<p>That’s what I was thinking Moominmama – “THE CAGE OF DEATH”</p>
<p>About the bathroom. Our cat is weird. It won’t drink water out of its bowl. It drinks out of the toilet, or laps up water off the floor of the shower. Some mornings it waits by the bathroom for me to get up and run a little water in the bathroom sink which it laps up. It also likes to try to get water from a slowly dripping faucet. </p>
<p>For now, I put the cage on the floor of the girls bedroom, wedged in between the boombox and a speaker, so at least it would be difficult for the cat to move the cage. That’s not the final solution. Still thinking . . .</p>
<p>I had a turtle on top of my refrigerator for six years - cat never knew we had it. </p>
<p>I just realized that my entire life is burdened with freaky animal stories. For instance, my mother threw that turtle off our 2nd floor back porch (a possible menopause moment) - my brother called the police on her and tried to get her arrested for animal cruelty. We had pet pigeons (lived outside) and a pet starling named Robin (mean, but loved scrambled eggs - which is some kind of sick on its own). Oh, I could go on forever… (I know, “Please, don’t.” haha)</p>
<p>Mstee: can the cat get the cage door open or disassemble the cage?</p>
<p>I found a stray turtle (tortoise) when driving in my neighborhood. It was crossing the road. S-L-O-W-L-Y. I stopped picked it up and began knocking on doors.</p>
<p>I also once found a stray pony at my mailbox when fetching the newspaper. I caught it and brought it in the yard and then shut the gate (manual, un-fancy, very “sinner”-like gate, I must point out.) My daughter looked down from her window as I pulled the trotting pony into the yard. I will never forget the (short lived!) expression of JOY on her face…</p>
<p>We had a huge (30 lb.) cat that loved to sleep on top of the refrigerator. He would also roll off the edge in his sleep, but always landed on his feet. The noise he made on the way down, however, would scare the hair off your chest.</p>
<p>We also had both a guinea pig and a duck that drowned. Don’t ask.</p>
<p>My lilttle sis will never know what REALLY happened to her guinea pigs… I disposed of their lifeless bodies after her favorite pooch had killed them. Sis (who is over 30 now and is a veterinarian) still thinks it was a bad idea to let them roam in a little “corral” on our lawn because they “escaped”. Needless to say, my mom was quietly doing a happy dance when I told her the pigs were gone!</p>
<p>I’m taking my cat to the vet today – and you guys are making me nervous! She has been throwing up more and more and in more inconvenient places. I returned from two days in New York last night to find a row of chair and sofa cushions lying on the floor with a note from husband – “Buy Upholstery Cleaner.” Not a pretty sight. I’ll keep my fingers crossed.</p>
<p>BunsenBurner you were a good sister. I can still imitate the sound guinea pigs make when they squeak. Still remember the rustle of their little paw thingies in the shavings. Still remember the crunch as they ate lettuce.</p>
<p>We had mice too, once. One turned out to be a mama. It didn’t know what to do with the babies and once crawled up the side of the cage with its little pink hairless tots hanging, still nursing, from its belly.</p>
<p>Aaargh. My mother told me this happened because the mama was too young to have babies. Thinking back, I believe she used this mammalian moment to scare me off of an unplanned pregnancy or early marriage…</p>
<p>I think maybe if it had enough time, it could figure something out. You know, when a critter is motivated . . .</p>
<p>Okay, rethinking the bathroom idea. No one uses the tub/shower in one of the bathrooms upstairs. Water pressure isn’t the best or something. I could put the cage in the tub. And it has sliding shower doors, so, that would keep the cat out. The only thing is, if someone ever did start running the shower without looking, could have a drenched hamster . . . But I think the risk of that is less than the risk of the cat finding a way to get to the hamster in its current location. Seems like as good an idea as any for now.</p>
<p>mommusic: it’s a stinking rodent. (ok ok, I’ll try to be nice)</p>
<p>Interesting Jack Russell story today: had a little bit of snow and neighbor kids were out with kiddie skis and snowboards. Spot, the J.R.T., can snowboard! She went down the hill about ten times! Wow. Far more talented than her human parent!</p>
<p>LOL Just reading some of the animal stories I missed. </p>
<p>How on earth does a duck drown? Inquiring minds want to know.</p>
<p>We had a family of goats wander in our yard once when I was a kid. They came from a farm somewhere, wandered over to our subdivision, and were eating up my father’s garden. They were so CUTE! I really really really really wanted to keep one. :D</p>
<p>We’re not sure how the duck drowned but here’s our story and we’re sticking to it: We had 6 baby ducks and filled a large galvanized tub with water for them. Since they were babies they couldn’t get in or out without steps, so we built steps out of bricks. Our assumption is that the dead duck hit his/her? head on one of the bricks, was either stunned or fell into a coma and drowned. It didn’t have any obvious signs of injury. When the other 5 got a little older we donated them to a friend’s farm and they lived to a ripe old age.</p>
<p>The guinea pig drowned in his water bowl. We had stupid pets.</p>
<p>I am literally howling with laughter here!!! Wow!!!</p>
<p>Mom of 3: was the cat dead or alive?</p>
<p>When I was 7-9, we lived near Eagle River, WI, in a (large) log cabin down a long dirt road. It was mile to the busstop for a 40 minute ride to school. About halfway to the stop, lived a family with 7 children, a biologist father and an alcoholic mother. Anyway, even stranger than my own family (with 8 kids), this family had a boa constrictor which lived in a glassed-in enclosure in the living room, two great danes which ate with the family at the dining room table, an alligator in their basement which slept in a bathtub and was caged off from the rest of the area by really thick cable.</p>
<p>For a kid, going to their house was like going to Terabithia - another world. Their goat drowned in their shed when it got its head stuck in a cistern. They fed it to the snake. That’s when I quit going over.</p>
<p>On Mondays, they fed the snake by tossing in a few dead rodents, which was every kids’ highlight of the week.</p>
<p>Oh, forgot to provide that detail-the cat was quite alive…fat…and happy. She had figured out how to pop open the cabinet door to where the garbage can was stored, tipped the can over and…</p>