Very Important Subjects

[rosarugosa]

Well you have certainly been busy! The ceilings in my house are only 7' on the first floor, and 6' at the highest point on the second floor (it's a 1 & 1/2 story cottage) so we are not heating much excess air space either. We do bump our heads a fair bit on the second floor though.
How many cats do you have?

[littlebittybobby]

"A stitch in time, saves Nine" Ha. That's why I shoulda fixed that leak sooner. Hope that helps you some.

[littlebittybobby]

Well you have certainly been busy! The ceilings in my house are only 7' on the first floor, and 6' at the highest point on the second floor (it's a 1 & 1/2 story cottage) so we are not heating much excess air space either. We do bump our heads a fair bit on the second floor though.
How many cats do you have?

Yes, that is low. But, if a person isn't over 6' tall, it should not be a problem. Just don't install a low-hanging ceiling fan, it may pose a hazard. But, yeah--cats. There's an old saying---"you can't have TOO many cats". Have you heard it? Neither have I. Anyway, I know that for me, it would probably be oh--twelve cats. But, I haven't taken a census, lately. I had just a tiny handful o' cats; (some were very old), but then in 2019, a very young boy cat came to my attention when the tenants were evicted from a duplex, and the boy was abandoned. It is his nature to be VERY assertive, and that essentially saved him. His situation was dire; it was winter; he was probly oh-5-6 months old. So, yeah--I rehomed him here. He's one o' them all dark grey cats with very velvety fur. I call 'im fuzzy. He is an indoor-outdoor cat. Then, just two weeks later, a young girl who worked at a restaurant, found a teeny-tiny gray tabby in the parking lot. Now, that's according to her. Anyway, she couldn't keep the baby--and so I took it, along with stuff the girl had purchased for her. This kitten was really teeny weeny itsy-bitsy; the vet estimated 5 weeks! Yup. This kitten took to my old cats like a duck to water and tried nursing every one of them. So, I was feeding that VERY little girl canned science diet all the time and also hill's kitten food to build her up. Well, we were just fine, everybody was getting along until the next few months---time flies, okay? None of them were howling and yowling. I made an appointment to get Fuzzy neutered, as he was that age, by then. The vets here apparently have gotten yuppie-itis, and it's gotten difficult to find one that charges a reasonable price and the one's that DO are backed up for several weeks or months! Didn't used to be that way! $30-50 and a weeks notice would get you in, in time. But, no more. Short story long, I got the boy fixed, and scheduled the teeny-tiny kitten(who had grown a bit, but not much), but by the time I got her in, SHE was expecting! She has been totally house-bound, since I had her. The vet had to look in her files at the time frame for when we neutered Fuzzy, and sure enough--he was canny enough to avail himself of that window of oppotunity. Ha. I started calling my littlebittykitten "Teen Mom". Anyway, she popped just 3 kittens. Two cream tabby males--one marble, one tiger-striped, and the runt is a female most blue w/cream
The boys---especially one of them--are fairly large cats! Larger than the parents--especially Teen Mom. Anyway---she didn't wean them for long past 8 weeks; she nursed them for probably 3 !/2 months. Of course I started them on solid food in a month, but they really liked their mommy cat. I took the mommy and her daughter in and had them spayed, together. Now, it's the brother boys' turn. I let them grow out a bit, and compared to the other cats, they are HEAVY. One is named Monster, and the other is Scratchy. But, they are good boys---approximately 99% of the time. Ha. But, yeah--one of my next projects is a secure fenced cat yard. Though I do let the old, old cats out (& cat daddy) I'm not letting the young ones out in the hood. That would constitute a nuisance, and lower property values to zip. Well, wouldn't it? Ha. As it is, the old ones go across the street and sit on the neigbors' car, and we don't need to be doing that. Ha. So, that's a project on my list. Hope that helps you some.

[littlebittybobby]

102_1368.jpg102_1368.jpgAttachment 4245Attachment 4245Teen Mom

[rosarugosa]

Thanks for taking in those cats and giving them a home, and thanks for sharing their stories. I cannot see your attachments though. I get an "invalid" message.

RE Ceilings: Yes, I love ceiling fans, but not happening here or heads would be rolling! DH is just 6' and I'm a bit shorter.

[littlebittybobby]

Here's something else: So far, that pellet fuel is working out great, as kitty litter. Plus, you can burn it, IF you don't let it get soaked. What I use is a plastic concrete-mixing pan. It has higher sides, for litter kickers. Plus, it holds more. The used litter that you don't burn can be composted, where clay litter is harder to dispose of. Pellets seem to absorb the scents, better, too. So far, so good. Hope that helps you some.

[littlebittybobby]

Okay---here's something else you kids might find beneficial. You know those surplus file cabinets I told you about? Well, your Ammo cans fit right in them! Not that I recommend keeping full cans of ammo in them--that might be a tad too heavy for a file. Though, I spose you would be okay with one partially-full can of ammo in a file drawer. But, what I mean is ammo cans containing other valuables, that weigh less than ammo. Because--I keep my supplements in an ammo can or two, I keep my accessories for various electronic gadgets in ammo cans, and so on. They are sealed up, away from this zurra humidity and bugs. Throwing a few gel paks in an ammo can is not a bad idea. Where to buy ammo cans? Well, used ones pop up here and there, and while they usually are cheaper, you can buy them new at BareWallsMart, as I call the retail giant that ate the country. Now, you can only expect to checkoff a % of the "stuff" you intended to buy at BarewallsMart, because much stuff is out-of-stock, at any given time. Ya, those Walton heirs are neo-socialists, and of course you feel like you're at home in Moscow now, with bare shelves and long lines and surveillance cams and security checks everywhere. See? Anyway, the ammo cans USED to be $10 there, but not any more. Try HF, when they have them on sale. Anyway, you can label them, and file them. Hope that helps you some. Thankk mee. Later.

[rosarugosa]

Here's something else: So far, that pellet fuel is working out great, as kitty litter. Plus, you can burn it, IF you don't let it get soaked. What I use is a plastic concrete-mixing pan. It has higher sides, for litter kickers. Plus, it holds more. The used litter that you don't burn can be composted, where clay litter is harder to dispose of. Pellets seem to absorb the scents, better, too. So far, so good. Hope that helps you some.

Doesn't it smell terrible? I mean when you burn the used litter/pellets.

[littlebittybobby]

Are you saying I might be lowering property values, in my 'hood? Ha. Just kidding. Which reminds me of a true story. Well, it was in the local paper about 25 years ago. So, who knows if it's true. Anyway, there was a funeral home located next to residences. The business had been built on the site of two homes that were razed to do so. Anyway, at some point the funeral home added a crematorium to their "body shop" facility, and then this resulted in a lawsuit by several neighbors who claimed they could smell dead bodies burning at the facility. Well, their complaints triggered an investigation by the city or county, and other experts were called in by the defense lawyers representing the home, to present evidence. Well, the judge found for the defense(funeral home), because the investigators found that the plaintiffs were opposed to cremation on religois grounds; and that the odor was emanating from the Burger King located further away, and not the stack at the funeral home. What was my point? Ummmmmm. To address your quession more directly, no, not really. It seems to decrease the odor, all-in-all. If the pellets have turned to sawdust, I don't burn them, they go on the compost. But, I scoop the pn, and dump used pellets in the heat stove, and I don't detect much odor. That said, if you have a wood stove that is smoldering(not fully combusting), it will emit smoke, no matter what you burn. But, in my case, as long as I have a hot fire, I can add used litter, waste and all, as long as it isn't soaked and the pellets crumbled into sawdust. Going back to my anecdotes, a lot of it depends on your neighbors perceptions, right or wrong, and lots of people burn yard waste and occasionally, some trash, out here. So, all little smoke won't cause a panic. But, if you make sure, like I said, the pellets havent gotten soggy, It'll burn well.
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[rosarugosa]

Interesting, and that is hilarious about the Burger King. I wasn't even thinking about your neighbors; I was thinking about within your home.