Conference misery::feline

    Don't know if this qualifies but after hearing a rather off-handed
    remark about cats I did tell someone that I wished that they would get
    a gigantic hairball and have great difficulty getting rid of it.  Now
    my other self would have said something else - but this is the first
    time I ever wished a hairball on anyone. 
    
    Petra-malt anyone?
    
    Giudi

>>>       <<< Note 177.1 by SANFAN::FOSSATJU "You Can Leave Your Hat On" >>>

Actually, Giudi, the furball idea makes a wonderful curse...

	"may you be afflicted with huge furballs which you cannot
	 expel without great difficulty every day for the rest of your
	 life!"

I'm willing to bet there wouldn't be a snappy come-back to that one....

    I'm still recovering from the ear-cuffs!  ;^)
    
    K.C.

    Is a catercat a feline-caretaker NERD award?
    
    Yesterday I carried little Shalimar over to my tall dresser (where the
    gray mousie lives when it's not being killed) and let her pick the
    mousie up all by herself (how cute).  
    
    Now Shalimar, who never knew the dresser even existed, is obsessed with
    the fact little toy mousies are born on tall dressers, and she has to
    be on top of the dresser to wait for them to appear.
    
    (Hmmm...which note was all about keeping cats off the furniture....)
    
    Jo-Ann

This happened to me yesterday.

I had called field service to have some maintenance done on my LN03 printer.
It kept printing a white line along the right side of the paper.  Missing a
lot of the text.

Well, the field service guy told me that it was because there was a hard
toner ball in the roller.

I sat there and laughed.  I looked at him and just said, "Yeah, I can just
imagine the little printer going 'cough cough cough' trying to spit up
the toner ball! "  (-:

Holly

    Ah...visions of Bill the Cat as an LN03!  :^)
    
    K.C.

    I feel good, doo doo doo doo doo do! :'D
    
    Today I got the pleasure of calling up Animal Birth Control Associates,
    St. Francis of Assisi Animal Rescue, and Nike Animal Rescue Foundation
    and telling them all that our cat club, Tails & No Tales, would be
    making a donation to their organization in the amount of $1,000.00
    each!!  Oh what fun!! :')  The lady at ABCA yelped when she heard the
    news!! :'D  This is great.  Hope next year's show is this successful so
    we can do this again. 
    
    Jo

    
    I am pleased that the club voted in favor of these contributions!  It
    gives you a good feeling inside, doesn't it?  :^D
    
     
    
    

A few weeks ago I mentioned to a group of (non-DEC) people I know that I was
going to be hosting the feliner's (east coast) gathering.  These people aren't
very computer or network-literate, and I was sort of able to get across the
point that we communicated electronically, sort of like electronic mail
(something they could relate to at some level).  At least I thuoght I had
gotten the point across...

Last night I again mentioned the gathering, and that I was looking forward
to it and mentioned something about cats, and had several confused people
looking at me!  Apparently they hadn't realized it was a group sharing an
interest in felines.  They thought it was just a group who communicated
electronically, and the acronym for the group was C.A.T.S. !!  Of course, that
threw me for a loop, especially since we do have a system here at work with
the acronym CATS! :-)

Jill

>>    Good job Michele/Jo in cleaning up the neighborhood...all I can hope
>>    for is that within a year or two I can do the same thing!  But 
>>    mostly I deal with whole males...so I haven't seen kittens yet either!
      ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^    
    
    Sandy Merritt!!!!  In a public notes file, no less!?  Do tell all!

    There is nothing better then a bunch of whole males in your life!!
    (snicker snicker)   
    
    Sandy  

    Here, here!!
    
    Jo

This morning Bill was telling me that he had to convert some KITINSTAL.COM files
to a new format for the project he's working on:

Bill: I have to convert some KITINSTAL's today
Jill: Huh??? Kitten stalls?  What are you talking about?

:-) :-)

Of course, I had just woken up from this dream:

There was a gray tabby cat wanting to get into our house, scratching at the
door. I checked, and it was one of ours.  But ours were already in!  I looked,
and one of the ones inside wasn't ours; it was a classic tabby, obviously a
stranger...So I tried to let her out, and let ours come in. But all these
gray tabbies came in together, and I had a hell of a time trying to get the ones
that weren't ours to leave, and a harder time figuring out which were ours and
which weren't, and when I opened the door, even more came in.  They were all
doing their kitty littering on the carpet, and it was a mess!  I finally called
the police, who showed up with this construction equipment that was able to
work automatically, and it was set up to just go back and forth, and scare
the outside cats into keeping away from the house while we figured out what to
do about the problem!  Then all of a sudden there were all these people on
the front step where the cats had been, and it kept appearing like the
automatic machines were going to keep going and run over the people on the
front step.  Boy, was that weird.  And when I woke up my legs were pinned
down between Tigger and Penny!

Strange, huh?

Jill

    
    
    	Ummm, Jill....you might try not eating strange foods
    	before going to bed.  ;)
    
    	Strange dream!
    
    	Jj
    

    My nephew (18) did something really crazy that I want to share.
    
    Both my sister and I decided to try Brewers Yeast on our cats
    to try and control the fleas.   My hubby mistakenly bought both
    my sister and I a jar of Brewer Yeast Tablets....which we now
    have to break up to make powder.   My sister left the tablets
    in the pantry.
    
    In the mean time...my nephew had come down with Jock Itch and 
    Athletes feet and my sister bought him some medicine and put
    in in the Medicine cabinet in the bathroom.
    
    The other night we were having supper...and my nephew went in
    the pantry and popped in his mouth two Brewers Yeast Tablets...he looked at
    me and said "do you think it would hurt if I took 4 of them".  I
    burst out laughing saying "well you can...and you won't have fleas"
    He said "what do you mean...I thought they were for yeast infections
    and I have been taken a few a day".
    
    We all were rolling on the floor laughing...I then offered him
    some Nemex II to control worms and offered to make the appointment
    to have him neutered!!!     
    
    Sandy

    Sandy!
    
     That was a great story! If you get him neutered, you will get some
    experience working with non-whole males! ;-)
    
     I'm sure he was thrilled with the idea though, especially at his age!
    
     I needed a good story to start my weekend off right! I just finished
    fighting what I hope is the last fire of the week!
    
     Y

    That was pretty funny.  Actually, I use brewers yeast tablets (for
    people) when I go camping.  I'm usually the only one in my group 
    that doesn't get eaten alive by mosquitos when I do this.  And, I
    hear they're good for the hair and nails too.
    
    Oh, my cats take the brewers yeast tablets and chew them up.  They 
    think they're treats.  They set up for them and everything.  If the
    tablets you have aren't too hard, they may be able to just chew them
    instead of you making powder.
    
    Jan
                                                 

    Jan...the funny part was my vet said to buy the tablets because
    the cats love them and will eat them like treats....well out of
    15 cats (9 downstairs and 6 upstairs)....nobody would touch them!!!
    
    Finicky....spoiled...finicky...spoiled!!!!
    
    Sandy

    WEll you do know you have too many cats when.......
    
    	This weekend I was holding my new baby nephew who is only 2
    months old.   As I was holding him....he took his fingernails and
    pinched my neck.  Without thinking my comment was "gee get those 
    claws out of my neck".   You can just imagine the roar of laughter 
    from the room!!!
    
    I think I better hang around two legged creatures for awhile!!
    
    Sandy
    
    
    
    

You know you have too many cats when.......

	This weekend, I had an old friend stop over unexpectedly.  Beth
	was right there to greet the old friend who said "Oh, you have a
	cat!".  Then out comes Honey....then Chauncey streaks across the
	floor....then Robin pokes out from behind a piece of furniture....
	then Biff insists on playing ball.....then Mikey tries to beat up
	Biff.....and Julie cries from upstairs for attention.  My old friend
	upon taking in all this said "Gee, you've gotten really weird"....
	I wonder what she meant.........

    You should see visitors faces when the cats start popping out
    of the "mouse hole" we have cut in the door leading to the
    basement!!  Since Korats look the same, they think we have
    300 or 400 or so!! (-8 (-8
    
    L

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!  I can just picture that.....hey, isn't that how the Minutemen
won the Battles of Lexington and Concord?  They had all their troups march
over the top of hill, around the other side and back up again.  The British
saw this and thought they were outnumbered so they retreated.  In fact, the
British outnumbered the Minutemen 4 or 5 to 1.


Perhaps the best part of my guest visit was my tiny cat without eyes running
thru the living room with a tennis ball in her mouth.  It was bigger than
her head....

Ya, I've gotten pretty weird.....

Ya, I've gotten pretty weird.....

	Please, Mary - don't ever change!  Your notes are among my
	favorites in this file, especially if they're about Beth :^}

	Sandy

Ya, she's a real scream.  I wonder if some cats only do things that they think
look dignified enough for acceptable cat behaviour, but since Beth can't see,
she thinks any old dumb thing is good enough.  Honey always looks at her with
a "I can't believe she's that stupid" look on his face....

I've been thinking about writing an article about her for Cat Fancy....

    Re: .24
    
    hey, what about an article for the offline newsletter :-)
    

    Mary,
    
    PLEASE do write an article to Cat Fancy on Beth.  All cat fanciers
    should hear your wonderful stories of her.  Go for it!
    
    Pat & Clan
    

    re: offline newletter
    
        How do I get my name on the distribution list????
    

    Re: .27  offline list.
    
    See notes 369.*
    

>>    My vet took another xray yesterday and will again today to check on his
>>    lungs to make sure there's no fluid.  She'll keep him on IV and
>>    steroids thru the weekend.  
    
    I thought Mary Tamir had written "She'll keep him on tv and stereos
    thru the weekend".
    
    I've been out sick for what seems like weeks on end.  Guess this means
    my brain isn't quite back in gear yet.  :^)

    HEE-HEE!  :-)
    
    Nanci

    I dazzled the cashier at the local Star Market today by buying
    5 cases of 9-lives 5.5 oz cans....(BTW, they are on sale at
    6/$1 )  She thought 6 cats was so many!
    
    If only she knew....(-8

    Don't you love when the cashier looks up and says "no people food, just
    cat food!"???  I love to say "Oh... I'm thinking of getting a kitten
    one of these days" and wait for a reaction. 

    Ernie was shopping one day...and as he was cashing out the girl
    kept ringing can after can after can of cat food.  Well she finally
    got to a package of sliced chicken and milk and she looked up at
    Ernie and said "well atleast you get chicken and milk".  And Ernie
    responded "what are you crazy the chicken is for the cats too"!!!
    
    When they ask "how many"...I respond MANY

    Cheryl, I ***love*** your personal name!
    
    Still smiling here at my desk!!
    
    -Roberta
    

	My checkbook cover says, "CAT FOOD FUND".  The cashiers get
	a kick out of it :^}

    
    
    	I feel like a terrible kitty-mom.
    
    	I decided last night to attack my piles and piles of ironing.
    	I keep my ironing board in my coat closet, a favorite place
    	for the kitties to jump into when the door is open.  So I caught
    	Audrey in there once and dragged her out.  But somehow Sasha
    	got in there last night.  I didn't realize it until about 3
    	hours later when she started making noise.  (this is a large
    	closet)
    
    	So I put the ironing board away and close the door, get ready
    	for bed and go to sleep. (this is around 11:00 last night)
    	I get up this morning at 7:00 and I hear Audrey whining at
    	the top of her lungs.  She got in there last night without my
    	seeing or hearing her and she was locked in there for 8 hours!
    	She didn't make a peep until this morning when she heard my
    	alarm go off.
    
    	sigh......
    
    	JJ
    

    I did something similar once, JJ.  Every time I open the coat closet
    door where I keep various things, one of the cats jumps in to
    investigate or hang out.  Well, one night Herbie jumped in without me
    realizing it.  He is not usually a vocal cat, and when he does cry it
    is very soft and barely audible.  I went about the house for several
    hours doing my things, when I saw Taja looking at the bottom of the
    coat closet door, where Herbie's paw was poking out begging for someone
    to resuce him.  He was not amused!!
              
    -Roberta
    

    
    	My Tiggr is the "suffer in silence" type and rarely makes
    	a sound other than a loud purr. When he occasionally used
    	to get locked into a closet he felt he was being punished
    	and better not be vocal about it. He'd sit for hours until
    	I either "found" him or my other cat lead me to the appropriate
    	door.......
    
    	... needless to say,I stopped closing doors long ago....
    
    	Heidi

    As you might know, I have only one cat. I never check any place if a
    cat is in. I always check the cat, that she is out! If I see her out, she
    cannot be in. It does no matter that you don't see the cat somewhere
    in. Until you see the cat out, you cannot be sure if she is ino or
    not... and even then not, if you heard about the Schroedinger-effect.
    Cats are great in it.
    
    Pointer: Read the book of Terry Pratchett (The Real Cat) to find out
    more about ins, outs and schroedinger-cats.
    
    
    Nat

    I take what I call a "kitty count" every time I leave and every time I
    come home.  If I don't physically see 5 cats before I walk out the
    door, I don't leave until I do.
    
    I've locked them in closets too many times.
    
    michele

My Spike did a similar thing. About 6pm I took our Doberman (Ginger, who went
back to living with her owner my father in-law) out for a walk on a cool evening
last winter. Well we got back and I hustled to get her in, and get the doors
closed.One thing I noticed was that Spike my orange tabby hadn't shown up (he
always greeted Ginger and I on return from a walk). I figured he was busy
elsewhere, perhaps napping and sat down and went and did
some other stuff. About 11:30 when I was getting ready to go to bed
I ran a nose count and still couldn't find Spike. I called and Hurricane
showed up to get kitty treats, but no Spike. Given Spike is a treat gourmand
(perhaps glutton would be better description) I became worried. Fear struck in
my heart as I thought he might have gotten out (our boys are indoor only as we
back onto a state highway where I see far too many dimensionally transmogrified
cats). I opened the front door and there he was sleeping happily in the space
between the door and the storm door. Not one to panic he decided the proper
course of action was a nap. True cat assertiveness :-).

Thanks,
Keith

    Well, since this appears to be true confessions, I guess I'll
    have to admit what a terrible mother I was last night.
    
    I came home late (as usual), unlocked the door, said hi to Onyx and
    Mac as they greeted me, then turned around and shut the door.  I
    got my usually 2nd greeting from Onyx as he rolled around on the bed
    and squeaked at me.
    
    A few minutes later as I was busy doing things here and there in my
    room I heard a scratching on the door.  My first thought was that 
    the stupid, obnoxious little dog from down the hall was back to 
    hanging out at my door sniffing at the cats.  I didn't want to open
    the door and yell at him 'cause one time when I did that he tried
    to attack me.  So, I kicked at the door and yelled "get away from
    there".  The scratching stopped for a second then started up again.
    So, I looked out the peep hole to be sure it was the dog.  But, when
    I looked I couldn't see anything.
    
    So, I very gingerly opened the door a couple of inches and this big
    brown and white tabby cat came running in.  
    
    IT WAS AMELIA!  Don't know how she did it but she had slipped out when
    I came in.  I felt terrible.  She looked terrified.
    
    As a side note I feel I must mention that my front door is in one of
    those hotel type hallways so that even though she was out of the 
    apartment, she was still sort of inside (until someone came or went
    through the hallway door anyway).
    
    Jan (who feels like a terrible mom)

    
    Rusty saved me from walking face first into one of those
    *huge* wasps that must have got in the house while I was bringing
    in the groceries.  I went to walk down the hall, and he suddenly
    jumped up and batted at something.  I'm not kidding about these
    wasps...they are about 3 inches long, with yellow/brown stripes
    and a stinger 1/4 inch long!  He alerted me to the intruder, who
    was dive bombing the hallway light.  I turned off the light, and 
    when the wasp landed, I whacked it good with a shoe.  I made my
    hubby pat and praise Rusty, cuz I am allergic to stings....(;
    
    

    re.: last
    
    Be careful. Those wasps (we call them horsewasps or killer wasps)
    *may* sting a human to death if unlucky! Sure cats, too. If they are
    more, call a specialist to get rid of them. An unsuccesful attack makes
    them angry, and they are dangerous.
    
    Nat
    
    

    My husband had an ever so brilliant idea this weekend. He came bounding
    downstairs and said, "I'm gonna take Shadow outside." "You can't take
    him out without his leash", I replied. "Oh, it'll be OK. I'm ready to
    run after him and bring him back if he tries to run off." (Right.) (The
    question is - will Vincent be OK. if he grabs Shadow as he tries to run
    off?) He takes him on out the sliding patio door which leads out onto
    the back of our building where there's a little lake and lots of
    bushes and railings and things. Pretty soon I hear, "GgRrrrrr."
    "Shadow.." "RRRRrrrrrrrr....hissss...rrrrrr." "ShaDOW!" In comes my
    husband, who dumps Shadow unceremoniously on the floor and goes over to
    the sink to wash his open wounds. He turns to glare at Shadow, who's
    nowhere to be seen. What! Yes, indeed, Vincent left the door open! Now 
    Sammi and Shadow are both out. Sammi is easily retrieved. Shadow, spying 
    us, dashes under the rocking chair on the patio, tail lashing, pupils 
    dilated, teeth bared, claws extended, ready to lacerate anyone who comes 
    near, "RROWWWRRRRRrrrrrr...hisss...hissss..ffffgrrrrrr."  I grab a big 
    green towel for Vince to wrap around his hand so Shadow will grab on to
    it and won't hurt Vince.  But Shadow's not stupid.  He doesn't fall for
    it. I run back inside and grab another towel for me. In the meantime, 
    Shadow makes a break for it, dashes through the railing and heads for 
    the end of the building, with Vince in hot pursuit. Shadow dives into a
    thick bush and starts cursing - "RRRRROOOWWWWOOWWRRR!!!!"
    "RRROWOWOWR!!"  Vince comes back to the patio and with towels wrapped
    around our hands, we run around the building to see if we can spot him.
    He's over by the neighbor's porch, sniffing a bush. I go over to him
    and speak softly, "Shadow..." "RRROWWRRRrrrrrr." "Shadow sweetie..."
    "RRRRRRrrrrrrrr...hisss..rrrrr." He dashes under a parked car. We
    then play musical parked cars. Finally, I'm able to reach under with my
    bare hand (it will heal in no time) and pull him out, wrap him in the 
    towels so he doesn't do any additional damage and walk him back down to 
    the back door. Several neighbors congratulated us. Shadow growled for 
    another thirty minutes, but finally forgave us. Hopefully Vincent learned 
    his lesson.  
    
    Then, as we were having wood delivered the next day, Shadow quietly snuck 
    out the door and made up for lost time. %-}
    
    Rebecca        

    I WISH I'd seen it!

    Bob and I were having a nice dinner out last Friday, and the
    conversation turned (as it usually does) to the "kids".  After chatting
    about the cats for a while, I wondered  how many of you do the same
    thing?  Especially those of you with no human children, just the furry
    4 legged type.
    
    Steffi

    
    Sandy and I talk about our cats all the time, as we do with friends who
    have cats.
    
    len.
     

	With two cats and a 4 month old pup, our conversations go like this 
most days:

	Wife:	We're having Corey (grandson) over this weekend.
	Me:	Great, Brandy (dog) loves to play with him.
	Wife:	What's for supper?
	Me:	Something quick. By the way, Brandy is teething and is off her
		feed. I'll give her an icecube later, it seems to help.
	Wife: 	Lot of people at work are out sick lately.
	Me:	Oh yea, I've noticed Kai (cat) sneezed a few times today. Keep
		an eye on him.
	Wife:	Where's the shopping list? 
	Me:	Right here, let's see what we need: cat treats, dog bone, 
		litter, expensive shampoo for Kai, cheap shampoo for us, cat 
		food, dog food, bread and water for us....
	

      You mean there is more to  conversation other then talking
      about the furry kids!!!!
    
      Okay..this is how "bad" we are.   The other night we finally
    settle down on the coach around 9:00.   I had one end of the
    coach, Ernie in the middle, and J.C. on the other end.  Both
    Ernie and I were wrapped in an afghan and J.C. was laying on
    the other end of the afghan.   Well I was so comfortable I
    dozed off only to have Ernie wake me up and say "Sandy get up...
    Sandy you have to get up because I'm pinned between you and
    JC. and I have to move.   I woke up dazed...and looked over
    on the coach at J.C. who was still in a deep sleep.  Ernie
    just looked at me and said "gee you didn't expect me to wake
    J.C. up did you!!!!"  My comment "of course not dear he's tired
    from all the darn work he did today".
    
    You just got to love em.....
    
    Sandy
    

    Sandy, that's wonderful!  I'm sitting here laughing.  We do the same
    thing.  Last night Bob got up from the loveseat and when he came back
    Lizette was curled up right in the middle, so Bob sat down on the other
    loveseat.  (Good thing we have 2).  In the morning, if Misha is still
    curled up in my arm, when I have to get up, Bob gets out of bed and I
    slide out on his side, so Misha doesn't get disturbed.
    
    Yesterday's cat calendar had a gold tabby curled up in a box and the
    blurp said "The prophet Muhammad so loved his cat Muezza that, rather
    than disturb her, he cut off the sleeve of his robe on which she had
    fallen asleep."
    
    Steffi

    
    Life would be so much easier if the cats simply sacked out beside me.
    But they all manage to find a way to sleep *on* me.  The typical
    configuration lately is Merlin and Robin sleeping side by side on my
    chest, Rocky wrapped around my head (so he can lick my face when his
    dreams so require) and Blueberry stretched out between my legs.  This
    makes getting up a major production, with lots of annoyed cats.  Then
    they all get comfy on the warm spot where I was lying, so when I come
    back I have to disturb them all again...
    
    I wonder if Pokie is a lap/chest cat.  I can't imagine supporting
    him...
    
    len.
    

    Len...you don't mean you don't go sleep on the coach so you
    won't disturb them when you get back in bed.  You do know...they
    need their rest because they work so darn hard during the day. (ha!)
    
    Sandy

    Well, I meant to put this in a couple of days ago but I didn't
    make it.
    
    On Tuesday I decided it was time to dress like a woman again (how
    many ages has it been since I've had a skirt on...I can't remember).
    Anyway, I put on my black mini and nylons, etc. and left for work.
    While sitting in traffic I happened to look down at my legs and what
    I saw made me laugh...
    
    I looked down at my nice black nylons and discovered they were 
    basically covered in cat fur from the knee to the ankle.  It looked
    like I had on a pair of cat fur leg warmers or something.  I spent
    the rest of the commute defurring my legs.  I knew that the dust 
    ruffle and comforter on my bed were in need of vacuuming but I 
    didn't know how badly till that morning.  I must have brushed up 
    against them as I was dressing and taken all the fur with me.
    
    Jan

    We went to Devon for a week in June - my family have kept the post-card
    I sent. Every single place we visited also had a reference to the
    cat(s) we met there, including the three farm cats where we were
    staying!

    Re.: 51 The story is true with Muhammad.
    
    I had worse a few times... Cat sleeps on my lap... and i have to P...
    AND HOW I HAVE TO!!!!!!!
    
    :)
    Nat

    Well, I just told this story to Sandy, and she thought it would be a
    good one for the file! ;-)
    
    I guess this story has a moral, but I'll tell the story first.
    
    Last night, I had to take my two girls, Feendoonie and Furby to the
    vet, to get their luekemia shots. Follow up visit, in and out, no
    problem right? WRONG!
    
    I made the giant misrake of asking Nick (hubby) to come with me, as
    it's easier to get two carriers into the building if we each have one. 
    
    Anyway, Feendoonie absolutely hates riding in the car/carrier, and
    usually either poops or pukes in the carrier on the way to the vet,
    because she is upset.
    
    'Daddy' decides we should just put the carriers in the back of the car,
    and leave the girls loose, and maybe Doonie wouldn't be so upset. (She
    rode up with us from Florida, and only cried when she was in the
    carrier by the way) I wasn't too thrilled with the idea, because I
    worry about maybe getting in an accident and them getting tossed
    around, or God forbid out of the car!
    
    Well, he talked me into it (He absolutely hates to see kitties in
    carriers, can you tell?) and I was holding Doonie on my lap, and she
    was being quiet, so I thought maybe things would be all right. HA!
    
    I happened to look down at her, and she was licking her chops, which
    warned me she was about to upchuck. I grabbed the little trash bucket I
    have in my car, and held it under her head just in time to catch all of
    it! I was very happy with myself for being so quick.
    
    Now I figure all is well, as she is now empty. Well, her tummy was
    empty, but not her bladder! YET! Yup, all of a sudden, I feel warm on
    my leg! She peed all over my leg, and my car seat! YUCK!
    
    So, I put her down in the back, so I could try to soak the pee out of
    my seat and my jeans, when this horrible aroma hit us! You got it! She
    pooped on the floor under my back seat! (it's a van so I could get at
    it at least!)
    
    So, I crawl into the back seat to try to clean that up, and I got her
    and Furby into the carriers, as we were almost to the vets office.
    
    I got all this cleaned up pretty well, and heaved a sigh of relief as
    we pulled into the driveway. I hopped out of the back door, opened the
    front door of the van to get my checkbook, and what do I see? Furby had
    pooped on my front seat! ARGH!!!!! I couldn't win! I cleaned that up
    before we went in. (thank goodness we were early!)
    
    Other than that, the visit went quite well!!! 8-} 8-) ;-)
    
    The moral you ask? Never, I mean NEVER let your spouse talk you into
    letting the kitties run loose in the car!!!!!! 
    
    Second moral: To avoid the first one, never ask your spouse to go on
    routine check ups with you! Only when there is something wrong, and you
    need the support. 8-)
    
    What a fiasco! I was out there in the dark with Nature's Miracle so I
    wouldn't have a stinky car! Now I hope it warms up enough for it to
    dry! :-}
    
    Thought I'd share this one with the group!
    
    Love,
    
    Yonee (who also enzyme cleaned her jeans when she got home!)
    

	My cats have wicker baskets - which I found out that leak easily if they
	have an accident! - I first found out 7 years ago when I had Cider.

	Since then I have always put a towell in the bottom of the basket,
	and put a plastic dustbin liner over the seats.

	Needless to say, I now have 3 cats, and they have NEVER had a disaster
	since I started doing this..............I am positive the first day I
	forget, I'll have a repeat accident.

	Murphy's law will strike!   

	Heather

    
    Yonee's story reminds me of a similar experience of mine, except it's
    a dog story.  You'll all tolerate a dog story from me, since there were
    cats sort of involved and I'm obviously a total catperson anyway,
    right?
    
    Shortly after I had gotten Monkey and Wabbit (my brown tabby sisters,
    whom Merlin joined about a year later), my family decided that they
    would give me an Afghan Hound puppy for my birthday, because I had
    always talked about someday having one.  Well, he started out smaller
    than the cats were at that time, but he grew up (to be very large)
    very quickly.
    
    Anyway, one afternoon he had to go to the vet for his shots, and I
    figured while I was out I would run another errand.  So on the way
    back from the vet, I stopped at the store and had to park in a 15
    minute parking spot near the store's loading dock.  Now, the dog,
    Gandalf, was pretty big by now, and I was driving a Datsun 240Z back
    then, so there's no question of putting him in a carrier, he sits in
    the passenger seat.  This dog was also very, uhm, impressed with
    himself, and he got a lot of attention (I'm a devoted doggy daddy too),
    and came to *expect* a lot of attention.  SO he was not to happy about
    being *left in the car*, while I went someplace that might be
    interesting, even if only for a few minutes.
    
    So I come back to the car, to find a delivery truck honking for me to
    get out of the way, and the dog sitting in the passenger seat,
    literally grinning over the still steaming load of dog-doo he has
    deposited smack dab in the center of the driver's seat.
    
    So, I leverage myself up over the, uh, stuff, wedging myself against
    the seatback by pushing against the steering wheel, and pull out trying
    not to slide into the, uh, stuff, while looking for a place to park where
    I can more leisurely clean up the mess.  I managed to find a place around
    the corner before I lost my grip.
    
    This dog was a real adventure.  He used to run through the apartment
    and the cats would sit on a chair under the table and as he ran by,
    try to leap on his back to go for a ride!  He would sing along with the
    brass parts of the Bruckner symphonies (which feature a *lot* of
    brass).  He would literally shred my apartment when I left for work
    despite months of dog-proofing.  Eventually I acknowledged that he
    needed more space and round the clock company, so I gave him to a
    family that already had an Afghan female and were looking to replace
    and old male Afghan who had recently passed away and who, as it
    happened, looked just like my dog.  It was to ease the pain of giving
    him up that Donna Conklin, a fellow DEC employee back then who herself
    had something like 7 (yes, *seven*) Afghans, gave me the little grey
    kitten who's been with me ever since.  There are other stories about
    Gandalf, like the time he opened the Conklin's dog pen and led the pack
    of Afghans for an all day romp through Harvard (the town, not the
    University).
    
    Much as I love dogs, I ultimately prefer cats...
    
    len.
      

    Len,
    
    I had an Afghan Hound while growing up.  Sasha was a great dog, very
    smart, and very devoted to me.  :^)  No one could mess with me when she
    was around; she would have taken away some very important body parts if
    they did.  She liked to chase the cats, but not harm them.  She learned
    tricks real fast and loved to show off by doing them for us.  I still
    miss her a lot.
    
    -Roberta