HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: cczcole@mips.nott.ac.uk (Marlon Cole)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Brave Missy and the Sock Monsters
Date: 12 Nov 92 14:43:41 GMT
Reply-To: cczcole@mips.nott.ac.uk (Marlon Cole)
Organization: Nottingham University

In article <1992Nov10.210532.21491@oracle.us.oracle.com>, schiles@valentine.us.oracle.com (Suzanne Chiles) writes:
|> I should have known better.  I should have known to keep my sock drawer
|> tightly closed.  After all, all the socks together create so much energy
|> that Sock Monsters can come out and take over the house.

|> So there was Missy the Kitten.  Alone in the house -- only 4 months old
|> -- battling the savage sock monsters for the very first time.  

What is it with all you people out there - what are we teaching our children?  here we are encouraging
them to go out and beat the crap out sock/vacuum/tinsel/paper bag monsters, and nothing about 'love thy
neighbour', "make love not war" - now our cat Whisper believes in the latter - faced with an otherwise
terrifying wooly jumper monster, does he stalk it, does he rip it limb from limb in the Mother of all
Battles.  Nope - he humps it all over the house!  Sometimes he'll even bring it downstairs to show us 
just how loving and tolerant he is, especially if we have company!
Maybe I've missed the point and he's being savage in his own way - 'worrying' his enemies to death....

Marlon

------------
Marlon Cole                  email:  cczcole@unicorn.nott.ac.uk or
Systems Programmer                   cczcole@uk.ac.nott.unicorn depending.....
Cripps Computing Centre
University of Nottingham
NOTTINGHAM. NG7 2RD
From: zlsiida@fs1.mcc.ac.uk (dave budd)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: milk jug
Date: 11 Nov 92 09:57:30 GMT
Organization: Manchester Computing Centre

My wife spotted a really great milk jug last week, we had to buy it.  It's 
in the shape of a slightly plump kitten sitting with one paw raised, which 
is where the milk comes out, and the handle is its tail.  Love it.

        Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty

  Dave Budd, MCC, Oxford Rd, Manchester, England   (44|0)61-275-6033  
  D.Budd@mcc.ac.uk                                          fax 6040
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: eomiya@borland.com (Elliot Omiya)
Subject: Re: how to tell a cat it is a cat, not human
Originator: eomiya@genghis.borland.com
Organization: Borland International, Inc.
Distribution: usa
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 1992 00:03:11 GMT

My cat sleeps next to me, half on top of me, and directly on top of me,
depending on her mood.  I generally don't like her sleeping on top of me,
but sometimes I let her.  Somehow, she knows her place, though, because
when my fiancee is sleeping over, she just sleeps on the floor next to the
bed and leaves us to ourselves.  Smart cat!  (Or maybe she doesn't like
sleeping with another female!)

-=<EHO>=-
From: ssr@cco.caltech.edu (Steve Scott Roy)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Soft Paws (tm?)
Keywords: declawing,surgery,furniture
Date: 7 Nov 92 02:33:19 GMT
Article-I.D.: gap.1df9tfINNrqo
Organization: California Institute of Technology, Pasadena
NNTP-Posting-Host: sandman.caltech.edu


Now, I know that the FAQ lists declawing as one of the quickest ways
to start a flame war,  but I heard something recently that I thought
I'd get a net.opinion on.

A friend mentioned something called Soft Paws (tm?) which was supposed
to be a much more humae way to keep a cat from being able to destroy
furniture than the standard declawing.  Declawing -- as I understand
it -- is more like defingering because you have to cut the digits off
pretty far back to keep the claws from regrowing.  I don't know what
is involved with this other procedure but it is supposed to be much
less traumatic.

Has anyone here heard of this?  Any more info?  Thanks!

Oh, and just to keep the flames down, I do know about the techniques
to train a cat to not scratch the furniture.  I don't like declawing
any more than anyone here.  I'm just asking for information.

Steve Roy
ssr@ama.caltech.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: judy@evolving.com (Judy Bettinger)
Subject: Our cat has sprung a leak!
Date: Mon, 09 Nov 1992 15:02:42 GMT
Organization: Evolving Systems, Inc.


We're at our wits' ends with Bast!  We think she's upset over our
having brought a second cat into the house, but the way she's 
expressing this is by peeing practically anywhere except in the
litter box.  Any pile of clothing, wood, electric cords (!) or
who knows what else becomes a target.  She'll pick a place and then
repeatedly saturate it.  She's done this in the past, but never to this
extent before.  So far, she's ruined one of my sewing projects,
one of my husband's good sport coats, a small rug, and several piles of 
scrap wood.  She even peed on a pile of dirty laundry yesterday.

We haven't changed brands of litter, and are keeping a second box now
that we've got Felix.  We're afraid that he may be smelling the places 
where she starts peeing and attempting to cover the odor, resulting in 
still more pee.  

The vet says she shows no signs of FUS, and my husband is threatening to 
have her put down.

This calls for desperate measures... a few months ago, someone posted
a five-step method where you put the little whizzer in solitary confinement 
then gave them back their freedom a little at a time.  There was quite a 
bit more detail than in the FAQ.  Unfortunately, I didn't save the post.  
Can someone help?

P.S.
I seem to remember that someone suggested
cleaning up the urine with bleach.  Do I need to
worry about it reacting with the ammonia in the urine?
-- 
Judy Bettinger (judy@evolving.com)       < |/      Friends don't let friends
Evolving Systems, Inc.                    :o<)     do MS-DOS.
Denver, Colorado                         < |\
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: todd@hector.uucp (24102-todd)
Subject: Re: What to name a male BLACK kitten...
Organization: Bellcore, Livingston, NJ
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 18:00:20 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.053636.4250@fcom.cc.utah.edu> holmbeck@cs.weber.edu (Holmbeck) writes:
>Keywords: 
>
>Well, I've loved reading what you've all thought about male
> white kittens, how about male Black kittens. :)
>
>-- Laura
>
>
>-- 
>~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
>"You're perfect, yes it's true. But without me you're only you"
> -- "Midlife Crisis", Faith No More
> holmbeck@csulx.weber.edu / laura@glia.biostr.washington.edu

My male black kitten looked to me like a little black
bear, so I named him Smokey after the famous bear.  
He seems to like the name, because
he always comes to me when I call his name (well...almost
always...and sometimes he takes longer than I like...but
eventually he meanders over to me!)
Carolyn Todd.
From: jlooi@dsg.cs.tcd.ie (Julie Ooi)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: other monsters....
Date: 8 Nov 92 18:55:59 GMT
Organization: DSG, Dept. of Computer Science, Trinity College Dublin

The 2 cats, Hocm and Lucy, defend their kitchen floor territory when the Monster Mop 
attacks.
Monster Mop tends to leave the floor wet (YUCK) if not opposed!

When Monster Mop sleeps, they watch the Cat TV - the hampster cage or the goldfish 
bowl.


Julie.

-- 
=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+=+
  Julie Ooi                              Telephone: +353-1-7021539     
  Department of Computer Science,        Fax: +353-1-6772204         
  Trinity College,                       Telex: 93782 TCD EI 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: schlumpf@uimrl7.mrl.uiuc.edu ()
Subject: Re: repost: story - THE MAU (tremble TREMBLE) 
Reply-To: schlumpf@uimrl7.mrl.uiuc.edu ()
Organization: Materials Research Lab
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 17:56:35 GMT



Folks-

I'm sorry this got reposted AGAIn...as I just said in the 
followup to the UPDATE on Dallas...the network's been
flaky, please forgive me....

Kay Schlumpf & Crew
From: jsmt@troi.cc.rochester.edu (Julia Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: softpaws
Date: 8 Nov 92 23:34:34 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)

In article <1992Nov8.202733.10541@cs.odu.edu> colli_c@aelle.cs.odu.edu (Catherine Collingwood) writes:
>This is a very theoretical question (reference my earlier article)
>but does anyone know anything about the new "softpaws" treatment
>which is offered as an alternative to declawing?  I know it involves
>putting some sort of cap on the cat's claws, but wouldn't a rather
>rambunctious cat just mess with the caps until they come off?

I asked my vet about it, and she has nothing but praise for the treatment.
The first time, the vet fits the cat with covers for the claws and
shows you how to cement them on.  It doesn't interfere with climbing or
playing, but they (the covers) do come off after about 4 months (your
exp. may vary).  So you reapply.  It costs about $4-6 per year to do it,
and saves the cat from having its paws amputated (which is what declawing
is  
  
--j
From: jsmt@troi.cc.rochester.edu (Julia Smith)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Ok to feed tuna daily ??
Date: 10 Nov 92 04:05:34 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester (Rochester, NY)

In article <1992Nov9.211225.15982@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> jlc5f@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jean L. Cooper) writes:
>I was under the impression that people tuna was
>bad for cats, but that canned tuna cat food was
>fine.

My sources express a concern no one else has brought up about tuna fish,
namely that the flavor is so strong that cats who eat alot of tuna come
to believe that tuna is the only thing that constitutes "food" - nothing
else will do.  So it is entirely possible that your cat will get 
hooked on it.
  
Two characteristics of a tuna diet which have been demonstrated by
vets:
 
1)  Tuna robs the cat's body of vitamin E, causing a condition called
   "steatitis."  This condition shows up first as the cat being very 
    nervous and then (eventually) becoming hypersensitive -- it's
    painful for the cat to be touched.
 
2)  Brought up by other posters, tuna fish contains insoluble mineral
    salts which can form stones and gravel in the bladder and contribute
    to infections.  All fish have these salts, but tuna is most concentrated.
 
So a diet which is dominated by tuna is not very healthy for the
cat, and (conversely) the cat who gets tuna may well get hooked on it
and not want ANYthing else.
From: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us (Jim Graham)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: My roommate broke my kitten's leg!!!! 
Distribution: world
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 20:32:09 GMT
Organization: Me? Organized? Hah! :-)

In article <40840@sdcc12.ucsd.edu> ph600fcy@sdcc14.ucsd.edu writes:

> The
> roommate angrily threw the kitten down.  It wasn't a toss, it really
> had some force in it.
[....]
> and it turns out that the leg is broken.

> The problem is dealing with the roommate.  She is from Ecuador, and
> from what I've heard, Latins aren't generally kind to animals.

that's no excuse --- don't let her try to use it as one.  true, the
kitten needs to learn not to jump up on the dinner table, but there
are much better ways than breaking the kitten's leg.  (trying hard to
maintain my temper right now while thinking about this person's
actions....and not doing a very good job of it.)

if it were me, and someone deliberately did that to Smokey, I'd return
the favor...to them.  no smiley intended or implied here.  there'd be a
human going to the emergency room, too.  I'm not a violent type at all,
but push me past the breaking point (*VERY* hard to do, but deliberate
violence to a cat such as that is an instant way to smash that breaking
point to little pieces), and you'd be better off trying to stand up to a
full-strength tornado....

> It looks like a confrontation between me (or my girlfriend) and the
> roommate is inevitable.

and appropriate.  now, not later.

> I hope that no one has had to deal with
> this situation before, but it so I'd like some advice and comments.

here's what I'd do:

   1) get the roomate to pay *ALL* expenses for the treatment of the
      kitten.  you might insist on cash....I wouldn't be too trusting
      of someone like the person you've just described.

   2) after (1) is completed, throw said roomate out and get a new
      roomate.

   ***  KEEP IN MIND, IF THEY DID IT ONCE, THEY'LL DO IT AGAIN!  ***

on second thought, just throw the b*stard out, period.  don't wait till
they pay the expenses --- that gives them too much time to do more harm
to the kitten.  collect the expenses after they're out.
   --jim

--
#include <std_disclaimer.h>                                 73 DE N5IAL (/9)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERNET:  jim@n5ial.chi.il.us  |  grahj@gagme.chi.il.us  |  j.graham@ieee.org
ICBM:  41.70N 87.63W                    UUCP:  gagme!n5ial!jim@clout.chi.il.us
AMATEUR RADIO: (unstable...back after I've moved)          AMTOR SELCAL:  NIAL
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: ozernoi@poisonoak.berkeley.edu (Irina Ozernoy)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: I'm Sad
Date: 6 Nov 1992 01:00:23 GMT
Organization: /etc/organization
NNTP-Posting-Host: poisonoak.berkeley.edu

Hello,
I've been reading this group off and on.  My folks have two cats,
A father and son.  The dad cat is 6, and obviously not neutered, since
he has a child.  The kid, Vasya, is just a year old now.  Dad and son had
been getting along great, considering they are both unneutered males.
They never fought and seemed to be really fond of one another.  
Now here is why I am sad.  Kuzya, the dad, has been missing since last
Friday (10/30).  He's gone wandering before, but never for this long.
I know when we made the choice not to get him neutered, we were asking for
something like this to happen, but it doesn't make it any easier for me,
especially since technically the cats are my parents', not mine.  (So it's
not like I could have gotten them neutered on the sly.)
My boyfriend tells me that there's nothing that I can do, but it doesn't
make me feel better.  I'm afraid that Kuzya has been killed (run over) and that
we'll never find out.  Our next door neighbors have had 2 cats run over in the
past two years, and both times, it was a hit-and-run right in front of their 
house.  
I'm sorry to unload this on you all, but it helped to get it off my chest.
Thanks.  Any mail/postings will be appreciated. 
Irina "Sad,sad,sad" Ozernoy
From: miarrobi@cvbnet.prime.com (Mike Iarrobino)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: That new clumping litter ...
Date: 6 Nov 92 16:20:05 GMT
Reply-To: miarrobi@cvbnet.prime.com


 dmillard@encore.com (Debbie Millard) writes:

...  BTW, I've been using
the clumping stuff for a couple of years and have never completely
changed out the whole box.  I just keep adding fresh to the top
a couple times a week.  Even my non-pet friends don't notice any
litter smell.


It may not be a good idea to leave the litter box unchanged for that long.
Even though it may not smell it is still a good idea to clean and disinfect
the litter box once in a while.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: stanton@athena.cs.uga.edu (Catherine Stanton)
Subject: Re: College students
Organization: University of Georgia, Athens
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 22:15:13 GMT

I am a dreaded college student -- I have a cat and I am a senior.
However, seeing as how Steve has been my baby since I was 13 and 
I have had him for hmmm (counts on fingers, journalism major) 7
years, I have decided NOT to abandon him when I go on spring break.
*snicker*

In all honesty though, some college students, as well as anyone can
be cruel to animals.  We can't divide it by "latino" or "college
student" groups.  I myself have what looks to be a 30 year old male
"yuppie" type neighbor who leaves for work every single day and no 
matter what the weather puts his golden retriever out on his patio
(a 6x8 size piece of cement with a cover (for the patio for the apt
above) and those little metal bars).  Is it just me or does this seem
cruel to you?  It's a LOVELY dog and I'm not a dog-lover by nature and
this dog is so sweet and lonely out there *sniff*.  I spend probably
a half hour a day just from  coming or going to talk to him and play
with him.  Wish I could do more...*sniff*

Cat
From: brad@cmptrc.lonestar.org (Brad Barton)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Kitty's 1st christmas!
Date: 11 Nov 92 14:36:23 GMT
Organization: CompuTrac Inc., Richardson TX

In article <1992Nov9.223229.17953@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU> jlc5f@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jean L. Cooper) writes:
>When my twin brothers were babies, we put the Christmas
>tree IN the playpen to keep them away from it.  I don't
>know how this would work for a cat--probably just challenge
>it!

We tried this.. we'd find the tree and playpen both upended in the middle
of the floor... thankfully, we had the foresight not to put any ornaments
on it until we saw how this idea would work... the ceiling hook tied to
the top of the tree worked great for us...

-- 
---------------------------------------------------------------
|            Brad Barton -- brad@cmptrc.lonestar.org          |
|  "No matter how hard you throw a dead fish into the water,  |
|   it still won't swim."    -- Marian Stevens                |
---------------------------------------------------------------
From: sstover@sumax.seattleu.edu (   Kate   )
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Spooky things
Date: 10 Nov 92 02:12:17 GMT
Article-I.D.: sumax.5699
Organization: Seattle University, Seattle WA

On the lines of cats and collars/leashes/etc:

I must be lucky or something.  Hemingway never even noticed his collar (he
had of course worn one of those cloth collars at the shelter) and when I
bought one for Clio today and put it on her, she played with the bell for
a few minutes and then forgot about it completely.

I don't take them out, except for letting them out to run up and down the
hallway when they get too hyper in the apartment, but on trips to the vet
it has been my experience that if I let Hemingway play with one end of the
ver long leash he never even notices that he's on it.  Just follows the
end that I drag in front of him... :)

--
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
.     . *~*}    Sheryl Stover           | "The Republicans were right! We're
   .    *~*}    sstover@seattleu.edu    | all gettin' sucked down a cesspool
 . *  . *~*}    (& Hemingway & Clio)    | of depravity and bad manners! Time
 *    . *~*}    Medici in the studio in | for action!! We'll stop it cold!!!
.  .    *~*}    December                | Get goin! Okay! sit down, shut up,
    *   *~*}                            | and do the family values thing!!"
 .    . *~*}                            |		-Opus
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: ltao@netcom.com (Lilly Tao)
Subject: Re: SHRINKING CAT FOOD CANS!
Organization: Netcom Online
Date: Wed, 11 Nov 1992 23:13:07 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.201626.146795@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu> lm03@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (LINDA E. MUCKEY) writes:
>When I went to feed "the girls" last week, I noticed the cans all had "better
>flavor" plastered all over the labels.  Funny, though - something else was
>different...  Then it came to me!  Found a can from before = 6 oz.  New can is
>now 5.5!
>

Ahhh...  this explains why the Friskies cans I bought last night had
new labels reading "STILL 6 oz.!!"    I wondered what that meant.
Hmph.

Lilly (and Oreo, the brave real-fur-mousie decapitator)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: baskin@ralvmm.vnet.ibm.com (Brenda Baskin)
Subject: When to Neuter?
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 22:38:18 GMT
News-Software: IBM OS/2 PM RN (NR/2) v0.14l by O. Vishnepolsky and R. Rogers
Reply-To: baskin@ralvmm.vnet.ibm.com (Brenda Baskin)
Organization: IBM T. J. Watson Research

When should a male cat be neutered? I thought it was 6 months but my vet
recommends between 8-9 mounths as it give the urethra (sp?) time to grow
so he won't get FUS later on.

When do male cats begin spraying. Will waiting until he is 8-9 months
old be a problem in this area?

Brenda Baskin  (baskin@ralvmm.vnet.ibm.com)
From: deeds@oracle (Deanna J. Deeds)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Sox
Date: 12 Nov 92 23:14:48 GMT
Reply-To: deeds@solaria.hac.com
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Amy Ginther (ag3b+@andrew.cmu.edu) wrote:
: A friend of mine wondered if Sox Clinton is a member of the DemoCATic party.
: 
: My boys, Gus and Burlington and their friends, Eddy and Larry, have
: always been loyal DemoCATS.

..which is funny since if you've read Cleveland Amory, you'll recall
that "cats are Republican"...  if you think about it, they really do
hate CHANGE.  :)  ;)  :)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Ruth Milner)
Subject: harnesses
Reply-To: rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (Ruth Milner)
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro NM
Date: Sat, 7 Nov 92 00:45:20 GMT

In article <1992Nov6.020713.19390@wetware.com> diana@wetware.com (CatWoman ) writes:
>
>Muffin chewed through the cross-piece
>on the first one - I've since wrapped the second one in 
>adhesive tape, and he runs around with a loose end, but has
>not chewed on the harness again.  One I'd put on too loosely
>and the lower jaw got caught.  

I was looking at harnesses in PetSmart a couple of weeks ago, and they didn't
have any leather ones at all. They are made out of the same material that the 
collars are (a non-snagging nylon weave), and they have two loops (with buck-
les) and a cross-piece between them.

Would this type of harness be suitable?
-- 
Ruth Milner                          NRAO/VLA                  Socorro NM
Computing Division Head      rmilner@zia.aoc.nrao.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: diannes@milton.u.washington.edu (Dianne Schoenberg)
Subject: Re: Help!  How to get car oil off my kitty
Organization: University of Washington, Seattle
Distribution: usa
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 21:57:46 GMT


> As a result on one of her outdoor romps last night she decided to get
> a bunch of car oil on her back.  Giving Zerbina a bath tends to be a
> tramatic experience, (for all concerned), although she loves water, 
> (she plays in the sink with the water slightly on), she doesn't really 
> want to get into it.  
>
> Does anybody out there know of a way to get the oil off her without the
> bathing experience we both enjoy so much?

I realize that this is too late to be of any use, but I was surprised
that no one mentioned an excellent product made by Biogroom called Super
Blue Plus.  It's a waterless shampoo--you just squirt it on, rub it a bit
to make some suds, then wipe dry with a towel.  I have used it on kitties
only once or twice, but regularly use it for spot-cleaning my two shaggy
dogs.  According to the manufacturer it IS safe for use on cats.  I've 
looked for it in retail outlets without success, but most of the wholesale
catalogs seem to carry it.  I have no idea if it would work on motor oil,
but works great for poop, mud, etc.  I hope that this knowledge can save a
kitty somewhere from a dreaded bath!

****************************************************************************
Dianne & her kids:                                  diannes@u.washington.edu
            K.C.: U-CD Nightwind's Elan, HC HCT CGC (Briard)
             Chloe: Found a Four-Leaf Clover, HT CGC (OES) 
              Ms. Hilary Prickle (African Pygmy hedgehog)
                    Mr. Bun  (English Angora rabbit)
                     (sadly, catless at the moment)
****************************************************************************
From: jlc5f@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU (Jean L. Cooper)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Kitty's 1st christmas!
Date: 9 Nov 92 22:32:29 GMT
Article-I.D.: murdoch.1992Nov9.223229.17953
Organization: University of Virginia

When my twin brothers were babies, we put the Christmas
tree IN the playpen to keep them away from it.  I don't
know how this would work for a cat--probably just challenge
it!
--
Jean L. Cooper    (BITNET: JLC5F@virginia.edu   CIS: 70253,1114)
"The true University of these days is a Collection of Books." 
                                           --Carlyle                        
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats