Topic: Whatever happened to...

[jdale]

With regard to cats and evil, in the days of yore (which is to say, on Usenet), I witnessed this dialog which explains much:

> >PZ Myers wrote:
> >> Joe is wiser than he seems. So few know of us Old Ones...but my
> >> affinities for fish, my unrepentant evil, and my obvious disdain for
> >> lower, mortal forms ought to have clued you in by now.
> >
> >PZ Myers is a cat?
>
> Hmmmmm. You know, it would fit, if there were a bit more slime and
> tentacles to the little kitties.
 
You haven't had the pleasure of cleaning up after a 20-pound hairball
factory, have you?

[GrumpyOldFart]

My cats are outside cats, and I live out in the country. Momma cat (Sinister) lost her last litter, probably to a raccoon, so I brought her in the house for the litter she's just now starting to wean. She and the kittens were indoors for about 5 weeks. I put her and the babies back outside a few days ago, and you can just imagine how offended she is about all this. She's gotten spoiled to the idea that rain is supposed to be something she only hears about, it actually happens to other people.

[KacyCrawford]

I only have one pet,Dexter   

[RandalThor]

Cats are evil

Wonderful, wonderful evvvvviiiiillllll.

My cats were all born feral in the backyard of the house I first lived in (with 2 friends) when I moved to Knoxville 7-years ago. Big Dog was the first to come into the house exploring - with me following a few feet behind and opening doors to closets and such for him - so I knew I was getting a cat then. That one turned into three pretty-quickly. One night, we were al sitting down watching TV when Big dog came in (it was a pleasant night and we had the back door open) and took a spot on a futon couch that we did not use. One by one, all of the kittens came in and got curled up into a big purring ball, with their mom sitting at the back door meowing pathetically.

Here they are all curled up on the couch, all tuckered out after our move into the new house. http://www.flickr.com/photos/91320784@N07/8291381398/

[yammahoper]

I only have one pet,Dexter   

Hmm.   Is he a cereal killer?

[PhillipAEllis]

And does he have a dark passenger (and no, I do not mean a large, black flea)?

[Zut]

I have three cats: Big dog, Boots, & Little Girl, and if you see them, you will know who is who. (And giving pets "credits" is cute, so leave it alone - and get off my lawn!)

I agree! Pets in the credits are cute!

And your story, RandalThor, about cats entering home by themselves is heartwarming. I heard a similar story from a once neighbour: one day he found a cat meowing at his door. He opened the door and the cat entered, as if at home, went straight to the bedroom, and took a nap! He discovered latter that the cat was living with the previous occupants of the appartment and went missing one day. This happened 6 or 8 years before the cat returned "home"!

[RandalThor]

I think in our human egotism, we don't give animal intelligence enough credit. We are all amazed when they do something that we attribute to intelligence when maybe we shouldn't be, they got thoughts running through those crazy minds. (At least my cats are crazy, I don't know about yours, but I am assuming...  )

I saw a news story once where the whales of the Gulf of California, who used to be hunted in that exact area for decades, have begun to come up to the ecotourists and actually interact with the boats and divers in a meaningful and enjoyable way - including letting swimmers approach their young. Some of these whales were alive during those hunted years, but they seem to have forgiven us. Tell me there isn't an intelligence there.

[Zut]

Well said. I can't imagine thinking animals of not having minds of their own. This is so obvious when I play with my cat (called Velours --> Velvet): even while having long claws, he is very careful not to scratch me.

I like your story about the whales.

[Badger]

I have two goats and a cat. Tory and Grant (Goats) have no sense of personal space and get ludicrously sulky when I try to leave the property. Going to town at my place involves a carefully planned stealth mission as I try to evade the two 100kg+ goats and get past the gate before they register that I am leaving and try to intercept me.

Pigeon (my cat) just leaves wallaby and rabbit torso laying around... under my bed, in the laundry hamper, on my pillow... while I'm asleep.

Waking up with the gooey lower torso of a rabbit next to your face... It's not as fun as it sounds.

[RandalThor]

100+ kg aren't goats, those are wildebeasts!!!

That is funny though, because way back in my childhood my father won a goat in a bingo game (yeah, they did that back in the day). We called it Rusty (all us kids had "R" names and so did our pets - except DC the cat, named after the Siamese in the movie That Darn Cat), and it was a very Randy goat. Whenever my sister or mom left the house, it would go after them like its life depended upon mating RIGHT NOW! I remember them having to run to the car just to get into it before Rusty came around from the backyard. I don't know exactly what happened to that guy, but I think my dad finally gave it to someone with other goats (and other animals, I believe) for him to be with.

[Badger]

Well... Both these lads are wethers. Oddly, that hasn't stopped them trying to jump one another 15 - 20 times a day. The not so weird thing is that they both want to be the one in back, so they constantly go around and around in this frantic, bleating, slightly disturbing do si do.

The off bit is the way their tongues hang out while they're doing it.

[markc]

Badger,
 Your cat is just trying to make sure you do not go hungry, so he/she/it is bringing you 1/2 his kill.
MDC

[Badger]

That's a nice sentiment, but it doesn't explain why he crawled into my dirty clothes hamper and stuck a dead starling in my pants pocket.

Nor does it explain the half wallaby he left under my bed shortly after I left on a five day trip. Incidentally, it takes about 2 litres of bleach to clean up a wallaby that's been decomposing under your bed for five days... in summer.

The live adolescent quoll he deposited in my boot was just high spirits on his part. I mean, he didn't know that I'd have to reach in to fetch the little bugger out.

The grip-your-head-and-groan part is that I really am not exaggerating in the slightest.

[PhillipAEllis]

Maybe he's emulating a certain Warren Zevon song, and loves being an excitable boy.