Conference misery::feline_v1

    Jeff -
      Where are you located.   I believe it was Framingham Humane
    that had some long hair calico kittens at the show in Marlboro
    on Saturday.  Contact DLNVAX::PALMER (Lenora Palmer).  
      Also, Adopt-a-cat in Concord had a lovely tortoishell mommy-cat
    with three kittens - one of which was a tortoishell.  They won't
    be ready to be adopted for a few weeks yet, but give them a call.
    Also, my breeder, Tony Costa, may have a straight-earred fold
    tortoishell or patch tabby for sale.  I believe he'll sell you
    a straight-earred Scottish fold for $75.  
    
      I'll add Stripe's name to the Silver Lining Memorial and she'll
    be remembered with this quarter's gift.  If you don't know what
    SLM is, read note 2228 and replies.
      I'm terribly sorry about little Stripe.  My cats also jump
    into the dryer and I have to be very careful to check before I
    start it up. 
      Tell your wife that she's human and sometimes humans make mistakes.
    I have also made a mistake once that resulted in the death of my kitty,
    so I know something of what she's feeling.  For me, the best thing
    was to go out 2 days later and get two new cats.  Its not the same
    but it helps to have a new kitty to love.
       Let me know if there's anything I can do to help.
       Nancy DC
    
    p.s. If you decide to contact Tony send me mail and I'll provide
    his phone number.  He's located in Somerville.
    

    I am so sorry about Stripe.  Please tell your wife not to blame herself.
    Everyone makes inadvertant errors from time to time.  And especially
    with a kitten and cats' propensities for small places, it is
    just impossible to avoid something like this happening.  Perhaps
    giving a home to a new kitten from a shelter would make her feel a 
    little better.  I came home from work one day and found my neighbor's
    kitten suffocated under the (fallen over) concrete top of my birdbath,
    so I know how your wife feels.  
    

    I lost my cat in the dryer about 10 years ago.He jumped in there
while the door was left open .I went down to turn the dryer on because
the cloths needed to be reheated that were in there so I could fold them
while they were still warm.I was so busy with day care children that I 
just slam the door shut ran back upstairs to feed them dinner and I didn't
go back down to take the cloths out for at least 30 minutes.I started folding
the cloths and I noticed red spots on the clothing I thought it was just
paint so I just kept on folding the cloths and suddenly I felt something 
furry and I looked in and there he was dead.I must have jumped 4 feet of
the floor .I was so upset about it I had to have someone come over and
take care of the day care children for the rest of the day.The dog officer
came and took the cat out of the dryer while the children played outside.
I didn't tell my daughter what really happened to her cat for a few years
she just thought he had run away.To this day she calls me a murderer.
I'll never forget it as long as I live.


                             
				DOROTHY H.

    I also had heard of someone who shut her cat in the dryer.  Fortunately
    the cat was only in there for about 5 minutes and survived, but
    it was touch and go for a while.
    
    Dorothy - it must be so terribly hard on you to have your daughter
    call you a murderer.  How old is she?  Do you think that as she
    gets older she'll understand?  
    
    We all just have to get into the habit of keeping areas like
    dryers and ovens and other small places closed off and checking
    them BEFORE we use them.  Once when I was a child I decided to
    "bake".  I took a pyrex dish and put plastic horses, crayons etc
    in it and placed it in the cold oven to "bake".  My mother had to
    cook something and turned on the oven to preheat without looking
    inside.  After a few minutes the most ungodly smell started
    coming from the oven.  I was, of course, devastated by the loss
    of my horses (I was VERY young), but there was no harm done.
    To this day my mother always looks in the oven before turning
    it on - and so do I.  Not a bad habit to have.
    
    Another friend of mine was having her bathroom fixed which included
    re-tiling part of it.  Between work sessions, her cat crawled into
    the wall for a nap.  Disaster was averted when the cat "attacked"
    the workmen who were walling him in.  Her account of the
    workmen's reactions was hysterical, but the story just serves to
    underscore the need to be aware when you have cats.
    
    As long as we can learn something from our mistakes, they aren't
    total disaster.  I know its small consolation when something
    like this happens, but beating yourself with it for the rest
    of your life does no good.  It won't bring back the loved one
    and it will keep you from growing and doing more good for the
    world.  Try to forgive yourself.  You'd do as much for a
    friend, wouldn't you?
    
       Nancy DC
     

    
    
    Jeff,
    
    I am sorry to here about Stripe. The same thing happened to
    my sister a few years ago. I was not living at home at the 
    time but I know things were difficult. Time and new kittens
    finally healed the pain. Take care of youselves.
    
    Mike

    This reminds me of a story with a happier ending. We got our kitty
    Tinkerbell from my father-in-law. When she was younger and still
    living with him, we went into the kitchen to get some drinking glasses
    out of the dishwasher, (it had already been run). We opened the
    door of the dishwasher and to our surprise Tinkerbell comes out
    from under the rack, jumps down on to the floor, streches and gives
    us this look as if to say (gee that was a nice nap). To this day
    no-one knows how she got in there but we known she had to have been
    in there all night.
    Sandy
    

    
    Any litters available across the pond I won't bwe able to have.
    Thank you all for your replies. I have to keep this short as I am
    setting host to my account in the UK from Geneva.
    
    Anyone in the UK know of available litters.?
    
    See ya.
    
    Jeff.

    
    jeff & mrs. jeff...
    
    we are also sorry to hear of the passing of stripe. as has been
    mentioned, if we all can learn from this sad accident, then stripe
    didn't live & die in vain....
    
    condolencez...
    
    diane stella & stanley
    

    	My cats will not go near my dryer (even though it has CAT FUD on
    the door [who's a Larson fan?]), probably because when a new cat comes
    to my home, he or she gets a 2 second 'ride' in the dryer. It then
    becomes associated with mild trauma and is avoided. - Chris

    re: 2 second 'ride'  - we did a variation of that to Mao who likes
    to jump into the washing machine.  Of course we started at the fill
    cycle ;-}
      N

    Gino took a very short spin in the dryer.  I heard this
    thunk-thunk as it started up and immediately opened the door - out
    he came -dazed and has never again gone near the thing.  I thank
    god that I didn't walk away as I usually do when i start it up.
    
    Now he just likes to sit on the folded dry clothes rather than the
    wet ones.
    
    
    
    Giudi in SF (Pippin, Gino & Stitch Too)
              

    re: .11  For some reason Dundee prefers the dirty clothes that
    are on the floor in piles.
      N

    Hello Jeff,
    Have you tried the Rescue Centres around Reading? It was what we
    did when our kitten died. We thought my mother would never want
    another cat ever again and she blamed herself for not trying harder
    to get Kayleigh in on the night she died.
    So we tried Brittans Farm, near Wokingham. We thought that, if we
    gave a home to a cat who had not had the best of life so far, my
    mother would feel happier about getting another cat.
    We arrived home with a 4 month old kitten with a badly upset tummy.
    He was so helpless that my mother really felt sorry for him and
    took to him at once, although she did have some guilty twinges about
    it.
    There is no charge for the cats - although they do ask if you'd
    like to make a donation. The phone number is usually advertised
    in the local papers, if you want to ask about kittens. They ARE
    very careful about who they give the cats to, though, so expect
    them to ask a few questions if you contact them.
    
    Lastly, are you SURE you want to get a cat similar to the little
    one that died? Sometimes that can be rather upsetting as you feel
    that you're just replacing the cat.
    
    Let me know if I can help any further - I'm in Decpark (IS OPS)
     
    Julie