Cats, Rats, and Silver Solutions

My Two Favorite Cats

In 1971, when Kathy and I had a Volkswagen and a tent, we somehow got a kitten. Kathy was my second wife, but I think the cat was before we married. It was a cute, ( aren't they all? ), black female that would come when called and enjoyed camping.

Kitty looked something like this.
Being young and clever, we came up with the name, "Kitty".
What made this cat special was how she would follow me. She would stay about two feet behind and stick to me like she was on a leash. On the Oakland sidewalks or high Sierra trails, she was always with me. Sometimes on a hike, I would stop to relieve myself and she would go to the same spot, relieve herself, cover it up, then catch-up to her place, 2 feet behind me.

Kitty would sleep on the pillow by our faces. I soon found myself sneezing and stuffed up. I enjoyed having the cat, so I drew upon my ability to convince myself that I had the power to not be allergic to cats. I called upon that, "Higher Power", and let myself be, "allergy free."

When we sold the Bug and bought a VW Van, we figured Kitty would love it. We even had a litter-box for her convenience, but one day in Orange county, she made a break for it in a parking lot. We could see her run under one of the cars and as we made our way to that car, a woman came up to it, opened the door, and got inside. Sensing a catastrophe was eminent, we began to yell, " DON'T START THE CAR! " This had no effect and the lady cranked it over. Bye bye Kitty.

In 1978, I was living in Oregon with Jan and her son Blu. Sometimes we would go to the laundromat next to Bi-Mart. To use the time waiting for the wash, we would go to the pet store nearby. It was there that Sebastian introduced himself to me. There were a bunch of kittens in a cage all trying to get peoples attention. That is, all but one. One kitten stayed back and seemed to be observing the people making cute sounds to entertain the kittens. He seemed to be sizing them up with a look of contempt, as though they would be unsuitable for his future needs.

Sebastian looked like this.

This is where it got interesting. He saw me standing over by the birds, looking at him. He looked me in the eye, and I heard a little voice say, "Hey you, come here." I had a few minutes left untill the clothes were ready, so I thought I would go over and find out what this "talking" cat wanted. I got up to the cage and he sauntered over and stuck out his paw and said, "Take me with you." We shook hand and paw to seal the bargan and I brought him home. I never trained Sebastian, nor did I ever, "call", him. We communicated completely with thought and empathy.

Sebastian was a Russian Blue.

I remember the time he let me know he had worms. We were eating dinner, ( Jan was a wonderful cook.), and Sebastian came up to me, sat by my feet, and proceeded to cough up a few inches of three wiggling, writhing, tapeworms. There was never any guesswork in our communication. When Jan, Blu and I left the little goat farm, Sebastian decided to stay. The people who moved in after us, said they would sometimes see Sebastian roaming near the goat barn.

I have had other cats in my life, but those two were my favorites.

And in a related story...

Rats in demand as inflation puts beef out of reach The price of rat meat has quadrupled in Cambodia this year as inflation has put other meat beyond the reach of poor people. With consumer price inflation at 37 percent according to the latest central bank estimate, demand has pushed a kilogram of rat meat up to around 5,000 riel (75p) from 1,200 riel last year. Spicy field rat dishes with garlic thrown in have become particularly popular at a time when beef costs 20,000 riel a kg. Officials said rats were fleeing to higher ground from flooded areas of the lower Mekong Delta, making it easier for villagers tocatch them. 'I feel like rat tonight'

"Good sex is like good Bridge... If you don't have a good partner, you'd better have a good hand"

----Mae West

How I handle the various cold and flu bugs.

"Not your grandmother's colloidal silver."
The new silver is here, and boy is it expensive!
For a number of years I have found colloidal silver to be very effective in killing the bad germs, whether used topically, or ingested orally, but now the new nano-particle technology has vastly improved its efficacy. In this new age of, "super germs", I am sometimes exposed to some new strain of cold or flu virus. At the first sign of a sniffle or cough, I reach for the silver.

Chris and I used to have gallons of ionic colloidal silver that our friend, Todd, would make and give us. I would use it to disinfect kitchen counters, cutting boards, door knobs, and just any surface that might be growing any germs. It was good for cuts, scrapes, rashes, warts and other topical applications. It could knock out a cold in hours with a few swallows.

Things have changed, I no longer have gallons of ionic colloidal silver sitting around the house, so I have had to go out and buy it. The new silver solutions perform better and come in little bottles with a big price. Because the nano-particles are more efficient, one gets better results using less. At $25.00 a 4 ounce bottle, it better be good!

Tonight's, somewhat appropriate, song...
Merle Haggard, "Silver Wings."

Grace