The "What's on your mind?" Thread -2017

[artiemom]

Our mail delivery is horrible. The mailman is always in a hurry, blares a radio while filling the mailboxes, (apartment building); is rude and obnoxious. He always parked in my parking spot or blocked me in. 

We were always getting other peoples mail. We have a mail slot for outgoing mail, but I refuse to use it anymore while this guy is on our route. A couple of times, I mailed some bills, and they were lost. Now I go directly to the Post Office with my mail. And our mail is a day later than other people. 

Our UPS, Fed-ex and USPS package deliver guys are great! No issues at all. 

I found out this week that our mailman has taken another route!!!!!  Hooray.. I do not know if we have a regular guy now, or if it is a fill-in route, but my mail is coming in earlier. I find that my mail is not getting into the wrong boxes either!!!

 

[LTS3]

Stolen packages has been a problem at my complex lately, well ever since new apartment complexes opened up in the area in the past few years. The problem is that the delivery services don't have access to the lobby so they just leave packages in the entryway which is accessible to anyone. The USPS worker who delivers the mail in the afternoon will bring packages inside but that's not helpful if a package disappears not long after it's dropped off in the entryway in, say, the morning. If I see a package in the entryway I make it a point to bring it inside unless it's too heavy or bulky for me to move. Management sent out an email recently to address the missing package issue but it wasn't that helpful. Just the obvious tips like be home to receive your package, send packages to an alternate address like to work, report missing packages to the police, etc.

 

[arouetta]

I actually had UPS lose an envelope once.  It was a work thing, we sent out a legal contract via UPS and it never came back so we cancelled the contract.  The lady was highly upset over the cancellation and said she had sent it back.  When we tracked it, it had gone to a UPS hub and then never left there.

But yeah, USPS has its moments too.  Then again, when you look at the sheer volume of what they deliver, their track record doesn't seem that bad.  The only real problem I have had, and I can't be sure the problem was USPS, was that my daughter's debit card was reordered twice and none of the three ever showed up.

There was a really funny study done on how well USPS delivers mail.  Read it, it's well worth it.

http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume6/v6i4/postal-6-4.html

 

[margd]

EDIT    Stupid poster posted in wrong forum.  Sorry everyone!

 

[Margret]

I'm wondering what to do about my cat's claws.





Of my three little darlings, the two males I can pretty easily cut their claws.  They aren't thrilled, but usually they aren't so wiggly that I can't get them all in one setting.





The female, Shadow, yeah no.  She *hates* all grooming with a passion.  So I put off her claws until I just absolutely need to check they are growing all right.  She one time did have a claw that just grew and grew, the curve of the nail kept on curving, and it grew into the pad for that toe a little.  Super, super thick, I had to take out little pieces of the nail at a time as even toenail clippers couldn't get around the claw.  I didn't even know that was possible until I saw it, and I don't want that again.





So every once in a while I'll insist my daughter help hold her down as I look at her claws, trim what is absolutely essential.  It's really nerve-wracking as unlike baths and mat removals and abdominal lump checks, my hands are well within bite distance.  She's got her claws, obviously, but whenever she's done with grooming I don't have to worry about being scratched.  I have to worry about bites.





Did that today and while all her claws look normal, most have partially attached claw sheaths.  Split, so the claw is clean underneath, but still attached farther into the toe.  I didn't want to touch them, the first time I saw those on the boys, they hated me trying to remove them.  I don't know why so many claws would have them though.  Does this mean she's quit scratching altogether?  We've got a cat tree with plenty of vertical and horizontal areas for scratching and we kissed our furniture arms goodbye a long time ago, so she has opportunity.

It probably just means she's in between scratching frenzies.

Margret

 

[Kat0121]

 
Update on this toy. It's a HUGE hit with the girls. They love it. They also already destroyed the butterfly. Sophie was grabbing the butterfly and dragging the toy around by it so I glued it to an upside down dessert plate. Did that solve anything? Nope. She can still knock it over and then yells when she can't chase the butterfly anymore. 

Yesterday, she ripped the butterfly clean in half. Half came off and half is still attached. I found some garden butterflies on Amazon that I am going to try to replace it with. That poor thing has been beat to heck and back. Hopefully this will work. 

I ended up buying a second one. That's the one we still have. The first one is gone. Someone dragged it to the middle of the living room floor where mommy stepped on it and it broke. Mommy got yelled at so Mommy ordered them a new, different but similar toy to make it up to them. It should be here on Friday. They are still miffed.  Mommy can't win. 

 

 

It's this one

New update on the toy situation. The new toy in the link above arrived today. I opened it and put the batteries in. The top part with the cat face and yellow hands is what spins. There is a laser that goes on and off randomly in the base. I put it down for them and they batted at it a bit. I think that they did this for MY benefit. After about 30 seconds, the scolding began. Sophie. After I was scolded,  I got THE LOOK. The look that started all of this:

Sophie: "this is NOT my butterfly. WHERE is my butterfly?"

Me: "Kitten, you ripped your butterfly into pieces. The new ones I need to fix the toy haven't come yet"

Sophie: "I don't care what you have to do. FIX. MY. BUTTERFLY"

Me:

The replacement butterflies I found are coming on Monday.

What did Lilith do? Nothing really. She batted at it a bit and then wandered off.

 

[angels mommy]

:lol3: Hahahahahah! Awww, Poor Mommy!
We rarely do win, do we?
Angel would sometimes keep meowing at me, if I wasn't fixing his dinner quick enough, & I'd sometimes say, "Yes boss kitty, coming right up boss kitty!"

 

[Primula]

Sophie: "I don't care what you have to do. FIX. MY. BUTTERFLY" :wife:

Good job she's so stinkin' cute. [emoji]128526[/emoji]

 

[Mamanyt1953]

The daybed is assembled.  It is in place and made up.  There is a pussycat asleep on it.  LIFE IS SWEET!

 

[tallyollyopia]

 
Our regular mail carrier is excellent. It's only when we have a substitute that we have any issues. Many places don't ship USPS. More often than not, my Amazon orders come with UPS. I have had the same UPS driver for quite a few years and he's always on point. Fed Ex partners with USPS. Sometimes the USPS will deliver Fed Ex packages. 

Here's the thing about Amazon--a lot of their packages, not just Sunday delivery, go through USPS.

 
We were having issues with misdelivered mail for a while but it was not our regular carrier. Amazon has a deal with USPS and they do Sunday deliveries. It's not the regular carrier though. One Sunday, I got SIX packages that did not belong to me along with my subscribe and save package. 

The next day when the regular carrier came by, DD gave him the 6 packages. He was mortified. She told him that we knew it wasn't his error. 

I have always had really good USPS carriers.  

Yeah, for a while there we were getting our neighbor's retirement checks, so I'd walk the (gasp!) twenty steps to his house and deliver them myself.

 
I actually had UPS lose an envelope once.  It was a work thing, we sent out a legal contract via UPS and it never came back so we cancelled the contract.  The lady was highly upset over the cancellation and said she had sent it back.  When we tracked it, it had gone to a UPS hub and then never left there.

But yeah, USPS has its moments too.  Then again, when you look at the sheer volume of what they deliver, their track record doesn't seem that bad.  The only real problem I have had, and I can't be sure the problem was USPS, was that my daughter's debit card was reordered twice and none of the three ever showed up.

There was a really funny study done on how well USPS delivers mail.  Read it, it's well worth it.

http://www.improbable.com/airchives/paperair/volume6/v6i4/postal-6-4.html

I won't use UPS, unless I'm returning something to Amazon. One time I sent LS a birthday present--and after three months  I got a notice from UPS that it was LIT (Lost In Transit). And, I did not  get a refund for the package that never made it, because "the distance between original address and end address were too great to insure package delivery." 

 That still  bugs me!

 
The daybed is assembled.  It is in place and made up.  There is a pussycat asleep on it.  LIFE IS SWEET!

Congrats! 

 

[NewYork1303]

Brought home two gerbils today. The cats were going crazy! Looks like gerbils will be living in a bedroom where the cats can't go. They cannot be trusted. 

I'm so happy to have some rodent friends again. I've always enjoyed having them in my home. 

 

[handsome kitty]

I picked up 2 foster cats last Saturday.  2 six year old brothers whose owners didn't think they would be able to care for them while she is going through multiple surgeries over the next 2 or 3 years. 

The first day one sat in the enclosed litter box and growled whenever someone went in the room.  The second morning  I looked around and couldn't find them.  Climbed up the ladder to the lofted bed and didn't see any cats but the bed was hissing and growling. 

  The cats like to sleep under the covers and there is a 2" thick gel pad on the mattress.  The cats are so heavy (18 & 20 lbs) they sank down and looked like all the other rolls in the comforter.  Now they are playing and purring.  Very sweet cats.  I send videos and photos to the previous owners almost every day.

Tomorrow we are bringing them to an adoption event.

 

[tallyollyopia]

 
Brought home two gerbils today. The cats were going crazy! Looks like gerbils will be living in a bedroom where the cats can't go. They cannot be trusted. 

I'm so happy to have some rodent friends again. I've always enjoyed having them in my home. 

AWM has a friend that's giving her a rabbit. As with most of the other animals that have come into this house, it has nowhere else to go. Do you have any suggestions on how to make having four cats and a rabbit under the same roof work?

 

[LTS3]

 
AWM has a friend that's giving her a rabbit. As with most of the other animals that have come into this house, it has nowhere else to go. Do you have any suggestions on how to make having four cats and a rabbit under the same roof work?

Try this: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-small-furries

AVM can also join rabbit forums for care tips and advice and such and how others manage to have both cats and rabbits to co-exist peacefully in the same house. This one seems pretty active:http://rabbittalk.com/

 
Brought home two gerbils today. The cats were going crazy! Looks like gerbils will be living in a bedroom where the cats can't go. They cannot be trusted.

Gerbils

It's been awhile since I've had gerbils. The cats were kittens back when I had my last two gerbils and they were intrigued but it was more out of curiosity than plotting to eat them. I kept the gerbils in the bedroom and kept the door closed whenever I wasn't home. I still do this with my current two mice. Where did you get the gerbils from? I've always bought gerbils from the pet store and once from a breeder but only because the shelter didn't have any gerbils for adoption at the time.

 

[Willowy]

AWM has a friend that's giving her a rabbit. As with most of the other animals that have come into this house, it has nowhere else to go. Do you have any suggestions on how to make having four cats and a rabbit under the same roof work?

Unless it's a baby (probably not), rabbits are actually tougher and meaner than most people think. They will kick the stuffings out of a cat who takes liberties. My rabbits have always just roamed the same rooms as the cats (or in an open pen to contain bunny mess), and the cats learned pretty quickly not to mess with them. If it's a particularly timid rabbit, you may need to intervene, but most adult rabbits can take care of themselves.

 

[NewYork1303]

Gerbils

It's been awhile since I've had gerbils. The cats were kittens back when I had my last two gerbils and they were intrigued but it was more out of curiosity than plotting to eat them. I kept the gerbils in the bedroom and kept the door closed whenever I wasn't home. I still do this with my current two mice. Where did you get the gerbils from? I've always bought gerbils from the pet store and once from a breeder but only because the shelter didn't have any gerbils for adoption at the time.

Ours came from a pet store. The local shelters never seem to have gerbils. Apparently most people around here can manage a pet that is just a three or four year commitment. 

This pet store is the best one I've ever gotten gerbils from. They actually had a good selection of gerbils and I was able to pick them up and handle them as well. So many of the pet stores around here get gerbils from god knows where that are flightly, wild, or even agressive and are a struggle just to get into a box to take home. 

 

[Margret]

 

AWM has a friend that's giving her a rabbit. As with most of the other animals that have come into this house, it has nowhere else to go. Do you have any suggestions on how to make having four cats and a rabbit under the same roof work?

Unless it's a baby (probably not), rabbits are actually tougher and meaner than most people think. They will kick the stuffings out of a cat who takes liberties. My rabbits have always just roamed the same rooms as the cats (or in an open pen to contain bunny mess), and the cats learned pretty quickly not to mess with them. If it's a particularly timid rabbit, you may need to intervene, but most adult rabbits can take care of themselves.

This is what I keep trying to explain to Jasmine.  "No, you can not chase the bunny rabbit.  I know it looks like fun, but that cute little bunny could easily eviscerate you!"  Not that Jasmine ever listens to things like this.

Margret

 

[tallyollyopia]

 
Try this: http://www.thecatsite.com/a/cats-and-small-furries

AVM can also join rabbit forums for care tips and advice and such and how others manage to have both cats and rabbits to co-exist peacefully in the same house. This one seems pretty active:http://rabbittalk.com/

Gerbils

It's been awhile since I've had gerbils. The cats were kittens back when I had my last two gerbils and they were intrigued but it was more out of curiosity than plotting to eat them. I kept the gerbils in the bedroom and kept the door closed whenever I wasn't home. I still do this with my current two mice. Where did you get the gerbils from? I've always bought gerbils from the pet store and once from a breeder but only because the shelter didn't have any gerbils for adoption at the time.

I petsit gerbils once. They reminded me uncomfortably of the raptors from Jurassic Park.

Unless it's a baby (probably not), rabbits are actually tougher and meaner than most people think. They will kick the stuffings out of a cat who takes liberties. My rabbits have always just roamed the same rooms as the cats (or in an open pen to contain bunny mess), and the cats learned pretty quickly not to mess with them. If it's a particularly timid rabbit, you may need to intervene, but most adult rabbits can take care of themselves.

Here's what I know about the rabbit: it's terrified of the dogs and children (small children) of the family its living with right now and they want to rehome it before the poor thing's heart bursts.

 
Ours came from a pet store. The local shelters never seem to have gerbils. Apparently most people around here can manage a pet that is just a three or four year commitment. 

This pet store is the best one I've ever gotten gerbils from. They actually had a good selection of gerbils and I was able to pick them up and handle them as well. So many of the pet stores around here get gerbils from god knows where that are flightly, wild, or even agressive and are a struggle just to get into a box to take home. 

Must be where the ones I petsat came from. 

 
This is what I keep trying to explain to Jasmine.  "No, you can not chase the bunny rabbit.  I know it looks like fun, but that cute little bunny could easily eviscerate you!"  Not that Jasmine ever listens to things like this.

Margret

My cats listen to me just as well as Jasmine listens to you. 

 

[LTS3]

 
Ours came from a pet store. The local shelters never seem to have gerbils. Apparently most people around here can manage a pet that is just a three or four year commitment. 

This pet store is the best one I've ever gotten gerbils from. They actually had a good selection of gerbils and I was able to pick them up and handle them as well. So many of the pet stores around here get gerbils from god knows where that are flightly, wild, or even agressive and are a struggle just to get into a box to take home. 

The shelter here does occasionally have gerbils, just never at the same time as when I'm looking for a pair. The independent pet store I've gotten gerbils from apparently gets the gerbils from someone who breeds them, most likely a hobby breeder since there are very few AGS registered breeders in the state and none anywhere near the pet store. All my gerbils live pretty long, at least 2 years. My last gerbil lived to be just over 4 years old

After the mice I want to have another furry pet, mostl ikely not right away but at some time in the future. It's a toss up between gerbils and something I've never had before like guinea pigs. I'm not sure how the cats would react to something larger and noiser than a gerbil though

 

[arouetta]

 
Gerbils

It's been awhile since I've had gerbils. The cats were kittens back when I had my last two gerbils and they were intrigued but it was more out of curiosity than plotting to eat them. I kept the gerbils in the bedroom and kept the door closed whenever I wasn't home. I still do this with my current two mice. Where did you get the gerbils from? I've always bought gerbils from the pet store and once from a breeder but only because the shelter didn't have any gerbils for adoption at the time

Even curious cats can potentially do some damage.  I had a roommate once with a mouse, one of our cats was just hypnotized by the mouse.  The roommate kept the mouse in an aquarium, so heavy glass.  We knew the cat's curiosity was innocent because one day the roommate accidentally left the lid off and we found the cat with his head in the aquarium watching the mouse running on the wheel.  Well one day we heard a very large crash, the cat had accidentally pushed the aquarium off the stand onto the floor.  Yes, the mouse did survive.  And I think the cat was traumatized, he didn't get near the aquarium for weeks.  But that kind of a fall could have done the mouse in.

The shelter there nearly always had some pocket pets.  The poor things were kept in the cat room, I wonder how they managed to not have heart attacks from the smell of the cats.  During one of the big expansions though they built a separate room for pocket pets.  One of the hamsters I got they said that when they arrived for work they found the hamster (in his cage) had been left at the front gate sometime between closing the night before and their arrival that morning.