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Cake day: July 9th, 2023

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  • When offering up advice in public places I sometimes include options that won’t work in a specific situation but might apply to the few dozen or thousand that might read it. That’s why I specifically mentioned that that probably won’t work in this case. And I stress “probably” because I had a “blind” cat that could see a laser. The first time I lured her into the bedroom with a laser my then girlfriend, now wife, started crying because this cat had previously only detected sun vs shadow and she wasn’t even entirely sure that was not at sensing heat thing.


  • I’d avoid coddling too much. One tool I found that helps cats get along is the laser pointer. They both get so focused on that that they kind of forget that they’re in each other’s space trying to get it at the same time. Once they realize that they can be in the same space at the same time, without that hostility they tend to get along a lot better.†

    It may not work in this situation because of the older cats health issues. But generally the closer you can keep them without any risk of attack, the faster they adopt each other or at least tolerate each other.

    † sometimes I wonder if cats are soothed by hunting and exude some kind of smell that disarms other cats.


  • This is a tough one. When I find out someone has a 13 year old cat or dog I gently tell them that they need a second pet and they need it now. Because statistically in one to 6 years they will come home to an empty house and their soul is going to break when their buddy of more than a decade isn’t there.

    You have a cat in declining health. It isn’t 100% possible to tell if their new issues are because of the kitten or if these were things that were going to happen anyway and the kitten’s arrival is just coincidence.

    All joining of a new cat to an established cat house is going to be rocky for a bit. I foster ferals for the local county shelter and SPCA and tame them up so they can be adopted. I have mean nasty cats show up and piss off the locals every month. But after a few days everything settles out and they all get used to each other because there is plenty of food they don’t need to fight over and another room they can go to.

    Except Junko. She is our 8 year old and still wants to be angry around cats that have been here one year less than her. Because she is mean. If I had the money I’d get her Prozac to see if it helps.

    And that’s where your next step is. Your senior cat needs a vet visit. Let’s check their weight and everything else to see if they are getting enough nutrition. Is some medication to chill them out an option for them?

    Do they have a spot in the house that is just theirs? Is the kitten making an effort to stay way or are they up in their face trying to make friends?







  • Geese. We got them to cut down on the number of chickens that hawks were taking. They live exclusively on grass so they cost nothing to maintain. We haven’t lost a single hen to hawks in the three years since we got them.

    So that’s all about saving money. Where is the profit? Goose eggs. In the spring they lay eggs that are 5.5 to 7.5 ounces each. Chicken eggs are only 30% yolk. But goose eggs are 50% yolk. A single egg has a yolk almost 3x the size of three chicken eggs. These are worth money as food at $7 each or as hatching eggs for barter with other homesteaders that want geese and have incubators.

    Edit: forgot to add that they are the best lawnmowers ever. They have dramatically cut down how much we need to mow. Which saves fuel and W&T on the mower as well as time.