Chris

I'm ISO a door sensor. This would need three things:

1. A way of toggling the active status without having to bend over.
2. An alert sound when the sensor is triggered.
3. The ability to change what the sound is.

Context: Goddamn noisy bastard cats. I want a "door" sensor placed at a certain point in the hallway, where if one of the cats breaks the sensor, there's a sound like a can of air, or there actually is a can of air.

Where do I begin looking?

Turns out Leilani was absent, due to being a fostered cat.  Alas.  rosefox and I went anyhow (regyt couldn't go, alas, due to a prior thing), and I instead saw and fell in hearts with Jasmine.

I know what it says, I know what I say, and I win, so whatever.  I'm set with Jasmine.  Her current name is irrelevant.  To wit:

X: *to @rosefox* I'm going to test something here. *to the cat* Rose!
K(itty): *cocks an ear back*
X: Monkey!
K: *looks at me*
R: Armadillo!
K: *glances at R*
R: Brontosaurus!
K: *goes toward R*
X: Mark!
K: *glances at me*
X+R: *hilarity*

(All in the calling-a-cat tone of voice, of course.)

So yeah.  I could call her Princess Kitty Boo-Boo Fuck and she wouldn't notice, which is precisely as it should be.

She is sweet, playful, quiet (she didn't meow that I recall), generally calm about things (one can be both playful and calm), soft like soft things are soft, and she has this face, can I even explain, no I can't, because face.  And her eyes!  And the way she rolled on the catnipped blanket so hard that she bonked her head into the cabinet!  *straight face*

Rose had a good idea, of introducing (when we're at that phase) Jasmine to Java first, as Java (a) owns the house, (b) is the calmer of the two, and (c) can show Sam that it's all good and she can stand down.  I'm predicting general confusion followed by mild hostility from Java, leading into a firm statement of dominance, winding up in a possible head-lickin'.  From Sam, I'm predicting protracted ignorance of the situation, until she finally realises that that smell means there's Another Cat.  At which point she will poof, hiss, run far far away, pee on everything not unlike a garden-hose sprinkler, and possibly curse our grandchildren.

I'm nervous that I won't be a good cat owner, because I'm somehow not the best, most phlegmatic, most calm and caring and peaceful kitty-person in the world, which is of course the Platonic ideal, X get off the ledge now please thank you.  But still!  I am not the most perfect person, I have erred with cats (like when I misjudged the distance between Sam and a light fixture), and this means I should never have cats, right?

This means I should lightbox, right?

One cat was super-lovey but we didn't "click", and I felt so guilty.  I could love that cat!  I could be that person so that that cat could be loved!!  Aaaaa!  Or the adolescent boy cat, or the mama cat and her kittens, oh my god, how morally deficient am I that I have not made life choices such that I can adopt all the cats?!  (Actually, one future-me is totally all about adopting FeLV+/FIV+ cats, because not enough people can or want to.  I should make more life choices to get me there.  *cough*)

The to-do list right now is to make my room more cat-friendly, immediately.  This means swapping sheets out, sweeping, setting up a good place for food/water, moving the cat tree dealio, moving the litter box in, and putting another lamp down where there's the kitteh.  Also maybe putting something in the closet for her to sleep on, as it's a nice dark corner where she can hide.  I don't predict her hiding a lot, to be honest, but I want her to feel like this is her space.

Dear cat-lovers everywhere:

You require this cat:



She sans name clearly needs lovins.  I would do this immediately, except my live-in partner is ER-worthy allergic to cats at this time.  Which is probably a good thing, given my love of kitties.

She's in Burbank, CA, US.  Xtina-approved info can be found here.

I wish I could adopt this cat.  I'm going to go put (mild, societally-approved) pressure on Josh to get his shots, for future cats.  (A future cat.  Of course.)  But I can't, so someone really, really should.

Originally posted on Dreamwidth.  Number of comments so far:

This formula is so obvious, and yet:

* I see a street kitty.
* I get Very Concerned, but am resolved that street kitties are basically themselves.
* It's friendly, or otherwise not entirely a street kitty.
* I die a thousand deaths inside because my life is not such that I can take in every cat I meet.

I think I take all my caring about humans that I hold in, and stash it all in kitty-welfare, or something.

(This kind of thing is just always awkward.  Lord.)

penghuin has a cat, Spooky.  She is one of the friendliest, purriest, most unstartleable kitties I've ever known.  She's a teensy cat who is full of boofins.

She's also getting old.  She's been steadily losing weight for some time now, down to 7 pounds from 12.  She's had some litter box issues, which is exceedingly rare for her.  She's currently on antibiotics for a UTI.  penghuin wants to get pet insurance for her, which is $209 for the first year and would cut costs of various procedures in quarter or half (depending), so that he can better afford future procedures and tests and things.  However, he currently really can't afford it.  Like, "groceries or electricity?" levels of can't afford it.  I can chip in for some, but I'm saving up for apartmenting, so I can't just buy it for him like I want to.

So, I am putting up this PayPal button, to request donations for Spooky's insurance.  Even if it's just five bucks -- every little bit helps.  All donations will be sent to penghuin.  Any overlap will go towards future tests-and-things for her.

Thank you.

Originally posted on Dreamwidth.

http://www.petfinder.com/petnote/displaypet.cgi?petid=10371962

DO YOU SEE THIS FACE

I MAY DIE THE END

rosefox was helpful cat and gave me a link to reporting animal abuse online to the Oregon Humane Society.  For serious, everything should be online, just so I never have to use the phone.

Their form is deficient - there should be a way of adding/subtracting animal sections.  (The next-door neighbour also has a dog with a serious case of the mange, and has let various kitties loose due to not caring to fix "her" cats.)  I may write the webmaster and make a polite suggestion along those lines.

Anyways.  I sent a report in to the OHS.  We'll see.

Also, a note: Google Street View is wicked helpful in identifying places.  "Here's a link - they're the one with the $vehicle in the driveway."

I'm gonna go back to eating tortilla chips and feeling unreasonably guilty.

Momma Cat next door is sick, and woozy, and dozy, and has a bunch of tracts of scabs along her back.  I am an utter failure as a human being, else I would have been able to gather her up and put her in the damn car to take her to the vet.  As it is, I slipped up, and now she trusts me less.

And she's sitting in front of the house with the bushes against the front of it, because she is clever.  If I had leather sleeves/gloves, I'd just reach in, but nooo.

*frustrated*

Rebecca, the housemate, just had a really shitty experience.  That being seeing the next door neighbour's dog, who has the mange in a bad way.  And the cats... the pregnant cats... who also have the mange.  When queried, the primary resident claims that they're not her responsibility.

Isn't it kind of a rush, when your respect for another human being just jumps right off that cliff?

So she's wondering whether to call the Humane Society now, or whether to wait until after she gets back from work.  (She's off to LA for a fortnight for work.)  You'd think I would be full of rage at this hesitation in the face of animal welfare, but actually, I can totally understand where she's coming from - when my Magic had to be put to sleep, I questioned whether I wanted to be present for that, even knowing that the only possible decision, the only right decision, was for me to be present.  Since Rebecca is obsessive cat mom like I am*, my assumption is that this is what she's doing here - chewing on this huge horrible thing, even though she will do the right thing in the end.

Especially hard is that even leaving aside whether they're adoptable, I wonder if they're, for want of a better word, salvageable.  If they can be healed up at all.  *big sad face*  And so there's the thing where when she calls, some of these animals may be put down.  And that sucks so hard.  So, I sympathised with her, and mentioned that the animals' welfare is important, and so before would be better.  And if she doesn't call, then I will, no worries, and no hard feelings a'tall.

* Her kitty is 12 years old, and has developed a bit of a limp in his right foreleg.  Cue her freaking out a bit to the vet (that's how she described it), even though it's probably just a touch of arthritis.  So I told her my kitty-focus moment, when my Magic, who was ever hissy and run-away about other cats, let B's cats sniff at her, and even jump over her.  Them: "She's so patient nowadays!"  Me: "Something is deeply wrong."  It would be like Pie, Rebecca's cat, purring a lot for no reason.  Or Spooky, B's cat, being very aggressive with the other cats.  You know.

murnkay linked me to this video.

Sound is not required.

Being able to dry-heave with laughy at your computer is required.