Author Topic: Cats (Read 17106 times)

Benz Dr. · « **on:** September 18, 2009, 04:05:44 »

I imagine many of us have pets and I do too. Along with my shepard/lab cross we have several cats around the house. Many live outside and a few come in and out.

Some of our cats are pure bred Siamese and are stictly house cats. I started with seal points back in 1970 and have had at least one or two ever since. In the late '90's I started my own line and had some blue points that were perfect. At the time we were getting 300 for a kitten but our male cat died a few years ago and it's only when you need something that you find out how hard it is to replace it. Kind of like some car parts.

We also had Scottish folds in pure white. Very interesting cats and polar opposite of Siamese. The Siamese will follow you around all day long and quite a few of them will talk to you ( in cat language ). Highly intellegent ( for a cat ) they exude a powerful and gracefull form.

It's kind of intersesting how they get their color points. There's a heat sensitive enzime that makes the points ( head, ears, tail and legs ) turn dark because that part of the cat is a shade cooler than the main body. If a spot of fur falls out on the cat it will grow back dark and then turn light later on as the fur grows back in.
Show cats are usually about 16 months old or around full maturity when their colour contrasts are the brightest. As the cat ages the main body will grow darker because the cats system slows down. The blue eyes are present on all Siamese cats due to a semi albino gene.

Peter van Es · « **Reply #1 on:** September 18, 2009, 07:40:43 »

A 9 year old blond Golden Retriever, and a 1 year old Chocolate Labrador... ah, and my wife has a horse, where I have a Pagoda. A horse is more expensive in the long run!

Peter

Cees Klumper · « **Reply #2 on:** September 18, 2009, 15:08:31 »

We have 3 cats in Amsterdam and, in our garden in France, a fox, white owl, two deer and lots of bats. Haven't come across wild boars but they are reported to be around as well. Oh, and we have a bees' nest between one of the windows and the shutters (i.e. don't open the window). A beekeeper who looked at the nest to see if it could me moved (it cannot without risk of killing the colony) estimated there to be about 5,000 of them. We decided to leave them alone.

dtuttle123 · « **Reply #3 on:** September 18, 2009, 17:45:25 »

Here's a photo of our cat that is trying to find that darn mouse that ate holes in my old soft top!

Dash808 · « **Reply #4 on:** September 26, 2009, 11:48:10 »

My wife has a cat. I swear the thing is part dog.
Sometimes we find him in the bathtub with the water turned on to a steady stream giving himself a bath. I'm not sure how he taught himself how to turn on the water but last I checked he didn't have opposeable thumbs.

She said at her previous house she would come home from work to find every kitchen cabinet door wide open. At first it freaked her out, but after several times she figured out it "Higgins" was the culprit.

When he wants to go outside he stands on his hind legs and reaches up to try to open the door with the door knob (He hasn't quite figured that one out yet).

Perhaps the strangest thing is he is he likes to get beat on. Sounds strange but the harder you hit and slap him in the gluteus maximus region, the happier and more playful he becomes.

I've never been much for cats, but I discovered Higgins is the first cat that doesn't trigger my cat allergies (watery itchy eyes, sneezing...).

Unfortunately he as taken to the 113. My wife knows it annoys me so she will text me pictures of him lounging on top of the car taking an afternoon nap. He must know to be careful and so far has kept his claws stowed while frequenting the hardtop.

Dash808 · « **Reply #5 on:** September 26, 2009, 11:55:44 »

Dan, maybe you can identify Higgins. We've always wondered what kind of cat he is.

Benz Dr. · « **Reply #6 on:** September 26, 2009, 17:36:53 »

I've been having problems with my computer and it will only read about 10 colours so I can't tell too much by what I see but it looks like a domestic short hair. White paws sometimes indicate Ragdoll but I'd need a full picture of the cat to give an opinion.

If it is a Ragdoll, they have a way of going completley limp when you pick them up. As limp as a rag doll....

J. Huber · « **Reply #7 on:** September 27, 2009, 02:54:58 »

Squirrels!

Ok... We have a great dog and a great cat. The problem is the zillion squirrels... As you can see from the first picture, our home totally is in the trees. This year the squirrels are going nuts (sorry) with all the acorns. The real problem is, they sit up in the trees and literally fire them down at us, at the house, and Gosh dang it, at the cars! I literally won't park the Pagoda outside the garage for more than a few minutes...They re ruthless. Cute but ruthless.

Apparently, according to a neighbor, the abundance of acorns this year means a heavy winter with lots of snow! So I thought I'd throw in the dog pic for good measure... the cat is sleeping inside somewhere

Peter van Es · « **Reply #8 on:** September 27, 2009, 21:48:20 »

James,

I hate to say it but your dog looks a little out of shape! Perhaps you ought to make him chase some of those squirrels of yours!

Peter

J. Huber · « **Reply #9 on:** September 28, 2009, 03:50:02 »

Well, I think I just heard her mumble something under her breath about a winter coat....

Truth is, she does look portly in that pic but isn't too bad (really). She is part beagle that gives her kind of a barrel chest -- but the other half is aussie cattle dog -- so she has always been high energy which helps. Almost 12 now though -- been my best friend since she was 6 weeks old!

Peter van Es · « **Reply #10 on:** September 28, 2009, 07:11:23 »

Ok, ok, I stand corrected! Extend my sincerest apologies to your dog...

Peter

scoot · « **Reply #11 on:** September 28, 2009, 14:07:48 »

Quote from: J. Huber on September 27, 2009, 02:54:58

Squirrels!

The problem is the zillion squirrels... As you can see from the first picture, our home totally is in the trees. This year the squirrels are going nuts (sorry) with all the acorns. The real problem is, they sit up in the trees and literally fire them down at us, at the house, and Gosh dang it, at the cars! I literally won't park the Pagoda outside the garage for more than a few minutes...They re ruthless. Cute but ruthless.

Squirrels are little bastards. They get in your peach tree and take one bite out of every peach. It would be OK if they just took a peach and at the whole thing, but NO they have to wreck them all. Racoons are bastards too. The rip up the garden and throw flower pots around and break things. They can go to hell. Skunks I like. They don't destroy anything, they have a cute waddle, and if you don't mess with them they don't mess with you. Skunks are my friend. I have a safe animal trap that I used to try to catch a racoon who was doing bad things. I eventually caught the racoon. (he was relocated and he was really cranky). But in the process I also caught 2 tabbys and two skunks. I called animal control to deal with the skunk and much to my distress they killed him. I was very sad about that. The second time I caught a skunk I managed to release him without upsetting him -- it took a number of hours. By the time I had the cage open he had decided to go to sleep and didn't want to leave the cage (cage = trap). Eventually I had to turn on the lawn sprinklers to encourage the skunk to leave.

J. Huber · « **Reply #12 on:** September 28, 2009, 18:10:05 »

Then of course there are these furry little guys...

(mind you, my Pagoda is just inside that green door!) I was looking to grab the gun -- but wife insisted on the camera...

Peter van Es · « **Reply #13 on:** September 29, 2009, 08:19:38 »

Whoa!

J. Huber · « **Reply #14 on:** September 29, 2009, 20:07:15 »

Well Peter, the first time we encountered Fuzzy the Bear, my first words were more like "holy ----!" It was daytime May 2008, and my 7 year-old and I were out in the driveway. A car came up the road and must have startled the bears (mom and cub) out of the forest and into our driveway -- we heard some commotion and next thing I knew, the cub scampered up a pine tree about 10 feet from me -- the mom ran into the brush. And we ran to the house (pronto!).

Then I decided to come back out just to have a closer look. Cub was still up there -- and then I looked into the forest. There was Mama Bear with her eyes locked in on me. Needless to say, I was back in the house FAST! I'll never forget that look.

During that summer, the bear (junior only I think) came around three or four times, mainly at night -- knocking over the trash then moving on. What's interesting is I was told Bears have a 100 mile radius they wander and generally circle back around ever three weeks. Amazingly, we could practically predict when he'd be back and sure enough we would hear something out there. The picture is one of his visits. (We have not seen or heard him this summer.)

Peter van Es · « **Reply #15 on:** September 29, 2009, 20:55:10 »

Atttached a photograph that I took of a bear in Yosemite park when we were there on a camping holiday a few years ago. I can assure you, it was taken with a telephoto lens (200mm) and I did crop the picture somewhat. Never had a bear around the house in Holland though...

Must be great having a "house-bear".

Peter

J. Huber · « **Reply #16 on:** October 01, 2009, 18:39:32 »

Ahh. Yosemite. What a great place. California's crown jewel (or at least one of them!)... What is sad (for me) is I have not been there in at least 25 years! And its only 125 miles away. I think a Pagoda trip through the meadow would be awesome. Anyone want to join in?

al_lieffring · « **Reply #17 on:** October 02, 2009, 15:53:23 »

Two years age I was given a cat. She was left behind after a house had been reposessed and was found wandering around a friends neighborhood. They wanted to keep her but she made thier dog go crazy. Rosemarie dediced that I needed this cat to replace the "cat with no name" a grey tabby that had been hanging out in my garage as I worked on the Pagoda, but one night wandered off and never returned.
At first this new cat wanted nothing to do with us, she spent the first two days hiding under the futon and would claw and bite if I tried to pull her out. Even after she started to warm up to her new people and surroundings, she still had a certain French quality about her, so I named her Renault.
As I was typing this my doorbell rang and a customer that was dropping off a clock for repars said "your cat just fell off the railing". "Yeah," I said "she is lacking in the cat-like skills."

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Renault/112947624777#

scoot · « **Reply #18 on:** October 02, 2009, 16:39:07 »

Renault is a most excellent cat! I have an owner's manual for your Cat if you need it. Free, you pay postage.

Dash808 · « **Reply #19 on:** October 04, 2009, 06:25:01 »

Not a car in motion but it is a bear in motion. We were in Jeuno, Alaska and spotted this guy shaking off after crossing a stream with a fresh salmon. We were on a bridge about 10 ft above him.

66andBlue · « **Reply #20 on:** October 04, 2009, 20:08:35 »

Quote from: scoot on September 28, 2009, 14:07:48

Squirrels are little bastards. They get in your peach tree and take one bite out of every peach. It would be OK if they just took a peach and at the whole thing, but NO they have to wreck them all. ...

Scoot, who is feeding them?

News:

Author Topic: Cats (Read 17106 times)

dtuttle123

al_lieffring