New addition to the shop (Ping Bottlebob)

Joe:

Heh, I at first thought it was a hairpiece - before I noticed the little eyes. I'm not able to take it, my one cat really growls at other cats that occasionally come on our balcony. I don't think Ears would play nice.

Santa Cruz Mike had a shop dog, didn't he? You could have a shop cat. He's keep the mice population down, so they don't eat the insulation off your CNC controls.

ave a shop cat.

Yep, we're definitely keeping it. A friend of mine is a director at an after school program, and one of the loser parents came in with it, and said they were going to "take it out to the country and drop it off" if nobody else wanted it. Knowing I'm an animal lover, my friend took the cat and brought it here. We now have Gato, the shop cat. Gato has fleas, A LOT of fleas. We don't know how old Gato is, or what exactly he eats, or how to teach him not to s*it in the office. I'll get him to the vet, and get him some Advantage flea drops, but I don't really know what to do after that. How do you potty train them? How old do they need to be before they can wander off and be smart enough to find their way back?

I can't take him home, because our Boston Terriers would think he's a chew toy.

Gotta love the way they grow into their ears. That's one ball of fur!

-- Bill

If you can, keep it in a quite room with a (clean) litter box with newspapers around it. Always have clean water. They have those cool self feeders for water at the pet store. Feed it there as well for a few days. Let it wander around from time to time throughout the day. The cat will figure out that it's "home". Food and attention will keep it around. The also like to have a place they know is safe. That's why the room idea works for now if you have one to share.

I had a kitten living in the bottom of my rollaway years ago. That was fun.

-- Bill

Have a box with a blanket or towel in it for comfort/warmth for shelter. Cover the box or put it on it's side to keep it as dark and quit inside as possible. Covering with a blanket will help deaden noise. I found foil Weber drip pans (for BBQ grilling, available at Home Cheapo and suchlike) make a perfect small litter boxes. Suggest using scoopable litter with no deodorizers added in the beginning. Feed it a good brand of food specifically for kittens. Hills Science Diet, Iams, Eukanuba, Purina Pro Plan, they can be found any pet store. Stay away from cheap food found in grocery stores, it's filled with crap.

My wife and I went on an animal rescue mission this week. Friend of hers had a barn cat nearby with three 5 week old kittens get flattened on a nearby road Monday afternoon. We trapped the three orphans, brought them home last night and are going to keep them.

A friend and neighbor of ours has been doing animal rescue her entire life, is President of a local SPCA no kill shelter, and helped my wife and I out with the kittens this week. I'm certain she'd approve of the advice given here.

Good luck and enjoy. :)

And oh yea. Take the kitten to a veterinarian ASAP to be looked over and checked for feline leukemia. That'll cost you around $50. And plan on having it spayed / neutered when it's old enough. Vaccinations before that. If you're going to keep a shop cat around, do be a responsible cat owner. :)

And before you start sniveling about vet bills, I've shelled out several thousand dollars due to having two cats with cancer over the last couple months. So you won't get any sympathy from me but might get flamed.

More...

The kitten needs breast milk, it's to young to do without. Don't give it the cow milk we drink. There is formula (liquid and powdered) available at feed and pet stores. Or check with your vet. Suggest use an eye dropper, will give you a chance to bond with the animal. :)

However, shops aren't the best environments for animals, esp. cats. At least these dirty s***ty shops. Hopefully the cat will have some retreat into an office-like area.

The greasy s***ty places I've been in have occasionally had cats, and these places were little more than gutters, except maybe warmer.

Between getting lost outside, or the vicissitudes of the shop itself, they didn't last long, which really pissed me off. The "funny" thing was, the owner (a very brite competent fellow) really liked cats, yet their inevitable demise just didn't phase him. Very weird. I guess that's what happens when you work for payroll.

If the shop is clean, and the cat has respite in an office-like area, AND you neuter it, then it will probably thrive.

I worry when my monster just *passes through* MY shithole shop, what with the grease, chips, coolant, grinding dust, etc, that he will inevitably wash off himself. Not good.

BD is no doubt going to heaven.

OK, I gotta tell my cat story, Hopefully I havn't told it yet. It only tastes good once, oops, I mean "tells good once". sorry.

Anyway, this is a true story.

I worked nights right behind the mall for the last decade. About 5 years ago me and a buddy were eating there every night for lunch (we were on nightshift), Here's why...

We went there because we were uhhh, basically hungry and the view (chicks) was sweet, it was summer time, and I live just a few miles from the beach. They have a food court, and we ate at the teryaki chicken place this night. DAMN was it good. I mean very lean, no gristle, no fat. So... We ate there the next night, again it was so good. After 2 solid weeks of it we were leaving 2-3 dollar tips each in the cup. Then we go there and it's closed. WTF. We were addicted by this point. Next day my buddy gives me the front page of the st pete times, and there was a picture of the teryaki place. After reading it seems they got caught with cat cages in the back.

Ever since then the stuff tastes like crap, all stringy, fatty, gristle, etc... You know, like CHICKEN.

And by the way, I wasn't grossed out in the least, it was that good. I would eat cat anytime anyplace. I'd love to try panther and leopard.

I don't believe in such things so metaphorically speaking, perhaps.

My newly adopted orphans...