…or pets[ul]
[li]Dogs Will Eat Anything - last night, I heard the sound that wakes every cat owner from a sound sleep - the sound of a cat hurling. Crap. I figure I’ll clean it up in the morning. But my dog has other ideas; he decides whatever the cat hurled would make a tasty 2am snack. So I didn’t have to clean anything up this morning. Yeah, I know, if I didn’t have any cats, there presumably wouldn’t be someone vomiting on my floor at 2am, but you never know - I might host a ChiDope some day.[/li][li]Cats Like to Hunt. One of my cats in particular like to hunt the little bugs that appear in my bathroom every so often. And he loves eating them, too. When I see one, I often call my boy Pooka over to get the bug, and he promptly chomps it down.[/li][/ul]
My cat likes to hunt little bugs too. She is rather confused about eating them though. She seems to know that they are suppose to be food so she hides under the chair by her food bowl. She doesn’t eat them. She just puts them by her good food in case I forget to feed her.
Anyone looking under that chair would think I have a major bug problem.
You have just given me another reason why I really need to get a dog.
You never have to worry about oversleeping with a cat in the house. Their stomach clock will make sure they wake you if the alarm clock does not.
I don’t worry about setting the burglar alarm when I’m home alone 'cause I have a built-in one with my dog around.
Dont invest in an expensive paper shredder. get a gerbille(sp?) and cut a slot in the top of the tank.
Or let it loose in your bedroom and let it mangle anything at or near ground level( bedsheets included, as are console controlpad cables )
They do fingers too…
-Qis
Added bonus: I do not have a doorbell, nor do I need one. Dogzilla (IRL) starts barking the second anyone comes within 20 feet of the house.
drawback: she also barks at pecans dropping off the tree in the front yard at night, because it trips the motion detector light.
Other advantages:
- When I sweep the kitchen floor, I get enough fur to make another cat!
- When it’s cold, I just toss another cat on the bed.
So, Dogzilla…you named yourself after the dog?
“Indiana was the dog’s name!”
An endless supply of tennis balls
My female Golden Retriever Ginger is a tennis ball maniac (some weird misplaced maternal instinct). To make matters worse I live by a park with a municipal tennis court, so every day when I walk her she’ll dive head first into the bushes and come out with a new one. They accumulate around the house and under my bed like dust bunnies (the record for most at any given time: 83) and I can’t throw them away either, because every time I do she’ll just fish them out of the trash and hide them under the bed again.
Protection from those wiley, plotting squirrels.
Konah, my male retriever, is a total love-muffin. Gentle with kids and other dogs and even cats, which makes it even more striking when he goes crazy and tears after a squirrel. All he has to do is hear one scrambling up in the trees and he’s in Full Red-Alert Squirrel Threat Mode!! He throws out his chest, growls gently, the fir on the back of his neck fluffs up and he’ll like herd Ginger and me like a Secret Service agent-- acting like a barrier between us and the hostile squirrel forces. It’s hilarious.
A big, burly fella like me walking two big, fluffy Old English Sheepdogs just melts women. I get more flirts when walking my dogs than ever!
Grizzwife hates that.
Not only does my cat knead me, but when she lies on my chest, I get a massage from the vibration of her purrs. I always have thought that’s kinda neat.
Cats throw off quite a bit of heat. You can use one as a muff, stole, foot warmer, or even a bed warmer, by dragging him over your sheets before you go to bed.
My cat is also helpful at making sure I don’t loose my page. Since he does this by sitting on any open book, we’re still working the kinks out of this plan.
Cheap entertainment!
Anything that lies on the floor is the cat’s sworn enemy. Mostly pencils, but also tennis balls and a lot of the toys you get in Happy Meals[sub]TM[/sub]. They are all minions of Satan and must be destroyed.
Cats also will gallop across the floor for no apparent reason. Seeing Psycho-Cat[sub]TM[/sub] do this never fails to generate a few laffs.
Cats = Hours-O-Fun!
Add to the list those (cute when you don’t have to deal with them) evil, birdfood stealing, trashcan molesting racoons.
Our Golden Retriever, Otis, does the Clark Kent/Superman transition whenever a racoon is anywhere near our house (since we live in the sticks this USED to be a common occurence).
We keep a variety of bird feeders on our deck, and each spring, we seem to get a new troupe of racoons who think they look like easy pickings…until they meet Otis/momentarily Cujo. I think it has become a rite of passage for them.
Mrs. Racoon: “Where are you taking the kids?”
Mr. Racoon: “To the angry dog ritual…it is high time they learned that life doesn’t always give you what you want.”
Interestingly the Wonderdog has no problem at all with squirrels…practically invites them up. I wonder if they’re paying him off???
Don’t you guys know that the squirrels and vacuum cleaners have been in cahoots for years?
We have a 6 lb. 9 oz. Yorkshire Terrier.
All things in our yard are classified as “vermin”.
The squirrels and 40 lb. racoons run for their life and “chitter” at him when they get safely into the trees.
The dastardly rabbits, however, have outsmarted The Smartest Dog in the Universe [sup]TM[/sup]. The rabbits stay perfectly still in the middle of the yard and the Yorkie runs/barks so fast that he blows right by them. The dastardly rabbits then saunter casually back to the garden to eat my expensive flowers.
:rolleyes:
my dog will eat anything that drops on the floor, it’s great, no vaccum cleaner required
My cat’s breath smells like cat food.
The best dog benefit is that they always hear the tornado siren, and I usually don’t if I’ve got music, the TV, or anything else playing.
I always know the mail has arrived.
I don’t have to buy one of those lawn de-thatcher thingamajobbers. My female lab-mix “de-thatches” everywhere she does her business.
I also put the cat behind me in my chair to get a nice warm, vibrating back massage.
Yes, and we have that multiplied by two. Sudden frantic chases are always cool.
One fun thing is when they sleep on the steps. However, our steps from our top floor to the basement are continuous and slatted, not solid. They forget this sometimes. Occasionally, while in deep sleep, they’ll roll over or stretch and fall through the steps to the basement.
A black cat twitching in mid-fall while clawing at nothing but air is always good for chuckles. (They’re always fine and slink up the steps looking quite embarrassed.)
Sheri
Cool answering machine messages.
I have a malamute mix that “talks” (the technical malamute term for it is “woo-wooing” ;). I sat her down next to my answering machine one morning when she wanted to go for a walk. My message is 15 seconds of:
“Woroooah! War, war, war, war, war war! Arooh! Arrroooh! Rue, rue, rue. Arooh! Rrruuu!, etc.” It sounds like Chewbacca at 1/2 speed.
Friends and family know my dog, so their messages always start with a laugh. Telemarketers just sound confused.
Bonus trivia point: The voice of Chewbacca IS based on a malamute that George Lucas owned.
You never have to eat alone - the birds are happy to help you consume whatever is on your plate. You may, however, have to fight for your fair share.
Your house will never be too neat.
The living feather dusters will dust the top of bookshelves, cabinets, and everything else as you chase them around the house attempting to catch them.
You will not need an alarm clock - you will be awakened by Jungle Noises ™ every morning, along with renditions of car alarms, ringing telephones, random swear words, and PRETTY BIRD PRETTY BIRD PRETTY BIRD
They will sit on your head and remove your dandruff for you, allowing you to go another 4 days without a shampoo.
My birds have learned to turn on the computer. They have twice gotten the demo to Unreal Tournament running, which they find extremely exciting and wonderful. Thank god they haven’t learned how to turn on the modem or use credit cards on line.