Xmas for the Dogs

[WA3VJB]

Ya Ellen, she was rescued from beneath a hedge in Burkittsville (home of the horror movie) where her mom had run off and left the newborn kittens. Turns 16 next spring but acts like she's, oh, 4 or so.

[WA1GFZ]

Our little kitty got 2 large shrimp for Christmas. one yesterday and one today.
Still we are happy to have her after she was run over by a truck and trashed her legs and  tail. One leg was snapped and the other had bone showing. Today all she has is a small lump on her tail and can jump like nothing happened. 

[AF9J]

Yep, we do love our pets,

Paul,  My cats are shelter cats.  I adopted them from the shelter I volunteer at.  Sugar (my tortie) is about 10, and was left in a taped up in a box on a 90 plus degree June day in 2005.  She was always frightened and I figured that Cleo (my first cat - who died last year from kidney and liver failure the week before Christmas) could use a playmate while I was at work, so I adopted her.  Sarah (my black one) - I took her home from the shelter on Christmas Eve Day 2006.  Cleo hadn't been dead for a week, and Sugar started having separation anxiety (which was kind of odd - Cleo and Sugar never really got along that well).  I was helping with the cleaning on Xmas Eve Day 2006 at the shelter.  Sarah had been at the shelter for almost a year.  She would get upset when we put her back in the cage for the day (we always let them out to play while we're cleaning).  When I put Sarah her back in her cage, she seemed upset.  I'd already toyed with the idea of taking her home, so her being unhappy was the straw that broke the camel's back.  She's been with me ever since, and isn't going anywhere (she's at her forever home).  Both of my cats are radio kitties.  Sugar will lay on my lap while I'm operating, and both Sugar and Sarah will lay on the cat platform that's next to the radio table, where I can give them a pet while I'm operating.  The only problem I have - Sarah is too curious for her own good; I always have to take her off of the table, when I'm working on radios, since she wants to stick ner nose into them (a definite no-no with the Viking II).

73,
Ellen - AF9J

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. 
-Roger Caras

[AJ1G]

Seeing all the great pets, decided to send along  a picture of our three cats, Rudy (the gray Siamese), and Spotnose and Pinknose (the two white cats with tabby patches).   Rudy is a shelter cat, named after the Notre Dame football legend.  The other two are from Bagdhad, where they were rescued by a woman attached to my son's National Guard unit back in 2003.  They were found ophaned as kittens at Baghdad airport, and brought back to the 1108th/1109th AVCRAD (aviation classification and repair depot) at Camp Arifjan, Kuwiat.  They then were sent back to the states for adoption by the Animal Rescue League.  The expenses to send them over here (over $1000) were paid by an anonymous donor.  Their picture and story appeared in our local paper and we decided to adopt them.  When the ARL found out that they were from my son's unit, they waived the nominal adoption fees for us.  They were very wild when we first got them, but are now very mellow.  All three of the cats are males, and get along pretty well with Yogi the Wonder Dog.

[WA3VJB]

Geez, Chris !
One heckuva story on the IraqiCats.
Maybe they descend directly from Persian stock since that's the region ...

Best to you, your family and everyone at home.

[k4kyv]

How do y'all keep yer cats from clawing the upholstery off the furniture?

I have tried that aerosol spray stuff.  It works if you spray in on twice or 3 times per day.

Some people have their cats de-clawed.  But ours are inside/outside cats, so they need their weaponry for their outside ventures.

[WA3VJB]

You got to train them as kittens to keep their claws on the scratchin' post.
Of the three we have had, all have been indoors only. One was de-clawed, a mistake from lack of knowledge. The other two we got as kittens, and here was my strategy.

I took a 24 inch piece from a cut-down branch from a poplar tree, which has smooth bark, starts out very moist, and has a "green" smell, and wrapped some sisal rope from bottom to top, nailing a square 1 foot base of plywood to it.

The combination of an outdoor scent, and an excellent texture for claws, made the furniture less appealing.

When the rope gets frayed, unwrap it, put a new roll's worth on there. They already know it's "theirs," and they take to it nicely.  I dunno whether it would work with cats that already have habits, but it's cheap enough to try.

[AF9J]

Chris,

Your story is cool.  You're lucky that they mellowed out.  Some ferals never do get used to people.  I drop off adopted acts at their new homes.  One of them (Frankie) was originally a street cat.  But after getting fixed, and living the good life in his new home, he became pretty mellow.  We received a Christmas card with a photo of Frankie around Christmastime 2006.  He was stretched out like your Spotnose and Pinknose are in the photo - obviously enjoying the good life.

73,
Ellen - AF9J