HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: Another Ferret question
Date: 16 Oct 92 18:04:57 GMT
Organization: Ferret Mailing List
Originator: clewis@bcarh1d7

In article <1992Oct14.163137.2586@mr.med.ge.com> scafati@thor.med.ge.com (Victor-charles Scafati 4-6784 MR Srv) writes:
>In article <bacchus.719050879@mcl>, bacchus@mcl.ucsb.edu (bacchus@mcl.ucsb.edu) writes:
>|> I live in Santa Barbara right now, and I was wondering if people know if it is
>|> legal to have ferrets in California, if so where I could find them, price, and
>|> so forth.  Also, and good stories, horror stories, etc.  THX!
 
>Well, I lived in So. Cal for nearly ten years, and I heard, on numerous
>occasions, that ferrets are VERY illegal in CA.  The state is paranoid
>that they would do quite well in wild in California's climate, and would
>upset the balance of things.  I'd call the Animal Control people to be 
>sure, but that's what I heard.

They are illegal.  Claims that they will do well in the wilds of California
are nonsense.  There are no wild populations of ferrets (Mustela Putorious Furo)
*anywhere* in the world.  They tried introducing them into New Zealand
but the attempts failed.

What's really happening is that there's a couple of lunatics in the appropriate
state agencies in California who continue to ignore all of the facts, and keep
asserting that ferrets are dangerous wild animals that carry rabies.  In actual
fact, none of the three assertions are true.  What's more likely the case is
that some parts of the medical community are very heavily into using ferrets
as laboratory animals.  If ferrets were to become as acceptable as dogs or
cats as companion animals, being able to continue using them in laboratories
would become doubtful.
From: PXF3@psuvm.psu.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Update, sick mouse
Date: 13 Oct 92 12:22:09 GMT
Organization: Penn State University

A while back I posted a question about my mouse's sore, runny eye.  Well, it
kept getting worse in spite of vitamins and antibiotics, and yesterday
Hickory died.  She was a year and a half old.  It's true that you get very
attached to these little pets, and it's difficult to lose them so soon.

Hickory was a silky mouse (the golden color).  She was pregnant when my
daughter bought her for me for my birthday last year, but we didn't know
that until I became a grandma a week later.  She was an excellent mother to
her seven little mouselings; she cleaned them frequently and just seemed to
dote on them.  We found homes for four of them and kept the other three, but
they all died within a month of each other this summer.  A friend who is a
biologist says petstore mice are probably inbred.

We have some great photos of Hickory and her babies.  When the babies were
born, I took pictures every day or two, so we have a good record of their
development.  I hope to get another mouse someday, but probably not from a
petstore.

Paula
From: myhui@bnr.ca (Michael Hui)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: A hard rabbit stomach
Date: 16 Oct 92 21:02:30 GMT
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd., Ottawa, Canada

In article <1992Oct16.072940.29261@isy.liu.se> yledv@math.liu.se (Ylva Edvardsson) writes:
>I feed her with hay, pellets and a
>mix of various grains and she has free access to minerals and I
>give her vitamin mixture (no C included). Every now and then I
>give her porridge in the morning instead of the grains. Apples and
>twigs from the apple tree as well as carrots is her usual green
>food which I give her almost daily.

I would NOT give her twigs from the apple tree. I even cut up the apple
into small pieces (1.5 cm x 2 cm) and remove the pits before giving
them to my Bun. Why porridge? That's unusual. As for green food, try
"Chinese Lettuce", or "Bok Choy", which has large dark green leaves and
white stem. ONLY give the rbabit the leaves, and NOT the stems.
Generally, the darker the leaves, and the dryer, the better they will
be for the rabbit. Humans can eat the stems. Try grapes in small
quantities. My Bun loves them. Also try to find chew blocks made up of
compressed hay. First introduce the hay to the Bun when he's hungry by
holding it in your hand and encouraging the Bun to try eating it.  Once
he likes it, you can just leave it in his food bowl and he will chew on
it whenever he likes. This is far more effective for controlling his
teeth growth than pellets, since pellets are mostly crushed by the hind
teeth, not the front pair of teeth.

But most importantly, since I have a large rabbit (15 lbs), are fresh
carrots, the ones with the green leaves still attached to the top. My
Bun is so accustomed to a fresh carrot at each meal (two meals a day)
that he often refuses to start eating his meal until he has eaten his
carrot. I have tried a few times not giving the Bun any carrot, and he
ends up eating less of his other food.

Michael MY Hui  ~{PmCw6w~}  myhui@bnr.ca  Ottawa Canada
Xref: sparky rec.pets:3269 alt.romance.chat:19406 alt.best.of.internet:96
From: exuptr@exu.ericsson.se (Patrick Taylor)
Newsgroups: rec.pets,alt.romance.chat,alt.best.of.internet
Subject: Re: Mr. Ed sing-a-long
Date: 14 Oct 92 20:34:27 GMT
Organization: Ericsson Network Systems, Inc.
X-Disclaimer: This article was posted by a user at Ericsson.
              The opinions expressed are strictly those of the
              user and not necessarily those of Ericsson.

In article <exuptr.754.719093797@exu.ericsson.se> exuptr@exu.ericsson.se (Patrick Taylor) writes:
>"Bird is the word..."  <tweet>

Oops, sorry for the x-posting...
 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------
    "This must be Thursday.  I never could get the hang of Thursdays"
                                                       - Douglas Adams
  - Patrick Taylor                                       (Arthur Dent)
    Ericsson Network Systems
    exuptr@exu.ericsson.se                       "Don't let the .se fool you"
    or exuptr@ZGNews.Lonestar.Org, exu.exuptr@memo.ericsson.se
From: clewis@ferret.ocunix.on.ca (Chris Lewis, FML moderator)
Newsgroups: rec.pets
Subject: Re: Thanks from my Hands
Date: 16 Oct 92 17:37:43 GMT
Organization: The Ferret Mailing List
Originator: clewis@bcarh1d7

In article <1992Oct14.040355.8770@epas.toronto.edu> dschlow@epas.utoronto.ca (Deborah Schlow) writes:
|What kind of cage
|do you have anyway, that she/he hasn't figured a way out of yet? We
|asked a pet store in Hamilton, Ontario once (we travel around the
|province stopping at pet stores to look at the baby ferrets) why they
|didn't have any, and they said because no matter what they did, no
|matter what kind of a cage they used, no matter how tight the security
|was ALL the ferrets escaped EVERY night and wrecked the store. Good

Bizarre.  We've never had problems with rabbit cages or "Kennel Cabs".
I've never heard of anybody else having problems either.  I think the
pet store was pulling your leg.  Or simply had cages with too big a mesh -
ferrets can get through pretty small holes.
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: myhui@bnr.ca (Michael Hui)
Subject: Re: Bunny chewing
Organization: Bell-Northern Research Ltd., Ottawa, Canada
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 92 12:30:07 GMT

In article <16381@mindlink.bc.ca> Jim_Sollows@mindlink.bc.ca (Jim Sollows) writes:
>Sorry to hear you have had such a problem with your bun. Ours has the
>run of the house and she is fully house broken. She NEVER chews the
>furniture and is completely potty trained. This is our second bun
>and we had similar success with our first so training them is not
>so much a matter of luck as it is persistance.

I completely agree. The sensible, besides the obviously ethical and
humane, thing to do is to let the Bun run free. I actually do not have
time to completely train my own Bun (see details on recent post), but
the joy of running from one end of the apartment to another with the
Bun in hot pursuit is enough reward for having to pick up his poop in a
2 meter square area in the corner of a room where he does most of his
pooping. Besides, every morning my Bun runs up to the side of my bed
and rises up on his legs to take a peek at me right after my clock
radio goes on to wake me up. So I reach out and pet him on the head, he
melts to the floor, a few more pets, listen to the CBC morning news,
and it's Bun Litter Changing Time.  A few minutes later, after washing
the water dish, food dish, washing his daily ration of fresh carrots
with green tops and adding the obligatory pellets and chew block and
even nuts and other stuff like grapes to his food bow, it's time to
call the Bun to breakfast. He then comes running over at top speed and
plows into his breakfast.

Isn't that the sign of a Fun Bun? Of course, his twirl is the dead
giveaway. If your Bun doesn't twirl often, you do not have a Fun Bun.

Michael MY Hui  ~{PmCw6w~}  myhui@bnr.ca  Ottawa Canada
Newsgroups: rec.pets
From: blaraway@geppetto.encore.com (Brad Laraway)
Subject: Ferrets
Organization: Encore Computer Corp.
Distribution: na
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 20:04:38 GMT

          Having a small problem with my ferrets.  They seem to have a rash
	  between there shoulders.  It looks almost yellish and the skin is
	  flaking off.  They are shedding as well, could this be the reason?
	  Any help or suggestions wanted.  It doesn't seem to bother them so
	  I realy don't want to run to the Vet.  Already seen him three times
	  in the last mounth.

	  Thanks,

	  Brad, Mako and Sebastian.

Xref: sparky rec.pets:3282 rec.pets.dogs:12268
From: margaret@cs.arizona.edu (Margaret Newman)
Newsgroups: rec.pets,rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Bitter Apple
Keywords: it works!
Date: 15 Oct 92 19:25:12 GMT
Followup-To: poster

We recently had our 7 month old Minature Wired Hair Dachsund spade.  She
has kept licking and chewing on her stitches, and we didn't know what
to do.  (Tieing a handkerchief around her middle wouldn't work!  She
figured those out before.)  Anyway, so Mom takes Sophie to the vet as
the skin around her stitches were getting quite red.  The vet gave Mom
some bitter apple.  Well, I put some on her last night, and boy! that
stuff works great!  It was so funny to watch her shake her head after
giving that stuff a good lick.  She shuddered and shook for some time.
She didn't, however, bother her stitches again.

margaret@cs.arizona.edu
From: en01@ns1.cc.lehigh.edu (EUGINA M. NOVAK)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: re: sad realities of cats running free
Date: 12 Oct 92 15:36:17 GMT
Organization: Lehigh University

I'm sorry to hear about the horrible experiences many people have had when a
cat streaks out into the road in front of a car and is brutally killed.  I can
empathize from both ends...
    When I was 7 years old the doorbell rang on my birthday.  I was so excited
    that someone else was bringing me a gift that I ran for the door.  Thank
    Heaven my Uncle Jim was there to stop me.  He grabbed me around my waist
    and said, "It's not for you."  In actuality it was.  A teenager  hit and
    killed my 6-month-old Kitty.  The poor boy was so shaken up by the
    accident.  He had to stop and see if it was our cat.  He even offered to
    buy me a new one--my parents refused.  Two days later, my dad took my
    sister and I to the animal shelter where we adopted a mother cat and three
    kittens.  The kittens had been born on my birthday.  To a 7-year-old,
    those kittens could have been born at the same time Kitty died, so Dad
    gave in and we came home with 4 cats.  We have never let a cat run outside
    since then.

    Many years later, I felt like that poor teenager.  I was driving along a
    dark road and a cat ran out in front of me.  There was nothing I could do
    but listen to the resounding thud.  I stopped the car and got out to
    search for the poor thing--if it was still breathing, I was going to take
    it to the veterinary clinic where I worked as a technician.  Unfortunately
    I couldn't find it.  Either I hit it with such force it was flung into a
    ditch or I actually just grazed it and it wandered off.  I'll never know.
    But I was a shaking ball of nerves with tears streaming down my face.  I
    hope I never experience that again.

As an added incentive for keeping cats safely indoors, I recently met someone
who bragged about hitting a cat on the road.  My mouth fell open and my eyes
widened with horror.  This person actually went out of their way to hit the
cat.  Since then, I've spoken with another person who also thinks this is
great fun--hitting cats with cars.  Not everyone adores cats.  Some of the cat
haters of this world relish the excitement of snuffing out one of our feline
friends.  The logic (as it was explained to me) was that it's only a stray cat
and nobody will miss the nasty thing anyway.
So, please, keep in mind the horrors that await an animal roaming about the
streets.

--Gina Novak
  (owned by Gizmo, Shaldar, Oscar, and Turbo)
  (en01@lehigh.edu)
From: jim@n5ial.chi.il.us (Jim Graham)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: fraidy cat
Date: 12 Oct 92 14:13:05 GMT
Organization: Me? Organized? Hah! :-)

my little one, Smokey, is also a very skiddish cat --- she's mellowed
out with age, but a sudden move (even a sudden strong gust of wind
making noise in the window) and she jumps straight up into the air
sometimes.

In article <1992Oct7.182647.25543@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu>
jhoskins@magnus.acs.ohio-state.edu writes:

> If you have some trade secrets on where cats need to be scratched,
> let'em out of the bag...

Smokey always just tells *ME* where she wants to be petted --- when I
pet her, she'll just see to it that whatever she wants to be petted at
the moment is the most convenient.  usually, it's the top of her head
or her back, right behind her head/neck (as someone else mentioned).

of course, and this is more related to another current thread, there
are also times where she doesn't want me to pet her, but wants to lick
my hand --- she'll even use her paws to hold my hand in place while
she does this (if I insist on petting her instead).  she also treats my
hand (if it's nearby) as part of her during her grooming.  oh, and she
will also sometimes use my hand instead of her paw to get the top of her
head!  really a funny thing to see...except she never does this if
anyone else is around.....

--
#include <std_disclaimer.h>                                 73 DE N5IAL (/9)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
INTERNET:  jim@n5ial.chi.il.us  |  grahj@gagme.chi.il.us  |  j.graham@ieee.org
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AMATEUR RADIO: n5ial@n9hsi (Chicago.IL.US.Earth)    AMTOR SELCAL:  NIAL
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: erkamp@JANUS.ARC.AB.CA (Bob Erkamp)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Introducing a new cat
Date: 15 Oct 92 23:09:38 GMT
Reply-To: erkamp@JANUS.ARC.AB.CA
Organization: Alberta Research Council

In article <Bw2u9t.7uC@news.cso.uiuc.edu>, ljz57640@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Laura0003 ) writes:
>We currently have one neutered male domestic (American) shorthair, and we
>are planning on bringing home a new kitten in a few days.  The question is,
>is it possible for these two cats to get along? (Our other cat is 5 years
>old)  Is there anything that we can do to ensure that they get along, or
>do we really just have to wait and see what happens?  We would very much
>like to keep this new kitten, but we don't want our other cat to feel     
>neglected.  Any suggestions?
>Thanks!
>

Well the only problem that I can see is if the new kitten is male it will 
probably harass you male cat until he get 'fixed'. When introducing new animals 
it is often good to give them a room to themselves (food, litter box) for awhile
keeping them seperate when you aren't around.

Bob
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: pdsmith.mitre.org (Pat Smith)
Subject: Re: More strange but amusing cat behavior
Organization: The MITRE Corporation
Date: Thu, 15 Oct 1992 19:21:26 GMT

In article <ldp3kjINNqo3@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM>, avi@rix.Corp.Sun.COM (Ann Adamcik) writes:
> 
> In article 29368@life.ai.mit.edu, marie@guppy.ai.mit.edu (Marie Lamb) writes:
> >That is the daytime spot.  The nighttime spot is truly unique
> >in my experience--the bathroom rug. 
> 
> Maggie likes the bathroom rug at night, too.  She's not content with just
> lying on it, though - she first pulls my bath towel off the towel bar (only
> mine, never Bill's), then she scrunches the towel and the rug up together
> so they form a nice messy pile.  Once she gets them just right, she curls
> up in the middle and snoozes.  If she's feeling motherly, she'll let Mango
> curl up with her.  Oh, and if it is cold, she'll burrow under the towel.
> 
> I go through a lot of towels... 
> 
> -Ann
> 
> 
Towels? - my cats have quilted bed blankets which I made for them.  I also
sewed a piece of cashmere on each. They love them sooooo much.  Only the best
for my princesses.
>
From: ness@tc.fluke.COM (Jerry Ness)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: cat and toilet paper
Date: 7 Oct 92 18:52:40 GMT
Article-I.D.: tc.1992Oct7.185240.6951
Organization: John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc., Everett, WA

We got an oak toilet paper holder that is made of 2 oak boards and an oak dowel.
The boards form an 'L' and the dowel is glued in a hole in the short leg of the
'L', forming a 'U' shape (sort of). The holder is screwed to the wall with
the dowel pointed up. Now the roll of toilet paper just drops on over the dowel
and now it seems to be totally 'un-interesting' 'cuz it doesn't unroll near as
easy for the feline members of the houshold. 

We could just picture Willie, our 'middle' cat sitting on the toilet seat
playing tread wheel with the roll of toilet paper when it was mounted on
the 'conventional' toilet paper holder with the paper feeding off the top.
Turning the roll over helped a little but he still managed to unroll a lot
of paper. The new oak unit stopped him completely!

BTW: the ferret members of the household loved to romp in the huge pile
     of toilet paper! Very versatile ferret toy, they could burrow in it,
     sleep in it, pounce on it, drag it around, etc.

 'nuf ramblin'
Jerry

owned by:
Maudi Bryn Ben Toby Bobbin   Magellan Willie Turbo
            ^                           ^
         ferrets                     felines
-- 
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Jerry Ness             John Fluke Mfg. Co., Inc.        Everett, Washington USA
            domain:    ness@tc.fluke.COM   
            uucp:      {sun,microsoft,uw-beaver}!fluke!ness
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: nvrswt@cs.cssi.com (Never Sweat)
Subject: Re: Older cat/How long till she comes around?
Organization: The Opinion Factory
Distribution: usa
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 17:01:24 GMT

In article <Bvuyys.4EC@news.cso.uiuc.edu> imkg2726@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Ilana M. Kingsley) writes:

>I've had my newly adopted cat (who is 7 yrs old) for one month, and she still
>is very anit-social.  We were told, from the humane soc., that she gets along 
>with dogs, but this is not true.  She hisses at the pooch, but that is not the 
>worst part.  She does not like affection-- does not like to be held.  She 
>refuses to enter our bedroom-- as if she is so scared that the room is 
>haunted.  She only comes out when she wants to eat and will tolerate getting
>petted at this time, otherwise she hides away wherever she can go.  We tried 
>letting her outside, but she is scared to go out.  If she doesn't shape up soon
>we may have to give her up.  I'd like to keep her though.  How long does it
>take until an older cat warms up?  I will tolerate her attitude if I knew that
>eventually she will be affectionate-- but she is disinterested in making
>friends.  What can I do to help her out??
> 
>--Ilana Kingsley Newby


I took in an older female, once, who was pregnant and too far along for 
spaying.  The vet offered her to me before putting her to sleep.  What could 
I do?

She behaved exactly the same!  It went on for months.  If I hadn't had other 
kitties at the time, I would have been one, dejected, rejected, and 
depressed puppy!

Then one day after coming in all sweaty and pooped from mowing the lawn, I 
flopped out on the floor, hoping I would die and get it over with.  When 
things got quiet, I felt something on my finger, and it was E.B., sniffing 
around.  I stayed real still, and she crawled up and snuggled down in my 
arm.  We stayed that way for a long time, and when she started purring, I 
knew it was okay.

E.B. is now the snugglingest kitty I've ever known.  She and I are very 
close friends.  I have visions of how it must have been for her in her last 
home.  Kitty-human relationships are established early, and I think she was 
missing someone, and the quiet things she and that someone used to do.

Eventually, let's hope you stumble on the one thing your kitty misses.  I 
think you'll be very rewarded for your patience.
Organization: Freshman, Drama, Carnegie Mellon, Pittsburgh, PA
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Date: Wed, 14 Oct 1992 18:11:20 -0400 
From: Rebecca Alice Metz <rm6p+@andrew.cmu.edu>
Subject: Re: not quite cruel

Bravo to your brother for being so humane.  I'd like to say that this
board helps me a great deal, because I'm suffering SEVERE catsickness
(missing Nikki and Pete terribly) here at school.  My parents tell me
stories about all the odd things they do in my room to try to find where
I've disappeared to.  I found a nearby pet shop with two live-in cats,
and when I need a good petting, there I am.  It helps some.  But I'm
considering a "pets allowed" apartment for next year.

I can't wait for Thanksgiving.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: larsenp@mace.cc.purdue.edu (Paul Larsen)
Subject: does your cat do this?
Organization: Purdue University
Date: Fri, 9 Oct 1992 12:46:50 GMT

My wife and I have come to the conclusion that our cat is a sports afficianado.
Quite often when we have a basketball or baseball game on the cat will become
quite interested in it.  This usually ends up with her jumping up onto the tv
and peering down to the screen like a vulture.  After watching the game for a 
little while, she will start following the ball with her head and then start
batting at the ball with her paw.  This can go on for 15-20 minutes until she
gets bored.  Does anyone else's cat do this?
Oh yeah, one other thing.  The cat also practically refuses to drink water
out of her bowl.   I guess that she thinks that she is above that.  She 
"prefers" to drink water straight from the tap.  Is this weird or do all cats
do this?



Paul Larsen
larsenp@mace.cc.purdue.edu
From: kristen@telerama.pgh.pa.us (Kristen McQuillin)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: How to remove cat urine from bedding?
Date: 9 Oct 92 15:23:44 GMT
Organization: Telerama

dagnallr@helium.gas.uug.arizona.edu (robert a dagnall) writes:

: We have washed the comforter twice now, and the smell persists.
: Is there any remedy for this, perhaps some home-grown concoction we
: haven't tried?

I have found that Surf detergent does a very good job of removing
urine odors. 

For a more environmentally friendly product, try a little Citra-Solv
added to wash water, or rubbed into the comforter. 

Borax is another good odor remover (dissolve it in water before you
add it to the washer, it doesn't dissolve easily), but doesn't always
work on urine odors, especially when they are old.