OT March Chit Chat

[Catdancer]

Then there was Patch, a very large very fat black and white Cat. I don't know if there are cats that can be "mentally challenged"....let's just say Patch wasn't the brightest bulb in the lamp... :) But he was a dear cat. He behaved more like a dog than a cat--- would come running if you called, "Patch, treat!!".... and gulp down whatever you were offering -- which was great when he needed to be given medicine, as he didn't seem to notice..or care about..a difference. We had him when Jimmy Carter was running for office. We'd joke that we should have "rented" him to the Carter campaign: Patch loved dry roasted peanuts. If we couldn't find him (he, like a lot of cats, wouldn't always come when we called), all we had to do was shake a jar of peanuts and he'd come running. He'd eat the jar full if we let him.

Patch was everybody's friend.....almost. For the most part, anyone who came to the door, whether they'd been there before or not, Patch would be around their ankles, waiting for them to sit down, at which point he'd be in their lap, purring loudly. He purred SO loud you could hear him across the room, and so energetically he'd start to cough and sputter...and have to stop and breathe a bit before purring again..

I said he was "almost" everyone's friend: At the time we were living in a predominately black neighborhood (both of us are white) in Georgia. Patch did not like black people. Our dear sweet neighbor --- an elderly black woman -- would come to the door, looking for TC to help her with something....and Patch would growl. We thought at first that he didn't like *her*, for some reason......but then, as we got to know more of our neighbors, they'd come to visit, and we'd have to lock Patch away, because he'd growl at them, too! We could never figure out exactly why he hated them, so. We had gotten Patch as a tiny kitten - he was abandoned at the laundro-mat where I would do our wash every week.. but he hadn't been there more than a week or so before I took him home, and as I said, he was just a tiny thing, so it couldn't have been that he was mistreated, at least not much! For a cat that was otherwise a cuddly teddy bear.....he wasn't at all happy when anyone not white came to visit. Very odd.

[Howie]

My dad raised dogs, and had a kennel that held 10 at a time. The trash cans were down behind the kennel, and all the trash collectors were black. Whenever they showed up, all the dogs would go wild. We finally figured out, it was the noise of the trash cans banging around that the dogs hated.

They later had gotten a white crew, and the dogs were silent....the first time they showed up. After that, the dogs started barking as soon as the truck pulled up.

Pretty smart, they changed from the color of the trash collectors, to the truck pulling up to start their barking because they knew the noise was coming.

[Virginia]

Cat, cute Molly and Patch stories.

I just had dinner with family and one brother was talking about one of his two dogs, which I have to admit is highly intelligent. He says he isn't getting a lot of sleep because that dog got him up at 4:30, but only to let him know that the other dog wanted to go out. Then very early he came for himself to start his day with going out and food. My brother said he just wanted 15 extra minutes, but the dog went on the opposite side of the bed and started shaking the bed, then he started slapping my brother (lightly) across the face, then he would jump down and go to my brother's side of the bed and go "woff, woff" in a low voice until finally my brother got up. His wife has been staying at their son's home and taking care of it while he has been on golf tour. He will be coming home for a couple of weeks and she is moving back home. My brother said she could help with the dogs, but somehow he always ends up with them.

I ate the same thing tonight that I did last week. I had Veal Marsala both nights, but it had been a week. I really just wanted it at this particular place because I use to go there a lot and it was really good and tender and I didn't know when we would go back. So since it had been a week I had it again. It is still very tender and some of the best I have ever had.

Cherie, hope all will go well with your brother and his wife while they are at your house. I am sure all of you will have a good time. I like that he is a kind and caring "hippy".

[Pegakafarmgirl]

so many cat and dog stories,

I found Peaches at work one day, a tiny little bundle of fur,, I brought her home Joe says she stays "one night",, well, she was with us over 10 years, and during her time at the farm, she would take the whole litter of new born kittens away from the mama,, and raised them,, yeah I know what you were thinking,, and she did produce milk,, she never had pups,,,,, she would also be our watch dog, and chase the stray dogs away from "her" farm,, she developed a cancer, and we buried her under the apple tree,,

[Virginia]

Peg, you mean Peaches was a dog and she nursed and raised the kittens. What a mama's instinct that was. She must not have had any of her own, but I don't know how she got milk.

[Howie]

I guess with those mouths full of needle sharp teeth nursing on her, she was afraid not to produce milk!

[agate]

I believe you're on the right track there, Howie. Hormones can kick in and enable a female mammal to lactate even when the offspring isn't her own--and even if the female is a dog and the offspring is a kitten or kittens.

[Virginia]

I am having computer problems all day. I am going to meditation at 6PM, so if I don't get back on all of you will know I couldn't!

[Catdancer]

I've heard several stories about mommas taking in babies of different species. My childhood cat, Tammy, nursed bunnies, and once a squirrel (which I kept, and had as a pet, for a number of years...) And several stories about dogs nursing cat, and vice versa....

[Howie]

I remember seeing a picture of a dog with pups nursing, and there between two pups was a kitten just nursing away. The animal world continues to amaze me.

[Frog42]

Animals are kinder than humans at times.

[Cherie]

We are a pet free household now. After the last dog crossed the bridge 4 years ago I said "no more". David would always have a dog if he had his way but he is never home to train, groom, feed, walk or play with so that has always fallen to me and with me traveling as much as I do, it is just not fair to the dog. We had our daughter's cat for 18 years and it died three years ago. We have a couple of grandkids who are allergic so it has seemed best overall to not have them.

Roger and Nancy left yesterday. It was a lovely visit

[Howie]

Good morning! I'm up, and waiting on my sister to drop by. She is going to go to Walmart, and pick me up some underwear. Boxers not briefs, so now you know.

I had some, and they slowly disappear. I had 2 pair in the dryer yesterday, and opened the dryer, and there was only one pair. Did the dryer eat one?

I MAY make pasta today. I have all the ingredients, so it's just a matter of cooking it all. And I'll make some coleslaw. Yum!

Everyone have a great day!

[stillstANNding]

Howie, it is a well known fact that dryers prefer socks but if they are hungry, anything could vanish!

ANN

[agate]

Howie, I don't recall if you have a washer and dryer there or if you visit a laundromat, but either way, have you tried groping around the interior of the washer and dryer? Things cling to the walls and get lost there.

Time and time again I've thought some item was missing in the laundry, but that is what happened. Or else I thought I'd put it in the laundry but didn't, and it turned up later--having fallen behind something or even been mixed up with the bedding because I might have sorted the laundry while the bed was still unmade. I've had laundry items turn up in very weird situations. I think they migrate when I'm not looking, just to be pesky.