My Feral And Rescued Cats

[Mamanyt1953]

Jcatbird , YES, get an actual computer, and YES, get wifi for your house, do NOT run off of the phone. Get a new phone, and pay the couple of dollars a month for cloud storage! It can make ALL of the difference! And you can link your phone to your wifi inhome, which saves data, as well. Everything will run more smoothly.

 

[Jewely]

Hi Jcatbird ! Prints is gorgeous! I’m so sorry of your current situation. Is it possible for you to buy some extra cloud storage? A few years ago memory was getting slim so I bought 50 GB of iCloud storage to share between my two devices. It’s a dollar a month. Sure there are free avenues, but this might help free up some space. There are different options for how much to get. I’m happy with it and it’s yourbest bet since it’s coming from apple.

You would find the option under settings and click where your name is. It might be worth trying and you can cancel it if it doesn’t work. I’m not sure what model phone you have but if it’s older it might be worth doing it anyway and then you can back it up onto your dad’s computer or someone with internet.

I’m not really sure what’s going on so I hope that might help.

 

[rubysmama]

rubysmama , those Chinese Lanterns are just beautiful! I wond if the would grow here.

According to How to Grow Your Own Chinese Lantern Plant they grow in gardening zones 3-9, so that covers a pretty wide range.

One thing to keep in mind. Two, actually.
1. they are VERY invasive. They spread by underground rhizomes, which means they'll try to take over the garden space, plus they have no respect for non-gardening areas, i.e. the lawn. But they're so pretty in the fall.
2. parts of the plant are poisonous, so though they would be purrfect in a dried arrangement, they shouldn't be brought inside if you have pets.

Jcatbird , YES, get an actual computer, and YES, get wifi for your house, do NOT run off of the phone. Get a new phone, and pay the couple of dollars a month for cloud storage! It can make ALL of the difference! And you can link your phone to your wifi inhome, which saves data, as well. Everything will run more smoothly.

Another vote for a desktop computer, or a laptop. The bigger screen will help with your vision issues, plus you get a larger keyboard. I don't know much about cloud storage, but there's also the option of putting your pics on an external hard drive. Course a desktop computer / laptop will likely have tons of storage. Though backing up pics is always a good idea.

 

[pearl99]

According to How to Grow Your Own Chinese Lantern Plant they grow in gardening zones 3-9, so that covers a pretty wide range.

One thing to keep in mind. Two, actually.
1. they are VERY invasive. They spread by underground rhizomes, which means they'll try to take over the garden space, plus they have no respect for non-gardening areas, i.e. the lawn. But they're so pretty in the fall.
2. parts of the plant are poisonous, so though they would be purrfect in a dried arrangement, they shouldn't be brought inside if you have pets.



Another vote for a desktop computer, or a laptop. The bigger screen will help with your vision issues, plus you get a larger keyboard. I don't know much about cloud storage, but there's also the option of putting your pics on an external hard drive. Course a desktop computer / laptop will likely have tons of storage. Though backing up pics is always a good idea.

Thanks, rubysmama ! I have containers including a milk can so will see if they can grow in a container. I am in the 3-9 zone spread!

Jcatbird , I second a large screen. I have a 15 inch one on my laptop, and I love it. When I had a desktop I had a 17 inch one. I also have an external hard drive which I put pictures on, and leave my favorites on my computer as my screen saver. I find my laptop is better than my desktop was, I have the laptop on my coffee table by my couch and don't have to sit at a desk that way. It's also a lift-top coffee table and I eat most my meals at the coffee table!
And, best, kitties are able to sit by me on the couch when I'm at my laptop.

 

[rubysmama]

Thanks, rubysmama rubysmama ! I have containers including a milk can so will see if they can grow in a container. I am in the 3-9 zone spread!

That should work. Hopefully.

 

[Jewely]

rubysmama the iCloud is my suggestion for her current phone while she’s seemingly out of space. I don’t think she currently has any internet service at her home. She does everything from her phone using its wifi. Being out in the country where she is I guess she’s very limited on what she can get?

Has any of that changed? I know a friend of mine living in a ruralish part of Oklahoma had to put up with dialup until about a year and a half ago!

I’m not sure if it’s just that she’s running out of memory or something more. If she got hacked her phone may be older and no longer doing updates. She does take a lot of pics. A computer would be perfect if she gets internet service but she’ll still need a phone to take photos!

 

[Jcatbird]

Oh my , I love you all! I won’t try to respond to each post as I would normally do but I did read each one and I was greatly comforted by each person and each post. Thank you!
Long story about systems out here. WiFi is making it’s way to the country but there isn’t good signal out here yet. I have been told that 2021 will bring improvements. Far too much to explain now since I am still cleaning up the system I am having to extend for the moment. I have been going to experts for help. So far I have spent six hours with them and must travel to get to them. I think the tech may end up having to come here. iCloud is already on my system but there is more to it than that. When things function better, I’ll give more details but I am so very grateful to everyone for giving me so much help on my options. I am currently waiting for the techs to complete some stuff and also splitting my time with Clowder, house and Prints. No responses from my signs about a found kitty. I walked the entire area and knocked on every door to ask if anyone was missing a kitty. I wasn’t keen on doing that but this kitty is so loving I just felt that I must be sure that no one is grieving over him. Apparently not!
I have one new person with a possible home for Prints and it is inside! I am really having to beat the bushes to find good options for him and nothing less will do. Funny how things work out sometimes. I was trying to help a dear friend whose kitty got injured. While talking to her today, the topic of Prints came up. Not only does she hope to help me place him, she knows another cat rescuer that lives near my Dad. She thinks we may be helpful to each other. I’ll tell more about her later but I think many on the site may be helped by her. Between all that and having to be away from the house, I’m hopping right now! Lol
The kitties are acting a bit strange too. Not one cat in the cat room! I finally put up some curtains to see if something was scaring them. Still,no one going in unless I
go too.

Cat speak from Mitsy.

Something you need to attend to mom!

What is it Whistle? You won’t leave my side! Are there big ears out there somewhere?

Hmmmmm. Question mark tail!

Even BJ is talking with his expression. He isn’t snuggling.

Staring at the front door.

Thrasher is staying beside me too.

Either they really don’t like how much I have had to be gone lately or something is going on outside.

I guess we all have to stay tuned to find out. I am going to search the property well tomorrow for any new critters or signs of human activity. If the county has been doing any work near here, that might explain it. Froggie and friends are still out and about so I am guessing that the kitties just don’t like it that I have been out of the house. I wonder if the techs that have been helping me would mind if the Clowder came with me? They might find Banjo to be very helpful! Although, they have a booth where you can experience virtual realty games that could be a distraction. Banjo might get hooked on that if they have a frog game. Imagine.... just me, two techs and a Clowder of cats (all wearing masks) in a room filled with phones, computers and games.
Yeah...... maybe the tech needs to come here.

 

[maggiedemi]

YES, get an actual computer

Yes! If you get a real computer then you can join Facebook!!!

Being out in the country where she is I guess she’s very limited on what she can get?

We only have one choice of internet company out here in the boonies because our phone company owns the lines and they will only allow their service.

WiFi is making it’s way to the country but there isn’t good signal out here yet.

Same here. I have to go to the end of the driveway to even read my texts. Then it time stamps them with that exact minute when I read it, so I don't even know when the person sent it!

 

[pearl99]

I have an old Dell Laptop that I stopped using in 2012 but I doubt it would work with Windows 8 or 10?

 

[Jcatbird]

M maggiedemi Even if I get a laptop, I’ll need you here to distract some cats long enough to be on Facebook! Lol Texting is like that. You get it time stamped when you have a signal. Same thing here.

pearl99 Everything built these days seems to be built to become obsolete. If only things could be adapted better. I have some VERY old laptops! Kind of funny looking by today’s standards.

I am getting some borrowed equipment! It will get me through if I can figure out how to use it! A Chrimebook. That is so different from the Apple laptop I had! I’ll have to find and download anything I want to use and it has almost no memory capacity. This is going to take time! I feel like I am going to be starting as I did with my very first computer except I won’t be having to type in rows of 0’s and 1’s before I can do anything.

I am also going to be using another phone. It may be a temporary fix until I can get everything off my old phone. At least I won’t be risking losing all my photos. Ack! I may spend more time learning several new systems than actually using them!

Here are some test photos.

Prints needed a new litter box. He decided it was a great place to play in the sand! Typical behavior for a feral but I haven’t seen kitties do this before. Lol

I guess he likes it!

Come on Prints. Let’s get out now. You’re not supposed to lay in your litter.

Well.... nobody told me that!

I guess I can lay on the human.

I like your short

Can we play? I’ll like wiggling fingers.

What?

I’m not supposed to do that either? Boy.... you humans are picky!

 

[tabbytom]

I am also going to be using another phone. It may be a temporary fix until I can get everything off my old phone. At least I won’t be risking losing all my photos. Ack! I may spend more time learning several new systems than actually using them!

A desktop is definitely a better workhorse as it has bigger screen, easy on the eye and easy to type with a real keyboard. Next will be a laptop and then an iPad and lastly a phone.

Make sure whatever you get it has a good specs. If the specs are too old and slow, you'll have problem booting up as it takes time and also if the ram is small, it'll be laggy but if you are not doing heavy photo editing work, it should be ok.
Also must have a HDD big enuff for all your photos and also get a reliable portable HDD for backups.

Check with your telco and see if they have good plans. Over here, we have some telco offering SIM only plan with 20GB for $5 USD a month. With this plan, you can hotspot from your phone. This is just an example, check with them and see what's the offer like.

Sometimes you can get a good working second hand computer but some plans they throw in some gadgets and you work out and see whether it's worth the subscription.

Don't use your phone and squint your eyes and type with the tiny keyboard.

 

[Jcatbird]

tabbytom The computer offered to me is a brand new Chromebook. Lol They are the latest thing among many. I have no idea if I can deal with that but it’s a start and I am just so grateful to the person for being willing to provide it. It may be a great computer but I won’t know until I get some time with it. I will have to use hotspot. It has an external hard drive that can store the photos. I have used it once. The funny thing is that typing on a big keyboard was actually hard for me after holding my phone in my hand for years now! I know I will readjust though. When I went from a laptop to this phone, that also took a lot of adjusting. I’ll probably have to get new glasses for tying further from my eyes! I’ll also, probably, be asking if anyone here uses a Chromebook and can help me! I bought a book that may help too. Challenge coming! The techs rework Dell computers. I admit to looking at them too but ...miss my Apple!

 

[tabbytom]

The funny thing is that typing on a big keyboard was actually hard for me after holding my phone in my hand for years now! I know I will readjust though. When I went from a laptop to this phone, that also took a lot of adjusting. I’ll probably have to get new glasses for tying further from my eyes!

Yep, you just have to get use to the change but I guess it's much better than using the phone unless you are outside or answering something urgent.

Guess it's a different system (Google OS) and if you've been using Mac, you def miss your Mac. I was using PC before but I jumped ship to Mac many years ago and all my devices are Apple products now.

Hope you get use to it fast so that it'll be easier for you to post here and we can get to read the posts faster.

 

[maggiedemi]

I’ll need you here to distract some cats long enough to be on Facebook

I just go on Facebook for an hour in the morning when I'm drinking my coffee. They give you alerts for when somebody talks to you and you can answer them. Then you have a wall that you can scroll through that tells you what all your friends posted.

Texting is like that. You get it time stamped when you have a signal. Same thing here.

That's nuts. What if somebody invited me to go somewhere, but I had no idea when they sent it? I'd miss the party!

Everything built these days seems to be built to become obsolete.

Tell me about it. After I bought all those jeans, Levi's is redoing all theirs in a Waterless method. Now you know I'm gonna be curious about the new version and buy 21 more pairs.

typing on a big keyboard was actually hard for me after holding my phone in my hand for years now!

It will be a billion times easier I think! Much easier than typing on a tiny phone, I don't know how you did that all these years.

 

[pearl99]

Prints is so cute! I still love his spots, always will . I see cats laying in their clean litterboxes at the shelter, it seems comfy for them and molds to their body!
There's been a kitty hanging out on my patio and looking in the sliding glass door. He/she and Waffles have made through-the-door friends. I don't know if Kitty is owned or not, I haven't found anyone he/she belongs to, but looks lonesome.

 

[NY cat man]

Prints is so cute! I still love his spots, always will . I see cats laying in their clean litterboxes at the shelter, it seems comfy for them and molds to their body!
There's been a kitty hanging out on my patio and looking in the sliding glass door. He/she and Waffles have made through-the-door friends. I don't know if Kitty is owned or not, I haven't found anyone he/she belongs to, but looks lonesome.

You mean like this? Miss Eleanor before she joined us inside

 

[pearl99]

The nighttime version- Waffles talks to him:

 

[Jcatbird]

tabbytom Mac was so easy after being on a windows system before. We do adjust though. I wonder if I will make more or less typos?

M maggiedemi I don’t get an hour of sitting for coffee. Lol The cats are always waiting. I pan for gold first, feed second and coffee while the kitties eat. Maybe if I sat outside for coffee? To get your texts as they come in, you would have to sit at the end of your driveway all day! Yikes! At least I can get texts in a more timely fashion if my system is up. Waterless method? So.... you will have to keep us informed. Just what does that mean? No water during dying the fabric or .... so what happens when the jeans get washed? Lololol
Posting on the phone really wasn’t bad since I had never posted on a computer. I did spend time typing on one so I had to adjust but you don’t miss what you never knew.

pearl99 That looks like BJ! Time for some “Found cat” signs? I always just put that with a phone number and if anyone calls, I make them describe the cat, tell me why it is wandering lost, ask many questions and then if the answers are all good I ask for the name of their vet and permission to call and get verification before I give ANY info about the cat. So far I have only had two cats be claimed but both were lost for a very good reason. No one has even called about any of the others. Not surprising. That is so sweet that Waffles talks to that kitty! Tell Waffles, I send thanks and lots of pets.
I have seen scared ferals get in their litter boxes before. I think the litter reminds them of the sand outside here. Reassuring. Prints has seemed so relaxed here, it surprised me but maybe he is more feral than I thought or was an outside kitty. He hasn’t gotten back in the box though. I have him lots of extra snuggling last night. He is sooo sweet!

N NY cat man Awwww! Miss Eleanor really wanted to join the furmily! I am so glad you rescued her. She did look lonely and her expression says, “let me in! Help!” I wish everyone would recognize that and respond as you did! Beautiful lady.

 

[tabbytom]

Mac was so easy after being on a windows system before. We do adjust though. I wonder if I will make more or less typos?

I can't stand waiting for Windows to boot up and the system is buggy and lots of time doing housekeeping to keep the system running well where Mac is easier to upkeep which you spend less time tuning it and spend more time doing what you are supposed to be doing on the computer.

Well, for typos, spell check will do it for you which sometimes they do a great job in changing the words for you to another word if you did not double check what you have typed. I remember once replied to a newbie and sell check changed my words and the sentence became another meaning and good thing rubysmama read that thread and read my post and informed me about it and I got it changed

 

[Jcatbird]

Ever wonder what I am doing when I can’t be on TCS or playing with kitties( panning fI r gold, since I obviously have so much free time on my hands..lol) ? I got a flash of an idea recently and wanted to post the idea. Many of us have worked to integrate new cats to our existing residents. We have used baby gates, cages, wire shelving and partially opened doors to allow cats to do their early introductions but all those can be difficult to manage. Why didn’t I think of this one before?!?!?!?
These were finished today. I hope this helps someone, somewhere! For small kittens, metal hardware cloth could be added just by attaching it where the mounding is screened to the edge of the lattice. This is lightweight, less expensive and easily removed as needed.

Vinyl lattice can be cut to the size of the door. Mounding is attached around the edge with screws for more stability but this could also just be hung from hooks if preferred. I attached hinges to make this work as a door on the outside of the regular door. A simple bungee cord around the doorknob works to close the lattice.

Simply open the bedroom or bathroom door and the cats can visit with each other without worry!

The bungee cord will keep the lattice door shut. Additional closures can be added if necessary.

I happen to have two doors opposite each other which is a bonus in a multi cat household.

I can open both lattice doors and they form a wall across the hallway so the cats can venture further into the house.

what do the most timid cats think?

Let’s ask Mountain Bear, Goldilocks and Blue! Am I being framed? Lol

Hmmm. They are all hanging out at the door now instead of the bed!

I think we have the kitty seal of approval!

All the kitties on both sides of the lattice are visiting each other!
Wish I had thought of this three years ago!