The Conservative Cave
The Bar => The Lounge => Topic started by: franksolich on February 08, 2009, 07:54:01 AM
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Well, Hell.
I just got back from the old guy's place across the river--I'm taking care of his place while he's with the daughter, son-in-law, and two grandsons out in California.
I had gone there to get his skittish collie dog and the two brown (golden?) labradors, as we're expecting flooding here beginning this evening, and after having done that last year, I don't care to drive through a flood again. (I live on high ground.)
Anyway, the minute I pull up here, out pops a cat, a grey-and-white cat with a hobbled leg, a very old, very ancient cat.....Gustav, who had been missing since December 3.
In case one isn't aware, December 3 was the start of a five-and-a-half week deep freeze, uninterrupted below-zero weather, and much snow. Cat-killing weather, and there were in fact many animals, domesticated and livestock, who died because of the extreme cold.
Given that Gustav is very old, and has that crippled leg (healed, but crippled), I had assumed his chances of survival were nil.
So I'm half lucky, and grateful to God for that.
I suppose it might be expecting too much for the younger, healthier George to return too; he had disappeared the same time as Gustav had.
What's odd is that Gustav is well-filled, as if he had dined very well during his absence. Lots of meat on his bones, and clean fur. He seems to be, uh, somewhat disoriented and confused, and so I'm going to watch that.
And having the three dogs here makes it more interesting.
However, it works out. God is good, as usual.
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I forgot.
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/dummiedestroyer/fred1.jpg)
(http://i6.photobucket.com/albums/y223/dummiedestroyer/fred8.jpg)
Gustav, last summer.
Because we're expecting flooding, I went ahead and picked up one of those $5 disposable cameras at the grocery store this morning, and I assume some of the photographs will be more-current ones of Gustav, and of Decker, the cat acquired early in Christmas week; Decker's never been posted before.
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Glad he's home safe and sound. The mysterious travels of cats has always amazed me...wouldn't you love to know where they go and what they do?
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Glad to see he came back frank.
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That myth about cats having 9 lives...you can sure see where it originated, huh? :-) Glad he came back, frank!!
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The Prodigal Cat returns!
Great news Frank! :)
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Good news Frank.
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....and Frank is not a cat person. :-)
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I was glad to read that the critter was still alive.
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....and Frank is not a cat person. :-)
Sounds like he's going to "not" be a cat person and a dog person. :-) Glad you're such a good man. Very nice of you to go save those dogs. Hope they get along with the cats.
So glad that Gustav was found. I guess there truly are miracles.
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Sounds like he's going to "not" be a cat person and a dog person. :-) Glad you're such a good man. Very nice of you to go save those dogs. Hope they get along with the cats.
So glad that Gustav was found. I guess there truly are miracles.
Well, it's kind of awkward here right now, but I'm not putting the dogs outdoors tonight.
Everybody has to stay inside.
Decker, who had been slowly evolving into being "king" of the cats here, was greatly discombobulated by the appearance of Gustav (whom Decker has never met), and Gustav is re-asserting his prerogative.
So the discombobulated sociology of the cats (Abbie, Snow, Harold, Ellie, Gustav, William, and Decker, right now), mixed in with the presence of three large dogs, makes it, uh, interesting. But it's only for a night; sometime tomorrow (rain is supposed to end Monday evening), depending upon what the water situation is, I'll either take the dogs back to the old guy's place, or into town to stay with the ancient elderly gentleman and his wife.
Which will just leave the sociology of the cats to be straightened out.
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Well, it's kind of awkward here right now, but I'm not putting the dogs outdoors tonight.
Everybody has to stay inside.
Decker, who had been slowly evolving into being "king" of the cats here, was greatly discombobulated by the appearance of Gustav (whom Decker has never met), and Gustav is re-asserting his prerogative.
So the discombobulated sociology of the cats (Abbie, Snow, Harold, Ellie, Gustav, William, and Decker, right now), mixed in with the presence of three large dogs, makes it, uh, interesting. But it's only for a night; sometime tomorrow (rain is supposed to end Monday evening), depending upon what the water situation is, I'll either take the dogs back to the old guy's place, or into town to stay with the ancient elderly gentleman and his wife.
Which will just leave the sociology of the cats to be straightened out.
Your dicombobulated group sounds very complicated. I did a research study a long time ago (17 years ago) on the dynamics of the elephant herd at the STL Zoo before the first baby, Raja, was born. There were 5 cows at the time, but it was difficult to figure out the rank of the female ellies. It still is an ongoing situation.
The poor cats will have a difficult time with all the adjustments, especially with the dogs there.
We have fun watching Blue, Darlene and Xena. Blue is the only male, rather wobbly from all the anti-seizure meds he takes. Darlene is a bouncy, darling greyhound, a total beta. Blue I guess is the alpha, although an unhealthy one. Xena is a sweet dog. But SR's Xena was used to being the only greyhound and believes in defending herself.
When she came to St Louis, Blue literally fell on her when she was in the dog bed. Now she growls at him when he gets too close. But Blue loves Xena. So poor boy keeps trying to woo her (he's fixed---all of them are). But he just doesn't realize it. LOL.
The terrible thing is the sweet Darlene has been quietly watching Xena. Now even Darlene growls at Blue. He just doesn't know what to do. The big alpha dog sometimes cries and SR or I have to go rescue him. Xena gets in the "gatekeeper" bed and stretches her long legs across the doorway. If Blue is outside the room, she won't let him in. If he's inside, she won't let him out.
His solution is to cry like a baby. He's embarassing. :-) Yet he somehow is still the alpha, comes through the door first when they come in from the backyard, gets his food first, etc.
They're so much fun to watch, but hard to figure out. Good luck and hope the kitties figure out the hierarchy without getting into a nasty dispute.
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Very very cool to read that Gustav is back. On a sad note, a 19 yo cat (somewhat blind and thoothless) of ours has dissapeared. Literally. Friday night I put him out. At about 11:30 that evening I went to bed and heard him (I think, I diden't go look) scratching at our slider door. Because after allowing him to come into the house due to the colder weather, I've found where my speakers have been "marked", I'm none too happy. So I don't let him in. My wife comes to bed an hour or less later, but notices no cat. She will usually put him in a bathroom to spend the night, so she calls and calls and calls. Nothing, no noise, fur, nothing to indicate any "foul play".
He still hasen't showed up.
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Great news about Gustav!
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Oh, I'm so happy for you, frank! God bless your menagerie!
Cindie
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Glad he's home safe and sound. The mysterious travels of cats has always amazed me...wouldn't you love to know where they go and what they do?
There's an old Alan Dean Foster book, called Cat-a-lyst that explains some of it.
Cats are transdimensional beings that can flit back and forth between dimensions.
Makes sense to me.
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Great news, Coach! Gustav will re-assert himself in about half an hour. The other cats will clue Decker in to who is the boss . . .
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There are three types of Labs, Frank; Golden, Black, and Chocolate. If they are brown I would say they are the chocolate type.
Cats...
the solution is only a 12 guage away...
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Great news, Coach! Gustav will re-assert himself in about half an hour. The other cats will clue Decker in to who is the boss . . .
As mentioned earlier, here or somewhere else, I went out and got one of those $5 disposable cameras--my loathing for taking pictures, I assume, is well-known--and this morning snapped 27 photographs of the cats.
I'll finally have a few of Gustav without the splint, and of course I had none of Decker, the newest and most-massive cat here.
This time around, I got at least two each of every single cat, no omissions.
I'll post them here after they're developed.....but they're not getting developed at Walgreen's.
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Well, it's kind of awkward here right now, but I'm not putting the dogs outdoors tonight.
Everybody has to stay inside.
Decker, who had been slowly evolving into being "king" of the cats here, was greatly discombobulated by the appearance of Gustav (whom Decker has never met), and Gustav is re-asserting his prerogative.
So the discombobulated sociology of the cats (Abbie, Snow, Harold, Ellie, Gustav, William, and Decker, right now), mixed in with the presence of three large dogs, makes it, uh, interesting. But it's only for a night; sometime tomorrow (rain is supposed to end Monday evening), depending upon what the water situation is, I'll either take the dogs back to the old guy's place, or into town to stay with the ancient elderly gentleman and his wife.
Which will just leave the sociology of the cats to be straightened out.
you are caring for 7 cats and 3 dogs?? You are a truly good man Frank
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As mentioned earlier, here or somewhere else, I went out and got one of those $5 disposable cameras--my loathing for taking pictures, I assume, is well-known--and this morning snapped 27 photographs of the cats.
I'll finally have a few of Gustav without the splint, and of course I had none of Decker, the newest and most-massive cat here.
This time around, I got at least two each of every single cat, no omissions.
I'll post them here after they're developed.....but they're not getting developed at Walgreen's.
Frank, ever hear of a Maine Coon Cat?
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you are caring for 7 cats and 3 dogs?? You are a truly good man Frank
The cat count used to be 11. Don't believe him. :tinfoil2:
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lol :lmao:
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I remember your introduction of Decker. It was interesting... I hope you recovered.
Is William the youngest? How is the little one doing in his new home?
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I remember your introduction of Decker. It was interesting... I hope you recovered.
Is William the youngest? How is the little one doing in his new home?
Yeah, I forgot that Decker is a very large, very enormous, cat.
I had been looking at him as just a cat, just like any other cat here, omitting to remember that he's more than two times the size of the second-largest cat here.
The hand and wrist were recovered in about a week; that was a while back.
William, the kitten someone slipped into my unlocked motor vehicle while I was in the big city last July, flourishes and prospers. William is laid-back, mellow, at ease, and doesn't interfere with the other cats.
As mentioned earlier, I took photographs of the cats on Monday morning, and depending upon the road situation, might get the film to the big city today for development, after which I'll post the pictures here. This is the first time I've managed to get at least one (actually at least two this time) of each cat here, as other times, not all the cats were around to be photographed.
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you are caring for 7 cats and 3 dogs?? You are a truly good man Frank
"Good" has nothing to do with it; "practical" does.
I'm not a cat person, but this place is a paradise for cats, with plenty of room both outdoors and indoors, and so if a cat has to be somewhere, the cat might as well be here.
The three dogs aren't mine; they belong to a neighbor who's in California at the moment.
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"Good" has nothing to do with it; "practical" does.
I'm not a cat person, but this place is a paradise for cats, with plenty of room both outdoors and indoors, and so if a cat has to be somewhere, the cat might as well be here.
The three dogs aren't mine; they belong to a neighbor who's in California at the moment.
Another word is "patient". You have to have the patience of a saint to handle that mix of cats and dogs, however temporary. BTW, how are the cats and dogs getting along? Are the dogs going after the cats---or have the cats ganged up on the dogs?
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Another word is "patient". You have to have the patience of a saint to handle that mix of cats and dogs, however temporary. BTW, how are the cats and dogs getting along? Are the dogs going after the cats---or have the cats ganged up on the dogs?
The dogs are back at their home, as the rising waters simply rose and did no violence.
I took the roll of 27-exposures film to be developed today, and I hope to get them back on Thursday, after which I can post pictures of each cat here.
It was a pleasure, a delight, a pleasant experience, taking the roll of film to the Hy-Vee grocery store in the big city. Unlike Walgreen's, they have envelopes into which one inserts the roll of film, writes the information on the outside, and drops the filled, and filled-in, envelope into a slot.