It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:

https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330

There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
need to be done away with to "save the planet".

I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)

--
Rhino

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330
>
> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>
> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>

A friend of mine tripped over a branch in a parking lot last week and broke
his hip. Ordinarily they would’ve sent him home yesterday but since he
lives alone and has 17 irregular cats they decided to keep him in rehab for
three more weeks. Nobody else has said this, at least out loud, but my
guess is that they’re afraid the cats will eat him.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:

I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
that domesticated themselves.

They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."

> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
> .6532330
>
> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
> need to be done away with to "save the planet".

If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
than than a government pogrom against people's pets.

> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)

I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.

A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.

So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:

>>. . .

>I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.

>A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.

>So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.

Awwwwwwwww, that's sweet.

What did the dog say about all this?

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

>It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:

>https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330

>There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>need to be done away with to "save the planet".

My dog informs me in no uncertain terms that squirrels and rabbits are
invasive species on each and every walk.

>I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)

On 2022-07-26 4:58 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330
>>
>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>
>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>
>
> A friend of mine tripped over a branch in a parking lot last week and broke
> his hip. Ordinarily they would’ve sent him home yesterday but since he
> lives alone and has 17 irregular cats they decided to keep him in rehab for
> three more weeks. Nobody else has said this, at least out loud, but my
> guess is that they’re afraid the cats will eat him.
>
"Irregular" cats? Do you mean they're constipated? ;-)

--
Rhino

On 7/26/2022 5:48 PM, RichA wrote:
> On Tuesday, 26 July 2022 at 16:44:25 UTC-4, Rhino wrote:
>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330
>>
>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>
>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>
>> --
>> Rhino
>
> Wherever they are, house cats

I agree.

On 2022-07-26 6:08 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>
> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
> that domesticated themselves.
>
> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
>> .6532330
>>
>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>
> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>
During the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa this past winter, one of the
politicians - I think it was the mayor of Ottawa - recommended seizing
the pets of the truckers and euthanizing them to make them stop the
protest. (Apparently, some of the truckers brought pets with them.) That
*did* not sit well with the Convoy supporters! But I don't think anyone
lost their job over it and if the person who made this proposal ever
retracted it and apologized, I missed it. (If anyone knows of a
retraction or firing, please jump in and tell me!) The absence of a
retraction makes me worry that some knob will actually do that somewhere
down the road under the impression that it's a low risk move that he/she
would actually get away with. I think he's in for a BIG surprise if he
tries it!!

>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>
> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>
> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>
Congratulations!! It sounds like you're already enjoying the experience
of being a cat owner. You'll find they are a very low maintenance pet
yet very affectionate in their own way. They don't jump up and down with
excitement the way a dog does but they find multiple hours a day to be
with you and that's because there's nowhere they'd rather be.

> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.

They have their ways, there's no doubt about it. One of the channels I
enjoy on YouTube is called Walter Santi. He's apparently a big animal
lover and has many videos about the cats and kittens that have joined
his household. Most of them just seem to have wandered by in the same
way your cat did and decided his place seemed congenial. He seems to
have at least a couple of dozen cats at any given time - and other
animals as well - that inhabit his house and yard. In some cases, he
seems to only be fostering them and finds new homes but a lot of them
seem to be longterm residents.

--
Rhino

In article <tbpp5q$27rao$1@dont-email.me>,
"Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>
> >>. . .
>
> >I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
> >embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>
> >A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
> >on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
> >past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
> >so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
> >she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
> >from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
> >jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
> >of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
> >week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
> >I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
> >permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
> >sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>
> >So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>
> Awwwwwwwww, that's sweet.
>
> What did the dog say about all this?

I don't currently have a dog, so that's not an issue.

In article <tbps3j$28j8g$1@dont-email.me>,
Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

> On 2022-07-26 6:08 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> > In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
> > Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> >
> >> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
> >> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
> >
> > I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
> > that domesticated themselves.
> >
> > They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
> > and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
> >
> >> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institut
> >> e-1
> >> .6532330
> >>
> >> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
> >> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
> >> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
> >> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
> >> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
> >> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
> >> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
> >> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
> >
> > If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
> > than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
> >
> During the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa this past winter, one of the
> politicians - I think it was the mayor of Ottawa - recommended seizing
> the pets of the truckers and euthanizing them to make them stop the
> protest. (Apparently, some of the truckers brought pets with them.) That
> *did* not sit well with the Convoy supporters! But I don't think anyone
> lost their job over it and if the person who made this proposal ever
> retracted it and apologized, I missed it. (If anyone knows of a
> retraction or firing, please jump in and tell me!) The absence of a
> retraction makes me worry that some knob will actually do that somewhere
> down the road under the impression that it's a low risk move that he/she
> would actually get away with. I think he's in for a BIG surprise if he
> tries it!!
>
> >> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
> >> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
> >> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
> >> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
> >> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
> >> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
> >> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
> >
> > I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
> > embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
> >
> > A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
> > on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
> > past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
> > so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
> > she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
> > from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
> > jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
> > of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
> > week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
> > I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
> > permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
> > sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
> >
> Congratulations!! It sounds like you're already enjoying the experience
> of being a cat owner. You'll find they are a very low maintenance pet
> yet very affectionate in their own way. They don't jump up and down with
> excitement the way a dog does but they find multiple hours a day to be
> with you and that's because there's nowhere they'd rather be.

She really is very dog-like in her personality. What's always left me
cold with cats is that everyone I know who has them, the creature comes
out at feeding time, then retreats to some remote part of the house--
under a bed or up on a window sill and ignores the humans until the next
meal. In other words, not the most affectionate of pets. But this cat
follows me everywhere, constantly wants pets and affection and spends
hours curled up on my lap purring and watching all my streaming shows
for free. (Unless this is all a ruse where she's affectionate upfront in
order to establish a beach head in my house, then once her conquest is
complete, she'll give the cold shoulder...)

On 2022-07-26 7:18 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> In article <tbps3j$28j8g$1@dont-email.me>,
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>> On 2022-07-26 6:08 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>>>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>>
>>> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
>>> that domesticated themselves.
>>>
>>> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
>>> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>>>
>>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institut
>>>> e-1
>>>> .6532330
>>>>
>>>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>>>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>>>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>>>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>>>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>>>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>>>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>>>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>>
>>> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
>>> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>>>
>> During the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa this past winter, one of the
>> politicians - I think it was the mayor of Ottawa - recommended seizing
>> the pets of the truckers and euthanizing them to make them stop the
>> protest. (Apparently, some of the truckers brought pets with them.) That
>> *did* not sit well with the Convoy supporters! But I don't think anyone
>> lost their job over it and if the person who made this proposal ever
>> retracted it and apologized, I missed it. (If anyone knows of a
>> retraction or firing, please jump in and tell me!) The absence of a
>> retraction makes me worry that some knob will actually do that somewhere
>> down the road under the impression that it's a low risk move that he/she
>> would actually get away with. I think he's in for a BIG surprise if he
>> tries it!!
>>
>>>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>>>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>>>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>>>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>>>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>>>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>>>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>>
>>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>>
>>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>>> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>>
>> Congratulations!! It sounds like you're already enjoying the experience
>> of being a cat owner. You'll find they are a very low maintenance pet
>> yet very affectionate in their own way. They don't jump up and down with
>> excitement the way a dog does but they find multiple hours a day to be
>> with you and that's because there's nowhere they'd rather be.
>
> She really is very dog-like in her personality. What's always left me
> cold with cats is that everyone I know who has them, the creature comes
> out at feeding time, then retreats to some remote part of the house--
> under a bed or up on a window sill and ignores the humans until the next
> meal.

Every cat I've ever known has always chosen a person in the household
that is their favourite. (It's definitely NOT guaranteed to be the one
who feeds them or scoops out the litter box or what have you.) Once
they've chosen that person, they focus most of their affection on that
person. They're not actively hostile to the others in the house but they
spend most of their time with their chosen person. For whatever, the cat
in our house has chosen me to spend most of her time with, even though
she's my brother's cat and he feeds her, does the litterbox, etc. (My
brother smokes, although always out on the driveway, and the smell
lingers on his clothes which I suspect keeps her from spending a lot of
time with him.) Most cats are not very sociable with strangers from
outside the house; they mostly hide when strangers are in the house -
unless that stranger is an obvious cat person! My friend Joe brought his
new wife over one time so that we could all go to a local folk festival.
(Joe and his wife live hours away.) Joe is a dog person who doesn't mind
cats but she is a hardcore cat person. My cat Bebop seemed to realize
this instantly and she had picked him up, stroked him, and was holding
him upside down within seconds and he seemed to love every minute of it!
I had never seen him be quite so outgoing with a stranger before. Mind
you, he was also not adverse to lying beside someone on the couch and
then pushing his back feet at them. One of my friends, Brian, had this
happen to him and said "Rhino, why is he kicking me?" I told him to grab
Bebop's back feet and hold them together in his hand; he did and Bebop
gave a little squirm and then fell asleep. This was something he and I
did together many times: he seemed to like having his feet held!

I've never seen a household where the cat shuns all the humans except to
eat meals or ask to go out but I suppose it's possible if the cat
doesn't really find ANY of the humans simpatico. It's obviously not
happening at YOUR house ;-) She clearly finds you simpatico.

> In other words, not the most affectionate of pets. But this cat
> follows me everywhere, constantly wants pets and affection and spends
> hours curled up on my lap purring and watching all my streaming shows
> for free. (Unless this is all a ruse where she's affectionate upfront in
> order to establish a beach head in my house, then once her conquest is
> complete, she'll give the cold shoulder...)

--
Rhino

On Tue, 26 Jul 2022 19:07:29 -0400, Rhino
<no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:

>On 2022-07-26 6:08 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>
>>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>
>> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
>> that domesticated themselves.
>>
>> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
>> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>>
>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
>>> .6532330
>>>
>>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>
>> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
>> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>>
>During the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa this past winter, one of the
>politicians - I think it was the mayor of Ottawa - recommended seizing
>the pets of the truckers and euthanizing them to make them stop the
>protest. (Apparently, some of the truckers brought pets with them.) That
>*did* not sit well with the Convoy supporters! But I don't think anyone
>lost their job over it and if the person who made this proposal ever
>retracted it and apologized, I missed it. (If anyone knows of a
>retraction or firing, please jump in and tell me!) The absence of a
>retraction makes me worry that some knob will actually do that somewhere
>down the road under the impression that it's a low risk move that he/she
>would actually get away with. I think he's in for a BIG surprise if he
>tries it!!

I can't believe that anyone thought that might be a good idea. Okay, I
can but it still surprises me that not only did someone think of it
but they were willing to say it out loud where others might here it.
Doesn't matter whether you were for the Convoy or against it , as I
suspect very few people would support such a move.

>>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>
>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.

Congrats! Having grown up with both dogs and cats around I can say
that both are great to have around.

>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>
>Congratulations!! It sounds like you're already enjoying the experience
>of being a cat owner. You'll find they are a very low maintenance pet
>yet very affectionate in their own way. They don't jump up and down with
>excitement the way a dog does but they find multiple hours a day to be
>with you and that's because there's nowhere they'd rather be.

Not that it's an option for BTR, but growing up we lived out in the
country so all of our animals were in and out of the house all day
long as the doors were usually open (at least in the summer as there
was no A/C and it got quite warm in southern GA.) The cats treated our
home more as a stop along the way to pick up some food or with one
mama cat she was well known for bring us food (whatever she managed to
kill).

Then there was our great tom who would disappear for a week or more,
come back with cuts from obvious fights and lay around for the next
few weeks. He was great as you could pick him up, put him around your
neck and walk around with him and the most that he would do is look up
for a moment just to see what was going on.

Yeah, our cats weren't the same as the typical house cats that
constantly hang out with the owner but they were still great. I guess
that just shows how independent cats can be while the dogs would
always stick around the house.

>> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>
>They have their ways, there's no doubt about it. One of the channels I
>enjoy on YouTube is called Walter Santi. He's apparently a big animal
>lover and has many videos about the cats and kittens that have joined
>his household. Most of them just seem to have wandered by in the same
>way your cat did and decided his place seemed congenial. He seems to
>have at least a couple of dozen cats at any given time - and other
>animals as well - that inhabit his house and yard. In some cases, he
>seems to only be fostering them and finds new homes but a lot of them
>seem to be longterm residents.

In article <atropos-46802F.15084026072022@news.giganews.com>, BTR1701
<atropos@mac.com> wrote:

> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
> > It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
> > cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>
> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
> that domesticated themselves.
>
> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>
> >
> > https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-
> > 1
> > .6532330
> >
> > There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
> > restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
> > if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
> > initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
> > the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
> > mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
> > kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
> > need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>
> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>
> > I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
> > woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
> > loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
> > and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
> > ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
> > single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
> > from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>
> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>
> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>
> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.

That kind of thing has happened here a lot more than once but, oddly,
not in recent years. I don't know what's changed. There's more
housing than ever.

Good for you for taking in that cat.

In article <atropos-FE3A96.16104026072022@news.giganews.com>, BTR1701
<atropos@mac.com> wrote:

> In article <tbpp5q$27rao$1@dont-email.me>,
> "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>
> > BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> >
> > >>. . .
> >
> > >I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
> > >embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
> >
> > >A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
> > >on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
> > >past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
> > >so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
> > >she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
> > >from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
> > >jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
> > >of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
> > >week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
> > >I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
> > >permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
> > >sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
> >
> > >So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
> >
> > Awwwwwwwww, that's sweet.
> >
> > What did the dog say about all this?
>
> I don't currently have a dog, so that's not an issue.

Our dogs have always gotten along with our cats, and vice versa. Our
dogs know we love the cats, and the cats appear to think that the dogs
are oddly-shaped people.

On 7/26/2022 10:38 PM, A Friend wrote:
> In article <atropos-FE3A96.16104026072022@news.giganews.com>, BTR1701
> <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>
>> In article <tbpp5q$27rao$1@dont-email.me>,
>> "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>
>>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>>> . . .
>>>
>>>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>>>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>>
>>>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>>>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>>>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>>>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>>>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>>> >from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>>>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>>>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>>>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>>>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>>>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>>>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>>
>>>> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>>>
>>> Awwwwwwwww, that's sweet.
>>>
>>> What did the dog say about all this?
>>
>> I don't currently have a dog, so that's not an issue.
>
>
>
> Our dogs have always gotten along with our cats, and vice versa. Our
> dogs know we love the cats, and the cats appear to think that the dogs
> are oddly-shaped people.

My dogs will disagree only with regard to who it is that's oddly shaped.

On 7/26/2022 8:38 PM, Rhino wrote:
> On 2022-07-26 7:18 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>> In article <tbps3j$28j8g$1@dont-email.me>,
>>   Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>
>>> On 2022-07-26 6:08 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
>>>> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>    Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>>>>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>>>
>>>> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
>>>> that domesticated themselves.
>>>>
>>>> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
>>>> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>>>>
>>>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institut
>>>>>
>>>>> e-1
>>>>> .6532330
>>>>>
>>>>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some
>>>>> kind of
>>>>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be
>>>>> surprised
>>>>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>>>>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will
>>>>> reduce
>>>>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>>>>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>>>>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so
>>>>> they
>>>>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>>>
>>>> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
>>>> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>>>>
>>> During the Freedom Convoy in Ottawa this past winter, one of the
>>> politicians - I think it was the mayor of Ottawa - recommended seizing
>>> the pets of the truckers and euthanizing them to make them stop the
>>> protest. (Apparently, some of the truckers brought pets with them.) That
>>> *did* not sit well with the Convoy supporters! But I don't think anyone
>>> lost their job over it and if the person who made this proposal ever
>>> retracted it and apologized, I missed it. (If anyone knows of a
>>> retraction or firing, please jump in and tell me!) The absence of a
>>> retraction makes me worry that some knob will actually do that somewhere
>>> down the road under the impression that it's a low risk move that he/she
>>> would actually get away with. I think he's in for a BIG surprise if he
>>> tries it!!
>>>
>>>>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a
>>>>> local
>>>>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering
>>>>> around
>>>>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>>>>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that
>>>>> cats
>>>>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>>>>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any
>>>>> input
>>>>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the
>>>>> time.)
>>>>
>>>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is
>>>> very
>>>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>>>
>>>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>>>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>>>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>>>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches.
>>>> Then
>>>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>>>> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like
>>>> dog,
>>>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>>>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>>>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>>>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>>>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>>>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this
>>>> happened.
>>>>
>>> Congratulations!! It sounds like you're already enjoying the experience
>>> of being a cat owner. You'll find they are a very low maintenance pet
>>> yet very affectionate in their own way. They don't jump up and down with
>>> excitement the way a dog does but they find multiple hours a day to be
>>> with you and that's because there's nowhere they'd rather be.
>>
>> She really is very dog-like in her personality. What's always left me
>> cold with cats is that everyone I know who has them, the creature comes
>> out at feeding time, then retreats to some remote part of the house--
>> under a bed or up on a window sill and ignores the humans until the next
>> meal.
>
> Every cat I've ever known has always chosen a person in the household
> that is their favourite. (It's definitely NOT guaranteed to be the one
> who feeds them or scoops out the litter box or what have you.) Once
> they've chosen that person, they focus most of their affection on that
> person. They're not actively hostile to the others in the house but they
> spend most of their time with their chosen person. For whatever, the cat
> in our house has chosen me to spend most of her time with, even though
> she's my brother's cat and he feeds her, does the litterbox, etc. (My
> brother smokes, although always out on the driveway, and the smell
> lingers on his clothes which I suspect keeps her from spending a lot of
> time with him.)  Most cats are not very sociable with strangers from
> outside the house; they mostly hide when strangers are in the house -
> unless that stranger is an obvious cat person! My friend Joe brought his
> new wife over one time so that we could all go to a local folk festival.
> (Joe and his wife live hours away.) Joe is a dog person who doesn't mind
> cats but she is a hardcore cat person. My cat Bebop seemed to realize
> this instantly and she had picked him up, stroked him, and was holding
> him upside down within seconds and he seemed to love every minute of it!
> I had never seen him be quite so outgoing with a stranger before. Mind
> you, he was also not adverse to lying beside someone on the couch and
> then pushing his back feet at them. One of my friends, Brian, had this
> happen to him and said "Rhino, why is he kicking me?" I told him to grab
> Bebop's back feet and hold them together in his hand; he did and Bebop
> gave a little squirm and then fell asleep. This was something he and I
> did together many times: he seemed to like having his feet held!
>
> I've never seen a household where the cat shuns all the humans except to
> eat meals or ask to go out but I suppose it's possible if the cat
> doesn't really find ANY of the humans simpatico. It's obviously not
> happening at YOUR house ;-) She clearly finds you simpatico.
>
>> In other words, not the most affectionate of pets. But this cat
>> follows me everywhere, constantly wants pets and affection and spends
>> hours curled up on my lap purring and watching all my streaming shows
>> for free. (Unless this is all a ruse where she's affectionate upfront in
>> order to establish a beach head in my house, then once her conquest is
>> complete, she'll give the cold shoulder...)

A dog will sit on your lap because he likes you. whereas a cat will sit
on your lap because your lap is warmer.

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>
> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
> that domesticated themselves.
>
> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
>> .6532330
>>
>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>
> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>
>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>
> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>
> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>
> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>

Try to keep her inside. She should almost immediately run away. Just to be
contrary.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
> On 2022-07-26 4:58 PM, anim8rfsk wrote:
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>>
>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330
>>>
>>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>>
>>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>>
>>
>> A friend of mine tripped over a branch in a parking lot last week and broke
>> his hip. Ordinarily they would’ve sent him home yesterday but since he
>> lives alone and has 17 irregular cats they decided to keep him in rehab for
>> three more weeks. Nobody else has said this, at least out loud, but my
>> guess is that they’re afraid the cats will eat him.
>>
> "Irregular" cats? Do you mean they're constipated? ;-)
>

No, I mean they have the wrong number of everything. Zero tails, zero
eyelids, one kidney only, six toes. At least none of them have reproductive
organs.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

RichA <rander3128@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Tuesday, 26 July 2022 at 16:44:25 UTC-4, Rhino wrote:
>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330
>>
>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>
>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>
>> --
>> Rhino
>
> Wherever they are, house cats destroy ground-dwelling bird species. A
> single cat can kill dozens of birds in a day.
>

And you should see what the married cats can do!

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>
>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>
> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
> that domesticated themselves.
>
> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>
>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
>> .6532330
>>
>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>
> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>

When PETA started stealing peoples pets from their homes and putting them
to death to save them from a life of being a pet, I seriously don’t know
why we didn’t just start shooting the PETA people dead.

--
The last thing I want to do is hurt you, but it is still on my list.

On Jul 26, 2022 at 7:36:12 PM PDT, "A Friend" <nope@noway.com> wrote:

> In article <atropos-46802F.15084026072022@news.giganews.com>, BTR1701
> <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>
>> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>
>> > It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>> > cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>
>> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
>> that domesticated themselves.
>>
>> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
>> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>>
>> >
>> >
>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-
>> > 1
>> > .6532330
>> >
>> > There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>> > restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>> > if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>> > initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>> > the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>> > mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>> > kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>> > need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>
>> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
>> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>>
>> > I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>> > woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>> > loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>> > and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>> > ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>> > single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>> > from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>
>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>
>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>
>> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>
>
> That kind of thing has happened here a lot more than once but, oddly,
> not in recent years. I don't know what's changed. There's more
> housing than ever.
>
> Good for you for taking in that cat.

Since she's a jet black/witch's familiar/Halloween-looking feline, I've dubbed
her Midnight.

On Jul 26, 2022 at 1:44:18 PM PDT, "Rhino" <no_offline_contact@example.com>
wrote:

> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>
>
> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1.6532330

"Invasive alien species No. 1,787, however, is a creature so beloved
that it often is honoured in Poland's pet cemeteries, often reserved
for cats and dogs.

If they think Species 1787 is bad, wait till they get a load of Species 8472.

> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>
> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)

On Jul 26, 2022 at 7:53:10 PM PDT, "moviePig" <pwallace@moviepig.com> wrote:

> On 7/26/2022 10:38 PM, A Friend wrote:
>> In article <atropos-FE3A96.16104026072022@news.giganews.com>, BTR1701
>> <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>
>>> In article <tbpp5q$27rao$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> "Adam H. Kerman" <ahk@chinet.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>>> . . .
>>>>
>>>>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>>>>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>>>
>>>>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>>>>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>>>>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>>>>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>>>>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>>>> >from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>>>>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>>>>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>>>>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>>>>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>>>>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>>>>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>>>
>>>>> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>>>>
>>>> Awwwwwwwww, that's sweet.
>>>>
>>>> What did the dog say about all this?
>>>
>>> I don't currently have a dog, so that's not an issue.
>>
>> Our dogs have always gotten along with our cats, and vice versa. Our
>> dogs know we love the cats, and the cats appear to think that the dogs
>> are oddly-shaped people.
>
> My dogs will disagree only with regard to who it is that's oddly shaped.

If you've never seen them, these videos are hilarious.

Sad Cat Diary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKffm2uI4dk

Sad Dog Diary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xw1C5T-fH2Y

Dogs have their 'dearest humans'. Cats merely have 'the authorities'.

On Jul 26, 2022 at 8:23:43 PM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:

> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>
>>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>
>> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
>> that domesticated themselves.
>>
>> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
>> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>>
>>>
>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
>>> .6532330
>>>
>>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>
>> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
>> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>>
>>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>
>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>
>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>
>> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>>
>
> Try to keep her inside. She should almost immediately run away. Just to be
> contrary.

Yes, there's only one place in my entire house I don't want her to go: behind
a huge set of shelves that are integrated with my desk and where all the wires
and plugs keeping my internet and cable connections operational run. A cat
pulling one of those loose would be catastrophic and would be nearly
impossible to fix without a massive effort, moving tons of books and huge
pieces of furniture.

Consequently, 'behind the shelves' is where she immediately beelines for the
moment she comes inside. (And then emerges covered in the decade-worth of dust
that has accumulated back there since I moved in.)

On 7/26/2022 9:25 PM, BTR1701 wrote:
> On Jul 26, 2022 at 8:23:43 PM PDT, "anim8rfsk" <anim8rfsk@cox.net> wrote:
>
>> BTR1701 <atropos@mac.com> wrote:
>>> In article <tbpjn5$26ha4$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> Rhino <no_offline_contact@example.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> It seems that the Polish Academy of Science has determined that house
>>>> cats are an invasive species under the definition used by the EU:
>>>
>>> I recently read a factoid that cats are the only domesticated animal
>>> that domesticated themselves.
>>>
>>> They just wandered into the houses of the ancient Egyptians or whoever
>>> and said, "Okay, now feed and shelter me."
>>>
>>>>
>>>> https://www.cbc.ca/news/science/house-cats-invasive-species-polish-institute-1
>>>> .6532330
>>>>
>>>> There is no indication - YET - that this was a step towards some kind of
>>>> restrictions on cats and cat ownership but I can't say I'd be surprised
>>>> if some "activist" at least proposes that. The Dutch government's
>>>> initiatives towards Net Zero by 2030 already looks like they will reduce
>>>> the numbers of livestock animals by 30%; if a country is willing to
>>>> mandate the killing of livestock then it's not that big to stretch to
>>>> kill domestic pets. They could argue that cats and dogs fart too so they
>>>> need to be done away with to "save the planet".
>>>
>>> If they want to really start a civil war, I can think of no better way
>>> than than a government pogrom against people's pets.
>>>
>>>> I still remember 40 years when I lived in Waterloo, Ontario and a local
>>>> woman demanded that the City Council prohibit cats from wandering around
>>>> loose. She was upset that a neighbour cat had peed on her rose bushes
>>>> and managed to get the City Council to write a bylaw demanding that cats
>>>> ALWAYS be on a leash when outside. I remember being appalled that a
>>>> single aggrieved individual could get the law changed without any input
>>>> from the people affected by the law. (And no, I had no cat at the time.)
>>>
>>> I seem to have become a cat owner in the last month or so, which is very
>>> embarrassing, having been on Team Dog all my life.
>>>
>>> A little black cat just started showing up in my back yard and snoozing
>>> on one of the lounge chairs. I started give her a pet whenever I walked
>>> past on the way in or out. Then she started sleeping on the back porch,
>>> so I put out a bowl of water in addition to the pets and scratches. Then
>>> she wandered into the house when I had the door open to ferry groceries
>>> from the car into the fridge. She followed me around the house like dog,
>>> jumped into my lap when I sat down, and watched TV with me for a couple
>>> of hours, then went over to the door to be let out. This repeated for a
>>> week or so, until I cracked a can of tuna for her and put it in a bowl.
>>> I might as well have given her heroin. That was it. She was here
>>> permanently. So now I'm making vet appointments for shots and to make
>>> sure she can't get pregnant and wondering how the hell all this happened.
>>>
>>> So yeah, I can see how cats managed to domesticate themselves.
>>>
>>
>> Try to keep her inside. She should almost immediately run away. Just to be
>> contrary.
>
> Yes, there's only one place in my entire house I don't want her to go: behind
> a huge set of shelves that are integrated with my desk and where all the wires
> and plugs keeping my internet and cable connections operational run. A cat
> pulling one of those loose would be catastrophic and would be nearly
> impossible to fix without a massive effort, moving tons of books and huge
> pieces of furniture.
>
> Consequently, 'behind the shelves' is where she immediately beelines for the
> moment she comes inside. (And then emerges covered in the decade-worth of dust
> that has accumulated back there since I moved in.)

They always know....