BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: leprechaun
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 01:10 AM

In a previous life I had a house with a cat door. One morning I was in bed with the sheet over my head when I felt something land lightly on my nose. Then four cat feet pounced on my face. I got up and found a bat flying around the room, bumping into things. It stopped on a lampshade long enough for us to open the door so it could make its escape through the carport, with the cat chasing after it.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Ely
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 03:25 PM

Someone brought a cat in to our clinic that had brought down a bluejay. It was a big cat (eighteen pounds, with claws like big fish-hooks on all four feet) but we were pretty impressed that any cat could haul in a bluejay and not sustain some damage.

We've also had several (unrelated) cats come in who had shredded full-grown rabbits, and one that killed its owner's sister's Chihuahua. I can't really blame it for doing in the Chihuahua, but those little dogs can be pretty mean.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Deckman
Date: 14 Jun 03 - 03:26 PM

This thread is way too funny! THANKS! Not too long ago, I opened our back door to discover our cat "Kissa Poika" (boy cat, in Finn) standing there looking startled with a baby starling in his jaws. I slapped my hands, which caused him to open his mouth in astonishment and release the bird. The bird hit the ground, looked at me, and promptly flew away, scolding me all the time. Kissa glared at me and came in the house, looking very angry. The next morning, much to my upset, I discovered that he shit in my working shoes! Who says cats are dumb!. CHEERS, Bob(deckman)Nelson

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Schantieman
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 12:21 PM

...and last October, shortly after my father-in-law had died and my father had had a stroke, I came home to find that not only did the central heating boiler refuse to light but that a cat had crept into my living room, crapped on the carpet & crept out again. Talk about adding insult to injury!

I have now sealed up the previous owner's cat flap!

S

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 01:37 PM

Shitting in your workshoes, Bob, is certainly appropriate payback for depriving your cat of his catch. It's one hell of a way to start your Monday morning. The only thing worse, maybe, is coming home late at night and discovering the little darling has thrown up all over your bedding. For a musical interlude check out "No Hairballs in Heaven" on:Charley Noble Website

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Gareth
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 06:57 PM

The last 3 posts. Now why am I reminded of those 60's/70's icons "The Fhreak Brothers" & "Fat Freddie's Cat".

Or am I just getting OLD !

Gareth

BTW I satill have a "Fat Freddie's Cat" T Shirt in the Wardrobe but as it's only XL it won't fit me these days !!

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Midchuck
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 08:30 PM

We used to have a cat that would go out in the evening and catch bats - on the wing. She'd just jump as one flew over.

I have to be looking just in the right place to even see those things move!

Peter.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: SINSULL
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 09:01 PM

Deckman,
Your shoe story reminded me of another. My cat Homey - huge with eyes like fishbowls - had a blanket that was his alone. I had folded it in a chair in the living room one winter night just for him. But my nephew came home late with a friend who crashed on the living room couch. He saw the blanket and thought it was for him. Homey thought different. He went to the kitchen and ate every scrap of dry food. There was enough for five cats. Then he coughed it up deep within Sid's shoes. Poor Sid found out the hard way - stuck his bare feet in first thing in the morning. Vomit was Homey's main weapon and he used it frequently and effectively.

On Saturday Freddie caught another bird. This time I grabbed him and tossed him and his trophy outside. He was somewhat annoyed but took it behind the bushes to play with it. Sunday, he ran passed me with the same damn bird dropping ants and bugs along the way. Now it is safely tucked away in a ziplock bag in the trash.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Jun 03 - 11:07 PM

Keep your cats indoors. We are losing so many beautiful birds to pet and ferals cats, who don't need them for food. The cats prey most successfully on newly-fledged young, then the parent birds try to raise another brood. When the parents finally die, there is no new generation to take their place.

Cats which go outside can get tapeworms from mice. (I have had three cats who had tapeworms. My present cat stays inside.) Do you really want your cat dropping tapeworm segments around the house? What if I baby eats one?

Cats which go outside get hit by cars or mauled by dogs, and can get feline leukemia. If you love your cat, keep it inside.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Kaleea
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 03:02 AM

Sis, my indoor Kitty who will be 19--yes, 19 years old!--in mid July, spends her days napping & occasionally fussing at me when I don't hop to fast enough to give her her meals. When she & her sister, Prana--who went to kitty heaven 10 years back--were young & frisky, they would bring me all sorts of things. Critters creepy & crawly of all types which they found in the basement of a couple of houses where we once lived, were deposited on the floor next to my bed so that I would find them under my feet when I got up--sometimes during the night! Prana was the real hunter who loved to chase the mousies. Sis would crouch nearby & cheer her sister on, playing a little when she could get a paw in edgewise. Sis often brought me sox, pantyhose & other items which she enjoyed digging out of the hamper, mauling, chewing out big holes, & placing them in front of my feet when she was done with it--sometimes, instead, depositing the item(s) in the middle of the living room floor for me to find when I arrived home.
    Other kitties now gone to kitty heaven loved bring interesting things & trophies to me, too. One small tabby once brought a friend over for lunch in his bowl, a trip to the litter box, & then back out the unlatched screen door the same way they had come in.
    Cleo, who looked just like an Egyptian Cat Goddess--& behaved as if she believed it, was a homebody, but her brother Cal, like his sister, was also an all black kitty, but with a little white spot at his neck. Cal was a kinda laid back, but a little wild man kind of kitty, & used to come in through the back porch window, pull open the kitchen screen door with his paw, & trot in & proudly deposit various & sundry critters, mammal & insect alike, at my feet for me to adore him all the more! He once knocked a wasp right out of the air, removed a wing, & frolicked a bit with it before bringing it to me. Then there was the time that he decided to go on walkabout in the park across the street where there were 2 duck ponds. One of the white geese used to walk over to the edge of the park grounds & make quite a ruckus, teasing Cal. I would tell Cal not to leave the yard, or go across the street, but one day, he sneaked out the back, went out to the edge of the yard, & decided he couldn't take the teasing from the white goose anylonger--when I was studying, & not watching. Cal trotted across the street, yelled a few kity obscenities at the goose, & pounced on it! He was hopping around, with the neck of the goose in his mouth, shaking it to & fro--quite a feat when you consider that the goose was over twice his size. The goose was squawking quite a bit, & got the other geese & ducks riled up & squawking, too. My neighbor across the hall, who had a good view of the park from her windows, had looked out to see what the squawking ruckus was about near the beginning of the story, then came dashing into my place hollaring about how Cal was going after that white goose that was always taunting him! We both raced out my back door, down the fire escape to find Cal behind our building, as we attempted to figure out what to do about the dilemma. Wings flapping, feathers flying, beak squawing & snapping, kitty hopping about & making strange guttoral sounds, & yet we could not disengage the goose from Cal's teeth no matter what we tried! Finally Cal let go his hold on the goose, & it ran off, squawking all the way, with Cal chasing after it. He stopped briefly when he came face to face with a small flock of assorted squawking/quacking geese & ducks, then ran off to continue his chase. We finally caught Cal before he could do in any of the waterfowl & took him home. Later that night, he sneaked out the back window, & went off on a hunt. When I got up in the morning, I heard some strange sounds sort of like a small machine gun-ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ah,ah--as I was rummaging through my refridgerator for breakfast. I looked out on the porch to see what I might see. It was Cal, sitting up on his hind legs, looking over the deceased white goose. Proudly, he picked it up in his mouth, walked over to me & deposited the trophy at my feet, quite pleased with himself!

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Gurney
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 03:10 AM

Strangest was a lot of tennis balls. He carried them in. Work that out.
Otherwise he was an animal collector, and brought 'em back alive for everyone to enjoy, through the catdoor. He was a Siamese, and, like all of them, smart but weird.
Our deaf, white cat tore a bamboo birdcage apart and brought the canary home. From next-doors lounge, whilst the kids were watching TV.
Must have been an interesting programme.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 03:38 AM

Poor goose!

leeneia, I agree, but I've also found out, just recently, that indoor cats can also get parasites, so one still has to be careful and have them checked.

kat

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 08:41 AM

Well, yes, poor goose, but what a fine story!

I have little love for white geese myself, having grown up on a farm with a flock of them. What a nasty bunch they were, always sneaking up behind to take a piece out of your ankle. My mother finally got tired of slipping on the front steps where they liked to congregate and copiously deficate; she butchered the lot and stuffed them in the freezer. They made particularly satisfying meals, although very fatty.

Cheerily,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: katlaughing
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 11:31 AM

Charley, we had geese on our ranch, too, so I am familiar with how nasty the buggers can be, BUT the goose described above lived in a public area, apparently, and was doing no known harm. I mean the typically minded cat crossed the road to go get it!**bg** It did make a great story, but I still wish people would not allow such things to happen.

Our gander was a complete arsehole. His wingspread was eight feet and one day got my upper thigh with the top bone of his wing. I had a bruise about 10 inches in diameter that hurt like hell for a week or more from that nasty encounter.

I don't think this was funny and was devastated when it happened, but it did seem somehow poetically just: he liked to meet us up at the gate, then run in front of the car on the way down to the house. We'd slow down, honk the horn, yell at him, etc. trying to get him to move over to the side, instead. Well, one day, the onery cuss just miscalculated, Rog was driving and couldn't see that he'd fallen back and barely to the side; we had all three kids in the car, when he got his neck tangled up with the front left tire and that was all she wrote for that gander...his goose was cooked, you might say.

No, I'd never have geese again, but they were terrific for letting us know if someone was on the property and fierce to intruders and family alike, hissing and flapping like dragons. I don't see how any cat would have ever stood a chance and I guess the eagles, coyotes, etc. must've decided the same thing as they never attacked them.

Sorry, off the soapbox now.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: ponygirl
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 12:12 PM

Well, the landlord's barn cat, who's a tiny, black thing, and no youngster, turned up in the hayloft with a dead kestrel. Two bites in the back of the neck, a clean snap, and not another mark anywhere on bird or cat. I can only think she was trying to take out the competition for the mouse population, and decided i'd better stay on her good side.

Among my housecats, Pandora, the eldest female, hunts tea bags, in the hopes that these will involve catnip. And Otter, the big grey and white "alpha male" once did a turn as hunter/fashion consultant: i had brought up a load of laundry, and left it unattended while waiting for the last load to finish. Otter burrowed into the middle of it, dragged out a pair of underwear, and shredded it. I dismissed it as a bizarre-but-isolated adolescent cat escapade, until the next time i did laundry -- he burrowed into the clean load before i could fold it, dragged out the only other pair of the exact same style, and shredded THAT, too. He's never attacked another piece of clothing since, and it's been ten years now...

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: GUEST,Sethw
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 03:41 PM

One Thanksgiving about twenty years ago,our small calico, who had been left out of several thanksgivings, waited until the blessing had begun, came through the living room dragging a dead rat fully three quarters her size, past the gaping humans, into the kitchen, where she had her thanksgiving rat by herself, thank you very much. We couldn't find any spare parts later, but she came out with a big tummy,and slept for a long time.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 06:09 PM

Damn! The baby robins are kamakazeeing out of their nests again, into the waiting clutches of our kitty gang. Got home just in time to see their latest catch expire on the bathroom floor. Last year I managed to rescue 3 baby robins and tried nursing them back to health, feeding them the worms they so dearly love. However, I didn't realize that each one needs about 12 feet of worm a day. And I'm assuming they all died of starvation. When I put them out on the porch roof as an alternative, they just fly off again, into the waiting clutches of you-know-who or their neighborhood friends. Anyone had better luck feeding robins?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: GUEST,pdc
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 08:15 PM

Our cat Linus (who was Lucy when we got him until the vet set us straight) came up onto the verandah the other day with a long white thing hanging out of both sides of his mouth. It was a condom. Go figure.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 09:12 PM

Probably smelled fishy!

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: GUEST,Pelrad
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 10:05 PM

Charley, one thing to keep in mind with rescuing kitty victims is that if they have sustained a puncture wound they usually die. We've had luck with baby robins only if we managed to find them before the cats did, and only if they were already feathered. If they still have down or pinfeathers the rate of success is very low. Best thing to do if they are close to fledging is to get them up off the ground but somewhere accessible to the parents, who hopefully will come back for them (happened a few times for us).

One of my cats used to bring us bunny feet. Just the feet. Yech!

(by the way, it was nice to hear you in the YTB Saturday night. And I didn't mean to stifle your conversation, I was being greedy and singing to hear my own voice in those great acoustics..._

Kim

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Franz S.
Date: 17 Jun 03 - 11:11 PM

We haven't had a cat door for many years, but when we did the cats refused to use it. My daughter (it was really a dog door, all we could get in this town) used to use it to sneak in and out, though.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 08:48 AM

Kim-

I'm thinking a large box with high sides might work better for the porch roof but the damn things do try to use their wings well before they can properly navigate and they'll still probably flutter out. I was serious about reading that the little critters need 12 feet of worm a day. How much did you feed them? They happily gulped down whatever I dug them up. They generally are pretty well feathered by the time I'm presented with them.

Nor and I had a wonderful time at the Mystic Festival YTB. So nice to be among such wonderful singers. I only wish I was better at matching faces with names, but what songs were you singing?

Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: GUEST,Pelrad
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 11:14 AM

I think the only one I did after you came in was while I was packing up my stuff. There were only about five of us there at the time. I was singing "The Blacksmith" to myself, but everyone seemed to be listening so I sang the whole thing. I was standing next to Dick Swain, over in the corner.

My brother did most of the bird feeding around here, as he was the official rescuer. I think he fed a couple of worms every 2-3 hours. Usually if a baby bird is full he will stop eating.

Kim

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: GUEST,Pelrad
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 11:17 AM

I should qualify that: if you feed them slowly, maybe take a minute in between worm bits, they will stop eating when their crop is full. If you feed them quickly, they won't realize their crop is full until it is overfull.

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Charley Noble
Date: 18 Jun 03 - 12:54 PM

Kim-

Well, I'm sure I'll get ample opportunity to improve my worm feeding technique in the coming weeks. We do bell our cats but the birds are just so stupid.

Thanks,
Charley Noble

Subject: RE: BS: What Has Your Cat Brought In?
From: Dave Bryant
Date: 19 Jun 03 - 10:22 AM

My wife's cat was an excellent mouser. It would, however, eat nearly all of the unfortunate rodent and leave almost perfect circle (about 2cm dia) of backside with the tail sticking dead centre as it's trophy.

A friend's very large and aggressive tomcat, once dragged a furious fully grown Barn Owl into the kitchen and she suffered numerous injuries from both parties trying to get them apart.