ReDD

I'm not sure where you are located but I have a few ideas for you regarding your canoe. There is a paper called the Super Shopper that caters to most of Ontario. You can usually find anything under the sun in there for very reasonable prices. It's also online..

http://www.supershopper.com/

Another idea would be to look in your local thrift stores or used merch stores. If all else fails check your paper for yard sales.

Good Luck!!

This was an e-mail someone sent to me this morning. I thought some other people on the board may be interested.

Mars

The Red Planet is about to be spectacular!

This month and next, Earth is catching up with Mars in an encounter that

will culminate in the closest approach between the two planets in

recorded history. The next time Mars may come this close is

in 2287. Due to the way Jupiter's gravity tugs on

Mars and perturbs its orbit, astronomers can only be

certain that Mars has not come this close to Earth

in the Last 5,000 years, but it may be as long as

60,000 years before it happens again.

The encounter will culminate on August 27th when

Mars comes to within 34,649,589 miles of Earth and

will be (next to the moon) the brightest object in

the night sky. It will attain a magnitude of -2.9

and will appear 25.11 arc seconds wide. At a modest

75-power magnification

Mars will be easy to spot. At the beginning of August it will rise in the east at 10p.m. and reach its azimuth at about 3 a.m.

By the end of August when the two planets are

closest, Mars will rise at nightfall and reach its highest point in the sky at 12:30a.m. That's pretty convenient to see something that no human being has seen in recorded history.

So, mark your calendar at the beginning of August to see Mars grow progressively brighter and brighter throughout the month.

NO ONE ALIVE TODAY WILL EVER SEE THIS AGAIN!!

Your more then welcome Howler. The combination of trees and the sky is an amazing picture. I have a few saved on my computer. Here's another one I really like as well...

DEL!! *shakes head*

Hey, i'm one of the ones that said your nice!!

I thought you had to walk the highway. Djed just corrected me.

Walking three hours is great if your hiking. Walking three hours on pavement is just lame. It's also not worth it at night time since you could get hit or worse.

Yeah we are going. The car has been solved!! Thanks to everyone that wanted to help. We'll see all of you tonight!!

The thing that really urks me with todays youth is they appear to be a pack of clones. I work at Value Village and anyone I see come in under 19 wears the same sparkly shoes or old school sneakers, the same brand new ripped, cufffed jeans, a studded belt, some emo band t-shirts and usually sporting a hair style which consists of the black and blonde combination. BOYS AND GIRLS!! Maybe it's just Burlington??

Well i've checked the info on bus times and the last bus out of Hamilton leaves at 11:25. Which means since the band is starting at 11 we might be able to watch 15 minutes of the show!! It looks like we won't be making it to this one. I'm throughly angry at the car!!

Thanks so much for the crashing offer Paan. Your a hell of a guy!!

YOU DICK!! that scared the hell out of me!!

Do you know what the latest bus departing hamilton to burlington is?

Paisley: I have changed the title. Great idea. Thanks alot. Hopefully we'll you tomorrow!!

Alexis: The bus is an option of course. I wish there was a late bus home though...

Paan: Djed and I will both be at work tomorrow when your passing through. Thanks so much for the offer. We'll have to decline though...

As everyone knows the Codetalkers are playing tomorrow night at Pepper Jacks. Djed and I have been looking forward to this show for weeks. However our stupid car has decided to randomly not start. We were hoping that someone out there on the board would be willing to give us a lift to the show as well as home. We're more then willing to split on gas, buy you a drink, even share our smoke. We live in Burlington near Guelph and New. Thank you to anyone that replies!!

I think 35 is a great price too. I'm just used to the 10-15 dollar price. Hey, i'm on a budget!! This show should be worth the little bit of extra cash though. 3 more days!!

Yes, the shows 35 dollars. A huge increase in the average Pepper Jack ticket prices. I had to save for this one... YOU SHOULD STILL COME THOUGH!!!

I think the Cuitlacoche looked very gross. Steve is a iron stomached man for not getting sick from half of the things he's ate. Eww.

Djed and I will be there. Anyone heard if Dels coming down this way or not?? Lazlo do you know?

1)Does anyone elses kitten suckle their neck to the point it leaves little marks? Is this normal and should I stop him - He's crazy for it. You push him away or say no and he pushes so hard to get at my neck.

My cat Murphy bites my arms and neck when I pet him. I really DO NOT like it. I read an article about cat behaviour and in it they mentioned male cats bite to show a deep affection for somebody so I try to tolerate it.

The suckling thing is sometimes prominant in a kitten that has been taken away from it's mother to early. My mothers cat Fred used to suck and knead blankets. I think most cats will grow out of it in time like Fred Did. Now he's just a huge suck

I was told although wet food is does increase water intake it is very bad for cats....I'm so confused. But glad to be revisiting this again as I do not want to find out that I've been feeding my cat absolute crap.

Just like dry food there are poor wet foods to feed your cat as well. I feel that dry food should be the main diet and wet food fed as treats 3-4 times a week. A brand of wet food like fancy feast has alot of water and very little nutritinal value for your cat. A good quality wet food would be Newmans Own, Natural Balance, Nutrience. Most pet stores carry those brands. I can tell you why in more detail if you'd like.

I think Clives pretty cool..

Where did other people get their pets, I'm wondering?

Monty I found in a parking lot all alone and rubbing at my feet. I put up a few signs hoping someone would claim him. I guess Monty was meant to be mine. He's also a Blue Russian. Grey from the tip of his nose to his foot pads.

I had another 2 grey guys around before Monty. Gus I had as a kid when I lived with my dad. He has his leg broken as a kitten and as the result of his cast being took off he had a bow leg. Such a good natured cat. Then there was Diablo who my father sent to me after Gus had died. Diablo was Gus's kitten. He lived with me at my mothers but when I moved he had to stay there as he wasn't an indoor cat. He disapeared one day. We still don't know what happened to him. Since I have had 3 grey cats I have came to think of them as my familiars. Monty fit in just perfectly.

Now Murphy thats a whole other story

Anyway I will be sure to check the bag next visit to the store or at least check back on the web (if they even list the ingredients online) but yes I really appreciate the long detailed post! I am going to become obsessed with this again for a while I suppose but better to be safe then sorry.

I'm glad you understood my ramblings. If you need any help or have any questions feel free to pm me.

Ahh meggo great to hear that you adopted a cat. I found one of mine and the other I saved from my sister..LOL.

Your right. Iams does do alot of good things. They also used to have very great food. Livingstoned hit the head on the nail when he talked about cutting corners to mass produce. I'm just not an Iams supporter.

ReDD - how do you feel about Science Diet. I have a male cat and I worry about UTI's constantly. I have heard people pushing IAMS however my coworker fed her two male cats IAMS and both cats ended up with Urinary infections at different times that almost cost them their lives. She chalked it up to Iams being in higher demand now and cutting corners to mass produce.(although i know poor diet is not the only cause)...but I want to think that Science Diet is great for my cat and my vet agreed but with your experience and Pet Valu nutrition seminars what do you say?

This might take me a while. It would be so much easier if I could talk with you in person...

Please remember that I am only stating my personal opinion based on what I have learned. What I am about to say may offend some people as I have very strong opinions about Iams and Science Diet.

Cats are feline. Felines are carnavoires in the wild. Our little house kitties would be eating very little veggies if they became feral.

When looking for a good food there are some key ingrediants you want to look for. Meat or meat meal should be a first ingrediant in both wet and dry foods. Meat meal is not a bad thing. Most companies will dry and strip a peice of meat. All of the liquid is removed but the nutrients remain.

Pet food companies list the ingrediats based on the highest weight before the food is manufactured into wet or dry food. As you know when you cook a peice of meat it shrinks. Therfor when a company like Iams or Science diet list meat or meat by-products first it actually becomes the third or forth ingrediant. There sneaky you see, because it weighed the most at the beggining of the process they technically do not have to list it further down. ALSO meat by-products are not a good ingrediant. Guys that's all the parts of a chicken we wouldn't eat. Heads, feet and intestines..ewww. Not very nutricious for us and also not very nutricious for a cat. Basically you would choose a product listing MEAT MEAL (ex lamb meal, chicken meal) as a first ingrediant. It would contain the most meat because the meat is already dried before the kibble process.

An ideal second ingrediant would also be meat or meat meal. In a decent food rice would be listed. Most products list hard to digest ingredients like ground corn or the grain sorghum. In products like Iams or Science Diet they usually have corn AND sorghum listed. Corn contains to much sugar for a cats diet. It basically gives them a sugar rush and then a crash. Comparable to a chocolate bar for us humans. It's also hard to digest. You guys know what happens when we eat corn right? Also sorghum is the main ingrediant in bubble gum. It is just a cheap filler. When rice is a second ingrediant it gives the animal a more consistent energy level and it is also easy to digest.

Knowing now that Meat Meal, or Rice should be a first ingrediant go look at your Science Diet or Iams bags and tell me what it lists. I can't remember the exact listings but i'm pretty sure meat not meat meal as well as corn come up very early on the label. So that bag of food you have there, that the vet recommended it's like a bag of Mc Donalds for us. It's kitty fast food. It is more corn then anything else.

From what I understand a vet takes about a two week course on animal nutrtion out of there seven years of studies. Vets are amazing people and help us so much but alot recommend very poor quality food. And very sad to say alot rely on the profits of kick backs from the companies. For every bag of food sold at there store or recomended they get a small profit:(

There are alot of very good, knowledgable vets out there. I know of quite a few that will try and switch an animal from Iams or Science Diet to a better food. There are even more factors when it comes to looking for a good pet food brand. It is something I could talk about for pages but i'm sure i've already bored you all enough.

BAD FOODS:

Iams/Eukenuba

Whiskers/Purina

Science Diet

NO NAME GROCERY STORE BRANDS

FOODS TO LOOK INTO:

Natural Balance

Nutro

Performatrin (Pet Valu store brand, good food for your buck, frequent buyer program as well)

Nutram

Evolve

As for the wet/dry comment you guys are completely right. Cats usually will not drink alot of water and the moisture levels in wet food help with that. Djed and I only give it to our boys about three times a week. They drink out of the aquarium quite a bit though.

I hope this helps. Sorry about the length.

I think Ms.Hux said it all for me..

I belive the gaping anus is called goatse...

don't ask.

if thats a male cat I'd take him to the vet to make sure his urinary tract is ok... male cats can get a blocked urinary tract from cat food with Ash and Phosperous in it because their tract is "S" shaped...

I would like to clear this point up. There are alot of people who are afraid Monty has a UTI. Thank you for all of your concern. I am very sure Monty is in perfect health. He is very active, sleeping regularly with no bloating. He urinates regularly, in his litter box USUALLY!!

BUT Paisely is right. Poor nutrition can cause UTI. My cats are on the best of the best of foods. I used to work at a Pet Valu. Based on what I learned there and at nutrition seminars I think i've picked the right food to keep my cat clear of it. Here's the ingredient listing for NATURAL BALANCE Ultra-Premium Dry Cat Food:

Chicken, Chicken Meal, Brown Rice, Duck, Lamb Meal, Potatoes, Chicken Fat (preserved with mixed tocopherols, Vitamin E) Canola Oil, Oatmeal, Fish Meal, Brewers Yeast, Rosemary Extract, Dried Skimmed Milk, Natural Flavor, Dried Eggs, Carrots, Whole Ground Flaxseed, Kelp, DL Methionine, Dried Cranberries, Lecithin, Parsley Flakes, Tomato Pomace, Taurine, Zinc Sulfate, Vitamin E Supplement, Niacin, Vitamin B12 Supplement, Vitamin A Acetate, Riboflavin, Thiamine Mononitrate, Vitamin D3 Supplement, Biotin, Vitamin C Supplement, Yucca Schidigera, Folic Acid, Copper Sulfate, Manganous Oxide, Vitamin K Supplement, Pyridoxine Hydrochloride, Ethylene Dihydriodide, Sodium Selenite.

Sorry to ramble on like this but I see so many of you have pets. It's very important that your cat eats well to maintain health and weight. A well fed animal will have fewer health problems, shed less/softer and shinier coat, better teeth, better breath, regular bowel movments, and weight.

Choosing a good food is hard sometimes. Pet Valu is a really great place to ask for advice about animal nutrition as there employees must attend pet food seminars regularly. They also sell Holistic foods. Even the Pet Valu store brand contains organic veggies!!

Thanks for all the replys to this.

I agree whole heartedly about it being grand that my cats aren't peeing the bed...:thumbup: