Really? You have cats?

"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 8/15/2015 4:00 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/14/2015 7:44 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:50:26 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:


They're all so weird.

Don't you have more cats then you're allowed to? Maybe this is a
blessing
in disguise.

Yes, that's true. But we have a cover story. Two of them officially
belong to my mother, but she's too old to really take care of them so
I'm just holding them. Together we're allowed 4 cats.


If you own your own house, why are you not allowed as many cats as you
want?
In theory I could have any number of cats. 30 or 40 even, providing they
weren't a problem to the neighbours.

Boyfriend would say no to that idea anyway. Even one.

I can even keep pigs in my garden (don't want to, but I could) It
says so
in my deeds.

In the U.S., there are a variety of codes. Most rural areas do not have
limitations on livestock, but many urban areas prohibit farm animals and
may have limitations on the numbers of cats and dogs. There is wide
variation in cities--even in the same county--where some cities are
zoned for specific purposes (industrial, single-family dwellings, mobile
homes, etc.) and other cities do not have any zones or restrictions at
all. Some restrict certain breeds of dogs. There are also Home Owners
Associations (HOAs) that have restrictions, some of which I consider
unreasonable. HOAs are not governmental units. They are corporations,
and residential buyers have to agree to their bylaws if they want to buy
in that are (an area which is often the equivalent of a subdivision or
even just a few blocks).

MaryL



It sounds like dgk is in a subdivision with a lot of homes. There may
even be an HOA. My HOA doesn't put restrictions on the number of cats or
dogs anyone can have, as long as the dogs are walked on leads and picked
up after and the cats aren't running rampant. Point is, they don't want
pets running all over the neighborhood.

There are occasionally stories in the US news about people who started out
with good intentions taking in strays. Then they're suddenly overwhelmed
by the sheer number of animals they've taken in. They find they cannot
afford to properly care for them. The animals wind up being taken away...
hopefully before the point of them being in such poor health they cannot
be rehomed.

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.

"Takayuki" wrote in message
...
On Wed, 12 Aug 2015 13:52:59 -0230, Cheryl wrote:
One of my cats was so shy that the cat-sitter ransacked the house
looking for her because she hadn't even seen her and thought she might
have escaped or been sick or something. Sometimes, when she was feeling
very bold, she'd lurk cautiously at the top of the stairs and peer down.
This was when there were strangers in the house, and by strangers, she
meant anyone but me, even if they'd visited before. When I was there by
myself, she was a perfectly friendly and affectionate cat.

What a shy and funny girl.

Boyfie is exactly the same, although it took some time to get there myself.
He hates to hear the doorbell. What he thinks is going to happen I don't
know, what his history is, is a mystery.
I cannot imagine anyone who had him before abusing him because he is lovely
but who knows what sick people might do?
He is more than shy, but maybe it's just him.
It makes things difficult to do anything with him, like a new collar. Or
Stronghold. The moment I try to hold him, he struggles to be let go and
that's why he is difficult to pill. He never scratches or bites me.

On Fri, 14 Aug 2015 18:10:48 -0400, jmcquown
wrote:

On 8/12/2015 12:22 PM, Cheryl wrote:


Buffy doesn't hide but she doesn't exactly run to greet people, either.
Persia (RB) was strange. Half the time she'd hide if someone knocked.
Other times she'd run towards the door as if to say, "I'll get it,
it's for me!"

Jill

Scooter is schitzoid. At least in my old house, the doorbell would
ring, Scooter would run away, get curious, and come back.

Here they're all still adjusting so everyone scatters if the doorbell
rings.

On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:58:08 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 8/15/2015 4:00 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/14/2015 7:44 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:50:26 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:


They're all so weird.

Don't you have more cats then you're allowed to? Maybe this is a
....

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.



It's what's called Planned Development Community. Or something like
that, pretty much HOA. I went through all the rules before I bought
and the only one that was stupid was the limit on two "pets" totaling
under 30 lbs, no one pet more than 20. That's to keep the dogs small.

No one really cares how many cats someone has so long as it's
reasonable. But "reasonable" is up for debate. 30 is too many, 2 isn't
enough. This way there is some control.

I'm also not allowed to paint my house Shocking Pink. There's actually
a set of approved colors and you need permission from the Paint
committee before you change your house color. If there are too many of
that color on your block, you can't use it. They want a nice mix.

But in exchange for the rules, we have five pools, 12 har-tru tennis
courts, and a clubhouse with all kinds of activities going on. Oh, and
a theater a block from my house. They have shows and movies and such.
Twice a month is movie night when they show some year or two old
movie.

Last night was movie night. It was sort of weird. Everyone was walking
there, and all I could think of was Night Of The Living Dead with
everyone walking slowly with their hands reaching in front of them. No
one's hands were actually reaching, except for me. A few folks spotted
me doing it and started laughing.

Of course, eveyone is pretty old. I'm 63 and I'm the new kid in on the
block.

"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:58:08 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 8/15/2015 4:00 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/14/2015 7:44 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:50:26 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:


They're all so weird.

Don't you have more cats then you're allowed to? Maybe this is a
...

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep
as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.



It's what's called Planned Development Community. Or something like
that, pretty much HOA. I went through all the rules before I bought
and the only one that was stupid was the limit on two "pets" totaling
under 30 lbs, no one pet more than 20. That's to keep the dogs small.

No one really cares how many cats someone has so long as it's
reasonable. But "reasonable" is up for debate. 30 is too many, 2 isn't
enough. This way there is some control.

I'm also not allowed to paint my house Shocking Pink. There's actually
a set of approved colors and you need permission from the Paint
committee before you change your house color. If there are too many of
that color on your block, you can't use it. They want a nice mix.

But in exchange for the rules, we have five pools, 12 har-tru tennis
courts, and a clubhouse with all kinds of activities going on. Oh, and
a theater a block from my house. They have shows and movies and such.
Twice a month is movie night when they show some year or two old
movie.

Last night was movie night. It was sort of weird. Everyone was walking
there, and all I could think of was Night Of The Living Dead with
everyone walking slowly with their hands reaching in front of them. No
one's hands were actually reaching, except for me. A few folks spotted
me doing it and started laughing.

Of course, eveyone is pretty old. I'm 63 and I'm the new kid in on the
block.

I hope you will be happy there.
I don't like the idea of owning my own house and being told what sort of
animals or how many I can keep. I have often had dogs that weighed 70lb. I
just don't like any sort of restriction on what I can do if my house and
land belong to me. I couldn't tolerate it, even if I had the use of a
swimming pool. And movies.
I can keep pigs, the deeds on my house tell me so. I do not do so. But I
could.
The only thing I can't do, my house deeds tell me, is to be a fellmonger, a
candlemaker or a manure merchant by way of business.
so other than that, I m probably OK.

On 8/17/2015 10:25 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:58:08 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 8/15/2015 4:00 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/14/2015 7:44 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:50:26 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:


They're all so weird.

Don't you have more cats then you're allowed to? Maybe this is a
...

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep
as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.



It's what's called Planned Development Community. Or something like
that, pretty much HOA. I went through all the rules before I bought
and the only one that was stupid was the limit on two "pets" totaling
under 30 lbs, no one pet more than 20. That's to keep the dogs small.

No one really cares how many cats someone has so long as it's
reasonable. But "reasonable" is up for debate. 30 is too many, 2 isn't
enough. This way there is some control.

I'm also not allowed to paint my house Shocking Pink. There's actually
a set of approved colors and you need permission from the Paint
committee before you change your house color. If there are too many of
that color on your block, you can't use it. They want a nice mix.

But in exchange for the rules, we have five pools, 12 har-tru tennis
courts, and a clubhouse with all kinds of activities going on. Oh, and
a theater a block from my house. They have shows and movies and such.
Twice a month is movie night when they show some year or two old
movie.

Last night was movie night. It was sort of weird. Everyone was walking
there, and all I could think of was Night Of The Living Dead with
everyone walking slowly with their hands reaching in front of them. No
one's hands were actually reaching, except for me. A few folks spotted
me doing it and started laughing.

Of course, eveyone is pretty old. I'm 63 and I'm the new kid in on the
block.

I hope you will be happy there.
I don't like the idea of owning my own house and being told what sort of
animals or how many I can keep. I have often had dogs that weighed 70lb. I
just don't like any sort of restriction on what I can do if my house and
land belong to me. I couldn't tolerate it, even if I had the use of a
swimming pool. And movies.
I can keep pigs, the deeds on my house tell me so. I do not do so. But I
could.
The only thing I can't do, my house deeds tell me, is to be a fellmonger, a
candlemaker or a manure merchant by way of business.
so other than that, I m probably OK.

What is a fellmonger?

On 8/17/2015 1:50 PM, Joy wrote:
On 8/17/2015 10:25 AM, Christina Websell wrote:
The only thing I can't do, my house deeds tell me, is to be a
fellmonger, a
candlemaker or a manure merchant by way of business.
so other than that, I m probably OK.

What is a fellmonger?

Someone who deals in skins and hides or runs a skin tanning operation.

Jill

On Mon, 17 Aug 2015 18:25:11 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"dgk" wrote in message
.. .
On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:58:08 +0100, "Christina Websell"
wrote:


"jmcquown" wrote in message
...
On 8/15/2015 4:00 AM, MaryL wrote:
On 8/14/2015 7:44 PM, Christina Websell wrote:
"dgk" wrote in message
...
On Thu, 13 Aug 2015 19:50:26 +0000 (UTC), Bastette
wrote:


They're all so weird.

Don't you have more cats then you're allowed to? Maybe this is a
...

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep
as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.



It's what's called Planned Development Community. Or something like
that, pretty much HOA. I went through all the rules before I bought
and the only one that was stupid was the limit on two "pets" totaling
under 30 lbs, no one pet more than 20. That's to keep the dogs small.

No one really cares how many cats someone has so long as it's
reasonable. But "reasonable" is up for debate. 30 is too many, 2 isn't
enough. This way there is some control.

I'm also not allowed to paint my house Shocking Pink. There's actually
a set of approved colors and you need permission from the Paint
committee before you change your house color. If there are too many of
that color on your block, you can't use it. They want a nice mix.

But in exchange for the rules, we have five pools, 12 har-tru tennis
courts, and a clubhouse with all kinds of activities going on. Oh, and
a theater a block from my house. They have shows and movies and such.
Twice a month is movie night when they show some year or two old
movie.

Last night was movie night. It was sort of weird. Everyone was walking
there, and all I could think of was Night Of The Living Dead with
everyone walking slowly with their hands reaching in front of them. No
one's hands were actually reaching, except for me. A few folks spotted
me doing it and started laughing.

Of course, eveyone is pretty old. I'm 63 and I'm the new kid in on the
block.

I hope you will be happy there.
I don't like the idea of owning my own house and being told what sort of
animals or how many I can keep. I have often had dogs that weighed 70lb. I
just don't like any sort of restriction on what I can do if my house and
land belong to me. I couldn't tolerate it, even if I had the use of a
swimming pool. And movies.
I can keep pigs, the deeds on my house tell me so. I do not do so. But I
could.
The only thing I can't do, my house deeds tell me, is to be a fellmonger, a
candlemaker or a manure merchant by way of business.
so other than that, I m probably OK.


We all have some rules on what we can or can't do, mostly zoning
issues. One other thing the HOA does is take care of everything
outside the house (including the driveway and roof). You can have your
own gardner if you want, but I just let the place handle it.

I had a small backyard in my old house and it was a pain to mow and
trim the bushes and such. Of course, I also put up a fence that would
keep the cats in, so they could go out and yet be pretty safe. I'm
trying to figure out how to do that here.

I want them to be able to go out, but not stray too far. First off,
we're not supposed to let them out, but I also feel that they're safer
near home. There are supposedly coyotes around and the canals do
sometimes have alligators.

I'd also feel bad if they ate any of those adorable lizards that are
all over the place. The lizards eat the bugs, and we have a lot of
bugs so we're all fans of the lizards. But most of those lizards are
just the right size for cats to see as toys.

Oh, I saw a big dog and a little cat yesterday but I'll tell the story
of those two in a few days. I have to go out now.

dgk wrote:

On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:58:08 +0100, "Christina Websell"

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.

It's what's called Planned Development Community. Or something like
that, pretty much HOA. I went through all the rules before I bought
and the only one that was stupid was the limit on two "pets" totaling
under 30 lbs, no one pet more than 20. That's to keep the dogs small.

No one really cares how many cats someone has so long as it's
reasonable. But "reasonable" is up for debate. 30 is too many, 2 isn't
enough. This way there is some control.

I'm also not allowed to paint my house Shocking Pink. There's actually
a set of approved colors and you need permission from the Paint
committee before you change your house color. If there are too many of
that color on your block, you can't use it. They want a nice mix.

But apparently, not *too* much of a mix. For example, you probably wouldn't
have to deal with too many shocking pink houses on your block, meaning that
you wouldn't be allowed to use that color too.

But in exchange for the rules, we have five pools, 12 har-tru tennis
courts, and a clubhouse with all kinds of activities going on. Oh, and
a theater a block from my house. They have shows and movies and such.
Twice a month is movie night when they show some year or two old
movie.

I wouldn't do well in such a place. I don't care that much about the color
of my house (as long as it's not hideous, but if I were to complain about
the house colors in such places, it would be along the lines of "too bland,"
which I can pretty much tune out). But having all these people nosing into
my personal business would really annoy me, especially because the issues
they would nose in about are things I wouldn't want to compromise on. There
are plenty of rules that I would respect in cooperative living situations,
but HOA-type rules generally aren't among them.

Last night was movie night. It was sort of weird. Everyone was walking
there, and all I could think of was Night Of The Living Dead with
everyone walking slowly with their hands reaching in front of them. No
one's hands were actually reaching, except for me. A few folks spotted
me doing it and started laughing.

That's great! Maybe you will introduce some new humor to the residents.

My mom used to live in 55+ housing that consisted of mobile homes. She
bought the house but still had to rent the lot to keep it there. My sister-
in-law is a real estate agent and she helped my mom find the house and
buy it. I think my SIL was offended when I referred to the place as a
trailer park. But it was! A middle-class trailer park, but still.
Anyway, they had limits on how many pets residents could have: two. My
mom moved there with 4 cats, and had to engage in a bit of subterfuge to
keep suspicious neighbors and other tattle-tales off track.

I still don't understand why people continue to build mobile homes in
eastern Florida. Really, you need a fortress to be safe there!

--
Joyce

The sun rose slowly, like a fiery furball coughed up uneasily onto a
sky-blue carpet by a giant unseen cat. -- Michael McGarel

On 8/21/2015 1:30 PM, Bastette wrote:
dgk wrote:

On Sun, 16 Aug 2015 17:58:08 +0100, "Christina Websell"

Yes, there are people here like that too. It gets out of control. I've
never known, though, that if you own your own house here you cannot keep as
many cats and dogs as you would like to. The authorities do intervene if
it's obvious you are not caring for them properly or if the neighbours are
objecting but otherwise we are trusted to be sensible.

It's what's called Planned Development Community. Or something like
that, pretty much HOA. I went through all the rules before I bought
and the only one that was stupid was the limit on two "pets" totaling
under 30 lbs, no one pet more than 20. That's to keep the dogs small.

No one really cares how many cats someone has so long as it's
reasonable. But "reasonable" is up for debate. 30 is too many, 2 isn't
enough. This way there is some control.

I'm also not allowed to paint my house Shocking Pink. There's actually
a set of approved colors and you need permission from the Paint
committee before you change your house color. If there are too many of
that color on your block, you can't use it. They want a nice mix.

But apparently, not *too* much of a mix. For example, you probably wouldn't
have to deal with too many shocking pink houses on your block, meaning that
you wouldn't be allowed to use that color too.

But in exchange for the rules, we have five pools, 12 har-tru tennis
courts, and a clubhouse with all kinds of activities going on. Oh, and
a theater a block from my house. They have shows and movies and such.
Twice a month is movie night when they show some year or two old
movie.

I wouldn't do well in such a place. I don't care that much about the color
of my house (as long as it's not hideous, but if I were to complain about
the house colors in such places, it would be along the lines of "too bland,"
which I can pretty much tune out). But having all these people nosing into
my personal business would really annoy me, especially because the issues
they would nose in about are things I wouldn't want to compromise on. There
are plenty of rules that I would respect in cooperative living situations,
but HOA-type rules generally aren't among them.

Last night was movie night. It was sort of weird. Everyone was walking
there, and all I could think of was Night Of The Living Dead with
everyone walking slowly with their hands reaching in front of them. No
one's hands were actually reaching, except for me. A few folks spotted
me doing it and started laughing.

That's great! Maybe you will introduce some new humor to the residents.

My mom used to live in 55+ housing that consisted of mobile homes. She
bought the house but still had to rent the lot to keep it there. My sister-
in-law is a real estate agent and she helped my mom find the house and
buy it. I think my SIL was offended when I referred to the place as a
trailer park. But it was! A middle-class trailer park, but still.
Anyway, they had limits on how many pets residents could have: two. My
mom moved there with 4 cats, and had to engage in a bit of subterfuge to
keep suspicious neighbors and other tattle-tales off track.

I still don't understand why people continue to build mobile homes in
eastern Florida. Really, you need a fortress to be safe there!


Even a fortress is not guarantee. I know some people who lived in a log
cabin there. It was destroyed by a hurricane. Now they live in Georgia.