It has been an eventful weekend

DaveC426913

DaveC426913

Valued Senior Member
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Having never owned a pet before - let alone an infant pet, I am learning a lot of things very fast. Like:
- where the nearest 24-hour pet care hospital is,
- that they sell formula for kittens,
- that kittens need to fed every 2 hours round the clock, and
- that feral momma cats don't like help, and will move their babies if disturbed...
and finally, that:
- everyone in my household fucking loses their marbles when a 3 week old kitten comes into the house. In about ten minutes the tone of the entire house went from 'no goddam animals' to 'how soon we can rip them away from their mom and keep them?'
 
DaveC426913 said:
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Having never owned a pet before - let alone an infant pet, I am learning a lot of things very fast. Like:
- where the nearest 24-hour pet care hospital is,
- that they sell formula for kittens,
- that kittens need to fed every 2 hours round the clock, and
- that feral momma cats don't like help, and will move their babies if disturbed...
and finally, that:
- everyone in my household fucking loses their marbles when a 3 week old kitten comes into the house. In about ten minutes the tone of the entire house went from 'no goddam animals' to 'how soon we can rip them away from their mom and keep them?'
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Не раньше, чем они смогут сами есть. Для котят это обычно месяца полтора - два. Кроме того, что маленьких нужно часто кормить специальными смесями, им ещё нужно массажировать животик и под хвостиком, потому что иначе они не могут ходить в туалет пока они маленькие. Это делает мама кошка, а если её нет, это придётся делать вам.
 
DaveC426913 said:
Having never owned a pet before - let alone an infant pet, I am learning a lot of things very fast.
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Seriously? That's crazy. Essentially, there was only a five year period in my life (university, roughly) in which I lived without a dog. I travel with a dog about 95 percent of the time--I've found "creative" ways around various restrictions, but then my dogs have always been impeccably behaved in public so it's easier to get away with this--and the few times I haven't, I start to go nuts after a few days. Once on a European tour, I stayed in a home in Latvia with dogs for a few days, and I tried to find ways to come up with an excuse to avoid my next destination. As it turned out, I probably should have used this excuse as the next destination was a nightmare--the proprietor of the venue seemed to have mob ties or something, and my music was not quite what he was expecting.

Anyway, infant pets, especially kittens, are kind of a nightmare. Tight scheduling like that is rather intense.
 
parmalee said:
Seriously? That's crazy.
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I, my mother, and several siblings are allergic to all things with fur or hair. Also, I have asthma, triggered by my allergies to animals.
So we never had any animals larger than fish.

Lately, various adversities in other peoples' lives is causing an influx in critters to ours. Our son can no longer look after his 9yo 50lb Spitz, so we are now about to the proud owners of a 9yo 50lb Spitz. The turtle came along for the ride.

And now, shed kittens.

They all get new homes and full bellies; I'm gonna get an iron lung.
 
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DaveC426913 said:
I, my mother, and several siblings are allergic to all things with fur or hair. Also, I have asthma, triggered by my allergies to animals.
So we never had any animals large than fish.

Lately, various adversities in other peoples' lives is causing an influx in critters to ours. Our son can no longer look after his 9yo 50lb Spitz, so we are now about to the proud owners of a 9yo 50lb Spitz. The turtle came along for the ride.

And now, shed kittens.

They all get new homes and full bellies; I'm gonna get an iron lung.
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Вы все абсолютно лысые? У вас ни у кого нет волос?
 
It sounds like literally, the best weekend ever! Yay for you and your family. Cats rule the universe, in the sweetest, most adorable way. You’ll see. :D
 
DaveC426913 said:
everyone in my household fucking loses their marbles when a 3 week old kitten comes into the house.
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In a couple weeks, they will reach maximum cuteness and that will plateau for a while, maybe a month or so. You will all be powerless to resist them. The household I grew up in was practically a kitten factory and we never had any trouble giving them away. Our main dog was very tolerant and would let kittens climb on him, pounce on his tail, leap from furniture onto his back, etc. If it got to be too much he would gently flick them away or bark loudly. In any litter, there were distinct personalities; usually at least one cuddler, always turning up in your bedding, lap, hair, or otherwise human-adjacent; one athlete, always scaling the heights or taking daring leaps or getting stuck up a tree; and one motormouth, constantly vocalizing about something. Occasionally there would be a biter - not unfriendly or vicious, but just always expressing playfulness or affection with teeth. We adopted a neighbor's kitten last year (now ten months old) who is some sort of fearless super athlete, always climbing trees or sprinting across the yard or stalking creatures much larger than herself. On one occasion I've seen her leap about five feet straight up and snatch a sparrow in midflight - I was glad to see her release it right away and it survived okay. (probably adjusting with a slightly higher flight path in the future) Yesterday she tried to make friends with a group of mule deer grazing in our yard. They mostly ignored her.
 
The big question looming over the household is when/if we decide she's not feeding them and has abandoned the nest , and do we intervene?

If she has, the one remaining kitten won't survive the night.

Currently, three have been removed by mama and I am already intervening to feed the last one formula a few times a day and replacing it in the shed.
 
DaveC426913 said:
The big question looming over the household is when/if we decide she's not feeding them and has abandoned the nest , and do we intervene?

If she has, the one remaining kitten won't survive the night.

Currently, three have been removed by mama and I am already intervening to feed the last one formula a few times a day and replacing it in the shed.
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I detest cats. They are the psychopathic serial killers of the animals kingdom, and we have domesticated them and keep them as pets.

We will regret it! Rue the day!
 
Pinball1970 said:
I detest cats. They are the psychopathic serial killers of the animals kingdom, and we have domesticated them and keep them as pets.

We will regret it! Rue the day!
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Я обожаю кошек. Они спасли человечество от голодной смерти. Если бы человек их не приручил, то грызуны сожрали бы все зимние припасы, и люди умерли бы голодной смертью. Есть версия, что динозавры вымерли именно из-за грызунов, которые сжирали их яйца. А потом появились кошки, и сожрали грызунов. Одна кошка за день истребляет в среднем 20 грызунов. Это великие труженники, хотя иногда кажется, что они только едят и спят.
 
ольга said:
There is a theory that dinosaurs died out because of the rodents that ate their eggs. And then cats appeared and ate the rodents.
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Actually, humans evolved from the rodents after eating those eggs, humans are part dinosaur and part rodent now. It was all part of Gods plan.
 
ольга said:
Я обожаю кошек. Они спасли человечество от голодной смерти. Если бы человек их не приручил, то грызуны сожрали бы все зимние припасы, и люди умерли бы голодной смертью. Есть версия, что динозавры вымерли именно из-за грызунов, которые сжирали их яйца. А потом появились кошки, и сожрали грызунов. Одна кошка за день истребляет в среднем 20 грызунов. Это великие труженники, хотя иногда кажется, что они только едят и спят.
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They don't stop at rodents, they kill everything they consider prey for sports, so mice, voles, shrew, fish, rats, birds and insects. All important players in the ecosystem.
Domestic cats have a devastating effect on the song bird population of the UK in particular. Those smaller rodents are part of the food source for other predators, birds of prey being some, some of which are endangered.

Also, there have been papers regarding a potential reservoir for COVID in the domestic cat and dog population in the US I think. I will dig it out.
 
Pinball1970 said:
They don't stop at rodents, they kill everything they consider prey for sports, so mice, voles, shrew, fish, rats, birds and insects. All important players in the ecosystem.
Domestic cats have a devastating effect on the song bird population of the UK in particular. Those smaller rodents are part of the food source for other predators, birds of prey being some, some of which are endangered.
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This is because cats are allowed to roam free.

If dogs were allowed to roam free like cats, we would have an even bigger problem - roving packs of feral dogs like in other countries - endangering pets and children.

I'll keep my cat indoors.
 
DaveC426913 said:
This is because cats are allowed to roam free.

If dogs were allowed to roam free like cats, we would have an even bigger problem - roving packs of feral dogs like in other countries - endangering pets and children.

I'll keep my cat indoors.
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The idiots who let their cats roam free do not even put bells on them.
"But Mr Muggles doesn't like it," is the usual cry.

"Does Mr Muggles like having his neck stretched out like spaghetti? Because that is what is going to happen to him if I catch him on my property again, pissing on my flowers again and bothering my bird feeder, nesting birds and visiting birds. AGAIN!"

"
 
Pinball1970 said:
They don't stop at rodents, they kill everything they consider prey for sports, so mice, voles, shrew, fish, rats, birds and insects. All important players in the ecosystem.
Domestic cats have a devastating effect on the song bird population of the UK in particular. Those smaller rodents are part of the food source for other predators, birds of prey being some, some of which are endangered.

Also, there have been papers regarding a potential reservoir for COVID in the domestic cat and dog population in the US I think. I will dig it out.
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The problem lies mainly with the cat's human handlers. We always fed our cats well (decreases hunting), belled the ones with hunting skill and predilection, and keep them indoors at dawn and dusk (cats are crepuscular hunters). And we spay and neuter. Do all that and you have a pet which could have the lowest environmental impact of the pets which aren't caged or aquatic. Kittens which are handled in the first weeks will bond with humans and be more "dog like" and less the aloof psychopaths you described earlier. :)
 
Pinball1970 said:
"Does Mr Muggles like having his neck stretched out like spaghetti? Because that is what is going to happen to him if I catch him on my property again, pissing on my flowers again and bothering my bird feeder, nesting birds and visiting birds. AGAIN!"
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Also: get off Pinball's lawn!
 
Pinball1970 said:
The idiots who let their cats roam free do not even put bells on them.
"But Mr Muggles doesn't like it," is the usual cry.

"Does Mr Muggles like having his neck stretched out like spaghetti? Because that is what is going to happen to him if I catch him on my property again, pissing on my flowers again and bothering my bird feeder, nesting birds and visiting birds. AGAIN!"

"
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I can just picture you out there throwing your drumsticks at the cats. "Get off my lawn!!"
 
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