In defense of the sanctimonious women's studies set || First feminist blog on the internet

It is Tuesday. Here is a photo of a kitten.

Jill

I don’t have time to write much today, so I appease you with kitty pictures:

Percival sleeping

That is a portrait of the cat as a young man. (This is where he is from).

Shaved legs

That is a portrait of the cat as an old man, passed out from exhaustion with his tongue hanging out, after a harrowing few days in vet’s office, following an unfortunate incident involving lilies (which are apparently VERY POISONOUS to cats).

Cat after a bath

That is a portrait of the cat as an older man, plotting my death for the bath I just inflicted on him.

/catlady. What do you all want to talk about? And will someone please get me a dog? Because I’ve turned into the kind of lady who posts pictures of her cat on the internet. Yikes.

33 thoughts on It is Tuesday. Here is a photo of a kitten.

  3. Oddly lilies are generally poisonous…which I learned from experience is not a fun fact to relate to a bride two weeks before the wedding (thus securing my title as the worst bridesmaid ever).

    But I want to talk O’Donnell and how not knowing the constitution is humorous from someone who is supposedly going to swear to uphold it. I mean sure my MIL thinks that these things are awesome because “drama is the only thing that makes politics interesting.” But I assume the rest of the US doesn’t have my MIL’s fucked up sensibilities.

  5. Oh you have my sympathy on the cat v. lilies! My cat Simon ate some lily petals that had fallen to the floor and spent the weekend at the emergency vet (to the tune of nearly $3,000) a few years ago.

    The ASPCA has a list of cat-safe flowers and plants (thankfully, gerbera daisies are OK, so it makes giving up my beloved stargazer lilies a little easier). Other than those, I keep cat grass in the apartment.

    My best wishes to your kitty (and your bank account) for a speedy recovery!

      1. Cats bathe themselves? They’re not dogs. Not needing to bathe them (unless they have fleas or something) is one of the perks of having a cat.

        No wonder your cat hates you, Jill. 😛

        1. Wait REALLY? Damn. I’ve never had a cat, I’ve only had dogs (and you definitely need to bathe dogs). This is blowing my mind!

          But what if he starts to stink? Cats sometimes stink. Is it bad if I give him a bath?

          1. It’s not bad, it’s just generally unnecessary. Sometimes cats stink and refuse to clean themselves (Mink went through a bit of a phase a couple years back), but they make a no-bath cat shampoo (it’s a foam, you just kind of rub it into the cat’s fur, get it in the pet aisle) that I find works really well and is definitely easier than giving it a straight up bath. But yeah … dogs need baths, but most cats just kind of take care of themselves in that area.

            This is wildly amusing to me. 🙂

          2. Oh man… my poor cat. The other day he knocked a candle off of the stairs directly at my head — it was pretty clear he was aiming for me. Now I understand why.

            This is what happens when you try to raise an animal you’ve never been around before. Also Exhibit A for why I probably should not reproduce.

            But also the cat looks so funny when he’s all wet and wrapped in a towel.

  10. My friend hung chili peppers to dry in her apartment and guess who jumped up to nibble them? The cat.

    Poor cat. She stays away from them now.

  11. My kitty got bathed because she was a basketball with legs and couldn’t clean her back or butt without human assistance. It didn’t seem to be bad for her, but she definitely didn’t need bathing as frequently as my dog did.

  12. Yeah, generally cats don’t need baths, but some aren’t so good at cleaning themselves. Also, as a cat owner with cat allergies, I give my girl a bath every two weeks or so with a special shampoo that’s supposed to cut down on dander. Luckily, she’s one of the least water-phobic cats I’ve ever seen, and doesn’t throw much of a fit. And I give her treats and cuddles after! The occasional baths do seem to help my allergies, and I figure it’s a small price to pay for the otherwise cushy life she gets with me.

  13. Kristis: “The occasional baths do seem to help my allergies, and I figure it’s a small price to pay for the otherwise cushy life she gets with me.”

    Hilarious. I, of course, must wash my dog, and she freaks out and throws a fit every time. And I’m like, ‘oh I’m so sorry for massaging this shampoo into you, and then rinsing you with wonderful warm water and for never making you heard any sheep. Your life is soooo hard.’

    1. Aww. My cat doesn’t attack or scratch me or anything. He just looks at me really, really sadly and cries like a little baby and when he sees an escape route he attempts it (and always fails). It’s pretty adorable/pathetic/heart-breaking.

  15. Awww! I want to adopt a cat soon. I’m actually looking at a specific one at a no-kill rescue right now – he’s such an odd cat, I’m hoping that he’s odd enough not to object to baths!

  16. I also felt it necessary to post pictures of my cat this week. Maybe there’s something in the air? Yours is a cutie. Cats aren’t too fragile, but they’re definitely not dogs.

  18. Also Exhibit A for why I probably should not reproduce.

    Well, babies do require baths so I think you’re good there. 😉

    One of my cats will actually jump in the shower with me and just sit in the back of the tub where the water doesn’t quite reach. He doesn’t mind getting a little wet but freaks the fuck out if I accidently (or not) aim some water his way.

  20. Cats don’t always wash themselves. As a child my mum once had a tom-cat that would only clean himself if someone wiped his fur with meat-paper…

  21. I have given baths to cats twice: once when my cat reappeared, covered in mud, having dived into a hole under the house to get away from a big dog, and I thought that doubtless she could clean herself, but it would actually be helpful to get the worst of the mud off her myself: and once when another cat had developed the habit, as a kitten, of going to sleep in the litter tray and as a result having awesomely stinky fur: only once, because after she had figured out that sleeping in the litter tray meant B-A-T-H, she stopped doing it.

    This is a picture of my cat Bob, about six weeks before she died:
    http://www.redbubble.com/people/yonmei/art/5664745-1-my-book
    I only had her for five years, but they were the best five years: she was a rescue cat, and awesomely affectionate and friendly.

  22. I have a question for people: I can’t decide which is better, to go to a no-kill shelter and adopt an animal there, or go to a pound or other shelter that does euthanize and adopt a cat there that is not so adoptable and is due to be put down.

    Actually, after typing that, it sounds like going to the pound/Human Society/place that practices euthanasia and adopting a cat there is better than getting one from a no-kill shelter–

    –but does anyone have a differing opinion, or have a reason to go to a no-kill shelter instead?

    1. I don’t have strong feelings about no-kill shelters vs. shelters that euthanize animals, with the one caveat that even when you adopt an animal you end up paying some money, and I’d rather have my dollars go towards no-kill shelters run by volunteers.

      But that said, I don’t think that shelters that euthanize animals are evil or shouldn’t be adopted from. There are a lot lot lot of abandoned and homeless animals. No kill shelters have the ability to refuse to accept more than a certain number of animals at a time.

  23. Willa,

    I adopted my dog from a high kill shelter, that is a small shelter usually in a more rural area that doesn’t have the resources to hold more than a few animals. I prefer searching these places out IF you have the resources and can invest the energy (it can be very hard to walk out of a high kill shelter if the animals there are not a good fit).

  24. He’s a beauty. Having worked in vet offices (where various foul substances have been known to come out of kitty orifices without warning) I have bathed dozens of cats (in varying states of homicidal rage) and can promise you it doesn’t hurt them, much as they may try to convince you otherwise.

  25. My cat doesn’t mind baths, but he’s terrified of towels. And birds.

    I think my cat is backwards.

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