Sent in by gonefshn - December 2003
We got a new cat a few months ago after we moved and it’s name is Bootsy (don’t ask me why). Well we already have an old lazy but sometimes insane dog named Spike (his name doesn’t reflect him cause he is little, white, and fluffy...hehe) At first we feared getting a cat because we thought there was no way our dog would ever give in and just leave it alone. We got one anyway and it started off BAD. The cat would see the dog start hissing and the dog would go berserk, barking, leaping, chasing, growling. We needed him on a leash with an anvil tied to one end for him to stay put! Eventually we started to let em meet more often and let the dog freely out with the cat. The dog would always go crazy chasing that cat and the cat would run for cover. If there wasn’t any near by, the cat would just go all Matrix...like on my dog...fun to watch! Well now, after a LONG LONG TIME of intense dog/cat relationship building time, the cat and dog FINALLY ignore each other. But every now and then they break out and attack each other. Only thing is now it is always the cat chasing the dog...it attacks his tail and the dog heads for the hills! I love my dog but he is so lazy. I am so glad he finally understands that his purpose in life is not to eliminate all feline threats... errrr, cats.

Sent in by Lion - August 2002
In my neck of the woods where I live it's been very dry. In fact, we have a drought emergency in effect. The creek that runs by my house is so low you can step on the rocks to get to the other side. And when I let my cats outside to play, they take full advantage of this to...err, visit the cats on the other side. Problem is, the cats on the other side are doing the same thing. Now I'm not against my cats socializing with the neighbors cats, but I don't think being friendly is on their agenda. Most of you cat owners are fully aware when two strange cats meet up, there's bound to be a battle. They want to find out WHO is the BULL...err, Lion of da woods...hehe. Garfield, my oldest cat, is a tad bit more wiser than some of my other cats. When he encounters one of the neighbor cats, he simply walks the other way. Not so with Samson. He's the scrapper of my family of cats, and has gotten into some woppers! I adopted Samson from our local humane society. He was sitting in a cage all by himself next to a large cage with about seven cats in that one. I asked the attendant why he was in a cage by himself. He looked so lonely. She said it was because he didn't get along with the other cats. I don't know why, but I just felt for some reason I needed to take Samson home with me. So I did and just hoped for the best. At the time I had two other cats, and was a bit worried if things would work out ok. Now don't get me wrong, Samson is one of the most loving cats you could meet. He gets along great with Garfield, Sheba, Sammy, and Star...just not the neighbor's cats. So this worked out great for me. Samson acts just like a guardian when all my cats are outside, and I made the perfect choice when I decided to bring him home with me to live. I have a built in baby...err, cat sitter...hehe.  

Sent in by Gravis - June 2002
Hey Lion! This just happened less than a week ago and since your addition of the new Pet Capades section, I feel compelled to tell you. I was making waffles for myself one morning and just forgot about them in the toaster. While browsing the web, funny sounds began coming from the kitchen area, and in particular, the toaster. As I walked in to investigate, I found my oldest and mischievous cat, Clu, taking one of my waffles out. As I tried to retrieve my breakfast, he jumped off the counter and ran as fast as his stubby legs could carry him under the desk. About an hour later or so, I checked under the desk, only to find a half eaten waffle and a very full cat. Thought you'd enjoy =)

Sent in by Allieddog - June 2002
Hi Lion...
I got a lot of stories to tell about cats I've had and one odd dog. 

The cat Norm...
This cat is a lot like your cat Sammy, Lion. He was white, fat, and a big baby. Plus he was a few cards short of a full deck. Onetime, after we had just found him in this ice storm, my father was fixing the furnace as it broke down earlier that day. As he went to turn it on to see if it was fixed, he just saw the cat in time to stop. Otherwise it would have been crispy kitty.

Two years later, my mother was doing laundry and just finished switching the loads. She started the dryer and was about to head back upstairs when she heard thumping. She turns, opens the dryer, and out pops Norm, who just causally shakes himself off and walks upstairs. He had fallen asleep on the wet laundry my mother just threw in there.

After an unfortunate accident where I closed the window on his tail accidentally, he had one of those frill things on his head to keep from biting the cast off. The day he figured out how to take it off, he just groomed himself for hours straight, and would do so another couple hours if you so much as touched him. This cat also had the odd tendency to drool.

The dog Hoover!
As his name suggests, he sucked things in like a Hoover vacuum cleaner. Hence how he got the name. He ate everything, from standard dog food, to cow leg bones dipped in BBQ sauce, and even some of the bushes in our yard. He loved to swim, so if he was outside when someone was in the pool, he would jump in and chase em out as he claimed it as his.

One time, my brother brought him a new leash to tie him up outside with as he broke the other ones. He walks in after hooking the dog on the leash he bought home not even an hour earlier, told my mother "The guy at the store said you can pull a car with this, and the dog shouldn't be able to break it". Yet just outside my mothers window, she saw the dog, with the now new "broken" leash running around the yard. Sometimes I get the impression Norm the cat was just the reincarnation of that mutt. Only more sedate.

Sent in by Ashley Williams - June 2002
Hi Lion...for Pet Capades!
When walking my Cousin's dog, Meghan, my uncle decided to let her run through the mud in a little forest; however his hand got caught in the leash and he got dragged through with her....let's just say only one of them got a tad annoyed ;)

Sent in by Virtualoctopus - June 2002
Hi Lion,
(This is for Pet Capades) You know how cats like to lie with their tummy in the air when they are happy/lazy/having a stretch/wanting their tum tickeled? Well my cat, Fred (there's a picture of him and his sister Gertie in your pet pics) likes to do this on the edge of sofas, tables and other furniture. I frequently see him fall off as he stretches to far, he's so happy he doesn't realize he's hanging over the brink!

Sent in by Marshall aka: Magnum - June 2002
Hi Lion,
Well, been reading your recent cat capades, you know you should call it that "Cat Capades", a weekly thing. Just an idea. Well my cat news, my cat KC is forming bladder crystals and can't pee. It pains me to hear the meow/bellow of a cat in pain. My Star is crazy lol, she just learned of the unknown wonders of the cabinet. My cat Mystery has the COOLEST position to lay in. He sits on his stomach and crosses his arms, had his legs straight out backwards with his tail in the air. Then he runs to the nearest dirt pile, o you get the idea. =) I like how KC puts his ear to the ground to find moles, digs 'em up then brings them thru the kitty door and leaves ya the trophy. Who needs hunting dogs. I actually went hunting with my cant in my backyard wood area. We got a bid, cardinal to be exact. Instead of a guy with a gun and dogs, its a smart cat and me with a staff.

Sent in by Quad6 - June 2002
Hi Lion,
Thanks for the nice post of my Tooters picture. "Lion's Kids" was clearly written by a devoted cat slave which makes you my brother in the Paw. You wrote "He must of climbed 20 ft. in one of the trees yesterday. But I wasn't worried...I mean, I've never seen a dead cat in a tree. Have you?" Well, noooo...and most cats that go up a tree will climb down... sooner or later. But we've had cats that climb 60' up pine trees and stay there until they pass out and fall. No injuries but we see this about once a year and it's so pathetic that circa 1990 my wife started climbing trees. She free climbs (no belt), puts cat in netbag and lowers it to me. This is better than hearing it yell for help till it falls. Our worst-ever-stuck-in-tree cat Leo spent 3 days\nights during snow storm before falling. Several years later he disappeared. So we do scan the treetops for the white gleam of a tiny cat skeleton. But have never seen a dead cat in a tree.

Sent in by Christopher - June 2002
Hey Lion,
Haha, I can understand how you feel about critters being brought into the house. My dog, Bowser, would always try to bring just about anything he could drag or carry into the house. I'm looking at your site seriously for the first time in a while, I usually only pass thru since my download speeds are horrible anyway (2.5 kbps on average, yeah, you can laugh, I do...except it's more like a pathetic whimper...). Hope to see more funny posts in the future, later.