HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jonathan@geop.ubc.ca (Jonathan Thornburg)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: humane society vs prospective adopters (was: Re: Still Looking for a Siamese Pet!!)
Date: 9 Nov 1992 21:08:38 GMT
Organization: U of BC Geophysics & Astronomy  +  U of Texas Physics/Relativity
NNTP-Posting-Host: rubis.astro.ubc.ca
Summary: forgive them, the xmas season gets a lot of poor-cat-home adopters
Keywords: cat adopt household good bad shelter SPCA humane society screen

In article <1992Nov9.191250.8456@ohsu.edu> davispa@ohsu.edu writes:
 [ has just adopted a kitten ]
>   I also must unfortunately relay that I had a horrible time at the humane
>society here in Portland.  I'm in the process of writing a tactful, but
>"demanding an explanation" type of letter to those in charge, and will copy it
>to you all when it's finished.  I know they have to be concerned and careful of
>who adopts pets, but the way I was treated was absolutely "inhumane" to say the
>least.  More on this issue at another time.  I still have to get through the
>rest of my work day, and if I dwell on this subject any more, I will get so
>upset I might start making phone calls.
>Does anyone know who the top person is that supervises the Humane Society's
>operation?  Don't we pay for it through our taxes?  I'm mad!!

In their defense, the xmas season tends to bring a lot of poor-cat-home
prospective adopters to shelters, trying to get cute kittens for their
too-young-to-care-for-them children.  These kittens are regularly
dumped or "returned" around Jan 15th or so.  In view of this, shelters
are probably inclined to be more pickey about prospective adopters
wanting kittens at this season than they might otherwise be.

For anyone else in this situation, it helps a lot to reassure the
shelter people that you're serious about being owned by a cat for
the next 15 years.  This includes having it spayed/neutered, taking
it to the vet for shots and a yearly checkup, etc etc.  Also make
sure they know that a responsible *adult* or *older* child will be
responsible for the cat's care.

- Jonathan Thornburg and Mortina II (who will stay in Canada when I, alas,
				     go back to Texas for 9 more months)
  <jonathan@geop.ubc.ca> through mid-November 92, then
  <jonathan@einstein.ph.utexas.edu> or <jonathan@hermes.chpc.utexas.edu>
  [for a few more months] UBC / {Geophysics & Astronomy, Physics}
  [then through Aug/92] U of Texas at Austin / Physics / Center for Relativity
Xref: sparky rec.pets.cats:13280 rec.pets:3529
From: ramirez@julia.math.ucla.edu (Alice Ramirez)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats,rec.pets
Subject: the presidential cat
Date: 9 Nov 92 14:24:06 GMT
Organization: UCLA Mathematics Department



So, there is to be a cat in the White House again, eh?  I love to think
think of Socks padding into the Oval Office,jumping up onto the desk
of the President of the United States, draping himself over pieces
of vital legislative paperwork waiting for The President's signature
or veto, shedding hair and maybe flea eggs onto The Presidential Blotter,
sleeping on upholstered furniture that will later be sat upon by 
such as John Major or Brian Mulrooney, who will then walk away, dusted
all over their pin-striped behinds with souvenier cat hair.

I cherish the image of President Clinton absentmindedly
scratching at Socks'  upturned belly while discussing
arms reduction with Yeltzin over the phone, or domestic issues with
the Senate Majority Leader.  Of Socks leaping into the Oval Office and
climbing the leg, claws out, of some loathesome representative of a 
political philosophy I detest.

Ah yes!  It is ABOUT TIME we have a president in the White House who shows
such truly EXCELLENT taste in the choice of companion animal.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: www@Ingres.COM (Bill White)
Subject: Re: When to Neuter?
Organization: Ingres, an ASK Company, Alameda CA 94501
Date: 13 Nov 92 18:02:34 GMT

Just a couple of quick comments (see below):


In article <4178@unisql.UUCP> collene@unisql.UUCP (Collene Pearce) writes:
>In article <1992Nov10.223818.18764@watson.ibm.com> baskin@ralvmm.vnet.ibm.com (Brenda Baskin) writes:
>>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.

According to my vet, recent studies have shown no correlation between when
the cat was neutered and whether there was a subsequent FUS problem.  We
have a cat who's had serious trouble with FUS (doing fine now, following
surgery and with prescription diet), so we got to know a lot about that
particular problem.  Doesn't hurt to wait, though, just on the chance...

>>
>>When do male cats begin spraying. Will waiting until he is 8-9 months
>>old be a problem in this area?
>
>I'm so glad someone brought this up.  I intend to get my Tamora a little
>brother in the near future and will also be facing this "when to neuter"
>issue.  
>
>I have been trying to prepare for it, though, by asking the breeders
>that I have visited (looking for the right kitty).  One of them said
>there is a new process where some vets will do it as early as 3-4mts.
>Most of them said to not do it at less than 6mts. and a few said to 
>wait as long as 8mts.  These were all persian breeders.

One good indicator that the cat has reached maturity is the smell of the
urine.  An adult male cat's urine is very pungent -- if you're the one who
scoops the box, you'll almost certainly notice it when the change takes
place.  This is one way to get a little more confidence when you decide
the time has come for neutering.

>
>While looking for the kitty, I also learned that some breeds "mature"
>sooner than others.   The general consensus of opinion was that if the
>cat is persian/himalayan/exotic short hair/angora then it will mature 
>later and so probably won't start to spray before 9-12mts. old.  
>However, they all seemed to agree, that if the kitten is an american
>shorthair or one of the oriental breeds, then it could start to spray
>as early as 5 to 6mts. of age.
>
Good luck with your new (persian?) kitten!

--Bill
>
>-- 
>
>********************* #include <std_disclaimer.h> **********************
>* A. Collene Pearce (512-343-7372, x114) * Organization: UniSQL, Inc.  *
>*                                        * Austin, TX                  *
>* unisql!collene@cs.utexas.edu           * 512-343-7297 or 7383(fax)   *
>************************************************************************
From: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us (Jim Graham)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: cats and coffee (was spooky things)
Distribution: world
Date: Thu, 12 Nov 92 18:14:45 GMT
Organization: Me? Organized? Hah! :-)

rusty@nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov (Kenneth Hall) writes:

> I had another reminder of the joys of being slave to a cat this
> morning, there is nothing worse than a cat who gets your attention by
> dipping the tip of tail in your first cup of coffee at 5:30 a.m..
> My question is... Does anybody else get tired of cat tail drinks or is
> it just me.  Mind you this happens no matter where the mug/glass is
> placed.

> How is your coffee dear?
>      A little fuzzy.

(thanks for the laugh...I can just see it now!)

well, can't say I've had this happen, as such, but here's a similar
story....

Smokey likes coffee.  no, I never give her any....if you leave a cup of
coffee unattended, though, where she can get at it, she'll start lapping
it right up (or used to --- I think she's lost interest over the years).
btw, we're talking black coffee here.  she's not going after the milk,
because there's none in it.

anyways, back when I was in school, we had a study session for a big
telecom test the next day.  as soon as I made coffee, I warned everyone
there not to turn their back on their coffee cup....one person didn't
listen.  his wife calls on the phone, and his cup of coffee is sitting
on the floor...unattended.  you guessed it....imagine the faces on
everyone there when Smokey walks over, and starts drinking his coffee!

   --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
------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: moe@rainier.lib.washington.edu (Joe Shippert)
Subject: Re: What to name a male BLACK kitten...
Organization: University of Washington Libraries, Seattle
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 1992 23:24:09 GMT

In article <1992Nov10.215917.24823@pony.Ingres.COM> jonb@ingres.com writes:
>In article <1992Nov10.053636.4250@fcom.cc.utah.edu> holmbeck@cs.weber.edu  
>(Holmbeck) writes:
>> Well, I've loved reading what you've all thought about male
>>  white kittens, how about male Black kittens. :)
>
>We named our black female Bela, after Lugosi; it's really a male name,
>but since it's more commonly pronounced than written, it works out ok.

That's great! We named our cat Boris, after Karloff. He's big and dumb like
Frankenstien's monster.

I thought Othello would be a good name for a black male cat.

-joe


-- 
=============================================================================
moe@u.washington.edu
"Neither snow nor rain nor gloom of night shall stay these couriers from
the swift completion of their appointed rounds."
From: loosemore-sandra@cs.yale.edu (Sandra Loosemore)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cats that JUMP (was fetch)
Date: 12 Nov 1992 11:38:56 -0500
Organization: staff hacker @ Yale Haskell project
NNTP-Posting-Host: functor.systemsz.cs.yale.edu
In-reply-to: hcrain@convex.csd.uwm.edu's message of 12 Nov 1992 16:22:23 GMT

A couple of weeks ago, I came home from work one day to find some
paperback books from the top shelf of my living room wall unit knocked
on the floor.  This shelf is over 6 feet from the floor!  It seems
very unlikely that my cats could have *climbed* up there, since there
is no other furniture close by, and I don't think they're coordinated
enough to climb up the shelves ladder-style....

-Sandra
Organization: Doctoral student, Chemistry, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Date: Fri, 13 Nov 1992 12:46:23 -0500 
From: Anne Marguerettaz <am2f+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: My roomate broke my kitten's leg 

First I would like to say that what she did was unexcusable and very
cruel.

What I would like to add though is that her being latin does not have
anything to do with her behaviour. I have several friends from latin
America and my husband's family is from Colombia. They all love our
two cats and would never dream of hurting them or any other animal.
Your roomate is just a sick monster and so is her family judging from
what you are telling us. As everybody seems to be telling you, you
should try to have her move out or move out yourself although, being a
student, I have had some bad roomate problems and I know it is some
times impossible to kick them out or to move out without having to
lose a substantial amount of money. I would try talking to her first.
If that does not work, you could try threatening to create her serious
problems with animal protection agencies... I am sure that they would
love to hear about the smuggled monkeys if the broken leg is not
serious enough for them.  Some people seem to respond only to violence
or threats and it seems that your roomate is probably one of them
judging by her own behaviour...

Let us know how your kitten is doing and how the whole thing turned
out.


Anne
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: brookc1@mail.auburn.edu (Cassandra Brooks)
Subject: Re: Introducing a new cat
Reply-To: brookc1@mail.auburn.edu
Organization: Auburn University
Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1992 01:32:47 GMT



Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: liana@nexus.yorku.ca (Liana Becker)
Subject: Re: Cats on Long Car Trips
Organization: York University, CS Dept. Toronto
Distribution: world,local
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 18:57:01 GMT

I would highly recommend traveling with your cats in a carrier of some sort.
Last year while we where at the vets and emergancy came in.  These really nice
people had let there cat wander loose in the car and while they where on
the highway a high-speed accident happend right infront of them.  When the
driver went to hit the breaks he saw that his cat had choose that time to
come up front from under the seat.  He said he had 2 choices, either hit the
breaks or join the accident.  As it was he hit the breaks but still joined
the accident but not as severly as he could have.  Someone who stopped rushed
him to the nearest vets (we're right by a turn off).  Unfortunatly the cat
did not survive.  I still get the shivers about having to make that kind
of decision so we travel with our baby in a cat carrier.

Liana
From: deeds@oracle (Deanna J. Deeds)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: help for my little kitten
Date: 11 Nov 92 22:03:54 GMT
X-Newsreader: TIN [version 1.1 PL6]

Jennifer (kitty@mentor.cc.purdue.edu) wrote:
: 
: Is there anybody out there that have this kind of experience ?  
: 
I saw that you wanted replies but this is also a request so I am
posting instead of mailing.

It's really tough to do this, but you really ought to try to
isolate each of the sick kitties.  This means no sharing of water
or food bowls, no playing or sleeping or grooming together, you
get the picture.  I did not follow this advice and today I am 
very sorry I didn't.

My Tuppence is one of the best "people" to ever come into my life.
Every loving kitty owner on this group knows what I mean.  I am away
at work all day, so I wanted to get her a same-species buddy.  I found
a cute little girl kitty at the National Cat Preservation Society
shelter.  I wanted to separate them for a week until things settled
down, but a long-time cat-owning friend's advice was "just go for it
from the beginning", so despite all I've read, I introduced
them.  It went about par for a cat introduction.  Then the little
one came down with the dreaded flu.  Took her to the vet for her
initial exam, vet gave her antibiotics & vitamins, and kind of tsk-tsked
when I said they weren't separated.  Above friend's sister, another
long-time cat person, when I told her the little one had a cold, 
immediately asked, "Do you have them separated?"  I still didn't 
listen to wisdom.

Anyway, when Tuppence (inevitably) contracted the bug, I finally 
put the little one in "kitty prison" (she has a nice bedroom all to 
herself with toys & perches etc.), she is going to pull through, but 
my poor big kitty is very sick.  Doesn't do much but drink water and go the
the litter box to urinate, and sleeps or just sits.  The vet said 
they are okay as long as they're still eating.  Does anyone know
what constitutes "not eating"?  Yesterday noon I got her to take
a few kitty snacks (Pounce-like), and this morning I spoon-fed
her some chicken broth with vitamin drops and a bit of butter.
She sniffed at the dry food but I guess it didn't smell like food.

Will Tuppence get better?  How long can a cat (with a cold) go on a fast?
Does she know what she's doing?  I would be devastated if I lost 
my friend due to my negligence. :-(

And to the original poster, I hope yours pulls through, I know how
you feel.  Separate the cats because until they are ALL better, 
it's possible for them to keep re-infecting each other!!!

Deanna
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Help!  How to get car oil off my kitty
Date: 7 Nov 92 19:02:14 -0600
Distribution: usa,na
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <1992Nov7.004033.28245@vexcel.com>, tom@vexcel.com (Tom Baltzer) writes:
> Thanks Kay, I think that that is a marvelous suggestion with the aside that
> we never lock her out of the house.  We always leave a window open for her 
> so that she can come in at any time of her choosing, (I know a rather 
> extravigant and resource wasting practice which is why we are working
> on a kitty door).  I couldn't see myself forcing her to stay outside
> for any length of time, and want her to be able to come in for food,
> warmth or escape. ... 
> 
> Thanks for the suggestion though, I hope you don't think that I'd
> lock Zerbina outside, especially in Colorado weather!

Iowa gets pretty nasty too, but my DumDum thinks that he ought to be
outside as much as possible, so he started roosting in engines in 
preference to coming in through the cat door.  I *think* I cured
him of engines by wiring in a long-distance horn button that I
honked when I saw him head up into my car.  ("Jeez, ma!  WHAT was that?!?!
accompanied by much head-shaking...)

I finally got a mat, and put it in a cat house.  He prefers to 
lie on the mat, half in and half out of the cat house, even in
subzero weather.  Costs me about $3 in electricity a month, so
I consider that a deal compared to worrying about him deciding to
roost on engine blocks again.

Kay
From: feldman@flash.crd.ge.com (Sandra F Feldman)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cats that JUMP (was fetch)
Date: 12 Nov 92 18:53:45 GMT
Organization: GE Corporate R&D Center

My maine-coon-look-alike loves to jump for his cat dancer.  He does back flips 
too.  He never ceases to amaze guests with his agility.  He's teaching the 
kitten his tricks, too.  At first she didn't seem to understand that she could
jump to catch the cat dancer, and she would just run around underneath it on the
floor.  But now, I think that her jumps will soon rival his.  I'm waiting to 
see if she also likes to somersault.  Of course, I didn't find this as amazing
the time he landed on my head :-( with his back claws out.  Do you have any
idea how embarassing it is to go to work with a 4 inch cut running from your
ear right down your neck???

Sandy
and Snooky who does back flips
and Pooky who loves to jump and imitate Snooky
and Roxy who likes to jump if it suits her
and Pepper whose skills have improved with practice
and Tom who thinks he's too old and big for this kind of stuff and would rather
just watch, thank you, unless you let him play all by himself in his own room
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: sarah@albnyvms.bitnet
Subject: Re: Another tiny breakthrough
Reply-To: sarah@albnyvms.bitnet
Organization: University of NY at Albany
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 09:27:29 GMT

Yay!!!!
 
Congratulations on KC and Oreo getting onto the lap together.
 
Recently I found a new method to get antisocial adults to team up - 
introduce a common enemy!  It wasn't intentional, and God knows I'm
not happy about it, but as my snowshoe gets older, she gets crankier,
and she hates the apartment we're in - it's too small for her taste -
so she's beating up on the others.  My fiance and I moved in together,
so his cat and my 3 cats got to meet for the first time, and my youngest
and his are getting to be friends... Yay!!!
 
Sarah
From: axpmw@acad2.alaska.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Re: Cats that fetch
Date: 12 Nov 92 01:43:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: acad2.1992Nov11.214330.1
Organization: University of Alaska

My Cat spy (blue mackeral tabby main coon type) loves to fetch cigarette
wrappers (they krinkle) and crochet mice (someone in our cat club made
little kitty treats shaped like mice... they fit well in a cats mouth)...

I didn't think he'd go for these mice but he's so in love with them.
He will come drop them at our feet to play fetch... he likes it that
much.. plus he stores his toys at his food dish so when he wants to play
again he can find them... (a cat who puts away his toys!)

Plus he can jump 7 ft in the air if you dangle the fetch toys ... 
How high do your cats jump! Just curious.. (this can be a dangerous
cat skill for the owner...)
-- 
Pam Woods                              Email:  Internet: axpmw@acad2.alaska.edu
University Of Alaska Anchorage                 Bitnet:   axpmw@alaska
System: A3000/25/40Mb/Wb2.04
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: vicki@steam.atd.ucar.edu (Vicki Holzhauer)
Subject: Re: Kitten HATES Iams!!
Organization: Atmospheric Technology Division/NCAR Boulder, CO
Date: Fri, 6 Nov 1992 23:55:24 GMT

>It sounds like a good idea (covering yucky food with yummy), but
>my Peeper won't fall for it. She'll lick off the yummy and leave
>the yucky behind.

I'm lucky to have non-finicky cats.  They eat Alpo canned and Iams dry
readily and eagerly (I mix the Iams with whatever dry store brand I
get coupons for, for variety).  But separating food, as mentioned
above, reminds me of a german shepherd I used to have.  We would give
him table scraps mixed with his regular food.  If the table scraps
happened to contain peas, he would somehow manage to leave *only* the
peas (totally cleaned off) in the bottom of the bowl.

I've always wondered how on earth he did that?  Apparently some of you
have cats with the same talent.  Too bad you can't get them a slot on
Letterman's "Stupid Pet Tricks" ... :-)


--
Vicki Holzhauer, National Center for Atmospheric Research
Boulder, Colorado / / / /  vicki@ncar.ucar.edu
From: barlow@prodigal.psych.rochester.edu (Rebel)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Spaying cat?...THANKS!!
Date: 9 Nov 92 23:25:25 GMT
Organization: University of Rochester - Rochester, New York

I wanted to thank everyone for their input needless to say the overwhelming
opinion is that spaying would relieve her stress and keep her healthier,and
most people said they did not notice a major change in personality except
for the lack of heat. Well this mommy is breathing a little easier tonight
over this decision....we made Zeb an appointment with her vet for Wednesday..
and they said we can pick her up on Friday...they believe in watching them for
a day to make sure everything's ok, this also made me feel better about it.
I am sure you all will hear plenty of Zeb stories in the future. 

THanks a BUNCH!!! :-)
Jen (mommy to Zebulon)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: sarah@albnyvms.bitnet
Subject: Re: softpaws
Reply-To: sarah@albnyvms.bitnet
Organization: University of NY at Albany
Date: Mon, 9 Nov 92 09:33:29 GMT

What is this??? Tell me??? I never heard of this Softpaws, but my cats
are clawing my walls to bits and are ignoring the scratching posts!!! I
can't deal with this!!! And the oldest uses her claws - all 4 of 'em
to shimmy up the doorjambs to the ceilling!
 
Aieeeee!!!!!
 
Sarah
From: mas@calmasd.Prime.COM (Marisa SorBello)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: What to name a male BLACK kitten...
Date: 11 Nov 92 22:59:01 GMT
Article-I.D.: calmasd.5235
Organization: Computervision, San Diego, CA

In article <1992Nov10.232409.28500@u.washington.edu> moe@rainier.lib.washington.edu (Joe Shippert) writes:
>I thought Othello would be a good name for a black male cat.

Absolutely!  I've always said that someday I'd like a pair of
cats:  a black male named Othello and a white female named
Desdemona.

-- Marisa
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Prescription Diets
From: erkamp@JANUS.ARC.AB.CA (Bob Erkamp)
Date: 6 Nov 92 14:34:33 MDT
Reply-To: erkamp@JANUS.ARC.AB.CA
Organization: Alberta Research Council

In article <1992Nov5.182536.14349@cs.tulane.edu>, Stephen P. Garcia <garcia@tmc.tulane.edu> writes:
>   My 17 1/2 year old cat has finally started showing some signs of
>ageing, to wit: kidney problems. The vet put him on a prescription diet
>whose key elements are low protein, low ash, and low phosphorus. Problem
>is that the cat absolutely hates this stuff and refuses to eat it, even
>if it's wrapped in all those things he adores like tuna or chicken, etc.
>He won't eat anything that has that stuff in it. There's nothing I can do
>to disguise the diet food. Question: is there any dietary cat food with
>the needed ingredients that's edible on its own merits?

Well I'm not sure if Science Diet Lite has the nutritional requirements for you 
cat but both of my cats prefer this to the the regular SD and they seem to 
maintain a better figure (one of my cats turns into a real pig on regular SD).
Also it's often good to do a gradual transition when going to a new food. I 
would mix what you currently give him with what he should be getting and slowly 
phase out the old food.

Bob
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats