Pistachio and Mags have arrived

[George K]

@LuFins-Dad said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

5 weeks? Maybe 6?

Are they rescues from a shelter?

That's AWFULLY young.

[LuFins Dad]

@George-K said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

@LuFins-Dad said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

5 weeks? Maybe 6?

Are they rescues from a shelter?

That's AWFULLY young.

Yeah, rescues that were being fostered.

[George K]

Speaking of cats...

Some things I don't understand about cats and people.

Why would anyone (other than a breeder, of course) NOT spay or neuter their cat. I had a female cat in 1976 that went into heat. It was the most God-awful week. Then, we can talk about male spraying.

Why would anyone let their pet cats go outdoors? My town's FB page usually gets one post per week saying, "My kitty hasn't come home today. If you see..." An outdoor cat will be exposed to predators, diseases, automobiles and all kinds of other stuff. If you love your pet, keep it in the house.

Don't get me started on de-clawing.

[Doctor Phibes]

We had a cat declawed when we were in Canada. I felt awful about it later, we didn’t really appreciate what we were doing at the time. Growing up as a kid our cat spent a lot of time outside very happily, but it’s a bit different over here as there a lot more predators.

[George K]

I've read that declawing can be the cause of serious behavioral issues.

First of all, it's actually an amputation of the distal phalanx - the bone is cut. Terribly painful for a while and may result in litter-box issues.

Secondly, you've just removed the primary method of a cat's defense. The Bee was declawed. We think she had been abused, and was terribly afraid of being touched. If you approached her when she wasn't in the mood, if she was feeling charitable, she might swat at you. If she wasn't, she'd bite. Both Mrs. George and I ended up with cat-bite infections that required trips to urgent care for IV antibiotics.

I believe I shared this pic in the past.

[Jolly]

I could stick you in 17 places...

[Horace]

Very cute! Four syllable names are a bold move.

[Doctor Phibes]

Our cat was lovely, just the friendliest cat. The vet didn’t warn us what was involved in having her declawed but I came home the day after and she was shaking and quivering, it was terrible. She didn’t seem to suffer any long term issues but that was enough. I’d never do it again.

[Doctor Phibes]

Anyway, congratulations LD - they’re exceptionally cute

[Jolly]

Speaking of cats...My old barn cat female had kittens awhile back and raised them around the shop. She gets a bit nervous with them (she's not the best mom) so she moved them after a day when I was puttering around inside. Haven't seen the kittens since.

I guess an owl or a coyote got them. Shame, since one was a pretty grey tuxedo, one was black tuxedo and the other was a yellow tabby.

[Jolly]

BTW, I said I'd never have a cat in the house. Dogs, but not a cat. Until I sunk $1000 into my best barn cat after something tried to kill him. He's been in the house five years come this fall.

I've never even considered declawing him.

[LuFins Dad]

Yeah, we’re already scheduled for spay and neutering in September. Trying to ride the line between mostly full grown but before she goes in heat. And no declawing.

[taiwan_girl]

@George-K said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

Why would anyone let their pet cats go outdoors?

I think that outdoor cats are the number 1 cause of bird deaths also.

[LuFins Dad]

@taiwan_girl said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

@George-K said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

Why would anyone let their pet cats go outdoors?

I think that outdoor cats are the number 1 cause of bird deaths also.

That’s a very bad take pushed by bird conservancy groups. The more accurate take is that domestic cats are the #1 directly related to humans cause of death to birds. What that basically means is that more birds die from domestic cats than to kids shooting them with pellet guns. This does not include birds that die from natural predators (orders of magnitude higher), birds that die from flying into wind turbines and buildings (orders of magnitude higher), birds killed by disease, age, etc… in scale, the number of birds killed by domestic cats vs total bird deaths would probably look a lot like the scale of the earth vs the sun. And of those birds killed by domestic cats, 99% are going to be pigeons, starlings, or sparrows as those birds are most often found thriving in urban and suburban areas where you are going to be most likely to find domestic cats. In many areas these birds are not just considered nuisance birds but are even listed as invasive.

I love birds and we have many bird feeders and several bird houses that we have put up around the neighborhood, but these bird conservancy groups are the proverbial Karen’s on methamphetamines.

[Mik]

@taiwan_girl said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

@George-K said in Pistachio and Mags have arrived:

Why would anyone let their pet cats go outdoors?

I think that outdoor cats are the number 1 cause of bird deaths also.

I think that's now wind turbines.

[LuFins Dad]

Wireless charging… Takes about 1 hour. We use the solar option.

[Mik]

Nothing like a good sunbeam.

[Jolly]

Happy cat.

[LuFins Dad]

Tuckered. Lucas and Finley have kept them going

[George K]

Sunshine for Boris and Maggie