All about cats, tips, tricks and......

[mam521 1,964]

15 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

You must live in a very small 'hood, mam ma'am.

I didn't think that was possible in the greater Houston metro area!

[TBoneTX 44,391]

7 hours ago, mam521 said:

I didn't think that was possible in the greater Houston metro area!

'Hood, not city, see mam ma'am.

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I have set Cat T-B.'s annual fizzicle* exam for Tuesday.

     *should be the spelling

She didn't escape the casa even once in 13 months, so maybe we can postpone the rabies shot.

The chief agenda item is a thorough 4-wheel manicure.

[mam521 1,964]

17 hours ago, TBoneTX said:

4-wheel manicure

PAWDICURE 🐾

[TBoneTX 44,391]

10 hours ago, mam521 said:

PAWDICURE 🐾

Har har, mam ma'am.

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Mama Cat and Newborns Kittens are the Most Adorable 'Walmart Find'

 

An animal rescue worker is making everyone on the Internet super jealous with what she found at her local Walmart store's outdoor living department in Arkansas.  Listen, as someone who shops a lot I have never returned home with anything this fantastic.  Sale dish towels?  Sure.  Newborn kittens and their mama?  Never!  [...]

 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mama-cat-newborns-kittens-most-141500797.html

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Talks about cats, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why do dogs sniff each other's butts?

 

When two dogs meet, they often go straight for a whiff of each other's behind. And anyone living in a multicat household will tell you that cats regularly put their nose under their fellow felines' tails.

So why do dogs sniff each other's butts?  It turns out, there's a good reason behind this bottom-sniffing obsession.  [...]

 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/why-dogs-sniff-others-butts-090000688.html

 

[Ontarkie 14,115]

On 4/29/2024 at 11:06 AM, mam521 said:

You guys are never going to believe this...I was scrolling Facebook on the weekend and Montgomery County Precinct 3's arrest notification pops up.  I stop and ask hubs if the lady in the picture was the lady that dropped off the cat's paperwork.  He confirmed, yes, it was. 

 

Y'all, the lady that used to own Monty was arrested for Delivery of a Controlled Substance Causing Death!!!!  I can't even make this stuff up! 

That's wild. 

On 5/5/2024 at 11:48 PM, TBoneTX said:

Mama Cat and Newborns Kittens are the Most Adorable 'Walmart Find'

 

An animal rescue worker is making everyone on the Internet super jealous with what she found at her local Walmart store's outdoor living department in Arkansas.  Listen, as someone who shops a lot I have never returned home with anything this fantastic.  Sale dish towels?  Sure.  Newborn kittens and their mama?  Never!  [...]

 

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/mama-cat-newborns-kittens-most-141500797.html

Home DEpot is another popular spot for kittens. 

[TBoneTX 44,391]

7 hours ago, Ontarkie said:

Home Depot is another popular spot for kittens. 

As long as someone rescues them, wherever they're found.

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Twelve years ago today (Thurs. 5/9), I had to euthanize Cat T-B. #1.  I wanted another 10 years with her.  Thought it would be easier after all this time.

 

This is one of several good ones.

https://healingtheheartpetloss.com/pages/if-tears-could-build-a-stairway

 

 

[TBoneTX 44,391]

The study itself (link within the below) is rather, uh, longhair, but the numbers are pretty clear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

New Study Explains How Long Cat Breeds Are Expected to Live

 

Researchers from the Royal Veterinary College in the United Kingdom and the National Chung Hsing University in Taiwan wrote in a study published Wednesday that different cat breeds have different life expectancies, in the Journal of Feline Medicine and Surgery.  [...]

 

Continues:

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/study-explains-long-cat-breeds-141500746.html

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Scientists studied 1,200 cats to determine why they scratch up furniture and how to stop it

 

[...] if you really want your cat to stop scratching up your couch and chairs, it's worth knowing the exact reason they're doing it in the first place.  Now, a new study offers more clues into cats' destructive habits and how to curb them. [...]

 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/scientists-studied-1-200-cats-201026413.html

 

---

Link to full paper:

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/veterinary-science/articles/10.3389/fvets.2024.1403068/full#supplementary-material

 

---

I (T-B.) think that this study was poorly designed.  In the authors' Recruitment Questionnaire, one of the inclusion/exclusion criteria involves time spent outdoors by the cat (Supplemental Material, q. #12).  The range for continued study inclusion is "exclusively indoors" to "more than 6 hours (daily?) outdoors."  Another question (#31) was "[where] do you live?" with choices of apartment or house.

 

Either of these situations can imply or impose all kinds of uncontrollable, unmeasurable variables.  How much and what type of stress does the cat undergo when outdoors, regardless of time spent outdoors -- e.g., peace the whole time or intrusion of a rival cat during the first 5 minutes?  How much distraction (chaos vs. toys vs. boredom) exists inside the residence?  Does the cat have a place to escape when stressed?  I don't see that the researchers can draw valid conclusions without considering these factors.

 

The second paragraph of Discussion, especially starting with "One additional factor that should be discussed here" and talking about child-cat interaction, almost kills their argument, because such variables can NEVER be measured.  Every cat is different, every child is different, and every child-cat interaction will be different.

 

Furthermore, the elephant in their analytical room is the inability to overcome "cats do what they want when they want."  In view of this, I don't think that pronouncing great insights or even significant associations from the study findings means very much.

 

Later, we will tell you how we REALLY feel about this study.

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Today (Thurs., Aug. 8th) was International Cat Day.  Miu!

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Why do cats hate closed doors?
 

If you've ever witnessed a cat in front of a closed door, you might notice how much they seem to be annoyed by it.  They might poke a furry arm under the crack, begin to paw at the door or even attack it while letting out agitated meows.  But why do cats seem to hate closed doors so much?  [...]

 

Continues:

https://www.livescience.com/animals/domestic-cats/why-do-cats-hate-closed-doors

[Forever_After 4]

I have grown to really love cats. Growing up, we've primarily only had dogs and only one, very special cat.  So I used to love dogs.  I still do, but I used to, too!  When I eventually get back to the states, I'm considering a Maine #######, anyone here have experiences with them?

 

*Edit*

I see and can understand the censoring of that word, but in this case it's literally just a breed of cat.  I won't try circumventing the language filter but you know, a Main C... A big house cat.

Edited September 1 by Forever_After
See *Edit*

[TBoneTX 44,391]

Good introduction to MaineCoons:

https://www.thesprucepets.com/maine-#######-cat-breed-profile-characteristics-and-care-5221962

 

(Knew that would happen -- replace the ####s with c o o n [remove spaces].  Actually, the link still appears to work when clicked.)

 

I disagree with the recommendation to brush them "once weekly."  They're longhairs, so you might have to brush yours at least once daily.

 

And remember that cats are obligate carnivores and do distinctly better on wet diets than on dry kibble.  I use chewy.com (best website ever) for ordering what mine likes to eat.

Edited September 1 by TBoneTX