Open Thread - 16 Oct 2025 - Global Cat Day!
Global Cat Day!
It's Global Cat Day and National Feral Cat Day. These happen every October 16th. So, if you can, go out and pet a cat, leave some food, love on your own cats, and do whatever you can to help the little kitties in and around your lives.
As Alley Cat Allies writes in an email to supporters, 'Anyone and everyone can be an advocate for cats. If you don’t believe in killing cats, you’re already an advocate.'
October 16th, Global Cat Day and National Feral Cat Day (from Alleycat.org)
As I write this, my once feral cat is downstairs yowling up a storm because no one is down there to pet her - right now! She, and her three sisters, came to the farm about 14 years ago. They were rescued from a cat hoarder, and had been kept in horrible conditions. They really did NOT like people. But we were ok with that, we needed barn / farm cats to keep rodents away and so on. In return for doing the work of cats against rodents, they would and did get lots of good food and water, a safe, dry, comfy place to live (in the garage shelves on old sheets and blankets) and as much love as they would accept. One of the sisters ran away immediately, but the others stayed. And so we adopted Puffy White Feet, Ash, and Hash; weird names my husband came up with 
. They were around 4 or 5 years old when we got them. Slowly, over time, they accustomed to humans. They always, almost every day, left me rodent heads and tails on the back porch, by the door, as a way of thanking me for caring for them. And all three accepted being petted, but NEVER sitting on laps or anything. Puffy White Feet and Hash died over the last year or so, from old age. Ash will be there soon, so, we let her live inside the house now, she gets her pets and feeding, and yowls a lot! And she still, when she can, captures rodents or a bunny and brings them to the back porch door!
Ok, Meow! Here's the open thread! What's up, whatcha doing? Reading? Thinking? Listening to? Remember, everything is interesting if you dive deep enough, so tell us about where you're diving!
Comments
Happy Cat Day!
And Thursday, happy Thursday! Hope all is going well with everyone. It's decent here; the last few night's have been below freezing. And we've had a wee bit of rain, so it's greening up outside. The trees are turning color, Fall is here! Let us know what's up with you, and yes, I'm kinda ignoring the Gaza stuff, because I can see the way it'll turn out, but I still wanna learn about it all!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Our last cat was a big black male
.
He was fairly wild and a good hunter. One of his
quirks, he had no voice. Stayed outdoors most of the
time. Slept up in the bushes watching the birds. The game
he liked to play was waiting in a tree to pounce on us.
Only lived to 5 - renal failure. Packed a lot of adventure in
that time. Thanks for the OT!
Zionism is a social disease
Sounds like a good cat!
Waiting in a tree to pounce is very cat-like. We are waiting until Ash passes to get more kitties. We don't want them to push her away, she deserves to live out her life in peace. She and her sisters kept the farm rodent free for a long time. Next spring, I'm pretty sure we'll have some new ferals to keep up the tradition...
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Happy cat day!
Our cat passed on and we've not re-catted, at least not yet. Same with dogs. So we're petless. Sure is easier for travel and house cleaning, but we miss having them.
Plan to start digging sweet potatoes today. Plus we're bringing in the house plants today. Got a buddy coming by at 9AM to help.
We're hoping for a rain Sat. nite and Sunday. Oct. is our driest month.
Well thanks for the OT!
“Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”
When Jaska passed...
a bit over a year and a half ago, we thought we'd not get another dog. In about a month, both me and hubby were so lonesome, the house was so empty, we got a puppy, Nikko, pretty fast. And having a young puppy was hard at our age. We might get one more, but after that we'll probably be adopting older dogs. We are actually planning to take Nikko to Europe some time, using that airline that lets you fly with your dogs in the cabin. Heh. Expensive, so we are saving, and saving, and saving.
Our garlic is starting to come up, ready for the winter! Other than that, we are just cleaning up all the dropped apples and so on. Had some rain, finally; I think we got like 3/4 of a inch in 2 weeks. Hopefully we'll have some more soon! Have a great weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Forget where I heard this
.
.
Dogs have owners but cats have staff.
Happy birthday Bob Weir. 78 today.
Zionism is a social disease
Cats have staff!
Too true!
Man, I first saw Bob Weir about.. *mumble, mumble, mumble* err, man, I was 18 so, 45 years ago. Dang. How can it have been so long! Thanks for the good music and saying!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Can't resist
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
That was great!
Gotta admit, I never saw that movie. I was too young, I think
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning Sima. Our last two dats lived to very advanced
ages, but eventually kicked it. We got them back when we go our first travel trailer to replace a departed prior pair. They grew up the the trailer as a second home and traveled all over with us and we had neighbor sitters for when we traveled by air or sea. Our sitters moved on about the same time as the cats and we ditched the trailer, so we postponed replacing them because our travels are now more and more hotel-motel-b&B plus air or sea or both.
We do regularly ct sit for some far and frequent traveling friends and put out some daytime food in the back yard for the local ferals and wanderers who have joined the assortment of critters that roam our yard at night. They take cre of surface rodents but could get better at gophers, though they do hunt them.
Happy cat day. (10/27, in the UK, is Black Cat Day, FWIW)
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
I'm gonna celebrate Black Cat Day...
I really love black cats, gotta admit. My first cat, Missy, was a black cat. I think I was 3 years old when we got her :).
Traveling with cats is cool. If we end up with some tamer cats than the ferals, I might try getting the cat to ride with me and the dog in the car. That would be something.
Nikko hunts gophers. At least, I think that's what he's digging after in the lawn. Our cats have never done so, they've concentrated on getting rats and mice and rabbits. And that's ok. I'm happy that they never have taken after getting birds, none of the cats we've had here have done that. Not sure why, maybe because there's enough rodents?
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
And another one bites the dust.
Just sent me by my wife:
I know- for most of us, it has been long since dead, for years now. I can't think of the last time I voluntarily watched MTV, after it became all reality TV all the time. Still, it is sad to see it finally wind up permanently. Creating videos to market music was the centerpiece of my New Wave music career...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Heh, the effect of MTV, IMHO, was to replace Music
with performance and it should'vd been neamed PTV for Performance TV. No longer was it remotely about music as in Radio Music, which could be appreciated on its own merits with your eyes closed, with Acts, which emphasized costumes and choreography. It took a serious toll on music, imho and you would see it, if you bothered to watch, in the Grammys, especially on those occasions on which some award winning costumed dancer decided to cover something by an actual singer like maybe Etta James or Roy Orbison and did only as well as might be expected.
/rant off
Truly
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Can't argue any of that.
All I can say is that, as a person who was trying to make money with original music at the time, many found it necessary to go where the market was being driven- for better or worse. It can certainly be said that much of the music produced during the MTV years was utter crap, and I wouldn't really argue that. And MTV certainly contributed to the encrapification, with relatively talent-free artists getting far more than their due, by the simple virtue of being in the right place at the right time to take advantage of the exposure offered there. That also can be said about disco, earlier, and sampled street music like rap, later. The bottom line is that "popular" music cannot generally be described as art music, and it is absolutely true that not a lot of music with lasting impact has come out since the dawn of the 70s.
And yet, that's where the money was at the time, for those who wanted to try to make a go of it. The Grammys are a great example of the self-driven encrapification of the popular music industry: they are generally a celebration of the right-place-at-the-right-time people, and nothing more. The Grammys are very similar to Motor Trend's "Car of the Year" award: just look at which company has bought more ads in the magazine that nobody buys any more, and you will know who will win...
The people with real music to offer, and real things to say, have only made it through the music industry's unyielding filters by happy accident, and not through their own efforts- or any intrinsic value.
To quote David Byrne, "same as it ever was": only at that time, it was on the air 24/7 for all to see. So video is gone, finally. And still, the popular music industry primarily cranks out pap, with only the occasional pearl-like object buried amongst the infinite seas of dreck. Sturgeon's Law will always apply, and it is my humble opinion that Sturgeon was an incurable optimist...
Twice bitten, permanently shy.
Point taken, and thanks for Sturgeon's Law n/t
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
That's so sad...
And, I guess, such an indication that the past is really past. I've read that the MTV shutdowns are starting in the UK and Europe and then moving around the world. Nothing I've read mentioned the USA, but who knows?
I love(d) a lot of the New Wave videos. Thank you!!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
We really miss our Spencer
Gone 3 years now, but we keep his ashes on a table in the living room, where most of the daily activity is.
He traveled with us too.
Now we have grandkitties to go visit and sometimes catsit.
There is a feral black cat that habituates our yard but we don't feed it as there are too many other animals that would get it first. Possums, raccoons, squirrels, crows, bluebirds, and rabbits live in and around our back yard.
Probably because we don't have a dog. I guess it is something like a safe zone or playground.
The young squirrels and rabbits chase each other around and even wrestle, all day long.
Thanks for the OT.
Neither Russia nor China is our enemy.
Neither Iran nor Venezuela are threatening America.
Cuba is a dead horse, stop beating it.
Heh, our o'possums, raccoons and skunks are
pretty much exclusively nocturnal. We have a small half covered paved patio and feed the cats during the daytime only. We have a small almost tame flock of California Scrub jays that get fed on a platform out in the yard but quite near the patio. Though we do get squirrels on the fence and out in the yard, we have yet to see any venture into the patio. They generally stick to the trees because the scrubbies actually rule the yard and would definitely drive off any squirrel caught out in the open.
be well and have a good one
That, in its essence, is fascism--ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power. -- Franklin D. Roosevelt --
Keeping the ashes...
Us too. I have all my dogs ashes, some cats... I'm going to have them spread with mine, when that happens. After all, we are a family!
The dog keeps away a lot of animals, but they still come by. Rabbits are going insane here, right now. A neighbor loves them and lets them live with her horses, and they sure do like to travel to our property. We've gotten possums in our garage from time to time now, eating the cat food. Heh, the dogs take care of that too, until they get too old!
Hubby says there's a feral cat living at the top of our driveway. If it comes down here around the house, we'll welcome it. Have a great weekend with all the animals
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Good morning, sima!
So, a cat has been hanging around the barn for a month or so. Since we like the idea of having a rat exterminator, we decided to feed it our leftovers. I have to time it just right so that a vulture doesn't get to it first. Or crows. Or coons.
One vulture sits on the fence and stares at me while I put out the food.
The squirrels have pecans to keep them fed, so they are not a problem.
Meanwhile, I am trying to stay out of trouble, and mostly succeeding.
Thanks for the OT, chica!
"We'll know our disinformation program is complete when everything the American public believes is false." ---- William Casey, CIA Director, 1981
Keeping out of trouble is a ...
Good goal!
We have to be careful when we feed as well. We've got bird feeders all around, hanging carefully away from anything that will let squirrels and so on climb down, and yet, they still do from time to time. We don't get vultures staring at us so much, as bald eagles. Have watched the eagles steal our neighbors chickens... The eagles have tried here, but Jaska and Nikko took and take care of that :). Have a great weekend!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so
Well it is not a cat but it does seem to be appropriate for
recent world events.
Boy, what Trump is doing is so...
Completely expected. And, of course, it'll be Hamas' fault, not Israel's. Sheez.
That video was hilarious, although mean to the dog!
If you're poor now, my friend, then you'll stay poor.
These days, only the rich get given more. -- Martial book 5:81, c. AD 100 or so
Nothing ever changes -- Sima, c. AD 2020 or so