HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: gibson@dl5000.bc.edu (Rene Gibson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Question about older cat howling
Date: 14 Sep 92 16:42:14 GMT
Organization: Institute for Space Research, Boston College

My mother asked me to ask this question for her.  She has an 18 year old
cat who's in reasonably good shape.  The cat eats normally, races around
the house, and seems to have a normal (for her) personality (no changes
anytime recently).  She may have sight and vision problems, but she seems
far from totally blind or deaf.

The problem is her howling.  She waits until my parents go to bed at night,
then, a half hour later, she starts howling at the top of her lungs.  She
knows where my parents are (or she should since that hasn't changed in 18
years), but she howls in the livingroom while they're in the bedroom.  
Someone gets up to tell the cat to be quite and she's fine for another 2 
hours or so.  Then it repeats.  If someone takes the cat upstairs with them,
it still happens, because she waits a bit, then goes downstairs to try again.
This only started 6 months ago.  And it almost always happens at night.  
Since the cat is old, my mother wonders if she's in pain and this is her 
way of voicing that (but why only at night?).  I wonder if maybe she has 
more trouble seeing than we think and can't see in the dark (although there 
is a light at the top of the stairs at the end of the livingroom).  
Everyone wonders if she's senile (although she doesn't seem senile otherwise).

Since my parents' heating is forced hot air, the echo through the heating 
ducts has a nice effect  :-].  My parents hoped this was just a phase, but
it seems worse lately.  Does anyone have any ideas?  Does anyone have a
cat that does/did this?

Rene
--
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: Ann.Feeney@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Ann Feeney)
Subject: Re: Pet Lover/Humane Society NEEDS INFO
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 17:53:45 GMT

In article <1992Sep07.142737.19425@ecst.csuchico.edu> BTAYLOR@MACGATE.CSUCHICO.EDU (Beverly Taylor) writes:
>I am seeking info from anyone on books, organizations, foundations, etc.
>to apply for grant money to help keep our animal shelter in operation.  I
>have subscribed to the AR-TALK list but hoped that some of you fellow
>animal lovers could offer any information you have.  Thanks in-advance
>for your help.
>
>Bev Taylor
>Chico, California


Check The Foundation Directory?  It's a listing of all kinds of
organizations with their "main interests."

Also, talk to radio stations, and ask if they'd do a free fifteen second
commercial.  Or even longer!  

I did some professional research for grants--let me know if you need more
help.
Ann
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
From: gt1167b@prism.gatech.EDU (Christie Shackelford)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Post spay (spey)?
Date: 16 Sep 92 03:22:20 GMT
Organization: Georgia Institute of Technology

In article <lb2c4aINNfpu@exodus.Eng.Sun.COM> andrewr@Eng.Sun.COM writes:
>
>Our two 6 month old female kittens are due to be spayed on Tuesday.
>
>What condition will they be in when I pick them up ?
>Do they scratch their stitches etc ?
>
>Any info appreciated.
>
>Andy

When I got my first batch of cats, Fermi and Pauli, spayed, everything
went over fine until the first day I left them home alone (2nd day
after surgery).  It was unfortunately Friday night when I came home,
picked Fermi up, and noticed that her stomach was gaping open and I 
could see her insides.  She didn't seem all that concerned, but it
scared that _crap_ out of me.  I checked out Pauli, who had almost
torn all her stitches out, too.  I had to take them to the emergency
vet, who glued Pauli's belly together, but had to put the Ferm under
and completely redo her stitches.  I had to get an elizabethan collat
(oops - collaR) for Fermi, who couldn't be trusted not to pick her stitches
out again.  It was pathetic looking, but comical.  Pauli was scared
of her because her head looked so big, and she would toss her head
from side-to-side trying to get it off.  Poor girl.  You may want to
would've saved me $100 if they had been wearing them while I was at school
that first day.  Saved me a lot of anxiety getting them to the vet 
safely also.  I was pretty worried that Fermi would hurt herself or
get infected, but I couldn't do anything about her stomach myself.

The good thing is that we all got through it.  The experience will
help my Dixie not have the same problem in a few months when it is
her turn.  It wasn't such a big deal for Dylan (RIP), but his was
just outpatient surgery.


-- 
Christie Shackelford
gt1167b@prism.gatech.edu
Meow!
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: lis@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu (Elisabeth Riba)
Subject: Re: Finicky Felines Fasting
Organization: Computer Science, Brandeis University, Waltham, MA, USA
	<1992Sep12.053207.5816@usceast.cs.scarolina.edu>
Date: Mon, 14 Sep 1992 14:32:49 GMT

Boopsie did something similar.  She stopped eating her Iams not long
after I bought her a 20 lb bag of the stuff.  After a week of not
eating, I took her to the vet's (she had an appointment for another
problem) and asked what to do.  She had lost two pounds (which wasn't
entirely bad)  He recommended I try some different brands of food, and
sure enough, she gobbles down canned stuff.  I tried mixing a serving
of canned with the Iams, stirring them together well.  She managed to
eat around the Iams dry.  <sigh...>  An almost full 20 lb bag of Iams
Less Active may be up for sale in a few more weeks...

[PS--under the rubric of amusing sights--has anyone else ever seen a
full grown cat get her head stuck in an empty Pop-Tart box?  Bwah-ha!]
--
--------------->Elisabeth Anne Riba * lis@chaos.cs.brandeis.edu<---------------
"I want to be Robin to Bush's Batman."  Dan Quayle
Quick!  Notify DC.  I think it's time for another 900 number poll.
"We are enjoying a sluggish economy & not enjoying it very much."  --Bush
From: lyndap@Novell.COM (Lynda Peterson)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: A Wandering Bladder
Date: 6 Sep 92 02:43:59 GMT
Organization: Novell, Inc.

In article <1526400001@igc.apc.org> tracie@igc.apc.org (Tracie Diamond)  
writes:
> 
> Hello out there,
> My name is Tracie and I live with a cat named Andrews and Andrews loved
> to pee on any random piece of soft cloth. He peed on clothes, socks, 
> towels, and blankets. Once he peed on the wall while he was on top
> of the dryer...a not so soft place. Has this ever happened to anyone 
> else?
> I mean all the sudden he stoped, I am worried that he will start again, 
> I am also worried that it is a health problem. He is not my cat (my 
> roommates's ) but I love his just the same. Help
> 
> Tracie

My cat DID have a bladder problem, she ruined an almost finished quilt I  
was working on. Whe would only pee on clothes. I thought she was mad that  
we moved and that we let a dog in the house for a weekend. When I finally  
caught her in the act peeing on my coat, I took her to the vet and it was  
a urinary tract infection. The visit was about $50. I think she is trying  
to tell you something.
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: kilroy@netcom.com (Jeffrey S. Shulman)
Subject: Re: Building a Kitty Castle
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 92 19:13:16 GMT
Organization: Netcom - Online Communication Services  (408 241-9760 guest) 

Our cats just love this one piece of furniture we bought them (we don't have
the facilities to build it so we bought it from Abeta. They make real
quality pieces.) It is about 6.5' high. The top is a flat 1.5' square
sleeping area (with a hole in the middle of one side to get up on). In the
middle is an open, sided, square area about the same size as the top that
they can sleep curled up in without falling off (about 6" sides). The bottom
half has a post with hanging pom-poms, a small raised one foot square box open
on one side only for enclosed sleeping and a small platform below the box.
There is a middle 5" post going up through the middle supporting the platforms.
It is *completely* carpeted.

I suggest you get their fliers and you can see what they have (we have five
of their pieces).

The games we play (besides "sleep" ;->) are "get paper" where we throw a
crumpled up piece of paper either to the middle ledge or the top ledge. The
cats run up and throw it down. If they are already on the top ledge they will
"slam dunk" the paper down to the flooor. On the middle ledge we play "get
tail" where Fizzie (our #1 cat) will lay on his side and go grabbing his
tail around the post (we pull it away). Sometimes he just scurries around
and around. Tigger (our "play-a-holic" cat) plays a game where we through
a piece of paper in the small box and he goes after it from the *top* and,
of course, fwumps his rear end down on the lower pedestal. He evidently
enjoys it since he will repeatedly do it!

We put this piece in front of a window in our home office. They use it to
look out the window when not playing. As I type this Fizzie is looking out
from the topmost ledge and Tigger is lying in the middle. Goldie is at my
desk. Alas, Rosie just passed away Tuesday of heart/lung problems (sort of
what happened to M'Linda's Thomasina-the-cute but we had a chance to try and
save her. We tried, racked up four figure vet bills, but her little 2 year
old body just couldn't take it anymore. Sob.)

Anyway, the cats just LOVE their furniture! They also seem to "know" it is
for them and keep from stropping *our* furniture to pieces.

Abeta's number is: 919/288-5391.

P.S. I have no connection with Abeta except for me and my ctas liking their
-- 
Jeff Shulman
kilroy@netcom.com
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: ehp@poe.acc.Virginia.EDU ("Didi Pancake")
Subject: Re: Cats, fleas, Precor, etc.
Keywords: Cats,Fleas, - not working out
Organization: University of Virginia
Date: Sat, 12 Sep 1992 19:43:05 GMT

In article <1992Sep10.180729.24894@sco.com> brianm@sco.com (Brian Moffet) writes:
>The basic reason for lacing the water with ammonia  (or any detergent actually)
>is to reduce the surface tension of the water, making it easier to drown
>the fleas.  With a lowered surface tension, the fleas will sink easier,
>and thus drown easier.  

I usually try very hard not to have fleas get on my indoor cats in the
first place, but no plan is perfect. So, when they only have a couple of
fleas (relatively speaking of course), I use the flea comb on them
instead of heavy chemicals. 

We sit companionably in my chair, me combing, the cat purring, and when I
do catch a flea on the comb, it instantly gets dumped into a coffee cup
of water with one or at most two drops of dish detergent in it. The
detergent acts as a surfactant or wetting agent so the flea sinks pretty
promptly. The cup gets set aside on a handy shelf with a little lid on it
to prevent accidental drinking, then after several days, it gets washed
and if necessary "re-charged" for more combing sessions. 

If "we" have more fleas than a week of this will handle, it's on to Plan
B with the current chemical of coice.

--
|  Didi Pancake                 |   Order is half of life...            |
|  ehp@virginia.edu             |      ...the other half is more fun!   |
|-------------------------------|                                       | 
|  All usual disclaimers apply  |                    --German Proverb   |
Organization: Penn State University
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 23:35:21 EDT
From: <JDB6@psuvm.psu.edu>
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Laryngitis virus?

Clyde appears to have laryngitis. He is quickly loosing his normal
low meow and it is taken over by a high squeak! It sounds painfull,
and he is "talking" much less than normal. One Vet said that there
wasn't much to do if he was still eating and drinking normally
(which he is, thank you :-), but if so, he probably has progressed
to a sore throat and will need antibiotics. The Vet claimed that
this is a virus that is "going around" now.

Has anyone heard of such a virus/symptom reciently?
Any home remidies to run past the Vet? (New Vet, may not be up on
everything yet...)

Clyde and I thank you for any information!

Clyde, Bonnie ... being cared for by John, Jean Balogh, JDB@ECL.PSU.EDU
From: jtn@nutter.cs.vt.edu (Terry Nutter)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Cats, fleas, Precor, etc.
Date: 14 Sep 92 17:34:49 GMT
Followup-To: rec.pets.cats

On flea combs.  Didi Pancake writes,

>We sit companionably in my chair, me combing, the cat purring, and when I
>do catch a flea on the comb, it instantly gets dumped into a coffee cup
>of water with one or at most two drops of dish detergent in it. The
>detergent acts as a surfactant or wetting agent so the flea sinks pretty
>promptly. The cup gets set aside on a handy shelf with a little lid on it
>to prevent accidental drinking, then after several days, it gets washed
>and if necessary "re-charged" for more combing sessions. 

We got stuck with fleas this year.  One of our kittens truly hates getting
wet (useful when it's squirt gun time), which had him squirming at being
flea combed.  I started instead holding a long strip of duct tape.  After
combing, I lay the comb against the duct tape, pulling away fleas and
"flea crud".  If any are wiggling, I fold over the end of the strip to
trap them.  When it's all over, I fold up the tape securely, and dump it.
Sort of an application of the flypaper principle.  Anyhow, the kitten in
question has gone from wriggling frantically to sitting and purring with
this small change in technique.

Cheers,

Terry Nutter     Blacksburg, VA     jtn@vtopus.cs.vt.edu     (703)552-1598
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: coimay@sn01.sncc.lsu.edu ( LAURA CARRIERE)
Subject: Re: Why Do Cats Sit on Paper?
News-Software: VAX/VMS VNEWS 1.3-4   
Reply-To: coimay@sn01.sncc.lsu.edu
Organization: The unofficial LSU news node
Distribution:  world
Date: Thu, 10 Sep 1992 22:48:19 GMT
Nntp-Posting-Host-[nntpd-7114]: sn01.sncc.lsu.edu

In article <JOANM.92Sep9091848@moe.coe.uga.edu>, joanm@moe.coe.uga.edu (Joan Maxfield UCNS) writes...
>Amos has a different habit with paper I think it goes something like
>this:
>"Hey, theres a piece of paper on the floor"
>"I think the paper is sitting where I want to sit" (this works for
>	chairs and people too!)
>"I guess I'll just have to sit on it"
>"Hey,if this paper got to sit where I wanted to sit it must think
>	it's pretty special!"
>"Oh, God, I hope MOM doesn't think it's special too!! She LET it sit
>	there!"
>"Mom is too busy with me to have anything else special, I guess I'll
>	have to kill it.  She would approve, she knows she can't love
>	us ALL!"
>(Cat proceeds to shred the paper, be it news or term, into minute
>pieces!  Note that the last cat thought also works on fragile
>collectables, food, and love intrests)

Ah, yes, if the paper's special it must be competition and hence, must
be destroyed!  I like it.

Laura Carriere
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: Ann.Feeney@bbs.oit.unc.edu (Ann Feeney)
Subject: Re: Possums and cats
Organization: Extended Bulletin Board Service
Date: Sat, 5 Sep 1992 19:12:43 GMT

In article <2978@voodoo.UUCP> das@voodoo.boeing.com (Deb Schwartz) writes:
>Last night, as I was sitting in a friend's kitchen chatting, we saw a
>large possum walk up her back steps, help himself to the food she had out
>for her cat, then waddle off.  The whole time, her cat was crouched about
>10 feet away, frozen, watching the whole thing.  My friend was rather
>freaked out, having never seen a possum before, but Seattle is overrun
>with wildlife, and I see them walking around the streets in my neighborhood
>at night all the time, and even sometimes during the day.  I never let my
>cats out at night, but I am wondering: are possums at all aggresive towards
>cats?  If a cat approached a possum, would the possum run, attack, or 
>'play possum'?   I know all too well how racoons behave (when I was a kid a
>family cat was ripped up by a racoon, luckily the cat survived after
>considerable surgery), but don't know much about possums.              
>
>Thanks,
>
>Debbie Schwartz // das@voodoo.boeing.com  // or uunet!bcstec!voodoo!das 


This is just one experience, so don't take it as a solid trned...

My old orange buddy (now deceased) once encountered a possum, as both were
crossing the lawn on what might have been a collision course.
Loooong pause and stare.
Simultaneously, both move to the side a litte, and walk past
each other.
Honor satisfied, was the expression on the cat's face.

Ann
--
   The opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University of
     North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the Campus Office for Information
        Technology, or the Experimental Bulletin Board Service.
           internet:  bbs.oit.unc.edu or 152.2.22.80
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: Beverly Taylor <BTAYLOR@MACGATE.CSUCHICO.EDU>
Subject: Pet Lover/Humane Society NEEDS INFO
Organization: California State University, Chico
Date: Mon, 07 Sep 1992 14:27:37 GMT

I am seeking info from anyone on books, organizations, foundations, etc.
to apply for grant money to help keep our animal shelter in operation.  I
have subscribed to the AR-TALK list but hoped that some of you fellow
animal lovers could offer any information you have.  Thanks in-advance
for your help.

Bev Taylor
Chico, California
From: gbelli@opal.tufts.edu
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Ignore this
Date: 11 Sep 92 13:47:04 GMT
Organization: Tufts University - Medford, MA

This is just a test. Ignore it.
From: scheng@cs.utexas.edu (Sheila Cheng)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: FUS question
Date: 8 Sep 1992 13:25:43 -0500
Organization: CS Dept, University of Texas at Austin
NNTP-Posting-Host: needmore.cs.utexas.edu
Keywords: FUS

My parents' male cat was just diagnosed with bladder stone (FUS).
The vet told my mom that if she feeds Albert (the cat) with low
magnesium/low ash special diet, then the FUS will probably not
come back.  However, for some cats it might still come back.  I
am just wondering what the likelihood of the FUS recurring if
ALbert stays on a strict FUS diet ?  And what brands of cat food
is best for this ?

Sorry if this is a FAQ.

--sheila
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
From: maverick@topgun.b29.ingr.com (Mike Sorrelle)
Subject: What we say; what cats hear
Reply-To: maverick@topgun.b29.ingr.com
Organization: Intergraph Corp., Dullsville (as in Huntsville), AL
Date: Fri, 4 Sep 1992 22:32:09 GMT

Sorry if this is a duplicate, but my first attempt never showed up on
my system, so I assume it didn't go out.

Anyway, this was originally a Far Side cartoon (by Gary Larson) that
I cut out a number of years ago; the following is my best
ASCII representation of what he had drawn:


    What we say to dogs:

    ~~~~~        _______________________
   /~~~~~\      /                       \ 
  ?| o o |?    | NO, Rover!  BAD DOG!!   |
   |  ^  |  ---+ Do NOT chew my shoes!!  |
    \ O /      | BAD DOG!  BAD ROVER!!   |
     --- 	\_______________________/ 

    What they hear:
                 _______________________
                /                       \ 
   .^___^.     | blah, ROVER! blah blah  |
   | o o |  ---+ blah blah blah blah     |
   \  .  /     | blah blah blah ROVER!   |
    \_^_/	\_______________________/ 
      U

==============================================

    What we say to cats:

    ~~~~~        ________________________
   /~~~~~\      /                        \ 
  ?| o o |?    | NO, fluffy!  BAD CAT!!   |
   |  ^  |  ---+ Do NOT scratch the sofa! |
    \ O /      | BAD CAT!  BAD FLUFFY!!   |
     --- 	\________________________/ 

    What they hear:
                 ________________________
                /                        \ 
   .^___^.     |                          |
   | o o |  ---+                          |
    \_^_/      |                          |
		\________________________/ 



-- 
                 _   |  Mike Sorrelle, Intergraph Corp., Huntsville, AL 
  /| /| |     / / \  |  Opinions expressed here are a daemon's, not mine.
 / |/ | | /| /   \   |  Internet:  maverick@topgun.b29.ingr.com
/     | |/ |/  \_/   |  UUCP:      ...uunet!ingr!b29!topgun!maverick
From: angie@moose.cs.indiana.edu (angela allen)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Re: Water Bowl Fetish (was Re: Ice cubes in water bowl)
Date: 9 Sep 92 22:24:06 GMT
Organization: Computer Science, Indiana University

nunn@sura.net (Deborah Nunn) writes:

>Any one else have a cat with a water bowl fetish?

Lately we've been finding toys in the water dish. Unfortunately the
only toys that go there are not the pig-pong balls or milk rings, but
the fur mice. Nothing is worse in the morning than leaning down to the
cat's dish just close enough to notice there is something in it that
looks JUST LIKE A DROWNED MOUSE! Some of them even discolor the water
a little, giving that nice blood effect. Now, THAT's gross!

--angie			angie@cs.indiana.edu
& John (hubby)
& Cerebus (buddy)
& Jaka (sweetie)
From: sstover@sumax.seattleu.edu (Maven o'Mirth)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.cats
Subject: Cats who sleep on humans, was Re: Any help for a drooler?
Date: 15 Sep 92 18:37:19 GMT
Organization: Seattle University, Seattle WA

In article <lbc7tkINNf61@jethro.Corp.Sun.COM> avi@rix.Corp.Sun.COM writes:
>
>Yeah - this is what Mango does!  When she's in her happy/cuddly/ready-to-go-to-
>sleep mode, she marches up to my face, purrs loudly, and rubs her drippy wet snout
>on my face (yuck...).   I pet her, but she acts like I'm not responding right 
>and meows pitifully and licks my face, like she wants something else.  She finally
>contents herself with a jawbone rub and falls asleep on my neck.
>
>-Ann

Weird.  This is *exactly*, to the letter, what Hemingway does every night
when I head for bed.  Since he was pretty young when I got him, and there
really aren't a lot of other places for him to sleep (my futon converts to
a couch during the day, and I have *lots* of hardwood everywhere else)
he's always slept with me.  What particularly strikes me about the story
is that Mango sleeps in the same place/position that Hemingway does. 
Anyone else have cats that sleep with them this way? Here I thought it was
just one more cute, unique thing this critter did....:)

--
Sheryl Stover				|  How passing fair is youth,
*>sstover@sumax.seattleu.edu<*		|  Forever fleeting away;
and Hemingway, feline philosopher	|  Who happy would be, let him be;
Watch this .sig for news of the		|  Of tomorrow, who can say?
upcoming album from Seattle's 		|	-Lorenzo de'Medici
premier band, the Medici!		|