Cats or Dogs?

What I wonder is how cats know their name. How do they learn that? My cat Luke is very intelligent (but then, we all think that about our cats) - he looks at me as if he knows what I'm saying; certainly, if I call him he comes running (except as previously noted when he feels like ignoring me and hides under the bed). If I reprimand him, he whines just like a child with chirruping little meows because he knows he's been naughty. Intuitive, intelligent creatures they are.

Me2-That's what my friend tells me, don't know if its true or not, but since she told me this I've been saying different words with the same vowel patterns (like calling CoCo Poco, or Willy Chilly) and they do answer to it. Haven't tried it with the dogs though.

Really bummed out, yesterday the sherrif and animal control came and took Marley's bros 2 dogs. They have been classified as dangerous dogs for the last 2 years, and they(powers that be) decided that all dangerous dogs should have tracking chips implanted, and (they told him)if he doesn't get it done the dogs will be taken away and put to sleep. So they took the dogs yesterday and he has 10 days to come in and take care of it.

Sure, the dogs did get out of the yard a couple times 2 years ago and went after a guy walking his dog, and they bark ferosciously at people walking by or just the wind blowing outside sometimes ;) but they aren't bad dogs- just don't get enough/right kind of attention. I've been working with them for the last 6 monthes trying to break some of their bad habits, and was making noticable progress too.

I'm not as bummed as last night though, Marley and I both decided that we'd help his bro do whatever it takes to get them back.~~~Sigh

:(

well last night I almost sent a tiny black fluffy kittento heaven.

While out late (gee wonder what I was doing out so late)...a cat ran across the street in front of me and I slowed down -she got across so I began to speed back up when a tiny baby ran after her mommy!!! aaaahahhhhh I about died! I was talking with AW at the time on my cell! Looking in my rearview window I saw a black spot not moving-I hung up with AW-parked 1/2 way in the street with truck running/lights still on and ran to check! The baby tryed hopping/running under a car and run away from me---it was so little if could not run fast enough-I picked her up ---SHE FIT IN ONE HAND! ooooooohhhhhhhh- I took her across the street to her mommy -her mommy even came close to me-she rubbed herself up against her baby looking at me as if I should take the baby OR thank you :)

I didn't know what to do-there were no other kittens to be seen and I really didn't know what side of the street this baby should be on! And the mommy looked underfed.

I drove off and looks like they wandered into a yard.

On my way back through -the mommy crossed the street again in front of me going to other way now-but with no baby anywhere to be seen. :(

I kept telling myself that this happens all over town and the Lion King Circle of Life ... :(

Poor little thing. I hope it's alright.

LL, that wasn't your lion speaking, was it?

be thankful guys, she was on the phone with me last nite telling me about it right after it happened. she was on the verge of being a basketcase too. i proceeded to ask her if she was gonna do what scribe did to thx when they got their 4th cat. discussion up-thread i believe.

lionness, i totally agree about spaying your pets. my grandmother's neighbor's dog got preggers, and the neighbors were blaming the dog across the street for it. i'm like geez lady. if you don't want your dog having a litter, have her spayed!

ares, canNOT understand why people refuse to do that for their pets....every time I see pics of mama cats and kittens from the local shelter it breaks my heart. The kittens MAY find homes, although unfortunately there are always more kittens than loving homes for them, but mama cat is almost certainly doomed.

And you just know that she formerly belonged to some idiot who thought kitty was so cute and couldn't 'do that' to her, until she got pregnant and was discarded like a piece of trash.

I've been known to lecture people I've only just met if I learn that they haven't neutered their pets.

I've also been known to march into stores and look for whatever idiot left the dog outside in the car in the heat and embarrass them in public.

Which is still better than what I would LIKE to do to them.

actually, humiliating the offender sounds like fun :) i imagine what you'd like to do to them is to feed them to that thar lion?

upon review, i realise that "be thankful guys" in my last post could be taken to imply that i really didn't care about it. truth is i didn't. she interrupted our clue-noodling session to tell me that :)

My preference is disembowelment with a rusty spoon.

You could at least use the ones with the serrated edges, LL.

rusty sheetrock saw.

that is all.

ares, an actual saw is FAR too easy....what, did you want to get it OVER for the bastards more quickly?

Let 'em suffer, is what I say!

sheetrock saws are only slightly longer than a typical steak knife though. plus, there's not a pointy end on them, so the actual insertion can be interesting too.

triple-six satanic joe.

Gonna have to start paying more attention to post numbers! That one should have been mine. ;)

Rust is alwaysa key component of such instruments of torture, LL. You should know that by now.

hey, you snooze. you lose. :) and just so ya know, around these parts, we don't say number, or call our selves number sluts and such. its called a joe.

all right! a magical joe without even trying. me2 will be so proud of me.

WoW-I am - I saw it coming earlier today but wasn't around for it...sorry.

Rust is always a key component of such instruments of torture

I know. I was just being a disgusting suck up. ;)

The dogs are coming back tomorow!!! Yay : )

Ummm, what happened to everyone? This was a thriving thread and then some of us dissappeared to 'hunt' and when we come back there are 2 post? I don't get it.

Hi L.Lionne :)

While combing my dark hair I came across this article and thought I would pass it on. (This is not a vote for cats)

Here's a new answer to the question of what women really want: When the lady is an African lioness, she wants a dark-maned male.

The sex appeal of a dark mane is more than cosmetic, University of Minnesota researchers report in Thursday's issue of the journal Science. It signals to a lioness that such a male is a physical king among the king of the beasts, better able to withstand heat, survive wounds, extract the most nutrition from a meal and reproduce longer than its blond brethren.

The report reveals a complex interplay between the costs and benefits of physical prowess in a stressful environment. One finding is that a dark-maned male is literally a hot date. Manes give male lions a higher body temperature than females. And the darker the mane, the hotter the lion, said the scientists, who used thermal cameras to measure body temperature.

The central point is that heat is a terrible burden for these beasts. The researchers found occasional sperm abnormalities and other problems in the hotter lions. The upshot, however, was that those darker lions who suffered such extreme effects and thrived anyway were physical champions.

"Only superior males can afford to bear the costs that are associated with dark manes," Packer said.

Indeed, dark-maned males have higher testosterone levels.

No wonder the females fall for them. Cubs with a strong father have a better shot at survival, the report says.

For the mane studies, her team borrowed a trick that had worked in the 1960s when researchers learned that wild animals could be duped by decoys. Packer arranged for a Dutch toy company to make fake life-sized lions with detachable manes.

Pulling the dummies in a trailer behind a Land Rover, West and her crew searched the Serengeti for lions in just the right setting. "We had to put the dummies downwind of the lions," she said.

Another factor was that lions can spend days mulling over something they see in the distance. To pick up the pace, West set up loudspeakers equipped to play the sound of a hyena at a kill, an irresistible lure to a lion.

Here's the scene: Two dummies are standing 10 yards apart, one wearing a light mane and the other dark; researchers are hidden in the vehicle at some distance but with a good view; hyena screams are blaring; the distant lions are approaching.

"They would look at one dummy, then look at the other," West said. "As they were doing the comparisons they would move toward one side."

Nine of every 10 lionesses chose the dark-maned dummy, West reported. In most cases it was casual, walking up to that guy while ignoring the other.

But in November 2000, West got a treat. One of the approaching females was in heat. This represented a rare moment when she would get to chose her mate. Usually, it's the other way around; a male chooses a female and guards her. But when ready females outnumber the available males, an unguarded lioness can select a partner.

"She was more interested than any of the other lions," West said. "She was cautious like they always are. But she got closer and closer, and she actually demonstrated sexual behavior towards the dummy."

She ran past the dark-maned "male" waving her tail. She stopped and lifted her tail in front of him and crouched to present herself.

When the dummy lion did nothing, "she could not believe it," West said. "You could see her looking at him and looking. She'd go to the other one and do it. She finally decided to leave, but she still couldn't quite believe it. She would stand and look back, do the little thing again. It was hilarious. She couldn't flirt with this guy."

http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/3182247.html

Oh the burdens us dark manned males have. :)

In other news, lion scientists recently announced that "all the good looking males are gay."

Maggie O. 8/23/02 8:55am

LOL !It would give a whole new meaning to the term gay pride.........dat da dah.... Thanks I'll be here all week.

oh that's a good one, maggie.

"Only superior males can afford to bear the costs that are associated with dark manes,"

LOL

In other news, lion scientists recently announced that "all the good looking males are gay."

I began to choke on my Dorito with that one! hahahaha

oh-and I ran out of chewies for the dog so she got a few of the Doritos - :)

Lucky dog! Were these Cool Ranch Doritos, by any chance? :)

taiga gets fed doritos, j? no wonder she's always farting next to your computer. :)

Wow!! Lots of catching up to do!!

First..JT..it was Flanagan the zoning Nazi that was giving your aunt the trouble....just as I thought!! Hope that is all resolved amicably. My friend knows you aunt, of course she does, they live on the same lake!

Why when you don't want the cats they are all over you and want to kiss you with their awful breath, but when you call and call them to no effect and you think they have gotten out the door and been run over by a car they're actually hiding under the bed?

You are speaking of Tiggy my cat, right? No? Sounds like you know him personally!! ;-)

is that neither one of them (cats or dogs) hears consanants, only the vowels we say.

Both my dog and cat recognize the word treat in it's entirety.

chip implants

My dog Gizmo has one..they are about 50 bucks here in the wilderness, might be less in the Cities. After it is implanted, they do it with a big needle, you then register them with the AKC, it is a one time thing and they are then able to be tracked nationally. We had Giz done because when he was younger he traveled with us, so if he ever got lost along the way, they could locate his home. He doesn't wear a collar. We put a harness with all tags, license etc on him whenever we leave home, but if it got broken or removed, he was still identifyable. It's a good thing. (to Quote Martha)

. if you don't want your dog having a litter, have her spayed!

There are stamps coming out Sept 20th to highlight the spay/neuter cause. They have a cute kitten/puppy on them. I'm planning on using them to promote it, hope you all do too!

My Tigger is a rescued cat, got him from the Humane Society. He had been dumped with the rest of the litter in a roadside ditch. It's a miracle they weren't all killed by cars. A highway work crew found them and took them in. He is a gorgeous animal, Maine Coon Cat, and has personality plus. The jerk that dumped him was the loser in this situation. I was, for sure, the winner...and both of my Boyz are neutered.

Re the rusty inplement...good thinking....better chance of giving the B------ tetnus aka LOCKJAW!

I guess they are, and the Zoning Nazi also issues the permits and is getting on people about that too. In fact he was on one of your aunt's neighbors as well.

What I heard was that he was ticked because they made the deck bigger than it was originally. Sounds just like his style. Our set back from the lake is 75 feet in this county. From the lake level, not the high water mark.

I was in his office once when he was giving a man a bad time about a deck. This man had bought the lot next to him, had no plans to build on it, and was going to add a deck to his existing house. Hitler. wouldn't allow it because it would be to close to the property line, on his own property.

I'm not familiar with her property, I have a vague idea where it is. We went Christmas caroling to a place in that area last Christmas, but don't know if it was hers.

Any suggestions on how to deal with them?

AK47 springs to mind......

I agree about the stupidity, but some people can't handle power very well...

I didn't have to work with him when I worked for Indian Housing. The county doesn't have any say about the rez. I had more contact with the woman who assigned the fire numbers, she was a pleasure to deal with. The rez did coordinate with the county on that aspect of things.

hey! can we please keep the conversation limited to cats and dogs here? i mean come on, there's a thread for general chit-chat :)


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Forgive me, I have sinned.

nah, ll. i'm just playing with ya. :)

I kind os thought so...I used to post on the PP too, remember?

yes i do.

Does anybody in minnesota not screw with their fonts?

i don't think so, maggie/

thought so.

Does anybody in minnesota not screw with their fonts?

Minnesotans are a funny breed, dont'cha know. Ya!

Oh yaaah!

not nearly as funny a breed as sconnies are, ya. :)

sconnies

Sconnies? [laugh] That's one I haven't heard before. Sounds like a sort of pastry or something.

BTW, I was told last night that when I speak I have a very pronounced Wisconsin accent. I find myself highly tickled by that--never thought of myself as having an accent before. Yup.

hmm. a sconnie accent, huh? i didn't know such a thing existed. and i dated a girl from milwaukee once upon a time. hmm.

Well, most Minnesotans I've known talk so close to the way I do (Eastern WI) that only sometimes does something stick out, and usually only if I'm really paying attention. Which I'm usually not. I mean, there's the soda/pop thing which always seemed to come up, and the fact that we call a water fountain a "bubbler" here, but other than that, we're almost the same speech-wise.

But take someone from really far away, and I suppose we must sound pretty odd.

Ya sure, ya betcha.