<3 dachs







Poppy to the left and Sorry to the right. Sorry died 16th of June last year, 13 years old. Poppy her sister is still with us, she just turned 14 years old in march.

A younger Poppy:


My sisters new Portuguese Podengo:

Addendum to kittens:



At some point last night she moved them underneath some old junk.



No idea how we're going to get them out. Since she's moved them once I don't want her to move them deeper in (or, god help me, underneath) where I'm going to need a forklift to retrieve them. We're lying in wait for her to get up to stretch her legs so we can cage her and collect the kittens to bring them home, where there is a little nursery waiting for them.

Edit, the bright side is, she's so doped up on endorphins that she's letting me pet her, scratch her ears and under her chin, plus move her kids around when one gets separated. Originally we were going to bring them into the Humane Society; the first person I spoke to said they'd be kept together for six weeks, then the kittens adopted out and 'Tini returned to us. The kennel supervisor called at 5:30 to say, no, we're going to euthanize all of them -- they don't have the resources to care for a feral family and socialize them toward adoptability and a brighter future than living in my shop. So we're going to try.

Edit, a video said to keep them very warm for the first few days. The heat's been jacked for 24 hours and it's so effing hot in here I might faint.

That's very admirable of you, Poker Reference. Kittens look really cute too.

Thanks. They're about the size of hamsters. It's awesome.

The bikram stakeout can't go on indefinitely. We had a window last night and lost our nerve, but I have to get some work done at some point, so the new new plan is to storm the sanctuary if she's not out in a couple of hours.

Will adjust expectations downward in 2.5 hours.

Well. That was horrible.

The kids were easy to collect into their basket. 'Tini took an hour, my office is in pieces, I'm covered in oil and scratches, but everyone is home. She went right to her bed (brought it over last night), and they're nearby their nest as of five or ten minutes ago. The area is a vacant room with a closet with the door ajar, so bedding is in there plus litter box and a nightlight in the larger area. If she gets bored there are lots of books.

Hoping she doesn't freak out so long that she forgets about them.

http://sorisomail.com/partilha/188658.html

^ Cutest video ever

I haven't posted in this thread in awhile, but 2 months ago I had a DNA breed test done for my dog Bruiser


They sent the results by email in a pdf form, it's a few pages long with various info. But the main results are

Where it says "Mixed Breed", they gave me a breakdown as follows:
Norfolk Terrier - 7.54%
Field Spaniel - 5.28%
Shih Tzu - 4.99%
West Highland White Terrier - 4.63%
Dachschund - 3.75%

Although some people disagree, I feel it's money well spent since I love my dog and am glad to learn about his heritage.

I used the company called Wisdom Panel/Mars and the test ran about $50

1:20

Jumping for tehh lulz!

Nice vid.

Feral cat was a new term to me, so I looked it up on wikipedia, and I still don't think I understand.

Do you feed her regularly? How come she has a bed -- is that something you just leave outside for her?

Neat-o. Sounds like money well spent. The breeder for my Lab provided me with the geneology of our animal... it's a purebread, so it's not as exciting as your background, but it's still interesting to look at the names of the dogs going back five generations.

Yeah, she and her siblings are actually semi-feral, which means most of the day-to-day activities of pet ownership minus cuddling. (Their parents are proper feral and no more companionable than raccoons.) She has a bed because when it got extremely cold around Christmas, she parked herself inside and wouldn't budge for four days.

My mom adopted a feral cat. I think I've mentioned it before here. It literally took months/years to get this cat to trust them. My parents are tenacious like you wouldn't believe. The cat had a few good years sleeping in their basement, although it had feline leukemia.

These are barn cats, suitable for keeping the rodent and song bird population in check. I wouldn't try to make a pet out of one.

It seems very individual to each one. The pet-worthy cats have a streak of self-advocacy, while most I would describe as opportunistic.

This tuxedo, I don't know. Her sister caved a month or two ago and is more or less a pet now (solicitous, affectionate, etc.). Very probably the tuxedo is another basement-dweller like the elder Kioshks' friend after she's done dwelling in the closet.

Cats living in the closet? I'm glad you asked! The litter seems fine so far. Last night the cat moved them from one end of the closet to the other. I've learned today it is a protest against being bothered, which we're doing half as often as we'd like but clearly twice as often as she'd like. After three days I've stopped interpreting any non-nursing conduct as oh god, she's abandoning her litter so will cooperate.

This little guy went to the vet yesterday after he lost 10g and was working really hard to breathe. Wouldn't nurse, wouldn't take a bottle, mother had moved the other three away from him the day before. It seemed pretty serious (it's bad enough if they stop gaining, but to actually lose weight at this stage is dire), and after two hours waiting at the vet it turned out he just had a plugged snotty nose. After we returned him to the closet she was reluctant to take him, but I shoved him in with the others to nurse and he was in there for 45 minutes straight. Again later for a half-hour, and back to normal this morning. At their weigh-in last night he had regained everything he'd lost.

Everyone is 2.5x, almost three times bigger than they started, so about six inches long now. Their eyes are starting to open, which presents a massive advantage to three out of four: the largest's (white, foreground) eyes are crusted shut until I get them cleaned off. Ears have begun to unfurl and resemble ears, and overall just looking more like cats than hamsters.

The cat is much tamer now, and comes out for an hour of cuddling with me twice per day. She's back to playing with the laser light but only lasts five minutes before she gets tired.

reposting just because I love this picture of Newman.