computerbug
Sarasota
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Joined: 07/17/2005
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Love your posts. Please keep them coming. Cathie
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phxmtngirl
arizona
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Joined: 10/26/2010
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Hi Wander, thank you for asking about Levi. It's been a month and I still cry. He was old, 16 yrs, and the most onry cat I have ever owned, but he was my cat, and I loved him. I had to put him down because he developed thyroid problems, went from 16 lbs to 7 lbs. in about a yr. I thought it was just do to old age, but I was wrong. He was a difficult cat to take to the vet, he was a biter, and I have the scars to prove it lol.
Your Spot looks exactly like Levi ![[emoticon]](http://www.coastresorts.com/sharedcontent/cfb/images/smile.gif "smile")
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Spot also bites, but only when he gets over-stimulated. We're training that out of him. He's been to the vet twice, and while he fussed at them, he didn't actually do anything.
At the moment, he's asleep on the cat tree. Bobbi just came in for her noon treats, then dashed back outside. Alex is napping on the north porch.
It's definitely spring--some of our Winter Texans just left. As I walked down to open the gate, a huge flock of turkey vultures passed over, going to their regular habitat. It was interesting, having so many turkey vultures around here all winter. Some live here permanently, but this flock was obviously migrating.
"The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated." -- Mahatma Gandhi
Czarny, black cat
Rainbow Bridge: Spotacus, Alexander the Grrreat, and so very many more
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Woke up to thunder and rain, finally. Unfortunately, it was not enough rain and blew through much too fast.
We all sat on the north porch and enjoyed it, until the front arrived with howling winds. It arrived so suddenly that the cats were scared right into the house.
Spot took up position in his box, and Bobbi laid outside it. They played bat the box flap for a while, then headed off for naps. Alex curled up on a recliner and zonked.
Wind is supposed to howl all day, so there's a Fire Weather Warning out. At least there are two humans here to grab the bug out bag and three cats, should it become necessary.
Sigh, just another thing to keep an eye on, here in wildfire country.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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On Wednesday, we moved L'Andante into the driveway and washed her down. The yellow pollen just poured down her sides in streams, as WLToo power washed the roof. Then we scrubbed and scrubbed the sides, until she looked almost new, except for the faded decals, but from a distance, who can tell, eh?
Yesterday, we used some magic concoction recommended in the Class A forum to really shine her up. It only takes a capful of this blue liquid per 1/2 gallon of water, wipe on, wipe off, no fuss, little bother. Boy, she looks good. Truthfully, if you're doing it in the shade, you just wipe it on with a well wrung out microfiber cloth, and you only need to wipe the glass and chrome. The fiberglass looks just fine without wiping.
Meanwhile, we had her open to air out, so of course Spot just had to go exploring. He parked himself beneath the passenger seat, with only his tail sticking out, while Ruby the Roomba vacuumed all around. When it ran over his tail, he moved completely under the seat. Then Ruby chased him out from under the seat, when she vacuumed under there.
He decided it just was too noisy in there, and retreated to the shady north porch.
Today, he's parked in the cat tree. Alex and Bobbi are on the porch furniture.
We're about to bring them inside, so we can drive L'Andante to CW for some new awning measurements. We just couldn't roll the slide-out awnings out to read the specs with the ladder we have.
I see Bobbi's stalking the barn swallows. Good thing they never come close enough for her to catch one -- we depend on them to keep the flying insects to a minimum, and they do a wonderful job.
Time to go. Have a great spring day, y'all.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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It got into the 90s yesterday and the day before. Spot's fur is so dense that he had to find places where the wind was blowing to stay cool. I moved a mesh chaise lounge into a shady area by the pool, where a breeze blew. Spot spent most of the day there, where the breeze could cool him all the way around.
He's not exactly thrilled with being combed, but we have to get that dense undercoat cleared out. I can comb his head and jowls with the Furminator, but as soon as I move into his body, he just has to grab it and beat it up. This will be a long, slow process before (or if) he finally accepts that combing will actually make him feel better.
When it finally gets consistently hot enough to turn on the a/c, I expect he'll become an inside only cat. If that works for him, great.
Meanwhile, L'Andante's replacement awnings cost twice what WLToo initially thought, plus installation. Sigh. Then, on the way home, her check engine light came on. Sheesh. She goes in for maintenance tomorrow. With a trip planned very soon, good thing all this is showing up before we set out.
Unfortunately, we can't take the cats this trip, since WLToo's mom is coming along and really hates inside pets; the trip is specifically for her to visit her other son across the country. Alex is resigned to hanging out with the vet techs; he's such a suck up that he makes friends right and left. Spot and Bobbi haven't yet had the opportunity, so I don't know how they'll react. I do know that Bobbi will call us all kinds of names when we finally get back, then make a point of sitting on us for hours on end. Since Spot came to us and has made it very clear that this is home, he may have a few emotional hiccups after being kenneled -- or he may just let us know how happy he is to be home again. Either way, we'll get him all comfy at home again and he'll eventually be fine.
Time to rake the gravel level for my cousin's fifth wheeling visit. Later.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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Today was Advantage Multi day. It always makes the cats feel a bit "off" for a few hours, so they're all zonked in their favorite napping places. We keep an eye on them to be sure no one suddenly develops an allergy, but they look good so far -- except for Bobbi, who just had to run outside and roll in the dirt. She has a nice mud ball where the oil was applied. I'll clean it off tomorrow, after the stuff gets into her system and the fleas, if any, are dead. Kittens....
My cousin arrives some time this afternoon. Now we'll see if getting a fifth wheel through our gate is as much fun as L'Andante pulling the Jeep.
Weather Bug just chirped. We have a Fire Weather Watch again. Could someone please do a rain dance for the Hill Country? We're kinda desperate, and our own rain dances don't seem to be helping. Thanks.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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Joined: 10/29/2004
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"HEYAAHH!!!" And with that war cry, the excitement began.
Yes, a goggie was on the premises. My cousin and husband visited for a few days in their trailer with attached medium sized black dog. Meg is a sweetie who lives with cats, so all she wanted to do was a greeting sniff. But when she wandered into the open door, Alex turned into Psycho Kitty.
I've never seen Alex act like that, but he became three times his svelte size, and attacked poor Meg three times before we could separate him from a now confused and a bit frightened dog. Luckily, her fur is dense enough that his claws didn't reach skin -- not for lack of him trying, though.
I hauled him out of the room, while cousin comforted Meg, then escorted her back outside. In return, he gave me some really good slashes and gouges. Great. The last batch of cat marks was just healing over.
Bobbi disappeared, slipping back into the house only when she was sure Meg wouldn't see her. Spot followed Meg around for a while, sitting on high platforms and watching her. Once he was sure she was not a threat, he pretty much ignored her, simply staying out of reach.
Alex stayed on anti-dog patrol inside the house until Meg departed yesterday.
After Meg's encounter with Alex, her next adventure was about 30 minutes later, when she jumped into the swimming pool. She'd just come from the beach, where she happily played in the water, so she didn't hesitate to go into the water here. Unfortunately, she couldn't just walk out, and panicked a little. I couldn't talk her over to the steps, so I pulled off my shorts (won that wet t-shirt contest, I guess) and went in after her. WLToo arrived, then I pushed and he pulled, and got her out.
Next day, cousin's son and daughter-in-law arrived, and they taught Meg how to climb in and out of the pool, so she had a much better day, playing with my nephew in the water. She really enjoyed being able to run free over our five acres, not that she ever got out of sight of my cousins. She's pretty much velcro'ed to them.
Meanwhile, the twin fawns noticed the open gate, and came back into the meadow, which didn't exactly make Mama Doe real happy. They noticed Meg, but she didn't disturb them. They left this morning, when I opened the gate again, then came right back in with Mama Doe and a couple other deer. Guess we have more to eat than the unfenced areas they roam.
The cats are all napping somewhere. I expect Alex is really tired from being a one-cat guard force.
Critter-wise, this was a very, very lively weekend.
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Code2High
One hour past Nowhere, CA
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Joined: 12/21/2004
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ROFLMAO! Thanks for the Monday laugh. He's a terror, your Alex is...
susan
Fuzzy Wuzzy was a wabbit, Fuzzy Wuzzy had a dandelion habit! RIP little Wuz... don't go far.
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Wanderlost
Texas Hill Country
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DIE! DIE! DIE! Another lively critter day -- WLToo went out the laundry room door and was stung above his eye by a yellow jacket. In return, he sprayed every nest he could find. Turns out we had quite a few under the house and garage eaves.
We have other kinds of wasps, but they aren't usually aggressive, so I don't mind them being here, since they kill other insects. The yellow jackets are just nasty tempered, so they die.
Spot was walking a little stiff a bit ago. He'd been right by that door, too--maybe a wasp stung him. I don't know yet; he wants to play outside, way out of my reach, so it's obviously not bothering him much.
Good thing WLToo sprayed when he did. The wind has suddenly begun to howl again. I guess we'll have another Fire Weather Warning up soon.
We desperately need rain. The winds last night were from the west, and we could actually smell the smoke in the air from the fires to the west. Doesn't make for a peaceful night's sleep. The humidity and temperature is up enough to force me to close the windows and turn on the air conditioner, making it harder to detect smoke. Guess I'll be walking around outside a lot today, on fire watch again.
Life is never, ever dull around here.
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