#Cat Spraying Poop

[bunnyb34r]

So I FINALLY found out how landscapers/groundskeepers water outside flowers/shrubs when theres no hose/a hose would be such a fucking pain

They have a big green canister of water that they fill up and then wheel around like a portable hose

Now I knew that they had a big green canister but I thought that they were all spraying fertilizer 😅

How did I find out?

I was the only fucking deer in the clearing and a manager needed someone to water the plants

Took me 30 min and the help of 3 fucking people trying to figure that shit out

And clothing looks like shit and we might get a special somebody coming this week (: but sure let's pull people from clothing (:

[stormcrow513]

Hey been awhile,

Around a year ago I wrote a vent post about how the crappy neighbors were moving out and king fuckface decided to take one last crap on us,

He'd had some guy mow down all their weeds then he walked around spraying poison aka weed killer all over the whole property,

which do to dickery and bribes to town counsel might as well be planted in my backyard,

The only space I can let my dogs pee,

I am so fucking sensitive to poison I got sick, ma got sick all my dogs were sick,

Bailey my oldest beautiful girl looked like it was going to kill her,

I ranted on here poured my grief and hate out,

Some of y'all saw me sent love back to me and prayers for my Bae,

And she started kicking it she was recovering,

I updated y'all and you were glad to hear it,

one of you even dm'd me later to ask if she was still recovering and I'd been able to reply a happy positive,

Which is why I felt like I had to come on here and let you know

Bailey died today,

And to thank you again for those prayers

I got one more year with her,

She was so amazing she stole one of my mas stuffed bears after like a day with us and would suck on it, she then stole two more, and would not except any additional bears we tried to give her, nope those were here three she stole them herself,

I taught her to jump into my arms,

She watched me squint at the TV and then started squinting her eyes at me,

She would get pissed off if you called her a dog, she was not a dirty dog she was a fur person

I could go on forever,

She was a tough fucking bitch we had to put her down because she absolutely refused to go,

she was fighting death every step,

I'm sure Deaths down a few fingers dragging her across the rainbow bridge while she claws and screams every obscenity I ever taught her,

While I have you,

some of you might remember me talking about the three sibling cats I'd gotten as kittens how the brother Ares had passed in 2019 then Shy decided to go out on the same day as the queen as was Shy right little Drama Queen,

Then it was just Mittens and she started to go down hill was losing interest in food so we got her a kitty I named Circe,

Well Mittens spited herself back to health cause fuck you kitten, and managed kept going through to the beginning of this year and then she just couldn't go on, she curled up in the worst fucking spot so I had to frag her body out after feeling that she was gone,

Like I said absolutely a spiteful shit,

I miss her so much, she loved being held like a baby, she acted more like a dog then a cat, she liked to sit on my shoulder, I have a scar on my shoulder where she got a claw stuck in it one time,

and she loved it when I had long hair shed get up high behind me after I'd showered and comb my hair with her claws,

As I was showering off the pee and poop after cleaning up,

I thought about writing this and ending it here with some kinda sign off,

but as I sat there my mind turning with the sear bullshit that not just this week but my entire fucking life's been,

My brain turned and raged,

You know I love animals way more then I like humans, while I do feel love and empathy towards humanity there are days like today where it's a hard thing and an easy thing,

because I read about Neil Gaiman sexualy assaulting women yesterday which makes me so sick,

But the vet that put down Bailey was so fucking kind,

I joke to people that I was raised by dogs,

It's not really a joke,

My ma has been the only human to truly love me,

My sperm donor Dennis is an absolute abusive joke of a human being whose still fucking alive and I have to live with him

My oldest sister is dead and while I think she loved me a bit she never watched out for me

And my second sister beat me, raped me, gaslit me fucking constantly, the real deal not the way people incorrectly use that word, and almost killed me a lot,

Ma worked constantly, still does, she is only now (as I'm beginning to talk about things) finding out just how often I was left to my own supervision,

But Lady and Tramp

And yes we had two dogs named Lady (German shepherd) and Tramp (husky/wolf)

They, took care of me Tramp even more reared me like I was his own,

I tussled and played with their puppies, grew up beside them

Watched Lady die when I was 7,

Rusty one of their babies my big brother ma and I buried together when I was 5 After Dennis threw rat poison around the house to kill the mice and killed Rusty

I watched Corky die and then Trampy and Sammy and then Rusty and Sammy's boy Socks

They were my family

Every dog and cat I've had has been my family,

And thinking about them all today

Thinking about this world we're all living in,

Something I want to say

There is no overarching Justice

No grand moment where evil men or women are struck down by righteous gods

Maybe that shit happened or maybe they were stories I don't fucking know I wasn't alive back then I'm alive now

And now, there are no saviors

There is just me, just you

And the choices we make

Martin Luther King Jr said something about how the long arch of history bends towards justice,

But he and people like him bent it towards justice with their bare hands and their very lives,

All we have achieved for justice for equality have been done by mortal living hands

And we cannot fucking give up

Don't listen to those people telling you it's hopeless that the world is evil

The world is beautiful

The stars, the rainbows, the thunder and lightning, the frogs so small they can sit on a finger nail, the mountains, mouse, geese, the castles and pyramids the things our ancestors created, ect

Hell the bit of plastic and wires and weird rock you are reading this on, isn't that cool,

Yeah there's downsides to it we need to figure out how to do it better,

We need to figure out how to do it better.

All of it.

And we will,

because we always do.

So don't listen to the people that say to give up that it's to late,

Just because they've given up doesn't mean you have to

I'm hurting I'm going to hurt for the rest of my life,

But I would not take a minute of it back not a moment,

My life has been full of pain but also full of love,

I wanted to die for a time, a long time,

But there is so much in this world to love,

I want to live,

I want to keep falling in love over and over again,

In love with animals,

the ones I adopted into my family

ones a half a world away,

Fucking platypus the most animal to animal,

The rain every fucking time it hits my roof or my head,

I hope I'll get a chance to fall in love romantically one day but I'm ok if I don't there's so much else to love,

And I'm going to fight The Fight for the rest of my life because all these things I love are worth fighting for,

I'm not in a position right now to do the things I want to but,

I can do some things,

I can do ofwoodandbones lost dog spell to help strangers get their lost pets back, which I've successfully done more then once,

I collect cans and recycle

I pour stale water out on plants rather then down the drain,

I planted a bunch of plants in my backyard bees fucking love

I vote, I vote smart and don't throw my vote away for a false sense of moral superiority,

So

Find something to love to love it hard and do what you can to protect it,

Doesn't matter what,

Everything matters,

Love shit, protect it,

Don't give up,

To all y'all who are my allies in The Fight,

May the great Titan Witch light your way, may you find your path or make one, may you love and be loved, may your body be strong enough to hold your spirit

[ooklet]

playing musical cone with the beast of malcontent at this ungodly hour of 6:11am

we had to get him a new, smaller litter box that can fit in the dog crate in which he convalesces, but the tray is light and tips over easily, especially while he is wearing the cone because it obscures his vision. & also he's a brick shithouse of a cat even in his weakened state and his lowest speed can best be described as a brisk trundle. when coned, he's basically like a snowplow in reverse, spraying litter everywhere while he turns around and around in circles, scratching pointlessly at the plastic bottom of the box for minutes on end

so

we came up with a system that worked for approximately a day and a half in which he would break his stoicism for exactly one (1) piteous meow, letting me know he needs the box. I bring it to him, place it in his crate, and remove his cone. thus, he is free to perform the dumbass dance required to jog his bladder/bowels without bonking his cone into the sides of the crate and knocking the box over. he uses the box, is complimented on his good job, box is removed, cone goes back on.

but what if, his wretched little think-meat pondered, what if joyous freedom from the cone could stretch on indefinitely? he can't go unsupervised without the cone, he knows this, but he also knows that we really really don't want him to poop in the crate, and are thus beholden to his demands.

ergo, ipso facto & therefore, if he does his box meow but doesn't use the box, he can continue to go coneless while i wait for him to complete the business that he has no intention of conducting, until i get fed up and take away the box and try to go back to sleep, only for him to meow ever so softly, ever so plaintively, prompting me to roll miserably out of bed and begin the process all again. he has discovered the infinite money glitch of conelessness. he can cry wolf to his heart's content, because there is no wolf, only an unsupervised poop and the risk of infection if it gets on his incision. which would be our problem, not his.

he is so smart but only in service of being so so so so so so so so so so so SO stupid

[arthropodboy]

Help save the adorable Miss Margles

A friend of mine from High School is trying to save his new senior kitties life, but he doesn't have the funds. I thought I'd try sharing this here because Tumblr is the only place I have even a little bit of reach.

Donations and/or reblogs would be greatly appreciated

"Hello! My name is Jay and I recently adopted Margles back in the beginning of July. This senior girlie was found wandering around downtown Tacoma in really horrible condition. When she was found, she was severely underweight, dehydrated, and seemed to be ill - it was very clear that someone had dumped her, or maybe everything went wrong and she ended up alone long enough to deteriorate on the street. My homie MJ fostered her for a while until I was able to adopt her!

Despite her condition, she is one of the most affectionate and trusting cats I've met in a long time, and after bringing her home she loved hopping into bed with me in the morning and licking my face to wake me up to feed her. She also absolutely loves getting brushed/groomed. She has quickly become good buddies with Tommy as well (our other senior kitty) who had been showing signs of wanting a companion before we got her.

This past month has been a lot of back and forth to the emergency vet clinic and our primary vet clinic as we've tried to figure out what's going on with her. She has been having bloody vaginal discharge, been unable to get comfortable, urinating inappropriately, vomiting daily, has had a steadily declining appetite, and could never seem to get enough water. We treated her for a UTI, however her symptoms returned as soon as her course of antibiotics finished.

However, we finally were able to figure out what's going on with her!! She has a severe urinary tract infection with two different types of bacteria that require a longer course of special antibiotics. Miss Margles was also diagnosed with kidney disease, pancreatitis, low potassium, and low phosphate. She is also severely underweight at 4.5lbs (but has been steadily gaining weight since coming to us). Thankfully, all of these conditions are easily manageable through treatment, medication, and supplements, and Meegles should be able to recover and live out her golden years in comfort with Tommy after we get her balanced out.

Although, as someone who is currently working paycheck to paycheck at minimum wage, the bills are quickly becoming more than I can handle.

With appointments averaging around $650, recurring medications about half of that, starting a specialized kidney diet, and the costs of supplements + daily fluid therapy (and of course urine + vomit cleaning spray...) I've reached a point where I've decided to seek out financial support in mutual aid. I am very hopeful that she will make a recovery from her current condition, but I fear that if these bills become too much I will have to try to find her a new home, which is already hard enough for senior kitties, let alone a high medical needs senior cat. I don't want to have to put her through a whole life transition again; especially since I have veterinary assistant experience and work in the animal care field, and am confident with giving her specialized care in my daily routine.

I am currently giving her 4 medications a day + 2 supplements, and subcutaneous fluid therapy once or twice daily. She is also getting monthly Solensia injections for her severe arthritis due to having very low muscle/fat content. Due to the sedative effects of some of these medications, Margles is experiencing extreme muscle weakness and needs assistance getting to the litterbox in time, grooming herself after eating or peeing/pooping, and will only eat via spoon feeding for now. Its quickly become a labor of love, and I know that Margles would be better off remaining in my care as she rides out her golden years.

Any financial support for her medical needs to ensure that she gets to remain in my care would be greatly appreciated! Even like $5 goes a long way. The goal amount is based on what I've spent so far and am estimated to be spending on the next follow up appointment. I will return to working at a vet clinic soon (I am currently working with zoo animals) and should hopefully get some discounts for her lifelong fluid therapy, arthritis injections, kidney disease management, and senior wellness exams in the future, so this is just to help us through the next few visits. Times are rough for us all right now, if you aren't able to donate please boost if you can!

Thanks for taking the time to read ‍⬛ I will post updates as they come

- Jay"

[pokemonshelterstories]

i wish it hadent come to this, but im desperate. Usually youd just be able to look up "how to get meowth to stop peeing on curtians" and buy some repel spray and call it a day but this has been plauging me for months now. How do i get my meowth to stop shitting in the bathtub??????? she has a clean litterbox, she uses it frequenty, she dosent seem to have any issues with it, and yet every two to three weeks ill head into the bathroom to find a fat shit. ITS NOT EVEN FREQUENT EITHER??? ITS NOT A DAILY PROBLEM??? she just wakes up some days and goes "yeah ill poop in here today". i cant exatly use repels in the tub because i need to use it, and her box has never been in this room. any tips on how to get her to STOP SHITTING IN MY BATHTUB???? am i just doomed to deal with this for all of eternity??? (((sincerely someone whos irl cat is doing this send help-)))

//guys, please don't send me asks like this. if your pet is having a real behavioral or medical issue, the correct response isn't to pokemonify it and send it to an askblog. i am not a veterinarian. i have never seen your animal. i cannot diagnose whatever issue is going on, nor would it be ethical for me to try to. improper bowel elimination in cats can be caused from anything ranging from "the litterbox smelled bad that day" to a medical issue causing pain during defecation. take your animal to a vet.

[shewhoeatssand]

WHY TG BOYS ARE SHIT BOYFRIENDS

I come up with the best topics for posts

Hide 🌞 : axe body spray, probably loves Kaneki more than you, has nicknamed your boobs, has also nicknamed Kaneki’s boobs

Shuu 💐 : introduces you to his entire extended family after less than a month, spams you if he hasn’t heard from you in a week, his house is so so big you will get lost in it very fast (not his fault but still annoying)

Suzuya 🔫 : thinks shoplifting 10 bags of candy is a good date idea, has killed someone in front of you and then desperately tried to explain why it was actually okay because the guy was wearing crocs

Marude 🏍 : refuses to use public transport after having his bike stolen, won’t stop talking about how much he misses his bike, yell-y

Shinohara 😊 : prints out minion memes and shows them to you

Nishiki 🦎 : is ginger, immediately wants to make out with you and have hot ghoul sex after eating a raw lung, easily irritated

Ayato (:re) 🤬 : doesn’t know what a period is and thinks you’re making it up, bullies people on roblox, can be so rude sometimes

Kaneki (pre aogiri) 🥺 : describes everything in incredible detail when he doesn’t like something, will make his best attempt to be talking to you all the time (even when you are pooping) and thinks you hate him if you ask to be left alone, scarily average dick

Kaneki (post aogiri) 🐙 : sleeps on top of you and makes you so sweaty, won’t shut up about fitness and getting stronger, wears a mask with a smile for hours at a time, probably ghosting you by this point tbh (there’s a lot wrong with him so I might make a separate post about why he sucks)

Yoshimura ☕️ : really wholesome, but can’t be dated because a) I’d assume you’re not a boomer b) can’t take hints and c) misses Ukina ;-;

Koma 👹 : he’s actually pretty great and very fun but he brags about how good his coffee is and also about anything else he can think of

Uta 🎭 : eats people’s eyes in front of you and says “it’s okay because they aren’t real, they’re halloween decorations!”, also ate a plastic spider to prove this to you, mind games, spooks you from behind the corner all the time and it gives you anxiety

Amon ✝️ : refuses to kiss with tongue or see you naked until marriage, takes up too much space on the bed, keeps doing long ass speeches about “doing what is right” after killing a guy with a wife and 3 kids

Shikorae 🫠 : doesn’t sit still long enough to have a conversation that makes any sense whatsoever, has so many issues to the point where idk if you’d even be able to befriend him unless it’s by feeding him coffee grounds

Takizawa (pre :re) 🥺: makes everything a competition, disney kid, insists that you have a glass of milk every day

Takizawa (post :re) 🦉: never sleeps, an actual cat, bites your hand, smelly, insists that you have a glass of milk every day

Urie 😶 : first name is “cookie”, punches a hole in the wall when he doesn’t get an award after a raid and someone else does, hides important stuff from you

Shirazu 🦈 : sooooo cool but he can’t spell so you have to edit all his emails for him

Naki 😎 : loud while playing fortnite battle royale, also screams while playing any horror games but insists he should keep playing them, his reading capabilities have the power to instantly kill a literature major

Hanbee 🎩 : unironically loves licorice, absurd fashion, also eats the licorice with a super fancy fork kept in a little fork bag he carries everywhere labeled “the licorice suitcase”

Tatara 🤯 : is always busy so you can’t spend much time together, one time a cat meowed at him and he meowed back in the most serious voice, penis is actually too big to fit inside 😔

Mutsuki 😇 (before the insane shit happened): you have to kill all the spiders, very clingy and has similar issues to pre-aogiri Kaneki, puts cinnamon on a lot of things that don’t really need cinnamon

Arima 🌨 : cold, you’ll never truly know about him, not very open, a general mystery to the point where you don’t even know if he’s actually your boyfriend

Haise 🐼 : BAD PUNS, insists that he spends every afternoon and evening with you instead of doing his work so he ends up doing it super late into the night and gets tired in the morning, too easy to manipulate and too eager to please (kind of an issue with all the Kanekis really), sometimes he talks to the wall or makes a sour face for no reason

~~~~ BONUS ~~~~

Yamori 🕺 : sadistic torturer (obvious part), his farts smell so incredibly bad that you have to evacuate the room while he wonders wtf is going on (not so obvious), unfixable

OS! Kaneki 😎 : walks around shirtless in winter, sometimes he doesn’t even wear pants, touches your boobs randomly and it gets old real fast

[slut4thebroken]

Yo babe are you doing ok? You don’t owe an explanation for absence obviously, just checking in to make sure it’s not about something bad. Hope you’re doing well. :)

Thanks for asking pookie����🫶 I’ve just been going through a lot (for me lmao). My bathroom has had ants for several weeks now and I’ve started seeing a couple in my room which is right next to the bathroom. I’ve also been seeing those tiny spiders on my windowsill and two nights ago I saw a pincher bug???? Anyway Sunday night I noticed a bite on my leg and that shit hurt so fucking bad😭 and the red circle around it was like 1.5 inches which freaked me out enough to email my doctor and as if I should come in skfhsk. Then on Monday I got a bite on my arm🙃 yesterday the bite on my thigh was getting way better (as in the red circle around the bite was more pink now and it didn’t hurt as much) BUT… that second bite was my breaking point lmao so I decided Monday night that I was going to go to my parents house (2 hours away) until pest control comes next Monday. So I spent basically all of Tuesday packing shit, pulling the furniture away from the walls for when they come spray, and getting my cat ready😭 And idk if anyone remembers the last time I drove with my cat to my parents house but he is HORRIBLE in the car💀 and recently he’s had diarrhea. So I literally had to stop three fucking times on the way out here because he pooped the first time, then the next two times were just like… liquid😭😭😭 I ended up getting here a little before 2 am and I was so tired that I didn’t even eat and I could barely go on my phone for longer than 10 min lol.

Anyway uhh I do have to spend time with my family while I’m out here but since they’re working during the day I have a lot of time to myself and I’m not as stressed anymore😭 I’ve been trying to write but idk I’m just really stuggling to find motivation and it’s so fucking annoying

[no-stupid-questions-official]

how do i get the family cats to stop pooping in the upstairs hallway??? their litter box is all the way in the kitchen and theres nothing upstairs except for my room, which is always closed, so theyre going out of their way to do it

their litter box is fine, its never excessively dirty. none of them are sick, this has been a consistent issue. i have a weak stomach so i hate having to pick up after them despite doing everything i can to deter them!! ive recently tried spraying vinegar water bc i read cats dont like the smell to no avail

i cant put anything at the base of the stairs bc they can slip thru the railing at the side. im not sure how to block off the stairs without inconveniencing myself in the process, without buying smth specifically to block it off like a doorway net but my parents are reluctant to buy such a thing

-

[waspsinmybathroom]

I wrote a story today. It’s called “Wasps in my Bathroom”

———

Everything is fine. Everything is normal. You wake up, ready to face the day. You head to the bathroom to wash off the sweat of the hot desert night. You freeze. There’s a wasp on the wall.

No big deal, you think to yourself. It’s just a paper wasp. She looks pretty chill. It’s a simple process to trap the wasp and let it outside. You move on with your day.

You wake up the next morning, and head to the bathroom to brush your teeth.

There’s a wasp on the wall.

Is it the same wasp? It doesn’t feel like the same wasp. With a resigned sigh, you trap this one too, and let it outside.

You wake up the next morning, and head to the bathroom to pee. You aren’t surprised to see a solitary wasp sitting on the wall. This has become irritating. You trap the wasp, and let it outside.

On the fourth day, you call the apartment complex. Something has to be done, you say over the voicemail box. Every morning you wake up to a new wasp in your bathroom and it’s beginning to affect your daily life. You just want to poop in peace. This morning, you were halfway through your shower before you noticed the wasp calmly tucked in between the clear curtain liner and the shower curtain. A thin layer of plastic stands alone, protecting your vulnerably fleshy form from the wasp that is undoubtedly watching you. You live every day with the anxious expectation that there is going to be a wasp in the bathroom. You think they’re getting in through the vent.

The next morning you wake up. You head to the bathroom, ready to face the new wasp.

There is no wasp.

For a week, you walk around, tense, ready for a wasp to show up in your bathroom. After a week, there is a knock on your door. It’s the pest control man. He is here about the wasps. There are no more wasps, you tell him. You haven’t seen a wasp in a week. He nods, reluctant to spray heavy duty chemicals around you and your cats if there are no wasps to treat. He tells you he is here every Thursday, and to call him if you see another wasp. He leaves. His name was Steve.

It’s Saturday. You wake up, ready to start your day. You wake and bake, and then spend several minutes cleaning out the tub in anticipation of a nice long shower. You spray it down with pine sol, let that sit, scrub it out, and rinse. You turn on the water to allow it to heat up. You carelessly fling the shower curtain closed, turning to the sink to brush your teeth while the water grows hot.

You turn back to the shower. There’s a wasp on the curtain.

You’re not sure how you didn’t crush it when you grabbed the curtain to open it. The sudden movement seems to have alerted the wasp, but it remains still. You are grateful that you haven’t taken off your clothes. You stare at the wasp, baked out of your mind.

The wasp stares back.

You fetch your trapping tools, and return. You take one step toward the wasp, and she visibly tenses. You can feel her eyes on you. For several minutes you stand there, western dueling music playing in your head. A tumbleweed blows past the back of your eyes. Instead of a six shooter, you’re armed with a red solo cup and a Christmas card. Your opponent has six arms, and one stinger. You’re so stoned. You can’t deal with this. Trapping a wasp on a flat surface is one thing, but the curtain is flimsy, and the wasp is tucked in a fold. This will be difficult to pull off.

“I’ll be back for you,” you tell the wasp. “I can’t deal with you right now.” You perform some sick acrobatics to turn off the water. Thankfully, the faucet is on the opposite side of the curtain as the wasp. The wasp does not move, but remains tense, watching you.

You have breakfast, lamenting the wasp in your bathroom.

Upon your return, the wasp still has not moved. You grab the cup and the Christmas card and take one step toward the shower curtain. The wasp tenses up. You pause.

After some more olympic acrobatics and careful finagling, you manage to get the shower curtain to unfold so the wasp is presented to you on a relatively flat section of the curtain. You spend several minutes gathering your nerve, and trap it. You let it outside. If you see one more wasp, you’re going to burn the whole place down.

The next morning you wake up. Above the bathroom mirror, you see them.

Three wasps.

———

Im fine its fine Steve will be here on Thursday and the four wasps in my bathroom haven’t threatened me yet and it appears to take more than four wasps to unleash my primal desire for arson

[jyndor]

there's tissues on the bed from the coughing fit

cat staring at me while pooping in the litter box

nasal sprays and dayquil on the bedside table

took an edible to get some sleep

[franki-lew-yo]

Literally all my wildlife encounters (I've never left my country -_-) are all coincidental and intrusive and the exact opposite of 'magical' at all.

When I was a kid my family went to Tahoe a lot to stay in a dinky cabin our dad's family has up there. One summer when we were watching a movie in the livingroom-kitchen, this raccoon starts very quietly opening up the screen door and pawing around inside. I was the first to see it and for some reason I just forgot how to talk so I just pointed and went 'aaaa', 'AAAaaa' at the coon before my parents and sister finally looked over and screamed and the raccoon yeeted back outside.

The greatest sight I ever saw in Yellowstone was being caught driving through a herd of mother bison and their calves, but even that was really accidental.

Also in Yellowstone, while my dad and the rest of a wolf discovery team were outside in the snow trying to see if they could find wolf tracks; I stayed behind in the rv cause I was tired and this adorable coyote came up to it and was casually sniffing around for scraps. It saw me inside and was all "0.0;" but then just kept sniffing. I truly think animals look at our vehicles and homes like they're our 'dens' and they try to scavenge for our 'kills' around them.

In 2014 a bear got stuck in my sister's car in Tahoe and mauled the insides of it (and pooped everywhere) trying to get out. My mom was really stupid and opened up the back for the bear to get out rather than wait for animal control but yep- that was the same car from our childhood that was given to my sister and it was destroyed because bear.

The one time I saw a weasel was on a trail when it was definitely hunting a squirrel.

There is at least one skunk under my mom's house right now and it eats the extra cat food left out for this abandoned cat. I tried getting my stuff ready to take my dog out for a walk and the skunk was just casually eating with it's tail turned up towards me. Terrifying.

Speaking of skunks; in my current complex I used to let Shelby off the leash even at night and that was always a bad idea- because in 2019 while we were coming back in the dark this skunk was sniffing on our stoop and Shelby went right up to it. The skunk didn't 'spray'; it smelled, so I think it had already sprayed something else earlier but it did hiss and charge at us and the whole time I'm screaming for my sister to open the door and help make sure my dog didn't get sprayed or mauled by a skunk but she had her headphones on. The skunk left on it's own but Shelby still thinks she saved the day and got it to leave.

Also (not the same walk) while off the leash, Shelby up and bit-tackled what I thought was another neighborhood cat hiding under a car in the car port, but as it hobbled away from us I realized it was actually a raccoon. My dog up and punked a raccoon and is so damn lucky to not have gotten mauled, but only because the raccoon was surprised that a chihuahua mix had even tried to mess with it.

Before either of these incidents while we were still both living with our mom in the mountains, we used to let Shelby out into our little back yard to go potty in the morning. While we were talking one morning while she was outside, we hear this high-yipping like Shelby was in trouble and we see a baby deer zoom by in the backyard- scared. We open the front door and call for her and Shelby runs up with an openwound-bloody back being followed by an angry female deer. The doe ran away with her fawn the moment it saw us, but still. Shelby got too close/tried to mess with a mother deer and got her back clawed open from it. My gandpa was a vet at the time and he got her stitched up but she seriously had a big seam across her back from her deer attack for a year afterword. If you live in rural areas NEVER let your pets outside.

Also at my mom's we had our compost right outside the door and 'oop: one night this opossum's just foraging through it like it's nothing.

Last summer we had a trip up to Tahoe that was a bust. On the way back getting closer to Santa Cruz, I see what looks like this big ole elk statue in an open field for some reason. I'd seen elk in Yellowstone and grand Teton before but my sister and I presumed elk out in California were extinct until recently. We pass by more and more of these 'statues' unti I suddenly realize they weren't statues at all: we were in the middle of a a reintroduced elk-herd during the beginning of rut. Sadly we did not fight them to get meat for our burgers.

There's always sealions at the Santa Cruz wharf but before covid there used to be a thing where you could go under the docks and see them sealioning (lying around) under the wharf, seperated by just a metal fence. I accidentally slipped my foot into a crack under the fence and I moved it just in time before the sealion near to it lunged out to bite me. Yeah.

Back in 2021 or something I saw what I thought was an escaped canary on the ground, suffering from heat stroke. I didn't want it to get eaten by a cat so I picked it up with my hat, went up to me neighbors who had birds and asked it it was theres. They said no. I brought the bird inside to cool down (Shelby kept trying to eat it), caught it-took it outside and it flew away. Turns out it wasn't a canary. It was a wild passerine bird I still saved from being eaten and brought into my apartment thinking it was a lost pet.

The one time I saw an owl in the wild ever was when one was sitting on a perch near our car on Halloween night 2020. That was cool.

Speaking of 'wild animals that have gotten stuck in my house'; in 2022 TWO DIFFERENT alligator lizards not only somehow snuck into our apartment without me noticing, they also hid under our stove and it took forever to get them to leave.

Two weeks ago Shelby stepped on a garter snake which was trying to get away from us and she didn't even realize until the snake was safely in the bushes from her. Shelby has difficulty grasping that snakes aren't sticks for some reason.

When we lived in a condo complex that had a pool+hot tub for the residents, my sister and I wound go over and swim when it was raining cuz no one else would be in it. While we were in the hot tub the suddenly realize there are all these newts/salamanders around us and a lot of them were trying to hang out in the pool (I guess because it was warm?) or around it. We went diving after and getting them out of the pool because we didn't know how bad clorinated water is for newts and didn't want them getting sick or dried out from it. Also I think it's more than logical to think a newt would be boiled if it jumped in a hot tub. Not an amphibian expert to know 100% but it feels like the right call, y'know? ((if I accidentally hurt or traumatized the newts and didn't know than I'm sorry)).

and finally, there's

that time earlier this month when my sis and I were driving back to my mom's at 11 o'clock and almost hit a full-grown mountain lion with our car. Again; never let your pets out alone if you live in rural areas.

[simply-amelia]

Welcome

Hi my name is Amelia Campbell, I live in Australia. I love pizza 🍕 and my dad is amazing at making it 🍽️ . I am 10 years old and I go to a school filled with fun. Every teacher is nice at our school. I am probably the most clumsiest person in the world 🌍. Just before writing this I walked into the table and banged my knee, OUCH 😓! I have one tabby cat🐈‍⬛ who is a girl turning 3 years old. I love to train her and 💻 research about animals! Tell me if you also love ♥️ animals. A big cat gave birth to 8 kittens under our deck, we took all of them to the vet to get adopted and there was one cat that purred on our laps and did not run away, so we kept her and named her Patty. Comment if you also have a cat. My cat does not like cat beds instead she prefers our chairs, I just sprayed catnip spray that should attract her to the cat bed, she is sniffing it but not going inside 😣. I like nature but hate insects, especially those bloodthirsty mosquitoes 😡. I am a scout in melbourne and I love going on adventures with my group. Christmas 🎄 is my favorite celebration, what's yours? I have been to Greece twice in my life, once this year! I love talking 🗣️ to people and describing how I feel, that's why I began writing blogs. My life is not always interesting although usually there is so much drama at school. Mostly because of 1 girl! I try to stay out of it but I somehow always get involved. I am moving houses and I am trying to make sure some people don't find out, not for any reason , they just don't need to know what I'm up to. Moving on, I’d love to know all your hobby’s i’ll share mine. I love collecting crystals, playing with robots, hanging out with my basketball team, playing basketball, bike riding, reading and writing (which is why I like blogs). I like more things too but you’d be reading for an hour if I continued! I like all coulures, well maybe not brown (brown makes me think of poop). I have a faivroute number, it's 26, all the girls in my family are born on the 26😀! Thankyou for reading.  I will post more

Sunday 15th of October 2023.

[is-the-owl-video-cute]

Since everyone is sending you stuff tonight I might as well vent a little, and maybe ask for advice. I have a cat and live with a roommate who also has a cat. My cat is sweet but uper skittish and basically hides 20 hours of the day, and only comes out for food or water or (rarely) cuddles with me. My roommate's cat has single kitten syndrome and is a nightmare. She poops and pees on the floor, scratches up all the furniture, turns the food and water bowls over 10+ times a day, and plays roughly. Like really, REALLY roughly. Draws blood, leaves puncture wounds roughly. And sees any attempt to shoo her away or run away from her as you playing back. Pulling away doesn't help. Making loud noises don't help. Pushing her or bopping her doesn't help. Spraying water doesn't help. Distracting her with toys doesn't help. If she wants to attack you she will. Not. Stop.

And still, all this I could tolerate if it were just me. But she attacks my cat too. And my poor sweet boy who's afraid of his own shadow now won't even come out to eat or drink or use the litter box. He's hiding in a corner, in his own filth, because she'll sit and watch him for hours on end and attack him if he comes out from under my dresser. And last time I managed to coax him out I noticed he's lost a lot of weight, AND he's got cauliflower ear really badly.

I tried talking to my roommate and asked her if we can't rehome the cat could she at least keep her in her room? So she stops attacking me and my cat? And she said that's not fair, because her cat was here first and it would be cruel to not let her roam every room in her home. I don't have anywhere else to go right now, and I can't afford to move out, and my local vet said it would be a $600 surgery to treat my boy's ear, which I also can't afford. They said it would get better on it's own eventually, but that was almost 2 weeks ago and it's only getting worse. I really, really don't know what to do :(

I’m not qualified to give you an answer on this sadly as I am not a cat behavioralist.

I would see if your roommate wouldn’t mind at least letting your cat stay closed inside your room in the meantime at least, and keep food and water around the house as opposed to just one location. Same with litter boxes and you should have at least three. It seems like a territorial dispute from what you’re describing but again I can’t really analyze through tumblr.

If your roommate refuses to rehome the problem cat however and you can’t move out any time soon, my best long term advice is unfortunately to seek out a new home for your cat. It isn’t ideal, but if the situation doesn’t improve it isn’t fair to make him stay there.

[birds-galore]

Do you have any advice for a complete novice wanting to take on a rescue cockatiel (adult but unknown age)? The zoo I work at has a cockatiel I've bonded with. He was originally surrendered by his owner and one of the keepers decided they wanted him so they took him home but then they got a larger parrot and didn't want him anymore so they gave him back to the zoo. He's VERY affectionate and clingy and loves head scritches but everyone is so busy working he doesn't get the attention he's so clearly craving. I'm debating asking them if I could take him home myself but I've never cared for any form of bird in a domestic setting so I have no idea what I'm getting myself into in terms of cost and care requirements. I do also have a cat but I have a big enough home to keep them separate and still give both enough space. I wouldn't normally consider taking an animal from a zoo but the enclosure he's in isn't heated and a lot of the birds in there have died from the cold recently (management is shit here, privately owned American zoo, go figure 🙄) so I'm a bit worried about him.

I'm sorry to hear that the zoo is mistreating and neglecting their birds! While most animals can acclimate to a range of temperatures, the general rule for cockatiels is to stay within the 65-75 degree range (roughly 18-23 degrees Celsius). Dropping too far below that can lead to weakness, decreased appetite, illness, and death. If you think the cockatiel is in immediate danger from cold exposure, then please relocate them to a warmer habitat ASAP. Even if you decide you cannot care for the bird long-term, it is much better for them to be safe than dead as you search for a suitable home, whether that home is with you or someone else.

Here are the basics for cockatiel care:

Make sure you have a flight cage. My local avian rescue lists the absolute minimum requirements as: 24″L x 20"W x 24″H with ½” bar spacing. Pixel's cage is: 31.1"L x 20.4"W x 52.0"H.

Cockatiels need a minimum of 3 hours a day outside their cage, or with their cage door open. They need more than 3 hours in the company of people, which can mean staying in the same room with them whenever you are home, or relocating their cage so they can be near you.

Make sure you eliminate common household hazards: never run a ceiling fan with your bird out of the cage, cover up windows with blinds or add stickers, make sure there are no open water sources, bowls, toilets, etc, cover up exposed wires, monitor your bird when it is outside the cage. NEVER use teflon cookware, candles, air fresheners, perfumes, and aerosol sprays.

Make sure you have a variety of perches. The general rule is to add 2 or 3 action perches (boings, hammocks, and swings) as well as multiple different textured perches (a flat perch, rope, wood, etc.). Offering only plain dowel rods can cause discomfort and arthritis. Always monitor your bird's interactions with action perches before leaving them alone. DO NOT put fleece blankets or cozy huts in the cage. These are a safety issue.

Add a variety of toys including confetti shredders, woodblocks, cardboard, etc. Make sure all are safe for birds and monitor your bird's interactions with toys before leaving them alone.

Fresh water daily. Sometimes multiple times per day if your bird soils it with food, poop, etc.

Spot clean the cage daily, switch out the cage material (newspaper, liners) weekly.

If you are transitioning your bird's diet, you need to do it slowly. Introduce your bird to new food by incrementally mixing it in with the old food. The healthiest diet is to transition your cockatiel from seeds to pellets. Feel free to message me if you need advice on recommended diets/brands.

Cockatiels enjoy fresh leafy greens. Try to feed spinach, broccoli, kale in addition to the normal diet of seeds/pellets.

Cockatiels need about 10 hours of darkness every night to regulate their hormonal cycles. Consider buying a cage cover. Set a schedule for sleep.

You already mentioned it, but never introduce the bird to your cat or any other predatory animal.

More info on budgeting and disclaimers under the cut!

As for costs, they vary. I can itemize what I pay for Pixel's care (not including boarding expenses or the cost of her travel cage):

$80-100: flight cage & $20 for a cage cover (one time expense)

$30 for perches (one time expense)

$30: for food (roughly every 2-3 months, so ~$120 a year)

$30 for nail trims at the vet every 3 months (again ~$120 a year)

$60 for her annual vet exam

$10 a month for additional toys and perches (it varies, but probably totals around $100 a year).

This breaks down to a one-time expense of roughly $130 for the cage setup, and an annual cost of about $400 per year. You also need extra funds saved in the case of illness or emergency.

Now that basic care is out of the way, I have some additional disclaimers about life with a cockatiel:

Cockatiels can live up to 30 years.

Will you be able to spend several hours per day with the cockatiel?

If the cockatiel's needs are still unmet even with your full attention, would you be willing to adopt another cockatiel to keep it company?

Are you sensitive to loud noises? Keep in mind that cockatiels will scream for attention. They also make "contact calls" to locate members of their flock when they are out of sight (in this case, you). If you spend most of your time in the house outside of your cockatiel's sightlines, then you will have a very noisy, frustrated bird!

Is there a nearby avian vet? Can you afford expensive vet bills?

What will you do during the holidays or if you are traveling?

I hope this was helpful. You have a good heart, and I hope the cockatiel finds somewhere warm where they can receive all of the scratches their heart desires! Please don't hesitate to message me if you want more detailed educational materials or explanations.

[critter-catcher]

Just found your site, 😊. I have the same trail cam. I was wondering what state you’re in. I get a lot of deer and coyotes plus all the little critters. I get nervous sometimes when I look back and see the coyotes were out shortly before I take my dogs out.

I'm up in the north east! And honestly you should be wary, but mostly only if you have a smaller dog. Coyotes are opportunity hunters, if the see a small dog/animal they can snatch up without much fight, they just might. Sometimes they'll run away if you make a lot of noise, but depending on if you live in highly populated areas/if they're hybrids they've started to lose their fear of humans.

They do make special vests for small dogs that protect against predators.

Yes it does look hilarious, but it also helps against birds of prey and really anything else that may go after your little pup. Though they do also make them for bigger dogs, cats, and even chickens.

Your best bet is to just not let them out whenever you see the coyotes are most active. So ours are usually around 12pm-3am, so you would avoid whatever those times are for you.

Another alternative, and it's what we do since we have to wake up and put them out when it's still dark. Despite our pups being rottweilers we want to avoid any attacks or injuries obviously, so if you have a porch get a gate/make one. It's pretty easy with a few wooden pallets(check FB/craigslist people give them away for free all the time), hinges, and a latch though it's not the prettiest it's a good temporary solution until you can get something nicer. So we just let them on the porch to use the bathroom in the morning or if the weather is bad and then scoop any poop up, and spray down any spots they went with a hose! It's a few extra steps, but it's absolutely worth it to keep your pet safe.

Anyway hope that helps and if anyone else has any other ideas feel free to add on!