Partially because I need one, and if I need one other people may need one, too. You can start with this John Cole entry about the rescued sea-kitten, check out Cat Out Loud (who apparently links to us now) and then go to an open thread that can be about anything you like, just so long as it’s about cats.
Or about sites that we’re missing who link to us.
Or about baseball, I guess.
Ach, just no politics.
The Mariners suck. I would trade the entire team for a bushel of half-drowned kittens. I would rather read a blog featuring nothing but pictures of half-drowned kittens every single day than watch them attempt to play baseball.
Have you guys got a link to Abbie The Cat yet?
Someone on livejournal provides an emergency kitten service: kittenbreak. For those who need a daily dose of cuteness.
It’s actually a feed from a website with the following disclaimer:
http://www.kittenbreak.com
Jess and I have a cat now.
There was some question, for the last week or so, of whether or not we would. A few weeks ago we were discussing our need for a cat, and my father’s neighbor mentioned that she had a cat to give away. A friend had given it to her because they had three cats and the cat in question needs to be an only cat, and they were financially strapped. Unfortunately, she also has two other cats so this was a temporary measure at best because these /people/ were actually going to put the cat down rather than give it to someone else.
We met the cat, Suede, and fell in love. He’s a Russian Blue/mongrel who does the head-bumping thing, including getting up on his hind legs if your hand’s high enough, purrs at the drop of the hat, loves everyone–except other cats.
So everything was all set and we’d gone out and bought cat paraphernalia, when we got a call from the neighbor that the original family had freaked. Their kids flipped out when they were told the cat was going away for good, and the parents caved. They decided to try to lock Suede in the basement, away from the other cats. This was not okay with us for a variety of reasons. So after a few uncomfortable and unhappy days during which we didn’t know what was going to happen, we got a callback: would we consider fostering Suede until they could get on their feet and figure something out?
In a word, no. We have a three-year-old, and it would not be fair to /him/ to let him get attached to a cat whose family is going to come get him. We drew a line in the sand: they’re welcome to come visit, but if he comes to live with us, he stays.
They agreed. Suede is home now, with us. And he’s /awesome/.
Life just isn’t the same without a cat.
Yesterday morning at 5:30 am, I woke up with the sound of rapid rustling under the bed. It didn’t sound like one of the two cats we have. Sounded more like a rat. We have a pet rat, but it’s in a secure cage. So what was the rustling?
I climbed out of the bed, and noticed Biko, one of the cats, sitting placidly at the door checking out what was going on. Just then, Ratberta (our rat) scurried happily out from under the bed with part of a donut in her mouth.
Well, I snagged her, made a mental note to talk to the children about leaving donuts under the bed AND leaving the rat’s cage unlocked. Then I considered the course of events. The rat had obviously been out all night, happily doing what rats do (explore and look for food), and the cats had been watching her during that time. That’s many hours or rat-watching, and she didn’t have a mark on her. Much better than, say, finding her headless corpse on the rug.
When we first got the rat, the cats were fascinated. They would spend hours watching her cage, and sometimes licking their chops. Now, I suspect that she’s a lot like TV for them. They seem to understand that she’s off-limits.
Ratberta has escaped several times before this, and on one occasion, I’ve seen here running from room to room while both cats follow her around, silently watching. They have on occasion sniffed at her, yet never attacked her.
I have to say that I’m not AS surprised at this behaviour from Biko (no, not named after Stephen Biko, named after another cat that was named after Stephen Biko). Biko is the St. Francis of Assisi of cats. Well, maybe not, more like the Billy Jack of cats. Peaceful, yet tough. He has no fear of dogs, and will happily approach the biggest do for a sniff. An out-of-control rotrweiller once spotted him, and charged him. Biko charged back, and the dog slammed on the brakes and turned tail. As Bill Watterson has pointed out, five of the six ends on cats are pointy.
Yet I’ve seen Biko sitting in the sun, surrounded by birds eating spilled seed. I’ve seen Biko sniff noses with the local squirrel. Yes, kind to birds and rodents is our Biko, but just let that big Siamese troublemaker from down the street step into the yard and all hell breaks loose.
Thanks, I needed a cat break.
I was getting rather stressed out about the politics threads, and thinking about them rather more than is healthy, yesterday.
Listening to Master of Puppets helped immensely. Music soothes the savage beast and all that.
Please, who’d do that? The kittens still have potential.
Trying to fix, italics and letting you know that my cat hates you.
Actually, I don’t have a cat (woe!), and the one in my summer apartment doesn’t hate anyone. But the OW mascot definitely hates you.
When I was growing up, we had a kitten drown in the toilet once. Not quite as tenacious as the sea kitten.
Most people make sympathetic noises when they hear this story, until they learn that,
1) the kitten’s name was Baby Dooby, and
2) my mom blow dried it for the funeral,
after which they can no longer keep a straight face.
I’m allergic to cats, although I like them more and more the older I get
(also trying to stop the italics)
I’m allergic to cats, although I like them more and more the older I get
What’s your position on rats?
sorry about that. I guess the free wireless at the Long Beach airport still has a few kinks.