News   10/16/2003 * National Feral Cat Day: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2003/10/16/BAG6F2CCA71.DTL 8/25/2003 * Two stories about discarded pets that survived euthanizing. The one about phoenix, you will need a strong stomach to read as it goes into a lot of gory details: Quentin Phoenix 4/10/2003 * The cat who lives at the wine shop down the street escaped again and I found him actually inside the metal doors of our building. (How he got there, I have no idea.) I brought him in for the night and here's pics of my cats hissing at Orwell. http://www.talisweb.com/gallery/?dir=willyu/Cats/Orwell 2/8/2003 * Here is a story about how military personnel have to give up their pets when they get deployed. Not only is the shelter at Camp Pendleton overflowing but the facility itself is due to close in August. With all the extra money we've earmarked for military spending... The recent article about the poor conditions in Sacramento has mobilized at least one politician. Let's see if anything actually comes of it. The rescue operation highlighted in these recent articles is: http://www.petsunlimited.org/. I had known this name as a place to get emergency medical care for pets but didn't know about their other activities. They'll certainly get on my list of charities donations go out to. 1/27/2003 * I originally put this page up as a semi-joke about all the "guilds" rampant in TF/Q3F but for quite some time now, the issue of abandoned pets (both cats & dogs) has been on my mind. And recently, this article about the Sacramento "Inhumane Society" has gotten me furious about the situation. This image of the night dropoff box for unwanted pets is especially disturbing. My first thoughts right now is to rig a camera, catch these people discarding animals and post their ugly mugs on the internet so nobody ever lets them put their hands on another animal again. (But I'm sure I would be under actual legal fire for doing that.) So I'm still mulling over what I can do make a major difference. The past few weeks, I've been trying to "rescue" this abandoned cat without too much luck. (I do leave some food out for him when I pass by and one of the kind-hearted people in the neighborhood also feeds him.) The minimum I will do right now is to highlight beautiful pets ready for adoption. I will get more ideas for the future. Cats at SF SPCA 1/6/2003 Cats at SF SPCA 9/7/2002 9/23/2001 * Things are hopping here @ ADD Cat World Headquarters. I got another application to join from qf.Gurkha. After reviewing the info, I judge Gurkha to require the power of the >(*_*)<. I will post his info very very soon. 9/21/2001 * Gossamer joins our ADD Cat support group -- here's your >(*_*)<! 9/20/2001 * Ooops, I accidentally deleted Xyrael's profile off the roster; he's now listed again. Templar just sent his pic in -- here's your >(*_*)<! 9/9/2001 * I've decided to clean up the roster and start recruiting more members. Welcome REV6|Carnage->(*_*)<! 5/27/2001 * Pictures of Pandora & Cassandra. 2/14/2001 * I've decided names for my cats. The smaller cat is a complete imp -- she's always getting into trouble so her name is Pandora. The larger cat only has one eye but she can still see through you -- her name is Cassandra. 1/29/2001 * [<]Azzure writes a haiku about his cats and joins AddCatPwn. 1/26/2001 * It's been a while since I've made an update. Not much has happened though so you aren't missing anything. We had another TNCon -- my cats basically hid the entire time. One of the cats is a real rascal -- she's already chewed through two microphone cables. 9/12/2000 * I picked up Tam's ashes today. Right now, he's resting in a simple wooden box on my desk but soon, he'll have deluxe accomodations when his picture urn arrives via mail order. For all eternity, he'll be by my side peacefully sleeping. On less philosophical news, I've jumped head first back into the cat scene. I dropped by the SPCA and wandered around for several hours just wistfully watching the cats on display. (BTW, the San Francisco SPCA is a great place -- they have a NO KILL POLICY. Plus, cats and dogs up for adoption are displayed in an ultra-new facility where they have homelike environments to lounge around in.) After a few hours, I decided to go for broke and picked out two black domestic shorthairs. Right now, it doesn't feel the same as with my first cat but they both are sweeties and one day, I know I will love them as much as I did Tam. Photos to come soon... 9/2/2000 * It's strange. I walked into the office and for the first time, there was no cat waiting at the door to greet me. It was always a ritual for him to be at the door when I got home from school or work and it continued when I brought him to the office. When I would arrive at work or be back from running errands, Tam would be right at the door itching to step outside. Well, I'm not planning on making daily postings about how badly I miss my cat -- I simply remembered something that happened last night that sticks in my mind. After I brought Tam home from the vet, he had no strength left. I tried to make everything as cozy as possible for him -- I placed his favorite sweater over a heating pad, put a water bowl close by and checked up on him constantly. After a while, he made a soul-wrenching cry -- I quickly ran to him and saw he had used every ounce of strength he had to get up and stagger towards me. So often in his life, he had laid on my lap or slept on my chest -- and at the end, that's what he wanted -- to be with me. That is a moment I will cherish forever. 9/1/2000 * Tamarand passed away at 9:24PM tonight. So many times, Tam laid on my lap while I worked at the computer. And for one final night, I placed him on my lap while I typed away at the keyboard. Every so often, he would make these heart-wrenching cries that quickly had me stroking him to calm him down. At the end, his body started shaking -- I knew even if he lasted the night, I would have to put him to sleep to stop the pain he was going through. Well Tam loved me enough to not have to force me to make that decision. He shook rather intensely one final time -- then he curled up and the life passed out of his body. He was about 11 years old -- middle age for a cat but unfortunately, he was born with bad kidneys. For the past 6 months, I've kept him healthy and happy with a battery of treatments. Unfortunately, we recently moved offices and Tam never was able to adjust to his new home. He stopped eating all together and rarely drank water. A healthy cat could have lasted through the transition period but with all of Tam's health problems, it just sent his system over the brink. I held out hope for the past few days that he would get better and start eating again. But today, when I saw him barely able to walk, I knew the end was near. I rushed him to the vet who told me there really wasn't much we could do. The epogen that had kept him alive was no longer working and his red blood cell count had dropped to 5% from his 31% 3 months ago. (Red blood cells last 21 days which meant the epogen had stopped working even before the move.) For more than a decade, Tam had been my constant companion. When I started to work too often to take care of Tam at home, I brought him to work where he made everybody in the office happy. He knew every dog that lived in the neighborhood as he was always at the front window when people walked their dogs. In fact, he often would go outside to visit the dogs. One poodle (the 4 feet tall kind) named Oscar was especially fascinated with him -- Oscar would always try to lick his ears which Tam tolerated for about 3 seconds before he would swipe at the dog. He was a beautiful cat with a wonderful personality. I will always love him and remember him. Tamarand - 8/1989 to 9/2000 - Rest in peace 8/12/2000 * Been a while since I've made an update. 8/3 to 8/6, Tam entertained many guests. Specifically, TNCon was hosted at Tam's house and he got to meet several AddCatPwn members. During this time, Tam caught a little mouse and completely ate it in front of our eyes. Here's 8ball helping Tam show off his beautiful posterior. 6/6/2000 * Big news, we're expanding to Q3F! Unfortunately, Q3A has a shorter name limit than Quake so we must adopt symbols for the guild. AddCatPwn's Q3F tag will be >(*_*)<. 6/5/2000 * MossyCon 6/9 to 6/11! 6/5/2000 * More recruits: TN|8Ball 5/22/2000 * TN|Vali joins our group. 2/5/2000 * I brought Tam home from the vet today. He's definitely doing better -- more alert, more active, gained some of his weight back. To keep him healthy, I'll be giving him a type of cat dialysis -- about 150ml of saline fluids applied to the skin of his neck twice per day. In addition, he needs 3 doses of epogen per week -- also applied to the neck area -- to keep his red blood cell up. Ordinarily, healthy kidneys also produce the hormones that stimulate red blood cell production. 2/3/2000 * Bad news on the cat front. Tam has been sick lately and was diagnosed with kidney disease. He's now spending the next 3 days at the vet getting his fluids back up. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they will be able to get him back to a stable level where I can give him ongoing treatment to keep him healthy. 1/16/2000 * Some more spots he's taken a liking to: the paper recycle bin and on top of the toaster oven. 1/13/2000 * I haven't updated for a while even though there's been some movement on the cat front. Since I spend 90% of my time at the office, I decided to bring Tamarand here and see how he likes it. He wasn't very happy at the beginning but he's adjusted quite nicely. He spends almost all of his time lying on top of a 21" monitor. His other spot is a shelf in the supply closet. I should set up a cat cam or something. 11/21/99 * Check this link out -- way too funny! http://www.bitboost.com/pawsense/index.html 8/31/99 * Some cats that really pwn! (From my trip to San Diego for the Goose-Heart wedding.) 8/29/99 * Welcome Grim to our support group. Grim needs all our support in dealing with Det5. Hope to see your around! 8/23/99 * My sister made a page about Tamarand a long time ago but I had completely forgotten about it. So here it is -- the Tamarand worship shrine. 8/8/99 * On Sunday, .SK.Heart (my sister) got married to .SK.Goose. So that makes Tamarand and Wicket cat-in-laws. 7/8/99 * "At 8:04 Am Thurs. July 8th 1999, my cat Friskey died of old age. She was almost 20 years old, being born on Sept 20th 1979. She had 24 kittens that were given to (I hope) good homes and kind people. She died of an organ failure, or either heart or lungs, She had some racks of pain and suddering, then layed down, as if to sleep, uttered a low meow, and passed away. We have been expecting this to happen any time, I'm glad we were able to be with her in her final moments. This feels like when I've lost my grand parents, as our cat has always been another member of our family." - =SD=SnuggleKitty Our hearts go out to SnuggleKitty...Remember Friskey by going home and spending a lot of quality time with your pet. 7/1/99 * Looks like Gamesnet did some cleanup and decided we didn't have enough idlers in our channel to deserve ChanServ. Well, I never liked him anyways so :P to you Gamesnet. 6/26/99 * I'm trying to grow a pot of kitty grass for Tamarand -- but after several weeks, there's just a single stalk of grass. Not only is there just one stalk of grass but this stalk is over 2 feet tall. It looks completely ludicrous! 6/22/99 * Tee hee! McTurbo was participating in a scrim tonight when his cat chewed through his phone line. There's a word that describes this situation, actually, there are many, and they are all just felicitious. 6/16/99 * SnuggleKitty sends in her picture! Frisky is in the house! 6/4/99 * Some sad news. Although Evangelion.M is not a member of -AddCatPwn-, he did qualify to join. Unfortunately, note the past tense as his Siamese kitty was recently eaten by a snake. I don't know any more details than that (and don't really want to know) but I'll remind everybody to keep their eyes on their felines. The world is an unsafe place and the best place for your ADD cat is indoors. 5/22/99 * Not really guild related but I spent the last 2 days writing a web log analyzer. You can see the statistics for this page at _stats.html. 5/21/99 * By the way, if you don't have access to a scanner, you can always mail pictures to me (Mossy). I'll scan them for you and then mail it right back if desired. 5/20/99 * Spider registered our channel for Gamesnet. So if you see us around, we'll add you to ChanServ. 5/8/99 * The domain name for my web hosting server finally registered. Heck, I'm feeling generous. 10mb of web space for all guild members! Now, I just gotta remember what the hell I called my domain. 4/30/99 * ]TRU[ SnuggleKitty coins guild slogan. We celebrate with kitty grass! 4/29/99 * Had a long catnap today. 4/28/99 * Webpage redesign -- catnap afterwards. 4/27/99 * Had a long catnap today. 4/26/99 * Had a long catnap today. 4/25/99 * Webpage up -- catnap afterwards. "I strut right by with my tail in the air..."