Sewing machines and table hockey

In article , Melinda Meahan -
take out TRASH to reply of uttered

Not to mention things like raccoons, which in my area are the major
cause of dead, mangled, or missing cats, so say the animal control
authorities. And I believe them, because when people lived next door
who had a rottweiler/german shepherd mix, they were calling animal
control at least once a month to pick up dead or mangled cats or
possums (but never any raccoons).

Did anybody ever suspect the dog??? rotty-alsation cross has the
potential to be a *really* nasty piece of goods if not well-treated and
*very* well trained.


Those raccoon critters are really dangerous here -- one of them that
was always trying to raid our chicken pen stood about 2 feet high at
the shoulders.
Don't get many of them in the UK ...

--

AJH
alpha dot hotel echo yankee whisky oscar oscar delta at tango echo
sierra charlie oscar dot november echo tango

I dunno about that, Melinda, sounds like a story. We have tons of
raccoons here, and a bunch of cats that roam around. Raccoons can be
vicious creatures; our next-door neighbor has all kinds of fowl (ducks,
geese, doves), and if the raccoons get hold of them but aren't able to
kill them (because they're in a cage, and the raccoon can't get in it)
they very likely die in a day or so. But I've never seen a dead cat
around here, unless it was run over. I would say that the rottweiler or
coyotes would be more likely to kill a cat than a raccoon would be.
Although I wouldn't put it past them.

We once had a baby fox that we were hand raising. She got out of our
yard and wandered into the yard of a neighbor who had two dalmatians,
and that was the end of our sweet little Vixey fox.

In case you're wondering, my husband in a well-known wildlife
photographer, and he has always had permits for keeping wild animals,
otherwise it would not be legal to do so.

Karen Maslowski in Ohio

Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply wrote:

Pogonip wrote:

thoughts and actions who abuse and kill small animals. In many areas
you also have coyotes and feral dogs.


Not to mention things like raccoons, which in my area are the major
cause of dead, mangled, or missing cats, so say the animal control
authorities. And I believe them, because when people lived next door
who had a rottweiler/german shepherd mix, they were calling animal
control at least once a month to pick up dead or mangled cats or possums
(but never any raccoons).

Those raccoon critters are really dangerous here -- one of them that was
always trying to raid our chicken pen stood about 2 feet high at the
shoulders.

Karen Maslowski wrote:

We once had a baby fox that we were hand raising. She got out of our
yard and wandered into the yard of a neighbor who had two dalmatians,
and that was the end of our sweet little Vixey fox.

Dalmations are also supposed to have the potential to be really nasty
animals. I remember typing an op note for a poor child who was going to
see 102 Dalmations or one of them and someone had brought their
dalmations and was parading them on the sidewalk, and they tore into
this poor little child got their nose half hacked off when one of them
turned and attacked her.

In case you're wondering, my husband in a well-known wildlife
photographer, and he has always had permits for keeping wild animals,
otherwise it would not be legal to do so.

I wasn't worried -- you have a good reputation in my book and I would
never question anything you did.

That's nice to know! ;-

Yep, Dalmatians can be vicious dogs, but so much depends on the owners,
almost as much as the breed.

Karen Maslowski in Ohio

Melinda Meahan - take out TRASH to reply wrote:

I wasn't worried -- you have a good reputation in my book and I would
never question anything you did.

Karen Maslowski wrote:
That's nice to know! ;-

Yep, Dalmatians can be vicious dogs, but so much depends on the
owners, almost as much as the breed.

Substitute "parents" and the same can be said of children! ;-)

--
Beverly
delete no spam and .invalid to reply

On Sat, 26 Feb 2005 10:48:43 GMT, She who would like to be obeyed once
every Preston Guild wrote:


Not to mention people with warped thoughts and actions who abuse and
kill small animals.

Get real

In many areas you also have coyotes and feral dogs.
Not in the UK there aren't, you muppet.


If your cat(s) are members of the family and you want them to live more
than 6 or 8 years, keep them indoors.

Sorry, but IMHO *that* is just plain *cruel*. Cats are free spirits -
they need to go where they choose, when they choose. Oh, and FYI I've
had them reach 17, in an urban environment, with no major illness or
mishaps, thanks, but totally happy and contented.

Take offence if you wish, but I'm glad I'm not your cat.

Our countries are very different. While yours can easily live well
outside, here in The States our cats need to live different lives.
Don't pity our indoor in the US kitties, they are quite happy indoors.
My own three won't walk out the door even if I left it open all day
and night because they are happy indoors. These three cats were not
always indoor pets. I got two of them from the local animal rescue
society, and the third was part of a litter of 4 week old unweaned
kittens that was dumped at a nearby factory. She is the only one from
her litter to survive.

I have unfortunately seen what sickos can do to animals, and been sick
to my stomach from the sight. I've had many outdoor pets die from car
accidents, and the only one who survived still needed surgery to live.
I've seen what our wildlife can do to cats and dogs that are not in
some kind of protective shelter, be it in a house or an outdoor
kennel. It's not pretty, the lucky ones die quickly. Domestic cats
and dogs are not the top of the food chain here in the US where there
are bear, bobcat, mountain lions, coyotes, wolves, larger eagles and
hawks, and in some locations alligators. Those are not the only wild
animals in the US that will attack pets, but they are the ones that
most easily come to my mind. I wouldn't leave a pet unprotected
outside at night any more than I would a newborn baby.

I'm glad your pets can roam in a country that has many less dangers
are there are here. But please don't look down your nose at those of
us who are protecting our pets from the very real dangers that exist
in our own country.
Debra in VA

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:04:10 -0700, Arri London
wrote:



She who would like to be obeyed once every Preston Guild wrote:

In article , Arri London of no uttered
The cats like to play table hockey after we've gone to bed. This seems
to consist of chasing each other over the dining room table! Anything on
the table gets knocked out of the way. Don't know how they score points
though LOL

Left the Pfaff on said table last night...It was on its back this
morning (on some thick padding) and fortunately not on the floor. Ran it
through its paces and all seemed to be well.

Had it been the old all-metal Pfaff the cats wouldn't have been able to
knock it over at all; that sucker was heavy.

Umm ... why not just banish them from the dining room at night? They
shouldn't be on the table anyway (eeeuw). My cats have always been
packed off to bed in the kitchen, with the option of going out through
the catflap if they want to play.
--

Because this is a stupidly-designed 'open plan' house: no doors between
kitchen, dining room and living room.

Don't sweat it. I'm sure you home is lovely. I'd rather eat
somewhere that cats had been on the dining table than a place where
they've been closed up in a kitchen and left to walk on counter tops
all night. After all, the already prepared meal is on a plate so the
food isn't touching the same surface the cat walked upon.

I've got a semi-open plan house. Doorless archways for the kitchen
and livingroom, and they are at opposite ends of the house. We'd
love to put a door on the kitchen but since it is a supporting wall we
haven't the expertise to change the arch to a real doorway, and not
enough money to hire people who can do the job properly. My cats stay
in an unused bedroom at night and while we are away from home so they
can't go into the kitchen. And, like all cats, they behave themselves
while we are at home and awake, so no worries then about them walking
on the counters.
Debra in VA

Dunno guys:
I grew up on the Queen Charlotte Islands where we had some pretty darned big
raccoons! They were in our yard all the time and the only time there was
ever a cat/raccoon problem was when one accidentally came in the cat
entrance....funny but not funny - cats hissing, raccoon hissing and tearing
all over the place trying to find the way out! Where we lived, the cats
were afraid of dogs, bears, eagles - but not raccoons. And by the way: our
cats were indoor/outdoor cats and lived good long lives even though they had
rough beginnings (and my husband's indoor/outdoor cats lived to be 20 and 22
years old, too!)
Thing about the dead/mangled cats story is that it seems to be the people
with the dog who were finding the bodies in their yard!
My last cat spent her nights shut up in my sewing room because that was
where she liked to be! Couldn't let her outside at night because neighbours
down the street had a 'cat-killer' (horrid dog - I chased it down the street
with a 2x4 one day!) that they let loose at night...
Anyway, my cat left everything alone but my tomato pin cushion - so I gave
it to her.
Cynthia
"She who would like to be obeyed once every Preston Guild"
wrote in message
...
In article , Melinda Meahan -
take out TRASH to reply of uttered

Not to mention things like raccoons, which in my area are the major
cause of dead, mangled, or missing cats, so say the animal control
authorities. And I believe them, because when people lived next door
who had a rottweiler/german shepherd mix, they were calling animal
control at least once a month to pick up dead or mangled cats or
possums (but never any raccoons).

Did anybody ever suspect the dog??? rotty-alsation cross has the
potential to be a *really* nasty piece of goods if not well-treated and
*very* well trained.


Those raccoon critters are really dangerous here -- one of them that
was always trying to raid our chicken pen stood about 2 feet high at
the shoulders.
Don't get many of them in the UK ...

--

AJH
alpha dot hotel echo yankee whisky oscar oscar delta at tango echo
sierra charlie oscar dot november echo tango

She who would like to be obeyed once every Preston Guild wrote:

In article , Arri London of no uttered
Because this is a stupidly-designed 'open plan' house: no doors between
kitchen, dining room and living room.

Oh blimey. How about putting them out at night? They have fur coats,
after all! (hehehe! I know, i'm cruel)
--

AJH

We have cats because we like them in the house. Besides there are
coyotes and loose dogs around here.
Anyway Ruby loves to help me sew. She especially enjoys watching the
embroidery progress LOL.

Debra wrote:

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 16:04:10 -0700, Arri London
wrote:



She who would like to be obeyed once every Preston Guild wrote:

In article , Arri London of no uttered
The cats like to play table hockey after we've gone to bed. This seems
to consist of chasing each other over the dining room table! Anything on
the table gets knocked out of the way. Don't know how they score points
though LOL

Left the Pfaff on said table last night...It was on its back this
morning (on some thick padding) and fortunately not on the floor. Ran it
through its paces and all seemed to be well.

Had it been the old all-metal Pfaff the cats wouldn't have been able to
knock it over at all; that sucker was heavy.

Umm ... why not just banish them from the dining room at night? They
shouldn't be on the table anyway (eeeuw). My cats have always been
packed off to bed in the kitchen, with the option of going out through
the catflap if they want to play.
--

Because this is a stupidly-designed 'open plan' house: no doors between
kitchen, dining room and living room.

Don't sweat it. I'm sure you home is lovely.

LOL it isn't actually. Hate it but am taking care of my mother who has
no desire to move.

I'd rather eat
somewhere that cats had been on the dining table than a place where
they've been closed up in a kitchen and left to walk on counter tops
all night. After all, the already prepared meal is on a plate so the
food isn't touching the same surface the cat walked upon.

Wouldn't care about that either. Counters are washable and we wash them
before food prep anyway, cats or no cats. We've had friends come over
and park the sprog with the dirty nappy on the counter... what's the
difference LOL.

I've got a semi-open plan house. Doorless archways for the kitchen
and livingroom, and they are at opposite ends of the house. We'd
love to put a door on the kitchen but since it is a supporting wall we
haven't the expertise to change the arch to a real doorway, and not
enough money to hire people who can do the job properly.

We don't even have walls between those rooms. Would be a major
undertaking to enclose them. Would love to enclose my office though but
same problem; no doorway and no wall to insert a doorway.

My cats stay
in an unused bedroom at night and while we are away from home so they
can't go into the kitchen. And, like all cats, they behave themselves
while we are at home and awake, so no worries then about them walking
on the counters.
Debra in VA

The cats have the run of the house other than the bedrooms. We like it
that way and they cause no real harm. Table hockey doesn't count :P