Hissfest 2020 - Mittens update.

[clum553946]

Skunk removal... LOL...
I raise chickens and have racoon problems in the past. Night vision on a dedicated .22lr AR is a dream. Not the insert into a 1:8 twist barrel but a full blown 1:12 twist .22LR chambered upper.
When I have had to trap raccoons I have to deal with them first thing in the morning. One particular morning, it was in the fall, cold and rainy. I went out to the trap and counted stripes... Black, white, black, white, black. #$%#@#!!! a skunk. It was the first one that I had trapped, was pretty docile and they never harm my birds so I went in and got an old sheet. Held it up as I approached and draped it over the trap. With a bungee to hold the door open, I stepped away and mister skunk came out and ambled away with no ill feelings. I've done it several times since.

Polecats are un-adoptable! Lol

[farmbif]

I'm glad your cats on the mend. those folks at UTK are good as gold.

[bakerjw]

Just an update as it's been about 5 weeks since Mittens showed up at our home.
Although her name is Mittens, I started calling her Peeper because of the way her meow sometimes is short and sounds like a peep.
She has her petting territory in the living room and always runs back to that whenever anyone walks toward her. It is almost like her safety zone where if you sit down, she's on you in a heartbeat for loving and petting.
And running... She's like Forrest Gump running everywhere all the time. Back and forth, back and forth.
Yesterday I was in a meeting for work and she was under my chair grabbing my pant leg and attacking my feet before running off only to come back in a few minutes to attack once more.
The girls have started to adapt really well. The other morning Mittens was sitting within a foot of Lilly Bug and LB didn't hiss at all. Libby still gets out of sorts but nothing aggressive. Mittens eats in their food bowl and uses their litter box and they are mostly alright with it.
We had another furniture accident or two but no harm due to the plastic drop cloths that adorn all of our furniture.

[oldred]

Some of the "un-acceptance" might come from the others perceiving her as being different, our polydactyl Calico "Tippy" was rejected from the time she was a kitten until this very day by some of the others. She has an extra half a paw, complete with extra foot pads, making up each foot with seven toes on each front paw and six on each of the back feet, a total of 26 toes if everything with a claw is counted. Her feet are enormous and she is noticeably odd, when I mentioned to the vet she didn't seem to get along with other cats despite being very gentle and with a sweet attitude toward people I was told that some animals (like cats) tend to reject oddities. She said it just seems to be an instinct that some animals have and they can even abandon a deformed baby even if it's otherwise healthy, certainly not all of them do this but apparently it's not uncommon.

[farmbif]

your fortunate to have cat getting healthier. one of my cats disappeared yesterday and at same time a stray dog showed up. for some reason people think its ok to dump off their unwanted pets out here in the woods. the widow lady down the road came and got it on a leash and took off with it.

[bakerjw]

Well, this morning before I left for work, Libby was anxiously waiting by the full food bowls and Mittens sauntered right past. Libby looked at her without a peep. Mittens hobbled past again and nothing. No growl. No hiss. Libby got LOTS OF LOVIN.... for being a good girl.
I am amazed that things calmed down as much as they have.
Anyone who knows me knows that I am not much of a believer. But our last church was run by Franciscan monks and were very dear to us. St. Francis is the patron saint of animals so when Mittens was peeing on the furniture and the girls were in the middle of the hissfest, I brought our statue of St. Francis into the living room and put it on the coffee table where he stands to this day.
Things in the Baker house are very good right now. Much of that has been because of the support from the CB crowd which stands head and shoulders above any other forum that I've ever seen.

[Ozark mike]

Cats are great i got 3 of em myself youtube has all kinds o videos of cats being cats

[contender1]

I have been awaiting the latest update on Mittens,, or as you now say; "Peeper.: In fact, my brother & I were talking today,, and he was offering me a cat, that showed up at his g/f's house. He wants to rescue it, and he does love animals. In fact, he shared a story about a recent fire he saw on TV. Apparently, the owner was able to get out, and is ok,, as well as the fact the owner had a few rescue animals. In the broadcast,, he saw an injured cat,, and he got upset. he called the news station, traced the story, the owner etc. He was willing to go get this cat & help it.
I shared the story of Mittens, and how you have saved it. He was very touched.
Now, you have to understand, my brother is NOT one to show feelings like this in an outward fashion. Made me smile for sure. We shared a few cat stories,,, and your story here has touched more folks than you realize.

Mittens/Peeper,, is obviously becoming more & more accustomed to her new home & way of life. And Lilly Bug & Libby are obviously coming around to the new member of the family. They will all get settled into the new routine with each other before too long to where a new normal way of life with 3 cats feels like it's always been meant to be!

Following your updates is something I look for daily here.

[samari46]

We had two cats dynacat which was a tuxedo cat and callie which was a calico cat. And a 89 pound pit bull terrier. Strangely never and fights between them. Bob the pit bull is a very outgoing dog and He used to do kissy face with both cats. Dyna snuck out one night and never came back. callie started getting out after years of being a house cat. Then romeo started showing up but she never got preganat. Soon we had about 4 cats claiming our fenced in area by the pool as their home turf. One cat whom I named ****head became pregnant and had 6 kittens. Then a couple more had kittens.Have a couple younger ones and when bob comes out at least two come out and they play kissyface. ****head is pregnantgain and that's 4 litters we know of. Only good thing is no mice in the house all the while they have been here. Told the wife don't feed them as they will find food on their own. Which obviously they are doing. But they have to get it before Bob gets it.So we expect that Sh being pregnant will be having another litter soon.And bob's friends still come to him and kissyface. Frank

[bakerjw]

Following your updates is something I look for daily here.

Thanks. Sometimes in life it is the small things that make our days.

Mornings are a lot different now than they used to be, that's for sure. The girls are more apprehensive about coming downstairs due to the invader. this morning though, Lilly Bug was trying to communicate with Mittens. No hissing or growling, just a bit of a different meow than normal. She was sniffing the air a foot away from Mittens and then got distracted and came over for some petting.

Now for some reason, I always get dust in my eye when I watch this one...
https://youtu.be/BUc1ZgXiQGs

[contender1]

All too often,, our pets get caught up in stuff beyond our control, or we lose them for one reason or another. But when one gets rescued or is spared,, we rejoice.
And when we are given the chance to save an animal who needs a bit of help,, we know that doing so is the right thing to do. Mittens is becoming a new member of the family,, and the girls are accepting things. And, you get the peaceful feeling of love in your heart,, that God chose you as the one he knew would do what was right by Mittens.

[oldred]

Well Mittens certainly landed in the right place that's for sure!

[clum553946]

Thnx for the update, please keep us informed how she’s doing from time to time. She’s a special kitty & is lucky to have found you!

[bakerjw]

Well. Mittens has fleas.
We're not quite sure how bad it is but we've seen a loose one here or there and the poor little girl found herself the recipient of a flea bath.
She did very well although got a bit chilled.



Lilly Bug and Libby get theirs later in the week. I told them that they caught the fleas from the cat who taunts them outside the back windows. so far, they're buying it.

[contender1]

Giving a cat a bath is always an "interesting" event. Since we keep our cats indoors all the time,,, we haven't had a flea problem in YEARS! But,, we used the vet provided "Advantage" treatment,, to work it's magic. It kills the fleas,, and the new ones that hatch out,, and after a round or two,, if the cats are kept inside,, no longer an issue.
I also work with wildlife,, and I'm CAREFUL to not allow my work clothes inside if I even suspect the off chance any fleas may be on them.
Advantage is a lot easier than giving them a bath.

It's good to see y'all taking such good care of Mittens. Makes my day!

[bakerjw]

She did remarkably well.
As far as Advantage goes. She is still small and sometimes the flea dots can have adverse effects. Even the shampoo that we used can cause issues so we're very careful and keep an eye on her for distress.

OT a bit. Since she spends so much time in the living room where we have a carpet, I assembled a flea trap last night and ran it overnight. It consists of an incandescent light positioned over a baking pan filled with water and dish soap. Fleas are drawn to light and warmth at night. They jump toward the light and end up in the water. With the dish soap, the surface tension of the water keeps them from floating and they drown. All we had this morning were a few gnats so it was a good sign. I will be running it for a few more nights just to see if we have a problem or not.

[oldred]

REVOLUTION!!!!

We use revolution on our cats and it's fantastic to say the least, it's the only flea treatment our vet sells anymore. Revolution is not just for fleas but also kills ear mites, ticks on the outside cats and even most internal parasites and it's been around long enough now that it's safety is not in question. I know the stuff is expensive but we "cheat" a bit and buy the largest dose sold for dogs (yes it's EXACTLY the same as the cat version) then use a hypodermic needle to pull .4 CC (that's POINT .4 and not 4 CCs!) from the tube, remove the needle and squirt that onto the backs of their necks. Our vet knows we care for a LOT of cats outside in addition to our pets and doing this was their suggestion, whenever we buy packs of Revolution they always toss in a few hypos because they know what we are doing with it. The exact dose is not critical for safety since a little too much will not hurt the animal it just wastes the product, the vet said (and the manufacture's web site also states) that doses as much as ten times the recommended dose was not harmful so doing this is quite safe.

Pricing on that stuff, as is with most flea meds of this type, is just plain stupid! A tiny .6 CC amount in a normal cat dose costs the same as the 3 Mls in the large dog dose! The vet said that a small cat up to about 7 lbs only needs .4 CCs, and that amount seems to work just fine for us, while the larger cats up 15 lbs should get the full .6 dose, .8 dose for our 22 pound "Fat Cat". Doing this allows us to dose up to 8-10 average size cats for the same price as just one if we bought individual doses.

This method is ONLY for Revolution! Other meds in the larger doses meant for dogs are not safe for cats since, unlike Revolution, they are different formulations. Another warning would be to NEVER, EVER under any circumstances use the cheap flea drops sold at Walmart and many other places! Sargents, Hartz, etc are POISON and will cause severe and permanent nerve damage leading to seizures and sometimes death! These outfits that make and sell that stuff should be held accountable for all the pain and misery they have caused to so many thousands of pets and for the heartache they have caused the pets owners to suffer. They have gotten away with this for years by plainly warning the buyer on the package label to get approval from a vet before using, these low-lifes know full well that extremely few people will even read that warning much less actually check with a vet before using, of course any vet worthy of the name would tell them to throw that stuff in the trash! Some people will try and justify saving a few bucks by saying that the vet will tell you not to use the cheaper OTC stuff because they just want to sell the higher priced meds but this is NOT true, that cheap stuff is poison!

[contender1]

Good info oldred.
We haven't had to use any stuff like this in years,, so if the need arises again,, I'll have this info saved.

[Mr_Sheesh]

I really was happy with the "flea busters" treatment, finely powdered boric acid, it can be bought cheapish on Amazon / Feebay; you sprinkle it on the carpet then (with a respirator or at least dust mask on, is a good idea) use a whisk broom to 'pounce' the powder into the rug. When a flea or other bug crawls through it, it gets the boric acid stuck on the waxy coating on its' shell, and that coating is then stripped off, so the flea dehydrates pretty quickly. Used that in a cat fostering situation years back, we had an insane number of fosters plus a Service Dog who went outside and was probably bringing the occasional flea home; Only saw occasional dead fleas, none live. Works wonderfully!

[oldred]

Yes that does work like a charm and works for more than just fleas.