HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: sw39+@andrew.cmu.edu (Susan R. Wagner)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: How much food should a cat eat?
Date: 6 Apr 92 12:46:17 GMT
Organization: University Libraries - Technical Service, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA

I have been pondering this question for a while now and none of my
quests for an answer have been sufficient.  I was wondering how much
food a kitten/cat should be eating.  Let me explain the source of
confusion.  I feed my indoor only 8 month neutered male 1 3oz can of wet
food and have about a 1 cup bowl of Iams food out at all times.  He eats
twice a day, 1/2 can in morning and evening.  He finishes the bowl of
dry in about 1 1/2 days.  When I read the back of the wet food, they
suggest 9 oz's food per day - thats three cans.  I think my cat would be
HUGE if I fed him that much.  The bag of Iams suggests 3/4 - 1 cup per
day of food and each cup is approx. 5 oz (I may be off on this
estimate).  So what is the correct amount of food?  I do not think my
cat is starving (he weighs about 8 to 8 1/2 pounds) although he would
try and convince you that I NEVER feed him.  Also, should I change his
feeding habits when he gets older and a little less active?  Sharing of
any experiences and/or knowledge about correct amounts of food is
requested and appreaciated.  
Thanks in advance.

Susan Wagner
   and Jester
From: klier@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cat Facial Expressions
Date: 9 Apr 92 20:25:43 -0500
Followup-To: pamh@sco.com
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

In article <23658@scorn.sco.COM>, pamh@sco.COM (Pam Hassell) writes:
> I am always amused when one of our cats begins sniffing something 
> that they're *very* interested in.  They open up their mouths about
> halfway and their eyes get real wide.  They'll hold this expression
> it seems, for several minutes after sniffing whatever wonderful smell
> they found.  It's like they're in a cat trance! (Oooh, how unusual ;-)
> 
> I guess they have scent glands in the backs of their throats which are
> very sensitive.  Is this correct?

This is called "flehming", and they are indeed after scents.  Last
time I talked with any one about it, consensus was that the 
"vomeronasal organ" was involved in picking up the scents.

Kay Klier  Biology Dept  UNI
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: "peter shirley" <shirley@iuvax.cs.indiana.edu>
Subject: Re: Hill's Science Diet - good idea?
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University
Distribution: na
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 92 21:06:27 -0500

(stephannie) writes:

(text deleted)

>First of all, I know that Science Diet seems to be the rage, but vets
>are doctors of pet medicine, not pet dieticians.  The get a cut from Hill's
>to promote this stuff, bear in mind.

(text deleted)

My vet, and probably yours as well, gets a "cut" (profit) from all
supplies they sell-- medicine, collars, food (regardless of brand).

pete shirley
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: khare@watserv1.waterloo.edu (Kathy Hare - DCS)
Subject: re: Help my cat is skinny
Keywords: Thanks
Organization: University of Waterloo
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 18:12:11 GMT

Thanks to all who replyed to my post for help. I called the vet and 
am taking Magee in tomorrow.  As a side not to the person who suggested
I get him neutered - we had planned on doing it very soon.

Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: colli_c@rain.cs.odu.edu (Catherine Collingwood)
Subject: Re: Maine Coon Cat?
Summary: breed plays a part but isn't all of it
Organization: Old Dominion University, Norfolk VA
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 22:54:59 GMT

In article <1992Apr16.200232.3014@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu> jhoskins@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James M Hoskins) writes:
>
[stuff deleted]
>
>Is is possible to make generalisations as to personality and character based on
>breed, such as Persian Cats are gentle, Siamese are loud and agressive
>troublemakers etc.?
>
>Thank you.

I don't know if it's officially possible to do this, but in my experience
with cats (including my own Himalayan/Siamese mix) the breed can play some
part in a cat's overall temperament.  Every cat I met before Mouse (my kitty)
that was any part Siamese was not a cat to be reckoned with (read: tempera-
mental).  However, Mouse is only a little bit fey at times.  I later found
out that she displays for the most part the temper of most Himalayans.  Also,
several years ago I worked for our local humane society and took care of a 
lot of cats/kittens.  You could look at the breed of the cat and 90% of the
time guess which cats were going to be potential troublemakers and which 
weren't.
Of course, environment and care also play a part in it, but I think that 
breeding does too.

Just my $.02 worth.

Catherine (owner of Mouse (feline) and Butter (canine))

()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
------------------------------------------------------------------
Catherine G. Collingwood                "Lady Firebird"
colli_c@xanth.cs.odu.edu                until June 1:
NCSSM class of '92                      firebird@odin.ncssm.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------
"Imagination is only intelligence having fun."
From: hannah@pomponio.ai.sri.com (Marsha Jo Hannah)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: FUS diet
Date: 14 Apr 92 20:05:48 GMT
Organization: SRI International, Menlo Park, CA
In-reply-to: sw39+@andrew.cmu.edu's message of 10 Apr 92 12:48:43 GMT

In article <4dtMufu00iV181Dqkv@andrew.cmu.edu> sw39+@andrew.cmu.edu (Susan R. Wagner) writes:

   Just a thought, would giving occasional treats of orange slices cut up
   be equivalent to the 100 mg vitamin C tablets?  Also, did your vet
   recommed this for your cat who does not have FUS?  Does anyone know if
   you were to give orange treats to a male neutered cat who does not
   suffer from FUS, would it cause any problems or just help prevent future
   FUS?  Just some thoughts and questions.  The vitamin C is something I
   never thought about.  Very interesting!

I don't recall exactly how much vitamin C there is in an orange, but I
think it's on the order of 50 mg or less.  You'd have to feed a lot of
orange slices to get up to the 250 mg dose that our vet recommended,
DAILY.  The vet said it would be OK to give C to our other cat, as
well, although being female, she was far less likely to have a problem
with FUS, so we haven't bothered (she hates taking pills).  My
understanding is that vitamin C, being a water soluble vitamin, is
pretty safe to give in mega-doses (i.e. doses beyond the cat's dietary
needs, which are small)---the cat will simply dispose of the excess in
its urine (which is the whole idea in treating FUS with C---the large
excess of C is needed to acidify the urine).

Marsha Jo Hannah
From: 21329KAD@MSU (Kim Dyer)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Ziggy breaks his hip
Date: 6 Apr 92 20:46:22 GMT
Article-I.D.: msuinfo.1992Apr6.205046.18924
Organization: Michigan State University


>I've heard that there are vet schools that might do the surgery for free
>or greatly reduced cost.  Does anyone have info about this option?  Is
>it safe?  Has anyone had a similar experience with their cat?  If Ziggy
>can't have the operation, what are his prospects for a reasonable life?
>I'd rather put him down, If he's going to be in pain.

A friend of mine has a samoyed ... a canadian, AKC, States champion.
They were in a serious car accident, and the dog (as well as the owner)
had SERIOUS injuries.  The dog was taken to Michigan State University's
Veterinary school ... and the required surgeries were done at a reduced
cost in exchange for allowing vet students watch the procedure.  The dog
is now ... a little less then 2 years later ... back on the show circuit
and doing some winning again.

As far as quality of life without surgery ... there are 3 legged cats
and dogs that do just FINE.  If he isn't in pain (and probably WON'T
be once he heals) his quality of life will probably be good as long
as you love him.
From: esmith@brahms.helios.nd.edu (erin smith)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re:  Hill's Science Diet - good idea?
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:42:43 GMT
Article-I.D.: news.1992Apr9.224243.292
Reply-To: esmith@brahms.helios.nd.edu (erin smith)
Organization: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame

concerning Marla Belzowski's post,

i just have a somewhat irelvant comment:

	what is with this common "myth" (?) that poor people
	eat cat and dog food?  i know that feeding my cats is
	a very expensive thing, even when i can find food on
	sale, and it is much, much more expensive per pound
	than say potatoes or chicken or other people-foods here.

my $0.02,

ariel
esmith@takagi.helios.nd.edu
Organization: University of Illinois at Chicago
Date: Friday, 10 Apr 1992 22:11:11 CDT
From: Kimberly Laird <U30993@uicvm.uic.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Indoor/Outdoor Kittys!
 <1992Apr10.150823.10945@murdoch.acc.Virginia.EDU>

I'm curious about the number of people who allow their cats
outside. We did when I was a kid, but wouldn't now. Where
I live, obviously cats should not be let outside (even
though some do).  I live on the border of Chicago.  NOW this
isn't a flame. But some considerations are that other
people don't appreciate having animal feces in their yard,
particularly if the animal makes a habit of it. I have a
boss who said, "I'd have a dog, but I don't want to clean
up the yard, and I wish I could let the cat outside,
so I don't have to clean up the litter-box.... If we didn't
have all these gosh-darn rules, they'd go wherever they
wanted.... "    Other concerns I would have, the other posters
have mentioned, including the risks to the cats/dogs;
safety, poisoning, people using them for target shooting,
not to mention the sickos who think it is funny to speed
up and try to run the animal down....

my $0.02
From: guy@accept.ec.bull.fr (Guy Collombat)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: test
Keywords: test
Date: 10 Apr 92 13:47:42 GMT
Reply-To: guy@accept.frec.bull.fr (Guy Collombat)
Followup-To: rec.pets.cats
Organization: Bull S.A. Echirolles

Can (may) I post here ?

-- 
Guy Collombat .
Bull Unix Center . Echirolles . France
EMAIL : guy@accept.frec.bull.fr 
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: Moritz@CVMMDL1.MSSTATE.EDU (K. Moritz)
Subject: Re: Well!  I'll be darned...
Organization: Mississippi State University
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 10 Apr 1992 14:50:05 GMT

In article <1992Apr9.223030.17514@ll.mit.edu>, tcs@ll.mit.edu (Tom Sefranek) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Apr8.163130.903@nrc.com>, kate@nrc.com (kathi samec) writes:
> |> In article <1992Apr6.193226.5686@dg-rtp.dg.com> poirier@ellerbe.rtp.dg.com (Charles Poirier) writ
> |> Rabbits are NOT anything like a rat(rodent,vermin) They are lagomorphs and
> |> very intelligent little creatures. They are almost better than cats sometimes.

Oh boy, here we go with the slams and flames!!!!  Come on people get a grip!! Let's don't let this
group become one of "those" groups that people can't state an opinion and express their 
experiences.   
----------------------------------------------------------------
Who was it that said that "Opinions are like ***holes, everyone has got one?"
The opinions expressed are mine alone, but I'm willing to share!
----------------------------------------------------------------
From: irod@ourbeach.Eng.Sun.COM (Irma Rodriguez)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Mousie toy
Date: 9 Apr 92 22:06:41 GMT
Organization: Sun Microsystems, Mt. View, Ca.
NNTP-Posting-Host: ourbeach

In article <167C289C5.ARL00SJB@UNCCVM.UNCC.EDU> ARL00SJB@UNCCVM.UNCC.EDU writes:
>The funniest part of it was, when she first started
>playing with the toy, she'd hit the ball and then run to the other side of the
>toy and look around *outside* for the ball.  She didn't understand that the
>ball was trapped inside, and thought that it MUST be coming out *somewhere*.
>That's what made her so mental for the first few days.
> 
>Jean

My cat does this, too! She hits the ball and then leaps over the toy and
crouches down by the other side. I always thought it was because she thought
she could race the ball to the other side. She hasn't "won" yet.

Irma
From: walrus@bessel.umd.edu (Grig Larson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Kitty's Birthday Parties
Date: 8 Apr 92 21:49:18 GMT
Distribution: na
Organization: Punk Walrus Enterprises, Inc.


I have no idea how anyone is going to respond to this, so I don't want any
flames or anything.
 
My cats <well, one cat> are celebrating their birthday parties this 26th.
Now, when I was young, my mom threw kitty birthday parties four our two
cats. They were fed shrimp and stuff, etc, but it was more for the humans
than it was for the cats.
 
My question to you all is, what would you do for a kitty b-day party?
If you have any ideas for us <meaning my wife and I>, email me at my
address.
 
This may sound silly, but we like our cats a lot, and think this would be a
good idea.
 


=================<<< <  <   < *Punk Walrus* >   >  > >>>=================
[  \||/  |       ---------------------------------------       |  \||/  ]
[  (o-)  | "It might be in the     ||  walrus@bessel.umd.edu   |  (o-)  ]
[   /\   |  basement, I'll go up-  ||  Punk Walrus on the      |   /\   ]
[ Punkus |  stairs and check..."   ||  FanTek BBS 301-203-9582 | It's   ]
[ Walrus |       -- M.C. Escher -- ||  SF&F Author Extrordinare| Punkie!]
=========================================================================
These opinions are not mine, but those of Pookie and Mikey, my cats.
From: qhwpyd@sage.cc.purdue.edu (Cynthia Goff)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Hill's Science Diet - good idea?
Summary: animal byproducts
	 some better ideas
Date: 8 Apr 92 13:43:34 GMT
Distribution: na


     I am an animal science student at Purdue University.  I have toured hog,
cattle and poultry processing plants.  Being a student in their related field,
I was allowed on the kill floor and every other section of processing.
     All animals are inspected before slaughter by a United States Department of
Agriculture veterinarian.  No dead animals are slaughtered.  Animals must walk 
off the transporting vehicle on their own.  Dead animals are turned into ferti-
lizer.  An inspection is done when the animals are live.  If any thing does not
appear correct, the USDA inspector has the power and right to condemn that car-
animal.  Many other inspections are carried out as the carcass is processed suchas checking the intestines, liver, kidneys, heart, etc.
     By-products are anything produced from a process.  There are by-products   from all industries.  For instance, the distillers grains come from the dis-
tilling of alcohol and these grains can be used as feed for livestock.  Another
example is leather.  It is a by-product of animal processing.  Some of the 
by-products in animal foods are meat and bone meal, blood meal and fat.  These
provide some of the essential nutrients to our pets.  For instance, bone meal
is an excellent source of calcium and phosphorus.
     Decaying carcasses are not slaughtered and no cancerous ones are either.
I don't believe you can get cancer by eating something that has cancer anyway.
As I said before, if the animal and/or its organs are not healthy, the USDA
inspector will condemn that animal/carcass in the blink of an eye.
     If anyone wants more detailed information, I can try to get it for you.
We do animal processing in building next door to this one and anytime pro
processing is done, a USDA inspector has to be present.  I am not sure of
the days they process but I could find out and possibly talk to the USDA
inspector myself.  Finals and graduation are not far away for me so I do not
have a lot of spare time.
Cindy Goff
From: das@voodoo.boeing.com (Deb Schwartz)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: cat hates being brushed
Date: 10 Apr 92 16:58:38 GMT
Organization: Boeing Graphics project, Bellevue WA

Oreo hates the wire-bristled brush, so I tried an old fairly stiff-bristled
boar bristle hairbrush I had lying around.  It works great, and he LOVES it!

-- 
Debbie Schwartz // das@voodoo.boeing.com  // or uunet!bcstec!voodoo!das
From: vandykt@kepler.ME.ORST.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Anybody toilet trained a cat?
Date: 17 Apr 92 02:51:51 GMT
Article-I.D.: talon.1992Apr17.025151.17530
Organization: Oregon State University

There has been a lot of mention about a book that explains how
to teach a cat to use the toilet.  I guess I missed the original
posting that explained the title of this book and where it could
be purchased.

I am interested in training my pooping kitties to use the toilet!
Maybe someone could post the details on this book or e-mail them
to me...

Thanks o-so-much

--Traig
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: i1neal@exnet.iastate.edu (Neal Rauhauser -- )
Subject: Another cute kitty story( was Re: Meet Willie and Magic)
Keywords: new, hello
Reply-To: i1neal@exnet.iastate.edu (Neal Rauhauser -- )
Organization: Iowa State University Extension
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 03:41:17 GMT

In article <2475@voodoo.UUCP> das@voodoo.boeing.com (Deb Schwartz) writes:
>In article <swwhatley.702829925@node_ecdd> swwhatley@lescsse.jsc.nasa.gov (STEVEN WHATLEY) writes:
>>
>>Neal, have you thought about shooting kitten?  No, not with a real gun!!!!
>>Water pistols work wonders with misbehaving cats.  They hate it!  I no longer
>>have to chase after my cats when they're naughty.  I just say "NO!" then aim 
>>and squirt.  Sometimes I can even get four or five squirts before they go
>>into hiding.
>>
>Usually I'd say that was a good idea, but in this case, NOOOOOooooo!  If
>kitty became well-behaved, Neal would no longer have any reason to post
>his highly entertaining kitty stories.
>-- 
>Debbie Schwartz // das@voodoo.boeing.com  // or uunet!bcstec!voodoo!das 


*a totally true and related kitty story, occuring about three minutes ago*

see kitty
checking out the new trees
Susan has brought home
by tasting the leaves
see Susan wave to Neal
who has the water bottle
this is a new Neal trick
that kitty has never 
experience before
see kitty look at Susan waving
see Neal shoot kitty 
right between his big yellow eyes
see a pissed kitty
bounding from the tree stand
thinking Susan is the squirter
to her desk
looking for 
some protein
to go with his fiber :-)


--
  Neal i1neal@exnet.iastate.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: edotto@uipsuxb.ps.uiuc.edu (Edward C. Otto III)
Subject: Re: A CAT IS NOT AN "it"!!!!
Organization: University of Illinois at Urbana
Date: Thu, 16 Apr 1992 15:16:02 GMT

Actually, it is the correct pronoun to use for a neutered/spayed animal,
as they then have NO sex. (Not if the vet did his job correctly. :-) )

Check the OED, either the online version or the one in your local
library.

					Ed

--
Edward C. Otto III   	    *  E-mail addresses:  e-otto@uiuc.edu
Printing Services Office    *  Phone:  217/333-9422
54A E. Gregory Drive	    *  "The only thing we have to fear is
Champaign, IL  61820	    *  24 line .signature files..."
From: STella@thelema.uucp (STella)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Moving to an indoor cat
Date: 7 Apr 92 00:48:14 GMT
Organization: Idiosyncratic Anarchic Order

In article <11806@tamsun.tamu.edu> ejm@archone.tamu.edu (Beth Mitcham) writes:
>worse, the new apartment will probably be smaller than our 
>current one.  Does anyone have advice on how to convince our cats
>(both about 1 year old, spayed females) that it is now really dull
>and uninteresting outside?  I'm worried that they will never stop
>miawing to go out.

Eventually, they will.  Ignore the hollering, provide lotsa playtoys,
cat-tree, windows to sit in, and don't let them wear you down.  In a
few weeks, they'll quit nagging, in a few months they'll quit hovering
by the door hoping you'll let 'em out, and maybe someday they'll
completely stop making an occasional effort to get out.

We had several indoor-outdoor cats.  I finally realized that if they
didn't go out where the fleas were, they wouldn't bring 'em back in,
and when we moved to a new place, they became indoor-only cats.  A
couple of 'em were sufficiently gullible that they seem to believe
that this house, unlike a previous one, didn't have an outdoors.  A
couple knew there was a wonderful outdoorness out there, and were
determined to escape till they realized that I was quite willing to
crush them in the door and drag them back by the tail.  (Well, it's
not quite that vicious -- I don't actually CRUSH 'em, but sort of
*oof* them.)  And one still tries to escape, recently discovering that
she can unhook the screen and make it fall off the house.  So now we
keep that window closed, open it only with a sliding-stick in the
frame, and were very careful that the stick was a half-inch longer
than would allow her to get her skull through.

A catlock helps a lot -- if you have a hall that has a door at each
end, one leading to the outside, you can go in and out through that
door only, and make sure that no cats are in the hall.  This way it's
way easier to keep 'em from charging the door.  Good luck, anyway!

Eventually, they will shut up... I found that shouting "NO!" and doing
a Primate Threat Display was most effective.

STella@xanadu.com	1016 E. El Camino Real, #302, Sunnyvale, CA 94087
From: altinbay@alc.com (John Altinbay)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Oh dear...
Date: 16 Apr 92 20:10:11 GMT
Organization: Ascent Logic Corporation, San Jose, CA

In article <12563@umd5.umd.edu> walrus@bessel.umd.edu (Grig Larson) writes:
- My cat ... Mikey ... always gets in you lap and seconds later, you have 
to get up for some reason.

Moonglow does that, too.  No matter how much you coax her to get on
your lap when you sit down, so that there will be *some* time until
I have to get up, she's got to wait until the last moment - how
does she know?
-- 
MMIH   =============================================  altinbay@alc.com
            My existence led by confusion boats
                          Mutiny from stern to bough
altinbay@netcom.com  ===================================   - Bob Dylan
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: jhoskins@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu (James M Hoskins)
Subject: Re: Cat bringing home unwanted rodents
Organization: The Ohio State University
Date: Thu, 9 Apr 1992 18:06:26 GMT

In article <1992Apr8.230756.20646@m.cs.uiuc.edu> noe@m.cs.uiuc.edu (Roger Noe)
writes:

>I kind of think of cats as little mobile machines with just a few
>programs in them.  The biggest, most elegant program they have is
>"Hunt!"  Next in size and running priority is "Fight/Flee!" which
>has two basic settings, "just pretend" and "life or death" which is
>useful against packs of dogs and things like that.  Closely related is
>the "Play!" program, which I think is a subset of the two previous
>programs, kind of on a "practice" setting.  There is also a
>"Curiosity!" routine which enables the cat to create trouble when
>there isn't already some.  Finally, the utility programs "Eat", "Wash"
>and "Excrete" take care of periodic necessities.  But much of the time
>the processor is idle, what we call the "Sleep" program, with its
>optional audible output.  What fun to be a cat!

Roger, when is your book on cats coming out?  I'll buy a copy, this is funny!

A major subprogram of the "Hunt!" program and tied into the "Flight/Flee!" 
program is what I would call the "Mapping!" program.  I think cats have 
extremely acute sensing mechanisms, that's why the "Sleep!" program consumes so
much of a cat's processing time.  It is important to the cat that the vicinity 
in which it finds itself be thoroughly mapped using its acute senses.  They 
smell, they sniff, they look around, they prowl; especially so if their human 
has taken them to a new environment.  Certainly some of this data processing is
tied into the hunt for prey; a large part of the "Mapping!" activity is, 
however, related to the "Flight/Flee!" routine--the cat thinks:  "if I 'map'
this area I'll know how to quickly get the hell out of here if something goes
wrong."
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats