STUPID STUPID STUPID CAT! *breaks out into tears*

[Lisa]

Glad to hear poor hamlet is doing better and didn't die/escape in the first place.

We had a problem with one of our kitties laying on top of a cage. We thought we had trained her of it as she had stopped but unfortunetly we were wrong. she fell through one day when we were out. That was our first escaped snake and the only one that we never found.

Now we have a special room for the herps and the screen that fell through has been reinforced with hardware cloth to make it not only cat proof but snake proof too.

[eyespy]

Emily, I'm so thankful that your Hamlet is doing well and it sounds like he should make a very good recovery. I'm very sorry to hear of your troubles.

Have you ever tried Bitter Green Apple Spray? It's a smell and taste deterrent that my cat just cannot stand to be anywhere near! I'd treat your window screens with it so that the cat doesn't think it's a splendid adventure to come bursting through like that. That hardware cloth reinforcement sounds like an excellent idea as well.

[Clownfishie]

So sorry to hear about that Emily -- but it's great that Hamlet seems to be doing well, and should be back home soon.

I don't even use screen lids anymore in places where the cats can get to... I've already had one bad experience, and close to a second one. When I still lived in Toronto, I was living with my (now ex) boyfriend in his parents basement, with our 2 cats. Our bedroom was where all the herps were -- one night I woke up in the middle of the night, not really sure why... only to look across the room and see my cat (my extremely FAT cat might I add) sitting on top of my crested gecko's tank. I literally jumped across the room and whacked him off of there --- my heart sank when I saw the screen collapsed into the tank. I figured that my crestie would be gone for sure -- it was a tall tank, but that doesn't mean anything to a gecko that can climb walls. And I was sure that I would never find her again, because that basement had crap everywhere... I went and turned on the lights, expecting the worst -- only to see my little baby cowering in a corner of her tank. My heart finally started beating again, and ohhhhh was I ever mad at that cat. Had to rig up a temporary lid for one of the leo tanks (I borrowed the lid from a leo tank the same size -- it's not like they can climb the walls and get out), because being the middle of the night, there was no way to get a new lid... and even after I got a new lid, I was still waking up paranoid several times a night, and while falling asleep bolting upright in bed at the slightest noise from that side of the room...
The more recent incident (which thankfully never went far enough to be dangerous) involves my ball python -- he's in my bedroom in the new apartment, in his new 25 gallon tank -- which I had gotten used, and it came with a screen lid. I was a little iffy about using this lid anyways, I didn't feel that it was secure enough to keep Xander in -- and after I caught my cat sitting on top of it a couple of times right after we moved in, that was the final straw. No way was a taking a chance of the big fat idiot falling in there and my snake getting out -- so I went out and bought one of those black wire lids, the kind that are really secure -- and can definitely take the weight of my fat cat if he ever jumps up there (which he has done several times). I'm going to have to start the old squirt bottle trick again I think...

Don't get me wrong though, I love my cats to pieces... can't imagine life without them. They just drive me nuts sometimes.

[Jeff_Favelle]

How big is your cat that it can actually knock over a furnsihed colubrid cage??? Is it an ocelot? Or was the encloser precariously situated so that a slight disturbance would cause it to fall? I'm just wondering how its possible for an enclosure that's square/rectangle to actually tip and fall over.

[snakelover111]

sorry to hear that give the cat to me my burm will have him for dinner

[Lisa]

Originally posted by eyespy
Emily, I'm so thankful that your Hamlet is doing well and it sounds like he should make a very good recovery. I'm very sorry to hear of your troubles.

Have you ever tried Bitter Green Apple Spray? It's a smell and taste deterrent that my cat just cannot stand to be anywhere near! I'd treat your window screens with it so that the cat doesn't think it's a splendid adventure to come bursting through like that. That hardware cloth reinforcement sounds like an excellent idea as well.

I'll have to try that bitter green apple spray, keep the cats out of some stuff in the house.

Here's a pic of how the screen looks afterwards

[silkie]

Does any one have any stories about a cat being eaten?

[Emily-Fisher]

Jeff, it's just a normal ten gallon aquarium with a water bowl, 2 higes and a branch inside so it's not that heavy. The cat is big and weighs around 15 pounds.

[Katt]

Gee Jeff, jump all over her why don't you?

Any cat could knock over a small tank. Cats can be fat suckers with enough guts to knock stuff over. My cat as a kitten would work at things to tip them over to get a big response out of me. This cat can also open doors and comes when he's called, they're not stupid.

I'm sure no one appreciates you how are insinuating that Emily put her corn at risk.

[Jeff_Favelle]

Gee Jeff, jump all over her why don't you?

I'm sure no one appreciates you how are insinuating that Emily put her corn at risk.

Actually,....I wasn't insinuating anything, nor was I jumping on anybody. Questions are not acusations, and I'd appreciate it if I could ponder my thoughts without being "jumped on" or "insinuated" myself.

Thanking you in advance.

[JeffT]

What are you talking about! Jeff didnt say anything that noted he was jumping all over Emily. All he asked is how a cat pushed over a cage.

[Zoe]

Yeah, some of the stuff Jeff says is to the point and seems like an insult, when it really isn't at all.

I have a cat story too - when I was away for a day my cats got into my room (my door doesnt close, it just wedges into the doorway, so it isnt that solid) and jumped on my desk and knocked a 15gal plastic critter keeper over. Inside it were 2 baby veileds. I found one of them under a pillow, he seemed okay but was dead by morning. The second I didn't think I'd ever find, but I did a few hours later walking on my blanket. He survived just fine.

I was pretty miserable for a while, I really wanted to shoot myself. The cat responsible for it is gone - mostly because of my dad's allergies. She now lives with a nice old lady who thinks that cats can talk to her. My other cat, sushi, is too fat to hurt anything and is very good at finding things for me. I found the other chameleon because I was her sniffing at it, and last night she helped my find my escaped CRB.

Zoe

[Katt]

Is it an ocelot?

Sarcasm

Or was the encloser precariously situated so that a slight disturbance would cause it to fall?

Sounds like insinuation.

I'm all for getting right to the point. I'm not insulted,myself, but having spoke to Emily, this post did sadden her and that's just not cool considering her snake is at the vet's. No sorry to hear about that, just saracasm about the size of the cat and the idea that maybe she put her corn at risk.

It's just as easy to get to the point and politely ask how big was the cat that it was able to topple over the enclosure.

And no Jeff, didn't jump all over Emily, but I get pretty worked up when I see something insensitive as this.

[Katt]

Anyways, I just thought I'd stick up for the girl because it's not fair to make her feel any worse, if that's not Jeff's intention, then great. I just get upset when I see people who are already down, get even more down.

No further comments on this thread.

[Randolph]

My Grandma has a Cat it has attacked me a few times, it's the devil incarnate i swear! I have a turlte which has bitten once in thirteen years, but the main difference is that the turtle attcked me out of fear. The cat attacked me 'cause it's evil, the only unprovoked attacks that i have been a part of are always mammals: cats and humans

P.S. my female columbian snake has yet to even get into strike position while i've handled her