What have we done? Cats, 6; Tsu and Ivan, 2

[Ivan Seeking]

What have we done?? Cats, 6; Tsu and Ivan, 2

We had another stray show up who was in pretty rough shape. We have learned the hard way that once they latch on, we have three choices:

1). Take to shelter [almost certainly doomed to either life in prison, or death]
2). Watch them slowly starve to death. Possible disease threat to our other cats
3). Be complete idiots and take them in.

So, we opt to be complete idiots. This one is an orange neutered male, approx 7 year old, with medium length hair [breed?], now named Isaac [I don't know why Isaac... it just popped out]. He had mats on his back that formed a clump as large as a fist. He has an infection in his mouth, he is thin, he stunk to high heaven, and he was filthy. But a day with the Vet did wonders and he turns out to be an extremely affectionate kitty. Not a wild cat by any means, he was certainly someone's pet. Either he got lost, or someone moved and left him behind, or he was dumped in the hills behind us. The vet said that they have seen a lot of abandoned pets since the economy tanked.

I would guess that he has been on his own for at least several months; no more than half a year I would think. But there was no mistaking the fact that at one time he was a pet. It only took a few minutes to gain his confidence to the point where he would lie right on top of me to sleep. In fact he is so affectionate that I have to wonder what did happen. This clearly was a cat that someone loved and gave a great deal of attention. In any event, as some here know, he hit the jackpot when he hit our place. Tsu and I are both complete suckers for animals.

So we now have Zoobie, Bun III, Little Tyke, Jack, Mr. Spock [another stray who has been around for three years now], and Isaac.

Btw, we have some acreage that acts like a stray cat net. They follow the creek down out of the hills. Our place is one of the first places to land.

 

[tribdog]

all you need is one more and the rumors the kids in town are always talking about will come true. You know the ones "stay away from that weird old couple with all the cats."

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Tell me about it! I am thinking that another dog might not be a bad idea. The reason for not getting more dogs was that I wanted to reduce the animal load. Cripes, that idea sure failed miserably! Since the dogs all got old and died, we have adopted four new cats, skunks take over for two months every summer. We now have racoons, nutria, deer, and turkeys living here at one time of the year or another, which is cool, but that also tends to attract predators that could eat the cats. I am almost positive that I saw a coyote on the property the other day.

 

[tribdog]

what's a nutria?

 

[Ivan Seeking]

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a4/Myocastor_coypus3.jpg/299px-

The coypu, or nutria (Myocastor coypus) is a large, herbivorous, semiaquatic rodent and the only member of the family Myocastoridae. Originally native to temperate South America, it has since been introduced to North America, Europe, Asia, and Africa, primarily by fur ranchers.[2] Although it is still valued for its fur in some regions, its destructive feeding and burrowing behaviors make this invasive species a pest throughout most of its range.

There are two commonly-used names in the English language for Myocastor coypus. The name nutria (or local derivatives such as "nutria- or nutra- rat") is generally used in North America and Asia; however, in Spanish-speaking countries, the word nutria refers to the otter. To avoid this ambiguity, the name coypu (derived from the Mapudungun word kóypu)[3] is used in Latin America and Europe.[4] In France, the coypu is known as a ragondin. In Dutch it is known as beverrat (beaver rat). In Italy, instead, the popular name is, like in North America and Asia, nutria, but it is also called castorino (little beaver), by which its fur is known.

wiki - nutria

A somewhat interesting story here in Oregon: Back in the 1930s, these were imported from Louisiana in hopes of making money selling the furs. In the end the venture failed and many nutria were turned loose. Before long they were everywhere and are now considered a real pest!

ABSTRACT: The nutria or coypu, Myocastor coypus, is a large semi-aquatic rodent that superficially resembles an overgrown muskrat or a stunted beaver. They were introduced into Oregon from about 1930 to the 195O's. At one time Oregon had more than 600 fur farmers raising these animals for fur; now there are none. Some animals escaped and many others were released into the w i l d when it became apparent that pelt values were nonexistent and production costs greatly exceeded profits. Being prolific and quite mobile the nutria quickly spread through much of western Oregon. By the 1960's damage to agricultural crops was common to severe in western Oregon. Crops damaged included seed, grain, forage, hay and trees. Burrowing damage to stream banks, field borders and farm ponds was reported in many areas...

http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1026&context=vpc6

That reminds me, we've had opossum living here as well.

 

[tribdog]

Opossum scare me. I wouldn't brag about having them around. The only cute opossum I've ever seen was in "The song of the South" Could you imagine coming face to face with an opossum late at night and have a little girl scream at the same time. That would probably be enough to make me wet myself.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Opossum scare me. I wouldn't brag about having them around.

Brag?? Opossum are nasty little creatures that pose a threat to our cats. Raccoons are cool, but they too can be very dangerous.

To tell you truth, I even worry a bit about mountain lions. If one happened to nest on the property and saw me walking about here at night, which I do almost every night, I too might be considered prey.

 

[turbo]

'Posssums aren't bad. At our old place (still just a tick under 45 deg N lat) we had one come to our bird-feeder every night to eat sunflower seeds. He NEVER came alone - not once. He was always accompanied by at least one cat, one skunk, or one raccoon, and often by two or more of the above. It was ridiculous how popular the 'possum was with the other animals. One of the cats belonged to some people a couple of houses away, and she was a really skittish calico that always seemed to be hanging with a skunk, though I only saw her at night. It's odd what you can see when you flip on the outside lights at midnight or after.

 

[tribdog]

I think you would have to step on a mountain lion cub before you would be attacked. I've had a very difficult time just seeing one in the wild and I keep jerky in my pockets. Maybe a mountain lion has been watching you and sees you taking care of all those stray cats. So you'll be safe because mountain lions are like the patron saints of house cats.

 

[tribdog]

'Posssums aren't bad. At our old place (still just a tick under 45 deg N lat) we had one come to our bird-feeder every night to eat sunflower seeds. He NEVER came alone - not once. He was always accompanied by at least one cat, one skunk, or one raccoon, and often by two or more of the above. It was ridiculous how popular the 'possum was with the other animals. One of the cats belonged to some people a couple of houses away, and she was a really skittish calico that always seemed to be hanging with a skunk, though I only saw her at night. It's odd what you can see when you flip on the outside lights at midnight or after.

I flip on the inside light and watch roaches scatter. They never come alone either.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Re the cats and predators, the tables are turned on the turkeys. For the last couple of years, Bun and Zoobie have learned how to stalk and catch them. The cats can only deal with the young turkeys, but if its early enough in the season, every now and then its all feathers and screaming! Funny too, we have seen our cats teaming-up with the neighbor's cats in order to catch them birds.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I think you would have to step on a mountain lion cub before you would be attacked. I've had a very difficult time just seeing one in the wild and I keep jerky in my pockets. Maybe a mountain lion has been watching you and sees you taking care of all those stray cats. So you'll be safe because mountain lions are like the patron saints of house cats.

Heh, actually mountain lions are a problem; esp in areas where homes are built on previously wild land. In the hills around Los Angeles, while I was growing up, it was somewhat common for a lion to attack a lone biker, or esp a lone jogger. What seems to happen is that the cats lose their fear of humans and become more aggressive. If there is a drought or shortage of food, lookout!

As for this area, not too long ago there was even a nesting pair found living in a vacant lot, in a residential area, in the local town. But we do have ranchers in the area. If there is a problem they are usually all over it.

 

[tribdog]

could you imagine turning around to see mountain lion running at you? The only thing scarier would be a mountain lion sized opossum. Except that opossums don't run at you. they drop onto you. right onto your neck. and little girls scream in the background every time you look into an opossum's eyes. I've heard-and I don't know if its true or not-that if you shave an opossum's belly and do a dot to dot with the nipples it draws a pentagram.

 

[turbo]

could you imagine turning around to see mountain lion running at you? The only thing scarier would be a mountain lion sized opossum. Except that opossums don't run at you. they drop onto you. right onto your neck. and little girls scream in the background every time you look into an opossum's eyes.

(scary music... starting really low, and building, building, building...) AHHHHH!

 

[Ivan Seeking]

'Posssums aren't bad. At our old place (still just a tick under 45 deg N lat) we had one come to our bird-feeder every night to eat sunflower seeds. He NEVER came alone - not once. He was always accompanied by at least one cat, one skunk, or one raccoon, and often by two or more of the above. It was ridiculous how popular the 'possum was with the other animals. One of the cats belonged to some people a couple of houses away, and she was a really skittish calico that always seemed to be hanging with a skunk, though I only saw her at night. It's odd what you can see when you flip on the outside lights at midnight or after.

Funny! And cats and skunks certainly get along just fine. We have seen this many times with our cats... and the yearly invasion of skunks. I have always wondered if Pepe Le Pew was based on this fact. But they are a threat - diseases and parasites if nothing else.

Goats and horses love each other as well.

 

[tribdog]

I've seen goats and dogs playing together. I've even seen a dog lift its leg on a bush and have have a goat go and lift its leg on the bush right after. that cracked me up.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

We have also caught the cats playing hide-n-seek in the bushes with the deer. THAT is really funny! Of course the cat is the one doing all of the hiding.

 

[turbo]

Funny! And cats and skunks certainly get along just fine. We have seen this many times with our cats... and the yearly invasion of skunks. I have always wondered if Pepe Le Pew was based on this fact. But they are a threat - diseases and parasites if nothing else.

Goats and horses love each other as well.

Cats and skunks get along fine. A friend of mine (who worked the same shifts as me on the paper machine) was really panicky for a while because his daughter's cat started bringing a skunk home regularly, and they would often be hanging 'round the outside food-dish that was left on the side porch for the cat. Paul thought that he'd get sprayed by the skunk if he inadvertently spooked it. Truth is, that skunk was getting top-drawer treatment and would never have sprayed him, unless he deliberately harmed the critter. Skunks are very intelligent and sociable. Much more so than cats.

 

[turbo]

I've seen goats and dogs playing together. I've even seen a dog lift its leg on a bush and have have a goat go and lift its leg on the bush right after. that cracked me up.

Did you follow suit? If not, why not? Did you explain to the dog and goat? Your public needs to know... c'mon...

 

[tribdog]

Did you follow suit? If not, why not? Did you explain to the dog and goat? Your public needs to know... c'mon...

I don't lift my leg, I squat. I think its because I was fixed before I was full grown.

 

[tribdog]

I'm going to go a bit off topic here, but the cat bringing the skunk home made me think of it. Did you know grizzly bears and polar bears can mate? the offspring are called pizzlies and I didn't make that up.

 

[turbo]

I don't lift my leg, I squat. I think its because I was fixed before I was full grown.

Oh, sure! Blame the "procedure" if you want. I don't care if you're a "pointer" or a "setter", just 'fess up.

As Captain Scuttle said when asked if any of his escorts were bi-lingual:
That's none of my business, and we don't discriminate against the homo-sapiens or the Lebanese.

 

[tribdog]

I had someone ask me if I was illiterate and I said I'm not illiterate, I know who my daddy is.

 

[hypatia]

I'm not sure I'd want to handle all the litter disposal for 6 cats. Best of luck to you with your new family member, sounds like a sweetheart.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

This is not directly related, but I think I can tie it in. My daughter brought home a pair of goldfish in a bowl. Being fairly well acquainted with my daughter, my first reaction was "poor fish". She told me they belong to her boyfriend who would pick them up in the morning and take them to his house. That was two weeks ago. I never saw anyone change their water or feed them, although there is a jar of fish flakes (not bad tasting, but rather salty). Sure enough, one died the other day. I cleaned out the bowl, the castle, and the gravel, and put fresh water in while the survivor patiently (for all I could tell) waited in a tea cup. I swapped the water in the tea cup and then poured cup and fish back into the bowl and added flakes. That was three days ago. I just did it again this morning. I hate pets of all kinds, but this has become a challenge to see if I can keep it alive. However, I can't say why. That's the tie in with the 6 cats.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I'm not sure I'd want to handle all the litter disposal for 6 cats. Best of luck to you with your new family member, sounds like a sweetheart.

He is a real sweety - very loving. Best of all he is virtually oblivious to the other cats. Nothing seems to bother him and we've seen no signs of aggression from him or anyone else. Also, most of the cats go outside to do their duty. They are all indoor-outdoor cats. For that matter, Bun lives in my office and Zoobie is a bit of a ghost - she isn't around much. Mr Spock just stops into visit a bit here and there - to eat - unless it gets really cold. Little Tyke sticks to me like glue. Bun and Jack have a truce - he stays out of my office and she doesn't rip him to pieces. So he stays around the house. But he is a real piss bucket and he does use the box at times, so he alone upped the duty quite a bit.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Cats and skunks get along fine. A friend of mine (who worked the same shifts as me on the paper machine) was really panicky for a while because his daughter's cat started bringing a skunk home regularly, and they would often be hanging 'round the outside food-dish that was left on the side porch for the cat. Paul thought that he'd get sprayed by the skunk if he inadvertently spooked it. Truth is, that skunk was getting top-drawer treatment and would never have sprayed him, unless he deliberately harmed the critter. Skunks are very intelligent and sociable. Much more so than cats.

Well, you know what happens here.
http://img149.imageshack.us/img149/4561/skunk1an7.jpg

But you are right. I can easily get close enough to pet them if I dared. They are pretty fearless really.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I hate pets of all kinds, but this has become a challenge to see if I can keep it alive. However, I can't say why. That's the tie in with the 6 cats.

It sounds like it is time for you to move up in the world. Send me your address and we'll hook you right up.

http://img398.imageshack.us/img398/5861/skunk2nr7.jpg

 

[Ivan Seeking]

I thought you all might enjoy this picture of Isaac, the wandering Jew.

http://img39.imageshack.us/img39/1174/isaac1.jpg

 

[Moonbear]

LOL! That's so cute with his tongue hanging out. He looks all tuckered out from something. I like his color too...a nice light blonde.

 

[Math Is Hard]

Isaac should be a LOLcat!

 

[GeorginaS]

Hee! I've not seen a cat sleeping with their tongue hanging all the way out. The tip sticking out a bit, sure. But this? This is special. Isaac must be so entirely comfortable he can relax as far as a being can relax. He's lovely.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

LOL! That's so cute with his tongue hanging out. He looks all tuckered out from something. I like his color too...a nice light blonde.

That picture was taking soon after his teeth were all pulled. His tongue hung out a lot for a time.

He is an absolutely wonderful cat. He is extremely affectionate and almost always playful. Also, he never digs in the claws. He has rather large feet and could do some real damage, but he has never once scratched Tsu or I or gotten mean with any of the other cats. Strangely enough, he has actually helped to reduce the tension between other cats that don't get along well. It seems to be a result of his endless good nature.

 

[Moonbear]

That's great that he's such a sweetie and gets along with everyone. With 6 cats, you sure don't need kitty wars. Of course, he has to be nice...he doesn't have any teeth left to defend himself!

 

[lisab]

Wow, I've never heard of that...why did he have to get all his teeth out?

 

[OAQfirst]

Tongue out while sleeping. My dad does that once in a while. That's when I get out my stick and poke him.

 

[lisab]

Tongue out while sleeping. My dad does that once in a while. That's when I get out my stick and poke him.

On the tongue?

 

[junglebeast]

When I was young boy my dad and I were going on a long car trip to the cabin in the night, and we spotted something alongside the road...out in the middle of nowhere (nothing but forest). My dad was curious so he pulled over. It turned out to be a cute little gray kitten. For some reason we decided to take it in.

The first thing it did was squirt diarrhea all over the blanket in the car. This became more of an annoyance later on because we tried using the blanket to lay under the stars later that evening but kept finding smelly little wet spots on it.

Later that week, I went to the fair and caught a greased pig in my bare hands. Of course this meant I got to keep it, too. You can imagine my mother's surprise when my dad returned me to my mom's residence with a pig and a stray cat, haha.

We ended up finding a nice home for the cat, a friend of my mother's who had a big dog that used to be friends with her old cat that recently died. Incidentally, while we were there, I happened to be digging around in the dirt behind her house and found a pretty cool blue bottle. They also thought it was neat, and she wanted to keep it -- "but you can keep the next thing you find!", she jested.

I did not think it was funny, so I went back to digging. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later I found a silver pocket watch, nicely engraved with fine etchings all over it's surface, and what appeared to be a tiny ruby inset on the interior (although that part, I'm not sure of). Well, she grudgingly obliged to keep her promise :)

The cat turned out to become great friends with her dog, and everyone lived happily ever after, except that I grew up to abhor the responsibility of pets, and I lost the pocket watch...although I think it was actually stolen by a friend of mine.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Wow, I've never heard of that...why did he have to get all his teeth out?

When he showed up at our house he had a terrible infection in his mouth and most of his teeth were partly black. Apparently he is allergic to his own teeth. This happens to both cats and dogs, and surprisingly they do fine with no teeth. They can even eat the hard kibble.

Btw Moonbear, he is actually the dominant cat around here. But he never gets nasty, he just chases everyone wanting them to play. If they don't want to play, they can't get rid of him and they are apparently intimidated by his size. I think he may have run off the last of the skunks as well. I haven't seen any for a couple of weeks.

 

[lisab]

When I was young boy my dad and I were going on a long car trip to the cabin in the night, and we spotted something alongside the road...out in the middle of nowhere (nothing but forest). My dad was curious so he pulled over. It turned out to be a cute little gray kitten. For some reason we decided to take it in.

The first thing it did was squirt diarrhea all over the blanket in the car. This became more of an annoyance later on because we tried using the blanket to lay under the stars later that evening but kept finding smelly little wet spots on it.

Later that week, I went to the fair and caught a greased pig in my bare hands. Of course this meant I got to keep it, too. You can imagine my mother's surprise when my dad returned me to my mom's residence with a pig and a stray cat, haha.

We ended up finding a nice home for the cat, a friend of my mother's who had a big dog that used to be friends with her old cat that recently died. Incidentally, while we were there, I happened to be digging around in the dirt behind her house and found a pretty cool blue bottle. They also thought it was neat, and she wanted to keep it -- "but you can keep the next thing you find!", she jested.

I did not think it was funny, so I went back to digging. Sure enough, about 5 minutes later I found a silver pocket watch, nicely engraved with fine etchings all over it's surface, and what appeared to be a tiny ruby inset on the interior (although that part, I'm not sure of). Well, she grudgingly obliged to keep her promise :)

The cat turned out to become great friends with her dog, and everyone lived happily ever after, except that I grew up to abhor the responsibility of pets, and I lost the pocket watch...although I think it was actually stolen by a friend of mine.

Wow.

Wait a minute...what happened to the pig?

 

[hypatia]

Great kitty photo, he is really a great looking cat.

 

[junglebeast]

Wow.

Wait a minute...what happened to the pig?

What do you think happened to the pig?

 

[lisab]

What do you think happened to the pig?

Pork chops?

 

[junglebeast]

Pork chops?

Hehehe... not really though. I honestly can't remember, but we didn't eat him. Someone else probably did, though.

 

[physics girl phd]

... cats and dogs... surprisingly they do fine with no teeth. They can even eat the hard kibble.

I'm not surprised... when I try to give Cha-Cha hard "tartar-control" treats, she mostly scarfs them down without chewing unless I feed them one by one (in which case I'm still lucky if I hear one crunch).

And Isaac certainly is cute with that tongue hanging out!

 

[Moonbear]

Allergic to his own teeth? Hmm...I've learned something new. I've never heard of that one before. I would have just assumed it was cavities that eventually led to abcesses from neglect and then rotted out the rest of the teeth from the roots up.

And, yeah, physics girl, I have my same doubts about those tartar control treats doing anything (Ember has decided she doesn't really like them anyway, and only bats them around the floor rather than eating them now). The one dry food I feed her is large enough pieces that she has to do a bit of crunching to swallow it (and when my parents visited with their dog a couple of years ago, she loved crunching the big dog food pieces...maybe I should give her a little dog food once in a while just for her teeth), but the smaller Science Diet food that is her primary food, I'm pretty sure she swallows whole. She might give it one crunch before swallowing, but that's it. I've gotten verification that she swallows it whole when she vomited soon enough after eating and all the individual pieces of food were still identifiable, just swollen larger with the stomach juices.

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Allergic to his own teeth?

I had never heard of it before either, but apparently it is fairly common. Sometimes cortisone shots will control the problem, but in his case it was too severe. Tsu's cousin has a dog that had the same problem.

They said that we still may have to get him an occasional cortisone shot, which we just did due to some minor inflamation in his gums. But he doesn't seem to mind the shot and should only need a few a year.

 

[Tsu]

It's called stomatitis. This explains it well.

http://www.petplace.com/cats/stomatitis-in-cats/page1.aspx

 

[Moonbear]

It's called stomatitis. This explains it well.

http://www.petplace.com/cats/stomatitis-in-cats/page1.aspx

I'm glad the healthcare professional in the family finally joined the discussion. A chronic bacterial infection is a long way off from an allergy to one's own teeth!

Now I'm going to have to find out if stomatitis is different from gingivitis. Bottom line, brush the cats' and dogs' teethies! (Ember absolutely hates getting her teeth brushed, and I don't do it as often as I should...it's always a lot of work, because I have to clip her nails first, which she also hates because it involves being held still, and then brushing her teeth...the nail clipping is to avoid injury to myself when she decides she's had enough of a toothbrush in her mouth.)

 

[Ivan Seeking]

Eh, the vet specifically referred to it as an allergy. Tsu, where did you get that?