Backyard critters

[GburgNatsFan]

Any of you know anything about the automated litter boxes? A friend of ours in North Carolina has the Litter Robot. It's very expensive, but that's not the main issue; my bigger concern is that it's big and I'd have trouble figuring out where to put it (too big for the powder room where a box is now). Do the automated boxes work as advertised?

A metal scoop, an air-tight refuse container, and frequent scooping is the best approach that we've come up with.

Also, they make mats for under litter boxes that capture litter as the cat walks out of the box. Falls in through the rubberized grid and is captured. they work really well.
Like this one: https://www.amazon.com/Gorilla-Grip-Original-Resistant-Honeycomb/dp/B08F5HFHCH/ref=asc_df_B08F5HFHCH/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=475737694738&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=3240873604713297883&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9007798&hvtargid=pla-1197558749671&th=1

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Ghetto porch astroturf works well too.  A square under the entrance catches about 90% of the litter and you just need to shake it out every so often. 

[imref]

Any of you know anything about the automated litter boxes? A friend of ours in North Carolina has the Litter Robot. It's very expensive, but that's not the main issue; my bigger concern is that it's big and I'd have trouble figuring out where to put it (too big for the powder room where a box is now). Do the automated boxes work as advertised?

I looked into them and decided not to buy one for a variety of reasons:
- they aren't covered (at least the ones I looked out), so the cats are still going to make a mess
- they require daily cleaning if not more often as the dirty litter holder is fairly small)
- I've always been afraid of the cat seeing the contraption in motion and getting scared away from using the litter box

We clean our three about 3x a week.

Ghetto porch astroturf works well too.  A square under the entrance catches about 90% of the litter and you just need to shake it out every so often. 

I tried that with my last cat, he started routinely peeing on the artificial grass.

[English Natsie]

Totally agree with G'Burgs frequent scooping - I do Meows trays at breakfast and late evening; as long as the trays are (relatively) clean he digs little out. I appreciate you have the 'vigorous female digging' issue...In the past, I've made an outsize 'pseudo' tray, using cardboard with the sides folded up no higher than the height of the tray. The tray sits inside this, and it contains ejected litter pretty well. And, as it's cardboard, it is easily disposable should there be any 'accidents'.

[dracnal]

Totally agree with G'Burgs frequent scooping - I do Meows trays at breakfast and late evening; as long as the trays are (relatively) clean he digs little out. I appreciate you have the 'vigorous female digging' issue...In the past, I've made an outsize 'pseudo' tray, using cardboard with the sides folded up no higher than the height of the tray. The tray sits inside this, and it contains ejected litter pretty well. And, as it's cardboard, it is easily disposable should there be any 'accidents'.

We used the box trick as well for one of our cats. He was uh... very enthusiastic.

[English Natsie]

Just been reading that the Ooh-Ahh Bird is so-called because it lays square eggs...

[Natsinpwc]

Just been reading that the Ooh-Ahh Bird is so-called because it lays square eggs...

That must hurt.

[JCA-CrystalCity]

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/01/11/bruno-the-rare-african-serval-found-in-lincoln-is-on-the-move/?p1=hp_secondary

1 year old serval found wandering in a Boston suburb.  Will need a leg amputation but will be sent to a serval sanctuary in Minnesota.

“Not only will Bruno live out his live at a sanctuary that offers him a natural and safe habitat with heated, indoor buildings, but is going to a place that shares the MSPCA’s values: that wild animals do not exist for our entertainment,” Kara Holmquist, director of advocacy for the MSPCA, said in a statement.

The MSPCA said the sanctuary does not “buy, breed, sell or exhibit” the animals they house.

Alyssa Krieger, the community outreach manager at MSPCA Boston, told NBC10 Boston that Bruno may have been kept in order to breed a type of cat that is illegal in Massachusetts, called a Savannah.
...
“Servals can do very well on three legs and the MSPCA’s adoption center veterinary team, in consultation with the team at Wildcat Sanctuary, is confident this outcome will provide Bruno the best opportunity for a pain-free life after surgery,” Rob Halpin, an MSPCA spokesman, said in an email.

My first thought when I found out he was named Bruno is I wonder if he had a son OJ.

[English Natsie]

Someone near to us has a Savannah Cat. To be fair, it's always been as soft as anything when I've seen it - but when you think of a cat the size of an Alsatian, with claws to match, then you can't help but wonder what would happen if it ever turns nasty...It is so powerful, it's walked in a dog-harness, not  a lead. I'm with the MSPCA - wilds and hybrids don't do it for me.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Then there was Ming from Harlem 



I have no idea wheter Ming was named after CMW.  Anyways, from the sounds of it he wound up living a pretty decent life after making his way out of Les Projets:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_of_Harlem

[skippy1999]

Then there was Ming from Harlem 

(Image removed from quote.)

I have no idea wheter Ming was named after CMW.  Anyways, from the sounds of it he wound up living a pretty decent life after making his way out of Les Projets:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ming_of_Harlem

[1995hoo]

I was just playing random music as part of breaking in some new speakers.

I decided to play “Baby Shark.”

Our cat came along and started tapping her tail along with the music!

[English Natsie]

I was just playing random music as part of breaking in some new speakers.

I decided to play “Baby Shark.”

Our cat came along and started tapping her tail along with the music!

So will Precious now become 'Parra Cat'?..... Perhaps it could become her 'walk-up' music, as she approaches her bowl....

[skippy1999]

So will Precious now become 'Parra Cat'?..... Perhaps it could become her 'walk-up' music, as she approaches her bowl....

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

Remember Freeman's expression the first time he witnessed the Baby Shark thing at Nats Park??  It was a mix of horror and morbid fascination

[dracnal]

Remember Freeman's expression the first time he witnessed the Baby Shark thing at Nats Park??  It was a mix of horror and morbid fascination

I always viewed it as shocked disbelief that something got the Nats fans -really- loud and riled up, rather than looking at their cell phones or talking about anything non-game related with seat mates.

[Natsinpwc]

Found what I think was a Florida soft shell turtle in from of daughters house this morning. 

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Florida_softshell_turtle

It was on the walkway and looked like it was trying to get into the garden but could not make it past the bordering.  Didn’t want to leave it there so got some gloves and walked it over and placed near the lake. I noticed when I was carrying it that it didn’t struggle much and the legs just dangled.  I didn’t want to get to close to the water because we saw a probably four foot alligator there about a month ago.  Checked back a couple hours later and he was flipped over a few yards away. Looked to be dead. Not sure if he died on his own or if a dog or kid flipped him as it’s a busy walkway there. In reading on wiki they can give quite a bite and the head and neck are long.  Probably will call someone next time I see.

[English Natsie]

Just thought it might be worth posting a reminder, after an incident the other evening.

Mrs Natsie, and myself, were visiting friends who are new to cat ownership, We were concerned to find that they had a large vase of lilies, on a side table in their lounge. It always surprises me how many (even experienced) cat owners appear blissfully unaware of how toxic lilies are to cats. Lily pollen, if ingested, is spectacularly lethal - it instigates acute kidney failure; immediate, emergency vet intervention is a cat's only chance of survival, should this occur. All parts of lilies are not good for cats. Once we advised our friends, the lilies were removed to a place of safety.

So, cat owners, if someone's sending you flowers, request that no lilies should be included - if it happens with us, Mrs Natsie passes them on to non-cat owning neighbours...

[GburgNatsFan]

I did not know this. Along this line, are dog owners aware that a single grape can kill even a large dog, via kidney failure?

Just thought it might be worth posting a reminder, after an incident the other evening.

Mrs Natsie, and myself, were visiting friends who are new to cat ownership, We were concerned to find that they had a large vase of lilies, on a side table in their lounge. It always surprises me how many (even experienced) cat owners appear blissfully unaware of how toxic lilies are to cats. Lily pollen, if ingested, is spectacularly lethal - it instigates acute kidney failure; immediate, emergency vet intervention is a cat's only chance of survival, should this occur. All parts of lilies are not good for cats. Once we advised our friends, the lilies were removed to a place of safety.

So, cat owners, if someone's sending you flowers, request that no lilies should be included - if it happens with us, Mrs Natsie passes them on to non-cat owning neighbours...

[1995hoo]

Just thought it might be worth posting a reminder, after an incident the other evening.

Mrs Natsie, and myself, were visiting friends who are new to cat ownership, We were concerned to find that they had a large vase of lilies, on a side table in their lounge. It always surprises me how many (even experienced) cat owners appear blissfully unaware of how toxic lilies are to cats. Lily pollen, if ingested, is spectacularly lethal - it instigates acute kidney failure; immediate, emergency vet intervention is a cat's only chance of survival, should this occur. All parts of lilies are not good for cats. Once we advised our friends, the lilies were removed to a place of safety.

So, cat owners, if someone's sending you flowers, request that no lilies should be included - if it happens with us, Mrs Natsie passes them on to non-cat owning neighbours...

This is interesting to read. Thanks for this. Our cat's left eye sometimes seems to water. I asked my wife if there are any lilies in the house and she said no, but I just did a Google search and found that the "peace plant" she has next to the front door is a species of lily. Precious doesn't spend much time near that plant—she just passes it en route to and from the downstairs bathroom where the litterbox is—but I wonder if there may be pollen in the air from that plant that might be bothering her.

May be worth inquiring of the vet next week when we take her in to have her nails cut.

[Ali the Baseball Cat]

NGL, I had no idea   

[English Natsie]

This is interesting to read. Thanks for this. Our cat's left eye sometimes seems to water. I asked my wife if there are any lilies in the house and she said no, but I just did a Google search and found that the "peace plant" she has next to the front door is a species of lily. Precious doesn't spend much time near that plant—she just passes it en route to and from the downstairs bathroom where the litterbox is—but I wonder if there may be pollen in the air from that plant that might be bothering her.

May be worth inquiring of the vet next week when we take her in to have her nails cut.

Indeed - although the main concern is with ingestion, either deliberate (chewing flowers or leaves) or accidental (cat gets lily pollen on its fur as it passes by, then ingests the pollen while washing: this can be a particular problem if near neighbours grow lilies in their garden...) Glad to see that Precious has clearly settled in.

[English Natsie]

https://cdn11.bigcommerce.com/s-6gpj77bzbo/images/stencil/1280w/products/7518/6687/NEW31890__93349.1612815538.PNG?c=2

[Kevrock]

Black bear in the neighborhood @Tom Terp.

[1995hoo]

Our next-door neighbor left some cans of cat food on our stoop with a note saying her cat didn’t like them. Our cat does like some of them—we recognized the cans as ones she likes.

BUT there was a second box of a brand I did not recognize. Upon further inspection, I discovered why our neighbor's cat didn’t like that stuff: It was dog food. I told her about it and she burst out laughing. It seems her father bought it for her as a favor and must not have read the label. (I gave it to another neighbor who has a dog.)