Thank you.
I appreciate and welcome your opinion, but that's not what I've observed and learned in my work.
CHIT CHAT in VOLTVILLE
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Thank you.
I appreciate and welcome your opinion, but that's not what I've observed and learned in my work.
Can you give more stories?
Perhaps we both just attract different types of animals, or something....
Perhaps we both just attract different types of animals, or something....
Good Morning Everyone!
I've been up since dawn, but deep in thought. I'm ready for a second cup of coffee. Thanks 1st Officer!
It's definitely fall here in Indiana. I heard a bull elk bugling at dawn. That is such a fiercely wild sound that should seem out of place in Indiana, but there is an elk farm about a mile down the road.
I've been up since dawn, but deep in thought. I'm ready for a second cup of coffee. Thanks 1st Officer!
It's definitely fall here in Indiana. I heard a bull elk bugling at dawn. That is such a fiercely wild sound that should seem out of place in Indiana, but there is an elk farm about a mile down the road.
Have to disagree with you there, sorry. My Maggy is totally content and well adjusted. Maybe because inside is all she's ever known. Same with all my family's cats. Outdoor cats have a shorter life expectancy because they are exposed to more danger & disease. After we lost two because of letting them roam, we stopped that practice (one hit by car, another doused with gas and set on fire - he hobbled home
)
When I moved back home from NY I only had one cat and she had never been outside but now I can't get her to come in unless it's dinner time. I have somewhere between 8 and 15 barn cats that started as one but when I started feeding her all of a sudden every stray in the county moved in the old barn. I think between the food for the deer and the cats I spend about $30 a week but they all seem happy to be free to come and go. The old barn is full of holes and we were going to tear it down when we built the hose but decided the cats needed a place to stay. Bluesman, how does your theory of cats being inside creatures square with their history? Cats didn't just evolve when man started building houses? Cat's have been around roaming the outdoors since before man has been measuring time. We have Bobcats up here in the mountains too but I don't want them coming in to live with me however they are welcome to a place in the barn. I think it's a matter of what they are used to.
Late to the party as usual, but I'm still around.
Shamus is keeping me super busy, he has an incision infection and an ear infection, the big goober. I have also found that he peed in the house when I left for work. I can't keep him in his crate at the moment, his cone is too big! He has also found some insane way to get his 60 lbs of dog up on the tiny kitchen counter! I hate to do it, but this next week he'll have to be confined to the bathroom while I'm at work. It is just big enough to sleep in, have his dog bowls and bed - and be able to turn around with that big bell head. I do take the cone off for his walks, he isn't in a hurry to lick his wounds then. And, as much as he hates it, he knows what "put it on" means when I have to put it back and he pushes his head through the opening. Poor baby. One more week, then the antibiotics should be done, and he shouldn't have to wear the darn thing any more.
He discovered raw chicken yesterday. /sigh At least it was only one of the 6 breasts I was preparing to use in the slow cooker today. He's also managed to nearly dislocate my shoulder. We were stopped on the walk night before last to talk with a neighbor and someone else's dog chased a cat nearby and Shamus almost had me planted in the grass when he tried to take off after them. We need to be trained, he and I. Once I can afford it, there is a very respected trainer nearby. My vet told me to use a prong collar. I can't bring myself to do that. Not yet, not until I've exhausted the other possibilities.
Anyway, I'm still around, and snatching an extra cup of everyone's coffee when I have the chance. And the dog thought he was being sneaky...
Shamus is keeping me super busy, he has an incision infection and an ear infection, the big goober. I have also found that he peed in the house when I left for work. I can't keep him in his crate at the moment, his cone is too big! He has also found some insane way to get his 60 lbs of dog up on the tiny kitchen counter! I hate to do it, but this next week he'll have to be confined to the bathroom while I'm at work. It is just big enough to sleep in, have his dog bowls and bed - and be able to turn around with that big bell head. I do take the cone off for his walks, he isn't in a hurry to lick his wounds then. And, as much as he hates it, he knows what "put it on" means when I have to put it back and he pushes his head through the opening. Poor baby. One more week, then the antibiotics should be done, and he shouldn't have to wear the darn thing any more.
He discovered raw chicken yesterday. /sigh At least it was only one of the 6 breasts I was preparing to use in the slow cooker today. He's also managed to nearly dislocate my shoulder. We were stopped on the walk night before last to talk with a neighbor and someone else's dog chased a cat nearby and Shamus almost had me planted in the grass when he tried to take off after them. We need to be trained, he and I. Once I can afford it, there is a very respected trainer nearby. My vet told me to use a prong collar. I can't bring myself to do that. Not yet, not until I've exhausted the other possibilities.
Anyway, I'm still around, and snatching an extra cup of everyone's coffee when I have the chance. And the dog thought he was being sneaky...
Dont use a metal prong collar use this: Amazon.com: StarMark Training Collar, Large, Blue: Pet Supplies
It is what my trainer suggested for a dog/cat that pulls. It isn't as painful as the metal ones but it definitely works. You can remove the links and make it smaller or add them to make it larger. They have smaller sizes as well
It is what my trainer suggested for a dog/cat that pulls. It isn't as painful as the metal ones but it definitely works. You can remove the links and make it smaller or add them to make it larger. They have smaller sizes as well
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There are probably lots of variables to determine what is right for each cat (or dog for that matter). City, suburb, country. Member of the family or just providing shelter/food on your property. Of course a feral rescue isn't going to be happy living in a 1 bedroom highrise. I've always lived in the 'burbs so my perspective comes from that and from the vets and rescue groups begging people to get their animals spayed/neutered and kept indoors. Maybe the mindset is different for country life.
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I really do appreciate and respect your opinion. I'm not doing this to teach people or convert people to my way of thinking. I am doing this to provide a meaningful life to those animals who wouldn't have otherwise had that. I also do everything I can to maintain a natural balance in this land that surrounds me.
Most of the cats who live in the cat house were at one time outdoor cats, many of them feral. The cats are of a species that at one time, humans stepped into the evolutionary process and domesticated. I am returning them to what we as humans have created; that is, a domestic mammal. They are quite happy and healthy living in the environment we have for them here.
To release any of these cats, would upset the balance of nature. Outdoor cats would impact the natural species of both plant and animal that exist here. I do not want to do that.
As it is, the only thing I want to try to get across to people is that we need to embrace our natural world. I tell the stories of these animals and this place only for appreciation and enjoyment. I do not have any intention of changing or influencing anyone's opinion.
Do you have poisonous snakes there? Here they abound,I've had three horses bitten by rattlesnakes its not pretty.In OP AL they have what they call a rattlesnake round up and they come in my part of the country to get them. I love in the woods to but snakes in my house nope. I expect the occaisional lizard,love those.
I've heard rumors about copperheads and timber rattlers but I've not seen any, and I'm alllll over these woods. We have plenty of snakes, but they are utterly benign. As far as lizards go, I've only seen 5-lined skinks and broad-headed skinks.
Prong collars look worse than that what they really are Kia. If used correctly they are GREAT. When you get a chance go to Leerburg Kennels website and there is a TON of information on how to use a prong correctly and there are different types. What they do is apply a little extra pressure on the neck. Yes you can cause damage with them if they aren't applied right but you can cause damage to the esophagus with a regular collar as well. It doesn't take a dog pulling with a prong just a few times to learn its not a good idea. This guy was a K9 dog police officer now a trainer. I was very impressed with him,a lot of things he says I don't agree with and he's into schutzland training I don't agree with especially for Rotts as they are naturally protective and very sensitive dogs. Some prongs are harsh you want one that the "point's are blunt and the links are widespread. They also make one with very blunt points which is what I use. Seldom do I use mine only to take Angus to the vet as a precaution and to get Ula focused. She'll get goofy and want to dash after something and I having a long training lead so when she wants to make a dash I let her feel the pressure herself.
Sometimes I get nasty looks from ppl when I have to be in places where I'm forced to be in a crowd of people when I put the prong on Angus and I don't care. There is always in every crowd that is a irresponsible dog owner who has a dog that has been allowed to go wild and usually in my situations its a person with an untrained Pittbull who has an attitude who tries to be a bully who hasn't been altered.
Don't take anything I said to be disrespectful of your work or your belief system. I think there are those of us that try to do what we can to make things better for our animal friends unfortunately our numbers are too few to do much more than what amounts to a grain of sand in a vast desert, but we try. I think there has always been a natural order to things that we as a race have perverted to such a degree in the last few hundred years that even if every breathing human on the planet were to do their share, which is highly unlikely it would take a millennium or more to put right. I don't want to sound like all is hopeless although some days it seems that way. Where I live now overlooks the same Shenandoah Valley that my family has been looking at for over 6 generations. When I was much younger the view out of my front door was such that for as far as you could see there was nothing but nature in all it's glory. Now when I look out especially in the fall when the leaves are not there to block the view all you can see is urban sprawl and everyday more and more of the valley get's raped in the name of progress. The wildlife has so little natural habitat left the deer population along with most wildlife is literally starving itself slowly out of existence, this makes me both sad and angry. I believe we are but a few more years of progress away from throwing the natural balance of the planet so far out of whack that one day soon Mother Nature will take her revenge and hit the reset button but that's just the Native American in me talking. I too will continue to do what I can to help the creatures that are kind enough to let me live in their home for as long as I am able but I'm convinced I do it just to make myself feel better, because in the final analysis it is far too little far too late. JMHO
Poor Mitchell,he sure was a special cat. Thank you so much for sharing his story just shows how powerful love is. My farm is set up similar to yours. Cats and dogs live in harmony,we do allow them to socialize together. We all live in harmony.Our cats stay inside to,too many coyotes around here. Sounds like you are the way we are, our animals are our family.
We have a bed in our barn so of one of our horses are sick we can stay out there with them. We're all family if something happens we all grieve and if its good we all celebrate.
Thank you Blues for sharing. I look forward to hearing more of your wonderful successes. I love to hear everyone's stories about their pets and wildlife. Rave's pics are so inspiring to me. She captures God's artwork so beautifully.
Blues,if you don't mind and if I won't be bothering you,would you mind if I sent you a private message? I have a cat here that I'm fostering that I need some advice here. She's one I'm fostering that her life as not been good and I really need some advice. She has had a relapse and my vets are at a loss as what to do. I've only been rescuing cats for a yr now and I'm stumped.
Good morning, everyone!
Bluesman, your story about Mitchell brought tears to my eyes! He sounds like he was a sweetheart!
Kia, I hope your fur-baby heals quickly!
Rave, the snake skin freaked me out! When my brother and hubby were cleaning out my brother's house, they found a few snake skins in the basement! Thank goodness I didn't help! LOL!
Awsum, thank you so much for the coffee!
I hope everyone enjoys their first day of October!
Bluesman, your story about Mitchell brought tears to my eyes! He sounds like he was a sweetheart!
Kia, I hope your fur-baby heals quickly!
Rave, the snake skin freaked me out! When my brother and hubby were cleaning out my brother's house, they found a few snake skins in the basement! Thank goodness I didn't help! LOL!
Awsum, thank you so much for the coffee!
I hope everyone enjoys their first day of October!
Happy 1st October. Just popping in real quick to say hi. Still here and still vaping. Been really busy - but not too busy to order some more supplies.
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