So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[2jakes]

 

[Fading Fast]

I like cats, but, IMHO based on my anecdotal experience with both over five decades, there is something more feral in most domestic cats than in most domestic dogs. Almost every cat I've known, seems to be only a hair trigger away from "go time," claws, scratch, teeth, bite, but most dogs need to be really worked up to that point if they can get there at all.

Again, I like cats and have known some that I've gotten very close to, but there is always that feeling (at least I feel it) that the switch to feral animal could be thrown any second. I've almost never felt that way with a dog (except for one husky I knew who had a trip wire right in front of him every second of his life).

I have no agenda, as I truly love both animals, but I know what I feel - and maybe it's me and not a reality - but 2Jakes' cartoon ⇧ resonates with me because of my experiences with both animals.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Tell me about it. We have one that had skin problems (rashes, losing hair and constant scratching). After several vet visits and steroid shots we finally had an allergy test done. Fairly expensive. The results came back and she is allergic to Bermuda grass and maple trees. Both of which are outside the front and back door. The foods she is allergic to are too numerous to list but they include chicken, rabbit, wheat, corn, and soy just to name a few. Try finding a dog food without those listed ingredients.

So just to follow up...I don't know if you have a Tractor Supply near you, but this is what we feed our dogs, one with severe allergies. It's been a godsend.

I don't know if it's available online, but I think Tractor Supply is the only place that actually carries it in stores. It's vary reasonably priced, I think about $35 for a 40 lb bag. They have various grain-free options, including salmon, beef, chicken etc. My dogs get the whitefish. We'd tried all sorts of other brands and this is the one that works.

 

[2jakes]

I like cats, but, IMHO based on my anecdotal experience with both over five decades, there is something more feral in most domestic cats than in most domestic dogs. Almost every cat I've known, seems to be only a hair trigger away from "go time," claws, scratch, teeth, bite, but most dogs need to be really worked up to that point if they can get there at all.

Again, I like cats and have knows some that I've gotten very close to, but there is always that feeling (at least I feel it) that the switch to feral animal could be thrown any second. I've almost never felt that way with a dog (except for one Husky I knew who had a trip wire right in front of him every second of his life).

I have no agenda, as I truly love both animals, but I know what I feel - and maybe it's me and not a reality - but 2Jakes' cartoon ⇧ resonates with me because of my experiences with both animals.

Dogs are easy to love.
There have been several in my life.
Cats can be challenging.
To win their trust & affection is very rewarding for me.

 

[HudsonHawk]

Since you've heard enough about him, this is our boy Finn (shared joint custody with our friend and neighbor):

That is a gorgeous dog, btw.

 

[Bamaboots]

So just to follow up...I don't know if you have a Tractor Supply near you, but this is what we feed our dogs, one with severe allergies. It's been a godsend.

I don't know if it's available online, but I think Tractor Supply is the only place that actually carries it in stores. It's vary reasonably priced, I think about $35 for a 40 lb bag. They have various grain-free options, including salmon, beef, chicken etc. My dogs get the whitefish. We'd tried all sorts of other brands and this is the one that works.

Thanks for that. When we had the allergy test done the results came back with a listed scale of 1-5, with 5 being the most severe and potatoes being a 5. We searched high and low and found several that were free of the listed allergens but the difficulty was finding one she would eat with any consistency that the other hounds would eat as well. We have five.

Here is the one we found that all will eat and it's $46.99 for a 40lb bag.

 

[Fading Fast]

That is a gorgeous dog, btw.

Thank you. Of all the dogs we've had, we have never been stopped more by strangers on the street complimenting our dog than for Finn. Since I had nothing to do with picking him, I am not in any way complimenting myself, so I can say this - he is beautiful. And, overall, a really sweet guy who just wants to love and be loved.

 

[ChrisB]

I like cats, but, IMHO based on my anecdotal experience with both over five decades, there is something more feral in most domestic cats than in most domestic dogs.

Dogs have been domesticated longer than cats have. Also, dogs have been adapted to many uses, but cats main job has always been to catch and kill vermin. This, I believe, accounts for their more independent nature.

Compare a dog to it's parent species, the wolf, and see how much we have altered some breeds, such as a dachshund. Now look at the parent species of the cat, the African Wildcat (Felis Silvestris Lybica), and it looks pretty much like any old Tabby! I like both cats and dogs, and have had both house and barn cats all my life. If you want to get along with cats, you have to understand their nature.

 

[sheeplady]

I like cats, but, IMHO based on my anecdotal experience with both over five decades, there is something more feral in most domestic cats than in most domestic dogs. Almost every cat I've known, seems to be only a hair trigger away from "go time," claws, scratch, teeth, bite, but most dogs need to be really worked up to that point if they can get there at all.

Again, I like cats and have knows some that I've gotten very close to, but there is always that feeling (at least I feel it) that the switch to feral animal could be thrown any second. I've almost never felt that way with a dog (except for one Husky I knew who had a trip wire right in front of him every second of his life).

I have no agenda, as I truly love both animals, but I know what I feel - and maybe it's me and not a reality - but 2Jakes' cartoon ⇧ resonates with me because of my experiences with both animals.

I think there's a much... broader display of personality/ temperament in cats that are raised well. Most female cats are like you've described, even the most gentle I've found always had an edge to them.

I've had 4 male cats (three black, one orange) who were sweethearts. The last black cat I owned slept with me in my arms like a teddy bear... he'd get up in the night to eat or use the litter box and cuddle back down until morning. He had been on the streets when we picked him up at about a year or two, covered in fight scars (tomcat), had feline leukemia and FIV, and was the gentlest soul I've ever met. One of my great sorrows is that he died while I was pregnant with my daughter. He would have been the *best* playmate for my kids.

It particularly made me sad because he was so much like my two childhood cats, who were also black. My first cat (was originally my mother's and about 6 when I was born) used to sit on my lap while I ate dinner, let me push him in the stroller for hours, and dress him up in doll clothes. He never scratched me once, never hissed, never showed any temper. My next black cat was identical in temperament, but we raised him from a kitten. I've always been in awe with my first black cat... he was not "raised" around children and I easily became his favorite and he was like my shadow.

In case you can't tell, I have an affinity for black cats. First on the list when we move out of the apartment is a Black Cat, the best kind.

 

[LizzieMaine]

I've had several feral cats -- my last three have been ferals, and my current was a catch-spay-and-release with the docked ear to prove it. Each of them has adapted remarkably well to indoor-only life -- you get the sense that they had all of the outdoors they needed when they were living in alleys or the woods -- and as long as you respect their quirks and their boundaries, they tend to be extremely loving and lovable creatures to be around.

My current cat won't stand for having her claws clipped. and has the habit of starting the day by sharpening them on my bathrobe while I'm brushing my teeth. If I don't have the robe on she'll look at me and wait until I put it on, and then she'll go to work. The robe is in shreds and tatters after five years of this, but I don't care the slightest bit. It gives her pleasure, she gives me pleasure, and a raggedy bathrobe is a very small price to pay.

 

[Trenchfriend]

 

[Zombie_61]

...If you want to get along with cats, you have to understand their nature.

I believe it's also important to remember that cats have their own personalities as well. Anyone who says, "Oh, cats are all the same," clearly hasn't spent much time around them.

We've had six cats in the 35 years we've been married. Three of them were adolescents or adults when we "adopted" them, and became more affectionate as they grew comfortable with us. But the three we raised from kittens were/are more affectionate simply because we showered them with affection and attention their whole lives, so they don't know what it's like to not have that in their lives. Our first cat, Junior, was a male Orange Tabby, and friends who hadn't spent much time around cats often remarked, "He acts like a dog," because he was so responsive to our verbal commands. In fact, Junior and I had an actual conversation one night, and a good friend who was present at the time was astonished because he'd never seen anything like that even though he grew up with a cat.

 

[ChrisB]

I believe it's also important to remember that cats have their own personalities as well. Anyone who says, "Oh, cats are all the same," clearly hasn't spent much time around them.

Absolutely true! I have two cats, and their personalities are polar opposites. Bianca is curious and outgoing, while Patches is shy but also vey affectionate. Any time we have visitors, Bianca will come to see what is going on, while Patches will hide under the bed. Bianca is the calico-tabby:

 

[MisterCairo]

 

[Bruce Wayne]

 

[GHT]

Lulu's such a diva. Her mantra is simple. Cat's rule, dogs drool.

Ruby is much more loving and friendly, eager to please.

Khandi, is the most confident cat that we have ever had, and the most curious. She's simply got to have a look.

 

[2jakes]

I actually had two clowns like these
at home at one time.

 

[LizzieMaine]

Not really trivial at all, but...

Last night, two blocks from where I live, a 22 year old woman was walking home from her job when a man in a ski mask leaped from a car along a dark sidewalk, choked the woman into unconsciousness, dragged her into his car and sped off into the night. She came to and found him holding a knife to her throat with one hand and steering the car with the other. She managed to struggle and push him into losing control of the car, and the police saw him swerving and chased the car down just as she forced him to drive it into a pole. He tried to escape, but they caught him, and the girl escaped with minor physical injuries and who knows what kind of psychological injuries.

What ticks me off? The fact that the city has just finished spending hundreds of thousands of dollars installing ultra-bright LED streetlights downtown, to the point where people have to shield their eyes coming out of the theatre after a show. But not one slick nickel have they spent improving street lighting in the North End, where this incident took place. There are old, dim, yellow sodium lamps from the seventies, and damn few of those. But that's OK, because tourists don't go to the North End. Nobody lives in the North End with a big wallet to swing around and nobody in the North End can afford to buy off the city council. It's ok for Those (or Us) People who live there to walk home in the dark at night and maybe get abducted or worse, but hey, priorities are priorities.

 

[2jakes]

^^^^^
Is it possible to meet with the counselor whose district
includes Main Street where this happened?
It would appear that their term of office expires in 2016.
Perhaps if it’s not too late, can the citizens vote for someone
that would address these issues that you speak of?


Please be careful Lizzie.

 

[Zombie_61]

Not really trivial at all, but...

You probably already know this, but things are no different here on the west coast. We have zero street lights on our block because the city doesn't want to pay the price for installing them, even though every surrounding block has them. A number of "middle of the night" car break-ins have occurred in the last year, but I believe someone will have to be killed before The Suits are forced to admit a dark street in "their" city might not be safe.