Man's best friend "and other pets"

[Railsplitter]

Can't agree more... it's almost like those rescue animals KNOW you saved their lives. I don't like to see anything caged the way some of those animals are caged. A decent compound with a little room to move, that's one thing, but some of those shelters are abominable, just freakin' disgusting. We have a lot of folks doing foster work here in Dago, which is good... moi, I rescue one animal at a time, where I deem it is most needed. I also rescue animals off C/L, saving them the trip to the pound. Did that with Dixie, our fat tortie cat: rescued her sight unseen from a rural property in Ramona, where she was being chased by coyotes... only a matter of time before they caught her. Big ol' canyon out back, chockablock with varmints, you understand. Well, those folks gave me a cat carrier to take Dixie home, but I let her out of the cage as soon as I rounded the first bend. Cat was gripped about car travel, meowing the whole time and eventually climbing onto the headrest of the Olds, half on the headrest and half wrapped around my head like a freakin' turban. I drew from truck driving experience to focus on the road and the task at hand, but I could see other drivers out of the corner of my eye, pulling up alongside my Olds, then pointing or laughing outright at the clown driving along with a cat wrapped around his head, LOL. Meh, good thing I couldn't care less, and Dixie has turned out to be a cool cat with a sweet disposition. I rescued her six or seven years ago, same as Sage, but from different households. Little Wing joined us here last July, he'll be one year old on May 7.

As far as trucking goes, the best regular runs I ever made were with that hazardous outfit, but these particular runs involved hauling 53' wagonloads of battery strip scrap from CA-PA-GA-CA, big ol' 6000-mile runs through 21 states, including yours (on I-95). The battery strip scrap, metal plate scrap salvaged from recycled auto and truck batteries, required no placards, which made the runs even easier (minimal D.O.T. harassment). Big moneymakers back in the day, those runs, and the company would cut a check as soon as you arrived back in the yard here in Dago. Private carrier, which means the company decided to buy several trucks instead of hiring independent owner-operators or other trucking companies to do the job. Smart move, buying their own trucks, they saved half a million dollars in the first year alone. Oddly enough, through some quirk in insurance policy, their trucks remained ungoverned... my assigned truck would run 90 m.p.h., which may not sound like much to those who've never driven a truck, but it is plenty fast enough when you're behind the wheel. When my best friend Tommy's wife kicked him to the curb and returned to Hawaii, he was all down in the dumps, so I told him to saddle up and take a little ride, LOL. Best way to take his mind off all that grief, ten or eleven days of nonstop paid tourism. He STILL talks about that trip, wherein we visited the OKC Tropical Rainforest Conservatory, Gateway Arch, The Mall in D.C. (including paddleboating on the Tidal Basin), toured the Alamo, the Tower of the Americas, and partied down on the RiverWalk in San Antone. Bunch of other stuff too... it was a wild trip.

 

[Railsplitter]

Here are some more shots of "The Three Amigos"---Sage, Dixie & that crazy fool Wingnut. We'll start with a few shots of Little Wing:



Here's "The Wingster" searching for no-see-um gnats in the shower... in warmer months, the tiny gnats appear in my bathroom, but we can't be bothered to nuke 'em with chemicals, there aren't that many of 'em and they're totally harmless, yeah??? Besides, they offer some sport for this goddam Bengal cat, and when he's occupied he doesn't cause a whole lotta trouble, AYE???



Another shot of Little Wing hunting gnats in the shower.



Yep, there's a goddam no-see-um gnat over there... LOL.



Little Wing doing the Hula, or perhaps the Watusi... I can't keep up with these modern dances, 10-4???



Here's "The Wingster" curled up in his gen-yoo-wine, restaurant-supply-joint, wooden salad bowl from hell.



Another shot of Little Wing curled up hard in his bowl, LOL.



Here's Wing lyin' in the long grass like the predator that he is...

 

[Railsplitter]

Be back later, this computer is shot, I'll post the cat pics soon enough, hey?

 

[velociraptor]

 

[Railsplitter]

Cool shots, I like the fat cat atop the washer, looking out the window... reminds me of my fat tortie cat Dixie, she likes to sit by the window and watch the world go spinning past. Sadly, my cat Sage has been missing for 36 hours, and I'm beginning to think he crawled off to die alone somewhere, which breaks my heart o' stone. Best cat I ever had... Wingnut is cool, but Sage was my cat, and a damned good one too. I keep hoping that he'll miraculously reappear, but he has been having some health issues recently, mostly due to old age. He was having trouble climbing onto the rack and onto the couch, so I figured he had a touch of arthritis, but maybe it was something worse. I last saw him on Thursday, when he was lying on the thick pad under the shotgun shack carport; I called him, but he was unresponsive, so I reckoned he was tired and I just let him be. Now I think maybe he was sick, and going through a bad time. I know he has had it rough with Wingnut, who is very energetic and perhaps too playful. Yesterday, I thought Sage was just taking a break somewhere away from Little Wing, but it was uncharacteristic of Sage to miss his canned meal. Now I'm bummed because he's still gone, and things don't look so good. I already walked the neighborhood looking for him, and I alerted the animal shelter in case they take him in, or in case they receive a dead animal report. Sage is a wily old cat, so it's unlikely that he got hit by a car or anything like that, but this recent health issue may have gotten the better of him, the poor guy. I got to share some quality time with him in the past week, but it really sucks that he just disappeared and I never got to say goodbye. Coolest cat I ever had... if he's really gone, Wingnut will have to take his place, but I'll still miss Mr. Sagers.

 

[velociraptor]

I'm sure you will find sage squishy the 30 lb bobcat/barn cat mix (hence the big head) went missing once too turned out he got stuck in one of my sheds. Hrs a lazy riot when he wants to be thinks he's a dog

 

[Railsplitter]

Holy Cow!!! My cat Sage returned from the dead!!! I would've bet money that he was gone for good, it's very uncharacteristic of him to miss his morning meal of canned cat food, and he usually comes in on a regular basis to mack dry food and take naps. He has been gone for over two days, the little varmint. I think he might have accidentally been locked in my neighbor's garage right as they went on vacation: I called my neighbor's phone and voiced my concern in a message, so maybe the neighbor's tenant on the far side went and let Sage out of prison. I don't know and I don't care, as long as he's back in one piece. Finest cat I've ever known, hands down... I'm so glad the little varmint is back, I went ahead and deleted those last two posts, just to get back on topic and spare y'all the harsh sentiments, even though those sentiments are right on the f#%g money. Meh, not much most of you as foreign nationals can do about the criminal trash here Stateside, I'll save all that for different websites. I'm outta here, gotta go celebrate "The Return Of The King" and make sure the little varmint is comfortably secure in nap mode, LOL. I just checked up on him, and he's sound asleep after voraciously macking dinner... poor little guy probably went through a hard time, and that bad@$$ storm we had earlier may have kept him alive, with water running or leaking into wherever he was imprisoned. I'm thinking it was the neighbor's garage. F__ it, the mysterious episode is history, back to "SKYFALL" with Daniel Craig as James Bond, he's the best Bond actor since Roger Moore. ADIOS!!!

 

[motovert24]

lost my best friend last thrusday to unknown causes, vets couldnt find anything. he collapsed but seemed normal and purring after a minute but we took him to the vet at 9:30 at night till midnight on tuesday. he stayed at the vet for a day and a half and pasted away the Wednesday night or early morning thrusday.

had him since i was 5

 

[Railsplitter]

Bummer, Dude... that's a beautiful cat. Last night, I noticed that my cat Sage was favoring one paw, so I had a good look at it. Turns out he has some kind of infected scratch or bite on his left foreleg, just below the "elbow." This infection may have resulted from fighting with another cat (like Wingnut), or it may have resulted from a spider bite: we have those nasty Brown Widow spiders here, though I usually knock 'em down hard with chemical warfare. Maybe I need to patrol the property again at night, flashlight in one hand and "Spider Killer" in the other... those nasty Brown Widows can be found hanging upside down in their webs at night, the red or orange hourglass mark clearly visible. That's the most effective method of annihilating the damned things, without poisoning the cats or any other undeserving critters. Sage's leg is a bit swollen too, but that could happen regardless of how his leg became infected, 10??? He's a tough cat though, and I reckon he'll pull through after all, even if it was a nasty Brown Widow bite. I wiped the pus from the wound earlier this morning and Sage hissed at me, LOL, so he still has some fight left in him, which is a good sign. The way he was lying around in past days, acting as if he were really under the weather, makes me think it might have been one of those miserable Brown Widows, the things are an infernal nuisance and downright dangerous to pets, children, the elderly, et al.

A grown man could probably weather a Brown Widow bite, but it would be painful: some gal here in town got bitten by a Brown Widow, and she wound up going to the ER. She said the bite was more painful than childbirth; I don't know exactly how painful that is, but it probably hurts like hell, 10-4? Unlike their cousins the Black Widows, who hide under woodpiles and such, Brown Widows are highly mobile and they overrun gardens, spinning their funky low-slung webs every which way between pots, shrubs, house walls, patio furniture, under the rims of pots, any place where they can build a funky web relatively low to the ground. They don't spin nice geometric webs like orb spiders, they slap together strands every which way in crackerhead fashion, with some strands thicker than others. I normally don't mind spiders in the garden, they're good to have around because they keep the rest of the insect population under control, but Brown Widows are another story, and they pose a serious health hazard to folks like me beloved elderly mum, who already has serious medical conditions. For this reason, I mercilessly annihilate Brown Widows whenever I run across them... don't need any nasty venomous spiders putting me mum in the hospital, or in the morgue. You can Google the Brown Widow spider, just another unwanted visitor from Central America causing problems Stateside.

 

[velociraptor]

Sorry to hear that motovert at least you guys shared a good life together

 

[Railsplitter]

Damn, I'm supposed to go monkeybiking today, and Little Wing has gone lame... he hurt his hind leg somehow (starboard side), and he's limping pretty badly. I don't see any thorns, sting or bite marks, obvious break in the bones of his leg, etc., maybe he just pulled a muscle or something. He's such an active cat, he could've done anything to mess up his leg, or else he got bitten or stung... much as I wanna go monkeybiking today, I think I had better see to my little friend first. Wingnut is a cool cat, and he's good for my elderly mom: they have a solid bond, and I'd hate to see it broken. Maybe I can still go riding if the vet finishes looking at Wing early enough, or if I can simply leave him at the vet's office for the day while the vet handles whatever needs to be done. Poor Little Wing, I hate to see him hobble around... the good news is that he doesn't seem to be in great pain, but I don't like the look of that limp, he's barely touching his hind paw to the ground. Alright, back to my rack for a bit, I got a few hours yet before the vet's office opens. Took me beloved elderly mum to see "JURASSIC WORLD" on the silver screen yesterday... that movie is so radical, the giant Mosasaur in the Sea World tank is ape$h!t, I like how that thing gets in on the action at the end, LOL. Spielberg & Crew did a good job with that flick... that Indominus Rex critter was pretty gnarly too, but no match for the giant Mosasaur. The old Triumph Scrambler (or whatever it was) should've been a monkeybike with a 160cc motor on it, LOL. I'm outta here, color me gone, more on the sand paddles and custom translucent Clarke tank later... HASTA LUEGO!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Well, Boyz, it looks like Wingnut may have a fractured leg or fractured pelvis, we'll know more once the X-rays are analyzed. Wing may go under the knife today, it all depends upon what the X-rays show. Before the little varmint is patched up and this episode is history, he will have cost me at least $600. You've heard of "The Six-Million-Dollar Man?" Well, round these parts, we can only afford a "Six-Hundred-Dollar Cat"---a sad reflection upon the state of our financial affairs in this miserable Obamanomic Economy, LOL. Meh, Little Wing is worth every penny, and he shares a close bond with me beloved elderly mum: I'd gladly pay twice as much to ensure that bond remains unbroken. The way "The Wingster" cuddles with my mom and nibbles on her nightgown buttons, delighting her in the process, I reckon he's worth a few lousy stinking C-notes. No worries, I'm still getting the custom tank, swingarm, pipe, etc., for my bike, LOL.

Oh, yeah, that reminds me, I aborted the monkeybiking mission for today, since I'm kind of on call with regard to Wingnut. I reckon I'll ride on Friday, as I have chauffeur duty mañana... not a problem, the weather should actually be nicer on Friday than it is today, we still have some of that humid slop hanging about right now, but it should be history by Friday. Alright, more later on Little Wing, the custom tank which Clarke Racing may or not make for my bike, the sand paddle situation, etc., etc. I told those gals in the vet's office to make sure Wingnut was NOT put down for ANY REASON: worst-case scenario, he takes his chances and hobbles around like Stumpy in "RIO BRAVO" (LOL). No worries, we'll buy him a sack o' chronic every week for any pain he might experience, though he's a tough little varmint and he never whined once throughout this ordeal. He growled pretty hard at the gals as they examined him, and those gals are NOT high on his current list of favorites, LOL.

 

[velociraptor]

 

[Railsplitter]

Damn, LOL, that's what got Little Wing into trouble in the first place. Got good news and bad news about Little Wing... the good news is that he's back home, none of his bones were fractured, he suffered a puncture wound to the underside of his jackrabbit foot, but we caught it in time to keep it from getting worse. Little Wing is now chockablock with antibiotics and painkillers (shots of each), and I have some liquid painkiller to administer via small disposable plastic syringes over the next few days. So-o-o-o, the varmint will live. The bad news is that his treatment actually cost $687, which makes him more of a "Seven-Hundred-Dollar Cat" if you round upwards, LOL. Meh, no worries, "The Wingster" is priceless when it comes to companionship for me beloved elderly mum, he's lying alongside her right now, quite possibly stoned out of his mind... probably doesn't require much in the way of meds with that walnut-sized brain of his. The real trick will be to keep the varmint confined indoors for the next few days: we don't want him wandering around the 'hood like some crackerhead all jacked up on meds, otherwise he'll REALLY get into trouble, LOL. Problem is, Wing is a smart cat, and he likes his freedom... as soon as he realizes he's being confined, he'll actively attempt to escape at every opportunity, 10-4??? Like Steve McQueen in "THE GREAT ESCAPE" (a classic flick), Wing will fire up my monkeybike and jump over multiple obstacles as he flees his pursuers. For pursuers, read moi, chasing the little varmint with raised fist and shouting verbal abuse, perhaps taking an occasional potshot at the b@stard (like the German soldiers in the movie, LOL). Maybe I should lock the monkeybike and put a guard on it, aye? If Little Wing escapes with the bike, his value will increase dramatically, don'tcha know??? He'll be "The Twenty-Seven-Hundred-Dollar Cat" if he gets clean away, LOL. That pesky varmint... oh, well, I'm going monkeybiking on Friday as planned, as long as the bike is still here. Wingnut will spend the next few days breaking rocks indoors, turning large rocks into small rocks as he swings a sledgehammer and builds up those leg muscles for his great escape, 10??? Time for another cold beer, I'm outta here, color me gone, ADIOS, MUCHACHOS!!!

 

[velociraptor]

 

[Cordogs]

Good to hear your little mate is doin well Railsplitter. :thumbup:

 

[Railsplitter]

New Addition To The Family, WOOHOO!!!

Well, Boyz, something came up and the monkeybiking mission got put on hold, same as any potential sailing voyage. No worries, there will be other days, and it's REALLY hot and humid out there... sour grapes, LOL. The good news is that we have a new addition to the family!!! While I was bagging a huge remote-controlled fan and some other merchandise at WallyWorld, I saw some Betta fish in the aquarium aisle, and I thought how cool it would be to have an aquarium set up so the cats can trip on it, LOL. I took all the necessary steps and introduced the fish to his new digs, now he's happy as a b@stard on Father's Day, cruising around and inspecting the tank.

All three cats have taken turns eyeballing the fish, and Little Wing predictably went bananas upon seeing the Betta... I took some classic photos of him trying to claw the fish through the glass, LOL. This tank ought to keep Wingnut occupied for hours, 10-4? The tank is cool too, it's only 10 gallons but it has primo glow-in-the-dark arches, a big ol' hollow DinoCroc skull the fish already loves as a hideout, some fake plants that also glow in the dark, colorful gravel and phony jewels, the whole nine yards, including enough supplies to make the aquarium a going concern. LEDs under the cover or hood, so the tank is nicely lit when the LEDs are on, WOOHOO!!!

Yesiree, the cats are gonna LOVE watching this little Siamese Fighting Fish and potential snack item as he roams around his tank, LOL. The DinoCroc skull will give the fish a place to hide whenever he gets the willies from Wingnut staring too hard at him, 10??? "DUDE!!! ENOUGH WITH THE STARING ALREADY!!!" LOL. Goddam fish is stoked to be out of that ridiculous holding tub... now he has a primo tank set up, might be reason to celebrate, if ya catch my drift. I'm still working on a method to give the fish beer without affecting the water quality of the tank, LOL. Might just hafta dump some chronic in there and see what happens... the experiment will probably result in disaster.

You Aussies have heard of venomous "stone fish" that hang out on the reefs??? Well, round here we're gonna have "stoned fish"---the Betta will soon be out of control as he raids the fridge, hogs the remote, and stays up late watching TV, 10-4??? "THAT'S IT, I'M CUTTING YOU OFF, NO MORE CHRONIC!!!" LOL. I'll wind up making a fish taco out of the b@stard for Little Wing, aye? "HEY, WING, YOU WANT HABANERO SAUCE ON THIS???" LOL. Damn, sometimes I slay myself. And I don't know WHAT devilish impulse prompted me to buy this Betta: it's bad enough that the cats steal my beer and leftover pizza, 10??? Last night, I caught Sage with the pizza box in one paw, a cold beer in the other... thievin' varmints!!!

Anyway, youse Crusty Australian Demons O' Dirt, I need your help in NAMING this handsome little Betta fish... Shearer has his dog Sprocket, so that name is already taken. What cool name can I apply to this little Siamese Fighting Fish??? I want to give him a name related to monkeybiking, 10-4??? Howzabout y'all cough up some likely names for the little guy, so I can pick a good one and run with it??? This fish has a black head, but the rest of him fades to a b!tchin' shade of purple, and he has a bit of red in thin stripes on his pectoral fins (?)... is that the right word? The fins on the bottom of the fish, up forward. Whoa, those thin red stripes almost suggest a name: REDLINE, LOL. Is it possible to redline a monkeybike??? And should that be RED-LINE???

Meh, we'll see what youse monkeybiking heroes come up with first... I already asked the hands at lilhonda.com about this naming question, so between the two sites I should see some cool names tossed out, LOL. I like Shearer's dog named Sprocket, that is one heller cool name. I once named a puppy Star, short for Western Star (trucks), and I'd like to name this finned critter in similar fashion, but his name has to be related specifically to monkeybikes, aye??? A little help here... toss out some cool names so I can pick one, and I'll be forever in your debt, LOL. Wait, I don't like the sound of "debt"---let's just say you'll have my eternal gratitude. WTF, I'm a cheap b@stard, LOL.

Hey, do any of you know aquariums and tropical fish? I know one can't put two male Bettas in the same tank, but what about other fish? Can I put goldfish in there without one variety eating the other? How about angelfish? I'd like to put some more finned critters in the tank, or maybe some hermit crabs or something. Is there such a thing as a freshwater hermit crab? Damn, my ignorance is showing, LOL. Meh, who cares? I'd like to put some kinda critters in there with the Betta to keep him company, there must be some fish or other critters that this thing can't maim or kill. Any of you know fish and fish tanks really well, kick back a response, aye??? Little Wing will appreciate the smorgasbord of seafood, LOL.

Alright, I'm outta here for now, color me gone, time to make some killer fish fillets for dinner, 10??? Not the Betta, LOL, I bought some thick-@$$ fillets from the meat department in our local grocery store on the way home from WallyWorld. Took the Betta in with me, didn't want him dying from the heat in the closed car, aye??? Dude was riding high in the shopping cart, where the tiny tots usually sit, and he gave me a dirty look when I picked up the fillets, LOL. Same for the "Snow Fox" sushi rolls I bought... those things are goddam delicious with a little wasabi. Okay, that's it for now, gotta get crackin' on dinner, and I hear another ice-cold longneck calling my name from the reefer, LOL. Y'all be good, ADIOS, MUCHACHOS!!!

 

[Cordogs]

Solid write up Railsplitter!

As to what to name your fish, what about Ratchet? Goes hand in hand with mini bikes! (Pardon the pun)

And to answer you aquarium question:

Yes you can house "other" breeds of fish with the beta's but they can get aggressive and don't really like fish of the same colour.
Choose only small fish like tetra's, guppies and other types of feeder fish. Loaches will be fine too.
Definitely no fun biters though, otherwise your beta may need a swim down the porcelain throne!

 

[Railsplitter]

Just a quick update before I crash, here are the names offered so far for my little Betta:

Stroker

Nitro (or Nitro Fish)

Wheelie

Ratchet

DAX (or Dax, I don't know if I'm supposed to use all caps)

Redline (or Red-Line, I came up with that one due to the thin red stripes on the pectoral fins of the fish, LOL)

No worries, I'll use all the names when I get a few more fish for the tank. Guess I'll start with Tetras and Guppies, Cordogs... a friend of mine once had an Oscar that killed everything else in the tank, and this friend named the Oscar "Sid Fish-ious" (LOL). This tank I bought is small, only 10 gallons, so I'll stick with small fish, aye? The tank is cool though, it looks primo lit up at night, and the Betta is loving life right now, after being cooped up in that little holding tub. Dixie is laid out next to the tank, eyeballing the fish as it swims back and forth, LOL. Probably waiting for me to crash, so she can start working on the cover or hood. Next thing ya know, she'll have welder's gear and a cutting torch on the plastic hood, LOL. I'm outta here, time to crash, it has been a long hot day here, but now it's feeling comfortable, and I have my new remote-controlled fan to keep it that way, LOL. Thing is blasting right now, and it's only on the first speed setting... as a monkeybiker, I had to buy a 4-speed fan, aye? LOL. HASTA MANANA!!! ADIOS!!!

 

[Railsplitter]

Another update: I gotta run a friend out to Lakeside to pick up his truck, so I'm gonna stop at a pet store on the way back and buy five more small fish, enough to use all the names coughed up so far, LOL. I think this Betta will be named Nitro, since he's so explosive in his movements, LOL. Little dude is doing swimmingly well (LOL, bad pun, I know), you should've seen Little Wing leap up to stalk Nitro as soon as I turned on the LEDs in the tank. Wingnut the Great White Hunter... he tried to put his snout into that small gap in the hood, above the filter, the knucklehaid, LOL. Be back later with an update on the fish scene. Reminds me of that ad on the radio awhile back: "FISHAY, FISHAY..." LOL. Wingnut is gonna go ape$h!t when he sees the new additions, next thing ya know, he'll have a diamond-tipped glass cutter in one paw, LOL. HASTA LUEGO, MONKEYBIKING HEROES!!!