Cloudy's Cafe, a conversation zone-October 17, 2006

[Ladyzekke]

Awww, just take the cat Johnny if the owners turn out to be negligent ones. Oh, and a bag of dry cat food is pretty cheap.

I have 2 strays I feed. One I've fed for a 5 years and she's got a decent shelter outside now. Over the years I've built upon it, i.e, first it was just this cloth, fake-fur-lined kitty "igloo" that is meant to be an indoor thing because it can't get wet, but it's all I could find at the time. Then over the years I've added cinderblocks and a piece of foam that works as a roof to keep out the rain and snow. Last year I found an outdoor heating device that now sits below the floor of the igloo. And also this year the foam roof has been replaced by a bigger one, so she should be able to completely say dry in there now, and mostly out of the wind as well. It's the best that can be done outside.

I'd so love if she'd just walk inside one day, I'd close the door and she'd never be allowed out until the spring LOL. It's just so cold out there, it's hard after 5 or so years to try to provide for a stray outside, you end up worrying about it all the time. And not just the cold can hurt a stray cat, other animals and even hateful people can as well.

for instance, today around 4:00pm I opened the front door and saw my 2 stray cats sitting there on my porch waiting to be fed. So I feed them and then went back to watching the movie I was watching on TV. About 5 minutes later I hear this hound dog bellow outside the front door LOL, and I'm like OMG! some dog is out there scaring and possibly threatening my strays! I run to the door, tear it open, and there is this really large white spotted beagle dog standing at the bottom of the porch steps barking at a now really puffed up stray (and retarded btw) cat. No owner anywhere in sight near it.

Luckily at the time one of my neighbors, who has two dogs and is a dog lover, saw the situation as she was walking her own dogs across the street, and actually chased that beagle down a few streets before she caught up with it and got the address from its collar. Heh, it also had on one of those shock collars (you can tell them because the collar will have a plastic looking rectangle box attached to it)? You know, the one that is supposed to keep your dog in your yard with "invisible fencing" using shock? Well it doesn't apparently always work, and think about it. If your dog just decides to take the maximum zap, to escape, if later said dog wants to come back home? Err, doesn't it have to encounter the same shock barrier again? If so, I'd imagine the dog would not want to go through it, and now the shock barrier is doing the opposite that the owners intended -- it is now keeping your own dog out of your yard!

[johnny]

I don't mind taking care of the cat, but i have nothing i can feed her right now, and tomorrow is sunday, so i can't even go out and buy some for her. What else can you feed a cat ?

Btw...i already found out that they don't like cheese LOL Shame really, Edammer is a damn fine cheese.

Anyway, it's 5.30 AM here, i'm still awake, and the cat is still here with me, sleeping on the couch. I'm worried about when she has to pee or poop or something, i know catdroppings smell awfull, and their urine ain't no picknick either. But i have to catch some sleep soon, otherwise i'll be a zombie tomorrow. Is there any particular time cats like to go to the bathroom ? LOL

[ 12-09-2006, 11:40 PM: Message edited by: johnny ]

[Captain Obvious]

Glad the job came throguh Ivellis, now you can be a wage-slave too!

well, my weekend was sweet! i left work at midday firday and the wife and I took a friend and her son to the beach. there is nothing quite like sitting on the balcony with a cold beer in your hand watching the waves roll in...

although, weekends have once again proved to be too damn short.

but hey, only 12 days till i get a 3 week holiday!!!!!

[Cloudbringer]

Aww, Johnny, I am with LadyZ on this one... keep her (him?) if you can't find the owners or if the owner isn't taking great care of her! Maybe he/she just got out on them and they're worried and looking or maybe they don't care and you would be doing the cat a favor.

LOL, one of my cats loves cheese (mainly cheddar, mozzarella and provolone) and the other won't touch it. They can have some pretty individual tastes. Just offer her/him some ham/chicken or other meat and a bowl of water, til you can get to a store. Like LZ said, dry food isn't too expensive, doesn't make too big a mess or have to be refrigerated etc, so it's a good option if she'll eat it. It's best to offer some kind of food that is made for cats, as it will have added vitamins and the right nutrients for her, but some of yours will do in a pinch! Just don't get her hooked on your ham....it might be hard to convincer her to go back to the dry kibble! LOL

And get a litter box! [img]graemlins/kittynow.gif[/img]

[johnny]

Havent seen the cat today. She went out on sundaymorning, and i haven't seen her since, but there's no doubt she'll be back, it's amazing how cats seem to remember where they find some affection. I'll buy some catfood when i'm going shopping this week, so i won't have to improvise next time, perhaps a litterbox too, just in case. It may not be my cat, but at least i can make her feel welcome when she comes strawling by again. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[Cloudbringer]

awww... that's great! [img]smile.gif[/img]

We found a little guy on Halloween, but after going door to door all over the neighborhood, we found his very worried owners. I'd have kept him in a heartbeat if he hadn't had a home! He has to live in his family's garage because 2 of the 4 kids are allergic to him but they adore him and were quite worried that he was out!


PS: Wendy, hope you're weather isn't too bad this winter for the strays... and having that heated floor of the cat shelter sounds pretty good! MUCH better than just being out in the elements! I thought it was so sweet when you were looking for them last year. [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 12-11-2006, 12:19 PM: Message edited by: Cloudbringer ]

[johnny]

Cat's here again. And just in time too, i bought all kinds of goodies for her on my way home from work, a bunch of those cans with different flavours of meat from Sheba, a pack of dried cat food, and some treats. I can hear her purring from the kitchen.

[Ladyzekke]

Oh cool Johnny, most cats love Sheba brand foods. I hope though you also bought a catbox and some litter, cause after she eats, well you know. [img]graemlins/hehe.gif[/img] Although you can I reckon let her outside to go, and she will probably definitely return now knowing she has goodies awaiting!

Cloudy, it's back to normal temps again. Will be in the 50sF all week, so the strays are doing fine. I did though plug in the heater a few nights last week when it was freezing! I really hope we have a mild winter this year, cause that one stray (which I normally don't see in the winter, only summer) is so dumb I don't know what he'd do if it snowed.

[johnny]

No catbox yet, i didn't come anywhere near a petshop today, i bought the food in the supermarket. I'll get one over the weekend. So cats usually immediately have to go after eating ? No signs of that yet, last time she posted herself in front of the door, which should be a clear enough message.

Just a half hour ago i didn't see her anymore, so i went looking where she had gone, and i found her upstairs in my bedroom, where she made herself comfortable inside the linnencloset LOL

[johnny]

Oh.....i took some pics of the cat napping on the couch, took em with my cellphone, unfortunately i haven't got a clue how to transfer them to my e-mail adress, so i can upload them in my photobucket account and show them here. I have yet to figure out how that is done.