Apropos of Nothing v.8

No, I can handle him. He's very loving.

Odd, though, that he showed up at my back door. Yes, it was open, but there also are 3 cats & a dog in here.

You know, thanks, but I don't have a big heart so much as easily followed rules about the treatment of animals. My cats go in & out but they dang well don't show up at someone else's door looking ill cared for. More like they heard you were running a "Biggest Loser" audition.

Cats that show up at my door like that are held hostage & go straight to the vet.

This is a VERY nice, loving kitty. I suspect that his freak-out was related either to something in his throat or the severe matting around his mouth.

Poor little doll baby. No wonder he was irascible -- such matting underneath.

Once I got to him with a scissors & he realized what was going on, he was good as gold. Stood still as a statue & then rolled over onto his back so I could clip the worst parts of his belly. (She?)

He is prancing around now like he owns the place. I'll bet he feels better than he has in months. Can you imagine having your fur so tangled that you couldn't lift your head without ripping the hair off your belly?

He can't make up his mind whether he wants to wind around my ankles or eat. So he grabs a morsel of food & then winds around my ankles.

Rinse, repeat.

OK, this is the last update. I just feel so sorry for the poor little baby. But grateful that he stepped into my life & gave me this good feeling of helping him out. I swear, he is a different kitty than he was 3 hours ago, not so muddy or so matted or so hungry or so lonely or so desperate.

Walk-ons are often the best pets.

Poor kitty! I think Kathy is right... he/she chose you for a reason. Glad that you could make it more comfortable!

Do you guys give your cats worming meds? I had the cat wormed at the vet when we took her in to be spayed etc. But, according to google they should be wormed every 3 months. I didn't know that. Well, I am not taking hobo to the vet every 3 months, so what do I give her?

Pet stores would probably sell worming meds. I've never wormed mine. She is 16 and has never had worms.

I'm of the general opinion that animals should only be wormed who have worms - otherwise I think the poison is tough on their systems. I do realize, however, that it is difficult to always 'know' if your animal has worms.

This cat is NOT skinny, so it would not be a tape worm. However when she was lying on my DH lap when she left he found a tiny white worm. Don't know where else it could have come from. Any suggestions?

I never give my cats anything for worms, but if I found a worm I would take the cat and the worm to the vet. I'm going to check my cats right now! It's something I never think of.

Good news about this little kitty. He/she might have reacted to you the first time because of the mats. It's pretty unusual to get a cat to sit still to have mats next to the skin cut away. Sounds like an awesome kitty.

In general, a healthy adult cat should be able to fight off the worms he/she gets from eating rodents or grooming off filthy stuff. But some animals can't, especially if they're heavily stressed or sick.

I think it would be optimal to be able to have a fecal test on your pet every so many months, but that's not so easy, especially if yours prefer to "go" outside or if you have many.

Dewormer doesn't have to be expensive. I get mine online from a veterinary supply company and just keep a supply on hand. I use Fenbendazole for roundworms. You need something like Praziquantel for tapeworms. You might need a prescription for that; Im' not sure.

I don't find it hard on my animals' intestines at all (I worm with Fenbendazole once a year for animals that go outdoors as a general principle). My SIL grew up on a cattle ranch in Missouri and they got wormed twice a year as kids. Hookworm goes right through the skin on your feet, so if you're barefoot, you're at risk.

I've been told that the stuff you typically find (or used to find) at the big box pet stores is not effective.

I have a friend who's gotten worms twice from kissing horsey noses :)

Once I was at the vet talking about my dog and I said "I love him so much I even share my ice cream with him."

He looked over his glasses at me and said "I hope you worm him regularly."

Yikes. Now I drop it into his open mouth off a spoon from a distance...but since I still kiss his nose it's probably a futile gesture.


Ginger

Interesting - that seems to imply that healthy humans don't fight off worms . . .

My vets have been the opposite. They say that it's highly unlikely that my dogs licking my face, etc. would ever give me worms.

So here's a question. Why don't more of us get tapeworms, since they're transmitted by fleas, rather than direct contact?

You guys are freaking me out.

Going to go eat a whole bunch of grit now, with diatomaceous earth for dessert.

Hey, I got a 98 on the census test, which means I missed one question.

Unemployed Girl feels proud for aceing the feds' exam.

SK are you going to take the census? Interesting. What kind of territory are you going to work in? The reason I ask, a friend started that right away when he moved into this area. He didn't realize how many people live in them thar hills. LOL But the feds do. They tell you where to go.

Unfortunately a lot of them are not in those hills for the legality of it. Not all, or a lot. However, he learned right away to be leery of where he was going.

That's like the woods around Shelton. You don't want to go there.

Eh, I'm not really afraid of anyone or anything. And I'm not threatening, physically. Kind of a Unabomber myself in spirit.

They might want me for supervisory stuff, though. I guess not many people get 27 out of 28 questions right (BUT WHICH ONE DID I MISS?????).

Oof. Can a person actually harm herself by putting too much raw garlic in the hummus?

Carol next door laces her drinking water with vinegar. Anybody else engage in this odd habit?

Lot of people take vinegar in different ways. That is one of them. Better than ruining their coffee or coke, or???

Don't count on supervisory. I got 98 on a fed test, ended up at the top of the register, and went in for an interview the next week and went to work a week after that. Not as a supervisor tho.

Good, I'd rather be in the field. Plus you set your own hours that way.

Have solved the mystery of the cat. Just ran into my next-door neighbor, whom I seldom see, and he said his renters had been feeding it but weren't allowed to have pets. And Gary said the cat always showed up when he was barbecuing.

But the renters moved out while I was in Chicago, so that explains why kitty is suddenly hungry enough to brave my houseful of critters.

Of course, it doesn't explain why anyone would let him get so matted.

SK, where did you live when you tried the stawbale gardening? Was that where you are now? How did it work out? I remember you wondered about your neighbors. Did you get a lot of produce?

No, I was in Illinois. So maybe that's why the results seemed disappointing -- the soil there was nothing short of awesome.

Here's a link to an article I wrote about my favorite use for bales:

http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1385/

Jnette, I was lazy too, didn't see the point of treating the bales to start decomposition, too complicated, plus then fertilizing because of the leaching process. But planting directly into them after they had sat for a year, holding compost, worked beautifully.

I read your article and that sounded like more work with poorer results than preparing the bales for decomposition.

How long did the bales hold up by not treating them and leaving them to work on their own just from the weather?

Guess we should put this stuff on the bale forum rather than this one, but I am done discussing it folks. Sorry.

This thread is for all discussions . . . no rules about topic here.

What do you mean, more work & poor results?

Just sounded to me. I don't think I would like eating vegetables etc that were grown in soil and compost with animals and their bi-products in it. Just my feelings.

Not to mention the magazines, clothing, etc. Sounded more like a landfill to me.

This message was edited Feb 9, 2010 7:10 PM

Hunh. What on earth do you think the world's soil is made of? What do you suppose the vegetables you buy at a store are grown in? If they come from China, it's most likely human poop. What do you think the only ingredient of blood meal is? Bonemeal?

Do you approve of composted cow manure?

And believe me, the results were not "poor." My gardens are always spectacularly productive.

Another thing: Unless you are a vegan, you put animal products & byproducts into your mouth & body all day long.

How is that better or different from planting a seed in them instead?

Sorry to rattle you Summer, but eating vegetables that grew in dead raccoons etc does not appeal to me.

You haven't rattled me, Jnette, keep trying; I just don't understand where you're coming from. You're either being naive or inconsistent in how you apply your predilections.

I like the idea of sides for a compost 'bin' that eventually become part of the compost. Straw bales would certainly be a more pleasing sight than the black plastic hoop bins I am currently using. I am tempted to give this a try.

Oh, it works SO well! The first year, you can even spread blankets on the bales & use them as reading spots.

By the time I moved, the very first "corral" was only 6" tall -- after starting out around 4 feet. It was really a wonderful & graphic illustration of decomposition.

On another topic, after 3 days of tortured accounting, my DH and I have completed both our 2009 taxes and the FAFSA forms for federal student aid for our son for next year. Given that my DH is self employed, these things become agonizingly complicated. I am so relieved to be finished with this step of the process.

Oh, that IS awful. I can e-file the 1040A and already had my refund direct deposited into my bank account.

Holy cow. You all know I love TV shows that showcase human achievement, whether it's cooking or archeological discoveries or dancing.

There is a show called "America's Best Dance Crew," and on one of the performances, this guy did a backflip onto his knees. NOT a handspring, but a backflip. And then he proceeded to bounce ON HIS KNEES in a circle, on a hardwood stage.

I wasn't ready to bust out with a back flip tonight but I tried to see how much ground I could cover with that knee-bouncing technique. I got about 6 millimeters off the ground & an equal distance to the right. Unbelievable. I don't have any idea what muscles you even would use for that maneuver.

Just checking in on this thread before hitting the bed hard tonight.
Summerkid: that kitty is lucky he/she found you and a new home and that you are not allergic to cats and have patience.

Portland: I heard an interview on NPR about the "NEW Premium" access to healthcare offered by some doctors like the one you got in the mail. The jury is still out on that in my book. Like you, I have issue with the ethical questions of said 'premium' access, but in reality it's very little different from what is happening now in terms of access. People with insurance have access, people without have little access. People with insurance get medications, people without do not. The doctor interviewed on the show had a number of good points, not the least of which was that he was completely burned out by having to work within 'the system' and was trying to save himself from going down. At least he was being honest, if a little bit brutal in his apparent 'judgement' of people who would not 'get better'. Sounded like a bitter pill to me. In the end, being a capitalist country, I think it's going to happen. I'm not going to say that in the end I wouldn't pay an extra 50$ a month for easier access to my doctor because at this point I'm still not well and I have yet, again, called my doctor only to wait all day for a return call. At least I know it's not their fault, but that doesn't get me well faster. At this point, that 50$ would be money well spent in my book. I just want to breathe again, money or no money.

Maruyhill, I hate the FAFSA. According to our government, everything I make can be spent on schooling. Ha!

Jnette, I know what you mean. But it's all part of the cycle of decomposition, right? I mean ashes to ashes, dust to dust and all that stuff. That's why cow manure is such good fertilizer. It's the best stuff since sliced white bread in the garden. Now I certainly would not want it anywhere near my mouth in its decomposed state, but it certainly grows tasty tomatoes.