Allie

The Food Source is spending all his time calling Iowa Telecom trying to find out why downloading web pages is so unreliable, and reading blogs whenever things are working for a moment.

I spend most of the day lying on the computer table, so I decided to introduce myself.

Long ago, in a galaxy far far away (New Jersey, 1998), I was sitting in a cage in Petsmart. I was tired of that life. So when the guy who became my Food Source started looking in the window, I decided I was going home with him.

So I stared at him, thinking "take me home", "take me home", "take me home". I don't think he got it.

He kept checking out other kitties. I kept staring at him, thinking "take me home".

Eventually, it started to work. He started talking to me, and opened my cage. I hopped out of his arms, and dashed under the row of cages.

Hey, I was thinking "take me home", not "touch me".

Eventually he came back and put me in a little mobile cage, and took me home. The bad news is he took one of the other cats, too. A big, pushy white tom cat that insists on being the center of attention all the time.

But I eat well and regularly, the litter box is usually clean, and there are lots of places to sleep in the sun, so it's a tolerable life.

Sleeping in her favorite box

Sleeping on Mom's bed

OK, what do you want?

Cat Food Recall

Most likely everyone already knows about this problem, but just for completeness sake, and on the odd chance that someone hasn't already heard about it...

A company called Menu Foods is recalling a bunch of cat and dog food. The food mostly sells under various house brands, but labels like Sophistacat and Nutro Max Gourmet Classics are also being recalled.

See http://www.menufoods.com/recall/ for more information and a list of the recalled brands.

For more information, check http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17650075/ and likely many other places.

If you have been eating any of these foods, a bit of advice. The original message is at http://www.catster.com/group/grp_message_read.php?g=685&m_id=484882&use=view, but I am not sure everyone can read it, so I'm repeating the significant information from a Caster group message.

Subject: Important info re: pet food recall

Sent: Sat Mar 17

Message:
Since mom works in a vet clinic she wanted me to let you in on what your Vet needs to know if you get ill.

Let them know what you've been eating -- if you've got the packaging, bring it along.

Since it appears that this is a problem with kidney function, if you've been eating any of the listed foods, make sure your slaves are monitoring your drinking habits as well as your bathroom habits. Your doctor will want to know if there have been changes in the amount you drink or whether you've been peeing or not.

If you've been eating any of the foods listed, STOP NOW, and at minimum, it may be worth it to go to your doctor for a physical and kidney panel. A kidney panel will be less expensive than full-on bloodwork.

Mom's looked over the list and it includes brand names like Ol'Roy, Nutro Max, Authority, and many more. The kitty list has almost 40 brands listed and the doggy list has over 40.

Like Arty said, Gotta look out for our orangies and all their furry pals!

Dexter J.

A Couple Nice Days

We've had our first nice weather of the year. Two days with temperatures in the mid 70's F (mid 20's, C), clear and sunny. We had the windows open most of both days.

The girls spent the most of the day looking out and sleeping in the window. We have several windows, but for some reason they both insist on using the same one. There is room for both kitties, but they refuse to share the window sill.

Allie, looking out the window

Luna started out looking out the window,
then decided to take a nap.

This is what I had to deal with when I decided to post something about the nice day:

Tomorrow is supposed to be back into the mid 40's F (single digits, C), with a 50% chance of rain. This would be a lot more tolerable without the nice days.

(NOTE: These pictures can be biggified, should anyone want to)

Please Don't Go

I've been on and off the Internet for the last week or two, due to computer and network problems of various types. So it is possible all the problems have already been solved.

If not, let me add my small voice to the rest.

Zeus, Skeezix, Beau, and who ever else is thinking about leaving -- stay, please. The Cat-o-sphere wouldn't be the same without some of its brightest voices.

K.C. & momma. I "borrowed" you image for this post. No hard feelings, I hope?

Ice Storm Aftermath

Not particularly cat related, but here are a couple pictures of a large tree in our yard. The ice storm from a few days ago did not treat it very well at all.

The ice only stayed on the trees a day or so, but by that point there were a LOT of limbs on the ground.

Most will likely stay there until spring, since for the most part they aren't in the way.

Unofficial Unthursday Unthirteen

The Official Thursday Thirteen is ending, and I never got a chance to get into that game.

So I decided to do an occasional Unofficial Unthursday Unthirteen. They will seldom, if ever, be on Thursday. They will seldom, if ever, have thirteen items. I may or may not ever do another

Unthursday Unthirteen.

This is a list of things I've learned about Cat Blogging and the Cat-o-sphere.

1. It is hard write using the voice of a cat, especially if I'm trying to accurately follow the viewpoint of the cat.


2. It is even harder if you have four cats.


3. It is hard to blog with a cat sleeping where the keyboard belongs.
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   


4. It is hard to read blogs with a cat sleeping on the mouse.
   
   


5. I finally found an environment where having four cats is not weird.


6. In fact, in this world I might be viewed as something of a slacker.


7. I have to be careful what I say when not in the Cat-o-sphere. You get weird looks if you ask: “Where is the stinky goodness” or talk about a “forever home” or “poodin”.


8. I mourn the loss of cats I never met, and never could have visited.


9. I worry about people and cats I never met, and likely never will meet.


10. I see triumphs that I never would have heard of otherwise.


11. If I read all the blogs I'm following, I never have time to write anything myself.

Note: The links in the list above are meant to be examples, only. If I left out your favorite example, forgive me.

Radcliff

Hi. Sorry I've taken so long to post again. I tried to write a nice story introducing Radcliff to the world, but the drafts didn't even interest me. So I decided to spend a few days uploading pictures to Flickr and setting up Catster pages while I waited for a brilliant idea to surface.

I'm still waiting.

So I decided to mimic the Thursday Thirteen idea, and just list a bunch of interest things about Radcliff.

• I was in New Jersey when I went into the local Petsmart looking for a new cat companion. Most Petsmart's link up with a local shelter, in this case one called The Animal Orphanage, to find homes for animals.
• The original plan was to get two cats that were litter mates, or at least already buddies. That way they could keep each other company when I was working or otherwise gone. The shelter did not have any paired cats, so I just picked two kitties more or less at random, and hoped for the best. Radcliff was one of the kitties I selected.

• Radcliff is a large, almost all white tomcat. I don't know if it can be seen on the photos, but there are a handful of dark hairs scattered around on the top of his head, above his eyes. There are also some dark hairs on his tail, about 2/3 of the way toward the end. (I don't have any pictures that show his tail, so you'll just have to take my word on that) He also has a black spot on the tip of his nose.
• The first time I noticed the black spot on his nose, I spent about ten minutes trying to wipe it off. He sleeps under the car, so he tends to collect dirt and oil on his back. I thought he had stuck his nose into a grease spot.
  

• Radcliff is the most easy going, laid back cat I've ever met. Most of the time, his purr is louder than his meow.
  
• He requires a certain daily minimum of head-rubbing and general attention. If I short him attention, he will tolerate it for a day or two. If things go any further than that, he wakes me up in the middle of the night to make up the difference.
• The main problem in his life is all these other cats that keep showing up in his house. Radcliff has spent the last eight years explaining to Allie and Luna that they don't live here, and need to leave. He's still sulking a little over Ozzie moving in this summer.