

Woody is short for Woodstock. He's was like a small yellow bird - from Peanuts
and he grew into a big concert. Woody is the best roomate I've ever had he only
eats the food I give him, he cleans up after himself, and he doesn't drink my
last beer.

******************************************************************************
Richard Barrier : The opinions expressed here are my own and Woody's. They do
reb@chevron.com : not represent Chevron in any capasity, simply because they
(310)694-9354   : are not into warm fuzzys.
******************************************************************************
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats