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Try putting a feral cat box or even a regular cat carrier in the cage; once he goes in you can trap him in there and remove him from the cage to clean it 🙂
 
bunnity said:
Try putting a feral cat box or even a regular cat carrier in the cage; once he goes in you can trap him in there and remove him from the cage to clean it 🙂
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Totally agree with bunnity and was going to suggest the same thing. 🙂 Approach with the door to the carrier open and quickly place the carrier into the door opening when you open the cat's cage. As soon as his hissing butt darts in, slam the front shut, toss a towel over it and stick it in the corner. One warning - if he's that uppity, he's probably going to pee all over it... So don't worry if when you set him 'free' that he's a little messy - he'll clean himself up.

Also, is it possible to place the kitty into a solitary area? Sometimes placing them away from other kitties chills them out a bit. If not, placing a towel over the cage door can sometimes be helpful in calming him down. Note the use of the word sometimes as these are not guaranteed to work. Good luck! :luck:

In unrelated news - sorry Mich folks. But, the whole Big 10 was a bust today. One hope left though: GO BADGERS!! They're looking GOOD. 😀
 
LMMS said:
Totally agree with bunnity and was going to suggest the same thing. 🙂 Approach with the door to the carrier open and quickly place the carrier into the door opening when you open the cat's cage. As soon as his hissing butt darts in, slam the front shut, toss a towel over it and stick it in the corner. One warning - if he's that uppity, he's probably going to pee all over it... So don't worry if when you set him 'free' that he's a little messy - he'll clean himself up.

Also, is it possible to place the kitty into a solitary area? Sometimes placing them away from other kitties chills them out a bit. If not, placing a towel over the cage door can sometimes be helpful in calming him down. Note the use of the word sometimes as these are not guaranteed to work. Good luck! :luck:

In unrelated news - sorry Mich folks. But, the whole Big 10 was a bust today. One hope left though: GO BADGERS!! They're looking GOOD. 😀
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Yeah, I was thinking about the carrier, but it will be tough to fit and get into the small cage. I'm afraid of the cat getting out of the cage, because I don't know how I'd catch him. His name is Darty as well, so I'm wondering if he was named that for a reason 😕. Thanks for the advice though, I know I'm posting my angry cat woes in the right place 😉. I already put a towel over the cage and sprayed some Feliway in the corners of the cage. Maybe my co-workers will have some innovative solutions for our friend.

I'd have to agree with LMMS. Go Badgers!!!!!!
 
LMMS said:
In unrelated news - sorry Mich folks. But, the whole Big 10 was a bust today. One hope left though: GO BADGERS!! They're looking GOOD. 😀
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i absolutely cannot root for the badgers because they took what should have been, in my opinion, michigan state's spot in the rose bowl. we beat them fair and square and got screwed. gotta love the BCS...🙄

however, i'm glad at least one of our teams had a good day today...
 
Badgers lose. 🙁 Big 10 total bust today.

Thank heavens there's still hockey tonight... Go Pens!
Oh how I wish I were there!!

PS - CFC - Oh dear... Looks like you'll definitely need a spotter or two along with gloves, a towel, and a bag! My sympathies. Well, if worst comes to worst, A/D food will squeeze through a syringe. As they say, desperate times, desperate measures!!
 
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Every time I come back to this thread I have flashbacks of the time that a cat sunk all of its claws into my arm at the clinic :scared:...which has happened on multiple occasions :scared::scared:
 
Is the cage large enough to fit a small cardboard box in? Sometimes, a strategically placed cardboard box (for hiding purposes) pointing away from you makes it much easier to sneak things in and out without incurring kitty's wrath.

When dealing with really fractious boarders (and one of our more aggressive ferals, pre-socialization) I've also used a broom handle or similar object to pull the litter box and bowls up to the cage door for easy access- and keep my arm out of the offending feline's reach.
 
drwildlife said:
This may be crazy to say but, I'd much rather have to take care of a non-social dog than an aggressive cat. Cats just seem much more terrifying when they're pissy like that.
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Nope. Not crazy at all!

I've socialized four feral cats (two of which were extremely aggressive), and I still hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate handling highly fractious cats in a clinic setting.

This tends to confuse the people I've worked with (because I actually enjoy working with feral cats), but, in reality, handling ferals is far easier because if they're really out-of-sorts, there's always the option of allowing them to cool off and trying again later... and you're never forced to attempt to restrain them for lengthy periods of time while someone else is subjecting them to ire-inducing stimuli. In an exam room? Not so much. Disgruntled dogs also have fewer pointy bits to worry about, and lack the mad contortionist skills seen in displeased felines.

I'd much rather deal with an unhappy dog than an unhappy cat. 👍
 
Haha just this past week I was telling the vet I volunteer with that I'd much rather deal with a pissed off horse than a pissed off dog or cat.
 
Cautionary Tail said:
Is the cage large enough to fit a small cardboard box in? Sometimes, a strategically placed cardboard box (for hiding purposes) pointing away from you makes it much easier to sneak things in and out without incurring kitty's wrath.

When dealing with really fractious boarders (and one of our more aggressive ferals, pre-socialization) I've also used a broom handle or similar object to pull the litter box and bowls up to the cage door for easy access- and keep my arm out of the offending feline's reach.
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The cardboard box might work. This evening I brought in a papertowel roll to funnel cat kibble into the bowel 🙄. Cat hasn't defecated yet, so no need to get to the litterbox yet. I just keep feeling bad for the poor woman who owns this cat because apparently he is no different at home....
 
Woke up to my SO yelling at me for taking a space heater to work. 4 am and the furnace went out. Sorry but chewing me out before I am coherent..... doesn't make for a good day. *sigh*
 
EllieGirl89 said:
Haha just this past week I was telling the vet I volunteer with that I'd much rather deal with a pissed off horse than a pissed off dog or cat.
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This times a million! My coworkers all think I'm a nutter, since all of them are scared of horses, but I'm with you!
 
CorporateFatCat said:
I just keep feeling bad for the poor woman who owns this cat because apparently he is no different at home....
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A few years ago, I had to assist in the euthanasia of an extremely aggressive sixteen pound cat after his elderly owner passed away. She'd managed to coax an older feral or semi-feral kitten into her house and had given him free run of the place, where he was the only cat. He eventually lost his fear of her, but did not socialize properly, and would maul her any time she upset him or he wanted something from her.

Relatives had known the cat was a problem, but were shocked when they actually saw the full extent of the damage he'd been inflicting.

He was one of the few cats I've encountered that I would consider to be truly dangerous. I don't know how the owner managed to live with his behavior for the better part of nine years. To be honest, I would have been straight-up petrified if said cat had been roaming free in my house. For any length of time.

It was a sad situation for all involved. The woman was a saint, and she'd clearly adored him... but he was more cat than she could handle. He would have been extremely difficult to socialize (even for someone with experience), and she just wasn't equipped to do it. His was one of the harder euths I've participated in. It was clearly appropriate, given the circumstances... but so obviously not what the owner would have wanted. 🙁
 
Cautionary Tail said:
A few years ago, I had to assist in the euthanasia of an extremely aggressive sixteen pound cat after his elderly owner passed away. She'd managed to coax an older feral or semi-feral kitten into her house and had given him free run of the place, where he was the only cat. He eventually lost his fear of her, but did not socialize properly, and would maul her any time she upset him or he wanted something from her.

Relatives had known the cat was a problem, but were shocked when they actually saw the full extent of the damage he'd been inflicting.

He was one of the few cats I've encountered that I would consider to be truly dangerous. I don't know how the owner managed to live with his behavior for the better part of nine years. To be honest, I would have been straight-up petrified if said cat had been roaming free in my house. For any length of time.

It was a sad situation for all involved. The woman was a saint, and she'd clearly adored him... but he was more cat than she could handle. He would have been extremely difficult to socialize (even for someone with experience), and she just wasn't equipped to do it. His was one of the harder euths I've participated in. It was clearly appropriate, given the circumstances... but so obviously not what the owner would have wanted. 🙁
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I think some cats are just born wild, and are better off staying in the wild (after being altered, of course). I did my darndest to socialize an extremely beautiful siamese mix who couldn't have been more than four weeks old at the time we trapped her. Almost a year later, she was okay in the house, but still petrified of me and wouldn't let me pet her. In the end we put her back with her colony outside, where she was almost immediately accepted back by her mom and sister (so cute). She was way happier as a feral. I think some cats are just like that.
 
bee83 said:
She was way happier as a feral. I think some cats are just like that.
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Yeah... barring extenuating circumstances, we vaccinate, sterilize, and release.

Of my three "reformed" cats, one was an older (8-9 months) kitten who wasn't doing a very good job of fending for himself having been booted out of the colony, the second had chronic medical issues that made him unsuitable for release, and the third showed such promise during the time that we were forced to keep him indoors (complications with neuter) that I decided to socialize.

I am confident that with patience, persistence, and the right methods, the majority of mature ferals probably could be socialized to varying degrees of success (issues of adoptability and practicality being an entirely different matter), but a cat with the degree of independence, aggression, and persistent lack of interest in positive human contact seen in the above case would almost certainly have been better off staying where he was (neutered and vaccinated, of course). Unfortunately, sometimes what is ideal and what is feasible just aren't one and the same.

Props to you on the TNR! 👍

To avoid hijacking this thread, I'll throw in a timely cat-related rant of my own: otherwise reputable organizations who stubbornly and authoritatively insist that true ferals absoutely cannot be socialized past some arbitrary cutoff point (generally somewhere between 5 and 12 weeks) are a big pet-related pet peeve of mine. No. No, no, no, no, no. Bad organizations. Bad, bad. Earlier is better, but age alone guarantees neither failure nor success. We've had more than one client in tears when the vet offered up a projected age for the (very receptive) kittens they'd trapped and were hoping to keep because they were "a week too late" according to X group. No.

[/end rant. 😉]
 
Dear car,

Please stop falling apart. Two weeks ago, you were leaking oil, so I had to get an extremely costly part replaced. Today, I get home and, in the three-minute drive from the wildlife rehab center to my house, somehow you managed to lose one of your hubcaps. I'm not sure how that happened, because it's the wheel on the driver's side and I've never bumped the wheels on the driver's side (the other side is a different story--those hubcaps are a scratched up mess from when I first got the car), so it shouldn't have some loose or anything. And on top of that, shortly before said oil leak, the battery failed whatever test the mechanics do so I had to get you a new one of those.

Just work correctly! That's all I ask! I don't really want to be stranded somewhere when I should be at school/work/whatever.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.
 
Ausheya said:
Dear car,

Please stop falling apart. Two weeks ago, you were leaking oil, so I had to get an extremely costly part replaced. Today, I get home and, in the three-minute drive from the wildlife rehab center to my house, somehow you managed to lose one of your hubcaps. I'm not sure how that happened, because it's the wheel on the driver's side and I've never bumped the wheels on the driver's side (the other side is a different story--those hubcaps are a scratched up mess from when I first got the car), so it shouldn't have some loose or anything. And on top of that, shortly before said oil leak, the battery failed whatever test the mechanics do so I had to get you a new one of those.

Just work correctly! That's all I ask! I don't really want to be stranded somewhere when I should be at school/work/whatever.

Thanks in advance for your consideration.
Click to expand...


But, despite all its issues, apparently your car can read the SDN forum, so that's pretty cool! :d
 
:laugh: My car has many hidden talents. And someday, maybe people will be able to access the internet through cars and cars will get artificial intelligence and be able to access the internet themselves and she'll read my post and feel bad for stressing me out.

Yayyy for run-on sentences!
 
I've been trying to work on my thesis since December 22nd. But the databases where I search for journal articles have been down since December 22nd... and are still down. I'm headed to the university to see if they work there... but I'm deathly afraid... if my supervisor finds out that I got little done, he's going to flip. I sent him an email a couple of days after I noticed the databases down and... no response... he was on vacation, but he said he would respond.

Google scholar and google found me one book and two articles... and that's it. I tried.

I am sooo stressed out now.
 
scarcelyheard said:
I've been trying to work on my thesis since December 22nd. But the databases where I search for journal articles have been down since December 22nd... and are still down. I'm headed to the university to see if they work there... but I'm deathly afraid... if my supervisor finds out that I got little done, he's going to flip. I sent him an email a couple of days after I noticed the databases down and... no response... he was on vacation, but he said he would respond.

Google scholar and google found me one book and two articles... and that's it. I tried.

I am sooo stressed out now.
Click to expand...

How about pubmed? That's up and running
 
Sweeet... my friend recommended Science Direct, but the articles that came up in my searches were waaay too specific. This looks a little better...

I should have came on here and ranted about this two weeks ago lol.

I'm quite partial to Web of Science. If I wanted a general paper on the subject, all I'd have to do is click "review" or list the papers based on which has the most cites. I am getting pretty tired of searching for papers on "behavior", getting only papers on Schistosoma mansoni, and if I found a paper in the references that sounded good, I would have had to buy it to see it.
 
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I've heard of it. I just haven't used it since high school... so I kind of forgot it existed.

That's why I emailed my prof, told some of my friends and ranted on FB... because if they knew it existed, they would have told me and I would have been in bliss... for the past three years, all I've been using is Academic Search Premier, Web of Science and Google Scholar and didn't really have to venture elsewhere 😕 So, when I couldn't log on to the databases, my first instinct was to google and 95% of the papers that came up, I had to purchase to see. And I couldn't order them from one of the libraries in the region without my prof's log-in information.

Blarg...

On the plus side, I got my data organized and processed while I was home 🙄
 
New way to freak out: have two energy drinks (and I mean big ones) and then take the GRE. YOW! 😱

I gotta cut back on the caffeine. Score didn't suffer much but I think I aged a few years in a few short hours.
 
AuRevoirFinance said:
New way to freak out: have two energy drinks (and I mean big ones) and then take the GRE. YOW! 😱

I gotta cut back on the caffeine. Score didn't suffer much but I think I aged a few years in a few short hours.
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I know how you feel!

Never try a new type of energy drink before a final exam.
I tried a new brand of energy shot before an exam once... almost put me to sleep 🙄
 
Dear internship programs:

You should not need an official transcript from me when I am simply applying to your program. That is over $12 per program for me to send them out - since I'm applying to over a dozen internships, it is really frustrating and becomes a decent financial drain. Have some respect for students who don't have mom & dad footing the financial bills and simply request official ones after acceptance.

Thanks!

- Trilt
😡
 
I spent all night sitting on the couch tonight, exhausted from work, rejection letters, and arguing with the boyfriend. And every so often I'd go "What the HELL why do I keep smelling cat pee? I swear to god I will kill the cats if one of them peed in here."

And then I realized it was me. Because a cat peed on me today.

You are the only people who will understand.
 
AuRevoirFinance said:
New way to freak out: have two energy drinks (and I mean big ones) and then take the GRE. YOW! 😱

I gotta cut back on the caffeine. Score didn't suffer much but I think I aged a few years in a few short hours.
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So...it went well??? 🙂
 
Whyevernot55 said:
I spent all night sitting on the couch tonight, exhausted from work, rejection letters, and arguing with the boyfriend. And every so often I'd go "What the HELL why do I keep smelling cat pee? I swear to god I will kill the cats if one of them peed in here."

And then I realized it was me. Because a cat peed on me today.

You are the only people who will understand.
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I mostly do this with horse smell. "This isn't my barn jacket, WHY do I smell horse!?" only to realize it's my gloves, or jeans, or shoes or something. Everything I own ends up smelling like horse eventually.
 
Coquette22 said:
I mostly do this with horse smell. "This isn't my barn jacket, WHY do I smell horse!?" only to realize it's my gloves, or jeans, or shoes or something. Everything I own ends up smelling like horse eventually.
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And that's a BAD thing? 😉
 
Whyevernot55 said:
I spent all night sitting on the couch tonight, exhausted from work, rejection letters, and arguing with the boyfriend. And every so often I'd go "What the HELL why do I keep smelling cat pee? I swear to god I will kill the cats if one of them peed in here."

And then I realized it was me. Because a cat peed on me today.

You are the only people who will understand.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I was walking my dog today, and wondered why the air/grass smelled like cat pee. But that didn't make sense. Eventually realized it was me. We are eternally stained with cat pee. Yum. 😀
 
Whyevernot55 said:
I spent all night sitting on the couch tonight, exhausted from work, rejection letters, and arguing with the boyfriend. And every so often I'd go "What the HELL why do I keep smelling cat pee? I swear to god I will kill the cats if one of them peed in here."

And then I realized it was me. Because a cat peed on me today.

You are the only people who will understand.
Click to expand...

I came home from the clinic one day last week and my mom straight up told me I smelled like anal gland juice. Thanks mom.
 
My mom must have the most sensitive nose in the world. If I was shadowing and haven't even touched an animal, she wrinkles her nose up and makes these comments about how I really need to shower.

It's worse than that... she gets after me sometimes for using the bathroom right after I've been asleep for 9 hours. She's a nurse at a nursing home... yet, yet she curls her nose up and makes comments on how my pee smells. Now all of the bathrooms in the house are equipped with concentrated air fresheners 🙄
 
My boss is driving me nuts and must have made the New Years' Resolution to make my day miserable every day I have to be near him....

:help:

Soooooooo tempting to quit my job and get some part time job at a clinic in Columbus till school starts......

...if only I didn't like my paycheck so much. 😡
 
Alright. Tomorrow is perhaps the second most important day of the year when it comes to my job and I think my SO's kids gave me strep (throat is starting to feel sore and the little white patches are starting to appear in my throat...). Add to that my doctor is completely booked here and can't see me today.

:uhno:
 
I can't sleep anymore because I'm fretting over hearing from VMRCVM (after deciding its where I really want to end up). I've taken a shot of Nyquil to put me to sleep after flopping around for hours the past two nights. This can't go on any longer. I need to hear before my vacation or I will NOT enjoy it. Good news or bad, I want to know NOW.

Insert Nyquilgulpingflailinginbedpullinghairout smiley here 😡
 
My cat has been missing since Monday. 🙁 It isn't like him to not come home when we call him.
 
squibby said:
My cat has been missing since Monday. 🙁 It isn't like him to not come home when we call him.
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Really hope he surfaces soon. I've had cats go into hiding for a few days (back when we still had outdoor cats) before showing up again. Even fixed males seem to like occasional jaunts.
 
Thanks. I just upgraded my homeagain account so they will send fliers to everyone and their mother. About to head out to post fliers around the neighborhood.
 
squibby said:
Thanks. I just upgraded my homeagain account so they will send fliers to everyone and their mother. About to head out to post fliers around the neighborhood.
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Man, what is it with missing animals around SDN lately? =( I really hope you find him squibby.
 
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