I was looking through the oldest posts before they disappear and saw this one which reminded me .... Last year, I did not have as much trouble with paper wasps as in previous years. Last year was also the first year I've not found a yellow jacket nest in my yard (got this house early 2005). I didn't really wonder why. I was just thankful. Well, last fall, when the leaves were falling off the neighbor's sweetgum two doors down, the reason became clear: a big hornets' nest. Hornets love hunting paper wasps and yellow jackets. They probably hunt caterpillars too but I never seen them trolling around my plants so I'm currently a big believer in having bald faced hornets in my neighborhood. KC

No, Kindred, curiousity didn't kill the cat! "The curious cat gets the worm"! (I'm a big believer in mixing my metaphors to get the answer I want, lol). I can't wait to hear how it goes - and how great it looks! Probably NOT the same glue-stuff the was on my stairs, under the carpet. Does the adhesive look light or dark? This was light colored & whatever it held was long gone, it was old & not stuck to the new (gone) carpet. However - I DO actually have a point! While trying to decide how to get rid of it, I used warm soapy water and a sponge to clean the surface a bit, (mostly where there was no glue), and the stuff started coming off! Hot water dissolved it - whether w/murphys, simple green, OR no soap at all! I don't know how old yours is, or how long it's been stuck - but I hope yours is as much of a pleasant surprise as my stairs. The PO ("POS" I prefer to call'em) glued indoor/outdoor carpet to kitchen, utility, and both bathrooms. Black tar-looking glue & that was a beast! Was only on particle board subfloor they added, so didn't destroy nice wood. (Did pull up lots of the wood chip fragments - I almost wonder if the idiots didn't use counter-top adhesive, lol!). The best I can say about that guy right now, is that he didn't do THAT to the stairs! (The worst I can say, well.. Would get me kicked off the forum for sure!). ;-). Best of luck to you!

How are you restraining him? Could he be more upset at being restrained than the actual medication? Can you give him a good tight scruff or is that exactly where the medicine has to go? One of my cats has a full fledged tantrum when it's time to do nails. I make sure she doesn't see me do the other cats before it's her turn. The anticipation gets her more riled up! Cats don't seem to forget that their turn is coming up sooner or later, either! Try doing Henry first, before any of your other animals and don't let him see you getting the medicine bottle ready. Does he like tuna juice or canned food? If you put something enticing down to distract his attention, he might not even notice you applying it.

I had a big old male tabby with a megacolon. He was fed expensive cat food most of his life, and one day I bought some of that really old fashioned pate' brand in the standard sized can and he loved it. Not only did he love it, for the first time in years he was able to evacuate most of the time without assistance from medicines or enemas. One by one all of the local stores discontinued the cheap brands for the cute little gourmet cans with the high price tags. I started going all over the county to find the ones who mights still be carrying those two brands, and couldn't even get stores to order cases in for me. Cats, and especially cats with medical problems, can't be switched around from food to food when you find a food they can eat and it works for them. I am so sorry to hear of your cat's situation. It just shouldn't happen.